Author's Notes: 150 reviews…you guys are either brilliant or insane…lol. But seriously, from the bottom of my D/G loving heart thank you all sooooo sooooo much. Wow. And now on to the fic.
Disclaimer: I weep inside, for I only own the plot.
Miss Cellophane
The next day Ginny listlessly kicked a rock on the ground.
She followed the path it took her until she punted it so hard that it went out of range. Maybe if she were in better spirits she would have chased after it; however she was not in the mood, unless it was to chase someone away from her.
But of course there were other rocks, as she was outside in front of the castle. There was also an unusual amount of people lolling around, as the sixth-year Charms class had been cancelled when a seventh-year went into hysterics the period before during a quick revision of Banishing Charms.
When Ginny, Lark, and Colin had gone to Flitwick's room for their lesson, Ron hurriedly informed them of the situation. He said that it was only partially related to N.E.W.T. stress.
"You've got a free; Parvati Banished Flitwick out of the window," Harry had told them. Most of Ginny's class ran inside to room to take a peek out of the window and saw a tiny figure waddling agitatedly back up Hogwarts front steps.
"Is he hurt?" asked Lark.
"Nah," Ron assured them.
"Well he's not a Charms professor for nothing," Hermione said. "He slowed his fall using his wand."
"It was a logical question," Ron argued. "Flitwick's not exactly the bulkiest of fellows."
"You mean he's runty," Colin interjected.
"That 'runty' wizard is grading all of our exams and has just given you the period off," Hermione said.
Colin nodded. "Yes, Head Girl Hermione."
"Anyway, what happened is that he's dismissing it as 'Exam Anxiety', but it's really because Seamus made an improper advance to Parvati, and she tried to Banish him. The only role that 'stress' played was that it made her aim iffy…and henceforth the flying Flitwick."
"You sound more like Fred and George everyday, Ron," Ginny told her brother.
He had the sense to not to smile when Hermione glared at him.
She wasn't finished. "And I won't be surprised if you break their dismal record and get negative N.E.W.T.s."
"What –"
"C'mon Lark," Ginny said to her friend.
Colin offered Ron an apologetic smile and followed the two sixth-year girls. Sounds of Hermione berating Ron for his tactlessness were heard in the distance as they headed for the main doors.
"I'm sure it meant nothing," Ginny told Lark fervently.
"I don't think that even Parvati would Banish someone without reason," replied Lark a bit more snappishly than she intended. "Look, I'm just going to walk around for a bit."
Ginny and Colin had nodded; to be perfectly honest, the redhead hadn't felt much like company anyway. Lark had gone to walk in the other direction by the far side of the lake and Colin followed her, wanting to retake some photos that he lost in the fire on Sunday.
That left some of Ginny's sixth-year class out on the wild grass of the castle, imposing on students who naturally had free periods during that time anyway. Ginny stayed away from them for the most part, though. She found another rock and kicked it, pretending that it had silky blond hair and a face.
She should have bitten him, Ginny thought resolutely.
Where did he ever get off touching her? What the hell kind of sick obsession did he have with her mouth? And telling her that he hated her?
As if she didn't despise him just as much!
He made her so sick…
She should have just bitten him and let him die on Martin's floor. Then she could have run away and told the woman that she had found him that way.
Ginny had gone on to her Arithmancy class after Monday's lunch and fouled up most of her calculations. Professor Vector had spoken to her after class about her uncharacteristic distractedness and gave her extra homework. Ginny assured him that she would be on track next class, and that she was only feeling a bit out of sorts, muttering something about the weather and head injuries. Afterward, Ginny tried to be as natural as possible in Muggle Studies with Colin and Lark, as she didn't want to let on why she was walking around like a zombie. Despite her best efforts, they noticed, though she was successful in deferring any explanations. They didn't force her to speak about it as they understood it had something to do with meeting Draco; they most likely wrote it off as the usual. They were so wrong.
By the end of Monday, Ginny had dutifully finished up her assignments, including the extra one even though she wouldn't have Arithmancy again until Wednesday, and trooped up to bed with a quiet goodnight, too emotionally wrung out to be hearty.
Tuesday morning, though, Ginny resolved that she had been being thick the day before by acting so maudlin. She told Draco that she was sorry (even though it wasn't very authentic…) and if he couldn't accept it that was his problem. That still didn't give him the right to touch her the way he had and then leave. You didn't do that to people; you followed through.
Unlike Saturday, it was something she couldn't forget no matter how much she tried to put it out of her mind. She had seen in his eyes that he wanted her…hadn't she?
Or had he been imagining that she was Yeoman?
She could have strangled him…!
"Hey! Who threw that?!"
Ginny scuttled away as fast as she could without looking suspicious. She had just booted her Draco-rock into the back of someone's head who had been relaxing on the ground.
Finding a more private section Ginny ambled along in her angry stupor without kicking any more dirt. When she tired of that she dropped gracelessly to the ground behind a thick stone formation that must have once been as large as Hagrid's hut, but had now decayed from neglect into a structure with only three walls no taller than Harry.
Ginny closed her eyes in mortification. She had said that she loved Harry.
And she meant it…just not in the way that he might think. Harry was all right, and he shared the same sarcastic humor that Ginny did, but she didn't get all…crazed thinking about him as she did with…other people.
And she knew why.
