Don't like? Don't read, don't complain. Flames shall be used to roast marshmallows, thank you.
IMPORTANT MUST READ: I must apologize for what happened (grins sheepishly). In one of the many times I find myself playing with my account, I accidentally—I swear!—I deleted chapter II of this story, consequentially managing to mess every single chapter up seeing as the moved up one when I deleted number II, chapter III then taking its place and then moving everything up one, and—argh! A damn straight mess that became! So I had to delete every single bloody chapter and upload them yet again. So that's why you guys that have me (grins brightly) on their alert list received mails telling them that I had already posted another chapter and all that…incredible mess I found myself in ¬¬. Well, the point is, I posted every chapter once again, and let me tell you that some of them do indeed have major changes, since I always manage to proofread my backup over and over again, altering some little things and then some major things, so please, go and read chapter II and VI again, since they're the ones that have changed the most. You may also notice some slight differences in the resting chapters, but nothing heart-stopping, don't worry. Another thing, I don't know how many of you have read my bio as of late, but I am now posting warnings to those who have also read The Auror After Me, I shall be taking it down. I'm sorry, but it just has to happen. Also, I shall be changing my penname quite soon, so don't be surprised, ok? I already have my potential new name, but I need to see if it's not already on use.
That's all, thank you, and I apologize for the inconveniences )
The Feral Nattering of the Authoress: (Clears throat and begins a painful ramble of off-key singing)
Happy birthday to youuuuuu, happy birthday to youuuuu, happy birthday dear memooorryyyy, happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuu! Happy birthday to you, you were born in a zoooo, you act like a monkeeeyyy and you smell like one toooooo!
Lol, just kidding mem0ry. Hope you had a great birthday and that you will enjoy my rather…erm…late present (grins sheepishly). Sorry for not posting it earlier or on the exact date of your b-day (July 9th it is?)¸ but I hope you shall be able to forgive me, he-he. Remember that I'm the one who writes the stories!
Mem0ry?
What are you doing?
Lower the knife Mem0ry!
Lol.
Happy birthday.
For you, from me ).
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Ginny almost choked with her instant ramen as she tuned the WWN and the first thing she saw was Draco Malfoy's scowling face. She was about to switch it off—she obviously wasn't a masochist—but as she saw what the topic of conversation was on the interview, she settled back and watched as she whole show unravelled before her. She wanted to see in just how many ways Draco Malfoy could make an arse of himself.
"…I have absolutely nothing to say. I shall not waste my time clearing cheap feminist tricks that go against my person or my family. They are nothing more than that: cheap rumours created in the midst of a fierce desperation for attention, and let that be clear," he growled.
"Desperation for attention?"
"Hm, that actually rhymed, Malfoy," she said pensively. "I think I should give you some credit. That's quite an achievement you've managed there. But nah, I'm not you." She cheerfully continued eating her instantaneous dinner.
"But sir, we have received confirmation from the editor in chief of Witch Weekly that LG indeed has information that backs up her article, what do you have to say in that matter?" a reporter asked as he thrust another Spherecorder in Draco's direction.
"Damn right, uh huh," Ginny nodded emphatically, really anticipating the prick's response.
"Not a single sentence in that article can be legally proved, and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing more to say on that laughable and obviously false subject, next question, please," he said pleasantly.
"'Laughable and obviously false,' that's you alright," Ginny answered with narrowed eyes. Then she burst into hoots as Malfoy answered the next question with "no comments".
"Cat got your tongue, ferret? No, no, what was it again? Ah yes, the she-weasel. Immature arse," she scoffed as she absentmindedly rubbed her socked foot against her left leg. Then her feet crossed at the ankles as she comfortably propped them up on the low coffee table that had Witch Weekly opened up to her—LG's—most recent article and got comfortable.
A smirk appeared on his face as one of the many nameless reporters present asked him the "next question".
"I sincerely do hope that this…so-called journalist is prepared to face the repercussions this article is about to bring upon her. A magazine that possesses such a high-profile as Witch Weekly should not publish articles that nobody wants to read and that most definitely fall into tabloid category," he admonished with a raised eyebrow, staring straight into the lens of the Spherecorder.
