CHAPTER 12

part 1

Ginny hurried down the halls of the ministry, braiding her long copper hair as she walked. She had a hair ribbon clenched between her teeth and was struggling to weave the ends of her hair together. She paused her steps and tied the ribbon around her new braid. She was running a little late today, having spent a good portion of her morning brewing a sober-up potion.

As she passed by Tonks' office door she heard a voice call her name. She turned to see who was trying to get her attention. In front of her was Tonks' blond secretary, Clara.

"Hey Ginny, are you busy?" Clara asked her, shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"Yeah, actually, I'm running a bit late. I need to—"

"No problem! I'll send a note with the elf to Draco telling him you'll be down in a few minutes," Clara said excitedly as she dictated a note and snapped her fingers for an elf.

"Wait..." Ginny tried to say, but it was too late, the elf was gone with the note.

Clara smiled at the redhead. "Good, that's done. Now, I've heard of this great little coffee shop down the street that—"

Ginny raised her hands, stopping the girl from continuing. "Maybe some other time, Clara. I really need to get down to my office."

The blonde's eyes began to fill with tears and her lip began to quiver. She looked like a small child, and Ginny could feel her resolve crumbling.

"Well, I guess Draco can survive for a few minutes without me…" She sighed.

(((0)))

The two women were sitting at the little coffee shop, their steaming drinks cooling in front of them. Ginny had ordered a cup of chai tea and she was stirring it counter clockwise while glancing at the blond beside her.

"Isn't this the nicest coffee shop? I didn't even know it existed until Lorraine…"

Ginny's teeth clenched in annoyance. The secretary had been going on and on about the coffee shop, location, people, and atmosphere for the last ten minutes. She was ready to scream. She placed her spoon on the side of her saucer, breathed in slowly, and unclenched her teeth. "Clara, why are we here?" she asked sweetly, trying to hide the exasperated she was feeling.

The pretty blond looked at Ginny sheepishly and took a long sip of her coffee. She placed the cup down and began to trace the grain of the wood on their table with a long, manicured finger nail. Her green eyes followed the movement for a moment before looking back up at her companion.

"Well, it's about Dr—your partner," she began, letting out a breath.

Ginny had to keep from rolling her eyes. As if Draco didn't cause her enough problems, now she had to clean up after him, as well? I Peachy. /I

"I was just wondering if he talks about me," The girl continued hopefully.

Ginny sighed, brushing a few loose strands of hair off of her forehead. "Look... Malfoy and I-- we don't talk much about ourselves or our lives." She snorted. "If we did, he'd say something rude, I'd get in a temper, and another war would start. So, we stay away from that sort of thing. We only talk about the case we're working on."

Clara laughed. "I know you guys don't like each other. Draco even told me how annoying you could be when we were on our date. He thinks you're too stubborn and that you follow the 'Saint Potter' rules to life: 'Dumb Luck!' Isn't that funny?" she asked with a musical laugh.

Ginny was not amused. She glared at the girl sitting across from her, her hands clasped tightly around her cup so that she wouldn't jump over the table and throttle the pretty secretary. "Very clever." Ginny huffed.

The girl's green eyes widened in realization of what she had said. "Oh! I didn't mean—it's just, I reckon Draco prefers delicate women like me over strong willed women like you." Ginny's glare intensified and Clara began to visibly shake. "Not that you're unattractive or manly! You're quite lovely for a redhead! Eep! Not that redheads are unattractive usually, but you're rather nice looking and not manly at all! You just have a bad temper and a lot of men find that unattractive. Oh bollocks! I don't know what I'm saying—"

"Clara! You're rambling." Ginny snarled, making the blond jump. "Just calm down."

"I'm sorry," she said, after a few deep breaths. "I just really like Draco and I wanted to know if he had said anything about me. I know you two don't talk, but you've been working together for eight months now and you read each other well. I was hoping that maybe you had picked up on something."

The woman looked so dejected and upset that Ginny couldn't help but feel for her. "No, I haven't. Draco is a bit of a cold fish. He doesn't like to let his feelings show."

Clara nodded. "I don't really know why I like him." She sighed, tracing the patterns of the wood again and resting her head in her other hand.

Ginny laughed lightly. "I don't know either, truthfully. He's a big bully, he's cold, calculating, cynical—"She ticked off his faults on her fingers.

"I know… But, he's just so handsome, and the way he talked to me; it seemed like he really liked me. He made me feel special, taking me out to an expensive restaurant." She laughed bitterly, glancing up at Ginny. "I couldn't even read the menu! I felt like a princess, everything was perfect! Then I had to ruin it!"

"How did you ruin it?" she asked, her brows knitting together in confusion.

"Oh! I acted like a complete slag!" She cried, covering her face in shame. "He Apparated me home, I invited him inside for a night cap and then… I just jumped him!" She placed a hand over her chest defensively. "I've never done anything like that in my whole life!"

Ginny felt a sharp pain in her heart and her throat caught. It felt as though she were choking, her throat tight and her heart constricting. What was wrong with her? She grasped her cup and took a big gulp of her now cool tea. Somehow her mouth still felt dry.

Her mind filled with pictures of Clara and Draco together on silken sheets, passion making their skin pink and damp. Their mouths crashing together, the sounds of skin meeting skin, Draco calling the blonde's name. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, and when she opened them again, the visions were gone.

When she had come back to herself, she realized that Clara had never stopped talking. She tried to pick up on what she had missed and her attention caught on the last sentence.

"Wait, he turned you down?" She gasped, not sure why she felt so relieved and not wanting to examine why her throat and chest suddenly felt better.

Clara nodded. "I was so embarrassed. He told me that it was alright and that he just didn't feel comfortable going that far with our relationship, giving me some lame excuse about how I was a nice girl and that we were friends. Then he bolted," she said matter-of-factly, taking another sip of her coffee.

"He bolted?"

"Mmhm, just left without a word, and now… Now he won't talk to me. I should just let it roll off my back, but it's hard. I see him every day at work, and every time I see him, I get so embarrassed. I wish it hadn't happened at all."

Ginny smiled. "You deserve better," she said, covering the girl's hand with her own.

Clara smiled a watery smile back at her. "I just want someone to like me…"

"Me too... There has to be some guy out there that can handle a strong willed, stubborn, redhead!" she joked.

Clara laughed and they finished their drinks, talking amicably a few minutes more before walking back to the Ministry.

(((0)))

Ginny checked her watch as she walked onto the elevator. The time read 'Better have a good excuse'.

She sighed, Draco would not be happy.