Just Around The Corner by Airiviel

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 5
Published: 17/10/2004
Last Updated: 17/10/2004
Status: Completed

Ginny goes for a walk in the middle of the night and runs into the last person she'd
expect.




1. Just Around The Corner
-------------------------

Just Around the Corner



She sat up, breathing heavily. Her blood pounded so loudly in her ears she thought she would wake
the other girls. It was a dream. It was only a dream. Still, it had seemed so *real*. Her face
was stained with tears, and her pajamas were sticking to her. Sometime in the middle of the night
she’d kicked her covers off, and now they lay twisted on the ground beside her bed. Her body still
trembling, she leaned over and gave the covers a good yank to pull them back on the bed.

Inhaling deeply, she leaned backwards, her head sinking back into her pillow. Ginny squeezed her
eyes shut as if doing that could make the memory of the dream disappear. The gaunt faces of her
dead father and brother peered at her through those empty eyes from behind her eyelids.

“*Argh*,” she said, muffling her thick voice with her covers. There was no way she’d fall
asleep again. And no way she *wanted* to, in case the dream repeated itself or continued. She
shuddered at the thought. A better idea, she decided, was to take a walk and clear her mind. She’d
have to avoid getting in trouble, but it was worth the risk. She was too shaken and restless to
stay here.

Slipping her feet into warm slippers, she took her wand (just in case) and crept quietly out the
girls’ dormitory and through the Gryffindor common room into the corridor. It was almost a breath
of relief that she inhaled as she stepped into the hallway. The darkness engulfed her, and its
silence was comforting. She paused for a second, not moving and hardly daring to breathe as she
listened for any sounds. All was still. She was alone.

Relaxing, Ginny began walking. Her steps were quiet but steady, and after a few turns, she let
her mind drift and ceased to notice where her feet were taking her. She’d been walking for quite a
while when something made her stop. Had she heard a sound, or was it just some kind of strange
feeling she had? She didn’t know; her thoughts had been wandering and she hadn’t paid enough
attention to know what had put her on her guard. It was instinct and intuition, now, that she was
depending on. She looked about and drew a sharp breath when she realized she’d stopped in the
corridor where she had seen the dead bodies of Fred and George in her dream.

She could almost see it again...Fred’s corpse half-slumped against the east wall, and George’s
sprawled out in an unnatural position at his twin’s feet... The memory brought a fresh wave of
tears. Her breathing sped up, and she tried to prevent herself from hyperventilating. *It was
only a stupid dream!* she told herself. Ginny decided the quickest way to recover was to first
leave this hallway. She backtracked and turned the corner hastily--

And walked straight into another person. She gasped in surprise and her left hand found the wall
to support herself before she could fall. In the darkness, it was hard to see who it was, but her
adjusted quickly to the darker shadows of this corridor and she saw that it was Malfoy.
Antagonistic feelings took over, pushing the panic out of her mind. She was irritated to meet him,
but relieved that it wasn’t a teacher or prefect.

“*Lumos*,” he murmured quietly, and the tip of his wand lit in a dim glow.

“Malfoy, what are you doing here?” Her annoyance was obvious in her tone.

“Weasley?” he said in a voice that sounded rather amused. He peered more closely at her and
smirked. “Have you been crying?”

“No,” she said forcefully, glaring up at him.

Sneering, he tilted her chin upwards mockingly. “Then what are these tears I see? Don’t tell me
you got something in your eye that’s making them sting? Or maybe you’re having a problem with your
contact lenses?”

“Only Muggles wear those, you brainless dolt!” Ginny hissed at him, and pushing his fingers
away.

“I’d thought that with that Muggle-loving father of yours, perhaps you’d prefer Muggle
accessories,” he jeered. (He obviously had read the latest Muggle article in the back of the Daily
Prophet detailing contact lenses and laser eye surgery; “What a bother,” Seamus had said, “when you
can just magic it all.”)

She hated this -- this flirting -- only not flirting -- and mockery; it made her furious. Every
time she encountered Malfoy, something of the sort ensued. What bothered her the most about it was
that she *enjoyed* it, even if she didn’t want to. She hated that a part of her was beginning
to really like him, even when she had every reason to hate him. Ginny turned her face away and
stared at the wall. She wished he would leave; she couldn’t just walk away...something to do with
her pride stopped her from it.

Something suddenly brushed again Ginny’s leg. She gasped and looked down. “Mrs. Norris!” she
exclaimed in a whisper.

Malfoy, seeing the cat, gave her a good kick that caused her to stumble into the middle of the
corridor. Mrs. Norris hissed loudly at him and ran off.

“Great, Malfoy,” Ginny said, exasperated. “Now she’s gone to get Filch.”

He shrugged. “She would’ve gone anyway.”

“Put your light out,” she whispered. “We’ve got to hide.”

Reluctant to be taking orders from her, he did as she said. Almost as soon as the wandlight went
out, footsteps could be heard from the adjacent corridor; the sound grew louder, and a beam of
light lit up the intersection of the hallways, growing brighter and brigher.

“Who’s there?” asked the grouchy voice of Filch. Mrs. Norris meowed.

*Oh no*, Ginny panicked. *Oh no, oh no, oh no. Mrs. Norris will give us away*...

Draco gently reached out and grasped her elbow firmly, pulling her with him farther into the
shadows behind the wall.

The footsteps shuffled closer; there was another meow. Draco pulled her even closer to him. She
shut her eyes, as if by doing that she could make Filch disappear. Gradually, the footsteps grew
fainter, and the beam of light traveled away. Ginny still didn’t dare to move, and now she was
practically leaning against Draco. They stood in complete silence for another long while.

Finally, he whispered into her ear, “I think he’s gone now.” His breath tickled her cheek and
she blushed, realizing how close together they were. He smelled of cologne and night air. His hand
was still on her elbow, but the warm touch was somehow comforting, and thoughts of Filch had
already abandoned her.

Ginny raised her face, and Draco’s silver-gray eyes met her own. She stared at him for a moment,
unable to look away. Those silver eyes...she’d almost expected his touch to be just as cold and
hard.

He moved his hand from her elbow and reached up to brush away a lock of red hair resting on her
cheek. The touch sent shivers down her spine, and she closed her eyes.

“Weasley,” he breathed. Before she realized it, he was kissing her. She was shocked, but a part
of her was not surprised at all and had been expecting it...almost as if the kiss had been lurking
just around the corner. Her lips parted almost automatically, and she leaned into the soft kiss.
The kisses she had received in the past, she mused, were usually hard and...almost forced. As if by
forcing the kisses, a pretense of passion could be set up to create a more romantic air. But this
soft, gentle kiss, she found, was more intense and much more passionate than any kiss she’d ever
had before.

Ginny knew that her kisses would never be the same again.



