Author's Notes: I love all of you reviewers; you all make me feel splendiferous. A lot of your comments and suggestions really help me as well, so thank you very much and keep it coming!
Disclaimer: I only own the plot. What joy!
Miss Cellophane
After much reflection, Ginny Weasley came to the conclusion that Draco Malfoy had serious issues.
She had known that before the sessions; she was knew it when he pulled his wand out on her during their first session; and now she was three-hundred and fifty percent sure of it now that he had…licked her.
'What kind of person…licks someone and then runs?' she asked herself tapping her foot on the common room carpet. 'Well, I ran…but still, I think I managed to do it with a lot of dignity. And what would he expect that I do? Lick him back?'
Running along that train of thought made Ginny even more heated – but not in the way she wanted so she switched to blaming him more.
'He's such a prick,' she thought inwardly. 'He only did it to ruffle me, but if he thinks that that I'll become softer toward him he's got another thing coming. What a womanizer…he took complete advantage of me,' she fumed.
A section of Ginny was still in shock. When Draco had crept closer to her mouth she could have sworn that he was going to kiss her. Then he went and did something so utterly seductive that she just wanted to explode…or, bite him or something.
Ginny wondered if he would think of biting as a come-on.
'I mean, I wouldn't bite him, bite him,' she contemplated. 'Just a little nibble…'
Ginny's quill squirted ink from how hard she was pressing it onto her homework parchment. Her face heated up and she looked around the common room to see if anyone noticed the little mishap.
"Scourgify," she muttered, erasing the dark ink from the tan sheets of paper. Looking downward she noticed that she had a few spots of vanilla on her robes and scowled.
'I know that he saw it there and he didn't say anything! I bet he was laughing his arse off inside. All he did was –' Ginny halted. All Draco had done was ignore it and almost-kiss her anyway. She didn't know what she thought of that. One thing she was sure of though, was that he was deliberately toying with her. She had seen the minor look of shock on his face after 'The Incident', but was positive that it didn't mean he was only guilty of getting caught up in the moment. He had definitely wanted to play with her emotions and she wouldn't think otherwise.
The way he had crept up on her all dangerous and sensual-like…
It was to be despised.
Especially the part where she could feel the softness of his lips for the briefest moment at the corner of her mouth. And where she had wished for a second – half a second – that his mouth would have moved over just slightly so that it could caress her own –
"Do you want a lick?"
Ginny was jolted out of her thoughts by a loud third-year who was asking her male friend if he wanted a taste of her Never Ending Lolly.
"That's disgusting!" Ginny shouted at them. "Is all you think about, kissing?"
The two children blinked; Ginny looked at the lollipop as if seeing it for the first time. "I…I meant to say 'germs'. Do you think about…the germs you would get if you shared a lollipop?"
The girl blinked and stared at Ginny with the most flabbergasted look on her third-year face. "He's my brother."
With a strained sort of smile Ginny decided to pick up her things and head up to her room to have some space. She was scaring people, and that certainly wouldn't help her on the road to recovery.
Something that wasn't coming along, though, was her homework. After leaving the room Ginny still had a large amount of time to whittle away by her lonesome. Lark and Colin had yet to come back from Hogsmeade, so she was left to her own devices. Seeing as there wasn't really much else to do besides wander around the castle or do some homework Ginny opted for the latter. She still had a lot to make up after her stay in the Hospital Wing.
Immersing herself in work Ginny found that she was able to momentarily forget the whole episode in Professor Martin's room. Unfortunately, an hour into that a tawny owl came swooping in through the circular window on the other side of the common room. It was a reprimand from Professor McGonagall on behalf of Professor Trelawney. Quoting Trelawney, the Head of House told Ginny that the diviner wanted to give Ginny a detention for "verbally abusing a teacher in front of another student", and "swearing most spectacularly without any shame whatsoever". McGonagall went on to tell Ginny that all teachers – however agreeable one found them or not – should be treated with respect; and that no, she would not be getting a detention but five points would have to be taken away from Gryffindor for the slight with an added warning not to repeat the performance.
The letter only served to put Ginny in a foul mood once more, as Trelawney had only proved to be a tattletale.
Slipping out a clean sheet of parchment from her bag Ginny prayed that McGonagall would not notify her mother of the slight. Molly Weasley had given Ginny three days to compose a letter to her or else her Christmas presents would be nonexistent. Thinking that writing a letter to one's mother disposed of all sexual thoughts, Ginny proceeded to ink out a response. She made sure to include lots of "sorry"s and "I love you"s – not that she was trying to be frivolous. She just wanted to make sure that her mother understood that she really didn't mean to upset either of her parents, and that she would be most obliged if she was not strung up by her nose for not writing sooner.
That out of the way Ginny looked back at her homework.
She had no concentration for such tedious seeming things as that when she was in such a state. What she wanted more than anything was to talk to Lark, yell at Ron and then go to bed and see if the next day would be any better.
After another hour and a half of being purely unproductive Ginny put away her work things and went down to the Great Hall for dinner.
Lark was talking animatedly to Colin about something and Hermione was nose deep in a book.
"Ginny!" Lark called out. "Come over here."
Colin grinned wryly. "Watch out; she's only going to assault you with more details of what happened today. She's told me at least twice already and I was there for half of it anyway."
"Quiet. Where were you today?" she asked Ginny. "I was waiting for you to show up but you never did; Colin told me you had an extra session with Malfoy today."
Ginny nodded glumly. She briefly explained that she and the blond had walked around Hogsmeade for a bit and then came back to Hogwarts.
"Before you tell me about what happened today though," Ginny said changing the subject, "I'm curious to know what went on last night in the common room; what were you and Parvati talking about?"
