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Summer Nights Mei Queen
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Authoress' Note: Random. Random random random random random. I like that word. Hmm. Okay, this is the product of mac-n-cheese, Gilmore Girls, chocolate frozen yogurt and some Fun Dip. It's a bit nutty and slightly ill, just like that combination. Oh, and a shoutout to my new beta, Chelsea! (hah. You all are like finally. Why hasn't she had a beta yet, anyhow?) … Well to those of you who were thinking that, your wishes are officially granted. Oh and a lot of this chapter and the active role of Blaise was inspired by one of my new favourite D/Gs, "Misconceptions" by Heart's Cadence (ff.net).
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Chapter 2: Blaise Zabini
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Ginny Weasley was in pretty low spirits until she actually got on to Platform 9 ¾, where she was allowed to depart from the Golden Trio (which was actually a Golden Duo now as Harry had politely refused the idea of returning to Hogwarts this year) and ran into a couple of her friends, Audrey Elliott and Luna Lovegood, both 6th Year Ravenclaws.
Squealing in excitement and running to give them both hugs, she felt Danny Medina rush to the back of her mind for the first time in weeks, but it was only momentary.
Audrey pulled back from their embrace to smile at her redheaded friend. Tucking one of her own deep chocolate curls behind her ear, she asked excitedly, "So, Gin, how was your holiday?"
And back Danny came. All the memories, the dinners, the moonlit talks, sightseeing in Majorca…all of it hit poor Ginny Weasley like a ton of bricks.
"I have to tell you guys something about it, but I want to wait 'til we get a compartment, all right?" Ginny answered, trying to manage a smile, push her trolley, and talk at the same time. Audrey and Luna shared nervous expressions. Had they touched a nerve? What could Ginny have to tell them about her holiday that she couldn't say in the open?
Ginny, meanwhile, was having particular trouble with her bloody trunk, which kept sliding off the trolley.
"Bugger," she muttered, leaning down to right it again, desperately hoping that the throng of students wouldn't step the wrong way and land on her delicate hands. She was all too relieved when she heard a male voice ask softly, "Can I help you with that?"
Pivoting and looking up, her brown eyes met stony grey.
"Malfoy," Ginny spat in annoyance. "I really don't need your ferret germs on my stuff, but thanks."
"The feeling's mutual, Weasel," he replied icily. "If I'd known that the red curls were yours, I would never have volunteered."
Nodding coldly and turning back to her trunk, she felt Malfoy in all of his finery brush past her. Sighing, she attempted to right the ruddy trunk once more. Audrey and Luna, meanwhile, had gone ahead of her to secure a compartment for all of them.
"Can I help you with that?"
Ginny was about to turn and really tell Draco Malfoy off this time when she swivelled and realised that it wasn't actually Malfoy at all. It was Blaise Zabini, 7th Year Slytherin. He had never spoken with her before, but she knew that Draco counted Blaise as one of his right-hand men, and that Blaise was probably the only Slytherin that was actually as intelligent as Draco. Ginny was fairly enthusiastic that he was speaking with her; she had always thought him unusually handsome, with his dark curls and tan skin. (But then, anyone looks tan while constantly standing next to Draco Malfoy, who was practically an albino.)
She waited for the attractive boy to react as Draco had, to realise she was a Weasley and immediately retract his offer, but the Slytherin did no such thing.
"Did you not hear the question?" he asked impatiently after there was a thirty-second silence.
"Oh. Sure, then, if you're actually planning on helping me," she muttered (not a very different verb, mumbled maybe?) simply, tucking a stray scarlet curl behind her ear and turning back to her trunk.
Leaning down to help her, Blaise countered in annoyance, "Well, I offered, didn't I? Why wouldn't I help?"
She chuckled. "I am a Weasley. I think that's the equivalent of the antichrist to your house, unless I'm much mistaken."
Blaise threw his head back and…laughed. It wasn't a measly giggle, either; there was some definite guffawing going on. Ginny looked at him in complete bewilderment. "Are you on something?"
This only seemed to amuse him more.
