Chapter 5: Unmade
Cause all of the stars have faded away
Just try not to worry, you'll see them someday
Take what you need and be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
- Oasis
As Ginny returned to the familiar, yet no longer comforting sight of the Burrow, she carefully inched the door open, hoping no one would notice her coming in. Shutting the door quietly, she headed softly for the stairs until she heard a very distinctive "Ginny!"
"Yes, Mum?" She winced. Straightening her back into a position of rigidity, Ginny readied herself for an argument. No longer would she be treated like the child she was not; a full grown woman could go wherever she wanted to whenever she wanted to without having to answer to anyone.
However the telling off that Ginny was preparing for never came as her mother enveloped her in a fierce hug. Tentatively, she returned the hug, her voice wavering a bit as she hesitantly asked, "Mum?"
Abruptly releasing her daughter and wiping away at the stray tears that had silently crept down her face, Molly Weasley smiled weakly as she glanced over her daughter, regarding her thoughtfully. She didn't say anything, however, simply commenting, "I just missed having a full table at breakfast today, that's all."
A twinge of guilt gnawed at Ginny, filling her with regret for the first time since she'd decided to take her grief out on Draco Malfoy. "I'm sorry, Mum," she said contritely. "I hope you weren't feeling too lonely."
Molly shook her head, saying, "No, luckily Harry was here to keep me company."
Guilt replaced anger inside Ginny at the sound of Harry Potter's name. First he stole her brother and now he was stealing her mother? "Is he still here?" she asked, her voice slightly shrill.
"No…" said Molly, slightly taken aback at the shift in Ginny's manner, "He was called to the Aurors' offices on urgent business."
"Right," said Ginny, her face as bleak and barren as an ice-capped wasteland. "I should probably go to work too…" she began to ramble as she pushed past her mother, down the stairs and towards the front door, "lots of work to do, you know, I still haven't finished the paperwork…I could use the extra money…get my mind off of things…"
Molly Weasley looked on in shock and horror at the transformation that had taken place in her daughter; it had felt as though she had lost another child.
***
An infuriated Ginny marched through the doors of Auror Hopper's office, flinging her purse on her desk, preparing to bury her anguish underneath mountains of paperwork, but she found as she took her seat that she hadn't the heart to do it. The near blank canvases of white paper, dotted with script, empty meaningless words, seemed to glare at her in mockery as she let out a long frustrated moan. Why did everything have to remind her of her hollowness? Her loss?
"I thought you were taking the day off today," came a voice from a few feet away, startling Ginny out of her contemplation of the impossible paperwork.
She looked up to see Draco, stepping out of Hopper's empty personal office, his imperious eyes commanding all of her attention as if reprimanding her. "I thought you were too."
Draco shook his head. "I was called in for an emergency meeting at Auror Headquarters. My government requires my service. It is my patriotic duty to do all I can to help. It would be treason not to," he said in mock sincerity.
However, Ginny couldn't be fooled; the Ministry wouldn't have called him down to Headquarters if it weren't something important. Something decisive. Something like the planning of the final battle.
"You can't come with me," said Draco, perceiving her thoughts.
"Why not? He was my brother!"
"Who? Voldemort?" Draco smirked at the unkind remark. He didn't mean to incite her anger, but he wanted to make it clear to her that she was to stay out of this.
"Fuck you!"
"You already did," he said dryly. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny's knuckles clench.
"There, there now," he whispered soothingly, taking a resisting Ginny in his arms and rubbing small circles down her back, trying to calm her. "I didn't mean it."
It was as close to an apology as she would get, and she knew it as she relaxed into his arms. It felt nice to just be held and caressed; it was the second time he'd done that this morning and it was what she had been craving all along: not forgiveness, not attention, but understanding. His next words, however, startled her out of her exultation.
"Leave Voldemort to Potter and me."
"I have a right to do my part," she said, remembering Colin Crreevey's own words to her.
"You can do your part- by letting the aurors do theirs and staying out of it."
Ginny could feel her blood boil at his last reply, without warning she shoved him away and screamed, "He wasn't your brother!"
"And she wasn't your mother," Draco calmly replied, the contours of his face hard like marble.
A plane of tension arose between the two as Draco stared back at Ginny, deeply offended, yet refusing to show Ginny any emotion but obstinate contempt. For Ginny it was almost unbearable, she had had enough of emotional highs and lows, all she wanted was revenge against the man that destroyed her life to bring some sort of finality to her life and she had reconciled to herself that that was all she wanted. She had convinced herself that after she unleashed her wrath upon Voldemort she would be content, that things would go back to normal, but when she looked into this man's face she knew that she had been delusional to think that she could go back to her old life and live it alone. It was Ron who had been her confidant, and now it would be Draco. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but she needed him: not for his obvious good looks, or for sex, but for companionship.
