Author's Notes: This chapter is so long. So have fun with it. There's a reward at the end…story earns at least a PG-13 rating, R because I'm weird. Numbly Breaking, I think I made you a very happy person in this chappie. Woo hoo! Let the good times roll. (not beta read again)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. I just like to play with them.
Miss Cellophane
Ginny felt like a ton of bricks hit her. She was helping Draco Malfoy to keep Lucius Malfoy out of jail.
Her father was helping to put him in.
Draco would love that. As would Ron.
Ginny found herself in the dungeons at precisely eight o'clock that night as she and Draco had been ordered.
It had been a trial getting Colin and Ron to stop being idiots long enough for her to make her escape. Ginny hadn't told anyone that she had detention three nights that week. The excuse she had used was that she was going to see her 'boyfriend'. Hermione had warned Ginny not to make a habit out of it; after all the detention was taking time out her work and it was too early to start falling behind. The redhead rolled her eyes when she had been told that; she wasn't stupid and knew that her homework would have to get done somehow; so she completed some of the assignments during the rest of her break with Colin earlier on. Of course she still had an essay to write…but it wasn't due until the end of the week.
The only real trouble Ginny ran into was the teasing that she encountered with her brother and Colin after dinner.
She was on her way to the dungeons when Ron demanded to know who it was (he didn't think that she was capable of getting a human boyfriend) and so she told him Dobby just to annoy him. When he continued to protest she contemplated saying Snape. That, however, would not be wise.
So she settled for being Ms. Mysterious and tried to shimmy off to her detention with Draco.
Then Ron begged one more question off her.
"What house is he in, then? Can't you just tell me that?"
Colin joined in from behind Ginny. "Yeah, or is he just so atrocious that you're too embarrassed to even -?"
Ginny began to feel a bit defensive about her nonexistent boyfriend; had he been there he would have as well.
"Ravenclaw," she shot at them. "I've got a thing for their big…brains."
"Ginny!" Hermione said. Harry just stared and Colin was sniggering at Ron's red face.
"Think you're funny, eh, Ginny? I've just caught you in a lie! Ravenclaw's having a Quidditch practice tonight. They managed to snag the earliest one this year." Ron's face began to return to its normal color as Ginny's heightened.
'Damn,' she thought irritably.
"Wait," Colin put in, "Who said he's on the Quidditch team?"
"Shut it," ordered Ron.
"Honestly, what does it matter?" she asked her brother.
His eyes widened. "Ooh…I know…" Ginny began to feel nervous. "I know…he's in Hufflepuff isn't he?" He went forward and patted her on the shoulder. "There's plenty of upstanding blokes in Hufflepuff, Ginny; you shouldn't be ashamed of whoever he is."
Ginny looked up fondly at Ron. Bless his daft little soul. "You're right, Ron." She shook her head and smiled a little ashamedly. "I don't know why I tried to hide it…I guess I just didn't want to anyone to know – he likes a low profile, he does. We planned to keep it under wraps until the right moment, I suppose. Promise you won't tell Mum?"
Ron made a face. "She'll drag it out of me."
"All I ask is that you try."
"I can do more than try, Ginny. S'not like I can't keep a secret." Ginny snorted and checked her watch.
"You'd better because I've got to be off."
He grumbled and followed Harry and Hermione who had already started up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Ginny turned to go on her way to the dungeons but saw that Colin was still standing there with a meaningful smile on his face.
"Was there something you wanted to say, Mr. Creevey?"
He shrugged. "I only wanted to make few observations."
"Observe your heart out."
"It's just funny to me that this whole time standing here I only just realized that we're facing the direction that takes you closest to the Potions dungeons."
Ginny remained unruffled. "That is rather funny." She spun around. "What's more is that when I turn around I face another direction that could take me to the kitchens, or to that nice little broom cupboard I've heard about. Funny things, these directions, you never know where you'll end up."
"Mock me all you want, Ginny, but why would you go in this direction unless you wanted to go to the dungeons? No one ever heads this way unless they've got detention." He smiled satisfactorily and Ginny saw that it was pointless; in actuality she didn't mind if Colin knew: he was good at secret keeping.
"Fine. I've got detention for three nights this week."
"What did you do?"
She shrugged. "I got caught out after hours last night."
"With your Hufflepuff boyfriend?"
"Yes, with my Hufflepuff boyfriend," Ginny shot at him. "Are you finished observing? I don't want to be late."
Colin put his hands up. "I'm through, I'm through. Have fun with Snape."
Ginny scowled and watched Colin walk off.
Steeling herself, Ginny walked the rest of the way down the corridor and into the room with what she hoped was a composed face. However, Draco and Gavin were there, but Snape was not.
"Ah, Ginevra," said Gavin beseechingly. He was sitting at Snape's desk smiling at her as if they were about to have a party. "Right on time." Draco gave him a blank look. "I wondered briefly if you were going to be late – my ticker here says that it's one-past, though." He patted his watch. "But I'll let it slide. Anything for a friend of Hermione Granger!" he said chuckling.
Draco looked like he wanted to be sick and gave Ginny a disparaging look. "Oh, I wish that I were Granger's friend. Then I wouldn't want to retch every time I heard her voice."
Gavin frowned deeply, but Ginny knew to ignore the Slytherin. "How, er, thoughtful of you, Gavin. I'll make sure to put in a good word for you."
The sixth-year cast a lingering glance at Draco and then turned to Ginny. "Wonderful, wonderful. Shall we get down to business then?"
No one answered.
"Great. For you, Ginny, Packard and Snape gathered together all the dirty, stained cauldrons from the past week." Ginny blanched when she saw the very tall pile of slimy, black cauldrons by the sink. "You're to wash them until they're back to they're back to their original shine."
Ginny smiled tightly at Gavin. "I didn't know that black cauldrons shone. How interesting."
"Yes! It is interesting - especially since these are solid silver! You'd best get to work!"
Ginny scowled at him and then at Draco who was smirking so much that she wanted to make him eat whatever was left on the filthy cauldrons. Clenching and unclenching her teeth she rolled up her sleeves and walked over to the sink.
"Oh, right! Expelliarmus. No wands," said Gavin smartly as Ginny's wand flew from out of her robe and into his hands. "You too, Draco."
The older blond looked at Gavin coolly. "Malfoy to you, Wotright. Remember that I am Head Boy and that you must treat me as such." Disregarding Gavin's open hand Draco placed his wand on the chair next to him so that Gavin would have to get up.
Gavin was obviously ruffled at Draco's show of open hostility. Ginny shook her head. Did he honestly think that just because they were both prefects that they were friendly all of a sudden? Draco Malfoy had no friends. Once, it may have been Crabbe and Goyle, but it didn't seem so anymore.
"Of course," said Gavin getting Draco's wand. "I have a question about that, though, if you'll oblige me."