The smiles were infectious, and the redhead felt one spread across her own face as she and Blaise heaved her trunk back on to the trolley. Since they were on such good terms thus far, Ginny decided to tease him a little to test the waters. "Lemme guess, long night of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and you're still a little pissed?"
The chortling continued while the redhead looked on, extremely amused. "You certainly like to laugh, don't you?"
"Who doesn't?" he managed between chuckles.
"Well," she replied, beginning to push her trolley towards the train and falling in to step beside the tall Slytherin, "I could think of a few people in your house, for starters."
"Oh, really, Weasley, we're not all bad," Blaise protested, helping to carry her trunk on to the train.
Ginny weighed the information. "Well, I suppose you're not so bad."
"Draco's not so bad, either," he replied evenly.
Her eyes bugged in shock. "I'm sorry, I thought you said Draco 'I like to torture Pygmy Puffs for the hell of it' Malfoy wasn't so bad. My ears must be going bad in my old age."
"He's not as terrible as you make him out to be," Blaise replied with a shrug. "Takes a little getting to know him, but Draco isn't actually a total arse."
"Uh-huh," Ginny replied in the tone that clearly intended that she thought Blaise Zabini could do with a long stay in St. Mungo's. "Oh, here's the compartment."
Ginny Weasley was almost sad to see Audrey and Luna; she was actually having a pretty decent time chatting with a Slytherin. Would the surprises never cease?
"Well, thank you," she began awkwardly, outstretching her hand.
Ignoring the hand and sending her a wink instead, Blaise replied with a wide grin, "See you around, little Weasley."
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Little? Ginny thought to herself in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. I'm not bloody little. He can take his 'little' and shove it up his-
"Ginny?"
She found herself startled out of her thoughts by a wide-eyed Luna and a rather concerned Audrey. Audrey began hesitantly, meeting Ginny's chocolate eyes with her own light cerulean. "You told us you were going to tell us about something that happened this summer…"
"Oh," Ginny muttered, "right."
Grudgingly, Ginny Weasley made herself a little more comfortable and relayed, with as many details as possible, the story of Danny and the Majorca romance. It was near dark by the time Ginny's tale reached its sad and rather anticlimactic conclusion.
"So…that's it? You'll never see each other again?" Audrey asked hopelessly, eyes obviously wet with tears she had yet to shed. Audrey was a romantic type, and Ginny's story was actually just like one she'd read in one her Muggle romance novels over summer, except the Muggle novel had involved the two star-crossed lovers meeting again later and marrying in a little church in the countryside. Audrey Elliott hated the thought of unhappy endings.
"Probably not," the redhead answered with a hopeless sigh, allowing her mind to revel in all the sweet things Danny used to say to her under the moonlight. "But then, it never usually works out with Muggles, does it? You have to go through the whole 'magic is real and your future hypothetical children might cause things to frequently explode' conversation."
The girls all shared a shudder.
"What were you doing in Majorca, anyhow?" Audrey continued curiously.
Ginny had the good grace to blush furiously. "I guess I got tired of seeing Harry in every room of the house. I mean, breaking up is one thing, but breaking up and then having to face the thought of seeing that person every bloody day…over and over…having the break-up just constantly dangled in front of you like that…I was going mad, I guess. And I had the Galleons saved, so I guess I figured 'what the hell'."
The girls nodded in understanding.
"You're better off with our Hogwarts men, anyhow," Luna remarked brightly. "You seemed to be getting downright cosy with Zabini when you arrived."
Ginny snorted rather ungracefully. "He's a Slytherin who has Malfoy as a best mate, Luna. I'm sure that would go over brilliantly."
"Speaking of Malfoy, what the hell is he doing here?" Audrey asked in irritation, eyes trailing down to examine her nails.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked confusedly, twirling a strand of fair hair around her index finger. "He goes here, Audrey."
"What, attempted murder of the Headmaster and joining the Death Eaters doesn't get you a ticket out anymore?" the brunette remarked bitterly, crossing her arms across her chest in defiance.
"I'd bet his mum paid McGonagall to let him back in," Ginny replied darkly, turning to watch the view out the window.
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"What are you doing here, mate?" Blaise Zabini asked, sliding into the open spot next to Draco Malfoy in the Slytherin compartment where Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Theodore Nott were all crammed in like a pack of sardines.
