Chapter Seven:
"Would you please go to sleep?" Draco growled in frustration.
Normally, he was not one to say "please," but sleeping was his only favorite thing of the day, and he hadn't planned on having it taken away by a Weasley.
Ginny fidgeted on the floor and sighed. "I can't! I'm used to sleeping in a bed, not on the floor."
"Hmm, I never knew you Weasley's slept on a bed. I mean look at your pathetic excuse for a house-I thought it rather obvious that you all slept on the floor."
"Malfoy, I'm tired too. Considering the situation, I'm being a pretty good sport about it."
"And I'm not? I have to adjust to things a little more than you. At least you have a rich, well groomed, life mate."
"Should I be jumping for joy?" Ginny said drolly.
He growled in response before settling into his pillow and shutting his eyes. It was going to be a long night and not in a sexual escapade way.
It's not like you would have wanted to have sex with her anyway!
Oh no, of course not.
Draco snarled as he heard the shuffling of sheets from the floor again. "Would you desist?"
"Why don't you sleep on the floor and see how you like it? If you were a gentleman, I know it's a far reach for you, you would have offered me the bed."
"I will never be gentlemanly to a low breed such as yourself, and I will not sleep on the floor." He sighed and turned his back to Ginny's restless rustling. Five minutes later it stopped.
Finally! She's quiet.
This is going to be hell.
I can't believe she expected me to give up my bed for her.
What's the matter with me? I'm losing my patience way too quickly!
A grunt of displeasure interrupted the silence. "Draco?" Ginny whispered. "Are you sleeping?"
An inhumanly growl rolled out of his mouth. "Ginny, if you don't shut your face-"
She sighed. "You called me Ginny," she started, but quickly forgot and went on. "Couldn't you just give up the bed? Please? I can't sleep on this floor."
Draco gritted his teeth and balled his fists in the silk sheets of his bed trying to keep his cool demeanor. "I'm not sleeping on the floor!"
"Fine," Ginny spat out.
When the irritating noise paused once again, Draco wondered if there was hope that she'd fallen asleep.
Maybe she'll be quiet now.
Please Merlin let her be quiet or I might have to gag her and tie her down.
On the other hand, that doesn't sound too bad.
He sighed as he heard more ruffling. Not so lucky. Suddenly he felt the opposite side of his bed cave slightly, and he jerked up instantly.
"Oh, um, you don't have a shirt on," Ginny laughed nervously, raising her hand up to twirl her newly blonde hair.
Draco sneered and studied her face. "What are you doing?"
Ginny shrugged and gave an impish smile. "I can't sleep on the floor. I can't! If you won't give up the bed, then I'll just sleep with you," Ginny's eyes widened and she smiled nervously while twisting and pulling on the sheets. "I mean, not sleep with you, I just meant, you know, in the same bed."
Draco, leaning on his arms, gave her a look, and just shook his head exasperatingly. "You are going to kill me!" he sneered, continuing to shake his head before once again falling back against his bed. "Now, will you go to sleep?"
I'm never so open and I almost said 'please' to her! What's the matter with me?
He turned his head towards her and watched as she lay down scrunching her arms over her chest in an obvious move to not touch him. As she did so her lame excuse for a pajama top, slowly rode up her stomach, exposing her milky smooth midriff to him. At that point Draco could probably describe the desire of a poor man craving food, of him craving Ginny.
Something had to be done about this.
"Where did you get those pajamas?" Draco found himself asking her. He knew then, why he was so open with her. Why he could ask her about her pajamas. It was comfort, like he wasn't trying to hide anything.
"Hermione. She said these bears are pretty popular in the muggle world. I think she called them Care Bears. This is Tender Heart," she said touching the brown bear with a red heart in the middle of its stomach. "I'm remembered his name because he's my favorite."
She then touched the lower part of her shirt and smiled. "These are the heart and star buddies. She said she was an addict of the cartoon."
Draco smirked in amusement. "How very quaint. Can we go to sleep now?"
"I never said you couldn't go to sleep you over grown ferret. I, on the other hand, happen to be afraid of the dark."
Against his will his eyes widened and he clenched his fists into his sheets. "You bloody well better be joking Weasley. I'm not in the mood to deal with this. What do you want me to do about it?"
She shrugged and turned to her side, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand, her elbow indenting her pillow. "Got a night light?"
He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing. "No I do not! Nor will I allow you to light your wand. I need dark when I sleep. Just darkness."
Ginny grunted in frustration. "Well, why don't you just hold me then?" She swiftly smacked her hands to her mouth, her eyes widening.