"Ask away, peon," Draco muttered with agitation.
Gavin shrugged. "Well, on authority of the Head Girl I read Hogwarts: A History. And I really don't recall seeing that a Head Boy served a detention in quite a while."
"Nine years ago," said Ginny automatically. Gavin and Draco both stared at her. "Hermione told me that the last Head Boy served a detention nine years ago; so it hasn't really been all that long. Draco is not the first and most likely will not be the last."
Draco stared at Ginny calculatingly. Had she just defended him? Ginny avoided the seventh-year's gaze and looked straight on at Gavin. "I thought you'd like to know."
"How informative of you, Ginny. I'd forgotten." His voice was considerably less jaunty. "But I wanted to ask Draco - oh, right, Malfoy how it felt being the first Head Boy to get a detention in almost a decade. Might I ask the circumstances by which this came to be?"
Draco gave Gavin a look icy enough to freeze his rude little mouth.
"Tell me, Wotright, how would it feel to eat your food through a straw?" The younger boy's mouth parted in surprise. "Would you like to know the circumstances by which that would be accomplished?"
There was a very nasty silence in which the only sound throughout the room was the splashing of the water in the large sink where Ginny washed the cauldrons.
"Not really. It would be interesting, though, to hear who would teach you such a thing."
Ginny couldn't help the soft gasp that left her lips. Gavin had all but taunted Draco about his father. She didn't know what to say, or do. Draco had yet to say anything and she couldn't see what he was doing as he was only in her peripheral vision. Ginny turned sideways slightly so that she could get a better view of the situation without seeming like she was doing so. She saw that Draco was leaning to the desk where his wand lay…
Crash!
Draco and Gavin's heads snapped to look at the source of the noise, and Draco's hand froze.
"Damn!" Ginny swore. "How clumsy; I think it slipped out my hands from the soap."
She bent down to pick up a half-shining cauldron off the floor but kept her eyes on the two boys in front of her. She saw that Draco was pale with anger and Gavin pale with fear but proudly defiant all the same. People like Gavin Wotright disgusted her – it slipped her mind that she had more than once taunted Draco about his father's precarious situation.
The room went quiet.
After a full minute where Ginny resumed her washing but kept both ears open for any sounds of war Gavin cleared his throat.
"Your task is to bottle and stopper these trays of frogs' bladder. You must first rinse them –"
"I'm top in my class in Potions, don't bother to explain."
Gavin shrugged. "I shan't. I'll be right back. My assistance is required elsewhere and I won't return for another half hour or so. Keep to your work and do not leave the room."
His heels ticked out into the hall and the door shut.
It was obvious that Draco was seething with anger and Ginny smiled inwardly. His name had less meaning than he thought. Although, she thought wryly, Gavin evidently enjoyed spearing his roast beef, not drinking it through a tube in the Hospital Wing as he didn't have the audacity to remind Draco that he was not first in Potions: he was second to Hermione.
The two partners in crime worked in silence for a good half an hour. Ginny was working out how to tell Draco that her family was trying to put the head of his family in jail. More importantly Ginny wondered about how her own father would react to finding out that his only daughter was working against him.
"Eight years, eh?"
Draco seemed to have a routine going on. He rinsed the bladders three times, pushed them in the small bottles with a thin wooden stick that seemed oddly enough to be made just for that task, and stopped them up. He had at least fifteen or so she noticed. With a grimace Ginny also noticed that they made a sickening squelching sound as they were forced in.
Ginny was pulled out of her thoughts.
"Eight…? Oh," she said, understanding his reference. "Yeah, eight years ago…" She stuck her hands inside another cauldron. "Yeah, Hermione told me that once; don't think I was trying to defend you."
Squelch.
Draco smiled sardonically and shook his head. "I thought you told that Mudblood lover nine, not eight." Ginny started with surprise. "Still want to say that you weren't backing me up?"
She washed much slower this time. "Look, you're not the only person that doesn't like Gavin Wotright. I would have said anything to shut him up."
Squelch.
"That seems rather impossible as he's bent on imitating Beaver to the fullest – babbling and all. Tell me, is he a Mudblood also?"
Ginny's jaw clenched. "As a matter of fact he is a Muggleborn and if you say that filthy word near me one more time I'll be pushing pieces of you into those bottles."
Draco snickered, infuriating the redhead even more. "I'd like to see you try."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of."
"Neither does anyone else; you can't know what doesn't exist."
Ginny shook her head. They still had at least two hours left and she felt like she had been there all night. "Just shut up."
At that moment she hoped that her father locked Lucius Malfoy in the most secure prison just so that she could see Draco's face when he heard. Ginny wondered if he really cared for his father all that much anyway; he already told her that his precious surname would be tarnished with the stain of a prison sentence on it, but there had to be more to it.
Ginny lathered up more soap on the already filthy rag and let the bubbles build up along with her thoughts. "Say…do you love your father?"
A bottle promptly crashed to the floor and Ginny looked at it with surprise. She looked up at Draco to yell at him for his clumsiness but was startled to find that he was already looking at her.
"What did you just ask me?"
The full effect of what Ginny had just asked began to sink in. She realized how tactless it had been to ask him that. It was such a personal question and she had no idea how it had escaped her lips; one moment she was thinking it and the next…it was out in the air.
"It doesn't matter," Ginny said quickly. Draco refused to look away and she could see his pulse point throbbing pointedly in his neck. "It was stupid of me to ask…you do…I mean, of course you love your father…he's your father…I don't know if I-"
Ginny cut herself off. She was about to say, 'I don't know if I could love him.'
She had no idea what to say next, though. Draco was very pale and from her experience with him so far that usually meant anger. However, she had never said something so…unwelcome to him until then and his eyes were sparkling oddly.
"Do you love your own father?" she heard him ask.
"Yes," she said simply.
"If Lucius Malfoy was your father could you love him the same way?"
"That's…that's not an issue. Even if he was my father love and Lucius Malfoy have nothing to do with one another."
"What makes you think that I feel any different?" Draco leaned down to pick up the glass. "Don't ask again."
"I was just curious," Ginny muttered defensively, crouching down to help pick up the shattered jar as well. Evidently Draco heard because he snapped,
"Curiosity's what killed the Gryffindor so just leave it at that. You seem to have trouble letting well enough alone."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're surname's not Longbottom, Weasley. Dropping that cauldron wasn't an accident."
"No shit, Draco," she said disdainfully, hating his taunting of Neville. Neville was one of her few true friends. She smiled when he grimaced. "Oh, did you forget that you told me to call you by your first name?"
He ignored the taunt. "If I want to teach someone respect don't ever interfere."
"I will if it gets in the way of our arrangement. Your temper is a menace! It's not exactly going to help further our investigation if you're constantly bottling frog bladders in detention, is it?"
