Chapter 5- "Hearts of a Different Color"
The next day was okay for some. Ginny hadn't speaking to both boys. Blaise, who didn't want to insult anyone, sat at the Hufflepuff table. He wasn't welcome at the Ravenclaw table nor should he sit at Gryffindor and Slytherin. Draco just sat not saying a word. Natalie, strangely, had been crying more than usual.
One day as Blaise was showing some Hufflepuff boys how to put a bomb in the bathroom and how to make it went off after you left, he felt someone sit beside him and in front of him.
He looked up and saw Draco in front of him and Ginny beside him. "What is up with you? You can sit at Gryffindor table. They are just starting to accept you there." Ginny looked as though she had been crying.
Draco added roughly, "Or with Slytherin. Where you belong." Both sat content on having him move from the spot.
"No," Blaise stared at Ginny. "Why were you crying?"
"I am not crying?" She tried to trick him into avoided the question.
"You were," Blaise glanced angrily at Draco for a second.
"I hurt my back again and my cut opened." She stared back at him. She turned her gaze to the boy she was avoiding. He stared at her with his silver eyes gleaming at her. She turned to Blaise and whispered something in his ear. When she did so he immediately stood up and walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ginny followed suite and had a mischievous grin on her face. Draco got up and followed closely behind Ginny. He turned to go to the Slytherin table. When Blaise sat down he glared at Ginny.
"Give me that look once more and it won't be a threat it will be a promise." She stared intently at him.
"So Ginny," he began loudly, "have you told Draco about your new dr-" Ginny stood up before he finished. Her eyes fluttering with tears. Natalie, Amber, and Hermione looked at Blaise with anger in their eyes.
Hermione and Natalie ran after her. Amber stayed. "She was joking you know, it wasn't a threat. She wouldn't start that rumor about you. She only said it because Natalie thought you wanted to break up with her because you never came to visit her. She just wanted you to come and visit. Ginny wanted you to explain things to Natalie." Amber's eyes shown with a brilliant look of hatred. "Unless you were too thick to notice, but she has been crying, Ginny has. Her and that mutant got into a fight because you were the only one who cared enough to help her yesterday. She was angry and so was he. But she was also hurt. He was just angry. Making her re-live the experience isn't even Slytherin low. You were probably the only who knew how she felt."
"Shove it Amber, you don't have a say in this." Draco apparently came when he saw Ginny leave. He came to Blaise's defense.
"Let her continue Draco." Blaise was interested in how Amber knew how everyone felt.
"Thank you. Ginny has never been able to fully trust someone. She wanted someone who knew EVERY aspect of her life. You did, maybe not all her life stories, but you knew what she wanted you to. You never asked questions. For you to defile her trust like that makes me sick." She turned to Draco. By now everyone was looking. Snape stood up as did McGonagall, but no one stopped the fight. "You, you prick. She always trusted you. But you always have to screw with her. Well guess what? If you come within 10 feet of her, your parents will need another kid, because I will see to it you can't produce any heirs." She opened her mouth to continue but Ginny came through the open doorway and grabbed her arm.
"Lets go." Ginny said in a deadly whisper.
"No. They both hurt you." Amber wouldn't move. Both boys were staring at Ginny who still hadn't stopped crying.
"You need to know something. Lets go." Ginny pulled out of the Great Hall. When they left Blaise ran after them, but Draco followed him. Draco and Blaise rounded the corner to find three girls standing; one was sitting, looking in a box. Ginny was crying and Natalie was sniffling. Hermione and Amber shot glares at the boys. When Ginny saw the boys she stood up, forgetting the parcel that was on her lap. Her eyes were puffy. The parcel fell to the floor. Its contents were a long red dress with golden trimmings and golden lace around the V-shape collar. The sleeves were long and match the lovely red of the dress. The reds on the dress were different shades and they swirled around the dress giving the impression they moved and the dress moved. There were shoes to match them. As the whole box toppled, Natalie ran over to Blaise and looked at him scolding him.
"You are just-" Before she finished he pulled her into an embrace.
"First of all, you dummy. I didn't want to sit at either Slytherin or Gryffindor table because of Ginny and Draco not speaking to one another. And since I am not a fan at Ravenclaw table I went to Hufflepuff." He kissed her serenely on the head.
Draco was looking at the floor. He was staring at an earring that had fallen and rolled over from the parcel box. It was a silver snake eating a red ruby. Ginny, after picking everything up, walked over to Draco.
"You wouldn't help me. You wouldn't look at me. You didn't even have the decency to ask how I was." Her eyes were stained with tears. She stared at him waiting for a response. When he gave no comment she continued. "Your silence makes me think even worse about you. You can just stay out of my life were you belong."
She turned to walk away. As she did so she felt someone grab her arm and pull her around on the spot. She had felt this once before on Christmas Eve. When she turned she saw Draco and his hand was out-stretched. In his palm there was one of her earrings.
