Hello, my readers! I hope you all are well during these scary times. I am back with yet another chapter. It is a bit more dialogue heavy than the previous ones, but I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless. Please do let me know!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. This fanfiction belongs to me.
WILFULLY: CHAPTER 23
One of the many things that Ginny Weasley valued incredibly was a breath of fresh air.
She had discovered the relief that a good, deep breath brought to a person after the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco. One day, when the memories of Tom Riddle had become too much to handle, she had ventured out of the Burrow, spread her arms wide and took in a huge gasp of air.
It hadn't resolved all her issues, but it had helped.
One of the reasons she had been so attracted to Draco was that he felt like a rush of fresh oxygen in her lungs, so different from the sadness that she had been in since her breakup with Harry.
xx
Ginny entered the eclectic restaurant in Soho and looked around. The wood panelled walls were covered with paintings of colourful birds that flew from frame to frame and chirped merrily. A band of dwarfs stood on an elevated stage in one corner, playing upbeat music. Crimson lamp shades hung above the round tables that were surrounded by contemporary-looking cushioned chairs. She spotted the familiar faces of her boyfriend and Blaise Zabini sitting at a table by the bar, indulging in pre-meal drinks.
"Oh good. I'm not the only one who's late."
Ginny turned at the sound of the familiar feminine voice.
Daphne Greengrass-Zabini had walked in after her, looking slightly breathless as if she had run quite a way. It was an admirable feat if she did, for she was wearing high-heeled pumps. She shrugged off her coat gracefully, revealing a purple dress and a slightly prominent belly bump that caught Ginny's attention. "It's not chocolate brownies, if that is what you're wondering."
She flushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare." Was this the reason behind the domestic spat between Mr. and Mrs. Zabini? Most likely.
"No harm done, Ginny." She held out her hand. "I am going to call you Ginny, so feel free to use my first name as well."
Ginny shook her hand with a smile, finding that she liked this blonde woman. If she was being honest, she had found herself admiring her confidence even back at the Lefebvre New Year's Ball. There was an arrogance to her that seemed to come naturally to all Slytherins, but also a spark that was very ambitious. "Congratulations on the baby."
"Thank you."
It had been quite a surprise to receive an owl from Draco, asking if she would be interested in going out on a double date with Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass-Zabini. He had tried to seem indifferent about it, but Ginny knew that he was quite pleased when she said yes.
They made their way over to the table where the men had stood up to greet them. Such manners! Ginny would have found the propriety to be annoying if she weren't so very much charmed, which is why she shot Draco a smile as she slipped into the vacant seat next to him.
"I'm beginning to think that tardiness is a female flaw," Draco stated casually.
And the smile dropped from her face. "It is as if you want me to call you a wanker."
"Yeah, screw you, Malfoy!" Daphne grumbled. "Some of us had important work to attend to."
"I do not think that buying Ferveur's entire maternity collection constitutes as 'important work', darling," Zabini pointed out, then edged away from his wife when she glared at him.
They were interrupted by the excited exclamation of the ridiculously handsome bartender, who turned out to be a huge fan of Ginny. As he served them drinks, he stuttered through a recollection of some of her favourite goals and then told her that he found her photoshoot in the Quidditch Times to be incredibly sexy (Draco shot him a rather dark look at that). It was slightly embarrassing, and no doubt the Slytherins would tease her for being a celebrity – but she was one, wasn't she? And she absolutely loved her fans, which is why when the shaggy-haired, pale-skinned bartender pulled out a quill and a copy of the magazine, she agreed to sign it for him.
"He's so handsome, isn't he?" Daphne sighed dreamily as she eyed the bartender walking away. "What I wouldn't give to have him bite my lips."
"I believe our wedding vows included the words 'forsake all others'," Zabini reminded his wife icily.
"Yes, but there's no rule against admiring from afar."
"I understood when you waxed poetry about how handsome Cedric Diggory was," Draco interjected. "However, I find nothing alluring about this obnoxiously pale, stuttering fool."
"You're obnoxiously pale too," Ginny could not help but state.
"Exactly. If you are going to be swooning over a pale bloke, you may as well swoon over me." He shrugged nonchalantly, prompting her to roll her eyes. He always had been and always will be a narcissistic, attention-seeking git.
"Ahh, young lovebirds!" Daphne cooed, and when the two of them turned to her in surprise, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are we not using the L-word yet?"
"We are using it," Draco answered. He reached out and grasped Ginny's hand under the table, his thumb caressing her knuckles tenderly. "Very proudly."
