Title: Four Seasons (4/4) - Louder Than Ten Banshees Combined
Author: Rhea Summers
E-mail: rheasummers@yahoo.com
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Draco/Ginny
Summary:
Four Seasons is a tale chronicling the ups and downs in a lifelong romance. Set in 1998, 7th year Draco Malfoy and 6th year Ginny Weasley cross paths in the summer festival of Beltane in Hogsmeade. Years later, they meet again. This time, things get more complicated as they struggle to sort out tangled emotions.
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.
Also, there are HBP spoilers in this instalment. Look at how I manage to twist everything around. And of course, this story is definitely AU when the final book comes out. Beta credits go to Sydney Lynne, Alli and VioletJersey.
~*~*~*~*~
They said, life was like a game of letting karma go around the bush and allowing it to come back to bite you in the arse. Except, this time, it was not so much of painful bite as a forgiving kiss.
At this very moment in life, Draco Malfoy felt like he had downed a full bottle of Felix Felicis. Nothing could go wrong - not when Ginny Weasley's kisses were patching a gaping hole in his heart. Not a literal hole, of course, although being a turncoat to the Dark Side had certainly increased his risk of a disgruntled ex-Death Eater aiming a curse straight towards his heart.
Besides, what could have been worse than being ambushed by a few old enemies while he was trying to look his best for a Christmas charity dinner in Diagon Alley? Actually, cross that out. What could have been worse than being seen with huge curse scars on his chest? Wait, that still did not sound right.
In fact, his personal nightmare had turned into reality. Not even in his wildest dreams would he find himself spending a night in a crammed, old wardrobe with Potter and Mudblood shagging their brains out merely three feet away. Although it had happened three months ago, he still could not get the traumatising picture of Potter and his Mudblood wife writhing in such erotic fashion out of his mind's eye. Thinking wryly, Draco was sorely tempted to Obliviate the horrific memory. After all, nothing could be worse than experiencing a bout of blatant Potter exhibitionism.
Of course, Ginny Weasley had made things more bearable for him. Save for Ron Weasley's existence, the Burrow was quite an enjoyable place. He would loath to admit how much he enjoyed spending time with her at her home.
Maybe, time would help to bury unpleasant memories.
Little did he know he was in for some Weasley family 'fun.' Of course Scarhead shared each and every detail of his life with Weasley. Hell, they had probably traded details of which sexual position they had practised the night before. No doubt, the issue of Potter's catching Malfoy crying in a girl's toilet would come up eventually.
It was a regrettable oversight.
~*~*~*~*~
"Ginny! How can you be so naïve?" Ron bellowed across the Weasley family dining table where most of the Weasleys were having their New Year's dinner. It seemed only yesterday when Harry turned up with an injured Malfoy on the Burrow's doorsteps. Being kind-hearted people, the entire Weasley clan had taken Draco into their hospitality, but a certain Ron Weasley would have cared to disagree with their decision at this moment.
Sticking out his thumb, he gestured wildly towards his childhood nemesis, Draco Malfoy. "Harry might think that Malfoy is redeemed, but I say he's still the same bloody git who tormented little furry animals like the… the Pygmy Puff you used to have!"
"Ron, my Pygmy Puff died of old age," Ginny tried to explain in her most reasonable tone. "What do you know about furry little animals anyway?"
"But… But surely it didn't just die overnight!" Ron spluttered with indignation.
"What did you expect? That a Pygmy Puff would just stand up and announce that it's about to die?" Ginny shot back. Ron's unreasonable temper tantrums were wearing on her nerves, and nearly each of those outbursts had something to do with Malfoy goading Ron, and Ron taking the bait.
"Look, Ginny, I don't know what that git told you, but surely you remember that his father is a Death Eater?" Ron continued raving, ignoring Ginny's answer. "If you care to remember, he's a bloody Death Eater as well."
"A Death Eater who saved your arse," a new voice spoke up, and both Ginny and Ron turned to look at Draco's smug smile. "You and Potter would have been blasted into smithereens if I haven't intercepted that hex in Godric's Hollow."