It was because Draco Malfoy was a psychotic, presumptuous prick that spread his disease of mania and confusion onto her. He belonged in quarantine somewhere very far away from Ginny for his own safety.
Ginny laughed angrily. He wouldn't even admit outright that he was going to say that he found her attractive. What kind of dumbass tried to deny something like that when it was painfully obvious?
If it were possible Ginny would have avoided her own eyes.
She didn't like him. She didn't like the way he made fun of her for being seriously injured due to his teammates following his orders. To be honest there were many things that she didn't enjoy about him. And she had gone over them many times the night before ad nausea. However it was becoming undeniable that there were things she found irresistible about him.
Well, for starters, she had been peeking at his notes more than she let on in "The Room", and from what she could tell, he was a very diligent student. He had nice handwriting, in a scrawly kind of elegance (or maybe it was simply that his quill was running out) and his notes were detailed and intelligent - aside from the line where he mentioned Yeoman, his imaginary girlfriend (Another point for the bad side for the whole fake girlfriend hoax. She hadn't believed him for a second).
On the less academic side, he had a lot of confidence. That almost went onto the negative side, however confidence wasn't always all bad.
What else?
He was, er…Ginny thought of a way to say it as plainly as possible.
He was beautiful. His face seemed rather pointed sometimes, but it only enhanced the general aura of sharpness about him that she found delectable.
And he had beautiful eyes, which were entirely another story…
And he had wonderful, wonderful hands that, Merlin save her, would be the end of her.
Just thinking about them made Ginny have to clench the grass in her fists and make a diligent effort to breathe evenly.
She wanted him.
Her face screwed up in disgust. She wanted him badly and she would go to hell for it unless she sorted her thoughts out properly and made sense of it all. Maybe she would discover that other, less insane boys also had nice, long fingers and beautiful eyes and were sexy. She needed someone to tell her that under no circumstances should she even contemplate being attracted to Draco Malfoy; that she should never, ever touch or be touched by him again, even if he were the last person on the entire planet. And there were no sheep.
Ginny rolled over onto her stomach. Trying to ignore it only made things worse. Initially, the session had started off rather well considering that Ginny chose a couch behind him so that she couldn't stare at him too much, and that they tried to piss the other off as much as possible. After half an hour things went downhill from there. They started to mention "the unsafe topics", such as Draco's thugs putting her in the Hospital Wing, Voldemort, and worse, Harry.
Ginny knew that once they admitted that they wanted each other, they could be much more cordial. He was rather comical sometimes and she liked that about him as well. (Another point for the good side)
She just wanted someone to tell. That had always been her problem. She needed someone to confide in. It had backfired in her first year, but after that she had gotten friends: Lark and Colin. Nonetheless she couldn't tell them about this. Lark had her own problems and Colin would laugh and then become very concerned when he saw that Ginny wasn't joking. And most of all she was afraid that they would think she had caught Draco's weird disease as well. They might very well abandon her. Ginny wanted to abandon herself.
If only she didn't enjoy the way it felt when he touched her…
But it was too late to wish for that. The situation needed to be confronted head on.
The first step was breaking the silence.
And so, feeling very much like a fool, but knowing that it would give her well needed relief and peace of mind, Ginny cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered to the grass, "I wouldn't completely, one-hundred percent mind it if Draco Malfoy and I fooled around. Just one time of course. And that would be it. It would never happen again. I swear. I don't even want to all that much…just a lot more than desperately and a bit less than immeasurably…"
And that was how he found her; whispering frantically to the grass as if her life depended on it. He noticed that just before she kicked him in the shin.
Draco Malfoy was not going to Transfiguration.
He knew that he was going to get it from McGonagall unless he came up with a very good excuse later on, because he knew that she would not take to, "I was pissed the fuck off" very well.
Initially he had all intentions of going to class; it was what you did when you were a student and had one of the most important exams of your life coming up. However when he saw that the mainly Gryffindor–Hufflepuff N.E.W.T. class had been in an uproar and that the sixth-years' class was cancelled, Draco saw no reason for him to be miserable in Transfiguration. The sixth-year Gryffs were getting a one off, so why shouldn't he? He deserved it more than they did anyway.
At first he went to the library, but it was too quiet for his tastes just then. What he wanted was distraction, not a death-like silence imposed by Madam Pince. So he headed for the room that always afforded him the luxury of getting his mind off things. Entering it, he sat down for a few minutes on the couch where Ginny had been sitting the day before and closed his eyes.
He could hear her screaming that even Voldemort was in love with Harry.
Doubtful. Very doubtful.
He could see her eyes sparking with anger and recalled when she said that even she loved Harry.
That was less doubtful.
He supposed that she did in fact love Potter – in the same way that Granger loved Potter. But he didn't want to do the same things to Hermione Granger that he did to Ginny Weasley. One was disturbing enough, thank you very much.
Draco shifted on the couch.
He really couldn't care one way or the other. It was her life that she was wasting away by pining over Harry Potter. After the first few sessions she had made it very clear to him that she didn't feel that way for the Boy-Who-Lived, so the fact that she said it in such a frivolous way for the sole reason of evoking his anger made Draco want to scream.
Draco sighed fitfully.
Her hair was longer than he had speculated – not as long as Pansy's, but full and vibrant. He remembered her shivering when it brushed her neck and the soft flush that bloomed by her collarbone and disappeared into the depths of her regulation white shirt. Thinking of how forward he had been with someone who he told he hated made him want to cringe.
