A/N: don't own don't sue
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Everybody's Fool' by Evanescence
As promised another chapter, it's a bit longer than normal I hope you don't mind but I couldn't find the right place to cut it off really. Thanks to all who reviewed as always they're replied to at the end and you could always review again or for the first time if you liked... anyway Merry Christmas to you all!
Chapter Three – Everybody's Fool
Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that
Never was and never will be
Have you now shame don't you see me
You know you've got everybody fooled
Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
No flaws when you're pretending
But now I know she
Never was and never will be
You don't know how you've betrayed me
And somehow you've got everybody fooled
Without the mask where will you hide
Can't find yourself lost in your lie
I know the truth now
I know who you are
And I don't love you anymore
It never was and never will be
You're not real and you can't save me
Somehow now you're everybody's fool
"Is this really necessary?" Ginny snarled as Carmen hauled her into a room at the end of a darkly panelled hallway and physically shoved her into the black leather seat before the dressing table.
"Yes."
Ginny scowled at Carmen and flung herself around in the chair, folding her arms and glaring mutinously at her sulky reflection in the huge oval mirror surrounded by miniature black candles that flickered in the wind.
"Crys bought a new dress for tonight, it's in the closet."
Ginny opened her mouth to shout something but Carmen had already slammed the door shut, locking it and sealing it so she couldn't get out as she glared murderously at the pale pink kimono hanging from the back of the door and debated with herself which breakable object was better for throwing at the door.
After sitting in silence for a few moments she grudgingly got to her feet and crossed the room to the walk-in wardrobe where there were masses and masses of clothes worth more than her tiny apartment and its contents back home put together. Seeing the dress covered in a light film of plastic to protect it she tugged it down from its rail and slipped it out of the protective cover.
The material ran over her fingers like water woven into silk and, when she slipped it on, it had the same effect on her entire body. It moulded to her curves and accentuated her cleavage with the gathering at the front. A sheet of black silk it fell in drapes from the wings of her shoulders down to the small of her back where it gathered again into a slight V baring all her freckled back and flowing down into waves around her feet.
Crossing the room again to rummage for shoes the skirt jingled slightly from the trimming of black beads running around the hem of the skirt, clicking against the marble parts of the floor as she crouched down to search under the bed.
Eventually she Summoned them and they flew into her hands, sparkling black pointed stilettos with beads as straps that wound around her calves themselves and contrasted darkly with the milky white flesh of her bared legs through the splits on either side of the skirt.
She took a last glance in the mirror at the perfectly applied makeup before banging furiously on the door until Carmen opened it with a sly grin and pulled her out of the room.
"This is so fucking stupid why do I have to meet her parents? Its bad enough I have to do this goddamn mission thing which you neglected to tell me until you knew it was too late for me to back out of…"
Her furious mutterings died on her lips as she caught sight of Draco Malfoy in a tuxedo, his hair slicked back from his face and his eyes ringed in eyeliner for emphasis as he laughed and chattered aimlessly to the crowds of drooling women gathered around him.
"Yeah yeah you can rescue him later, right now we need to go and visit mother dearest."
Ginny snapped back to Carmen and allowed herself to be led over to a couple standing boot-faced by the fireplace. As they approached Ginny saw their faces simultaneously soften as they leant down to kiss their daughters' cheeks.
"Darling, you're putting on weight."
Ginny would have slapped Crystianna's mother and had raised a hand to do so if Carmen hadn't gripped her hand and smoothly cut in front of her to kiss her mother's cheek. Glaring at the woman Ginny watched as she adjusted the strands of curling hair dangling over her ears, her sharp blue eyes darting around the room as her hand moved to smooth down her oyster-coloured silk gown. Absentmindedly Ginny kissed her 'father's' cheek and answered his questions on her career in a monotone, her gaze still fixed on the woman to her left. The woman in question was now lecturing Carmen on having her hair short;
"It's disgraceful; you look like a 1920's French courtesan."
Carmen rolled her eyes at Ginny and accepted the glass of champagne a hovering waiter was waving at her. Ginny was wondering if she could punch the woman and run before anyone leapt at her stumbled into the present when a smooth drawling voice she recognised only too well butted in.
"I think the hair looks hot, Carmen. And when you come of age let me know."
Winking at the furiously blushing girl Draco placed his hand on Ginny's elbow and gently but firmly steered her away from the couple.
"I'd forgotten what a bitch my mother was."
Draco looked at her out of the corner of her eyes and Ginny nervously began to edge away from him; had she said the wrong thing? He yanked her back without the slightest bit of effort.
"She has to be, you got out of there the second you could, but she's stuck."
Deciding to push her luck Ginny allowed him to guide her across the room towards a miraculously empty window seat.
"She could leave if she wanted to."
