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Chapter 4- A more distasteful date
"Fred? George?" Ginny called, walking in through the back of the twins' store, while she was looking around, seeing some of their inventory haphazardly laying on top of boxes, only some of which had been opened. Picking up a rubber duck which Ginny had figured was at one point a fake wand, she looked around. The front seemed to be bustling, and she didn't want to interrupt.
"Why is Fred always first?" George asked bring a box down from their living quarters. Ginny turned and smiled as he descended the stairs. "Never is it George and Fred."
"Alphabetically, my dear George," Ginny said as her smile widened.
"Is the mistress of Wheezes here for the day?" Ginny had spent her last few summers before graduating working for Fred and George and occasionally helped for a day or a week, depending on how much time she could get off at Quidditch Monthly.
"Sorry, no. Maybe next month sometime," Ginny said, taking her scarf off and looking into the box George had set down. "What are these?"
"Caroling chocolates."
"Getting ready for Christmas already?"
"Sure, it's November. Only a month and a half," George answered. "Would you care for one?"
"No thank you," Ginny replied, not particularly fond to the idea of walking around singing whatever Christmas carol came to her mind. Besides that, Ginny had learned her lesson about any kind of testing for the twins.
"So what are you doing at Diagon Alley?"
"Meeting Harry at eleven," Ginny said, seating herself on a crate.
"You two on again?"
"Not quite," Ginny took a breath. "I don't know if we will be, so don't go planning much," she added, not wanting Harry to be on the receiving end of bitter feelings from any of her brothers, especially since he was practically family already. Ginny herself was having a hard time with keeping herself from getting her hopes too high.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ginny. Every time you two are in the same room, he can't stop looking at you."
"There's a difference between love and lust."
"Yeah, lust is much more fun," George said, causing Ginny to roll her eyes.
"I've got to go meet him in front of Quidditch Quality Supplies, but I thought I'd drop by," Ginny said.
"Alright, will we see you later today?"
"Perhaps," Ginny said while throwing on her scarf haphazardly. "I'm supposed to meet Hermione at two. If I don't come back, tell Fred I said hi." Ginny wanted to go say it for herself, but saw how many customers were there at the moment. She could only assume George would go up and help when she was gone.
"Okay, see you later," George said, picking the box of chocolates back up as Ginny exited the back of the store.
Standing in the alleyway between Quidditch Quality Supplies and the stationary shop, Ginny rubbed her hands together quickly for warmth. Looking at her watch, Ginny sighed. 11:24. "You're late," she whispered to no one, since Harry still hadn't arrived.
"I'm sorry," someone said from behind her, making Ginny turn quickly with a start. "I didn't know you were expecting me."
Ginny scowled at the new comer. "Sod off, Malfoy," she said, turning away from Draco.
"I have just as much right to be here as you do Weasley," Drao said with a condescending amusement to his voice.
"Why don't you go find someone else to bother," Ginny said, taking a hand mirror from her purse to examine her appearance.
"What? Trying to look good for Potter?" Draco asked, taking the mirror from Ginny's grasp and holding it just out of reach.
Instead of playing this game, Ginny stayed where she had been, only glaring at Draco in place of the wall."What's it to you? Still hung up on the fact that he was always better than you?"Ginny was pleased to see his smirk falter, though it only lasted a few moments.
"What? Has Ginny Weasley turned in her dark-haired prince for someone more to her interest? Death, perhaps?"
It was Ginny's turn to falter in confidence. Her face paled visibly as she realized that she had the image of the mysterious man completely wrong. "You?!"
"What? Can't you believe someone like me would dance with you?"
"It's more the other way around," Ginny stated sharply, regaining little sense in the whole matter. "You know I would have said no. You lied to me, you dirty little weasel!"
"There's no need to be name calling," Draco said, his smirk intact while following Ginny into the Quidditch Quality Supplies store. "Besides, I never lied to you." Ginny scoffed in disbelief while looking at some of the newer brooms. Ones she could afford, though now it was time she lacked instead of funds. "You never asked for my name," Draco pointed out.
"You purposefully deceived me into think you weren't… you," Ginny said, loosing all track of thought as she turned back, turning red as a tomato in fury, having gotten over the initial shock.
"Admit it," Draco said, cornering Ginny against a Quidditch robe display, "you enjoyed my company."
"Until I found out it had been you, yes," Ginny said, pretending to examine a pair of gloves, while avoiding eye contact at the same time. "But, now you've ruined it, so if you'll excuse me—"
"I thought you said everyone was equal," Draco said, stopping Ginny by grasping her arm.
