I am sooo sorry I went MIA! I know it's almost unbearably late, but I hope you guys still want to read it. I've been swamped with school and then my computer broke. I had to get another one and then I had to wait until my internet provider sent over a new modem because apparently it wouldn't work with my new computer. So, now I'm broke, tired, and worried that you guys are mad. I'm really sorry, and I promise this won't happen again.
Some of you are going to be a little disappointed about this chapter, but it's really necessary. If I get some ( HINT: A LOT!!!) of feedback, I promise the next chapter no later than Thursday! How about that as a present for making you guys wait?
Sounds like a deal? 'kay, now get reading and drop a review! The sooner I get a lot of reviews the sooner I'll update chapter ten!
Thank you all for having patience! I'll shut up now.
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
Best Friends
By Rodare
Chapter 9
"What on earth are you doing here?" Draco asked with a smirk, as he spotted the red head leaning against the wall on near the entrance to the dungeons and the hall that lead down to the Slytherin Common Room. Ginny sighed and pushed away from the wall as the Slytherin moved closer to her.
"I was waiting for you to come down," she answered. "I need to talk to you."
"Talk?" he asked a little taken aback by her suddenness. "Where's Harry? I thought you two were joined by the hip. How do you manage to go to the loo?"
"Where's Hermione?" Ginny snapped back a bit sharply and Draco raised one perfect, blond eyebrow.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked moving past her without looking back to see whether she was following or not. He heard her steps walking behind him slowly and he knew that she was making up her mind on whatever it was that she wanted to discuss.
"I…do you know what's going on with Harry and Hermione?" she asked almost in a whisper. He sneered as he muttered the password that led into the Slytherin common Room. He didn't answer as he led her up the stairs to his dormitory. Ginny let her eyes wonder as she followed in his wake in silence. She felt her jaw tighten knowing fully well that he was enjoying every moment that he kept from answering her. "Did you hear me?"
"I'm not deaf," he answered calmly. She sighed and felt a sudden trepidation in her heart as she watched him lock his door. It wasn't fear, though, and that was the thing that scared her. She wasn't a randy teenager any longer, she knew that she had been, but after Harry had taken her back the second time she had been devoted to her boyfriend. So, why did being in Malfoy's quarters and behind locked doors make her feel like this?
"Uhmm, why did you lock the door?" she asked hating herself for it and for the trembling of her words.
"Does it matter, Ginevra?" Draco asked with a sneer as he turned around to face her. "Is the wee Gryffindor scared of the big mean Slytherin?"
"I'll never be scared of you, Draco," she snapped and he grinned. He shrugged and her eyes followed his hands as they moved to the front of his shirt. He ignored her as he began to unbutton it with careful, graceful hands. She snapped out of her trance as she saw the taut, lean muscles of his chest in his tempting creamy skin. She jumped up from the bed as if she had been burned and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed his wrists before he could undo the last button.
"What do you think you're doing?" Draco asked finally looking up at her. She blinked then frowned and pushed his hands roughly away from hers.
"Me?" she snapped her red hair flaring as she turned in a circle with her hands fisted at her sides, her face was contorted in anger and frustration. "What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm not doing anything, Red," Draco said calmly. "I'm just trying to change while we talk. I can accomplish both things at once and then I can go make your boyfriend kiss my ass. Why are you so upset? Haven't you seen a man before?"
"I've seen plenty, but… Do whatever you want. I'm out of here," she said with a shrug. She turned away from him as her heart beat hard against her chest.
What the bloody hell was going on with her? She couldn't feel attracted to him. No, that wasn't right. She had a boyfriend… Harry. Merlin, who the bloody hell was she kidding; she wasn't even sure about him anymore. Wasn't that the reason she was here asking Draco about him? Then there was Draco…she had felt things that she hadn't felt with Harry in a while, but that could be a phase, right? Maybe she was imagining things and things could go back to normal with Harry…right?
"Red, wait," Draco called to her making her come out of her reverie. She stopped and turned around to face him. He was standing in the middle of the room watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Sit and we'll talk. I'll change in the restroom while we talk."
"I…don't worry about it," she said with a shrug suddenly feeling bad for bursting at him as if he had any fault of her confusion. Well, he does, Ginevra. He is the reason you were horny last night, not your boyfriend. That's right, Harry was sleeping peacefully with Granger instead of you. "Forget about it, Draco."
"No, come on," he said with a shrug. He smirked again and looked more like himself than a minute ago. "Or are you scared of me?"
"I'm not," she said and turned against her will to sit on his bed once more. "Will you answer my question then?"
