At long last! An update! I'm so sorry it took so long, but thanks to everyone for being SO patient! I really needed the time I had, and after writing bits and pieces here and there I finally have a full update. It's all Draco/Ginny, but don't worry I won't take over a month to update again. This past month was just horrible! But it's over now and I'm excited about the story again. I hope you enjoy this long awaited update!
Chapter 12
"Okay Ginny, we're leaving you to lock up," Fred said as George anxiously waited beside him.
"Fred, we need to go," George pressed as he tugged on his arm.
"Make sure all the magical alarms are activated," he continued. "We wouldn't be leaving you if it wasn't an emergency."
Unfortunately, some kid at their brand new New York store, decided it would be funny to let off their famous fireworks inside the store. The manager and the employers had tried to contain it but it had been too much, so in the end the manager had to emergency apparrate to Fred and George.
"Fred, I know what I'm doing…go on, I'll be fine."
"I can't believe some punk kid let off one of our fireworks in the store," Fred complained.
"Well, he did…now come on!"
"Go straight to the Leaky Cauldron and floo home," they both said at the same time right before they disapparrated.
Ginny sighed as she shook her head. "What do they think I am? An idiot?"
By the time she had finished all the chores of locking up, it had already gotten pretty late. Diagon Alley was almost deserted, except a few employees leaving work here and there. Now, she was walking down the pebbled street, but stopped in front of Hermione's new bookstore just like she always did.
Above the shop had the title, "Books and Cleverness," written on it, but on the door was a sign that read, "Coming Soon." Light was still coming from in the store so she walked closer to the window and then stopped when she saw Harry and Hermione sitting on the floor with books scattered all around them.
A roll of parchment was floating in the air with a magical quill that was moving on its own. He saw Harry read the front of the cover to the parchment, then threw it up in the air and the book flew to a random spot on the shelf. She had imagined that the roll of parchment was a list of her inventory so she would know what books she had and how many. She had no doubt that it was Hermione that had come up with that clever system, she had always seemed like she could do no wrong in Ginny's eyes.
Although the chore they were doing looked absolutey boring, it seemed like they were having a good time. In between books they were talking to each other, both of them smiling and laughing. The sight made her sigh with envy, but she made herself not think about regrets or what could have been. She was too smart for that.
She stepped back away from the store and continued on down the street which was now completely deserted. She wasn't scared though, it wasn't like how it used to be. People could didn't have to be frightened all the time thanks to Harry.
Ginny was so sure of her safety she didn't even walk with caution like she and everyone else was so use to doing during the war. Her mind started to wander off about Harry and all the things they shared together in the past, that she didn't hear anyone come up behind her. The shove from behind was so unexpected, she wasn't even unable to get her balance and she went straight to the floor.
She gasped as she spun around to see three wizards looming over her all with evil sneers on their faces. She tried to reach for her wand that had fell onto the ground but one of her attackers kicked it away while another one grabbed her and tugged her on her feet.
"Let me go," she said struggling against him.
"Look here, boys, we got a feisty one."
Ginny glared at the dark headed wizard standing before him. "Let me go or else I'll…"
The man laughed at her. "Or else what? Do you see anyone around? No one around for miles, sweetheart. Thanks to the great Harry Potter, everyone has their guard down and so guys like us can get away with so much."
His two other companions snickered as they dragged her off into one of the alley's while the wizard that was obviously the leader of the group followed them in.
What were they going to do to her? Were they going to kill her? Or worse…touch her? She strugged with all that she had but they were too strong for her. Pain ripped through her when they slammed her against the brick wall. She screamed as loud as she could, but it didn't last long because the immediately put a silencing charm on her.
Hands were on her. Big rough sweaty hands were pawing at her, ripping her clothes. She tried to struggle and fight, but they were too strong. She wanted to sob and beg for them to stop, but she didn't want to give them the satisfaction. If this was her fate then she wasn't about to make it easy on them. She even managed to free her hands long enough to run her nails down one of their faces.
It was all too much. She wanted to keep fighting but they were too persistent and she felt her body begin to weaken. She knew that soon they would do a lot more than paw and bruise her skin and it was then that she felt a hand on her thigh. She flinched and tried to keep her legs together as she cried a soundless scream.
The next second was a blur for her, she didn't know what exactly happened, but she one second hands were everywhere the next they stopped and the bodies of her attackers were flown off of her. Her knees had buckled and she slid to the cold concrete ground as she trembled in shock as a men in cloaks fought around her.
She looked up long enough to see that their was a fourth man who seemed to be attacking her attackers. She didn't know who it was, but she was gratefull. She buried her head in her folded knees as she closed her eyes tight, not wanting to watch what was around her. She started to sob slowly, praying that she was home safe at the Burrow with her family, that all of this was just a bad, bad dream.
