Oh my goodness...I haven't updated in ages. I'm sorry! *wails* I just got complete and total writers' block on this story, but I decided to PERSEVERE FOR MY REVIEWERS!
:-)
And so now you get a bunch of crazed shout-outs to the chapter five reviewers!
Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed! I love you guys!!
Miseducated Girl-Child: Oh good Gilderoy, do I know that they're OOC. *sighs glumly* It's been depressing me, really. But I'll continue to write anyway, despite the fact that I'm destroying JKR's beautiful characters.
...Er, sorry. That was a bit mopey. Thank you for your wonderful review :)
sk8er-chick-4: Heheheh. Ah, give Harry a break. He's just oblivious. But not for long! *dun dun dun*
Mudblood: Oh yes, that Malfoy sure is a sexy beast. ;-)
Gina: Gosh, if you hated Draco's guts then, you aren't going to be too happy after this chapter...Mwahaha.
Fleur: Hehehe...yup, Harry may be in need of psychiatric therapy by the time this is done. *cackles eeevilly* And as for the whole 'who will she choose?' dilemma...well, quite frankly, I'm equally torn myself. :) I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a G/H shipper. ;)
Cryssa: :) A Draco/Cryssie, you say? Darlin', you've saved this fic.
Airelle Vilka: AAAAAH! *screeches and runs around like a mad teenybopper at an NSYNC concert* Airelle reviewed me! Airelle reviewed me! ME, ME, ME! *pauses and stares at very scared readers* Er...sorry. Thanks for reading, Lena. In case you haven't noticed, you're my Ff.N idol. ;) And I'm sure it's come to your attention that I'm a bit...insane?
Isadora: Urpelscranailbrokeoffious! Seductive Harry! Ain't it fun? Mwehehe.
Ziegod Lizski: Thank you, thank you! :) You flatter me.
Gedia: Aw, sure Harry stands a chance. :) Though Draco really is quite wonderful, non?
Qwerty: So am I. :)
Cashelle: Everyone's just madly in love with Draco, eh? ;)
CoolGirl9093@aol.com: Thank you :) Ah, all the praise! I just don't deserve it!
Black Tangled Heart: :)
Summerthyme: Thank you, thank you :) Also...I love your story Eyes of Darkness. UPDATE!!! NOW!!! OR ELSE!!! (Er...sorry. My inner-Slytherin went a little crazy for a sec there.)
Milla: Yay! Lots of reviews from zee great drama-princess! And...well, I've written more! Aren't you proud? *smirks*
Tris McGraw: Flawless? Truly talented writer? *sniffles* Thank youuu!!
Trina-K: Heh. Oh yes, Ginny's bad indeed. ;) And Malfoy's not a bad guy....or is he? *dun dun DUN*
Philosopher: Yup, Harry's definitely being dense, and yup again, there's gonna be some D/G :)
Jaffacake: You're marvelous, you know that? :)
Bucky: I don't think I'll be changing ship on ya, don't worry. (But how can you NOT love Draco? Come on! At least just a little bit!)
Twixxa: Cute! Adorable! Gotta love my HP boys....hehe.
Eni: Ooh! Good idea about the gets-angry-and-makes-things-blow-up-involuntarily thing! *starts to consider things she could make Harry blow up* Mwahaha...mass destruction...
Bitethepenguin: Thank you, thank you! :)
Monika: Oh, the praise! It's too much! *sniffles* you guys are so good to me, you know that?
And last but DEFINITELY not least:
Storm: Everyone's just fallin' for Draco, eh? Though I'm sure he's no Snape. *gags*
Chapter Six: In Silences Like These
She didn't need a sugar quill.
Really, she didn't.
Sure, she would really like one at the moment - strawberry flavored, perhaps, or maybe vanilla. The vanilla ones sounded particularly alluring...
"Ginny, don't," she instructed herself aloud, glaring at the display as she put up the last box of sugar quills (banana flavored). "Just because you work here doesn't mean that you can go on mad sugar quill binges. They're so unhealthy, honestly..."
"She speaks," a familiar voice murmured teasingly from behind her. "O speak again bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night being o'er my head as a winged messenger of heaven..."
A smile on her face, she turned and proclaimed melodramatically, "Draco, Draco! Wherefore art thou, Draco?"
A lazy smile danced across his lips. "Lookin' good, Weasley."
"Please, Malfoy," she groaned, rolling her eyes at him before resuming her position behind the counter. "It didn't even work the first time."
"No, I'm serious," he assured her teasingly. "Listening to you argue with yourself about whether or not to eat sugar quills is dangerously intoxicating."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure." Checking her watch, she announced, "They'll be here any minute now."
