Author's Note: Haven't really got much to say for this one, really. It's low on humor, but high on plot development, so that's something, right?
As always, I love those of you who reviewed. Each and every review gives me a dorky, giddy little thrill along my spine. Thank you.
Chapter Eleven
Ginny staggered up to her bed in a daze. She had been kissed- thoroughly kissed- by Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. It simply didn't bear thinking of.
She willed herself to stop thinking about it.
Immediately.
Unfortunately, not thinking about it made Ginny's brain feel like it might explode, so she eventually gave up. What did he mean by it? Did he mean anything? Was it just a random hormonal burst? Didn't he despise her? Didn't it bother him, kissing a girl he thought beneath him? If not, were all boys such pigs, or was it just him? Was it wrong of her, to have (sort-of, kind-of, just-a-bit) enjoyed it? Oh, God, it was, wasn't it? She was going to burn in hell, wasn't she? And, well, if she was going to burn anyway… would he kiss her again? Even alone, in the comforting darkness of her dormitory, she blushed to think of it. A headache began to form behind her eyes. She was just tossing back the covers to go and hunt up some Pepper-Up potion- or maybe some hard alcohol, whichever turned up first- when the ramifications of Hermione's words finally sank into her brain.
If Draco Malfoy had been miles away from Hogwarts when this second attack occurred, it was highly unlikely that anyone would accuse him of the first.
Good Lord. Ginny moaned, flopping back and pulling the bedcovers over her head, her headache intensifying every second. She needed to go back- as soon as possible- and tell him that it was safe for him to return. It was her duty as a Gryffindor- keeping him in the dark a day longer than necessary would be cruel. Trying to squash the butterflies that popped into her stomach at the thought of seeing him again, she tried to tell herself that she would be totally relieved for things to go back to normal.
Then a new thought occurred, and the butterflies intensified. What if… what if Malfoy indicated that he wanted things to stay abnormal? Ginny flushed tomato-red at the thought, but if she was absolutely, scrupulously honest with herself, she had to admit that the kisses she and Malfoy had shared had been… interesting. She had been kissed before, of course- twice. Both times had been by sweet, funny boys who would probably be quite attractive in another decade, give or take a few years. She had never been touched by someone like Draco Malfoy, though. He was one of the school's acknowledged Beautiful People- at eighteen, already gorgeously in control of his body. Being touched by him had been equal parts dazzling and terrifying.
It wasn't an experience that she was perfectly certain that she truly wanted to turn away from, should he offer it again.
She might as well get it over with. With a mental groan, Ginny did her best to shove any traitorous thoughts to the deepest, darkest corner of her mind as she dragged herself out of bed and slipped through the shadows, looking for an appropriate place to Portkey. It was going to be hard enough to face Malfoy and not die of embarrassment without thinking about what was probably a nothing more than few totally meaningless kisses. They had meant nothing to the boy in question, Ginny told herself sternly, and nothing to her. Mostly. And if she had a scrap of sanity left to her, they would never, ever be repeated.
……………………..
Had she stuck around to catch a glimpse of it, Ginny would not have been comforted Draco's reaction as he watched her disappear. "Wait, Weasely-" he called after her. The words seemed to tumble past his lips, his mouth acting completely independently of his brain. "I'm sorr-" Thankfully, Draco's brain managed to wrest back control before the entire phrase emerged. He never apologized. Huffing a sigh, he waved a wand- at this point, he almost didn't care if someone caught him- at the messy kitchen, muttered a cleaning spell, and slouched off to his room.
The entire situation was perfectly appalling, thought Draco as he flopped down on his bed. Had he lost his fucking mind? What was he thinking, mauling a Weasley? She was poor, and red-headed, and loved Muggles, and worshipped Harry Potter, and even if he could bring himself to ignore all of that and shag her anyway- Draco did his best to ignore his body's reaction to the thought of bedding Ginny Weasley- she probably had the fertility level of a rabbit in heat and would immediately get pregnant, thereby creating a scandal that would probably result in her getting expelled and him getting decapitated.
So no more kissing her, he told himself sternly. No more helping her with her homework, or watching her hair change color in the firelight, and definitely no more sliding his hands up her shirt, along the smooth, slender lines of her torso….