Lark frowned. "Oh, that…According to Parvati I've been 'chasing after Seamus' and she thinks it's 'rather cute'. She wanted to inform me that she had no issues whatsoever with any relationship that 'might randomly spring up' and that I shouldn't be 'intimidated by the reputation that precedes her'."
Ginny was shocked. "Did she really say that? What a hag!"
"I know! That's awful," Hermione sympathized. Lark and Ginny looked at her. "Well I just overheard what you two were talking about and I thought…"
Lark smiled. "It's fine; I could use all the advice I can get. Anyway, she went on to say that if Seamus and I should happen to go out in the near future that we would go with her full blessing…I don't know…" said Lark worriedly. "I don't really want to get into a relationship with him if she's still hung up on him – I mean, I'm not overly fond of Parvati, but I know that if I still liked someone it would be horrible to see them with someone else."
Ginny smiled a bit at her friend. "For one thing, Lark, it's kind of late not to get involved with him – you did go to Hogsmeade with him yesterday."
Hermione nodded. "And I saw Parvati with some Ravenclaw that her sister introduced her to – as a matter of fact I've seen her with him since the beginning of school."
"Personally I just think that she's trying purposely to throw you off," added Ginny. "I mean you're just as pretty as she is, if not prettier. And she can be rather nice on occasion but she gets jealous so easily. She doesn't bloody well own Seamus; if he wants to see other people he's allowed to – if she can, he should be able to also."
Lark nodded slowly. "If you say so…but listen to what happened at The Three Broomsticks. We went there and it was pretty much just the two of us. Then Dean Thomas came with a Hufflepuff girl and Lavender turned up with a Ravenclaw. After a bit I was wondering where you were, and I was going to look around for you. Seamus offered to come as well, but then guess who shows up?"
"Parvati?" offered Ginny.
"Mmhm. And she was being genuinely nice to me – at least it seemed like it – that for a second I thought it might have been Padma."
Hermione shook her head. "But Padma's much snottier," she informed them knowingly. Ginny wondered how it always seemed that Hermione knew all of the gossip that was around when she seemingly spent so much time on work.
"And I guess everything turned out all right in the end; I had a lot of fun at least."
Ginny grinned. "I'm sure you did, Ms. Piston. Might I ask if you'll be doing this again?"
Lark blushed. "Next Hogsmeade visit. It's still not an exclusive relationship or anything like that – we're just going as friends, but he did ask me as we were leaving on the carriages."
Ginny shrugged. "That bloke knows what he wants indeed."
"Oh shut up," said Lark.
"It's true," Colin put in, joining the conversation. "I was there and saw how flirty you two were; if it hadn't been for Dean they would've been all over each other."
"That's not true!" exclaimed Lark.
"I was about to steal a few pints of Firewhiskey and drink them until I mercifully blacked out, it was so disgusting. I could've really used your help, Ginny."
"I could have too!" exclaimed Hermione, putting the book down. "Ron and Harry were being absolutely insufferable today! They both refuse to tell me what it was you said last night."
Ginny felt put on the spot. Had Hermione asked her to spill the beans earlier on in the day, Ginny would have done it without a care. However Ginny's afternoon hadn't been wholly terrible, a bit strange, but not completely unbearable. So if she told Hermione about the teasing, the seventh-year would wonder why Ron took so much offense to it and come to the conclusion that Ron had feelings for her – she wasn't stupid. Of course she might not do anything about it at all, just mull over it for another seven years; but all the same Ron would be devastated that he hadn't told Hermione himself. Ginny would be just as much of a revenge monger as her brother.
She looked at Hermione in what she hoped was a relaxed manner. "It really was something stupid…at least to Harry and me – maybe not to Ron. I think I should talk to him first and then maybe he'll feel better about telling you." She looked at the empty spaces next to Hermione. "Where are they anyway?"
"You should know that Ron is hiding in his dormitory like you told him. He ordered Harry to go with him for support against you."
Ginny smirked at that; fully satisfied that for once Ron had taken one of her threats seriously. She was just way too easy on him sometimes.
"I didn't tell Ron to hide; I told him to wait in his room until I came up to have a chat with him," she explained.
"Ginny," said Colin wondrously, "You told the man to keep one eye open in his sleep; we all know that you didn't say that so he could try and see if it was possible." He looked Ginny in the eyes. "You were after his blood."
The serious look in Colin's eyes caused the girls to break out in laughter.
After a few more minutes in which Hermione, Colin, and Lark helped Ginny to formulate plans in which she could successfully torture Ron; Ginny decided she was ready to go up to the common room.
She stood up and promptly slammed into Draco Malfoy.
"A little jumpy today, aren't we, Red? Try to steady your nerves." He laughed at Ginny's reddening face and left before she did.
Colin and the other two girls watched Draco leave. "What did he say to you? He must've been foul to make you so red."
"Don't give him that much credit; it's just sunburn."
Lark nodded slowly; Hermione and Colin looked suspicious.
"It was rather sunny today," said the dark-haired sixth-year. The three of them conveniently forgot to mention that Ginny had not been 'sunburned' ten minutes before.
Coming through the portrait Ginny saw Harry's hunched figure in his favorite chair, Quidditch Through the Ages.
"Where's your partner in crime?" Ginny asked leaning over him, startling the poor boy out of his fascinating read.
Harry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hiding away in his room like you told him to."
"I didn't – never mind," sighed Ginny. "I'd better deal with him now."
"Don't rough him up too much," Harry advised. "Remember that he still needs to be fit for Quidditch."
"What a good friend you are," Ginny told Harry going up the stairs.
Upon reaching the top she knocked on the door three times; there was no answer from within. Feeling slightly impatient at Ron's childish antics Ginny knocked three times more; this time much louder.