He shook his head and dropped gracefully down into the seat, pulling her down with him and waving a hand at the hovering candles impatiently so they moved away.
"You know she can't, she's spent her life trapped with these... these people!" Ginny watched him search his mind for the right word. "She would never be able to live out of the Inner Circle you know that. Like an animal raised in captivity, she'd never survive in the wild."
Ginny felt humbled and she lowered her eyes, she didn't notice his hand still lying on her arm, his thumb gently rubbing her inner elbow.
"She still doesn't need to be such a bitch."
Draco gave an exasperated sigh, impatient to move onto what he had grabbed her for anyway he gave a hiss of annoyance when a pair of his father's friends approached to stand near them.
"She's not normally so bad; she acts that way so the rest of the Inner Group won't get suspicious. Of course if you spent more than one week a year at home you'd know that."
Ignoring him Ginny gave her own sigh of irritation when he yanked her to her feet again and dragged her to a door leading out into the gardens.
"What are you doing?"
Draco rolled his eyes and flicked his wand at the various candles hovering above the huge pool that sprang to life.
"We need to talk about our little mission tomorrow, and I've no doubt your father has the entire place staked out with his spies so I'm going to be quick."
Ginny dropped down onto the edge of the pool, her head held high as she rolled her eyes and her legs crossed; her dress falling open to reveal a generous amount of smooth white flesh. She tugged off the shoes that were already killing her and dropped her feet gingerly into the pool which proved to be pleasantly warm yet still cooling to her sore feet.
She leaned back on her hands with her face turned up to the bright moon and closed her eyes, the cool breeze tickled her face and stirred the few strands of hair that fell into her eyes. The sound of a splash distracted her and she turned to see Draco seemingly naked in the pool.
"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing at all?!"
He glanced up at her with a wicked glint in his eye and she swallowed nervously although the impassive look on her face didn't alter. He moved towards her slowly, the water rippling against his smooth bare chest before rebounding back against her feet sending chills up her spine.
"Taking a swim, why don't you join me Marlow? You know as well as I do no one can see us from the party; this pool is hidden by hundreds charms for its many... useful purposes."
He trailed off with a suggestive raise of his perfectly arched blond eyebrow and Ginny found herself once more wondering what the real relationship between Draco and Crystianna was.
"No thanks."
He shrugged and jerked backwards making the water race up her legs with the sudden wave he caused. She breathed a sigh of relief when she caught a flash of black silk boxers in the light of the candles still dancing around above their heads.
"So what are we doing out here?"
Draco submerged himself in the water and surfaced with his hair flopping into his eyes and the water dribbling in rivulets down the contours of his chest. Ginny just masked her gasp as a cough.
"Like I said, we have a mission to do tomorrow."
Ginny tilted her head to the side so the waterfall of hair that was pinned to right side of her head by hundreds of pins ending in tiny jewels drifted over her bare shoulder, her side fringe dropping onto her eyes and giving her the look of a star at a photo shoot as the hovering lights lit up her body but half cast it in shadows; the effect was stunning.
"And?"
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he studied her, the beauty of both her body and her face not lost on him as he carefully kept his eyes on hers and not anywhere else.
"You do know what we're going there to get don't you?"
Ginny nodded, her mind flickering over the facts Carmen had filled her in on earlier.
"And you know we're going as Muggles, so we can't use any magic at all."
That startled Ginny and she shifted nervously, her legs stopping their careless kicking in the water.
"What?"
Draco edged closer to her, his head drifting to the side as his sharp eyes took in the shift in her mood.
"Any magic will set off their alarms, oh yes its Muggle weapons all the way."
Ginny rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in his voice and tried valiantly to mask the excitement in hers; she had always found Muggle weapons quite fascinating, she took after her father in that respect.
"I still think you should try out this water."
The sudden change in conversation brought Ginny's attention back to Draco and she jumped when she realised how close he had gotten while she had been distracted with her thoughts; her toes were now touching his chest.
"Why..."
Her question was cut off abruptly and replaced with spluttering as she was pulled head first over his shoulder into the water. She spent a good two minutes panicking as she flailed around under the water, her dress entangling her until Draco gripped her upper arms and pulled her up so she could breathe.
His laughter only made it harder for her to catch her breath as he held her up, her nails digging into his shoulders as she blinked, supposedly waterproof, makeup out of her eyes. Her hair had finally escaped the confines of the pins it had been struggling against all night and her hair tumbled about her shoulders, turned to thick red-wine red. Now her hair was wet the colour was so pronounced it was unbelievable; as though every strand of her hair had been individually dipped in blood and the colour had soaked into her hair.
His laughter steadily died away as he studied her, her thick silky hair draping over her shoulders laid bare by the weight of the water pulling her dress down, and falling into her huge glittering silver-grey eyes as she glared at him. Her face was tinged with harsh colour from her frenzied activity under the water and the perfect bone structure of her cheekbones was emphasised by the flush creeping over them.
