Hello to all!

Ok, sorry this is late, but don't worry. I will definitely finish the story, even when school starts, I promise. I hate leaving things unfinished, so I promise to definitely finish, no matter what. So now we can all relax and enjoy the story as it goes along instead of having to rush. Hooray!

Also, I would like to give out a large thank you to all of my reviewers! Wahoo! Snaps to you all!

BTW: I know I really shouldn't put in pointless scenes that just take up space, really, but I just couldn't help it with this chapter. I mean, I know the story is going to get more serious, but I still want to keep it fun and happy for as long as I can and well, with James and Lily still completely oblivious to everything, why not have a bit of fun with them? P

Chapter 15

Blackmail

Tuesday morning found a very distracted Harry Potter eating his breakfast mechanically. He filled his spoon with milk-moistened cereal, opened his mouth, placed the spoon in mindlessly, closed his mouth, pulled the spoon out, chewed and swallowed. Then he proceeded to do it again and again and again – taking an occasional sip of orange juice - with his eyes holding a determined look the entire time.

James and Lily each looked around awkwardly as though in search of the answer to Harry's thoughts, whatever they might be. The older brunette resisted the urge to whistle – a nervous habit of his – and finally looked at his wife, knowing that she usually had the ability to figure out the many illusive things that James could not. However, as their eyes met, the red-head could only give him a confused look, and James simply shrugged.

He turned back to his son and began squinting one eye, and tilting his head slightly to the left, wondering if looking from a different perspective might help him understand things more clearly.

It didn't work.

He wouldn't give up, though. He lifted his right hand to his eyes and bent his fingers so that they made a circle, resembling – in his opinion – and small telescope. Then, realizing that this wasn't working either, he pouted, letting his hand drop.

Not five seconds later, his features lit up as he thought, I've got it! An idea had ingeniously formed in the midst of his ever-so-clever brain. How could I have been so stupid? A telescope needs glass! He quickly grabbed his empty glass –which had previously held his own orange juice- and raised it to his right eye. The brunette looked through it to see his son, but it was a bit difficult, as the little bit of remaining pulp clouded his vision slightly, and he had yet to understand what Harry was thinking.

However, another brilliant plan – again, in his opinion – embedded itself in his mind. He would use telepathy! He scrunched up his face tightly and began to concentrate, so hard in fact, that he kept the glass cup still above his eye – having completely forgetting about it – and even made a slight grunting sound.

Aha! He thought to himself proudly. He had forced Harry out of his trance, as the teen suddenly fell out of his stupor and looked at his father oddly.

"Dad, what are you doing? You look like you're constipated."

Lily could not help it. She fell into a fit of giggles, which grew into a bout of full-fledged laughter. James, however, narrowed his eyes and pouted. "I am not constipated! For your information, I just performed telepathy to pull your mind out of a swirling black hole and bring you back to life!" He proclaimed proudly, though the effects of his prideful voice were lost in the background sound of his wife's hysterical laughter.

"Right." Harry replied, looking away, embarrassed. He then cleared his throat and, avoiding his father's eyes, said, "Well, I'm going to school now," and then at his mother's continued laughter and his father's beginning of a protest to prove himself right, he quickly added, "I do not know you people," and quickly fled out of the house, his mother's laughter still easily heard even once he'd closed the door.

DHDHDH

Harry shook his head and inhaled a deep breath before exhaling loudly on his way back to school. His parents' odd behavior was enough to get anyone to lose their train of thoughts, but he could not afford to be sidetracked. The brunette needed to concentrate on his main goal of the day: getting Ginny to believe that he had broken up with Draco.

He had thought about this the entirety of the previous night. How on earth was he supposed to convince Ginny that he had broken up with his beloved teacher. Harry grimaced at the thought. Ginny would have surely retched if she'd heard his last thought. The fact that Harry was dating Draco, his male teacher, had completely disgusted the red-head, and Harry was infuriated by the fact.

It just wasn't fair.

Why was everyone else free to do as they pleased and love who they wanted when Harry was confined to keep his love a secret merely because of his gender and age? Love was love no matter how a person looked at it, and it shouldn't be so crudely burdened by rules.

People like Ginny were so bigoted and narrow-minded that they couldn't get past the outside, initial look and beyond, into what counted most: love. Harry chuckled quietly to himself. He sounded so clichéd in his own mind.

When did I become such a bloody romantic? He smiled slightly, before suddenly scowling and berating himself for losing track of the main situation at hand yet again.

