Disclaimer: I'm very sad to admit that I don't own Draco… or any of the other characters.

This isn't HBP compliant, by the way. . . In case you hadn't realised yet.

Resisting the Irresistible

Part Three

Ginny made a slight moan as she opened her eyes, wincing as a ray of light hit her directly. She felt the cold air rush under the covers as she sat up, and turned over expecting Draco to be next to her, sprawled out whilst he was still asleep. All that was there, however, was a note under a chocolate biscuit. She took a bite of the sumptuous creation as she read the note.

Morning, Vixen.

I hope you're enjoying the "choccy biccy" –

Ginny laughed – she knew she shouldn't have let him find out about her love of chocolate biscuits. He would make her fat!

You still need to go down for breakfast though. I left about an hour after you'd gone to sleep and thought that you might prefer storing up some energy (wink, wink) than knowing that I'd gone. I may see you this morning, I may not –

Draco.

One thing she loved about Draco was that he wasn't a particularly "coupley" lover. Yes, he did things for her and she did things for him, but being with him was entirely different to all her experiences with others, say her boyfriend– for example.

She mused upon this as she picked up her clothes than had been dried and folded neatly upon a footstool near the dying fire. "Spending time" with Draco was changing her views – before, she would have raised an eyebrow at the house-elf height furniture bearing her belongings, but now she hardly noticed it. Ginny was too distracted thinking about the way Harry differed to the Slytherin Prince.

For starters, he would take her out by the lake and talk romantic nonsense to her. At first, she thought that this was wonderful, the perfect relationship was hers – just like the girls in the books Hermione had got her to read whilst she was waiting for Harry to reciprocate her affections. Then, she thought about the books she had found under Hermione's bed one day… and Draco. It hadn't been until then that she understood what romance really was. She had crushed on Harry for so long that she had convinced herself he defined love, but Draco? He defined romance. That monopolizing feeling she felt – logic played no part, she let herself become free, her whole life relied upon what he was doing, she wanted it all, she wanted it all in that moment, she wanted it to last, she wanted it from him.

Ginny doubted someone like Draco Malfoy could be taught to love, but she had reservations about whether Harry could be taught to let go. He was too intent on making her know he loved her to let her feel how much he loved her. Words could only do so much before she needed more of him; he was either too shy or too polite to give it to her. Draco was neither of those things, but the chocolate biscuit had shown he did actually listen to her. It may not have been a red rose, but at eight o'clock in the morning with a guilty conscience, Ginny knew which one she'd pick any day.

xxx

"Hey Beautiful, I saved you a seat." Harry shoved one of his large textbooks off of the wooden bench so that she could sit next to him. Ginny put on a smile; it was time to test him.

"Thank you so much, I overslept! I'm so tired these days – O.W.L.s are very stressful, aren't they?" She leant forwards for her usual morning kiss hello; Harry aimed for her cheek, but she turned her head so he caught her lips instead. He drew back, his expression worried,

"Do you want me to call practice off tonight so you can get an early night?" he asked her as he poured her pumpkin juice for her. Ginny took in what he had just said to her. Did she want a few hours where she didn't have to worry about if he was looking for her? A few hours where she knew that he'd be safely tucked up with a transfiguration essay in the common room? "No, no, of course not." No, that sounded false, how about,"Aw Harry, the game's not too long away, we can't afford to miss practice now!" That wouldn't do either - it sounded like she didn't care that he had just offered to cancel practice for her… Maybe, "That's really sweet of you, thank you, but we really should get some more training." That sounded okay, how about –

"That would be so amazing if you could do that." She smiled, helping herself to breakfast. Okay, that worked too… Hang on, did you just agree…

"Sure, it'll be fine," he winked, "the team is amazing. You should know I'd do anything for you, Gin." He told her. He looked at Ron for confirmation of the cancelled practice, but Hermione had already stolen his attention.

"Well, you don't have to…" Ginny was feeling a bit bad now, as she munched on some toast and jam. He brushed her comment aside and spent the next ten minutes telling her how little one tiny practice would matter and how he was more worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep.

"If it's nerves that are getting you, you could ask Hermione for one of her new calming draughts if you can drag her away from Ron," he looked at the pair of them engaged with each other in their own private world. Harry smiled, "On second thoughts, you might have more luck with Madame Pomfrey." Ginny laughed as she leaned in for another kiss. He gave her one and swung his leg over the bench, "I have to go – McGonagall is doing a demonstration, but I'll see you at break, yeah?" He picked up his books and hugged her once more. Harry was about to walk away, but then turned round again. He lowered his voice, "Oh and by the way, you have a bit of chocolate there." He pointed at her lower lip.

