Abandon
The next morning, Ginny Weasley awoke, stretching her arms and legs and yawning, kicking clothes off the edge of her bed. She heard Hermione turn slightly in her sleep, and looked over. Hermione's eyes were tightly closed as she turned and tossed in Charlie's room. Silently brushing herself off the bed, she walked softly toward the bed, peering over at Hermione.
"No," Hermione was moaning. "No, please, not again, we can't handle it..."
Ginny furrowed her eyebrows, walking away from her, back against the door, her hand slowly turning the knob so Hermione would not awake.
"Please," Hermione murmured, her legs kicking her covers off, thumping her body sideways. "Please, no..."
As the redheaded girl had many experiences with nightmares, she firmly believed she could not wake Hermione up, as a result that Hermione would see her and scream, and it would wake up the whole Burrow. Perhaps if it was somewhere else, but not here. On only impulse did Ginny step out of her own room, closing it as tenderly as possible, and began walking toward Ron's room.
With her ear to the door, she heard no chattering, which meant they weren't awake yet. Twisting the knob, she entered, and smiled wistfully. Three beds were cramped in the small space. The first bed consisted of a sleeping Draco, shirtless, covers thankfully over his legs. The second bed contained Harry, who was sleeping in the utmost unusual way; head facedown on pillow, his legs spread out; Ron was sleeping on the bed next to him, clutching a new teddy bear, muttering under his breath.
At first, Ginny's conscience told her to leave the room. But her instinct told her to stay. Approaching Draco's bed, she sat on the edge of it, watching him sleep. It was a dull process, as he seemed to be a heavy sleeper that neither talked, sleepwalked, or had nightmares during his sleep. She observed his features. The similar way his face looked was uncanny; he had grown taller, more slim from the lack of food, she guessed, the outline of his fine, toned chest delighted her eyes. She looked away, looking down at the floor.
She was about to leave the room when someone gripped her arm tightly with her a firm grasp.
Gasping, Ginny turned her head and saw that Draco was awake, looking at her sleepily.
"What're you doing here?" he slurred a bit with the words, blinking.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I'll...go."
"No," he said, hand still tightly on her wrist. "Stay."
"But...alright," Ginny agreed, and he let go of her, sinking back into his pillows, watching her quietly.
"What are you doing here, anyways?" Draco finally asked, pushing away a strand of silver-blonde.
"Hermione had a nightmare," Ginny explained. "I didn't want to wake her...so I just came here."
There was a very long silence before he answered, grinning. "You're weird, has anyone ever told you that?"
She allowed herself to reluctantly grin back. "Actually, it's one of my many gifts."
~*~
"What if he kills her, Hermione?" Ron whispered. Hermione clutched him tightly, blinded by tears.
"What if he kills her and then..." he trailed off.
Hermione pulled away from him, startled. "He wouldn't! He may be insane, Ron, but he wouldn't kill the person he loved."
He gave her a stubborn glance. "He would if she didn't love him back."
A frown came over her face. "Well, then it's not a problem," she murmured. "She loves him, alright."
He looked slightly alarmed. "You sure?"
She nodded. "Positive...positive...positive..."
The words faded away as Hermione Granger flickered her eyes open. It was just a dream, she told herself, her heart racing against her chest. Just a dream, nothing to worry about. No need to yell out for your mother, or anything, she told herself in half mockery and half self-disgust.
And with that, she unintentionally fell asleep again.
Little did she know, there was something to worry about...
~*~
"You didn't!"
Draco chuckled lightly. "I did. I mean, of course, I thought I was going to get expelled right in my first year, who wouldn't, setting fire on Mrs. Norris? Instead, all I had to do was recover her by myself without magic, then have detention for two months, nearly."
"But - how did..." Ginny waved her head suggestively.
His face paled. "Father," he muttered bitterly. Ginny paused, feeling tense. Laying beside him on the bed had been comfortable, but she knew it was too good to be true. She tilted her head the other way, not looking at his eyes.
Draco gripped her shoulder and she looked his way so he could lean over.
"Could you laugh?" he whispered.
"What?"
"You have a nice laugh," Draco said, sounding dazed. "I think you should laugh."
"Only if you give me something to laugh about," she said, cautiously aware that his palm was resting in the middle of her chest, and he was leaning over her.
"Alright," he muttered, leaning close to her earlobe. "Remember in fourth year, when I got turned into a ferret and I screamed like a girl?"
Ginny could barely control her laughter and he smiled in admiration of the beautiful sound.
"So you surrender?" she asked, quirking a cute smile. "You admit you have a girly scream?"
"No," he argued. "You would have a girly scream if you got turned into a ferret."
"Dra- Malfoy?"
"Yes?"
"I am a girl."
"Precisely."
"What?"
"What?"
"You confuse me."
"You amuse me."
"Stop rhyming."
"I didn't know I was."
She grinned at him. He grinned back, but his grin faltered as he leaned closer.
"So..."
"So..." Ginny murmured back, closing her eyes. She could feel his breath fanning her face, his lips ready to come onto hers...
