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Something's Gotta Give
Mei Queen
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Chapter 8: Sinking like the Titanic
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Authoress' Note: I haven't written most of the summer (my apologies), and I need to address the issue of HP7. Obviously, by the pairing, you know it will not follow HP7. But it will follow none of it. None of the deaths will be relevant in my stories (I won't name the people that die so as not to spoil it for those weirdos who haven't read it yet, lol. But seriously. Read it if you haven't, it's my favorite by far), nor any of the pairings that occur, nor the epilogue. Just so you know.
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Ginny Weasley sighed, leaning back against the cool wood of her front door, glad to be back in her own home at last. Draco had given her a ride back from the restaurant as Harry had long since gone, but the ride home was quiet. Awkward. It felt like both of them were testing their boundaries together. Talking online was easy, because neither of them had identities, families, attached to their names. They could be completely who they wanted to be. But when they were actually in person, Ginny staring at Draco's platinum trademark-Malfoy locks, him noting her Weasley red curls and freckles with slight disappointment…it was like all those years of family hatred had settled in Draco's Jaguar- somewhere between the passenger seat and the driver's.
Ginny shook her head, heading to the kitchen. She was in desperate need of some comfort food. She and Draco had ordered and eaten a bit at the restaurant, but neither of them had much of an appetite. She sighed, opening the doors to her pantry. She stared at all the foods, some packaged, some needing excessive cooking, all the raw ingredients there for the moment she decided to use them… She closed the pantry. She didn't want to cook. Too much work.
She opened the refrigerator…and stared. Ginny idly opened the produce bins, the meat drawer, looked through the condiments, and finally just sighed in irritation, slamming the door closed. She didn't know what she wanted.
Damn, that's a metaphor for life, isn't it?, she thought in annoyance. She didn't know what she wanted to eat, she didn't know who she wanted to date, she didn't know if she could ever be with Draco Malfoy, because when it comes down to it, it's not like she could exactly take him home for Christmas, is it? Percy going to the Ministry would probably be nothing in the face of the only Weasley girl bringing home a Malfoy! The twins alone would be murderous, she was sure. And then there would be Ron, and…Harry. And Hermione. No warm welcomes from any of them, that was definite.
Finally tired of being stuck alone in her own thoughts, she booted up the laptop. She needed to talk to someone…anyone.
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Draco Malfoy dropped his car keys in the tray by the door to his flat, suddenly noting how quiet it was. He usually valued his privacy, but tonight, in the sprawling flat completely devoid of any human existence but his, he just felt lonely. The maid had even gone home already, leaving a few helpful Post-Its on the fridge about the food she'd left. He opened the fridge, startled to realize that he was actually rather hungry. Heating up some leftovers, he turned on his computer. I wonder if Ginny's written me. Maybe she'll be online, too…maybe this whole thing would be easier to sort out online than in person. It's so much more difficult to talk in person, but online, we're already friends, and we can skip all the stupid, superficial things like our family names and net worth…
Sure enough, when Draco had logged on to Chat, RavishingRed was in Chat, and a message popped up in his sidebar: You have (1) new WonderfulWitch message!! Click here to open!!
His brow arched up in surprise. She never usually writes me on here, he noted. Most of the time it's just a quick e-mail…
And there was a reason why.
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What the hell is he doing? Ginny wondered irritably. She had messaged him over five minutes ago, when he first logged on to the Chat, but he still hadn't responded to her simple 'hello'. I wonder if he's angry with me…God, I hope not. That would really bugger things up…
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Draco looked through the message in surprise. He had never so much as talked to this girl, but the message was there, plain as day:
Hey SecretDragon!
I saw your profile, and I thought you looked really interesting ;). Anyway, I was just wondering if you might be interested in talking sometime, and possibly something…more. I'm near you, so perhaps we might get together for a coffee? Talk soon.
BlondesdoitBetter x x
He was bewildered. He vaguely remembered her name from all his time on Chat, but couldn't really remember her personality. Isn't she that bird who always wants to play Six Degrees of Separation? Bloody ridiculous game. Should I even write her back? I know I'm trying to make things work with Ginny, but I guess it couldn't hurt to meet someone for coffee…that's about a harmless a date as it comes. But still…it is a date. Ginny would probably be angry. But she's the one who was hanging out with Pothead! She has no right to get huffy…
Finally making up his mind, Draco lowered his fingers to the keyboard to give BlondesdoitBetter a proper reply.
