Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the fabulous world of Harry Potter
Chapter 5: Nothing A Bottle of Firewhiskey Can't Fix
Draco slowly closed the door. He stood in the hallway for a moment completely dazed at the news that had just been thrown at him.
He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. His grandfather had managed to pick out the one and only person that he had vowed to himself to avoid at all costs.
Ginny Weasley. He needed a drink.
Too stunned to walk all the way up to his third floor living quarters, he pulled his wand out of his back pocket and apperated directly into his bedroom.
He walked over to the bar that stood in the corner of his room, a gift from Blaise for his 15th birthday. That's how Slytherins did birthdays from a very young age: the most expensive illegal thing they could get their hands on. He opened the gilded mahogany doors on the front to peruse his stash of liquor.
Looks like one bottle of brandy, two vodkas, a bottle and a half of rum, and three full bottles of his favorite firewhiskey. He grabbed one of the firewhiskey bottles by the neck and unscrewed the top to take a big swig directly from the head.
Ginny Weasley the bloody little minx who had invaded his life back in school was now trying to do it again. Why couldn't he marry Pansy or even Looney, although he wasn't sure Blaise would approve of that?
He walked cradling his bottle over to his high-backed recliner. It was about one hundred years old and Draco had found it at the age of ten when he had been snooping through the East wing of the house which hadn't been lived in in over eighty years. It was a huge chair that even Draco's 6'3'' frame could comfortably stretch out on and was made of butter soft black leather that was just in the last year or so beginning to show its age.
He threw himself down in his chair careful not to spill any firewhiskey and leaned his head back trying in vain to relax and think clearly. Nothing helped though he could not shake the dread he had felt since his grandfather broke the horrible news to him.
Ginny Weasley. He remembered the first time we was approached by the little minx for something more than just a good round of insults and look how well that turned out!
Well it was either now or never. She had to decide right now whether to take the forfeit or venture into uncharted enemy territory. She knew he was in there and that he was alone. She knew the password now all she needed to do was to find the courage to use it.
In all honesty it wasn't hard to figure out his patterns. Malfoy was nothing if not a creature of habit, but she knew that too. She had been aware for quite some time of every movement he made: every graceful step he took, every flash of his cunning, devious grey eyes, and of course the perfect upward tilt of his utterly kissable lips into the patented Malfoy smirk. Bloody hell she sounded like a stalker! It wasn't quite as bad as all that but it seemed like Ginny's eyes had become trained over the last year or so to scan and seek out Malfoy anytime she might encounter him.
Now was the moment of truth, all her knowledge of Malfoy's daily patterns had led to this moment. It was Thursday night and Ginny had less than twenty-four hours before she had to make good on her dare.
"Sea Salt." She said and the door to the fifth floor boy's bathroom that was reserved just for the prefects swung open. She braced herself and stepped inside.
Draco dipped his hand into the large tub in his favorite bathroom. The water was perfect as usual. He had been sneaking into this bathroom late at night since he discovered it in his second year only now he wasn't sneaking.
Draco had been awarded the office of prefect in his fifth year and had taken full advantage of all the perks that were associated with that status. Later curfews, special privileges and especially the bathrooms all made having to do rounds after everyone else had gone to bed worth it.
He had just gotten off rounds in fact and decided that now was the perfect time to take a nice long bath because there would be no one in the bathroom.
He disrobed and slid into the warm soothing water.
Not more than five minutes later he heard the door swing open announcing the entrance of another person into his peace and quiet. He looked up more than a little annoyed at being disturbed and was taken aback at what he saw.
Standing in the middle of the boy's bathroom was the Weaselette.
"Are you lost?"
She flushed a bright shade of pink that even Draco had to admit was quite cute on the petit redhead. "Sorry, no. I was looking for you actually. I was wondering if I could ask you a favor."
"And you chose now to do it?" he asked.
"Well I wanted to ask you when you were alone and now is actually perfect." She twisted her hands in nervousness as she spoke and looked down at the floor.
"Oh really?" he asked one blond eyebrow raised. "Why would I want to do anything for you exactly? What's in it for me?"
"Well I don't know exactly, a good laugh maybe?"
"Oh do tell." He drawled. He was thankful for the all the bubbles in the bath, for some reason being naked in front of this girl made him nervous. It was a new feeling for him.
