Sorry for the long space between updates. I wrote this chapter in one night, which is weird for me and I wasnt exactly sure if I liked it. But here it is anyway, so if you dont like it, then please say something. I know I say this a lot. But I am overly critical of my writing and am hardly ever satisfied. And plus I just read the best fic ever called Draconis and Ginevra by cinnamon badge. If you guys are looking for a truly AMAZING fic, then check it out! That story made me realize just how not good my story is. lol. But enough self bashing. On with the story!
Chapter 3
"Up! Rise and Shine!" Ginny said poking Draco in the ribs.
"Ouch that does hurt you know." He said opening one eye and looking at her, obviously annoyed at being woken up. "Why is that all of a sudden you have adopted this annoying habit of waking me up?"
"Because you sleep way too much. And besides it is nearly ten o clock and you told me that you would have me home before anyone noticed I was gone. And for your information, Mr. Malfoy, I usually don't sleep past eleven."
"Then we have an hour." He responded closing his eye. "Sleepy time." Ginny laughed. And Draco's stomach did a flip-flop. He loved her laugh. It was so warm and bubbly and every time she did it, it reminded him just how much he loved her. "And besides with all the heartbreak you are suffering on account of me, your family will expect you do some moping around. It's only natural."
"I don't mope. I didn't mope when Harry broke up with me last year and I wont mope now." She said stubbornly. She didn't want to look like the weak girl who falls apart because her boyfriend broke up with her. Well for more than a day at least.
"Your family is going to expect you to be upset. The last thing we need is for them to be suspicious." He replied.
"I know. But…"
"But what Gin? You know they can't know. That was the deal remember? No one can find out." He paused and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. " I know you don't like lying to your parents. And I don't particularly like making you lie to them. But this is what you wanted."
"And you don't?" She asked pointedly.
"Now I didn't say that. You know I love you. But you also know that this is not going to be easy. We are going to have to sneak around. And I know I am putting you in danger, which I hate."
"I made the decision. Not you. I'm a tough girl, Draco. I think I have proven that on more than one occasion. I'm not scared of what could happen to me. I'm scared of what is going to happen to you." She stopped and took his hand in hers, fiddling with it nervously. "That's why I wish you would reconsider this whole Death Eater thing. You aren't the killing type. You have said that yourself."
"I know. But we've been through this before. If I don't go through with this my father will kill me. I mean, before my parents left, my mother warned me not to disobey any rules or else I would be punished when they returned. That's how serious he is about me following his rules. If he can torture me for breaking a rule as simple as don't leave the house, then he can definitely kill me for ruining his master plan." Draco said this calmly, surprising Ginny. He talked about Unforgivable curses like he had encountered them many times.
"Has your father ever used the Cruciatus on you before?" She asked slowly. Draco looked at her nervously. What would she think of him if she knew about his childhood?
"I don't want to say that my father throws it about all the time. But yes, he has used that on me."
"Could you tell me about it?"
"You really want to know?" He asked surprised that she would want to hear the horrible details of his past.
"Yeah." She kissed his hand gently, showing him that she wanted to understand. She figured that knowing about Draco's childhood would make understanding his decisions better.
"Well, the first time I can remember it being used was when I was 8. My father had refused to buy me a broom. So I threw a tantrum and shattered my mother's expensive dinner dishes with my anger, not on purpose of course. And my father yelled at me about controlling my magic, so as a lesson he used the Cruciatus curse on me. He used it everytime I failed. And it took me a long time to learn how to control my accidental magic, so you can imagine how many times he used it" He stopped and looked at Ginny. She had a look of compassion on her face. It unnerved him. "Don't pity me, Gin."
"I'm not. I just never realized how evil Lucius could be." She replied softly. "I can't believe you had to go through that."
"I just learned not to get in my father's way and to control my impulses."
"You were only 8. All eight year olds do magic accidentally. It shouldn't be punished."
"That's how your family works. Not mine. In my home, insubordination of any kind, unintentional or not, is to be squelched. And my parents decided that physical discipline was the way to go."
"I know you are scared of what your father will say or do, Draco, but..."
"Scared?" He cut in almost disgustedly. "I am not scared of my father or what he could do to me. I just don't want to give him a reason to kill me. If I do then I will never see you again." He thought his last sentence would stop her from continuing any further, but he was wrong.
"But what if you die at Voldemort's hands or at the hands of the Order? How is that any better?"