She gasped when she felt a hand on her arm and flinched away from the unwanted contact.
"Easy, Red," a warm voice said softly in her ear. "It's just me."
Ginny looked up and through her blurred vision she was able to make out a familiar face. "Draco?"
"Yeah, everything's okay now, Ginny," he said as he cupped the sighed of her face. "They're gone."
"Oh, Draco," she cried as she flung herself at him, clinging to him for dear life. "I was so scared."
"Shh, shh," he whispered as he shrugged off his cloak while she still held on to him. "Let's put this on to cover you up." He flung it around her back then leaned back a bit, making sure to keep his eyes level with hers as he wrapped his cloak around her front which was exposed from her ripped blouse.
"Thanks," she said sniffling as she held it tightly over him. "I need to…"
"Woah, easy now," he said when Ginny tried to get up. "They banged you up pretty bad. Let me take you home."
"No," she said shaking her head. "I don't want my parents to see me like this. I just need a second to calm my nerves and everything."
"All right," he said and then pulled her back into his arms. "Hang on tight, okay?"
She nodded as she closed her eyes tight and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Next thing she knew, she was in a small room filled with warmth from a nearby crackling fire. She let him ease her on a dark green leather couch and closed her eyes when Draco trailed a hand down her hair. "Where are we?"
"At my house," he said as he continued to stroke her firey hair. "Just relax and take all the time you need. I'm going to get Milly and have her tend to your wounds."
"Milly?" she asked looking up at him now when he stood.
"One of my house elves. One of her former masters was a Healer and she learned a lot from him. You just relax, okay?"
She nodded, but when he started to walk away she reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Thank you, Draco. For being at the right place at the right time."
He gave her a little smile and then kissed her hand. "I aim to please." He then gave her a wink and squeezed his hand. "Stretch out on the sofa and rest your eyes."
Twenty minutes later, after a quick one over with Milly, her bruises and cuts were gone and the pain ebbed away. Her nerves were far from gone. "I can't seem to stop shaking," she said as Draco sat next to her on the couch.
"Just take deep breaths," he said holding out a glass of amber liquid. "Take a few sips of this. It will calm you."
Ginny took the glass from him and sipped it from her trembling lips. The liquid was like fire going down her throat and into her belly, but she noticed that it did help with her nerves. "It's rather strong," she said taking another sip.
"My mum has always stocked the stuff," Draco said putting the glass aside when she was finished. "Living with my dad for as long as she did, I guess I don't blame her."
"I'm sorry about your mum," Ginny said quietly. "For both of your parents."
"Don't feel sorry about my dad," he said shaking his head. "He knew what he was getting into, my Mum was kind of caught in the middle."
"Were you close to your mum?"
"Well, she did spoil me," he said with a small smile. "I guess she knew the influence my dad would have on me, so she enjoyed the times when I was a child the most. I cared for her of course, I never wanted to see her hurt, and especially killed, but…what are you going to do when your husband is a follower of the Dark Lord. You never know what's going to happen."
Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but Draco shook his head. "That enough of that. How are you feeling?"
"Better," she said with a smile. "Milly is remarkable."
"What were you doing out that late by yourself?" Draco asked all of the sudden. "I know the world is a lot safer thanks to Harry, but evil is still out there, Ginny."
"I know that," she said firmly. "It wasn't planned, the twins had an emergency and they told me to go straight to the Leaky Cauldron to floo home. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Look, I turn seventeen in a few weeks, I'll be able to apparrate then. This was all just a stupid mistake."
"A stupid mistake that could have gotten you seriously hurt," Draco said softly as he touched her face. "I heard you scream. It was like a loud piercing scream that was all of the sudden shut off. I figured the silencing spell was involved. I ran as fast as I could. I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner. If I knew it was you I would have found a way to fly if that meant getting to you sooner. I couldn't apparrate because I didn't know exactly where you were and…"
"Draco," Ginny said cutting off his ramblings as she touched his arm. "You were there. That's all that matters."
She kept finding ways to touch him and he really wished she would stop. Her touch was gentle and if he let his guard down…very addicting. The way she clung to him like he was her lifeline was something he would never forget. For the first time, he was her hero…not Harry Potter. The fact that the idea pleased him was not a good sign. "Er…you better head home. Your parents will be worried."
"I'm in no hurry," she said scooted closer to him. "We have clock at home that points to where we are. I have no doubt that it's pointing to, 'Away, but safe.' They know I'm fine."
"I see," he said as he tried to lean away, but she just seemed to fill the gap. "Would you like to lie down or…"
"Luna thinks I should sleep with you."
"Maybe you can….sorry, what was that?" he asked as he shook his head slightly. Surely he didn't hear that right.
