Authour's Notes: Well, I was planning on dropping this since OotP made some of my plot points positively retarded. However, I changed my mind. So AIDE will not be abandoned. That said, I think that you will find a few things later that correspond with OotP very well. However, in chapter 17, it was stated that Narcissa's maiden name is Emeric, but we know from OotP that this is not the case. I believe that I may just keep it as I have written though. And her family situation is revealed a bit more in chapter 17 when Percy talks about it. *laughs* It's actually rather funny because I managed to peg the whole inbreeding thing for purebloods. I'm quite pleased. I don't anticipate too much from OotP filtering in here, but just to keep my options open, I'll say that there may be hints here and there. So now you can consider this story an AU after GoF.
I'd like to thank Claire and Alexis, as usual, for their fabulous work beta reading. I love you girls. And my faithful reviewers, of course. Both Draconia and Tegan have submitted some fanart for chapters 12 and 15. If you'd like to see them, they're in the files section at my yahoogroup.
Just a quick question though before I let
you all loose to read. Are most of you planning on reading
anymore fics that were started before OotP? Just answer in
your reviews so I can know some other people's thoughts on
the matter.
On Draco's first day back at Hogwarts,
Pansy Parkinson had turned his charming offer of a quick
tumble down flat and it had ruined his entire week,
especially considering that none of the other females in his
house would touch him, either. The little squash-nosed bitch
was on the same side as every other Slytherin. At least they
hadn't done anything other than hurl insults and leave nasty
presents in his bed. Yet.
Draco didn't feel the need to explain his actions to his
housemates; after all, self-preservation was certainly a
Slytherin trait. For some reason, though, they didn't seem to
remember that. Then again, it could have been the fact that
half of them now had fathers in Azkaban. The Ministry had
even raided the Bulstrode estate in Chalfont-St.-Peter, which
was not far from his own home, even though the Bulstrodes had
had the remarkable sensibility to not get involved in
Voldemort's mess.
So here he was, trudging through the halls with only ten
minutes left before curfew. He'd been having difficulty
sleeping for ages and he couldn't remember the last time he'd
had a descent night's rest. A book would have to take the
place of sleep and, if he was lucky, a nice boring one would
send him straight out.
As he rounded the corner, he saw a familiar redhead walking
out of the library with a couple of rolls of parchment in her
hand. Draco smirked to himself. If he couldn't sleep anyway,
he may as well have some fun.
Draco caught up to her easily as she stepped into a dreary
looking corridor, his voice making her freeze.
"Are you up for another go, gosling?" he purred
into her ear before stepping back to admire the blush that
rose on the nape of her neck.
Ginny didn't turn to face him, but to her credit, she didn't
run either. Draco reached up to trail his hands suggestively
over the back of her arms. It had been over a week since he'd
come back to Hogwarts and he was feeling a more than a little
frustrated and . . . peckish for company.
She sucked in a shuddering breath and continued to stare
straight ahead. "We can't do this again, Draco. We had
fun, but that's all it was."
"Who says I want more than a spot of fun?" Draco
asked, leaning down to trail his lips along her neck.
"Or maybe, just your fun spot." He could
feel the muscles in her arms bunch and tighten, shivers
coursing through her body; now to give her the proper
motivation.
"Mmmn, you're a hot little tart." Draco stuck his
nose in her hair and inhaled her scent. "Oh, an apple
tart, it seems. How long have you been steaming away
under these robes, Ginny? Just itching for me to give
you-"
Ginny abruptly turned to face him, her nose almost squashing
into his chest. The graceful blush from a moment ago had
darkened to a florid red. "Don't speak to me that
way," she ground out, staring him directly in the eye.
"I'm not your personal sex slave, and you can't have me
whenever you want. In fact-"
Draco pulled Ginny up into a searing kiss, cutting her off
and smothering her body with his. When Ginny moaned into his
mouth, he almost smiled. He knew she fond of a good snog more
than anything else; girls were like that. Her scrolls dropped
to the floor unheeded as her hands slipped down to fumble at
the clasp of his robes. Draco gave in to his amusement and
smirked against her lips.
It was just that easy.
