Hello again and Happy Halloween!
Thanks to babiiee-z, MilasDrac and Lost Enchanter (sorry to hear you're having a bad day.. have another chapter to cheer you up some more!) for your reviews and especially to jmarceljm as I can't reply back to you to thank you personally for your detailed comments.
All your messages were helpful and gave me big grins!
Hopefully you won't be disappointed with this chapter. It originally was the last third of the previous one so I've had to bulk it out a bit with descriptions and thoughts/feelings (I doubled the first three paragraphs by doing just that)
Fingers crossed I still have a plot left in this chapter and haven't repeated Draco's thoughts on Ginny too much!
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After the heavy door had fallen closed behind Ginny, Draco turned back to the table and the people still seated there. Melissa was sullen and Jennifer looked ready to burst into tears, he hated a girl crying, really hated it… Malfoy understood the reason why they did it (most of the time anyway, sometimes they seemed to bawl for no reason.) but he never knew how to deal with them, and if there was something else he hated, it was not knowing the solution to a problem…
However on this occasion a subtle cheering charm seemed to clear up this particular teary lady – Draco gave Melissa a quick boost too, just for the hell of it. He couldn't face the inevitable conversation where they both expected him to agree how awful the Weaslette was and plot revenge against her.
Ok, it wasn't as if he liked the read-headed little Gryff or anything, but you know… she wasn't as annoying as that brother of hers and certainly wasn't as goody-two shoes as some of her house mates. He didn't feel that any revenge was necessary, in any case, Draco had a sneaking suspicion that they would lose and (while he felt that in a one-on-one battle he'd be able to hold his own with most people) he didn't want to be on the receiving end of the whole Weasley clan and friends.
Draco was still hacked off that Ginny had hidden from the trio of stupidity though, he felt slighted in some way - if he was good enough to sit and eat with in front of all those patrons at the inn, then why wasn't he good enough for her when Scarhead walked in? He was better than that suck-up, snitch stealing, four eyed loser. Malfoy felt the need to let her know how much she'd pissed him off (not that you could tell from looking at him); people should be proud to be at the same table as him…
Although he remembered that she had felt pretty good wriggling around under the table, pressed up against his legs... and other things (if the little Weasley had been that revolted by him then she could have hidden behind Chloe). So that redeemed her somewhat… but he wasn't going to be getting any from her (imagine, a Malfoy and a Weasley – how ridiculous, even if they would look stunning together.), so in a way it was just a huge tease. That made him even more frustrated.
While he had been pondering the situation, both the Slytherin girls had mellowed and were now all smiles. The rest of the pub had also settled down without any further entertainment, going back to their meals and drinks and chatting quietly. Even Mme Rosmerta had gone back to polishing glasses and laughing quietly with a rather distinguished looking gentleman seated at the bar.
Blaise seemed rather amused by the whole event and had been smirking at Draco, but now he was reassuring Chloe that her friend would be fine and there was no need to search the whole of Hogsmeade for her. ("I think she's more than capable of handling herself, as we just witnessed.")
Jennifer, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, managed to concentrate for just long enough to ask 'Dwakko' of they were going to see the Shrieking Shack since lunch appeared to be over.
Zabini obviously saw the look of pure terror in Malfoy's eyes as he stepped in smoothly. "Ladies, I am so sorry… Draco, I forgot to inform you, but I urgently need your help this afternoon – something which required your potions skills…"
Draco managed to look a little upset, a difficult task, but he was a master of facial control. "But Blaise, I was supposed to escort the ladies to a few more places today, can whatever you need not wait?"
Playing his part well, Blaise shook his head. "I'm sorry but no, it's has to be prepared today as the moon is gibbous tonight. Any later and the whole thing will be ruined. You could bring the ladies along but it will be very messy and smelly and take up all of your concentration."
Middleton looked between the two of them and crossed her arms angrily. She frowned at Zabini who somehow managed to look apologetic and embarrassed at the same time. Then she turned her icy glare on to Malfoy, he knew by the look in her eyes that she had figured out that this was all a ploy to help him escape.