"If I am to leave your life then, know this. Malfoys never comes crawling back to someone." Ginny's eyes resumed their wetness. Draco continued. "I don't think you're pretty. I don't want to be with you and when you leave I wont cry."
Ginny turned, as she was about to run away, but felt his hand on her arm swing her around for something more. "Enough Malfoy, I know what you want to say you don't need to continue. You have said enough."
"Yes I do." Draco's eyes shone with tinted amber coloring. "Let me explain things to you Ginerva Weasley. I am not coming crawling back, I am begging with my heart. I don't think you are pretty because I think you are beautiful. Being with you is a need for me. And if you left I would die."
She felt a smile form on her face. She turned to her friends each with looks telling her 'If you don't kiss him I will.'
"If you break my heart again Malfoy I will be the one to make sure you can't have kids." Ginny let the humor in her voice come out. She stared at him waiting, hoping for an answer.
"Wouldn't think about it, love." He pulled her into a kiss. As he did so he heard movement by the stairs, but took it as the girls leaving. He didn't question what he heard until he heard a boy's voice call out in strain.
"Ginny, I am happy for you and all, but please take your snogging session somewhere else. Even though Potter and I are strong Weasley is going to tear us apart." Blaise was very serious when he said this.
Ginny and Draco turned around to see Ron trying to get over to them. They laughed when they saw that Blaise was practically on the floor with his hands around Ron's waist. They couldn't help, but laugh.
"Think it is funny do you? You won't think it is funny when I pound you Malfoy." Ron was gasped for breath. Harry, unknowingly, hand put his arm around Ron's neck to stop him, but ended up choking him. Lavender was laughing her heart out next to him. She was staring at her boyfriend thinking 'Wow.'
"Ron calm down." Ginny couldn't suppress her laughter.
"No," he was turning blue
"Calm down or we'll elope Weasley." Draco looked at him when he said this but had to look away. He wanted to hide his true smile for one person. When he looked back Blaise was on the floor with a look of pride towards Draco. Ron was sitting pondering if he was lying and Harry had collapsed on the spot too tired to think. Ginny glanced at Draco and saw him shaking his head.
"Can we explain?" Ginny pleaded
"Get it over with." Ron was sitting on a couch in the Room of Requirements. He was staring at Draco who was sitting next to Ginny. When Draco noticed Ron staring at the two of them he put his hand around Ginny. Ron flared.
"Where should they begin?" Blaise asked prodding Ron's bruised neck with his wand to heal it.
"Start in the library." Amber knew the whole story. The library was her favorite part. Her sister Emily nodded in agreement.
"What time in the library? The one where we made the bet, the one where I fell asleep, or the one where we met Sir Nicholas?" Ginny's eyes fell to the floor as people around her gaped at her.
"No, start where you taught his levitating spells." Lavender chimed in.
"YOU KNEW," Ron was on full rage. "Can't believe you people."
"Shut up. Lavender may be a huge gossip, but since she is going out with you she cut me some slack and kept her mouth shut." Ginny scowled.
"Just get on with it." Harry was lying down on pillows staring at Hermione. She was staring at Ginny, who was meeting Draco's gaze.
"Well this is what happened." Ginny went on about how Draco made the bet. During parts of the story Blaise burst out laughing or would shout 'I taught him that' or 'Wow you're like the tenth person to fall for that.' After a while Draco smacked him over the head and he remained quiet as Natalie stroked and kissed the spot he was hit. Then he started again and caused Ginny to take care of him. After using the same hex she used on Pansy, on Blaise she continued to tell them about how their meetings were to help Draco. She finally got to the part where she was cornered in the dungeons. "Alabaster hated me because said I wouldn't go to the ball with him."
"He hated you for another reason," Blaise interjected. His eyes met hers with a 'He did it not me' look.
When saw the look in his eyes she understood and turned to Draco. She looked just like Ron when she was angry. "You didn't? Did you?"
"I did." He looked away as she stood up. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do when you're in this situation. She put her hand under his chin and swung his face around, hard.
"We need to talk Drakey-Pooh." She mimicked the voice Pansy used around Draco. He stopped chuckling when he saw a fearful, evil grin on her face. His face fell when she grabbed his collar and pulled him up. She stood thinking and the Room read her thoughts. A small door appeared. She dragged him over to it and closed the door with a slam.
"You just had to get him in trouble." Natalie looked at Blaise with a childish grin. He stared at her with a look of peace.
"He did need to tell her everything and vise versa. Hopefully she'll-" Blaise began.
"Dump him." Harry and Ron both finished his sentence, but not exactly the way Blaise wanted to end it. He opened his mouth to retort when Ginny and Draco returned. Draco's hair was a mess; obviously he ran his hands through it, and Ginny's robes where hanging off her shoulder; she must have been flaring her arms.
"Oh that is a Kodak moment." Blaise fell to the floor, laughing.