"It's not. But it is the only choice I can make." He got out of bed and pulled on some clothes.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I'm taking you home. You said you needed to get home, so come on."
"Right now?" She asked incredulously. "We were in the middle of a conversation."
"And now we are finished. So go ahead and put your clothes on." He replied as he began putting on his shoes.
"You have got to be kidding me, Draco. Why don't you ever want to talk about your family life?"
"Because it sucked, Ginny. And I don't want to live in the past." He stood up and looked at her expectantly. "Come on. I need to get my trunk out of Percy's room, since I forgot it last night." Ginny stood up and pulled her clothes on as well. She was upset with him for not being open about himself. He eas finally open about his feelings for her, but every time she asked him about his family, he would give a little, then pull away.
"You can't keep running away from your past. Sooner or later you will have to talk about it."
"Not today." He held out his hand and waited for her to take it.
"You infuriate me, you know that?" She said grasping his hand.
"Yes, I know. And you drive me crazy. So I think we are equal." He kissed her temple quickly before they were apparating. They appeared in Percy's room, seconds later.
"You do realize that eventually, if we are going to get any closer, we have to talk about your past." She whispered holding on to his shoulders, to steady herself. She really didn't like side along apparation. She had only done it a small handful of times, but each time it left her with a queasy stomach and a feeling of dizziness.
"Are you okay?" He asked ignoring her statement. He brought his hand up to her flushed cheek.
"I'm fine." She said moving her face away from his touch.
"Don't be mad at me because I won't talk about my family with you. I don't like my family and I don't like talking about my childhood. It wasn't full of love and silly pranks and fun. It was scary and horrible and I don't want to relive it." Ginny sighed angrily and looked at him. His eyes showed nothing. He had put up a wall in front of his emotions, deliberately keeping her out.
"I hate it when you shut me out, Draco."
"It's one thing I don't want to talk about. It doesn't change our relationship or how I feel about you."
"If you really loved me, you would have no problem letting me into your life. All aspects of your life. I've let you into my life. I haven't hid a thing from you. But all you do is hide from me."
"I do not hide things from you. I have told you more in the past 9 months than I have ever told another living soul. That should prove to you that I love you." He stared at the girl in front him, not believing that she was being so pushy about this. "Why do you want to know so bad anyway?"
"Because I feel like I don't know you Draco. Sure I know what and whom you do and don't like. I know a bunch of superficial things about you. But sometimes I don't understand you. And I feel like for me to fully understand you I need to know about your family life."
"You know more than just superficial things, Ginny." He was growing irritated with this conversation. He wanted it to end. "I'm not pushing you away or deliberately kicking you out of my life. I am just not ready to talk about this." She opened her mouth and paused. She didn't know what to say to him. "Ginny, I don't want to fight about this. Just let it go, okay?"
"Okay." She mumbled reluctantly. She didn't want to fight either. And standing in Percy's old bedroom with her family scattered around the house was the last place an argument should take place.
"I'll owl you later and see when you want to meet next?" He asked hopefully wrapping one arm around her small waist.
"Yes, that's fine." She replied, a tiny smile appearing on her lips. She would just let it go for now and maybe they could talk about it again. He leaned in and kissed her softly. He smiled as he pulled away and hugged her.
"See you later, my love." And a second later him and his trunk were gone. Ginny stood there staring at the spot where he had been standing for a few moments. She wasn't exactly sure how to feel. Happy that he loved her? Angry that he still wasn't being open with her? She settled on feeling confused, because that seemed to be the only thing she could decide on.
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Ginny walked downstairs and into the dining area where Molly, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting and eating breakfast. She took the seat next to Harry and poured some orange juice into her glass.
"Hey Gin. How are you this morning?" Harry asked casually.
"Alright, I guess. I slept pretty well." She took a sip and looked around the table deciding what to eat. "Sorry I slept so late."
"Not a problem, Ginny dear." Molly responded, sitting the Daily Prophet down on the table.
"Everyone needs a late morning every once in a while." Hermione smiled warmly.
"Yeah sis. And now that you are awake maybe we can get you practicing for next year, Captain." Ron said muffled by his porridge.
"There are plenty of people on the team who are better for the position than I am Ron. I doubt I will get chosen."
"There's almost no doubt about it, Ginny. You were a brilliant Seeker and Chaser." Harry patted her on the back fondly. She smiled in spite of herself.
"So what do you say Gin? After breakfast?" Ron asked again.
"We have all summer to work on this. We don't have to play this morning." She replied finally deciding on some toast and jam to eat.
