The Devils Triangle
Chapter 13: Combustion
"I want to go to Azkaban to visit my father. I want to know what the Dark… I want to know what Voldemort has planned for Ginny."
"Have a seat, Draco." Professor Dumbledore stared at Draco with a calm smile until Draco reluctantly sat in the chair opposite the Professors desk.
"Would you like a Lemon Drop?"
"No, thank you. When can I go to Azkaban?" Draco asked impatiently.
"A Mr. Quigley came to see me this afternoon. Excellent fellow. It seems that congratulations are in order."
"Have I not made myself clear?" Draco burst. "Ginny Weasley's in danger!"
"Miss Weasley is currently in Gryffindor Tower attending some sort of meeting. She is quite safe. As long as she remains inside the castle she will be safe."
"Have you read that letter?" Draco persisted.
"I have given Mr. Quigley limited access to the castle. We will supply you with a classroom that you may use to conduct your family business with Mr. Quigley."
Draco huffed impatiently, "Thank you, sir. But Ginny…"
Professor Dumbledore sat back in his chair and continued casually.
"As I'm sure Mr. Quigley has informed you, the Ministry of Magic has long suspected the Malfoy estate of providing substantial financial support to Voldemort, and other various dark activities. The Ministry will not allow this change in ownership to go uninvestigated. You have an opportunity here, Draco…"
"Sir! What I do with my private property is no one's business but my own! I came to you because one of your students is in danger, and I thought you would wish to do something about it. Apparently I was mistaken…I'll be going." Draco rose to storm out of the professor's office.
"Ah. Severus. Come in, we've been waiting for you."
"Good evening, Head Master. Merlin, Mr. Malfoy!" Professor Snape emitted an exasperated groan. "What have you and Miss Weasley been caught doing now?"
"Nothing, Severus." Professor Dumbledore interceded on Draco's behalf, with a twinkle in his eye. "Draco came to me with nothing but the best intentions. Draco, if you don't mind, I think he should read this." Dumbledore handed the letter over to Snape.
Draco gaped at Professor Dumbledore; didn't the old fool know that Snape was an active Death Eater? The old man couldn't be that dim.
"You're a spy!" Draco blurted out, as he collapsed weak-kneed back into his chair. .
"Amazing powers of observation," Snape drawled as he read the letter.
"Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy. You'll have your hands full between your school work and family business. I'll expect you to keep up in your studies. I do hope your love life doesn't suffer from the strain of it all," Snape finished with a smirk.
"Does no one care that Ginny's clearly in danger?" Draco finally exploded.
Professor Dumbledore maintained the same calm smile as he addressed Professor Snape.
"Draco thinks it wise to go to Azkaban to speak with his father. Any opinion, Severus?"
"It wouldn't do any harm, but I doubt it would be fruitful. The Dark Lord doesn't share the details of his plans until absolutely necessary. If we want to investigate this, we need to go to the source."
"Voldemort isn't going to tell you his plans!" Draco said snidely.
"Mr. Malfoy, do keep your less than brilliant observations to yourself!" Snape snapped, cringing from the sound of Voldemort's name.
"Severus, we need a Legilimens, one of significant skill. Can you do it?"
"No," Professor Snape admitted. "This is beyond me… he would detect me in a moment."
"Is he ready, Severus?" Dumbledore asked intently.
"His attitude is deplorable! He refuses to follow the simplest instruction that I give him!"
"Is he ready, Severus?" Dumbledore repeated.
"His skills have tripled since the start of term, through no effort on his part, I assure you."
"Who are we talking about?" Draco interjected.
"I think a threat to Miss Weasley may be just what it would take to focus his concentration. I think he could be ready very soon."
"Who are we talking about?" Draco repeated impatiently.
Professor Snape regarded Draco with an amused smirk. "At the very least, it'll be an interesting exercise."
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore. Did you send for me?" Harry queried from the office door; he was rather perturbed about being pulled from his Quidditch meeting.
"Potter! What are you doing here?" Draco spat.
Harry glared at him and then looked quizzically at the professors.
"Come in, you may be able to help us with a problem of some importance." Professor Dumbledore welcomed Harry and motioned for him to take a seat.
"It can't be HIM you're talking about! He's a Legilimens? You expect him to face Voldemort?" Draco scoffed.
"Erm… why does he know that? What's going on?" Harry was suddenly very interested in their discussion.
"Draco, please show Harry your father's letter." Dumbledore instructed.
"It's not his business! We don't need him!" Draco insisted.
"Draco," Snape hissed, "as much as it galls me to admit it, yes, we do. Give Potter the letter."
Draco thrust the letter at Harry.
Draco,
I am placing the responsibility of protecting all that is Malfoy in your hands. I have faith that I have raised you properly. I trust that you will remain true to the values and ideals that you were raised with and you will not disgrace us. I have sent you Quigley; he can be trusted.