Convincing Ginny couldn't be as simple as just saying that he had broken up with the blonde, he just knew it. With the way Ginny had begun acting, the brunette could sense that Ginny would definitely want some sort of proof, but what possible proof could be shown to prove that he had supposedly broken up with Draco?

He couldn't figure it out, no matter how many times he thought about it. In any case, he realized that he was thinking too far ahead. The first step would be to actually state that he'd broken up with Draco, which seemed to be very difficult. Harry could say the words aloud to her, of course, but making them sound believable was the tricky part.

Harry cursed himself for being such a horrible liar. But I've lied before, and it works… sometimes, he thought to himself, in hopes of raising his confidence, though he was failing miserably.

"That's it!" He said to himself. "I'm just going to say, 'Ginny, I-'"

"Yes?" Ginny asked, appearing in front of him. Harry took a surprised step back and looked around, shocked to see that he had already arrived just outside the grounds of his school. "Well?"

"Oh, er..umm.." He stuttered, completely forgetting his thoughts last night of being cool and confident. "Well, you see…"

Ginny's eyes began to narrow as her patience quickly began slipping away until only a fine mist was left of it…"What is it!" She exclaimed.

Harry jumped a bit and cleared his throat to buy some time, even if only a tenth of a second. "I-"

"Did you break up with him, yet?" Ginny asked in a hushed, yet demanding voice.

This was perfect. Harry didn't even have to say a full sentence. All he had to do was say one simple, tiny, measly, itty bitty, little word. Yes. He thought to himself, and he was fully prepared to say it. He was prepared to say it…. He was still prepared to say it… Okay, any time now, Harry, he thought to himself.

Ginny's eyes were boring holes into his own and he gulped. Perhaps there was a knot or something similar stuck in his throat and all he had to do was swallow it down. He took another gulp, but he still wasn't speaking.

"Well? Did you, or did you not?" Ginny demanded, her voice fierce.

Oh, for crying out loud! It's just one word! Say it, damn it! Harry's eyes went slightly wide as his internal battle continued. Say it…come on…just say it…Say it!

"Y-yes," he stuttered out. Crap!

All he'd had to say was one word, but he'd been unable to utter even that out. His mind was going haywire and he could feel himself going dizzy as he watched Ginny desperately, begging for her to believe him with his eyes.

"Ha! I don't believe you."

"But…but it's true!"

"How can I be sure?"

"I don't know. What do you want me to do to prove it to you?" His voice was urgent. He needed Ginny to believe him.

The red-head stood quietly for a moment, deep in thought. There weren't very many ways for Harry to actually prove that he was no longer in a relationship with Draco, she soon realized, but she could use this to her advantage. Why not? After all, Harry had been the one rude enough to leave her at the school dance, and for a teacher, at that. A male teacher!

A malicious glint gleamed brightly in her eyes.

"Well, since you two aren't seeing each other anymore, you're a free man, right?"

"Yes," Harry answered uncertainly, not liking where this was going at all.

"Good, so then you'll be dating me."

"What! Ginny, be reasonable. Whether I'm dating him or not has nothing to do with me dating you."

"And whether or not you were or still are dating him, what you two did was illegal, and I could easily have him put in jail."

Harry froze. His eyes narrowed furiously. He had never hated anyone in his life more than he hated Ginny Weasley at that very moment. "Fine," he answered stiffly, his voice no more than a whisper.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, putting on a disgustingly sweet voice, mocking Harry with each new words, "Fine…what?"

"Fine, I will go out with you." He responded through gritted teeth.

"And not only that, but you will be my boyfriend, as well."

He glared more fiercely, but there was honestly nothing more that he could do.

"Fine."

She smirked superiorly and Harry just barely restrained himself from doing something he would regret by consoling himself with the thought that at least she hadn't made him elaborate on his answer once again.

"Wonderful," she said, and with that, she swiftly pressed her hand against the back of Harry's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. The brunette was disgusted with himself and Ginny for this horrible kiss, this horrible kiss which the red-head should not be allowed the privilege to share with him, but of course, this was not the end of it. Ginny licked her tongue across Harry's bottom lip, and when Harry did not respond, she bit him sharply, eliciting a gasp from the male youth.

He realized Ginny's plan a mere tenth of a second too late, as Ginny took Harry's open mouth to her advantage and slipped in her unwelcome tongue. She began to massage her tongue against his, and the other teen knew he had to respond, lest he receive worse damage, and kissed back. He grimaced slightly as the kiss progressed.

