"To be or not to be a Weasley"
Chapter 6: Lessons with the Weasel
By: Adrialà Adrial_06@yahoo.com
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"I need love, love
To ease my mind
I need to find, find someone to call mine
But mama said
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
You got to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take"
~The Supremes-"You Can't Hurry Love"
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"Bugger!" Ginny knelt deeper into a rather nasty looking peony bush and squinted to see through the tangles arms of branches and leaves. Suddenly a tiny giggle caught her ears and she jiggled the branches forcefully, only managing to whack herself in the face with a ricocheting limb and producing another round of laughter from within the mass of green.
She growled and wrenched herself out of the chortling hedge. "I give up! The next time Mum wants us to de-gnome, I'm knicking one of Fred and George's canary creams to get out of it."
Wiping her soiled hands on her shorts, Ginny flipped her ponytail off of her neck and glared at her chortling companion.
"Shut it, Potter, or I'll give you something to laugh about," She warned. Harry immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Oy! Ginny! Got any yet?" Ron's voice bellowed from the kitchen window where Mrs. Weasley had delegated Hermione and him to scrub down the kitchen-sans magic.
Ginny rolled her eyes skyward and yelled back, "No! But if you don't stop asking the same bloody question every five minutes, I'm going to put the first that I do find underneath your pillow tonight!"
Harry figured it was safe to laugh at that and did. Ron's blue gaze widened and he scowled at his sister, muttering incoherently underneath his breath. Soon the window had slammed shut and all was silent again.
Harry rolled back his shoulders. He'd already de-gnomed his part of the garden and was now helping a rather frustrated Ginny get started on hers.
"Gin, you're being too nice with them. Here-let me show you," He cautiously stepped beside her, wondering if she'd lash out at him for trying to imply that he was demeaning her womanly right to de-gnome the way she wanted to de-gnome or something, but when she promptly stepped aside, he took it as an OK to continue.
"First of all, you can't just stick your head in there. You've got to make them think they've gotten the better of you," Harry said all this while looming over the top of the bush, pretending to fiddle with a flower or two. Ginny watched, half-expecting nothing to happen, but suddenly a knobby, bald head appeared at the base of the bush, its beady black eyes swooping over the grounds as if checking for any signs of human.
"Ah ha!" Harry yanked the gnome up by its ankles and let it thrash around wildly before swinging around in circles and flinging it clear across the bordering hedges and into a field.
Ginny scowled. "Oh, right. Make it look so bleeding easy then!" Just then another potato-like head appeared out of the corner of her eye, and she lunged for it. Soon, she'd grabbed the kicking, screaming, and biting little pest and imitated Harry's elaborate flinging technique.
"Wow, Gin! You might have landed that one in the lake," He smiled at his apprentice appreciatively.
"Hey, Potter! The Canons are on the wireless! They've made it to nationals!" Bill's voice bellowed out from the kitchen this time.
Harry's face lit up as if Christmas had come early. He offered Gin an apologetic grin.
"Sorry, Gin, gotta run. You'll be OK, right? Great! See you!" And with that, he tore off across the lawn, leaving a very annoyed Ginny to de-gnome the remaining five infested bushes all by herself.
"Boys." She spat. And suddenly, a thought popped up into her mind.
She peered over at the other end of the lawn where Draco and his mother were sitting like a queen and prince, sipping ice cold pumpkin juice; both were shaded by two gigantic emerald green umbrellas with built in fans and reclining in cushy, sun-repelling chaise lounges.
Draco had been watching the de-gnoming bemusedly the entire time, never having seen one before. There was a reason his hands were pale and smooth as a baby's skin; they'd never been used for more than hanging onto a broom stick or snapping for a house elf to do his bidding.
Ginny shrugged and walked over to him cautiously. Once she'd reached them, she instantly plastered on a bright smile.
"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy," She grasped her hands behind her back and added, "Draco."
Draco's face wavered for a moment. Had she called him…Draco?
Ginny smiled inwardly at his startled reaction. She'd made it a point the previous afternoon that the first step to teaching Draco that there was more to life than galleons and mansions, was to offer him her respect.
Narcissa's response was to take another bored sip of her juice and nod ever so slightly. Draco did his best to dreg up a sneer.
"Weasley."
So you want to be difficult do you? Fine then…I love a challenge. Ginny smiled wider, throwing him off guard, and gestured towards the other end of the yard.
"Would you like to help me de-gnome, Draco?"
