Unofficial Portkey Archive

Coeur Corrompu

Chapter Fourteen

Started a landslide in my ego
Looked from the outside to the world I left behind.
I'm dreaming, you're awake
If I was sleeping, what's at stake?

Started a landslide in my ego
Looked from the outside to the world I left behind.
In the world I left behind
Wipe their eyes and then let go
In the world I left behind
Shed a tear and let love go.

U2 - A Day Without Me

The pale light of the dreary morning's light filtered through the foreign room, edging the room with murky daylight. Another morning had dawned on the sleepy rolling hills of the North Yorkshire Moors and with it came the hope of a new day. It might not have been the perfect day, with the perfect weather and the perfect pre conception, but from where Ginny was lying, seemed like the closest she was going to get.

It was amazing the effect that the tug of security was having on her. The past weeks nights had been the worst in a long time. She had been haunted by images so vivid that she drank too much coffee in an attempt to prolong the need to stay awake. At first they had been of Harry, and she had known that was because she desperately wanted him to be with her. A deep longing to be held in his arms had made her cry herself to sleep. It made her feel pathetic. Why couldn't she have been stronger? Why did she let his indecisions get to her in that way? It had made her feel weak and truly alone.

As the week had progressed though, her dreams had taken a turn for the worse. Instead of loving glances and a kiss's betrayal, there were never ending corridors. They stretched further then the eye could see. Ginny was running along them, her heart beating faster and faster with each bound forward. Something was behind her making her scared to the point of being ill. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight like soldiers. Who ever was chasing her was a threat to her well being. No where was safe and it made her want to curl away in the darkness. Then, just when she felt she couldn't go any further, she would wake up.

At the time she had guessed the pursuer to be Draco, but now she realised it wasn't. If she were to think meaningfully about it, she would probably say that she was being chased by herself. That though seemed ridiculous. It was all probably to do with some horror film that she had seen. At least that's what she'd hoped.

Things had progressed further from there though. Upon a close encounter with Draco or a sexual kind, her dreams had been filled with him. She couldn't stop thinking about him in one sense or the other. At work she researched his past with great precision, taking in everything. In fact she probably knew more about Draco then he did. Then she'd go home and dream about him. He'd come to her in the night when she was alone and scared. Ginny at first would be tense, unable to see his face in the shadows, but soon she was able to see his eyes. Never did he speak in her dreams, just watched with strict tension. Never did she go to him in the dark, because she was scared of it.

Last night though had been different all together. Surprisingly, no dark stranger had chased her down a corridor. Draco had not sat in the shadows of her bedroom and watched her. Harry didn't wrap his arms around her to sooth away all the pain. Instead she dreamt of simply nothing. Nothing haunted her or made her restless. It had been wonderful just to sleep with no consequences.

Opening her eyes, Ginny had been confronted by an image that had made her heart stop and then beat faster then before. Draco was laid on his side facing her on the small feather soft bed in her new room. His eyes were closed and his face completely relaxed from the usual look of arrogance. She had watched his face for a couple of seconds before letting herself take in everything else about him.

The shirt he had been wearing without fault was now crumpled and creased with wear. It made him look rumpled, but in a way only Draco could get away with. If anything it made him look more handsome. His hair was sticking out in everyway, mostly covering his eyes and tickling the tip of his nose. Then Ginny suddenly became acutely aware of something else - a slow brushing sensation against the skin of her hip. With his arm slung round her waist, one of his fingers was stroking the skin exposed by the gap between her trousers and her top.

For a second her mind wondered whether Draco was really asleep or not. It was difficult to tell when you knew how much of a liar he could be. Would Draco do that though if he were really awake? No, she decided internally. He must be asleep. A small smiled curled her lips gently. If she was going to be completely honest, she preferred this sleeping love god to the harsh reality of daylight and an awake Draco. Here he was gorgeous and silent. Just the way Ginny liked it. There was no argument or arrogant backlash. Just peace and quiet to observe.