"Oh, you mean how I am going back after trying to kill the old coot last year?" the egotistical blonde replied with a smirk.
"Basically."
Draco shot a dark look at his friend. "Didn't I tell you this story yet?"
When Blaise shook his head in the negative, Draco Malfoy sighed and began. "After the stupid attack on the castle, Snape brought me back to the Dark Lord. Snape was prepared to lie for both of us, but we weren't prepared for what actually happened. The Dark Lord asked to see me alone. Within a few minutes, he had the real story; straight out of my head…I never knew how to do Legilimency, after all. I guess the only 'good' thing that came of it was that Snape appears to finally be in the clear with the Dark Lord. After years of questioning Snape's loyalty, the Lord finally seems sure of Snape's true allegiance since Snape rushed in to finish the job. But me…well…he was able to reach in to my memory and hear the conversation with Dumbledore."
Blaise's eyes darkened considerably. Draco had already let him know what Dumbledore had tried to do on the tower that night. Blaise actually somewhat respected Dumbledore for trying to reason with Draco. Even though he actually had a deep dislike for the old nutter, Blaise Zabini felt that it was Dumbledore's intervention alone that kept his mate from becoming a murderer, something that he had to begrudgingly respect.
"Well, the Dark Lord watched my hesitance that night through my memories. He saw me begin to lower my wand. He saw that I was actually considering going to the Order for security."
The compartment gave a collective gasp. It was common knowledge what kind of a punishment Voldemort rewarded traitors- immediate Avada Kedavra, no questions asked. So the looks directed at Draco were currently ones of awe at still being alive.
"I narrowly escaped," the blonde muttered, answering the unasked question of the compartment. "He had begun the curse when I had the common sense to Apparate…thank Merlin I'm finally of age and got my license back in school last year."
"Where did you go?" Pansy Parkinson asked in her usual simpering tone, reaching to guide Draco's head to rest in her lap. Draco Malfoy momentarily resisted before making himself comfortable. The blonde Slytherin didn't want to relax on Pansy, per se, but he knew how it would look at to all of his friends if he suddenly started resisting her advances when he hadn't minded them so much before. After all, it wasn't like he could explain to all of his mates that he had fallen in love with a Muggle over summer and didn't want to touch anyone but Minnie Wellsford, with her stunning caramel locks and bright aqua eyes.
Shaking off his thoughts of Minnie and returning his mind to the present, Draco replied, "I went back to the Manor for maybe ten minutes…I told my mum what happened. She sent me off to Majorca under the Fidelius Charm."
"She was your Secret Keeper, then?" Blaise asked, pulling a deck out of the trunk overhead to challenge Draco to a game of Exploding Snap.
"Yeah."
"Where'd she go while you were away?" Pansy asked curiously. Pansy had always gotten along extremely well with Narcissa Malfoy, actually, truth be told Narcissa was Pansy Parkinson's idol. If she could marry that well and have blonde roots that untraceable at Narcissa's age, well, Pansy would have it made.
"Dunno. She was there when I got back though," Draco replied with a shrug, signifying that his mother being okay was all he had really cared about.
"Well, mate," Blaise interjected with a grin. "This story so far has been all well and good, but it doesn't really explain why we have been graced with your presence this year."
"Oh, that," Draco replied with a sigh, blowing a stray bit of blonde hair out of his eyes and angling his body so Pansy could continue the massage she had begun to give him. "Well, after the people at Hogwarts realised that I had, quite literally, nowhere safe to go, and I went with my mum to speak with McGonagall, it's all ironed out. She realised that I wasn't going back to the Dark Lord anytime soon, so she said I was welcomed back, as long as I 'don't go around threatening the lives of any of her staff'."
"Did she actually say that?" Pansy asked in surprise.
Draco nodded.
Blaise threw his head back in a laugh. "Who would have known the old wench had a sense of humour? That's hilarious!"
"You think everything is hilarious," the blonde muttered in feigned annoyance, the ghost of a smile appearing on his features at Blaise's antics.