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Ginny looked at the clock in the taskbar. Draco had now had thirty minutes to answer since she first wrote him. Well, I guess he's not going to write me back, she thought angrily. Jerk. Fine, well, I suppose I'll just wait for him to come to me.
Making up her mind, she logged off entirely, ready to spend the rest of her night on the couch. TiVo and ice cream…a girl obviously can't get better friends than that. Who needs a boyfriend when you've got reruns of EastEnders?
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Sending off the message to BlondesdoitBetter, Draco finally clicked back into the main Chat window, noting that several people had attempted to contact him in his absence.
))PM from RavishingRed (22:10 hours)
RavishingRed: hey you.
RavishingRed: are you there?
RavishingRed: fine…I guess not. I suppose when you want to talk to me, you'll come to me. You know the number.
-SecretDragon, your friend RavishingRed logged off the Chat at 22:59 hours.-
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))PM from BlondesdoitBetter (23:00 hours)
BlondesdoitBetter: hi :) Thanks for the msg.
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))PM from JimlikeshisPimms (23:12 hours)
JimlikeshisPimms: I'm thinking of proposing to Becca. I'm surveying all the guys on Chat…do you think a vintage ring is too cheesy? What cut would she like? What would you do, man? I'm in desperate need of some help here!
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Draco shook his head in amusement at JimlikeshisPimms, processing the question thoughtfully. Finally lowering his fingers to the keyboard, he told JimlikeshisPimms to take SwanseaSweetie by a jewelry store window, and see which one she points at. The technique had never failed him with his previous girlfriends, and it was a hell of a lot easier than returning things. As for BlondesdoitBetter, he wrote to tell her she was welcome for the message, and would she be free next Thursday at 3 pm? Of course she was. Coffee at Serendipity was on.
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Ginny sadly took her spoon out of the Chunky Monkey container. No call, nothing. She'd checked her laptop a few hours ago-he never wrote her anything. Maybe I was wrong to just cast Harry off like that, she thought miserably. Wow. Did I really just think that? That's when I know I've had too much ice cream…I'm thinking desperately about my ex-husband. God save us all…
Picking up the remote, she flicked through the channels one more time before officially declaring that there was absolutely nothing good on. Getting up, she selected a DVD from her collection- Titanic. The perfect choice for when all you want to do is watch the boat sink, watch lives be destroyed, maybe just so it'll remind you-even if only for a moment, that your life doesn't suck quite so bad. Going to scene selections, she started the DVD when Jack and Rose emerge on the dock after having sex, only to watch the iceberg break off into the boat. Perfect, she thought, sticking her spoon back into the container for another scoop. I'm going to watch the Titanic sink while I drown my sorrows in Chunky Monkey. Do I know how to spend a date night, or what?
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A phone call interrupted Ginny as she watched the priest climbing up the boat with rapt, morbid fascination. She was even muttering the prayer along with him: "As I walk through the valley in the shadow of death," she whispered quietly. The priest was always the saddest part of the movie to Ginny. Did he feel like his God had forsaken him at that moment? Well, that and the captain going down with his ship. That just never failed to make her burst into tears.
Sniffling a little, she reached for her ringing mobile. Hermione.
"H-h-hello?"
"Gin, have you been crying?" Hermione asked sternly. So much for pleasantries.
"A little. I'm watching Titanic."
"Oh, lemme guess: you're eating ice cream, too. You know, keep up this constant ice cream thing, and you're going to have to get new clothes."
Ginny rolled her eyes. Damn practical Hermione. But she was right…Ginny's jeans were feeling a little uncomfortably tight. "I suppose."
"I'm coming over."
She snorted. "Oh. Glad I invited you."
Hermione laughed. "You don't need to; you're obviously in desperate need of some girl talk."
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Exactly twenty minutes later, Hermione Granger was knocking on Ginny's door.
Ginny sighed, switching the movie off, and getting up to open the front door. Swinging it wide, she said, "You didn't have to come, you know."
"Of course I did," Hermione answered evenly. "I'm worried about you."
Ushering the brunette in, Ginny put the kettle on and sat down on the kitchen barstool opposite Hermione's.
"So what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "You've been acting weird ever since that pseudo-date at Serendipity. Then there's the whole Harry thing…"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, there's nothing going on with Harry."
Hermione's eyes seemed to light up slightly. "Really? I don't know… you two were really cozy that day; you seemed happy."
The redhead processed the statement. "I think he likes the idea of me, Hermione. But me? Me, with my mishaps, my headstrong personality…I don't think he cares about me. Just the idea of me. You know how we all have that one person? That one person that when you can't find anyone else they're the first person that you call, and you can't help it, it's just a reflex?"
