Chapter
After that, Ginny began to go back to the music room often, and Draco was almost always there. Some nights he would play and she would just listen and the whole time they spent together would pass with neither of them saying a word. Sometimes he would stop and they would talk, carefully avoiding talk of muggles or what was going on outside of Hogwart's. Sometimes he would help her with her homework, or sometimes Ginny would bring food and they would eat and laugh. Draco still insulted her, but Ginny learned that this was simply his warped sense of humor. Sarcastic and biting as it was, once she figured out it was all in jest and learned to bite back she enjoyed it.
"So, when do I get to hear this mysterious sonata you're forever working on?" Ginny asked one night.
"I don't know. "Draco replied, never looking up from the paper he was scribbling on. "Maybe never. I may never finish it. It has to be perfect or it isn't worth playing for someone else."
"Draco, everything you play is magnificent." Ginny said, leveling her eyes at him. He looked back at her with a smoldering gaze. Sometimes Ginny would look up from her book or her homework, or just open her eyes after she had closed them, feeling the music, to catch him looking at her like that. It made her whole body heat up, and made her think of the one kiss they shared. Then he would seem to shake it off, and look away, and when he would look back, it was the arrogant aristocratic look he always leveled at her.
"So," Ginny said, looking for conversation topics, as he had stopped playing for the moment. "Are you going to the Yule Ball Friday night?"
"Yes." He replied, "And you?"
"Yes, "Ginny said. "I managed to save up for a new dress this year, and I really want to wear it."
"Will you be going with Harry?" Draco sneered at her.
They had several tiffs over her being in Harry Potter's company over the past few weeks. Ginny kept telling him that she didn't like Harry like that, and Draco kept saying that it didn't look that way to anyone else.
"Yes, I suppose so. "Ginny said irritated. "And don't start with me. I'm already put out with it enough as it is. Colin Creevy asked me, and I had to tell him no, what with the way Ron went on and on at me about how Harry wanted to go with me. No peace, I got, till I gave in and said Harry could take me."
"You could go alone." Draco said.
"Yes, I could I suppose, but you know how it is at these things. Go with someone and everyone asks you to dance. Go alone and you lean against the wall all night. I'd really like to show off my dress, and have a good time, so I guess I go with Harry. If I said no and went with Colin, Ron and Harry would just make us both miserable. Anyway, Colin's asked Hannah Abbott now, so maybe he'll have a good time and I can hope enough people ask me to dance that I don't have to spend all night on Harry's arm." She looked at Draco. "What about you, are you going stag?"
"No," Draco said, suddenly finding something interesting to stare at on the floor. "I'll be taking Pansy Parkinson."
"Pansy Parkinson?" Ginny shook her head at him. "I thought you said Pansy was a brainless twit."
"She is, but I couldn't go alone, now could I?" He reasoned. "After all, I have a reputation to uphold, and Pansy is the prettiest girl in Slytherin."
Ginny felt an unreasonable stab of jealousy when he called Pansy pretty. She ignored it and said, "You don't have to ask someone from Slytherin, you know. There are three other houses."
"There's only one girl from another house I'd even consider, and I can't ask her, so Pansy it is." He said.
"Really?" Ginny felt the stab come again and ignored it again. "Well, don't just sit there looking like the ignorant prat you are, tell me who she is and why she can't go with you. Inquiring Weasels want to know."
"She can't go with me because if she did, her brother and his friend would attack me before we got in the door and drag her off to her room, then she wouldn't be able to show off her new dress, or dance the night away, and I wouldn't even have the pleasure of being able to look at her all night from across the room. You oblivious twit, happy now?"
Ginny gazed at him unblinking for a moment. "Oh." It was all she could think of to say.
Draco snatched his music papers up and strode to the door. He looked at her once, glaring again, and he was gone, leaving her staring after him and wondering what had just happened.
Ginny didn't get to go to the music room again that week, Harry, Hermione and Ron effectively hemmed her up every night and Draco studiously avoided her in the halls. If he saw her coming he went to the other side of the hall, and refused to even look at her at meal times. Ginny couldn't help feeling an unexplainable warm glow every time she thought of him though. Draco had wanted to ask her to the dance. And didn't because he cared enough to want her to have a good time. He would never forgive her if he knew how many times she thought how sweet he was to care.
