Hope you guys like the longer (at least for me) chapters. Thanks so much for the reviews; I just adore reviews. Next update should be Wednesday! xoxoxoxox
CHAPTER 2 The Morning After
When Ginny's eyes fluttered open, the room was dark and silent, with only a faint glow still coming from the fireplace embers. She blinked and rubbed her head, nearly gagging at the horrible taste in her mouth as she glanced around the room and tried to figure out where she was. Then she saw Draco, asleep in his chair and her eyes shot wide open. She scrambled for her wand and performed a refreshing spell on herself. Oh Merlin! What am I going to tell Harry?
She looked around the room, but her clothes were no where. "Draco," she hissed desperately. "Where are my clothes?"
"Um?" he asked, groaning.
"Wake up!"
"What are you doing?"
"Where are my clothes?"
"I put them in the chair," he muttered, standing up. "It's barely 3 a.m.!"
"Harry's gonna be worried! And they're not in the chair!"
Draco rolled his eyes and lay down on his bed. "The house elves probably took them to be cleaned."
"I thought elves couldn't have clothes," she mused, momentarily confused.
"How do you think your clothes get clean?" he snorted. "You just can't hand it to them directly."
"But I need to go!"
"How can you even be awake?" he groaned. "You drank enough to put Hagrid down!"
"I know," she sighed, sitting down next to him. "I feel awful."
"Look," he grunted, sitting up. "Just go back to sleep. We'll get up at 6 and sneak you back into your own bed."
"But I can't go back to my bed!"
"Why not?"
"What will I tell Harry? He's probably wondering where I am!"
Draco raised an eyebrow and was tempted to tell her that it wasn't his problem. Instead he heaved another sigh and climbed out of bed. "Take this," he commanded, handing her a small vile from his drawer. "What about your friend . . . Luna? Can she cover for you?"
"What is this?"
"A hangover potion. Just take it."
Ginny uncapped the bottle and took a small sip. "I think Luna will help me. She's the one who's been coming up with like 50 reason's a day why I shouldn't shag Harry!"
"Good. Then go back to sleep." Draco shoved her to the far side of the bed and laid back down on top of the blankets with his back to her.
Ginny stared at his back, but before she could say anything, the potion took effect and she had fallen asleep.
***
"Ginny! Wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered open and Draco was staring down at her.
"Come on. It's 6."
She was still tired, but felt immensely better than she had 3 hours ago. "Are my clothes back yet?"
"No," he shook his blond bed head, "but you can wear my robe."
"You better stay here," she told him as she slipped his warm robe around her. "If anyone is awake it'll be easier to explain why I'm up than why both of us are."
Draco watched as she pulled her shoes on. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Think anyone will wonder why I'm wearing Slytherin robes?" On impulse she reached out and hugged Draco, and was slightly surprised when he hugged back. "Thanks. This is the most fun I've had in a while."
"Then we'll have to do it again."
Ginny just nodded, thinking it would be impossible, since they were leaving the school tomorrow morning. She followed
him out of his room and down to the common room.
"Good luck," he told her, a smirk on his face. He leaned forward as if was going to hug her again, and then stopped.
"Thanks," Ginny whispered, stepping into the cold hall. As tempted as she was to turn around, she forced herself to keep walking towards the Ravenclaw common room. She couldn't figure out Draco Malfoy. Of course, she had been far too gone last night to do any real figuring, but, none the less, she was going to chalk him up with the Endless, and the Garden of Eden and any other great mystery that wizarding kind had yet to solve. She stopped at a turn in the hall, and whispered the Ravenclaw password and watched as the tapestry there rolled itself up. She darted into the empty common room and then down the long hall towards Luna's room. Thankfully, everyone was still asleep, so she dove into Luna's bed, and yanked the curtains shut.
"May I ask what you're doing?" Luna demanded sleepily as Ginny slid under the blanket and kicked off her shoes.
"I need to hide," Ginny told her.
"Is he that mad?"
"Who?"
"Harry."
"Oh. That's not where I was."'
Luna sat up and tugged the blanket's down. "Why are you wearing a Slytherin robe?"
"Oh. I forgot to take it off."
"Explain please!"
