CHAPTER 5!

It's like I can't breathe,
It's like I can't see anything
Nothing but you
I'm addicted to you…
It's like I can't think
Without you interrupting me
In my thoughts,
In my dreams…
You've taken over me
It's like I'm not me…
It's like I'm not me…

Addicted – Kelly Clarkson

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Ginny awoke the next day feeling dizzy and disorientated.

He hit me. The bastard actually hit me!

She looked in the mirror and saw a bruise forming on her face, the most lovely shade of purple. She almost didn't want to lift up the singlet she had slept in to see the horror inflicted on her stomach, but she did. The outline of a fist was imprinted on her skin. It was sickening, purples and blacks, surrounded by yellow. She laughed, and flinched with pain.

"Scumbag," she whispered, as she thought of her husband.

The funny part was, while she knew the battle with the Dark Lord had unhinged him slightly, she had never seen him as the type of person to hit a woman. She'd been friends with many Slytherin men, and knew that none of them would ever strike a woman, Lucius Malfoy being the exception. But Harry Potter, famous Harry Potter, brave and righteous Gryffindor, had hit his wife so hard to cause bruises like that. It almost made her laugh again, but she had learnt what sort of pain to expect through doing that.

She needed to talk to Draco. Not about Harry, god that would enrage him. No, they had to talk about the Prophet. If that photo was made available, it meant there was a spy in the Slytherin parties, which would ruin absolutely everything. She couldn't let that happen. Now that she knew they were still going on, she had no intention of ever giving them up again. They were like a drug, a drug she couldn't give up. The only way she could possibly survive her pointless existence with Harry.

"Damn you Potter, how could you do this to me?"

She walked into the kitchen in her singlet and undies, found a note from him on the table, scrunched it up and tossed it without even reading it, and sat down in front of the phone. She pressed the 'Play' button on their answering machine.

VIRGINIA WEASLEY!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? YOU'VE DISGRACED US ALL!!

Her mother…well that was expected…

Gin, it's Ron. I guess I should be angry…but for some strange reason I'm not. Call me back. By the way, don't worry about Mum. She's not nearly as angry as she sounded. Please call me.

Ron. Now that actually was a surprise…

Ginny, I know we talked about all this stuff the other week, but why did you do it? It could have ruined everything! Call me soon. Look after yourself girl.

Hermione. Ginny laughed, how could Hermione of all people say that? She'd put her back in contact with Malfoy in the first place.

Ginny? I always knew there was something going on between you and Malfoy! I knew it! Call me back babe, I envy you!

Lavender Brown. No doubt Parvati would be next. Sure enough…

Oh my Fucking God! Ginny Weasley, cute innocent Ginny Weasley, got the Slytherin Sex God. Harry, if you're listening to this, don't take it the wrong way. Call me Gin, I want juicy details…and I mean EVERY detail!!

How stupid could these people be? This was Harry's phone as well, what if he had checked the bloody machine?

She deleted the rest of the messages and made herself some raisin toast. She chewed quietly for a minute, contemplating what she was going to do. She had to call her mother, she knew that. She wasn't looking forward to it…Maybe she'd call Ron first, he seemed to be on her side, strangely enough. Harry would be angry for sure, it might mean the end of their friendship. She didn't want to be responsible for that, under any circumstances.

She made a mental note to call Ron, her Mother, Hermione, and finally, Draco, Blaise and Luna. Not that they deserved the least amount of attention but she would probably argue less with them. She picked up the phone and dialed Ron's work number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Ron, it's Gin, how have you been?"

"Look, I'm not sure if that's really necessary information pertaining to this case," he said. She was confused for a minute, but smiled.

"You're with him, aren't you?"

"I understand your predicament, but there's really nothing I can do right now. If you call me back with some real information, I can help you. Possibly,"

Check, call back later so you don't get your arse kicked.

"Alright. Just wanted to let you know I'm okay, and I'm sorry,"

"That's really not necessary Ma'am, it's probably a big misunderstanding,"

"I'll talk to you later Ron,"

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. As I said, call me back with more information and maybe I could help you,"

"Got it. Bye,"

"Goodbye Ma'am,"

She hung up the phone and smiled. Poor guy, it was sad that he had to lie to his best friend like that. She'd never wanted to make him choose. She dialed her mothers number and waited.