"They?"
"Hogwarts students," Ginny explained. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend. They'll flood the place in approximately two minutes."
"I can hardly wait," Draco deadpanned. "Gotta love whiny amateur wizards."
"Hey," Ginny said defensively, giving him a sly smile. "If I recall correctly, Mr. Malfoy, you were a whiny amateur wizard yourself less than five years ago."
"I was an extraordinary whiny amateur wizard," he announced. "There's a difference."
"Extraordinary?" Ginny asked loftily. "Extraordinarily spoiled and bratty, maybe."
"Well, excuse me," he shot back, sounding a bit annoyed. "I wasn't an honorable and courageous Gryffindor; may my unworthy soul burn in hell."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that."
"Oh really?" he asked quizzically.
"Really," she responded earnestly. "It was more the fact that your father bought you everything from an owl to a spot on the house Quidditch team."
"Don't talk about my father," he snapped at once, bitterly. And Ginny knew he meant it - a sort of provoked malice shown in his eyes now, fire and fury amongst emotionless gray.
His parents, Ginny remembered at once, had been murdered by the Dark Lord.
"I'm sorry-" she started at once, but he cut her off.
"Don't try it, Ginny," he ordered, his tone menacing. "You're about as sorry about my parents as I am about that stuffy, pompous older brother of yours." He paused and added, quite darkly, "May God have mercy on his poor soul."
She felt as though a knife had been plunged into her heart and twisted numerous times - nausea took over her and she gripped the cold edge of the counter before ordering, in a weak whisper, "Get out."
"Oh, don't go all weepy on me, Weasley," Malfoy ordered, completely cold. "People die. Deal with it."
"You're a heartless bastard," she snapped. "You know that?"
"I've been told that a few times actually, yes."
She studied her hands; her red polish was chipping. She didn't want to think about Percy, not now. It still hurt too much to think about him...and little things, everyday things seemed to take delight in reviving the pain. Most of the time, she could go for weeks without thinking about it - it seemed as though he should still be alive, married to Penelope and working at the Ministry.
But he wasn't.
He was gone.
Dead.
She looked up from her hands. Percy had always hated it when she'd worn red nail polish.
Malfoy was studying her evenly, expressionless. She was quite sure that he wasn't the least bit sorry for what he'd said.
"Get out," she ordered, with force that she didn't feel capable of at the moment.
He turned toward the door, but before he could escape, a flood of Hogwarts students burst in. Voices immediately filled the once-silent shop as they began calling out to each other and examining the displays with shining eyes.
Behind them, a bushy-haired professor was desperately calling out orders over the many chattering voices.
"Madison, be careful with that!" Hermione Granger ordered, standing on her toes and craning her neck to see what the troublesome third year was up to. "And Christensen, don't push into the display like that, for goodness' sake! People spend time on those!" She shook her head, heading toward the counter. Ginny could hear her muttering "Honestly..." under her breath.
"Hermione!" Ginny greeted her brightly, forcing a smile and attempting to forget the wave of memories that had attacked her moments before.
"Ginny, hi," Hermione flashed back a tired but genuine grin. "Goodness, they're going to drive me mad."
"Where's Ron?"
"He took some of the boys down to Quality Quidditch Supplies," Hermione said, shaking her head in fond disapproval. "I swear, he has yet to grow up."
Ginny nodded in agreement. "I still haven't quite grasped that whole 'Ron-the-professor' thing in my head."
"It's definitely hard to fathom," Hermione said, laughing a bit before realizing just who was standing right next to her.
"Malfoy," she said at once, quite stiffly. "What are you doing here?"
"Aw," Malfoy responded in a cruel drawl. Ginny was at once reminded of her Hogwarts days and his old treatment of her brother and his friends.
"How sweet," continued Malfoy, his tone drenched in sarcasm. "The Weasel and the Mudblood are teaching at Hogwarts together. It's a match made in heaven. When's the wedding?"
Hermione studied him for a moment before replying, quite frostily, "Well, you haven't improved much, have you?"
He shrugged. "What's to improve?"
Hermione's cheeks flushed in annoyance as she proceeded to inform him what, exactly, could be improved, but Ginny toned them out as her eyes flew to the entrance. Ron was creeping in, holding a finger to his lips in an order to be quiet. A few of the girls attempted to stifle giggles and failed, but Hermione was so caught up in verbally abusing Malfoy that she didn't notice.
Smirking quite mischievously, Ron crept up behind Hermione (whose voice had now grown quite shrill as she listed off more things to an amused looking Malfoy) and wrapped his arms around her in a lightning-quick movement and dipping her down toward the floor.