"You think you're so clever don't you?"
"It's not a matter of cleverness. It's all to do with your stupid pride. Get over it. Your father could possibly go to prison. I know that. You know that. The entire bloody world knows that. I thought you wanted to do something about it instead of sit on your arse and fire off jinxes at people who happen to voice what everyone already knows."
"How informative of you," Draco hissed. "You're only out for your own interests, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."
"I don't want to understand!" shouted Ginny. "I want nothing to do with you. Yes, I'm using you! Is that what you want me to say?"
Draco nodded; he had a hard glint in his eye. "I expected nothing more from a common slag whose father has never done anything to inspire feelings of pride. I had forgotten that the poor have nothing to be proud of."
Ginny felt like she had been slapped. Her fists were clenched so tightly that they began to ache.
"I think I'll understand it better when my father tells us how much fun he had going through your manor. My joy will have no bounds then."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Draco sharply.
"Sit on that confusion and rotate; I'm not telling you anything." She began to stand up but the blonde grabbed her wrist.
"I asked you a question."
"Don't touch me!" Ginny shouted, pushing Draco back with her right hand; instead of letting go he only pulled her closer by the waist. "You bastard…" Trying to pry his hand off of her she was startled when he suddenly let go and stood up. Losing balance Ginny tilted back and fell. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"
"You're bleeding, you idiot," he told her showing her his hand. There were spots of a bright red liquid on it, but his hand was undamaged.
From her position on the floor Ginny looked at the inside of her palm. There was a small shard of glass sticking out of it from when she balled up her fists.
"This is all your fault," Ginny said angrily. Now that she realized that she had a cut it began to smart even more.
"Stop whining and go to Pomfrey," Draco said dismissively. "Before you do I want to know what you meant by your last comment."
"I can't go to her – my brother thinks I'm with my boyfriend, not serving a detention. The next time that Madam Pomfrey sees Ron she'll tell him I was there."
Draco looked thoughtful and then slowly began to smile. "How about you let your boyfriend fix it?"
"Shut up. It's not funny." She examined it closely and then held it away from her a little more. "The bleeding isn't stopping…"
"Then let me have a look at it."
"I don't want you touching me."
"You let me hold your hand yesterday."
"I didn't let you do anything! You grabbed me! And what good did it do? We're in detention and I'm bleeding all over the place."
"You wouldn't be if you'd just come over here. I'm not going to beg you. Actually I was hoping that you might bleed to death; but I'm the only other person in the room and Wotright would just as soon point the finger at me, than admit that a brave old Gryff was stupid enough to smash glass into her hand. So you can let me heal it up or wait until he comes back and makes a fuss." Ginny looked at Draco with uncertainty. "I'm sure that he'd love to inform Potter and his little minions how you came to get it."
Ginny slammed her good hand onto the floor in aggravation.
"Trying to slice up the other one, Ginny? I didn't know you were masochistic."
"Being around you tends to make me feel that way. Help me up before I change my mind."
Ginny put her arm up limply in the air like a wet noodle and Draco took it firmly and pulled her up. Staggering a little Ginny stood in front of the blond and gave him her injured hand. When he didn't do anything right away she became agitated.
"Wait, neither of us has a wand. What are you planning to do?"
Draco looked up from his observation of her wound and lifted an eyebrow. "If you didn't notice, we're in a Potions room."
Ginny looked at him skeptically. "You're going to make an entire Healing Potion right now?"
"No; just something to temporarily stop the bleeding. I don't know if I can stop it from hurting though." He grinned nefariously at her. "I'm not sure I want to."
Ginny made to snatch her hand back but he held it firmly. "You're going to give me a bruise," the redhead said furiously.
"Not if you calm down," Draco muttered absently looking around the room for ingredients. He felt Ginny's hand gradually relax inside his own. "Alright. Make a fist with your hand to slow down the blood flow."
Ginny did it with a wince. It was still smarting.
"No pain, no gain…Ginny," said Draco trying out her name again on his lips. It felt different when he wasn't saying it in a malicious way; very…foreign.
He watched her roll her eyes. "So if I punch you, even if it hurts, the satisfaction I'll gain from it will be worth it?"
"I dare you."
When he glanced at Ginny he saw her grinning a bit. "Are you going to rip off a piece of your robe for me?" Not being able to help herself she began to snigger. "How thoughtful."
"Not really," said Draco resolutely. "I'm doing it so that you don't bleed on me. These robes are fairly expensive."
Over the next twenty minutes Ginny watched as Draco took random ingredients off of Snape's shelves and mixed them in a small bowl. When he disappeared momentarily to go into another supply cupboard for a cloth to wrap her hand in, Ginny peeked at the peach colored concoction.
"He's going to know that someone went in there," Ginny called.
The blond returned.
"All of it came from the student supply closet so it doesn't really matter. Anyone above third year, maybe even second year is allowed to get ingredients from the student stores without permission." He washed his hands once more and then with a thick gauze strip began to spread it on Ginny's hand. Ginny gasped at the cool contact of the potion on her palm.
"Why? Worried about getting in more trouble?"
Ginny snorted and looked on interestedly as his pale hands passed repeatedly over her palm. She felt his left hand warmly support the back of her hand. Ginny shivered when Draco dabbed more of the spread on.
"Packard is enough to worry about without Snape threatening me to tell him I stole from him on pain of excruciating death."
"It's nothing more than you deserve…Finished."
Ginny studied her palm with – thought she'd hate to admit it – satisfaction. The sixth-year realized that Draco had used their bickering to his advantage and managed to get the glass out of her hand without her noticing its removal. Her hand was still red but the bleeding had stopped; hopefully the potion would hold up through the night.
She nodded. "Thanks." She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow. "I'm surprised."
Draco watched Ginny; his head bending down to look her straight in the eye. "Why? Because I did a good job?"
"Well yes," she blurted out.
He frowned. "Well for my girlfriend even I can masquerade as gentle."
Frustrated, Ginny fought an oncoming flush. He was a manipulative arsehole, she tried to make herself remember. She would ignore the fact that his fingertips were passing over her hand with faux innocent, tantalizing strokes. She had to ignore him.
She had to know why.
Ginny stared at him. "Why do you always do that?"
He smirked and laced his hand in hers but allowed his thumb to continually trace patterns on the inside and out of her hand. "What, this?"
Ginny grit her teeth.
His eyes gleamed mischievously. "For a Weasley, you've got nice hands…"
Ginny smiled sweetly. "All the better to slap you with."
"I appreciate a feisty girlfriend."
"I wouldn't know," Ginny snapped becoming irritated with his games. He was constantly trying to jerk her chain to get what he wanted and it was infuriating. "Look, if you want information from me you don't have to flirt shamelessly to get it; all it does it make you look like a fool."
