The sun shone brightly as the strawberry blond girl woke up the next morning, with the sun in her eyes.
"Did this really happen?" she asked herself, as she lay under her warm bed cover and stared at the ceiling. Slowly she turned her head left and saw the trophy standing next to her. "Merlin!" she screamed and jumped out of bed with a grin, taking the trophy in her hands. "I ... I really did it!" she cheered happily.
To her all of yesterdays events seemed to her like a dream. Starting, flying, fighting, getting in third... Draco coming and cheering for her... the after party with professional Quidditch players that had known her name! Could that really have been reality?
But she had the trophy that told her, "yes it is reality."
Without caring how she looked, without changing clothes or running under the shower, Ash rushed into Blaise's room.
"Blaise!" she cried and jumped on top of the - still - sleeping boy.
"Oh, bloody Merlin, Ash! You're heavy!"
"No I'm not! I'm light as a feather."
"Then why do I feel you jumping on me?"
"Because your over sensitive!"
"Yeah, sure I am. Now if you excuse me, I need to sleep."
"I got third at the Annual Broom Race!"
"I know, I've been there! I've seen it."
"I got third in the Annual Broom Race."
"I know."
"I got third in the Annual Broom Race."
Blaise opened his eyes and looked up at the beaming girl in front of him. He sighed gently, admitting defeat and knowing that Ash would not let him sleep any longer.
"Congratulations Ash," he said sitting up and hugging Ash tightly.
"I can't believe it!"
"I know. You did quite well."
Ash grinned up at him, "only well?" she asked faking offend, "I am the absolute most awesome person in this room right now!"
"Yes, you defiantly are" he told her smiling and suddenly noticed she was still in her sleeping wear - which do to her drunkenness of the last night consisted of a bra and underwear. Blaise cleared his throat, "would you mind changing?"
"Huh?"
"Clothes."
"Huh?"
"Put on clothes!" he told her grabbing her shoulders and shaking his friend.
"Oh," she said looking down, she hadn't noticed her outfit yet. Slowly she blushed. "Be right back," she muttered before getting of the bed and running back into her room.
"Geez... That girl trusts me way too much..." Blaise mumbled to himself as he got off the bed and got ready for the day himself.
++++++
"Good Morning Oriana, morning Hector! Isn't it a wonderful day today?" Ash asked joining the two adults in the dinning room with Blaise at her side.
"Morning you two," Oriana said, "when did you get back?"
Ash looked at Blaise questioningly. "6 AM?" she asked unsure.
"Yeah... That sounds about right."
"Really? You must have been having fun."
"Yeah, it was awesome!"
"Is Draco still sleeping?"
"No, he didn't come home with us," Blaise answered.
"Oh... OK."
"By the way, what time is it now?"
"12.30."
"Ah... hmm... never before slept so long," Ash mumbled, sitting down in her assigned seat left of Oriana.
A few minutes of silence spread across the table, the only sound coming from Hector who was reading the news paper. After quietly eating her breakfast, she looked up at the paper and nearly fell of the chair by what she saw.
Her picture was happily displayed on the front page of the Daily Prophet, covering a whole quarter of the page. In the picture she just took the bronze trophy and was grinning and waving the my family, who seemed to have been exactly in the direction of the camera because it looked as if she was waving and smiling right at the reader. Right next to it was a big headline. Hogwarts student Ash Weasley is third at Annual Broom Race
Without warning Hector, Ash ripped the Prophet out of his hands and starred at the page in front of her.
"Hey!" Hector bellowed, but stayed quiet when he saw her staring at her own face.
Finally a English citizen is standing at the top of Broom Racing, once again. Ashlin Weasley, placed third in yesterdays Annual Broom Race, right after Olaf Andersen - who won the race the third time in a row - and Tina Lundstrom. "I'm ecstatic!" she told the Daily Prophet in an interview. "I can't believe I actually managed.
Only getting the invitation 15 minutes before registration stop, Ashlin's start was not quite as smooth as her race was... continued on page 3
"I'm in the newspapers," she said.
"Yeah, what did you expect?" Hector asked, "you got third place in the Annual Broom Race. Its a big thing. Especially because there were no British that finished the race as one of the top three in the last 20 years or so."
"23 years" Ash corrected reading it from the newspaper, still not really understanding why she was looking at her picture in the Daily Prophet.
"Um, honey... you also got quite a few owls..." Oriana told her quietly, while motioning for a house-elf to bring in a sack full of letters.
"Holy Moly... Is there anything interesting from people I know in there?" she asked quietly, staring at the bag in shock.
"Look through it yourself."
And that is what she did, after finishing her food, she took the letters up to her room and sat on one of the couches, looking through the letters.
"Don't know her, don't know her, don't know her..." she muttered and placed the letters next to her.
"Malfoy?" she said surprised as she saw a letter with the address of the Malfoy Manor on it. Quickly she opened the letter.
Dear Ash,
We congratulate you on your victory at the Annual Broom Race, and would welcome it if you could join my family and I during dinner today.
We would appreciate you coming to the Malfoy Manor at 23.00 o'clock, dressed in your best dress.
See you this evening,
Narcissa Malfoy
Ash read through it again ten times, grinning. She was able to see Draco again tonight! This day really can't get any better! she thought happily, as she read through the other letters.
She also got letters from Ron and Ginny, Hermione and Harry, Tracy and a couple others by people she knew from school and that wanted to congratulate her.
