Chapter 16
Draco Malfoy was strutting down the street, in his usual I-own-the-world fashion, towards the direction of his apartment building. His normal thoughts were being interrupted by a certain person, one whom he definitely did not want to think about. Ginny Weasley.
Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? He is a Malfoy; they don't have feelings for people. He certainly did not have any feelings for her. 'Of course not' he thought, taking a right turn at the street corner. It was obvious that the game was over now and he had to find something else to occupy his free time. She had been a fun distraction though, despite the fact that she was the Weaselette.
She had fallen into his well thought out trap, found the information, and then used it in her article. It was causing a big frenzy in the wizarding community, and they were going to investigate further before letting the innocent man go free. He received a copy of Warts daily, and when he saw that report on the front page a grin crept across his face.
No, he was not happy because Ginny got her article in the newspaper, but he had his own reasons for why he helped her. He thought she would have been smart enough to think of that before going ahead with the story, but then again any reporter would be excited with that kind of information at hand. Her actions were understandable.
His true reasoning lies with his relationship with his father. His father, Lucius Malfoy, was a very proud and power hungry man. He was never a true father figure to Draco, but instead he held impossibly high expectations for his son. That type of parenting is most likely the reason behind why Draco acts the way he does, but that is a completely different story.
Besides all of that, Lucius Malfoy had many friends in high places. His connections with the Ministry were strong, and therefore hurting the Ministry would be like hurting Lucius. Lucius had gotten out of Azkaban a little after Draco graduated from Hogwarts. How he got them to let him go was unknown to the majority of the wizard population, but Draco knew that his father had gotten one of his connections to make a case in his favor, saying that Lucius was under a spell the entire time and that he was not a Deatheater of his own accord. This was of course a lie, but they bought it and let him go.
News of this was not pleasing to Draco, who had been quite content without the constant annoyance of his overbearing father. Needless to say, soon after Draco started working for his father, but then refused to become a Deatheater.
Lucius did not realize that his son meant he never wanted to become one, but instead took his statement in a different way. He thought that Draco was going to wait till he married, and then him and his wife could both become them. This was why Draco was not yet a Deatheater, even though he never planned becoming one. His father could go recruit someone else for all he cared.
So, making a long story short, Draco held a deep resentment towards his father. This was why he was all too happy to give Ginny, or more like lead Ginny to, the information needed to injure the Ministry publicly, no doubt in the process hurting his father as well. The best part was that no one would be able to trace it back to him because he knew Ginny would not tell anyone where she found the files. That would mean admitting that she went on dates with him, and went through his possessions in the process. Got to love that Weasley pride.
But his own plan backfired on him. Yes, he got to annoy the hell out of Ginny and in the process hurt his father, but he had also spent way too much time with the girl. For some reason unknown to him, he could not get her off of his mind. He was feeling... feeling something... but the point is the fact that he was feeling anything at all. Malfoy's were supposed to be void of emotion, except for anger of course.
She had been so cold with him when he paid her a visit. Why was that? She had obtained what she wanted, but surely he was not the only one out of the two of them that felt anything. That's impossible. Besides, no one can resist his charms. He is Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake.
He didn't even have an actual reason for visiting her to begin with. Maybe he did go there to gloat, but he wasn't even sure of that himself. He thought she would have been at least a little bit grateful for his help. After all, it was thanks to him that she got on the front page.
He would simply have to resign to forgetting all about her existence. But why did that have to be so hard?
He entered his apartment building, ignoring the polite hellos from the doormen, and entered the elevator. Soon he was standing in his apartment, and his eyes were satisfied at the spotless living room. He was never going to let go of his house elf; she was just too good at cleaning his place. Plus, who else would he have to cook him dinner?
Draco's eyes finally landed on his coffee table. He took a seat on his favorite couch, and then glanced at the pile of mail in front of him. The first letter was from his father, who was complaining about the allegations that people from the Ministry were being charged with and he mentioned something about Ginny. He hadn't thought about the consequences of the article being published, but hopefully no one would go after Ginny. Not that he cared about what happens to her...
The next letter was from his mother, nagging him about going to visit her. He would have to do it eventually; he knew his mother and she would not stop badgering him until he went. He would just have to go sometime next month, no need to rush the visit.