He was surprised that she hadn't bitten him when his fingers caressed her mouth.
The blond shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Classes had seemed rather mundane after his session with Ginny. He had finished them up dutifully, just wanting to go to bed, but even when he pulled the sheets over him sleep hadn't come for a while. What he needed was action. He decided to take a walk outside.
Opening the main doors, Draco was suddenly glad that he usually had class at that hour of the day: there were people all over the place, he realized frowning. But action and activity was what he wanted, and it was what he got so he began to stroll aimlessly around the grounds.
There were a few Ravenclaws playing Exploding Snap on the grass and he glared at them when he caught their eye. For supposedly intelligent people, it should have occurred to them that if a spark hit the grass, Hogwarts might go up in flames.
He snorted at the mental image and ventured farther away from the throng, heading for a secluded stone structure only a few feet away where he could relax. In a way it was nice to take advantage of the very last days of summer.
On approaching he thought he saw long legs sticking out from behind the structure. They weren't moving in any way and he wondered remotely if the person had passed out or something.
Coming slowly closer Draco saw a lone figure talking to the grass, some of which had become entangled in her hair and on her clothes. His eyes traversed down from the top of her read hair to where it ended, and then down her back where there was more grass scattered on it. Lastly he took note of the bunched up skirt riding high on her thighs. He wondered if she was cold at all; it wasn't as warm as it had been on the day of the Hogsmeade visit…He didn't realize that he had been walking steadily closer to her, because when he made a noise in his throat at thinking of that day, one of her feet shot up and hit him in the shin.
He swore loudly and clutched his leg while Ginny quickly flipped over onto her back and jumped to her feet.
"What the hell were you doing?" she questioned in alarm, looking at his hunched form.
"Walking," he managed to grit out.
"You were spying on me!"
"Well, it's just that I've never seen anyone speak with dirt before and I was curious as to what it had to say," he taunted.
Ginny put her hands on her hips. "Right now it's telling you to shove off, I think."
He finished rubbing his sore leg and stood up fully. "You're mad."
"Takes one to know one," Ginny retorted childishly.
Draco made an angry noise, took one last look at Ginny and then stormed off. Ginny watched him leave, brushed herself off and cursed in a low voice.
So much for moving forward.
Ginny went on to enjoy a rousing class of Potions and with genuine relief went to lunch. Lark was still in heavy spirits, but they were lessening as Colin tried with great effort to be cheery. It was as funny as it was disturbing and it took Ginny's mind off of Draco issues.
Ginny listened as Colin prattled on about how he wished that they really had a free at that time of day.
"The light fell behind this one tree in an amazing way. I got a picture of that area before, but this one is actually better than the other; I think the first picture was taken around seven o'clock, so it's really different but still nice."
Lark nodded. "Show us the pictures as soon as you develop them. Maybe this time you should make some extra copies, so that if something else should ever happen you won't have to go through this again."
"Yeah, you were kind of homicidal yesterday," Ginny added.
"Still am," assured Colin.
In the next moment Ginny caught sight of a tall redhead loping for their table with Hermione's books in his hands. He was talking animatedly to a black-haired boy who was also carrying a heavy load.
Ron was clearly getting caught up in what they were speaking of and forgot momentarily about the objects in his arms. They dropped loudly to the floor. Hermione came rushing in and bent down to help Harry and Ron pick them up.
They were close enough to the table that Ginny could hear Hermione say, "You really didn't have to carry them, Ron. I can carry my own books."
"Not when you're nose deep in another pile in a different section of the library," said Harry.
"We were waiting there for at least half-an-hour just for you to dig yourself out," Ron added. "We would have died there among all those archaic texts if we didn't leave when we did."
"If you had helped me look for that book instead of sat at the table and talked about whatever you were talking about we wouldn't have been late to lunch."
"We would have missed it completely or only had enough time to sniff it as the elves put it away."
"And here I was thinking that you two were made of sterner stuff," Hermione said waspishly. "Now I see that you'll cry if you don't get your formula on time."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Your books aren't exactly feather-light, Hermione; so don't complain. You would have nagged at us had we not picked them up."
"I would not have! I would have had the sense to charm them so they weighed less!"
Ron and Harry reddened as they realized that they lost the argument.
"Forget it," said Harry. "Let's just eat quickly so we can get all of this finished."
Hermione walked stiffly to the table. "Well as you've brought the books anyway, we may as well have a look at them now."
"This really isn't right!" Ron told her angrily.
"No one told you to do the same! Only don't ask me to translate it for you later."
As the three seventh-years passed by Ginny she asked them, "Finally caught the seventh-year blues?"
"Don't want to talk about it," they all said shortly and kept walking.
Harry let the old texts fall loudly on the table and received a glare from Hermione. He gave her one right back and sat next to Ron. "I don't care if Madam Pince catches a fit because they're soiled. I'm sure that you'll find some chore for us to do that'll clean it right off."
The Head Girl's eyes flashed at him and she went to tell the raven-haired boy off but Ron interrupted with a discontented, "I'm starving. Shut up and eat."
Ginny, Lark and Colin exchanged surprised looks and went back to picking at their food.
"I'm really not looking forward to next year," stated Lark. "No one can stand anyone else for more than five minutes."
"Let's not talk about seventh-year," suggested Colin. "There's enough misery in the air as it is. What we need is to just have a good laugh before we all go mental; we're still sixth-years, we should enjoy our N.E.W.T. free year for as long as possible."