"I'm sorry." A shuddering sigh escaped her as she exhaled her apology.
Draco wordlessly accepted, stepping forward and embracing her once again, but this time it wasn't enough. He leaned his face forward and lifted her chin. Instantly she knew what he wanted and tilted her head to the side, parting her lips. And even as his mouth fused with hers, his tongue massaging her own with exquisite precision, reveling in her bittersweet taste, all thoughts of meetings and Voldemort fled his mind, his senses subservient in total to this pleasure.
Ginny's head also emptied of all other cares and concerns as he slid his arms around her to clench her to hips to his tighter. And as his hands moved lower down her back to cup her bum, Ginny felt something light and soft drop from his hands, down onto her shoe. Breaking the kiss, she looked down to notice a pair of plain white cotton knickers.
"Draco…are those my…?"
"Bloody Hell, I forgot about those!" He knelt down to pick them up and handed them over to Ginny with a smirk: "I thought you wouldn't appreciate airing your dirty laundry to the entire auror department."
Ginny chuckled sarcastically at his play on words. She would have been upset with him for joking about her reputation except for the fact that he deliberately went out of his way to preserve it. "Who would have thought, a Malfoy showing consideration…."
"Hey, now," chided Draco, "I'm always considerate, don't you recall from last night? I seem to remember you appreciating my consideration very much."
"Right," said Ginny rolling her eyes trying to fight the redness that was ever swiftly staining her cheeks. Despite her embarrassment, she much preferred this banter to the hostility of a few minutes ago. And she preferred the precursor to the banter even more. With that thought in mind, she leaned back into him, ignoring the knickers he still held in his hands, to continue what they had started earlier.
***
Harry Potter paused just outside the door leading into the office when he heard two voices: a man and a woman. They were making awkward noises…what Harry deduced to be very passionate noises. The only otherperson that had access to the room was Malfoy…
"What's going on?" He shouted as he pulled open the door, his eyes focused on the floor. They were both wearing shoes. Taking that as a good sign, he hesitantly dragged his eyes up to meet the flushing yet fully clothed redheaded woman and the tall smirking blonde man, his pale elegant features the epitome of contempt as he stared right back while clasping a small scrap of white cotton cloth that he had apparently been trying to wrench from a very tight spot.
"I was helping Miss Weasley with something, Potter not that it's any of your concern," drawled Draco Malfoy, unconsciously wrapping one arm possessively about Ginny's shoulder.
Harry glared violently at Draco before turning to Ginny. "Can I talk to you, Ginny?"
At his address, Ginny's flush disappeared, immediately replaced with a calm, almost frigid visage. "No," she answered simply.
"Please, Ginny, I want to apologize."
His tone was almost pleading and it stirred something within Ginny. She didn't know whether it was scorn or sheer morbid curiosity, but she wanted to hear him out.
She nodded at Draco to leave, taking his hand and removing it from her shoulder. Just before Draco left, Harry caught a look of pure concern trespass upon his face for an infinitesimal fraction of a moment, gazing at Ginny as if to ask: are you sure? And with that he left, the torn undergarment, which Harry assumed to be Ginny's knickers, tossed aside and forgotten.
"What's going on between you and Malfoy?" Harry asked, staring pointedly at the torn remnants of her knickers.
Ginny's only response was to cross her arms across her chest and lift her eyebrows in an obstinate gesture.
"Fine." Harry gave up. "I suppose I deserve the silent treatment so I'll say what I wanted to say and leave."
Swallowing, Harry struggled to get the words out without cracking, "I'm sorry for dismissing your grief yesterday-I-I…" Harry paused, waiting for the words to come back to him, "My only excuse is that I was too caught up in my own mourning. I, we, Hermione and I, that is, didn't mean to drive you off like that…" he finished lamely.
"I see…" Ginny stood in silence for a few minutes, as if pondering his words, her arms still stubbornly crossed in front of her chest. "So, this time my brother's death is your excuse for excluding me. What about all those other times, Harry? I don't suppose you have twelve years worth of excuses up your sleeve, do you? Come now, Harry," she challenged as she sat down on Hopper's desk, neatly tucking in her skirt at the sides, "tell me."
Harry's eyes widened. He had not been expecting this. "Ginny, Hopper'll be back any minute. You should get back to work. We don't have time for this."
"I'll make time!" Ginny shouted, kicking the desk with her left heel in emphasis. "But I don't suppose you will, Harry," she said in a more complacent voice, "You, Hermione, my brother, all of you stopped making time for me ever since you found each other. The Invincible Triumvirate. You've always had just enough time to save the world, but never enough to stop and ask the fourth musketeer how she was doing."
