Chapter 10 - Kisses by the fire
Draco had had the worst day ever… His meeting with the Clinic associates had been awful and things weren't looking good at all for both Moretti Clinics, if the Moretti heir kept on spending the clinic's money for his own pleasure.
Finally returning home, all he wanted was to go to his bedroom, have a nice long bath and lay down on his bed for a well-deserved rest.
All his plans came out ruined as soon as he entered his room, and the sound of splashing water came to his ears.
Draco dropped his suitcase on a chair and took of his black robes, standing just in his white shirt and black trousers. Slowly, he approached the balcony and watched Ginny and Thomas inside his pool, splashing water and laughing happily. The floor around the pool was full of water that should have been inside the pool.
Draco kept on watching and never noticed the smile that appeared on his lips. When Ginny finally saw him, her smile vanished and she stopped her activities.
"Thomas, lets give you a bath and dinner… It's getting late and I'm sure Mr. Malfoy needs to rest." Ginny explained to the boy, taking him out of the water in her arms.
Draco immediately picked up a clean towel to put around Thomas' body and took the boy in his arms, finally able to see what Ginny was wearing. His eyes went huge to the sight of her creamy white skin clad in her black underwear… What a sight it was!
"What is it, Weasley? Even with a Healer graduation you're not able to buy swimwear?" he joked, his voice pleasant.
"I knew you'd prefer to see me on these…" she replied, joking as well, but apparently Draco didn't realise the joke and looked at her in shock.
"Well, I do…" he agreed, placing Thomas in one of the chaise-longs, and threw a towel to Ginny.
"Thank you…" she replied, watching as his eyes became a very light blue when he stared at her body. That was new colour that she needed to investigate. What was the emotion behind the light blue eyes of Draco Malfoy? "I'm sorry if we interrupted your privacy…"
"No, not at all…" he replied gently, looking at the shivering boy. "You better bath him in my bathroom… He'll get a cold if you take him downstairs dripping in water, like that!"
"If you don't mind…" she smiled. "Thank you once again. Can you call Tabby and ask her to bring clean clothes for Thomas?"
"Yes, sure… The bathroom is on that door." Draco replied, taking Thomas in his arms to the bathroom, placing him in the tub, then leaving again as Ginny was walking in. On the narrow doorframe, her chest brushed against his and his eyes became light blue again.
`Desire? Is that it?' she asked herself as she bathed Thomas. `Oh, nonsense… Draco Malfoy would never feel such thing for me, a low Weasley, would he?'
Tabby brought Thomas' clothes and by the time the boy was ready, Ginny was shivering like hell. Her long red hair was wet and had wetted the towel she had placed around her body, so her back was cold and attacking her lungs. Ginny needed a warm bath and a change of clothes with urgency.
"I had fun! Can we do it again, tomorrow?" Thomas asked, excitedly, as Ginny took him back to Draco's bedroom, and placed him on the wheelchair.
"Of course, we can! After we work on he gym, I'll bring you here again." She promised with a smile, looking at Draco for authorization, to which he nodded his head in agreement.
"Ginny, are you cold? Your lips are blue!" Thomas asked, gently touching her shivering lips.
This seemed to worry Draco has he immediately grabbed her arm and led her to the bathroom.
"Take a warm bath, before you get sick! Tabby will bring your clothes in a few moments…" he ordered coldly, although his eyes became light grey with rays of blue, meaning worry. He closed the bathroom door, leaving her there, standing in the middle of the room with a silly smile on her face.
`Worried about me, are you?'
As the tub filled with warm water, Ginny took her time studying the room. There was a black bathrobe behind the door with DM embroidered in silver, on the counter there was a perfume bottle, silver shaving accessories, a small bottle of facial lotion, a comb and his green toothbrush. Hung beside the huge mirror were small silk ribbons in seven colours: black, grey, white, green, dark blue, light blue and red.
`Always the vain one…'
Ginny enjoyed the warm water and after Tabby brought her clothes in, she finished her bath and rolled a black towel around her body. This time, her curiosity won over and she couldn't stop herself from smelling his perfume…
`Just like I remembered it…' she thought, remembering that night under the stars, watching the garden and the Tames River, when he gave her the rose. He had smelled just wonderful and this little bottle was the responsible.