Draco's mouth hung open and he suddenly laughed. "Right, Weasel. Next you'll be having me scrub the loo, right?" He chuckled at the thought and returned his gaze to the book lying open on his lap.
Ginny's face nearly screwed up in annoyance. Why you spoiled rotten little-*ahem*…I'm supposed to be setting an example, right? Right.
"Only if you'd be willing to do the toilets; Fred and George have horrible aim," She giggled at the appalled expression that fell over his face. "I'll take that as a yes! Come on, then; no use in wasting away this gorgeous afternoon lazing about is there?" She didn't bother to wait for a response and immediately knelt over to him, tossed his book onto the ground and dragged him out of his chair.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Weasel?!" He tried to wriggle out of her grip, but she'd already managed to get him half way across the lawn.
Ginny merely giggled again, "Oh, don't be so difficult, Draco! It's loads of fun!" She ended up having to use both hands and dig her heels into the hard earth to get him to budge the rest of the few meters or so to the throng of bushes palpitating with excited garden gnomes.
Narcissa watched their interlude with an un elusive frown on her face; curiosity seemed to get the better of her as she settled her gaze back onto her novel, one gray/blue eye peaking over the top every once in a while to watch.
"Now, watch me." Ginny eyed Draco warningly as if daring him to try to move. When he remained standing, she proceeded to bend over the bush casually as Harry had before.
When she caught sight of a bobbing head, she took her chance and wrapped her fingers around its neck. Lifting it out of its refuge, she took a moment to let it get a few good kicks at empty air before dangling it wildly in front of Draco's face.
Which promptly drained of color.
"What're you-Weasley!! Get it the hell away from me!" Draco backed up a few feet with his hands raised in defense of the squealing gnome who was roughly shouting "Geroff! Geroff!" at Ginny's tightening grip on its neck.
Ginny laughed outright at his girly antics and flung the gnome easily over the hedge. It landed with a thud next to his other evicted comrade and shook a grubby fist in the air.
Draco's face regained a bit of color again, though he was still too pale in Ginny's opinion, and he straightened his shirt with a dignified sniff.
Ginny was still giggling madly at him. Curtains of her auburn hair cascaded in front of her, hiding her bent head from view. She tried to straighten, but every time she caught a glimpse of Draco's face, she fell over again with renewed mirth.
Draco didn't know what on earth had been so funny. He watched her laugh giddily with his arms crossed over his chest defensively.
"Are you done yet, Weasel?" He spat. It only made another round of laughter bubble from her, though, and he huffed.
When Ginny was finally able to control herself and notice the look of pure agitation plastered over Draco's face, she instantly sobered. A frown slid over her face, and Draco subconsciously noted that he didn't very much appreciate the change.
Ginny caught him off guard for the second time that afternoon by placing a hand softly over his forearm. Her hazel eyes were clouded with some emotion Draco couldn't quite decipher, but whatever it bloody well was, he didn't like it and he wished she would stop.
"I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to-well, I just thought that it was kind of, well…funny…" She stumbled over her words. She didn't want him to be mad at her for some reason. Draco threw a glance at her pale hand over his arm. As if her grip was searing a hole through his flesh, he wrenched his arm away forcefully.
"I'm not…funny." His lips formed a tight scowl, something Ginny found impossibly humorous. She decided not to let the giggle escape her lips, however. But she thought the way he tried to hard to be taken seriously made him appear, somewhat…vulnerable, to her at least.
She cleared her throat to muffle the urge to laugh, "Erm…right. Of course, not. I'm terribly sorry for even suggesting such a horrible, dreadful notion," She furrowed her brow and patted his arm comfortingly, "To be funny! A Malfoy? How could I have even considered it?"
"Are you being cheeky with me, Weasel?" Draco said with a frown.
Ginny grinned, "Now, Draco, you mustn't assume! I was only agreeing with you." With that, Ginny began searching for more gnomes, trying to muffle her laughter at the memory of his scowling face.
Ginny-one, Draco-zip.
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Ginny had continued to pester Draco for the rest of the day. It seemed that wherever he was, she would appear out of thin air, blathering on excitedly about quidditch or what a lovely day it was. It seemed to Draco as if she were trying her damnedest to find brand new ways to annoy or frustrate the hell out him.
She was talking now, Again, Draco thought absently as he flipped through a thick book with a bored sigh. They were sitting on the lumpy old couch in the Weasley living room, bathed in pink and orange sunlight as dusk settled upon The Burrow.