Her kisses were so different from Draco's comforting, loving ones. His lips were tender and patient, while hers were rough and unceremonious. He wanted nothing more than to pull back and push her far, far way, but he knew he couldn't. He allowed the kiss to continue until she had to pull up for air, a cheeky smile lighting up her features.

"Let's go, boyfriend."

Harry just barely held back his groan. Today was going to be another one of those days.

DHDHDH

The young brunette had never been so grateful to have such long, time-consuming classes. It was time in which he was occupied; time in which he was not with Ginny. He was attentive in all of his class, hoping that if he paid attention, perhaps the Gods would be kind enough to extend his classes for hours more.

This behavior, however, earned him concerned and strange glances from his teachers.

When his final class before lunch ended, he actually groaned aloud, "Oh no," earning stares from not only his teachers now, but his classmates, as well. He didn't care, though. "Ms. McGonagall, don't you want to teach us more? I mean, there's got to be more to know! I, for one, think that Geometry is not only an important class for all students to take in and learn about, but also, the basis of knowledge, itself. I mean, honestly, what would the world be without all these magical shapes that we call squares and triangles, and, more importantly, hexagons?"

The elder woman looked around to her other students, as though one of them would hold the answer to Harry's random and unprecedented behavior, but to no avail. She then cleared her throat and said, "Well, I don't know what has made you think this way, but if you truly enjoy the subject so much, you may stay after school with me and we can discuss-"

"No! We need to do this right now! There's no time like the present. And besides, I could die before school ends, and then I'll never have gotten the opportunity to learn more! We have to stay here, and learn this right now!"

"And your lunch?"

"Forget lunch! Food is only a necessity if you make it a necessity."

"What?"

"No!"

"Oh, come on, Harry!"

Several cries of protest were heard throughout the room in response to Harry's painfully ridiculous suggestion.

"I'm afraid I must agree with your classmates, Mr. Potter. All of you, go on. Get to lunch."

"Yes!" the students all shouted in cheerful unison.

Harry simply groaned, making a mental note that the Gods did not help and that he should never, ever try to pay attention in class again. All it did was result in killing off whatever remaining brain cells were still alive in a teenage boy such as himself.

DHDHDH

Blegh! Was all Harry could think as he was smothered by another one of Ginny's stifling kisses. She finally pulled away with a sweet smile and looked at the others, staring in awe.

"I didn't know you two had gotten together." Hermione was the first to comment.

"Oh, it was very random. We were just walking together after school yesterday, talking about nothing and everything all at once and, all of a sudden, Harry and I both stopped, and we just looked at each other and…we knew. He leaned in and we shared the most romantic kiss!" Ginny lied.

"Is that true, Harry?" Ron asked, unbelieving.

"Umm…" Ginny elbowed Harry hard and he mumbled out a pained, "Mm-hmm," nodding his head for emphasis.

"Well, congratulations, mate! You finally got yourself a nice piece of meat!" Dean commented, appraisingly.

"Oi! Watch it! That's my sister you're talking about."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Ron."

"Well, even though I don't like Dean's wording, I do have to say that it's good to see you with a girl, Harry." Ron said, beaming. Normally, the red-head was very picky about whom Ginny got to date, but with Harry, his best friend, Ron hardly even thought twice about the idea. It was comforting to see Harry finally dating someone, though his own suspicions still lived quietly within.

"Yeah, me too." Harry said, chuckling nervously.

"Mmm." Ginny made a sound of contentment and made herself comfortable, leaning against Harry's chest, blocking his way to his food.

Oh, come on! This was getting to be too much. The brunette was so close to simply calling the entire deal off; if she got to be any worse than this, there was no way he could put up with it. For the time being, though, he tried to keep himself together and work his way around the inconveniences she so happily threw out at him.

He tried stretching out his arm to go around her, but the moment he did, she grabbed it and wrapped it around her. He immediately put on a tight smile in order to make sure that he didn't give in to the temptation of simply shoving her idiotic self off of him.

DHDHDH

Harry was only too happy to leave the moment the lunch bell rang and head over to his favorite class of the day: literature. Finally, he would be away from the person he hated, and closer to the person he loved. He walked hurriedly down the hall, toward Draco's class only to be stopped by none other than the Devil herself.

He nearly growled with frustration. "Yes, Ginny?" He asked impatiently.

