HRInuyashaFan: I'm really sorry that I took so long with that other chapter. I give you this one, even though I think it took way too long, too. Sorry, and thanks lots for your review!
JoJo: I'm really good at writing tantrums, I think. Could be because I know quite well how to have them myself. They're fun!
Kathe: I think you're right. It was a little fast. In this chapter, I (think) I made it sound like they were so shocked that the feelings were deeper, that he and Blaise both overreacted. I made sure in this chapter that he never actually says he loves her. I always seem to push my characters in love way too fast. I really need to work on it, and thanks for pointing that out!!
Also thanks to Ryuu no Taiyo and Icy-Queen for their reviews!
Sorry it took too much time again. My beta hasn't been online for a while, so it's unbeta'd.
Chapter Six:
Ginny woke up the next morning with no pillows. After having ripped them all to pieces, she had been too tired to charm the feathers back in them. In fact, the feathers were still in little piles all around her bed.
Her nasty habit of not being able to process things before her shower was still there, as she tiptoed through the plumage, wondering what kinky activity her roommates had been up to for all of those to be around.
As the water cascading over her face, she gasped at the realization that those feathers had not been scattered due to hormonal, pervy teenage girls, but her own anger over Draco Malfoy.
Had she admitted to him that he unintentionally did something to her that she wasn't willing to give in to?
And she snapped at her friends. She knew they'd understand, but it still made her feel bad.
She groaned as she wondered how she'd get in a few classes between all the damage control she'd have to do today.
Stepping off the last step into the common room, she saw Neville and Colin waiting on her.
"Gin, you okay this morning?" Colin asked, moving toward her.
"Shh. Quiet please. Temper tantrum hangover. My head hurts," she groaned. Colin and Neville both laughed as they followed her out.
(Look, Asterisks, just for JoJo!)
Draco rolled out of bed very unhappy. His head was pounding from the beating it had taken in its fight with the wall.
After a long shower and a healing potion, he walked into his own common room, expecting everyone to be gone.
Blaise was leaning up against the wall next to the portrait, arms crossed and a smirk adorning his dark complected face.
"Zabini, it's too early. Don't start," Draco said as he walked past. Blaise just laughed as he followed him out. Blaise and Draco had both had a hard time sleeping the night before, Draco because of the situation, Blaise just because he was an insomniac. They had talked, liked they used to do when they were younger, late into the night. Draco would absolutely fume every time Blaise said he was in love with Ginny, and he and Blaise had finally decided on agreeing to disagree. Though Draco was feeling something for the fiery redhead, it was too soon to be called love. Blaise, though, was staying true to his annoying side by telling Draco that he was in love with her.
In the Great Hall, the two were both trying to tell themselves that they were trying to avoid each others' gaze. Ginny was doing a very bad job at this, as she would begin to glare menacingly and grumble to herself about an evil git and a boggart.
Colin kept stuffing biscuits in her mouth to keep her from letting Ron have a reason to find himself in Azkaban.
Draco, though much better at avoiding the fact that she was in the Great Hall along with him, couldn't ignore her glare. The entire meal went by, as he tried to dismiss her glares, but only succeeded in catching her eye. Too soon for his taste, Blaise was pulling him to his feet, telling him class was only minutes away.
Colin, also, had to pull Ginny out of her reverie, and pull her along with him, swearing that something would be done about this before lunch was over.
Ginny, who would've most likely gone off the deep end at hearing that, was still staring daggers at the blond boy across the hall.
The morning classes flew by for both respective parties. Draco nor Ginny had the other to glare at, so both found that classes were much easier to deal with than meals.
As they were leaving their last morning class, Colin pulled Ginny to the side. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to eat in the Great Hall, Gin. You barely ate anything this morning--"
"Did too! You kept stuffing biscuits in my mouth," Ginny argued.
"And I was thinking the Room of Requirement would suffice for food and no Malfoy. What do you think?" Colin finished, ignoring Ginny's statement.
It took Ginny a few minutes to reply, because an inner war was going on. If she didn't go to the Great Hall, she wouldn't see Draco. That should be good. That should tell her immediately to go straight to the Room of Requirement. But, for some strange reason, she was positively determined to go to the Great Hall, instead.
"I don't know, Colin. I think we should eat in the Great Hall." Ginny started walking to lunch.
"Well, if you insist on sitting there glaring at Malfoy. Honestly, Gin, the trio is started to notice those glances of lust you keep giving him. I think they mentioned taking you aside to talk to you about it when we get down there." Colin waited for her to turn back to him.