As the sole Malfoy heir, you will now have the privilege to be a valuable asset to our Dark Lord. He will make it a priority to acquire your allegiance. Your choice in this regard should be to put the Malfoy legacy first.
I must warn you: If you choose not to align yourself with him, he will attempt to destroy you. If not you, then anything you hold dear. If you choose this path, do everything in your power to remove your mother from Britain. She will not go easily… she's a stubborn woman. Do all you can to protect her.
Regarding your unfortunate predilection in female companionship, I am not in a position to dictate. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope she is merely a passing indiscretion and that once your urges have been satisfied you will dispose of her. Please keep in mind that her kind breed like rabbits and you should protect yourself accordingly.
However, should the political tide go against us, an alliance with her wretched family may be a politically savvy decision.
On the other hand, our Dark Lord has a history with that one himself, and it is doubtful you will be allowed to keep her. He has his own plans for her. If you prove to be a loyal and useful subject, he may allow you to keep what's left of her when he's finished, but I doubt you would find that satisfactory.
You know what you would need to do should you want to keep her for your own.
Again I warn you, the results of that procedure would not satisfy a Malfoy man.
I have many regrets in my life Draco, so make your choices wisely.
Your father,
Lucius Malfoy
Harry finished the letter, and blinked twice.
"Ginny's in danger. What's the plan?"
An hour later Harry and Draco left Dumbledore's office together. Dumbledore had promised to arrange Draco's visit to Azkaban the following week. In the interim, Harry was to have daily Legilimency lessons with both Snape and Dumbledore in order to learn the techniques he would need to delve into Voldemort's mind undetected.
"Potter, what are we going to tell Ginny?"
"I don't generally keep secrets from Ginny, but there's really nothing to tell her at this point."
"So we'll keep it quiet for the moment. Does she know you're a Legilimens?"
"Of course." Harry chuckled at Draco, because he was busily avoiding Harry's eyes. "Don't worry; I won't use it on you. I have no desire to be inside your head. Have you told Ginny that you've inherited everything?"
"Not yet. I meant to, but I got distracted," Draco smirked and his eyes glazed over a bit as he remembered his afternoon with Ginny.
"Right…" Harry muttered. "What did your father's letter mean? That part about you knowing what you'd have to do to keep her?"
Draco stared at Harry, with a clenched jaw and a quirked eyebrow.
"He meant Binding Curses, didn't he?" Harry continued. "Do you know about them?"
Draco smirked. "Of course! Every junior Death Eater knows Binding Curses. In fact, if my father hadn't been in prison today, I probably would have gotten a girl in the dungeon for my birthday." Draco turned to walk away, but then turned back around. "But then I don't need that, do I? I've got the Weaslette!"
Draco turned and walked away without another word. He felt a sharp pang of guilt for talking about Ginny like that, but DAMN, the look on Potter's face was worth it!
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Ginny was having a frantic week! Professor's were piling on the work, constantly reminding them that the OWLS they would take this spring will greatly influence their future. Ginny was feeling the pressure.
It was Wednesday and she'd barely seen Draco since Saturday, as he always seemed to be running this way and that, himself. He always found time for a hit-and-run snog or two during the day, but they'd barely spoken.
Today, she was going to find him, and he was going to have to speak to her… Ginny had opened The Daily Prophet at lunch and gotten the shock of her life!
She was running toward the Quidditch pitch, as she knew the Slytherins would be coming off practice just now.
"Oy, Malfoy! Seems we've got a little Gryff spy, peeking at us!"
"We don't need to spy to whoop your sorry arses!" Ginny jeered at them.
"Move along blokes," Draco said as he smirked evilly at Ginny. "I'll see to the spy, make sure she learns her lesson."
The Slytherin team departed, with several lewd looks and rude comments, which both Draco and Ginny ignored.
"Hello, Young Lady. You look cold, you should be wearing a cloak," he said scooping her up in a tight hug and kissing her.
Ginny lost herself for a second or two before she remembered why she was there and wiggled loose, but stayed close.
"Don't you Young Lady, me! What's this?" she asked, as she thrust the paper at him.
"Ah, yes. Hmmm 'Shake up at Ministry. New Malfoy Heir Named'. This says I'm RICH, Ginny! How 'bout that?"
"Draco! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I meant to. That's why I was late on Saturday. I was going to tell you, honestly. But then I saw you in my Quidditch shirt and I forgot. And then… you…well…really made me forget. Do you see how wonderful this is? Do you see what it means?"
Ginny nodded and snuggled into his arms.
"It means you won't be a Death Eater."
"It means I have a choice," he corrected her.
"But you won't, I know you won't," she said confidently, and then kissed him soundly.
"So now we have something to celebrate at The Three Broomsticks this weekend!"
"Oh. I've been thinking about that. Maybe it's not such a good idea, sneaking out."
Ginny's face fell and she looked at him pleadingly. "Ok, if you don't want to, that's fine."
Draco groaned. That look! How could anyone say 'No' to that look!