"Hey!" Ginny cried out offended. "Tabloid? Bastard. And I mean it quite literally, mind you," Ginny interrupted herself with a giggle only to continue more heatedly. "And if nobody wants to read my articles why has Witch Weekly currently 'fallen' under the sold out 'category'? So there!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and pouting like a child; then went on to whoop out loud as the next reporter proceeded to point out just that to the slimy git.
"People are attracted to novelties, Mr.…?" He raised an inquiring eyebrow.
"Pardini, sir, Luciano Pardini."
"Ah, my dear mate Luciano," Ginny smiled. You could always count on him to have the greatest points. "Note to self: send our chum Luciano Pardini a bouquet of roses in acknowledgement for his brilliantness."
"Ah yes, Mr. Pardini, as I was saying, people shall always be attracted to novelties, there's this natural magnetism, but soon this LG fever will pass, and this woman and Witch Weekly will find themselves with more red numbers than they can handle," he replied in a bored fashion as he continued to drill through the reporters, his glinting, steely eyes boring through the minds of many there.
Ginny was saved another of her comments as she realized her house phone was ringing, and had been for quite some time.
With a yelp, she shot up from the couch, spilling her still scalding ramen all over herself.
"Merlin's balls on skates!" she hissed as she started waving her right hand frantically in an attempt to cool the injured spot.
She ignored the searing prickles of her burns as the phone continued with its persistent ringing and she tried to run all the way to her study…in socks. She realized her mistake too late, as she frantically slipped and saw the tiled floor coming closer and closer. With a tiny shriek of surprise she landed on her bum, with the phone still ringing annoyingly on the background.
"Aw, come off it!" she complained as she struggled to stand up, only to end up slipping yet again. "This isn't happening," she groaned.
And the blasted phone didn't stop ringing. Holding on to her furniture she finally managed to wobble up into a standing position.
Now, on to the phone mission.
Limping, bent over, and rubbing her hip, Ginny unsteadily made her way to her study, to where she kept the only house phone.
"Note to self: buy a dozen more of those. Call to install them as soon as possible," she muttered as she finally collapsed on her swivelling chair and lifted the receiver.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Could you please explain just why you answered the phone?" a bossy disembodied voice demanded from the other side of the line and Ginny inwardly groaned. Count on Gloria to have such a perfect timing.
"That would be because it was ringing?" Ginny responded before she could stop herself. She widened her eyes and covered her mouth with a slap as she realized just what she had said and to whom she had just said it.
"I'm sorry" Gloria claimed.
'Oooh, suck up time, Gin'
"Um, nothing, just the WWN acting up," Ginny covered. She nodded. 'Great save,' she congratulated herself.
"You're watching the WWN and you're still there? Just what kind of journalist do you consider yourself to be, Vicky?" Gloria snapped.
"Its Ginny," Ginevra corrected idly as she ran a hand through her hair and internally rolled her eyes.
Gloria didn't even acknowledge her comment. "Explain why you are not out there, asking the hell out of Draco Malfoy."
"What?"
"You heard me Gina, why aren't you one of those reporters that are lunging at him like bloodthirsty hounds? We need the note! It's about us, you know."
"It's not about us, it's about LG," Ginny talked back. "And its Ginny," she threw in as an afterthought.
"LG, us, what's the difference, really? She belongs to us you know," Gloria said snidely, just a touch of exasperation in her voice.
"She doesn't belong to anybody, Gloria, she's an independent writer, and does not take kindly to people claiming to own her," Ginny snapped angrily. "Besides, why the hell would I be there, of all places? I'm a journalist if you haven't noticed as of late, and journalists don't circle like vultures a.k.a. reporters around a person," Ginny claimed. "Not physically at least," she added smilingly. "There is a difference."
"I.don't.care. You better have an article by tomorrow Annie, or your career as a journalist will be over," Gloria punctuated her theory by slamming the phone.
