Hot Gimmick
Mei Queen
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Chapter 6: Confrontation
Draco Malfoy glared, for what must have been the fifth time that minute alone, at the door to his chamber. He sat reading a book in the window seat, but he had stopped paying attention to the book at least fifteen minutes ago. He was stuck at the exact same spot on the page that he had been before.
"Where the bloody hell is she?!" Draco snarled into the silence. "I help her out, I'm nice to her, and I do everything I can think of. And yet, she still makes her visits to me so low on her priorities that it's almost like a bloody favour she even fits me in at all! Complete…"
"Ditz?" Ginny Weasley supplied with a wheezy air, bursting in the through the door right as he spoke. She had no long ago ceased to knock.
"Precisely," he answered, somewhat mollified that she had actually decided to show up. "Where have you been?"
"Harry caught me on the way out of the Common Room and gave me the third degree," she said softly, trying not to make eye contact with Draco.
Naturally, he noticed immediately, and his tone got icy. "You haven't told Potter you're not going to the ball with him yet, have you?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. How does he always know exactly what I'm thinking? It's like I have a bloody speech bubble above my head, like in the cartoons. "No, I haven't," she finally deigned to reply. "I was planning on telling him tonight."
"What are you going to say?" Draco asked curiously, getting up from his chair.
"I…I hadn't thought," Ginny trailed off, looking up at him.
He grinned impishly, meeting her eyes. "You could tell him you're off doing naughty things with his arch-enemy, and that that arch-enemy is slightly possessive," he whispered, leaning down to brush kisses along her neck.
Ginny chuckled despite herself. "I'm sure he'd take that well, Draco."
He smiled in return, leaning up to catch her in a long kiss, his hands roaming her body. "I'm sure Scarhead is man enough to count his losses, Red. Besides, wouldn't you say he had a fair five fuckin' years to get a clue? I think it's fair, personally."
Ginny opened her mouth, but found she really couldn't argue. "It's not really like I didn't give enough hints."
Draco snorted. "Red, if I knew and I despise all things Gryffindor…you were pretty obvious."
She planted her hands on hips in indignation. "Not everything from Gryffindor is bad."
He chuckled in reply, leading her over to the bed. "Yeah, you're not too terrible, especially in the kissing department."
Ginny laughed, her scarlet locks spilling out over his silky comforter.
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After she left Draco's chamber, Ginny found that she was slightly more thoughtful than normal. I should hate Malfoy. Really. I should absolutely despise Draco- um, I mean, Malfoy- because he's blackmailing me, ridicules my family and heritage, is rude to my family and friends, and to top it all off, he has a family that's associated with the Dark Side. Really, the chips aren't much in his favour. But I find myself enjoying spending time with him more and more. A part of me was actually hoping he would apologize to Pansy just so I could go to the ball with him. I think I'm even looking forward to Halloween, just to be alone with him in his house. What is wrong with me? When did I become sadistic enough to…dare I think it…like Draco Malfoy?
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When Ginny got back to the Gryffindor common room, she found her brother and Harry Potter sitting on the couch in front of the fire.
"Hey Gin, what's up?" Harry asked softly, meeting her eyes. His expression looked slightly hurt. She hadn't realized until right then why he was so paranoid that morning when she was leaving the portrait hole. She had given him the impression she was dating Neville last week, and then never really got around to clearing it up...he was probably confused and hurt. Ginny was tempted to just allow him to believe that she and Neville were going steady so that he being her date to the ball was implied, but she was too honest for it. Bugger. Sometimes, I really wish I were a better liar, Ginevra thought to herself in frustration.
Just as she was about to ask Harry if he had a spare moment, Ron piped up from his spot on the couch, "Gin, I need to talk to you."
Sighing in exasperation, she looked from Harry to Ron. "Can it wait? I need to talk to Harry."
Ron's brown eyes bugged. "No, it most certainly can not wait. I am your own flesh and blood, and you want me to wait until you're done with your little rendezvous with Harry?"
She hated how much Ron overreacted. He was much more of a girl than she was sometimes. "Fine, Ron, fine…Merlin, I feel sorry for Luna. And we weren't going to have a rendezvous, just for your information," she spat out irritably.