"Well you see my friends and I always have Friday night girls night in our dorm where we eat looks of candy, drink butterbeer and play truth or dare. We always play with veritaserum so that everyone actually has to be truthful." She was speaking so fast that he wasn't exactly sure he had caught everything she had said. "So two weeks ago I dared my friend Allison to parade around our common room in just her underwear or take the forfeit to kiss Harry after the Quidditch game last week. She took the dare but was absolutely furious with me." She paused to take a breath.
"This is all fascinating Weasel but what does it have to do with me?" Draco drawled in his famously bored tone.
Ginny giggled nervously, it was almost as cute as her blushing. When had the Weaselette become cute?
"Sorry I'm coming to that. Well because of what I did to Allison she was out for blood last week. So when the opportunity arose for her to come up with a dare for me she chose for me to have to find some way to get a pair of your boxers to take for show-and-tell tomorrow night."
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only did the weasel need a favor but she needed a personal item. He found the whole situation completely hysterical and so he burst out laughing.
This caused Ginny to flush and even darker shade of red. "Stop that." She snapped at him.
"So you are here to steal my skivvies?"
Ginny growled at him, "No! Don't be a…well never mind that's not possible for you. Yes if I have to steal it I will but I would prefer that you give it to me so I can then give them back to you."
He grabbed the green and silver stripped boxers sitting in his pile of clothes and tossed them across the room at her. "Enjoy Red." He smirked at her.
"You are such an arse." She turned to leave.
"Red? When can I get my boxers back?"
"How does Monday morning outside the Great Hall sound?"
"After breakfast has already started." He clarified.
"Of course. Well until then, thanks Draco." Ginny turned and hurried out of the bathroom.
Draco? Had the Weasel ever called him Draco? He didn't think so. It sounded odd coming out of her mouth but also strangely not at all unpleasant. Maybe this girl could be a new form of entertainment.
"Thanks again Malfoy" she said as he approached the place where she was leaning on the wall. It was Monday morning and they were meeting just after breakfasted started as was previously agreed upon.
"Hey Weasley, so did they help or am I now going to have to assist you in that forfeit?" he smirked at her obviously still amused by the whole situation. He leaned on the wall next to her.
"Nope everything worked out perfectly you're off the hook." She smiled up at the tall boy as she handed the boy his boxers.
"Don't you mean you owe me one?"
"Yeah I guess I do." She giggled. "Thanks again."
She pushed off the wall and began to walk away when Malfoy called out and called her back. "Hey Weasel,"
She stopped and turned back to him. "Yeah?"
"What was the forfeit?"
She let out her cute little laugh one more time, "I would have to kiss you in front of the whole school like now for example. Bet you're glad you gave me your boxers now aren't you?" Then she continued into the Great Hall.
"No, not really." He said once she was out of earshot. Draco stood there a moment longer and watched one of the most interesting girls he had ever met walk away and join her fellow Gryffindors for breakfast.
Draco sat in his rooms brooding until he could no longer stand the internal debate going on inside him. He flew out of the chair to his fireplace. He grabbed a handful of floo powder as he stepped in and clearly said "Chateau de Pensée"
He found himself in a beautiful open villa in the south of France. It was light and open with huge bay windows and bright colors. None of that was visible now though because of the time but this didn't bother Draco; he had seen in before and he would see it again.
Now he walked straight over to the staircase that was tucked into the corner of the room barely visible with the low light coming in through the windows. He took them two at a time and entered the first room on left.
"Hey I need to….oh!" Draco was horrified by the scene before him and quickly closed the door he had just opened.
"Oh bloody hell!" he heard a familiar male voice swear.
It was followed by a little giggle and a woman calling out "You can come in now Drae. We're both decent enough."
This time Draco slowly opened the door and peeked around the edge as if not sure what the woman had said was true. "I'm scared for life."
"That's why you need to learn to knock." She said as she sat on the edge of a large bed that was the main focus of the lavender colored room.
Pansy Parkinson perched on the edge of the bed and twisted her shoulder length black hair into a knot at the back of her head. She had grown out of what the other houses had described as her pugginess but which the Slys had always just considered to be her teenage awkwardness and was now a beautiful woman worthy of her pureblood breeding.
When Draco entered the room she was mercifully dressed in a pale green silk dressing gown as opposed to moments earlier when there had been significantly less clothing on her amazing, voluptuous body.
