Chapter 10:
"Hey Draco."
"Yes Adremus, what insightful comment do u intend to lay upon me today." Adremus was a tall muscular young man, with broad shoulders, a chiseled chin and dark slicked back hair. His eyes were as black as a star-less sky and his skin as white as fresh milk. He spoke in a tone filled with testosterone and he walked with an air of a soldier. He was one of the Dark Lord's best fighters and the dark side on a whole had much to thank him for.
Draco hated him. He was vile and uninteresting. Nothing of the man even whispered class and every day he felt it his need to tell Draco some crass incident that had happened to him. By far, the most interesting conversation they had shared was about the Mona Lisa. That was, up until Adremus had added his reason for his appreciation for the art by saying, 'She was one sexy bitch. I mean she was a bit on the chunky side but you can tell if you took off that dress she was wearing there would be some massive tits. Those tits man – that da Vinci guy was so getting a piece of that.'
Draco never showed any inclination that he enjoyed talking to the brute, in fact every comment he made was filled with sarcasm and yet, without fail, before every briefing of their mission for the night he would come up to him as if they were best mates. And every night Draco prayed that Adremus would get killed in combat, if only for the greater good of the world.
"Man, I was walking in the corridor today – you know I like to get some fresh air after my morning 'alone time' ha-ha," at that he winked. Draco grimaced. "Anyway, man, I was just minding my own business and guess what I saw."
"What did you see Adremus?"
"That red-head chick The Dark Lord put you in charge of. You've been holding out on us Draco." At that the others in the room looked to him. Little was known of Ginny, only that Draco was put in charge of her care. No one knew what for, except Draco and he must admit that he didn't even thoroughly understand the full plan.
"Is that so," Draco muttered brushing his cloak off.
"Let me tell you, what an arse. I mean she was leaning over her desk reading this book in this tight skirt and whoah. I think I'll be taking my morning walk there from now on. You must have had some of that."
"I beg your pardon?" Draco had heard exactly what he had said, and was appalled by it all. How could he speak to him like that?
"Fuck man. FUCK. You must have FUCKED her," Adremus said louder thinking Draco hadn't heard.
"Don't be daft. ME touch THAT?"
"Man… she's ho-"
"She's a muggle lover, she's filth… of course I haven't!"
"Well, all I'm saying is, I would've. Just make sure she wears those skirts yeah, I might take some of the other guys with me next time, I'm sure they'll agree."
XX
When Draco walked in that morning Ginny was making her bed in preparation for work. She bent over to fluff her pillow and Draco's eyes were unwillingly drawn to her behind. Adremus was right. Her skirt was in no way inappropriate, but it fit near perfectly. It was to her knees but it curved with her buttocks and the top of her thighs, accentuating her womanly shape. When she bent over it was almost like she was wearing nothing at all, the stretched fabric tensed over her bottom and made it visible from the nook of her back to the start of her thighs a perfect C shape.
"Oh Draco, morning, I didn't see you there."
He cleared his throat, "Morning, I've brought you your breakfast." He put the tray down on her table and allowed her to eat.
Ginny looked up from her meal to look at him curiously, making him aware at the fact that he was staring, "Is… is something wrong?"
"What? With me? Erm… no, of course – of course not. Well… must you dress like that?"
"Like what?"
Draco motioned his hand to her bottom half, "Those skirts. Don't you think they're a little bit inappropriate?"
"What? No. I think they're fine; look they're all the way to my knees! I've been wearing these outfits for over a week now! You never had a problem with me teaching with them before. Might I remind you Draco, you're the one who bought them."
"Yes… well I was unaware-"
"Unaware of what? What are you on about?" Ginny was thoroughly confused.
"Nothing. Come, I'll take you to your class."
And he did, making sure Ginny would never walk in front of him for fear of seeing her ass again. He could tell she was confused, she would look at him sometimes with a frustrated face, or a questioning one, and then with a humoured one. Draco on the other hand found no humour in the situation. He passed Adremus on the way who winked at him with an idiotic smile on his face. The cheek.
