A/N: Hmmm.. Well, here's the long awaited Chapter Twenty, I guess…
Dolly: *draws circles with foot sheepishly on the floor* That's an understatement.
Llama: We, er, hope that you aren't too angry with us.. for taking so long that is…
Dolly: You know how exams are... long and… long… and time consuming. *shifts from side to side*
Llama: Although I'm sure none of you have taken the long, two year long exams that we have, er, taken.
Dolly: Now, now. As I'm sure all of you are extremely tempted to throw tomatoes and other gushy food items at us, I ask you to please remember how important education is to the world.
Llama: Oh, shut it, Dolly. This is all your fault.
Dolly: WHAT?! Llama, please, say no more.
Llama: Remember what I told you? REMEMBER?! I always said I wouldn't trust you with the difficult and complicated task of typing a chapter. And the ONE TIME I did, look what happened. TWO YEARS, DOLLY!
Dolly: I thought we were going to keep that one to ourselves, Llama. *glares*
Llama: YEAH, WHATEVER. Our readers deserve to know the truth. And, I don't want tomatoes thrown at me, if it was all your fault. You know how it is. *examines fingernails*
Dolly: It's not MY FAULT, Llama. It's the EXAMS! THE EXAMS! *cries hysterically*
Llama: Sure, Dolly. Accept your fate.
Dolly: *still in tears, holds up a shield with a picture of a tomato on it and a bucket of water is close by to put out oncoming flames (written by angry readers)* Please, please. Readers, remember how much you love me! *screams in terror and is bombarded by tomatoes, other gushy food items, and flaming reviewss*
Llama: Okay, I think she's had enough. Poor thing. *glances over at the broken girl, in a fetal position with her thumb in her mouth, quivering on the floor* Just.. read the chapter, please. SHOW'S OVER! STOP STARING!!!
CHAPTER TWENTY
"TALKING" ((THINKING))
Ginny ran until she was out of breath, then continued at a walk, clutching the stitch in her side. She had no idea why she was running; Draco had been a complete gentlemen. She supposed he was right, something was holding her back. Deep down, she had a frightful feeling that she knew what it was, but didn't want to admit it to herself. She didn't want to believe that she was that weak, young girl from the past. Ginny scowled to herself. Why couldn't she control her temper? What good had running into the forest done?
The numerous trees surrounding her blocked out all visible light, making it seem as if it were night. Not only did she have absolutely no idea where the bloody hell she was, Ginny was freezing now that she was out of the clearing.
((Damn it, Ginny!)) she thought to herself. ((Your famous Weasley temper has gotten you into trouble once again!))
Kicking aside a rock, Ginny sighed as she watched it bounce off of a tree trunk. Leaning against it she wondered what else she could do to ruin her life beyond repair.
"I give up," she grumbled to herself as she slid down to the floor.
"Do you now?" a voice asked from behind.
Ginny jumped as Draco stepped out in front of her.
"No," she said quickly and automatically.
"You just said you did," he stated, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't mean it."
"Are you sure?" he took one step towards her, "I dare say it would make my job much easier."
"Your job?" Ginny repeated, angrily.
"Yes, darling," Draco smirked, "I've brought it upon myself to set you right."
"You have such a way with words," Ginny scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I know," Draco winked.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "You haven't won anything, so you can wipe that God-awful smirk off of your face."
"Now, now, Ginevra. You're being rude again."
Ginny snorted and turned away.
"Let's get back to our date," Draco offered through clenched teeth.
"Date?" repeated Ginny with a disbelieving laugh.
Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes, that's usually what they call it when a girl and a guy go out on a romantic afternoon picnic."
"If you call that romantic then you can call me Rubeus Hagrid." Ginny shot back, hands on her hips.
"You are getting on my last nerve, Ginevra Weasley," Draco snarled, taking one last step forward and grabbing her arm.
"Then why don't you just come off it and leave me bloody well alone?!" she snapped, wrenching her arm out of his tight grip.
"I told you Ginny, Malfoys never give up."
"There's a first time for everything, your highness," Ginny smirked, sizing him up.
"Really witty, Gin. I wonder; wherever do you learn all your little jokes?" Draco tilted his head in mock interest.
"What do you want from me, Malfoy?" Ginny demanded.
"Ginny," Draco said huskily as he stepped forward, gently placing his hands on her hips, "I thought it was rather obvious what I wanted."
Ginny flinched and stepped back out of his reach.
"What the bloody hell is with you, Gin? Every time I try to get close to you and we actually do make some progress, you push me away!"
"That's nonsense, Draco. We've snogged a good many times."
"Never further than that though, eh?"
"Fancied a shag, did you?" Ginny snapped at him.