Lark smiled a bit forlornly at the blond and looked around absently. Ginny fell to doing the same. "Yeah; sixth-year is fun," she said drearily.
Nothing of interest was happening. There was a glowering Hufflepuff who sneezed on someone…There was a glum Ravenclaw who was studying a rather large chart…There was a blond Slytherin staring right back at her…
Ginny's eyes opened in surprise and then closed on a scowl. What right did he have staring at her?
All the same, instead of looking away as she usually would have done, Ginny thought of Colin's words. Yeah…it was her sixth-year. She shouldn't let other people's misery project onto herself; she shouldn't allow herself to feel victimized by an angry seventh-year. She should have some fun…
And so Ginny lifted an eyebrow and licked her lips slowly. She saw Draco scowl at her and Ginny rallied against herself not to smirk. Picking up her fork, she put it to her mouth and licked it with the tip of her tongue. Draco stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth with less refinement than usual.
Ginny snickered inwardly. So he was hungry now, eh?
Still looking at the blond, Ginny speared a piece of roast chicken and brought it to her mouth with considerable grace. Then, with narrow eyes she viciously tore it apart with her teeth.
She swore that he looked scared for a moment. She swore it.
But then he looked away and went back to chewing his dry bread. He hadn't even bothered to butter it.
"You know, watching you is like watching a Muggle soap opera."
Ginny turned her head to look at Colin, her hair obstructing her side view to the Slytherin table.
"A what?" Ginny asked.
Lark laughed a little. "You remember – those shows on the television with the actors? We studied them last year I think."
"Ohh…" said Ginny slowly. "The ones with all the drama; where the man found out that he was in love with his sister who was separated at him from birth, but she was really in love with his uncle, right?"
The raven-haired girl laughed a little more. "Sure."
"Why do you say that, Colin?" Ginny asked her sandy-haired friend.
He chuckled. "Well, just now, your eyes got all dark and shadowy and you were fondling your fork with your tongue. Then you sort of attacked your chicken."
"I did not!" declared the redhead, feeling her ears heat up.
"It's okay, Ginny!" He told her. "That naughty, naughty fork…it was carrying on an affair with the chicken, wasn't it? Didn't your mother ever tell you to beware of the poultry? It'll steal your seasoning, then it'll steal your man!"
Lark was now dying of amusement. She went to say something but broke off in a loud snort and almost went as red as Ginny. Although she tried hard not to, Ginny began to laugh at Lark who had covered her nose and mouth when the snort sounded. She fell sideways on Colin who tried to disguise his mirth, but was shaking with it.
"So am I only sloppy seconds?"
Ginny put her hand over her mouth like her friend, but it did no good.
"HAAA!" she practically bellowed.
Half of the heads in the room turned in their direction.
Lark and Ginny simultaneously threw a hand over Colin's mouth to shut him up, as if somehow it would stifle their own laughter when Ron shouted from further down, "Oy! Sixth-years! No hanky-panky, some of us are trying to revise!" And he went back to copying Hermione's notes.
Lark, Ginny, and Colin heard nothing of his pronouncement after the words "hanky-panky" due to their hysteria.
"Maybe…maybe we should get out of here," Ginny wheezed. "It's gotten a bit chilly in here." Hermione was indeed glaring at them.
"This isn't the library, Hermione," Harry said to the girl. "Let someone have fun."
She huffed and turned away from him to Ron.
"They're already leaving," he said in defense of his sister and his friends, trying not to inspire either of his best friend's ire. He knew that Harry was irritated with him – and rightly so. It had actually been Ron's idea to take Hermione's books for her; Ginny had instructed him to do something nice for her, and he did. However at the last minute he became a little nervous and suggested that Harry take some of the load as well. Then Hermione had yelled at the both of them for doing something that was Ron's idea. Most likely, Harry would never again carry a book that was not his own. Whatever girl he dated in the future would be very sore about that.
Hermione started to argue, but when she looked at Ginny, Colin, and Lark's previous place at the table, it was empty, and all that was left was a last loud laugh and red hair whipping out of the Great Hall doors.
Part of the fun about being in a bad mood was that when it started to rise, you were on a euphoric plane and everything seemed much better all of a sudden. Ginny supposed that it was probably much like having make-up sex, or on a tamer level, a make-up snog session with one's boyfriend.
She, Colin, and Lark might have been a tad unfair to Hermione by being so raucous at lunch; nonetheless it was as Harry said: they weren't in the library.
As Ginny and Lark played a game of Exploding Snap (Colin would get to play whoever received the most damage), the redhead found herself smiling once more.
"I'm glad you made all those brainless jokes," Ginny said to Colin while eyeing the unmoving deck in front of her. "Lark's face was starting to look rather strained from all that frowning."
"You're one to talk," said Lark. "You were all quiet yesterday afternoon and this morning; at least you both know my reason for being that way."
"Yes, Seamus-the-stupid-head," Colin said.
"Don't forget Parvati," Ginny added, trying to stray from the topic of her previous sour countenance.
Lark looked thoughtful and Ginny warned her not to be so complacent, the deck would explode on her if she weren't watchful.
"Isn't the aim of the game to win, Ginny?"