Last night had been hard. As he spoke to her about things she could only have imagined, her mind had been going into overdrive. How on Earth could one man do so much and still be around to tell the tale? It was then that she realised he wasn't. Draco had abandoned the world just after it had abandoned him. He had been cruel, his actions showing a lack of heart, but there was something so much more to it. She felt herself beginning to pity him, but was that just a trick he was playing with her? Surely she should be appalled by the things he had done to all those people?

He had seemed so genuine though, like he was spilling out ever drop of blood in his body without any consideration. There hadn't seemed to be any corner cutting or side stepping. As usual, he had been cold and only spoken the truth from his own view. Each word should have hit her like a tonne of bricks, but it didn't. If anything she felt herself even more drawn to him. Maybe it was because he came across as a tortured soul, a man who could only be saved by the love of a good woman. She had reprimanded herself at the romantic notion she found herself thinking. There was no way she could turn around a man as volatile as Draco Malfoy and if she could did she want to?

So when he'd been struggling with his tale, she had hushed him and taken him to up to bed. The thing that took her most by surprise was that when he withdrew from her to go into his own room, she had stopped him. Reaching out, she had taken his hand in hers. It was warm and slightly course, but held a lot of comfort in one simple touch. Then she had led him to her room and again she found herself getting in to bed with a Malfoy. And again nothing more then mere sleep had happened. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, she conceded. Ginny had wrapped her arms around him and held him tight as she and he fell asleep.

It had been wonderful and far removed from the earlier happenings of the previous night.

`Draco…' Ginny whispered as she reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of his face.

`Hmmm,' came the soft, unguarded, reply.

A smile tilted her lips. Why was it that this felt so right?

`Wake up…' she soothed in gentle tones, her fingers smoothing the cool exterior of his cheek.

As she watched, he opened one eye lazily. It immediately connected with her own, making her withdraw her hand and look away. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to wake him up. Suddenly she realised how eager to please she was and tried to curb that emotion. There was no way she wanted Draco to know exactly what she was feeling and thinking about him. It would come of no good in the end.

He smiled slightly at her. `Give me one good reason why?'

`I'm hungry,' she mumbled, her eyes connecting again with his.

Draco remained silent, both his eyes open and watching her. It made her feel bothered when he looked at her like that. It made her want to curl up and hide away from his eyes. They didn't seem to be judging her in any way though, just taking in her appearance. She cringed inwardly. She probably looked mess, with hair all mussed up and sticky eyes. Another cringe ran through her. Maybe she had drool on her face.

`Weasley…' he said slowly, interrupting her thoughts.

`Ginny.' She corrected instantly through habit.

This earned her another smile from Draco. Everything seemed so relaxed between the two of them, she considered as she watched him, soon something was bound to go wrong.

`Ginny,' he said smoothly in a lazy drawl that made her shiver. Suddenly the close proximity was overwhelming. It hadn't struck her before but their bodies were touching and his face was very close to hers.

`What?' she asked questioningly, trying to forget everything she'd just realised.

His face got close to hers until their lips were mere millimetres away. Ginny felt her heart beat pick up again with anticipation. Her eyes stayed trained on his as they lowered to look down at her lips and then back up. Inwardly she growled. If he was going to kiss her couldn't he get himself together and just do it.

`You're cutting the blood off to my hand,' he said softly, so his lips teased hers with movement.

Ginny's eyes widened and she realised she was lying on one of his hands. `God I'm sorry!' she said lifting her hips so he could free his hand. `I didn't realise it was -`

The rest of her sentence was cut off by Draco's mouth gently pressing against hers in a sweet kiss. Ginny squeaked a little protest, but it came to nothing because her body was doing all the talking for her. Her arms came up and sneaked themselves round his neck bringing herself closer to him. In turn his arms moved slightly and wrapped themselves around her waist tightly. Slowly she began to return the kiss with enthusiasm. This was what she'd wanted for what seemed like forever now.