Ginny furiously narrowed her eyes, glaring at the now beeping receiver, then took the phone machine ("It's GINNY, damn it! GINNY!"), swung it over her head and flung it with all her might against the back wall…
And her momentum sent her sprawling from her swivelling chair onto the floor, ending up in a groaning and cursing red heap on the floor, limbs at awkward angles.
"Damn it all."
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Harry walked with his head bowed, his hands shoved deep into his coat's pockets and a frown marking his brow. He was in terrible spirits, his mind a total disaster, feelings akimbo with a jumble of insecurities sprinkled here and there and then crowded there.
Not new.
He heaved a deep sigh, his footsteps echoing loudly against the deserted street. He was grateful for the solitude. After all, that was why he had stepped out of The Burrow for a couple of private minutes. It had been rowdy and crowded, as always, and he needed to think, to make up his mind on so many different things, in so many different levels, that he just needed to…walk.
Surprise, surprise.
The cold air usually managed to dissipate any kind of wariness, but tonight, tonight it only managed to sharpen his doubts and mangle the false sense of security he had managed to lull himself into for the last couple of months. But, but life went on, and he had to move along.
Alone or accompanied?
That was the question.
He sighed again.
Sighs seemed the only thing he had been living off for a couple of weeks now; at about the same time the doubts had decided to start nagging.
And he knew right now there was only one major decision that worried him in that instant. And, not surprisingly enough did have at least something to do with the inhabitants of that particular household, one in particular. One redhead.
He chuckled at his own redundancy but frowned at his way to wiggle out of the heavier decisions. Stepping around it would never take him anywhere, and he knew it, but there were just so many things that he needed to be sure of first and so many things to prove and… And the list would just go on and on, as it always did. He was just tired of it all, damn it.
"The major decisions will always be there, no matter how much you manoeuvre to step around them. Sooner or later they will loom before you, blocking you from avoiding them any longer and from going on with your life at all..."
Surprisingly, it had taken Ron—of all people—to utter these words to shake him off his denial and reluctance and face everything…and everyone.
No, not everyone.
Just her.
Only her.
Forever her.
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Blaise smirked as he settled back on his satin covered bed, his hands roaming—yet again—the body of a beautiful bimbo. They had just arrived and Blaise hadn't wasted any time, bringing the girl straight to the point…
And then the girl dipped in for a kiss.
Blaise barely had time to react as he turned his head just in time, to which the drunken girl ended up just giving him a delicious kiss to his neck.
Giggling, she straddled him. "Blaise!" she exclaimed playfully as she tried again to steal a kiss and once again failed.
"Ah ah ah!" Blaise chastised as he wagged his finger in front of her face. He smirked when she took that same finger into her mouth and started to suckle on it deliciously.
"No what?" she asked as she traced her fingers on his chest and leaned in to nibble on the sensitive flesh of his ear.
"No teasing," Blaise growled.
"Ah, no teasing." The brunette straightened up, still straddling him, and started unbuttoning her blouse slowly, barely revealing glimpses of tempting flesh. "No teasing then," she repeated as she finished her task and discarded the designer blouse into the faraway reigns of the floor.
-------
Blaise woke up with his body most exquisitely tangled with the brunette, trying to decipher just what had managed to awaken him. And then a telltale hum indicated that the automatic starting of the WWN had worked like every single evening and that it was running. Reluctantly he managed to decide which limbs belonged to him and got up from bed, throwing on a black silk robe on his way out.
No use scaring the hell out of the house elves.
He smirked at the thought.
The fall of the shadows confirmed indeed that eve had fallen and he headed straight for the kitchen, his bare feet cold against the black and green veined marble floor. As he served himself some orange laced with some of Ogden's best he unmistakably heard Draco's voice coming from the living room.
"So the boy does need some pleasant company after all, hm?" Blaise smirked to himself as he stated the double entendre and lithely walked towards the sound of Draco's voice.
"Changed your mind, little Dragon? Ready to come and play with Blaisey?" he purred seductively as he neared the living room.