"You're the one who's all cow-eyed over me."
"Because you're trying to seduce me!"
Draco looked at her questioningly. "By holding your hand? If that's got you all hot and bothered already then the actual act of sex will probably end up killing you."
By this time Ginny was crimson. "I'm sure you'd love that!" she shot back.
Draco grimaced. "Not if I'm on top of you at the time."
All the redhead could do was stare at him with complete and utter shock. "What on earth makes you think you'd get on top of me?"
The blond looked intrigued. "Sorry, I didn't know I was stealing your position."
There was a pause. Then Ginny began to laugh quietly. It was almost silent but steady and she found herself struggling to catch her breath.
"This is so ridiculous…" she managed to get out.
"What? That in our future we'll either kill each other while arguing or that you'll die during sex? I think it's disturbing."
Ginny only laughed harder and Draco was hard put to hide his amusement.
Brown eyes sparkled up at Draco. Pink lips sighed. "I know that you're only being amusing to disarm me."
"Is it working?" the blond questioned. He pulled Ginny closer and Ginny forgot about the feel of his hand on top of hers when the other that was sliding around he waist became more distracting. They stood there for a long moment, neither person moving.
"I'm not sure…"
There was only the smallest of distances between them and Ginny found that she was responding to his proximity, to his scent. She closed her eyes; it reminded her of winter. Chilled and frosted but exciting at the same time. Draco leaned down and Ginny felt the soft skin of his lips skim the top of her own. They lifted up and came back down, with more pressure this time. They caressed gently…
And then she shoved him back roughly.
Draco wasn't sure if he should be offended or amused by the blatant look of horror on Ginny's face.
"Is there a problem?" he began cautiously.
Ginny covered her mouth with the uninjured hand. "What…in the seventh circle of hell was that…?"
"Seven…" Draco mused. "And I thought there were only five…"
"Answer me!"
Draco sobered. "It was just a kiss – not even a proper one. We didn't really have time to feel it out a little more."
Ginny's eyes widened. "The hell it wasn't a big deal! You…you came onto me."
"You didn't complain," he shot back.
"I pushed you away."
Draco smiled wolfishly. "That's right. You pushed me away. You didn't move away yourself."
"What does that matter?"
Draco advanced on her. "You couldn't have stopped yourself, so you stopped me; isn't that why you're so upset right now?"
"No! No on all counts! I'm upset because it came out of nowhere."
The blond boy stood still and gave the girl in front of him a long look. "Did it really?"
Ginny felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.
She accused Draco Malfoy had tried to initiate a kiss with her and he had the nerve to not deny it!
"This isn't amusing," she told him harshly. "I didn't come here for this!"
"Neither did I!" shouted Draco, becoming angry at Ginny's tone. "But it's there! It was there in the Room of Requirement! It was even there when your little friend Creevey was watching. You all but admitted that you can't even touch me without feeling…it…" He moved closer to Ginny and his countenance darkened even more when Ginny stepped back. "It's attraction, Ginny," he whispered using her name very deliberately.
"Stop it," Ginny ordered, gazing it him with wonder. "Do you honestly think I'll let you just…have me? So you can tell all your friends that you pulled a Weasley?"
"I haven't got any friends." He looked at Ginny with the hint of a smirk on his mouth. "And you're wrong. This belongs only to us."
"There isn't an us! How can you be so…flippant?"
"Because the hippogriff in the room can't be ignored forever; someone is going to notice its ugly face lurking around. Only someone delusional would try and put it out of their mind."
Ginny noted Draco's surprised face when she laughed scornfully at him, not sounding much like herself. She wondered absently if she were on the edge of hysteria.
"So what do you propose? That we start a relationship?"
Draco shook his head. "No, not really. We don't have enough to go on yet besides attraction. Although that sounds like a nice jumping off point…do you have any ideas?"
Ginny was incredulous. "Yeah! I've one: jump off a bloody cliff, Draco Malfoy." She heard him start to laugh. "Dammit, this isn't funny! You've actually given this whole thing thought!"
Despite his unflappable demeanor Ginny detected a pink tint on his pale skin. "I like to think things through. My shag first, ask questions later days are numbered – have been for some time now, actually."
Ginny was aghast. Was he for real?
"I'm sure it's an enchanting story, really…" she swallowed and then took another look at the boy across from her. "But I'm not interested."
"Liar."
"If I'm a liar then you're a manipulative scoundrel! You have to admit that this goes beyond any rationality." She looked tentatively at Draco to gauge how he would take her next argument. "It's like Packard said: my family – Ron – would never accept any of this."
"Aargh!" Draco exclaimed shoving a hand roughly through his hair. "Please tell me that 'Ron' is the name of your Chastity Belt because I don't want to hear you talking about your prick of a brother again."
"Why not?" asked Ginny furiously. "If I ever got involved with you he'd be more of a reality than ever."
"You need to break away from him," Draco said simply.
"Don't tell me what to do," Ginny rebounded. "You obviously understand nothing about me so your point of 'pursuing a relationship' is moot."
"Are you genuinely all that opposed to being attracted to me?" Draco questioned.
Ginny turned her gaze away from him. "Yes…and no…it's complicated!" She said when Draco advanced. "And frankly…I don't think it's a good idea to explore that territory." She sighed. "So let's just write it off as a fluke and move on."
Ginny willed herself to turn away from Draco when in reality it was the last thing she wanted to do. She might never get an offer from him like that again. And it was incredibly tempting…
"I could try and finish up those cauldrons with my hand like this but I don't really want to…" she murmured when he didn't say anything. "We've still got a lot to go over…I suppose we could talk now. Maybe later if you wanted –"
"Let's talk now." She heard him walk up behind her and she went to fiddle uselessly with the cauldrons under the illusion that she was putting them in some kind of order.
"Aren't you going to finish bottling those bladders?"
"Not on your life."
Ginny walked away from the large sink (making sure to give the blond a wide berth) and sat down in a chair; Draco did the same.
"Tell me what you meant about your father going through my house."
"Your manners are lacking, Draco." He said nothing and so Ginny went on. "At dinner tonight Ron told me that my dad's going to be one of the people going through Malfoy Manor – He owled Ron."
It took all of Draco's willpower not to sneer. "Arthur Weasley's no auror."
Ginny's eyes flashed. "No, really?"
"So what's he doing there?" Draco asked, trying to avoid another row.
"I wonder about that just as much as you. Supposedly he was asked personally by high officials in the Ministry to help conduct the raid so that it could pass with as much 'fairness' as possible."
"Yes, it's so fair since your father hates mine."
Ginny nodded reluctantly. "And also Minister Fudge and my father don't get along – as a matter of fact Fudge and your father are closer than most people. It makes no sense why he would allow Dad to do this."