"But I'm tired!" Ginny whined.
"So was I," Luna whined back. "And then you woke me up!"
Ginny groaned. "I left that dumb ceremony early and ran into Draco Malfoy."
Luna's already wide eyes opened even larger.
"Well, we were talking, and he sort of figured out that I was hiding from Harry. Anyways, I ended up drinking a lot of Firewhiskey and passing out, and here I am."
"Passing out where?"
"Erm . . . in Draco's room."
"So, you didn't shag Harry, but . . ."
"No! Nothing like that. I don't even know him. I was just hiding out."
Luna looked back at Ginny. "Are those silk?"
Ginny began to giggle. "Yes. It was so bloody hot in there that Draco gave me these to wear!"
"You're on a first name basis now, are you?"
Ginny pouted. "Please cover for me! I'm going to tell Harry I was with you all night."
"Right. But how are you going to avoid him tonight?"
"I don't know. I'll think of something."
***
Several hours later Ginny was trudging back across the castle, this time dressed in Luna's clothes and dreading facing Harry. She had decided that she was going to tell him the truth. Well, not all of the truth, but part of it at least. As she climbed through the portrait hole, she saw Harry stretched out on a couch, his eyes closed.
Ginny took a deep breath and tip toed forward, leaning down to kiss his nose. "Hey," she whispered as his eyes opened.
"Hey." He sat up. "What happened?"
She didn't even have to try to achieve the sheepish expression that crossed her face. "I got trashed," she admitted. "We drank a lot of Firewhiskey and I passed out with Luna. I'm sorry. I was . . . scared. I don't think I'm ready for that, you know. I guess I was hiding."
Harry looked mildly offended and sat up.
Ginny's stomach took a dive into her legs.
"Why didn't you tell me then?" Harry asked. "I thought, I mean, you never said, so I just assumed . . ."
Ginny smiled. This was exactly why she fancied Harry. He was never anything less than a gentleman. So why was it then, that when she had dozed off in Luna's bed, her dreams had been filled with Draco Malfoy?
"So how did Luna get Firewhiskey?" Harry mused, scooting back so Ginny could sit down on the couch.
Ginny wrinkled her nose and groaned. "From someone in Ravenclaw, I guess."
"That bad, huh?"
"Well," she giggled, "after the first shot it wasn't so bad, but I felt like crap when I woke up."
"Fell better now?" he asked, glancing up as Hermione entered the common room.
"Yeah, I got some hangover potion."
"Hangover potion?" Hermione asked, curling up in a chair and raising her eyebrow. "So that's what you were doing last night?"
Ginny and Hermione finally went upstairs to shower before breakfast since Ron still hadn't emerged from his bed.
"No big night?" Hermione asked with a small smile on her face as Ginny pulled off Luna's clothes.
Ginny's eyebrows shot up.
"Come on. It was a bit obvious you know."
"What was obvious?"
"That Harry wanted," Hermione's voice dropped, "to shag you."
"Did Ron notice?"
"No," she snorted. "Harry's still standing, isn't he? Besides, I don't know where Ron was. Off with some of his other mates, I assume."
Ginny quickly pulled the shower curtains closed around her, eager to shut out Hermione's knowing smile. But as the hot water poured down around her, it wasn't Harry or the end of the war or even the looming summer that filled her head, but instead it was the way the moonlight had given Draco a halo, and the way it had felt to wake up pressed into Draco Malfoy.
***
The train ride home was the same as any other trip on the Hogwarts Express, but this time Ginny felt a strange emptiness growing inside her chest. For the first time - ever - when she returned to school in a few months, her brother would not be there, nor would Harry or Hermione. It was a strange feeling. Part of her was sad, knowing that she would be without her family next term, and as her family was huge, the moments when she had been away from them were few and far between. But, it would be the first time she didn't have to live in the shadow of the trio. Not that she did, really. It wasn't like she tried to spend all her time with them, but there was something thrilling, some sort of freedom that seemed to be lurking.
She stared blankly out the window, watching as the hills rolled by and trying to absorb the new feelings creeping up inside of her.
"What about you Ginny?" Harry's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"What?" she asked, turning to him.
"This summer," he smiled. "Ron's moving in and Hermione's coming to visit, so what about you?"