*~*~*~*~*
He didn't think it would ever be possible in a million years,
yet it was. He, Ronald Weasley, was getting sick of all the
attention. Okay, so the parade down Diagon Alley was nice.
And all of the companies that came to ask for his
endorsements were wonderful. But frankly he was starting to
get annoyed by all the girls. And the staring, that was
tough, too.
Every time he had walked into a room for the past two months,
the females would freeze and gawp like star-struck fools. All
right, so that wasn't too terrible after all, rather nice
actually. But when he went to the lav and a girl hopped down from
the top of the stall to land on his shoulders, Ron
decided then and there that enough was enough.
As quickly as possible, he pulled the girl down and was about
to gently send her on her way when he received a well-aimed
punch to the jaw, quickly followed by the sound of a chant
and a burst of green light.
"What the-" Was all Ron managed before he fell to
the ground, stunned by both the blow and the binding curse on
his legs. In front of him was a pair of fancy black heels.
Ron allowed his eyes to trace their way up the black stocking
covered legs and further until he saw a pair of frosty blue
eyes above a decidedly pug-like nose. Merlin's teeth! She was
tall for a girl.
"Parkinson?" Ron groaned, shaking his head and
trying to sit up, even though his legs were bound by magic.
His wand had been thrown over near the stall and there was no
way he could possibly reach it.
"That's right," she said. Her jaw was clenched and
her wand in danger of snapping from her tight grip.
"I suppose you aren't here for a snog then?" He
smirked sarcastically at her while rubbing his aching jaw. It
probably wasn't the most intelligent thing to say, he
reflected later. Pansy's eyes darkened to an even colder
shade of blue and she swiftly kicked him in the stomach.
"I hate you," she shrieked. "You
can't imagine how much I loathe the very sight of you and
your slut of a sister."
Ron's forehead crinkled and he attempted to gather his breath
to speak. "Ginny?" he squeaked. "What does she
have to do with anything? For that matter, what did I do to
you that's so horrible?"
"As if you don't know." Pansy crossed her arms and
paced above him, her heels clacking against the tiled floor.
"You killed the Dark Lord and my father was arrested
with all the others who raided your house on Christmas."
Ron tried to speak but she cut him off with a sharp downward
slash of her hand. "I don't want to hear your excuses.
It's bad enough that you killed the Dark Lord, but your
sister . . ." Pansy trailed off and pulled a small knife
out of her robes, testing the edge with her thumb. "Your
sister stole my boyfriend."
The gleam in Pansy's eyes did little to ease Ron, and the
knife in her hand was making him nervous, bringing back
memories of Christmas and Percy and Voldemort. He swallowed
hard and forced himself to focus on what was just said.
"Who's your boyfriend?"
Pansy sniffed and tossed her perfectly coiffed, pale blonde
hair. "Draco Malfoy," she said, as if it were
flawlessly obvious.
Ron stared at her. He had forgotten all about that bruise on
Malfoy's neck when he and Ginny were brought downstairs.
Everything had happened so fast that it just didn't occur to
him afterwards that- oh God. "Malfoy? Malfoy and my
sister?"
The knife in Pansy's hand gleamed as she tilted it in her
hand. "Yes, your sister and Draco. They've been
at it like mooncalves all over the castle since after hols.
You honestly haven't noticed?"
"No." Ron choked, shaking his head to clear the
image of Ginny clinging to Malfoy on Christmas morning.
Voldemort running his fingers down her cheek and how she
cringed, how she held onto Malfoy. "I didn't
know anything about this."
Pansy lifted one eyebrow. "Interesting. Everyone must
have been too afraid to tell the 'saviour' of the wizarding
world about his slag of a sister. You may have killed the
Dark Lord, but I, for one, am not afraid of you. You're still
a freckled beanpole named Weasley and I don't see
how anyone in their right mind could possibly think that you
killed the Dark Lord." She idly twirled the knife in her
hands, flickering the blade between her slender fingers while
she gathered her next thoughts. "It isn't as if I care
about Draco; he's a traitor and we all despise him. But this
is a matter of pride for both myself and Slytherin." She
studied Ron a moment longer before reaching a conclusion.
"I'll allow you to live today." Pansy pointed at
him with the knife. "Provided of course that you keep
your sister in line. But I can't speak for the other
Slytherins, and I can't say I won't kill you later."