Draco turned his head to the side and stared at her. Ginny blushed and turned her head away.
He smirked suddenly as he remembered the way she had looked when she had entered his room, the teasing he remembered most of all. He wondered if, perhaps, he wouldn't mind holding her.
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"Wow, your room is huge!" Ginny gasped as she looked around, "Dark like I expected, but-"
Draco smirked and leaned lazily against his dresser. "Been imagining what my room looks like?"
A body blush filled Ginny's cheeks. "No, I-I just, oh this is ridiculous."
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Draco snorted in and continued to stare at her. "Let me get this straight-"
"I didn't mean to say that out loud. It just popped out. I didn't mean it," Ginny stuttered turning her head back.
Draco licked his bottom lip. "You meant it."
Ginny glared. "I didn't, but so what if I did. You don't have a problem with it do you?"
Draco shook his head and gritted his teeth together. "You need to learn how to control your temper."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Isn't that calling the kettle black?"
He grinned suddenly. If he were going to hold her, he'd most likely have to make the initiative. Normally, he would never have done it, but it would just agitate her more. He scooted over to her and laid himself down directly in front of her.
Ginny lifted her eyebrows. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to hold you. Just like you asked."
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped a fraction. "Y-you-what? No, I told you I wasn't serious. And why are you being so-so not you?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Weasley, you don't know me. So you don't know how I normally act," he said. "Come on, it'll be fun," he whispered in her ear.
Ginny licked her lips nervously and then turned on her side so that her back was facing him. She curled his arm around her neck and held his hand, so that their fingers rested underneath her chin.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Draco watched the side of her face and brought her closer to his chest. He was a teenage male, so usually "things" could never progress fast enough, but he recognized the fast pace and it was too fast.
Was she holding his hand?
It was officially awkward now.
You're the one that agreed with her outburst.
I was just trying to piss her off.
Draco then realized what they must look like curled up together. They looked like lovers. Her back to his chest and his arm draped over her shoulders with her hand holding his. He unconsciously turned his face into her hair, taking a deep breath. She smelled of the soft smell of roses and Draco felt a tiny stir in his blood as he dropped his head and sniffed her neck.
Ginny jerked slightly at the feel of his nose nuzzling her neck. "A-are you smelling me?"
Draco smirked against her neck. "Admiring your perfume."
Ginny relaxed somewhat before speaking again. "I had the craziest thought," she laughed nervously.
"Oh?"
"That you were a vampire, waiting for the right moment to sink your teeth into my neck. Pretty strange huh?"
Draco lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at her, making a face that asked the unasked question of 'are you stupid?' "What? No! Just go to sleep."
Ginny turned her head, ignoring his grunt of dissatisfaction as her forehead knocked into his cheek. "I don't know, with the way you reacted to my suggestion, could very possibly be a vampire. You never know."
Ginny gave a startled gasp as she felt Draco shaking behind her, then frowned when she recognized that low rumble in his chest to be laughter. She shivered slightly from the feel of it. Butterflies started roaming around in her stomach as Draco laid his head on her shoulders and continued to keep his mouth and nose near her neck.
"You're laughing," she stated simply. "I-you're-I didn't think Draco Malfoy was capable of very much emotion, especially not laughter."
"You have a very strange mind," he whispered. "It's not that I don't have emotion. It's just for some reason I feel comfortable around you."
"Like you belong," Ginny asked back just as softly.
He cleared his throat nervously. "Yes, it's a bit hard to continue to act like I don't feel. So want made you think of a vampire? Was I being my usual self? Sexy, seductive?"
"Right," she said sarcastically and then shrugged. "It's not like vampires don't exist. Harry and Ron saw one the other day. Said he was ugly, grimy and dirty; that his skin was all wrinkled and pale from the night."
Draco smiled as he watched her neck move while she talked. "They were lying to you. Trying to get you scared."
"How do you know?"
"My father does business with vampires, and none that I've seen, especially the women, are grimy, ugly, and dirty. They definitely don't have wrinkled skin, maybe slightly pale, but that isn't because of the night. They can go into the sunlight; it's just really irritating to their eyes and skin. They also have to wear sunglasses in the day because they have this automatic shield that falls over their eyes turning them a glowing red."
Ginny shivered. "Merlin-I think I was okay knowing that vampires were a myth. Thanks mister debonair for making me frightened for the rest of my life."
Draco gave a small chuckle then sighed as he saw the time. "We should go to sleep now, I'd rather not fall asleep tomorrow."