Ginny noted that Zabini did not look very surprised at the admission, which meant that Draco must have told him about their relationship. Daphne, on the other hand, looked like she had plenty to inquire about the matter. Luckily, the conversation came to a halt due to the sudden appearance of the menus at their table.
After some suggestions and a couple of rather snarky comments, the orders were finally placed: beetroot Wellington for Draco, halloumi burger for Zabini, Waldorf salad for Daphne and fried chicken with wild mushrooms for Ginny. The food appeared on their table almost instantly, and it was unbelievably delicious. She was surprised that neither she nor anyone in her circle of friends and family had ever been to this restaurant before.
"So, love," Daphne said slyly as she fixed her eyes on the blond and the redhead. "When did that happen?"
"Nosiness does not become you," Draco said coolly.
"Prudishness does not become you either."
"Now, now," Zabini spoke up in a reprimanding tone. "Draco and Miss Weasley are anything but prude. You should have seen them in the Manor kitchens that day. I believe they could have been very authentic porn stars in another life."
"Saucy," Daphne grinned, though she did not seem surprised at all. No doubt her husband had told her the tale of that particular encounter before. Ginny flushed at the thought.
"Shall I recount all the unfortunate instances when I happened upon the two of you in compromising positions?" Draco demanded. Turning to Ginny, he said, "They do not get to judge us on our kitchen adventures when they were once caught shagging in Mr. Greengrass' office."
"That was a fun afternoon. It's a shame dad did not see it that way," Daphne sighed wistfully. "Speaking of fathers, I don't imagine Lucius taking the news that his beloved son is now in love with a Weasley very well."
Draco grimaced. "You imagine correctly."
Ginny wondered if he would elaborate, but he did not. She had tried asking him about his parents' reaction to how their relationship had progressed but he simply brushed it off, saying that it was his job to deal with his parents and that she had nothing to worry about. It was true, she mused. Besides, she had her own family's reactions to cope with. She had told her parents that she had fallen in love with Draco, and the expressions on their faces had been similar to what Ron used to look like right before the Quidditch matches – anxious, defeated, nauseated. "For what it's worth, my family isn't very ecstatic with my choice of boyfriend either," she supplied. "At this point, if I told my brothers that I've decided to date a Blast-Ended Skrewt, they'll rejoice."
"Now, this feels familiar in a familial way," Daphne said with a snort. "My mum and Blaise don't get along as well."
"That's because your mother sucks the life out of every room she walks into," Zabini sniffed sardonically.
"At least my mother didn't ask me if you had it in you to properly please a woman in bed!"
Ginny looked at them with wide eyes, unsure whether it was a joke or the truth; one could never know with these Slytherins. But Draco, who had undoubtedly found this revelation to not only be the truth but rather hilarious too, choked on his food and she had to thump him on his back until he gained control of his breath once again.
As the meal progressed, she found herself learning more things about the three friends, such as the fact that while Draco had known Daphne since they were toddlers, he only met Zabini after the Sorting during their first year at Hogwarts. Considering how close the two mates were, it almost seemed like they had been born in neighbouring cribs and had stayed together ever since! But then again, Ron had met Harry for the first time on his first day at Hogwarts, and they were practically brothers now. There were quite a few parallels between those two friendships – and when she voiced her observation, both Draco and Zabini declared that they would rather see their friendship wither away and die than be compared to 'Potty and Weaselbee'. She rolled her eyes at that; Slytherins had always been known for being melodramatic wankers.
And of course, it was the anecdotes about Slytherin life that Ginny found to be most fascinating; as a Gryffindor, she had viewed them as nothing but villains. But now, as she glimpsed what lay on the other side of the curtain, she saw that they were quite a fun bunch once you got past the haughtiness; Fred and George would have liked them very much. So would Percy.
Zabini told her very proudly that he had once taught a particular portrait at Hogwarts some of the worst swear words in Italian, which it had in turn taught to a bunch of first years. Needless to say, McGonagall was not impressed.
Daphne, who was apparently a bit more studious, had had a breakdown in the week leading up to her OWLs and ended up in the hospital wing. "No matter how much I tried, I could not bring myself to master growth charms and it was stressful," she told them.
"I was always good at Charms," Ginny told them. "Potions, I was a disaster in. I got a D in my OWLs."
Draco looked at her in surprise. "That bad?"
"I once added food colouring to my potion in hopes that it would at least look right." That particular piece of information had everyone in stitches, especially when she continued the story with a detailed description of how she had argued with Snape that her potion was indeed genuine and that it was he who had made a mistake in checking it for about quarter of an hour before he lost his patience and took fifty points from Gryffindor and gave her a week's worth of detentions.
