Author's Notes: Many thanks and much gratitude for the wonderful reviews everyone left! I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to them all. In my holiday time crunch, I decided to finish this chapter instead. I hope that's okay.
And now our story continues … -fallenwitch
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Chapter 3
Hullo Up There, Beautiful
"Oi, Ginny. Hullo up there, beautiful!"
Ginny waved and smiled at Tom Fitzgerald from her seat in the stands. Tom beamed back, hopped on his broom, and took off for the pitch.
Two hours into the game, Draco's team lost their second Chaser of the game. This one from a well placed Bludger to the shoulder, knocking Otis McMillan off his broom and out of the game after he landed with a hard knock to the head. They were now down two players and called a time out to reassess their situation. Their last Chaser wasn't worth a damn. Should they turn one of their Beaters into a Chaser and take their lives into their own hands or forfeit the game? In the middle of their usual bickering and arguing and pigheaded behavior, Zabini spoke.
"Why the didn't I think of it before?" Blaise pointed at Ginny sitting in the stands. "Ginny Weasley is a hell of a Chaser. Let's get her to substitute."
"No." Draco put his foot down with such vehemence that Blaise turned a surprised eye at him.
"Why not?"
"Because she's in no shape to play, that's why." He wasn't about to let Ginny take to the pitch in her weakened condition with a bunch of rowdy amateurs, knocking and bumping players off right and left.
"Bollocks! She looks great." Blaise mounted his broom and took off for Ginny. All eyes, including Draco's, were focused on Blaise as he landed next to Ginny. She wouldn't be foolish enough to agree to play, would she?
Minutes later, to Draco's horror, Ginny hopped on the back of Blaise's broom, wrapped her arms around his waist and came flying down to the field.
"Yes!" Blaise announced triumphantly, with one fist in the air. They were greeted with a roaring cheer. Draco nearly fell out of his robes. Ginny jumped off Blaise's broom, smiling.
"No, absolutely not." Draco stormed over to Ginny and grabbed her roughly by the arm. "No, Ginny. You're in no condition to take to the pitch." He was furious, raging at her. She shrank back, visibly shaken.
Before she could speak, Blaise pulled Draco off of her. "Calm down, mate. She said she'd play. Let's give it a go. We can always call if off if it doesn't work out." Blaise looked over at Ginny staring wide-eyed at Draco. Then he knocked Draco in the chest, pushing him back. "Come on Ginny. Let's get you to the locker room where we've got an extra set of gear and robes. Ignore that git."
Blaise threw his arm around Ginny's shoulders and ushered her off the field while she looked back at Draco, staring at her every step of the way, incensed.
"Blaise, I don't think I should play."
"Look, don't worry about Draco. I'll take care of him." He stopped and took her face into both of his hands, forcing her to break eye contact with Draco. "Ginny, you're a fantastic Chaser. We've got nobody like you out there. Come on. It'll be a riot."
As soon as Ginny walked out of the locker room, Blaise put her on his broom and sent her off. Then he took a second broom and followed her closely. He wasn't about to let Draco near her before play restarted.
"Don't look at him, Ginny. Trust me." Blaise was right beside Ginny, urging her on. Then the whistle blew and thirteen brooms took off in all directions flying furiously over the pitch, including the thirteenth flyer with her eyes on the Quaffle and the goal posts.
An hour later, Draco's gloved hand captured that sadistic bint of a Snitch, ending the precarious play with a whistle and a narrow win. All the brooms collapsed onto the field in a flutter, players shaking hands and walking off the field. When Ginny's broom landed, Blaise rushed up to her, grabbed her, and flung her around.
"Bloody brilliant, Weasley! Brilliant!"
Draco came running across the field in a panic at the sight of Blaise manhandling Ginny. She was pounding on his back, trying to get him to put her aching body down.
"Goddamn it, Zabini, put the bloody witch down before she throws up." Blaise stopped, threw Ginny on her feet, and gave her an enormous hug.
When he let go, she went deathly pale, wobbled a bit, and collapsed in a dead faint on the field. Draco shoved Blaise out of his way and dropped to his knees beside the fallen witch. Shit. No, he didn't have time to strangle Blaise. He'd take care of that later. Draco hoisted a pale and limp Ginny into his arms and Disapparated them home as a second, equally concerned wizard looked on.
Draco laid Ginny on her bed, pulled off her boots and restrictive gear, and sat his furious arse down by her bedside, waiting for her to wake up so he could kill her. What the hell was she thinking?
She was pale and fragile looking, almost drowning in the overly large gear Blaise had thrown on her. Draco took off his gloves and tapped his fingers impatiently on his arm guard, trying to decide which one he was going to murder first. Minutes later she stirred and opened her eyes, disoriented.
"Draco?" He could hear the panic in her voice.
"I'm here, Ginny. It's okay. We're home now. Just relax." She turned at the sound of his voice, her dark eyes locking with his. He leaned over and brushed his hand reassuringly over her forehead and down the side of her face. She nodded and closed her eyes, her body relaxing, right down to the tips of her toes.