"Ron!" she shrieked.
"Hey, gorgeous," he said with a cheeky grin.
"You practically scared me to death!" she cried at once, fixing her arms around his shoulders. "Honestly, you're going to be the death of me!"
"Oh come on," he said, smiling playfully. "You know you love me."
"Not at the moment," she shot back, but he silenced her with a kiss. The girls in the shop immediately burst into coos, while a few boys laughed and others made gagging sounds.
Malfoy looked as though he sided with the latter.
"Well, ain't that sweet?" he asked, very sarcastically. "Just heartwarming, really. So you finally decided to ditch Potter?"
Ron broke the kiss at once and stared up incredulously.
"Malfoy?!" he cried, standing up at once and dropping Hermione. She fell to the ground with a screech, but Ron didn't even seem to notice.
"In the flesh, Weasel," drawled Malfoy. His cold gray eyes flicked to the ground for a moment where a distinctly ruffled Hermione lay, and he informed Ron in a deadpan, "You dropped your Mudblood."
Not wise.
Quite predictably, Ron's ears went red, he yelled out, "You bloody goddamn mother fu-"
"Ron!" Hermione shrieked from the floor.
The swearing stopped, but Ron took a swing at Malfoy and his fist collided with Malfoy's jaw, a sickening crack filling the air. Malfoy cringed and was about to throw a punch right back at Ron when Hermione pulled her fiancee out of the way and Malfoy staggered forward, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
The students had begun to cheer throughout this, and shouts of 'Go Ron!' and 'Punch him again!' filled the air.
"Temper, temper, Weasley," he sneered once he'd regained his balance.
"Sod off, you great son of a-"
"Ron!" Hermione said warningly.
"Draco, get out," Ginny ordered.
Rolling his eyes, Malfoy obeyed and made his way outside.
"Hey Malfoy!" Ron yelled after his retreating figure. "Next time, do bring along Crabbe and Goyle, won't you? Then it won't be quite as pathetic when I kick your ass!"
"Ron!" Hermione squealed for the third time. The Hogwarts students all burst into laughter, and one of the older boys gave Ron a high-five.
"Excellent," the student praised.
"Yeah," Ron agreed, grinning broadly. "It was, wasn't it?"
"Ron!" Hermione said, and Ron's smile wavered a bit. Ginny recognized her tone well, and she knew that her bother could too - it was the 'you're-in-loads-of-trouble' voice, and would no doubt be accompanied by the Death Glare. Sure enough, Hermione had narrowed her eyes dangerously as she demanded shrilly, "What on earth do you think you're doing, Ronald Arthur Weasley?! What kind of excuse is this for the students? You're the most impossible-"
"Hermione, come off it," Ron cut in. "You know he deserved it."
"Well...yes," Hermione said, pursing her lips in a reluctant agreement. "But-"
"Gin," Ron said loudly, "What the bloody hell-" (he pointedly ignored Hermione's fourth shrieking of "Ron!") "-was Malfoy doing in here?"
"Er..."
Ginny was in trouble. Serious trouble. Never, ever had it crossed her mind that if she were to date Malfoy, sooner or later Ron would find out, and when he did, he would be furious, no matter what her true intentions were
"Well, you see," she attempted again. "Uh...he was just..."
"Buying candy?" Hermione offered weakly, looking very sympathetic.
But it was too late. Ron's ears had now gone as red as his hair, which was never a good sign.
Ginny gulped.
"Don't tell me you're dating Draco Malfoy," he said in a dazed sort of hiss.
"Okay," Ginny said meekly.
This, apparently, wasn not the answer Ron wanted to hear.
"WHAT?!?!" roared Ron, his brown eyes widening to twice their normal size. He began to walk toward Ginny, his steps dangerously slow.
"What..." Step. "Are..." Step. "You..." Step. "THINKING!?!"
"Not much?" Ginny said weakly.
"OBVIOUSLY!" Ron exploded. "HOW DARE YOU SO MUCH AS TALK TO THAT SLIMY GIT?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO US AT HOGWARTS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE CALLED HERMIONE?? REPEATEDLY!?!?"
"Ron, Ron, calm down-"
"HIS PARENTS WERE BLOODY DEATH EATERS, GINNY! HE WAS PROBABLY A DEATH EATER! HAVE YOU TAKEN A NICE LOOK AT HIS LEFT FOREARM LATELY!? I-"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "You're making a scene-"
"I CAN MAKE A BLOODY SCENE IF I BLOODY WANT TO!" Ron shouted. He had now gone entirely red, and was quite a frightening sight to behold. "GINNY, ARE YOU THICK? STAY WITH HARRY! YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH HIM FOR ELEVEN BLOODY YEARS! THERE IS NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO BE MRS. GINNY MALFOY! I-"
"Ron, for the love of God!" Ginny cut in angrily. "It was only one stupid date! It didn't mean anything!"