He dropped Ginny off at a classroom wishing her good luck though she hardly needed it anymore. She was excelling at her job and had found her place and gained respect among the students. Before she had completely shut the door to the classroom he found himself calling out to her, with no ability to restrain it, "and watch where you put that ass of yours." Ginny turned to him a look of pure confusion on her face and seemed to doubt that he even said it for a second before she seemingly decided that she must have heard wrong and continued on her way.
His cheeks burnt crimson and he quickly walked away but not before turning round to see her bent over her book, the material of her skirt stretched once again, and he smiled a small one before rushing off to get some more clothes from Orfice – big, baggy ones.
XX
It had become a practice for them to play cards every evening. Ginny insisted that it made her sleepier faster. He didn't believe her but Draco had no complaints, because despite himself he enjoyed it and found himself looking forward to it every day – counting the hours when he could sit next to her and laugh and joke and tease, in a company that was neither wanting nor scheming, just pleasant.
Tonight however she was silent. While she made a few remarks, there was no sparkle in her eye, and she was hardly concentrating. She had lost five games in a row and didn't seem to care.
"Galleon for your thoughts," Draco told her.
She smiled and was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking of my dad."
"What about?"
She stared at him for a while and sighed, "I was six, and we went into this toy shop. And I wanted this massive play house. I asked my dad for it and he said no. Of course I cried, and cried, right there in the store. I told him I hated him and that I never got what I wanted and I'd never speak again. And he picked me up, he carried me home. As soon as we were in the door I ran upstairs and flung myself on my bed, still crying but he wouldn't let me. He picked me up and brought me to the back yard where he was going to build a shed. He tore down what he had built up so far and he sat me down with a cup of hot cocoa while be rebuilt. But he wasn't building a shed; he was building me a play house. Just like the one in the store, with a fake chimney, and a high roof like a castle and a swing door. And when he was done he made me paint it whatever colours I wanted. Of course it was ghastly," she laughed at herself, "purple doors, green windows, red roof, pink walls, but he let me do it. And then when it was done, we sat inside with my tea cup set and pretended to have tea with my toys. And he looked at me and he said 'Ginny, we may not have a lot, but I'll always do whatever I can for you to make you happy.' I didn't really think of it then, I was just happy to have my playhouse," she looked at Draco meaningfully. "But he did, he always did his best to make us happy. It's my best memory of him."
Draco nodded and rested his head back onto her bed from his seat on the floor. He thought about what she said, and then he looked at her, "I was really nervous. Mother and I sat there while father sat with his lawyers, she held my hand nervously and I could feel her fingers tremble in between mine. The judge sat there and called for the jury to read out their sentencing. I remember the exact words 'We find Lucius Malfoy guilty of multiple accounts of murder, practicing the dark arts and being an accomplice to He-who-must-not-be-named.' And then the judge, 'Lucius Malfoy you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.' My mother gripped my shirt and I looked at her. I could tell she was fighting the tears in her eyes – she always made it a point never to show people her emotions. Quickly I ran up to my father before he was taken away, he turned to me his eyes as commanding as ever and he said 'it's just you and your mother now Draco, take care of her. Make the family proud.' And I watched as he was taken away," he looked at Ginny and she was surprised to find a sort of happiness in his eyes. "And I knew he could no longer hurt me, or mother. I could take care of her now, like she deserved to. That's my best memory of him."
He was silent then, and Ginny was amazed to see that she felt for him. She understood him. She felt the butterflies in her stomach as his grey eyes connected with hers. And she leaned forward, brushed his cheek with her hand, and she kissed him. She kissed him gently, and as she closed her eyes he felt her lashes brush against his skin and he tingled. He felt her hair brush his face, and her lips on his. He felt her hand on his neck and he smelt her scent in his nostrils. He felt the moment, right then, with her. And he kissed her back.
XX
