He Who Hesitates
Jealousy is all the fun you think they had. – Erica Jong
He who hesitates is a damned fool – Mae West
Ginevra Weasley was, she liked to think, quite the catch. She was intelligent, feisty and fairly attractive. Her coppery hair was thick and shiny and long, her eyes were large and chocolaty, her skin was creamy and peppered with flecks of cinnamon and her body was Quidditch honed. She wasn't perfect but she was definitely worth more than being dated in secret. She wasn't Eloise Midgen with her pot marked visage, or Looney Luna Lovegood with – bless her heart – various fruits dangling from her ears and notions of twigged dimple snoots, or whatever it was she talked about. In short, she was sure that even Quasimodo got to walk along side his beau in public every once in a while.
Ginny was in a covert relationship with none other than Draco Malfoy, or the resident Slytherin arsehole as she fondly thought of him more recently. The War was over; they'd all returned to Hogwarts to finish their education and he had been cleared of any charges held against him, as had his family. He was no longer the blood purity extremist he'd once seemed but he was certainly still an arrogant, overly precious snob. Their relationship had started off innocent enough with a few lingering glances and a couple of predetermined accidental hallways run-ins. They exchanged insults but after a while they had begun to lose their barbarous motives and it became teasing banter and from then it became almost flirtatious. Then one day, during a particularly lively verbal sparring match between the redhead and the blonde, one of them – neither was entirely sure which – physically closed the gap between them and they'd found themselves locked in a furious snogging session. Since that afternoon each knew something more was there other than just mutual attraction; there was chemistry and feeling. Not quite love, yet, but there was definitely potential.
However, understandably, they decided to keep their burgeoning relationship hidden from the judgement of outside parties. The feud between Weasleys and Malfoys was almost as old as the rivalry which separated Gryffindor and Slytherin, thus the pair was aware of the amount of adversity they'd face. But four months had passed since it all began and Ginny was becoming hyper aware of the fact Draco had given her no promises of what they were or what lay ahead of them. She was certain he was worth the glares and cold shoulders she'd receive for a few months after telling her friends and family about her new boyfriend, he was even worth the howler she'd be bound to be sent from her mother. It'd all be worth it if she could just hold his hand in the corridors, peck him on the cheek at breakfast and – most importantly – tell Pansy flipping Parkinson and Astoria bloody Greengrass to do one and stopping hanging off of her boyfriend. Draco, however, was on a quite different train of thought; he was content for things to stay the way they were.
Ginny was sure this was because he liked all the attention he still got from his groupies and was just far too much of a coward to face her brother. She also suspected it was because he didn't feel as strongly for her as she did him. She wanted to be able to doodle his name across her books and grin stupidly when she saw him across the Great Hall (not that she actually planned on acting so very sappily even if they did become official...she'd just like the choice to be able to do so). She had broached the subject a few times only to be shot down or distracted by him onto another subject and she'd accepted all the times her point had fizzled and died. But today as a knock on Draco's dormitory door had interrupted their time together she had, in order to escape detection, had to hide beneath Draco's bed. She'd watched as the bare feet of Astoria Greengrass had padded in, her toenails painted a shocking pink and a delicate gold chain adorning her ankle – Merlin give her strength even her feet were accessorized to perfection. She'd listened as the brunette witch had flirted mercilessly with her boy in his bedroom! She'd heard Draco flirting back, his voice deep and gravelly and seductive; he did nothing to not lead her on. He may as well have been wearing a giant neon sign proclaiming he was free for a fuck. Finally he managed to usher the harpy away with promises of sitting beside her at dinner and the moment the hem of Astoria's robe had exited the dormitory Ginny hauled herself up. She was covered in dust and her hair was in disarray, not to mention her eyes were sparkly with angry tears.
"Sorry, Gin, you know..." his words faltered. His redhead looked irate.
"Do not talk to me, Draco Malfoy. I have some work I need to do." And without so much as a goodbye she picked up her broom and negotiated her way out of his bedroom window. Oh yes, that's how much effort she went through to have to spend time with her boyfriend secretly, she flew to him. Thus this was how Ginny Weasley had come to find herself sat in her own dormitory in Gryffindor tower fuming and cursing Draco Malfoy through the seven levels of Hades. Idiot.