Ginny in her own right was growing just as livid with the flaxen-haired stone wall as he was with her. He didn't seem to be interested in anything she was talking about. She was only trying to get him to open up a little…just a bit-only far enough for her to be able to see exactly what she was getting herself into by trying to befriend him. She'd decided that morning in the garden that that was exactly what she was attempting to do-to befriend a slimy, conniving, and ruthless slytherin.
She bit her lip, at a loss of what to say next. She'd covered all the basics: favorite books ("Shut up, Weasley."), favorite color ("The color your face turns when I say 'Shut up, Weasley'"), his most embarrassing moment ("Are you still blathering on?"), and finally, as a last resort, she'd tried to get him to play a game of chess with her.
"Chess?" He narrowed his eyes, "You mean that boring game that great wanker you call a brother always plays?" He sneered at the way her eyes flashed when he'd mentioned her brother.
"Alright, no chess then," Ginny nibbled her bottom lip harder. Draco watched silently. He'd been noticing more and more of the tiny things Ginny would do in certain situations. For instance, whenever he'd insult her or her family, the skin beneath her freckles would turn pink and her eyes would flash as if smothering some internal fire she greatly wished to spit into his face; or there would be times when she'd be at a loss for words and twirl her hair between her fingers or do what she was doing right now-that bloody nibbling.
"Is there a reason you've been stalking me all day long, Weasley? I mean, I know I'm excellent to look at-oh, wait. That's it." He smiled coyly.
"Then you must forgive me if I've interrupted you. Please, do continue to admire me." He craned his neck at that moment, staring out of the window of the Weasley's living room, as if posing for a picture and trying to look debonair.
Ginny snorted rather loudly. Draco's face snapped away from his pose and looked at her quizzically.
"You, Draco Malfoy, have got to be the most pompous git I've ever met."
She chortled loudly and patted his arm, "Really, do you carry a photograph of yourself around in your robes as well?" She grinned slyly and shocked the suaveness right off of Draco's face when her hands suddenly dug into the sides of his robes as if in search of the aforementioned mirror.
Draco recoiled immediately, squirming away from her searching hands.
"Are you mad?! Keep your bloody hands off!" He tried to get her to stop her prodding, but Ginny knew she'd just trekked upon forbidden grounds.
So…the great Draco Malfoy is ticklish, hmm? My, my, my…what is a witch to do?
She stopped for a second, and Draco eyed her as if she'd suddenly grown five heads and fangs. Ginny wriggled her eyebrows suddenly and launched herself at him, digging her fingers into his sides with vigor.
"Argh! Weasel!!"
Draco thrashed around, trying desperately to squelch the dreaded laughter that was poking at his cheeks, itching to be released. Ginny was laughing awfully loud at the red, panicky look that fell over his face as if at any moment he would pop with suppression.
"Oh, come on, tin man! Laugh! I know you're just dying to!" Ginny began to scoot closer to him to get better leverage and wiggled her fingers up and down his sides. And it was as if a dam had broken in Draco Malfoy's head. The bloody boy was laughing!
Ginny's eyes widened to the size of tea saucers. She'd never, ever heard Draco Malfoy laugh before. It was…odd and relieving at the same time, as his surprisingly deep chuckles fell into the air around them. As if she'd been given a ray of hope that perhaps he wasn't as cold as he seemed.
In her shock, her hands had paused in their devious movements. Draco was still chuckling, his grey eyes bright as a snowy sky right before a blizzard. However, there was a tinge of warmth in his cheeks and his lips stretched into a wide…smile. An honest and genuine smile. It could not be mistaken for anything more or anything less.
Ginny's heart softened considerably, and she felt as if she'd perhaps gone too far. Her face reddened to a deep hue of magenta, and she waited for Draco's laughter to subside.
It was if the world had stopped for a moment. Draco's chest suddenly stopped vibrating with hearty laughter; his face lost all traces of amusement, except for the traitorous tears of mirth that were twinkling in the corners of his eyes. Ginny's hands were folded on her lap, nervously fidgeting with the other. Her face was half-hidden by a curtain of her hair, and Draco felt the urge to brush it aside-to see her face and…
"Ginny! Mum wants you to dust the study before dinner!"
Thank Merlin; for once Ron has decent timing. Ginny silently thanked the powers that be and raised her body up from the
couch, not daring to look Draco in the eye. It was exactly what she'd wanted…to see him smile, unrestrained and without a
thought about image or pride. But she hadn't expected to feel so endeared by it. To feel as if she might as well live to see him smile
like that, if only for her.
"I'm coming, Ron! Keep your shirt on!" She called into the kitchen where Ron's voice had
come from.
