The Pillow Takes a Beating by ephemere

Rating: PG
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 6
Published: 14/08/2005
Last Updated: 14/08/2005
Status: Completed

Draco has a few secrets, Ginny has a few theories...and of course the pillow suffers in the end.
(Written in response to a challenge posted by chuya. Challenge details in A/N, because of
spoilers.)




1. Occlumency, anyone?
----------------------



The Pillow Takes a Beating

He pitched over on his right side and punched his pillow twice, then a third time for good
measure. He all but threw his body back down on the bed in an attempt to find what his mother had
once coined the "sweet spot" on the bed. Apparently there was one spot in every bed that
guaranteed a peaceful slumber for anyone in any mood. All that remained was to find it.

Every time he closed his eyes, he was faced with the image of the fullest pair of lips he had
seen on a fifteen-year-old witch. As soon as he would manage to tune out the sounds of wizarding
England's wide scope of night wild life, his ears would ring with her Gryffindor laugh.
Gryffindors had a very specific way of talking, walking, and even laughing. Whenever she laughed,
he swore he could hear an undertone of misplaced bravery and worthless Potter-worship. Anyone who
cared to deny that she still fancied Potter was in serious need of a Headhealer.

"Stupid distracting thoughts," he snapped at himself under his breath. He then took
purchase in his Egyptian cotton sheets, clenching his fists to fight the temptation to beat himself
free of the half-dreams. His only reward was a pitiful reminder of how soft her bright copper curls
felt running through his fingers when he had tried to grab her in punishment for that bat-bogey
hex...

"Draco!" Bellatrix Lestrange screeched only a few short hours after Draco had finally
found sleep. Draco fought the urge to look for the dogs that must be on their way, having heard her
high-pitched wailing.

"Yes, Aunt Bella. I'm right here," he forced out.

"Oh, you're hardly here at all. You must be more foolish than I'd imagined if you
thought you could show up to your first occlumency lesson with only half a brain. I told your
mother not to spoil you so."

"Aunt Bella, please, spare me the dramatics. I'm here, you have my attention, let's
just get on with it," a sleep-deprived Draco all but ground out.

"Watch your tongue, boy. With your father in as much disfavor as he is with the Dark Lord,
you should step a little lighter." There was a tick in Draco's jaw that threatened to
explode in his rage if properly provoked. "Well, all of that aside, we should 'just get on
with it,' as you say."

Bellatrix moved across the expansive room to stand in its center. With a wave of her wand, a
wide circle appeared around her, and she called Draco into the center.

"Here are the rules, young Malfoy. I will try to break through your mind and you must block
me. For every successful attempt of mine, you take one step towards the boundary. You end up
outside the circle, and this lesson is over." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes with a devilish grin
that told Draco she promised much more than the end of a lesson.

Despite the two and a half inches of height Draco had on his aunt, fear burned beneath his
surface. Eyeing her wand, Draco knew it was not the cruciatus curse that had him worrying. Nor was
he concerned about the whip that he knew was hidden in her robes. Years of aspiring to follow in
his father's footsteps had acquainted him with the physical pain of being a Death Eater. The
months following his father's "failure" had taught him to school his features in the
face of Voldemort's thinly veiled punishments. The boy standing before Bellatrix Lestrange was
the picture of indifference. At first, or even second, glance Draco resembled a six-foot-plus
statue. Yet an internal turmoil boiled away at his insides.

*Please don't let* *her see my only weakness...*

Draco snapped himself back to the present as he felt her presence start to intrude on his
psyche. He immediately threw up his walls and returned to his stony shelter. Bellatrix was pushing
hard at him, but Draco only pushed back harder.

*There's no way I'm letting her see. I'd rather die than let her see my twisted
little fantasy of -*

The simple precursor to the thought of *her* name was enough to make Draco falter. He felt
himself slip for a fraction of a second before recovering. A fraction of a second too late.

"One step, boy!" The Death Eater bared her teeth and forced Draco back none-too-gently
with the tip of her wand. "I would say I expected a less pitiful attempt, but truth be told, I
didn't expect anything from a boy raised by a mother as weak as my sister and a father who has
failed the Dark Lord time and again."

Draco stopped hearing her words, solely consumed by hatred. Thanks to Potter and his silly
sidekicks, Draco was forced to endure such asinine comments form witches and wizards alike who
mistakenly thought they knew his father. Lucius Malfoy dedicated his life to the Dark Lord. If
there was a time when he seemed to have given up on Voldemort, it was only because that wreckage of
a dark wizard had gone and gotten himself destroyed. By some silly bint with *tainted* blood,
at that. In some pathetic attempt to save her son. How dare Bellatrix Lestrange speak of his father
that way? Didn't she know what the Malfoy name meant?

