-
Hot Gimmick
Mei Queen
-
Authoress' Note: This is it, peeps. I just want to let you all know how much as readers, prodders, loyal reviewers, cheerleaders, and helpers like Chelsea, you all have meant to me. This has been one of the dearest stories to my heart, just because I love the manga, and because of the overwhelming support this story has received. Thank you all so much, you have made the experience so much more awesome. And, without further ado, this is the last chapter of Hot Gimmick, because, to answer one reviewer, there will be no sequel.
-
Disclaimer: I do not own the "Hot Gimmick" main plot, as that belongs to Miki Aihara for the most part (I admittedly tweaked things a bit), or the HP characters, or the song lyrics in this chapter- "Understand" by Joss Stone.
-
Chapter 12: Understand
-
I hope you'll understand
That I can't always come when you call
Understand everybody has their faults
Please understand not to worry who I'm with or what I do
Cause I understand that I'm in love with you
Do you understand that I'm in love with you
-
Bringing a hand up to her face to shield her eyes from the blinding sunlight, Ginny Weasley groaned. She had been enjoying a wonderful dream, but the light filtering through the window of the train compartment had woken her from her peaceful slumber. What's going on? Where am I?
Slightly disoriented and glancing around the compartment, her eyes fell on one Draco Malfoy who was stretched out on the bench opposite her, fast asleep. He looks like he is enjoying a lovely dream as well, Ginny noted with amusement, judging by the wide grin plastered to Draco's face. I'll bet whatever's got him smiling so wide isn't appropriate for the eyes and ears of children, she mused with a quiet snort.
Sitting up slowly and stretching out her sore back, her gaze trailed out the window as she allowed her thoughts to wander, silently reflecting on everything that had happened at her boyfriend's house that incredibly action-packed weekend.
-
"I assure you, I'm aware of the fact. That's the reason they actually have an hour, Lucius," Narcissa had retorted frostily before spinning and quickly striding back down the corridor, slamming doors in her wake.
Once the coast was clear of Narcissa, Ginny shook her head, quite obviously stunned by the outright loathing of Draco's mother. But stunned as she was about Narcissa, Ginny found herself far more amazed by the fact that Lucius Malfoy, known Death Eater and git extraordinaire, had found it in himself to stand up to his wife…for his son to date a Weasley.
She had looked questioningly up at Lucius, whose stony grey eyes were boring defiantly into her own chocolate. Her jaw dropped slightly, but she seemingly couldn't eloquently articulate all the questions rapidly forming in her brain. The most she could manage was, "But…why?"
His eyes just looked exhausted as he regarded her with stubborn indifference. "It's not for you. It's not for Draco…it's for her," he murmured quietly- more to himself than to the couple, before spinning on his heel and leaving Draco and Ginny alone in the hallway.
Ginny couldn't help the thought that had crossed her mind when she had caught sight of Lucius' sad eyes- he looked like a man who had once been in love, and not just any love, either. From what his eyes conveyed, the older Malfoy had once been in deep, passionate, life-altering love. He looked like a person that had loved, lost, and never been completely whole again. A slight shiver of recognition went down Ginny Weasley's spine at the thought of a man as cold and calculating as Lucius Malfoy actually being capable of love, even if he never seemed able to display affection toward his own son. For some reason, it is so easy to dislike someone if you believe that they are purely evil…it seems the noble thing to do, despising the evil in the world. But Ginevra Molly Weasley was learning all too soon that the world is rarely full of purely evil people. Even pureblood supremacist families like the Malfoys, who Ginny at one point in her life had always figured she would despise, had their problems, granted. But they weren't completely evil- they were capable of love, Lucius for his lost love of long ago, Narcissa for Draco, and Draco…for Ginny.
A tear slipped down her freckled cheek. "What are we going to do, Draco?"
The confusion was obvious in Draco's face as he cautiously asked, running a hand comfortingly in circles on Ginny's back, "What are we going to do about what, exactly?"
"Us!" she shouted in annoyance, standing up, sniffling. "I care about you, Draco, but your mother hates me. She hates that you're dating me. Your dad has apparently completely cracked since he seems to have no problem with us, which I don't mind…but how long is that going to last? What if your dad wakes up tomorrow and suddenly hates the idea of us again? What will you do?"