She swallowed over the dryness of her throat and began to walk away.
Wait? What the heck is the matter with me? One smile from that sodding brick wall and I go crackers?
She pasted on a determined expression and turned back to see Draco fumbling for the book that had fallen to the ground in all the erm…excitement, and offered him a small smile.
"You've never been in the study, have you?"
Draco looked at her with a weary expression, "If it's anything like that hole you've got me living in, I'd rather not, thank you."
And the world squeaked as it began to turn on its rusty axis once again.
Ginny scowled. "Don't look a gift horse in its mouth, Mal-Draco," She hurriedly corrected herself. "Besides, I've still got a potions essay to do tonight and this will take at least two hours by myself."
Draco sneered, "As if I have time to be spending alone with a crazy witch like you! How'm I to know that you won't start attacking me again?"
Ginny huffed, "Oh, get over yourself, already! Everybody's ticklish!" She exclaimed, exasperated at his sudden change in demeanor. She sort of missed his smile…
Get a grip, Gin. You've got a mission here.
"Yeah, well, Malfoy's aren't."
She snorted loudly again. "Yes, and you were just having an allergic reaction to my hands, were you?"
"How're you to know that I wasn't? You seem to have been attacked by the obnoxious disease that everyone in this bloody household seems to suffer from."
Ginny growled. Second Mission: Permanently revoke Draco's ability to speak.
"Fine. I guess the rumors are true then. Draco Malfoy really is the biggest coward in the wizarding world," She smiled in what would be a pitying manor and turned again. She could practically see the curtain of horror that fell over his face.
Draco knew he was being challenged again by this cheeky little girl; it was something he'd grown used to of late, bantering with her as if it came second-naturedly. He'd known it the moment she'd started to call him by his blasted first name. Well, Malfoys never backed down from a challenge, and he cared more about being truthful to his heritage than anything. That was exactly the reason he'd jumped up from the couch at her accusation, snarling with anger.
"Where's that sodding study, anyway, Weasel?"
Ginny grinned. "Right this way, Draco." She gestured towards a door juxtaposed to the living room. It practically fell in perfect synchronization with the rest of the room, so Draco had failed to notice it at all. It was positioned next to a towering bookcase filled to the crumbling point with various books and trinkets, dotted every now and then with smiling, moving pictures of the Weasley children. Draco sniffed defensively, knowing he'd walked right into her trick.
Yes, she would have made an excellent slytherin, that's for sure.
Ginny walked over to the door and muttered something Draco didn't quite catch. Instantly, the door moved open on its own, seeming to disappear behind the walls and reveal a sizable room.
Ginny stepped over the threshold, ushering Draco in as well. He eyed the room with a judgmental frown on his face, instantly coughing and wheezing as a ball of dust flew into his nose.
Ginny suppressed a giggle with her hand. "Yes, well, as you can see, this place has been due for a dusting for quite some time. I can't remember the last time I came in here…must have been ages ago…" She eyed the wide room thoughtfully.
The walls were barely even visible from behind endless newspaper clippings, all depicting some grand event from as early as the seventeenth century. Draco peered at one article showing a chubby wizard standing in front of a small, newly built home. He was straightening his tie and proudly mounting a sign over the front door. It read, "The Burrow" in red letters.
"My great-grandfather Weasley," Ginny explained, noticing his line of vision. "That was The Burrow before it was The Burrow," She said vaguely. Draco quirked an eyebrow curiously.
"What do you mean?"
She shrugged, "Well you say so all the time. We couldn't have very well fit a family of 9 into a little box like that could we?" She pointed to another article, a tiny one with an already balding red-headed man perched sitting on the front porch. His lanky arms were around a much younger looking Mrs. Weasley, her rosy cheeks flushed with excitement and obvious affection for the man draped around her. Her hands rested lightly on her swollen stomach.
Beside them, a much, much younger Charlie and William Weasley were seated next to their parents. In Molly's arms was a small boy with a terribly familiar snooty face-Percy-and the headline read:
ARTHUR AND MOLLY WEASLEY TO BE EXPECTING FOURTH CHILD:
"It's no surprise to the wizarding world that one of the longest line of Wizards in recorded history is adding its fourth link to the rapidly growing chain. Arthur and Molly Weasley express their vast excitement for yet another addition to their presently all-wizard hoard of red-haired, freckled children. Recently inheriting the family-owned home, The Burrow, the Weasleys are reported to be magically enhancing the living space with a reported two new stories…"
Draco paused in his reading, watching as a second and third tier to the ancient looking home suddenly appeared above the Weasley's red heads.