"I was always excellent at Potions," Draco told them needlessly. The man was the CEO of one of the leading potioneering companies in the world, of course he was going to be good at the subject. "I've so many memories of spending my free time in that classroom. I brewed advanced concoctions, hid from Blaise's constant moaning about his nonexistent love life, had sex for the first time."
Ginny blinked in surprise. She had not expected Mr. Draco I-Am-Too-Proper Malfoy to talk about something as crude as sex so casually in the middle of dinner. In fact, he was always sort of reluctant to talk about his previous romantic experiences, or anything related to his past really.
"Oh, I know all about that," Daphne smirked knowingly.
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Pansy was the only girl in our year who had had sex at that point, so we had a lovely, in-depth discussion about it when she returned to the dormitory that night."
"Salazar's blood!" Draco exclaimed in horror. "You mean to tell me that–"
"That we know what you two did? Pansy wouldn't tell all of it, but we know enough." Daphne let out a laugh at the expression on his face. "Don't worry, she liked it very much. Called you an attentive lover, as I recall. She was very much eager to explore the realms of intimacy and carnal pleasure with you, as I'm sure you were too!"
Ginny took extra care to make sure that the sudden flare of emotion she felt in her heart did not show on her face, but there was something in Daphne's tone that unsettled her. It was the way she spoke about Draco and Pansy with an air of dreams and promises as if picturing the two of them together for eternity had been the most natural thing back then. And Draco's voice had been filled with an odd fondness, as if the memory was something he treasured to this very day. She felt a slight pang of jealousy at that, then dismissed it quickly; there was no reason for her to be jealous. There was history between Pansy Parkinson and Draco, but he was with her now.
"Funny thing is, Pansy is the only one whose advice about sex came in handy." Daphne shook her head, all of a sudden looking rather cross. "When I first considered getting intimate with Adrian, I asked around and the advice I got was bizarre: keep your legs in the air, bend your knees, be on top, let him be on top, make sure you moan sexily but don't be too vocal. No one told me what it would actually feel like. Katie told me that the idea of first-time hurting was a myth. Hestia said it was like being split into two with a saw!" she ranted. "I think it is ridiculous how much pressure girls face to ensure that their first sexual experience is a magical moment where everything is romantically perfect, whereas in reality it can be daunting and awkward for most."
"I think boys are laden with a similar pressure," Draco said as he reached for his scotch. It was as if it was normal for them to nostalgically reflect on old times in one moment and then jump to discussing important societal and youth-related issues in the next. "Girls tend to have this idea of a perfect, well-endowed male lover who knows exactly what to do with a woman's body. The truth is that you can read all about sex and study various pornographic materials, but when a fifteen, sixteen year old boy is faced with the naked female form for the first time, he has absolutely no idea what to do."
"I certainly didn't," Zabini admitted matter-of-factly. "And it was quite a nerve-wracking experience because I did not wish to disappoint Charlotte. She was very understanding, which is probably the only reason why I didn't make a fool of myself."
Daphne stabbed a grape with much more brutality than necessary. "I still think your ex is a bitch," she said sweetly.
"I'm not a fan of Pucey, either," Zabini shot back.
The husband and wife looked at each other for a moment, then leaned forward to share a quick, chaste kiss that prompted Draco to complain about the lack of propriety. His objections went completely ignored, though, and the dark-skinned man fixed his attention on Ginny.
"We don't mean to exclude you from our conversation, Miss Weasley."
"Not at all," Ginny said. "I think sharing how you all lost your virginities is a great way to break barriers."
Zabini grinned. "It is part of the initiation."
"Do contribute, by all means," Daphne added. She was turning out to be the sort of person who would blatantly comment on the more tense threads of a conversation just to enjoy the stiff reactions it would elicit; it was a very Slytherin trait. "I am assuming your first experience was with Harry Potter."
Ginny hesitated but only for a moment; she had suffered through the mention of Draco's past, surely he would be able to stomach hers. "It was." It had happened a couple of weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts. She and Harry had escaped all the mayhem of the wizarding world to spend a weekend away in the muggle town of Portree on the Isle of Skye. The intention had been to simply spend some time together, to get to know each other once again after being apart for the whole year, but having sex had felt like the right step to take. "It wasn't perfect," she felt the need to say, remembering how she had whimpered in pain and accidentally smacked his glasses off, while Harry had finished way too soon. They laughed about it afterwards. And by the third time, they had learned enough about each other's bodies to make the experience incredibly pleasurable. "But there was no awkwardness between Harry and I."
