Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling...no matter how bad I want to be sometimes.
Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I know I'm way over my freaking due date...again, but it isn't my fault! I swear it isn't! My phone got turned off and of course I went crazy without the internet. My mom just got it turned back on today, and I updated! Anywho, I'm still updating and will continue to do so until I finish this fic. Just don't give up on me! I'd like to thank all my faithful and/or new reviewers! Your reviews mean so much to me!
Enjoy the newest addition!
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Chapter 32: Not Quite There Yet
The roar of the crowd was deafening to Ginny's ears. She gazed at her best friend, who was currently busy searching for the face of the one and only Harry Potter. The scene was so familiar to her. All it needed was...
"And here comes the Slytherin's seeker, Draco Malfoy!"
Ginny winced painfully at the interruption of Colin Creevey's shrill, but mousy voice.
Draco smirked at all the screaming girls, who continued to call out his name. Yeah, he definitely still had It. Whatever It was.
Ginny rolled her eyes at the cocky look on her ex-boyfriend's face. It was apparent that he still held that over-confident ego of his. That was only one of the main reasons as to why he was so attractive.
Draco caught Ginny's eye and gave her a seductive wink. She looked away quickly, hiding the blush that stained her cheeks. 'Hmm, some things never do change,' Draco thought to himself with a smile.
Hermione grinned, nudging Gin's shoulder. "And what exactly was that?" she asked her still blushing friend.
"What was what?" asked Ginny hurriedly, acting ignorant.
Hermione laughed. "I'm not blind, Ginny. I saw that little gesture that was just exchanged between you and...Draco." Ugh, it still felt weird using Malfoy's first name in a sentence.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Hermione," Ginny denied stupidly. Good God, why couldn't that annoying little ferret just leave her the hell alone? Even though she liked it, that didn't mean she wanted everyone else knowing that she did.
"So...that whole thing where he winked at you, and you blushing madly in return from the chills that cursed through your body at that exact moment, was nothing, just our out of this world imagination?" Stephanie chimed in, taking her attention away from Harry, for the first time in the last ten minutes.
Ginny glared at her evilly. "You know, Steph, maybe I should reconsider accepting your apology."
Stephanie snickered. "Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing you. I wouldn't want you to scratch my eyes or anything. Meow," she joked.
Hermione giggled, and Ginny couldn't help but smile. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood lately, and life seemed okay...at the moment of course.
"And Ron Weasley blocks the quaffle for the fifteenth time today! This is going to be a close game, folks!" Colin shouted from his position in the booth overhead.
Hermione jumped up from her seat, cheering for her boyfriend.
"I don't think I've ever seen her this happy," Ginny observed, flicking her thumb towards the hyper brunette. Oh well, if her brother made her happy, then she was happy for 'em.
"It's probably got something to do with all the great sex she's been having with your brother." Stephanie grinned.
Ginny groaned in disgust. "I did not need to hear that, Stephanie!" she cried, slapping her on the arm.
"Ow! That bloody hurt, bitch!" Stephanie complained loudly.
Ginny stuck her tongue out childishly. "You deserved it."
"Whatever. Anyway," Stephanie winked at her,"don't knock it 'till you try it, hon."
Ginny smirked. "Oh, I didn't know that you and Harry were doing the nasty, the hokey pokey-"
"The hokey pokey?" Stephanie interrupted. "Where the hell did you hear that?"
"I heard it from you, you idiot," Ginny replied smartly.
"Again. Meow," she joked. "Besides, we aren't doing the nasty," Stephanie said, pouting.
"Oh well," Ginny shrugged, "I haven't in a long time."
"Really?" Stephanie was surprised. "That's so unlike Draco," she said, thinking how her cousin liked to have a really good time...all the time, "you know, going that long without a piece of ass."
"Yeah, I definitely didn't hear the hokey pokey thing from you," Ginny laughed. "Where the hell do you come up with all these weird phrases?"
"Muggle movies. Duh..."
"Oh my-Holy shit!" Ginny screamed, wide-eyed.
"What? What's wrong, Gin?" Stephanie asked worriedly.
