Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Tell me what you think!
Cheers! :D
o-o-o
The next time she saw him was when she walked into her engagement party, and she almost turned and walked right back out again. They'd been avoiding each other for the better part of a week - and she'd found it torture. She had wondered if not seeing him was worse than an actual confrontation, as his absent presence did nothing to halt the looped replay of those moments in the park. But as soon as she stepped through the door, saw him mingling with guests and shining in the way that only he could, she felt like she'd taken a blow to her stomach that sucked all her breath out - and knew that she would have been far wiser to stay away.
And perhaps she would have gotten away with no further harm done, if it wasn't for her mother and that blasted sixth sense that struck as soon as one of the Weasley children was within a 10-kilometer radius. Just as she turned to step back into the peaceful night, a hand grabbed her arm, pulled her into a motherly hug and tugged her into the crowd to talk to what seemed to be a million people at once. She went along, slightly weak from the combination of having seen Draco again and the relief that her family was taking her engagement so well.
Of course, she'd always been fairly certain that her mother would be fine with this new development - the famed Mrs Weasley had accepted Draco first as Harry's boyfriend (although she was more than slightly relieved when they broke up), and then as a valuable fighter for their side, and lastly as Ginny's friend. Add in the delight that her daughter, the one child that she'd despaired of ever getting married, was engaged to him - and Molly Weasley couldn't have been happier! Mr Weasley had likewise put aside his dislike of the Malfoy family long ago, and accepted Draco as his son-to-be happily.
Of course, not all of her family was taking it so well - while Bill and Charlie were fine with Draco, having never been subjected to him during his asshole Slytherin days, Fred, George and Ron were not accepting the situation so calmly. While they acknowledged that Draco had been an asset to their side during the war, had accepted him through Harry, and had upgraded him in their minds from `mortal enemy' to `okay ally', accepting him as family, through their Ginny, was quite another matter. The twins had come around grudgingly by the time of the party (although she suspected that it had taken a few lashes of Mrs Weasley's temper to achieve this), and had even promised not to play any pranks on Draco. Ron, on the other hand, was still sulking around and glowering at anyone who mentioned `that insufferable bastard' in relation to Ginny. He had come to the party, at the request of Ginny (and a good deal of pressure from Harry and Hermione), but wasn't happy about the newest development. But she was sure that she could bring him around, although it might take a few weeks for him to cool off.
She looked at Ron, her favourite brother, standing over by the punch bowel and realised that if looks could kill, Draco would be keeling over in a pool of blood. So, maybe it would take a bit longer.
Percy was absent, Ginny noticed with a sense of disappointment, but she hadn't really expected anything different. It had been many years since that terrible fight had caused the rift between him and the rest of the Weasley's, and the gap still hadn't been bridged. He was living, by all reports happily, with his wife Penelope and their two beautiful sons in London, having quit the Ministry to work in his wife's family company. Contrary to many expectations, he hadn't joined the Dark side in the war, but neither had he rejoined the Light - remaining neutral for his own unfathomable reasons, he'd managed to keep his family unharmed. Ginny had sent him an invitation to both the engagement party and wedding, hoping that the rift might finally be bridged, but it seemed like this was not to be.
Pushing aside wistful thoughts, she circled the room with her mother, smiling and greeting with what she hoped was a radiant bride-to-be glow, studiously avoiding Draco. This was made easier by the fact that he seemed quite willing to avoid her as well - ignoring the jab this brought to her chest, she thought happy thoughts and continued to mingle with her guests. The entire party had been organized through the joint efforts of Molly and Narcissa, who had formed an unlikely bond through the mutual desire to make this wedding perfect for their children. The room was beautifully decorated, with exquisite food laid out and a well-known band playing tastefully in the background. Forcing a smile that became more strained as the night wore on, she circulated, talking to everyone, amazed that no one picked up on the ever-growing tension present in her every movement and word. People, it seemed, only saw what they wanted to, and what they wanted to see was a radiant, cheerful, laughing bride-to-be that was the picture of happiness. Her nerves became increasingly taut as the minutes passed - people continually congratulated her, wished her well, complimented her, gave gifts, joked, smiled laughed huggedkissednudged- her world swirled around her in a kaleidoscope of colours, narrowing into blackness.
