Chapter 8:
Their conversation from then on had been idle. It was like they had erased what had happened entirely from their memory but there was an undeniable awkwardness about it that told them that no matter how hard they tried, it would never completely be forgotten.
Was she right? Did Draco really want her? Was what she had seen – his eyes roaming her body – really a gesture of desire, or of mere curiosity? Was his denial a testament to his disinterest in her, or was it an act he put up to ensure his survival? If it was, should she be flattered, grateful or… happy?
Was he right? Was her ploy to seduce him just that – a ploy? Was it a desperate act to free her from misery? An uncalculated plot thought up from grief? Or was it a deep desire emerging when she thought she had nothing to lose? Was it a chance to gain something she had wanted, just when she had lost something she loved?
Those were questions they both sought the answer to, but knew they could never obtain them. They had both signed an invisible contract to never mention what had happened that day even though every moment they spent together; they both spent contemplating questions they never could have gotten the answer to.
It was a week later when Ginny was taking her daily bath, Draco sitting there reading his book, that the idle nature of their conversation was finally broken.
She was in the middle of rinsing her body with water when she stopped and looked at Draco long and hard before finally breaking the silence with a question she would have never hoped to utter in her life, "Draco, can I ask you for a favour?"
He looked up his face frowning. He fought the urge to warn her that there was no way that he would let her escape no matter what she offered him this time, but he steered clear of that remark and hoped to God that that favour was nowhere close to what had happened between them before. His response was slow, "Er… yes, sure. What do you need?"
"I, um, I was just wondering…" she trailed off. Draco's face tensed in anticipation making her wonder why he was so anxious. "Are you okay?" she asked genuinely concerned at his uneasiness.
"Me? Yeah. Of course. What were you saying?"
"It's just that, it's been really hard for me lately what with – you know. And I'm sure you want me to be as happy as possible with your life depending on it and all… Anyway, um… I just think it would be easier for me if I wasn't so idle."
"I see. And what do you need to occupy you? Some books? Games? A little death eater love?" Draco laughed for a second at his, what he thought was, clever joke until he saw the redness rise in her face, and, upon noticing her nakedness, his own turn crimson. He cleared his throat, "Right, er, what did you have in mind?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure. Just… something to keep me occupied you know?"
He handed her a towel from beside him to keep his eyes from being glued to her body.
"I would quite like to do some work, maybe in the kitchen. I was once a very good chef."
Draco smiled, trying as hard as he could to refrain himself from laughing.
She wrapped her towel around herself and cocked her head to one side, "What? You don't think I can cook?"
He shrugged. But that wasn't why he was smiling. It wasn't because he was doubtful of her talents, or mocking her willingness to work. It was because he was actually impressed by her. He was taken aback by her optimism in times of darkness, her independence and drive to survive. Draco Malfoy actually felt an inkling of respect for the Weasley standing in front of him. Of course he would never admit it, and even though he looked at her meaningfully he shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I dunno Weasley, we'll see just how good you are I suppose. I'll talk to the Dark Lord and see what I can do. No promises and it might not be pretty. But we'll find something for you to do."
XX
She woke up from her nap when she heard the clatter of plates behind her door signalling Draco's arrival with her afternoon snack. Lazily she sat up in bed, brushing her curls back from her face. She stifled a yawn as she greeted him with what sounded like a lazy 'Hpfey.'
"Guess what," he said resting a platter on her bed-side table.
"Hmm?" she replied taking a sip of her orange juice.
"I found you something."
Her smile immediately brightened at the prospect of finally having something to do with her days but Draco held a hand up signalling her to wait until she heard it all, "You might not like it," he continued. "It's not cooking or anything. And you'd have to deal with death eaters."
Her look changed from an excited expectant one to an outraged, worried and scared one.
"Well they're not exactly death eaters - Yet."
"What?" He could tell from her voice that she was thoroughly confused and that made her even more scared that she was before.
"Okay. Well, with all the mess with the war going on and all, death eater families can't live out in the open anymore. They almost know who every one of us is, who our cousins are, where we buy or food from, everything. So we can't live with them, and neither can our children. We have loads of them. Children I mean. Right here in the castle, training to be death eaters. But, they also need to learn basic principles – reading, writing, mathematics, basic spells, the lot. The death eater responsible for doing that died last week. Since then everything has been on hiatus. The Dark Lord agreed you could take up the position if you wanted, seeing as you need something to do with your time, and we need someone to baby sit."
She looked at him doubtfully, "How many?"
"How many? Er… wow," Draco sighed as he raised his eyes in thought. "Well, it's hard to say really, I'd say about twenty, thirty."
"THIRTY!"
"Maybe forty…"
"FOURTY?!"
"At most fifty."
"WHAT?"
"Well they're not that bad really."
"NOT THAT BAD? There would be one me. ONE prisoner and fifty death eaters in training who have no idea of right or wrong-"
"They do – they just don't follow it," he grinned.
"That's not funny. Do you know how dangerous that could be?"
"Oh come on, they're only kids now. They're a bunch of little 9 and 10 year olds. How much harm could they do?"
"They're evil! They're like – like little you's!"
"I'm offended. Look, they're very well behaved. They're the cream of the crop. They're well behaved and disciplined. Plus, I'll talk to them for you, tell them you're part of a very important mission. They practically love me."
"No way."
He shrugged, "The Dark Lord says it's either that or nothing."
Ginny looked at him spitefully, "I'll think about it."
"Great, you start on Monday."
XX