On Friday evening, as Ginny looked in the mirror, for one of the very few times in her life, Ginny gloated over her looks. She didn't often think of her self as attractive, but tonight she felt lovely. She had taken the time to pin her copper curls on top of her head in a cascade with just a few strategic strands hanging in ringlets around her neck and face. She had carefully applied make up, something she didn't usually wear, to enhance her eyes cheeks and lips, and cover her freckles just a little. And her dress. She and Hermione had shopped for it in Hogsmeade all day on the last trip. It was a patchwork dress of browns ranging from chocolate, like her eyes, to tan, to the lightest off white. It was a silk looking material that flowed smoothly when she walked. It wasn't particularly revealing. Spaghetti straps, a straight neckline that didn't dip at all, and a straight fall of material that molded to her curves, but not tightly, to the tips of the brown satin ballerina slippers she wore. The only daring thing about it was a slit from ankle to mid thigh, that only just peeked open when she walked. But Ginny didn't know that hinting could be more enticing than actually showing. Satisfied with her appearance, Ginny added crystal chandelier earrings and turned away from the mirror, taking up the chocolate colored cloak that Hermione had presented her with as an early Christmas present.
Hermione, in a lovely red evening gown, gasped, "Ginny, you look all grown up."
"Hermione, I'm sixteen years old. I am grown up. At least more so than you and Ron give me credit for." Said Ginny, smiling.
"I suppose so." Said Hermione. "Come on, the boys are waiting."
Hermione was going with Ron of course. He'd asked her to every dance the school had after that fiasco the year she'd went with Viktor Krum. He'd often mumbled about making sure she never had an opportunity to go with anyone else again. Ron had never come out and said it, but he obviously loved Hermione, and Ginny was pretty sure Hermione felt the same. Ron had even given in and let Hermione teach him to dance, albeit with much blustering about how it was a totally useless thing to do. It must be love.
As Ginny and Hermione came down the stairs, Ron first gazed at Hermione, telling her how lovely she was, but then when Harry spotted Ginny and gasped, Ron too turned his attention to his little sister.
"Gin, is that you?" He said, mouth agape. Hermione punched his arm and said, "Of course it is. Doesn't she look wonderful?"
Ron yelped and rubbed his arm saying, "Wonderful? I'm not sure if it's wonderful or not. I don't know if I ought to drag her back up to her room and make her put on a pair of flannel pajamas or pat Harry on the back and tell him he's a lucky dog. Look at him. Harry close your mouth and stop drooling. And remember, that's my little sister."
Harry sounded strangled as he said "Ginny you look absolutely ravishing."
Ginny smiled. "Thank you Harry. Ron stop glaring at Harry. He's your friend, remember? Shall we go?"
As they left for the great hall, Ginny smiled again, knowing secretly that she had dressed tonight for someone waiting there.
When they entered the great hall, Ginny searched among the faces for the sharp features of Draco. She found him at the same time he found her. He looked regal in the gray tux he wore, with his hair tied back with a gray silk ribbon that managed to look masculine on him. He seemed to suck in his breath at the sight of Ginny and she smiled at him from across the room. He flashed her a wicked grin then and turned away as Harry stepped in front of Ginny to ask her to dance.
It seemed to Ginny that she stayed on the dance floor for hours that night. She danced with so many people. Seamus, Dean, Colin, Harry, Ron, Neville, boys from Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, and then, surprisingly, while she danced with Neville again, Blaise Zabini from Slytherin cut in. Neville looked ready to jump out of his skin when Zabini more or less ordered Neville to get lost, so Ginny smiled and let Neville know it was alright. She supposed she could put up with Zabini for just one dance. Immediately though, it became a problem. Zabini was handy, and Ginny couldn't keep up with everywhere his hands seem to be going. Suddenly, a voice behind her said, "Zabini, would you quit mauling the poor little Gryffindor, she might cry."
"Shove off Malfoy, I'm busy with the new found cupcake." Zabini snickered. But he wasn't prepared for Draco to grab him by the arm and say softly, "I said let her go...Now."
Blaise looked confused and then smiled and said, "Why didn't you just tell me you had first dibs on this one Malfoy?" He let go of Ginny and leered at the two of them and walked away. As Draco took up Ginny's hands and began to twirl her around the dance floor, she looked frantically for Ron and Harry. Fortunately she spotted them over by the punch bowl, three heads together.
"Thank goodness they didn't notice the scene. Thanks for rescuing me Draco." Ginny said, and looked at Draco and stopped talking. He had this look on his face she couldn't begin to describe. Awe, adoration, amazement, all rolled up in one. And he was aiming that look at her.
"Ginny, you're.... you're beautiful." He rasped, as if he couldn't talk." You've always been beautiful but tonight.... tonight you take my breath away."
Ginny smiled and decided to make light of the situation before one them embarrassed themselves. "Thanks. You're not too shabby yourself. It's all rather like a fairytale isn't it? The great hall looking so grand, people dressed to the nines, dancing and laughing, you and me here dancing. I keep expecting that when I go to bed tonight I'll find a pea under my mattress."