"But it's Saturday."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Quidditch practice."
"That's right, your house needs to practice. We are going to pulverize you come next Saturday."
"Quit telling yourself lies, Weasley."
"Confident aren't you? Which I find hard to believe since your team has not once beaten Gryffindor."
"Go to sleep," Draco grunted.
Ginny sighed and settled herself down. She curled her hand tighter into his and propped it directly underneath her chin.
Draco stared at the back of her head.
Okay.
I'm okay with this. It's not really so bad now that she has blonde hair instead of red. I could pretend she's a Veela.
Draco closed his eyes and made himself relax, but it fled from his body instantly, once he felt Ginny's bottom collide with his groin. He bared his teeth and held in a groan. He bit his lip hard and grunted.
Ginny's sleep filled voice whispered to him. "Are you okay?"
NO! I am not okay. Why did she have to have blonde hair? My bodies reacting because it thinks she's not a Weasley.
That doesn't make sense.
"Fine," he whispered.
"Mm," she answered sleepily.
He gritted his teeth together as she snuggled into him. He knew then, that the night would be a long one.
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"Have fun," Ginny smiled, patting him awkwardly on the back.
Draco frowned up at her. He was on the ground near the Quidditch pitch cleaning his broom. He had been irritated and on edge all morning. He would like to blame it on the fact that he had been turned on most of the previous night, but deep down he knew it was because he hadn't seen Ginny for more than three hours. She hadn't been next to him when he woke up from the hour of sleep he'd managed and he'd been livid. "Stay here."
"I can't."
"But you will."
"Malfoy, my patience is running thin." Ginny slid her hands into her pockets and shrugged. "Anyhow I have to do some more research with Hermione and Cela."
Jealously filled his stomach to the brimming at the mention of the other elf. Disgusted with himself for that being his first reaction he glared. "Why?"
"Because I was hit by an elf curse, case you haven't noticed!" Ginny said, motioning to her elf ears and hair.
"You look better with blonde hair."
Ginny punched him in the arm. "You never paid attention to me when I had red hair so how do you know!"
Draco shrugged. "You should be staying here! Cheering on your-" he swallowed, "husband."
Ginny held up a finger. "Technically we are only bound as husband and wife by this," she said exposing the black tattoo of the Celtic Knot. "Therefore we are not husband and wife."
Draco lifted his eyebrow. "Yes, we are. Wizard family traditions are very powerful."
"I'm going to find you the Witches Rede of Chivalry, maybe it can give you some tips on how to act."
"What was that?"
Ginny ignored him and walked towards the library.
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"You're late, Ginny!" Hermione scolded as she plopped a very large book into her hands.
"I'm sorry, are we reading for enjoyment or researching?" Ginny asked irritated as she sat down next to Cela. "J.R.R Tolkien?"
"The information this author has on this elf breed is almost all right. She must have been an elf," Cela explained in appreciation.
Hermione jerked her head up and gave a glare. "J.R.R Tolkien is a he," she stated simply, leafing through another book.
Cela frowned at Hermione and then turned her attention back to Ginny. "HIS information on elves is phenomenal," Cela replied.
"Was," Hermione added.
Ginny scooted closer as she looked over her shoulder. Cela turned her head and watched Ginny's eyes wander over the book, reading it. She leaned up and kissed Ginny full on the mouth. Ginny's eyes jerked towards hers.
"You're so cute when you read," Cela offered softly.
Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled the book away from her, moving to her original position. She was getting rather used to Cela having a crush on her, but every once in a while it felt-well, dangerous.
The kissing most definitely has to stop.
"I don't think so," Cela muttered.
Ginny laughed nervously. "Would you stop reading my mind?"
Cela smiled generously and chucked Ginny under the chin. "Learn how to not broadcast your thoughts so loudly and I might stop."
"W-well how do I do that?"
Cela grinned and scrapped her teeth along her bottom lip. "Kiss me and I'll tell you."
"Tell me and I'll kiss you," Ginny pushed back.
Cela lifted up her finger. "Nice try! If I tell you first you won't. You kiss me, I tell you!"
"Fine," Ginny growled and leaned forward giving her a three second kiss on the mouth.
Cela licked her lips, humming slightly at Ginny's taste. "Sorry, love that wasn't a kiss in my book."
"That was a kiss!"
"A French kiss is a real kiss."
"Well, what are the English kisses? I'm not French."
Cela lifted an eyebrow. "I'll show you!"
