"Ginny!" Draco called out.
It had been two entire days since the fateful letter. She turned her body around slowly and halted in her ministrations and cocked her eyebrow up. He ran up to her still figure. She was like a porcelain doll to him.
"Yeah?" she questioned.
"I was thinking-" Draco began before she cut him off.
"Let me guess. You thought too hard and you hurt yourself because of the massive loss of brain cells," she joked.
"Haha, no. I was thinking that if you're going to fall in love with me, we have to spend a lot of time together," Draco smiled at his own reasoning.
"We do," Ginny replied.
"Two periods a day hardly qualifies as spending time together. We can't even talk. I meant more like this weekend at Hogsmeade?" he asked.
"Can't. I'm going with Dean. Maybe next weekend at the Astronomy Tower or something," she suggested nonchalantly.
"Okay. See you," Draco smirked.
She just smiled in acknowledgement and walked away, swishing her hips provocatively.
*********
It was Hogsmeade weekend and Draco sat on the plush sofa in the common room. He looked into the flames that danced along the fireplace and the ashes that crackled merrily onto the marble floor. No one was up yet so he sat there all alone. Pansy had asked him time and time again to go to Hogsmeade with her and he finally caved in. He regretted that decision the moment he said yes. She squealed in delight and counted off all the different shops she would have to visit. She droned on and he tuned her squeaky voice out. He decided that she should have been sorted into Hufflepuff because her head was full of air and nothing more. The only thing that kept him from strangling her was his self-restraint. And Azkaban. She was just an empty headed twit and the world would be much better without her. Gentle tapping on the shallow stone stairs meant that some one had roused from their slumber. He didn't really care who it was at the moment.
"Draco. You're up," Blaise stated.
"Obviously," he drawled.
"Will you be attending Hogsmeade?" he asked.
Draco just nodded in confirmation.
"With Pansy?" Blaise continued with his interrogation.
Draco just nodded again, although this time with a hint of malice and disgust on his pale features.
"Good luck," Blaise said, trying to contain his laughter.
"Thank you so much," Draco replied sarcastically.
"You're welcome," he grinned.
"Drakie!" a voice screeched.
"Oh no… The spawn of Satan is up… I wasn't ready for her voice this early in the morning," Blaise complained.
"At least you don't have to listen to her constant babbling all day," Draco retorted.
"Hmm… You're right. Have fun, mate!" he cackled and walked out of the room and into the corridor.
"Drakie! There you are! I was beginning to get worried," she sniffed in mock sadness.
"That's nice," he replied distantly.
"Let's go down to breakfast, shall we?" Pansy questioned with cheeriness in her tone.
"Sure," he said, getting up and walking out of the common room without her.
As he walked down the various corridors, a few of the paintings began to wake up. A few were already up and bowing down to the young Malfoy. Two arms latched onto his own as he walked by Salazar Slytherin's portrait. A strong wave of nausea hit him as he smelled the strong French perfume used by whores and prostitutes to make them more elegant. He stopped in his tracks as he turned his head around to find some chit he had slept with a few months ago. She was in Ravenclaw. He vaguely remembered her.
"Can I help you?" he asked stiffly.
"No, but I can help you," she whispered suggestively.
"Get your filthy arms off of me and get lost," he said.
The Ravenclaw huffed and stormed away, her blonde hair swishing behind her angrily. Draco rolled his eyes before another two arms grasped onto his again. He cursed his good looks.
"What do you want, Pansy?" he questioned irritably.
"You," she giggled.
He closed his eyes and prayed for patience before roughly shoving her off. She gasped in horror and pain as her bottom hit the ground and her lip protruded, trembling like she was about to cry. He couldn't wait until the day. He resumed walking, nearly gouging his eyes out at the sight before him. Ginny's back was pressed against the wall while some guy, whom he would conclude as Dean, kissed her roughly. Draco was just about to throw a hex his way before remembering the deal he made with Ginny. He walked past the oblivious couple, stalking off to the Slytherin table, plopping down next to Blaise.
"Saw them, too, did you?" Blaise sighed heavily.
"It's just a bit obvious, seeing that they're lip locked right next to the doors of the Great Hall," Draco replied sullenly.
"It's a shame how the girl is wasted on that piece of filth," he muttered.
Draco was thinking the exact same thing.