Draco threw his head back and roared. They didn't talk anymore. Draco spun her round and round the dance floor. Ginny felt as if she were dancing on air, especially with him gazing at her with a smile, a real smile, on his face. It was as if no one else in the world were there but just the two of them. When the dance was over, Draco tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Giving her hand over to Harry he said, "Better pay closer attention Potter. I realize you think you're the Prince of Hogwarts, but your princess nearly got carried off by a villain."
"Malfoy, why do I keep having to tell you to leave my sister alone?" bristled Ron, with Harry and Hermione looking like they'd like to tie Draco up and roast him over an open spit, behind him. "I guess you must want me to pound you."
"Oh for goodness sake, Ron, shut up!" snapped Ginny. "And Harry quit looking at Malfoy as if he's dirt! You too Hermione!"
"Gin. Why are you taking up for the prat?" asked Ron, looking confused.
"Because he helped me Ron. If you'd all shut up long enough, maybe you might hear what happened. Zabini ran Neville off the dance floor with me, and then he wouldn't stop mauling me. Malfoy here came to my rescue. For once, just once, mind you, he doesn't deserve your mouth." Ginny pulled her hand from Harry's, put it on Draco's arm and said, "Thank you Draco, for saving me from that octopus Zabini, and for a lovely dance."
Draco took her hand from his arm and brought it to his lips. Ginny felt the barest brush of them against her knuckles, making a shiver run up her spine. "My pleasure princess. I hope the rest of your evening lives up to the fairy tale."
With an arrogant smirk, he bowed low and formally to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and walked away.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" asked Ron, scratching his forehead and gazing after Draco. "Gin are you quite sure the bugger didn't bother you?"
Ginny sighed. "Quite Ron. Forget it. He had a half human moment. It's bound to happen occasionally. Even Ferrets have pangs of conscience every now and then."
Ron let out a laugh and breath of relief. A niggling fear had grabbed him when his sister had taken up for Malfoy, but if she still called him Ferret then he felt sure that it was only a moment of gratitude for getting her out of a bad situation. He didn't understand why Malfoy would help her, but Ginny did look spectacular tonight, perhaps Malfoy couldn't stand to see his housemate make moves on a girl prettier than the one he was with. Satisfied with this explanation to himself, Ron promptly let it go.
The evening progressed nicely, as Harry and Ron stayed close to Ginny, Harry releasing her less often on the dance floor, and spending the time talking about quidditch and classes. Still, the night seemed to lack the magic it had when she had been dancing with Draco. She caught his eye a few more times, he would only smile and turn away, even though she willed him in her mind to come and ask her to dance again. Finally, worn out from Harry's attention, she managed to grab her cloak and slip out the doors into the garden when Harry got up to speak to Dean and Seamus about the match with Hufflepuff next month.
Finding a corner of the garden where no one could see her, Ginny stopped to take in the night sky. The air was crisp and cold but Ginny was warm in her cloak. The moon seemed to be hung right above the castle, so bright it was almost daylight in the garden.
As Ginny walked along the path, a hand suddenly snaked out and snatched her round to face Blaise Zabini. "Ah, here she is. Who could know that you were such a cupcake hidden under all that hair and those hand me down clothes Weasley? If I had known, I'd have snatched you up sooner."
Ginny struggled to pull her arm out of his grasp but Zabini just leered at her and pushed her up against the castle wall. "Don't struggle now. I promise I can show you a lot more than Potter can."
He pressed up against her, leaning in to go for her mouth, when he was lifted suddenly away from her. Ginny looked over to see Zabini against the wall now, with Draco pinning him down. Draco grabbed Zabini by the lapels of his tux and pulled him mere inches from his face.
"I thought I told you to leave her alone, Zabini. Do you have a hearing problem?" Although Draco never raised his voice, Ginny could hear the silky, dangerous tone to it, and evidently Zabini did too. But it didn't seem to frighten him the way it would most people, because he smirked at Draco as he pushed away from the wall when Draco released him.
"Malfoy. Treading on your toes, am I? Sorry ole boy, I thought you'd given up on the chit. I saw you hand her over to Potter and when she snuck away by herself I figured she needed a little more.... action.... than he could provide. When you're done with her, let me know. I'd like a go at her myself, even if it is seconds."
That was when Draco hit him. Ginny gasped as she saw Draco's fist connect with Zabini's jaw, and Zabini fall to the ground. As Zabini rubbed his jaw, Draco said menacingly, "Listen up Zabini. Weasley is off limits to you, period. I don't care if she's with me, with Potter, or with some first year Hufflepuff. You're not to touch her, talk to her, or even think about her. Don't make me tell you again, because it won't be pleasant for you if I have to."
