Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter, they all belong to the revered JK Rowling; I just like to play with them a little.
BREAKING THE RULES
DISCLOSURE
Ginny slid breathlessly into her seat at the Gryffindor table. They'd got a little carried away outside, and when they realized the time they'd ran all the way back to the castle in fear that they'd miss dinner. She looked across the Great Hall and saw Draco slip gracefully into his chair. Ginny smirked when the thought that Draco was probably the only student in all of Hogwarts who didn't look ungainly getting into his seat at this house table crossed her mind. When he looked in her direction, she returned his wink with a smile.
Hermione looked at her friend with concern. "Are you all right, Ginny? You're breathing rather hard."
"I'm fine," Ginny claimed, glancing around the immediate vicinity. "We lost track of time, so we had to run. Where's Ron?"
"He went to the hospital wing," Harry replied seriously.
"What on earth for?"
"A headache," Hermione said gravely.
"Oh, for goodness sakes! His head is harder than a rock."
Harry put his cutlery down and focused his attention on the younger witch filling her plate with food. "He's been gone for ages. Maybe there's something wrong?"
Ginny looked to the staff table and then back to Harry. "I doubt it. Madam Pomfrey is at dinner, and you know she doesn't leave the hospital wing when she has a patient."
A thud at the doors of the Great Hall garnered just about everyone's attention. Ginny was amused to see her brother rushing into the room, rubbing his shoulder; he must have collected the doorframe in his hurry. The longer she watched him, the more it occurred to her that something wasn't quite normal. His appearance could be described as scruffy at best, but that wasn't really out of character. Ron was not known for tucking in his shirt or tightening his necktie. It was his face that bothered her the most. He was flushed so bright red that his freckles had almost disappeared, and yet he had the biggest ear-to-ear grin and an odd twinkle in his eye.
"Evening all!" Ron exclaimed cheerily as he sat down beside Harry.
Ginny didn't respond. His whole demeanor was out of place, especially considering he'd caught a Quaffle with his head and Harry reporting that he'd gone to the hospital wing. Her gaze drifted back to the doorway as another student made a hurried entry for the evening meal.
The witch who was fast becoming a thorn in her side all but ran to her house table. While there was nothing unusual about students rushing to any meal, there was something that struck Ginny as curious about this student's sudden appearance.
The witch in question was quite disheveled. Her normally perfect hair looked as though she'd been dragged through a bush backwards, her white button down shirt wasn't tucked in prissily as it usually was, and her tie was loosened. Ginny had never seen her look less than impeccable, so this was quite a turn up for the books. Of course, she wasn't the only one to notice, but she was the only one who had been caught staring at her. Ginny returned the nasty glare from across the room with a sneer and turned her attention back to the conversation around her.
"Ron, what did Madam Pomfrey say?" Harry asked interestedly.
"Oh, I err-didn't make it."
Harry frowned. His friend's behavior was quite out of character, not to mention that Harry knew of only one thing that could put a smile that bright on any man's face. "What about your headache?"
"What headache?" The beaming wizard looked at his friends with confusion.
"Ron, you were complaining about a massive headache. You were going to get a potion from Madam Pomfrey," Hermione pointed out.
"I umm-it-I went for a walk-yeah a walk, and it went away," Ron stammered.
"Lucky, bugger," Harry mumbled.
"A walk made your headache go away?" Hermione questioned.
Ron's eyes flicked to Harry. He knew his mate had caught on to what sort of a walk he'd taken. "Yeah, it was-"
"Walks are relaxing, and that's good for a headache," Harry interrupted, his grin growing broader as he backed up his mate's obvious lie.
"Yeah, relaxing," Ron confirmed.
"You've had a shag, you sly bugger," Seamus announced at the top of his voice. "Who did you nail?"
Hermione rolled her eyes in an exaggerated gesture at the Irish-born wizard. "Seamus, can't you think of anything else? Unlike you, Ron isn't obsessed with-" Her voice trailed off as she noticed the guilty expression on her best friend's face. "Ronald! How could you?"
"I-well-ah-"
The bushy-haired witch huffed disgustedly and stormed out of the Great Hall without finishing her dinner.
The year six and seven wizards of Gryffindor house immediately besieged Ron with demands that he share his tale of good fortune.
Ginny shook her head at the boys and moved away from their conversation. The last thing she wanted to hear was a detailed description of her brother's sex life. At least she knew why he hadn't been bothering her this week. She briefly wondered whom he was seeing, because as far as she was aware Ron didn't have a girlfriend at the moment. Not that his status couldn't have changed in the past week, because it was entirely possible she'd simple not being paying attention to his activities.
As soon as she finished her meal, Ginny left the Great Hall. She had about forty minutes until she was due to meet Draco in the library and wanted to freshen up a little before collecting her books for the homework session they had planned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time Ginny got to the library Draco was already there. He'd spread out his books over a table and was already furiously scribbling away. She paused not far from where he was sitting and waited for him to notice her arrival. They'd studied together a couple of times over the past week, but she'd not actually watched him work before. The way his brow furrowed when he was concentrating was very cute - not that she'd tell him that, for obvious reasons.
