Chapter 10
"Mum, I thought I'd take Ginny to Diagon Alley today. You know, do a little brother sister bonding?"
"Sure dear, but make sure you're home by seven for dinner." Charlie smiled mischievously at Ginny.
"Ohh, Charlie! Can we take the Goldwing?" Charlie laughed at the expression of disapproval his mother was giving him. Charlie had an enchanted motorcycle; it was quite similar to the Ford Anglia in the fact that it flew and had an invisibility device. "Please Mum? We'll be safe and wear helmets and everything, please?"
Molly sighed heavily and looked between Charlie and her only daughter several times. "I suppose, but you," she pointed a finger at Charlie, "will be driving under the speed limit and –"
"I know Mum, always the safe driver. I promise." Ginny let out a squeal of delight and started up the stairs to her bedroom. "Where are you going, little one?"
"To get ready of course!" Ginny said as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world. Charlie chuckled and sat down on the couch with his book.
Two Hours Later
"Come on, Ginny!" Charlie yelled up the stairs.
"Coming, coming, just keep your knickers on for a second!" Charlie walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, where Ginny was. She was leaning extremely close to the sink and poking herself in the eye with a pencil, or so that was what it looked like to Charlie. "I've got to finish my eyeliner and then I'm ready! Merlin! You have no patience Charles." Charlie raised an eyebrow at his sister's calling him Charles. Ginny poked a few more times before stepping back and smiling at her reflection in the mirror. "Ok, I'm ready now!"
"Well it took you long enough!" Ginny punched her brother lightly in the arm and they started downstairs. Charlie donned his helmet and swung a leg over the motorcycle that was parked in front of The Burrow. He smiled at Ginny's giddy expression as he revved the engine. Ginny hurriedly threw on her helmet and jumped on behind her brother. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and seconds later they were off.
Diagon Alley
Draco was startled to see a motorcycle landing in the middle of Diagon Alley. He and his mother were sitting outside the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Ginny. He was even more startled to see the flaming red hair flowing out from underneath the passenger's helmet. That hair could only belong to one person; Ginny. The driver steered the motorcycle over to the side and parked it in an out of the way alcove. As the engine was turned off, the passenger swung her leg over the motorcycle and hopped off. She undid the helmet strap and pulled it off. She ran a hand through her hair and replaced the helmet on the seat. The driver put the kickstand down and got off as well, taking off his helmet. Draco was startled to see that the driver bore a striking resemblance to Ginny; the same red hair, intense blue eyes, and sporadic freckles.
Ginny looked around for a moment before her eyes locked with Draco's. She smiled and waved excitedly; Draco raised a hand in the air in response. Linking arms with the driver, whom Draco assumed was her brother Charlie; she strode over to Draco and Narcissa.
"Hi." Draco stood up as Ginny reached him.
"Hi." The look of annoyance on Ginny's face told Draco that she wanted to hug and kiss him just as much as he wanted to, but considering the fact that Narcissa and Charlie were there, that wasn't really an option.
Charlie cleared his throat loudly. "Oh! Sorry, Draco this is my brother Charlie. Charlie, this is Draco and ..." Ginny looked at the woman next to Draco and then back at Draco. He looked nothing like her, save for one thing. His eyes; they were the intense grayish blue that Lucius had, but Draco's held some strange kind of hidden warmth, the same that Ginny saw in the woman's eyes.
"This is my Mum. Mum this is Ginny." Narcissa smiled warmly and held out her hand for Ginny to shake.
"Wonderful to meet you, Draco simply does not shut up about you." Draco blushed slightly and looked at the ground as Ginny giggled.
"Good to meet you as well, Mrs. Malfoy. Draco's told me so much about you."
"Oh please darling, call me Narcissa." Ginny smiled and nodded shyly. Narcissa turned to Charlie and shook his hand firmly.
"Nice to meet you, Narcissa." Charlie tipped his head respectfully and then turned to Draco and Ginny. "Well you two have fun. Ginny, I'll meet you back here at 6 o'clock. Don't be late, Mum will have a fit if we miss dinner." Charlie turned back to Narcissa. "Can I buy you a cup of tea?"
"That would be lovely. Draco, dear, why don't you just meet me back here at 6 as well?" Draco nodded. "I'll see you then." Narcissa smiled warmly at Ginny before turning and following Charlie into the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny and Draco turned to each other, both grinning from ear to ear.
"What do you say we –" Draco was cut off by Ginny's mouth covering his. She blushed as they pulled out of the kiss. "Happy to see me?"
"Oh my god you have no idea!" Draco grinned and, wrapping his arm around her waist, they started to walk towards the other end of Diagon Alley.
"Well considering that my Mum and your brother are sitting right inside there, it's probably not a good idea that we snog in front of the window." Ginny sighed and nodded, wrapping her arms around Draco's middle as they continued to walk. On the opposite end of Diagon Alley, there was a little strip of country were people rarely ever visited. Draco led Ginny straight for that; he wanted to talk to her for a while without all the confusion and noise of the Alley ... okay he wanted to do a little bit more than talk.
They sat down under a large tree and Ginny nuzzled closer to Draco, putting her head under his chin.
"So Charlie seems okay with us ... that's a little bit strange."
"Nah, Charlie's not like the rest of my family. He wants what makes me happy instead of what looks good. He doesn't like your father, admittedly, but he has no grudge against you. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone." Draco smiled and kissed Ginny's head.