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Draco had composed his face into a mask of cool indifference but he was clutching his knife and fork so hard that his knuckles had turned white. It pleased her to see that she had the power to make him feel jealous. Did this make her a horrible girlfriend, though?
Mercifully, Zabini swiftly moved the conversation in a new direction and neither the topic of sex nor exes came up after that. The new topic did surprise her though: "So Drake, what time do you leave tomorrow?"
"Leave?" Ginny turned to her boyfriend, brows drawn.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Draco looked at her sheepishly. "I'm going to Boston tomorrow." It was for a business trip, one he had been expecting for a while now but was only finalised a day ago.
"For how long?"
"A week. I plan to be back before the quarter final," he replied, reminding her of the Christmas present she had gotten him.
"Good. I want you to watch my team beat the shit out of yours."
"Won't you have to defeat the Tornadoes first?"
"We will," Ginny said confidently. The much-awaited match between Holyhead Harpies and Tutshill Tornadoes was going to be played the day after tomorrow, and the mere thought of it had butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The team had trained unbelievably hard and she was optimistic. If – no, when they beat the Tornadoes, they will be slated to play the quarter final against Puddlemere United in ten days.
"We will see," Zabini smirked.
"And I will read about it in the Prophet," Draco said. "I doubt I'll have time to listen to the commentary in between meetings."
"And yet you will have time to large it up at Vegas," Daphne muttered.
"We won't be larging it up," Zabini scoffed.
"Oh?" The blonde woman raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "So, you do not plan on squandering your money away in gambling?"
"No," said Zabini with a nervous laugh.
"Absolutely," Draco nodded at the same time.
Ginny stifled a laugh as the two mates shot each other a dark look. "Wait, so you're going to America with Draco?" she asked Zabini.
"Not with him, per say. I've been invited to speak at a seminar in San Franciso this coming Friday," he told her. "If I'm going to be travelling across the pond, might as well make it a weekend trip and visit Vegas with my mate."
"Besides, Nott told me about this new club in Vegas that has these acrobatic Veela strippers," Draco added.
Ginny glared at him, wondering if he was trying to make her jealous in revenge for bringing up Harry. "So, you will be too busy to listen to my match but when it comes to 'acrobatic Veela strippers'–"
"You make time for what's important, love," he stated, and upon noticing her murderous glare, elaborated, "I mean, I can free up my Saturday for Blaise." A pause. "I still love you."
"Less than you love the Veela strippers, though."
"I can neither confirm nor deny that until I feast my eyes upon said strippers."
She smacked his arm lightly, her lips quirking of their own accord. "I hope you don't plan on having too much fun."
"Wouldn't dream of it!" He kissed her cheek with a triumphant grin.
"See?" Zabini said to his wife. "Miss Weasley has no problem with our plans."
"Oh, shut up!" Daphne waved her hand carelessly. "The last time you went to Vegas, you ended up getting married."
"To you."
"And this time I won't be there."
"Draco will. And I don't think I'm ready to take that next step with him just yet."
"Blaise," Draco sighed dramatically. "You wound my heart."
The now empty dinner plates vanished from the table, only to be replaced with the dessert menus. Daphne was very excited at the prospect, but Ginny excused herself. She had an early practice the next morning and an important match the day after; as interesting she found this dinner to be, she knew it would be best if she went to bed early. Draco decided to take his leave as well, on account that he had a Portkey to catch at seven-thirty in the morning.
Goodbyes were swift and soon the two of them had stepped out of the restaurant onto the stone sidewalk.
"Do you have to go home right away, or would you like to walk with me?" Draco asked her. "Just for a bit."
"Only if it's for a bit," she replied as she reached out and clasped his hand. The air was chilly but not uncomfortably so, and the sky was clear with hundreds of starts twinkling brightly. "I had fun tonight."
"I know Daphne can get too inquisitive sometimes, but she means well."
"I didn't mind," she assured him. "Besides, it was interesting to find out that you were way too young when you lost your virginity. I should not be surprised, really."
"I was sixteen, and so was Pansy."
"You really loved her, didn't you?" The mention of Draco's ex must have had a bigger impact on her than she had previously imagined, for the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Damn it. Now she sounded like an insecure girlfriend, something she never wanted to be.
"I could say the same about you and Potter," Draco retorted with a shrug.
Was he really going to turn this around on her? "I didn't like listening about the two of you," she said truthfully.