"…cheap rumours created in the midst of a fierce desperation for attention, and let that be clear," Draco fiercely stated although it came out muffled as in the mahogany doors seemed to still linger a bit of the silencing spells he had cast earlier that day with the girl, and Blaise chuckled.
"Say what you say, Draco, you're the one who came. You came to me," Blaise answered, not quite going inside the room.
"Not a single sentence … can be legally proved, and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing more to say on that laughable and obviously false subject."
Blaise could laugh at the fierceness with which Draco was answering, but he held back, wanting to taunt him a bit more.
And it was then that he heard the other voices…
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Harry had made up his mind, and there was no going back. He had finally managed to step right in to the decisions, and to his surprise he had found it extremely easy. He couldn't believe he had avoided it for so long when everything had turned out so easy. This time he sighed with relief and some happiness as he headed back to The Burrow. No use in making Molly freak out over his absence. Although he had told Ron where he would be… With a warm smile he stepped into the equally warm and welcoming milieu.
Hermione was the first to stand up and go to him. She looked so radiant and happy with that sparkle in her eyes that Harry couldn't help but feel happy for her. He recently had started to notice that it seemed the girl had some kind of worry upon her, for there had always been a frown upon her face, just like there had been one on him just a few moments ago. He was relieved to find that he hadn't been the only one to be able to solve his problems.
"Harry! You finally came back! I need to talk to you," Hermione declared as she pulled Harry inside and took off his coat, the smile remaining on her face and going wider still as Harry answered her bashfully.
"I—I have to talk to you also."
"Great, let's go up to Ginny's room, we can have a bit more privacy up there," she answered as she took his hand and started a dash up the stairs, her laughter ringing up.
When they arrived she threw herself at Ginny's bed, apparently carefree of anything and everything.
"Wow, you certainly seem happy today, 'Mione," Harry observed, his smile remaining soft and his eyes distant as he thought about the object of his decision.
"Well, I most certainly am," she answered, her voice tinkling.
"Ah, yes?" Harry asked, eager to tell her his news.
"Harry…" Suddenly, a blush spread on Hermione's face and Harry finally focused his eyes on her, wondering what was happening.
"What's up, Hermione?"
"Harry, I—I—I…"
"Um?" Harry prompted.
"I—IthinkI'minlovewithyou," Hermione stuttered out in one jumbled sentence, her head ducked, her face beet red, and Harry just looked at her, his head tilted to the side, as if he hadn't just heard a love confession from one of his best friends.
"Say something," Hermione mumbled after several minutes, her fingers nervously playing with the bedspread's edge.
"You think," Harry said calmly, his gaze unwavering. He really didn't seem to comprehend what the hell was going, but then, Hermione nodded.
Damn it all.
----------------------------------------------------
Blaise frowned.
If he heard more voices it meant that there were more people inside.
Well, no shit, he thought.
"Draco?" he called out questioningly. Draco wouldn't have brought other people, would he? Not to Profundis Clamor, not to his estate!
"…Ah yes, Mr. Pardini, as I was saying, people shall always be attracted to novelties, there's this natural magnetism, but soon this LG fever will pass, and this woman and Witch Weekly will find themselves with more red numbers than they can handle…"
What?
Something smelled fishy in here, and Blaise was quite sure that if he smelled at all would be of the bimbo's expensive perfume, so no, it wasn't him. What was Draco up to, bringing strangers into his estate, knowing fully well what kind of things he preserved in his territories? He had to find out.
Hell, this was his house, he could just shove open the door and leave every freaking mystery behind and confront Draco.
Decided, Blaise shoved open the door…
To find himself in front of the three dimensional display of WWN.
Damn it all.
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"No," Harry declared as he stood up, erasing the now tentative smile from Hermione's face.
"What?"
"I said no. You're not in love with me, Herms; it's just…temporary confusion." He started pacing the room, inhaling Ginny's scent. Hell, why did she have to bring him to the room Ginny used to occupy of all places?