"Round two, Draco!" Draco barely heard her over his internal tantrum. Something in the
back of his mind told him in vain to concentrate on the present.

*"He deserves to be punished, Cissa. That mission was very important to the Dark Lord.
Perhaps you don't realize that."*

*"Of course I understand, Bella! Lucius did not produce what was asked of him, but must
we pay with our only son? My* *family is being torn apart!"*

Draco could still hear his mother's anguish. He wished he had never overheard that
conversation, if only his mother's laments would stop haunting the dark recesses of his mind.
Draco vaguely supposed he almost understood what Potter was prattling on about when it came to the
Dementors. *Almost*.

*Focus, Draco! Focus!* He screamed at himself, but his anger could not be reigned in. Waves
of violent rage were rolling off of Draco so heavily, they were palpable. Before long he felt
Bellatrix's presence in his mind, causing him to nearly scream in frustration.

"Temper, Temper," Bellatrix clucked. "What good will you b e to anyone if you
cannot even control your emotions?"

*You don't even know the half of it,* he idly thought as he took one reluctant step
backwards. Turning slightly, Draco saw that he was positioned precariously close tot eh edge of the
circle.

"Once more and you're done, Draco darling!" Bellatrix cooed, far too excited for
anyone's good.

Draco schooled his features once more and braced himself for another onslaught. He threw his
walls up once more, just in time to feel her pushing at him. The simple fear of the unimaginable
consequences Draco would face if his secret was ever found out gave him strength beyond his
years.

"Oh, it looks like someone's learning," mocked Bellatrix. The air was now
crackling with the fire of their battling minds. "What could the little Malfoy be hiding from
his dear, sweet Auntie Bella?"

Draco felt her testing his boundaries, rooting around for a chink in his armor. Draco drew
within himself to fight her off, knowing any mistake he made now would be his last. Suddenly he was
overcome by what felt like a stampede on his lungs. Within a flash the oppressive sensation was
gone, but it was enough to distract him. Draco's thoughts started spiraling out of control.
Images of him throttling his aunt raced before his eyes. Angry words shouted at the portrait of his
father surfaced, only to be immediately replaced by the sight of Voldemort praising him for
completing his mission and redeeming his family name. Before he could prevent it the girl - that
infernal wench - flashed through his mind. Draco could feel Bellatrix reel with shock, but he was
beyond helpless at this point. *Her* laughing face zoomed by once more, too fast for
recognition. But the heat was unmistakable. It was a culmination of lust, dizziness, and the pain
of an itch that can never be scratched. Draco recovered quickly enough to throw Bellatrix from his
mind, but she had already begun to retreat.

A sudden force vaulted Draco out of the circle. He looked up in time to see his aunt's
seething face loom over him. The last thing he remembered hearing was a distant cry of
*Crucio!*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The train ride back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry brought its own share of
despair and satisfaction for Draco. The coming year put him ahead of all his Slytherin schoolmates.
After all, he had more important things to worry about than N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s. All the rest of
them were still suffering under the delusion that Dumbledore was actually more than a batty old
wizard. *I'll show them just how wrong they are,* Draco smirked to himself as Pansy
stroked his blond head. This was how it should be: Draco holding court in his Slytherin throne.

Then that insufferable Weasley had to come up in conversation.

" - and Longbottom, Potter, and the Weasley girl," finished Zabini. That had to be the
most pathetic group of Gryffindors Draco could have imagined.

"Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at 'the Chosen one," Draco
sneered, "but that Weasley girl1 What's so special about her?" *Gods, wi**ll
she never leave me alone?*

"A lot of boys like her . Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and
we all know how hard you are to please."

Draco was satisfied to let Zabini field that question.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco Malfoy was stalking through the dungeons of Hogwarts, trying to work off the temper he had
been in after getting thrown out of Slughorn's party.

*Who does Snape think he is, trying to interfere? He's just jealous tha**t the Dark
Lord gave* me *this task.*

Draco chose to ignore the niggling feeling that he would have probably traded places with Snape
if given the opportunity. But he also knew that he would succeed; he had to. Failure was not an
option when his family's life rested on his shoulders. He toyed with Snape's words about
hiding something from the Dark Lord, and silently thanked his Aunt Bellatrix for scaring him into
never failing at another occlumency lesson.