"Pansy and I have come to terms with how we ended. I have closure," he told her. "You don't. Or rather, Potter doesn't. And it is much more infuriating for me to see remnants of your relationship. Hell, it is all over the news at least thrice a week, thanks to that damned Rita Skeeter!"
She did have closure, or at least some semblance of it. But Draco did not know about the rather frank conversation that she and Harry had had on Christmas. Harry had not brought up the topic since, but there was no denying that there was a part of him that waited for a chance to reconcile, to have another go at the relationship they once had. "I have said it before and I will not say it again: you have no reason to at all to be jealous of Harry," she told him firmly. "He is my past. You are my present."
"And hopefully your future." The words lingered in the air, making her heart skip a beat, and then his lips quirked. "I wouldn't want to see you in the arms of another man when I return from America."
She laughed shakily, mentally berating herself for over-analysing each of his words. He had been setting up a joke by mentioning the future, nothing more. Besides, their relationship had just sailed into smooth waters after a turbulent patch. It was too early to make promises of everlasting forever. They had both faced such broken promises in the past and knew that it was futile to predict a future they knew nothing about; It was best, for now, to face each day as it came, and enjoy it to the fullest. "That depends."
"On what?"
"On how touchy you get with the Veela strippers."
"I don't think you're allowed to touch the strippers. Shame."
"Shame, indeed," she muttered sarcastically.
He glanced sideways at her and when he spoke, it was in a serious tone. "You don't have a problem with it, do you? I mean, it's just harmless fun. I will never do anything to jeopardize what we ha–"
"I trust you, Draco," Ginny said, putting an end to his pointless explanation. "You are allowed to have fun with your friends."
"I trust you too, you know. I don't say anything when random men fawn over you."
She recalled the handsome bartender from the restaurant and smirked. "You made a face, though."
"I did not."
"You so did!"
"I was right about that photoshoot. You look too sexy in it." Leave it to Draco Malfoy to turn a moment of admitting his insecurities into an 'I-told-you-so' that he could rub in the other person's face. Smug git.
"You say as if that is a crime."
"You should only look like that for me."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Is that a possessive streak I am seeing, Mister Malfoy?"
He turned his head to place a kiss on her forehead. "I can be very possessive when I want to be, Miss Weasley," he drawled. "You would do well to remember that."
Possessiveness was a tricky trait, one that she could handle only so much of; it was partly why she had broken up with Dean Thomas back at Hogwarts. While it was indeed a wonderful feeling to be wanted by someone so fiercely, she was not particularly enthusiastic about the feeling like someone's property or being made to feel like she needed to rely on someone else. "Just don't start ordering me about."
"Oh, I know better than that," Draco snorted. "There doesn't exist a single person in this world who can order you about."
Not for the first time it occurred to her that Draco Malfoy, a man raised with a typical, elitist 'I-am-better-than-you' persona, seemed to relish in her individuality. Ever since their relationship had begun, he had been wholly accepting of all the facets of her life, be it her career, her likes and dislikes or the people in her life. He had his opinions about them, for sure, and he shared them with a nonchalant bluntness, but he never forced his opinions on her. Nor did he ever demand that she change, not really. She had always been aware of the fact that she and Draco came from two very different backgrounds and beliefs, and it turned out that he was just as aware of that fact as well. Only it did not seem to matter to him.
As a Quidditch star, money was not really an issue for her anymore. Her entire family had come a long way in terms of financial stability since the war. But it was no secret that Draco was far, far richer than the Weasleys. There could be no competition there. Hell, the clothes he wore to work cost more than what her father earned in a month! And yet, while he did sometimes tease her about her home or her clothes or the restaurants she liked to frequent (he would not be a Malfoy if he was not snarky), she had realised that his comments seemed to lack a certain venom that they had back at Hogwarts. He meant to taunt, but not to degrade.
Which showed just how much Draco had grown up since the war. He was not a bullying arsehole anymore; she would never have let their relationship progress this far if she thought he was still that.
But there were other things that he was not anymore as well, she realised with a sudden pang of sadness.
Listening to Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass reminisce about their time at Hogwarts had reminded Ginny of how lively, comical and dramatic Draco used to be – yes, she had hated his guts back then because his jokes were cruel and mostly at the expanse of the people who mattered to her, but there was no denying that he used to be one of the most animated person in Slytherin. He was no longer that buoyant youth; laughter did not come easily to him, his eyes took in his surroundings as if he was calculating possible dangers and he kept his emotions firmly in check. The Draco she had gotten to know was reserved, for lack of another word.
"Sickle for your thoughts."