Ginny laughed, "Thank you, I would have gone around like that if you hadn't have said something!" her laugh was a slight bit higher than normal, and her smile wasn't as large as it usually was. Harry, it appeared, had not noticed and winked as walked out the Great Hall.

Ginny watched him go before turning around and sitting back down with a moan. She toyed with her crusts before deciding that she had to do something; things couldn't go on like this. She felt a bit false and heard Lavender's and Parvati's giggles coming back to her; I'm not a slut, I'm just sexually generous! Indeed she was. Ginny felt a bit ashamed about what had been happening. It wasn't just that she was cheating on her boyfriend that she had worked so hard to get, it was the thrill that cheating gave her. She felt wonderful while she was with Draco, and then Harry came along and was so lovely to her – it just ruined all her feel-good feelings and burned them into ash.

Maybe it was the fact that she had tried so hard and waited so long for Harry. Maybe she had tried so hard and waited so long that she had put her expectations so high that no mortal man could reach them. Draco does. She ignored the tiny voice in her mind; she wanted to listen, but the image of a red envelope winging its way to the castle if her mother ever found out what she was doing loomed in her mind. Then again, if she actually chose Draco over Harry, she would probably expect to find seven howlers when she went to breakfast tomorrow morning. If I went to breakfast…

This was ridiculous, why was she even contemplating having Draco? Why did she ever let herself get into such a mess in the first place? Her thoughts went back upstairs to that book she had stolen from Hermione; she knew that Hermione would never suspect her of reading something like that… Then again it was worth it just to see the look on her face when she realised it had gone missing.

This was horrible! Why was she having vindictive thoughts about her mudblood friend? Ginny's hand flew to her mouth, even thought she had not said anything out loud. She had just called Hermione a mudblood! She was turning into the sort of person that she had hated and bitched about since first year.

It must be Draco's influence; it must be. Oh, this is awful. She put her head in her hands, forcing herself not to cry. Things were getting a bit wild; something had to be done.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Hermione's voice interrupted her thoughts. She raised her head and made herself smile.

"Oh, I'm just so tired at the moment; Harry's even cancelled practice for me." Hermione smirked knowingly,

"You two are so sweet together, I'm so happy for you!" She declared as the bell rang. "You better get to lessons, Ginny – time is flying so quickly now! Oh, and by the way, you have chocolate just there." She gestured, "Did you know?"

Ron laughed as he led Hermione away, "Do you remember when you did that to me on our first year train journey?" Their voices trailed away as Ginny drained her glass of pumpkin juice. She moaned again, getting to her feet and dragging herself all the way up the stairs to Charms. It was only when she sat down that she realised she had not collected her bag. She raised her hand.

"Professor Flitwick?" She asked. When he turned round she continued, "May I quickly go back to the common room to get my bag?" She smiled as the classroom laughed and dashed out the door at his good natured nod.

Her pace slowed as she wandered down the deserted hallways, taking off her shoes so that they wouldn't clatter and interrupt lessons, making teachers come out to see what she was up to. She peered out all the windows as she passed, each of them displaying the school grounds and the freezing cold Black Lake. Ginny shivered involuntarily as she remembered the iciness of the water, exactly the opposite to Draco's' blazing fire…or was it just his touch?

She hauled herself up the dormitory stairs and pushed open the door to her room she shared with a few other girls in her year. She looked at the hangings that were drawn on her bed with a puzzled look, and walked round to read the note on her bedside table. She sighed with relief as she recognized Hermione's writing:

Courtesy of your knight in shining armour (maybe Ron should take a few hints from him!)

Ginny turned a bit apprehensively to her bed. It couldn't be a bad thing if Hermione had anything to do with it. Even so, she took out her wand to draw back the hangings. Her heart rate increased as she picked up the present on her pillow.

She turned the delicate red rose over in her fingers, and noticed what it was that was missing. She closed her eyes and leaned against one of the posts as she thought about her situation. Harry must know something was up. After all, even in their romantic relationship, it wasn't everyday that he gave Hermione a thorn-less red rose to place upon his beloved's pillow.

Oh dear, poor Ginny. It'll come good though – I promise! Maybe even quicker with some reviews...

x x x

x Faery Princess x