"But it will help get your mind off the break up." Ron said, receiving a nudge in the side from Hermione. "What? It will."
"It's okay, Hermione. Ron just likes to remind me that he was right all along." Ginny gave Ron a dirty look.
"That's not what Ron meant, sweetheart." Molly said rubbing her daughter's arm soothingly.
"Of course it's what he meant, Mum. He likes for me to know he was right. And sadly enough he was." Ginny took a bite, chewed, and swallowed it. "Draco took my heart and stomped all over it, just like Ron said he would."
"Ginny…" Ron started, damage control mode setting in.
"No Ron. It's fine. I'm not angry with you. I'm not doing to dwell on it anymore. He is just an ass that broke my heart." She replied. Maybe this lying thing wouldn't be so hard after all.
"Glad to see you've moved past the moping stage and moved onto the I hate his guts stage." Harry said smirking.
"Nice to have you back Ginny." Ron said raising his fork to her. Hermione looked at Ginny closely. Could you really move on that quickly after losing someone you loved? Ginny smiled half-heartedly and stood up.
"I'll go get a shower and get changed and then we can fly around a bit. Okay?" She said figuring this would shut Ron up.
"Awesome. Hurry up." Ron said in between bites. Harry stood up as well and followed Ginny upstairs, mumbling something about needing to get ready as well. He walked into her room and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Harry, do you need something?" She asked while looking in her closet for something to wear.
"Yeah about last night, Ginny." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
"No, it's fine." She said turning around with a pair of jeans and a purple tank top in her hand. She rubbed his arm softly. "I had a nice time talking to you. It made me feel a lot better."
"Yeah. But when I woke up this morning you weren't there and I figured you got freaked out because we fell asleep together."
"Oh my gosh, no. I woke up and my neck hurt from the way I was sitting so I just went up to my room and slept. I'm sorry for not waking you up. But you looked so peaceful laying there." She smiled at him. And plus it didn't help that these dreams about Harry were beginning to really unnerve her. Every single time she slept she dreamt of him. And the dreams were always so full of passion and lust. They seemed almost real. And standing in her room with him so close was bringing images of Harry touching her and kissing her to her mind. A fluttering feeling erupted in the bottom of her stomach and she felt this urge that she hadn't in a while. She felt the urge to kiss Harry. Just to see if she would feel what she felt in the dream or not.
"I slept better than I have in a while honestly. It was nice Ginny. It reminded me of when we were together." He looked deep into her brown eyes. He wanted to creep into her mind and know what she was thinking, but that would be wrong. She was looking at him funny. "Ah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No its fine. It reminded me of that too." Her voice was soft and soothing. What was happening to her? "They are good memories."
"That they are." He watched as she stepped closer to him still. They were barely inches apart. He closed his eyes and sighed. He wanted to kiss her more and more every moment. And it seemed to him that she wanted to as well. "I miss when we were together."
"Me too, Harry." She said before she thought about it. Harry's eyes popped open. He hadn't expected her to agree. Ginny's signature blush crept slowly up her face.
"What?" He asked confused.
"I just mean that sometimes I miss being with you. You treated me really well Harry. And now that Draco dumped me, I'm beginning to realize just how much better off I was with you." She was talking like she actually believed what she was saying. Of course she was still a little perturbed at Draco for being so secretive about his life. Not to mention their relationship was nothing but secrets and lies. But she loved him. And she needed to accept the fact that he wasn't going to readily spurt out intimate details of his life. And she wanted to be with him even in secret. But then why was she saying these things to Harry?
"Ginny, you are just upset that Draco left. I know you love him and you know you do too. Give him some time to come around." Harry wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "You know I love you Ginny. But I'm not going to take advantage of your unhappiness."
"I'm sorry, Harry. It's just that it hurts a lot." She replied pulling away from him. He kissed her forehead and stepped away from her. Her eyes bore so much confusion. More than he was used to seeing. He was used to Ginny knowing exactly like what she wanted and going after it.
"I know. But it will get better." He smiled. "I'll let you go get in the shower. And I will see you in like 15 minutes?"
"Yeah, I guess." She mumbled, her embarrassment not yet subsiding.
"If it makes you feel any better, it took all my willpower not to grab your face and kiss you Ginny. Don't feel stupid." He planted a kiss on her forehead one more time.
"It doesn't make me feel an ounce better. But thanks for trying." She smiled awkwardly.
"We'll pretend it didn't happen, if that helps."