Cela cupped Ginny's face in her hands and placed her lips against hers. She probed the crevice of Ginny's mouth with her tongue, opening it. Ginny sat there with her eyes wide as Cela caressed her tongue with hers and then pulled back.
"I don't remember it being so dull," Ginny mumbled.
"It's that tattoo necklace. It's over riding the elf curse," Cela said looking over Ginny's shoulder.
Ginny spun around to see Draco glaring slightly. "Will you two be kissing every time you're together?"
"Like it's any of your business if we do or not," Ginny growled.
Draco flipped his hand in the air. "Forget it."
"Why aren't you at pracitce?" Ginny asked.
Draco sighed and sat down in front of Ginny. "Ravenclaw had a teachers note to practice."
Ginny bowed her head. "Oh."
Draco casually draped his arm over the back of Ginny's chair. He sat lazily there, tapping his fingers of his other hand on the table top, all the while watching Ginny. "Not a problem."
Hermione's eyes widened as she watched the display between the two play in front of her. She frowned when she noticed Cela, however, her eyes tinted with a light red.
"This is disgusting! You guys are already acting like a married couple," Cela huffed.
Ginny snorted. "No we aren't!"
"I think we need to talk about the necklace. To tell you guys the changes we're seeing in both of you," Hermione added.
"For one thing, it's obvious you don't despise each other anymore," Cela ground out still glaring at Draco.
"Why are you glaring at him?" Ginny asked.
Draco smirked evilly at Cela. "Because she wants you and can't have you!"
She glared one more time. "This necklace has made feelings develop over night between the two of you."
Hermione stroked her chin. "It has hasn't it?"
"It just gave us a large boost. If my father hadn't had the necklace it would have happened anyway," Draco informed her.
"Maybe, but it's made you possessive of her and Ginny, you're more submissive to him. It's not in your nature to give in so easily." Hermione had concluded.
Ginny snorted. "Posh!"
Draco looked at Hermione and glared. "What's that mudblood?"
"You see! You were so enthralled with what Ginny was doing, and just being around her, that you didn't even notice you were talking, in a civilized way, to me," Hermione exclaimed excitedly as she slowly began to figure it out. "You aren't just soul mates, but you knew that didn't you?"
Draco shrugged. "Your point?"
"Do you know the real definition of a "life mate"? That necklace of yours is supposed to find your soul mate. Well this time it found your life mate. Soul mates have the one side of one whole soul right? Life mates have the same, but more. I'm not sure exactly what is the 'more', I need to do some research on that, but I KNOW there's a difference between soul mates and life mates."
"I thought there was only one person in all the world for-" Ginny began.
"That's true! There is only one person that you are supposed to be with, and it's very rare when you find your life mate. Let me try to explain this-the only time when someone can find their life mate is when their soul mate is so completely, either different, or a like, in your case different, that the contrast of them clash," Hermione interrupted.
"You aren't doing a very good job of trying to explain it!" Cela commented.
"Well, it's a very complicated topic. I don't even understand it fully. Which is why I need to find some books on it."
"Let me try!" Cela smiled at Hermione. "You and the pig over there are life mates. Which basically means that you'll be together forever, literally. When you die, you'll be reincarnated and re-join each other. It's a cycle that you'll keep doing over and over again. Once you find your life mate for the first time, it's like a guarantee to immortality, kind of. You'll be reborn a year after you die with each other until the earth explodes. Whereas if you are in between, only making you soul mates, it won't be like that. A person is reincarnated every one hundred years, it's the rules, but you can time loop the rules if you find your life mate. This is going to sound clichéd, but it's the truth. Nothing, not even death can keep you apart, for very long, now that you've found each other. I'm guessing this is the first time for you both finding your life mate, which is why the feelings, the emotions, and so forth are so intense. Not forgetting the fact that since you've been cursed an elf you're emotions are stronger, more pure."
"So does that mean you have two different people meant for you?"
Cela grinned affectionately at Ginny. "I wish, then I'd be meant for you too! That's not it, your soul mate is your life mate, but there's a borderline that's extremely hard to cross to be ones life mate. Here it might help if I used a visual aid," Cela said grapping a piece of paper. "The S symbolizes soul mates, the L life mates."
S/L
"Do you see that line between them? Okay that's the line that has to be crossed over to become a life mate. So if you're a soul mate you are their life mate, but you just aren't ready to make some sort of step. Usually it's involved with your attitudes. Your families held so much hatred towards each other, which was passed on to you guys that the soul mate principal between you two crossed over to life mates. Usually to get your life mate out of your soul mate you have to hate them. Hatred ignites it, love caresses it afterwards."