Draco's face was guarded. "The Ministry is receiving far fewer donations this year…"
Ginny's thinking went on other lines. "I just wonder why Dad didn't tell me! He told Ron, Hermione…Harry. I bet everyone in the family knew but me."
Draco gave Ginny an exasperated look. "Maybe you should be asking your brother and his little friends that." When he saw that Ginny was about to protest he went on. "He did keep the letter your Dad wrote away from you. Don't you have just as much right to know what goes on in your family as anyone else?"
Ginny thought about that. "But Ron didn't really hesitate to tell me when I asked him…maybe Harry told him not to…"
"What does it matter?" Draco asked. "Either way no one wants to include you in anything."
Ginny fell silent and Draco shifted in his seat a little.
"Was there any more information?"
Ginny looked up. "Yeah. The raid's on in about three weeks."
"Trying to catch my father in a trap I bet…he'd better not be stupid enough to fall into it…Merlin…is there no such thing as good news?"
The redhead gave Draco an enthusiastic look. "Well, as you saw in your Defense class Packard finally gave me permission to get the Restricted book out. I'm keeping it in my room in a trunk." Ginny hesitated. "The only thing is that one of the other books, Prophets of the Past is a Reference Book."
"Meaning that we can't check it out?"
Ginny nodded.
"You'd better be sure of that. When I wrote up that list I made sure to look over those books first for availability. It wasn't a Reference Book then."
"I'm positive," Ginny said defensively. "Go check it if you don't believe me. We'll just have to go there and copy it over somehow."
"I know a spell for that…but the book is rather large…" Ginny snorted.
An elephant was 'rather large'. That book was colossal.
"It'll take time that we don't have to copy it over and arrange it ourselves."
"Do you know any other sources where we can get information like that? It was amazing," Ginny said. "There were articles on him all over it."
The blond shrugged. "Other newspapers probably reported things on Tinelle so they might have the same types of information. But do you know of any?" Ginny shook her head. "So obviously that's not an option."
The two of them listened to the shuffles of feet outside.
"What time is it?" Ginny asked.
"Just after nine," Draco answered her checking the silver watch on his wrist.
"Shouldn't Gavin be back by now?"
"Not if he's out smelling Granger's knickers. They're probably so large that he's only made it halfway around them."
"I thought I told you not to talk about them like that. At least not Hermione; Gavin's a different story." Suddenly Ginny remembered something else that she had wanted to ask Draco. "Did Hermione have Prefect Patrol last night? In the library?"
"Of course not. You should know that better than anyone. If she had been the one chasing us do you really think that she wouldn't have used magic to stop us from getting away. Like sealing the door with fire or something equally dramatic and show-offy."
Ginny ignored his sarcastic tone. "That's exactly what I thought! But at dinner tonight Hermione said that she and Harry were up late in the library."
"Well obviously they lied."
Ginny could have hexed him…then she realized she had no wand.
"Doesn't this mean anything to you?"
Draco became irritated. "They're doing what they always do: snooping around. As long as they stay out of my way I don't really see how it matters."
Ginny twisted her hands around. "I caught them a few nights ago, lugging a bag of stuff back up to the common room. Ron admitted that it was butterbeer. What do you suppose that meant?"
"That you brother is too much of a wuss to drink Firewhiskey?"
"Draco -"
"Unless you see a butterbeer trail that will lead us to the real person who put the Imperius on Tinelle, I don't much care what The Trio does. Is this getting through your thick skull? Focus for once on something else for god sake."
"Fine," Ginny said crossly. "But if it means something it's your father's skin, not mine. For a change of subject, though, why don't we talk more about your father?"
Draco looked at Ginny distrustfully. "What about him?"
"For one thing, have you been talking to him lately? Has he sent you any owls?"
"No, not really," Draco confessed. "I haven't gotten anything from him. It's not all that strange, though. I usually get the customary owl around the beginning of term – I've gotten that already – then usually an owl telling me to come home for whatever holiday."
"Did he mention anything about all of this stuff in the first owl."
The blonde's face darkened. "No."
Ginny was relentless. "And you didn't think to mention it in your reply?!"
"I don't know whether your complete ignorance of ways of the world other than your own mark you as someone extremely sheltered a simpleton," Draco spat. "If my father deems it time to bring up the case, he will. And even then I doubt that we'll discuss it. I'm sure that whenever your family encounters a setback you sit around and have tea and crumpets and share lots of hugs but that's not the way Malfoys deal with things."
Ginny glared at him. "Thanks for the tutorial. I just assumed that you had a more assertive role in your house."
"Look, if you're all that curious, he's already ordered me to come home for Christmas. I'm bound to hear something then."
"I suppose that'll have to do for now."
Ginny surveyed Draco and saw that he was looking at their unfinished detention tasks.
"You think they'll tell us off for not finishing them? I have a plausible enough excuse, but do you?"
"No," he replied bluntly. "We should have gone to the Hospital Wing like I suggested, because then we'd both have reasons for not cleaning up the messes of all the Longbottom's in this school."
Ignoring the swipe at Neville, Ginny focused instead on the insistence in his voice and wondered if she should have gone to see the healer.
"My brother'll wonder how I managed to injure myself on a supposed date with my Mystery Man."
Draco shrugged. "Tell him that your boyfriend made an improper advance and you slapped him so hard that you hurt your hand."
"And cut it up? Your face isn't made of nails."
He grinned. "So you thought it was baby soft? I promise you that I've got plenty of rough edges to counter that."
Ginny backed her chair away from him and stood, hoping that her own face was it's normal hue. "That's nice. Let's go see Pomfrey." She began to leave.
Draco stood up languorously and stretched his lean form to each side before coming to a standstill; during that process Ginny studiously looked everywhere in the room but at him.
"Slow down, Weasley; you weren't in such a hurry before. We're walking out together just in case we run into trouble."
Ginny was doubtful. "What could happen on a walk to the Infirmary." She started walking without him and then halted. "Oh wait! Should we leave a note or something for Gavin? He might come back before we do."
Draco strode over to Ginny and took her by the arm, leading her out of the room. "There's no need to be courteous. It would be wasted on him."
Ginny regarded Draco knowingly. "You realize that it'll drive him insane not knowing where we've gone?"
"With all hope," muttered the seventh-year. He continued to walk Ginny out of the room from very close behind her, one hand on her upper arm, his abdomen skimming her back.
Ginny felt breathless. Draco opened the door just enough for him to peek his head out and check the corridor for any wayward students or professors. His body leaned into Ginny's even more and she flushed, hoping that he couldn't feel the sudden surge of warmth that shot through her.
"If it makes you feel any better," he stated quietly, "I'll try and make sure that as few people as possible see us." He pulled his head back in and gazed down at Ginny who was practically in his arms.
"Okay," she managed say.
If she wanted to, all she had to do was stretch up a bit further to kiss him.