Zabini stood up, brushing off his expensive tux. "I don't know what your problem is Malfoy. Gone round the bend on some little Gryffindor bint. Ah well, that's all well and fine with me. I see you've left Pansy to her own devices. Perhaps she'll appreciate my talents, aye?"
Zabini stalked away and Draco turned to Ginny. "Are you all right?"
"Yes I think so. He didn't really do anything to me, just frightened me." Ginny said, straightening her dress and patting her hair to see if it was still in place.
"What were you thinking, coming out here alone. If I hadn't noticed you weren't in the hall anymore.... And what the bloody hell is Potter thinking, letting you out of his sight? If I hadn't come along when I did.... My God, didn't I just tell him.... I ought to go and punch his bloody face in is what I-"
"Draco...Draco... DRACO!" Ginny spoke over his raving.
"What?!" Draco snapped, running his hand through his long blond hair.
"You're ruining it."
"Ruining it... Ruining what?"
"My fairy tale. The knight in shining armor does not save the princess from the evil villain then go raving on about how he ought to punch the prince's face in." She said with a stomp of her foot.
Draco raised one eyebrow and said, "Is that right? Well then, what does he do?"
"He kisses the princess," she said matter-of-factly.
Before Ginny could blink, Draco had swooped in and gathered her up roughly to him. His mouth came down on hers softly and gently. The kiss was so sweet and tender it made Ginny's knees turn to water. He traced the edges of her lips with his tongue, asking entry and Ginny eagerly opened to him. The intensity of the kiss grew as his tongue found hers and danced together. Ginny found herself backed against the castle wall once more, only this time it was Draco pressed up against her, Draco touching her, Draco wanting her. As he trailed kisses down her neck, Ginny gasped in ecstasy. Her hands traveled down his chest to his ribcage and around his back. She tugged his shirt up out of his pants and slid her cool hands up his back, feeling his muscles quiver under her touch. When she moved her hands round to his chest and brushed over his nipples, she heard him suck in his breath sharply. He rubbed his hand across the thin material covering her breasts, stopping to softly knead them. Ginny felt a jolt of electricity as he pressed even harder against her and she felt just how she affected him. His mouth moved back up to hers and he grabbed her lips with his in another searching kiss. Just then, a group of first years tumbled out the doors into the garden laughing and shouting. They couldn't see Ginny and Draco, but the noise was enough to jolt the two back to reality.
Draco drew his head back and gulped in air. "My Lord, Weasel.... I... I don't know what to say. "
Ginny, who had laid her head on his chest, laughed softly. "Ferret boy doesn't know what to say. How often does that happen?"
"Not often. But more and more where you're concerned, it seems." He grinned at her.
"Ginny?"
Ginny heard Ron call her from the door of the hall. She sighed. "I better go."
Draco looked towards where her brother, Potter and Hermione were calling for her from. "I suppose so. Listen Weasel...."
Ginny stopped him by putting her hand to his lips. "We need to talk. I know. But not tonight. Later. Tonight lets just leave it."
Draco kissed the fingers over his mouth, nodded and backed away. As he turned she called to him softly. "Draco?"
"Yes?" he said, turning back to her, eyebrow raised.
"Thank you for giving my fairy tale a happy ending tonight."
Draco's eyes glittered and he hurried back to grasp her upper arms and pull her to him for one last kiss. "My pleasure princess." He smiled at her and then blended into the shadows as Harry, Ron and Hermione came round the corner.
Ginny floated the rest of the evening, only half paying attention to what Harry and the others were saying to her. She couldn't seem to stop smiling, even as she watched Draco dance with Pansy Parkinson. Finally, she claimed exhaustion and told Harry there was no need to escort her back to Gryffindor. He seemed willing enough to let her go, perhaps thinking the smile on her face was for him.
He escorted her to the door and smiled down at her. "Did you have a good time tonight, Ginny?"
"Oh, yes Harry." Ginny said, touching her hand to her lips, remembering Draco's mouth on them.
"I'm glad." Harry said, leaning down to kiss her goodnight. Ginny was acutely aware of two things at that moment. One was that she couldn't let Harry have false hope about her. The other was that Draco's eyes were on the two of them. She didn't think that letting Harry kiss her would help either situation. So she did the only thing she could think of to defuse the situation. She stood quickly on her tiptoes and kissed Harry soundly on the cheek.
She glanced over at Draco, and his shoulders seemed to relax as though they had been tense before. Glancing back at Harry she noticed the disappointment on his face, and was sorry, but felt it had to be done.
"Goodnight Ginny," Harry said, smiling at her.
"Goodnight Harry," She replied and hurried out the door to her rooms above. As Ginny slept that night she dreamed of being in Draco Malfoy's arms.