"Oh yeah? Who saved your bloody arse when your name was on You-Know-Who's most wanted list?" Ron spoke through gritted teeth. Ginny rolled her eyes and took a swig of pumpkin juice, wishing that the cool drink would help to keep her temper in check.
"In case you forgot, I was on that list because a very weepy Dumbledore promised me that all of you would protect my family," Draco smirked and leaned back on the wooden kitchen chair. "I'd hate to disappoint an old headmaster."
At the mention of Dumbledore's name, all the chatter and merrymaking at the dining table ground to a halt.
"Why do you have to bring that up?" Harry asked quietly. Ginny knew Harry had never really recovered from Dumbledore's death after his old mentor had chosen not to go to other world to sacrifice his spirit for the greater cause of vanquishing Voldemort. Once a soul chose to linger in this world to watch over loved ones, it would not be able to cross over to the other world. Even magical textbooks could not teach the concept properly, much to Hermione's dismay, as death had become an especially difficult subject to write about, during the last century or so.
"Because all of these people sitting around this table deserve to know," Ginny heard Draco answer with steely determination in his voice.
"Yeah, like when you couldn't do You-Know-Who's bidding and chose to cry in Moaning Myrtle's toilet. How manly," Ron added sarcastically before earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs from Ginny's elbow. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the slight, yet tense clenching and unclenching jaw movements of the former Slytherin. But in true Slytherin fashion, Draco's demeanour remained calm and unfazed by Ron's taunts.
"At least I didn't have to snog that Brown hag to show that I'm not gay," Draco retorted coolly, crossing his arms smugly as he added an emphasis on the word 'gay'. Although Draco's voice and expression were unchanged by Ron's revelation at the dining table, Ginny could see his fingers clenching the sleeve of his shirt - the slightest indicators of his current irritable mood.
Then, Ginny caught sight of Ron glaring daggers at her. *Oh great. Ron thinks that I've betrayed him now…* Ginny thought exasperatedly. She sat down quickly, trying to rein in some semblance of anger management.
Ron took a deep breath and stared at Draco. "Wait, I'm not finished yet. And when Harry caught you crying again, you had to get him in trouble, didn't you?" Ron added triumphantly and ended with a guffaw.
"Ronald Weasley…" Molly Weasley started as everyone turned to stare at Ron. Her voice was stiff and controlled, yet Ron chose to ignore his mother's warning. Arthur quickly gave his son a nudge, urging him to stop riling up his mother's temper.
"Come, Malfoy, I'll show you the family orchard." Ginny reached for Draco's arm hesitantly, hoping to calm both parties down. Nobody liked talking about the Second War, especially since the Weasley family had suffered so many painful losses over the years, and Ginny was none too eager to let yet another argument erupt.
"No, Ginny, I think I've seen enough of leaf-bare trees in my lifetime. And no, tiny flower buds in spring don't make my heart go soft and fluffy," Draco jerked his arm away from Ginny's grasp. "So, it's Malfoy now?" he asked, a blond eyebrow arched at her.
"Listen, Ginny, you don't know who he really is…" Ron began, gesticulating wildly once again. "You can't marry him, and only married couples have sex!"
"Like you do, Weasel?" Draco shot back. He pushed himself away from the dining table and stood up.
"Ron, it's my choice, alright? You can't control my life and since when did I say that I'd marry Malfoy?" Ginny replied heatedly and stuck her hands on her hips, adopting an aggressive stance against her brother.
"Everyone under this roof knows that you've been sha… shagging Malfoy day and night," Ron pursued angrily. "I hate listening to the ruckus you make! The idea of him… him touching you is enough to make me vomit the remains of yesterday's breakfast."
"And Potter and Granger don't?" Draco interjected with a mock hopeful expression. "Also, Ginny and I have better sex than Potter and Granger, and I'm speaking from a firsthand visual experience. I wish I'd gouged out my eyes the moment I saw Potter taking off his pants on my first night here."
