Written before book 6. Lucius Malfoy is a known Death Eater but he was not caught at the Ministry.
Title: Forget
Ship: D/G
Challenge: Draco/ Ginny Takes place while one or both are still at Hog warts Involves a longtime secret relationship between Draco and Ginny being discovered by either a) Harry or b) Hagrid Place of discovery must be a) in a broom closet, b) in the quidditch locker rooms, or c) the Astronomy Tower Takes place in the fall
"Alright that was an excellent first game, guys. Harry, just a request, could you not wait until the last minute to catch the snitch?" The Gryffindor quidditch captain asked referring to their slim victory with a score of 260 to 250, not bad considering most of the team was new.
"Sure thing, Katie," Harry said as he picked up his bag. "Took a while to lose the ferret."
"Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses. Keep up the hard work and we'll keep that cup. 'Kay, you can all go ahead and leave but remember we have practice Monday night, you're late and you're doing push ups." The Gryffindor quidditch team filed out of the locker room. Harry stopped Katie at the door.
"You need to stop seeing Wood; you're starting to act like him." Katie blushed and stuck her tongue out at him before she left, leaving only Harry and Ginny.
"Do you want me to wait for you, Ginny?" Harry asked.
"No, go ahead. Hermione said to tell you she'd meet you at lunch." she replied. Harry wave and left. Ginny was finishing packing her things when two hands covered her eyes from behind.
"Guess who." Someone whispered in her ear.
"Draco, you shouldn't be in here. What if someone comes back?" Ginny said as she turned around into his embrace.
"How'd you know it was me?" He asked with mock hurt.
"One, no one else, except maybe Harry, would do that and he just left. Two, you'd think I'd know my boyfriend's voice. Three you're wearing the cologne I gave you for Christmas last year, and four, you're still not supposed to be in here."
"Fine, ruin my fun then."
"Draco, you know what would happen if people found out about us," her face fell and she leaned against him before continuing, "if your father found out about us…." His arms tightened around her protectively.
"I know," he said. "I'm sorry I came. I don't want you to worry, but no one's here. Everyone's eating after the match. Let's just forget for a little while, relax some." He smiled reassuringly and kissed her. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck.
They hadn't had time to see each other recently. There had been the two months of summer holiday and then once they returned to school between classes and the increasing amount of homework( everyone had told her owl year was the hardest), quidditch, and his prefect duties neither had much time for a relationship, let alone with their circumstances. Still something had inexplicably drawn them together and allowed them to continue even with the difficulties they faced.
When she'd first found herself attracted to him, she couldn't and wouldn't believe it. He'd been the bane of her existence for years but she couldn't control it. Now, though she knew him, the real Draco that no one else knew. She knew his hopes, his fears, and the terrible things his father had done to him that drove him to act the way he had. She knew that both she and Draco were in danger being together. She knew that she was endangering her friends and family. She knew all of it but for now, she would forget. She would forget for the half hour or so she had before she would be missed, before she had to leave him and be sucked into the cruel reality of a world on the brink of war that she and all of the wizarding world lived in. For this short period of time, she would be a normal carefree teenager. A loud thumping coming from the entrance of the locker room interrupted Ginny's musings.
"Shit!" She cursed "Quick, hide." She looked around for someplace before grabbing Draco's arm and shoving him into her locker.
"Wha-" was all that she heard before she slammed the door and Hagrid's giant, stooped figure appeared in the doorway.
"Why, 'allo there, Ginny. Didn' think anyone'd be left in 'ere."
"Hi, Hagrid!" Ginny said in a voice entirely too cheerful, stepping in front of her locker. "I was just finishing packing up. What are you doing in here?"
"Los' some knarls," he stated plainly, as he lifted up the long bench that sat in front of the lockers as if it were a toothpick.
"And you're looking in the quidditch locker rooms?" She asked, now completely confused.
"I was keepin' 'em in the old broom cupboard outside fer nex' week."
"We were in here all morning and I didn't see any-" There was a particularly loud thump from behind Ginny causing her to jump.
"What was tha'?" Hagrid asked straightening up and hitting his head on the low ceiling.
"Er, no idea. It sounded like it came from the Hufflepuff's locker room; maybe the knarls are in there?"
Hagrid thumped out of the locker room. Ginny let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She turned and opened her locker only to have Draco, and most of her equipment, fall out on top of her.