Ron narrowed his eyes and glared but didn't say anything. She
was still holding a weapon, after all.
"I'll be watching you; we will all be watching
you. One false move on the part of you or that strumpet you
call sister and I'll cut you to ribbons." Pansy waved
the knife around and Ron followed it with his eyes.
"Won't it be fitting?" She smirked. "To be
killed by Muggle means, since your family loves them so
much."
Shaking his head, Ron mumbled his agreement if for no other
reason than to keep the peace. She couldn't possibly know how
he had killed Voldemort, very few did and they were sworn to
silence.
"I'll keep Gin away from Malfoy. I would have done it
anyway, had I known what they were doing." He lifted his
face and looked Pansy directly in the eye. "Next time
though, maybe you should consider ways to keep your boyfriend
interested. If this is a trend, I don't want Crabbe or Goyle
to be next on my sister's list."
Pansy's eyes widened at his last sentence before she brought
up her foot and slammed it down on Ron's hand, her pointed
heel digging into his knuckles. "I would never!"
she screeched. "I'd almost rather sleep with a
Muggle-lover like you before I'd touch either of those
two idiots!"
Ron inhaled sharply and smirked while rubbing his hand. She
was so incredibly thick. "Join my fan club then; seven
sickles gets you a signed photograph and a romp in the sheets
with the famous Ron Weasley."
"How dare you speak to me that way!" The girl
trembled with rage, stamping the ground like a horse. After a
moment, Pansy composed herself and stared at him coldly, her
lip curling around one side of her short nose. "You'll
pay for this, Weasley. But I'm late for Charms so it'll have
to be later."
Ron rolled his eyes. The girl must be squeamish about
bloodshed; otherwise, he'd be a puddle already. "Yeah,
remind me to write it down on my calendar: Chelsea smile
courtesy of Pansy Parkinson at three sharp.
With a delicate sniff, Pansy turned up her pinched nose and
strode out of the bathroom, her robes swirling around her
angrily.
"Oi! What about my legs?" Ron shouted. He didn't
really think she would come back, and he wasn't disappointed.
"Jolly brilliant," he sighed. His wand was still
over near the toilet and that was at least ten feet away.
Firming his lips in resolution, Ron attempted to drag himself
closer using only his hands and arms. It worked all right,
but very slow going. After he had hold of his wand and was
whispering the reversal spell, he thought about Ginny and
exactly what he was going to do to Malfoy.
*~*~*~*~*
Harry glanced around the garden he was digging in behind
Hagrid's hut, looking for Flobberworms to replace Hermione's
rapidly dwindling supply. He grinned to himself and shook his
head. This was much more interesting than a simple
friendship. Then again, when had their friendship ever been
simple?
Hermione was everything that was complex and mysterious about
a woman, and he especially loved the differences in her
attitude towards life since their short stay at The Sparrow.
Before she'd always been so . . . perhaps tense was the word
for it. Hermione didn't seem to care about things like rules
anymore and flagrantly disobeyed several on a daily basis.
She was like a butterfly peeping out of her cocoon for the
next adventure. What had shocked him senseless though was
when she'd snuck into the boy's dormitory one night and
climbed on top of him, still possessing mind enough to cast a
silencing charm before ripping off his pyjamas. They were
having the time of their lives and he always managed to
discover a new facet of her every day.
Hermione was insatiable.
Which is why Harry didn't mind so much when she sent him out
to collect ingredients for her potion. The way Hermione saw
it, her mind being innately tuned to fairness and equality as
it was; he was only doing his part to further their
night-time explorations.
Seamus and Dean had told him a few days after they returned
to school that new relationships were always like that. You'd
shag your brains out the first couple of weeks and then not
so often after that. Harry mentally counted back and was
startled to realise that it had been over two months since
they'd first slept together and the passion he felt for her
still hadn't dimmed. Possibly it was because she seemed like
a completely different person every day so the passion didn't
have a chance to wink out before someone new showed up. When
Harry thought about it more closely, she seemed a little
unstable and he really should talk with her about it.
But he remembered the day they first slept together and his
face darkened while he continued to dig, thinking of
Christmas and forgetting about Hermione's unhinged behaviour.