"MALFOY!" Harry and Hermione balked at him. Arthur Weasley only managed to clear his throat uncomfortably.
"The point is, YOU CAN'T MARRY HIM. NOT AFTER WHAT HE DID TO YOU!" Ron roared and threw his napkin down onto his nearly empty plate.
"So that's why you're upset? That I might marry Malfoy?" Ginny retorted angrily. "Who says that I'll marry him?"
"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! I'VE BEEN WISHING THAT HE WOULD STOP HOGGING MY BEDROOM FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS!" Ron bellowed, oblivious to his mother's glare.
"RONALD WEASLEY! I'M APPALLED BY YOUR BEHAVIOUR AND YOU SHALL NOT MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF IN FRONT OF A GUEST!" Molly thundered.
At that moment, Ron decided that the pointy-faced ferret was not worth a shouting match with his mother, and he turned to make his exit from the dinner table. Scowling at Ron, Draco also turned and made a beeline for the backyard.
"Ginny, I think you should go after him," Hermione nudged her with a whisper after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "Harry and I will handle Ron."
Rolling her eyes, the Ginny stood up and tossed her napkin aside her unfinished food before running after Draco.
"Boys will always be boys," Ginny muttered under her breath as she grabbed two bottles of Ogden's Firewhisky on the way out.
~*~*~*~*~
The dark backyard stared back at her emptily, her boots making crunching sounds as they left tiny footprints in the fresh snow. "Draco?" she called out warily and waited for an answer. The night was as silent as ever.
*Where did he go?* Ginny thought, bile rising in her throat when jolts of panic clenched her chest. *Where could he go?*
*He must have taken a joyride on Ron's broom to spite him,* a calmer voice in her mind reasoned with her. Taking long strides, she hurried to the broom shed to check for missing brooms.
*Hm, why is the broom shed unlocked? Someone could have broke in to steal the brooms… Could be an oversight by Ron through,* Ginny wondered, her hand pushing the stiff wooden door open. Under the dim lights shining from the Burrow's kitchen, Ginny could barely see the few racing brooms on the rack. Drawing out her wand, she stepped gingerly into tiny space within the wooden hut.
As her eye adjusted to the dim light, she saw Ron's prized Lightening Bolt 739 lying haphazardly on the ground. Sighing in irritation, she bent down to pick up the broomstick.
Suddenly, a strong arm snaked around her waist and gripped her hard against a sinewy chest. Ginny opened her mouth to scream and raised her wand to hex her attacker. However, her attacker was faster. The tip of a wand poked into her right flank dangerously.
"Keep quiet or I'll hex you into pieces," her attacker growled softly. His voice sounded familiar to her ears, but Ginny thought she could be mistaken as her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears. The blood in her veins turned into ice as he seized her wand hand and forced it into an unnatural position. A pained gasp escaped her lips as her fingers dangled weakly, her wand dropping onto the hard ground with thud.
"Immobilus!" he jabbed the wand into her side, making her body slump uncontrollably into his arms, and the two bottles of Firewhisky rolled out of her left hand. Before Ginny could see her attacker, he draped a piece of black cloth over her eyes, effectively blindfolding her. However, her sense of smell remained as sharp as ever. As he placed her on the ground, she caught a whiff of fresh apple aftershave.
"D… Draco?" she began nervously, her voice trembling under anxiety. Before she could manage any further, a pair of velvety lips covered her own in a hungry kiss. Ginny squirmed, but her body refused to listen to her commands. A pair of roving hands crept under her robe and brushed against the sensitive skin of her abdomen.
"I don't like the idea of your brother thinking that we only shag to piss him off," his husky voice whispered in her ear. Ginny felt the knots in her stomach ease a little when her mind registered Draco's voice.
"Why did you immobilise me?" Ginny whispered back frantically.
"Because it's high time that you get a taste of your own medicine," Draco's voice floated into her ears.
"Did I scare you so much?"
"No, although the bit about pulling out penknives and binding me with ropes could strike fear in the weak-spirited," Draco drawled. Ginny could only imagine his self-satisfied smirk. "I enjoyed that."