*********
The week passed by uneventfully. Draco saw Ginny a few times in the hall and exchanged a few letters, but nothing more. When Saturday morning arrived, he awoke at five in the morning. They had planned to meet at eleven on the seventh floor corridor in front of Barnabas' portrait. He didn't know why she had decided to change the location, but went along with it. He threw on a white wife beater and a pair of gray slacks. He slipped on a pair of black sneakers to match. He strode up to the seventh floor and to the tapestry of Barnabas the Balmy where Ginny stood, her hand intertwined with Seamus Finnigan.
"That was a fast change," Draco thought to himself.
She immediately spotted Draco and kissed Seamus good-bye. He walked smugly away in all his Irish pride, not even realizing Draco was there.
"Now… How shall we begin?" Draco asked.
"Close your eyes for a second and don't open them until I instruct you to," Ginny said.
He did as he was told. Ginny herself also closed her eyes and wished for a place to spend time alone with Draco. She wanted somewhere comfortable and elegant with a set dinner. She peeked at the wall through one eye through her thick lashes. A large steel door stood there. She poked Draco in the ribs lightly. He cracked one eye open and grinned at her. She ignored him and pushed open the door. The room was decorated with vanilla scented candles, a round mahogany table with two matching chairs and soft music by the Weird Sisters played in the background. On the table, there were 2 sets of silverware shining in the candle's glow on the white tablecloth that looked like it was made of satin, two plates of shrimp fettuccini alfredo, two champagne glasses and a sparkling white wine in a silver bucket filled with ice stood next to it all. The room was beautiful. White Persian carpets lied down on the floor, beige dragon hide couches lined the walls and blood red roses floated around the table. When Ginny thought of comfort and elegance, she never thought this would happen. This was beautiful and amazing.
"It's cozy," Draco said, obviously used to finer dwellings.
"It is, isn't it? Let's just sit down and enjoy," she suggested.
He thought that they were both a bit too casually dressed for this. She had stated in her letter that this was to be casual, though. He pulled out a chair and slipped it back into place once Ginny got settled and sat down adjacent to her.
"How did you know about this?" he asked, beginning a polite conversation like how his parents had done time and time again with guests.
"It was used a bit back in your fifth year while Umbridge the Cow was here. We had Defense Against the Dark Art lessons here. This is the Room of Requirement, only appearing when you need something most dire," she explained.
"So this is where you all went," he said.
"Yeah. Not many people knew about it. Only Fred and George, really. Oh! And that cute little elf called… um… Dobby, I believe," she mumbled thoughtfully.
"Dobby? He works here?" Draco questioned in surprise.
"Yeah. Oh! He was your house-elf, then. Harry said that he was someone else's before he came to Hogwarts, but never mentioned whom," she muttered.
"I see," he drawled.
They discussed their lives and such throughout the hours. He learned about her six brothers from her perspective and the rest of her family. He also learned about her first true love, a bloke named Tom Riddle. He was half muggle-born. She didn't say much about him except that he was sweet, caring and the most amazing lover. She had met him when she was eleven and continued to meet him until she was 14. She had lost her virginity to him. She had also had various other boyfriends after Tom. She had met this one boy during the summer at summer camp. His name was Jean Dufour. He attended Beauxbaton so she didn't date him for long. She had learned that his father was not as bad as everyone thought. He cared a lot about his family, but believed that acting cold and distant was the same as acting loving. He himself had lost his virtue to Pansy the Pug. She was getting on his nerve so he just did it to shut her trap only his plan backfired because that made her scream and squeal. She learned that he wanted a family when he grew up with the whole package deal: a wife, two kids, a white picket fence and a large white mansion. She snorted in laughter as he said the last priority. He just shrugged and grinned devilishly. At around nine p.m., they had to conclude their night.
"Well… I guess this is good-night," Ginny murmured.
"Yeah… I guess it is," Draco replied uneasily.
"Night," she smiled.
"Good night. Before you leave, when can I see you again?" he asked.
"I've told you already, Draco. I don't tend to make promises or appointments that I can't keep," she said wearily.
"I know, but I want to do this again so much," he whined with a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Me too, but I don't know when I'll be free again," she answered gently.
"Tomorrow at twelve? Here?" he offered.
"I don't think so. I'm dedicating my time to Seamus tomorrow because it's his eighteenth birthday," she smirked.
"Oh…" was Draco's reply to that remark.
"Talk to me when and if you get a date. Tell me an hour or so before the time, alright?" she questioned.
"Sure," he smiled.
"Okay. Bye," she departed.