"No! I do want to. Ok, we'll do it." Draco's mind swiftly started formulating a plan to keep Ginny safe and give her the night out he'd promised.
Ginny beamed at him again, she couldn't wait for this week to be over!
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Harry wanted a late Saturday afternoon fly, it was a glorious autumn day, and they wouldn't get many more like this.
He entered his dormitory to fetch his broom when he saw Ginny rummaging through his trunk. A wide grin stretched over his face, he'd finally caught her. He'd finally caught the little bugger stealing his clothes!
He softly crept behind her, and then he pounced. He grabbed her around the waist, while yelling 'Caught Ya!' in her ear. The plan backfired on him a bit when Ginny let out a startled shriek and stood bolt upright. Her head collided with his nose and they both groaned in pain, while Harry fell backwards onto the bed, dragging Ginny with him. He had no intention of losing his captive now, no matter how much pain was involved.
"Bugger, Ginny!" Harry groaned, holding his bleeding nose.
"Bugger me? Why'd you scare me like that?"
"You're stealing my clothes again!"
"I am not! Keep still, you're bleeding everywhere." Ginny sat up next to Harry and performed a simple clotting charm on him.
"You should go to the hospital wing and make sure your nose isn't broken. Ron would kill me if your eyes swelled shut and you couldn't play tomorrow."
"Don't worry… nothing could keep me out of that game!"
Harry grinned as he pulled Ginny down and pinned her to the bed, forcibly patting her down and feeling inside all her pockets.
"Watch the hands Potter! You're enjoying this too much!"
"Ah ha! What's this?" he asked as he felt something under her shirt. He wasn't bashful at all about reaching under her shirt and pulling out a piece of parchment.
"You're stealing the Marauder's Map?" he asked with a perplexed grimace.
"I'm borrowing it," Ginny admitted grudgingly.
"Why didn't you just ask me for it?" he shrugged.
"I didn't think you'd give it to me without asking why I wanted it."
"Why do you want it, Ginny?" he asked suspiciously.
"If I told you, you'd try to stop me."
"I'll try to stop you if you don't tell me. Is it dangerous?"
"No! Just against the rules. You've broken rules before."
"Ginny, please tell me. Why do you want it? I won't try to stop you."
"And I can borrow the map?"
Harry nodded. "Just tell me."
Ginny took a deep breath before telling him, "Draco wants to take me out for a romantic evening."
"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad. Wait…what do you mean by out? You don't mean out of the castle, do you?"
Ginny nodded.
"Malfoy's taking you out of the castle? The idiot!"
"What's the big deal, Harry? Just to The Three Broomsticks! You promised you wouldn't stop me."
"And I won't. A few hours won't hurt, I guess. What time will you be back? In case Ron's looking for you."
"Oh. Um…late. Really late. Tell him not to wait up."
"What time Ginny?" Harry repeated tersely.
Ginny grimaced. "About nine…tomorrow morning."
Harry felt his lungs constrict in his chest. "You're…You're going to…Oh, I see now."
Harry couldn't have argued further if he tried. His mind was numb. He felt a huge weight in his stomach.
"Ginny…he's not…Ginny…he doesn't…" It was no use, Harry couldn't find the words.
"Ginny, are you absolutely sure about him?"
"Yes, Harry."
"You should go then," he said, handing Ginny the map without looking at her.
"Thanks, Harry. If Ron's looking for me, just tell him…"
"I'm not lying to Ron, Ginny. I won't volunteer anything, but I won't lie."
"Ok. Thanks, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow then."
Once Ginny had left, Harry collapsed back onto his bed.
Ginny ran down the Gryffindor steps at full speed. Draco was already waiting for her outside the Great Hall. Ginny gasped and stopped dead when she saw him. He was lovely; wearing what she was sure were the finest dress robes money could buy. She'd worn her finest robes also, but they looked like rags next to his.
"Draco, I don't have anything that nice to wear," she said biting her lip with worry.
"Everything's taken of, Ginny. You have the map?"
Ginny barely heard him; she was still standing and staring at him.
"Anything wrong, Gin?"
"No. It's just that you're lovely. I really shouldn't be dating boys who are prettier than me."
Draco laughed. "I'm not prettier than you, not even on a day when Astrid's gotten to you. And I prefer handsome, if you don't mind. Let's see the map."
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ginny opened the map and pointed. "Here. Harry told me once that this is the best way out of the castle. It's on the third floor, you enter through the statue of the one-eyed old crone, and it leads to the cellar of Honeyduke's."
"Good enough. Let's go."
They soon found themselves in the pub of The Three Broomsticks. It was very odd to be there since usually the place was teeming with Hogwarts students, but today they were the only young people in the room. Ginny suddenly felt very self-conscious.
Draco handed Ginny a key.
"Everything should be ready for you upstairs. I'll wait here."
"But…"
"Just go to the room, Ginny. Room 2," he smirked at her, and pushed her in the direction of the staircase.