Hermione nodded. Oh, she knew that oh-so-well…
Ginny continued. "That's what I am to him. I'm easy."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Not like that!" Ginny backtracked quickly, giggling. "No, I mean…trying to be with me is familiar, simple…easier than finding someone new who would ultimately be better for him."
Hermione nodded. She finally understood. Ginny honestly didn't care for Harry that way, not the way that…she did. Shaking off the flood of emotions that accompanied Ginny's explanation- emotions ranging from relief to confusion- she pressed on. "So what happened that day at Serendipity, Gin? What's the deal with SecretDragon? You haven't said anything about him in weeks!"
Ginny's chocolate eyes seemed to cloud with sadness. "I think things have finally been buggered up beyond repair, 'Mione."
"Nonsense. Nothing's beyond repair. We can fix anything, if we just put our heads together and think about it."
Ginny took a deep breath. It was time that Hermione knew the whole story.
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Hermione's jaw dropped when Ginny finished. But, in a strange way, the pairing seemed almost…appropriate. It was daring and interesting, fire and ice, Romeo and Juliet all over again.
Finally making up her mind, she covered Ginny's hand with hers. "If he's what you want, we'll find a way. We always do."
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The next week at Serendipity, Draco Malfoy chose the same sidewalk table he'd had when he was supposed to meet RavishingRed. BlondesdoitBetter was a few minutes late, but he had no doubts that she would be there. She was a yellow rose favorite-flower person. Yellow roses don't stand people up. Yellow roses meet your mother and order china sets. The tiger lily of RavishingRed had always intrigued him. It showed a fiery side of her personality that he found absolutely fascinating. There was something so untamable about her- wild; she did not need anyone's approval, something that he admired completely.
But today wasn't about RavishingRed, today was about the yellow rose, and the girl that would accompany it.
"Am I late?" a voice purred near his ear. He smiled, looking up at her thoughtfully. Nice legs, he noted. She looked like a model- her figure was flawless, her eyes an icy blue, hair as platinum as his own.
His mother would love her.
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Hermione and Ginny had finally come up with a plan of attack. Ginny was going to go to his work offices, saying she needed to arrange a payment schedule on the necklace for her mother, but really there to ask him on a proper date.
"This'll work," Hermione had said so decisively that Ginny had immediately believed her. But now that Ginny was in his workplace, alone, looking at the big maze of offices with apprehension, she wasn't so sure it was going to work.
"Is Mr Malfoy here?" she asked the pretty brunette receptionist. The girl shook her head. "No, ma'am. He hasn't been in all afternoon. Said he had something important to do today, I suppose."
"Are you a friend of his?" a male voice asked, cutting loudly down the corridor.
Ginny looked up…into the warm eyes of Justin Finch-Fletchley.
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"Sort of," she muttered. "He's been expecting me, anyway."
"Hey….I remember you. Ginny, right?"
"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "And you're Justin."
"Right. Hey, I've got a second, why don't you come into my office? I can check Draco's schedule for you so you don't waste another trip."
"That'd be wonderful, thanks," Ginny replied gratefully, following the tall man back down the hallway to his office.
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"So how do you know Draco?" Justin asked, inviting Ginny to take a seat in one of the chairs opposite his desk.
Sitting down, she thought about her reply. "We met online, I guess you could say. We've become something of friends. He helped me get something for my mum, and I'm here to figure out the terms of paying him back."
"Well, you could speak to his secretary about that, she handles pretty much everything that goes on in his life," he muttered, examining some of the pictures on his desk thoughtfully.
"I'd just rather do it personally," Ginny replied. Wasn't he supposed to be checking Draco's schedule?
Looking up at Ginny's red locks, a light seemed to go on in Justin's head. "Wait, you said he met you online?"
"Um…yes," she replied, confused.
"You wouldn't," he murmured, leaning towards her over his desk, "by any chance, be RavishingRed?"
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Ginny looked at him in shock. "Um…yes. Yes, I am."
Justin seemed satisfied. "That's good. You two would make a good couple. You seem powerful and willful enough to balance him out when he's gets into one of his sullen moods."
"Thanks," she replied quietly. "Never mind the fact that our families hate each other or that he's a notorious player."
Justin chuckled. "Silly rumors. You were the first girl he'd really taken an interest in since I've known him."
She smiled. "Oh. But then…where is he today?"
Justin's face darkened. "I'm afraid that, against my advice, he's…on a date."
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Authoress' Note: Reviews are good for the soul. Thanks for reading!