Just then a girl from her year, Abigail Bending, popped her curl decked head around the door and grinned widely when she saw Ginny in there. Her smile faltered, however, when she caught the look on her friend's face. "Ginny, you alright?"
"Fine, Abi, just...boys can be quite difficult, can't they?"
"Your mystery man giving you trouble, Gin?" The girls had noticed the redhead's disappearances and dazed I've-just-been-thoroughly-kissed expressions.
"I guess. I don't know...ah, don't worry about me, Abi. Just being a little sensitive, I suppose." She knew she wasn't overreacting but she didn't particularly want to discuss her problems with her roommate, while she was thoroughly lovely Ginny just wasn't the type to endorse the old 'a problem shared is a problem halved' mantra. "What are you up to?"
The black haired witch grinned sneakily "I'm setting up an April fool for Demelza!"
"April fool? Gosh, is it April already?"
"Mmhmm, so keep your wits about you tomorrow, Gin!"
She laughed uneasily, "What's your prank?"
"Oh, well you know how Demelza hogs our bathroom every morning? Well, I'm going enchant the shower to run from hot to cold and charm the mirror to say things like hurry up, you poser, you! I mean, it's kind of a fun way to tell her we're sick of waiting half an hour to brush our teeth each morning – don't you think?"
It was genius. It was an indirect way to directly deal with a problem. Her brain seemed to whizz through a melee of ideas; he couldn't ignore it now.
"It's brilliant!" and the redhead dashed from her bed, off to the owlery.
Somehow Abigail knew Ginny hadn't been talking about her plan.
0x
George,
I promise I'll divulge all reasoning behind my request on the second of April, but for now I'm asking if you could send me that new Man Dough kit ASAP? I'll pay you at Easter – you know I'm good for it!
Hope you're well,
Your favourite sister xxx
Attaching the scrappy piece of parchment to the foot of a Hogwarts delivery owl Ginny felt her plan begin to fully form. By tomorrow afternoon Draco Malfoy would feel like a royal April fool for not listening to her, of this she was certain. A certain spring in her step, Ginny ambled down to have dinner, eagerly awaiting her brother's response.
0x
Ginny was just finishing off the last of her apple pie and custard (while stubbornly refusing to allow herself to turn and sneak a peek at the Slytherin table) when the handsome tawny owl she'd seen not even an hour earlier dropped a square package, wrapped in brown paper, in her lap. A note was attached.
Sister of mine I don't know why Fred and I ever insisted on influencing you so much. You're clearly up to no good...have fun!
She grinned to herself; he knew her so well.
"What's that, Gin?" Harry had looked up from his and Ron's conversation to watch Ginny relieve the owl of the parcel and read her letter.
"Oh, nothing much, just a fresh supply of puking pastilles; George knows how much I hate, erm, Herbology..." her absentminded response caused Hermione to raise an eyebrow sceptically. She happened to know the younger girl received very high marks in nearly all of her lessons and that she was actually tutoring a third year in Herbology on Thursday lunchtimes. She remained silent, however, far be it for her to ruin Ginny's half truths, especially when she couldn't quite fathom the reasoning behind her falsehood. The two boys, unsurprisingly, didn't notice any gaping holes in what Ginny had said and returned to their conversation about Puddlemere United 'getting their arses handed to them' by the Cannons.
0x
Draco watched as his redhead left her friends, a newly delivered package in hand and his curiosity peaked. She'd had such a tender look on her face when she'd read the note that had been attached to her parcel and when the golden trio had turned their attentions to her, her cheeks had gained a slight blush so either she had been lying to them or it was something embarrassing and they had been teasing her. Either way, he wanted to know. He hated it when they were fighting, especially when she hadn't even let him defend himself. And he hated it when he didn't know what was going on in her life; she was his, damn it, he deserved to know what could make her smile and blush. Particularly if, as he suspected, what it was that was making her melt was from another admirer.
0x
Nestling herself happily into a large and squishy, dusky pink armchair in the Room of Requirement, Ginny was finally able to un-wrap the parcel her brother had sent for her. The paper ripped easily beneath her eager fingers and revealed exactly what she'd been hoping to see; a lurid purple box with the words Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes...MAN DOUGH. Had enough of being a dateless wonder? Want to cook up some excitement? Bake a man, just like Mamma used to make! Ginny snorted. She'd been the inspiration behind this particular product; during the previous summer she'd declared that she'd be better off dating a gingerbread man, as opposed to a real one, that way if he annoyed her she could just bite his head off. Like a black widow with a sweet tooth.