'Do it, Ginny. What are you waiting for?' she asked herself. She could feel her heart thudding manically inside her chest. 'Go on!'
She could see Draco's open face looking right back at her, daring her to make a move. So she lifted an arm and let it trail up the nape of his neck deeper into his hair. He pushed himself closer to her as if to tell her not to stop. Ginny pulled his head down and Draco let go of the doorknob to let it rest on her hip.
Slam!
Inches away from Draco's face Ginny tensed and then looked at the door. He had let go of it and so it closed…rather loudly at that. The redhead released a loud breath: from relief or frustration she wasn't sure.
Extracting herself from the blond – who had yet to say a word – Ginny opened the door once more and stepped out into the hall. The fire torchlights were blazing brightly although somewhat dimmed by the general dark of the dungeons. A dank chill wafted through the air, making Ginny think momentarily that there was a ghost somewhere near, but it was just a draft. On the bright side there was not a soul in sight.
"All's clear."
Although she averted her eyes away from his it wasn't hard to see the guarded look in them. She wondered if she had led him on by saying one thing and doing another. Ginny snorted silently. She was leading herself on – but it wouldn't happen again. She meant what she told him earlier: it would never work out; only ten minutes before they had been disparaging to each other. Maybe they were simply acting out on the tension that was within them. It wasn't necessarily attraction… Ginny told herself. Attraction was simply the most likely answer.
Ginny stole a glance at Draco only to have him catch her in the act and so she looked away once more feeling more than a little stupid. She was acting like an infatuated, pre-pubescent twit with someone who openly admitted to wanting her. The obvious thing to do would be to jump him, drag him in a corner and just go with it. However Ginny prided herself on not doing the obvious anymore. Unfortunately her hormones didn't see it that way. They wanted her to be predictable – very predictable.
They wanted Draco Malfoy.
Ginny ceased walking for a second at that thought, which earned her a look from Draco.
"Something the matter?" he asked, not sounding overly concerned.
"Mm, no, sorry…just thinking."
Draco Malfoy wasn't a predictable choice! Therefore she could do whatever she wanted with him, as she would be acting out of the norm!
Ginny frowned. But it would be doing the obvious according to her hormones…she scowled. She didn't have to answer to them! They weren't even really alive.
"Really?" Draco insisted. "Because you're making the strangest faces and I don't fancy walking down a dark corridor with someone who makes odd expressions and talks to herself."
Ginny wanted to make a smart comment, however just then they entered the main hallway. It was deserted but seemed very…open, making Ginny feel paranoid. Albeit the dungeons were foreboding and induced claustrophobia, they had thick stonewalls that granted a feeling of privacy.
She peered up at Draco in the dark, pulling him into deeper shadow. "Why did you lead us this way? There are shorter routes that afford more security. We're practically walking targets!" she whispered.
Draco's eyes glowed eerily in the poor light. "I didn't lead us anywhere. We were walking along and if you wanted to take a different path you should have gone that way."
"You saw that I wasn't paying attention, though!" she argued. "It was your idea to even go to Pomfrey! The least you could have done was take a passageway that didn't leave us in the open. Real nice."
"Look here – "
Ginny gasped and searched frantically for an alcove, a hidden room, something.
Someone had just entered the castle through the main doors. The sound echoed with a hollow boom through the halls, but the sound of footsteps was still far enough away for them to make a fast break to an open space. Draco pulled Ginny along but the girl kept up easily. She was in no way eager to be caught out of bed…with a Malfoy…again.
Part of her was unsure why they were hiding at all. They weren't committing a crime; they were on their way to the Hospital Wing; that shouldn't garner any more attention than a visit to Madam Pomfrey usually did. However Ginny knew without speaking that a Weasley alone in the halls with a Malfoy would seem otherworldly, suspicious in the least. In fact no one other than Colin and of course Professors Packard and Snape knew that they were serving detentions that night. However to anyone else they had no reason to be within 3 feet of each other.
After only a few moments of searching but finding nothing, Ginny's hands ran across a doorknob and she yanked Draco in harshly, she doubted that he would mind. She had found a supply cupboard, one of the smaller ones. It was evident that the particular cupboard Ginny found was not used very often as there were cobwebs hanging from each corner and a layer of dust swirled around from their entrance. There wasn't even anything more than a battered cleaning broom that Filch must have used to sweep up after the 'dirt-ridden' students of Hogwarts. Positioning sideways so that they faced each other, with their shoulders touching the back of the cupboard, Ginny and Draco each made sure that they were securely tucked in and that nothing was poking out of the room.
Packed in closely to Draco, Ginny could feel the quick pace of Draco's heart despite the cool look of alert he held on his face. If they had wanted to be practical they would have wrapped their arms around each other to create more room, but neither made a move to do so. They simply remained plastered together with their arms to the sides as if they were under the Full-Body Bind.
"Good thinking," Draco whispered almost inaudibly. Ginny only nodded, not wanting to risk speech.
Sooner than expected Ginny heard the footsteps clipping quickly down the hall. Whoever was walking this late at night was in an obvious hurry to get somewhere. Ginny waited for something dramatic to happen; like the person to randomly realize that there were two students out of bed and that they were hiding in a forgotten supply closet. However, nothing of the sort occurred. This is why Draco was struck dumb when Ginny suddenly decided to open the door soundlessly and stick her dumb little head out to watch the person's retreating back…
Ginny noticed that the person seemed to be shaped oddly: their robes stuck out on one side forming a large lump.
Ginny's body was snatched back in.
"What the hell are you playing at?" he hissed. He looked like he wanted to wave around his arms in anger, but there was not enough room for that. He would have just ended up hitting himself.
"It was Gavin!" Ginny whispered loudly, inclining her head in the direction of the hall outside.
"Wotright?"
She frowned in the dark. "No, Gavin Arsewipe. Whom else would I mean?" she snapped. "I think he was hiding something under his robes."
"He was sneaking something into the castle?"
"It seems so…but he wasn't even in a hurry. He was just strolling along."
"He reminds me of Potter. Strutting about like he owns the place."
Ginny chose not to acknowledge that reference. "Look, we've got to get out of here and back to the room before he does."
"We're going to see Pomfrey; I'm not hearing about how you bled to death only feet away from your bed because you didn't get checked out."
"No," Ginny emphasized. "I promise I'll go tomorrow. Now's not the time."
"Fine," Draco snapped. "Which route are we taking?"
"The one that goes past the Defense room, there's a short staircase that'll take us almost right where we want to be."
"Look, I don't want anymore nighttime encounters…"
"There can't be that many people lurking around," Ginny tried to reassure him. "Let's take our chances."
Draco nodded succinctly although he had lingering doubts and checked outside to see if anyone was coming by. When he was sure that it was clear he gestured for Ginny to come outside.
