Talking
Ginny looked down at Kari. She then looked up at Draco.
"I want to see Kari more often." She stated. He studied her, and came to a conclusion.
"Fine," he said, "but we need to talk."
--
Harry couldn't believe his ears! They didn't even need to use any more of "the plan" to bring them together. He looked to Patty and gave her a signal.
They'd have a backup plan, just in case Draco and Ginny screwed it up themselves.
--
Ginny gave him a look.
"Fine. When?"
"How about noon tomorrow? At the Leaky Cauldron?" He asked.
"Sounds fine."
----------------
The next day
Ginny looked at her watch again. It was five minutes past noon, and Draco still wasn't there. If he's not here in five minutes, I'm leaving. Ginny promised herself. She sat, drumming her fingers on the table in front of her. The nerve of him! To tell her to meet him here, and then not be on time! Well…. She looked at her watch again. Ten minutes past.
Getting up, Ginny began to move toward the door. When she opened it, she collided with somebody.
"Sorry," she said, looking at the person. It was Draco.
"Leaving, Ginny?" He asked. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.
"Well, you're late." She said defensively.
He nodded in understanding, and then turned to Tom who stood in the shadows.
"Could we get a private room, Tom?" Tom nodded and led them into a room.
"Two butterbeers, Tom." Draco ordered. Ginny glared at him.
"What?"
"Maybe I didn't want a butterbeer, Draco." She pointed out. He shrugged.
"What did you want, then?" he questioned.
"A butterbeer."
"Then what's the problem?"
"It's the thought behind it, Draco. It isn't the fact thtat I wanted one. You do that all the time."
Tom returned with their butterbeers. Draco thanked him before turning to Ginny.
"I do it all the time? You've never had a problem with it before."
"I've never stood up to you, really, before."
"What about all that stuff that you did before Kari…"
"That wasn't standing up, Draco, that was being childish."
Draco studied her. She was right, he knew, and knew better than to press her on it.
He said nothing. She looked at him, and said,
"The only reason I agreed to talk is because Kari needs a mother. It isn't because of any smooth talking on your part." Draco winced as she laid the facts bare with no subtlety.
"Fine. Have it that way."
"God, I hate that you aren't arguing with me! It's totally out of character for you! You always think you're right, and never consider my opinion, and now you're just sitting there!"
"You consider my opinion, Virginia?" he said in a cold voice. Ginny realized that she had made him angry, but she didn't care. The man was so infuriating!
"Not always, but maybe if you cared about mine…" Ginny started but Draco interrupted her.
"What do you think I'm trying to do now, Ginny?" he asked angrily. She had touched a nerve. She glared at him in silence for a few moments before saying.,
"You're haughty, irresponsible, and don't care about anything but yourself!" Ginny said quietly and angrily. Draco exploded.
"You can say I'm irresponsible, and I won't deny that I'm sometimes haughty, but never say that I don't care about anyone but myself! What do you think I'm doing now? I'm caring about Kari, and I'm caring about you! If anyone is being selfish here, Ginny, it's you."
Silence reigned for a good five minutes as she considered what he said. Tom peeked back in,
"Do you need anything else, Mister Malfoy?" he asked, looking at Draco. Draco glared at Ginny,
"Well, Ginny, do you want something?" he asked.
"No." she replied, looking at the floor. Different emotions were running through her. On one hand, she knew Draco was right, but on the other, she was proud and didn't want to say it. There was still some resentment, but deep down, Ginny knew that it wasn't Draco's fault for losing Kari. It wasn't anyone's but Blossom and Gordon's, and that mysterious man that no one seemed to know anything about.
Draco stood, thinking of leaving. He wasn't sure what he had meant to accomplish by this encounter, but he was positive that the only good thing that had come of it was that they now knew pretty much how the other felt.
"Draco." Ginny said, stopping him. He looked back at her. "I'm not saying sorry. But I do think that we can work this out."
He looked at her, happiness etched on his face. In truth, he would have been happier with an apology, but it looked as though things were moving in the right direction.
---
Em… right. No explanation… but yeah. I'm hoping to finish this story soon… two or three chapters, probably.
But, onto baseball games. Isn't it a bit embarrassing to be the best team in your division (or something like that… I'm not all up-to-date on minor league baseball (I think that that's what it was)) and to lose 4-1 in a home game? Ah, well… the fans have fun singing 'take me out to the ball game' during the seventh-inning stretch!
And, just for the record, marching in parades is no fun! Boo! Who thinks up those types of torture? I mean, really, what do they think? "Oh, yes, when is the hottest and most humid part of the year? August, you say? We'll have band camp then. But the second? The middle of July? Awesome… we'll have the kids march parade!" Ah… those crazy band directors…
-Lili