Ginny guffawed. "Too bad they didn't know they were expecting the twins yet. They could have given everyone an advanced warning." She giggled to herself and sighed.
Draco's eyes tore themselves away from the article, taking in the rest of the room. It was undoubtedly a stockpile for the Weasley's rat-packing tendencies. Towers upon towers of picture frames were stacked like miniature Leaning Tower of Pisa's and there were two or three ancient looking desks shoved in a corner. They seemed to be struggling to keep from crumbling from beneath the weight of giant boxes stacked atop them and lumpy with their contents.
Ginny sighed and grabbed a duster from a table near her elbow. She paused at a box labeled "ICKLE BABY THINGS" and a small smile played across her face. She turned to Draco excitedly and giggled.
"Oh, look!" She tore open the top of the box, immediately scrunching up her face in adoration of a pair of tiny baby shoes that fit in the palm of her hand.
She held them up for Draco to see, "Oh! Can you imagine my great giant brothers actually being able to ever fit their big feet into these things?" She laughed and drew a pair of matching pants and shirt from the box as well. A broom stick was embroidered in the shirt and littered the faded legs of the little pants.
"One of Mum's earlier knitting endeavors," Ginny explained, not being able to wipe the nostalgic smile from her face.
Draco suddenly wished he hadn't ever walked into this room. It reeked of poor, sentimental wizards like some live version of a greeting card. He could practically feel the sappy family orientated atmosphere closing in on him, drowning him with preschool artwork and smiling family portraits.
Ginny startled him when she spoke again. "Do you have a room like this in your home, Draco?" She was holding a tiny goblin suit in her hands, most likely an old Halloween costume. She shifted so that she could look through another box and brushed the hair out her eyes.
Draco silently mulled over her question. He thought of the dreary family portraits that lined the halls of his father's numerous studies, all containing platinum haired witches and wizards with a striking resemblance to one another. He remembered being too scared to even look at the sneering cold gazes of his great-aunts and uncles, grandfathers and third and fourth cousins, until he was 10 and was forced to sit in his father's study as punishment alone for twelve hours for trying to play with the houselves.
"Not like this." He found himself muttering.
Ginny shrugged, "Too bad. It brings back memories…" She held up a crumpled piece of parchment, eyebrows furrowed to read the words scrawled sloppily in her father's own handwriting. It had come from a small black velvet box, big enough to be shoe box, and was filled to the brim with folded bits of old parchment.
She gasped in delight. "Oh, it's Mum and Dad's old letters from when they were in school!" Eagerly, she tore her eyes over the writing.
Draco wanted to leave more than ever right then. The last thing he wanted to do was hear sonnets and flowery poetry from Weasley Sr.
Ginny didn't seem to cotton on to Draco's disgusted silence and began to read.
"…Dear Molly, I can't wait to see you in Hogsmeade this weekend. I've got prefect duties until twelve every night this week so I'm afraid I won't be able to meet you after dinner tomorrow. And yes, I did love the scarf you knitted for me. It's wonderful, just like you, my sweet Molly Pruett…"
Ginny's eyes were bright. "I'd Mum'd go nutters if she knew I was reading these, don't you, Draco...Draco?" Ginny snapped her head up from the letter, taking in the all but empty, but severely lacking in Draco, room.
"Where'd he run off to?" She shrugged and scowled. "That's just like him. Skivving off before we even get started dusting." She scowled at the place he'd been.
Slytherins.
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Ginny decided to let Draco off that one time. As soon as she'd finished quickly gathering clouds upon clouds of muddy colored dust and cobwebs from the study, she'd emptied her findings into a trash bag and carried it into the kitchen where her mother was engaged in what looked to be a rather nasty argument with her father.
Molly Weasley's plump face was screwed up in anger; it held the same magenta hue that Ginny had inherited as she practically steamed at the ears. Arthur Weasley was backed up against the stove, sputtering and fighting to get a good word in or two. So far, Ginny'd guessed, he'd been unsuccessful.
"-and so what if Fudge figures it out! Somebody's got to start telling the truth around there!"
"But…Molly-"
"And that awful Daily Prophet, trying to make it seem as if he's some kind of hero! Honestly! What are you going to do about it, Arthur? Continue to let them keep you busy with possessed toasters and mail boxes?! You should be the one telling Fudge just where he can stick his blubbering nonsense! Right up his delusional, ruddy AR-"
"Ginny, dear! How lovely to see you!" Arthur immediately ran over to his daughter as soon as he'd noticed her and embraced her, though Ginny knew he was really using her as a shield from her mother.