Within said box was a ball of malleable, spicy smelling dough (apparently George had taken the gingerbread man metaphor to heart.), some gum drops, piping icing and several little vials which were full of various different coloured powders. Each of the glass bottles had a different personality trait scrawled across the front of them; you could sprinkle the dough with as many of these as you wanted and your man would adopt these traits. Chuckling to herself, Ginny stood up out of her cosy seat and as she did so the room began to morph into a large kitchen, not dissimilar to that of her mothers. Taking out a rolling pin she began to roll out the dough. Once she'd created the silhouette of a man with the mixture it was time to add his persona. First of all she applied the red confidence sprinkles, then continued to liberally add loyalty, a healthy dose of flirtation, a smidgen of protectiveness, a little adoration and finally a decent amount of intelligence. He would be dark haired, she decided, and piped on the chocolate icing with bright blue eyes (on went some blueberry gumdrops) and as a finishing touch she added some orange gumdrops as buttons, after all he wouldn't be a gingerbread man without them! Half an hour and a preheated oven later, the redhead was ready to open up the oven and have her new beau appear. Donning oven gloves she pulled out the tray containing the gingerbread man and scowled slightly...so, how exactly –
"Erm, hello!" The loud voice came from directly behind her, and nearly dropping the tray, she span around to face the speaker. She was certain she'd just aged twenty years with the rate her heart was pulsing. Before her stood a very tall, very beautiful man with thick brown curls gracing his head, playful sky blue eyes and lips the colour of dark red liquorice that seemed quick to quirk into a smile.
"Oh, hi...I'm Ginny."
The man nodded. "I know. I'm, er...who am I?"
"You're, erm..." she glanced around for some sort of inspiration, then her eyes fell on the Gryffindor crest blazoned onto her robes, "Leo King."
"Wonderful. I definitely feel like a Leo."
Ginny found herself smiling slightly maniacally at the man then back to her confectionary creation which was still cooling on the tray. Perhaps she should have read the instructions a little more clearly.
"Um, I don't mean to be rude but could you explain why I still have this...erm, gingerbread man? I assumed he'd be...you." She pinched the bridge of her nose, is it worse talking to yourself or to your cookie cutter boyfriend that you had just baked yourself? Even in the Wizarding world Ginny knew that, that was a bizarre question to be asking yourself.
He seemed to know the answer, however "that is like a ...poppet representation of myself. You keep me till that one goes stale or, until my gingerbread body is destroyed."
Ginny nodded, "I see." She glanced at the clock, it was nearly curfew. "If I leave you here for now and come collect you tomorrow morning, will you be okay?"
"Certainly."
"Right, well...I best be heading back up to my room, I suppose." Scooping up her bag and ensuring her wand was still happily tucked into her pocket she waved awkwardly to Leo and bolted from the room. Tomorrow certainly was going to prove to be interesting.
An errant thought entered her mind, however, just as she was drifting off to sleep...what if her man dough April fool didn't work? What if Draco really didn't care?
0x
After successfully dodging the various April Fools through the Gryffindor common room, including Ron's insistence that she had to kiss Trevor – Neville's old toad – because it was in fact Harry and he'd been transfigured into a slimy amphibian during a particularly rough game of wizard's chess against Hermione. She'd apparently gotten terribly irate when Harry had taken the queen that she'd started brandishing her wand and cursing left right and centre. Nice try, Ron. Once entering the Room of Requirement she was quite unnerved to see that Leo was still stood where she'd left him the previous night, he seemed quite happy to see her though, which was nice. Every girl likes a beautiful man to smile at her when she walks into the room. She figured she best explain the deal to him.
"Okay, there's this boy Draco Malfoy and I want him to start owning up to liking me so, as it's April Fool's, you're going to pretend to be...a visitor of some sort, who is looking around the castle and you're going to flirt with me, and try to convince Draco that, well, that we might have something going on...okay?"