"How do you know that saying?" Hermione and Harry eyed him. Blaise straightened up and sat back down.
"Read it somewhere." Blaise was playing with his fingers. Seeing the looks on Hermione and Harry's faces he quickly added, "Not in a muggle book before you ask."
"You read the textbooks?" Hermione gaped. Her face was flushed from realizing she had remembered what she had read in a textbook 2 years prior.
"Once." He looked up at her. "Boring as hell it was. Anyone who reads them for fun must be absolutely nutters or has no life at all." Everyone in the room, with the exception of Draco and Blaise, cringed when Hermione turned red with rage. Her face scowled as she thought about throwing something at him. Suddenly she felt around and found something and threw it at him. She didn't know what it was but it was heavy. It was heavy enough so that when Blaise dodged it, it hit the wall and broke some stone of the wall.
"Damn you have a good arm." Blaise was quivering behind Ginny like he always did. He lifted his head up from his hiding place to see a pouting Natalie. "What's wrong with your face?"
"She wants to know why you run to Ginny instead of her." Amber's eyes danced around the room. She was taking in the gaps from everyone with a deep feeling of pride. Natalie, Emily, and Ginny all stared at her with looks of a cautious warning.
"Exactly, why wouldn't you hide behind me?" Natalie snapped to reality to relinquish her point.
"Because Hermione won't hit Ginny." Blaise said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But why would she hit me?" Natalie was on the verge of tears.
"Because you have been a pest to her commenting on her hair and such." Amber looked down at the floor, concentrating hard as she said this. "Blaise knows Hermione would not have to think twice. Probably thinks Hermione would see it as hitting 2 birds with one stone."
"That proves it." Blaise jumped up like a madman. "Right, Draco? Wasn't I right? I told you she was an Empath didn't I?
"You did Blaise now sit down," Draco snapped. His eyes were still stone grey from his fight with Ginny.
"H-how did you know?" Ginny was gapping at Draco and Blaise. Her eyes turned light chocolate colored, like they always did when she was surprised.
Draco was the one who spoke. "This-" he put his hand under her jaw and closed it, "-is not lady-like."
"Piss off." Ginny scooted away from him in the direction of Amber. "Amber you were messing with him weren't' you. The whole damn time. If you wanted us to keep it a secret why the hell would you tell the whole damn Gossiping-Fricking-Trio?"
"Trio?" Amber's eyes were staring at Ginny's with a look of sincere confusion.
"You know for a fact Padma is as big of a gossip as Lavender and Paravati." Ginny turned to the trio. "No offense, actually you guys are great. I am just saying we don't need this broadcasted throughout the whole school."
"No offense, actually, we are proud." Lavender did not look pleased and her voice was oozing with sarcasism.
"Whatever," Ginny sneered. She turned to the rest. "Yes Amber is an Empath, so that is over with-"
"No it isn't." Blaise shot up. "She can tell how we are thinking. It is not fair that our privacy is invaded like that." He was blushing madly when he said this.
Ginny looked at him with a silencing look of deadly proportions. She was waiting for him to calm down. When he finally calmed down she went on with the explanation, rather Draco continued while she added little footnotes.
"Ahem, well when we helped her out of her tight spot we took her to the Hospital Wing." Draco was looking at his fingernails.
"I was only in the little 'tight spot' because you baited Alabaster." Ginny snapped at him.
"Like I was saying, we helped her. Then afterwards Ginny and me talked in the hall and everything. The talk ended up as a fight." He drew a breath. "We fought because Blaise was the one who yelled at Alabaster in her defense."
"And because he was the one who helped me up." She not refused to look at Draco.
As Draco continued his commentary he noticed her voice was distant. When he looked at her not facing him he swung his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Pouting is not becoming my pet."
"Fine, fine." She didn't actually face him, but rather the direction he was facing. After a while she noticed his hand remained around her waist. She crossed her arms and put them on her knees. As she leaned on her elbows to support her stature, she allowed her hand to met his and held it. "Well to cut through the rest, we made up."
"Yup you made up all right. Right there in the hallway." Ron snorted.
Draco turned to him. "Listen Weasley, be kind to me or you never know when I can trick you into drinking butterbeer in the Great Hall. I bet you would like Professor Snape the bet a Bludger."
Ron turned crimson and looked away. Ginny sat taller as she saw Ron for once back off. "Well I think that is all of the things we should discuss. Any questions?"
"Oh Lord, I am gonna get comfortable if we are answering questions." Draco laid his head on Ginny's lap and allowed her to stroke the fringe of his hair. He lazily motioned for the continuation of the questioning.
"Well actually I think most questions were answered." Hermione looked around the room awaited someone to challenge her statement. Unfortunately, Blaise spoke up yet again.
"Wait I still want to know-"
Amber's eyes took their sudden appearance of concentration as she interrupted him, "Don't worry Blaise, your secret is safe with me."