Draco's soft voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she realised that she had stopped walking. He stood there, his pale blond hair shining under the yellow light of the lamppost, his steely eyes filled with curiosity.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
He looked bewildered. "With you?"
"Well, yes, but also with everything else. With your life, in general."
"Why do you ask?"
Ginny shuffled her feet, unsure how to put into words what she was thinking. "It's just that Daphne was mentioning how you used to sing at the top of your lungs and dance like there was no tomorrow."
"So?"
"You're not carefree like that anymore."
"No, I'm not. I don't think I'll ever be like that again," he conceded in a tone that explained everything. The war haunted him, much like it did almost everyone else in their generation, and he had emerged from it a more burdened man – a man who may occasionally go to Vegas with his best mate and tease his girlfriend about Veela strippers, but who will never be as jubilant as he was in his youth. Draco hooked his finger underneath her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "But I am happy, Ginevra."
"Really?"
He was slow to respond. He always was whenever he had to share what he was truly feeling; sharing did not come very easily to him. "My parents are healthy. I have good friends. I enjoy my work. But most importantly, the woman I love is by my side and I try to be a better man for her every day," he said. "I want for nothing more."
A shiver ran down her spine at his had always thought him to be quite an eloquent speaker due to his aristocratic upbringing, but by Merlin, he could have made a fortune writing romantic novels in another life! Unable to help herself, she stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his very inviting lips. The urge to ruin his hair filled her but she resisted it this time; he would only bitch about it later on and the last thing she wanted was to ruin this perfect moment due to his grumpiness. "I am happy too," she murmured. "You make me happy."
"Good," Draco pecked her lips quickly. "Will you miss me while I am away?"
"No," she replied instantly as she ducked into a narrow alley to her left. A quick look around told her that it was empty, and hence a good enough point for apparition. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that he had followed her, as she knew he would. "Will you?"
"Absolutely not."
"Is that so?"
"Why would I miss someone who wouldn't miss me?"
"Fair enough," she turned around to find his face inches from hers. "You'll be too distracted by the Veela strippers anyway."
With a chuckle, Draco leaned forward to kiss her, his hands guiding her backwards until she was sandwiched between the brick wall and his hard body. "No Veelas will ever be able to accomplish what you do to me, Ginevra."
When she was little, she used to twirl round and round as fast as she could until she got so unbalanced that she would collapse on the grass. The sky would sway above her and the world would dance before her eyes while her heart thudded so madly in her chest that she was certain that it would somehow jump out of her body. That was what she felt like whenever she was with him. He was unbalancing her.
She sighed merrily, her hands slipped under his coat and running up the cotton fabric of his shirt. It would be so easy to get rid of this thin barrier, to have his bare skin touching hers, but it was not going to happen. Not tonight. "Darling, this isn't going to get you anywhere."
"Hmm." His lips were now latched onto the very sensitive spot behind her ear. "Is that so?"
"Yes. Because the shop is closed." Her tone was firmer than she had intended, and Draco straightened up with a frown. She rolled her eyes. "What I mean is that the crimson tide has washed ashore. The sharks have attacked this week. The time has come for me to be on the rag."
He did not seem very amused with her play on words. "Enough with the euphemisms, Ginevra. I get it: you are on your period."
"I'm impressed. You said that without cringing."
"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. "All the girls I have been with had periods."
"I sure hope so. Otherwise it either means that you are a paedophile or that they weren't really girls."
He let out a surprised laugh. "I see my dark sense of humour has been rubbing off on you."
Ginny pointedly glanced down, where his lower body was still pressed against hers. "Oh, you're certainly rubbing off on me. Not that it will get you anywhere."
"Well, I was hoping that you would – how do the Americans say it? – do me a solid," he said the last bit in an impressive Boston accent.
"I could," she mused out loud as she turned them around so that he was the one pressed against the wall. "I could do you a solid, Mister Malfoy."
Leaning up, she captured his lower lip with her teeth and bit it lightly before running her tongue over it. He opened his mouth instantly and she pushed forward, gleefully swallowing the sound he made. His hands came around her waist, but she grabbed his wrists and pressed them flat against the wall, holding him in place. She kissed him fervently until he let out a sound to let her know that he was running out of oxygen. Leaving behind a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses, she moved her lips to his ear. In a sultry whisper, she described in quite some detail a rather naughty thing that she could do to him, a thing she knew for a fact that he enjoyed so very much.
"Salazar," Draco groaned, resting his head back against the wall, his gaze fixed on the heavens above as if he were praying for the strength to survive this ordeal.
