Disclaimer: As we all well know, any characters your recognize as being from the Harry Potter series, are owned by JK Rowling, not me.
Chapter: What Comes Next?
Draco's team had celebrated privately of their win over Potter's team and had taken to calling themselves 'The Unbeatables'. They knew this was a little cocky, especially since they had only played one game, but it gave them all a little laugh when remembering the look on Potter's face as Ginny edged him out to the snitch. The little conversation that Draco had shared with Weasley and Potter was not mentioned that night between the four as they all felt that it was something that needed no recognition.
Draco had felt that it was his duty to defend Ginny at the time and knew that the two dunces needed to be brought to their sense. He also knew that he had probably created even more tension between Ginny and her housemates. He was not a welcome person with anyone in Gryffindor besides Ginny and Dru, and he had only added to their hatred by "stealing" her away from one of their teams, as so many Gryffindor had hissed behind his back throughout the day, and knew that it was only going to get worse in the coming future. He choose to ignore the scathing comments on Ginny's behalf, even though what he really wanted to do was hex them until they couldn't see straight.
After the rest of the team had departed from his room Draco finalized his plans with Ginny for dinner the next night. He told her that he would pick her up at the Gryffindor entrance at seven the next evening, and she better be ready. He told her to wear whatever she liked, but that she should be prepared on spending the entire evening until curfew with him, and quirked his eyebrow in a seductive way. Ginny blushed and slapped him playfully on the arm.
Ginny let her hand linger on his bicep longer than was necessary for the playful slap. Draco's smiled slipped from his lips as his eyes began to cloud with lust. Ginny gazed into his eyes feeling color slowly creep into her cheeks. She let her hand slide down his arm and suddenly felt a fir grip on her wrist. Draco removed her hand from his arm and brought her palm to his lips. She could feel her heartbeat become more rapid at the mere touch of his lips to her skin, and the prickle of desire race through her veins.
Draco nuzzled his cheek to her hand and closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her smooth skin against his own. Feeling the heat emanating from her body he knew that she wanted him as much as he did her. He slowly brought his gaze up to hers and pulled her hand to his chest directly above his heart.
Ginny's eyes fluttered quickly at this intimate gesture and dropped her eyes to his torso, which in no way helped the situation at all. Draco took a step closer to her, closing the distance between them until they were sharing the same breath. Ginny looked into his eyes and could see the desire being replaced with something else, something she had not seen in his eyes before. She wasn't sure what it was, but was willing to let that go for now in exchange from some good old-fashioned snogging.
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The next morning Dru and Ginny quickly headed down to the Great Hall to meet up with the boys for breakfast. Being that it was a Sunday, it wouldn't be crowded and they could join them at the Slytherin table without being harassed. As soon as they walked through the door they spotted Draco's platinum hair glinting in the sunlight and walked quickly to the table.
Ginny sat down beside him facing the Gryffindor table and quickly decided that facing her brother while sitting next to Draco was a huge mistake. She could see Ron's face turning horrible shades of red but thankfully could not make out the words he was muttering to Harry under his breath. She knew her brother could be juvenile at times and figured that this would not be an exception. She decided then and there that she was going to have to speak with him again about interfering in her life.
It was then that she saw the look of pure hatred oozing from Harry's eyes as he distractedly nodded to Ron's whispers in his ear. This was something she had never seen in Harry before, not even during his fifth year after Sirius was killed. This was even worse. She could deal with Ron's childish antics and inane arguments about her life, but Harry's anger was not something to be trifled with. It's not that she didn't' think that Draco could handle himself, but it was that she didn't want this to become an all out war between the trio and Draco. It wasn't his battle, but she knew that he would make it his own if they even spoke to her harshly. She was going to have to handle this as soon as breakfast ended.
She ate her breakfast silently, smiling and laughing at all the right times during Dru's stories, all the while keeping Harry and Ron in her sights. As soon as she saw them starting to get up, she excused herself quickly and left before anyone could say anything. She hurried through the door and searched the hallway to find their path. She saw them heading out toward the grounds and sprinted down the hallway in their direction.
"Ron," she yelled warmly as she caught up to them.
"What do you want Ginny?" he asked in a tone that could kill.
"I wanted to apologize for anything and everything that has been going on over the past little bit." She took a deep breath and tried to read Ron's face. He wasn't showing any emotion at all and had a hard look about his eyes. "I know that neither of you like Draco and do not want me to be anywhere near him--"
You're damn right," Ron interjected before she could finish her sentence. "I can't believe that you are spending any time with the likes of him and those bloody Slytherins!"