Harry had thought about it numerous times and he knew
with certainty the exact moment Voldemort had died. He
remembered how the pain in his scar had flashed white-hot
briefly while he was- when Hermione had felt pain their first
time. Harry wiped a dirty hand over his brow and continued to
dig into the slushy mixture of mud and snow, not wanting to
remember anything that had happened after he and Hermione
were at the inn. But by refusing to sink to the bottom of his
thoughts, Dumbledore's anger at him and Mr. Weasley's
disappointed face swam to the surface.
He was just about to stand up when the thought of Mr. Weasley
reminded him that he was supposed to get extra Flobberworms
for Ginny. Harry didn't like it. In fact, he hated it. But
there was nothing he could do; Ginny would continue to see
Draco no matter what anyone said. And he had said. Oh, he had
said a lot. So had Hermione. In the end though, it had come
down to one thing: Ginny was allowed to make her own
mistakes. She wasn't an adult yet, but Hermione made him
realise that they had no right lecturing Ginny about her
choice in companions. Later that night, Hermione had confided
in him that Ginny would likely suffer enough when Draco was
through with her so they shouldn't make it worse, but only be
there for her when they could.
"But, Hermione," he remembered saying. "This
is Malfoy we're talking about! I know he seems to have
changed a little, and even Mr. Weasley told him that he's
always wel . . ." Harry trailed off and had to swallow a
bitter lump in his throat before he could continue. "I
just don't like this, Hermione. Not one bit. And it may not
be our business who Ginny sees, but are you honestly ready to
just stand by and watch while Malfoy tears her heart into
little pieces?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes and it was one of possibly three
times that Harry had ever seen her anger directed at him,
even if it was only because of the sheer frustration she felt
at the situation.
"Of course I'm not ready to stand by and watch!"
she snapped. "But there isn't anything we can do! Ron
won't speak to us and I don't think it best that he be
involved anyway. He isn't exactly level-headed when it comes
to his family. I've spoken with Ginny several times already
and she still thinks that she can sleep with that rat Malfoy
for a while and come out of it unscathed. She says that she
doesn't feel anything for him, that they're using each other,
but I think it's all a lie she's telling herself. She won't
listen to me, or anyone else, not even Colin. I highly doubt
that she'd listen to you, either, so I say we support her
feelings if nothing else. I won't lose her, too."
Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes, but she blinked them away
angrily. Harry knew that as angry as she was, she still
missed Ron and the other Weasleys. So did he. Ginny was the
only one that still connected them at all to that warm and
generally happy family, and now she seemed to take on several
empty roles in their lives.
"I'll be there for her," Harry had sighed.
"And I'll bite my tongue because you think it best. But
just remember that I don't like this at all. Not one
bit."
A shaft of piercing sunlight in the eye brought him back to
the present. The corners of Harry's mouth tucked themselves
into his cheeks and his eyebrows sloped down in a frown at
the thought of doing nothing about the Ginny situation. The
things he did for Hermione. He looked down into his box and
noticed that there were six long, brown, shiny Flobberworms
nestled into the old rags covering the bottom. It would
surely be enough for the two of them, wouldn't it?
Harry stood up and tried to dust the snow from his robes but
only succeeded in making a mess. Classes were over for the
day and he noticed, as he walked back toward the castle, that
Hagrid was still locked up inside of his cabin. He hadn't
seen him since yesterday's Care of Magical Creatures. Harry
shrugged and knocked on the oak door, observing that it had
lost some of its shine since his last visit. No one answered,
and he frowned, knocking again. He finally decided to just
open the door and have done with it. The man never came out
anymore except to teach classes and he hadn't been that way
since Madame Maxime died sixth year in a Death Eater attack.
Hagrid wasn't there, and it looked like he hadn't been there
all day. Harry deduced this from the dry, flaky mud tramped
all over his floor and the bottles of Ogden's Old Fire
Whiskey laying around on their sides, the liquid inside
half-evaporated. He sighed and closed the door, focusing on
getting the box of Flobberworms back to Hermione instead of
the remembered warmth of liquor coursing through his limbs.