After a couple of minutes of intense kissing, Draco pulled back and moved a hand up to her hair. With exact precision he began to tuck all the loose strands of hair that were on her face behind her ear. It felt so intimate a thing to be doing and yet something so unromantic. `There,' he said softly when he had finished, `That's better.'

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. There was the slightest of smiles playing about his lips and for the first time he looked half way to being actually happy. Maybe waking him up hadn't been such a bad idea, Ginny considered. Then something saddening struck her. Harry had never once woken her up with niceties unless he wanted something. Did Draco think she wanted something from him? Yes, she considered, because it's true.

`That was -' she began, but was hushed by his finger pressing against her lips.

`Don't say it.'

`How do you know what I'm going to say if you don't let me say it?' she asked removing his finger from her mouth.

`I don't. I just don't want you to spoil this for me by opening your mouth and saying something we both might regret.' Draco sat up and stretched up, then looked down at her. `I'll make you some toast and coffee; it'll be ready in about five minutes. Don't be too late because I'm not reheating it.'

With that he swiftly left he room, leaving a stunned Ginny sat in her bed wondering what had happened.

***

Draco stirred the coffee granules into the milky water, his eyes transfixed on whatever was beyond the depths of the mug. His mind was deep in thoughts of the things that seemed to be happening to him. They were unexpected and to a certain extent very unwelcome. He didn't want to entertain the thought of taking Ginny to his bed and doing the sort of things to her that his body wanted.

It had been a strange sensation waking up with a woman. That was something that hadn't happened to him for a couple of years. He had tried to say that it had only felt so nice because he was lonely. The prospect of waking up next to any woman would have had the same affect, he tried to convince himself. It wasn't true though. He knew that the only reason he'd felt a surge of happiness was because it was Ginny. She was special. She had heard what he had done and not run away as expected.

Now though he wished she had. Draco would have been able to cope with her anger and disgust, but not whatever it was now though. It was tender, helpful, caring, beautiful and scared him beyond belief. There was no way on earth he was going to allow himself to become involved with any girl. Especially not a Weasley. A Weasley who was probably still hung up on Potter.

His hands tightened round the spoon and mug. There wasn't the slightest possibility that Ginny was being purposefully malicious, but maybe she was using him to get over Potter. Then again, it had not been her to make the first move. He immediately berated himself. Of course it had been her. All of this was her fault. She should never have let him sleep in her bed. It was all her fault for being so pure, innocent and beautiful, enough so to make him feel like he was in…love?

Looking back, Draco didn't think he had ever been in love. It was something that happened to other people. They had said he would understand when he found the right person to settle down with. Did he want to settle down with the Weasley girl? There was no denying that there was something about her that he was drawn to. Maybe it was the fact that was something that he could never have. Maybe it was because she was so incredibly attractive that it made him long to be near her all the time. He wanted to protect her.

Boiling water scalded his hand as his angry tension jerked the mug sending coffee everywhere.

`No!' he said indignantly to himself. This was not going to happen. He should never have kissed her in the first place.

`Draco?'

He turned savagely intending to let out all his anger on her. When he saw her though, it all seemed to be drained away from him. There stood a girl who didn't look the best she could, but somehow seemed to draw his entire attention. Why was he letting himself become so wound up about this? Would it be so bad if he were in love with Ginny?

`I need to know…erm…' she faltered and looked away. `What are we?'

`We?' he questioned quietly whilst nursing his hand and watching her.

`Yes. Me and You. What are we?' she persisted, her eyes still not coming up to meet his. He hated it when she did this. She was such an intelligent and sharp girl but whenever he was around her she seemed to become shy - almost scared.

`I would of thought it were obvious what we are. You're a Weasley and I'm a Malfoy.' He turned away from her again. It was too early in the morning for this conversation. It would have been easier if he had had time to work out the answer on his own.

`That's a pile of crap and you know it!' Ginny said angrily. `Why can I never seem to get a straight answer out of you!? You act like you hate my guts and then you go and kiss me! You try to make me hate you, but you can't even bring yourself to do it properly. It was you who brought me here when, after what you told me, it would have been safer to surround myself with my friends and family!'