"Mum?"

"Ginny! Ginny, we need to talk,"

"Hence the reason I called,"

"Don't be smart with me Ginny. I'm not in the mood. What have you done?"

"Mum, I didn't do anything wrong! He's been blackmailing me since the start of the marriage, what was I meant to do?"

"That doesn't mean you had to do what you did!"

"How could I not! I'm sick of lying!"

"Wait, who exactly are you referring to? As the blackmailer, I mean,"

"Well, Harry. Who did you think?"

"I thought Malfoy blackmailed you into coming out with him…Harry was blackmailing you?"

"He said if I ever saw Malfoy again, he'd tell you, and he'd take my apartment,"

"He threatened you?"

"Yes Mum, perfect little saviour boy threatened me,"

"But I don't understand why you were with Draco Malfoy!"

"Well, I was…sort of seeing him in my seventh year," she whispered.

"YOU WERE WHAT? Virginia Weasley how could - "

"Mum!" she cried. Molly was quiet. None of her children ever spoke to her like that. "He was good to me. He was better to me than Harry ever has been. I had friends! Real friends! Do you remember my best friend Luna?"

"Yes. A little out of it, but a nice girl nonetheless. I always wondered why you don't see her anymore…"

"Because Harry banned me! She got married a few months ago, and he banned me from the wedding because she married Blaise Zabini, and Draco would be there!"

"Oh dear – "

"When we got married he made me burn all of my clothes, and tell Draco, Blaise and Luna that I had used them for the two years we were friends and I never wanted to see them again, that they disgusted me and I hated them!" she was crying now.

"Ginny, dear. I think you should come and visit me. Now, right now. Forget everything else, we'll have a chat and see what we can do about all of this, ok?" Molly asked, her maternal instinct kicking in.

"Yes Mummy," Ginny replied, wiping her tears.

"That's a good girl, I'll see you soon then, okay?"

"Yes Mum, I love you,"

"Love you too. Bye Ginny dear,"

"Bye Mum,"

She hung up the phone feeling slightly put out.

I'll just call Hermione, and then I'll go…

After an early lunch at her Mother's house, Ginny felt ten times better. She'd told her mother the entire story, exactly what she'd told Hermione, but including the most recent additions, and after a long silence, her mother had believed her. She was so excited, had never even imagined that Molly would take it as well as she had. Then Molly had done the one thing Ginny had never expected her to do; she'd taken down Ginny's wedding photo, in which she was frowning and trying to get away from Harry, and replaced it with the picture from the Daily Prophet.

"To remind me of the day my happy daughter came back to me," Molly had said, before crying and hugging her daughter to the point of near suffocation.

Ginny pointed her wand at her face to change her appearance, and headed over to Draco's flat. She pushed past all the reporters, and pressed the number of the floor above Draco's on the elevator. The elevator door shut on sighs of disappointment, and she grinned. She walked down a flight to Draco's level, and knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled from inside.

"Malfoy – "

"Didn't you hear me – " he said, opening the door. " – leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you," he snarled. His hair wasn't gelled and he was only wearing a pair of silk pajama bottoms.

"Let me in you knob before this spell stops working," she whispered.

"Ginny?"

"Must I kick down the door?" she asked, sighing dramatically.

He threw open the door and pulled her into his arms.

"My God I thought he would have killed you or something!"

"No I'm fine," she replied, hugging him back. "But if you don't let go I think you might break my ribs,"

He pulled away sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's not me I'm worried about. I'm pretty sure that's not the picture of yourself you want painted,"

"What, ex-Death Eater? No, not exactly. But I'll live,"

"I'm so sorry Draco," she whispered, trying not to cry.

"Hey, it's not your fault,"

"It really is. I should have been more careful…"

"It had nothing to do with you! It was that sneaking Nott – "

"Theo?" she asked, surprised.

"No, his little brother! Apparently Theo wouldn't let him come to the party, obviously, I mean he's too young. But he took Polyjuice and snuck in. He took some photos, and sold them to the Newspapers to get back at us all,"

"So, no more parties?" she asked, rather dejected.