Cringing a little at the sound of shuffling feet and then something knocking over Ginny pressed her ear to the outside of the wooden door and almost jumped ten feet when a booming voice met her ears.
"I know you're out there, Ginny!" shouted Ron. The redheaded sixth-year saw a few accusing looks directed at her at the sound of her brother's bellow.
"What?" she snapped. "I haven't done anything yet!" She turned back to Ron's door. "What a coincidence, I know you're in there," she stated.
"And that's where you'll stay. That prat Harry was supposed to be up here with me but he opted for abandoning his best friend in his time of need."
"Harry's not to blame for this, Ron."
"Harry's a tosser!" proclaimed Ron from within. "That should be his name; Harry Tosser!"
The boy that was being spoken about shot a black look at the seventh-year dormitory door.
"I hope the first thing Ginny does is cut off your tongue!" he shouted back. "Only Hermione benefits from it anyway!"
Ginny couldn't see all the way down to the couch but she heard a thwap! And a yell. She rolled her eyes.
"I completely agree with you, Ron" she said dryly. If she wanted to get inside she would have to pacify him… "Harry was really insensitive the night of the party, and it was only due to my exposure to him that I spoke so…that I spoke…out of turn. I'm willing to apologize, though."
There was a pause.
"And…and what about that Percy dig you took at me this morning?"
Ginny buried a large sigh; this was all getting rather annoying.
"Look, I promise never to say that again; calling you a Percy was below the belt. It shall never again come from my lips – unless you deserve it, of course."
"Ginny –"
"That's the best you'll get out from me RonWeasley, so you'd better let me in before I blast down the door and take you with it!"
The distinct sound of a lock being opened filtered out to Ginny.
"Since when've you become so violent?" Ron mumbled. "You know it's really un-ladyli –"
Ginny shoved the door inward causing Ron to stumble back a few steps. Before shutting it she heard Harry's agitated voice.
"Do what you will to him," he called. "It is now a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
"Right, then Ronnie; let's get down to business." Ginny clasped her hands together. "Do you have anything to say to me?"
Ron shuffled. "Would 'sorry' suffice?"
Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Maybe."
The redheaded seventh-year threw his hands up in the air. "What else do you want me to say? Would you like me to give you my liver?"
Ginny made a face. "No thanks; you know I hate liver."
"No one asked you to eat it."
"Well I'm not exactly going to keep it in a jar by my bedside, mor-Ron."
Ron scowled. "I thought you stopped calling me that."
"I thought you stopped acting like a fool," Ginny quipped.
"There is something called respecting one's elder, Ginny."
She waved her hand intolerantly. "I've just apologized for it, so please don't make me call you Percy again, Ronnie. I really don't think you should be threatening me right now either."
"D'you know that you're a madwoman? All the boys got the sane genes and the crazy ones were left for you."
"That's Ginny Weasley, for you; always getting the bottom of the barrel." Ron opened his mouth. "And you'd best not continue to 'apologize' in that fashion; you're already up Shit Creek without a paddle."
"Nice imagery, Ginny," grumbled Ron, still shuffling his feet.
"I do try."
He scuffed his feet some more; so much so that Ginny wondered if he wasn't trying to do the two-step. "Stop moving around, Ron," she ordered.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously. "Are moving targets a bit harder for you to hex?"
"Exactly – remember that I'm supposedly after your liver."
He glared at her. "Do you know how many laws you'd break if you tried to eat me?" he asked seriously. "The Non-Cannibalism law, the law that says you can't murder people – because I'll be damned if you eat my liver while I'm still breathing – the…"
"Do you realize the law you broke this morning? The Non-Tattletale Law that prohibits siblings from tattling and squealing to Mummy. In my opinion that law outshadows all the rest; it was established long ago that all Weasley children would kill someone before ever ratting them out – unless of course the blackmail is too good to pass up…"
"Yes, I know," said Ron, feeling guiltier by the minute.
"This is why I would have rather that we had a row over the whole teasing matter rather than you go scribbling owls off to Mum."
Ron glowered at his sister. "Under those same stipulations I thought it was understood that details of one sibling's …er…ardor or, or whatever would not be divulged because it's just plain wrong."
Ginny's eyes went soft as she looked at her brother. Getting up with a gusty sigh she pulled him next to her.
"You can't let it go on like this forever, Ron."
He averted his eyes. "Well I know that Mum won't be cross with you forever, she's probably already –"
"You know what I mean…"
There was silence in the room.
"I don't know how to tell her…I don't even know where to start. Whenever I try – I really have been, you know – it always comes out wrong. Like once I said to her, 'You know, Herm…you're different…' and she starts yelling at me not to call her 'Herm' and that there's nothing wrong with being a Muggle-born. I wasn't talking about difference in terms of magic! She's so bloody difficult, that one. I really can't stand her sometimes."
"You love her."
"Who the hell knows what love's supposed to feel like anyway?!"
Ginny shrugged. "I'm not sure…Lark told me that her mother said it was like lightening, once."
"So not only do I have to fight with myself over this, but the bloody elements as well?! This whole thing is really overrated."
"You don't think it's worth it?" questioned Ginny.
"It had better be, or I've wasted precious years of my life on it."
"Well with an attitude like that how could Hermione refuse you?"
"Shut up, Ginny."
"Harry and I are trying to help you, you know. We can tell that Hermione cares for you as well, but both of you are just dancing around the subject like Mexican Jumping Beans or something; it's quite disturbing actually to see the lengths to which both of you will go to ignore what's right in front of you. Last year you wouldn't even say the word 'love' around Hermione lest she magically connect it back to you. I swear sometimes, Ron that you're swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool."
After saying as much, though, Ginny wondered if Ron would understand what she just told him. She only knew about Mexican Jumping Beans from when Lark showed them to her once after visiting her house.