"They are, until they become little coniving rats like you," Ginny said, trying to get out Draco's grip.
"Come on, now," Draco said. "I may have changed."
"Fat chance."
"One date."
"What?" Ginny asked, no longer fighting, but even more confused than before.
"If I've heard correctly, Potter and yourself aren't dating at the moment," Draco explained, "one date."
"With you? No!" Ginny appeared completely appalled by the situation, that Malfoy would be asking her out at all.
"What about equality and not looking down on people?"
"I already told you you're an exception to the rule."
"Wow, Ginny, you're awfully judgmental," Draco said, letting go of Ginny's arm, though she didn't leave as she had priory been desiring to do.
"Why should I? You've always treated me like dirt," Ginny said.
"So have you. We're even there, but what about now? Will Ginny be the good little heroine she claims to be—"
"I never claimed to be a heroine," Ginny snapped.
"Sure you did. You treat everyone the same. Prove it," Draco challenged.
It took Ginny a moment. As her mind was attempting to form contemptuous words to fling at this bastard, it unexpected took a turn, causing Ginny to give just a small smile. Not enough to give anything away. "Fine, one date."
"Fine," Draco said, a huge smirk on his face. "How about Friday at—"
"Out of here, Malfoy," Harry shoved Malfoy down, having arrived just moments before. "Leave Ginny alone," he added.
"We were conversing fine, Potter," Draco said with contempt, standing with his wand at the ready, "but since you've decided to join—"
"Stop it, both of you," Ginny said firmly. "Draco, I think it's time for you to leave," she said. "I'll contact you about the report for the magazine," she added, hoping Draco would catch on.
"Fine," Draco said, still glaring daggers at Harry. "I'll see you later," he added before turning and leaving, his wand being placed back in its sheath.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked, or more so demanded, of Ginny after Draco had left.
"Don't worry about it," Ginny said, looking at him. "You're late."
"Sorry," Harry said. "I was cleaning up the flat and Ron called to say—"
"Fine, whatever," Ginny said, completely devoid of anything but exhaustion. "Let's just go," she said, walking out of the store, Harry on her heals.
"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Ginny said, bringing back up the real reason they were here after ordering lunch at The Leaky Cauldron.
"Er—yeah," Harry said, knowing he had meant to have all his thoughts together by this time. "Ginny, the other night at the Burrow—"
"I'm sure I over reacted," Ginny interrupted, not really wanting to go down that path. She didn't feel like explaining it all, especially since the explanation would include her confessing love for Harry, which Ginny didn't know whether Harry reciprocated or not.
"I'm sure I under reacted," Harry allowed, placing a hand over Ginny's from across the wooden table. The Leaky Cauldron was as a whispering roar early this afternoon, though there was quite a bit of noise coming from the kitchen. "I didn't mean to make things sound that way, Ginny. I just wanted," Harry stopped. He still didn't know that he could pinpoint what he wanted. He felt something missing, yet he couldn't figure out what it was.
"You just wanted what," Ginny asked, wishing it had been as simple for Harry as it was for her.
"I wanted time, I guess," Harry said.
"Fine," Ginny said, forcing a smile.
"I do love you still," Harry said, trying to ease Ginny's mind, though saying those words would only confuse Ginny more. She'd already heard them enough while the two were dating to mess her up for a lifetime.
"I," Ginny started, wanting to say those words back, but stopped herself with a swallow. "I care about you too, Harry, but I can't sit around forever," she said. "I'm not going to either."
"I know," Harry said feeling only slightly dejected. As much as Ginny would say that sort of thing she never seemed to follow through. It was because of this that Harry took his time to make a decision. "Where were you for Halloween anyway?" Harry asked, changing the subject, though it coincided more with what he was saying than he knew.
"Cathryn and I went to the Quidditch international ball," Ginny said after setting her glass of water down. "We had a lot of fun," Ginny added, forcing a smile, though it made her sick now to think that most of the evening was made enjoyable by Draco Malfoy.
"Really?" Harry asked, glad that she had said 'Cathryn and I' as apposed to the name of some other male.
"Yeah," Ginny said, liking the casual feel of this conversation. "Cathryn found a guy there too. He's been coming every so often, bringing her flowers and such," Ginny said with a smile. "I don't think she knows how to handle it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Cathryn hasn't really had a boyfriend before. So much more interested in her studying that she kind of missed that boat," Ginny said with a shrug. She was always certain that Hermione would have ended up the same way if she hadn't at least had the two as friends.