Her lips were twisted into a frown, still slightly parted as she heaved in air and shimmering in the light as the water puddled on them. She looked beautiful. Ginny didn't protest when Draco's lips pressed against hers but she did give a mental groan when he pulled away almost immediately not even giving her time to shut her eyes and enjoy the sensation.
"What was that?"
Ginny refused to admit to herself that she was now more breathless from those few seconds than when she had been underwater.
"Mouth to mouth; an interesting Muggle theory actually, it's supposed to get you breathing again."
Fat chance when you're the one trying it out Ginny thought to herself, very slowly regaining her breath as Draco backed away from her and hauled himself backwards out of the pool and onto the edge of the decking. Ginny followed him, walking slowly through the water until she was in a very provocative position stood between his slightly opened legs. He smirked at her and she glared boldly back at him, determined not to show him how much the kiss, if you could call it a kiss, had affected her.
Once again he gripped her upper arms and pulled her upwards, his hands moving down to grip her waist as she crawled up onto the decking and lay there; suddenly exhausted.
He leant back on his hands much as she had done when they first reached the pool only this time he kept his gaze fixed on the rippling water of the pool. Her legs were thrown over his, her dress pooled around the tops of her legs to let the water dry on her thighs, her hair was spread out across the decking and her hands crossed on her stomach.
"Don't you ever get scared, Malfoy?"
He shrugged and raised his head to look up at the night sky, his hair shining silver in the moonlight; it was a peaceful moment she would never forget.
"Not really, Marlow."
Ginny watched him, he seemed to be in a trance; his eyes were perfectly focused on something she couldn't see.
"You aren't afraid to die at all are you?"
He shook his head although it wasn't really a question in the first place, more a statement of fact. She opened her mouth to speak but the annoying voice of her 'mother' interrupted her.
"There you are you two. Your father wants you to be there for his speech Crystianna, don't keep him waiting."
Ginny rolled her eyes at Draco who smirked and the pair got to their feet, a flick of Draco's wand drying them instantly and redressing him.
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"Are you ready for this?"
Ginny nodded, surprised to find herself not the slightest bit afraid as they entered the ballroom of the most expensive hotel in London. Ginny's slightly less clinging dress was very similar to the one she had worn the night before to her new family's party but with long sleeves that fell over her hands in a deep red colour the same as her hair which was temporarily black and pulled up in an elaborate bun at the back of her head and scattered with jewels.
Underneath her dress was her fighting gear consisting of a black tank top with a tight ivy-green one with deep V-necks at the front and back over the top with the right sleeve extending almost to the elbow and the left just a simple short one. Also she was wearing a pair of tight black leather pants over knee-high high-heeled boots with seemingly hundreds of buckles and straps, and a heavy studded belt with pocket attachments for her different bullet clips and a pouch for her daggers.
She flexed her hands, the right one encased in a black leather elbow-length glove that only extended over her two middle fingers and thumb to help her grip on the black arrows specially designed for different demons contained in the quiver slung diagonally across her back and hidden by the heavy cloak she was wearing. The bow was a small black box edged with silver in another pouch on her belt that extended into a bow at her command and with the slightest touch of her finger to its centre.
Her make up was very dark with heavy black eyeliner and mascara and dark green streaks across her eyelids to her temples; her eyes were for the moment ice-blue. Entering the room on Draco's arm the pair nodded at each other and split up, Ginny heading towards the bar to survey everyone and wait for Draco's signal.
"Crys, that one right next to you is a vampire, he works for the guys who've got the Charm, we need the access codes for the room and the glass case containing it from inside the back pocket of his trousers."
Ginny could hear Draco's voice perfectly in her ear through the intercom as though he was standing right next to her telling her. She flicked a glance at the vampire in question who was eyeing her curiously. Discretely she raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to take it as encouragement, collecting his glass and sauntering over, Ginny assessing the situation as he approached.
His pants seemed to be the tightest things imaginable so she would have to get pretty damn close to even try and get the codes out of his pocket never mind actually succeeding. Leaning back slightly against the bar where she was standing she unashamedly thrust her chest forwards, taking a sip of her drink and licking around the rim of her glass as she did so making him shift uncomfortably and turn his mind to squirrels.
"Elektra Petrovsky."
Putting on a heavy Russian accent she held out a hand for him to shake, raising an eyebrow when he kissed her hand and stifling a laugh when he announced his name.
"Dracula Chalmers."
Taking another sip of her drink which was only water unfortunately she glanced over his shoulder to see Draco chatting up various women all over the room all of whom had the exact same coat of arms on as the guy she was now charming.
"Evidently your parents vere into torture."
