Chapter 5: Forgive and Forget?
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just my own creative thoughts.
Looking back, who would have thought that such a nasty disagreement, would be ignored for the sake of truce. Temporarily ignored, that is. In the coming weeks, Ginny let him approach and feed, even though she knew in the back of her mind, that refusal wasn't an option. Denial is a lovely little thing. With time passing, her anger subsided and she returned to her normal self; although all things considered she was really just waiting for the right moment to spring. Amadeus had been more than usually polite for a while, hoping he could just avoid apologizing altogether and Ginny let him find eventual comfort in thinking like that. She was just biding her time. In the mean time, she resumed her pleasant befriending.
The first time Ginny had been in one of Amadeus's lairs (or homes) she was in her sixth year and with the disappearance of the trio she felt a lot more lonely than usual. She had no qualms in being their anyways; she had felt and acted very much at home. Since it had been on a Hogsmade weekend, she decided to spend the day there, even though his invitation was hardly willingly given in the first place.
She had baked chocolate chip cookies that smiled right before you ate them all afternoon while he watched her curiously.
"So vampires don't eat human food?" she asked.
"No. Your efforts have been pointless."
"Not exactly," she smiled, "since I am making them for you, you are obliged to try one."
He sneered, "Obliged? Don't mistake me for one of your wizard friends, for I am never going to be that."
She pouted playfully, not listening to him at all, "You're not my friend?"
Although he enjoyed seeing her so cute it perplexed him, "Ginny, how are we friends when I feed off you. I do not understand your logic."
She sighed and took the cookie sheet out of the oven. They were ready. She placed one in front of him on the kitchen counter. He eyed it suspiciously. "You've never had a cookie?"
"I've never seen them smile at me before. It's rather cryptic." he mumbled and cautiously bit into it. He swallowed it with difficulty. "I do not see what is so likable about them."
She shrugged, "Well, at least I tried. Maybe, next time, if I poured a cup and a half of my own blood you'd be more enthusiastic, hm?"
He grinned and started rummaging in his empty cupboards for something. Ginny left the kitchen with a hand full of cookies; she did have them all to herself now. She examined his living arrangements. The flat was small and rather tidy for what she knew of the male sense of accommodation. There was antique furniture mostly, and many heaps of ancient books. Amadeus seemed to be the book type for some reason. She had always imagined he came from a really ancient family that passed down ancient vampire traditions to keep them alive in such terrible times. But, she really knew little of his actual real life. Perhaps, one day he'd tell her.
She returned to the kitchen to find him making coffee. Amadeus didn't drink coffee, she did. This made her smile radiantly, "You're making me coffee."
Amadeus looked up and was slightly taken aback by her sudden warmth. A cold person himself, he never entertained the idea of inspiring such a reaction in anyone. What was with this girl? He poured the coffee into a cup with a shrug, "So it seems."
"You certainly are a man of few words. I wonder what you're really like on the inside." She mused absent-mindedly.
Did she have to talk so honestly all the time? It was so utterly unexpected to him that he hardly knew what to do. All the wizards and witches he had contact with were rude and disdainful of him treating him more like dirt than someone worthy of a thought. And Ginny certainly seemed to think more than one thought about him. "Do you realize what you say sometimes?"
She suddenly looked up surprised, "What? Did I say something stupid and didn't realize?" she asked in earnest.
He grinned in sincere amusement, "No. You just seem to voice things that I'm not used to hearing from wizard kind."
"Why? Do they treat you differently?"
"Much differently." He answered with the tone of voice that indicated that he did not want to continue this conversation topic. He watched her drink in silence; Amadeus particularly enjoyed quiet moments like this, they contrasted with the rest of his life.
"So why do you live in Hogsmade, Amadeus?" Ginny inquired, sitting on a stool now.
He leaned against the counter, moving with such natural grace she blushed a little. Amadeus could easily deduce what enticed such a reaction. Part of vampire magic was their unnatural allure. "I live here because it is safer."
"Among all the wizards and witches?"
"Yes. Better hide among your enemies than your friends."
She furrowed her brows, "Interesting motto. Do they know?"
"Do I look like a vampire, Ginny?" he smiled darkly.
A pink hue reappeared on the height of her cheeks. "No. Not really. But, you can never be too careful, so I think you should learn to eat our food. What if you're invited to dinner somewhere?"
"I would decline."
"That's drawing more attention to yourself. It would be better if you just accepted like everyone else normal would. Once they think you're different, suspicions will follow and then, in a blink of an eye, you'll be found out."
Amadeus frowned, unsure what exactly to do with her words. "Well… I suppose. But, still I do not interact that often with them, so they would not know me well enough to invite me in the first place."
"Then you're a constant stranger and that's not any better. In fact, since they don't know you, they won't trust you. You see? Even someone like me sees holes in your guise; think how easy it would be for anyone else?"
She was quickly becoming an irritating nuisance; one he would not be able to get rid of.
On her walk back to Hogwarts, Lavender ran up to her followed by Neville. They unfortunately disturbed her peaceful reverie, enjoying the late-December snow.
"Ginny, where have you been all day? We looked for you everywhere in Hogsmade." Lavender started as she linked arms with her. She beamed at her a little uncharacteristically.