"I wish we could though ... I'm glad we've got at least one family member on our side. My Mum loves you." Ginny laughed and sat up to face Draco.
"What makes you say that?"
"She called you darling. In Mum terms that means she really really likes you. That term is usually reserved for me, her sister, Blaise, and Blaise's Mum." Draco chuckled as Ginny grinned. She shot him a mock glare before leaning over and kissing him passionately.
She pulled out of the kiss, but kept her face close to his. "I missed you."
"Yeah, I missed you too." Draco sighed, kissed Ginny on the forehead, and then stood up. "Come on, let's go get some butterbeer. I want to give you your Christmas present."
"Ooh! I love presents!" Ginny laughed as she slipped her hand into hers and their fingers entwined automatically. She loved the way his hands felt in hers, as if they were meant to be there. "What did you get me?"
"Ha! Like I'm really going to tell you!"
"Well I was going to tell you what I got you, but now I've changed my mind," Ginny said with a 'humphf'. Draco smiled mischievously as he wrapped his arms around her waist and started tickling her. Ginny shrieked and jumped out of arm's length. Draco laughed and Ginny hit him on the arm playfully. "How's it been at home?" Ginny asked, her expression suddenly changing for the worse. She stared at him with worried eyes.
"Bad ... worse than bad. Lucius is ... Ginny I don't want you to worry about it."
"Draco ... I wasn't going to say anything, but with the bruises you've got you can't just expect me to ignore it." Ginny bit her lip nervously. Draco's arms were bruised in several places and there was a large bruise on his neck. He had tried to cover them up by wearing a long sleeve turtleneck, but Ginny wasn't fooled.
"I ... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please, I felt you flinch when I touched your neck before. Please don't lie to me ... I'm worried about you is all." Draco looked at Ginny and sighed. He stopped, pulled her into a close hug, and kissed her neck.
"He wants ... he wants me to become a Death Eater like him." Ginny gasped and pulled away slightly, just enough to look him in the eyes. "This is why I didn't want to tell you! Now you'll be afraid of me and leave me ... which you probably should be afraid ... I mean Lucius is a maniac and –" Ginny pressed a finger to Draco's mouth.
"Draco, love, I'm not going to leave you because your father is an asshole. I've seen your arms, you don't have the Dark Mark." Ginny's brow was knotted as Draco continued to stare down at her, expressionless.
"I don't want ... I love you and –"
"Draco, please stop. I love you ... so much. I would never leave you for something like that. I couldn't." Draco smiled weakly and Ginny reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed him thoroughly. "God I missed you." Draco laughed and kissed her again.
"My dad got angry with me when I told him where he could shove his Death Eater plans for me. Lucky my Mum's such a great healer; Dad didn't catch her this time, which is really good."
"Draco ... you don't have to hold all of this inside, you know. I would never betray your trust ... ever." Draco smiled gratefully at her as they started walking again.
"I know ... it's just hard for me to trust, you know. I mean the person you are supposed to trust more than anything, your dad, is my worst enemy." Draco sighed and tried to push thoughts of Lucius out of his head. "Let's not talk about stuff like that now. I only get to see you for today and then not for another 2 weeks. So let's make the most of the time, okay?"
"Hell yes!" Ginny smiled mischievously and kissed his neck. They entered a small pub and sat down at a booth in the back. Normally they would have gone to the Leaky Cauldron, but they didn't really want to run into Charlie and Narcissa. Draco waved to the waitress and ordered two butterbeers.
"So you and Charlie are really close, eh?"
"Yeah, he's my saving grace. If he wasn't there convincing Mum to let me go on a date, ride his motorcycle, etc, etc I'd go crazy." Draco laughed and gave Ginny the once over. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, which were pleasantly tight, and a fitted navy blue v-neck sweater. Over the top, she was wearing a leather jacket, which amused Draco to no end. Wasn't this Ginny Weasley? The 'good little Catholic girl' (as the muggle saying goes) that was in love with Saint Potter? He chuckled to himself as the waitress slammed a pair of butterbeers down on their table.
"What's so funny?"
"You're so ... unexpected." Ginny smiled and took a swig of butterbeer.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should."
A/N: Okay, I know it's a strange place to end, but I really wanted to post this for you all tonight. The next chapter is a continuation of the Diagon Alley trip and them giving each other their presents. I'm so so so so sorry for the wait! I've been a little brain dead and with my new stories and the teachers trying to murder us with homework, I haven't had time to write this! The next chappie should be up soon, but I'll be gone from 7 AM to 10 PM tomorrow so don't expect it until at least Friday. How was it?!
Skybluepink: I'm glad that amused you! I can't promise anything about happy endings ... lol, I know for sure that by the end they will be minus one character, but I'm not divulging anything else! How did you like this one?
Inukaino: Haha, I'm flattered! I'm sorry this took so long ... take it up with my damn teachers! How did you like this one? Ginny and Narcissa will have more interaction later on.
MasterHarper Menolly: LOL, I'm touched and flattered! It amazes me how you all find such amusement in lines that I didn't really think had much humor, if any! How did you like this chapter?
MoonlightPrincess: Very flattered. How was Charlie in this chapter?
DracoLoverForever: How was this chapter? Haven't heard from you in a while, so I didn't know if I should ask you to beta it ... let me know!
Disclaimer: Me? Own Harry Potter? What are you smoking? Apparently not enough!