"I must be good then," Ginny said with shaky smile.
"I say you missed me too," Draco muttered before capturing her lips in a deep kiss. Wrapping his arm around her torso, he rolled over and pinned Ginny under his weight. "I might I want to enact revenge for what you did to me in my apple shed."
Ginny felt her stomach tighten into knots again.
"I want to try something new tonight," she heard Draco's voice teasing her sensually. "I promise I can make you scream louder than ten banshees combined, only if you stay immobilised."
"Really?" Under normal circumstances, Ginny would have raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You're not exactly well-known for being humble." Merlin's beard! What could Draco do to make her scream louder than ten banshees combined? It was a tall order. The anticipation of Draco's promise made her inhale sharply as she felt her heart rate speeding up.
Before there was time to think about Draco's statement, Ginny felt him planting his knees firmly by her sides. Just as Ginny was about to ask Draco about his plans for her, the pointed tip of his wand tapped on her shoulder twice. A cold blast of air caressed her naked body as her clothes dissolved into the velvety night, leaving her clad only in her bra and knickers, and she gritted her teeth to stifle a cry of sheer surprise.
Then, she felt the tip of his wand move downwards and stop at the front clasp of her bra. Again, he tapped his wand on her bra once, and then again, on her knickers. She gasped loudly. The rough friction between the lace on her underwear and her skin had been replaced with a slightly sticky sensation.
The solid body of the wand was gone, replaced by Draco's index finger rubbing the hardened nub on the peak of her right breast as he traced the intricate lace designs on her skin. Then, he dragged his fingers across her underbelly before smearing the unknown substance on her lips.
For the next moment, Ginny could only guessed that Draco moved. His lips were sucking gently hers as the delicious aroma of molten chocolate wafted past her nostrils. *So that's what the sticky sensation is,* Ginny realised with a silent giggle. He had transfigured her lingerie into ones that were made of chocolate! *That was the best chocolate that I've ever tasted!* she thought, her tongue mingling with Draco's as though they had minds of their own.
Drawing away from her lips, he blew a soft trail of butterfly kisses down her neck to the valley between her breasts. With loving attention, he took the tip of her right breast into his mouth while his hand kneaded the other breast. Nearly unobtrusively, his knees nudged her thighs apart, letting the soft silky material of his trousers tickle her inner thighs. Easing a finger into her slit, he tickled each fold and crevice of her womanhood, making her draw in huge mouthfuls of the cool night air to cool down the burning heat that was gathering in the pit of her belly.
Letting go of her breast, he dragged his tongue across her midriff and circled her bellybutton once before reaching the top of her pubis. Although the black cloth obstructed Ginny's vision field, her sense of touch, smell and taste were greatly heightened. Every little motion that Draco made registered in her mind. With his breath brushing erotically against her pubic hair, a flush flooded Ginny's cheeks with increasing intensity every passing second.
Slowly, he parted her nether lips with both hands and kissed her softly between the legs.
She had only read about this in those torrid romance novels that Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil used to fight over.
The first contact between his tongue and the most intimate part of her body sent jolts of electricity shooting up her spine.
If heaven existed, Ginny was floating in it now.
Carefully, Draco tongue flicked and touched a sensitive nub between her thighs as Ginny fought a losing battle to stop herself from moaning aloud.
She had never imagined anything could feel this good.
Slowly, Ginny felt his lips close around the nub. *What is he going to do next?* Ginny panicked, but a wave of pleasure washed over her as he started to suck vigorously. In her hazy mind, each and every moment of his lips and tongue stimulated a tremendous flood of unimaginable sensations that threaten to overwhelm her consciousness.
Unable to longer hold back any longer, a loud moan escaped her throat as Draco's tongue teased her pleasure centre in sensual circles, occasionally giving it a tender nip. Reflexively, she tried to draw her thighs around his head, feeling his tongue prodding into the most intimate part of her body. However, her body remained limp under the spell Draco cast, and it gave Ginny strange erotic feeling - that her body was being used and she was unable to control the outcome.