"Did he kiss you?" Ron snapped abruptly.
Gulp.
"Not...exactly," Ginny replied delicately.
Ron gasped in horror - it would have been rather comical, had she not been terrified.
"You kissed him?!?!" he cried, aghast. "Ginny, you've disgraced the family name! I'll never be able to look at you the same way again! Never kiss me on the cheek again. Ever! You hear me? Ever! I want none of Malfoy's germs, thanks, and I'm sure he has plenty, I-"
"Shut up, Ron," Hermione cut in.
"Go Professor Granger!" yelped one of the students.
"Shut up, Madison," Hermione ordered before turning back to her fiancee. "Ron, Ginny's an adult. She can date whoever she wants to."
"Oh, no she can't!" Ron protested, glaring in Ginny's direction. "Not when it's the Incredible Bouncing Ferret, anyway!"
"You're worse than Dad," Ginny accused.
"You want to bet?" Ron asked, positively livid. "You just wait until he finds out about this, Ginny! You'll really be in trouble then! You'll never hear the end of this!"
"Ron, go away," Ginny ordered, getting frustrated now.
"Oh, no I won't!"
"Come on, Ron," Hermione urged gently, tugging at Ron's arm. "Let's go over to The Three Broomsticks."
"Fine," Ron said angrily.
Quite angrily, Ginny watched them leave, and couldn't resist calling out, "Oh, and Ron?"
"What?" he snapped irritably, not turning around.
"That wasn't the first time I'd kissed Malfoy, either."
Ron's jaw dropped, and Ginny couldn't resist a small smile of satisfaction.
Take that.
* * *
It was pathetic, really, that it was bugging him so much.
Draco Malfoy had felt a lot of pain throughout his lifetime, be it getting attacked by a mad Hippogriff or suffering the Cruciatus Curse when assorted Death Eaters weren't happy.
Really, a punch in the jaw was nothing.
Or it wouldn't be, if it hadn't come from Weasley.
Draco swore bitterly under his breath as he rubbed his jaw gingerly and stared in disinterest at the displays in the shop windows.
Damned Weasley...why couldn't he have been killed in the war against Voldemort? He wasn't exactly a tragic loss for the wizarding world.
"Well aren't we cheery, Mr. Malfoy?"
He turned at the familiar soft, oddly piercing voice. Sure enough, it was her.
Cryssa Raine made her way toward him, gait almost tantalizingly slow. In all the years he'd known her, she hadn't even begun to change.
And he liked it that way.
Her long, silky black hair was pulled up in an elegant twist, as it always was; her makeup impeccably done. Rouge added a faint splash of artificial life to her pale cheeks, her lips were painted a deep burgundy, and her chilling lavender eyes were intricately lined with kohl. A velvety cloak the color of red whine encircled her slender frame.
She was flawlessly, perfectly beautiful as she always was.
It was nice, that some things were always.
"Cryssa," he returned simply, walking toward her.
A smirk played around the corners of her mouth. "And how is my darling ex-fiancee?"
"Can't you tell?" he replied, rolling his eyes.
"Bar fight?" she teased dryly.
He shook his head. "Little meeting with an old enemy."
"Death Eater?" she inquired.
Feeling slightly humiliated, he shook his head again.
"Well then...?"
"Someone from school," he muttered.
She laughed; the sound was chilling, mocking.
"Dear God, Malfoy," she said, "You're getting beat up by old school friends?"
"Believe me, he wasn't a friend," Malfoy sneered, quickening his pace. She kept up, while still appearing to be moving agonizingly slowly. "He was a Weasley."
Disbelieving laughter escaped her lips.
"A Weasley?" she repeated. "A Weasley gave you that?"
With one long finger, she lightly touched his jaw, and he flinched.
"Ouch," he snapped.
"Child," she teased, but didn't let him off easily. "A...Weasley? As in, related to that old Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley?"
"Unfortunately," Malfoy said. "It was his bastard of a son."
"And he beat you up," Cryssa said, clearly loving it.
"I would have beaten him into a bloody pulp if his Mudblood girlfriend hadn't pulled him out of my way," Malfoy snapped.
"Keep telling yourself that," she said, amusement obvious in her voice. "What are you doing with the Weasleys anyway?"
"He walked in," Malfoy said defensively.
"In where?" Cryssa pressed.