"I don't want to pretend it didn't happen." She said softly before closing the space between them and pressing her lips on his. He stumbled backward startled, but her hands on his shoulders steadied him. He kissed her back slowly, not knowing if this was the right thing to do or not. Ginny pressed her body against his and felt something she hadn't expected. It wasn't exactly what she felt in all those dreams, but it was something more than she thought it would be. She pulled away startled.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I don't know what came over me." She apologized, shame setting in once again.
"Uh…It's okay, Ginny." He replied pushing his glasses up farther on his nose. Now it was his turn to be red in the face. She shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before turning away from him and walking into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, locked it, and turned on the shower before sitting on the floor, completely overcome.
"What the hell have I done?" She asked herself aloud.
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Harry stood in Ginny's room for several minutes, listening to the sound of the shower and his thoughts reeling in his head. She has kissed him. Finally he walked out of her room and up to the room he shared with Ron. Hermione was sitting on his cot.
"What are you doing in here?" He asked surprised at her presence.
"Ron told me to come up and get you. Where were you?"
"Talking to Ginny." Harry said not even looking at her. He slipped his pajama shirt off and pulled on a t-shirt with a picture of the Puddlemere United Chaser, Joscelind Wadcock throwing the Quaffle through one of the goal hoops. Hermione looked away as Harry changed out of his red cotton pants and into some jeans.
"What were you talking to Ginny about that you couldn't discuss with the rest of us at breakfast, Harry?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure she was okay, with her break up and all." He said sitting down next to Hermione. He began to pull on his socks and tennis shoes.
"What aren't you telling me, Harry?"
"Nothing."
"You are a horrible liar." She replied nudging him in the side with her elbow.
"She kissed me, Mione." He said quietly.
"She what?!" She exclaimed, her eyes wider than he had ever seen them. "How did this happen?"
"We were talking last night and we fell asleep on the couch together. And when I woke up this morning she was gone. I followed her upstairs after breakfast to ask her if everything was okay between us. And she started talking about how I treated her better than Draco did and how she missed me. And the next thing I know she kisses me." He stopped and looked at Hermione. She was looking thoughtfully out the window, taking in everything that he had said.
"It's what you've been waiting for." She said quietly.
"You make it sound like I've just been waiting around for months. Waiting for them to break up so I could swoop in and take her back. That's not the case, Hermione." Harry said defensively. "I love her, yes. But I let her live her life with Draco. I wanted her to be happy and Draco made her happy. I never thought this day would come."
"But its not like you stopped it, Harry. Can't you see, she is vulnerable right now. She doesn't know what she wants."
"I know she is confused. When she said that stuff about missing me and me treating her better than Draco, I told her she was just upset. I told her he would come around. And she still kissed me. I don't know why she did it. But I am fairly certain she wanted to do it. You know Ginny. She wont do something she doesn't want to do."
"I know. But isn't it weird that yesterday she was in her room crying and missing Draco and today she is talking about him like he is the worst man on the planet and kissing you?" Hermione asked bluntly.
"She is upset and puzzled. And she will figure out what she wants soon enough."
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Ginny stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, feeling more miserable than before. She wiped the steam off of the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was so numb that she didn't even realize that she had cried while she showered. She didn't think she had any tears left. She had cried so many. She brushed her long red hair slowly, her mind having problems computing simple tasks. She had been dreaming about Harry every night for the past three weeks. And now she had kissed him. And she had felt something from it. It wasn't as strong as what she felt when she kissed Draco, but it was still something. It scared her that she felt something for someone other than Draco. She walked into her room and slipped on her socks and shoes. Ron ran past her room and yelled for her to hurry up. Ginny put her hair into a quick ponytail and looked in the mirror one last time. Before she left her room she looked out the window and saw something hovering outside of it. She walked over, flipped the latch, and opened the window letting the beautiful gray owl fly into her room. She removed the parchment from his leg.
Down the lane at 10:00 pm.
That was all it said. Ginny folded it up and placed it into the drawer in her nightstand. She sighed and looked at the owl, it was obviously waiting for a reply. She scribbled an "I'll be there" on a spare piece of parchment and gave it to the bird. Her stomach gurgled with guilt as she thought about seeing Draco that night. What would she tell him?
(A/N: And there you go, Chapter 3. lol. Review and tell me what you think. I have half of Chapter 4 already written and after friday I have no more exams or anything. And I will be free until the end of January, so expect a lot of updates during this time. I may even start another story...I havent decided yet. xoxo)