"My point is only this: you must make progress with Hermione. Show her how you feel – maybe words aren't your strong point because you get nervous. Why not be extra nice to her or something? Because if you and our Head Girl don't move ahead Harry and I have already got plans to move this whole thing along for you. Understand?"
"Is this my punishment for the Howler?" asked Ron glumly at the prospect of trying to woo someone. It was hard enough for him to coax Pig into staying still; how was he supposed to coerce Hermione into a relationship with him?
"Don't think of this as a punishment per se, brother mine. Think of the benefits you shall reap from this experience."
A pause.
"Did you know that you're evil, Ginny?"
"No, not evil, Ron; wicked. I'm wicked – and thank you."
Sunday passed in a blur of homework, plotting with Harry against Hermione and Ron, plotting with Lark against whatever Parvati was up to, and plotting against Draco's hidden motives.
So much so that she was surprised to find herself once more dreading the upcoming lunch she had with Mr. I LikeToLickMyEnemies – It's Disconcerting, that day. Naturally Ginny's temper was already higher than usual because of it, but it made for a difficult day when combined with Lark's uncharacteristic dark mood. Actually, the rest of the weekend had been rather terrible for everyone, and all in one Sunday.
Lark informed Ginny that Seamus had been avoiding her ever since Saturday and that it was really grating on her nerves. Parvati was on another boyfriend which was probably only to make Seamus jealous. So Lark was not feeling very charitable toward most of the Gryffindor seventh-year females – Hermione graciously excluded – as Parvati was in with Lavender who also seemed to act rather cold toward Ginny's best friend.
Ron was dodging Hermione on a technicality that he told Ginny about. "You didn't say when I had to start…you know, getting her to like me and stuff." This led to Hermione being cross with Ron for avoiding her, which led to her being cross with Harry for still not revealing the conversation on the night of Ginny's 'Welcome Back' party. Harry was invariably annoyed with Ron for what he described as a "Whopping case of stupidity" and retreated to the Quidditch pitch to get away from arguments that sprang up when his two best friends were in the room, Ron only participating in the rows half-heartedly. He plotted with Ginny when he wasn't feeling an ulcer coming on.
Colin had a week's detention for setting a Slytherin on fire – by accident of course.
The obnoxious sixth-year snake had wandered into the development room that was used by few people save for Colin and a few Hufflepuffs interested in photography. The Gryffindor had finished setting out the last of his prints from the past month when the Slytherin came in and started taunting Colin. After a particularly nasty comeback that Colin made, the Slytherin held up the set of prints and cast a fire charm on them with his wand. Trying to put out the flames Colin ended up inflaming the Slytherin sixth-year due to his distress about the lost photos he had painstakingly taken. The boy ran out of the room and through the halls with the front of his robes on fire and saw Snape who happened to be walking down at that moment. Aghast, the Potions savant distinguished the flames and demanded to know what happened. The Slytherin – who had actually not been harmed at all other than being scared out of his wits – promptly accused Colin of being a 'Fire-Starting-Madman' who belonged in prison. Colin, losing his temper, promptly asked if he could get a cell furthest away from the Slytherin's parents; Snape decreed that Colin get five week's detention. Eventually Colin was hauled up before McGonagall who said that the Slytherin was lucky he hadn't set the whole school on fire by setting the developing chemicals alight. And the outlandish five-week detention was whittled down to one week for both parties.
Generally there was a great feeling of ill will all around.
Leaving a particularly painful Potion's lesion in which Snape hovered menacingly around Ginny's little group on Monday, Ginny's hackles were very up. As she passed on to her next class with Colin and Lark, there was one last relentless Slytherin took it upon herself to hiss at Ginny.
"Go back to your mummy, little one, I might step on you," Ginny said with only a hint of bite in her voice.
Then the girl actually stopped in front of Ginny, put her hands on her hips and hissed once more. Lark's eyebrows were arched in surprise at the girl's audacity, Colin rolled his eyes, and Ginny frowned.
"You're a little thing aren't you? Can't be more than a fourth-year," said the redhead.
"Actually I'm in your year, you Weasley." She hissed once more; it was all getting kind of silly, really.
Ginny smiled benevolently. "Colin, Lark, look at it; I think it's faulty. Aren't they supposed to bark?" The girl's mouth opened like a fish. "Oh, and I apologize for thinking you were two years below us – your immaturity deceived me."
Even so, the girl refused to move.
Spying Pansy Parkinson and a few more of her cronies, Ginny shouted out to her. "Call off your boarhound, Parkinson before I put it down."
Pansy only tittered and walked on, ignoring Ginny completely. Exasperated Ginny pushed a bit violently by the girl and walked on.
"This isn't over, yet!" she called to Ginny's back.
"Oh, but it is!" Ginny shouted back.
"I think we have Potions with her," said Colin shifting his book bag on his shoulder.
"I never noticed her before," said Lark. "She really is young looking."
Ginny shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. "A baby's looks to go with a baby's mind. She called me a Weasley. Gosh, I don't think I've heard that one before. I am officially shocked and awed."
"I hate Slytherins," said Colin passionately, glaring at the few they passed. "The whole lot of them are nothing but a greedy, selfish, bigoted bunch of piss ants who deserve nothing but that we Gryffindor step all over them."
Ginny and Lark glanced at Colin in surprise.
"Since when are you so hateful of them?" asked Lark.
"Since that arsehole destroyed a month's worth of hard work and I have to serve detention for it." He shook his head. "I really hope that you give Malfoy a hard time, Ginny, because I won't be able to stand it if I see his stupid face leering our way anymore."
"What are you talking about?" the redhead asked.
"He was glaring in our direction at meal time all during breakfast yesterday. I was hoping that Ron would call him out on it and kick his poncy little face in, but I was the only one who noticed."