"Yeah, Ginny. I was a little worried. You know those Carrows, who would put it past them to attack you in an empty Hogsmade alley?" Neville told her earnestly.
"Don't worry about me! I can take care of myself, especially with those Carrows. I haven't yet caught their attention."
"Have you caught someone else's maybe?" Lavender suggested, smiling.
Ginny felt rather disgusted, "Please Lavender, find yourself a hobby. The amount of time you spend searching for drama where there is none is unhealthy."
The girl scowled, "Ginny! Common, everyone is suspicious! You're always gone half the evening and no one knows where and with whom. You can't blame anyone for wanting to know." Lavender stuck her nose in the air and stormed forward, leaving Neville and Ginny to themselves.
"Well that was a little uncalled for, eh?" Neville commented. "It's not like that's any of her business. You were right to say what you did, Ginny."
"Thank-you Neville. How's Dumbledor's Army going?"
He shrugged, "Well, with the Hols near and all, people are not as centered on the rebellion as usual. Might as well give it a break and return with more enthusiasm than before eh!"
They brainstormed what new kind of tricks they could play on the unsuspecting Carrows upon their return as they walked back.
The holidays were only a week away and Ginny had begun growing nervous about how she was to handle Amadeus's weekly visits with her house filled with her family. She couldn't possibly refuse to go home for Christmas. How was she to keep him a secret? This could be problematic and she had not discussed it yet with him. She assumed he'd just figure out where she was like he did in September. She sighed; three months had passed since he had called in his debt and she was used to it all. How strange.
The day before the train-ride home, Amadeus showed up in her dormitory as she was alone for a couple of hours.
"You are in luck, my roommates aren't here."
"I can tell when you're alone, Ginevra."
She finally looked up at him, "Ah, well that explains it. But, how do you travel through the halls unnoticed?"
He sat on her bed beside her, "I'm sure you've figured it out already."
"Apparation through shadows?"
"Very good. I never doubted you, you see?" he teased.
"I'm sure in your mind you did. I have something I need to discuss with you. I'm leaving for home tomorrow morning and we need to figure out something because I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to keep this secret while I'm there."
"I know your family is rather large, but surely it doesn't exceed the population of this school. I think I can avoid being noticed." He replied confidently as he looked out the window.
"That's where you are wrong. I'm the only daughter as well as the youngest, Amadeus, they'll always keep an eye on me and if you continue to underestimate my family you'll get yourself into trouble."
"I'll come at night then."
"There are many protections on the house."
He frowned, "So there are in Hogwarts."
She sighed, "Fine. I warned you. Just make sure the house is quietly asleep before you decide to show up and fright me as you usually do." She huffed turning back to her work.
He stood in front of her sitting form, looking very keen. She looked up at him rather meekly. How would he go about it this time? Usually there was something innately sexual about the ritual and now that she was on her bed, well, it seemed a little more in its place. He pushed her on her back and crawled lazily on top of her. She felt sprawled on her bed linens, as if about to be ravished. The thought was rather exciting at the moment, for it seemed Amadeus was in the mood to seduce. Vampires simply must have naturally intoxicating pheromones and an inherent ability to suggest sex in every little movement if they wanted to. It came so easily to him to just overwhelm her in this way and then take her blood. Perhaps, it was just the way it was between a vampire and his or her Blood Source. When he was done he would always lick the wound for his saliva, it seemed, healed it almost instantly. He gave her a dark, suggestive smirk and disappeared into the shadows of her bed curtains just as the dormatory door opened loudly.
Lavender and Romilda entered chatting excitedly about some new song on the radio. As Ginny sat up rubbing her neck they hushed quiet, staring.
"Ginny! You look as if you just had a good snog. You sure you're not keeping secrets from us?" Lavender laughed and Romilda looked amused.
Ginny glared at them, "Your rather loud entry woke me up from a lovely nap, if you want to know."
"Right," Romlida answered.
"Do you see a boy here? Would you like to check underneath my bed?"
"It's quite alright, Ginny. No need to get so defensive." Lavender said calmly and charmed her nail file to file her nails on its own. "These things happen. I thought that you'd wait for Harry, that's all."
"What do you know of Harry and me, Lavender? Please, just stay out of my business." Ginny stormed out of the room angrily. What tasteless behaviour, did they have no manners at all? She made her way down to the Great Hall, hoping there would be some snacks before dinner. She suddenly became extraordinarily hungry, but it was normal for her to feel a little weak and terribly starving after having been fed off of. She never was quite sure how much he took from her, but it was never enough to really make her feel ill.
As she entered the Hall, someone called her name. "Miss Weasley."
She turned to face Professor Snape, "Yes, Professor?"
He handed her a piece of parchment. "I assume you are leaving for home, but upon the New Year, you may look into that particular area of interest as we discussed before, in the Forbidden Section."
She took the parchment and thanked him. He bid her a good Christmas and left. She felt excited. Those books were forbidden for a reason! They must have very interesting information, indeed. How very, very useful. Neville's conversation with her on their walk from Hogsmade popped up in her mind. Perhaps, they could fight fire with fire next year? A dangerous smile appeared on Ginny's lips, how delicious it was to border on the dark side.