He nodded soberly, taking in his mission, then his face cracked into a winning smile; egads, her knees wouldn't take much more of that! Holding his arm out he winked at her and said, "Well, fair maiden, allow me to escort you to breakfast!" Fair maiden? Maybe she over did the flirt?
0x
Walking through the Great Hall was a little like partaking in a nonsensical safari that morning, everywhere she looked people were obliviously sporting ridiculous hats or pig's snouts. One particular snake has spotted his prey, however, only to notice that morning she had a new bauble attached to her arm. A tall, dark and – he grudgingly admitted – handsome bauble. Draco Malfoy growled and Pansy who'd been leaning on his shoulder gave him a look of mild surprise and sat up straight, the blonde had definitely been in a rotten snit since yesterday. She wondered what exactly Astoria had said to him when she'd visited him in his dorms. Everyone knew Draco liked a couple of hours to himself every now and again, she'd warned the girl not interrupt but she'd been determined and went ploughing on up there. Silly bint.
Ginny had felt his eyes burning holes into her back; perfect. Approaching the Gryffindor table she couldn't help but giggle: Ron and Harry were both laughing so hard they were nearly choking on their own tongues while Hermione huffed – she'd obviously fallen ill of an April Fools. Seamus had sprouted a ginger beard and emerald green top hat and had shrunk noticeable – Dean's handiwork, she didn't doubt. However, the chaos seemed to halt a little as the redhead and Leo approached.
"Er, hey, Gin...who's your friend?"
Leo seemed to spring into charm mode. "I'm Leo King from Scotland" how he'd adopted a highland accent that was so perfect he could have been McGonagall's long lost grandson, Ginny didn't know but she quickly hid her shock. "I'm just taking a look 'round Hogwarts as I write an column for an American Wizarding paper and am doing a little research into European school. Ginevra here, beauty that she is -" he winked at her, causing a little dusting of pink to appear on her cheeks, "- agreed to show me around, let me attend classes with her etcetera." His large blue eyes seemed so earnest and his winsome smile so open that it was hard not to fall for the lie herself.
"Yes, well, Leo...take a seat. This is my brother, Ron and his friends Harry and Hermione. This is Dean, Neville and the leprechaun is Seamus Finnegan"
"Pleasure!"
Once the excitement of a new comer had died down everyone seemed to return to their respective conversations and breakfasts. Once she was sure they were all well and truly distracted Ginny took a moment to covertly point out Draco Malfoy and Leo smirked. They were facing the Slytherin table and he was astutely aware that the blonde boy was watching the little redhead, even if she couldn't tell. This was going to be child's play. Stretching his arm up wide he slung it over Ginny's shoulders and with his free hand he conjured a bouquet of flowers. "For you, my pre-Raphaelite."
She knew it was all for show but she couldn't help the heat that crawled up her pale cheeks, she'd never been given flowers by a boy before. Meanwhile a certain blonde across the room could feel his patience and cool begin to wane. Who in the name of Salazar was this guy? And why was Ginny letting this happen? He knew they'd never had that chat, that monogamy chat but he'd certainly thought his feelings were clear...
0x
Draco had hung around behind one of the tapestries in the second corridor as he knew Ginny started the day with Charms and he assumed she'd be heading that way any moment. What he didn't factor into his thought process was that her playmate would be bounding along next to her tucking her hair behind her ears, carrying her textbooks and complimenting her as though there were no tomorrow. He felt a tinge of anger colour his face and instantly his persona slipped into defensive.
"My, my Weasley who's the April fool you've got trailing after you? Been dabbling in love potions?" he knew the barb would sting a little, but damn it, he was stinging a little.
She scowled, "Malfoy, meet Leo -"
"King. And I can assure you Mister Malfoy, her beauty is enchantment enough; potions are not needed here."
Draco could feel his resolve slipping, where the bloody hell had she found this...this Lothario?
"I'm showing Leo around Hogwarts, he's a journalist."
"Can't imagine why you think I'm interested in your life story, Weasel." He swept away down the corridor, not looking back to see Ginny tiredly rubbing her forehead. It was going to be a long day.
"He's not meant to hate me. Just...notice that other men can notice too!"
"He doesn't hate you, love, far from it. Patience."