"Potter and Malfoy are out cold! Looks like Goyle is being severely punished!" Colin shouted over the screams of horror, unknowingly answering Stephanie's question.
"What?" Stephanie screamed, outraged. "I can't believe that stupid son of a bitch knocked his own freaking teammate out!"
"What exactly happened, Hermione?" the red head asked the older girl as they jogged towards the pitch.
"Well," Hermione started in that disappointed tone of hers, "while you two were busy chatting it up about the hokey pokey," Stephanie snickered at this, "Draco and Harry were busy pursuing the snitch." She sighed wearily, then continued, "Goyle, being the idiot that we all know and despise, decided to try and knock Harry out of the way with his bludger, but that plan immediately backfired when Crabbe decided that he wanted to help out as well."
"So Crabbe knocked Draco out, and Goyle knocked Harry out," Ginny finished with a guess.
Hermione shook her head. "Just the opposite, actually. I mean, what did you expect from a couple of idiots like them?"
Stephanie snorted. "Proves just how stupid they really are. Merlin, what a couple of dumbasses. I swear, they're the kind of people that give Slytherin a bad name."
Ginny nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right about the dumbass part anyway."
Stephanie glared at her.
"Ron, what is it?" The girls looked up to see Ron running towards them, shaking with unsuppressed laughter.
"What the hell is so funny, Ron?" Ginny demanded. How could her brother be laughing at a time like this? "Draco and Harry were just knocked out, probably in a damn coma or something, and you're laughing about it?" she asked in disbelief.
Ron laughed even harder.
"Ron!" Hermione reprimanded him.
It was no use. He just kept on laughing. "I'm so-sorry, Mi-Mione, but I-I can't help it," Ron breathed in between snorts, holding his side in pain.
Stephanie held her hand up, ceasing Hermione and Ginny from saying anything else. "Don't worry, I'll handle this." She walked over to Ron and smacked him upside the head. Hard.
"Oi! What the bloody hell was that for?" Ron cried out, holding his head in pain.
Now Ginny and Hermione were the ones laughing.
Stephanie looked at him as if he were an idiot. "I hit you, because you wouldn't stop laughing, and we were trying to ask you something."
Ron gazed at her blankly. "So...what about it?"
Ginny stomped her foot, getting impatient. "Oh don't be daft, Ron! What the hell were you laughing about?"
"Oh, right!" Ron said with excitement. "Well, you know how Harry and Malfoy were both knocked out from that bludger?"
The girls nodded, all of them with confused looks on their faces.
"Well, when Madame Pomfrey went to put the both of them on the stretchers..."
"Well?" Stephanie screeched.
"They were both holding hands!" Ron announced, breaking out into hysterics again.
"What?" Stephanie croaked out. "You're telling me that my boyfriend and my cousin were holding hands?" she asked, horrified.
"Yes!" Ron screamed, all excited.
Ginny grimaced. "Eww, thats disgusting. Why the hell are you acting all happy about it?" she asked her brother in shock. You'd think that he'd be disgusted like the rest of them.
Ron's smile turned into a disgusted frown. "Ugh, not like that, Ginny! And you call me daft!"
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"You were the one making it out to be that way, Ron," Ginny defended.
"Okay. Then why the hell were they holding hands?" demanded Stephanie, hands on her hips.
"Don't you get it?" Hermione started, an alarm sounding in her brain. "They both caught the snitch!" she screamed, understanding now why her boyfriend was so ecstatic.
"And we've just got word that both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were both holding the snitch!" Colin informed the crowd in shock. "Even so, Gryffindor still wins with their extra 150 points!" Colin raved through the magically inclined microphone, confirming Hermione's words.
Hermione squealed happily, jumping into Ron's manly arms, almost knocking him over. Ron gladly obliged.
Ginny and Stephanie exchanged grins, but quickly turned back to Ron with worried looks.
"How are Draco and Harry doing?" Stephanie asked, voicing Ginny's concerns as well.