Draco looked temporarily stunned by her outburst, but the last question he answered immediately. "Red, my dad can't tear us apart. You know that…mum didn't have any effect, so why should the father that's barely paid any attention to me my entire life matter?"
"I know," Ginny murmured grudgingly, uncrossing her arms and falling in to Draco's embrace. "Doesn't make it any less hard, though. What your mum said was true. We are in a war. What side will you be on? Where will we go? We're not safe anywhere anymore, Draco."
He allowed his head to rest on top of the petite redhead's, taking a deep breath and expelling it with a sigh. "I'm not saying it will be easy, Red. We'll be running as soon as you're out of school. I'll probably be hiding the whole next year that you're still at Hogwarts, unless Scarhead clears up this mess faster than I think he will. But one thing I will promise you…"
Draco gently pulled Ginny back, making sure he had her full attention, looked in to her eyes. Softly, he whispered, "I will never let anyone hurt you. Do you understand?"
Ginny's lips curved up into a brief smile and she slowly nodded.
"Okay then," the blond replied, obviously relieved to have an end to the tense, mushy conversation. "What say we get ourselves packed and get the hell out of here?"
"Hear, hear," Ginny had echoed with a grin before swivelling to race Draco back to his bedroom.
-
Now, in their train compartment, Draco Malfoy was finally stirring. Eyes gradually opening and stretching his pale arms above his head in a yawn, his eyes met those of his girlfriend. "Hi," he murmured scratchily, rubbing his eyes slowly.
"Well, hello there," Ginny replied with a smile, grinning at how sweet the "supposed Death Eater and all-around badass" looked when he was waking up. She grinned even more to herself, thinking of how only she got to see him this way. Ginny Weasley was the only person in the world who Draco allowed to see him at his most vulnerable. "So how was your rest? You had a good dream, I could tell."
Draco grinned slyly. "You might have been in that dream, you know."
"Well, I should hope so," the redhead retorted with a snort. "If it was some cow like Celestina Warbeck, I'd be forced to slap you."
He chuckled quietly, his gaze trailing out the window, eyes focusing on the rolling green hills. "So…when we get back to Hogwarts…"
Ginny's eyes darted from the window to his. "We're official, right?"
"Of course," the blond replied without hesitation.
"Well, then," she concluded logically, "we tell. Or we just go public and wait for people to figure things out by the public affection, eh?"
He smirked roguishly in response. "I'm rather more for the second plan…I like the sound of that public affection."
Ginny ignored the suggestive comment, instead expelling a sigh and murmuring, "Merlin, what's Ron going to say?"
Draco snorted. "Let me worry about him. You just gear yourself up for that public affection, Red."
The redhead rolled her eyes, playfully slapping his arm. "I think you'll need that practise more than me, mister."
Then a thought occurred to Ginny. "Hey, I have a question."
"What is it, Red?" he asked while cautiously getting up to sit on the bench next to Ginny.
"What happened with your dad? What happened to make him defend us?"
Draco smiled wryly. "You're never going to believe the irony of this story…"
-
I keep our song on repeat
On my iPod, even when I sleep
And in my dream I'm holding you
Alone on an island just us two
-
"You and Malfoy are…what?" Ronald Weasley asked hysterically at supper that evening after Ginny had relayed a condensed and carefully edited version of the weekend's events to her older brother.
"Dating," Ginny supplied, obviously completely undisturbed by her brother's outburst. "He asked me to be official yesterday."
"Please tell me you're joking," Harry Potter interrupted, his eyes widening as he leaned over Hermione to talk to Ginny.
"Shut it, Harry," Hermione murmured in Ginny's defence, eyeing her boyfriend with irritation. "She already has to deal with Ron right now, she doesn't need you on her case about it, too."
"Oh, so you're on her side, now? You want to see Ginny dating the ferret?" Harry demanded hotly, turning to face his girlfriend with his arms crossed over his chest defensively.
"Well," the brunette reasoned slowly, clearly mulling over her answer carefully. "Malfoy isn't all bad. He genuinely seems to care for Ginny, so I really have no objection or say in the matter whatsoever. And neither do you, Harry."
"But-"
"No buts," the Head Girl retorted firmly, taking Harry by the hand. "Let's go back to the tower and let Ron and Ginny sort this out, all right?"