Ginny stopped in her tracks. "Fine. No Great Hall," Ginny stated in the shortest syllables possible and her teeth gritted in frustration. "And those are not glances of lust, Colin Creevey, and you'd best take that back." Her eyes flashed with a little bit of anger as Colin just laughed. If she was that mad over that little comment, he wondered what she'd do when she figured out what he'd had planned.
Draco had drifted off into thought sometime during his last class, and had not realized that it was over. Blaise pulled him to his feet after the rest of the class had gone, saying, "Come on, old boy, we're eating somewhere different today."
"Why not eat in the Great Hall? It's never failed to fill us up yet. Well, except for when Crabbe and Goyle stole our plates," Draco replied as he gathered his things.
"Change of plans. You're going too crazy over that girl. People were starting to stare this morning. We're eating in the Room of Requirement," Blaise stated, leading the way out the door.
Draco and Blaise had just sat down at their small, two person table, complete with candles and a flower. The blond haired Slytherin was about to comment on the all too romantic look at the table when the door to the Room of Requirement opened once again.
"I said to take it back, Creevey, and you are going to take it back before this lunch is over!"
Draco was very glad he had yet to take a bite of his meal, because he didn't need a repeat of the chocolate frog incident.
"Oh, Colin, there you are!" Blaise called, with pseudo enthusiasm . Draco glared at the dark haired wizard.
"Hullo, there, Blaise," Colin replied to his greeting in the same way. Ginny glared at her own best friend.
"We best be getting to the library, then, hadn't we, for that research," Blaise said as he stood from the table.
"Colin Creevey!" Ginny squealed, stomping her foot. Colin winced as Blaise and Draco covered their ears. "You planned this! You did it! You are about to leave me in the Room of Requirement, all alone, with Draco bloody Malfoy!"
"Sorry, Gin. While you were taking your breakfast up by glaring at Malfoy, I wrote a little note to Blaise. See, I have some research I need to do, and I thought he could help me. Neville gave it to him, and he suggested that since we wouldn't be there to eat lunch with the two of you, you could eat together. Bright idea, if you ask me." Colin smiled like he didn't know a massacre was about to take place.
"Yes, I believe it was, also. And, Weasley, his middle name is Lucius, not bloody." Blaise smiled in return to Ginny's glare, and winked at her for good measure. "Best be on our way, Creevey. Oh, and Draco, be nice, or your desert won't be served. It's your favorite: cherry cheesecake." Blaise smirked as he pushed Ginny down in the seat opposite Draco. Ginny glared at all of the boys, one at a time, then tried to stand back up. Blaise pushed her down again.
Colin saw the glint in her eye. Blaise was about to get bit, kicked, scratched, or pinched. He put his two cents in as quickly as possible.
"Come on, Ginny. I know that you'll sit there for a big piece of chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked into it, and chocolate icing with whipped cream topping it off." As he said that, Ginny's eyes closed and she smiled. "Remember to be nice, Gin, or you'll not get your dessert, either."
"You're both total arses," Ginny stated, settling herself into the chair and crossing her arms.
"We all love you, too, Ginny," Colin replied before the two boys left the room.
They sat in silence for nearly five minutes. Draco was the first to speak.
"I can't believe Creevey thought this up."
"Don't you dare start in on Colin. He's the best friend I've got and I won't have you downing him," Ginny snapped.
"Relax, Weasley. My insults stick mainly to your brother and Potter. I don't even say things about Granger anymore. I'm just saying I think that it was very intelligent and conniving." Draco smiled at her as he said this.
He figured, if he was going to be stuck in here, he'd best take advantage of it. No telling when he'd ever get to spend time with the girl fate had forced him to have actual feelings for again.
Ginny eyed him with caution. "Are you really going to be nice? I mean, I know you're acting like you will be, but are you going to be sincere about it, or are you going to think mean things about me while we're chatting?"
"I really like cheesecake. I'm not taking any chances," Draco replied with a smirk.
"Cheesecake?" was her unbelieving reply.
"Listen, Weasleyâ�""
"Ginny."
"What?"
"If you're going to be nice, call me Ginny, not Weasley. There are nine of us in my immediate family. I never know who people are talking about when they say Weasley."
"Okay, then. Ginny." Draco smiled again. "I've never called anyone outside of Slytherin by their first name."
"Really? I can't imagine ever calling anyone by their last name. Well, except for people in Slytherin." Ginny laughed.
Draco continued to smile. When she was done, he said, "You know, I really like it when you laugh." Ginny suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Draco decided that this was a good of a time as any for the talk he knew they'd have to have.
"Ginny, I know you were in the Potions' classroom the other night, when I was working alone. I know, also, that you saw the boggart. I don't care at all. That changes nothing."