"They're both fine," Ron responded, making most of their worries disappear for the moment. "They both had a few broken bones and they'll probably be sleepin for a couple of hours, but it's nothing that Madame Pomfrey can't cure."
"Good, that's good," said Hermione, thinking things could be much worse.
"Yeah, good," Ginny agreed quietly. "Maybe we should go and make sure, you know, just to see if they're okay," she offered, hoping that they didn't see through her cover story. She was still concerned for Draco, no matter what happened between the two of them.
"Sure thing, Gin," Ron replied. "I wanna make sure that Harry's alright for myself, but I think I need to go take a shower first. I'll only be a few minutes," he reassured.
"Might wanna take more than a few minutes," Stephanie mumbled, knowing that he could hear her, or better yet, making sure he could.
Hermione crinkled her nose in a fake grimace. "Yeah, you do kind of stink," she teased, avoiding her boyfriend's hands that were determined to tickle her.
Ron laughed, then leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Well, you could come and help me clean up," he growled lightly, pulling her against his lean body.
Hermione smiled, blushing lightly. "Maybe next time," she squeaked in embarrassment.
"Alright," he groaned in disappointment, stepping away to take a cold shower.
"Have fun with your hand!" Stephanie called out after him.
Ron just replied with a rude hand gesture.
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"Oh, look, sunshine's finally waking up!" Stephanie piped, poking Ginny in the shoulder. "Look. Look, Ginny!"
"What?" Ginny slapped her finger away. "Would you quit with the incessant poking already?" Ginny cried in annoyance.
The first thing that Draco saw was his cousin's face, only a few mere inches away from his. What a way to wake up.
"Good morning, sunshine! The world wants to say hi!" Stephanie chimed. She couldn't help being in a perky mood. Her cousin and good-looking, handsome, sexy boyfriend of hers caught the snitch...together, for the first time.
"Am I in Hell?" Draco groaned, holding his aching head in his hands.
"Here," Ginny handed him a vial filled with a potion of some sort, "drink this. It tastes pretty foul, but it'll do wonders for that headache of yours."
"Oh Merlin, it is hell," he said, making a disgusted face after taking the potion. "It did cure my headache though, so thank you," Draco told Ginny, giving her a weird look.
"You're welcome," Ginny replied, avoiding his searching grey-blue eyes.
"Yay, you're finally feeling better!" Stephanie grinned at Draco happily.
"What the hell are you on?" Draco asked, really wondering what the hell his cousin was on. What else could explain the weird mood swings?
Stephanie didn't answer, she was too busy staring at the comatose Harry.
Ginny smiled. "You've got one big bump right there," she said, tapping Draco on the head lightly.
Draco winced in pain. "It's still sore, you know."
"Oh God, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" she asked him worriedly, putting her dainty hands on both sides of his chiseled face.
"No, I'm fine," he smirked.
Stephanie rolled her eyes at the both of them, then walked towards Ron and Hermione, who were currently sitting by Harry's beside, who had yet to wake up.
"Is there something wrong with him?" Stephanie asked Madame Pomfrey, who was currently busying herself to make Harry as comfortable as possible. "Why isn't he waking up?"
"Don't worry, dear. He's perfectly fine," the nurse assured. "Probably all the stress as of late has made him very tired."
Stephanie nodded in understanding, satisfied with her answer.
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"What are you smirking about?" Ginny asked Draco with a smile of her own.
He shook his head. "Nothing," he denied.
"Right," she said, doubtful. "Cause you're always smirking about nothing," Ginny said sarcastically, throwing up her hair in a ponytail. For some reason, the temperature had risen about ten degrees in the last five minutes.
"Its just," he sighed, "I can't believe that after everything I've put you through, you still care about me," Draco said in disbelief. He could tell that she still cared about him just by the way she acted.
"You know, you're still one cocky son of a bitch," Ginny said angrily. She couldn't believe that he had the nerve to say something like that.
"What? Wait a minute, what the hell did I do?" he asked, truly confused.
Ginny moved around his bed, cleaning up any piece of trash she could find, so she didn't have to look at him while she talked. "Like you just said, after everything you've put me through...After everything you've put me through! You shouldn't even have the nerve to say something like that. Especially to me!" she exclaimed.