Ginny was forcibly reminded of the similarity of Lark's remark to Draco's concerning Quidditch from the day before. She put a card down and the pile began to tremble slightly. "And anyway, I really don't know if we should blame this whole thing on Parvati …Granted she still flirts with Seamus even though I went to Hogsmeade with him, but she's not to blame for all of this. I mean honestly, I shouldn't use her as a scapegoat for my frustration with Seamus."
"You may of course be right," Colin said. "But you haven't even bothered to ask around for the real story."
Lark threw a card on the pile and it continued to shake ominously. "I'm not a reporter, Colin."
"No, but you're one of the cleverest people I know, and also one of the most level-headed –"
He watched as the pile began to hiss with smoke and began to move back, about to issue a warning to the girls. However, he was farther back than they, and so they only very nearly escaped the full brunt of the card explosion. When the smoke cleared Colin looked at the girls in wonderment. It had never occurred to him how strange Lark might look with no eyelashes.
He glanced over at Ginny who was rubbing smoke out of her eyes.
"You've been restored to your true nature," he told her. Lark looked over and laughed, although not many people would have laughed at someone else when they had no eyelashes.
"What are you going on about?" the redhead grumbled. "That smoke went right in my eyes, you know. I've always liked Exploding Snap, but that's the one thing I hate about it. I usually lure someone else in front of me before it explodes, but alas, Ron isn't here." She patted her skirt down idly. "So what am I missing?" Her eyebrows furrowed and Lark laughed even more.
"Part of your eyebrows," said an amused Colin.
Ginny waved it off. "That's pretty much the usual, so Lark wins."
"But it's really interesting. They're all forked and weird, you look a bit evil."
Ginny's mouth twitched and she pulled out a blank sheet of parchment and tapped it with a complicated jab and poke of the wrist so that it became a compact mirror. When she saw it she burst into laughter until all three of them were pointing at each other.
Just then Ron, Harry, and Hermione came in.
"Really –"
Ron stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes went to Lark and then his sister. "What the devil happened to you two?"
They only went on laughing.
Ron exchanged troubled glances with a stressed looking Hermione and an envious Harry who wished that he were in their place. "No seriously, though, you look like some sort of demon, Ginny. And did you know that your eyes have gone bald, Lark?"
Lark covered her face with her hands so that she could shake in peace, but the seventh-year wouldn't leave her alone. Ron patted her twice on the back awkwardly.
"About what I said this morning…I hope it didn't cause any…er, longstanding enmity between us…" Hermione tapped her foot pointedly at him. "Oh, and I'm a prat."
But Ginny shook her head dramatically. "Oh, Ron," Ginny gasped. "It was terrible! Lark got in a fight with Parvati!" she gestured over to the girl in a different area of the Gryffindor common room who had no idea that she was being inserted into a nefarious scheme.
Ron paled. "Surely not over what I said?" he said in a strangled sort of voice; Ginny nodded emphatically. He looked at Colin for verification.
The boy smiled sadly. "It was awful."
"But then why are your eyebrows forked that way, Ginny?" he asked.
"Well I was her second, of course. Patil took Lark down, and then me, and then next was Colin…" but by this point Ginny could not carry the charade on for any longer. Her eyes were already watering with suppressed shots of laughter. "But Colin…" her face was red with laughter and Ron stood up from his crouched position and scowled at them all, "He…really took her down for us. Thanks, Col." The three sixth years fell in a screeching heap of laughter.
The tall redhead was not impressed. "Let's go sit somewhere else," said Ron, miffed.
"I think he wants to hang our heads with the Quidditch equipment," chuckled Colin as he saluted Harry, the only person who found the stunt at all funny and was smiling longingly at them.
"Want to be a part of the fun group, Harry?" Ginny asked, nursing herself to be fit for company once more.
He sighed. "I wish, but Hermione would hex me something awful. Anyway, before I forget, there's an early morning practice tomorrow. Ron and I'll tell you the rest of the practice schedule tomorrow, but be on the pitch by five-thirty, no later than five-thirty-five."
"Harry, that's ridiculous!"
"You don't want to win?" he asked darkly, summoning his Quidditch Captain aura.
"Well of course I do, but –"
"And are you allowed to be out there again? Has Pomfrey said 'no' to sports?"
"Yes I am, and no she hasn't, but don't you think five-thirty's rather ea –"
"Great, then be there," Harry ordered, and went to join his friends.
Ginny threw her hands up in the air. "When it comes down to things like Quidditch, Harry and Ron are completely irrational. I want vengeance on the Slytherins, but my bed wants me!"
"We can't always get what we want, Ginny," Lark informed her.
"Oh quiet, you," said the redhead. "And yes we can. Go over to Parvati and tell her to back off or else."
"Ginny!"
"Well, fine, not that, but ask her what happened this morning." Lark hesitated. "Go on!"
The girl dragged herself to her feet and with a menacing look back at her friends went over to where Lavender Brown and Parvati were sitting, chatting over assignments. Ginny and Colin watched as the two older girls looked up and Lavender gestured enthusiastically for Lark to sit when Parvati only stared at her face. Not even fifteen minutes later Lark dragged herself back over to her friends.
"They didn't even hesitate to tell me what happened; I think it was because my lack of eyelashes scared them. Right; so Lavender said that Seamus didn't really mean to grab Parvati. He had Banished his quill onto her…er…bum, and made a move to get it before she thought that he was aiming things at her. But he wasn't very subtle inconspicuous in retrieving it…"
"Does Parvati corroborate that?" asked Colin.