Ginny entered room 2 cautiously, there seemed to be some commotion going on inside.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, I presume?" said a tall pencil-thin witch with her black hair pulled back into a tight French-knot. She was regarding Ginny over the black horn-rimmed spectacles sitting on the tip of her nose.
"Come in! Come in, Miss Weasley. No need to be shy with me. I'm Madame Bufflelark, and this is my assistant Miss Simms. Mr. Malfoy hired us. He thought you might enjoy some assistance getting ready for this evening."
"Assistance getting dressed?" Ginny asked quizzically.
"No, no, no!" Madame Bufflelark laughed. "Assistance getting beautiful. Although, Mr. Malfoy was quite correct when he said there's not a lot of work to do here."
"Shall we start with your hair Miss?" squeaked the timid Miss Simms, who didn't appear to be much older than Ginny.
"Sure, hair first," Ginny shrugged.
"Put this on Miss." Miss Simms handed her a satin oriental dressing gown. Ginny chuckled when she noticed, that it was covered in a pattern of green dragons breathing fire. She began to worry about the kind of robe that Draco would have chosen for her.
Ginny was unaccustomed to being petted and poked and fussed over, but she gave herself over completely to the ministrations of Madame Bufflelark and Miss Simms. They worked diligently on her hair and beauty charms, until they both stepped back and smiled, seeming to be pleased with their day's work.
"There you are Miss. I'd say you're ready for your robes now."
Miss Simms pulled a formal black robe from the cupboard, it appeared to be silk.
"It's beautiful, did Draco pick that?"
"Yes." Madame Bufflelark smiled. "Malfoy men have their flaws Miss, but they're also known to have flawless taste, especially in their woman."
Ginny blushed and shook her head. "I'm nothing special."
"Mr. Malfoy would certainly disagree with you."
Miss Simms fastened the tiny buttons along the back of Ginny's robe and then they both stood back to admire their handy work again.
"Don't you want to see yourself, Miss?" Miss Simms queried, motioning to the mirror in the corner of the room.
Ginny nodded and moved to the mirror.
The image that greeted Ginny was no one that she recognized.
The person staring back at her wasn't an awkward schoolgirl; it was a stunning woman.
Ginny's hair had been piled casually atop her head, with several long curling tendrils allowed to escape down her neck. Ginny's eyes sparkled and her lips glistened.
The robe itself was quite unadorned and very elegant, it accentuated her every curve flawlessly. Ginny grinned to herself as she wondered again how Draco could know her size so perfectly.
"Are you pleased Miss Weasley?"
Ginny smiled, "Very, thank you."
"Mr. Malfoy is waiting for you then. We'll tidy up here."
Ginny returned to the pub where Draco waited.
"Draco," she said quietly from behind him
He quickly turned to her, and his audible gulp belied his smooth Malfoy demeanor.
"Wow," was all he could manage as his eyes seemed to devour her. He motioned for her to turn around, and she did. "Wow."
Ginny laughed. "This will be a long evening if that's all you're going to say."
"Sorry," he grinned, as he stood and stepped towards her. "You clean-up even better than I imagined, Weasley."
"That's more like it, thank you."
"You're welcome. Do you like it? The robe and everything?"
Ginny nodded. "Yes, thank you. Why did you do all this?"
Draco shrugged. "I just wanted you to see what I see."
"Oh," was all Ginny could manage, as she tried to calm the circus tricks her stomach was performing at that moment.
"Let's go eat, I'm starving."
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When Ron returned to the dorm room, Harry was in the same position that Ginny had left him in three hours earlier.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere. Why weren't you and Ginny at dinner? You two up to something?"
"No, we're not up to anything." Harry's monotonous drone caught Ron's attention.
"You alright mate?" Harry didn't respond. "Did you spend the day with Daphne?"
"No, I broke it off with Daphne," Harry droned again.
"Sorry, mate." Ron sat on the end of Harry's bed. "Why'd you do that? She was alright, for a Slytherin."
"She was very nice, in fact. It's just that I realized something about her." Harry continued to stare at the ceiling above his bed, and didn't look at Ron.
"What's that, Harry?"
"She's not Ginny."
Ron smiled. "Finally figured that out, did you?"
"You know Ron, that Power Position theory of yours has a pretty painful flaw in it."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"Well, what happens when you realize that you're in love, and you want to be with that person more than anything, but they're in love with someone else, and you're stuck being their friend?"
"Ginny's not in love with Malfoy, Harry."
"I'm not so sure about that. I didn't think it would last as long as it has. I thought he would screw it up, somehow. He hasn't, he makes her happy."
"You could make her happier, Harry. You just have to tell her how you feel."
"There's nothing I can say that won't make me look like a jealous git."
"And what's wrong with looking like a jealous git?" Ron smirked.
"Not my style mate," Harry grinned the tiniest bit.
"That's right, I forgot… you're the suffer-in-silence kind of bloke. Thank Merlin, I don't have that problem. I don't know what to tell you, Harry."