"I've never had a reason to knock before." Draco said still more than a little stunned at the presence of a man in his lifelong friend's sanctuary. Only a handful of people even knew of the Chateau's presence and it was Pansy's strict rule that she never brought her men to her favorite hideaway.
"Well you do now mate." Said Greg Goyle, another of Draco's friends and one of his former roommates.
"You?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow. "Again?"
Goyle laughed, "Yeah, me again, hopefully for good this time." He walked over and sat behind Pansy on the bed as Draco cautiously moved to one of the chairs that were scattered about the room.
"Did you need something Drae?" Pansy asked leaning back slightly in to Goyle's embrace.
"Mhm, I needed to talk you about my grandfather, he's gone insane."
Goyle let out a growl of annoyance to which he received a sharp elbow in the ribs.
"Why do you think that love?"
"Because he is forcing me to get married." Draco responded sliding down in his chair.
"Excuse me?"
"I am getting married very soon to a 'fine, well respected young woman' that Abraxas picked out. The best part though is the girl."
"Who is it?" Greg asked with a highly amused expression on his face.
"I'm going to be married to Ginny Weasley."
"Gin? Wow, now isn't that interesting." Pansy said raising one perfectly arched black eyebrow.
Draco simply shook his head and dropped it into his hands.
"Hey Greg love, could you give us a few minutes."
"Sure thing baby." Goyle said kissing her on the forehead and getting up from the bed. "I'll go make a sandwich."
"Thank you." She responded as she looked up at the large man lovingly. She watched as he walked out of the room and closed the door. "So what exactly is going on? Start from the beginning."
So Draco launched into a long explanation of the evening's events and his grandfather's crazy plan and worst of all his bride-to-be.
"Wow." Was all Pansy could think to say after he had finished his tale.
"Is that all you're gonna say? Wow? I need your help Pans." Draco brought his hand up to his face and squeezed the bridge of his nose to try and alleviate some of the pressure that was building up behind his eyes. "How in the hell did he find her? The one person I truly wanted to live without is coming back into it."
"Draco stop being melodramatic." Pansy said rolling her eyes at his theatrics. "I really believe that this is a good thing."
"How could you possibly think that?" Draco asked sarcasm obviously colouring his tone.
"Well, ever since I reconnected with Greg I have realized just how absurd my actions over the last few years have been. Seeing my first love helped me to change and maybe it can help you too."
"No." he said forcefully. "There is no way I will ever make the mistake of getting close to Weasley again. We were wrong the first time and in this case history should never repeat itself."
Pansy shook her head slightly, "I'm not saying you should try to fall in love with her again, and don't look at me like that Draco Malfoy, you were." She scowled at his obvious denial of his previous feeling for the girl. "No, I am saying that maybe seeing her again will help you to let go of the torch we both know you have been carrying for her for the last four years and move on with your life. You need to have a healthy relationship and let go of this absurd lifestyle that you have been living and I think this year will help you to do that."
Draco sighed in defeat and got up from his chair. He walked over to the bed and placed a kiss on the top of Pansy's head. "Thanks for the pep talk love, but I already know the girl I need, I am just still looking for her. I'll see you later." With that he walked out of the room, down the stairs and into the fire, pausing only to say a quick goodbye to Goyle who was in the kitchen making himself a sandwich.
"Later mate!" the large man called out as Draco apperated back into his bedroom. He quickly stripped down to nothing but his underwear. He wearily climbed into his king size bed and pulled the black curtains closed, grateful for once to be alone.
After Draco left his office Abraxas quickly penned a short note to Ginny to be delivered in the morning by owl. It read:
My Dearest Ginny,
I would be much obliged if you would be willing to come to the manor tomorrow evening for dinner to meet the rest of my family and, unfortunately for you, your betrothed. Dinner is served promptly at 7:00 so if the evening works for you if you could arrive at 5:00 so we can make an effort to finish the business portion of the evening before dinner is served. Please reply with your answer.
Sincerely,
Abraxas Malfoy
He sealed the letter with wax and the Malfoy seal and placed it in the pile to be taken out for the morning post. With any luck, Ginny and Draco would meet tomorrow.
Hey guys,
So here is chapter 5. I hope you like it!
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed chapter 4. I love knowing what people are thinking… questions, comments, opinions of where you think the story should go, I'm open to anything! Just let me know!
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