Ginny…
Hermione bit on her bottom lip, feeling as if she was about to cry. But then…but then bossiness can always win out in the end, and hell, she had been a bossy know it all for most of her years. "You call temporary five years!" she cried as she also stood up and walked straight in front of him. "I don't think so, Harry Potter, now, would you at least respond in some other appropriate way!"
"Like what?"
"Well, duh! An 'I love you also' could do for now," Hermione declared sarcastically.
"Hermione, you can't!"
"And just who do you think you are to go around telling me what I can and can't do, hm?" she emphasized with a poke at his chest.
"Hermione, I'm marrying Ginny! You can't, see?" Harry finally exploded as he explained and Hermione froze, her face draining of colour.
"Wh—what?"
"Yes," Harry said tiredly, sitting down on the edge of Ginny's bed. "I'm marrying her, I'm going to make her my wife, I'm going to take her as my eternal partner, and I'm going to love her every single day…"
"Stop, please stop," Hermione said as she whimpered slightly. "Why?" she managed to ask between tears.
"'Mione, listen, I thought Ron had already told you, since I had already commented something of the sort with his family and…"
"He did! He did tell!" Hermione yelled. "But I just thought…I…just thought that…oh gods, how stupid can I get?"
"Hermione, it's not your fault, things just happen, and I didn't mean to hurt you and…"
"Just shut up Harry," Hermione said as she tried to compose herself, her eyes about to spill again with crystal tears. "I'll be leaving now, and nothing of this ever happened. I never talked to you, and everything will be alright if we ignore this and…"
"'Mione, we can't ignore this, not now, not ever. If you are willing we can still be…"
"Don't even finish the sentence, for God's sake. Maybe later. Just not right now," she declared as she walked out of the room.
Hell! Who would've thought that Hermione of all people would just…?
"Oh, and congratulations by the way," she said bitingly as she poked her head back into the room.
Harry narrowed his eyes at the place where she had been just moments before and started cursing. He was marrying Ginny, and that was it.
Damn it all.
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Blaise stood there, his eyebrow arched in disbelief.
"Pathetic," he muttered grimly at himself and proceeded to take a seat of his comfortable leather sofas and sip from his spiked juice as he finished watching the interview and shutting off the program.
"I would say so, yes, very much," a voice drawled from behind him, and this time he chuckled.
"Why, you little bastard," Blaise said as he waited for Draco to enter the room.
"You were getting your hopes up, eh Zabini?" Draco smirked as he took a seat opposite from him.
"It's not too late to seek redemption, Dragon," Blaise answered suggestively and Draco outright laughed.
"Not a chance," he smirked and Blaise shrugged.
"It was worth a try."
"Sure as hell was."
Draco smirked and looked as Blaise finished off is juice.
"So, what you were going on about in the bloody interview?" Blaise asked as he rolled the ice cubes inside his glass.
"Ah, that? Nothing worth the bloody scandal, let me tell you," Draco answered nonchalantly, leaning back and getting comfortable.
"The 'so-called journalist' then, eh?" Blaise smirked over the edge of his glass as he took an ice cube from it.
Draco snorted and nodded. "Yes, the so-called journalist. Read her most recent…Blaise?" Draco elegantly arched an eyebrow as he questioned exactly what Blaise was doing with…the ice cube.
Rolling it all over his chest and neck, that's what.
"Hmm?" Blaise moaned.
Bloody hell.
Damn it all.
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Feral Nattering of the Authoress: Well, that sure turned out to be longer than expected…I thought I would only be able to type up four pages, and look at this, eleven already in Word! You should give me chocolate for this. Lots and lots of chocolate. P Thanx to all those who reviewed, really, they mean a lot to me. And once again I have to apologize for the late update, but as it is, I turned out to fail one semester of a class S, can you imagine? Quite pathetic. So now I am stuck with some tutoring sessions in some unknown classrooms up until the end of this month, can you believe that? Oh well, it did turn out to have a bright side, as I met this incredible girl who also loves anime and Harry Potter and drawing and fanfics and...Lol, you get my drift. But the bad thing that this potential-friend is not on my schedule of classes ( , yeah, I know, pathetic and sad. Oh well, life sucks, what's new?
ºgyn