"What? Can't I get in a quick minute with my boyfriend before he leaves to class?"

"Not unless you want to be late for your own class."

"Oh relax. My class can wait," She said, slowly pushing him against a set of lockers just outside of Draco's classroom. Harry could almost sob with the irony of it all. He was so close, yet so far.

But then, the worst thing imaginable in Harry's mind happened. Ginny slammed Harry against the lockers roughly and, deciding to see what all the commotion was about, Draco stepped out of his classroom, and watched the scene before him.

Harry closed his eyes regretfully and wished with all his power to disappear at that very moment. Not only was he about to be kissed by Ginny in front of Draco, but he also had yet to tell Draco of the new plan, which involved him grudgingly dating Ginny. He could only hope that the blonde would figure it out for himself.

With an unexpected force, Ginny pressed her lips roughly against Harry's and grabbed his hands, placing one tightly against her buttocks, and leading the other toward her right breast, but Harry swiftly slipped his hand out of her grip and rested it, instead, behind her neck. Anger taking over, she harshly shoved her tongue into his mouth and Harry weakly reciprocated.

"Ahem." Draco cleared his throat, his face void of emotion and carefully controlled. "Ginny, Harry, although I am sure that your hormones are quite rampant at this age, I must remind you that it is against the rules to be conducting actions of such intimacy on school grounds. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to give the two of you detention. You'd better get going now, Ginny. You wouldn't want to be late for your next class."

"Of course," she muttered out, scathingly, before walking away.

Harry looked down in shame, staring at his right hand, which had just moments ago been pressed so firmly against Ginny's bottom. When he looked back up, Draco was gone. The late bell rang, and he hurried into the classroom, his heart beating wildly.

Please oh please let Draco have known that wasn't really me. Please, Harry begged silently. He could not tell, however, as the class went on. The blonde carried on the class as usual, and paid no extra attention to Harry than any other student. There was no hidden wink or glance cleverly snuck in. By the time the period ended, Harry was frustrated to no end, and when he began his packing very slowly – so that he could stay and speak to Draco for a minute – the blonde turned to him with an unreadable smile and told him to hurry up or he'd be late for his next class.

Oh God. Harry thought to himself, miserably.

DHDHDH

That was it. He wasn't going to let Ginny blackmail him like this. She was ruining everything between Draco and himself. Draco was now mad at him and he was angry with himself, and he hated Ginny to no end. There was no possible way on earth that he was going to let this little charade of hers continue. He quickly caught up with her before she went off to her next class and pulled her aside. "Ginny, I can't do this."

"Can't do what?" Her eyes narrowed, daring him to continue.

"Listen, I don't want to be your stupid boyfriend. I don't like you in that way, and no matter what you do, that's never going to change. Sure, we could pretend to be in love and all that crap, but it wouldn't be real, and you know it."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes, I do."

"Think about it, Harry. Don't you realize what I could do to you? You're not in your right mind; if you were, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"No, but I-"

"Listen, I've got to get to class," she said brusquely. "Finish off your classes, go home, take a nice, long nap, and tomorrow, it'll be like we never even had this conversation. See you, love." She pulled him into another, quick, but rough kiss, and left off to her next class.

DHDHDH

As soon as the final bell rang, Harry rushed out of the classroom and over towards the literature room. He impatiently waited for all of the students to file out and then ran inside, shutting the door behind him. Draco whipped around, shocked. "What are you doing?" His voice was a bit angry and Harry couldn't help it. He become a messy puddle of mush and began letting out everything in a rush.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Me and Ginny, we're not really anything! Please don't be man, please! I swear, it's just that she blackmailed me. I had to do it, Draco. She-"

"Harry, Harry! Calm down. You're a mess. Sit down, and breathe." Harry took a seat in Draco's teachers' seat and did just that. His mind didn't actually clear up too much, but it gave him something to do. "Of course that little show with Ginny wasn't real; it was obvious in your face. You kept grimacing and trying to pull away. You really are a bad actor," he finished off with a slight chuckle.

"You think that was funny?" Harry exclaimed, anger rising within him.

"No, I don't. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"But then, if you weren't mad…why were you ignoring me in class?"

"First of all, I was mad, but not at you. I'm really starting to hate that Weasley girl. And secondly, I wasn't ignoring you, but of course I wasn't giving you special attention either. We're supposed to be especially careful now, remember? Which is also why I was upset when you just stormed in here like that. You've got to be more careful."

