Concerning a Woman Prisoner of War
Painted Dragon
Chapter 5
A/N: Wow it's been a long time, eh guys? Sorry about my sabbatical, but there's been some Drama and shit going on in my life. But I got a couple of great reviews, and my muse, Serendipity, took a large blunt object and wacked me several time over the head with it. I hope to finish this story, so, bear with me! I 3 y'all!
Ginny found herself scrubbing Malfoy's floors for the third time that day. It was Friday; tomorrow was Hannah's wedding, and Malfoy kept her in his chambers since he found out about Wormtail. There was nothing to do, and due to her lack of chores this week, Ginny's spirits were starting to lift. Only a week left and then, she'll no longer have to worry about chores! As she scrubbed the stone floor with her toothbrush, she hummed a Weird Sister's song to herself.
"Drunken toothless sailor! He'll snatch your wallet and make you buy him a drink! Drunken toothless sailor! He'll beat you with a stick and then he'll steal your shoes!" she sang, jubilantly scrubbing the floor. She was so into her work, she didn't hear Malfoy come in.
"Someone's in a good mood I see," She looked up from her work and saw her fiancée smirking. She sat back on her heels and lifted an eyebrow.
"Whatever happened to 'Hi honey, I'm home'?" she asked, looking hurt. As Ginny's spirits became more jubilant, her relationship with Malfoy became more…well normal. They went back to their old fighting and bickering and occasional teasing.
"I'm sorry darling, but the song about a drunken toothless sailor killed the happy homemaker image," he gilded. She rolled her eyes and threw her toothbrush at him.
"Who ever said I was a happy homemaker, Malfoy? I'm your bloody servant," she snapped.
"Ah this may be true at the moment, little Weasley, however, in a week you shall be the wife of the most eligible bachelor in the world!" he smirked at her.
"I'm enthralled, really I am. See how incredibly happy I am?" her voice was deadpanned, "look at my face Malfoy, study the excitement."
"If I looked at your face, Weasley, I would turn to stone," he snorted. She sneered at him.
"Obviously somebody never paid attention in grammar school mythology," she muttered as she went back to work.
"I was home schooled Weasley. Unlike your family, my parents could afford to hire the best wizarding tutors," Malfoy stuck his nose in the air and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean, you albino ferret? I wasn't discussing the quality of my grammar school education, which happened to be quite good, thank you very much, I was talking about how little you paid attention to your teachers," she kept working. Confusion snaked its chaotic self across his features.
"What?" was the only response he could give. She gave a large sigh and stood up. Crossing over to him, she put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head sympathetically.
"You are incredibly stupid. Ok, I will explain this to you as best as I can without trying to confuse you. First I told you to study the non existent look of excitement on my face. I was being sarcastic. Then you told me that if you looked at my face, you would turn to stone. I then replied that you obviously didn't pay attention to grammar school mythology. I said this because I am Ginny Weasley, not Medusa. Contrary to popular belief, I am in no way shape or form related to the Argonaut. Therefore, if you did look at my face, you would not turn to stone. Next, you made a rather dry comment about my family's financial situation and how yours is so much more superior to mine. I thought this was rather unoriginal of you, seeing as how you almost always have something to say about the poorness of my mother and father. Finally I pointed out that what you had just said about my lack of monetary funds had nothing to do about my comment on you not paying attention to your teachers. Now do you understand where we are in this conversation?" she spoke slowly, as if she were speaking to a young child. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed her wrist.
"You are a complete nuisance," he hissed. She smirked, knowing that by insulting his intelligence, she insulted him as well.
"Well if you think that lowly of me, Malfoy, why are you marrying me?" she asked innocently. He gave out a frustrated growl.
"That's none of your damn business!" he yelled. She cowered slightly from his bad breath, but then stood up straightly and looked him defiantly in the eye.
"If you have no plans as to tell me why you chose me to be your bride, then I shall not marry you," she crossed her arms over her chest and turn away from him. Anger quickly flared through him. He raised his hand to strike her, but then irony stopped him. Here he was, seventeen years old and about to be married. His bride was the only female of the last pure blood family that had a most tumultuous relationship with his family. Furthermore, he no loved his bride more than she loved him. And yet, here they were, about to get married in a week, and they hated each other. Why did this make him so depressed? He lowered his arm and walked to a chair to sit.