"Draco, are you not even going to see these your dates back to the school gates? I understand that Blaise is your best friend but you invited these two and you should at least make sure they are safe and sound before helping him out."
Merlin, how had this woman managed to make him feel so guilty? As with Ginny, he wasn't gaining anything from her (The smarter members of his house tended to judge whether or not to do something based on what they could gain)– and he didn't want to either. But surely she should be nagging Blaise and not him…
And since when did she feel that the two demented women that attacked her friend needed a bodyguard anyway?
A sudden thought struck him then. With a relieved smile, Draco looked offended and said . "What type of man do you take me for Chloe? Blaise, I'll meet you back at school – I'll just re-arrange this afternoon's plan for my dates." He leaned over the table and spoke quietly to Zabini and Chloe, thanking them for helping him get rid of Jennifer and Melissa and telling them that he hoped they enjoyed the rest of the day.
The cheering charm seemed to be wearing off Jennifer and Melissa already and they were looking slightly confused (he hadn't put his heart into the spell – not really wanting to cheer the two girls up, just to shut them up), so Draco acted quickly. Grabbing a hand from each of them, he strode towards the exit, throwing an apologetic glance towards Rosmerta. He'd never felt the need to say sorry for other people's behaviour before – either these two were so completely atrocious that he had to apologise for them, or the Gryffindork's politeness was rubbing off on him. He wasn't sure which was worse.
Sweeping his cloak off the peg, he threw it across his shoulders and wrenched open the heavy oak door.
Blinking slightly in the sunshine, Draco dragged the girls across and down the cobbled street (a difficult task with the footwear his dates had chosen) until they reached Honeydukes sweet shop. The store's outside was simply amazing – whoever had designed the shop had obviously heard the rumours about the gingerbread cottage and decided to upscale the idea somewhat (Malfoy remembered that one of the Durmstrang students over for the Tri-wizard tournament had sworn that he had seen the original).
The whole building was modelled out of giant versions of their top selling products (non-edible ones now; the first build used real products but that resulted in the Hogwarts students attempting to eat the building, meaning a lot of maintenance work and a big loss of sales – why buy the products when you can eat the shop for free?).
There were enormous liquorice wands instead of wooden beams and windowsills made from colossal sugar quills; the multicoloured pebbledash walls were in fact Bertie Bott's every flavour beans and massive chocolate slabs replaced the normal slates tiles on the roof.
Standing on the small step in front of the shop (which was levitating slightly as it was meant to look like a fizzing whizbee), Malfoy opened the stained glass door (very, very thin coloured lollypops) and ushered the girls inside. He instantly spotted the person he was looking for, gazing longingly at the toffee section – none other than Vincent Crabbe, one of Draco's oldest friends. Standing near to him was Malfoy's other one time best mate Gregory Goyle.
Vincent had grown into a reasonably attractive young man; tall, dark and hugely muscled (his extremely fashionable and svelte mother had sent him some weights and the best selling 'Guilderoy Lockhart' workout book in the hopes that he would attract a girlfriend if he were slightly less rotund).
With the weight gone from his face, he turned out to be not to shabby looking either. He was still rather dim witted but was friendly enough and always willing to try and help out a fellow Slytherin where he could.
Gregory however was another matter; he looks were as hideous as his personality. He wasn't very intelligent (to say the least) but he was sneaky and had a nose for trouble – had Draco known him, he would have been reminded very much of a nastier version of Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin.
Goyle's lack of brainpower irritated the boy greatly and in the last couple of years he had turned bitter and vindictive towards anyone smarter than him (which was, as far as Malfoy knew, everyone – even Mrs Norris could have beaten him paws down in an IQ test.) Draco, being one of the cleverer students, had been quite pleased to escape him when Blaise had offered the move to head boy's room.