Harry smiled sheepishly, a hint of red blush spreading itself freely across Harry's cheeks. Draco rolled his eyes and planted a chaste kiss onto Harry's lips. Ecstatic to finally be a part of a kiss he enjoyed, the brunette let out an eager moan and deepened the kiss. He soon left Draco's lips in anticipation to explore more and began kissing down his jaw, and further down his neck, slowly unbuttoning Draco's shirt. He had just slipped his hand in when Draco grabbed it and pulled away.

"Woah," the blonde said, his breathing uneven. "You've got to slow it down, Harry. Trust me, I want this just as much as you do, but we can't very well do it right here in the school."

Harry furrowed his brows in frustration before giving a sigh of resignation. Draco was right and he knew it.

Sensing the teen's disappointment, Draco slid an arm around Harry and pulled him in close, giving him a quick kiss. "Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to get you back into my house." Smirking evilly, he then added, "Besides, don't you want to save all your energy for that lovely Ginny?"

"Oh, ugh. What are you talking about? There is no way I'm going to go through all that again." Shaking his head vigorously, Harry made sure to stay firm on his choice.

"I know it sucks. I mean, what relationship wouldn't be absolutely unbearable after getting a taste of moi?" Harry rolled his eyes and gave Draco a playful shove before the blonde continued. "But you have to stay with her. At least until the end of the school year, and then-"

"What? Draco, I am not staying with her. I've already told her it's over between us. I saw how mad you were –"

"I wasn't mad at you. I told you already, I know it's just a –"

"That doesn't even matter. I just don't want to be with her. Why should I do something that makes me unhappy?"

"I know how it must feel-"

"No, you don't! It's easy for you to tell me to just date her, but you're not the one slobbering all over someone you hate."

"It is not easy for me, Harry. How do you think I feel watching you with someone else when I know you should be with me? But I know it's for the best and that you have to keep this up unless you want us to be caught."

"No, I don't care. We'll figure out another way to keep this a secret. Besides, she doesn't even have any actual evidence to prove that we-"

"Severus suspects us, too." Draco commented quietly.

"What?" The green-eyed youth stopped all thought at the blonde's previous words.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't feel there was any need to make you worry more than you already do, but if you're going to end this fling with Ginny, then we're going to be in very serious trouble, Harry. Not only is a student a real-life witness of our relationship, but a teacher strongly suspects us. He told me that he would be keeping a close eye on the two of us and if you break up with Ginny…" The older man trailed off, knowing that the rest did not need to be said aloud.

Harry stayed quiet for a long moment, thinking carefully. Finally, he looked Draco in the eye and said, "I know everything's getting pretty difficult, but if you really think about it, who's going to believe Ginny? She's just, and forgive me for being so harsh, a girl who's jealous that Harry Potter doesn't want to be her boyfriend and so she has to make up some huge, idiotic lie because she's so frustrated, she never thought about the consequences that might take place for other people.

"Or at least, that's what everyone else will believe. And Snape, he's just a grouchy old biology teacher who despises me so much, that he thinks to himself, 'Why not get the little brat in trouble?' I mean, honestly, I have never given anyone any reason to believe that I'm gay and my parents know I went on a date with Luna, so that'll definitely show that I'm straight. I know you might think that I haven't thought things through and that I'm making a big mistake, but I've made my decision.

"I am not going to keep on dating Ginny for some empty threat. Nothing's going to happen."

"You don't know that, Harry-" Draco protested, but was quickly cut off.

"It doesn't matter. I've made my decision and I'm calling the whole thing off, officially, tomorrow." Harry abruptly got up from the chair and began walking towards the door.

"Harry, wait-" but the brunette had already rushed passed the door and was walking purposefully down the hall, ignoring Draco's calls. With a sigh, Draco walked back into the room and leaned against the wall.

Something terrible is going to happen. I know it.

AN: Oooh! This chapter was super long in comparison to the others…I think. :P Well, anyway, I hope you guys liked it. And in the next chapter…DUN DUN DUN! Ginny will have her revenge. Muahahahaha! I'm sorry, but the story must continue as planned. :(

At least I kept this chapter a little light and (hopefully) humorous throughout certain sections…or at least I tried. Being funny is sort of hard, so all I can say is that I tried and I hope it worked. I want to try to keep this story as light as possible for as long as I can. So even though the chapters are definitely going to get more serious, I'm going to try my very hardest to keep some parts light and happy. :)

PLEASE REVIEW! )

xoxo Spideria xoxo