"Pfft! As if we'd let a little thing like that stop us. It just means we have to move the location and up the security. The warehouse has already been sold,"

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Because it was mine," he replied, grinning. "You thought I was a poor soul, didn't you? Living like this,"

"No! I…okay maybe. I didn't really know what to think,"

"I honestly don't do much, made a few investments. I bought some houses just out of Hogwarts, did them up and sold them for triple what I paid. It's nice to know that I don't need my father's money anymore,"

"That's really good, I'm very proud," she replied cheekily.

"I'm sure you are. But guess what, I have a new occupation as of September,"

"Really? What are you doing now?" she asked, as he handed her a bottle of Butterbeer.

"You're looking at the new Potions teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he replied, trying to hold down his obvious excitement.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked, jumping on him. "This is so exciting! You always wanted this! Congratulations,"

"Thanks. McGonagall owled me a couple of days ago. I had to owl her after the article of course, to make sure it was still on the table, but it's all good. I accepted. I can't wait to see the look on your darling husbands face when he finds out,"

"Oh it will be priceless won't it?"

"Beyond priceless,"

"We should celebrate," she said quickly.

"Yes we should. I want to take you shopping," he replied.

"But it's your celebration! We should be shopping for you!" she exclaimed, surprised. What on earth…?

"I know. We can shop for me too. But I've got this thing coming up in a few days, and I want you to come with me," he said. "In a suitable disguise of course," he added, as she began to interrupt.

"And how are we meant to keep that up?"

"It's a Muggle thing, no one will know us. I need to be in disguise as well,"

"Why?"

"Politics, you don't need to know. Anyway, it's a pretty casual thing, but it's an excuse for me to spend lots of money on you, like I always should have,"

"Yeah, yeah. Well, if you plan on doting on me, feel free, it's been a while since I got half decent male attention,"

"Oh really?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow. "We'll have to change that then won't we,"

He pointed his wand at her, and her entire appearance changed. She looked down in amazement. She'd always been able to do a face change, but not a complete face, hair clothes…well everything basically. She looked up at him, and found herself face-to-face with a tanned, black haired man with longish hair and a roguish grin.

"Shall we?" he asked, extending an arm. She took it and smiled.

"Let's,"

They apparated to Muggle France a few minutes later, laughing as Ginny nearly fell over.

"Man, I never get used to that!" she said, giggling.

"You're going to have to one day," he replied, steadying her.

"Yeah, I know. Why did you put me in heels?" she asked, fixing the strap on her shoe.

"Because I wanted to. Come on, let's go. I know the best shops here,"

"Oh really. That's good, because I know the best way to spend money,"

"There are different ways of spending money?"

"Oh yeah. Some people do the whole, 'please buy me something or I'll die!' and other retarded ways. But me, oh no, I'm just plain good,"

"But I'm happy to spend money on you…" he said, confused. "Why would you need a plan?"

"Oh, my plan isn't for you, it's against Harry. You've always bought me everything I want. I actually end up feeling bad at the end of the day,"

"Well, if we have to stop, I will tell you, alright?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Definitely," she replied, throwing and arm around his waist and pointing at a shop.

"Let's go in there!" she shrieked. "Oh, look at that dress!"

They shopped around for a few hours, slipping into the 'happy couple' role very easily. Ginny almost ran away when she saw Lavender and Parvati, and Draco had to pull on her arm and gently remind her that there was no way they could know her, she was completely different. She had burst into a fit of giggles then, and couldn't stop, so they'd had to sit down.

Although he generally acted bored, in reality, he loved watching Ginny shop, and didn't mind carrying her bags or whatever else she asked him to do. The look on her face when she found something she really liked was enough to keep him happy. And he had had to remind her more than once that she had a never-ending budget, and not to hesitate on any account. When they sat down for something to eat, the smile on her face was radiant.

"Thank you, so much for today. You have no idea how unbelievably fun it's been,"

"Hey, I enjoyed it as well," he replied.

"Yeah, but…I dunno, I guess it's just really nice getting some actual attention. Harry tries, but he just doesn't know what to do. It's like he thinks I'm still fifteen or something. I dunno. Anyway, thank you very much,"

"So have you decided what you're going to wear to our party?"

"Not a clue. Haven't fallen in love yet,"

"Oh really? Well, apparently, we're going to have to shop some more then,"

"Draco…"

"No, I promised I'd take you shopping, and I am. Until you fall in love anyway,"

"Well, I…thank you. You really have no idea how much this means to me,"

"I'm pretty sure I do. Anyway, what do you want to eat?" he asked, picking up a little menu.