Harry stopped and fumbled with the box of cigarettes in his
pocket, taking one out and inhaling deeply. He still had them
even though Hermione thought she had destroyed them all. She
wouldn't know if he had just one with maybe a smoke shop mint
afterward. Damn Draco Malfoy for ever putting the things in
his hand. He now depended on them the same way he had
depended on Fire Whiskey before hols. There were only two
things that calmed Harry down when he was feeling nervous or
uneasy: Hermione and cigarettes. And since Hermione was still
studying in the library, that left his trusty little white
sticks.
Despite the fact that Voldemort was dead, and he really was
this time, Harry still had the same feeling of impending doom
that had haunted him ever since his fourth year. There was a
body though; he had seen Voldemort's body along with
the rest of the wizarding world since the Ministry had
insisted on displaying it to the public as proof that the
Dark Lord was no longer a threat. And the Death Eaters who
hadn't been captured at the Burrow on Christmas were slowly
being rounded up and sent to Azkaban, and weren't much of a
threat.
So why were his hands shaking?
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny sighed and stretched. The silk sheets under her back
were hot and she squirmed uncomfortably. Usually the dungeons
were damp and chill, but in a bed with the curtains pulled
shut and a body lying on top of you, it could get too warm
for comfort very fast.
"Be still," Draco mumbled against her stomach.
"I want a nap before supper."
Ginny's lip curled into a smirk that was very similar to the
one Draco usually wore, and deliberately rolled out from
underneath him. "I agree; you do need your beauty sleep.
But since you may want to leave school one day, I don't
suggest it."
Draco lifted an eyebrow and grabbed his pillow instead.
"This is better anyway, your stomach isn't as soft as it
used to be. You've been playing too much Quidditch." His
voice was muffled and distorted by the pillow, but she heard
him.
Ginny looked down at her stomach and pressed at it with her
finger, noticing happily that it was much firmer than it was
the first time they had slept together. It was true; she had
been playing Quidditch an awful lot lately, both for practice
and for fun, so maybe it was finally paying off. She noted
her bottom with a frown though; Quidditch didn't seem to be
whittling that down any smaller. Perhaps some more
callisthenics were in order.
"If that was meant to be an insult, Draco, find another
audience because I'm pleased with myself, thank you very
much."
He grunted and lifted his head from the pillow. "I
suppose you would be at that." Draco waved a hand at her
and flopped his face back down into the feathery softness.
"Go on then, you don't want to get caught in my room
again, do you?"
"Definitely not." Ginny still remembered her
encounter with Crabbe and Goyle one evening with a shiver.
Nasty pieces of work they were, too. If Draco hadn't stepped
in and proclaimed his 'ownership', they would have had their
way with her right there. Even though most of Slytherin house
hated Draco for what he'd done and who he was currently
associating with, they still curiously feared his wrath. But
Ginny was certain that the rules could change any time, so
she wasn't about to take any more risks than she was already.
As she rooted around for her clothes and mindlessly put them
on, Ginny thought about how much her encounters with Draco
had changed. When they had first come back to school, it had
just been rough shags against the wall in unused corridors.
Now they had settled into a routine that basically consisted
of Ginny sneaking down to his room through a secret
passageway after classes. They would shag, of course, and
occasionally talk. Most often though, Draco would fall asleep
and refuse to let her leave until he woke up for supper in
the evenings. How she found the time to study and keep her
marks up in class, she never knew.
"Draco, I'm leaving now. I won't see you tomorrow
though, I promised Hermione that I would spend some time
revising for my Potions exam next Friday."
His head snapped up quickly and he frowned. "Why the
devil do you have to do that? You're almost at the top of
your year. Tell Granger to go shag Potter and leave you
alone."
Ginny's eyebrows rose at this. "So you'll miss me
tomorrow?" she asked hesitantly, afraid to break the
unwritten rule.
"Of course, even you said I need my beauty sleep. How am
I supposed to do that without wearing myself out first?"
She nodded and turned away to pull on her shoes. It wasn't as
if she expected more; to Draco she was just a convenient shag
and a piece of furniture for him to lie on afterwards. Ginny
hated the fact that she wanted more now than she had before,
when it was obvious that he would never change. Hermione was
probably right after all, but Draco was an addiction she
wasn't ready to give up yet.
Draco surprised her with a peck on the lips when she turned
to say good-bye. But his eyes were blank pools when she
looked up into them. "You will come to me
tomorrow?"