Sticking very close to the shadows that the arches of the castle walls provided, the pair slunk along the inky black castle, keeping ears and eyes pricked open to any sound.
When they approached a turn in the hall, Ginny walked slower and whispered back to Draco, "It should be around this corner." He nodded his understanding and they continued on. Just as they reached it and Ginny peeked around it she gasped loudly and then threw herself back. Draco became unsteady on his feet and almost fell backward, but he managed to keep himself and Ginny upright.
"Are you always such a blundering idiot?" he demanded. But Ginny didn't respond. Face pale and eyes standing out in stark contrast Ginny dusted off and grabbed Draco's hand, pulling him back around the corner and down the hall.
"We've got to go another way!" she said desperately.
Draco snatched his arm away and stood right where he was. "Why on earth would we do that?"
"Because – "
"Mrow!"
Draco froze. "Is that Filch's raggedy cat?" he asked sotto voce.
Ginny nodded vigorously. "They're all the way down the corridor and the stairs are closer to us, but we'd never make it without being spotted!"
"Meow!"
"You smell filthy students out of bed, my dear? Oh, we will catch them! We'll get those rule-breaking, ungrateful little rats and keep them tied up in the office, won't we, Mrs. Norris?" Filch clunked determinedly down the hall. "You'll stare them down whilst I call upon the Headmaster, won't you, Mrs. Norris? And if they step out of line rip them apart!"
"Mrow!"
Draco and Ginny exchanged disgusted glances and then ran down the hall back the way they came.
Ginny didn't say anything but she was more than sure that Gavin was already back at the room, waiting for them with Packard and Snape, and suspension slips. Draco was leading Ginny now, and the hall passed in one large blur of pitch black and the orange and red glow of firelight.
After hopping off the still moving staircase Ginny and Draco sprinted in the direction of Snape's classroom. Draco yanked the door open, Ginny ran inside and he shut it firmly and rest his back on it while Ginny stood in the middle of the room hunched over, breathing heavily.
Draco walked over to the panting redhead with an indecipherable look on his face and locked his eyes onto hers.
"That was – "
Ginny broke eye contact with Draco and gaped at the doorway.
The knob jingled and Gavin came inside with all his glory. He walked in complacently as if he hadn't just missed supervising them for their entire detention, and shut the door behind him. Stepping farther inside Gavin surveyed their lack of breath and their over-bright eyes.
Slowly Ginny drew up to Draco and muttered lowly so that only he could hear, "Let me do the talking," she warned him. She felt him stiffen in indignation but was not going to take her statement back. Knowing how much he adored Gavin, Ginny hoped that he could keep his mouth shut.
"Well, well, well…" said the sixth-year prefect eyeing the still filthy cauldrons and the un-bottled frog bladders. "Someone hasn't been busy. What have you two been doing this whole time? Why are you out of breath?"
"Filch," Ginny answered honestly. "We heard him doing his rounds and got nervous and hurried back here."
Gavin lifted his chin interestedly. "So you left the room? Well I knew that you were here because you defied some infraction or another, but really, Ginny, this is quite unlike you." He looked down his nose at her and Draco. "You two weren't given these tasks so that you could stare at them. They were meant to be completed."
Thinking quickly Ginny showed Gavin her hand. "There was a mishap with one of the glass jars; Dra – er, Malfoy and I went to see Madam Pomfrey so that she could heal it."
Ginny saw Draco shifting over so that he could hide the desk behind them from view and cursed internally: the potion he made for her hand was on it. Hopefully Gavin would miss it.
He was suspicious anyway. "And if I go to the healer and ask her for tonight's log of activity, I'll see your names on it?"
"Yes, of course," Ginny told him firmly.
"Then I'll go do that," he let them know, turning to walk off.
Ginny all but ran over to Gavin and touched his arm lightly; she noticed absently that whatever he had been hiding in his robes was now absent – he must have discarded it on his way there. She thanked Merlin that he did, because it had allowed she and Draco to get back before he did.
"Wait, don't! You know my brother," she laughed nervously. "And Hermione and Harry; all three of them. How d'you think they'll react if you make such a fuss? I told Madam Pomfrey it wasn't serious. You go to her and she'll think I was lying and talk to my brother…it'll be a mess…can't you just let it go?"
He looked at her seriously. "Ginny, it's my express duty to – "
"I realize that, Gavin, but just this once. It would mean a lot to me if you just took our word for it." Gavin watched Draco with shrewd eyes.
"Fine. Fine. I'll take your word for it, Ginny."
It seemed like Draco was at the end of his rope.
"You're going to have to, aren't you? Where were you, Wotright?"
Gavin straightened up importantly. "As I said, I was running an errand. And the specifics have nothing to do with you so don't bother asking." At the slightly hazardous look in Draco's eyes he relented. "You know how Prefect's duties are. It's always a dash of this and that."
He looked at the time and then once more at the mess. "You've told me that you have a reason for not finishing your work but regardless I must report it to Packard. She'll no doubt just add it on to tomorrow night's work. I'll be supervising you two again as she claims to find me rather dependable. Imagine that! Anyway, I must retire. I advise you two to do the same. Oh, and here." He stepped forward and placed a pair of wands on a table.
Gavin smiled indulgently at Ginny, completely ignored Draco and swept ostentatiously out of the room. Draco shook off the urge to go after Wotright and rip his head off.
Ginny's shoulders sank as if some of the tension in them had been let out. She watched Draco turn away from the door, take up the pallet that had Ginny's potion spread on it, and wash it off in the sink without a word. She knew that he was upset, as he didn't realize that he was cleaning the Muggle way, but it was obvious that he was going to give her a hard time while she figured it out.
"Thanks for keeping quiet; now really wasn't the time for any rows."
Draco bent low to retrieve a hand towel from a cupboard that was close to the floor. He rose and leaned his lower back against the counter by the sink and watched the towel as he dried his hands. His loose hair put his slate eyes in shadow.
He didn't once stop to look at Ginny.
"You mean thanks for acting like some timid sod when I'm less afraid of Gavin Wotright than my own shadow," he replied chillingly. "I swear I would've hexed that filthy-blooded mongrel…"
"But you didn't, and that's what matters," Ginny informed Draco, cutting him off. She wasn't in the mood to hear him spewing about Mudbloods and blood-traitors. All the same, even though she knew that he was trying to bait her she went on, "So enough of your Slytherin elitist bullshit. Just take the job well done I've given you and swallow it."
He threw the towel down on the side of the sink and looked up furiously at Ginny. "Don't want to hear any of that, eh? Then stop spouting off your Gryffindor hug-a-tree crap and get out. It's been a rather long night and I've had my fill of seeing your face."
Ginny gaped at him, stunned.