"Sure," Draco said in that drawl of his as he grabbed a change of clothes from his trunk and made his way to the restroom. He walked in, but left the door open so he could hear her. "What was the question, Ginevra? No peaking either."
"As if I wanted to see anything," she said glancing unconsciously toward the restroom, but it was at an angle where she could see nothing but his shadow. She looked quickly away and screamed at herself in silence. "You know what I want to know, Draco. Is there something between Hermione and my boyfriend?"
"What do you want me to say, Red?" Draco called in his drawl calmly.
"I want the truth, Draco," she answered with irritation tainting her tone, "Nothing more."
"I know what you want," he answered back with a little exasperation. "The problem is whether you are ready to hear it or not. There are things in life that we are better to learn on our own, Ginevra. Some things you can't see until you allow yourself the time to grow up, and until you do that no matter what I say you will believe what you want."
A long silence followed this last proclamation and he sighed to himself as he slipped on a tight, white T-shirt with the Slytherin snake on the back. He smoothed his blond hair into perfection before he braced himself against the sink and closed his eyes.
"Why did you have to go fall in love, Draco? What are you getting out of it, but hurt? Only weak people fall in love," a cold, unsympathetic voice asked. "Only weaklings believe in the stupidity of love. She does not love, that is why the pathetic of Potter took up with Granger instead. The only weakling here is you and they. She will not "love" you. Love is non-existent, boy. Your heart is nothing but a muscle. Stop fooling yourself and grow up!"
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!
I will not be like you! What do you know about love? Nothing. Mother never loved you, but not because she wasn't capable of it. It was just the fact that there was nothing for her to love. She wasted her life by your side. Stay dead where you belong. I will not make the same mistakes that you did. I will fight to have what you could only dream of in the deepest corners of your black heart.
He pushed himself away from the sink in anger at his own weakness. Even from the grave, his father could still make his life miserable. He pushed all his feelings into the depths of his trained heart, and once hidden behind the mask that he had worn for most of his life he moved to the door. He saw her sitting there with a defeated look upon her beautiful face and he wondered how anyone could walk away from that. She was clutching the bedspread as if afraid to let go, her knuckles where white, and her head was bowed. He walked toward her and he was glad to see that her face was devoid of tears as she finally looked up to meet his gaze.
"He loves her, doesn't he?" she asked quietly. "He doesn't love me anymore."
"He never loved you, Ginevra," Draco drawled calmly, "And, you didn't love him either. You are not the victim of him, and neither is he of you. You were both victims of the circumstances, nothing more."
"I've loved Harry since I was a little girl," she spat with a huff of disbelief. "Hermione knew nothing of him until after she received her letter."
"How could you love someone you had never met before?" he asked rhetorically as he paced around the room. "Hermione fell in love with the scrawny, lonely, half-twit she met in the train, and it took years for that to happen. You fell in love with his name as your mother filled your head with stories of him. Your mind was made up before you even met him. It has been nine years since you have met him, and you have not figured that out. You cannot change the way you look at him now. What would the point be?
"She is the only woman who has seen him for what he is inside and loved him for it. Every other one of you knows nothing but his name, his glory, his heroics. She is the one that has seen him in his worst moments. She is the one that knows what his dreams and hopes are. You don't, do you?" he asked. She kept silent and refused to meet his gaze. He smirked and continued to pace. "I didn't think so. You would have wanted him even if he had grown to be a brainless prick that wallowed in his fame. Potter is too nice for you."
"So, now you're telling me that I don't deserve him?" she asked angrily, "But, little Miss. Perfect does?"
"Don't put things into my mouth, Red," he answered coldly. He growled and turned sharply away from her. "This is what I mean! You're still acting like a bloody child!"
"So, what?" she snapped as she slapped her fists on the bed. "I'm not her! I'm nineteen years old for Merlin's sake! Forgive me for not having the mentality of a damn fifty year old. That doesn't mean I'm not good enough for him."
"No, it doesn't," he answered countering her anger with his detached calmness as he turned to face her again. "I never said that. All I wanted to say was that you deserve what only Granger can give him, love. He can't love you because all his life he has been looking for her! You deserve someone that loves you as she loves him! You deserve someone who loves your carefree attitude, your wildness, for your temper, for your confidence, for that sensuality of yours, just for being you!"
"Draco?" she asked just as he looked away from her. She stood as she fought against every part of her mind screaming at her to stop and just leave the room. She took another step until she stood but a step away from him. She reached out to touch his shoulders and her heart hammered as soon as she felt his tensed muscles almost quivering underneath her touch. "Is that what you see in me, Draco?"