"Honeydukes," Malfoy said shortly.
"You hate Honeydukes," Cryssa said, very matter-of-factly. "What the hell were you doing in there?"
"Talking to someone."
"Oh really?" Cryssa asked coyly. "And who might this be? New girlfriend?"
He shrugged.
"I've been replaced, then, I see," she said, giving him her trademark amused half-smile.
"Jealous?"
"Maddeningly," she drawled. "What's her name?"
"Why?" Malfoy asked suspiciously.
"So I can go hunt her down and kill her, therefore leaving you entirely for myself," she deadpanned.
"Well, in that case, I don't think I'll name any names."
Cryssa studied him for a moment, violet eyes sparkling, before proclaiming, "She's a Weasley, isn't she?"
Damn her and her mind-reading skills.
"How many times have I told you to stay out of my head?" he asked darkly. "I can't stand your mind reading, Raine."
"It's not mind-reading," Cryssa argued. "I just sense things more-"
"Sensitively than everyone else," Draco finished in a deadpan. "How many times have I heard this?" He paused. "And yes, she's a Weasley." With a smirk, he added, "I only asked her out to bang her a few times and disgrace the family name."
"How very like you." Cryssa rolled her eyes. "Sex and scandal. Story of your life, Draco Malfoy. The day you actually care about someone is the day hell freezes over."
He gave her a sly smile. "Who's to say I didn't care about you, Raine?"
She scoffed. "Puh-leeze, Malfoy. I'm not a cretin. It was an arranged marriage. That pretty much eliminates the slightest possibility of love."
"I never said anything about love."
"Fondness, then."
A silence fell between them, but it wasn't awkward. It was merely the silence of two people who understood each other, who'd seen terrible things and still managed to be completely self-absorbed and aloof.
He wondered sometimes what life would have been like if he'd married her. Their marriage had been arranged the summer after sixth year - Cryssa had been taught at home because her parents didn't approve of Dumbledore's running Hogwarts. The Raine family's blood was valued above any other wizarding family's, even the Malfoys'.
Cryssa Raine was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself, and shared the same blood as Lord Voldemort's.
The relation was rather faint - her great grandmother was the mother of Tom Marvolo Riddle the second; Cryssa's grandmother was the defeated Dark Lord's older sister. Naturally, Lucius Malfoy had decided that his son had to marry into the family.
And so, after seventh year, he'd been scheduled to.
But the war had raged on all that year, and finally the Dark Lord was defeated a year after Malfoy had graduated from Hogwarts. His parents had been murdered, and he and Cryssa had broken their engagement.
They'd both been quite willing to make the decision - they'd never gotten along; quarreled constantly. Yes, there had been a spark of passion between them, there was no use in denying that, but there was also the constant need to be better than the other, and quite frankly, Draco hadn't liked it.
And yet since the wedding had been called off, they'd gotten along much better than they had formerly. It almost seemed as though they clung to one another, to phrase it in a pathetically cliché manner. They knew what the other had seen, what they'd faced, and they accepted it, bonded over it....
In silences like these.
But all silences needed to be broken.
"Crys?"
"Hmm?"
Draco swallowed, mustering up all the silken haughtiness that used to come easily to him. Where Ginny Weasley was concerned, it seemed to waiver in a manner that was most annoying.
"I think I need to apologize to her about something," he said.
"That's nice," Cryssa responded tonelessly.
Obviously she was going to make this hard for him.
How very like her.
"And I'd like you to come with me," he continued through gritted teeth.
"Come with you?" she repeated. He could hear the smirk in her voice, and didn't dare turn around to see it. "Need moral support, Malfoy?"
"Desperately, Raine," he drawled.
"Fine," she said, quite simply.
"Fine?" he repeated in disbelief.
That hadn't been nearly as hard as it should have been.
"Fine," she said with a shrug. "But..."
Ah, yes. There was always a 'but'.
"First, you have to buy me a drink," she finished, nodding toward The Three Broomsticks.
Draco gave her a wry smile.
"Deal."
A/N: Ron's Flying Instructor (he refuses to be called 'Professor Weasley', as it just creeps him out) and Hermione's the new Transfiguration professor, in case you wanted to know. :) I know JKR's said that they're not going to be professors, but hey, this is fanfiction! I've got this allll figured out...I'm planning to do a fic about Ron and Herm teaching at Hogwarts after this little piece of hell is over. :)
Which won't be for a while.
Yay?
And also, I am aware that Dumbledore said in CoS that Tom Riddle was the last heir of Salazar Slytherin, so don't feel compelled to mention it in reviews. :) It'll be elaborated on.