Ginny watched Malfoy turn around and sit. She relaxed her arms and turned around. He was sitting in the large Windsor chair with his head in one hand and the other laying on the arm rest. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She picked up her brush and went back to work.
An hour later, when she was finished with the floor, Malfoy was still sitting in the chair. He did not move a single muscle the entire time. Ginny walked over to where he was sitting and moved the arm that was lying idly. She sat down on the arm rest and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" she asked, genuinely concerned. Even though she did hate the man with a passion, she felt bad he seemed so upset.
"Nothing," he mumbled, turning his head away from her. Annoyed, she turned his face towards her.
"Don't start this sulky teenaged angst shit with me, Malfoy. There's something bothering you and you're going to tell me what it is, whether you like it or not," she demanded. He snorted and tried to move his head away again, but he forced him to look at her.
"What do you care, Ginny? It's not your problem," he snapped. She was taken slightly aback by his use of her first name. Her features softened and her muscles relaxed.
"I do care Malfoy. I don't want to see you upset like this," she said softly. Something in the way she spoke struck in Draco, and suddenly he wanted her closer. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder.
Surprised, Ginny wrapped her left arm around his neck, while the other wrapped around his shoulders. She placed her head on his and sat there unmoving. Her fingers idly played with his hair, wrapping strands of the white silk around her fingers. They sat there like that for a while. After a long period of time, he finally pulled away and gave a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry about being a large prat. I really should be treating you better," he muttered. He avoided her gaze as he spoke.
"I really wouldn't worry about it. I rather like you as a despicable maggot," she said. He shyly looked up at her and laughed a bit.
"I really should be nicer to you though. You are becoming my wife soon, and you hate me. The least I can do is to try to make your life bearable," sadness filled his voice. One hand began to softly rub her side and his looked down again. He looks so pitiful she thought. Her heart went out to him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Malfoy, it's partly my fault too," she lifted his chin up to look her in the eye, "I've been giving you a hard time every chance I got."
"But that's not what I mean, Weasley. You hate me, I hate you," her face fell slightly, "I mean, I don't hate you, but my opinion of you isn't exactly the greatest." Her eyes dropped downward and she nodded. Mentally, Draco was kicking himself for what he said.
"What I mean, Weasley, is that my feelings toward you aren't exactly loving, and that bothers me. I grew up in a family where my parents didn't care for each other. I had always promised myself that if I ever got married it would be to someone that I loved... and that person would love me back. I just don't want my children to grow up the way I did," he kept his voice quiet.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "It must have been horrible living like that." He shrugged.
"It wasn't too terrible. It's defiantly not the way I would've chosen to grow up, but I didn't completely hate it either," he said, rubbing her back. She stayed silent for a moment, contemplating her next action. Malfoy just poured his heart out to her, something completely out of the ordinary. Something about that made her heart beat a bit faster. She looked at him and placed a hand on his cheek and smiled at him.
"If it really means that much to you Malfoy, we won't have kids, at least not unless we fall in love with each other," she gave him a tender smile. He returned the gesture and hugged her.
"Thank you," he whispered. She nodded slightly. Without realizing what he was doing, he slowly began to move his head closer to hers. His eyes closed as soon as he could feel her breath on his face. Slowly, inch by agonizing inch, the distance between them was closing. His lips had just barely brushed against hers when a sharp pain flowed through his left arm. He pulled away and gave a slight groan.
"I have to go," he said, "He's calling me." She nodded and got off of his lap. He stood up and reached for his wand.
"I'm really sorry, Weasley," he told her. A part of him so did not want to leave her, but the other part couldn't wait to get away from her. She didn't answer him; she just kept her eyes downward. Placing the wand next to his tattoo, he muttered the incantation that would take him to his master.
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A/N: sorry it's been so long I've been involved with a lot of shit and I've had no time to get around to finishing this chapter. I'm gonna cut out Hannah's wedding because it'll ruin the flow of the story, it'll take too long to write and basically, I wanna get Ginny's wedding up next. I'm on spring break now, so I hope to get that chapter out next. Thank you ALL for your lovely reviews. They've been a major self esteem booster. I shall write again soon. Read, review, enjoy~
3 PD