Molly's face deflated slightly, but Ginny imagined she saw puffs of smoke dissipating around her ears and live sparks shooting out of her eyes.
"Have you finished dusting, Ginny?" Molly's tone was still harsh, and Ginny fervently nodded, eager to get out of the kitchen before her mother decided to whip out her white glove for verification.
"Good then. Your father and I were just having a…chat," She tightly smiled at her husband, and Ginny saw the promise for more "chatting" as soon as there were no more witnesses, "before dinner. The rest are already eating outside. You go and run along now, dear."
Ginny turned to do exactly that, feeling awful for leaving her dad alone with her mother when she was so vicious looking, but before she'd made her exit, Molly spoke up again.
"Oh, and could you please tell that Mr. Malfoy that he won't be having any dinner if he leaves it with your unsupervised brothers for much longer while he's hiding up in that attic?"
Ginny nodded. The attic? Figures. It must remind him of the Slytherin dungeons.
Minutes later, she was panting from climbing so many flights of stairs and gazing curiously at the attic door. It stood ajar and the ladder leading up to the floor was hanging in plain view. She cautiously climbed it, wondering if he might attack her if she didn't make her presence known.
"Draco? Are you up here?" She could barely see in the dark. The only light came from the open window where the sun's departure from the sky had painted the sky in magentas and purples. Ginny swallowed. There had been a ghoul in the attic before, but it had moved on to the basement over the school year, her mum had told her. She still couldn't forget the awful sounds it used to keep her up all night with. She used to have her mum cast silencing charms around her bedroom to stop the nightmares.
She shivered. It was awfully dark and gloomy in The Burrow's attic. Easing herself up the last few steps of the ladder, she crouched low so as not to hit her head on the ceiling and began searching for any signs of human life.
She found Draco sitting underneath the window. His face was half cast in shadow, and his cold gaze landed on her fleetingly before he turned his head out of the window once again. His black robes disappeared in the approaching darkness, making his pale skin stand out like a beacon in the dreary atmosphere.
Ginny's heart leapt in her throat at the sight of him. She'd never seen him look so ominous before, with his haunting grey eyes and cold demeanor. It was as if in his own brooding he became an entirely different person from the cold, witty bloke she'd been used to exchanging insults with. She suddenly felt as if she were interrupting some private moment or something and nearly turned to leave. But Draco's voice stopped her, and she slumped over towards him wiping a cob web off her arms on the way.
"What are you doing up here?" She threw a weary glance at the dark corner he was sitting in and sighed, "Are you…alright?"
Draco's eyes were clouded over, but he shrugged. "What's it to you?" He noticed the weary looks she gave the attic as she came closer towards him.
"Are you afraid of the dark, Weasel?"
Ginny felt a surge of relief when he cast his trademark smirk at her. It was a lovely change from the dark, subdued Draco she'd come to meet at first.
"Maybe…" She bit her lip. "There used to be a ghoul up here. I've never actually been up here before, well at least not without Ron or Dad or Mum. But that was ages ago…" She shivered again. Draco smothered the impulse to hand his cloak over to her. She wasn't shivering from cold. She was actually frightened. He wondered at that for a moment, noticing how her usually fiery hazel eyes would dart around every other moment as if expecting some gruesome attic monster to come jumping out at her.
He smirked again. "Don't worry, Weasel. The big bad ghoul isn't going to get you." Ginny scoffed and smacked his arm. He immediately placed his hand over it and mocked hurt.
"Wow, Ginny, with an arm like that, it's a wonder you haven't caused me serious damage."
Ginny rolled her eyes at him before her eyes widened in surprise.
"What did you just say?" She began to smirk devilishly at him. Draco didn't like that smirk. Not-at-all.
He swallowed, "Erm…that you hit like a prissy little girl?"
"No…before that. What did you call me?" She was smiling full-on now. Draco didn't like that either.
"Weasel?"
"No."
"Flame-head?"
"I think not. I believe," Ginny sat on her knees and practically bounced with glee, "that you just called me Ginny."
Draco's face paled.
Great, Malfoy. Look what you've gone and done now. Now she's going to become even more insufferable, you idiot!
"So what if I did? That is your name, isn't it?" He spat, trying to cover his embarrassment with another glare in her direction. When it barely seemed to faze her look of joy, he growled.
"What d'you follow me up here for, anyway? Haven't you grown tired of stalking me by now?"