After that, Ginny began to go back to the music room often, and Draco was almost always there. Some nights he would play and she would just listen and the whole time they spent together would pass with neither of them saying a word. Sometimes he would stop and they would talk, carefully avoiding talk of muggles or what was going on outside of Hogwart's. Sometimes he would help her with her homework, or sometimes Ginny would bring food and they would eat and laugh. Draco still insulted her, but Ginny learned that this was simply his warped sense of humor. Sarcastic and biting as it was, once she figured out it was all in jest and learned to bite back she enjoyed it.
"So, when do I get to hear this mysterious sonata you're forever working on?" Ginny asked one night.
"I don't know. "Draco replied, never looking up from the paper he was scribbling on. "Maybe never. I may never finish it. It has to be perfect or it isn't worth playing for someone else."
"Draco, everything you play is magnificent." Ginny said, leveling her eyes at him. He looked back at her with a smoldering gaze. Sometimes Ginny would look up from her book or her homework, or just open her eyes after she had closed them, feeling the music, to catch him looking at her like that. It made her whole body heat up, and made her think of the one kiss they shared. Then he would seem to shake it off, and look away, and when he would look back, it was the arrogant aristocratic look he always leveled at her.
"So," Ginny said, looking for conversation topics, as he had stopped playing for the moment. "Are you going to the Yule Ball Friday night?"
"Yes." He replied, "And you?"
"Yes, "Ginny said. "I managed to save up for a new dress this year, and I really want to wear it."
"Will you be going with Harry?" Draco sneered at her.
They had several tiffs over her being in Harry Potter's company over the past few weeks. Ginny kept telling him that she didn't like Harry like that, and Draco kept saying that it didn't look that way to anyone else.
"Yes, I suppose so. "Ginny said irritated. "And don't start with me. I'm already put out with it enough as it is. Colin Creevy asked me, and I had to tell him no, what with the way Ron went on and on at me about how Harry wanted to go with me. No peace, I got, till I gave in and said Harry could take me."
"You could go alone." Draco said.
"Yes, I could I suppose, but you know how it is at these things. Go with someone and everyone asks you to dance. Go alone and you lean against the wall all night. I'd really like to show off my dress, and have a good time, so I guess I go with Harry. If I said no and went with Colin, Ron and Harry would just make us both miserable. Anyway, Colin's asked Hannah Abbott now, so maybe he'll have a good time and I can hope enough people ask me to dance that I don't have to spend all night on Harry's arm." She looked at Draco. "What about you, are you going stag?"
"No," Draco said, suddenly finding something interesting to stare at on the floor. "I'll be taking Pansy Parkinson."
"Pansy Parkinson?" Ginny shook her head at him. "I thought you said Pansy was a brainless twit."
"She is, but I couldn't go alone, now could I?" He reasoned. "After all, I have a reputation to uphold, and Pansy is the prettiest girl in Slytherin."
Ginny felt an unreasonable stab of jealousy when he called Pansy pretty. She ignored it and said, "You don't have to ask someone from Slytherin, you know. There are three other houses."
"There's only one girl from another house I'd even consider, and I can't ask her, so Pansy it is." He said.
"Really?" Ginny felt the stab come again and ignored it again. "Well, don't just sit there looking like the ignorant prat you are, tell me who she is and why she can't go with you. Inquiring Weasels want to know."
"She can't go with me because if she did, her brother and his friend would attack me before we got in the door and drag her off to her room, then she wouldn't be able to show off her new dress, or dance the night away, and I wouldn't even have the pleasure of being able to look at her all night from across the room. You oblivious twit, happy now?"
Ginny gazed at him unblinking for a moment. "Oh." It was all she could think of to say.
Draco snatched his music papers up and strode to the door. He looked at her once, glaring again, and he was gone, leaving her staring after him and wondering what had just happened.
Ginny didn't get to go to the music room again that week, Harry, Hermione and Ron effectively hemmed her up every night and Draco studiously avoided her in the halls. If he saw her coming he went to the other side of the hall, and refused to even look at her at meal times. Ginny couldn't help feeling an unexplainable warm glow every time she thought of him though. Draco had wanted to ask her to the dance. And didn't because he cared enough to want her to have a good time. He would never forgive her if he knew how many times she thought how sweet he was to care.