"There's nothing you can say." Harry perched himself on his elbows. "Why were you looking for me anyway?"
"Oh, I'm calling one last strategy meeting tonight; we've got to round up the team. Where's Ginny?"
"Oh, crap," Harry groaned, and sat up. "Ginny won't be at the meeting, Ron."
"Why not?"
"Er… she has a date with Malfoy."
"So what?" Ron laughed. "Let's go find whatever broom cupboard they're hiding in and drag her out. This is Quidditch, it takes precedent over snogging. Come on, it'll be fun! Piss 'em both off!"
"That won't work."
"What aren't you telling me, Potter? Come on, where's Ginny?"
Before he could stop himself, Harry blurted out, "They went to spend the night at The Three Broomsticks!"
Ron laughed. "Funny, Potter. Where's Ginny?"
Harry just looked at Ron; he couldn't bring himself to repeat what he'd just said.
"You mean to tell me that my sister…is off shagging Malfoy…you knew about it…and you did nothing to stop her?" Ron's voice was chillingly calm.
"We don't know they're shagging," Harry said with some difficulty.
"Yes, I'm sure they're just playing chess. Answer the question, Harry!"
"Okay… yes, she told me, but there was nothing I could do to stop her."
"Nothing you could do?" Ron finally exploded. "You could have tied her up, stuffed her in a cupboard, sat on her… I really wouldn't have cared how you did it, as long as you stopped her!"
"The Power Position doesn't allow that, mate. I told you, painful flaw in the plan," Harry said regretfully.
"That Bloody Power Position again! I wish I'd never thought of it!"
Ron began pacing the room.
"What are our options here? We could report them both to Dumbledore…but then Ginny would get expelled and Mum would kill her. Plus, we need her for the Quidditch game tomorrow. We could go down there ourselves and get her. How 'bout that?"
"We would need the map to get out of the castle without getting ourselves expelled. Ginny has the map."
"You gave her the map too?" Ron growled slowly, his rage practically oozing from his pores. "You're really trying to test our friendship tonight, aren't you Potter?"
"I'm not going after her, Ron. It's her decision. You're not going either."
"What are we supposed to do then?"
"We're going to round up the team and have our strategy meeting."
"I'm beginning to see why Malfoy finds you so annoying," Ron growled.
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Ginny and Draco whiled away the evening in the dining room of The Three Broomsticks. It was close to midnight and the last of the diners were trickling out into the night.
Ginny and Draco were deep in conversation, sharing stories from their childhood and their hopes for the future. Mr. Quigley had met with Draco several times in the past week, and he was bursting with plans. Ginny loved to watch Draco talk about his future; for the first time he seemed to believe that he had one, and he was glowing.
Ginny looked around the restaurant, they were alone except for the musicians playing quietly in the corner.
"Draco, is everything alright?"
"Yes. Perfect. Why? What's wrong?"
"It's just that… you haven't kissed me all day, you haven't even touched me."
"Oh, that. Yes, I know that," he smirked.
"Is anything wrong?" she repeated.
"No," he teased, still not touching her.
"Then why?" she whispered in frustration.
"Because I want to…more than anything."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Yes, it does. Have you ever noticed that when you really want something, and you don't get it, it makes you want it more?"
"I suppose."
"And the longer you deny yourself that thing you want, the more you enjoy it when you finally obtain it."
Draco stood and held out his hand. "Dance with me, Ginny." It wasn't a question.
"But we're the only ones here!" she protested.
"Then there's nothing to worry about, is there?" He took her hand and led her to the dance floor.
Draco held her close to him and began moving slowly to the music.
Ginny felt the heat of his hands burning at her waist, and she felt her knees go weak as his breath tickled her ear.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, allowing herself to disappear into the feel of him.
Draco whispered into her ear while slowly moving back and forth to the music. He told her how much he wanted to kiss her and how he longed to feel her. He described in intimate detail what he wanted to do with her all night long. Yet he still hadn't kissed her, he hadn't even allowed his lips to graze her ear as he spoke, and his hands remained firmly at her waist.
"What do you want Ginny? What can I do to please you?"
Ginny opened her eyes and blinked at him several times, while biting her lip. She knew what she wanted from him, she'd just never dared to say it aloud before. She whispered into his ear.
Draco smiled. "That goes without asking. There should be several for you, if all goes well."
Ginny stopped dancing and stepped out of his arms.
"Come with me." She took Draco's hand and led him to the staircase.
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Harry had been staring into the Gryffindor fire for several hours. Sleep wouldn't come tonight.
"Harry?" a soft voice came from behind him.
"Hi, Hermione. Where's Ron? Is he still angry?"
"He's a bit calmer now. I think he's saving it for the next time he sees Ginny. He's been holding his tongue about Draco all term, so it won't be pretty. And don't expect him to speak to you for a few days either.
"Can I sit with you?"
"Of course," he said, pulling Hermione down into his lap.
"I've been a bit jealous of Ginny, getting to sit like this with you," she said softly as Harry wrapped his arms around her cozily.
