For everyone who is waiting for a sequel to Dark Days, it's coming, I promise. I have my Beta (sticksrogue11) helping me with it right now & so yall should get something soon. I have a bit of a writer's block where that story is concerned right now. And for yall who were wondering, I did get in touch with Burgosdamasco & it's cool with her for me to write Dark Days & its (untitled) sequel. If you desperately want to know about the sequel, go to my live journal.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/jessakitty
Chapter 1 Watching
"Good game," a voice came from behind Ginny.
She finished placing her broom in the broom shed and then turned around to face Draco Malfoy. She expected a sneer, or a comment about Ron's goal keeping or Harry's flying ability, but there was none. His narrow face was blank and expressionless.
"You're good." Where most people would have been smiling, Malfoy's lips didn't even begin to curve upward. As Ginny tried to figure out what he wanted, she wondered if his not smiling was the equivalent of a normal person's smile. She couldn't recall a single time when she had seen him smile because something good had happened; usually he smiled because something bad happened.
"Thanks," she said cautiously, trying to sidestep him.
He stayed still, blocking her way for several moments longer and then turned on her heel and walked off.
What was that all about? She brushed her loose red hairs out of her face and stared at Malfoy's shrinking back. He had been hanging around a little more than usual lately, but she had thought nothing of it. Ron was convinced that he was spying on Harry for his father, but Hermione told him he was being ridiculous.
"He's not a total moron, you know," Hermione scolded Ron. "If he wanted to spy he'd be a bit more subtle about it."
Ginny had learned a long time ago that when Hermione and Ron disagreed, she was almost always right, where he was almost always wrong.
"Then what's he doing?" Ron demanded. "He's up to something."
Hermione just shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. He's not going to find out anything important just by sulking around."
"I'd like to hex him good next time I see him sulking around," Ron retorted sullenly.
"Honestly Ron," she had told him, shoving her Transfiguration book aside. "Maybe you should make a bit of effort. Dumbledore has reminded us countless times that we need to focus on uniting ourselves."
This time even Harry joined in. "Hermione, you're smart about almost everything, but this may just be one thing you don't understand."
Ginny had laughed silently to herself as Hermione glared at the two boys and then went back to her homework, refusing to help them for the rest of the evening.
Ginny felt the evening wind pick up around her and suddenly realized she was still standing on the Quidditch field, with Malfoy long gone. Quickly, she pushed the door to the broom shed closed and darted towards the castle.
By the time Ginny crawled through the Gryffindor portrait hall, the celebration party was in full swing.
"What took you so long?" Harry yelled over the noise, tossing her a bottle of warm butterbeer.
She shook her head and quickly opened the bottle.
"You were amazing Ginny," a blond second year, Euan Abercrombie told her.
Quickly she was surrounded by her fellow housemates.
"You probably got the record for most scores made at Hogwarts," Neville told her enthusiastically.
"I think you do," Hermione added thoughtfully. "It says in Hogwarts, A History that the most goal's scored by a Hogwarts Chaser in a single game was 21. You scored 23."
Ginny just laughed, the passion in the room erasing the memories of her encounter with Malfoy. "Well, it wouldn't have been quite so amazing if Ron hadn't of kept the Ravenclaws from scoring any points at all!"
It wasn't until well after 2am, when McGonagall came in for the 3rd time to tell them to get to bed that Ginny recalled what had been nagging at the bottom of her stomach. Malfoy. She refused to let her mind analyze him; instead, she relived the evening's game over and over until she fell asleep.
The week passed by smoothly, until Quidditch practice on Thursday night. "What is he doing here?" Harry muttered as she flew by.
Ginny quickly wrenched her head over her shoulder and saw down at the edge of the field, Draco Malfoy, sitting alone on a stone bench. What is he doing? Ginny narrowed her eyes against the dimming sunlight. He was staring straight at her and holding a book or a tablet or -
"Weasley!"
She looked forward just in time to avoid slamming into Katie.
"Keep your mind on the game, not on any distractions!" Katie shouted.
"Sorry Captain," she called back, scanning the field for the Quaffle, determined not to let Malfoy distract her.
He was still sitting there when Katie ended practice. "What do you say we get him now?" Ron asked Harry in a low voice. "There's no one to stop us."
Harry chuckled as they placed their brooms in the shed. "No time. We've got to finish Potion's homework."
They were half way to the castle when Harry suddenly stopped. "I'll be right back. I left my Quidditch goggles lying back there."
"Hurry," Ron warned. "Snape wants 24 inches of parchment."
"I'll go get them," Ginny offered suddenly. "I've finished most of my homework."
"Thanks," Harry said, looking relieved and squeezing her arm.
"If Malfoy is still there, hex him good," Ron suggested.
Ginny doubled back and hurried across the now dark field. It only took her a few moments to find Harry's flying goggles, but as she leaned down to retrieve them, the uncomfortable, prickling feeling that she wasn't alone washed over her. Slowly and deliberately, she slid them into her pocket and firmly grasped her wand that was hidden inside. Dumbledore and the other professors had given them countless warnings not to be alone or vulnerable outdoors, since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters were back in full force. She felt her heart beating wildly in her throat and tried to calm herself by walking carefully back towards the lighted castle.
Ginny was only several feet away from the entrance tunnel when a figure stepped out of the shadows. "Aren't you afraid to be alone after dark?"
She sucked in a quick breath and fixed her eyes on Malfoy's tall form. "Aren't you?"
"No. Not really. Somehow I think the danger doesn't really apply to me." His pink colored mouth remained parted and Ginny suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss it, to have Draco's lips pressed into her own.
"Well aren't you lucky," she snapped, trying to clear her head.
He just shrugged.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Watching." His tone was infuriatingly calm.
"Watching?"
"You practice."
She narrowed her eyes and was about to leave when she noticed the leather bound book in Malfoy's hand. "What's that?"
"My book."
"Can I see it?" Ginny asked, surprising herself.
Malfoy's pale eyebrows shot up. "What's in it for me?"
She shook her head and looked at him in disgust. "Forget it." Without warning, she felt her insides shake loose. Her run in with Tom Riddle during her first year had changed her somehow, and she was just now realizing it. Why she had to find herself continually attracted to unattainable, irresistible, trouble magnet type of boys she hadn't known until right then. She suddenly became aware that the way her stomach twisted when she saw Malfoy wasn't because she hated him.
"Come on Weasley. Tell me." The corners of his lips were twisted and a smirk filled his eyes, but it wasn't the angry or cruel glint Ginny was used to.
"What do you want?" she asked, sounding braver than she felt.
Time froze as the space between her and Malfoy decreased. He was only inches away and her heart was banging wildly against her ribcage when he shoved his book in her hands. She managed to tear her eyes away from him and looked down. Carefully she undid the leather strap that held the book shut. She could feel his gaze burning into her skull as she opened the book. Her own face stared out at her from the pages. Meticulously drawn in charcoal was her exactly likeness. In some, parts of her face were hidden behind her hair and she appeared to be much older and far sexier than she really was.
"You did these?" she asked finally. "Why?"
He nodded and took back the book, offering no explanation. "Time to pay up."
The space between them closed, and Ginny felt all the air being sucked out of her lungs as Draco pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was soft and perfect for a few seconds and then grew harder. His teeth raked against her lips, and then they were biting, clamping her lip down painfully.
"Better go to bed," he said softly when they parted. "There could be lots of bad things out here."
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