Malfoy owed Crabbe a few favours – he hadn't been the best of bodyguards when they had been younger, but it hadn't been through lack of trying… Draco felt good about what he was going to for Vincent – although it was benefiting him too… but he didn't have to say anything about that to Crabbe.
"Crabbe." The person in question turned, unfortunately as did Goyle. Draco caught Vincent's eye and gave him a winning smile. "I'm at a bit of a loose end and I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Crabbe shrugged then nodded his head, in the background Gregory scowled darkly at them both.
Ignoring the face pulling, Malfoy reached behind him, put a hand in the small of each girls back and pushed them forward slightly, "Would you mind ever so much taking care of these two lovely ladies for the rest of the day?"
Crabbe's eyes lit up with glee, however he seemed slightly dubious. Draco thought he knew what was causing the worried look, so he leant in close and murmured, "Mate, all your Christmases have come at one – these two aren't quite my style so I'm not planning on pursuing either of them. However they are very popular girls and I thought they'd be perfect with you, so feel free to work your charm on them."
He pressed several galleons in Vincent's large hands and told him that it was a huge favour he had done. Then he assured the two girls that Crabbe would show them the best Saturday in Hogsmeade, and told them to have a wonderful day. Melissa was eyeing up Vincent's bulging arm muscles already, Jennifer just looked dumbstruck, but neither objected to the plan, which Draco had been scared they might.
Just as he was making his escape, Goyle spoke up. "Where'd you wan' us to take 'em?" He rumbled.
Draco hadn't planned on Gregory joining them – he wouldn't want to inflict that on anyo-
Actually, it was possible that Jennifer (perhaps Melissa too) was dimmer than Goyle, and if not then they deserved any hassle they got from him for being such annoying, spiteful wenches all day. And Crabbe was used to the great oaf; despite being slightly smarter, Vincent was a very quiet person and the two had managed to stay good friends regardless of Gregory's attitude issues.
"Where ever you want old friend. Have fun all four of you."
Draco left the store quickly before anyone could find a reason to object and strode down the pavement. He felt good for the first time since he'd started out for Hogsmeade.
He figured that Blaise had the sense to whisk Chloe off somewhere pretty special to make up for lunch, so Malfoy thought that he would just head back to the school, pop to the library and read some more of that story Middleton had shown him. He knew the general story as she'd explained it to him, but it was well written so he thought he would read it through properly; after all - he had nothing better to do.
The wind had picked up and was tousling his fair hair roughly. Pulling his cloak a little tighter around him, Draco noticed that there weren't very many people outside; presumably they were all sensibly inside the shops, pubs and restaurants which offered sanctuary from the weather. As he neared the end of the high street he passed the last few buildings and noticed that one of the windows was lit and packed full - it had been boarded up when he'd been here last (along with a few of the other shops). Wondering if it may be a new Christmas shop, he wandered closer – thinking he could get his mother something nice perhaps.
However when Draco peered in the window, he couldn't see any signs to indicate what the shop was selling and the products were all still packed in boxes marked with nothing more than a small stamp saying W.W.W.
Just as he was about to turn away and head home, Malfoy noticed that the shop door was slightly ajar. He shook his head at the foolishness of the proprietor but as he did so there came a noise from inside.
Listening closely, he heard a muffled "Incendio." and a little crashing sound.
Intrigued, Draco gently pushed the door open a little further and pressed his head close to the gap.
"Stupid bloody tarts couldn't have stayed in the bathroom for one minute more…. Expulso." There was a loud explosive noise, Draco could smell smoke and there was dust in the air.
"Merlin knows why they think their perfect smelling man would let me lay my 'filthy blood traitor hands' on his sodding body anyway… Reducto. The thought would probably make him gag. Oh I may have to destroy my clothes." The last line was delivered in a tone almost exactly like his own (albeit a female version).