Draco hung his head, so she couldn't see his reaction to her words. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "This is all new to me, Ginny. I'm trying, alright?" Draco told her, a desperate note in his voice. He wished that he could take back every mean thing he'd ever said to her. Hell, he wished he could erase the past couple of months as far as that goes.
The grim expression that graced her features softened at the truth in his words. "I know you're trying, Draco. And I'm happy, because you are," Ginny replied softly.
"Thanks," Draco said, giving her a small smile. His face fell again though, as soon as he thought about how much of an idiot he was just a few minutes ago.
"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing the immediate change in him.
"I really am sorry, Gin," he said truthfully, hoping that she knew he was apologizing for alot more than what had just happened.
"I know you are," Ginny whispered, gazing at him longingly. "You know that I still care about you, Draco," she began, tears forming in her bright brown eyes. "How could you even doubt that?"
"I don't know," he replied. "But I'm glad that I did doubt it, otherwise I wouldn't have found out for sure," Draco said bluntly. Hey, he wasn't about to lie to her.
A tear ran down her face and she turned away, praying that he didn't see it. She hated it when anyone saw her cry, especially him. Come to think of it, she'd been crying alot lately.
"Luv, please don't cry," Draco pleaded, grabbing her and wiping away her tears with his thumb.
'Well, there goes that prayer,' Ginny thought.
"Ginny, I-" Draco stopped, only to stare deeply into her eyes.
"Yes, Draco?" she asked softly, chills running up and down her spine. And they weren't the kind of chills you get when you felt like something creepy was about to happen. They were the kind of chills you get when you're in love, and the kind you get when the butterflies' continue to fly so high they end up in your throat.
"I just wanted to tell you that-"
"HARRY'S AWAKE!" squealed a loud, obnoxious voice.
Draco groaned inwardly. 'Damnit, Steph, why do you always have to ruin it?'
Ginny gave him a small smile, despite the fact that she wanted to scream and beat the shit out of her lovely ex best friend. "I'll be right back, okay? I need to go check on Harry and see how he's doing," she told him.
"Right, of course," replied Draco, clearing his throat awkwardly. 'Why the hell did I have to open my big ass mouth?' he cursed silently.
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"Why am I in the bloody hospital wing?" Harry moaned, wincing from the bright light.
"You got hit in the head with a bludger, Harry," the predictable Hermione answered.
"Oh shit! The Quidditch game!" Harry yelled frantically, remembering everything. Well, mostly everything. "What happened?" he demanded, still freaking out.
"Chill, Potter!" Stephanie screamed, getting her boyfriend's attention. Good Merlin, he looked damn sexy when he freaked out.
Harry smiled at her, forgetting about the game for the moment. "Stephanie," he greeted her happily.
Ginny snorted in amusement. And to think, she was just as smitten with Harry only a couple of years ago. 'Ugh,' Ginny shivered at the thought.
"We won the match, mate!" Ron informed his best friend, slapping him on the back.
"We won?" Harry seemed shocked. "We won! Woohoo!" he screamed, jumping out of his bed in excitement, pulling Stephanie in for a kiss. "Now that was definitely the best congratulation present," Harry said, grinning.
Ginny turned her eyes away from the happy scene. Why couldn't she be happy with someone? Why did it always have to work out for Ron and Hermione, and Stephanie and Harry, but not her? If it could work for them, the why couldn't it work for her and Dra- 'No, Ginny! Don't think about him! It's over between the two of you. It can't work!' Ginny told herself harshly.
Little did she know that it was far from over between the two of them.
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"Blaise," Draco nodded to his dark-haired friend in acknowledgement.
"Draco," Blaise greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Draco asked his fellow Slytherin.
Blaise smirked. "Can't a bloke come see his best mate after he gets his ass kicked by a big ball without being interrogated?"
Draco sneered, giving him the finger.
"That's not the response I was looking for, but it'll do," he joked.
Draco glared at him evilly.