Thinking about the upper recesses of Ginny's clothing eventually led to a need for some readjustments in Draco's clothing.
He was just dozing off, scowl still present and accounted for, when he heard the unmistakable sound of Ginny's voice, softly calling his name from the stairs. Draco's eyes snapped open and his mental list of Ginny-related resolutions evaporated. Had she come back to apologize? A picture of a penitent Ginny appeared in his mind's eye: blushing, biting her lip, moving close to him…. Well, Draco was prepared to forgive her. Then they could just take up where they had left off. Standing, he shook out his robes and smoothed his pale hair. Automatically assuming his haughtiest expression, he swept out into the hall, ready to be magnanimous. "What is it, Weasley?"
Ginny's eyes shifted around, shooting nervously in every direction but his, her voice sounded strained, and she was blushing up a storm. A freckled hand began nervously tugging on a long wave of hair. "Well, um… I could be wrong, but…" She bit her lip. Draco's attention zeroed in on her mouth like an owl eying a particularly fat, slow mouse. "So if you think it's a stupid move, feel free to ignore me, but… Well, you see, Hermione says-"
That was the last straw. There were a handful of things for which Draco was willing to delay the gratification of his animal passions, but a discussion of the wit and wisdom of Mudblood Granger was not one of them. He pounced.
When Draco Malfoy reached out and yanked her into his arms, Ginny almost swallowed her tongue. She meant to push him away and get back to the important business of explaining what was going on- really, she did- but the explanation hovering on her lips faded away as she hesitantly leaned into the taller boy, everything overshadowed by the feel of the hot, coaxing mouth slanted over hers. She was helpless to do anything other than kiss him back, sighing into his mouth as his greedy hands slid up her body and gasping as he easily tugged the loose long-sleeved T-shirt she wore over her head. As his pale head bent over the slight curve of her breast and his hands slid to her hips, Ginny tried her best to forget the dire warnings being emitted by her common sense- surely, surely he wouldn't do this if he didn't like her, at least a little bit? He couldn't loathe her, the way he did Ron, and kiss her like this, could he?
It wasn't until those warm, skilled hands started sliding towards some very risqué places that the Higher Thought portion of Ginny's brain kicked into gear. "Wait," she gasped, grabbing at his wrists. He paid no attention. "Hey, Malfoy- I said wait." She gave him a little shove, and he half-stumbled back, muttering something foul, hair mussed and eyes over-bright. "Listen. There was another attack today. I think you're in the clear."
Bloodyfuckinghell. Draco tried to catch his breath. The Weasel was saying something, but after the word "Wait" had filtered through, his interest in the conversation had plummeted. It seemed quite unlikely that she was saying anything along the lines of "Ooh, Draco, you're like a Greek statue come to life. Make love to me, you God among wizards- right here, right now" and if that wasn't on the conversational menu, he wasn't buying. He closed his eyes, willing his nearly painful arousal to fade.
Ginny eyed him dubiously, grabbing her shirt off of the floor. Was he even listening? "Malfoy?" Her voice quavered. "Er- Draco?" She yanked her shirt over her head, trying not to think about how it had felt to have him pull it off of her.
"What?" he replied. Ginny winced at his tone. Malfoy sounded… tense. And his eyes were squeezed shut. And there was a vein pulsating in his forehead, which was kind of icky.
"Did you hear what I said?" Taking his silence to mean "no", Ginny gamely continued. "About that other boy?"
"No," Malfoy ground out, eyes still screwed shut.
"Er… there was another attack. Today. So I reckon you can go back." Words were tumbling out of Ginny's mouth faster now. She eyed him nervously. "I mean, nobody will accuse you of the first attack if you weren't about for the second, right?"
That filtered through. Two grey eyes snapped open. "What?" Lust was immediately booted to the back burner. Draco was Slytherin to the core: ambition always came first, and this could mean a return to his normal life. "There was another attack? You're sure?" His questions came rapid-fire. "When? Who was it? Do they suspect anyone?"
"Today, and I don't know, and I don't think so," replied Ginny, biting her lip. "So… what do you think?"