Draco smirked and pushed open the door; Ginny (as he had guessed it would be) had her back to him and by the look of things, had spent her time since leaving the Three Broomsticks demolishing a pile of wooden crates. There was still a line of orange fire slowly fading into the ashes of one of them.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Weasley" he said loudly, causing Ginny to turn abruptly and point her wand at his throat. The look of fury died slightly when she recognised it was Malfoy standing in the doorway. He must remember not to sneak up on angry girls who have their wands drawn; what if she'd fired off a spell by accident… it could have ruined his face.
"What were you on about?" she questioned after a pause.
"I said 'don't be so hard on yourself' – you had your hands all over my 'sodding body' just a while back and there was no gagging coming from me… "
Ginny pushed a mass of her rust coloured hair away from her flushed face. She looked confused and wary at the same time. "Was I ranting when you came in?"
"Somewhat, yes." Malfoy leant nonchalantly against the door frame and watched Weasley's face change emotions.
"Right." She said finally, seeming a little calmer now. "I tend to lose it a little when I do that… and this was a bad one. No idea what I said really. Not at all… Was I rude about you?"
Draco wasn't sure that he entirely believed her so he decided to call her bluff. "No – you were quite complimentary about my scent actually…"
Ginny turned even redder than before and said quite defensively. "Well so what. You smell good, big deal. I just never noticed before."
"Probably because you've never flung yourself bodily on to me before. I have, in fact, always smelled this good." My gods, was he actually flirting with her? His groin must have taken over control of the rest his body, because chatting up a Weasley could never be something his brain would condone…
He swore that her eyes flickered down his body briefly before she looked away, face burning as vividly as her hair. "I guess you'll need to burn those trousers now huh?" she refused to meet his eye.
Mildly annoyed, Draco said forcefully. "I told you, I'm not that childish anymore… I've grown up and matured – realised there are more important things in life… No, I'll give them to a charity instead."
Ginny's eyes whipped up but she obviously noticed the mocking tone of his voice as she was laughing. Thank Circe she had a sense of humour – although Lord only knows where in the family that came from. Looking at him with huge, bright brown eyes, Ginny said.
"You're lucky I can tell you were joking or I may have hexed you…" She waved her wand a little and made a fake explosion noise. Draco, playing along, grabbed at his stomach as if gravely wounded.
Weasley grinned broadly at him but turned serious all of a sudden. "Did I ruin your date? I'm sorry about today, it was kind of rude of me to show her up like that when I could have just taken her wand… but it's just instinct you see, I mean, I doubt she would have done anything that bad in a crowded pub, but I see a wand and I defend myself against the worst." Ginny looked angry again, so Draco held his empty hands up in a mock show.
"No wand here… Look, if you must know, you probably did me a favour – they really were terrible company…"
"Really? I mean I think they're bloody horrific, and… despite my extreme dislike for you," Ginny cheekily poked her tongue out at him after that comment. "I kind of thought you had reasonable taste in 'accessories'. So you can just imagine my shock when I saw you, but at least you did realise how garish they were!"
Draco scowled at her – if his upbringing hadn't been so strict he may have poked his tongue out too. However he instead chose to change the subject and asked why she was standing in a half empty shop blowing boxes to smithereens.
Ginny explained that two of her brothers (how many were there?) were opening a joke shop – their second in fact. They had been hoping to get the old Zonko's plot of land but someone had already bought it up. She had been angry after the confrontation in the pub and decided to come and destroy some of the old packing boxes; it would help her and her brothers at the same time.
"Plus, it beats sitting down and crying – if I did that every time something went wrong I'd have very puffy eyes. As the only girl in a family of boys, you soon learn that crying doesn't get you very far – well not after the first few times anyway!"
"Why did you hide?" Draco asked her suddenly, feeling that he had to find out that very instant or he might not be able to talk to her any more.
"In here, well I had a spare key and-"
"No." He cut her off sharply. "Why did you hide under the table? From the… From Potter and Co; is it because you didn't want to be seen with us?"
Ginny looked confused for a moment - she stared hard at Malfoy and he felt as if he were the one being interrogated instead of having asked the question. He shut off his mind as completely as possible and put his cold mask on.