"Ah, fresh air! I can breathe again! You know you really ought to think of washing that stuff." He said grinning down at her. Ginny looked appalled and shoved him off of her, as she sat up.
"I do wash it and it doesn't smell half as bad as your things. Why'd you make so much noise? What if he caught us?"
"Do you think it's easy being shoved into a locker?" Ginny laughed and Draco sat up. "Where were we?" he murmured, leaning into to kiss her again.
"No," she said firmly. "That was too close." She gave him a quick peck. "Tonight, in the astronomy tower at midnight."
Draco gave a low moan of longing, not letting go of her. "I haven't seen you at all."
"Tonight." Ginny said. She stood up and walked to the door.
"Are you just gonna leave me here to clean all this up, then?" He asked.
Ginny grinned mischievously at him. "Yep. You knocked it all out."
"Hey, Ron, Ginny, is that Errol?" Harry asked them as they sat in the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were sitting in their usual seats at dinner. A large gray mass of feathers landed in a heap in front of Ginny, narrowly avoiding her plate of pork chops.
"Ruddy bird," Ron mumbled before returning to stuffing his face, as usual.
"He must have gotten lost and missed morning post again," Ginny said. "It's just a letter from Mum. I never got a chance to answer her last one." She stood up from the table. "I'd better go write her now or I'll never remember."
Ron looked up with his mouth half open and, unfortunately, half full. "You're not going to finish eating first?" he exclaimed, looking aghast at the thought of someone leaving a table full of perfectly good food without having four or five platefuls.
Ginny gave him a look of disgust, mirroring Hermione's. "I'll just nick some from the kitchens later. Dobby'll give me anything if I say Harry sent me."
Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "See you back in the common room late then. I've got to grab a book from the library after dinner," he said waving to her as she left and shooing Errol away from his rolls.
Ginny walked down the corridor towards Gryffindor tower, trying to remember where she'd put her mother's last letter. She passed by the statue of Adalbert Waffling when, for the second time that day, she was grabbed from behind and pulled through a door. She let out a small shriek before she recognized her would-be attacker. "Draco!" She exclaimed. "Must you keep doing that?"
He laughed before kissing her passionately. "So sorry, love, but I couldn't wait 'til midnight."
Ginny laughed and looked around at the small space they were in. "and you couldn't find anyplace more romantic than a broom closet?"
"Here," he said, reaching up and turning out the single light, and, with a swish of his wand, locking the door. "Now you can't tell, besides no one will find us here."
"Except Filch." Ginny replied. She could vaguely see the outlines of Draco and the various boxes and cleaning supplies around.
"Just forget." Draco said, using what was becoming a commonly used phrase between them, and kissing her again. And so for the short while Ginny blissfully lost track of reality. All that existed in the world was Draco.
Someone rattled the doorknob and jerked them back to reality. Both Ginny and Draco jumped. Whoever was at the door muttered a string of curses.
"Shit," breathed Draco, another common phrase, while he and Ginny pressed themselves back against one wall, partially hidden by boxes.
"Ahlohamora." The intruder whispered before opening the door slightly and slipping inside. Ginny took a step forward recognizing the spiky-haired silhouette and the glint of glass from the sliver of light before the door shut.
"Harry?" she questioned softly.
"Hey," Harry murmured, quickly closing the gap between them, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her.
"Harry!" Ginny cried, pushing him back.
"Oy! Potter! What do you think you're doing!" Draco exclaimed angrily, turning on the light.
"Wha-Ginny? Malfoy!" Harry stuttered, completely confused.
Draco by now had drawn his wand. "Why're you kissing my girlfriend?" He roared, pointing his wand at Harry's chest.
"Draco, stop, put away-"
"Girlfriend!" Harry shouted. "What the bloody hell is going on?"
"Okay, SHUT UP, both of you!" Ginny shouted at them before dropping her voice to a whisper. "Do you want Filch to catch us?" Draco grudgingly lowered his wand.
"What are you two doing in here?" Harry hissed, glaring at Draco. "And why is he calling you his girlfriend?"
"Because she is my girlfriend." Draco whispered tersely.
"And, well, what do you think we were doing in here?" Ginny said, turning slightly pink but staring him in the eye. Now it was Harry's turn to blush and he stared pointedly at his feet.
"What are you doing in here?" Draco asked Harry, he seemed to be racking his brain for the perfect curse to use in the situation.