"What? Yes it does. It changes a lot," Ginny argued.
"No, it doesn't. You are still Ginny Weasley. You are still Ron's little sister, and you still feel the same about me. I am still Draco Malfoy, the evil git in Slytherin. This little crush, obsession, fixation, whatever you want to call it that I've had for you, well, I never planned to do anything about it. Honestly, I still don't."
"Never?"
"Never. The Slytherin thing for me to do is try to break you. Make you love me, then leave you crying on Potter's shoulder. I honestly don't want to do anything of the sort. I may be an evil, sometimes menacing sex god, but when I really care for someone, I do anything I can for them. I don't break girls. I have enough money to buy them."
Ginny snorted.
"But, with you, if I bought your love, it would hurt too much to lose you.." He paused. "My mother once told me that showing love is a weakness. Blaise and Pansy are the only two that know about this, but when they want me to react, they mention you. This isn't a recent thing, Ginny. I've been feeling whatever it is I'm feeling since around the end of my third year. They didn't find out until fifth year, and that hex you gave me. Blaise still claims I bragged about it."
Ginny stared at him, surprised that he was telling her any of this.
"Like I said, this changes nothing. I've lived with this for so long, and I'm not making you acknowledge it at all. You can go on hating me. I'm only here for another few months anyway. If it makes you happy, go run to Potter and don't give me a second thought, because all I want is for you to be happy."
"Draco, you say that like you're doing me a favor by letting me go."
It was Draco's turn to look at her in surprise.
"I mean, what if I don't want you to let me go? What if I want you to fight for me, to make me love you?" Ginny's face started to color, just a little. Draco wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment.
"I don't know why you'd want that. You have so much, so many people. You have The Boy Who Lived. You don't need me."
"I don't need anything, but food, water, and sleep. But what if I wanted you? What if you were the one I've wanted since I was a firstie? What if we've spent so many years walking these same halls, in love with each other, but never letting on to the other?"
"But you were in love with Potter," Draco stated, his confusion forcing words out of his mouth.
"Yes, I was. I was just saying, what if. Not saying we did go through all of that. Wouldn't that have been hell?" Ginny laughed.
Draco wasn't very happy at her tricking him, but he smiled anyway. Her laugh made him feel some kind of a euphoria that made everything else just fade away.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Ginny. Maybe you won't get that chocolate cake," Draco warned.
Ginny gasped, staring him down. "Don't even joke about chocolate cake!" she cried.
"I'm not joking. Best be nice from now on." He laughed when she crossed her arms again and started pouting.
She softened, saying, "Wow."
"What?" Draco asked, thinking he'd done something less than aristocratic.
"You. You've neverâ�"I mean, I've never heard you laugh. Your laugh is nice, too. And about that being not very nice, it was payback. And you deserve much more than that for your stupid little boggart trick," Ginny scolded with the full power of her mother's scoldings.
Draco was quiet for a moment. "I am truly sorry about that, Ginny. I don't know what came over me. I wasn't thinking, I guess. I completely forgot about the Chamber. I just..."
"Stop making excuses, Draco. I heard you apologize when I was leaving the room."
Draco looked into her eyes. "I really didn't think you would."
"Well, I did, and through all of this, I just wish you would let me have my chance to make it known how I feel about this situation, instead of just assuming that I hate you and leaving it at that."
"Well, now's your chance, Ginny. Make it known." Draco sat back, waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Harry's nothing like you think he is to me, by the way."
"That's not what we were talking about," Draco stated, getting ready to argue with her.
"Your worst fear is me and Harry together. You never have to worry about that. He's like another brother. I love him, but it makes me physically ill to think about kissing him. You should know that before I tell you anything else."
"Okay, then. I understand that Harry is nothing to you. What else do I need to know."
"Let's see." Ginny looked at him. "I love musicals. My pillows are shredded on my floor right now, and there are feathers all over my room. I get illogical if I get into a mood and you don't agree with me. And I don't joke about chocolate cake."
"Why do I need to know all of that?" Draco asked, sitting forward in his chair.
"I think I could like you, Draco. Even if I don't like the way you treat people, or anyone in your family, or any of the rumors that fly around about you, I think I might feel something. I might be able to stomach your arrogant, self absorbed, spoiled attitude, because over the past few days, you've shown me that you're a human being."
Draco was quiet.
Ginny was quiet.
Nobody spoke for another five minutes.
"Well?" Ginny asked.
"You're crazy," Draco said.