Ginny shrugged, "Maybe you were right. You're just too-how did you put it earlier?-oh, yes, too excellent to look at." She smiled smugly at his look of shock.
"Oh, come on. Don't be so modest now! What with that perfectly combed hair and winning personality? I must say," She grinned playfully, "The way you do that thing with your nose whenever you sneer or insult me, that's just plain sexy." She tapped his nose with her index finger and let it trail down his cheek and outline his jawbone.
Draco merely stared at her, his face a mask of horror and wonder. Ginny couldn't help but let herself burst with laughter.
He's just too bloody easy!
Draco's face returned to its normal pigment and he glared at the girl who never seemed to cease giggling like a school girl at him.
Ginny hiccupped suddenly, which only sent her off giggling more. Draco screwed up his face at her.
"You're not funny."
Ginny snorted, "You're not funny," She mocked him. "Oh, but you are quite funny, Draco."
"I told you before. Malfoys aren't funny."
Ginny giggled more, "Malfoys aren't funny."
"Would you stop blathering on?!"
"Would you stop blathering on?!" *giggles*
"I mean it, Weasley!"
"I mean it, Weasley!"
"If you don't stop, I'll hex you into next week."
"If you don't stop, I'll hex you into next week!"
By then, Ginny was finding it hard to breathe. Draco snarled even worse than ever. And suddenly, he was on top of her, knocking her off her balance and landing them both on the dusty floor. With a growl he began digging his hands into her sides, eliciting howls of laughter from her mouth. Ginny's eyes were squeezing out big, round tears of mirth and her breath was short and hard to come by.
"St-st-stop it, D-Dr-Dr-Draco!" She laughed louder than ever, but Draco didn't stop. He began tickling her everywhere he could reach-her arms, sides, stomach, and neck all fell victim to his wriggling hands.
"How do you like it, Weasley? Think I'm funny, do you? Is this funny?" He didn't even flinch at the smile that had spread across his face. He was actually enjoying himself, but he didn't give himself time to admit it.
"Ack! Draco! I-can't-breathe!" Ginny was trying desperately to claw his hands away; her gleeful laughter was contagious, and Draco found himself reluctantly joining her. It felt as if for the first time in months, he'd actually been…happy.
Finally, Draco gave in and stopped his torturous actions. He loomed over Ginny then, watching her fight to draw in huge gulps of air and calm her giggles until they subsided into occasional chuckles. Her auburn locks were strewn about her in a halo of curls and tangles. Her pink cheeks glowed in the dim lighting and her eyes were glassy with mirth. She was breathing deeply and evenly then, and Draco watched the rise and fall of her chest as she did so while trying to catch his own breath.
He found himself drawn towards her…this strange girl with her incessant laughter and elusive comments…this Weasley who looked so innocent bathed in moonlight and smiling freely…this person he found himself wanting to lean towards, to share in whatever made her seem to glow from the inside…
What was this girl doing to him? He instantly shook himself, nearly laughing at the insanity of his thoughts.
Nutters, Draco. You've gone completely nutters.
Ginny sat up slowly, feeling spent and achy from so much laughing, but at the same time she wondered if she'd ever felt so lively.
"Draco?" She uttered cautiously, noting the glazed over expression on his face. His eyes suddenly seemed to snap out of whatever trance they'd fallen into and he stared at her.
"I've-I've never done that before," He stated bluntly. Ginny smiled softly at him, and he felt something somewhere inside of him jerk with relief.
"Well, I must say. You catch on rather well, Mr. Malfoy." She smiled wider then and laughed again. Draco found himself smiling back and he didn't even try to stop it.
And that was exactly why he found himself cowering back into his corner, seeking refuge in the darkness once again, shocked and afraid of what he'd done and how he'd acted.
Ginny's thoughtful hazel eyes watched him quizzically.
"What's the matter, Draco?" She started to come near him. Her heart fell when he threw a hurtful scowl at her.
"What'd you come up here for anyways, Weasel? Trying to trick me into acting like a fool, are you?" His eyes iced over.
Ginny felt like screaming. Why you insufferable prat! Are you really this idiotic all the time?
It was when he glared even harder at her that she realized what she'd thought had actually came out of her mouth.
"Perhaps the Weasley epidemic is contagious?" He countered. "Well, what did you come up here for? Trying to escape mummy and daddy's big awful row, were you?" He spat. Ginny's brow furrowed once again.
"How d'you know about that?" She inquired.
"Oh, come on, Weasley. With that ruddy mouth on her, your mum probably could probably wake up the dead."