Ronald sighed, guiding her over to a deserted part of the Common Room. Ginny could see that his skin seemed to have turned a slight greenish colour. Okay, now she was actually getting worried. "Merlin, Ron, what's the matter? You look scared out of your wits."
He opened his mouth to talk, but seemed to be having trouble digesting what he was about to say. "L-Luna…"
Ginny's eyes bugged. Now she knew exactly what he was talking about. How could she have been so stupid?! With all the hubbub of the past few weeks, she hadn't checked to see whether she was going to be an auntie much sooner than expected! "Positive?" she asked so quietly she was almost unsure he heard her.
But he did. Ron gulped, but slowly nodded his head.
She felt distinctly like she would be sick, and grasped the arm of a nearby chair to support herself. "Oh, dear Merlin. Did…did you tell Mum yet?"
Ronald shook his head. "I was thinking that we might be able to get Dumbledore to allow us to go home over Halloween…it'll be a nice visit, well, until she finds out this part, anyway."
She cocked her head slightly. Halloween. What was I doing over Halloween again? Draco's. SHIT! "Um…I'm kinda busy over Halloween, actually, Ron."
Ron's eyebrow quirked disbelievingly as he asked, "Too busy to tell your mother she's going to be a grandma?"
Ginny sighed exasperatedly. What the hell am I supposed to do?! If I cancel on Draco again, he'll have a cow. Besides, I really don't want to be at Ground Zero of Operation Grandma Mollywobbles… "Well…kind of, Ron. I'm really sorry. Any other weekend we could go?"
Ron sighed, accepting grudgingly that she obviously wasn't going to tell him where she was going. "I guess. Let me check with Luna, and we'll see."
Ginevra's brown eyes bugged slightly. "You're taking Luna? She's going to meet Mum for the first time when you're telling Mum she's pregnant with your child?"
Her brother shrugged in reply. "What?!"
Shaking her head hopelessly, Ginny turned back to the Common Room to find Harry.
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"It's not that I don't like you, Harry," she began softly. Ginevra had led Harry out into the hallway, away from his many admirers and her eavesdropping brother.
"What is it, then? What's going on with you and Neville? Why have you missed two of the five Quidditch practices this week? Where do you go in the evenings?! Nobody can find you. As soon as the class bell rings, you're out the door like a shot, and nobody finds you until your roommates see you in bed at night. Ron, Hermione and I are really worried about you," Harry said, trailing off slightly. Then, in an even quieter voice, he said, "I'm really worried about you."
Her brown eyes softened considerably. He was such a sweetheart sometimes. "Thank you for caring, Harry. That's really sweet. Let's see…Nothing is going on with me and Neville, actually, that's something I really wanted to tell you."
Harry cocked his head to the side. "But you said that you guys were out on a date to Hogsmeade…"
"Yeah. We were. It…it didn't end well, so we aren't going to repeat it anytime soon."
His emerald eyes seemed to brighten considerably, betraying a hopefulness that Ginny was not happy to squish. "So…you're not seeing anyone?"
She ran a hand through her scarlet locks, twirling one around her index finger. "That's the other bit. I kinda am. We're not really official, but we are seeing one another, and that's where I go when I'm not in class…and that's why I've been missing practices. I'm really sorry about that, by the way."
Harry waved his hand through the air as if to signal that it really wasn't that relevant at the moment, and seemed to focus his mind on the task at hand. "Who is it? You and Dean looked awfully cosy. You two aren't back together again, are you?"
Ginny snorted despite herself. He'll never guess, she thought with amusement. "No. No, Dean and I aren't back together. You'll have to see who it is at the ball. He wants me to go with him…and since I'm seeing him, I think it would be rude to go with someone else. I'm really sorry to have to let you down."
His expression turned glum, and his gaze dropped to the floor. "S'okay, Gin. I don't want you to have to do anything you don't want to do."
Gods, this is hard, she thought to herself sadly, noting how depressed Harry had quickly gotten. "If I weren't seeing anyone, I really would have loved to go with you, Harry. As is, I think it's the least I can do to find you a replacement."
He looked up from the floor, clearly interested in the concept.
"How about Hermione, huh?" Ginny asked with a playful smile, nudging Harry with her elbow.