"Your starting to get famous, aren't you?" Blaise asked from her bedroom door as he watched her read through all the letters and reply to them.
Ash beamed back at him, "so it seems!"
"You like it?"
"I love it."
"11 PM is quite a late time to eat dinner, don't you think so?" Ash asked Blaise, who was sitting on her couch while she was standing in her closet trying on different dresses.
"Yeah, but they always had the weirdest of time to invite people to their home," Blaise answered bored as he stared out of the black window.
"If you say so..." she answered as she came out of her closet and showed herself to her friend.
She was wearing a long black dress that curved around her body as if it were tailor made just for her. It was very simple, but that was exactly what made the dress one of her finest, it was elegant.
"Wow," Blaise said with a smile. "Very nice."
Ash grinned at him, "so you think that they'll like it?"
"Definitely."
"Alright then. I'll start heading out!" Ash told Blaise and gave him a hug before walking out off her room, leaving him standing there alone. "Don't wait up!"
++++++
Ash took a deep breath as she walked up to the door of the Malfoy Manor. She had just apparated herself from the Zabini Manor and had come a bit early.
Swiftly she raised her hand and gently knocked on the door, which opened with a start.
"Yes? How may I help you?"
"I'm Ash Weasley. I'm expected."
"Ah, yes. Mrs. Malfoy told me to show you to Master Draco's room."
"Too Draco's room?" Ash asked confused as the elf beckoned her inside and quietly closed the door behind her.
"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy told me to tell you that Master Draco will be waiting there for you."
Still confused Ash followed the little elf foolishly, still not quite understanding what was happening. "Is Draco not finished for dinner yet?"
"Master Draco already had dinner."
"What do you mean?"
"The dinner was served at 7 PM like on every day," the elf told her, adding to Ash's confusion with every step as they walked up the stairs and turned corners. The more she talked with the elf, confusion slowly turned into dread.
"What do you mean? On the invitation it said I should be here at 11 for dinner."
"That is correct. That is what Mrs. Malfoy told you."
"Then why would they have eaten dinner without me and why are we going to Draco's room?" Ash asked furious.
"You will understand shortly, Miss. Mrs. Malfoy wanted you to see something."
Ash stared at the little elf confused and frustrated. She didn't know what else she could say or asked, so she simple followed the creature through the Manor, nearing Draco's room with every step.
After a few minutes, the little elf stopped in front of a big wooden door and motioned for Ash to go through it.
Hesitantly Ash reached out for the door handle. With a last glance at the house elf, Ash gulped down the bad feeling that started spreading in her guts and pushed open the door.
What she saw and heard made her whole body freeze.
There was Draco... in his bed... naked... under him lay Pansy Parkinson, also dressed in only her birthday suit.
The smell of sweat and sex lay in the air. The last echoes from Pansy's last moan and Draco's grunts still vibrated through the room. Her own eyes stung with hot tears at the sight of Draco thrust deep into Pansy, roughly kissing her lips.
The two of them had frozen up at the sound off the opening door, just as Ash had by the sight. Slowly they turned their head to look at the disturbance. When Draco saw Ash, his eyes became the size of platters and Pansy giggled stupidly.
Hearing the giggle, Ash as well as Draco glared at her, daring her to shut up.
"Ash..." Draco said, focusing on the girl in the door frame again.
She diverted her gaze back at Draco's face. "Yeah?"
"It's... It's..."
"Not what I think?" Ash looked down at the interlocked bodies of the two in bed. "I'm pretty sure I am correct with the assumption that you were having sex with Pansy just now. Am I correct?"
Draco noticed that we was still penetrating Pansy and swiftly pulled himself out, reaching for the blanket to cover Pansy with.
"Ash listen to me, this doesn't mean any-" he started and walked towards his girlfriend.
"It doesn't mean anything?" she gasped enraged. "This," she pointed widely at the whole situation. "This doesn't mean anything? Oh how wrong you are Malfoy. This means everything," she screamed, and slapped the boy when he took another step towards her.
Again Pansy giggled. "What's there to giggle Pug-face?"
"I told you he was mine, he will always be mine."
Ash stormed into the room and pulled Pansy of the bed by her hair, throwing her towards Draco, who was till standing at the door, shocked by Ash's actions.
All of a sudden he noticed Ash pale. Pale like the linen of his bed... Her eyes were wide and she was staring at Pansy in shock.
Confused Draco looked down at Pansy and saw what Ash saw. Next he looked back up at Ash, who had also shifted her gaze and was now glaring at him. Her hands balling into fists as she saw the same on him.
She suddenly looked scared and started backing away from them. But then she changed her mind and charged past them, out the door and down the corridor she came from before Draco had any time to react.
Swiftly Ash fled down the hallway, down the stairs and ran right passed Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy, who looked after her with a small smirk on their face.
In record time Ash reached the door and pushed it open, running out off the Mansion and apparating away into the night.
When Ash reappeared in the world, she was standing in front of the Zabini Manor and rushed through the door. Passed the house elves, passed a confused Oriana and Hector and straight into her room.
With a quick wave of her wand, the door was tightly locked and she quickly threw herself onto her bed.
"Why are you back already?" a concerned voice asked from another door - the one she forgot to lock.
Ash stared up at the owner of the voice, running make-up and tears straining her cheeks.
"He's a cheating whore and a freaking Death Eater!" she answered screaming at her friend.