His eyes narrowed. Was she insinuating that he was more dangerous then the men who wanted to torture her just to get to him? A slight smile curled his lips. Well, she did have a valid point.

`Don't you dare smile! This is not funny and I don't think you should even be mildly amused by it.' Her whole body was shaking with anger and her fists were tightly gripped together. `Why are you toying with me like this? I was perfectly happy being miserable in the comfort of my own home. I didn't need you to come into my life and shake it all up, making me want to be near you all the time. This is all your bloody fault and you won't even have the curtsey to answer one stupid question!! What are we?!'

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Someone was banging on the door. Muggle's had such inappropriate timing. He cursed inwardly and looked at her. Why did this entire thing have to be so complicated? She was right though. It was his entire fault. He should never have gone to her for information.

Brushing past her, he made his way out into the hallway. He knew she was watching him closely, her little mind wondering who on earth would be knocking on his door. Especially as he was supposedly dead to the magic world. Later she was going to laugh at him. What was left of the Malfoy he had only seconds ago said he was?

He opened the door and smiled broadly. `Bob! What a nice surprise!'

In front of him stood a large balding Muggle who was 36, Yorkshire and called Bob Johnston. Draco had known Bob for just over a year and had struck up a strange friendship with him. The older man was in the local pub when Draco had first met him and had offered him a small run down cottage to live on. At the time he had been dubious to take a Muggle up on a housing arrangement. Now though he thanked his lucky stars that he'd met Bob. The man might be slow and obsessed with his farming, but he was quiet, patient and a good listener. He also didn't charge to much rent because Draco had offered to help keep his land in shape.

`Barry,' Bob said with a slight smile and a nod of the head, in way of greeting. `Just thought I'd come up and give you the local paper. Haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but Mrs Johnston insists you need looking after.'

Draco laughed jovially, not bothering to look back at Ginny. His mind twisted up a cruel plan almost instantly. She would probably hate him for doing it, but she deserved it after all the shouting she had done. After all, hadn't she asked what they were?

`Oh Bob, you should tell Jill that she has no need to worry!' He watched as Bob's eyes darted to the girl stood behind him. `I was going to call you, but I haven't been able to find the time yet. Not with all the distractions!'

Bob raised an eyebrow slightly and Draco knew he must be wondering who the strange girl was that only wore a pair of pyjamas. Inwardly, the dark side of Draco laughed evilly. Revenge was a dish best served cold.

`Oh!' he stepped aside and turned. `Bob this is Virginia, my fiancée.'

His eyes went to where Ginny was stood. Her body had gone limp and her mouth was open slightly in shock. This was obviously something she had not been expecting. Draco smiled and walked over to her. His arm slipped round her waist and drew her close. Then just to make it more uncomfortable, he brought his hands up until they were just under her breasts and brought her painfully close.

`Erm…Hi Bob,' Ginny said recovering. `Barry never told me we'd be having guests. I'm sorry about the pyjamas.'

`Aye, if I were a free man and you weren't lined up to be the new Mrs Trotter, I'd be in there myself.' Bob was smiling, his cheeks reddening from the merest hint of flirting.

`Hmmm. Mrs Trotter.' Ginny was genuinely grinning. `Mrs Barry Trotter. Sounds so…familiar to me already.'

Draco tightened his grip on her in warning. How was it she was able to turn the tables on him so quickly? It wouldn't be good if Bob suspected anything.

`Thanks for the paper Bob, what would I do without you?' he said smoothly with an unnatural grin. `Then again I have Ginny here to keep me.' Leaning down he kissed her shoulder, making her become rigid against him.

`You two are the perfect couple. You both look so right together. I'll be wishing you the best and be on me way though. Don't want to keep the Missus waiting. She can be ever so demanding.' Bob was grinning from ear to ear. `I'll leave the paper here.'

The door closed and Draco found himself clutching tightly to Ginny as he stared straight ahead.