She placed a drying spell on her underwear, put her clothes on and tied her hair in a ponytail. Her face was slightly pink from the hot water and her body smelled of Draco's soap… It was quite an erotic thing to smell like the guy you like…
The bedroom was quiet, and Draco was the only person in there, watching her attentively.
"Where's Thomas?" she asked, searching for the boy.
"In his bedroom… He fell asleep on the way there." Draco replied, sitting on his bed. "You've tired him, I guess…"
"Yes, I did… Well, I better leave you to rest." She said, moving to the door, but Draco stopped her with a simple `Wait'.
Ginny turned around to face him, showing curiosity in her brown eyes.
"After Thomas eats his dinner, would you care to join me for dinner, tonight?" he asked in a pleasant voice, walking closer to her, until they were so close that he could notice that she smelled of him, as if she had been all night in his arms…
Ginny pondered for a few moments and finally agreed.
"I'll be waiting for you in the Dinning Room at 9 p.m." he smiled warmly, and she smiled back before exiting his bedroom.
Draco's invitation had surprised Ginny, but it was a pleasant surprise… She did want to have dinner with him, get to know him better, help him know her better… Who knows if that dinner won't be the start of a great friendship? Or something more?
After giving dinner to Thomas, Ginny placed him to sleep.
"Sweet dreams, Thomas…" Ginny whispered, kissing the tip of his nose.
"She had long blond hair… Just like mine, and her eyes were blue." Thomas whispered, as if trying hard not to forget.
"Your mother?" Ginny asked, surprised. She hadn't asked him to tell her, and here he was, opening his heart.
"Yes… She was very pretty, you know? But I was a bad boy, I didn't want to go and she had to come back and then…" Thomas sobbed, surely remembering the accident. "Then she was gone… my mommy…"
"Thomas, why do you blame yourself?" Ginny insisted, needing to know the truth of what had happened.
"We were in the street and I wanted to go to the toys shop… My mommy said she didn't have time and crossed the road, but I stayed in front of the shop. When she saw I wasn't with her, she crossed the road again, very angry. Her eyes were so dark! She didn't see the car and…" he explained, sobbing, as tears fell down his face.
"It wasn't your fault, Thomas… You wanted a toy, that's all! Your mommy should have held your hand to make you cross the road, but she didn't and you were left alone… It's not your fault that grown-up people make mistakes, because they are too tired or nervous!" Ginny explained, holding the boy strongly in her arms. "When I went to Hogwarts, I did something awful and almost killed several friends of mine… But you know what? It wasn't my fault… A grown-up had given me a dangerous weapon and I was controlled by it. It never was my fault, and when I understood that, my life became so much better!"
"But I didn't follow her!" he cried, whishing he could believe Ginny, although his guilt stopped him from doing so.
"I know, but it was her fault… You were a baby, Thomas, and she had to hold you to cross the road! She should have looked both ways before crossing it herself…" Ginny replied, kissing the tip of his nose. "But you have to forget about the accident and remember your mother on your happy moments with her. Your life must go on, and to do that, you must realise you were innocent, just like I was!"
"OK…" he whispered, kissing her nose as well. "I love you, Ginny…"
"I love you too, Thomas…" she replied, her heart bumping wildly with the boy's words. A warm feeling surrounded her whole body for having the affection of that small child she had come to love so much.
Ginny left the bedroom and sighed. The boy had seen too much suffer for such a young age. She wished she could replace the bad memories with new happy ones, and with this thought, she went to the Dinning Room, for her dinner with Draco Malfoy.
"You're late…" a soft voice said, as soon as she entered the room, making her stomach tingle.
"I'm sorry, but Thomas had something to tell me…" she replied, not wanting to talk about it, because Malfoy would surely get angry.
"Very well, let's sit, shall we?" he replied, stepping out of the shadows, with a gentle grin on his lips.
Ginny held her breath without realising it. He was looking absolutely Yummy, wearing a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt that showed his well-defined torso.
"I still have a hard time believing you're wearing Muggle clothes…" she commented, amusedly.
"They happen to have wonderful taste in clothes… I prefer muggle jeans to the usual black pants we use in wizarding world." Draco replied, pulling out a chair for Ginny to seat.
"Thank you… And you look great in those clothes…" she replied, truthfully, sitting on the offered chair.
"Why thank you Ginevra…" he whispered in her ear, in a low voice that made her tremble. He then sat down in front of her, and ordered the house-elves to serve dinner.