"I know how you feel, Ron, and I know you feel the saw way Harry, but I want both of you to accept the fact that I am spending time with him. I respect both of your opinions but that does not mean that I have to agree with them."
"I'm going to have to tell Mum and Dad about this, Ginny," Ron said glaring at her.
"That's fine, because I've already owled Mum and Dad last week to let them know. They knew you were not going to react kindly to this, but I don't even think they knew to what degree your reaction would be."
"You mean everyone in the family knew but me?" Ron said in a whiny voice that reminded Ginny of when they were small children. She desperately fought back a giggle at how childish he was acting. Ron saw the grin forming in the corners of her mouth and started to pout a bit.
"First of all, I knew you would completely freak out when I told you, since you hate Draco so much. And the rest of the family agreed to let me tell you on my own time. They figured it was my place to tell you, and I agree and completely respect them from letting me handle this myself." With this Ron's face being to show signs of embarrassment at knowing that his younger sister was right. He hated Malfoy and always would, but as long as he wasn't hurting Ginny he would keep his mouth shut. The first sign of anything other than treating her like a princess and Malfoy would regret the day he was born.
"Here are my terms, Ginny. I hate Malfoy, I always will and don't expect me to change that opinion for any reason. But I will steer clear of him as long as he stays away from me. The first time I hear or see him acting anything less than perfect towards you, all bets are off."
"And, Harry, what about you?" Ginny asked tentatively.
"I'll try," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled deeply. Ron elbowed him in the ribs when he saw the look that he was giving Ginny and the pleading in his sister's eyes. "Fine, same as Ron. I promise."
Ginny threw her arms around their necks and squealed. She knew that for both of them it was very difficult to suppress their dislike of Malfoy, even if it was for her sake. She kissed them both on the cheek and headed back to the Great Hall.
As soon as she had turned her back on the boys to head back to the Great Hall they had exchanged a knowing glance. Neither of them planned to completely absolve Malfoy of his heinous crime of seducing Ginny. They had come up with a plan of attack for the afternoon to teach Malfoy a lesson and hopefully deter him from even so much as glancing in the general direction of Ginny.
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The day was spent lazing around the grounds enjoying the weather, as it would probably be one of the last few days that were warm enough to spend outside. The four spent the day the same way they had the previous day, in the exact same spot by the lake. Draco propped his head up against Ginny's thigh closing his eyes to the brightness of the sun. She ran her fingers through his hair smoothing it back from his forehead as she snaked her other hand into his. Dru and Parker were in their own little world, tickling each other and rolling all over the ground.
Suddenly Draco and Ginny were pulled out of their revere as they heard a high-pitched scream of "PPPPAARRKER." Ginny jerked her head towards the lake to see Parker sprinting towards the edge with Dru slung over his shoulder beating on his back with her fists. Just as Parker reached the edge and was about to toss her into the water he stumbled slightly and they both went head first into the water with a resounding splash. Draco and Ginny both jumped to their feet and ran quickly to the water to make sure they were all right, only to see them coming up out of the water laughing hysterically and splashing each other. Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her back just as Parker sent a huge splash of water her way.
Draco and Ginny headed back to their place under the tree to watch the two play in the water. Dru and Parker splashed about in the water for a good while before finally wading out of the water looking like two drowned rats with their wet robes clinging to them as little rivulets of water cascaded onto their shoes. They walked over to the pair under the tree spraying water everywhere around them as their shoes squelched loudly.
"Now that we've had our fun for the afternoon, I think we're going to head back and change out of these disgustingly wet clothes," Parker said laughingly, and discreetly winked at Draco. Draco inclined his chin ever so slightly to acknowledge his understanding of Parker's innuendo and give his approval. Parker was planning on taking Dru back to Draco's room where they could take advantage of the private shower and bath, which was his reasoning for tossing her in the lake in the first place but he hadn't planned on his ending up in the lake as well. Surprisingly enough, he actually had a good time splashing around in the grimy lake. He grabbed Dru around the waist and slung her over his shoulder as he turned in the direction of the castle.
As the two left Ginny gave Draco a knowing look and smiled. "I guess we know what they are going to be up to for the rest of the afternoon?"