With each teasing and flitting movement of his tongue, the needy ache in her belly grew sharper, her desire to have him escalated at an uncontrollable speed, so much so she could not exert any conscious control over her actions. She only wanted her arousal to reach the climax, and nothing else mattered to her more than the invasive actions of Draco's lips and tongue. She no longer recognised her voice, with escaped desperately from her throat as her peak of arousal came so infinitesimally close that it was just outside her grasp.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
Ginny's eyes flew open in surprise, focused on Draco's sharp aristocratic features merely inches above her face as he whipped the black cloth away. Like waves crashing onto a cliff, he assaulted her lips with a raging need. As Draco's tongue swirled and duelled with her own, Ginny tasted the sweet tangy taste of herself on him.
Breaking the kiss to catch her breath, Ginny heard Draco mutter a short incantation. The fabric of his robes dissolved away, letting his lower body rub flesh to flesh against her skin. The familiar feeling of his arousal poked at her opening as Draco's hands gripped her shoulders to brace himself above her torso.
"Do you enjoy that?" she heard him ask. "Tell me what you want next," he breathed out. Ginny could tell from the strain in his voice that he was exercising every single strand of resistance to stop himself from taking her on the spot.
"I want you to take me slowly and languidly. I want you to make love to me," Ginny answered breathlessly. A familiar wetness crept in between her thighs, and she reflexively bucked her pelvis against his hardened length to urge him on, but the spell was still holding her body hostage.
Grunting softly, Draco inched forward as Ginny braced herself for the initial impact. The sensation of her inner walls stretching to accommodate him was always slightly uncomfortable, but the instant gratification that she received drowned the strange ache. She fitted around him perfectly, like two halves of the same Galleon.
When he was fully sheathed within her, Ginny steeled herself. Under the weak moonlight, his grey irises were reduced to a thin band by his fully dilated pupils, a sure sign of his arousal. Drawing out entirely, he pushed back into her body with a single fluid stroke, filling her entirely. Ginny gasped loudly at the feeling of indescribable pleasure flooding every single particle in her mortal self.
Moaning in synchrony with his thrusts, Ginny blinked as rivulets of sweat ran down to the tip of his chin from his temples; the droplets dripped onto the valley between her breasts, intermingling with her own perspiration. *I want to move with him, I want to move with him,* the mantra repeated in her mind endlessly. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused all of her will on breaking the spell as Draco's hips began to move faster. Her breathing became laboured, and she willed her legs to go around his waist to grant him easier access to her depths, urging him to reach into her deepest spots.
And it succeeded! Ginny felt her body break free of the spell. Every muscle and tendon screamed in protest as the spell released its hold on her.
Pushing him off her body, she pinned him down on the wooden floor planks and planted her knees firmly at his sides. With her nether lips brushing his slick erection ever so slightly, she held back a smirk as Draco struggled to reign in his urge to take her again. With a quick motion, she sank down onto his hips and gasped when she felt his hard shaft entering her again.
Steadying herself against his shoulders, Ginny inhaled deeply and moved her thighs in a circular motion. A guttural moan escaped from Draco's lips as she gained momentum, letting him slip in and out of her easily. Bucking in synchrony with her grinding hips, they moved together in an intricate dance of seduction.
Gazing intently at his face, Ginny saw that Draco's eyes were screwed shut, his jaw clenched in concentration. Waves after waves of intense pleasure slammed into her, each one more ferocious than its precedent. Out of the corner of her eye, her mind registered the ugly Dark Mark contrasted against the paleness of his forearm - a grim legacy of how You-Know-Who had affected their lives. Squeezing her eyes shut, Ginny blocked the chilling image of the black skull out of her mind with great effort. Bygones were bygones, and the most important thing now was her time together with Draco Malfoy.
Face to face now, Draco drew her into an intense kiss as his hips slammed against hers in a burning bid to satiate their carnal desires. Blanketed by the darkness of the advancing night, two beings blurred into a single entity, each feeding off the other for the strength and courage to soldier on.