It was a wonderful feeling, holding this much power over him, especially when she knew that he had the capability to turn her knees into jelly when he desired to do so. Ginny recaptured his lips once again and he kissed her back with a ferocious hunger. She allowed it to last for a minute or two before pulling away and stepping out of the reach of his arms. "But I wouldn't want to deprive you of a chance to get reacquainted with your hand," she said with a wicked grin. "Have fun in America, darling."
He was slow to realise how she had deliberately teased him, but his eyes widened and the pink tinge on his cheeks darkened. His expression was torn between that of amusement and irritation. "You bitch!" he called out.
But she had already apparated away, triumphant laughter dancing on her lips.
No doubt he would get his revenge, but that would have to wait until he returned from his business trip, which gave her plenty of time to come up with a few defensive and offensive ideas of her own.
xx
Ginny shot forward, the cold wind whipping against her cheeks as she gained altitude, and swerved abruptly to dodge a Bludger. The crowd let out a collective gasp as it whistled past her ear, but she continued to soar. Reaching out with her arm, she swiftly caught the Quaffle as one of the Tornadoes Chaser tried to pass it to the other.
Now that she had in her hand the object that she wanted, she fixed her gaze on the three goalposts at the far end of the pitch. Target locked, Ginny allowed a small smile of exhilaration to touch her lips as she zoomed forward, ducking and darting until she had reached the goal area. Pulling her broomstick to an abrupt halt, she tossed the Quaffle from her left hand to her right and hurled it as hard as she could towards the rightmost ring. It swivelled straight past the Keeper – who had misjudged the direction it would go through – and went straight through the hoop.
The crowd burst into cheers, just as Lee Jordan's voice boomed: "And Weasley scores her fifth goal for the Harpies! That girl is on fire this afternoon, which works well because I bet Kenneth Towler ten Galleons that the Harpies will win today. You better be ready to pay me, you slimy git, because the Holyhead Harpies lead 160 to 140."
There was no time to celebrate as both the teams jumped right back into the play once again. It was a cloudy afternoon and the match had been going on for almost an hour now. The stands of the Bodmin Moor Quidditch Stadium were filled with fans garbed in the dark green colours of Holyhead Harpies and the sky blue of Tutshill Tornadoes – which all looked like a blur to Ginny as she zoomed about on her Firebolt, her entire attention focused on the Quaffle and the goalposts.
It was only Lee Jordan's amusing commentary that provided her with an idea of what was going on in the match.
"Excellent beating by Jones by directing that Bludger at Morris, who drops the Quaffle – Harpies in possession once again. Morgan passes to Turner, who passes it back as she swerves away from Tornadoes' star Chaser, Rhys Jordan – not related to me, though I'd very much like to go out with his beautiful sister – Ouch! Jordan nearly gets knocked off his broom as he rams into Morgan. You really ought to be focusing on the game rather than glaring at me, mate," Lee cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing in a much more professional tone. "Tornadoes back in possession. Morris passes to Jordan who shoots – Harpies Keeper Griffiths narrowly misses and Tornadoes score!"
The game resumed once again.
"Weasley!" Gwenog called out, and then gestured at Jordan, who was once again making his way towards the goalposts with the Quaffle clutched tightly under his elbow.
Nodding in acknowledgment, Ginny sped towards the end of the pitch, her Firebolt thrumming underneath her and quickly dived down just as Jordan pulled his arm back to throw. Her fingers touched the red ball and she pushed forward until she was certain of her firm hold on it... Unfortunately, Jordan was holding onto it as well – and he slammed sideways into her in an attempt to throw her off. She let out a grunt at the sudden impact but it was not going to be so easy to defeat her.
"Looks like Jordan and Weasley are in a bit of a tug-of-war," Lee Jordan was saying. "O'Leary aims a Bludger at the Harpies Chaser to break this deadlock – Narrowly misses as Weasley pulls into a steep dive, with Jordan in tow. Neither seems willing to let go of the Quaffle. Blimey! Look at them go, riding their Firebolts at breakneck speed – someone give me some Calming Draught before I faint!"
Ginny could see the ground rushing closer by the second, but she was not deterred.
"Weasley!" It was Valmai Morgan, who had descended down until she was only ten or so feet above the ground, waiting.
It was time.
With a deep breath, Ginny rolled upside down, letting go of the Quaffle but only so that she could kick it hard. The red ball soared straight towards Morgan.
Jordan, who had been caught unawares by her sudden move, shot after it.