"No, Ginny! I meant us actually having a relationship!" Draco pleaded. "Although, I can't say I wouldn't welcome a healthy shag," he added in an undertone.
"What was that?" Ginny glared at Draco, as if daring him to repeat it.
"Nothing, nothing. Now, please... please just give me a bloody break."
"Draco, why don't you just leave well enough alone?"
"This isn't going well for anyone! There's something holding you back from me and I deserve to know what it is!"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I care about you, Ginny. I know something's wrong. Tell me why you won't be with me!"
"I-I can't," she stammered.
"Why can't you?" Draco demanded.
"Just-just because, okay?" She mumbled, gaze locked to the ground.
"Oh," Draco sneered. "I suppose I understand. You don't even have a reason. You just want to make me beg, do you? So you can tell all your little friends that Draco Malfoy begged you to get together? But, wait a second, that doesn't make any sense because, oh, I forgot-You don't exactly have any friends, do you? Well, no friends and no reason; one wonders what the smallest Weasley does have," he finished, cruelly.
"I do have a reason," Ginny answered, voice cracking slightly and gaze remaining on the ground.
"You do? Well, obviously it's not a good one, is it?" he snapped back, not missing a beat. He continued to taunt her when she didn't answer, "Well, no, I suppose it isn't. Saving yourself for Potter, are you? You're wasting your time. He's head-over-heels for the Mudblood." Draco snorted. "But, still. Five years is much too long to be pining for one person, isn't it? I mean, I know he saved you and all down in the Chamber of Secrets, but really, how much fight can an old diary put up any-"
"Don't-talk-about-things-you-don't-understand!" Ginny hissed, finally looking up with a quivering bottom lip.
"Oh, but Ginny," he replied scathingly, "I do understand."
"You don't!" she cried, shaking, "You don't know what it's like to love someone-to pour your heart and soul out to someone who pretended to love you back! You don't understand what it's like to trust someone with all your being, only to find that they didn't care about you at all! Can you imagine? Your best friend not caring if you lived or died? Making you do things against your will? I endangered the whole school, Draco! So many people almost died! I-I almost died!" she sobbed, "Don't tell me you understand because you don't! You don't understand! God forbid you ever do..." she trailed off, shaking her head as tears rushed down her face.
Just as Draco was about to step forward, she spoke again, "I'm scared, Draco. I'm scared and that's why I can't be with you."
"What are you talking about, Ginny? When have I ever hurt you? I'm not a monster-"
"You haven't hurt me yet because I haven't let myself get attached. Who's to say you won't hurt me in the future?"
"Ginny, I would never dream of hurting you. You have to trust me."
"I can't trust anyone. I can't even trust myself," she choked out.
"Just give me a chance," Draco said, gathering her in his arms, "Give me a chance and I'll prove it to you. I'd never let anything happen to you."
He gently lifted her chin towards him, her eyes and cheeks shining with tears. He wiped them away with his thumb and leaned in to kiss her softly.
"I promise I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered softly into her ear.
After a moment her eyes softened as she realized he was telling her the truth.
"I know," she whispered back as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Blaise ran aimlessly up and down the corridors, eyes darting left and right for any sign of his blonde buddy. Then, the radar in his brain locked on someone who could possibly help him. It was none other than Harry Potter, alone, standing not 10 steps to Blaise's left. The Slytherin stomped over and poked him in the chest, "Boy!"
Harry stumbled a bit and looked up at him. "What do you want, Zabini?" he asked in a fruitless attempt to act nonchalant.
This was, after all, the first time he had heard the good-looking boy speak to him.
"I'm looking for Draco," the handsome boy said.
Harry held on to his voice, but was not really hearing what he was saying. It was amazing that in all his time at Hogwarts, he hadn't given Blaise a second thought, and hearing him speak was like a luxury that Harry himself had never known.
Blaise poked him in the chest again and repeated, slower this time, "I'm looking for Draco."
"Well, you can search me!" Harry faked a scowl. He wondered vaguely if it was something to worry about that he had a lingering thought that he wouldn't mind Blaise did indeed search him.
"Don't be stupid, Potter. Do you know where he is or not?" Blaise asked, poking him again.
"Well, no," Harry blinked.
Blaise scowled and turned to leave.
"But, I-wait!" Harry cried, frantically.
Blaise turned back to him, "What Potter?"
"I can help you find him," Harry offered. "I need to speak to him also."
"Whatever," muttered Blaise.
"Alright," Harry took the Marauder's Map out of his pocket. A sudden struggle against his better judgment occurred, before he tapped it with his wand and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Blaise's eyes widened as Hogwarts appeared on the parchment before them. "Hot dog, Potter! Where the bloody hell'd you get that?"