Lark didn't say anything.
"I really don't know how you can stand to be near him Ginny." They reached the door to class. "Just keep your head like I told you to on Saturday and don't let him get to you. Be like stone." Colin walked inside with Lark following.
Ginny walked in a bit slower, a heavy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.
If she 'handled' Draco the way she had on Saturday she was in for a lot of grief with Colin.
Lunch was a quiet affair in the Great Hall that day.
The doom and gloom that Ginny and her friends felt was mirrored by the gray day outside. It was as if it had never been sunny and warm outside only a few days before. The noise level inside the room was also a bit hushed. The seventh-years especially seemed to be keeping very low key for some reason; most seemed to keep to themselves while maintaining ponderous and thoughtful looks on their faces. Others just looked plain miserable.
Ginny questioned Harry about it.
"Why does everyone have such a long face?"
"N.E.W.T.S.," he muttered. "The work level is actually starting to get scary; I've no idea how we're going to get through it all."
"That's only because the two of you didn't finish your homework by last night like I told you to," said Hermione with an air of great sagacity. "Now you've got to finish that Transfiguration essay by last period tomorrow along with practicing the spells Flitwick instructed you to in Charms."
"Extra homework again?" asked Ginny incredulously. "Don't tell me you're going to do a repeat of fifth-year."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't nag, Ginny, unless you want to write an essay up for me."
"Don't be silly," said Hermione sipping her pea soup. "Ginny hasn't done these charms before. If you want…I'll help you."
Ron looked up sharply. "You don't have to…" he said, sounding like he really wanted her to.
"It's fine," she said loftily, although her cheeks looked a bit pink… "After all, you've still got to get to work on that Potions essay due Friday, and then there's a revision game that I thought might be fun to try…I'll help you as well, Harry. Of course."
Harry sipped his juice. "Thanks for not forgetting me, Hermione," was the only thing he said; he and Ginny shared a secret smirk.
After that Ginny munched her sandwich in silence. Listening to the seventh-year's struggles made her feel a little guilty for thinking about her own problems with Draco. Misery loved company and so there was no need for her to wallow in it alone; especially on someone such as Draco Malfoy. She saw Colin glaring at intervals at the Slytherin table and felt worse. He had worked really hard on those pictures and didn't deserve having to start over. A month's work gone…
"Which one was it, Col?" she asked.
He growled. "The one to the right of Boris Hutchinson; see him?"
"Tall but heavyset?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"Mmm. He has a nasty look on his face if ever there was one…"
"Wasn't that way when he was lit up like Hogwarts at Christmas," jibed Colin. Ginny nodded and took a quick scan of the whole table. Just before she put focus back on her own table, though, her eyes saw grey.
Draco was staring at her with the most expressionless look she had ever seen on any person's face. It was empty, but at the same time coolly calculating; the look one might give to an interesting rock. As if his thoughts were saying, "That's an interesting rock," yet he replaced the rock with Ginny Weasley. "That's an interesting Weasley," she imagined him saying in a bored tone.
He wouldn't look away, Ginny thought with irritation, discounting the fact that she wouldn't either. Was there something on her face?
"Only his lips."
Ginny's eyes went large and she looked away quickly. "Excuse me?" she said to whomever.
Lark looked at her. "Colin asked me why I'm so interested in Seamus. I told him, 'Nothing in particular.' And the smart aleck said I only like him for his lips."
Ginny gave Colin a pointed look, trying to erase what she had been thinking. "How would you know about Seamus's lips?"
"I've heard a bunch of girls talking," he said shrugging.
"Was one of them Parvati or Lavender?" asked Lark sharply.
"What do you think?"
Lark scowled.
Engaging only halfway in conversation between her friends Ginny somewhat mechanically finished her lunch. Harry and Ron were conversing about something – Quidditch, Ginny suspected – Hermione was reading a textbook, Colin was still sulking about his photos, and Lark was talking with Dean Thomas.
Checking the watch that had been rightfully restored to its home, Ginny saw that it was time to meet Draco. She glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw that her fellow sufferer had already left. Making her customary excuse Ginny departed the Great Hall, mind whirring speculatively. She was not at all in the mood to deal with Draco Malfoy and from the collective attitude that the seventh-years had that day he most likely reciprocated those sentiments. So why should they suffer?
With a self-approving nod of the head Ginny headed for the main staircase that would give her a relatively short pass to Gryffindor Tower. It might be nice to catch up on some rest or just laze about instead of arguing for once. Catching another staircase that should satisfactorily have taken Ginny a corridor away from where she wanted to be, Ginny was rendered immediately speechless.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Weasley," said a rich voice.
Ginny drudged up a smile that only halfway revealed her dismay at finding the smiling Professor Martin on the same staircase as herself.
"Hello, Professor."
Martin went straight in for the kill. "Where might you be headed?"
"My common room," Ginny said forthrightly. "I wanted to grab my bag so that I wouldn't have to rush at the end of the…session to get to my next class."
"Of course!" said Martin brightly, checking her watch as the staircase settled onto Ginny's floor. "You might want to hurry along though; you're a little late in meeting with Draco. I ran into him on his way to your room."
Ginny tried to seem interested. "Oh…did you?"
"Yes…" said Martin looking a little more serious. "He was a bit agitated – the upcoming exams I presume. It will do him some good to just relax and talk with a fellow student." Ginny fought against a laugh. "I know that the two of you aren't very close,"
Martin went on, "but speaking with someone else is often therapeutic – you might suddenly find yourself confiding in the person you least expected, and be even more surprised to discover that they respond to that."
"Yes, well I had the good fortune to confide in someone, once," said Ginny frostily. "The only downside was that the response I got almost killed me."
