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Authors: Elizabeth and Katie, or Katie and Elizabeth. It's a free country
Chapter 2: No Time to Burn
Ginny woke the next morning and immediately decided that her "escapade" last night had simply been a dream. A good dream, but a dream nevertheless. She yawned from lack of sleep and threw on a pair of genes and a Gryffindor "House Cup `04" shirt. She walked downstairs, hoping to meet up with a few of her friends to go to breakfast with. She found Hermione and Ron downstairs about to leave.
"Wait up!" she called. They stopped and waited for her to catch up. "Good morning!" she said
"Morning!" said Hermione brightly.
"Mmfh." Grunted Ron. He was not a morning person. Hermione had to grab him by the shoulders to stop him from walking into the wall, not out the portrait hole.
"Where's Harry?" asked Ginny, noticing the notorious trio was only a duo.
"Dunno. He nev-" Just then Ron yawned and Hermione took up the story.
"Ron says he never came back to the dormitory last night." She said, "I swear, that Junior Auror training is going to kill him." She looked concerned.
"Funny, I thought Auror training was supposed to prevent just that." Ginny noted. Hermione just sighed and they continued walking.
As they entered the Great Hall, Ginny's heart sank as she noticed two things that proved she had NOT been dreaming the night before: Draco Malfoy was looking at her in a very strange way, then looked away when he saw her looking, and Felonrod was sitting up on the teachers table having what seemed to be a lovely chat with Dumbledore. Great, she thought, so that means that Malfoy will likely take the mickey out of me for being in the Slytherin Common Room last night.
She ate a quick breakfast, feeling Draco's eyes on her the whole meal. Secretly, she was very pleased.
She had decided to go to pitch a bit earlier then Quidditch practice started because she wanted to try out a new move she had made up. She said a brief goodbye to Hermione and Ron and grabbed her broom. She put on some green sports shorts and a white t-shirt and mounted her broom.
As soon as she took off, she felt her thoughts about Draco melt away. She was in the air, the best place to be. She did some twirls and then started shooting some goals with the quaffle she "borrowed" from Madam Hooch.
However, her thoughts about Draco quickly resurfaced as she saw him walking on to the pitch in a tight-fitting green underarmor shirt and black shorts. He looks good thought Ginny, and then banished the thought immediately. She flew down to see him and tell him that she had gotten here first and that he needed to clear off. She landed on the ground in front of him.
"Draco I got here-" she began
"Yes Weasley, I know you did, I don't intend of kicking you off." He said, in a lofty voice.
"HAH! As if you could." She replied looking at him straight in the eye. Bad idea. When she met his sapphire/grey eyes, she knew she would let him kick her off anytime. NO!! her mind thought You're a Weasley! He's a Malfoy! Half of her mind thought, but the other half said Yeah, but God, look at him in that shirt... She was woken from her metal battle when she heard Draco talking.
"What?" she said, not having heard him. He chuckled.
"I said, Weasley, I have a proposition for you."
"And what kind of proposition, may I so boldly ask, might you have for me?" Ginny asked, cocking her head. "And what reason do I have that I would possibly accept?"
Draco smiled slyly. "Oh, but this proposition is of great interest to you, Weasley." His smile broadened. "Just from our little talk last night, I can tell that it will interest you quite a bit."
"Oh, yeah? You think so?" sassed Ginny. "Try me."
Draco began his habit of taking a step closer every time he talked to Ginny, but before he could begin to talk, Harry rushed out onto the Quidditch Pitch.
"Get away from her, Malfoy!" he snapped. "Ginny has no need to talk to the likes of you!"
Draco laughed heartily. Ordinarily, I would have thought Harry extremely brave… but, for some reason, I don't feel that way now….
"Harry, it's ok. He wasn't doing anything, honest." Why am I so willing to stick up for him all of a sudden? His father's a Death Eater, for Godric's sake.
Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he stopped short of the two of them, looking stunned. Then he shook his head and returned from his reverie. "Well, in any case," he continued, "I happen to know for a fact that Ginny was here first, Malfory. And even if she weren't, I booked the pitch for Gryffinor today. You're going to have to leave."