He opened his mouth to say something, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth punctured by two glistening fangs, but she distracted him by trailing a long pale finger ending in a sharply pointed black fingernail tantalisingly slowly down his white chest, half bared by the black silk shirt left open most of the way and fastened by one button at his belly-button until it flapped loosely over his hips which were on show by his perilously low black suede trousers.
He was quite attractive really; his eyes were dark enough to pass as pure black ovals surrounded by thickly curling lashes and he did have the most tempting smirking mouth, evidently the reason his victims succumbed to him. He shook his head of ruffled black curls and reached out towards the barman for the drink he was offering, accidentally managing to brush his hand against Ginny's arm as he did so.
Breaking their eye contact, Ginny glanced over his shoulder to see Draco already dancing with one of her new found friend's work mates, bumping and grinding against her enough to distract her he was already working his charm on her to keep her on a high all night without realising she had anything else to do while.
"Let us dance."
Ginny deposited her drink onto the bar and took Dracula's ice cold hand in hers, leading him to the dancefloor and weaving a path through the crowds until she reached a space. The dance she led him on involved the pair sliding up against each other a great deal and grinding their lower bodies together in perfect synchronisation for most of the time. After at least three songs of non-stop dancing Dracula finally leant in towards her to press his lips against hers and she caught her breath at his flickering expertise; obviously he had had generations to perfect it.
Waiting until she was sure he was so lost in the sensations of their mouths locked together she slowly placed her hand inside his back pocket, making him think she was merely feeling him up as she eased the codes from his pocket and into her sleeve.
She pulled away from the startled vampire; obviously he had forgotten humans needed to breathe. Giving him a beaming smile she took a step back from him and raised her hand to tap his cheek twice ever so lightly;
"Thanks for the dance."
She spun on her heel and darted into the still dancing crowds before he could even blink.
"Nicely done."
Ginny smirked as she met Draco by the back door that led to the hallway where the really interesting deals were made. Making use of the codes she had stolen Ginny slipped through the doorway with Draco right behind her and threw off her cloak. She stripped her dress off in seconds and the coloured contact lenses and wig were off in seconds leaving her to tie her hair back in a loose ponytail as they headed down the entirely black corridor they had ended up in.
"There."
The pair raced down the corridor, all the while keeping their eyes out of for anyone approaching. Once they reached the door Ginny punched in the codes needed to open it and it gave a loud affirmative click. She nodded at Draco who kicked it open and marched in, sword drawn.
Inside the room was a beautiful orb shaped glass case that was filled with some kind of liquid, like bubbles made into a liquid it was multicoloured and hypnotising. Ginny was about to knock it over when she jerked back suddenly, swearing extensively as she did so.
"What?"
Ginny nudged Draco's arm and pointed at the case impatiently, sheathing her own sword.
"It's gone, someone got here first."
Draco then proceeded to outdo Ginny by swearing far more fluently and for much longer as he sheathed his sword and circled the case. Moment in the corner of the room caught Ginny's eye and she spun around in time to see a head of tawny brown hair whipping around the doorframe.
In a flash she was off chasing the person with Draco on her heels, only a few steps behind but never catching her; she was faster on her feet than she appeared. Rounding the corner Ginny slipped on her heels and slid along the floor for a moment before she was back on her feet and throwing herself down the stairs after what she now saw was a girl.
She reached the door that was now swinging open the second after the girl did and she skidded to a halt when the girl was no where in sight. Using her instincts Ginny looked up to where the girl was halfway up the exterior fire escape towards the roof. Ginny calmly took her bow from her belt and pressed the button until it was ready for use. She whipped an arrow from the quiver on her back and slotted it in place, raising it and taking aim.
"She's not worth killing, Crys."
Ginny contemplated for a moment but she wasn't a killer, she adjusted her aim and let go. The arrow severed the strap of the bag thrown over the girl's shoulder and it dropped down, straight into Ginny's hands. The girl stopped her ascent and turned to look down at Ginny who was smirking at her. The girl gave her a brief smirk that clearly said they would meet again and then she was gone, over the top the roof to where a helicopter had evidently been waiting as it took off in the opposite direction.
"Let's go."
Ginny tore her eyes from the tiny speck on the horizon that was all that told of the helicopter's visit and took off after Draco to where they had hidden their brooms.
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SomethingsWicked – thank you, here is the new post
Dracosbaby7 – thank you a few times for all the good things said lol hope you like the next instalment
Nickel – thank you and you hadn't mentioned it but it's been covered now lol I'm glad you liked it
Teige Tegan – I used to take martial arts and then I stopped because I had too much stuff to deal with lol thank you so much for knowing what those chairs are! I really want one and couldn't find their name anywhere so thank you for solving that problem. Hope you enjoy it
im no muggle – thank you hope you like this one