Ginny saw a sudden look of shock register on the older woman's face and colored, feeling slightly guilty. She was constantly taking out her anger on Professor Martin. Part of it was due to the fact that Ginny found Lourna Martin intrusive and more than a little annoying. Ginny hadn't missed the clever way the professor had slipped Malfoy's first name into the conversation.
No doubt the woman had fair intentions – why if the entire world put the same effort into solving old family feuds it would no doubt be a better place – but Ginny still harbored resentment that she was being forced into the whole arrangement. She had taken it like a trooper when Dumbledore first informed her of the detention, but Dumbledore had an entirely different approach when dealing with matters such as this. He seemed understanding – or at least willing to without the invasiveness of Martin. Ginny also blamed all of the random odd moments that she shared with Draco on the professor. She would not have ended up being constantly tormented with the reality and the thoughts of Draco Malfoy had Martin not insisted that they spend as much time together as possible.
All that in mind though, Professor Martin only wanted to do her job well and did not deserve Ginny's wrath – it was better used on Draco anyway. She decided to apologize, even if one of the motivations for it was to save herself from another reprimand from McGonagall.
"I'm sorry," Ginny said to the older woman. "I really am. This whole thing is just rather…difficult for me – I'm sure it is for, er…Draco as well."
Martin nodded her acceptance to the apology, although it seemed a little stiff to Ginny. "Of course. Just remember to keep an open mind about the whole thing – really do – and you might find yourself surprised with the results."
Not knowing what to say to that Ginny hurried along to the common room after a lukewarm goodbye to Professor Martin so that she could go and get her bag. Glumly, Ginny retraced her steps so that she could go meet Draco.
'Hurrah,' she thought.
Ginny stepped in the room with a barrage of insults waiting at the tip of her tongue; instead she was cut off from the get go.
"You're late. Don't let the door slam when you close it."
Frowning Ginny made sure that the door closed smoothly. "Why do you care if I'm late?" she asked. She went to recline on her favorite chair but the blond was all over it. He had random papers scattered on every inch of it and even part of the floor. Although they were in neat piles it annoyed Ginny that he was taking up half of the room. "Like your space, do you?" she asked dryly.
Draco answered without looking up. "Your tardiness irritates me because obviously I'm in the middle of important work and you're disturbing me. And yes, I like having lots of space. I know you don't get that much in your own home but in this room try to stay out of mine."
"You don't own this room," Ginny informed him opting to sit on another couch.
"No, I don't," he agreed. "But while I'm in it for the time being you'll opt to keep quiet."
Ginny sniffed. "That's some nerve you've got, ordering me around."
Draco slammed his quill down on the table. "Well, I'm sorry that I don't sound as lovely as Potter, no doubt you'd shut up without any qualms. All the same he probably enjoys those rare moments that you allow the slightest hint of quiet to reside in a room, and in that one respect I'm no different from Scarface."
Ginny blinked. "Nice rant, Malfoy. Could you do it again? I'd like to see if you could turn any redder this time."
With an exasperated sigh that showed his uncharacteristic lack of composure that day Draco went back to scribbling furiously. Ginny swore that she heard him mumble, "I don't turn red…stupid Weasley…" and she sniggered. This garnered another black look and she shrugged.
After about ten minutes of silence Ginny fished around in her book bag for her own parchment and quills. She had a few free periods during the week, but it wouldn't hurt to start work then.
Ginny quickly finished off a lingering Divination assignment that she had been putting off and unconsciously focused her attentions on the blond occupant of the room.
She regretted not having chosen Arithmancy with Lark and Colin. It was not that she was bad with numbers which Arithmancy involved, she reflected, merely that the mystique concerning Divination had always fascinated her, even if Trelawney was as big a fraud as they came…
Draco sat up and slowly rolled his neck. "Would you mind not staring holes into me? It's giving me a crick in the neck."
"Damn. I was trying to break it."
Draco only rolled his eyes and mumbled broodingly, while rubbing his hand over his face. Ginny saw a hint of a shadow on his features.
"Have seventh-year woes got you in a strop too? You're looking a bit haggard."
"I'm not in a strop, Weasley. I'm maintaining a steady focus on my goal. Seriousness is required," he told her with annoyance. "And if I look haggard it's only because I was trying to fit in with the other person around me." He gave her a pointed look.
Ginny blinked. "Anyway, since you've got a wad up your arse about exams, might you be able to convince Martin that you really need this time off to revise?"
"You don't think I tried that?" he snapped. "I saw her while I was coming into the room and asked her with the most sincerity I could summon up for her that I had better things to do than sit around and talk to you."
"And what did she say?"
"Well as I'm bloody well sitting here, what do you think she said? Along with that she fed me utter crap about getting to know you, all the while practically shoving me in the room. I can honestly swear that I've never met anyone so attractive who could be so thoroughly trying aside from y – "
Ginny stiffened.
"Yeoman," he finished, drawing out the name very slowly. His and Ginny's eyes seemed to be magnetically targeted to each other. "An ex-girlfriend of mine."
Ginny frowned. "Yeoman's a male name."
"That's a rather sexist thing to assume."
"Malfoy…the name is Yeo – MAN. Does that signify nothing to you?"
Draco picked up his quill. "Yes; that her parents chose to break away from the norm."
"I don't believe you," Ginny insisted.
"Really? Well…" he frowned and then after a moment smiled. "Wait, nevermind. I thought that I was going to care for a second but then it passed like Goyle's farts in the wind."
Ginny's reddened but continued. "No, what were you going to say?"
Draco slammed his quill on the table. "What did you think I was going to say, hmm?" He eyed Ginny grippingly. "What did you want me to say?"