Harry was glad the question didn't require an answer. He scanned the map. Draco was not in the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, the Slytherin common room, the Head Boy room, or in the Potions dungeon. He wasn't anywhere near the Gryffindors, either, but Hermione was right where he left her-tending to Neville's wounds and wiping off bat bogeys. And Ron was still asleep in the dormitory.
"Look!" Blaise shouted suddenly, pointing to a far corner on the map. Sure enough, there was Draco's dot, deep in the Forbidden Forest with none other than Ginny Weasley.
"Ha!" Blaise laughed. "Finally got her, did you old boy?"
A bubble had appeared over the two touching dots, labeled 'snogging'. Harry frowned as he remembered the same bubble appearing the night before, over Snape and McGonagall's dots.
"Bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed. Blaise paid him no mind; instead he was still examining the map. But, Harry was furious. There Draco was, snogging Ginny, when all this time the plan was for them to both bring down Longbottom, and for them to both get their girls. Well, Harry wasn't snogging Hermione just yet, was he?
"Potter!" Blaise hissed, poking him once again. "Let's go then, shall we?"
"What! Into the Forbidden Forest?" gasped Harry.
"No, to the loo," Blaise said sarcastically, "Of course the forest! What the bloody hell is an 'Aragog' anyway?"
Harry's face scrunched up in confusion as he looked at where Blaise was pointing on the map. A new dot labeled 'Aragog' was now heading slowly toward Draco and Ginny.
"No!" cried Harry, as he grabbed Blaise's arm and ran out of the castle towards the Forbidden Forest.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Wait!" cried Ginny as she broke away from Draco. "This isn't right, we shouldn't be doing this..."
"By Merlin, Ginny! I swear on my father in Azkaban if you still can't go through with this then I'll definitely have to-"
"No," Ginny interrupted him, "I mean we shouldn't be doing this, when we should be-"
She pointed a trembling finger behind him, "-running."
Draco spun around and stepped back at once. There stood the largest spider he had ever seen, with a thousand shiny black eyes, each with what seemed to hold a white fog in them. With eight hairy legs and enormous pinchers that seemed strong enough to break him in half, the spider looked ready to attack.
"Oh, Great Salazar Slytherin," Draco whimpered, "Give me strength."
He gave a small cough and made an attempt to stand upright. "Ginny," he whispered, "Go and run. Take my broom and save yourself. And if this shall be the last time we meet know that..." he searched for the right words to say, "It's entirely your that fault we didn't get together sooner."
"Shut it, you wanna-be ponce," Ginny snarled, "I think I know who this is."
"Know who this is?" Draco snorted, "It seems more appropriate to know what this is first, if you don't mind me saying."
"I heard Harry and Ron telling Hermione years ago! It's Hagrid's...Aragog?" she called out nervously.
"Aragog?" Draco repeated, "It has a name?"
"I may be blind, human, but I can hear you and the insults you say," the giant spider spoke.
Ginny shivered slightly and Draco simply stared, mouth open.
"Forgive me, Aragog, sir," Ginny offered, "Draco here has a mental disorder and can't control what he says."
"Aragog! What are you doing in this part of the forest?" said the voice of Firenze (the centaur who had apparently returned to the forest in which his herd kicked him out during Draco's fifth year, but is in this scene because we chose to include him).
"I was simply roaming around, you know how it is, Firenze," the spider replied, wearily.
Ginny was going to collapse under Draco's weight, as he had so conveniently lost all feeling in his legs and was leaning back on her.
"Aragog?" cried a third voice, "Firenze?"
"Harry," Firenze replied, looking up at the sky.
"Harry?!" Ginny cried.
"Draco!" Blaise yelped as he ran to said Slytherin and picked him up off of Ginny to give him a bear hug.
"Blaise!?" Harry, Ginny, Draco and Blaise all said at once.
"Aragog!" cried Aragog, running around himself.
Harry looked around, "Ha," he said, "Aragog and Firenze, eh? Wow, if only Grawp was here, we could all have a party!"
Then, suddenly, a booming voice shook the trees.
"Hagger!" it cried as it came into view.
"Oh, bloody hell," Draco cried, before promptly fainting.
"You had to say it, didn't you, Potter?!" growled Ginny.
"Yeah," added Blaise, "You're just a short little jinx! You-"
"Shut up, Blaise!" Ginny shot at him.
"-little mushroom picker!" he finished in an undertone.
After a moment in which they all glared at one another, they remembered what was going on.
"I know!" Harry yelled, suddenly. "I'll summon my Firebolt! Ginny, you and Malfoy ride back on his broom, and... Well, I suppose Zabini and I will have to ride on mine," Harry faked a grimace unsuccessfully.
"I'll summon my own broom, thanks very much," Blaise huffed, snottily.