"No," he answered in detached indifference. She lowered her hand against his back and he turned around to face her. His face was devoid of emotion and his gray eyes were chilled, but she could almost swear she felt warmth coming from his body. That small hope gave her the courage to take another step that brought her close to his body.
"No?" she asked and he shook his head. "So if I was to kiss you right now, you would feel nothing?"
"Nothing," he answered. She nodded and was about to take a step back when he pulled her roughly, flush against him. She gasped and felt suddenly breathless as she felt his strength and his breath caressing her face. "Absolutely nothing. What about you, Weaselette?"
"Nothing, Ferret-boy," she managed almost in a whisper. She cursed herself as the last bit came out in an almost squeak. He smirked, his Malfoy smirk. She snarled and before she made up her mind she let her Weasley-ness take over and she rose up on her toes and kissed him.
She kissed him roughly wanting him to know and feel a little bit of all the frustration and confusion she was feeling. But, this was Draco Malfoy, and no Malfoy let himself be manipulated into anything, so she felt him move beneath her lips. He changed the kiss from rough to smooth, soft, and tender. It made her knees go weak and her heart race faster than it already was. A moan escaped her throat, but he pulled back away from her slowly. She opened eyes, she never recalled closing, and she had to blink before she was able to bring him into focus.
"I…" she said amazed at his ability to be unmoved, but then she noticed a part of him that could never lie. She smiled wickedly as she glanced down to a spot between their flushed bodies. She ground her hips against him making him growl and glare dangerously. "I thought you felt nothing."
"I thought you wouldn't either," he answered with a calm that could make anyone doubt whether he really felt anything or not. He lowered his lips to the pulse on her neck, which soared instantly, and as he kissed it another moan escaped her lips. He pulled back and smirked down at her. "I think you want me, Red."
"I've always desired you," she answered. He took it in a stride even when his body was ready to beg. His heart was ready to die, but his mind wasn't ready to give in for less than what he needed.
"I'm very desirable," he answered unruffled. "But I don't want that."
"You don't?" she asked raising her eyebrow. "You want more?"
"Don't you?" he asked coldly as he pulled away from her. "Don't you envy Hermione for the way that Harry looks at her? Don't you want someone to have their day brightened because you smile, and not because you had a quick romp on the sheets for half that response?"
"You don't know what I want!" she snapped as she fought her arousal to the back of her mind. Her anger was more welcome then her vulnerability.
"Then how do you claim to know me?" he asked back.
"I know that you want to shag as much as the next guy!"
"That's a given, Red," he spat back with disdain. "As much as every man with half a neuron wants to shag Lavender as soon as they see her. Just as much as every man that sets eyes on Granger wants to have his way with her just so he can dominate the indomitable. Exactly in the same way that anyone who pays enough attention to Luna can see that she is bombshell that can make all your dreamy thoughts come true!"
"Then what the bloody hell are you afraid of?" she snapped. "If you want me, then what are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid of letting myself be weaker then I already am!" he spat as his control snapped. "I'm afraid of giving what I've never given before just to have it thrown back on my face. I refuse to have a taste if I not going to get the whole damn thing!"
"I…Draco," she said taken aback by his reactions and the emotions she felt coming out of him and filling her insides. "Do you really feel that way?"
"No," he spat as he smoothed his hair back into perfection. "I only like to sound like bloody school girl for no reason."
"I can't know if I can give you what you want," she said softly as she walked up to him and took his hands in hers. She met his gray eyes and for the first time in years, she cried as she saw the mixtures of her emotions reflected in his usually masked eyes. He pulled both her hands up and kissed them softly as a single tear escaped his eyes. "I can't know if I'm even whom you think."
"Yeah," he answered in his inhumanly composed voice. He wiped his single tear away in a deliberate motion and sighed. I'm not sure of anything either, but…you're the one person that has seen me cry."
"Well, there is nothing we can do about it then," she said with a chuckle. He smirked and bent his head to meet her lips.
"What about Potter?" he asked as their lips met.
"Fuck Potter," she answered with a shrug as she kissed him. He chuckled against her lips and pulled back to look down at her with his smirk in place.
"I'd rather fuck you," he said. She grinned and laughed as he watched her.
"Not so fast, tiger," she said. He raised one perfect eyebrow as he looked down at her.
"I'm a Slytherin," he replied with a sinful gleam in his eyes. "A big snake, Red. Not some of the kitties you are used to."
"Harry was no kitty," she said. Draco narrowed his eyes as she winked at him. He laughed and kissed her again.
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Thanks, Rodare.