"Luna thinks I should have sex with you," she said as she tilted her head to study him. His eyes were wide and she could tell he was starting to sweat. That was a good sign. "I've been thinking about it."
"Oh…really now." Draco forced himself to swallow the enormous lump that had lodged up in his throat. "Why exactly?"
"Luna thinks it will be good for me," she said with a shrug. "Something to help me to get over Harry. I think she may be right."
Draco did not like that reason at all. "I see. So, you would use me to get over, Potter?"
"I wouldn't put it that way."
"And how would you put it?"
"I would be using you if I wanted to sleep with you only to make Harry jealous." She shook her head slowly as her eyes flickered to her lips. "That's not the case. I want to get over him. I know he doesn't feel that way about me."
"So I would be something on the side to help you get over him," he said as his head shifted closer to her.
"Something like that," she murmured. "Haven't you ever thought about being with me that way?"
Way too many times to count. "Maybe…but that doesn't make it right."
Ginny blinked up at him as he got up from the couch and stared at the fire. "Right?" she asked follwing right behind him. "What's wrong about it?"
"You're just a kid," he mumbled as he closed his eyes.
"Just a kid?" She grabbed his arm and wirled him around to face her. "I am not a kid, I'll have you know that I'm not a virgin."
"What you and Potter did is none of my damn business," he said roughly as the horrible image already flashed through his mind.
"I didn't sleep with, Harry," she said with her hands on her hips. "Not that it's any of your business, but I never felt comfortable going that far with, Harry. I went down that road with Dean and I regretted it immediately, it was the downfall of our relationship."
"So now all of the sudden you want to tear up the sheets with me?" he asked as he took a step closer to her. "You don't even know me."
"I want to have an affair, not a relationship," she shot back glaring at him. "I don't need to know you." She then gave a little shrug and flipped her hair back. "But if you're scared that I'll compare your kisses to Harry, I would understand. He was a fantastic kisser."
Draco scowled. "Careful, Red."
She rolled her eyes. "Please," she muttered as she let out a laugh. "You're too much of a chicken anyway to take a chance on me, just because I use to be Harrmmmpfff…"
Draco didn't let her finish saying his name, he didn't want to hear it again coming from her lips. So he proved her wrong by trapping her face with his hands and crushed his mouth roughly against hers. She let out a shocking high pitch noise against the back of her throat, but then moaned when he pried his tonge between the seams of her lips and plundered.
Draco slipped an arm down and around her waist, sweeping her up against him as he possessed her mouth greedily, seeking his tongue along hers over and over again. His other hand gripped her hair as the taste of her started to consume him entirely to the point of where he was on the brink of losing control. The feel of her warm soft body against hers was maddening and the way she responded so easily to him was bloody fantastic.
It was awhile by the time Draco finally pulled away from her, knowing that sooner or later both of them had to
breathe. Ginny's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him in a dreamy gaze.
"Wow," she whispered with a slight smile. "Harry who?"
Draco couldn't help but smile at that. "Good answer," he said lifting a hand to brush back her hair. He then kissed her again, but this time more softly and slowly, as he took his time with it.
Ginny's heart was hammering and her whole body felt like it was on fire. No kiss had ever made her feel the way Draco did. He was exciting and so wonderfully dangerous that any girl would be lucky to be where she was tonight. In his arms enjoying his slow leisurely kisses. "Mmm…Draco."
He nibbled down her neck as he told himself to get under control. He wanted nothing more than to pull her down on the couch and do indescribable things to her. Unfortunatley, the timing was horrible. "Ginny?" he said as he rain his kisses back up her neck.
"Yes?" she whispered as she tilted her neck giving him better access.
He kissed her one last time before pulling away completely from her and shoved his hands in his pockets where he knew they were safe. "You better head home. It's getting late."
Ginny stared at him completely confused. "You want me to leave?"
"No, you don't want to know what I would like to do to you right now," he said in amost a groan. "But it's late and hardly the time." He then gave her a cocky grin. "Besides, I think I did my job well enough tonight. When you lie in bed it won't be Harry you'll think of."
Ginny's jaw dropped. "Oh, you're sure of that?" she asked with a harsh laugh. "You think you can just kiss me and poof, my old feelings for Harry are gone?"
Draco didn't like the thought of Ginny still having any feelings for Harry. He reached out and cupped the back of her neck, pulled her roughly against his chest and swooped down for a long hard kiss that left them both trembling for more. "Red, " he breathed against her lips. "I don't think…I know."
Later that night, when Ginny was lying awake in bed she was cursing Draco Malfoy's existence. Unfortunately, she soon realized she had been so busy being angry with Draco, she didn't give Harry Potter any thought.