A large palm brushed down her back before sliding around her waist to pull her back against a hard chest. Pulled back from the edge of oblivion, she leaned against that solid wall behind her, slowing her breathing while vaguely registering Draco's deep voice rumbling through her. Making their excuses, he tugged her away from the crowd into a dark room off to the side before lowering her onto a chair, instructing her to breathe.
After a few minutes, her senses had returned fully, and she was aware of the chair edge pushing into her thighs, the darkness pressing into her eyes, soothing them, and the man standing by the window who had pulled her in. She took a deep breath, and decided that at the moment, she didn't feel up to the confrontation that she knew would emerge if they spoke. The analysing of what had occurred the other day, the stumbling explanations that she just didn't want to hear. Some other time perhaps, but not now. So she stood, keeping her eyes lowered, and silently headed towards the door. Before she could reach for the handle, however, he stopped her with a single word.
"Wait."
Unwillingly, she turned, as if pulled by an invisible string towards him. He stepped closer, but maintained a safe distance from her as if he was wary of sparking something off between them. Reaching out, he cupped her chin and gently forced her to look at him.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded dumbly, eyes darting towards the door. Being this close to him was bliss, but spiked with shards of agony for what could never be. What she wanted was to get away - but because the alternative to being here was going back to the party, she stayed.
His voice rumbled through her again, setting off mini explosions in her blood. "I was watching you out there - you kept getting paler and paler, until you looked like you were going to faint." He grabbed her here, shaking a little. "What's wrong? Are you sick? I can see you're not happy, or even passably all right." His gaze scanned her face, worry radiating from him. "Tell me, damn it."
His eyes sparked with silver fire as his temper simmered close to the surface. He didn't like her hurting, goddamn it, and wanted to get to the bottom of this so Ginny could go back to being her normal self. The memory of the kiss they'd shared the other day tugged at his mind, but he brushed it to one side. Just because he'd been completely blindsided by the passion sparked between them didn't mean she'd felt anything. She'd made it clear from the start that this was an arrangement between friends, just the way they'd planned it, and he wasn't going to do anything to mess that up. The best way to deal with the kiss was to ignore it, he'd decided through the night afterwards. He'd tossed and turned through it, unable to sleep because every time he shut his eyes memories flashed across his eyelids of how her lips had tasted, how her hair had wrapped around his hands, how her body had fitted to his perfectly-
He was going insane. Completely and utterly bonkers. Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, he saw Ginny's eyes glistening up at him as she tried to blunder her way out of admitting what was causing the pain he saw emanating from her. He wasn't buying any of her excuses for a second, of course. He'd told her part of the truth when he said he'd been watching her. The real story would have included the words `obsessing' `like' and `crazy'. He'd known the instant she'd stepped into the room, just as he'd felt her gaze land on him like a blow to the solar plexus. He'd composed his features to reveal nothing, of course - his father's lessons had paid off after all - but he'd sensed her every movement as she circled through the crowd. And because of this, he'd noticed when her smile became more forced than real, and when the colour began to drain from her face until she was sheet-white. In an effort to remain composed, he'd deliberately stayed on the other side of the room, but when she'd begun to sway on her feet, looking as if her world was collapsing inwards, he cut away from his conversation and moved to get her out of there.
As far as he could tell, no one else had any inkling of the real story behind the `blissful engagement' - while he'd noticed Ginny's strain, and certainly knew of his own, everyone else seemed content to float along seeing nothing out of the ordinary. To be fair, the only reason he noticed was because when it came to her, he noticed everything.
Of course, he reasoned, any good friend would do the same.
He dragged himself out of her eyes with an effort, but found himself drawn to her lips that beckoned so softly. Hoarse, he cleared his throat and was about to continue in his line of questioning, when a head popped around the door.
Harry bloody Potter. He'd always had the worst sense of timing Draco had ever seen, but this particular misjudgement almost got him hexed into the middle of next week. Only a deep (very deep, hidden and buried) affection that Draco still held for the prat saved him. Baring his teeth in a parody of a smile, he asked the idiot (rather civilly, he thought) if he would mind leaving them for a few minutes (or hours). Grinning inanely, Harry answered - with far too much cheer, in Draco's opinion - that everyone was looking for the happy couple so the toasts could begin.