Finally, Ginny felt her mind explode in a dazzling array of stars and light, and she rode her climax together with Draco. They surfed wave after wave of pure bliss, undeterred by all the troubles in the world.
As the earth-shattering climax gradually died down in a few minutes of absolute silence, Ginny gave him a small peck on his cheek. Rolling off her body with an exhausted sigh, he drew her into his arms and stroked her hair gently.
~*~*~*~*~
Pushing herself up to reach for the bottles of Firewhisky, Ginny yawned silently, peeping at Draco through her eyelashes. He was wide awake too, and he was looking at her with his cool grey eyes.
*Damn, he never fails to make me blush,* Ginny sighed as an uncomfortable heat started to flood her cheeks. "Want a drink? Here, I've nicked a couple of bottles of Ogden's Firewhisky as well. I bet we'll be fantasising all sorts of rubbish by the time Ron realises his precious stock of liqueur is gone," Ginny laughed in a bid to hide her embarrassment, and handed Draco a bottle of wizarding alcohol.
Accepting the bottle in one hand, Draco pick up his wand and performed a non-verbal spell. "Cheers to the wizard who invented magic," Draco raised his bottle after the bottles uncorked themselves magically.
"Why can't she be a witch though? Why must it be a wizard?" Ginny mused after both of them took a swig from the bottle in their hands.
"You think too much," Draco's reply came amidst the comforting silence that the broom shed offered. "I think too much sometimes too, and I let opportunities slip past," his voice taking on a more relaxed tone from the effects of the Firewhisky.
"Like how you didn't want to approach me in Hogwarts?" Ginny prodded him with a devious smile. "You might have missed out on a few extra years of a great love life with me."
"What about you? You didn't approach me either," Draco leaned towards her and whispered into her ear. "What were you waiting for?"
"It's not the norm for girls to make the first move, you know…" Ginny said, dropping her voice as she felt Draco's lips brush her earlobe gently. "Maybe Parkinson spoilt you by showering loads of unwanted attention," she added with an impish smile.
"Pansy was a good companion. I wasn't too happy when she died a few years ago," Draco sighed morosely and leaned back on his elbows, taking another swig from his bottle. "She was always testing for my reaction whenever your name came up in conversations. It feels good to be wanted."
"My name came up?" Ginny turned around to face Draco.
"Now I regret telling you so much."
"Was she your first?" Ginny asked softly, knowing that she had treaded into uncharted territories. The issue of past lovers and partners had yet to come up between them. "You are my first, if that's what you want to know."
"Do you want to know the truth or do you just want me to lie through my teeth? Despite what Potter and your brother might think, I'm not a good liar."
Ginny let out a laugh and crawled on top of Draco. Resting her head on his chest, she could hear and feel his steady heartbeat. "On the second thought, I don't want to spoil my evening by thinking about Parkinson. Bygones are bygones, Draco. I want to focus my unwavering attention on the present. You don't have to answer that question if you don't want to."
"Thought you were back to calling me Malfoy," he drawled as he folded his arms. "So Malfoy it is."
*Prick,* Ginny muttered under her breath, crossing her arms in front of her in an equally defensive posture. "You know it's a slip of tongue. I've been calling you 'Malfoy' for as long as I remember," she sighed resentfully. "Besides, you shouldn't have mentioned Dumbledore. He's… he's sorely missed by everyone in the family. Mum, dad and all of us grew up under his tutelage, you know…"
"I know, I know. It's just that the old man invaded my thoughts suddenly. I swear he must be chuckling at the way he manages to haunt me," Draco replied with an impatient wave. Suddenly, Ginny felt his fingers lifting her chin up, and she looked into a pair of stormy grey eyes. An involuntary shiver snaked its way through her body.
"What's bothering you, Draco?" she asked softly, he voice barely audible in the cold air.