"I wonder?" Draco pondered in mock ignorance and laughed as he scratched his chin. Draco grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her towards him so that she was leaning against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Ginny slowly let her breath out as she melted into his body. They sat this way in silence, just looking out over the lake for a good while until they heard a twig snap nearby. Ginny looked up to see none other than Harry.
"Potter," Draco spat as he withdrew his arms from Ginny and quickly stood up. "What do you want?"
"Nothing from you," Harry said as he looked at Malfoy disapprovingly. "Ginny, Ron wants to talk to you up in the common room." Ginny stood up slowly and took a place at Draco's side.
"What does he want?" she questioned.
"I'm not sure. He just asked if I saw you to tell you that he wanted to talk to you about something. Something about Fred and George's shop I think." Ginny looked at Draco and shrugged her shoulders. She leaned up and kissed him quickly on the cheek before turning on her heel.
She was expecting Harry to walk with her, but when she looked behind her as she entered the castle she didn't see him anywhere. Oh well, I guess he had more pressing matters, she thought to herself. Ginny walked quickly up the stairs hoping that there was nothing wrong with the twins. When she stepped through the portrait hole she scanned the room for Ron and not seeing him anywhere she decided to take and seat and wait for him.
Draco turned to watch Ginny walk to the castle assuming that Potter would leave as soon as she did. Draco had no such luck today. As soon as Draco had turned away from him, Harry had quietly cast a silencing charm and quickly threw a binding spell at Draco. Draco's body became immediately rigid as he fell to the ground with a resounding thud. His eyes screamed while his voice was silent. Harry looked down on him with a look of amusement dancing through his eyes.
Harry threw his invisibility cloak over Draco and discretely palmed his wand reciting, "Wingardium Leviosa," as he levitated Draco a few inches form the ground. He ambled slowly towards the far side of the lake where it met with the Forbidden Forest. He knew that Ron was waiting for him there so they could carry on with their plan. They weren't going to do anything terrible, but they were going to make sure that Malfoy knew better than to ever mess with Harry or Ron again. They had started the wheels of their devious minds the night before after the little talk they had with Malfoy, and this morning the plan had been put into action.
Before breakfast Harry had donned his invisibility cloak and stealthily entered Snape's personal storage room to obtain some Veritaserum to give to Draco. They planned on using it to find out his true intentions concerning Ginny and maybe some other information they could use against him. Being the childish imbeciles that they were, when they had promised Ginny to stay out of Malfoy's way they had kept their fingers crossed behind their backs like five-year olds, as if this would make their promises null and void to Ginny.
Harry entered the Forbidden Forest heading towards the clearing that he and Ron had created that afternoon and found Ron standing near a tree doubled over trying to catch his breath.
"I had to run all the way down here," Ron panted. "I just barely missed Ginny seeing me because Hermione had come back form the library early." Harry snickered knowing that Hermione had probably corned him for a quick snog and he just didn't want to admit it.
"Well, I've done my part," Harry said, and then flicking his wand toward Draco, "Accio cloak." His cloak flew into his hand as Draco simultaneously dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Ron and Harry both laughed at the look in Draco's eyes as he lay stiffly on the ground between the two of them. Ron stopped laughing abruptly as he realized that it was not fear in his eyes, but a searing look of malice directed at them both. Ron felt a shiver go down his spine at seeing the coldness creep into Draco's face and a cloud of hate come over his eyes. He knew that they had made a mistake. He quickly made his way over to Draco, pried his mouth open, and poured the serum into his mouth. He clamped his hand down tightly over Draco's mouth and nose trying to force him to swallow the potion. Draco tried as best he could to hold his breath, but finally after starting to feel light-headed, he swallowed. Ron removed his hand as soon as he felt Draco swallow.
Draco held his breath, trying to keep the potion from entering his system, and struggled against the restraints mentally. He knew that he had honed his mental abilities enough that he could eventually overpower the hex and mobilize himself. He saw Ron's face change from a look of confidence to one of panic when it finally registered that Draco would not be at their mercy for long. Harry still stood over him haughtily taunting him and paying no attention to anything but his own words.
"Sarcias," Harry chanted while pointing his wand at Draco's neck, before taking a seat on the ground nearby. "Draco, now that we have you here, we'd like you to answer a few questions." Ron stood silently beside Harry and watched Draco intently wondering what was going to happen once Draco was released form the hex, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside to get to the task at hand.
"First question, ferret," Ron said with more confidence than he felt. "Are you a Death Eater?"
"No, "Draco said thickly.