No, he didn't kill her. He wanted to throttle her, but he didn't do that either. Instead, he satisfied himself with the enormous relief that overwhelmed him when she looked at him, remarkably intact once again.
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"That's it for now, Weasley." Draco took the empty bowl of broth out of her disappointed hands and placed it back on the table by her bedside. "And don't look at me like that, either." He could feel her eyes boring a hole into the side of his face as he readied her potions. Hadn't they been over this a million times already? Merlin.
"Here." He gave her the first of three potions, getting increasingly nasty as they went on. "Just drink it." And she did. She did any goddamn thing he told her to do. She even drank that third potion, which seemed like it was killing her as it went down, making her gag and cough and almost retch with steam coming out of every orifice, but she took it without complaint.
Draco recorded everything on the parchment he kept by her bedside. Then he sat down, stretched his long legs out, and began formulating a plan to get rid of her. He would resuscitate whatever part of her still existed, dress her up, and marry her off to the first willing and able wizard. Goodbye and good riddance to the crimson ball and chain around his precious neck.
Minutes later when he looked up, she was asleep again. He reached over and touched her sunken face with its faded freckles before brushing aside a stray strand of crimson silk. She was dying and vulnerable beyond belief. All thoughts of banishing her from his life stopped. Screw that kind of thinking. He needed her.
Draco watched as she tenuously hung on and worried the hell out of him. If he wasn't careful, he might prematurely rid himself of her and end everything for both of them. There would be no more arsing around, trying to scheme his way out of the goddamn miserable situation. She had him by the balls, and he would do well to concentrate all of his energy on saving her pathetic life form.
He refused to leave her side for the next two weeks. Instead, he sat there like a fucking house elf on duty, fussing over her and tending to her every need, real or imagined. Yes, he needed her.
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Draco was staring at Ginny from across the dining room table while he mauled his dinner, one jab at a time. Clouds of dark tension rolled in, filling the silent room to overflowing and stifling the pair. The occasional clinking of silverware on china and of glasses being put down grated on Draco's nerves. Why didn't they bloody well have it out and get it over with?
Of course she didn't look him in the eye. She didn't dare. Ginny could feel his unspoken fury blasting across the room. She had never displeased him before, not like this. It was a brief fainting spell, that's all, but he hadn't spoken a word to her since he left her room that afternoon. Merlin. An unexpected respite came in the form of loud banging on the front door.
"Supper? Don't bother. I know the way."
Blaise flung open the dining room door and strolled in, taken aback to see Ginny eating dinner with Draco. He had Draco's broom in one hand and a bottle of Firewhiskey in the other.
"Ginny," he said, pulling up a chair and throwing Draco's forgotten broom aside. It fell to the floor with a clatter. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" She nodded. "You scared the hell out of us. I was sent to bring Draco this peace offering." He plunked down the bottle of Firewhiskey in the middle of the table. "And also sent to see how you're doing. You played a bloody brilliant game. The boys want to know if you'll be up to playing again next weekend. You don't even have to bring the git along with you if you don't want to. I'll come and get you."
Draco, who had been staring at this obnoxious scene from across the table, put down his knife, rather than stabbing Zabini in the neck with it, and cleared his throat. Ginny looked up. Blaise didn't take his eyes off of Ginny. Draco shook his head at Ginny.
Ginny looked back at Blaise and shook her head.
"What?" He swung around and glared at Draco. "Come on, Draco. The woman wants to play, has the ability, and can borrow my broom. I'll even get her a set of gear and robes. What's the problem?"
"No, Blaise. She's not up to it." Blaise snorted at this.
"Bollocks, Draco. You saw her play today." Then Blaise stopped and knocked himself in the head with his hand. "Why the hell am I talking to you?" He swung around and beseeched Ginny. "Why don't you let me floo you later in the week and see how you're feeling? We can go out to dinner and talk about it. What'd you say?"
Ginny looked up at Draco.
"Quit looking at that git. It's not like he owns you, does he?"
Ginny's eyes went wide.
"Blaise, that's enough." Blaise rolled his eyes and threw up his hands.
"Fine. What's for supper?"
Blaise invited himself for dinner and enjoyed the affair immensely. Ginny watched Draco and Blaise talk and banter back and forth, laughing and joking and drinking themselves sick.
When the night was late and Blaise was leaving, he offered to Apparate Ginny home. Ginny looked up at Draco. Then Blaise looked over at Draco.
"I honestly don't know what it is with you two, but the witch doesn't seem to be able to have a thought on her own." Draco put his arm around Blaise's intoxicated shoulder.
"Go home, Blaise." Blaise leaned over and whispered into Draco's ear.
"I thought you said you weren't shagging her."
"I'm not."
"Then let me take her home. I promise I'll be on my best behavior. I have to get her on the team, Draco."
"Blaise, she is home. She lives here." This time Blaise not only fell out of his robes but also tripped over them on his way out.
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Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I hope to have the next chapter posted sometime around the first of the year. It'll be sooner if I can manage it. -fallenwitch
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