"Only after Lavender told the story."
"So are you still going to make a play for Seamus?"
"I don't know…maybe…We've still got that next Hogsmeade weekend going on, so I'll just see how the wind blows until then."
"As long as you're okay with that," Ginny made her friend promise. "If it just doesn't feel right, then maybe…"
"Maybe it isn't?" Lark finished; Ginny shrugged lamely. "I wouldn't mind being just friends with him, you know."
Ginny and Colin blinked. "Well of course more is better, but we can talk really easily now, so it's as if we're friends anyway."
Lark stood up suddenly, looking at her watch and bumped into Dean Thomas who was behind her.
"Oh, sorry!" she said.
"No harm done," replied Dean with an easy smile. He walked around the dark-haired girl and out through the portrait.
"We're going to be late!" Lark continued.
Ginny tried to see the time in the large grandfather clock in the corner of the common room, but there were a few people bustling around it.
"How much time until we're late?" she asked slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Two seconds time," answered Lark, already half out.
Colin groaned.
"Feel like a detention, then?" she asked him.
"Teacher's pet," he grumbled.
He was going to have to avoid her. There was really nothing else for it.
His pride screamed angrily at him that confronting the situation head on would be the best way to get rid of it, however, the few times that he had tried, he had also come close to laying her out on the floor and making out with her.
And under no circumstances would that be allowed.
Draco plowed a heavy hand through his hair and thought absently that it needed to be cut. His senses were on 'alert' as he had yet to go to McGonagall and explain why he had not gone to class, and he didn't want to run into her just yet. Madam Pomfrey had become much stingier with sick passes, making it much harder to obtain one for truancy. The only thing that he could tell the Transfiguration professor was that he had been indisposed and returned back to his room, hoping that it was not serious enough to warrant a stay in the Hospital Wing. He would find out what he had missed in class and make it up and before she knew it, he'd be back on track, blah, blah, blah…
If it were Harry Potter who had missed class she would no doubt have enlisted the help of Dumbledore to find him and then let him off for missing his classes due to his mentally disturbed state. Draco's glower intensified as he walked through the halls. In reality that would not be true, McGonagall would be fair and ream Potter out for missing class.
That only served to make Draco more irritated. Who did McGonagall think she was, being fair to everyone? He couldn't even be angry with her in peace, now. At least Snape had his priorities straight. Snape was as no-nonsense as they came; however he understood the intricacies of Slytherin. He understood the loyalty and honor code (much different from that of Gryffindor's) that they stood for.
Snape would look down on Draco for letting a Weasley distract him.
That was why the direct approach was important. He would sit down and talk or something, with the Littlest Weasley; explain that he had had a passing fancy about…certain things…with her; she would laugh it off and make it all seem very silly and stupid of him. After, they could go back to wherever they had left before all the weirdness started to come in.
The direct approach was best.
BAM!
Draco came to register that his books were all over the floor mixed in with those of the person he had been thinking of. The two of them stood there for a second before quickly kneeling down to pick them up.
"This yours?" Ginny mumbled.
"Give it here; this one's yours," Draco said in the same tone.
"That's my parchment."
"That's my quill."
"Sixth-year Potions book?"
"That's mine too."
"Don't bump into me again."
"If you promise that as well."
They looked at each other for a moment, noting separately that their faces were only a few inches apart.
"Ginny, did he give you all your stuff back? We're late."
The redhead's neck turned behind her quickly. "Oh. Right." She stood up quickly and saw that Draco did the same. They slung their packs over their shoulders and brushed off quickly.
And without another word Ginny walked past Draco and he walked down the opposite side of the hall. Ginny walked to her next class in between her two best friends, wanting to turn around and take a peek down the hall - just to make sure that she hadn't left anything behind of course. But as much as she wanted to, all she remembered was the look on Draco's face the day before, his words. That was enough to make her keep facing forward.
Ginny moaned loudly and mournfully as she peeled off the crust of her toast and arranged it to make a face on her plate.
Lark and Colin looked on amused as Harry pointedly carried on his conversation with Ron and Hermione. Ginny stared daggers at the side of the green-eyed boy's face and then with more volume released a sorrowful wail.
One side of Harry's lips turned up, but his face betrayed nothing as he turned to Ginny.
"Is there something wrong?"
Ginny's eyes went large and innocent; she seemed to shrink into herself as she looked at Harry.
"What? Oh, with me? No, nothing, Captain." Harry nodded and went to turn back to his conversation but Ginny went on. "Only that I can't move even my pinky toe without experiencing earth-shattering pain and that tomorrow I shall be a colossal, black and blue mess what with bruises and swelling."
Harry froze. "Do you hear that, Ginny?"
Ginny's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Not unless it's the sound of one of my blisters popping."
Lark grimaced. "Eww…"
"Why…why it's the world's smallest violin playing your lament in e-minor."
Ron snickered. "Do you even know how e-minor would sound, Harry?"
"Something like Ginny's whining."
"You two could be a little more sensitive," Hermione rebuked. "Ginny's only gotten out of the Hospital Wing recently and her body is still healing. Are you sure that you didn't work her too hard this morning? When she came into breakfast she was about to fall on her face from fatigue."
Colin tutted. "Mm, not quite; actually she tripped on her shoelace."