Ginny shrugged. "Oh well. They'll be cooing over each other all over again soon enough."
Draco's eyes were unconvinced. "What for? They'd be better to take up separate living quarters if you asked me. Every time I've had the misfortune of being disgraced with their presence, she's always been nagging at him. I'd walk out if I were him." He surmised this all with a philosophical air about him.
Ginny's eyes softened considerably. Was that really how he pictured things? She was instantly reminded of her mission and took up a seat next to him.
"Draco…you don't just leave if you get in an argument with someone. You," she searched for the proper words, "work things out, you compromise…discuss, you know?" She searched his eyes for understanding.
Draco snorted. "Sure. In a perfect world, perhaps. Why would they go through all that trouble anyway? It'd be easier to find someone different who didn't antagonize them all the time."
Ginny shook her head. "Because they love each other, Draco! They wouldn't sacrifice that for some silly argument over nothing! That's what people in love do. They fight and squabble, sure, but they never just give up on each other."
Draco shrugged offhandedly, "Whatever."
Ginny, realizing it was going to take more than that to convince him, bent over on her knees and pointed out of the window overlooking the back yard.
"Look for yourself."
Draco curiously followed her gaze, looking down upon the chattering dinner party outside. Fred and George were talking animatedly with their hands, and the entire table roared with laughter at their antics. At the head of the table was Mr. Weasley, his hand coiled around his wife's warmly. Mrs. Weasley looked at her husband with laughter in her eyes and they exchanged a secret smile between spouses, all traces of their earlier argument gone from both of their faces to make room for peace once again.
Draco felt like vomiting.
"How touching, Weasley," He spat, tearing his eyes away from the picture of affection assaulting them just like it had before in that old newspaper clipping of the two of them.
Ginny sighed. "You're never going to understand are you? That there are things more important than pride in this world?"
Draco threw her an ornery glance. "We've been through this, Weasley. Malfoy's live for their pride and work all their lives to protect it. We never apologize."
Ginny gave him another pitying glance, as if he were missing out on something. Malfoy was growing very annoyed with her doing that.
Finally after a few moments of silent staring, Ginny tore her gaze away from his and rose.
"Come on. I'm hungry and before long Ron will have taken it upon himself to polish off our share." She'd obviously given up for the moment.
Draco watched her slouch over to the ladder and mulled over what she'd just said. Was there really something more important than a wizard's pride?
Of course not, idiot. Don't let this sodding girl get to you so easily.
Shaking his head violently, Draco silently followed Ginny down the ladder and down the stairs. Her silence hung heavy in the air around him, a vast difference from the previous day's activities. He wondered then, watching her hair bounce jauntily behind her as she took each step cautiously, why he seemed to be missing the sound of her laughter…why he felt that he would be severely disappointed if she didn't turn around soon and brighten the mood around him with the light of her smile…why, why, why?
When they'd finally made it down to the backyard, Draco wasn't feeling up to being bombarded by the Weasley clan and their ridiculous knack for making ungodly amounts of noise. Throughout the meal, he stole glances at Ginny whenever she wasn't looking, trying to catch every giggle or twinkle of her eye as she spoke animatedly with Granger. His stomach contracted suddenly as he realized that he was stealing something that wasn't meant for him. Something his last name had banned from his life.
Draco turned his eyes back to his food, ignoring his mother's utterances about whatever nonsense she was speaking about, and wondered silently if perhaps Ginny Weasley had taught him something that day, after all.
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nope, you can't hurry love, oh you've just got to wait, Adrial says love don't come easy, It's a game of give and take…la la la la…
lol. I LOVE that song! It's been stuck in my head the entire time while I was writing this. and I have to admit…I hadn't planned on even starting to write this until a week or so b/c I have all this summer homework to do for AP Gov/Economics and French and I really have been neglecting it lately…o well! this is far more interesting, don't you think? heh heh heh…it's getting there, people! be patient. I've still got a LOT in mind for our Draco. And I've got a plot all written out for the rest of the fic. It's going to be fairly long, I suppose, and they will end up at Hogwarts. :-D
I would feel far less like I should be feeling guilty for ignoring my work if you'd be so kind as to drop me a review or two! I'd love to hear from you all.
Note: please read the new A/N of chapter 1. I've decided to explain something a bit further.
thanx 2 all my reviewers! I try to reply to as many as I can, but if I don't, please know that it really means a lot to me!
ciao!
PS: If you want to see what happens when you get sidetracked trying to write a chapter in a story, ready my one-shot "Bugger off, Ron!" ;-)