"Oh," Harry said, not knowing where to take things from there. Luckily, he didn't have to as their food arrived.
"Take care," Ginny said as she got to the Floo network, ready to go see Ron and Hermione at Hermione's flat. It was the first words spoken after a long and awkward silence through lunch and the walk to the grate she was leaving from.
"Bye," Harry said, enveloping Ginny into a tight hug, not daring to try kissing her as he wanted, in fear that the repercussions wouldn't be worth it in the long run.
Ginny took some Floo powder threw it into the fire, walked into the grate and was soon gone from Harry's sight.
Landing hard on her knees, Ginny swore under her breath, standing up and dusting off after leaving the new grate. "Hermione? Ron?" she called out, wiping her face a bit.
"Ginny, you're a bit early," Hermione said, coming in from the kitchen.
"Well, I didn't have much else to do," Ginny said.
"I thought you were meeting with Harry."
"I did. We talked for maybe the first quarter hour, then he wouldn't say anything," Ginny replied, still frustrated a bit at that. Not just that Harry wasn't saying anything but more that she couldn't think of anything herself. "Besides, I needed to ask Ron a favor."
"He's not here yet," Hermione said, looking at the clock again. "Ron said he needed to talk to Harry about something, so if you two just left, I guess he'll be here relatively soon," Hermione calculated. "Why don't you come have some tea while you're waiting?"
Ginny followed Hermione into the kitchen where all sorts of magazines and catalogs were laid out, waiting for decisions. The girls got to work, and were mostly done with that days' work when Ron came home. "Hey, looks like I missed it," Ron said trying to pretend as though he actually was disappointed.
Hermione simply rolled her eyes at him. She knew he would have much rather caught a port key to somewhere like Vegas and come back, already married. "Yes, you missed it," Hermione said. "So now you're going to have to help stuff envelopes," Hermione said. Ron groaned.
"Ron, I have a favor to ask you," Ginny said, knowing she would have to do this five or six more times, but Ron's reaction would definitely be the worst, in her mind, so she decided to get this one over with.
"What is it?" Ron asked, sitting down and putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders as she still worked to fill out order forms and such.
"You have to promise not to tell Harry," Ginny prefaced her request with.
"Okay," Ron said, brows furrowed in wonder to why Harry couldn't know about whatever this was. Perhaps it was a Christmas surprise, Ron thought.
"I have a date with Draco Malfoy and I—"
"YOU WHAT?!" Ron demanded. Even Hermione stopped writing and gave Ginny a dumbfounded expression.
"Why?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"He kind of tricked me into it, but I was—"
"NO!" Ron said firmly. "NO! You are not going on a date with that slimy son of a—"
"Ron!" Hermione reprimanded at the same time that Ron swore, though Hermione's word successfully covered Ron's before she turned back to Ginny. "What do you mean he tricked you? How could you end up on a date with him?"
"Long story, but the gist is he said if I treated all people equally I would go on a date with him," Ginny said.
"So you're doing this to prove a point? Have you gone off the deep end?" Ron demanded, anger towards Malfoy blazing in his eyes.
"No I haven't," Ginny said. "I just want to treat him like any other guy I go on a date with," Ginny said with a sly smile.
It took nearly half an hour for Ron to get the point, but once it sunk in, he liked the idea. Anxious, actually, for Friday night… the night Draco would pick Ginny up at the Burrow.
A/N: Okay dokey… that one took quite a while. Kudos for everyone who caught onto who Death was (though I'm surprised everyone didn't get that). Next chapter will be a riot, at least to me, so please keep reading and review! Please review!
Thank you:
Jules713: Well, now you know who Death was. Hope you're not too disappointed if Harry and Ginny don't end up together. I'm warning you now, because I myself don't know if they will or not. If you want to read some HG pairings, though, go ahead and look through some of my other stories, I love that pairing too.
Josephine Sawyer: Burn…. Really…. Anyway, I'm working on your suggestions, and I'll take into consideration what you said. I hope you actually read this chapter, since Ron has more character development, which was how I wanted it to be. The whole idea of him liking the food thing, is more to show that he hates the wedding planning bit, and that the food portion is the only area he truly participates in willingly. Of course, it takes a scene like this to show that he doesn't like to be around if he can help it period. I'm sure you'll be disappointed there wasn't more of Hermione here, but I'll be working her in a little later.
US HP Fan: Here you go… next update. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others.
Insertgoodnamehere: Good guess ;) I thought I made it too obvious, but I suppose not since others were asking.