After spending the entire meal talking about her life since Hogwarts and his life in France, they went to the library, with a bottle of red wine and two glasses in their hands. The weather was pleasant but a heatless fire was lit in the fireplace, making the room orangey with its light. Draco and Ginny sat in front of the fire, side by side, sipping their wine, and Ginny finally asked what she wanted to ask since the beginning of the meal.
"So, why was I invited to have dinner with you?" she carefully asked, sipping her wine and looking at the flames.
"Do I need a reason to enjoy a meal with a beautiful witch?" he asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"When your name is Draco Malfoy, yes you need to have a reason…" she replied, trying hard not to laugh at his theatrical pout.
"You are mean, Ginevra… But you're right, I do have a reason!" he replied, his face turning serious. "How's everything going with the boy?"
"We have been working on his legs and spine… The muscles are extremely weak, almost non-existent, and we need to stimulate them once again. Only when he gains some strength on his legs will we be able to make him try to walk." Ginny explained, in her Healer voice. "Thomas is responding well to the exercise, although he gets bored very easily, and I believe that from tonight on he will start working with new strength and courage."
"Oh really, and why is that?" he asked with curiosity, shifting beside her on the floor, to be able to see her face properly.
"First of all I think I should tell you what's my diagnose… Thomas' handicap is purely emotional…" Ginny started, but Draco interrupted her.
"Are you saying he's like that on purpose, after being submitted to several surgeries?" he hissed, fury all over his perfect face.
"No, not something as voluntary as that!" Ginny explained slowly, as if searching for the right words to say what she thought. "In my opinion, Thomas has suffered a trauma on the day his mother died. He just told me, before dinner, that he saw her get killed in front of him, because he refused to follow her in the street. He feels guilty and that trauma blocked the motor area on his brain, making his lower body numb, not paralysed. As you know the brain controls every single portion of your body, and if Thomas believes he's paralysed, than his brain commands his body as if he truly couldn't move… Thomas isn't in this situation because he wants to, Draco!"
Maybe Ginny was right… Thomas had stopped walking after his mother had died, and that could explain it all.
Draco remained in silence, thinking about what she had just said, and ran a hand through his hair, making it fall from the black silk ribbon. The curtain of blond hair covered his face and Ginny was unable to read his emotions.
"How can we help him overcome his trauma?" Draco asked, his face still covered with his hair.
"With patience, strength and love…" Ginny replied with a smile, brushing his hair away from his eyes, with a gentle hand. "You have a big part to play in all this, Draco!"
"How? Strength and Patience, I have plenty… But Love?" he replied, grabbing her hand and caressing it with his thumb, studying the contrast between his big hand and her small, delicate one.
"I have plenty of love to give, don't worry!" she smiled, enjoying his touch, and then couldn't take it anymore. "Oh damn it all…"
"What are you…?" he started to ask but was interrupted as Ginny's soft lips covered his in a gentle kiss. That was enough for him to respond with all the passion he had been feeling for her, admiration, lust, and probably … love, but the last emotion was one he wasn't sure about.
Her lips tasted of the wine they had been drinking, and she smelled of his soap, making his body respond to the feeling of possession. Nibbling her lips and licking them, he asked for entrance and Ginny granted it, throwing her arms around his neck while Draco held her by the waist, bringing their bodies as close as possible.
Slowly their tongues explored each other's mouth in a passionate kiss and soon they had to break it, in serious need of oxygen.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that! I better go home…" she whispered ashamed with her actions, her lips brushing his and her brown eyes locked with his light blue ones. `Desire, once again…' she thought.
"It's ok, don't worry..." He replied, unwillingly letting go of her waist, immediately missing her warmth against his body.
"Sweet dreams…" she whispered, kissing the tip of his nose, just like she always did to Thomas. Then, Ginny left the Manor and Apparated home with a huge goofy grin on her face.
Draco Malfoy was no longer the crush of her Bad-Boy Phase... Right now it was much more serious than that, Ginny was in love.
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And here is another chappie…
I now some people write 20 pages long chapters, but I don't have all that much information for 20 pages, so you have to stick with my 5 to 8 pages.
I hope you liked this chapter, and know that it's coming close to an end. There are still some chapters missing, but I don't know exactly how many, because I'm posting this story as I write.
Thank you so much for your reviews.
Love, Carina