"So how was Majorca? I've heard there are a lot of babes there," Theodore Nott finally spoke with a sly grin directed at Draco.
Draco snorted, murmuring so only Blaise could hear, "You have no idea…"
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When the train finally pulled to a stop outside Hogsmeade Station, there was the usual bustle to grab a carriage with one's friends, nobody wanting to be the "loser" stuck riding with people that they didn't really know.
Ginny, Audrey, and Luna were all striding purposefully out to the carriages. Ginny was trailing somewhat behind the other two girls, lost in daydreams and not paying too much attention to where she was going. "Oof!" she grunted when she ran smack into someone or something very solid.
Looking up, she realised that it was the one bloke she always tried to avoid, but fate in all its cruelty had made their paths cross more than once today alone.
"Weasel," the cold voice of Draco Malfoy spat in irritation. "These robes are new, I'll have you know. Now I'll have to have them burned, since they've touched your grimy germs."
"Ferret," Ginny acknowledged in frustration, trying to see around the tall prat to find out where her friends went. It was useless, though. Audrey Elliott and Luna Lovegood were already lost to Ginny in the bustling throng of students. Draco shot her one last look of loathing before turning to meet up with Blaise Zabini, who, from Blaise's loud yelling, had managed to secure a compartment with Pansy.
Sighing, she turned to look for a compartment of her own.
The pompous voice of Ernie Macmillan jolted her out of her reverie. "Hey, you…Ginny, right?"
Ginny nodded, desperate for just one compartment that might have room…
"In there," he pointed, "Head Boy" badge glinting prominently on his chest. "There's an empty spot left."
Thanking Ernie and jogging off to the correct carriage, Ginny's day only worsened when she noticed its occupants: Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy himself.
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Groaning, she looked back at Ernie in desperation. His annoyed pointing was enough of an answer. Apparently, Ernie was not willing to compromise on this; after all, it was her own ruddy fault she didn't get into a carriage with her friends in the first place.
Heaving a sigh, she hopped up in to the seat next to Blaise, managing a weak wave at him as she did so.
Draco looked at her in shock, "Excuse me, Weasel? You must be lost…or perhaps mentally addled. Possibly both? Either way, you are not welcome in this compartment. Kindly leave."
"Hear, hear!" Pansy echoed, fixing Ginny with the glare she always reserved for more attractive women than herself.
"Leave her alone," Blaise stated forcefully, interrupting Pansy and Draco's tirade. "So… how are things, Weasley?"
Ginny looked at him in surprised gratitude. "Um, they're okay, thanks."
"Oh," Draco interjected angrily, "this is the icing on the cake. What, you two are best mates now, then?"
Ginny and Blaise both fixed Draco with incredulous stares. Ginny regained her sense of speech faster, however. Assuming her most bored tone, she retorted, "Oh, yes, Malfoy, I've stolen your best mate. He's going to run off with me next holiday."
Blaise snorted in response, "Yup, it was a close decision, mate…but she's more willing to let me slip her the tongue when we snog."
Ginny giggled in amusement. Sobering quickly, she fixed Draco with her most lethal stare, adding, "Besides, if you have such a problem with the fact that I was ordered in here by the Head Boy, then you shouldn't have tried to assault the Headmaster. You would have gotten Head Boy if you hadn't."
"If it hadn't gone to Saint Potty, that is," Pansy muttered in annoyance, looking out the window. Wait. Did I just respond to something a Gryffindor said? Not just any Gryffindor, but a Weasley? Pansy thought to herself in shocked disgust.
Apparently the rest of the carriage was just as surprised, all sending looks of astonishment down Pansy's way. Apparently, she had decided that one comment to Ginny was enough, though, as Pansy promptly huddled herself against the window and refused to speak at all for the rest of the miserable ride.
The only person that was having a decent time was Blaise Zabini. Who knew the littlest Weasley actually had a backbone? She seems to have a few misconceptions about my friend Draco here, though…
Tapping a tan finger against his chin, his features spread into a sly grin as a thought struck him. Why don't I show her just how wrong she is? With some luck, maybe it'll get Pansy the Pathetic to eye somebody else's trust fund for a change…
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Authoress' Note: Reviewing is good for the soul.