A soft smile slipped across her face as he slowly lifted his head. The moment noticed her Ginny saw his eyes light up brightly. It didn't last long, but it didn't matter. She had seen it and it had reassured her that their relationship wasn't a farce - he did feel something real for her.
"Hello there."
"Come and sit down," Draco offered, clearing half the table for her.
Before her backside settled into the chair, Draco pulled her to his chest for a brief kiss. A harshly cleared throat from nearby reminded them of their location and he released her immediately.
"What are you working on?" Ginny asked, opening her copy of Advanced Potion-Making.
"Transfiguration. I swear McGonagall is trying to drive us all insane with the amount of homework she's setting of late." Draco reached over and stroked her hand affectionately.
"She's not as bad as Snape."
"Let's not have this discussion again."
"Fine, I was just saying."
"What do you have to do for Professor Snape?"
Ginny sighed resignedly. "My Draught of Living Death didn't work, so I have to examine how I went wrong, and what I should do to correct it before I attempt to brew it again."
"Do you know when it went wrong?" Draco questioned.
"Well, I'm not sure, but the steam it was giving off was pink."
"It should have been blue."
"I know that."
"What happened then?"
"Snape used Evanesco."
Draco chuckled. "He rather prefers it when students don't blow their cauldrons up in his classroom."
"That may be so, but it doesn't help me."
"It does, because you know it was wrong before it was even halfway through, so you just have to go back over what you did to begin with and find the mistake."
Ginny growled in frustration.
"It's not that hard," Draco stated. "I'll even help you, but first we'll get you a proper reference for that potion."
"But I worked from-"
"Yeah, we all do in class, but that doesn't give you the tricks of the trade. You know, the little things that make a difference to the outcome."
"All right. So where will I find the right book?"
Draco grinned, quirked his eyebrows at her cheekily and rose from his chair, holding his hand out for her. "The Restricted Section," he whispered.
Ginny eyed her boyfriend cautiously. "I really have to get this done tonight."
"You will. Don't you trust me?"
"In the Restricted Section? No."
"I solemnly vow I will behave myself."
"Okay then, but you make sure you do."
Draco held her hand tightly as they walked to the Restricted Section of the library. He held the door for her when they entered and then led her to the very rear stacks. "All of the Potion's books are right down the back."
Ginny quirked an eyebrow at him skeptically, mistrust clearly flashing in her eyes.
"I'm not trying to lure you back here. They really are at the back for some reason."
"Snape probably doesn't want any of us to find them."
"Could you imagine anyone telling Madam Pince where to keep her books?" Draco posed with a smirk. "I don't know why Professor Snape doesn't tell everyone about the references in the library. Merlin knows he'd be a lot happier with the level of work from everyone if he did."
"Then he'd have nothing to gripe about," Ginny grumbled. "How do you know about them?"
"As he's a family friend, I'm privy to such information, and my father told me where they were as well."
"It figures. He looks after his own-" Ginny's words morphed into a shocked gasp as they rounded the final corner in the stacks.
Draco frowned at first and then his face screwed up into an expression of revulsion. "Really, Weasley, activities like that should be carried out behind closed doors, if at all by the likes of you."
Ron jerked away from the witch he was with and hurriedly tried to right his clothes. "Piss off, Malfoy."
Ginny slowly moved away from Draco. Her brother's accomplice was doing a good job of staying out of sight and she was curious to see whom he had been carrying on with. With Ron and Draco concentrating on each other it was easy for her to slip down the side of the bookcase.
"You!" Ginny gaped furiously at the witch. "How dare you!"
"How dare she?" Ron asked infuriated. "What about him?"
"She's using you, Ron. She's been trying to warn me off Draco, so she can get her hooks into him. This is obviously a ploy to dispute the fact that I caught on to her little plan."
"Don't be ridiculous," Ron contradicted.
"You're full of it, Weasley," Pansy spat venomously, glaring at the redheaded witch.
"Ron, she's never even looked in your direction before, except to throw a hex at you. Why can't you see that she's using you?" It suddenly occurred to Ginny that all the rumors floating around must have been true. "It's a bit of a coincidence that she starts snogging you only days after warning me off Draco."
Ron's eyes flicked from his sister to the pretty Slytherin uncertainly.
"Come on, Ron," Ginny said impatiently. "Why would she start snogging you, of all people?"
"There's nothing wrong with me," Ron stated, his pride suddenly appearing.
"I didn't say there was, but you're not her type." Ginny threw a hand in the direction of Pansy. "I mean, look at her!"
"There's nothing wrong with her," Ron refuted.
Ginny rolled her eyes. Why were boys so blind? "It was her that you were with this evening, wasn't it? She was the one you shagged! No bloody wonder you won't listen!"
"I-well-"
"You shagged him?" Draco asked Pansy in disbelief.
Pansy shrugged in an effort to appear casual. "It just happened."
"Yeah, I'll bet it just happened," Ginny parodied her cruelly. "That was just the clincher, so he'd do whatever you wanted him to."
"Believe what you will, Weasley," Pansy growled. "It's not like I care."