Grudgingly, Harry followed Hermione back to Gryffindor, allowing Ron and Ginny a moment alone.
When the couple was out of earshot, Ron turned to Ginny furiously. "I can't believe you agreed to something so stupid, Gin. Didn't Mum teach you anything?"
"You should talk," she retorted immediately. "You're the one that's going to be a bloody father, for chrissakes. How did Mum take that, by the way?"
"Oh, fantastically," Ron muttered irritably. "She was a right cow about it at first, but once she was used to the idea, she started fussing over Luna like you wouldn't believe. Kept asking if Luna felt remotely hungry, wanted a cup of tea…she sent us home with the most brilliant care package, treacle tarts, mince pies, the works. But naturally, she said I wasn't to touch any of it. Apparently it's all for the health of her unborn grandchild."
Ginny snorted with laughter. "So… what did Mum think of Luna?"
Ron's face coloured slightly. "She likes her well enough, I think. But of course, Luna had to say something when we'd only been there but five minutes about how our garden was the perfect breeding ground for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack…sent Mum into a tizzy, she wasn't entirely sure if it was an insult or not..."
Ginny's giggles only got more uncontrollable. "That's hysterical!"
When she had calmed down slightly, Ron looked her in the eye cautiously. "So…this thing with you and Malfoy…"
"-Is serious," Draco Malfoy interrupted, striding up to the Weasleys and laying a supportive hand on Ginny's back. "Very serious, indeed."
Ron gulped slightly. "Oh, great," he muttered weakly. "Do you mind? I'm trying to talk to my sister here."
"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of him, Ron. It doesn't matter," she retorted stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest and regarding her brother defiantly.
"Fine," the redhead replied testily. "Well… I'm not thrilled about this, Gin. I think you're making a mistake. But if he really cares about you-"
"Which I do," Draco interjected.
Ron cocked an eyebrow in annoyance at the interruption. "Like I was saying, if he really cares about you, then I guess I'll just have to deal with it."
"Yes, you will," Ginny replied with an appreciative nod. Reaching over to give her brother a hug, she smiled, whispering, "Thank you for understanding."
-
It was pretty late and Ginny Weasley had long since left Draco's chambers, and now she was on the last leg of the long walk from the Slytherin dungeons up to Gryffindor tower, fervently hoping a prefect or Hermione wouldn't catch her out of bed.
Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed someone huddled underneath the portrait of the Fat Lady, who, Ginevra noted with a groan, was annoyingly absent. Silently easing herself in to the shadows, she squinted to make out the figure. Neville, she realised with a startled gasp. Cautiously walking over, she knelt down, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Gran, I don't wanna go to school," he moaned quietly in his sleep.
She stifled a giggle as she tapped again, this time also loudly calling his name, which seemed to startle Neville awake quickly enough.
"Oh." Neville muttered, sitting up against the wall. "Hi Ginny."
"Hi," she replied with a chuckle, sitting down beside him. "Hey, I have something to tell you about."
"What?" he asked, quite obviously surprised that Ginny was even voluntarily talking to him as she had made it priority to avoid him since the "incident."
"You know that picture you showed me? Of your mum and my dad?"
He nodded, not bothering to hide his discomfort.
"That was staged. She wasn't really with my dad," Ginny muttered, eyes trained on the ground and mentally reflecting on the story that Draco had told her on the train of Lucius and Alice's star-crossed love.
Neville Longbottom, meanwhile, looked shocked. His jaw dropped before he replied, "So she didn't…"
"Oh, no," Ginny answered, cutting off his sentence. "She did, just not with my dad. Her relationship was with somebody else."
"Who?" Neville demanded threateningly, eyes blazing in fury.
"Does it even matter?" the redhead asked gently, placing a comforting hand on his forearm. "It really doesn't, Nev. If you tried to get 'revenge' on somebody else, you'd just wind up feeling guilty and depressed, and then where would we be? I know you want your mother's memory to be a good one, and I really understand that. But you can't just keep recklessly trying to solve the problems of her past. She made some mistakes. But it's not up to you to try to justify those mistakes or seek retribution for them. Do you understand where I'm coming from with this?"
He slowly nodded, eyes trained on the floor and eyes looking dangerously glassy at all this talk of his mother.