Slowly, Malfoy straightened, dusting off his robes and adjusting the sleeves. Raising his brows at the small girl before him, he said, "I think this changes everything, naturally." He needed to deal with this new mess he had created, and then he could go back. Back to Letty, back to Hogwarts, back to his normal life. Far more skilled at self-deception than Ginny was, Draco assured himself that he was relieved.
The girl frowned. "You certain about that? Because if we're wrong about you being cleared by the second attack, your alibi for the first one still bites."
"Not about that." Malfoy looked, if possible, even haughtier. "I was referring to this… little interlude." His voice was bored, but there were two little flags of color high on his cheekbones. "So, Weasley- what will it take for you to promise never to mention to anyone that I kissed you?"
Ginny's jaw dropped. She drew breath to say something- what she wasn't quite sure, but it was probably along the lines of "What the hell are you on about?"- but all that she could manage was a little squeaking noise.
"Well?" Malfoy looked impatient. "What will it be? Money?" He hated to pay for blackmail, but this was his reputation at stake. For a Malfoy, there were few things more valuable. He made an expansive gesture with one hand. "Keep your mouth shut and it's yours. Regular monthly payments until I leave school."
Ginny made another little gasping noise. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound emerged. Twice.
Malfoy uneasily wondered why the girl standing next to him was doing such a fine impression of a landed trout. He hoped she didn't expect something other than money. Doing favors for people took time, and all he wanted was to get back to Hogwarts and forget this entire disgraceful episode- particularly the parts that involved him lusting after a poor, common, redheaded Weasley. The entire situation had been completely insane, and he was absolutely certain that as soon as he returned to Hogwarts- chock full of lovely, willing, non-Weasley girls- normalcy would return. And if it took a few Galleons a month to keep anyone from learning about any little… aberrations in his past, well, such was life. All he needed was for the little redhead in front of him to agree to some reasonable terms and he could be back at Hogwarts before breakfast.
"You… you think I'm going to blackmail you?" Ginny was having trouble processing her thoughts. The only thought that seemed to resonate was that her question had been answered: no, apparently he didn't have to like her. She had just had the most passionate interlude of her short life with a boy who was offering her money to never mention it again. Disappointment welled up in her throat- but not in him. She was disappointed in herself for believing, even for a second, that he might actually want her enough to try for something in spite of the many barriers between them, something Harry had never been willing to risk. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to have been replaced with something squirmy, and she wondered idly if it would be inappropriate for her to throw up.
"Aren't you?" Draco was surprised. It was almost a shame, really. She could use the money to buy some decent robes, something that would set her off a bit better. Against his better judgment, his eyes drifted down toward the slim curves of her figure, swaddled in a loose t-shirt and patched flannel drawstring pajama pants. With an incredible act of will, he forced his eyes back upward. In less than twelve hours he would be back at Hogwarts, and this unnatural attraction would disappear. He was certain of it. Acting on it now would just give her something more to hold over his head.
Ginny took a deep breath, trying to clear her throat. She wanted to burst into tears, and pound her head into a wall for being so stupid, and pound his head into a wall for being such a bastard. She didn't do any of those things, though. If Draco Malfoy was that ashamed of having kissed her, then he wasn't worth a moment's pain. Intellectually, she knew this, and if her heart hadn't quite gotten the message yet she knew that it would. In time. "No," she said softly, trying to speak clearly past the lump in her throat. "I don't want anything from you, Malfoy."
"Really?" Draco eyed her a little uneasily, wondering if it were some sort of trick.
"I swear it," said Ginny, looking him directly in the eye and still speaking in an eerily calm, quiet voice. "Let's go back, and we need never speak to each other again."
"…all right." Draco felt rather odd. He believed her- Gryffindors couldn't lie worth a damn- but somehow he didn't care for either the tone of Ginny's voice or her calm, level gaze. He chalked the feeling up to unrelieved sexual urges, and sincerely hoped that it would go away soon. He didn't care for it. "Let's go, then."
A moment later the house was empty.
TBC
In the next chapter, Draco discovers that it's not as easy to shut off attraction as he had expected. He has so little experience with self-denial, poor boy.