Ginny frowned. "I don't know what mum would say about that."
"But you've stayed there before."
"I know. But the Order was always there."
"And you weren't dating then," Ron added helpfully.
Harry leaned back against the seat. "Oh. Right."
Ginny could feel his disappointment as the conversation between the trio picked up and moved on, but it was true. She would be a nutter to even consider asking her mum about even going to see Harry unsupervised. Of course, her mum adored Harry and was thrilled when she'd discovered the two of them holding hands in the garden the summer before. But, asking to stay at Harry's - even if Ron was there - was a sure sentence to a long conversation with her mum and dad and maybe a few of her brothers about a witch's duty and virtue and chastity and other embarrassing subjects. Never mind that Ron was the only virgin left among her brothers, and she could even be sure of that since he too had apparently gone missing on graduation night.
Ginny let out a sigh and stood to her feet. "I'll be right back." She slipped into the corridor and headed for the loo. She stood there, in front of the mirror, fixing her hair. Momentarily, she wondered how she would look with blond highlights and so on impulse, she lifted her wand to her hair and muttered the incantation Lavender had taught her. Not bad. It wasn't the platinum color she had planned for, but that was probably a good thing. It was more of a strawberry blond, and subtle enough that her mum probably wouldn't notice.
With a final look in the mirror, she unlocked the door and stepped back out into the hall, but before she took two steps, a pair of hands shot out and tugged her into the boy's loo.
"What are you doing?" Ginny hissed as Draco locked the door.
He smirked and propped himself against the counter. She wondered if he practiced these poses in front of a mirror, because he looked so damn good doing them and she was sure he knew it. "I've got something for you. I kind of assumed if I just marched into your compartment I'd raise too many questions."
Ginny felt herself smiling. "Oh really?"
"Yeah. Plus I never told you goodbye, did I?"
In the tiny proximity of the restroom, they were standing so close together their robes were touching.
"Here." He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a palm sized glass orb. "It's charmed to be unbreakable."
"Is this . . ." She held the orb up and watched as it quickly turned black and began to fill with pinpoints of light.
Draco raised his wand and muttered "Nox."
The loo went completely dark for a moment and then the orb began to glow, casing tiny dots of light all over. It was as if they were standing in the middle of the Milky Way.
"Like it?"
"I love it!" Ginny breathed. "It's beautiful!"
"Well, after you spent half the night telling me how much you liked Astronomy, I figured you'd like this too." Draco pulled out his wand again and said, "Lumos."
"I did not," she giggled, blinking at the bright light.
"You did too."
"Well, thank you," she told him, reluctant to put the hypnotizing sphere away.
"I guess you should get back before they send out a search party," he told her.
"I guess."
They stood awkwardly, avoiding each other's gaze.
"So maybe I'll see you soon," Draco said finally.
Ginny glanced up. "You should owl me. Just send it to the Burrow. I'll be there all summer."
A smile began to etch into the lines of his lips. "Right." In one quick and unexpected move, Draco had engulfed her in a hug.
She hugged back, thinking she'd be a fool not to. Even if she did have a boyfriend, Draco Malfoy was delicious eye candy, and his body, well, it didn't exactly feel unpleasant as she found herself pressed into it. When they parted, she stood on her toes and impulsively kissed him on the cheek. "Don't forget." It's a friendly type of kiss. Like I'd give to Ron or Hermione or Colin or Luna or -
"I won't." He glanced at the door. "I'll make sure it's clear."
She watched as Draco stuck his head into the corridor.
"All clear."
"Bye," she said quietly, slipping out.
"I like your hair."
She stopped mid-stride and turned to face him. "Thanks."
There was barely a lull in the trio's conversation as she re entered the compartment and took her place next to Harry. He never said a word about her hair.
~~~~~~~~~~
Now, if you are interested, you can go to my LJ & read a SERIOUS spoiler for this story in my most recent entry. My LJ is here, but don't say I didn't warn you. It's a big spoiler. There's also another D+G story there called Secrets, which is finished & some snippits of other things I'm working on, including a reworked, darker, creepier version of Mine. But if you go to my LJ, you have to comment. I LOVE comments!
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