On Friday evening, as Ginny looked in the mirror, for one of the very few times in her life, Ginny gloated over her looks. She didn't often think of her self as attractive, but tonight she felt lovely. She had taken the time to pin her copper curls on top of her head in a cascade with just a few strategic strands hanging in ringlets around her neck and face. She had carefully applied make up, something she didn't usually wear, to enhance her eyes cheeks and lips, and cover her freckles just a little. And her dress. She and Hermione had shopped for it in Hogsmeade all day on the last trip. It was a patchwork dress of browns ranging from chocolate, like her eyes, to tan, to the lightest off white. It was a silk looking material that flowed smoothly when she walked. It wasn't particularly revealing. Spaghetti straps, a straight neckline that didn't dip at all, and a straight fall of material that molded to her curves, but not tightly, to the tips of the brown satin ballerina slippers she wore. The only daring thing about it was a slit from ankle to mid thigh, that only just peeked open when she walked. But Ginny didn't know that hinting could be more enticing than actually showing. Satisfied with her appearance, Ginny added crystal chandelier earrings and turned away from the mirror, taking up the chocolate colored cloak that Hermione had presented her with as an early Christmas present.
Hermione, in a lovely red evening gown, gasped, "Ginny, you look all grown up."
"Hermione, I'm sixteen years old. I am grown up. At least more so than you and Ron give me credit for." Said Ginny, smiling.
"I suppose so." Said Hermione. "Come on, the boys are waiting."
Hermione was going with Ron of course. He'd asked her to every dance the school had after that fiasco the year she'd went with Viktor Krum. He'd often mumbled about making sure she never had an opportunity to go with anyone else again. Ron had never come out and said it, but he obviously loved Hermione, and Ginny was pretty sure Hermione felt the same. Ron had even given in and let Hermione teach him to dance, albeit with much blustering about how it was a totally useless thing to do. It must be love.
As Ginny and Hermione came down the stairs, Ron first gazed at Hermione, telling her how lovely she was, but then when Harry spotted Ginny and gasped, Ron too turned his attention to his little sister.
"Gin, is that you?" He said, mouth agape. Hermione punched his arm and said, "Of course it is. Doesn't she look wonderful?"
Ron yelped and rubbed his arm saying, "Wonderful? I'm not sure if it's wonderful or not. I don't know if I ought to drag her back up to her room and make her put on a pair of flannel pajamas or pat Harry on the back and tell him he's a lucky dog. Look at him. Harry close your mouth and stop drooling. And remember, that's my little sister."
Harry sounded strangled as he said "Ginny you look absolutely ravishing."
Ginny smiled. "Thank you Harry. Ron stop glaring at Harry. He's your friend, remember? Shall we go?"
As they left for the great hall, Ginny smiled again, knowing secretly that she had dressed tonight for someone waiting there.
When they entered the great hall, Ginny searched among the faces for the sharp features of Draco. She found him at the same time he found her. He looked regal in the gray tux he wore, with his hair tied back with a gray silk ribbon that managed to look masculine on him. He seemed to suck in his breath at the sight of Ginny and she smiled at him from across the room. He flashed her a wicked grin then and turned away as Harry stepped in front of Ginny to ask her to dance.
It seemed to Ginny that she stayed on the dance floor for hours that night. She danced with so many people. Seamus, Dean, Colin, Harry, Ron, Neville, boys from Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, and then, surprisingly, while she danced with Neville again, Blaise Zabini from Slytherin cut in. Neville looked ready to jump out of his skin when Zabini more or less ordered Neville to get lost, so Ginny smiled and let Neville know it was alright. She supposed she could put up with Zabini for just one dance. Immediately though, it became a problem. Zabini was handy, and Ginny couldn't keep up with everywhere his hands seem to be going. Suddenly, a voice behind her said, "Zabini, would you quit mauling the poor little Gryffindor, she might cry."
"Shove off Malfoy, I'm busy with the new found cupcake." Zabini snickered. But he wasn't prepared for Draco to grab him by the arm and say softly, "I said let her go...Now."
Blaise looked confused and then smiled and said, "Why didn't you just tell me you had first dibs on this one Malfoy?" He let go of Ginny and leered at the two of them and walked away. As Draco took up Ginny's hands and began to twirl her around the dance floor, she looked frantically for Ron and Harry. Fortunately she spotted them over by the punch bowl, three heads together.
"Thank goodness they didn't notice the scene. Thanks for rescuing me Draco." Ginny said, and looked at Draco and stopped talking. He had this look on his face she couldn't begin to describe. Awe, adoration, amazement, all rolled up in one. And he was aiming that look at her.
"Ginny, you're.... you're beautiful." He rasped, as if he couldn't talk." You've always been beautiful but tonight.... tonight you take my breath away."
Ginny smiled and decided to make light of the situation before one them embarrassed themselves. "Thanks. You're not too shabby yourself. It's all rather like a fairytale isn't it? The great hall looking so grand, people dressed to the nines, dancing and laughing, you and me here dancing. I keep expecting that when I go to bed tonight I'll find a pea under my mattress."