"Liar," Harry said under his breath, "I know you are, your father is, and anyone your family associates with is."
"I am not a Death Eater. I'm not eighteen yet. My father wants me to become one, but I haven't decided yet." Draco continued before they could ask another question, "I just wanted to remind you of that shit you poured down my throat not five minutes ago; it will not allow me to lie you git."
"Fine, we'll move on then," Harry said brusquely. "What do you want with Ginny?"
"I don't want anything other than to spend time with her and get to know her better," Draco said as he tried to suppress the words that wanted to spill from his mouth. He knew what he felt for her, but he didn't want to share that with her git of a brother and Potter, especially before he told her exactly how he felt.
Draco could feel his fingers beginning to free from the binding hex and knew that it would only be a few more seconds before he was able to pull his arms away from his body. He kept his mind completely focused on relaxing his body and deterring the hex. He kept his freeing body parts still so as not to tip the boys off that he would soon wreak havoc on the both of them. He finally felt his spine start to curve and his muscles begin to tense and pulse from the release and mentally sought his wand out on his person.
"Are you having sex with her?" Ron asked belligerently. Draco could feel the heat rising in his face and the vein in his neck start to pulse heavily. This was the last straw. He would not answer any more of their questions; and the only way to do that was to stop them from being asked.
He suddenly jerked his hand to this pocket and whipped his wand out pointing it directly at Harry and Ron, all the while still laying on his back. Both boys stared at him dumbfounded and slack-jawed. Draco slowly pulled his free hand behind him and pushed himself to a sitting position
"The two of you have made a very bad decision. And I hope, with all sincerity, that you realize that now," Draco said in a low, almost growling voice. He brought himself to his feet and took a step towards them all the while keeping his wand trained on them.
"I've played your little game, and I've answered your silly little questions. Now I think it's about time for you to have a taste of your own medicine." Draco performed a quick binding spell that seized their arms behind their backs and bound their ankles together, and then followed it with a silencing charm that suppressed their voices. He reached into Harry's robes and retrieved the veritaserum. He pulled the cork out slowly and swished the contents around in the vial while pondering over what exactly he was going to do to them. After a few minutes of this he placed the cork back into the vial and pocketed it.
"Instead of playing your little game, I've come up with a new one that I think you'll really enjoy," Draco drawled as he circled the two with a smirk gracing his lips.
"Accio Vestir," Draco intoned as he flicked his wand at Harry. Draco watched Harry's clothes pull away from his body and drop in a heap at his own feet. He laughed to himself seeing Harry helplessly standing there in his plain white boxers looking completely humiliated. He turned to Ron and repeated the spell with the same results. Draco actually couldn't stop himself from laughing at seeing the look on Ron's face. Ron stood clad in a pair of bright orange boxers sporting his favorite Quidditch team's name, Chudley Cannons, blinking across the front. In Draco's opinion Ron had taken his liking of the Cannons a bit too far. Ron's face began to turn an unsightly color of red that clashed horribly with his hair as Draco doubled over with laughter. He quickly gathered their belongings into a pile and scoped them up.
"Okay, boys, I know this might seem embarrassing now," Draco sneered, "but it's only going to get worse. Mobilis," he voiced, causing the boys to hover slightly above the ground. He kept them in front of him and slowly moved them out of the forest and into the open grounds. Glancing around he noticed that there weren't any students outside and figured it must be lunchtime. He glided them closer to the castle and stopped them just outside the entrance of the castle. He walked up the stairs and turned towards them pointing his wand. "Milit vestir," he said quietly, and their boxers immediately disappeared into thin air leaving them, in all their naked glory, for all to see.
"See you later, boys," Draco jeered as he walked by. "Lunch should be through here shortly." He turned quickly and jogged up the stairs towards the Great Hall, just as the first people finished lunch. He did not wait around to find out what kind of reaction the boys' man parts would get, but instead ducked inside an empty classroom and disposed of their clothing. He peeked back out into the hallway and quickly stepped out closing the door behind him. Knowing that his own room was currently occupied, he decided to take advantage of the emptying Great Hall and enjoy his lunch in peace and try to figure out how he was going to explain all of this to Ginny.
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A/N: I know I ended this chapter abruptly. But I will actually get the next chapter up within the next few days. It's been a hectic few weeks, and I haven't been able to write much. But with the holiday tomorrow (and no school), I'll actually have time to write a bit!! Please review; I miss the reviews soooo much!!!