"You and Ron were once all mine. Now, you've got dozens of girls."
"No, I don't. There's only one that I want. I was just too thick to see it until it was too late."
"Harry, can I ask you something that might be difficult to answer?"
Harry nodded.
"If you knew how you felt about her, then why didn't you stop her?"
"I've been trying to work that one out myself. I've almost gone running down there several times. I told Ron it was because I didn't want to look like a jealous git, but that's not true. If I thought she'd be mine, I wouldn't care what I looked like.
"She wants him, Hermione. She wants him in a way that she's never wanted me."
"She wants him in a way that she's never allowed herself to want you. There's a big difference there, Harry."
"Doesn't change the current situation, does it?"
"I need to ask you something else and think carefully before answering. How do you know how she feels? How are you so sure? Have you been using Legilimency on her?"
"No. She'd kill me… she can feel it when I'm in her mind. I just know."
"How Harry?" Hermione insisted and then she continued very carefully. "Can you feel what Ginny's feeling?"
"Why do ask that?" he asked cautiously.
"Think about it Harry, can you?"
Harry sighed heavily. "Sometimes I think I can," he admitted reluctantly, "especially when it comes to Malfoy. A couple of times when Ginny was near, and DO NOT breathe a word of this to Ron, my mind would become flooded with feelings for Malfoy." Harry shuddered suddenly. "Let's just say, I'm positive that these feelings were not my own!"
Hermione chuckled. "As long as you're sure."
"Quite sure, thank you. What does it mean, Hermione?"
"Can't say just yet, Harry. But I think it's safe to say that you have a part of Ginny that Draco will never be able to touch."
"But he's got all the good bits."
"This isn't a joke, Harry!"
"I know. Sorry. But you keep teasing me with clues and then refusing to tell me what's happening. You're worse than Dumbledore."
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The warm early morning sunshine woke Ginny gently. She smiled and stretched, but she couldn't quite move because of a weight on her stomach.
She smiled further when she saw Draco curled next to her, with his head on her stomach. She remembered that they had both fallen asleep while he was listening to her stomach rumbles and telling her stories about what he was hearing.
She couldn't restrain her hand from stroking his hair while he slept.
Draco had been good to his word, delivering everything that he had promised. They'd explored each other's bodies tenderly throughout the night.
She'd been pleased to learn that when things progressed to below the waist, Draco fumbled about as much as she did. But he was a very quick learner, and when he produced her first orgasm, sending her over the edge screaming his name, he came up grinning as though he'd just won the House Cup.
They experimented in ways that Ginny had never imagined. She never knew you could do so much, without doing everything. There were times when things got quite messy, and Ginny remembered some of her mother's advice, finally understanding what she'd meant and she quickly performed a contraceptive charm.
Ginny had lost herself in Draco's intensity, and she was quite sure that more than once she had begged him to finish it. But he had just chuckled and worked harder to satisfy her in other ways.
Draco had behaved like a gentleman. Well…as gentlemanly as a boy can be with his head crushed between a girl's thighs.
"Hello, Young Lady." Draco yawned as he crawled up Ginny's body and kissed her passionately.
"Morning," Ginny sighed.
"Time?" Draco ground his hips against her thigh insistently; he was already fully aroused.
"Early." Ginny spread her legs, so he could comfortably lie between them.
"Hungry?"
"Very."
"Bit of a snog first. Then food. Then more fun."
"Good plan," Ginny managed to say before his lips captured hers again.
Draco came up for air several minutes later when Ginny's belly emitted a loud rumble.
"Good Gods woman, there it goes again!"
"Sorry, I told you I was hungry."
"I'll go check on breakfast. They were supposed to leave it outside the door."
"Draco! You can't open the door like that! You're starkers! And you have a huge hard-on!" Ginny laughed.
Draco just grinned over his shoulder and waggled his eyebrows. He opened the door and stuck out his head, looking up and down the corridor. When he saw that the hallway was clear he quickly ran out and grabbed the tray that was waiting for them.
"Oh Merlin!" Ginny worried. "I can see it now, front page of The Daily Prophet 'Malfoy Family Jewels on display at The Three Broomsticks—Limited Time Only!"
Draco laughed. "That would be the best press my family has had in generations! Here, you have to try this. I'll bet you've never had this before," he said as he placed the tray on the bed.
"Strawberries and scones? I've had Strawberries and scones before."
"I want to show you the proper way to eat a strawberry."
"Really? Well, one must be proper," she said imitating his drawl.
Draco took a strawberry and dipped it in a soft white cream, and then in brown sugar, and then held it out to Ginny's lips.
"Try this."
"I've had strawberries and cream before too!"
"Taste it," he growled.
Ginny bit into the strawberry, and it was not what she expected; where she expected sweet, it was tangy and where she expected creamy it was dense. It was absolutely lovely, and of course it tasted even better when licked off Draco's fingers.
"Mmmm. What is that? Sour cream?"