"Oh, look," Ginny whispered brightly, looking up at the painting. "The Fat Lady's back. Let's go in and get some rest, Nev."
"No, that's okay," he answered, waving a hand towards the portrait, indicating that she should go on ahead. "Go ahead, Gin…I need to think a little longer."
"Are you sure?"
"I said go, Ginny. Really. I need to be alone," he retorted with a tone of finality, exhaustedly resting his head in his arms.
"What's going on here?" a voice called furiously. Turning from where she was just about to enter the portrait, Ginny was confused to see none other than Draco Malfoy quickly striding towards her and Neville, quite clearly livid.
-
Don't treat me that way cause in your head
You've got to trust me I won't be lead
-
"Nothing," she replied. "What's up? What are you doing on this side of the castle, anyhow?"
"You forgot this in my room," Draco retorted, handing Ginny her wand. "Figured you might need it. Turns out it's a good thing I came, I catch you talking with this imbecile…"
"Draco, please. Stop it," the redhead retorted, brassed off by this point. Grabbing Draco by the hand, she said a quick goodbye to Neville and pulled Draco in to an abandoned classroom. "Okay, that's it."
"What's 'it'?" the blond asked, bewildered.
"Draco, you need to start trusting me. If you don't, this- you and I- will never work. I love you, not anybody else, but if you can't remember that…we can't be together," she spat out, shaking slightly at the possible repercussions of her words. Please let him understand, she begged silently, her eyes never leaving his stony grey. I don't want us to be over…
Draco was silent for a few moments, trying to keep his eyes trained on the floor to avoid the probing gaze of his girlfriend. Finally, he came to a conclusion. "You're right. I'm sorry. I suppose I've just never been comfortable with other people threatening what's mine."
"I'm not being threatened in any way, Draco," the redhead protested.
"I know," he answered immediately. "I mean more that I don't want anyone to take away from me. You mean too much…and I wouldn't be able to bear seeing you hurt again, like that stupid git Longbottom did."
"Forget about that," Ginny whispered, leaning in to kiss him sweetly. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? But you really must get over this jealousy bit, it's getting extremely inconvenient to always have you yelling at my mates."
"Just your bloke mates," Draco retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why can't you hang out with more girls? Like that Olivia bird? Loony Lovegood for all that I care…even the Mudblood is better than your always being around blokes."
She cleared her throat in irritation.
"Okay, fine. 'Granger', then."
"Thank you," Ginny replied defiantly. "But, really, Draco…"
"I'll work on it," Draco answered with a nod. "I can't promise anything, but I'll make an effort to be less jealous."
-
I hope your mind ain't working overtime
I hope your memories are full of good times with me
Don't trip if right now I can't answer the phone
Cause you know that soon I'll be coming home
-
Ginny Weasley was thrilled. Classes had just let out for the weekend, and the redhead was absolutely overjoyed at the thought of no History of Magic for two days. Two days of bliss and plenty of time with Draco. God, she loved weekends.
"What are you up to?" a voice called, drifting from the side of the corridor. Turning, she was faced with Pansy Parkinson, the one Slytherin (besides Draco, of course) that had actually earned her trust.
"Oh, hey!" the redhead replied with a smile. "Not much, really, just got out of the most boring Binns lecture I think I've ever experienced. You?"
"Just talked to Draco," Pansy replied slyly.
Ginny cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. What the hell are they talking for? If I have to be jealous again, I'll blow a gasket… "Really now?"
"Yup," she simpered with a grin. "He wants to see you."
The redhead felt relief wash over her in a wave. I'm silly; of course I can trust Draco. Merlin, I'm worse than he is, thinking Pansy's been hitting on him…or worse, that he'd actually respond to it if she did. And after I just gave him a lecture on this, honestly…Ginny, get it together. "Okay, where is he at? Do you know?"
Pansy paused to think for a moment before replying. "He's down in the courtyard, I think."
After thanking Pansy, Ginny Weasley began the long walk down to the courtyard to have a chat with her boyfriend.
-
She smiled at Draco when she saw him sitting on a bench, one hand absentmindedly twirling his wand. He grinned in return, beckoning her over. "So how was History of Magic?" he asked, allowing his arm to rest on Ginny's shoulders.