Ginny looked like she wanted to dunk Colin's head in the pitcher of water that was nearby. "I would have remembered to tie it had I not been fatigued!"
"Fatigue, schmatigue," Ron said taking a bite of his own food.
Ginny looked to Lark for help from the torrent of unsympathetic Gryffindor but found none.
"I thought you liked hardcore practices."
"I do," Ginny said. "I think it was the new plays that threw me off time and again…literally…"
"I think it was the head in the clouds act you had going on," Ron refuted. "I mean, how d'you expect to see where you're going by looking at the sky? The rain clouds aren't going to pass you the quaffle. Keep it up and you'll never get your revenge on Malfoy, Ginny."
Ginny forced herself not to tell Ron to shut his trap. If anything, that was why she hadn't been playing to her full potential that morning. All practice he had been saying things like that.
"Miss the quaffle again, Ginny? Malfoy's not going to let the Slytherins do that."
"Fumble a pass, Ginny? Those snakes'll eat you up if you do that during the rematch."
At one point Ron had shouted at her when the quaffle hit his head instead of going into Sebastian's hands; Ginny didn't let that one bother her as, secretly the quaffle had hit its intended target.
She knew that Ron would only say those things if he was sure that she was no longer in death's clutches, he was trying to juice her up and get her excited for the rematch. No one understood why Ginny wasn't as filled with adrenaline at the prospect of scoring a goal against the Slytherin keeper and shoving a Gryffindor victory in their face. She assured them that she was. She really was.
She wanted it more than they did.
Ginny wanted it so badly that she had reached a plateau of calm about the rematch. She was fully confident that once she was in sync with the other Chasers on the new plays, Slytherin would be lucky to escape with all their limbs, forget about their pride – it would be demolished.
With that killer mentality, Ginny stood up without a word to head once more for her meeting with Draco. She would show him that she was worth something, and not just a recurring joke about falling off of one's broom. She walked assuredly out into the hall and was presented with the opportunity to begin proving her worth, as Draco was only a few steps in front of her. Although the doors closed loudly behind him he ignored the sound, probably thinking that whoever had just exited was not worth his time.
Ginny watched him walk at a slow saunter, wondering if she should hurry up to him or just follow behind. After a moment's thought she decided on the former, as the latter might be mistaken for stalking.
So coming up at a medium pace Ginny found herself right at the back of Draco's shoulder and cleared her throat a little to get his attention. Draco looked over his shoulder, stopped walking for a second; when he noticed who it was and then resumed heading for The Room. Ginny paced tensely beside him, not knowing what to say. On the day of the infamous Hogsmeade weekend, it had been easy to walk down the hall with him – they were arguing. Now, neither wanted to speak first.
Ginny tilted her head up as discreetly as possible to glance at Draco's profile; her heart began to beat a little faster as her confession to the grass played in her mind.
When they finally arrived, Ginny sat on her favorite seat and put her hands in her lap; she watched Draco sit down as well. They sat in total silence, each alternately sneaking peeks when they the other wasn't looking.
After five minutes Ginny threw her hands up in the air and with a straight back, faced the blond fully.
"We should talk."
He looked at her evenly. "About what?"
Ginny remained calm. "I don't know where to begin, but we've got to start somewhere. Maybe about how I was thinking that both of us should approach Martin and explain that oil and water connect better than we do –"
"I'm sure you know what her answer will be; it doesn't matter what you thought –"
"I do recall that I said 'was thinking', so to hear what I'm thinking now, shut up and sit tight," Ginny snapped. Draco breathed in and out through his nose and then sat back.
"Aye, aye," he muttered sarcastically.
"Right. Okay. I'm…I'm thinking that we should try…to make this work. I mean, Monday, before then end, things were going sort of okay, weren't they?"
Draco remained silent, so Ginny went on.
"It only went wrong when you brought up the whole Quidditch incident; more specifically the way you brought it up –"
"I was making a statement."
"You were being a dickhead."
"What do you want from me? An apology?"
"That wouldn't go far amiss," Ginny said dryly.
"I won't do that; I didn't do anything wrong," Draco argued.
"What's wrong is that you don't care! You don't have any respect for me –!"
"Just think of it this way, Weasley," Draco interrupted. "I ordered a Centered Attack and it was successful, but you ended up in the Hospital Wing – no one won the game. Now think of this scenario: I order a Centered Attack; my Beaters are wholly incompetent and miss you, you score a goal and win the game. In both scenarios I've told my players to do the same thing. Had the latter come true would you have cared?"
Ginny's mouth was still open from when she was interrupted, but now she had nothing to say.
Draco nodded. "That's what I thought."
Ginny closed her mouth and processed what he had said, and the truth was that he was right. No one would have cared at all had she not gotten hit and Gryffindor won the game. Plus, in the common room celebration party Draco would have probably been made fun of for calling an unsuccessful maneuver.
"So if that's what you've been holding against me all this time, I give you leave to let it go as I've proven that I'm right and you're wrong," Draco said, breaching the silence.
"Don't get ahead of you," Ginny hurried on. "There's still plenty of stuff to bring against you."
"Do you dream of tormenting me, Weasley?"
"Every night," Ginny said smirking. It faltered a bit as she thought of the other way that could be interpreted. However, Draco didn't seem to view it the way her own twisted mind did, so Ginny bypassed that thought.