"I…I can't exactly read French,"

"That's okay, just tell me what you want, and I'll tell you if they have it,"

"You speak French?"

"Fluently. You didn't know that?"

"You've probably told me, I just forgot. I've probably forgotten a lot about – oh hang on," she said, cut off by her phone. She looked at the display. "Crap. It's Harry,"

She flipped it open and pulled a face. "Hello,"

"Virginia, where are you?"

"I'm in Paris,"

"With who?" he demanded.

"No one Harry, I'm on my own. I needed some time alone to think about what happened last night. You remember last night?"

"Yes…how are you feeling from that,"

"You're honestly telling me you care? You only care that you…whatever, look I have to go,"

"Why? Ginny, you know I'll find out if you're with someone,"

"Harry, quit being so paranoid. Hermione is like my only real friend, and she's working, remember? Get over yourself. Just because you're out chaperoning your many whores, doesn't mean I'm doing the same!"

She slammed the phone closed and threw it into the water next to them.

"Um, what are you going to do about that?" Draco asked, trying not to laugh.

"Buy another one, say that was stolen. I've done the same thing many times," she reassured him. "Harry thinks I'm careless. Really, he shouldn't make me so angry. Anyway, food," she said, clapping her hands together.

"Yes food," he replied.

'I am absolutely starving, you have no idea! I feel like I haven't eaten for a week!"

It was towards the end of the day when Ginny really found what captured her heart. It was a simple white shirt, with a denim vest over it, a black tie, and a pair of tight black three-quarter pants. She found a pair of black heels to finish it off, and Draco grinned.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," he said.

"Mm, thank you. You know, we walked all over Paris, just to find this. Isn't it hot?"

"It is. And it's really not that expensive, as compared to some of the other stuff you've bought today. But one more thing…" he said. He walked over to the mens section of the store and pulled a black Fedora off a mannequin. He came back over to the change room, where Ginny was checking the price tag, and placed it carefully on her head. He laughed.

"Oh! I love it! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Now just get changed so I can pay for it all. I've got another surprise,"

"Another one? Yay, I'll be two seconds!"

Using her wand, Ginny changed in around 30 seconds, and came out of the change room smiling. She hugged Malfoy and kissed him on the cheek, putting the clothes on the counter.

"Big day sir?" the clerk asked.

"A very big day. And very worth it," he replied, looking over at Ginny, who was admiring a pair of boots. "Do you want them?" he called.

"Thanks, but I already have them! I just like looking!" she replied, grinning.

"Is there anything she doesn't have?" the girl asked, with obvious distaste.

"Quite a lot actually. Now how much is that?"

He took her out onto one of the docks on the river and sat her down, dangling her feet over the edge.

"So, did you have fun today?"

"I had lots of fun, thank you. It certainly took my mind off things,"

"Well good. I have one last surprise,"

"What's that?"

"Well, I want you to know, I didn't actually plan this, it just happened by coincidence, ok?"

"O…k?"

"Ok, first things first," he pointed his wand at her and her outfit changed again; warm clothes to suit the chill.

"Thank you very much," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's getting a little cold,"

"Ok, here we go,"

He put his arms around her and apparated with her to the Eiffel Tower, where a Ferris Wheel and other rides were set up.

"A show!" she exclaimed. "Oh my gosh!"

He looked at her smiling face, and realized just how young she was. She was only 20 years old, but being forced to live the life of a 30 year old, the life she didn't want. He grabbed her hand and took her onto the Ferris Wheel.

"Come on,"

The operator let them on, and as the wheel slowly went around, fire works began to pop.

"This is gorgeous, thank you," she said, putting her head on his shoulder.

"You're very welcome," he whispered.

She watched the fireworks with a smile on her face, but inside, it was all killing her. It was 3 days until her birthday, and she was sitting here with the man she truly loved, but couldn't be with. Soon she would have to go back to an unhappy life, and an unhappy marriage, with no excitement, no real fun. She should never have let herself do this, should never have let herself go with him. This would make life at home so much harder, she finally realized, because this was what she really wanted, but could never have…

Ginny Weasley, you are a fool…