0x
By the time lunchtime came Ginny had, had enough of explaining who Leo was, had endured witnessing a ridiculous amount of April Fools and could feel her brain melting beneath her fretting over whether creating Leo was, in fact, the worst idea she'd ever had the misfortune to cook up in that devious mind of hers. It was all these things that had led her to not particularly wanting to undergo lunch in the Great Hall; she'd rather have her stomach grumble through her afternoon lessons and then go devour a very large dinner. It was somewhere between Charms and Herbology that she'd decided Leo had to go. He'd served his purpose, Draco was jealous and this whole April fool thing was becoming a tad tiresome. It's not like she could ever tell Draco that Leo had been a part of an elaborate prank that she'd hoped would result in her getting the blonde Slytherin to admit his feelings for her. That was one awkward conversation she didn't want. It was times like these, when she'd ran and jumped into situations without weighing up the odds, that she realised she truly was a Gryffindor through and through.
She took Leo, who was chatting incessantly with his flirtation mode clearly flying high, to a fairly secluded spot in Hogwarts grounds (it was one of her favourite spots, actually. A place she and Draco had frequented) and sat beside him on one of the large fallen logs. The air was warm and balmy and smelt of blossoms and spring. She turned to watch the brunette man as he rapidly told her about his understanding of the plants they'd been learning about that day.
"Leo?"
He stopped talking immediately, his attentions focused entirely upon the little redhead next to him, "yes, Ginny?"
"I think it's time...you were, erm, leaving now. I'm really not sure this ruse is working and quite frankly, I'm sure I'm going a little grey after this morning."
His face fell so quickly and dramatically it was almost comedic. "But, Ginevra, my sunshine, my firefly...I'm in love with you."
"You've known me less than twenty-four hours!"
"Time does not matter; when the heart knows, it just knows."
She was at a loss, she could literally feel her throat constricting "you're a bloody Victoria sponge in pretty wrapping, Leo! This is not happening."
His sparkling blue eyes filled with tears slightly. "Ginny, please understand, I do love you. I will look after you-"
"Yeah, until you're past your sell-by-date!"
He ignored her slight. "You don't need that other man, Gin, he won't ever be able to love you like I can. Please, please...just give me a chance!" Strueth. George needed to tone down the perfection of his dough. Her date was going from being beautiful and understanding to bunny boiler in no time at all.
He lunged forward and attached his lips to hers.
"Oi, Casanova!" Draco. "Get the hell away from my girlfriend." His voice wasn't angry, it was cold and deadly and full of venom. His grey eyes were flashing menacingly.
"She isn't yours, Malfoy. You didn't have the balls to ask her to be yours. Too afraid of what Daddy'll say, hey? You don't deserve her, you-"
Before Ginny knew what was occurring she had found herself being thrust her away just as Draco had launched himself at Leo. She gasped loudly as she saw the blonde punch Leo squarely in the jaw and as the other man was not entirely human he seemed to feel nothing. Draco tried again but still to no avail. Then Leo tried; his fist connected directly with Malfoy's face and Ginny watched, almost in slow motion, as Draco soared through the clearing and hit a tree with a slightly sickening crunch.
"What is wrong with you?" She dashed to the blonde's side; he was out cold with a fairly deep gash on the side of his head. His pale hair turning dark red as blood blossomed out of his wound. "You have to help me carry him to the infirmary. Oh, Draco, I'm so sorry...please, be alright." She could feel tears beginning to collect in the corners of her eyes but she blinked them back. What was it her mum used to say to Fred and George? Playing pranks and jokes on people is all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
Ten minutes later Ginny burst through the Hospital Wing doors, Leo right behind her with a broken, barely lucid Malfoy in his arms. She looked around quickly, in search of Madame Pomfrey.
"If this is another April fool joke gone awry..." her words appeared to fizzle mid sentence as she saw the blood emerging from Draco's skull. "Put him on the bed! Miss Weasley, what on earth has happened here?"
The redhead looked sheepish for a moment then said, "Leo and Draco had a little scuffle and Draco...tripped. Is he going to be okay?"
"Of course he is; it's a superficial wound. He'll have a sore head for a day or two, though." She was examining the cut. "I'll give him a couple of potions, clean up his cut and he'll be good as new. He will be staying here the night, though, just so I can keep an eye on him."
Ginny felt relief flood her; he was going to be okay.
"Leo, come on, we need to talk."