She sighed at the end of her bitter rant, hopping off the desktop and proceeding on her way out of the office.
"Wait, Ginny!" Harry grabbed the indignant redhead's arm before she could exit, looking her squarely in the eyes. "You know that's not true, Ginny, we made time when we could, and even if we couldn't it wasn't because we didn't care."
Ginny kept her gaze firmly fixed on the hand that clamped down on her arm. "I liked it better when you ignored me. I liked it better when I still loved you. My hopes may have been false, but my happiness was real…"
She jerked her arm out of his grip, but just as he thought she was about to leave, she turned back to him and whispered, "I hate, Harry. I hate that Ron's dead. I hate you. And most of all, I hate the bitterness that seems to be all that I can feel lately."
Draco knew better than to ask Ginny what happened when she emerged from Hopper's office. Instead, he just followed her as she deftly marched out of the building, stopping behind her as she came to a halt on the sidewalk.
She turned towards him, a weary expression covering her face. "Are you just going to follow me around all day?"
"Malfoys don't follow," Draco sneered arrogantly, "they accompany."
She could barely suppress a smile as she scoffed at him. "I thought you had your big important auror meeting."
"I do." He nodded. "But I would like to know your plans for the day before I leave, perhaps we could schedule dinner for tonight? I'm afraid that I'll be busy with the bloody ministry for a while before all this Voldemort mess gets cleared up."
Ginny couldn't help it: she laughed. "You talk of him as if he's a mere nuisance!"
Draco shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned he is…we'll get him. Or, that is, I'll tell Potter and all those other gits how to get him, while I sit back in comfort as they march out to their peril."
"That's not funny!" The blonde gave a slight "umph" as his redheaded companion punched his shoulder in irritation.
Finally, Ginny sighed in defeat. "Well, I'm going to visit Ron's grave by myself. Seeing as I didn't get to say my proper goodbyes at his funeral and you won't let me spend my time otherwise, plotting Voldemort's demise with your auror friends. After that, I'm free."
"Excellent," said Draco as he complimented her with one of his rare warm smiles. "Where would you like to dine?"
"Anywhere," Ginny shrugged, "I'm not picky."
"How does The Golden Cauldron sound? It got the Merlin's Choice Award for the fifth month in a row."
Ginny nodded her approval. "Sounds great."
"It's a date then. Shall I make reservations for nine?"
As Ginny nodded again, Draco leaned down to kiss her. It was meant to be a light parting kiss, as they were out in the open, but as soon as his lips touched hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss hungrily, flicking her tongue against his lips until he opened for her. Moaning, Draco smoothed his hands down her back until they came to rest at her hips, forcefully pulling her body to his, tucking her curves into his solid body to touch at every point. She felt his body react, as a distinctive hardness settled against her stomach, urging her on to suckle lightly on his tongue. He growled deeply in response, tightening his hold and pushing her tongue back into her own mouth as he continued to massage it. Feeling his hands wander down to her arse, she decided that now was the time. He was fully distracted, as she slid her wand out from her sleeve and tapped his back ever so softly, whispering a spell as she felt his lips wander to her neck, leaving little bite-marks like tokens down the long column of her throat and easing the slight reddening at each spot with his skilled tongue, while she gently urged her wand back up her sleeve.
"Later," she whispered, as she gently extracted herself from his embrace, pushing lightly on his chest.
Hesitantly, he let her go, his pupils dilated from their passionate encounter.
"Right," Draco said, his voice an octave lower than usual, husky after their snog. "I'll pick you up at your Mum and Dad's then?"
She nodded quickly, turning on her heel as she waved him a quick goodbye.
Draco stared after her for a while after she left. Something was wrong, he knew it. Although the snog had been nice and he had been sorely tempted to just take her by the waist and apparate back to his bedroom, auror summons be damned, he could sense her discomfort as soon as she stepped back from him, a guilty expression settling as a grimace on her face. Shaking his head, Draco tried to rid himself of his thoughts, the meeting really was pressing and he was already late.
A/N: Well, sorry it took me so long to get this out. It's un-betaed so all mistakes are mine. I didn't want you guys to wait any longer. Coming up next: Draco arrives at the ministry and plans for Voldemort are going to be discussed. Ginny's sneakiness is explained…plus more D/G action! I hope you guys haven't lost interest, but I understand if you have, I did take my sweet time updating.
Disclaimers: Harry Potter names, terms, and the Harry Potter universe don't belong to me. Only the writing and half the plot are mine. "…Hopes may have been false, but my happiness was real" is a loosely adapted quote from one of my favorite NOFX songs, "The Happy Guy."