"Bah! Are you attempting to boss me around, Potter?" Draco spat (literally). "Well, no matter," he added, with a quick glance at Ginny that almost made her blush. She never blushed. "I was just about to leave you to your pointless practice, anyway." He turned to Ginny now. "Good luck in the match against Slytherin next week, Weasley. You're gonna need it." Ginny was annoyed to realize that he had lapsed back into his old, condescending way of talking, but as he said these words, he held out his right hand, as though to shake her hand.
How strange, she thought. Can't say he's ever done this before… she mused. Nevertheless, she held out her right hand too, a confused look on her face. (Needless to say that Harry stood about ten paces away, utterly flabbergasted).
As Ginny's palm touched Draco's to shake, she was suddenly filled with a strange warmth and tingling, as though everything hope and dream she had had over the past several months had just come true. Draco's pale hand was warm and soft in hers. She could feel his palm in hers… but she could also feel something else. She looked up, meeting Draco's eyes, and he nodded quickly and inconspicuously.
As their hands parted, she nonchalantly slid the small, folded piece of paper from Draco's palm into her own, and casually tucked it in her pocket. She couldn't very well read it now. "See you at the game, Malfoy," she said, rather shakily. He nodded at her once, his large eyes boring into her, and then he turned and walked away, emerald quidditch robes flapping in the breeze behind him.
Again, Harry was forced to shake himself out of his shock. "What was that bloody about?" he inquired as soon as he had regained his senses. He glanced at Ginny. "Why, Ginny! You look flushed! Are you alright? Do you want me to get Ron?"
Now it was Ginny's turn to shake herself from her odd thoughts. She turned to Harry. "No, no… I'm fine, really. I just… I'm a bit warm is all." I have to find out what this note says… she thought to herself. "I think I'm just going to go rest for a bit before practice, Harry. I'll be back in about an hour. In plenty of time for practice, I promise."
And with that, she turned and walked as fast as she could without looking conspicuous towards the Gryffindor dormitory. She had her hand in her pocket the entire way.
She burst into the common room after gasping the password to The Fat Lady ("Metal Debate Malfroy") and ran up the stairs to her room. Felonrod was sitting on her bed.
<Good afternoon, Ginny> he said. <I would like you to meet my lady friend, Roguestaff. She too is visiting from America.>
Ginny noticed the other cat for the first time. It was a handsome cat, mostly gray in color. "Hello Roguestaff, nice to meet you!" she said hurriedly, but not rudely, as she started to open the note from Draco, her hands shaking slightly.
<What have you got there?> asked Roguestaff in a teasing voice. <A love letter, perhaps?> Ginny scowled at her and began to read.
"Ginny", it read, "I'm afraid our time at the pitch was cut short by Potter (Ginny could almost HEAR him spitting out the name) but I still need to consult with you about my little proposition, among other things. Perhaps you could grace me with your presence at the astronomy tower at midnight tonight? Tell no one. Until then, Malfoy…Draco Malfoy"
Ginny felt a shiver run down her back at the thought of meeting Malfoy alone. Should she go? What if she got caught? What if Ron or Hermione went about their rounds and found her with Draco! But then she remembered how he had looked in his underarmor shirt and her resolve stiffened. She would go tonight, but she would be prepared for any sort of Malfoy's little tricks.
What Ginny didn't know, was that Malfoy was thinking of almost the same thing. I must be crazy he thought as he sat in a rather uncomfortable armchair in his common room. If I'm cause with a Weasley, my reputation as a badass mugglehater will be in tatters. Maybe I can bail and save myself. But then he thought of how Ginny's hair had sparkled in the sunlight at the pitch today and he stowed away his cowardice. He would show up tonight, but he would be prepared for Ginny to try and get him into trouble.
Ginny fretted for a long time about what to wear. What the bloody hell is wrong with me, she thought. Normally she would just throw on whatever shirt she felt like and some jeans and was off.
<Well then, my dear, why don't you do the same tonight?> said Roguestaff from behind her. Ginny turned and stared.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" she said, astounded.
But Rogue staff just cat-smiled and walked off with Felonrod with her tail swishing about.