"That makes sense," Hermione whispered. "You explained it better than I did," she pouted. "I need to go-"
"Why didn't we see it sooner?" Ginny asked never once looking at Draco.
"Oh, I'm sure you felt something towards each other the whole time, even if you did ignore one another. Hate is a strong emotion that borders closely to love, or obsession, but lets not go there. In the soul mate principle most of the time the couples are extreme opposites, but when you go into the life mate principal it's both. You are so completely different from each other, and yet you are so alike."
"Wait a minute, slow down!" Ginny's voice rose as she held out her hand.
"It's also why you're reacting so strongly towards this, and yes Ginny, when Draco was holding you last night the life mate principal is what made you feel safe and warm in his arms," Cela gritted out.
"Would you stop that? Stop it! Stop it stop it! No reading of the mind!" Ginny yelled out.
"Lower your voices or I'll be forced to kick you out!" the Librarian scolded.
"Sorry," Hermione responded.
"What an old bat," Draco bantered.
Ginny reached over and smacked him on the head. He glared at her and jerked her hand, grasping her wrist hard in his. Blue sparks zipped up Ginny's arm making her shiver from the force.
"Is that going to happen every time we touch each other?" Ginny asked Draco.
Draco sneered. "Don't ask me like I know!"
"Malfoy, don't talk to me that way!" Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulders and glared.
"We'll have to talk more about this later! Right now, we have to go to Hogsmead. Ginny get your dancing gear on."
Draco watched as all the bright glowing color drained from her face. He frowned. "Are you okay?"
"I-I can't do that again," Ginny gasped out.
Hermione handed her a piece of paper. "Look at that amount. Do you want to get rid of the curse?"
Cela glared at Hermione. "Don't be such a bitch!"
Hermione turned her eyes to Cela. "Someone has to be, if Ginny wants this curse to be lifted."
"Why does it automatically have to be you?" Cela sneered. "Because you're the smartest or because you're the most anal one with no life?"
"Cela stop it! Hermione's right, it's just too soon. I can't do it yet. I'm sorry, I-I just can't!" Ginny covered her mouth and half ran out of the library.
"What was that about?" Draco asked suspiciously.
Hermione smiled at him. "It's good to have you being nice for once. You're not all that bad."
"Shove it, you dirty blooded bitch!" Draco snarled.
"Well, that didn't last long now did it?" Hermione ground out, irritated. "We were trying to raise money for all of us to go to Elf Town so we could find a cure. She was supposed to dance and sing."
"What were the rest of you supposed to do?" Draco glared.
Cela looked at Hermione and Hermione twined her fingers together nervously. "Hand her water when she got tired."
Draco sneered at them with his jaw set. "Yeah, leave it to-"
"Anyhow, before she even started, people started throwing things at her. Calling her raunchy elf names. I tried to explain that it was all nonsense and that the people who did it just weren't comfortable with differences in people, but she refused to listen."
With out a word Draco leapt up and went after her.
Hermione shook her head. "He is so different."
"Is he? It's because of the necklace?"
"Maybe, but I think the necklace just gave him a boost as he said."
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"Ginny?" Draco called down the hall and walked past the stairs.
"What?" he heard her mumble.
He turned around and glanced down at her sitting on the bottom step, leaning against the wall. He kneeled down beside her and brushed a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face. "Hey."
"Hey," she sniffled. "Sorry for running out of there like that."
Draco's heart clenched at the tears streaming down her face.
What the hell?
Aren't you supposed to hate her?
Why am I acting like this?
He brought his hand up to her face and wiped away the wet tearstains. "How much do you have to get?"
Ginny hiccupped another cry and held out a piece of paper. Draco unfolded it and let his eyes follow the neat precise writing.
He slowly smiled. "That's it?"
Ginny stiffened as she heard laughter bubble up in him. "Well, it may not be a lot to a rich bastard like-"
Draco held up his hands, laughter still etched out on his face. "Hey, hey! I wasn't insulting you."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well that's a surprise!"
Draco snorted. "This is chunk change for me, but if you're going to be like that I won't pay for it!"
Ginny jerked her head up from her hands and plopped her feet down to the floor. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, causing him to gulp noticeably. "What?"
"I'll pay for it," he smiled softly into her eyes.
A smile, relieved smile spread across Ginny's face.
To Be Continued….
I started getting lazy towards the end, so sorry. I'm just tired and wanted to get this one out soon. So I hope everyone liked the improved chapter! ~Aya