She blinked slightly, almost as if she had tried to walk through a doorway and come across an invisible barrier.
"Yes – But not for the reason you think. Shit! I don't know – I should be ashamed to be sitting with you, we've never got along before, so why do I feel like I owe you an explanation…" She stopped and drew her small delicate fingers across her mouth, pinching her bottom lip and tugging it gently. Draco remained stonily silent, wondering why he'd expected anything more from a Slytherin hating Gryffindor.
She sighed then. "Look, the truth of the matter is that if Ron had seen me there, well… you think what happened between me and those girls caused a scene? Think again – it wouldn't surprise me if Ron dragged me out the door by my hair and the set the whole building aflame just to keep you away. Ron would jump to the wrong conclusion and wouldn't listen to anything I said. He's over protective at the best of times, but for some reason he hates you more than my dad hates… well – you get the idea."
Ginny shrugged. "Hermione's the only one who can calm him down."
Draco debated only a moment before saying that he was fairly certain Granger knew Ginny was under the table earlier.
Ginny said an extremely rude word. "Oh what will I do? He's gonna go apeshit, man…"
Draco looked at the crazy girl flapping about and calmly drawled, "You know, you swear far too much for such a pretty young lady."
"Well that's all Ron's bloody fault too… ha-ha by the way –pretty young lady my arse – very funny. Quite the comedian."
So, she couldn't take a compliment… did she really not realise how cute she looked when she was worrying on her bottom lip. Although she was probably confused why he, Draco Malfoy, was complimenting her, Ginevra Weasley…
A week ago he would have just ignored her; a year or two ago he probably would have told her she was an ugly, penniless, pathetic failure of a person – a waste of life… Gods he'd been an arse sometimes (although the Weasel King usually deserved such comments, after all – he mocked Draco all the time. If he couldn't take it then he shouldn't give it.)
"Don't panic. Granger… winked at me."
Ginny stopped at ogled at him. "Hermione did what?"
"Yes, that was pretty much my reaction too, I would imagine she's not going to say anything or she would have already done so. She's… smart isn't she."
Weasley, all panic gone, gave him a sly look. "Wow Malfoy, did that admission hurt? Yeah, 'Mione's super smart. She loves studying and reading and generally doing well." Ginny laughed and recalled how Hermione's boggart was always a teacher saying she'd failed all her exams. "She gets totally freaked, bless her!"
Draco stored that useful nugget of information away in the back of his mind. Ginny seemed to have no qualms about letting out her friend's secrets. Gryffindors always were too trusting, too quick to speak without engaging their brains. Strange that she should be that way with him though, Slytherins were normally the exception to the rule when it came to trust. Even Professor Snape, who Draco knew had saved Potter's life, was treated like a criminal by them.
"Anyway," Ginny was saying. "I'd best be off – Maz, that's Maria… One of my friends… Anyway, she's totally let me down, again, and I've got loads to do now, it'll probably take me through dinner too. Thanks for not being a total dick like normal – you're kind of bearable I suppose!" She smirked in a very Slytherin way and shoved him not unkindly out of the door.
As she was locking up, Draco couldn't help but think how open she was being with him, and how easy it was to spend time in her company. He thought that had she been sorted into his house (and not a Weasley of course – both things would presumably come hand in hand, as a Weasley in Slytherin was preposterous), she would have come up with some good ideas for their late night pranks…
Quite impulsively his mouth opened and he found himself saying, "Can I help at all?" Curse that groin of his…
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I know the idea of Lockhart having a workout book is laughable, which is why I thought I'd use him. I figured that by now he'd have some of his memory back and the desire to write again and be famous was still burning brightly.
All his other books were made up from stuff he'd stolen from others and claimed as his own, so why not claim he was a body-builder too!
I mean half the work-out videos with 'stars' (z-listers still count as stars!!) are actually choreographed by their trainer anyway!