0x
They were sat in the Room of Requirement again. Ginny had Leo's gingerbread form in her hands, wondering how which was the best possible way to break the spell. Leo wasn't pleading forgiveness anymore, or doting on her, or proclaiming love. He looked pale and shocked. Ginny supposed his body didn't work like that; he had magic and not blood within his veins. It'd obviously been a surprise for him to see how very fragile a human could be. Even if said human was a Malfoy.
"It's time for you to leave now, Leo."
She wasn't sure what instinct was leading her through the motions but her initial thought was to pull off the buttons that covered the gingerbread man's chest.
"Oh, Ginny, please...I could be better, I really could."
She tugged at the first gumdrop.
"NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons..."
"I'm sorry, Leo." And she watched as with every gumdrop she pulled off the man before her became less corporeal until he was nothing but a shimmering, watery version of himself. Finally, she snapped the biscuit in half and saw him disappear completely. George definitely needed to make those men less...human.
0x
It was one minute past midnight and Ginny was glad to see the end of the first of April. She was sat in the darkened Hospital Wing at Draco's bedside. The moon was beaming through the window and he looked so peaceful; his hair was silvery in the pale light and his skin was alabaster white. He had a beautiful face; his features were fine and aristocratic, he looked almost angelic as he slept. He had called her his girlfriend. Deciding she'd rather like to lie beside him, she toed off her shoes, lifted his sheet and slid in next to him. Hoping he wouldn't object to her presence too much, seeing as it really was her fault he was lying there.
"Gin?"
His voice sounded groggy. "Hey, yeah...it's me, how're you feeling?"
"Like I fought and lost against the Whomping Willow."
She smiled into his chest and he took one of her hands in his, intertwining their fingers. He stared at their joined hands.
"Where's King?"
"Gone...he's gone."
Silence.
"I hated seeing him with you. Why'd you let him all over you like that? Don't you...don't you want to be with me?" She'd never heard him sound so brutally honest. There was tragic exquisiteness to his vulnerability.
"Draco, I do want to be with you. But not in secret, not anymore." She propped herself up on her elbow so she was able to look at him properly, "I want to be able to walk through Hogsmede with you. I want to be able to peck you on the cheek before I leave for classes and I want to be able – to have the right – to be royally pissed off when Astoria or Pansy or some other floozy tries to sink their claws into you! I'm sick of hiding under beds, Draco. I'm not asking for marriage here, I'm not even asking you to meet my parents or anything...but I'm asking for you to be mine. Wholly mine."
Silence fell once more. Mentally cursing April Fool's day and her harebrained scheme, she was about to roll herself off of the bed and leave the Hospital Wing and never look back at Draco-sodding-Malfoy ever again. But as she began to move a hand shot out and held her in place. He used his other hand to tilt her chin up so that she was looking at him. He smiled and simply replied, "Okay."
Ramble Times;
Okay, this was a response to a challenge set by bathtubblogger on the DG Forum.
Criteria was - Either Draco or Ginny plays a prank on the other for April Fool's Day.
It can either go as planned, or, because they live in the Wizarding World, it can go horribly, horribly wrong. Bonus points if anyone ends up in the Hospital Wing or St. Mungo's (not permanently hurt, of course).
Rules:
D/G ship, obviously
Preferably at Hogwarts because that makes the most sense (of course, I'm insane, so who knows?)
Rating:Don't care at all
Length: One shot (minimum length 500 words, no maximum)
Extra Credit if:
1) A Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product (canon or your imagination) is used
2) Peeves is involved
3) The line: "NO! Not the buttons! Not my [the] gumdrop buttons!" is incorporated
4) Trevor (Neville's toad) is somehow included in the prank. Of course, no animals shall be harmed in the making of this fanfic.
I managed to include one and three and Trevor snuck in their but obviously not part of Ginny's prank so not sure it really counts. Also, not entirely sure this was the right tone for what the challenge wanted, I mean it has humour in it, I guess...I don't know. I was inspired by an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in which the aunts create a date out of "Man Dough" for Sabrina to take to a dance.
I'm on the lookout for a beta and I'm not always great at spotting mistakes in my own writing 'til a couple of months later so I'm sorry if this is a tad rough around the edges. Once I locate a beta it'll be all polished and shiny, promise.
Tasha x