She knew that his 'offer' to her earlier was just a one-off but she had hoped that her refusal would still allow them to be friends… of a much screwed up sort. She didn't expect to hear the disgust in his voice that she did just then and his eagerness to be rid of her.
Recovering quickly she rose to the attack.
"It didn't sound that way a few hours ago," she informed him cuttingly. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop taking every single one of your frustrations with Gavin and the world out on me. I'm about sick of it and I'm not going to argue with you just because you're sore that I can work Gavin around without sending him to the Hospital Wing."
"Work him around? Work the bloody wanker around?" he choked. "I could turn that fucking ponce into the festering worm that he is and not blink an eye, so don't think too highly of yourself. I'm sure you wouldn't mind handling Wotright, as I've come to the realization that you'd sooner touch that bleeding tosser than me, and I…" he squeezed his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Just…just piss off right now."
The girl in question just stared. "What the hell is this about? I'd rather touch anyone than Gavin."
Draco laughed humorlessly. "Just let it alone. I don't really care what you do. I'd appreciate it if you left, though."
"No! Merlin, you've got issues! One minute you're fine and the next you're trying to throw me out of the room for some unknown reason! If there's one thing I give to Gavin, it's consistency. I can always trust him to be a snotty arsehole, but with you, you're a bastard when you're hacked off and you're a bastard when you're not! I for one think that warrants a nice touch for Gavin?" she added sarcastically.
Draco paled; the redhead had no idea what was coming next.
He strode over to Ginny, took her firmly by the arms and looked at her.
"How gently do you think he would touch you, Ginny?" With one hand he held her flush along his body and with the other he stroked along her skin, from her fingernails to her collarbone. Ginny shivered as his skin made contact with hers. Even when his long fingers ran past the shoddy material of her robes she could feel it searing a trail along her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned against him.
"I don't think I could be that gentle," he whispered into her ear. Ginny trembled. Merlin, she didn't want him to be gentle. She wanted… "Would he do things like hug you?" He laughed in her ear. "Is that what you want? Tender, calculated movements?" The girl's response was stuck somewhere in her throat as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Ginny's arms found their way around Draco's neck and she nuzzled her nose in his chest and felt more than heard him inhale deeply. He pushed her against the counter so that they were crushed together and Ginny's mind drew a blank as heat surged through her. They weren't even really doing anything and she felt ridiculously overheated. How long would she be able to hold out? Why did she want to?
"We always fight…" she voiced although the sound seemed to come from somewhere very distant.
Draco brought his head down so that the tips of his hair pricked Ginny's skin, and his lips made contact with her earlobe, nibbling around the shell. His hand had long since stopped trailing down her arm and repeatedly squeezed and clenched Ginny's backside. He then dragged it up to the back of her neck so that he could lift her hair and kiss the area under her ear without disturbance. Ginny's arms tightened around his neck and she pushed her hips tentatively closer to him.
"Because I react to you," he murmured pushing his pelvis into her so that she could explore every possible meaning of that statement.
Ginny moaned as he gyrated against her and quickly began to respond in tune. Her hands grasped his shoulders firmly and she dragged her fingers down his back effectively pulling off his robes and let them rest around his waist where they tightened once more and pulled him to her.
"Draco…"
Her neck felt cold when his warm soft lips left it but she was pleasantly surprised when they found her own. Draco was insistently pushing his lips against her own; he placed one in between her folds and nibbled on the lower one. Feeling bold, not to mention slightly out of her mind, Ginny pushed his lips apart and allowed her tongue to tease its way inside his mouth. He groaned and surged up against her and Ginny felt his erection pointedly on her inner thigh. Draco allowed his own tongue to curl around her own and sucked and tasted while practically bending Ginny backward over the counter. The redhead threw her neck back in encouragement and was rewarded when Draco's lips suckled her throat.
Pausing, Draco gazed down at Ginny's flushed, aroused face and was met with indecision to continue. Ginny's eyes opened slowly as if laden with syrup and she stared at his swollen lips and met them with her own. He groaned and buried his face in her hair. "If I went on, would I be forcing you?" he asked quietly.
Ginny knew the answer right away.
NO.
A resounding, screaming-bloody-murder no! If he didn't go on she might end up forcing him.
But there was silence in the room because Ginny didn't say any of that aloud. Draco stayed pressed up against Ginny for a moment longer until he saw that she wasn't going to give an answer.
"I…" she uttered hoarsely. She didn't want him to stop. Not ever. But there were just those niggling doubts in the back of her mind about his sincerity, and her family, that hadn't been present in the throws of passion. In the residual effects of their snogging-and-more session, those doubts had sounded very faint, but now they were returning.
So Draco rose off of Ginny who colored when she realized her previous position and just how close he had been to her. God, she missed it already…Draco stood unabashedly.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, forcing her still cloudy eyes away from his peering gray ones. She found herself wanting to cry suddenly, but she refused to let the tears surface. She would be damned if he saw her cry over one stupid kiss; she was stronger than that. If she had to, she would tell herself that it meant nothing and pray that by the following night's detention she could remember that.
Ginny was distracted from that train of thought when she heard a ripping sound. She peeked at Draco to see him tearing the wide sleeve of his robe with a frown on his face. The traces of lust were gradually receding except for his eyes that were darker than usual and his mouth unusually red.
He took Ginny's hand and shook his head knowingly when she failed to hide her flush. Making sure to wrap her hand securely but loose enough for air to pass through he watched Ginny's facial expressions shift until she brought her eyes back to his own.
He cleared his throat. "As I said before…get it properly healed by Pomfrey…"
Ginny nodded and watched with poorly hidden excitement as he lowered his head. His face hovered directly in front of hers so that she could see every detail of his face and watched his lips move as he whispered, "It won't go away."
He kissed her very softly and slowly, and Ginny knew that she was being taunted, but being teased never felt so good.
Then he stood sooner than she would have liked, went to the front of the room to retrieve his wand, and left without a backward glance.
Ginny released a sigh and slumped against the counter that she had previously been stretched over.
When had life gotten so complicated?
That was a doosie! That was the longest chapter…and I wondered if I should chop it up. But I didn't want to hold off the scene at the end for any longer, and everything fit here. Sorry if it was too long; I know some people like short chapters. I doubt that any will be this lengthy again.
Numbly Breaking You are so right about the smooching. Writing this chapter I was thinking 'Something has to happen or else.' This was a little something to sate you. Did it work? Hehehehe…Thanks you for reviewing my stories! Rose Diamond Thanks, I was wondering about that. I think I might need to fix some things in the first few chapters, but I'm glad that they're not too bad. Thanks for the review! Luna Gypsy Thanks so much! eedoe Yeah, for some reason, I keep dragging the plot out, but it came a bit in this chapter, and the next, which is started already, is more about plot than romance. Thanks for always giving helpful reviews!
Please review!!
- Femme