Blaise held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, dude. Hey, it's not like it was your fault or anything," he said.
"Yeah, I kind of got that," said Draco, giving him the, 'Do I look like a complete idiot to you?' look.
"You really want me to answer that," Blaise grinned, knowing his best friend too well. He'd been given that look too many times, not to know what it meant.
"Is your goal in life to annoy me to death?" Draco asked wearily. "Cause if it is, then I'm pretty sure it's not going to work. I mean, it hasn't worked with Stephanie, so it's not going to work with you."
"Damn," Blaise cursed. "And I was hoping that you'd hurry up and just die," he continued, knowing this would grate on Draco's nerves even more.
Draco stayed quiet, picked up a book from the bedside table and pretended to read.
"So, how do you feel about being just as great as The Harry Potter?" Blaise asked him with a grin, figuring that it was no use to annoy him any further.
Draco gave him a blank look. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't you know?" Blaise asked, confused. How could he not know? This was one of the greatest things that could possibly ever happen to him and he didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.
"Know what?" Draco asked, beginning to get a little impatient.
"About you and Potter?" he continued, saying as little as possible. Like he was going to pass up the opportunity to annoy him again.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Draco asked slowly through gritted teeth. Trying to get an answer out of Blaise was like trying to tell Ginny how he really felt about her. Impossible.
Yeah, so maybe little was understatement when it came to Draco being impatient.
"Merlin, what the hell is wrong with you, Draco?" Stephanie asked her older cousin. Of course she had to come over and see what all the drama was about.
"Smartass," Draco began, pointing his finger at Blaise, "won't tell me what the hell he's talking about. He said something about me and...and Potter," he said as if he'd just tasted something foul. He seemed to do that alot when it came to talking about Potter.
"Oh yeah!" Stephanie exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Madame Pomfrey and Madame Hooch found you and Harry holding hands after you both fell."
"WHAT?" Draco and Harry yelled in unison. Draco looked like he was going to toss his cookies everywhere and Harry was currently wishing that he hadn't overheard, well actually, he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Not like in a gay way or anything," she assured. "Both of you were found holding on to the snitch!" she told them happily, hoping that this was good news for the both of him. Well, she knew that Draco would be ecstatic.
Draco appeared to be in a state of shock. The very last game of Quidditch that he'd ever play at Hogwarts, and he was finally considered to be just as good and talented as Harry Potter.
"Congratulations, Malfoy," Harry said, holding out his hand.
Draco hadn't even noticed the boy walk over to him. He slowly looked down at Potter's hand. Should he shake it? If he did, it might mean something like they were calling some sort of truce between them and he didn't know how to feel about that. Potter had been his number one enemy for the last seven years.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing to take notice of the unbelievable event that was about to unfold.
Ginny caught Draco's eye and gave him an encouraging smile. This was the first time that she'd seen him so emotionless as of late. He was trying his damndest to not let anyone see how he was feeling or what he was thinking at that particular moment.
Draco felt a familiar warm feeling spread throughout his entire body at the sight of Ginny's smile. If she could be happy with this, then he could learn to live with it. "Thanks, Potter," he responded with a smirk, shaking the raven-haired boy's hand. "Congratulations to you as well."
Harry gave him a little smirk that would rival his own. "Thanks, Malfoy."
Ron and Blaise watched the scene with a look that crossed somewhere in between disgust and amazement at what their best friends were doing.
Stephanie grinned. Seeing her boyfriend and cousin in this kind of situation was priceless, a definite Kodak moment. She really wished that she had a camera. Damn, where's Creevey when you need him? 'Oh well, maybe now they'll stop trying to kill each other.' She shook her head, 'Nah.'
"You do realize that you just actually touched Malfoy's hand," Ron told Harry after he sat back down on his bed. "Again," he added hurriedly. "For the second time today. Twice in a twenty-four hour period," he continued. "And-"
"Ron," Harry interrupted, laughing slightly at his best friend's behavior. "I think I get the picture now."
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Ron apologized sheepishly. He leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear. "This doesn't mean that we all have to be friends now, does it?" he asked her hopefully.