She hated him. She hated how he was always trying to turn things onto her. Ginny knew inside, she knew that he was about to say, "aside from you." But he stopped at the last moment. So now if she said what she knew he was going to say, he would say that she was delusional. And Ginny would agree with him. But that wouldn't change the fact that he found her attractive.
Neither would it change the fact that he refused to acknowledge it.
She was boiling inside. She knew that he wanted to talk about Sunday afternoon; but he didn't want to be the one to broach the topic. It was so unfair! But she refused to appease him! She would not bring it up at all. He thought that she was predictable?
He thought wrong. He didn't know a damned thing. Stupid people knew a grand total of S.H.I.T.
And Ginny was just about to tell him exactly that when she saw the smug look on his face…maybe she was wrong…maybe he really did have an ex named Yeoman. Those aristocratic types were all the same, after all. Naming their children the most antiquated, obscure, dull names as possible so as to sound dignified. Draco was an example of that. The name Draco was not desirable or alluring in any way, Ginny assured herself. Not at all.
"Forget it," she settled for saying. "It's only that it's a very…unique name." She went to rummage in her rucksack for more parchment to tackle another assignment. "Yeoman…" she muttered, shaking her head.
Draco tensed and forced himself to remain calm. She didn't believe a word that he said – and really, it was just as well because they were all lies, and stupid ones at that – but it left him feeling…on his guard. And that was more annoying than anything because he normally felt on his guard around her anyway, as she always had some smart-aleck comment to pop back at him.
Now he had to watch out for that odd feeling he got when he looked at her too long… the more he tried to forget it, the more it came back to him. Ginny's lips right near his own, her soft skin, her chocolaty taste…
He wondered if ordering ice cream into Hogwarts was permissible…
Probably not, he mused. It indulged in countless sexual fantasies. School was really no place for something as erotic as ice cream.
Draco looked away from Ginny and tried to concentrate on the essay he had started writing before Ginny came in the room. She had been partially right when she suggested that his patience was a bit more sparse than usual. Each teacher was piling work onto his or her seventh-years with the mindset that their work was the most important and should be completed to perfection. Any complaints fell on deaf and uncaring ears and would be thrown back at them.
Leaving his morning classes, Draco had been wryly grateful that he had time with Ginny in which to his work. Of course, if he didn't have the sessions, he would have studied anyway, perhaps in the library or the common room. However, the sight of Hermione's face behind every shelf available in the library had made it less desirable to be there. Pansy always liked to study off of him and was either sticking her face in his notes or demanding that he quiz her, meaning that he got no revision of his own done. Crabbe and Goyle simply sat there with their notes in front of them, hoping that miraculously it might become embedded into their brains.
Sometime during sixth-year he had decided to venture out into the school and search for private places where he might be able to look over his notes in peace or simply think from time to time. However, the constantly horny population of Hogwarts adolescents was also looking for private rooms, and more than once Draco had found places that he once thought secret, scandalously unavailable.
In a way it became a small blessing that his – and Ginny's room he admitted reluctantly – seemed to be exclusively for them. No longer did he have to dig into the far reaches of the castle for at least forty-five minutes of disturbance-free Draco time. It was rather nice knowing that it would be waiting for him, as he came to see when Ginny was in the Hospital Wing. It was rather nice knowing that when Ginny was released; she would be there to take his mind off things when he became too stressed out…
However, after his little lick the day before, he wondered if the room would have that same comfort. Ginny told him that she wanted to forget it, and he wanted to as well, very much.
It was just very difficult.
Draco scribbled a line down on his parchment.
'Yeoman…' he thought, frustrated. It really was a crappy lie.
Only he had been about to say something so utterly unforgivable, that saying anything was the better option.
"Miss her?"
Draco looked up at Ginny who had walked over to his chair and sat a foot away from him on the floor. "What?" he asked with a frown on his face.
Ginny summoned his parchment to her and pointed her quill at a section of it. "Your ex: Yeoman. You must still be pining over her."
Draco peered at the paper to see that he had written: The Cerratus Charm reveals its most interesting effects when used on subjects such as Yeoman.
He frowned. "Do you make it a habit to read other people's parchment?" He asked, not using magic to obtain his homework back, but snatching it.
"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed, rubbing her hand although she hadn't been hurt.
Draco went back to writing. "Hay is for horses."
"And 'a' is for arseholes," Ginny grumbled. "I was bored and so I peeked at your work to see what kinds of stuff seventh-years learn. I must admit that I too find the subject of Yeoman very intriguing."
Draco said nothing.
"It's alright, I understand that you don't want to talk about it. Being dumped is rather hard on the soul."
"She didn't dump me," Draco informed Ginny snappishly. He was about to go on and say that it was a mutual agreement, but that sounded terribly fake, especially coming from him. "And I don't want to talk about it."
"I understand completely," Ginny said, looking at him in that infuriating way of hers.
"And there's no call for you to be so nosy. Who do you think you are? Professor Martin?"
Ginny turned her nose up at him. "Alright, alright, point taken…that was a low blow."
He huffed anyway and wrote something down. He was barely paying it any attention. "I figured as much. You don't exactly seem to like her."
"No more than you," Ginny rejoined. "And I don't hate her per se…it's more of an irritation that makes me want to be back in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey hovering over me."
"And me coming to see you?" Draco grinned unkindly.
"You're the exception to the rule, Malfoy."
"Naturally." He paused. "Actually I had been hoping that you didn't mind being there too much. You see, after the rematch you're going to end up right back in the Hospital Wing – there's an upside, though, I promise," he told Ginny when he saw her ears start to redden with anger. "You'll have plenty of company. With all of your teammates there, it'll be more like a party than anything else."
"It's nice to know that after all this time you're so apologetic, you pointy faced cretin," Ginny told him contemptuously, gripping her quill tightly. "If I had hoped that some amount of decency managed to seep its way into your daylight-deprived body, I now know that I should be disappointed."