"Dull," she replied with a chuckle. "So what's up? Pansy said you wanted to talk to me."
"Yeah, I do," Draco murmured, getting up and leading her on a walk. "I wanted to talk about the future. Well…our future, I suppose. Us."
"I see," the redhead replied, scuffing her shoe against the cobblestones. When a few minutes went by with no reply, she prompted, "So…what now?"
Draco looked up to see that his girlfriend's nose had gone pink from the cold, but her cheeks had gone red from blushing. Smiling to himself and shaking his head, he weighed the question.
"Well," he murmured, obviously carefully mulling over his answer. "We're together, parents be damned, right?"
Ginny chuckled, allowed her gloved hand to close around Draco's bare one. "Right."
"Well, Red, what do you say?" Draco Malfoy asked with a wide grin, spreading his arms to close around her in a hug. Whispering in to her sweet-smelling hair, Draco managed, "Let's go write our own story."
"We still have school, Draco…I still have a whole year after this," Ginny protested, snuggling in to the warmth of her boyfriend while she did so.
"I know, but I can wait for you. I will wait for you, that's what I wanted to tell you," Draco replied, smiling, pulling back and tilting her head so her lips could meet his in a tender kiss.
"But…the war…what will happen? I can't bear to lose you, you know that?"
"I…I feel the same way, Red," he croaked quietly, pulling her in to his chest again so she couldn't see that his eyes were getting dangerously wet. Ginny Weasley was the first person that had ever reached out to Draco. She didn't have to. She, by all rights, should have loathed him for how he treated her. But instead…she offered herself to him. She loved him.
Ginny pulled away slightly. "You know, we can't run from it all forever. We will at least have to face my family sooner or later, you know? And, believe me, Ron will be nothing in comparison to the rest of them…"
"Why, Red? Why do we have to face them?" Draco asked stubbornly, eyes intently focused on another direction.
She was quite clearly nervous again; he could tell by the way she stuttered slightly before speaking. "Uh…um....er…I'm not saying that you ever will…or that you want to…hell, I don't really even know if you believe in it…"
Draco turned to her questioningly. "Well? Spit it out already, Gin."
"If you ever decided that you wanted to marry me, you would have to get to know my family," Ginny replied in a rush, as if saying the words all at once would make them less uncomfortable to utter.
"Why do I have to know them, again?" the blond Head Boy asked in annoyance.
"Because I love them, Draco…and I love you. And if you love me, you won't force me to choose between you and my family," Ginny retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping back a few paces.
"All right, Red."
Ginny's eyebrow quirked. Did he just say what I thought he said? No way. Draco Malfoy would never voluntarily commit himself to time spent with the Weasleys. "Excuse me?"
Draco sighed in exasperation, turning to face her fully. "I said that I'd meet your family. I can't promise I'll be the most polite chap in the world, really, but I will honestly try, since I know it means so bloody much to you."
Squealing in excitement, the redhead launched herself at her boyfriend in a gigantic hug, showering kisses all over his face. "Thank you, Draco! I really appreciate you doing this, you know."
"I know," he murmured, pulling her back slightly and meeting her in the eye. "So…we've got a year and a half before you graduate then?"
Ginny nodded sulkily.
"Well, let's just capitalise on the half of a year I have to spend with you," Draco whispered in her ear, slowly trailing kisses down her earlobe. "And we'll worry about the year apart when it comes to that."
"What's going to happen when I get out of school that you're looking forward to so much, Draco?" Ginny asked curiously, meeting his eyes with a smirk spread across her freckled features.
Draco Malfoy grinned suggestively at his girlfriend. "Red- let me put it to you this way: after that year and a half is up…after I come and watch you graduate and you go home with me, and we get married and all that fun stuff…"
Ginny smiled wide at his actually voluntarily mentioning marriage, a smile that only got broader as her boyfriend continued his speech.
Draco paused, taking a moment to wink at her with one of his twinkling stone grey eyes. "After that year and a half, Gin…the next time I catch you looking up a pregnancy potion, it won't be for a friend, my lovely little firecracker. It'll be for you."
-
Do you understand that I'm in love with you?
Do you understand I'm in love with you?
-
Authoress' Note- take two: Thanks for all the support, don't forget to leave a final review *tear*.