Unadulterated Bliss

Chapter 17: Reflections

Ginny sat down and nursed her injured hand. Hermione and Ron sat down with her.

"Ginny are you alright?" asked a concerned Hermione.

"Yeah, Ginny, what's going on with you, Draco, and Ryan? Why's Draco being nice to you??"

And Ginny in 5 minutes told them everything, although she toned down Ryan's attempted rape, since Ron was already turning purple at the thought of him just coming at her. Hermione's lips formed a tiny O, as she mouthed "wow" after the story was told.

"Well... even though Draco's taking a nice turn, don't be too ready to forgive him. Just remember his dad's a Death Eater, and he's likely to be the same."

"But-"

"I just don't trust him…He's probably up to something" Ron said suspiciously looking around, and spotting Draco a few meters away, and striding towards them. "Just be careful, alright?" He smiled at her.

"Yeah" her gaze fixed on the table leg. Once he and Hermione left, she felt relieved. Something about them wasn't as comfortable as it used to be. Maybe it was because of what she went through on the train, but whatever it was, she just didn't trust others and their opinions as easily as she did before. Everyone thought that Ryan was a nice guy, even herself. But he turned out to be a horrible shit, and Draco, a guy everyone thought was terrible, was the only one who had stood up for her.

She felt someone sit down across from her and gently take hold of her hands. She looked up. It was Draco. He was staring at her intently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"He didn't hurt you?"

"Just my hand" she smiled weakly and pulled her hands from his. Her uninjured one, crossed her chest and held her other arm. Her injured hand lying limply in her lap.

"This one?" He brought up her injured hand, and held it between his twolarge, warm hands.

"Yeah…Anyways" she said hoping to change subjects. She didn't want to be the weak female too long. "what did McGonagall do to you? Nothing too serious I hope?" She said frowning.

"Nah, just docked me a couple of points. Tuthur lost more since he was the instigator" he said in his comforting voice. She noticed that he still held her hand. But it was so cozy, so she let it continue holding it.

He saw where her eyes were. "So, what did he do to this?" he asked holding up her hand.

"Oh, he just…er...gripped it harder than I'm used to" she felt the muscles in his hand tighten, but they were still gently enveloping her hand. She saw his eyes flash, and a look of anger crossed his face. But after meeting her eyes, his face softened, and he smiled.

He slowly pulled his hand that was covering hers off, and let it fall limply to his side. He brought her hand up to his lips, and gently kissed every finger tip, and every knuckle. They were soft, butterfly kisses. Slow, and barely hard enough for her to feel, but she felt them, and felt her breathing rate go up.

Her insides felt like they had turned into molten liquid. His lips were at her last knuckle, and he looked up at her.

She leaned forward and stretched out her other arm. She brushed some of his white-gold hair back, and let the back of her hand trace his face. Down his temple over his cheek bones, along his jawline, and over his lips. It was as if she were blind, seeing his face by going over every dip, curve, and anglein his face. His free hand caught hers, and kissed her palm.

"Thank you" she felt herself whisper. She saw his puzzled look. "For rescuing me…again. I don't know why Ryan keeps coming at me. I can usually defend myself, what with six older brothers, I better be able to. But for sometimes I just can't, and that's where you come in. And a lot of times it's weird because I've never had someone who wanted to or even just came to protect me for no reason, like you did on the train."

Draco's hands still held hers, as his eyes bore into hers. She knew she had started babbling, but she felt a need to talk, to explain what she was feeling. And Draco seemed to understand. He let her talk.

Before she realized what was happening, her eyes had begun to fill and threatened to overflow. He stood up, and pulled her up with him and into a hard hug. He held her so tightly that she could feel the length of his entire body against hers. It was the kind of embrace that comforted and protected her. She also saw that hehad twisted his body to shield her from the curious eyes of possible onlookers. She noticed all this as he held her, and continued to hold her. And she felt safe.