It wasn't a request and Ginny simply nodded. He played her
like an instrument, and he always seemed to know just how to
make her do what he wanted. With one small kiss he melted her
like putty in his hands. She hated it.
Ginny stood up and grabbed her books, walking out into the
corridor after making sure that no one was there to see her
leave. She went to the panel that hid the secret passageway
and knocked on it twice with her wand before it opened and
she climbed the stairs. The other end was close to
Dumbledore's office and she always had to make sure that no
one was around before closing the panel behind her.
Today was different from other days because she saw her
brother Bill pacing anxiously in front of the entrance to
Dumbledore's office. Ginny dropped her books and ran to hug
her brother.
"Bill! Where have you been? We tried so hard to find you
and Mum sent you-"
He embraced her carefully before cutting her off. "I
know, I received a stack of letters when I came back to
Cairo. I've been on business for Dumbledore for almost three
months now and I wasn't able to owl you all to say I couldn't
make it to the funeral. I was barely able to owl Mum saying
that I would miss Christmas." Bill blinked back a few
tears and swallowed hard. "Poor Percy. Did they catch
the one who killed him?"
Ginny realised with a start that he didn't know anything
about how Percy had died and she wasn't sure that she was the
one to tell him. "Yes, they're dead."
Bill nodded grimly. "Good. I would have done worse if
I'd been able to catch the bastard. How's Mum holding
up?"
"Haven't you been home yet?"
"No, I had to come here straight away."
"Oh." Ginny sighed. "Well, she's doing all
right. We all are. I suppose that you heard about Ron?"
At this, her brother grinned and his chest puffed out with
pride. "I did. My little brother defeated You-Know-Who,
I couldn't believe it."
"Neither could I," she whispered. "Ron has a
huge head about the whole thing now," Ginny said in a
louder voice. "He struts around as if he owns the world
and he always has a gaggle of girls following him everywhere;
it's positively sick making."
Bill threw his head back and laughed wholeheartedly, his fang
earring dangling. "Knowing Ron, he enjoys every minute
of it."
Ginny could feel her lip twitching in amusement. "I
suppose he does."
Bill smiled and hugged her close to him again. "I've
missed you all so much. Perhaps after I've finished my
business with Dumbledore he'll let me come up to Gryffindor
tower and say hello to everyone."
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be wonderful! Maybe we
ca-"
At that moment, the spiral staircase descended behind them
and they turned to see Dumbledore walking toward them.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley, I hope I'm not
interrupting?"
"Of course not, Professor. Ginny and I were just talking
about some family things."
Dumbledore nodded and fixed his gaze on Ginny. She felt
uncomfortable and began to squirm; it was almost as if he
knew where she had been. "I see. And what were you doing
in this part of the castle, Miss Weasley?"
"I was- I was j-just, um . . ."
"Remember, Miss Weasley, Mr. Filch guards this hallway a
little more carefully than most. You may return to your house
now where I assume that you'll be revising for your upcoming
exam in Potions?" He lifted an eyebrow at her, his blue
eyes twinkling, and she blushed. Dumbledore probably knew
about her and Draco, everyone except Ron already did.
"Yes, Headmaster. I was just on my way back." She
stretched up on her toes to give her brother a quick kiss and
bent down to collect her books. "I'll see you later,
Bill."
Her brother gave her an odd look, but shrugged and waved all
the same. "Good bye, Gin. Say hello to Ron for me."
Ginny had just picked up her last book and was about to head
off to Gryffindor tower when the tiny smile on Dumbledore's
face stopped her cold. He was such an odd old man, and he
probably did know about her and Draco.
"I will." She promised Bill, and walked down the
hall. Halfway down, she stopped to see if they were still
there, but Bill and Dumbledore had gone.
Reviewing is good for your soul and mine, too! If you'd like to join my yahoogroup for updates, the URL is groups.yahoo.com/group/stafic I didn't really get that many reviews last time, so I'm wondering how many people are still reading this. If you are, just a quick line to let me know if you would be so kind.
Thanks guys. Hopefully chapter 19 will be out shortly after Alexis comes back from Myrtle Beach.
Cheers,
Sing