It was strange, she found herself thinking, how much lighter the atmosphere around them seemed now that the whole Quidditch incident had been cleared up. No matter how much she was attracted to Draco, the one main blockade that had stopped her from liking him at all was that he didn't seem to care about her getting hurt. Now that Ginny understood his way of thinking about it, she was free to do whatever she wanted with him…
Draco noticed with interest that the tips of Ginny's ears were turning pink for some reason.
"What's all that for?" Draco asked.
"Hmm, what?" Ginny said croakily.
"The redness, idiot." With almost next to no hesitation he traced her ear. It only made it worse. Draco realized that he was most likely making Ginny uncomfortable by touching her – he was getting some rather…uncomfortable feelings as well – but he deemed it a reward for putting up with her. Why shouldn't he get to touch her? For strictly innocent purposes, of course. "Are you allergic to reconciliation?"
Ginny stared at him. "You call this reconciliation? All we agreed to is that you're not a complete monster."
"You're right; we haven't gotten to the part where we prove that you're not."
"Thin ice, Malfoy."
"Ice is my specialty," said Draco silkily.
Ginny took one look at him and burst out laughing. "If you could have sounded any more cliché than that I would have eaten this chair."
"I would've liked to see you try."
"I would have choked and died; would that have amused you?"
He shrugged, and his hand fell away from the side of her face. "Just because you think we're pals now doesn't mean I'm any less malicious."
"I don't think we're pals!"
"What are we then?" Draco asked, voicing one of his many thoughts from the past few weeks aloud. There were many things he wouldn't mind…He mentally slapped himself. Yes, he would mind. He would mind very much.
"Warring parties having a truce," Ginny said after thinking for a minute. "Not quite sure when it'll expire, though."
"Until the next time you piss me off?" Draco suggested.
Ginny snorted. "Or I mention Harry?" she waited to see if Draco would explode at the mention of Harry's name.
"Or I mention Pansy; you falling off your broom; your incompetent brother; your best friend that you shag – the Creevey one; your garish hair –"
"You can stop now," Ginny informed him.
"I was only stating the terms," he responded simply, watching with hidden longing as the redhead twirled a strand of hair around her finger. He never noticed that she did it before. Had she only started to that day?
Did her finger realize how lucky it was?
Ginny rolled her eyes, but then nodded. Chewing her lip for a second she shrugged. "So I suppose that means we'll have to call a…y'know…"
"Truce?" he asked with a bit of a grimace.
"Yeah," Ginny answered. She eyed the blond interestedly. "So what do we talk about now? Your feelings?"
"Har, har, Weasley."
"Maybe about how Ravenclaw is going to steamroll Hufflepuff in the match next week?" Ginny suggested, wondering if the conversation would take a turn for the worse.
"I might be interested in that topic…if I cared about either of those teams," said Draco thoughtfully.
"One day that smugness is going to catch up to you, Malfoy. And when it does, I'll be right there watching, pointing and laughing…"
"I'd do the same for you, of course," he assured her.
"Of course."
Oh, there were fun times ahead for the both of them.
That's it for now!
"And there were no sheep." – That comes from the movie "Ten Things I Hate about You." I love that line.
And here are the:
Replies: Yav aka Shibs That was exactly how I wanted people to feel! He's definitely very conflicted and that will come up more. I want to give him a hug, feel free to partake in the Draco as well. Thanks for reviewing! Isadora Thank you so much!!!!!! Dweeb Hahaha, nope, you didn't repeat yourself. Thanks for the long review. I blushed. And I hope this one didn't take too long, I started it before I released Ch.10, but for some reason, even if I've written a chapter, I wait forever to put it out there, so, yeah, if it gets ridiculously long, PLEASE remind me about that. A few chapters ago, I didn't update for over a year…hehehe… mell8 Wooh! I know! Thanks for the review!! kittybro I'm so glad that you decided to and that you like it!!! Thanks a lot for reviewing! Knight-whosays-ni I laughed so hard when I read your review. (Thank you for it, by the way) Hahaha, but no, he'll have plenty of real life material that he won't have to fantasize…muahaha. Kaiyu Onibaba I'm so evil, lol. But here it is; I hope the wait wasn't very long. Thank you for reviewing! princess cythera Thanks so much! hufflepuffluvr I'm glad you said that. I was thinking that I was way into the trashy romance novel territory, but I'm glad it was still enjoyable. Thanks for the review! potterqueen89 Your review was very helpful, it made me think a lot about future chapters and changing a few things around, so thanks very much for it!! xxbabysparklesxx Thank youuu!!!!!! Kari Black Definitely, definitely. Thank you for reviewing. shelly2 And I always look forward to your reviews!! FickleFickleMuse Before I say anything, I really like your name. And yes, every time I think of Draco I curse the fact that he's not real. Life is so cruel! Luna Gypsy Thanks a lot. It's nice to know that to some extent my story is set apart from the hundreds of others. Thanks for the review! Slips deGrins Thank you! Hope this was fast enough. demented furiae You are so great too, lol! Here it is!
I was trying to pump this chapter out as soon as possible before school starts again. I know that I may become a delinquent again, but I'll try my hardest not to. Once again, thank you all very, very much for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!
I hope you liked this chapter!! Oh; I might, might be able to squinch out chapter 12 before the upcoming school year – I've already started it and I love it so far – but I'm not sure, so no promises. If I can't, all of you enjoy the rest of your summers! I love you all! Thank you so much for all of the reviews!
- Femme