AS LOVERS GO
Disclaimer: None of its mine. I make no money sadly.
"- Then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher Snape, whose laugh became high and cold - " SS
This contains lyrics from Dashboard Confessional's "As Lovers Go" (go listen to it, it's a good song)
As the dust settled in the aftermath of the Second War, many changes were trying to be accepted, Dumbledore dying, Voldemort dying, Arthur Weasley taking up as the Minister of Magic, and numerous spies being revealed. Two of the Order of the Phoenix's best spies come from the dark and wretched snake's den themselves, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy.
It wasn't really clear what happened in the final battle, Harry came back from somewhere declaring both Voldemort and Dumbledore dead and refused to say anymore on the subject. Members of the Order, official and unofficial gathered back at 12 Grimmauld Place to celebrate, recover, rest, mourn, and seek sanctuary.
One day, Snape dragged a battered and smirking Draco Malfoy through the door of the house. You could hear a pin drop as all the occupants stared at him. Unbothered by the attention, he just nodded and gave a cheerful, "Hullo." Snape elbowed Draco in the ribs. "Oh, yes. I've come to stay for a bit. Would someone mind terribly to make me up a room?"
By this point some people in the front hall were scowling, some, mainly the Weasley boys, were cracking their knuckles, some were picking their jaws up off the floor, and one was giggling.
Snape hit Malfoy on the head, "Excuse Mr. Malfoy's rudeness and audacity. He has actually come to seek refuge. Since being uncovered as a spy for the Order, his regular circle isn't very forthcoming and he is in need of a sanctuary." Snape eyed the occupants.
"That bloody wanking ferret never worked for the Order and he isn't welcome here!" shouted a very red Ron Weasley.
"Watch your mouth Ronald!" Molly Weasley rushed to Draco's side, smoothing out his hair. "If Professor Snape says that he worked for us, it's as good a word as anyone's." Ron's mouth was gaping like a fish out of water. "Come along dear, I'll fix you up right."
And so both the magical and muggle world began to recuperate. Members of the household came and went as they needed. For those with the stamina for it, it was an endless party, but some preferred quiet solitude, mainly Harry, Neville, little Ginny Weasley, and Draco (mainly because he wasn't wanted at the parties). But nonetheless, over the months the members of the household grew used to each other, the close quarters brought about a hodgepodge fraternity. Meals were taken together, as insisted upon by Mrs. Weasley. There was always something going on, whether it was overdramatic war stories from the twins, chess tournaments ran and dominated by Ron, art showings by Colin and Dean, or an impromptu lesson on whatever anyone wanted to know, from anyone who knew how to do it.
Harry insisted everyone and their families showed up for the New Years Party. The once dark house of Black was alight and full of music, cheer and celebration. As every one was in the ballroom ringing in the new millennium, Ginny was down in the kitchen reading, drinking a cup of tea, and petting Crookshanks. The doors to the kitchen burst open in a flurry of black robes. "There you are! People have been wondering where you got off to."
Ginny blushed and stammered, "Oh…ah…well…um…I don't usually like New Year's Parties, they're just too loud."
Draco straddled the bench next to her, "But that's the point Ginlove, It's supposed to be loud enough for two parties, the last of the year and the first of the year. Come on. Let's go." He tugged on her sleeve.
"No thanks. I'd rather just stay here and read."
"Fine then, I suppose I'll just have to sacrifice myself and sit here with you." He sighed and started reading over her shoulder.
"Excuse me?!"
"Are you done with that page yet? Can you flip it over?" He reached over to turn the page and she slapped his hand.
"Pardon me?!"
"You could have just said no" he grumbled.
Her face flushed red. "I'm sorry that you have to give up your busy social life to keep dull Ginny company, but you weren't invited nor are you wanted."
"I may not, but I'm definitely needed."
"I don't NEED you either."
He pointed a finger up, "Ah, but you do. You just can't see it love. You're too close to the problem."
She laid the book down, faced him, and took a moment to compose herself. "What problem?"
"You're invisible."
She was struck dumfounded, "What?"
"See love, you've got yourself an invisibility problem. No one sees you and you pretend you aren't there yourself."
"People see me!"
"Then why am I the only one who came looking for you."
"Because you're an insufferable git!"
He smirked, "That may be, but I can't just let you stay invisible, now can I?"
"I am not invisible!" She crossed her arms over chest.
"Then tell me love, how many years did you chase after Potter? How many of the Golden Trio's adventures did they let you in on?" He waited for an answer.
She fumed silently and her eyes started to water. "You're an ass. You know nothing about me."
"I know enough. I know you don't watch your back when you're fighting."
She slammed her hands on the table, "What are you going on about?"
"Ginny calm down, I didn't mean it like that."
"So then what did you mean it like?" She glared at him.
"I know about you. Damn it, Ginny sometimes it seems like I'm the only one who does. It's that passion that sucks you totally into what you are doing. You don't pay attention to anything going on around you." He took a breath, trying to see if she would reply. When she didn't, he continued, "You didn't happen to notice that no one came up and attacked you from behind in those last battles? You're a brilliant fighter Ginny, but your defense sucks."