In the end, Ginny took the feline's advice and put on a dark green T-shirt with the words "Dumbledore's Army" written in faded gold lettering on the front. She had borrowed it from her brother Ron. Well…borrowed without the intent of returning it. Anyways, it was much too small for him anyways. After a few rounds of chess with her brother (she wore a sweatshirt) and some dinner, she retired to her room.
Then, she could only wait in anxiousness. She twiddled her thumbs and tried to remember the words to a song she had just recently heard on the radio, to take her mind off of the time. She could take it no longer. She looked at the clock. It read 10:05. Merlin's beard she thought, I'll never make it.
Draco was in much the same state of mind. He had managed to rid himself of Crabbe and Goyle by telling them to do his Arithmetic homework. They would be occupied for hours and hours. He wore a black buttoned down shirt and jeans. Although he had not fretted for so long as Ginny and he had no mind reading cat to help him, he still had some doubts of what to wear. He looked at the clock against his will for what felt like the 600th time. 10:15. Slytherin's bone he thought I'll never make it.
Ten minutes till midnight, thought Ginny. I should get going… but why, oh WHY, am I even meeting him in the first place? He's evil-pure-blood dag-nasty evil!
Nevertheless, she silently crept out of bed, being extra careful not to wake any of her roommates up. She slipped on a pair of scarlet slippers, which she knew would be much more quite than her normal shoes, and, for the second night in a row, snuck down the stairs and out of the common room. This time, though, Felonrod did not follow.
It was hard to find her way in the utter blackness of the hallways. She wished that she had had Harry's invisibility cloak, but she couldn't very well have asked him to borrow it and tell him that she merely wanted to sneak out of Gryffindor tower and meet Malfoy at midnight. Somehow, she just didn't think that he would take that well.
She continued tiptoeing down the hall, her left hand in her pocket, clutching Draco's note tightly. Her heart beat faster with every step she took.
Finally, she reached the stairway to the astronomy tower. She climbed them, one at a time, very slowly, wary of any teachers that Draco might have "warned" that she would be out of bed that night. She was stunned that she saw no one. She opened the door at the top of the stairs with a soft creak.
Draco was standing at the railing of the tower, facing the Forbidden Forest. His emerald green cloak fluttered in the soft breeze. He grasped the railing with both hands, turning his knuckles even whiter than normal. The moonlight highlighted his golden hair with lines of silver. With the sound of the door opening, though, he turned, lightning-fast, towards her, wand arm outstretched.
Ginny, who was understandably startled, took a jump backwards, but as soon as Draco recognized her, his face relaxed, and he tucked his wand back up his sleeve. He seems to be quite handy with that… nice reflexes… thought Ginny briefly, before realizing to whom she was referring.
"Weasley," Draco mused. "I'm actually quite surprised that you accepted my invitation and decided to join me." Ginny was surprised by his amused voice, but then he quickly added, "I didn't think you would have nearly enough guts to join me."
Ginny gave him a sly look and a cold chuckle. "Well, Draco, there seem to be a great many things that you might not know about me, now wouldn't there?"
Draco shrugged, and beckoned to her. "Come here," he called, and sat down with his back against the wall of the tower. He patted the ground next to him… very close next to him…
Ginny walked slowly and somewhat uncomfortably over to him, and slid down next to him. The large, round stones that made up the tower were unbelievably cold, and she gave an unavoidable shiver.
Picking up this movement with his keen senses, Draco quickly whipped of his thick cloak and wrapped it around Ginny in one swipe. "Here, wouldn't want you to catch cold up here tonight on account of me," Draco said in a caring, quite uncharacteristic voice.
Ginny quickly realized that this dark green cloak was lined in velvet, and it felt lovely as she pulled it up under her chin, holding it in place with both hands. "Thank you," she mumbled. Draco smiled.
Ginny had never seen Draco smile like that before. It wasn't a malicious smile. It wasn't a facetious smile. It wasn't a smile that caused someone any pain. It was a kind smile. A pleased smile. And it made Ginny pleased to see him pleased.
"Now, Weasley," said Draco, clearing his throat, as though shaking off his previous behavior. He slid a bit closer to Ginny, and she could feel his warmth. "About this proposition."
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