Draco threw his head back and roared. They didn't talk anymore. Draco spun her round and round the dance floor. Ginny felt as if she were dancing on air, especially with him gazing at her with a smile, a real smile, on his face. It was as if no one else in the world were there but just the two of them. When the dance was over, Draco tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Giving her hand over to Harry he said, "Better pay closer attention Potter. I realize you think you're the Prince of Hogwarts, but your princess nearly got carried off by a villain."
"Malfoy, why do I keep having to tell you to leave my sister alone?" bristled Ron, with Harry and Hermione looking like they'd like to tie Draco up and roast him over an open spit, behind him. "I guess you must want me to pound you."
"Oh for goodness sake, Ron, shut up!" snapped Ginny. "And Harry quit looking at Malfoy as if he's dirt! You too Hermione!"
"Gin. Why are you taking up for the prat?" asked Ron, looking confused.
"Because he helped me Ron. If you'd all shut up long enough, maybe you might hear what happened. Zabini ran Neville off the dance floor with me, and then he wouldn't stop mauling me. Malfoy here came to my rescue. For once, just once, mind you, he doesn't deserve your mouth." Ginny pulled her hand from Harry's, put it on Draco's arm and said, "Thank you Draco, for saving me from that octopus Zabini, and for a lovely dance."
Draco took her hand from his arm and brought it to his lips. Ginny felt the barest brush of them against her knuckles, making a shiver run up her spine. "My pleasure princess. I hope the rest of your evening lives up to the fairy tale."
With an arrogant smirk, he bowed low and formally to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and walked away.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" asked Ron, scratching his forehead and gazing after Draco. "Gin are you quite sure the bugger didn't bother you?"
Ginny sighed. "Quite Ron. Forget it. He had a half human moment. It's bound to happen occasionally. Even Ferrets have pangs of conscience every now and then."
Ron let out a laugh and breath of relief. A niggling fear had grabbed him when his sister had taken up for Malfoy, but if she still called him Ferret then he felt sure that it was only a moment of gratitude for getting her out of a bad situation. He didn't understand why Malfoy would help her, but Ginny did look spectacular tonight, perhaps Malfoy couldn't stand to see his housemate make moves on a girl prettier than the one he was with. Satisfied with this explanation to himself, Ron promptly let it go.
The evening progressed nicely, as Harry and Ron stayed close to Ginny, Harry releasing her less often on the dance floor, and spending the time talking about quidditch and classes. Still, the night seemed to lack the magic it had when she had been dancing with Draco. She caught his eye a few more times, he would only smile and turn away, even though she willed him in her mind to come and ask her to dance again. Finally, worn out from Harry's attention, she managed to grab her cloak and slip out the doors into the garden when Harry got up to speak to Dean and Seamus about the match with Hufflepuff next month.
Finding a corner of the garden where no one could see her, Ginny stopped to take in the night sky. The air was crisp and cold but Ginny was warm in her cloak. The moon seemed to be hung right above the castle, so bright it was almost daylight in the garden.
As Ginny walked along the path, a hand suddenly snaked out and snatched her round to face Blaise Zabini. "Ah, here she is. Who could know that you were such a cupcake hidden under all that hair and those hand me down clothes Weasley? If I had known, I'd have snatched you up sooner."
Ginny struggled to pull her arm out of his grasp but Zabini just leered at her and pushed her up against the castle wall. "Don't struggle now. I promise I can show you a lot more than Potter can."
He pressed up against her, leaning in to go for her mouth, when he was lifted suddenly away from her. Ginny looked over to see Zabini against the wall now, with Draco pinning him down. Draco grabbed Zabini by the lapels of his tux and pulled him mere inches from his face.
"I thought I told you to leave her alone, Zabini. Do you have a hearing problem?" Although Draco never raised his voice, Ginny could hear the silky, dangerous tone to it, and evidently Zabini did too. But it didn't seem to frighten him the way it would most people, because he smirked at Draco as he pushed away from the wall when Draco released him.
"Malfoy. Treading on your toes, am I? Sorry ole boy, I thought you'd given up on the chit. I saw you hand her over to Potter and when she snuck away by herself I figured she needed a little more.... action.... than he could provide. When you're done with her, let me know. I'd like a go at her myself, even if it is seconds."
That was when Draco hit him. Ginny gasped as she saw Draco's fist connect with Zabini's jaw, and Zabini fall to the ground. As Zabini rubbed his jaw, Draco said menacingly, "Listen up Zabini. Weasley is off limits to you, period. I don't care if she's with me, with Potter, or with some first year Hufflepuff. You're not to touch her, talk to her, or even think about her. Don't make me tell you again, because it won't be pleasant for you if I have to."