Hermione snorted. "Do pigs fly, Ron?"
"What?" Ron asked stupidly.
"Nevermind, that was a stupid example," she laughed. "No, we don't have to be friends with him."
Ron breathed a big sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin. I can hardly handle the fact that he dated," he practically spat the word, "my little sister," Ginny stuck her tongue out at this, "but the thought of being actual friends with the ferret is, well, its...Ugh."
"Don't worry, Weasel, that'll never happen," Draco promised him.
"Good," Harry, Ron, and Blaise chimed in response.
Draco looked over to Blaise. "Why's that a good thing for you?" he asked him curiously.
"Cause then I'd have to hang out with the idiots," Blaise replied. "Of course, I do hang out with you, so now that I think about it, I guess it really doesn't matter."
"Hey, I resent that! I am definitely not like Malfoy!" Ron defended.
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"Have you studied?" Stephanie asked.
"For what?" Harry questioned, a puzzled look gracing his handsome features.
"The Newts. Duh," she replied, giving him a look that was usually saved for Ron.
Harry shrugged. "No, not really. I mean, what's the point, you know?"
Stephanie glared at him. "No, I don't know. Why don't you explain it to me?" she requested, eyebrow raised.
Harry gulped. He knew exactly what that tone in her voice was, and unfortunately, it was called anger. He definitely didn't like it when she was angry with him, of course she was sexy when she yelled at him, but the girl could give Voldemort a run for his...magic. "Well, I just meant that what with everything that's going on, there isn't really much of a point, is there?" he asked, wording his explanation very carefully.
"UGH!" Stephanie screamed in frustration.
Harry slowly backed away from her, feeling a little terrified from her outburst.
"You know," she began, her voice dangerously low, "I wish Hermione could've heard what just came out of your mouth, cause if she had, she would've THROWN A BOOK AT YOUR HEAD!" Stephanie said, screaming louder.
Harry just stood there as stiff as a board.
"How could you say something like that, Harry?" she asked him, tearing up a bit. 'Merlin, I must me PMSing, cause I don't ever get emotionally unstable this easily,' she thought to herself. "I mean, we've been through this before," she went to him, forcefully pulling his face down to hers. "As long as I'm alive, you won't die!" Stephanie cried. "You won't, do you hear me? I love you too much to let something like that happen."
Harry nodded, dumbstruck.
"You're going to get Outstanding in everything that you do and you're going to become whatever you want to become," she told him, more determined than ever.
"Okay, I will." Harry grinned, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips. "I love you, too."
Stephanie smiled, lightly punching him on the shoulder. "Good, then go study if you love me so much, okay?"
"Yes, Captain," Harry saluted.
"Haha, not funny."
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"Oh my God! Oh my God!"
"Holy shit, I think Hermione's hyper-hyper-hypersomething!" Ginny yelled.
"What? What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, worried. He looked over to see his girlfriend with a hand over her chest, breathing in short gasps, her face beet red from lack of oxygen.
Ginny winced, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Oh, Merlin, I'm such an idiot! I reminded her that you were taking the Newts tomorrow."
"Ginny, are you mental?" Ron cried. "Why would you need to remind someone like Hermione that the Newts were tomorrow? You know how stressed out she already is!" He ran over to Hermione and tried to calm her down with his soothing words.
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Harry asked Ginny. He'd just gotten back from the library, finally getting bored with the last minute cramming session. He was pretty sure that if it was possible, his brain would be hurting from all the boring information that he never bothered to listen to in class.
"I said something about the fact that the Newts were tomorrow, and she just started freaking out on me," Ginny replied.
Harry grimaced. "Yeah, that probably wasn't such a good idea."
Ginny glared at him. "Naw, you think?" she asked sarcastically.
Ron had finally gotten Hermione to calm down, and he'd even convinced her to go take a little nap, saying, 'Hermione, your brain will function better and you'll be able to learn more if you just let it rest for a bit.' Yeah, that actually seemed to work.
