Disclaimer: I disclaim (hooray for never having to do this again!)
Chapter 6 Who's there?
I'm afraid of your rejection
I cherish a challenge
I'm afraid you'll lose your temper
I cherish danger in your eyes
I'm afraid you disregard me
I cherish looking unobserved
I'm afraid of icy silence
I cherish you left speechless
I'm afraid that you've seduced me
I cherish your smug grin
Draco glanced up at the clock in his room as he gathered the last of the supplies her would need. 10:52. One hour, 8 minutes and counting. He slipped quietly from his room under the invisibility cloak he had demanded after learning of Harry Scarhead's. The-boy-who-wouldn't-die shouldn't have anything a Malfoy didn't have first, it was an abomination.
Draco often walked around the castle under the cloak. After curfew, people showed different sides of themselves that they hid during the day. Draco had seen well-behaved, teacher's pets sneaking to the kitchen for midnight snacks. He had seen two younger students secretly meet for a snogging session one week and then fighting and bickering the next. He regularly saw Peeves setting the next days pranks and thus avoided many nasty situations. Tonight however, Draco was not wandering uselessly. He quickly strode to his destination ignoring the nighttime activities of others. At one point in his trek Draco unknowingly passed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
On the other side of the now snoring Fat Lady, Ginny Weasley waited in a squashy armchair for twelve o'clock to roll around. For the tenth time that night she reread the mysterious note she had received earlier that day.
Ginny: I found your journal. Come get it in the North Tower tonight at midnight. W.A.
The brevity and anonymity of the note still puzzled her. Why return if after curfew in an all but deserted part of the castle? Are they trying to protect themselves? Whose initials are those? Why are they trying to hide their identity? Questions such as these collected endlessly in Ginny's mind. As much as the questions bothered though, reuniting with her journal was more important at the moment. The mysteriousness could even be a perk. If the person didn't want to be recognized then they couldn't criticize or mock her poetry without revealing themselves. Ginny looked at the clock. 11:50, I should leave if I want to make it to the tower on time.
Heaving herself out of the chair, Ginny tip-toed through the empty common room and exited into the hallway. After navigating the labyrinth- like staircases and halls Ginny finally made it to the North Tower with two minutes to spare. Turning the final corner Ginny stopped dead in her tracks, completely dumbfounded by the sight that greeted her.
Hundreds of flickering candles covered every inch of cold stone floor except for a single narrow path that was coated in red rose petals. More roses grew on vines that creeped up each wall turning the rocky tower into a romantic garden area. Ginny picked her way along the path while staring amazedly at her surroundings. Who would take the time and effort to do this? I thought I was just getting my journal back, I didn't know I was going to be seduced! Realizing that someone, some guy, had set his up wither to woo her or mock her, Ginny turned quickly on the spot, suspiciously investigating dark corners and dense foliage. After several moments looking she let out a tentative,
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Her question was met with silence but a sudden flare of light further down the rose-strewn path drew her attention. The lights that had been ignited were actually more candles, floating this time, and perfectly arranged in a bright halo above her pink and purple journal. The tome itself was supported at waist level by a weave of un-thorned rose branches and verdant ivy.
Ginny, awed and bewildered, grasped her poems and shrieked in fright when the supportive foliage receded to blend with the other surrounding flora. Recovering quickly, Ginny eyed her journal, a dark, enchanting purple rose was thrust between two pages, acting as a beautiful bookmark. After turning to the marked pages and removing the lightly scented flower, she found a poem. This would not be unusual since it was found in a book of poetry, but these versed were not her own. A smooth flowing text in emerald green ink had replaced her own cramped writing.
Those lips that love's own hand did make
Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate'
To me that languished for her sake;
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom,
And taught it thus anew to greet:
'I hate' she altered with an end
That followed it as gentle day
Doth follow night who, like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away
'I hate' from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying 'not you.'
I would that you could utter those sweet words this night so I'd not wane to nothingness from the want of you. W.A.