Gripping her broomstick with both hands, Ginny pulled out of the dive and zoomed forward until she was hovering right above Morgan, who had kicked the Quaffle straight up instead of catching it. This move surprised Jordan once again and he swerved upwards, but it was too late.
Ginny had caught the Quaffle with ease and was already darting across the pitch once again, her robes flapping madly behind her. The remaining two Chasers for the Tornadoes flanked her on each side, but this was a dance she knew so well that she could do it in her sleep. She tightened her hold on the Quaffle and guided her broomstick into a series of complex manoeuvres until she was close enough to the goalposts, where she threw the red ball with all her might.
The Keeper darted towards it, his arms wide, his fingers touched it but there was no way that momentum could be stopped. The Quaffle soared past him and straight through the hoop.
"Harpies score!" Lee Jordan shouted as the crowd burst into cheers. "A brilliant goal by Ginny Weasley. Holyhead Harpies lead 170 to 150. The game resumes and what's this now? I believe the Snitch has been sighted!"
Ginny watched the two Seekers hurtling lower and lower at the far end of the pitch until they tumbled onto the ground. The referee blew the whistle that signalled the end of the match; only she was too far away to see who had caught the Snitch.
"And it's over!" Lee Jordan thundered. "Merlin, that was quick! Holyhead Harpies win the match! Get your Galleons ready, Towler!"
They did it. They qualified for the quarter finals. Ginny let out a joyous whoop–
And then the world exploded.
xx
She came to the sounds of cheer. No, not cheer – shouts of agony and terror, though they were largely muffled by the loud ringing that pierced her eardrums. She shifted, hoping that she would be able to rid herself of the stupid sound if she covered her ears, then froze, gripped by agony so raw that her mouth dropped open in a blood-cuddling scream.
Or rather, it would have been a blood-cuddling scream had she been able to muster the strength to summon her voice. As it were, she knew that she was in no position to make any sort of sound because there was no air in her lungs. She was empty, oh so painfully empty, and she needed to breathe. Her chest felt like it was being pierced by a hundred blades that had been set on fire. Merlin, please let her breathe…
Voices pierced through the haze: a man and a woman. She could not recognise them, but knew that they were nearby. They sounded terrified.
"Fuck! Look at all that blood! There's no way she'll last."
"Quick, get the mediwizards! Get Potter!"
"It's no use. The arm – it's blown off, isn't it?"
"I can't tell. There's too much blood."
"Get out of my way!" A third voice ordered. This sounded familiar, though she had the hardest time placing it. "Move. Let me see. Let me– Oh, Merlin!"
Hands touched her with great gentleness, and she was reminded of lazy walks by the Hogwarts lake and laughing over sushi dinners. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself gazing into bright green eyes that were filled with nothing but worry.
"Ginny," Harry, for the eyes belonged to him, said. "Can you hear me?"
She blinked, opened her mouth and a breath of air rushed into her lungs. Only it did not bring her the relief she had expected, but rather set her insides on fire. She coughed through the smoke and the dust, and her insides screamed at her to stop moving. Merlin, she wanted to take it all back. She did not want to breathe. She was better off when she was unable to breathe.
The pain was too much, too bloody much.
She could see it, see her pain, as a proper physical entity. Dark red and black and hot white in colour, it growled hungrily as a rabid Hungarian Horntail, lashing out with its sharp claws as it seeped into her veins and set her bones on fire.
"Ginny," Harry called out once again, pushing away the hair that was sticking to her face. Sticking with what? she wondered and felt something thick and warm oozing down the side of her head. It must be blood – or perhaps a large dog was slobbering all over her. "It's okay, Gin. I've got you."
Perhaps he would fight off that horrible pain monster that had somehow erected its home inside of her body and was lounging lazily in her nerve endings, smirking wickedly as it fed off of her.
His hand wrapped around her shoulder and tilted her up, only an inch, most likely in an attempt to get her to breathe easily, but the movement caused her bones to grate – Merlin, she actually felt them, heard them grate against each other – and the pain monster gnawed at her merrily. She fell, fell deep into its stomach, devoured by the agony, drowning in its sea where everything was dark red and black and white-hot.
And she knew no more.
xx
One of the many things that Ginny Weasley valued incredibly was a breath of fresh air.
Only now, she could not breathe. Too much blood, the voice had said. Too much pain, she herself had realised. Taking those factors into account, perhaps it was best that she did not breathe.
Yes, please. No more breathing so there could be no pain.
Merlin, anything but the pain.
So, what did you think about the chapter and what will happen next? Please review and let me know!
Stay safe. Until next time! x