"Is she alright?" Ginny asked her brother, watching Hermione trudge wearily up the stairs. She was afraid that she might fall over from exhaustion, so she breathed a sigh of relief when the older girl reached the top.
Ron nodded. "Yeah, she'll be fine. She asked me if I could get you to do her a favor by running to the library real quick and getting a Newts preparation book for her." He rolled his eyes. "As if she needs it, she's already got like fifty."
"Sure," the younger redhead replied. "It's the least I could do."
"Thanks, Gin. I really didn't feel like going back for the tenth time today," Ron said tiredly.
Ginny smiled. "It's no problem. But you might want to take your own advice and go get some sleep," she advised, seeing how tired both of the boys were. "You too, Harry."
Harry shrugged. "Definitely sounds like a good idea to me."
Ron nodded in agreement. "Hell yeah."
"Alright, I'll see you two later," Ginny said, waving bye before heading to the portrait.
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"Where the hell is it?" Ginny cursed softly.
"Whatcha looking for?" Draco breathed in Ginny's ear.
Ginny squealed, jumping ten feet in the air, bumping her head with Draco's in the process. "Don't do that!"
"Bloody hell, Ginny," Draco growled, rubbing his head. "You do remember that I was in an accident a few days ago, right?"
Ginny smirked. "Serves you right, jackass. That should teach you to stop sneaking up on people, although, it probably won't," she teased him.
Draco cocked one of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows and grinned at her. "Yeah, serves me right."
Ginny felt his grey eyes roam over the entire length of her body and she smiled. At least she knew that he still wanted her. "What are you looking at?" she asked playfully. Good Lord, was she actually, dare say it, flirting with him?
"You," Draco answered bluntly.
Ginny blinked in shock, not expecting that kind of answer. She hated the fact that her body burned with desire with just one look from him. "Oh," she squeaked. 'Great reply, Gin,' she told herself sardonically.
"What would you do if I kissed you right now?" Draco whispered, his face inching closer to hers.
"I, uh, you-" she stuttered, then stopped to consider the situation she was currently in. Draco had one hand propped up against the bookshelf, which was the onlything that was holding her up at the moment, and his other hand was resting against her hip. She could practically feel the heat from his hand seeping through her low-cut jeans.
"Was that a yes?" he asked, getting closer every second.
"Um, it was a," she continued to stammer, andherbody started shaking the closer he got.
"Ginny..." Draco said softly, as if questioning her for her permission.
Suddenly, Ginny shook her head, a determined look on her face. "No, Draco," she told him firmly.
"No?" Draco asked, confused.
"No, I'm sorry. I just can't do this right now," Ginny croaked, tears forming in her eyes. She pushed him away, then took off down another aisle. God, why did things always have to end this way?
Draco angrily swiped away the stray tear that had escaped. "Damnit!" he screamed, punching the shelf with his fist to ease the pain.
---------
"Where have you been?"
"The library. Duh."
"For three hours?" Ron asked, looking at the clock that hung above the fireplace.
Ginny nodded. "Yep, that's right."
"Well?" Ron held out his hand, expecting something from her.
"Oh, right," Ginny said, then handed him the book that she'd just happened to find right after she escaped.
Ron gave her a weird look. "Are you okay, Ginny?"
"I'm fine, perfectly fine," she answered, unconvincingly.
"Okay," he said, doubtful. "Maybe you should go get some sleep," he told her, giving her the same advice she'd given him only a few hours before.
Ginny gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I think I'll go do that right now."
"Okay, I'll see you in a few," Ron said.
Ginny practically ran up the stairs and into her dorm room. She fell face down on the bed, soaking her pillow with tears.
Would she ever get her happy ending?
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A/N: So was it good, great, or awesome? Well, I hope it was one of the three. Don't worry, the next chapter will be out soon, probably within the next two weeks, cause it's already in the works! Yeah, I know that I said there was only two more chapters left, but I changed it. There's the next chapter and THEN the last chapter. Yep, that's right folks, this story will soon have an ending. Of course, we still have the sequel to think about. That is, if you all want a sequel? Review and tell me what you think!
LilyK