"Good isn't it?"
"You may feed me another."
Draco continued to feed Ginny her breakfast until Ginny decided that, as romantic as it was, the food just wasn't coming fast enough. She was hungry, so she shooed Draco away and began to feed herself.
Draco, having been fired from his feeding duties, quickly lost interest in breakfast and began to kiss, lick and nibble his way up Ginny's leg.
"Dwaka I ee-ing!" Ginny complained with a mouth full of scone.
"Then just ignore me," he smirked as his hand moved between her thighs and began manipulating her in a way she couldn't possibly ignore.
"Not fair! You're making me choose between you and food. I'm not sure you're going to win that one, Malfoy."
"I'll take my chances," he said just before his mouth relieved his fingers of their duties.
"Oh…Ok…You win," she squeaked, as she gave him more room to work.
When Ginny awoke for the second time that morning, she reveled in how perfect everything was; she was tightly wrapped in Draco's arms and in a state of complete bliss.
Why did she have the feeling that she was forgetting something?
Another surge of lust traveled down her spine when she noticed that, even in his sleep, Draco was aroused and ready to go again. She wondered how married couples ever got decent nights sleep; maybe you don't need sleep anymore if you can make each other feel this good. She began to kiss her way down his chest, to his belly and then down even further. Draco rolled onto his back and a grin spread across his face, but he didn't seem to wake up.
Maybe one more go, Ginny thought. We're in no hurry. We just have Quidditch today, but that's not till…
"Bloody Hell!"
"Ginny! Don't say that, you sound like your git brother," Draco grumbled, half-asleep.
"Quidditch! Get up! Quidditch! Half Hour! Get up!" Ginny was flying about the room, throwing on clothes as fast as she could find them.
"Bloody Hell!" Draco burst out of the bed.
"Just take what you need, Gin. I'll have the rest delivered to the castle."
"The map! Where's the map?"
"Oh bugger! I don't know. How'd we make such a mess?"
"Found it. Got your wand?"
"Yeah, let's go."
They ran at full speed though town, into Honeyduke's, through the tunnels and squeezed themselves the hump of the old crone, all without incident.
This was where they had to part company, Ginny to go up to the tower, Draco to go down to the dungeons.
"Be careful up there today, Ginny. Just because your head looks good on my pillow, doesn't mean my Beaters won't be trying to knock it off."
"I'm sooo scared of you nasty Slytherins!" Then she grinned, "Have a good game."
"You too." Draco ran several paces away and then turned when he reached the stairs.
"Weasley," he called. Ginny turned and smiled at him.
"I love you," he said softly, and then he disappeared down the stairs.
Ginny stood gaping for several seconds, trying to process what she'd heard and then she shook herself out of it.
"Quidditch! Must play Quidditch!"
Ginny ran up to the Gryffindor common room and immediately crashed into the towering rage that was Ron.
"There you are! Do you realize that we would have had to forfeit five minutes ago, if it weren't for the fact that the Slytherins were short a player too?" Ron's voice dripped with venom, the hatred and anger in his tone shocked Ginny into silence.
"You should be ashamed of yourself. You disgust me! I certainly hope you can still ride a broom after having been so thoroughly f…"
Ron crashed against the stone wall, with Harry holding him there; Harry's wand was at his throat.
"You don't want to finish that thought, mate."
"Get off me Potter!" Ron shoved Harry away, with all the force in him. "You made your loyalties clear yesterday. She could be going down on half of Slytherin and you'd still…"
Ron was silenced temporarily by Harry's fist hitting his mouth. Ron's rage turned on Harry.
The sight of the two boys pounding on one another was enough to partially roust Ginny from her shock.
"No! Please stop!" But her pleas and her tears did nothing to slow them down.
"Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley! Cease this instant!" Professor McGonagall's command, however, was obeyed.
"I don't know what this is about, but we will discuss it after the match. I have just heard from Professor Snape, the Slytherin team is complete and heading to the pitch, you have ten minutes. Miss Weasley, you have some explaining to do after the match as well."
"Fine," growled Ron, pushing Harry away from him. "You're not the one I want to kill anyway." Ron turned to his sister. "Weasley, go suit up. You have a game to play, and you'd better be on it."
As the teams took their positions before the Quaffle was released. Draco caught Ginny's eye. He looked from her tear streaked face, to Ron's bloody lip, to Harry's swollen eye and he seemed to put two and two and two together.
The Quaffle was released, and play began on what would become known as the dirtiest and bloodiest Quidditch match in Hogwart's history.
The Slytherins scored almost immediately, but this only forced Ron to focus his rage on the game, and that was the last Quaffle that got by him.
Harry and Draco shot up far above the pitch and Harry immediately attacked.
"What in Merlin's name were you thinking, taking Ginny out of the castle? You know her life is in danger!" Harry shouted, above the din.
"Bugger off, Potter! I have a job to do here."
"Oh sure, now you're concerned about your responsibilities! But last night your responsibility to protect Ginny was secondary to what you could get out of her!"