She stared at him, "How in the hell would you know something like that?"
For once he broke his gaze and looked at the table, "I see you" he muttered.
"Pardon?"
"I see you." He said louder. "I've always seen you."
"You've lost your bloody mind." She stood up and started to pace around. "I can't believe I've sat here for so long listening to this load." She made her way to the door.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to sit on the bench again. "Wait, just hear me out please?"
Astounded, she looked at him, giving him an inch. "Wow, the great Draco Malfoy said please. For this amazing feat I suppose I could listen to you for a bit longer."
He smirked at her, "Thank you." He raised an eyebrow to show off the fact that he actually had some rudimentary manners…somewhere. "I just wanted you to know, that you have never been invisible to me. I've always seen you. Even when we were young," he stroked a tendril of hair, "You've always been an easy one to spot. Your hair is a beacon, it's so noticeable. It's a wonder why no one else really noticed you. Potter was an idiot to look you over." He trailed off, just looking at her.
She blushed and then scoffed. "What a line of bull! I've gotta be honest, you're wasting your time if you're fishing round here."
He smirked, that trademark smirk that only looked good on him. "You must be mistaken, cause I'm not fooling. This feeling is real."
She giggled; it was that same giggle that rang in the hall when he showed up at the doorstep seeking a safe place all those months ago. "You gotta be crazy, what do you take me for? Some kind of easy mark?" She stood up to leave again.
She crossed over to the door and opened it when he shouted. "NO!" She turned around and stared at him. He was at a loss for words, so he tried something he never tried, the truth. "You've got wits, you've got looks, you've got passion, but I swear that you've got me all wrong." He gave her the most sincere look he could muster.
Ginny looked at him and the door for several moments before deciding to close the door and lean up against it. "So tell me what I have wrong."
"Let's see…for starters, most of everything I do is an act."
"That's reassuring, so why am I listening to this if it's an act."
"All right, I said that wrong. There is a public side to me and a private side. The public side is the act. The private side is anything but."
"How do I know this isn't the public Draco talking?" She eyed him suspiciously.
He looked around the kitchen, "Weasley, think, is there anyone else in the room? This seems to be a pretty private conversation to me."
"That doesn't mean that you aren't doing this to laugh at me later in public."
"Love, it's been a long time since I've laughed at your expense. I learned my lesson the last time. I don't think I would even want to go up against that Bat Bogey hex again or anything worse you've conjured up in the mean time." He covered his nose with his hand and chuckled.
She eyed him again and clutched her wand in her pocket. "All right, so what does that prove to me?"
"Do you know how long I've been a spy?" She shook her head, "I really don't remember myself. Snape got me to tell him little things that I heard about at home, things that he would never have been privy to with him being at school, it was to cover his ass mostly. But I gave up on the dark side such a long time ago that I can't remember when it was exactly that I came to the conclusion that Voldemort would lose. I remember thinking that Potter was going to win this thing. The boy just went through too much. He had too much of a backing behind him, with people and experience. I realized that before I completely turned. I knew that I couldn't let everyone else know that I had turned over, I would be killed, and you see my dear, I like being alive." He smirked at her.
"So you picked on us all mercilessly because you were on our side? Come on Malfoy, you don't expect me to believe that, do you?"
"No, I tortured you all so that I could stay alive. Don't let me fool you in thinking that I did anything for any other reason other than myself. I never liked Potter, still don't, really. I just knew that he was going to win and I want to be on the winning side. Who would want to be on the loosing side? Really, Weasley think."
She glared at him.
"So you see everything that you thought about me was a lie really." He smiled, impressed with himself.
She sighed, "So that means I don't know anything about you. So what do you want me to do? I know nothing about you other than you were a great spy."
He frowned. "All right that didn't prove much of anything, but it still proves that you were wrong about me. Ha!" He smirked, pleased with himself.
"Umm…Malfoy you aren't winning your case as much as you think you are. You're still annoying, way too pretty, over confident, a self righteous prick, and rude. How am I doing so far?" He thought and nodded his approval. "You're also a bigot and you don't think about anyone but yourself…"
"Hey stop right there! I do so think about other people!"
"Name one person!"
"Well, her name is Ginevra Molly Weasley."
"What?"
He smirked, "For someone who graduated early and with N.E.W.T. scores so high, you can sure be dense sometimes." He stood up and walked up to her. "Let me say it a little clearer. I. Care. About. You."
She looked up at him, still confused, "This is completely out of no where. When did this happen?"
"I've got to be honest. I've been waiting for you all my life."
She raised an eyebrow in question, unsure of what to say or to simply laugh.
"It's just that, I had always wanted a strong girl, not the simpering money grubbing bints that were always shoved at me. They don't have the brains to keep me interested in things. You on the other hand, challenge me. You're willing to yell at me, throw things at me, hex me, you'd be willing to go a round of quidditch with me, and completely be my opposite in all ways."