"I think I know that. I think the rest of Gryffindor knows that, too. I heard that Hermione booked me a room in St. Mungo's just this morning. Neville said she was muttering something about an insane, illogical, immature, spoiled brat with red hair. I don't care." Ginny looked at him. "What about you? Is your private room overlooking the best view all booked up?"
"I think Blaise has some sort of arrangement like that for me, but I don't think it's because we're talking. I think it was in case we never did."
"Are we friends now?" Ginny asked.
"What do you want us to be?" Draco replied.
"I want us to be friends first. I need to trust you. I might've liked what I've seen over the past few days, but I don't know you enough to trust you. Trusted too easily in my first year. It didn't turn out too well."
"Friends it is, then. Ginny, I don't know what I feel for you. I don't even know if I believe in love. Never understood it. But I know I care about you, in some way, and I want you to know I don't think I could stand myself if I hurt you," Draco said. "And I'm hoping that we can become very good friends." He winked with that last comment, and Ginny turned a nice, deep shade of red.
"Take it slow, Malfoy, I'm no where near ready for us to become that type of friends." She laughed as two plates of dessert suddenly appeared on the table. "Chocolate cake!" she squealed.
Draco laughed again. He was learning quickly that there was one sure fire way to get anything from her.
They ate their desserts in silence until Draco was done, having nearly inhaled his cheesecake. Ginny, on the other hand, had been taking her time, savoring the chocolate chips, and saving the whipped cream for the last possible bites.
It was annoying Draco how slowly she was eating.
He reached over, his hand getting closer and closer to her plate. She gave a predatory growl before he grabbed at the plate away.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, give it back!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Draco just laughed. He swiped his fingers into the whipped cream, and, hearing her gasp and the disaster at hand, continued to dab it onto her nose.
"Noooooo!" she cried, jumping up to retrieve her chocolatey goodness.
She chased him around for a minute or so, or at least chased as much as she could in the nearly closet sized room. She grabbed hold of his robes, and pulled him close enough so she could attempt to reach her cake, which was proving to be a feeble attempt. He was holding it over her head, and she was entirely too short to reach as high as he was.
Somewhere in the little game they were playing, Ginny had pulled herself so close that their bodies were pressed against each other. Draco's hand found its way to the small of her back, and somehow Ginny was able to forget about the cake for a moment as his eyes met hers.
Draco didn't know where the cake went, or how his other hand found its way to her back like the other one, or when her arms made their way around his neck, but it all felt right.
He also didn't know when his lips found hers. He was sure that friends didn't do this. He was friends with Blaise and they didn't do this.
But he really wasn't bothering much about it, because this was a small part of all those crazy dreams that had made him wake up in such a mood for so many years. This, though, was much better than any of the dreams his subconscious had ever come up with.
When they pulled away from each other, he pinched himself. "Ow."
"Why exactly did you do that?" Ginny asked in a very weak, airy voice. Her face was flushed.
"This is usually the part where I wake up."
"You've dreamed about me?" Ginny had never thought that any guy would dream about her.
"Every night. Lunch is almost over. I think we should...do something that isn't this...," Draco said, pulling her arms off of his neck. He let go of her, but she still held onto him.
"I don't want to go to class," Ginny replied. Her voice was small, and she sounded frightened.
"They'll all wonder where we are," Draco said.
"I don't care."
"Friends don't do this, Ginny." Draco gave her the most serious look he could muster with the flightiness he was feeling. "Don't do this to me if you're still going to make me call you a friend."
"We don't have to do this. I mean, I know I'm not going to be able to concentrate at all in class. I'll only want to be with you, talking to you, being near you. I don't want to go to class. But we don't have to do anything that doesn't count as friendly."
He looked at the girl, a smirk playing on his lips. "Do you really think you can resist me?"
"I can if I try really hard," she said with a laugh. "I can't believe I just said that. But, seriously, if we're going to be friends, we need to get to know each other. We can talk. Hang out. Skive off classes. We can even invite Colin and Blaise to hang out with us, if you'd feel more comfortable with company."
"I guess we could do that. We have Snape this afternoon. I really could use a day off in that class," Draco replied.
"I have Binns. He just distracts me from my nap." They smiled at each other right before the door opened.
Blaise and Colin walked back in.
"Oh, thank Merlin. They've not killed each other," Colin replied. Blaise laughed.
"Good thing, too. We'd be at fault for it," he replied.
"Ginny, why haven't you finished your cake?" Colin asked. There were very few things that he could count that could make Ginny forget about chocolate cake. "And why do you have whipped cream on your nose?"
Ginny and Draco burst out laughing.
End Chapter.
A/N: Review, please. If there's anything at all I could do better, feel free to tell me, because that's how people make things better, and I could really use the help.