"Who's there?" said a wild voice. "Who's there?"
Ginny opened her eyes, and Draco mouthed the words, 'Your brother'.
"HEY, I AM ARMED!" Ron leaped up from the bed and defensively shoved the teddy bear in front of his chest. Ginny crawled off the bed, catching Draco's eyes and biting her lip from bursting out laughing.
With a little wave, she fled the small room, hoping nobody saw her.
~*~
"Good morning, Gin," Draco whispered at her in the kitchen. A small blush crept up to her cheeks as she looked at him, giving him a shy smile in retort.
"I am starving!" Ron's voice flooded their small 'moment'. "Ginny, is that Christmas cookies? Give me!"
"It's still hot, Ron," Ginny scolded, concealing the cookies. "I am going to bewitch them so they stay fresh until Christmas."
"But I want some now," he moaned in agony.
Draco hid a chuckle beneath his hand.
"Well, you're not going to get them!" Ginny replied snappishly, a glare at her brother. "Eat the breakfast that mom made you."
"I don't want to!"
"Honestly, Weasley," Draco couldn't help but saying.
Before Ron could say a suitable comeback, Hermione and Harry entered, Fred and George behind them, excited looks over their faces.
"Oh no," Ginny found herself saying. "What have you two up to now?"
She was so motherly that Draco found a smile coming onto his face. Fred and George glanced at each other, mock shock expressions on their identical faces.
"Why, little sister, when have we ..." Fred started to say.
"...ever been up to something?" George finished innocently.
Harry, Ron, and Draco laughed a bit, but Hermione did not. She looked weary and tired, staring down at the surface of the table, a look of concentration over her face.
"Alright, alright," George announced. "I know it's hard to believe...but we are up to something."
Ginny snorted. Harry and Ron's snorts followed afterwards. Draco merely looked at them blankly.
"We're going to move out," Fred prompted. "After Christmas we're planning to move out."
"What?" Ginny shrieked, almost dropping the pan that containted the cookies. "You're joking!"
"No, we're not," George said sternly. "We're both twenty-two and should be able to move out. We've been thinking about it for the past few months and we've decided. We have enough money, we have our own vault, and we'll start looking the day after Christmas."
"Mom is going to kill you," Ron interrupted. Ginny silently agreed, but was in too much disbelief to say anything else.
"Kill who?" Everyone turned, guiltily looking at Mrs. Weasley, who had just entered Mr. Weasley by his side.
"Hermione dear, would you wake your parents up?" Mr. Weasley said excitedly. "We can have breakfast, I wanted to ask your mother of the use of what do you call them - comp users?"
"Computers," Harry corrected automatically.
"Ah, yes, and the internet - something, I wanted to check out this website, f- fanfiction or something...Hermione?"
Hermione jerked her head upwards. "Yeah, sure, whatever," she muttered, exiting the room in a dreamy trance of some sort.
"Mom, we need to tell you something," Fred finally said.
"Oh no," Ginny put the cookies in a corner, and clutched Draco by the shoulde, looking at him nervously. "We should go...there's most likely going to be a breakdown."
He nodded, and they both walked out of the kitchen, and into the living room. Ginny turned her face at Draco's and blushed.
"Listen, I know this is short notice...but I was wondering if you wanted to go Christmas shopping with me today?"
He frowned. "Christmas shopping?"
"You don't have to buy us anything," she said quickly, her blush growing more and more auburn. "I meant - accompany me for some late night presents?"
"Sure," he said, shugging. "Alright."
"Great," she said, beaming at him. The silence was broken by Mrs. Weasley's suddenly outraged voice from the kitchen, "WHAT?"
~*~
"Boxers," Draco suggested.
Ginny shook her head, raising her eyebrows at him. "Of course not...Ron would have a heart-attack if his baby sister gave his best friend boxers."
"You could explain to Ron that you're nineteen and you're giving it to Potter for 'later'," Draco said, smirking.
She shoved him on the arm. "Yes, I am sure that would go very well. Come on, be serious."
A solemn look covered Draco's face as he proceeded to look thoughtful. "Hmm, condoms?"
"Malfoy!"
"But he'll never use them," Draco said logically as they walked beside each other, their steps in rhythm.
"Eurgh, remind me never to ask this kind of advice again," said Ginny said, shaking her head. He looked at her apologetically, and stopped walking.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, no," Draco groaned. "It's one of the snotty wizards from my father's dinner party...let's get out of here before he sees..."
"Draco, Malfoy," said a familiar, tentative voice right next to them. Ginny jumped, slowly turning around to face the boy.
"Have another whore, do you?" he looked at Ginny edgily and then his lips parted, only choking sounds coming out.
Ginny looked at him, feeling as if she was about to faint.
Because the boy from Draco's father's 'dinner party' knew Ginny as well.
Very, very well.
It was Devon.
~*~
Heh, I got away with Mr. Weasley saying 'fanfiction'. Sorry about that...couldn't help myself. Sorry if it was a bit boring, but I left a cliffhanger, so have fun with that...
Review.