"You're off your rocker. You've gone completely nutters. Mad! Stark raving mad!" She turned around and put her hand on the door handle. He caged her when he put his arms on both doors around her.
"For so long I though I was asylum bound, but just seeing you makes me think twice, and being with you here makes me sane." His hot breath on her ear sent shivers down her spine as he whispered in it, "I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side."
She stood there, with him breathing on her ear, just thinking about what he had just said. "I must."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't right."
"What isn't right about it?"
She turned around and stared hard into his eyes. "You're a Malfoy, I'm a Weasley."
He chocked on a laugh then smiled a genuine smile, "Well, if you must know, I have been technically disowned. So, I'm not really a Malfoy anymore."
"You're still Draco Malfoy, being disowned won't change anything. Especially in the eyes of my brothers, one particularly named Ron. There is the other thing of you being killed on sight by any of the remaining Voldemort supporters."
"We can take them. I watched you fight." She looked at him startled, "Oh yes, I watched you all during those last battles, didn't I just say something about you not watching your back, I covered that back for you. You at least owe me some of that backside I tried so hard to save."
She pinched his side in outrage.
"All right, all right, I guess I'm supposed to be relatively less evil now, having turned completely to the Order and staying in their headquarters. It's going to be such a dramatic change from being completely evil, so I guess I won't call in that debt just yet."
She opened her mouth to argue.
He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her. "Ah, my dear, when a wizard saves another wizards life there is a bond. So whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."
"Way to win the ladies Malfoy."
"I do so try my best." He gave her a seductive smirk.
"I need to go. We really shouldn't be caught like this."
Draco looked over at the clock; it was reading two minutes till midnight. "Considering everyone will still be up in the ballroom waiting for the clock to start chiming in the New Year, I don't think anyone's going to be leaving just yet. So that means I've got you all to my self."
She slapped him in the chest, "You don't have me at all. I thought this discussion was over."
"Ah, love, it won't be over until I bend you to my will. You can't resist me forever."
She looked at him and contemplated him for a second before she smiled, "Watch me try" and turned around and tried opening the door again. She put up a battle with him, her having the vantage of being at a better angle to try to open the door, but he won out putting his whole weight into pushing it closed around her.
Finally she huffed and turned around to face him. "Please let me leave. I don't know what you see in me, I really don't understand. I want you to understand though that it will never work for different reasons. It's a completely preposterous idea. I think you just have a bit of cabin fever going on; you've been shut up here for too long. Your just lust crazy and trying to lie your way into the first witch's bed that you think you can slime your way into. I unfortunately must have been the only possibility. You're rotten, and despicable, and …"
She couldn't finish her thought, because the clock started to chime and Draco leaned in and started to kiss her. She tried to back away, but he just pushed her against the door and cupped her face. He didn't break the kiss until the last chime finished vibrating. "Happy New Year, love."
She looked at him, unable to grasp the tender kiss he had just given her, tears wet her lashes. She just didn't understand. He laughed at her during school for her crush. She had gotten used to that feeling of rejection. She was always the outcast, people just stayed away because of the Chamber incident. She had become a bit wary of guys. It was a feeling that they were somehow pitying her, or making fun of her. She figured that was why she always broke up with her boyfriends. "You're actually serious aren't you?"
He tapped the tip of her nose, "So your finally getting it, are you?"
"Why? Why me?" she stared at him still unbelieving.
He rolled his eyes, "Have I got to go through this again? You've got wits…you've got looks…you've got passion. You're Ginny Weasley. You aren't afraid of anyone. You aren't afraid of what people say. You can mend someone and hex a person across a room. You're one of the bravest people I know. You aren't afraid to stick up for what you believe in. You have faith in people. You love and you hate with all of your soul. You're complex and simple all at the same time. You're incredibly talented and smart. You still have the innocence of a child, despite being a warrior. You're probably the only Gryffindor I'll ever admit to liking."
The tears started to flow down her cheeks, "Wow, you think all that about me?"
"Oh my dear, that and much more." He wiped the tears from her cheeks as she blushed and looked down. "So tell me, my brave little Gryffindor, are you brave enough to leave with me tonight?"
She looked at him in horror, "But I haven't anything to leave with."
He smirked, "but you have me."
"I don't think that'll be enough."
"I'll be true, I'll be useful, I'll be cavalier, I'll be yours my dear and I'll belong to you if you just let me through."
"It's not that easy." She frowned.
"This is as easy as lovers go, just don't complicate it by hesitating." He continued to stroke her cheek.
"All right, just not yet. Let's wait awhile. I can't leave just yet."
"Love, it's not even dawn on a new millennium, we can start brand new. We can go to a place where no one will know us. Weasley, Malfoy, It won't make a difference. It'll be a fresh beginning for both of us. It's as wonderful as loving goes; this is tailor-made, what's the sense in waiting?"
Her sparkling brown eyes met his grey, and he gave a devilish smirk as she grabbed his hand and opened the door. The breeze from the door turned the page on the forgotten book.