Chapter Six: Darling give me your absence tonight
At 1:00 as always Draco scanned the corridors and found her on the fifth floor walking aimlessly, observing the paintings while she swept by. She heard him coming and turned when he was just a foot away.
"Malfoy what are you playing at?" She asked, apparently not so in shock as the night before.
"I was going to ask the same thing of you, but obviously you really can't help yourself." He continued to close the distance between them.
"What do you mean I can't help myself, and what was last night about anyway? Do you always lure things into your room at night?" She seemed angry but still very tired.
"I already told you Weasley, you need to sleep, now come on."
"Come on?" she looked at him incredulously. "You just expect me to follow you to your room?"
"You're right. Last night was much easier." He watched her eyes widen in understanding as Draco bent swiftly to put one hand on her back and the other behind her knees and sweep her off her feet.
"WHA..!" Ginny squeeked, "Malfoy put me down right now!" She hissed trying to stay quiet.
"I wouldn't have to do this if you'd just be a good little Gryffindor and crawl into bed like the rest of us normal people."
"Why do you care if I sleep or not?" She had quit struggling as his grip on her was too strong and it was tiring her out. Draco ignored the question. "You know if you're going to continue to assault me every night then maybe I'll just stay in my dormitory, since you seem so oddly concerned about my sleeping habits."
"You have no sleeping habits Weasley, merely waking ones." He replied, shifting her weight slightly while they climbed down their second flight of stairs. Ginny knew she was lying anyway; she couldn't stay awake if she was enclosed in such a small space as the dorms or the common room.
"If you really insist on being difficult then I may have to escort you straight after dinner and make sure you get there. Not that you'll stay there." he said. They were on the second floor now, much closer to the dungeons and his room, but he seemed to be carrying her effortlessly.
"Oh I'm sure that would go over well," She pouted, realizing that she was helpless as to what she did at night anymore. It seemed odd that he could take that power away so easily but if she told anyone they would make her go to bed or at least stay in the tower and she'd have to rat them both out for being out past curfew.
"Come on Malfoy this still doesn't make sense. Am I hurting you in some way by staying out so late? Why not just give me detention?" Ginny was genuinely curious but he ignored her again. They reached his Portrait in silence and he whispered the password for it to open. He carried her in and this time set her down on her feet. He whispered a locking charm on his door and Ginny looked at him questioningly, hoping to get a real answer but Draco merely raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What exactly do you want?" like she shouldn't be interested in why her nighttime fate was now resigned over to him.
He went into the bathroom as before to change into his own pajamas and Ginny noticed that the silk ones from the previous night were folded and laid out on the pillows waiting for her. She let out a short bark of laughter upon seeing them and then sighed and began to change.
"Do I no longer get to brush my teeth?" She asked when Draco had come back in, without a shirt on again much to her chagrin- why though she did not know.
"I suggest you bring it with you next time," he said, infuriatingly sensibly. "Goodnight Weasley." He said and clapped his hands leaving her standing in the dark and feeling completely stupid like she should know what was going on. Suddenly very angry Ginny flopped on the bed and hoped in vain that she either talked in her sleep or snored really loudly.
And so it carried on like this, the next night he had found her out on the grounds, though how he knew where to go she couldn't fathom. The night after, they had had an honest to goodness chase through the castle till she was trapped and Draco had hauled her over his shoulder to top off the whole ridiculous affair.
After that Ginny took his advice and not only did she bring her toothbrush but an assortment of other toiletries so she could stop skipping breakfast or being late for class just to get a brush through her hair. Every night her pajamas (funny how she now had her own designated pair) were folded on the pillow and it had come to the point where she was through with the embarrassment of being carried every time. So on this evening, almost a week later, there was an awkward…thing in the air because she was actually walking voluntarily and this meant they had to walk together.