Draco's footsteps were tracing a path on one side of the hall, when his eyes were instantly
drawn to a corner on the opposite side. Pausing momentarily, he was contemplating how to deal with
the darkness that seemed be breathing, when one Ginny Weasley emerged from said darkness.

*Well, this is ironic.* Ginny was hurrying towards him with the look of someone who
unabashedly knew what she wanted and how to get it. A smirk was playing across Draco's lips and
a snarky comment was teasing his voice box when a hand suddenly clamped across his mouth.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Ginny ignored his scandalized expression, even though he had made
no attempt at removing her hand. She continued doggedly, "Don't Make this any worse than
it has to be."

Before he could ask what that meant, Ginny had mashed her mouth up against his. Perhaps he
should have felt violated since she just took full advantage of his already open mouth, but bugger
it all, Ginny Weasley was kissing him!

Ginny had thrown her arms around his neck and was pulling at his lips with her own, as if asking
him to show her what he was made of. Draco needed no more invitation. He threw his body weight into
her and wrapped his arms around her waist. A tentative tongue snaked its way into Draco's mouth
and he pulled her closer. One hand smoothed up her back to muss the mane atop her head. The other
hand had inadvertently found its way inside the folds of her jumper and was setting fire to the
skin at the small of her back.

Bracing her hands on his shoulders, Ginny lifted herself on her toes in order to improve the
angle of their kiss. All she succeeded in was eliciting a growl from Draco that took birth in his
throat and buzzed its death on her lips. their proximity still not close enough for him, Draco
leaned further into Ginny. She stumbled back from the force of him, and in several rapid steps the
pair had crossed to the opposing wall. with Ginny's back pressed tot he wall, and Draco's
mouth still devouring hers, he lifted her at the hips. She slid up his body until they were the
same height. Draco's hands roamed frantically up and down her sides as he pressed her even
harder into the wall. The muscles on his back bunched and relaxed under Ginny's skating
fingers. She almost cried from the need for air, and when he finally released her lips, she thought
she might scream.

"Why Weasley," Draco rasped into the curve of her neck, "I never knew you had it
in you." He firmly wedged one knee between her legs before shifting his back.

Ginny thought she might be persuaded to say something when she felt his tongue trace a path to
the hollow just behind her jaw. She all but yelped when he bit down.

"Do us all a favor here," he drawled as he clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut
up, Weasley."

Ginny barely had time to squawk before he resumed the assault on her mouth. Draco plunged his
tongue into her mouth in a desperate fury to consume all of her in this one ephemeral moment.
Groaning her name in frustration, he nipped at her lower lip before thrusting his hands up her
jumper. Ginny thought she heard him mutter what vaguely sounded like "not enough" over
and over as his lips branded every inch of exposed skin. Once Draco was satisfied with his tasting
of Ginny Weasley, he pulled back slightly. One of his hands was comfortably settled above her knee,
and when she slid to the ground, it found its way up her thigh, his fingertips teasing the elastic
of her knickers. Still encased within the walls of his arms, Ginny's eyes were shifting from
side to side, trying to decide on the best mode of escape.

In between peppering her neck with licks and bites, Draco managed to ask her the reason for this
pleasant attack.

"Just wanted to know what it was like. Testing out a theory and such," was her only
reply. Draco's head shot up to stare her straight in the eye. How she could not even be breathy
when he was having trouble convincing himself that he was indeed standing and not swimming, was
beyond him.

"Well, Weasley?" Draco finally drawled out after several beats of silence. "What
have you learned today?" He punctuated his question with a pinch to her thigh. Spying
Ginny's blush, Draco leaned in again to capture her lips in a probing kiss. He only pulled back
when he realized those were not moans of pleasure, but Ginny's attempts at talking with a
Malfoy glued to her face.

"I said," she spoke into Draco's incensed face. "It looks like there
<i>are</i> boys who know how to kiss a girl.

If a Malfoy was ever to squeal in indignation, Draco would have been the first when Ginny ducked
out from the shelter of his arms. His only satisfaction was the slight wobble in her step that
belied her unaffected facade.

Draco simply turned and continued towards the Slytherin common room, wondering how many times he
would have to punch his pillow tonight.

**A/N:** This story was a response to a challenge posted on portkey by chuya, who asked for a
fic with:

- Draco's 1st occlumency lesson

- Bellatrix breaking into his mind

- Draco trying to hide his crush on Ginny Weasley, and

- Bellatrix seeing some of what is hidden

The "sweet spot" I actually, sad enough, thought of thanks to my freakish memory and
an episode of Full House that I saw as a pre-adolescent.

The scene on the train ride to Hogwarts consisted of quotes from HBP, with my own add-ins.

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