"Do you think I was cowardly for crying in Moaning Myrtle's toilet?" he implored, his voice breaking uncharacteristically as his eyes searched her face for answers. *So that's what he's bothered about,* Ginny thought. Sensing Draco's vulnerability, Ginny made note to choose her next words carefully.
"Before I knew the whole story about your initiation tasks, I thought it was not a very manly thing to do…" Ginny started hesitantly, but as Draco's fingers jolted slightly on her skin, she added quickly. "Of course, after I knew You-Know-Who was threatening you, I thought you must have loved your family very much to even attempt such a thing."
"I wish you didn't have to learn the circumstances by breaking into my mind," Draco sighed and folded his arms again. "I would've wanted to tell you everything face to face, but somehow, I just didn't know where to start without making you re-live the circumstances on the night we first met."
"I agree you were hardly on your most courteous behaviour. Not that I should have expected it, considering our family histories, but I suppose emotions got the best of us both that night," Ginny reflected, as she clasped her hands around his forearm. "I'm glad that you did everything for a reason," she said, smiling up at him. "Actions speak louder than words."
"Is there anything else you want to know about me? Weas… Your brother may be right. We hardly know each other," Draco admitted grudgingly before flashing her an impish smirk. "I know your body quite well though…"
"Hey…" Ginny snorted and slapped his arm. "I told you Ron was probably worried about being gay when he decided to spend hours sucking Lavender's face, didn't I?"
"That doesn't count. I'd rather not hear anything about Weasel if I could help it," Draco retorted. "I'd like to hear more about your life after you left Hogwarts. Seems like I can finally play 'Healer' with you nowadays."
For a moment, Ginny kept quiet, caught up memories of the past. How was she going to relate each heartbreaking incident in her life to him? She lost many close friends and relatives in the Second War, and she spent the better part of her late teens beating herself up about falling for a You-Know-Who supporter. She had to admit, however, that if they were to start knowing each other better after their adventure into Occlumency backfired, she had to begin somewhere. Frenzied love making at every imaginable location was not very conducive when it came to having meaningful conversations.
"Ginny?" Draco called her name softly and quirked an eyebrow.
Ginny woke up from her reverie with a jolt. Tenderly, she clasped Draco's hand and nodded, "Of course, I'll tell you more about myself." Ginny looked into his eyes and smiled, "But before I start, I want you to answer my question first."
"I knew there was a catch somewhere," Draco sighed as a draft caught his hair and ruffled it slightly. Though he often portrayed himself as impeccably stoic in public, Ginny found herself falling for the man with his little imperfections - his ruffled hair, the casual wrinkle in his robes. It made him feel more… human.
"Why did you let me break into your mind so easily that night? I mean…," Ginny trailed off uncertainly, but regained her composure to finish her sentence. "I mean, surely Snape or Dumbledore would have taught you some Occlumency to avoid You-Know-Who's mind-probing."
"You haven't figured the answer out?" Draco asked with a minute hint of surprise in his voice.
"No," Ginny answered truthfully.
"Occlumency requires a lack of empathy or emotion towards the person performing Legilimens on you," Draco started slowly. "It's difficult to practise good Occlumency with someone who you have strong feelings for."
"Like Harry's hatred for Snape?"
Still waters ran deep. Sometimes, Ginny wondered if Harry had ever forgiven Snape for all the things he did although the Boy Who Lived rarely spoke about the war these days. It was as if Snape had single-handedly robbed him of his parents, mentor and godfather.
"Perhaps. You would have guessed why you're able to break into my mind that night by now," Draco's answer broke her stream of thought.
"Do you have strong feelings for me?" Ginny tried to follow the turn in the conversation carefully. Draco usually kept his personal emotions to himself, and getting him to open up was a big breakthrough for her. Though their upbringing was completely different, they had the same trait of keeping their feelings under wraps; during the war, putting your thoughts and feelings on the surface could cost you your life. Ginny couldn't help wondering if You-Know-Who's reign of terror had affected them more than they would care to admit.
Draco responded with a non-committal shrug. "What do you think? I could have hated your guts when you tried breaking into my mind."