"Dean's not going with her?" Harry asked doubtfully.
"I don't think so," she replied thoughtfully, scratching her chin while she said it. "I think Dean and Seamus are going with Lavender and Parvati. But there's only one way to be sure!"
"…to ask Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati? That's an awful lot of effort," he replied, grumbling.
"No, you dolt," Ginny said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Ask Hermione!"
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Ginny pep-talked Harry the whole way back to the Common Room. "Okay, Harry, you can't pull a Ron, alright? Don't tell her that you just want to go with her because you can't find anyone else. It's rude and an utterly idiotic thing to say. Tell her you want her to go with her because you think you two would have a great time together."
She planted her feet in the floor and turned Harry to face her. "Okay. Pretend I'm Hermione. Ask me to the ball."
Harry sighed resolutely, running a hand through his hair. "This is ridiculous," he said, slightly under his breath.
Ginny looked at him in frustration. "Do you want practice or not?!"
He sighed, finally coming to the conclusion that it probably couldn't hurt his chances to have some idea what he was doing. Making eye contact with Ginny's chocolate ones, Harry asked softly, "Um, Hermione? Do you have a moment?"
Ginny smiled sweetly, apparently taking her nose out of an imaginary book. "Why, of course, Harry. Whatever did you need to talk about?'
Harry snorted with derision. "Hermione wouldn't say that. She'd probably just say, 'What, Harry?' especially if I interrupted her in a book."
"Well, would you rather I was rude?" Ginny asked, her nose wrinkling in irritation.
"Yes, if it would be a bit more realistic," he replied, teasing her kindly.
"Okay. Fine, then. Do-over," Ginny said simply, pretending to shake out her limbs.
"Hermione?" Harry asked softly.
"Yes, what is it, Harry?" Ginny asked in reply.
"W-will y-you…will…will…will you…" Harry stuttered.
"Good Gods, man! If you're this bad when we're pretending, you're going to really need to get it together in the Common Room! Deep breaths," Ginny said soothingly. She had forgotten how nervous he got around girls.
"Okay," Harry said, exhaling a nervous breath, seemingly coming to an inner resolve. "Hermione… I was thinking… that it would be pretty fun if we went to the ball together…I always have a really good time with you, and it would be great to have an excuse to hang out with you. Plus, the ball would be much less stuffy this way," he finished, smiling at Ginny.
"That was fabulous, Harry!" Ginny praised with a big grin. Man. I told him the "we'll have fun" part, but the rest of it…that was all him. I wonder if Mr. Harry Potter harbours a secret crush on Ms. Hermione Granger…hmm…only time will tell…
"Thanks," he said with a grateful smile. "Okay, I think I'm ready. Let's go back to the Common Room."
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As the pair walked back into the Common Room, they saw that given the late hour, most of the house was in bed. Ron was nowhere to be seen, some first years were playing Gobstones in the corner, and Hermione was reading peacefully in the chair by the fire.
"Hermione? Do you have a sec?" Harry asked softly, coming up behind her.
She looked up from her book to see who it was. Marking it quickly with the bookmark by her side and brushing her bushy brown locks behind her ear, she got up from her chair. "Sure, Harry," Hermione said softly, allowing herself to be led to a desolate corner of the Common Room.
Ginevra took that as her cue to exit, and trudged slowly up the stairs to her dorm. She could overhear the duo's excited voices from the Common Room as she walked, and she knew immediately that Hermione had agreed. Good for them. Now if I can only get to the Ball without Ron trying to murder my date, I think it'll be a wonderful time, Ginny thought to herself sarcastically, sleepily collapsing into her four-poster.
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Authoress' Note- Sorry I didn't continue until the actual ball, it just seemed much more appropriate to make it its own chapter, and clear all the "floater issues" out of the way in this chapter. For those of you who have actually read the manga this is based on, I'm sorry I didn't follow it exactly. I know that Hatsumi's sister doesn't actually get pregnant in the series. But it made for so much more of a fun plot twist this way. So I'm doing it my way. So sorry if that bugs. Anyway, people. Review! Let me know how I'm doing! And for those of you that haven't yet- ck out my website! http://www.geocities.com/meleana317
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