"Uh, nothing." Harry replied dismissively. "Wait, how long has this been going on?" He asked pointing at the two of them.
"Since before you're fifth year." Ginny said, just as dismissively.
"What? What about that bloke from Ravenclaw, huh? Corner, was it? And- and Dean!"
"Oh." Ginny said, waving her hand idly. "Michael was a favor. He was going out with Padma Patil. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day-"
"You've got a knack for that." Harry said, referring to Percy.
"Apparently, so do you," muttered Draco.
"Anyway, the Patil's aren't allowed to date, so I agreed to pretend Michael and I were dating. And Dean, well Ron was being a prat about Michael…."
"So you've been dating him the whole time-"
"He," Ginny interrupted, pointing to Draco, "has a name, you know."
Harry made a face but continued, "You've been dating Draco Malfoy the whole time and you didn't tell us?"
The closet door opened and Hermione's face appeared. "Harry I- What in the world is going on?" she exclaimed.
"SHHH!" Harry and Ginny said together. They grabbed her and pulled her inside, shutting the door again. The small space was quickly filling up.
"You were meeting Hermione?" Ginny stated, putting two and two together. "Oh, is that why you kissed me?"
"You kissed Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry threw up his hands in defense, nearly hitting Draco in the face, a look of confusion across his face.
"It was dark." he stated.
"Of course it was dark! You're in a broom closet!" Hermione shouted at him. Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shhh! We can't get caught!" She whispered. "Look Draco and I were in here, Harry came in, and the lights were off. Apparently, he thought I was you and he kissed me. Then we all yelled a bit, they nearly blew each others' heads off," she said jabbing her thumb at Draco and Harry. "And I explained that Michael was doing me a favor and Dean was a joke and the whole time I was with Draco."
"You're going out with Draco Malfoy?" Hermione said after a moment passed and Ginny removed her hand, as if she expected this was all a joke.
"Yes."
"And she never told any of us." Harry said angrily.
"Well, look how you're taking it!" Ginny retorted. "I don't even want to think about if Ron found out. Which means, you two can't tell him."
"You didn't even tell me." Hermione said, slightly hurt.
"I wanted to, believe me."
"If my father ever found out," Draco said, "there's no telling-"
"Well of course I'd act this way, I've got every right!" Harry argued.
"Harry! I don't need protecting! I'm not a baby. I love Draco and he loves me, why can't any one accept that?"
For the first time a silence fell over the small, cramped closet.
"Ginny, I'm really happy you've found someone." Hermione said truthfully, albeit in a slightly strained voice. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione elbowed him. "So is Harry. And we promise not to tell Ron, or anyone."
Ginny smiled. "Thanks Hermione."
"It's late." said Draco quietly, feeling somewhat like an intruder. "Dinner's probably over, we should all go before we're caught."
"Mal-Draco is right." Hermione said, carefully opening the door and peeking out into the corridor. "Okay, no one's around."
The four students stepped out into the empty hallway looking around awkwardly.
"I'd better go," Draco finally said to Ginny. After a moment's pause, he leaned down and kissed her deeply. "I'll talk to you later." he whispered before turning around and walking off towards the dungeons.
Ginny turned to face her fellow Gryffindors. Harry had a shocked look on his face. "Oh don't look like you've never seen people kiss before, I've seen worse out of you two."
Harry and Hermione flushed crimson and the trio walked the rest of the way to Gryffindor tower in silence. When they climbed through the portrait hole, Ron was sitting in front of the fire with his chess set.
"Where've you lot been? Anyone fancy a game of chess?" he asked.
"Not a chance, mate." Harry stated plainly, flopping down into one of the large, over-stuffed armchairs. Hermione and Ginny gave him a look that plainly said 'You've got no idea' before they retreated up the dormitory stairs.
"Erm, Ginny," Hermione started, flushing pink. "Well, the broom closet…how can I put this…for a while, um…Find your own." she finished quickly turning a deeper shade of red.
Ginny laughed loudly. "It's okay, that was… just a one-time thing. Personally, I prefer somewhere more…private. Oh, I'd stay away from the quidditch locker rooms for a while…"
Harry and Ron watched the girls' retreating backs until the disappeared around the corner.
"You know, Harry," Ron said, scratching his head. "I don't think it's possible to understand girls…"
"Don't ever get yourself a girlfriend, mate."