Gritting his teeth, he nodded curtly and slid his arm around Ginny's waist to lead her out so they could fulfil their duties as the `happy couple', as Potter had put it. He refused to look in her eyes, knowing that if he did he'd be pulled back into her softness, and determinedly headed back into the melee.
She blinked as they emerged into the light and the noise, where everyone around them burst into applause as soon as they were sighted. From the wolf-whistles and good-natured laughter directed towards them, she gathered that it was generally believed that they'd suck off to be alone for a moment of snogging. Ha, she wished. Apart from a small interrogation, and glaring at her in silence for a while, he'd shown no reaction to their kiss in the park. He hadn't even mentioned it. Well, she decided as she was tugged towards the stage set up at the front, if he wanted to pretend it had never happened then that was what they would do. After all, hadn't she already decided that it was best to ignore it? Hadn't she played the moments in the park over and over in her head and repeatedly come to the same conclusion - while she felt as if she'd taken a blow to the head with a blunt instrument whenever Draco came near, he suffered from no such affliction. They were friends, and she was damned if she was going to muck it up because of some rogue hormones.
They came to a stop in the middle of the stage and stood, arms around each other, beaming out at the crowd - the epitome of love, she thought bitterly. Her father stepped forwards to lead the toasts, on behalf of both families.
He spoke of children, of skinned knees, first days of school and unconditional love. Of growing up - the uncertainty, the pain, and the glory that came as part and parcel of becoming an adult. Of trials and triumphs, family, friends - and love. And, lastly, of letting a child go so they can be their own person, of passing the responsibility and caring onto a new generation. He turned and looked at them, tears glistening in his eyes as he bid them to look after each other, to cherish, to support - and to love, into eternity.
"To Draco and Ginny."
The resounding cheer echoed around the room, as the people who were so dear to both of them repeated the pledge of love and joy. Her eyes misted over at the sheer beauty of the moment, and turning to look at Draco, she saw a similar affliction had taken over him.
He smiled down at her, any irritations from before forgotten, as the room fell silent around them. Dimly, she realised that everyone was waiting for them to consummate this time-honoured ritual by sharing a kiss, but was too numbed by the pleasure seeping through her veins to do anything about it. Slowly, his face drew closer until his lips brushed hers in a feather light caress.
Closing her eyes, she savoured the poignancy of the moment. Maybe he didn't love her, maybe they would remain nothing more than friends for the rest of their lives. But this - this, she had. This one moment in time where his lips moved gently over hers, his light stubble rasping and his hand burning hot through the back of her dress. This… this was heaven.
After a moment, applause rang through the room, cueing a separation of mouths. Shaken, they drew away, eyes skittering, hands fluttering. Slipping his arm around her once more, they turned to laugh with their audience before slipping back into the crowd to bid guests farewell.
Later, after the last guest had departed, she stepped over a streamer that had come down from the roof to grab some cake from the refreshment table. In all the `excitement' she hadn't had a chance to eat anything, and was starving. A glass of punch was pressed into her hand, and she looked up to see Draco grinning down at her.
"Hungry?" he enquired, eyes sparking with amusement.
She grinned, swallowed her cake and gulped some punch before answering. "Ravenous. You?"
He held up a slice of pie and glass of punch that he'd nabbed for himself, and they shared a smile. This was how their friendship was supposed to be - easy and relaxed, with none of the strain that had been present ever since that day he'd proposed. There was still an underlying tension present, of course, humming beneath the surface, but this was more normal than it had been for a long while. This wedding was putting strain on their friendship, but she wasn't going to back out of if now - they would find some way to make it work. They had to.
Finishing off their respective snacks, they wove through the caterers and cleaners who were packing up the splendour, to make their way out the door into the calm night. Declining his offer to take her home, she produced her wand and made ready to apparate back to her flat. Hesitating, she turned back to him and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, like she used to before this whole mess started, before whispering goodnight and apparating home.
He stood, a half-smile tugging at his lips, raising a hand to his cheek. Then he, too, took out his wand and apparated to his home. No need to follow through on anything else right now - there was time enough to talk things over later.
o-o-o
So, did you all like this instalment? Let me know… :)
Cheers,
Jenny :D
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