"Well, alright... Sure. Yeah, sure," Harry said, trying hard to hide his disappointment, "Accio Firebolt!"
"Accio Nimbus 2001!" Blaise cried. In seconds they were mounting their brooms.
"Draco! Wake up!" Ginny said as she continuously slapped him.
He opened his eyes, saw Aragog, Firenze and Grawp, and promptly fainted once again.
"I guess we'll have to leave him," Harry muttered.
Blaise shot him a death glare and Harry recoiled. Ginny woke Draco again, but this time covered his eyes. Leading him to his broomstick, she and Draco mounted. They all took off out of the forest, thinking about how lucky they were that Aragog, Firenze and Grawp stood silently for at least 20 minutes while they contemplated their escape. Forget the fact that both Grawp and Aragog have been known to attack, none the less that Firenze shouldn't have been there at all. Oh, well. They would all just pretend that they were extremely clever (especially Draco, although he had been unconscious most of the time). As they all landed on the Quidditch pitch, Harry suddenly remembered that he had a bone to pick with Draco.
"Oy, Malfoy!" he hollered.
One of Draco's arms was snaked around Ginny's waist, while the other was holding his broom. The two were gazing into each other's eyes, making Harry want to puke.
To get his attention, Harry quickly packed a snowball and threw it at the blonde boy's head. Draco let out a shriek and crumpled to the floor, unconscious again. Ginny quickly fell to his side and screamed at Harry, "What! There was a rock in there, Harry! How could you?!" she sobbed.
Harry sheepishly drew circles with his foot onto the snow and muttered an apology under his breath.
Ginny awoke Draco and he scowled at Harry, as he got up from the snow, "What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Potter?!"
Harry remembered his anger and scowled, "You know, Malfoy, it's interesting how when you make a plan, you conveniently forget the parts that benefit other people."
"Actually, Potter," Draco answered without taking his eyes off Ginny, "It's interesting how much I don't care."
"Malfoy, we had a deal!" Harry pressed on.
"You guys had a deal?" Ginny asked, looking from Draco to Harry, "About what?"
Draco finally tore his eyes from Ginny and sighed, "Alright, Potter." He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him away to the other side of the pitch, leaving Ginny with Blaise, who had been sitting on the snow, arms wrapped around his legs, rocking back and forth throughout the whole conversation between the two. "I'm listening," Draco said, folding his arms.
"Malfoy," Harry whined. "Neville's still in the way! You haven't helped me at all!"
"Potter, our plan wasn't working out. I told you that you'd only bring me down; I had to take matters into my own hands."
"What about me? What the bloody hell am I supposed to do?"
"Beats me, Potter. Looks like I'm the only one who got lucky, eh?" he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Hold it!" Harry said, looking from Draco to Ginny and then back to Draco, "Exactly what are you planning to do now?"
"I don't think that's really any of your business, now is it, Potter?" Draco said, that same smirk unwavering on his face.
"Malfoy, that's my best friend's little sister you got there! If you do anything-"
"Oh, come off it, Potter. Listen, if you shut it, I'll help you get your Mudblood back."
"Don't call her that!"
Draco blinked as if he didn't hear anything and continued, "Where's Granger now?"
"In the common room with Neville," Harry scowled, "Ginny gave him quite the beating and now Hermione's cleaning him up."
"Well, then what the bloody hell are you doing down here? You have left the enemy alone with your trophy! Ginny has just kicked him to the curb, he'll be looking out for a new potential girl and you leave him with yours?" Draco shook his head in mock pity. "Damn, Potter. For the boy who lived you really aren't that clever, are you?"
"Damn it!" Harry muttered under his breath.
"Listen, Potter. It's been recently discovered that the boy's a real hot head, maybe even more than you and your freckled boyfriend. Play on that."
Harry sighed and took off toward the castle.
A/N: Well, hopefully you liked it. Hopefully it wasn't a total waste of your time. Hopefully we deserve some of your forgiveness and HOPEFULLY you still remember why you loved us.
Dolly: I'm REALLY sorrryyyyy. I promise, I'll type more soon, I swear! I've already gotten started on it!
Llama: Yeah, I agree. I feel bad for Dolly. I mean, she just got all four of her wisdom teeth pulled out, and still has managed to type this wonderful story for all of you. BECAUSE SHE LOVES YOU.
Dolly: Yeah, see! I love you!
Llama: *under breath* Although, I don't think her wisdom teeth are an excuse because she did have two years, after all. I would have had it done, readers, if it were me.
Dolly: LLAMA!! You're supposed to be on my side!
Llama: Yeah, well. Please review!
Dolly: IT WAS THE EXAMS!! THE EXAMS!!!! *is carried away by men in white coats, while she continues to scream* EXAMSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Cow: *moos piteously* Moo.
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