Ginny read an reread the sonnet and note and still unable to comprehend the motives or identity or her feelings of this W.A., she stared. She stared at the page with trembling hands, overwhelmed with the beauty of the poem, of her surroundings, the romantic ambiance and the mystery of her invisible poet.
A sudden radiating warmth she had not felt from the candles startled her, but not nearly as much as the sensation of an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to nothingness until her lips met anothers' she couldn't see. Ginny pulled back in surprise and studied the empty air in front of her. She whispered into the dark night, "Who are you?" A breeze shifted her strawberry locks as a voice replied, "Your Worthy Adversary," and revealed a head of glistening blonde, two stormy eyes and eventually the slim, muscular form of Draco Malfoy himself. Draco discarded the cloak and held forth a full-bloomed and dewy rose. Ginny's mind reeled.
Standing in front of her was the man she had secretly wanted, written about, stared at, fantasized about and known in her heart that he would never want her back. Yet here he was, his pale skin illuminated by a myriad of candles and his hand clutching a rose for her, for her. Ginny did the only thing her scattered mind could come up with. Taking a step closer to him and seeing him lean in for another kiss, Ginny slapped him full across the face. The look he gave her was priceless.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Draco?!?!"
Ginny screamed at the confused and stinging Slytherin.
"Holy shit Ginny! I thought I was seducing you but apparently I only succeeded in pissing you off! I should be asking you what the hell you're doing!"
Draco stared back at the infuriated girl, fear and horror slowly overtaking his mind. Was I wrong? Does she really hate me?
"I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what you're doing. None of this makes sense! You're supposed to hate me! You're not supposed to have read my journal, you're not supposed to have figured any of this out, You're not supposed to know I like you! And you're definitely not supposed to freaking try to seduce me in the middle of the freakin night in the freaking North Tower!"
Ginny tried not to scream after her onslaught of anger. Draco felt relief at her admittance to likeing him but also anger and annoyance at her confusing statements. His eye's turned from smoky gray to shining silver as his temper escalated to match hers.
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!? I did hate you. I didn't choose to find your stupid journal! In fact, I was going to blackmail you at first but you just had to be so damn hot and bitchy that I fell for you and then you told me I was your stupid worthy adversary and I figured it out from one of your stupid poems that I was the one you had a stupid freaking crush on and I realized that I had been in denial and that I really like you back and I though it would be romantic if I gave you back your journal like this and then you would know that I freakin like you back and we could snog, end of story! Happy now!?!? God, you are so freakin infuriating woman! What's your problem?!?!"
Ginny had backed against one of the walls during his tirade trying to protect herself from his anger when the whole story clicked. After Draco finished and stood panting for breath waiting for a reasonable explanation Ginny managed a small, shocked,
"Oh."
Draco almost collapsed where he stood. His face took on such a pained expression that Ginny burst into tears.
"I'm sorry! I never thought that you would like me back! I was so convinced that you hated me that I knew I would never have a chance but now you're here and you like me and you did all this and it's so romantic and you shouldn't have because I don't deserve it and I feel like such a stupid bitch and now you must really hate me and I don't know what to do and I'm so confused and-"
Ginny was cut of suddenly by Draco placing two fingers gently on her lips.
"Shut up weaslette."
He softly said while looking into her eyes. Pulling her close he leaned in to kiss her once again but was briefly interrupted when Ginny, relieved and back to her usual self but smiling and amazed still, retorted softly,
"You first, ferret"
before hooking a hand around his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss.
.
.
A/N: Hooray!!! The End. Sorry if it's not quite as fluffy as other romantic ones but I said before, not a huge fan of fluff. So the sonnet is Shakespeare's Sonnet 145 and the opening poem is based on the Alanis Morisette song, "Sympathetic Character." Thank you all so much for reading this, and especially those who reviewed.Hugs and cookies to: Sophia P'Hawkins, Miah The Storm Wolf, K.S. the Singer, Fire 331, Speed Creek, Gen. Patton, moonbunny77, fairyqueen, Mithila, bobby and special thanks to my very faithful reviewers Sharap'n Princess, Purus.fluere, Cinder 2004, and my very first reviewer ever, LythTaeraneth. I luv you all! : )