Secretly, Ginny's heart leapt with joy, and she did not really want to push the issue any further. "Well, I think I'll answer your question now. One of the reasons I wanted to be a Healer was because I want to save the world. I want to promote world peace and a healthy lifestyle among poorer wizarding folk," she proclaimed with a grin.
Draco's thin lips curled in a grimace. "I didn't know you're such an emotional wench. Aren't Healers supposed to be impersonal?"
Ginny laughed merrily as Draco's mood lifted a little. "You know, the mental picture that you would need my services one day if you ever walk into St. Mungo's is a big morale boost," Ginny said, snickering. "Of course, I could get to watch you squirm when I start conjuring needles to stick into your limbs."
"Vivid imagination you have," Draco snorted and smirked characteristically.
"Wizards get sick too, even if there's world peace," Ginny replied. "I imagine that you would be a difficult patient to please."
"On the contrary, I'm quite an easy person to please," Draco cut in and waggled his left brow suggestively. "I'm not picky when it comes to shagging locations. Even a wardrobe closet would do."
Suddenly, Ginny turned pensieve and watched Draco's smug smile from beneath lowered eyelashes. "Draco, do you think we're capable of having a heart-to-heart conversation?" she asked. "We are always trying to outdo each other when it comes to witty answers."
Draco stayed silent and stared at the silvery orb of the moon in the evening sky through the slightly opened window. Seeing his moment of reverie, Ginny wondered what he could be thinking. In another three months, it would be ten years since she first met Draco on that fateful evening in Hogsmeade. Ten years was not a short length of time to be waiting for him to turn up. The past three months were simply pure bliss… *Besides, there is already trust, and there is nothing blocking us now,* a voice whispered in her mind.
She sat up straight and clasped Draco's hands in her smaller ones. His grey eyes, usually filled with turbulence, widened with curiosity at her atypical seriousness, and Ginny couldn't help the tiny smile as she watched his eyebrows knit together in a frown. *He must have realised that I'm about to say something important…*
With a deep breath, Ginny announced, "Draco Malfoy, will you marry me?"
Seconds ticked past and Draco remained motionless. Ginny's heart plummeted into a bottomless pit. *He must have think that I'm raving mad…* a critical voice nagged inside her head.
Removing his hands from Ginny's grasp, Draco looked at her intently. "No," he paused and Ginny felt her pride shattered into a thousand pieces. Smirking at her, he continued, "I thought you said it's not the norm for girls to make the first move. I won't stand having Potter and your brother laughing at me if this story gets out."
Inhaling deeply, Draco wrapped his hands around her wrists and tightened his grip. "Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?"
"Yes, and can Harry be your best man?" Ginny answered with a sardonic smile.
"No," came Draco's curt reply. "Over my dead body."
Laughing again, she would have paid anything to see that look on Draco's face. Who says the girls couldn't propose marriage, or at least make the first move?
*We will never be a traditional couple…* Ginny thought as she lifted her head for a deep kiss.
The musty broom shed might not be the most romantic place in Wizarding Britain to propose marriage, but Ginny felt it had served a very important purpose in her life.
At last, Ginny Weasley had found her happy ending.
~*~*~*~*~
THE END
~*~*~*~*~
Author's comments:
I admit, there is another version of this final chapter somewhere in my hard drive (actually, some of my friends like dragonsangel68 might still have a copy of that terribly embarrassing work as well, and I command thee to destroy it entirely) but I've decided to scrap the whole thing and pick the story up from where I left off in the previous instalment. I've decided that I like this version better.
Anyway, I've finally concluded this story after two years. I wish I have finished it earlier though, but I guess it's better late than never. After all, I'm a person of my words, and this story is dedicated to Jay (of Portkey) for his generosity.
For those who reviewed earlier chapters, I've read each and every one of them. For those who asked questions about the story, I hope I've given satisfactory replies. In other words, I'm a review whore and I love feedback from readers.
Cheers, and hope you enjoyed the story!
Much love,
Rhea
http://www.livejournal.com/users/subdereality