The next several pieces of mail were from various people, none of which he felt like reading at the present moment. He was in no mood for more imbeciles in his life. At the bottom of the pile though, he found something that caught his interest.
It was wrapped in bright red paper, enough to catch anyone's eye, and it did not say who it was from. So, naturally curiosity took over and he opened the letter. Inside there was a piece of parchment that had been at one time crumpled up, but was now in a somewhat flat state. He unfolded it and read the first line.
Reasons Why I Must Stop Thinking About You Know Who:
'What in the name of Merlin is this?' he thought, utterly confused, but continued to read on in spite of himself.
1. He has been my enemy since day one.
2. He is arrogant.
3. He is self-centered, narcissistic, and vain.
'Who is this person?' he wondered.
4. He is rich and flaunts his wealth.
5. He is a Malfoy.
When he got down to number five he figured out that it was about him, and who else would have written it besides Ginny. He read a couple more lines, but stopped around number twelve and angrily crumpled the paper up with his fist. 'So that is what she thinks of me...'
He would most definitely have to stop thinking about her now, not that he wasn't going to anyway. Plus, who knew she would make such a list about him? It was an outrage.
Yes, most of the things on the list were true, but he could have sworn that his charms worked on her. What about that kiss? She had felt so abruptly that he knew he was getting under her skin. That was why she had acted so uncomfortable.
Either way, that no longer mattered. It was all over and time for him to go back to his normal activities. Maybe he would go for a ride on his Firebolt 2000, but first he took out a piece of parchment and jotted down a response to his mother's letter. Maybe a visit home was just what he needed. Father could wait.
Meanwhile, Ginny was sitting in her apartment. The day had not gone so well, and she was not in the best of moods. Being at her office had been a disappointment. 'Damn that Draco!' she fumed, tossing in her spot. She soon heard a noise, which resembled a light hooting sound, coming from behind her and then got up to see what was at her window.
She saw it was an owl, and recognized it as Ron's. It was holding an envelope in its claws, so Ginny took it and patted the owl. She turned her attention back to the envelope in her hands and opened it. Just as she expected it was a wedding invitation.
There was a picture of Ron and Hermione together, and then underneath that was the information, including the date, time, and place they finally agreed on. They were having a Muggle wedding, so that Hermione's Muggle family and friends could come. It was going to be held at some place that Ginny never heard of before, but there were directions along with the invitation. She was going to have to take a train ride to London and then from there take a taxi, which she learned was a Muggle form of transportation, to Hermione's house.
The date was set exactly a month away, but Ginny had to go there a week or so in advance because she was the maid of honor and had to help out with things. Being a maid of honor was a first for her, but she could manage. She was shocked at how fast it took for them to plan and everything, many people waited a while after getting engaged before actually having the wedding, but they wasted no time.
She wouldn't even have time to find a date to it, not that she needed one. Harry was going to be best man no doubt; therefore Harry and her would be walking down the aisle together. Perhaps they could go together as friends. 'I wonder if he is seeing anyone yet...'
She was happy for her brother and best friend, but a small part inside of her that she usually never listened to was jealous. Would she ever find a love like they have with each other? It was not likely. They didn't realize how lucky they were. Besides, Ginny had bad luck when it came to a lot of things, one of them being relationships.
Then Ginny thought of another thing. This meant she would have to go dress shopping. 'Ugh' she complained, setting down the invitation. Dress shopping was not the most fun thing in the world. In fact, it was one of the most irritating things to do, for Ginny at least.
She felt a headache slowly forming, so she walked through her bedroom and into her bathroom. After taking some Headache-Be-Gone potion to cure it, she found herself looking in a mirror at, well, herself. It was time for her to change her hair back to her natural color. While she still had the blonde hair she felt like an imposter, and all she wanted to do was go back to being Ginny, the Ginny she was before the Malfoy fiasco.
With her mind made up, she got out her wand and cast the spell to change her hair back to it's original color, and then she smiled as she ran her hands through her signature red hair. She was beginning to feel like herself again, a Weasley.
A/N: Thank you MoonlightPrincess, erbsenpueree, Dracosbaby7, Taika, and Lelimo for reviewing!
Please review!
(P.S. The more reviews I get the faster I'll write the next chapter, wink wink)