Draco only gave Ginny a look that told her he could care less what she said about him. "Anything goes in Quidditch; if you can't handle it, stay in the spectator stands."
"I shouldn't have to just because you're a filthy cheater!"
"There was nothing illegal about what I did," Draco stated calmly.
"You don't do things like that in school Quidditch!" Ginny shouted.
The blond blinked. "Look, you may consider yourself and your talents far below professional Quidditch standards, but that doesn't mean that –"
"You only wanted to win."
"That is usually the intention of playing on a team, Weasley. To make a name for yourself – "
"Yeah," she sneered. "B-a-s-t-a –"
"You're just bitter."
"Me! I'm bitter?!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're the one who tried to kill me just so that you could finally beat Harry Potter. How's that for sour grapes?"
Ginny saw that familiar pulse point ticking in Draco's neck. "Harry fucking Potter has nothing to do with any of this," he said slowly.
"The hell he doesn't!" Ginny shouted, voice starting to get hoarse. "He's the better Seeker! He has the better team! You know, I'll even bet he's better in the sack, you foul –"
"Shut up…"
"Everyone loves him! Everyone! I bet that secretly Snape loves him!"
"Shut up."
"Voldemort is probably carrying a top-secret torch for him!"
Draco blanched.
"Hermione and Ron, and Colin, and my parents love him! And I love him!"
"SHUT UP!"
Ginny gasped. Draco had left his spot on the couch and was now gripping her shoulders in his hands. He was kneeling on his clean trousers in a mess of papers that had tilted over when he sprang at her. His eyes were feverish and he was flushed and tense and shaking. Ginny could feel his hands trembling from the top of her shoulders where his fingertips ended. Even his hair was swaying faintly.
Aside from that he was so still that Ginny might have thought him a statue. He was glaring directly in her eyes and Ginny couldn't have looked away if she wanted to.
"I hate you," he whispered, and she knew that he meant it.
Draco knew that he meant it as well but couldn't control himself when one of his hands left her shoulders and moved to her face to trace a path up and down her jaw. He moved his thumb to caress her bottom lip.
He shook even more.
Then he parted her lips with his nail and Ginny could taste the saltiness of the pad of his thumb on her tongue. He moved his other hand to her hair and ran a hand through it as if he had wanted to do that for a long time. He made it brush her neck so that she could shiver, so that she could understand what he was feeling.
He wanted to touch her everywhere, and make her enjoy it until she thought that she was dying so she could understand how it felt when she violated him in the unexplainable way that she did.
"God I hate you," he told her.
Ginny didn't realize that she had been holding her breath for a while, but her body did and she breathed in deeply. He drew back at her movement and she was finally able to peel her eyes away.
Unsure of whether she meant it or not, Ginny looked down at the floor and tried to offer an apology. "I'm sorry…"
"Save it," Draco hissed. He got off the floor and Ginny felt a whip from the hem of his robes on her cheek.
She heard him pack his things away and snap his rucksack closed. "Save it for another fucking day."
He stumbled out of the room hoping that she didn't notice his ungainliness, his sudden lack of balance.
Draco all but ran to his common room, up to his dorm and shut the hangings of his four-poster. He put a Silencing Charm around his bed so that no one could hear his labored breaths.
He hated her. And he meant it with all his heart.
It was possible to hate someone as strongly as he did Ginny. To loathe their very existence while at the same time wanting to just…kiss them breathless. It was possible to feel disgust in his stomach at the prospect of seeing her at another session while at the same time lust stirred in another section. He was able to not care that she spent around a week in the Infirmary, but enjoy bickering with her when he was forced to visit. He could hate that she was someone who meant nothing to him, but after barely a kiss stay up late at night wishing that she were with him, holding him, touching him…
All of it had to be possible. Because if it wasn't, there was something very wrong with him, or he was overlooking something very vital.
Another one down; And here are the…
Replies: lina They do so much! That is one of my favorite parts of writing this fic. I'm glad you liked that bit, thanks for reviewing. anime-babygurl I'm glad you thought it was funny. I am seriously considering changing the secondary genre to humor. The only thing that stops me is a bit of drama that will come in the future. But even humor fics have drama, right? Anyway, yup, I do plan on having a bit of R/H interaction. They're way too much fun not to write about. Numbly Breaking Ginny telling Ron off in Ch.8 was one of the most fun times I've ever had writing a fic; seriously. So I'm really, really glad that you liked it. I'm also ecstatic that you liked Draco's little 'taste' of Ginny. I was worried that it might end up sounding like he slobbered on her or something (eww), but I didn't want to put the kiss scene there because I've got that planned out already… Thank you so much for all of your reviews. I really appreciate them. Victoria27 Yes, I have sucked you in! Thank you for your review. mell8 I hope this was soon enough; thanks a lot for reviewing. Luna Gypsy I'm happy you like the story so much. Here's the next one! Demented Furiae I'm glad you liked it! Here it is! Lithui Thank you! Isn't vanilla a good flavor? My brother thinks it's really plain, but it's not! Nikki Thank you! Dweeb Sorry it took so long to read, some of the chapters are kind of lengthy. Your review made me crack up. Thanks so much. shelly2 Hehe, I have an evil spot for writing arguments, I'm glad you like them. star123 Thanks for the review. (I love your name). There was a lot of gryff stuff in the last chapter. There was a big chunk of it in this one too. But I promise that it'll become more D/G centered, although R/H will continue and Lark's own man troubles. Yav aka Shibs I think some of the insults come from years of oppression as a younger sister myself, lol. Only I couldn't use a lot of them to my older brother because we've got the same parents…but no matter! Thanks for the review! rachel Woo! Thanks!
Review! Review! It makes my heart sing!
- Femme