Zabini stood up, brushing off his expensive tux. "I don't know what your problem is Malfoy. Gone round the bend on some little Gryffindor bint. Ah well, that's all well and fine with me. I see you've left Pansy to her own devices. Perhaps she'll appreciate my talents, aye?"
Zabini stalked away and Draco turned to Ginny. "Are you all right?"
"Yes I think so. He didn't really do anything to me, just frightened me." Ginny said, straightening her dress and patting her hair to see if it was still in place.
"What were you thinking, coming out here alone. If I hadn't noticed you weren't in the hall anymore.... And what the bloody hell is Potter thinking, letting you out of his sight? If I hadn't come along when I did.... My God, didn't I just tell him.... I ought to go and punch his bloody face in is what I-"
"Draco...Draco... DRACO!" Ginny spoke over his raving.
"What?!" Draco snapped, running his hand through his long blond hair.
"You're ruining it."
"Ruining it... Ruining what?"
"My fairy tale. The knight in shining armor does not save the princess from the evil villain then go raving on about how he ought to punch the prince's face in." She said with a stomp of her foot.
Draco raised one eyebrow and said, "Is that right? Well then, what does he do?"
"He kisses the princess," she said matter-of-factly.
Before Ginny could blink, Draco had swooped in and gathered her up roughly to him. His mouth came down on hers softly and gently. The kiss was so sweet and tender it made Ginny's knees turn to water. He traced the edges of her lips with his tongue, asking entry and Ginny eagerly opened to him. The intensity of the kiss grew as his tongue found hers and danced together. Ginny found herself backed against the castle wall once more, only this time it was Draco pressed up against her, Draco touching her, Draco wanting her. As he trailed kisses down her neck, Ginny gasped in ecstasy. Her hands traveled down his chest to his ribcage and around his back. She tugged his shirt up out of his pants and slid her cool hands up his back, feeling his muscles quiver under her touch. When she moved her hands round to his chest and brushed over his nipples, she heard him suck in his breath sharply. He rubbed his hand across the thin material covering her breasts, stopping to softly knead them. Ginny felt a jolt of electricity as he pressed even harder against her and she felt just how she affected him. His mouth moved back up to hers and he grabbed her lips with his in another searching kiss. Just then, a group of first years tumbled out the doors into the garden laughing and shouting. They couldn't see Ginny and Draco, but the noise was enough to jolt the two back to reality.
Draco drew his head back and gulped in air. "My Lord, Weasel.... I... I don't know what to say. "
Ginny, who had laid her head on his chest, laughed softly. "Ferret boy doesn't know what to say. How often does that happen?"
"Not often. But more and more where you're concerned, it seems." He grinned at her.
"Ginny?"
Ginny heard Ron call her from the door of the hall. She sighed. "I better go."
Draco looked towards where her brother, Potter and Hermione were calling for her from. "I suppose so. Listen Weasel...."
Ginny stopped him by putting her hand to his lips. "We need to talk. I know. But not tonight. Later. Tonight lets just leave it."
Draco kissed the fingers over his mouth, nodded and backed away. As he turned she called to him softly. "Draco?"
"Yes?" he said, turning back to her, eyebrow raised.
"Thank you for giving my fairy tale a happy ending tonight."
Draco's eyes glittered and he hurried back to grasp her upper arms and pull her to him for one last kiss. "My pleasure princess." He smiled at her and then blended into the shadows as Harry, Ron and Hermione came round the corner.
Ginny floated the rest of the evening, only half paying attention to what Harry and the others were saying to her. She couldn't seem to stop smiling, even as she watched Draco dance with Pansy Parkinson. Finally, she claimed exhaustion and told Harry there was no need to escort her back to Gryffindor. He seemed willing enough to let her go, perhaps thinking the smile on her face was for him.
He escorted her to the door and smiled down at her. "Did you have a good time tonight, Ginny?"
"Oh, yes Harry." Ginny said, touching her hand to her lips, remembering Draco's mouth on them.
"I'm glad." Harry said, leaning down to kiss her goodnight. Ginny was acutely aware of two things at that moment. One was that she couldn't let Harry have false hope about her. The other was that Draco's eyes were on the two of them. She didn't think that letting Harry kiss her would help either situation. So she did the only thing she could think of to defuse the situation. She stood quickly on her tiptoes and kissed Harry soundly on the cheek.
She glanced over at Draco, and his shoulders seemed to relax as though they had been tense before. Glancing back at Harry she noticed the disappointment on his face, and was sorry, but felt it had to be done.
"Goodnight Ginny," Harry said, smiling at her.
"Goodnight Harry," She replied and hurried out the door to her rooms above. As Ginny slept that night she dreamed of being in Draco Malfoy's arms.