"You've no idea what you're talking about Potter! I hired more than adequate protection. We were watched the entire time."
And then, he couldn't resist.
"Well…not watched exactly, we did need a substantial amount of alone time."
Draco cackled over his shoulder as he dove away from Harry.
Ginny did her best to clear her mind and play the game.
She couldn't help but notice that Draco and Harry didn't seem to be looking for the snitch, far above her. They seemed to be trying to kick each other off their brooms.
This combative attitude quickly trickled down to the other team members. The whistle blew furiously, as soon there were sharp elbows, bloody noses, and missing teeth in all corners of the pitch. Madame Hooch couldn't keep up and no one was left unscathed.
Ginny herself received a black-eye from the elbow of a Slytherin Beater. She took her revenge by scoring three more goals; she had scored seven in total. Gryffindor led 110 to 10.
The game, however, was no closer to ending because the game's Seekers were not seeking. They were fighting, busy pummeling one another high in the sky.
The Snitch seemed to take matters into its own wings when it fluttered between then teasingly. Their fight was suddenly taken into a dive, and they were neck-in-neck, both using any means necessary to push the other away. The game ended when Draco, at long last, finally beat Harry to the Snitch.
"The Snitch is mine today Potter, more than once I might add!"
Once they had landed Harry had the satisfaction of landing the first punch on solid ground, which resumed their fight.
"She's too good for you! You don't deserve her!"
Draco recovered and was eventually able to subdue Harry by twisting his arm behind his back. Neither of them had noticed the teams landing around them.
"I think we may finally agree on something Potter," Draco hissed in his ear. "Doesn't change the fact that it was my name she was screaming as she writhed underneath me all night!"
It was the shocked gasp from behind him that shook Draco from his rage.
"Draco?" Ginny gasped, barely audibly, tears already beginning to flow.
Suddenly she saw it; the hatred that could only warp any feeling he had for her, the hatred that she had attempted to ignore, telling herself that it had nothing to do with her. But it did, at the moment it had everything to do with her.
"Ginny!" he spun around.
"I'm just another way for you to hurt Harry. That's all I am to you. Oh…!"
"No, Ginny! I didn't mean it. I was just angry!" Draco took three long strides towards her.
"No, Draco. Stay away from me," she said as she backed off slowly.
"Ginny, let's go somewhere private. I love you, I meant that," he whispered.
The tears were flowing fiercely down Ginny's face and she could barely speak, but she kept shaking her head, No.
"You hate…Harry…more than… you love me," Ginny managed between sobs. "If you really loved …me, you'd…never say…that. Stay away from me." Ginny turned and ran.
"Ginny!" Draco moved to run after her, but he was caught by Ron.
"She said NO," Ron growled, as he held Draco more firmly than was necessary.
"I made her think it's not real," Draco muttered to himself, disbelievingly. He looked at Ron pleadingly. "I swear it's real!" The shock and anguish were so apparent on Draco's face that not even Ron had the stomach to taunt him at that moment.
"Let her go. There's nothing you can do."
Draco suddenly realized who he was talking to; he pushed away, grabbed his broom and flew off.
The crowd began to disburse. Ron flashed Harry an apologetic grin.
"Well, that's the end of that," he shrugged.
Harry shoved past Ron, heading in the direction that Ginny had disappeared.
"Fuck off, Ron."
Author's Notes:
No whining. Nobody cried more than me. It had to be done.
Thank you, Jocjarmom for the extremely quick Beta. I love it when I get a new nagger in the mailbox!
Yay! We have more fan art! It's called "Draco's bum" (Tee Hee Hee) and goes with (Chapter 8: Nothing Says: "I might like you…maybe", like a Dungbomb between the eyes!) It's posted on Niko's site:
wwwDOTside7DOTcom/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayDOTpl?actgallery&aid16948 (Replace 3 DOTS) While you're there, there is an EXTREMELY important clue in that drawing, something I've told Niko and no one else. So rip your eyes from his bum for a moment and look around. Niko, you keep quiet!
Several people are asking, so I thought I'd give you a few thoughts about where this story is going.
This will not be an epic, covering ten years in detail. In fact, I'd say we're more that half way there already.
Nor will this story turn into a kill Voldemort action/adventure; the mere thought of writing that puts me to sleep, but I will give you enough information to figure it out.
I'm only interested in our triangle. My main goal is to return to the point in time of the prologue and see if we can't help our two favorite drunken gits remove their heads from their arses.
But before we can do that there are a few more things you need to know about the dynamics of their relationships.
Once the main story is complete, I will happily fill in the blanks of the missing years, with one-shots or at least shorter stories. What I write will be up to you; feel free to ask when we get there. (Just don't make me write the kill Voldy part!)
If you're really nice to me, I could probably be convinced to write an NC-17 piece or two.
Oh, and at the end of the story, their will be an epilogue that takes place 18 years in the future of the prologue.