"Why don't you just admit it? You're using him to throw me off." Ginny advanced of the Slytherin witch. "You would never have even looked at Ron before this and now you're- well, you're doing everything and you're doing it anywhere by the looks."
"Rubbish! Draco, will you talk some sense into your girlfriend?"
"Leave Draco out of this! It's between you and me," Ginny snarled. "I'm going to tell you this just once: leave my brother alone."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I'll make you," Ginny threatened.
"Oh for goodness sakes! Draco, when are you going to train this one?"
Draco only just caught his girlfriend around the waist when she lunged for his friend and fellow Slytherin. "Calm down, Ginny. We'll work this out."
"Draco, she's using him!"
He carried her a small distance away from the caught couple. "I know Pansy, and she wouldn't put herself through that just to get to you. She does have some scruples."
"Draco!"
"Look, this is getting out of hand and we're all going to get in trouble if Madam Pince hears us, if she hasn't already. Let's just leave them be for now and I'll talk to Pansy later."
"Oh yeah, and she'll tell you a pack of lies and you won't even question-"
"Remember when I told you I've known Pansy longer than I can remember?" Draco waited for Ginny to acknowledge his question with a nod. "Well, I can tell when she's lying, so if her motives are immoral then I'll know right away."
"Ask her now!"
"I think we all need a chance to calm down. I'll confront her when I get back to the common room tonight and let you know in the morning."
"It's my brother's feelings."
Draco took a deep breath. He didn't care about Weasel's feelings, but he dare not say that right now. What he did care about was Pansy's behavior. It wasn't like her to just give herself to someone like she apparently had, so he found it unlikely she would have done it to irk Ginny. "Ginny, I'm not talking to her now, because she's too worked up to get a straight answer out of. Later I'll sit down with her and I'll get the truth. All right?"
"Fine," Ginny ground out.
Draco looked back over to his friend and her odd choice of partner. "We'll leave you to it then."
Pansy silently mouthed, "Thank you."
Before leaving Draco cleared his throat subtly and pointed to the scrap of black fabric by Ron Weasley's feet. "You might want to pick them up or you'll ruin this excellent spot for all of us."
Without taking his eyes off the blond wizard, Ron scooped up the knickers quickly and stuffed them in his pocket.
Before leaving the aisle, Draco quickly scanned the nearby shelf. He plucked a large tome from the third shelf and gave Ginny a wink. "Come on, we've got homework to finish."
Ginny stood stubbornly for a few moments, but when Draco slung his arm around her shoulders she had to start walking. Before they left the aisle, Ginny glanced over her shoulder and glared at Parkinson. "You'll want to button that shirt properly or everyone will know what a-"
"Enough," Draco growled, cutting her off sharply.
"I was just being helpful," Ginny insisted.
Draco glanced at his girlfriend cynically. The last thing she could convincingly claim to want to do at the moment is be helpful to Pansy. This was a mess he'd not anticipated, and now it seemed it was up to him to sort it out. He sighed mentally. Why was life suddenly so complicated?
When they reached their table, Draco quietly explained to Ginny what she had to look for in the book he'd selected for her, and then set about getting his Transfiguration homework finished. Of course, concentrating at a time like this was near on impossible. Thoughts of what Pansy and that oaf were up to kept invading his mind like a bad nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. He sighed heavily and tried to focus on the task at hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Draco yawned widely as he entered his common room. As he'd been on the fourth floor this evening, he'd walked Ginny back to her common room and then had discovered it was a very long walk back to the dungeons. All he really wanted to do right now was have a hot shower and drop into bed. Between all that had transpired in the Restricted Section and the paper he had due for Transfiguration, he'd done his head in tonight.
The common room was empty, save for one person: Pansy Parkinson was sitting on the leather sofa, obviously waiting for him. Draco sighed mentally and made his way over to her. His shower and sleep were going to have to wait.
Draco sat down right next to his old friend. "What's going on, Pansy?"
"I don't know."
"What about Weasley?"
"Accident."
Draco arched a blond eyebrow at her. "Oh?"
"Mmm... I was trying to hide from Cataleen Baddock, and Weasley was convenient."
"So, now you're snogging him in dark corners and broom cupboards?"
"Something like that." The smile on the girl's face said there was far more going on than just a couple of innocent snogs in the dark.
Draco snorted lightly. Of course, after tonight he knew there was more going on than would be considered decent. "I gather he's not complaining."
"No, I don't think he's got much to complain about."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Why?"
Draco sighed heavily. "If you screw with Weasley's heart, it's going to make life difficult for me."
"How so?"
"Ginny won't be happy if her brother-"
"Draco, I have no intention of getting rid of Weasley just yet," Pansy admitted in a rush. "I like him- a lot."
Draco nodded. He knew what she was going through. The strange mixture of feelings that went hand in hand with seeing a Gryffindor was very confusing. After all, they were Slytherins and as such, were not supposed to even like the Gryffindors.
"Did you have something on your mind?" Pansy asked after several minutes of silence.
"Why did you do it?" Draco asked outright.
"Snog Weasley?"
"No, try to keep Ginny and I apart."
"I didn't. I was trying to get you together."
Draco looked at his friend incredulously.
"Draco," Pansy said with exaggerated patience, "if you'd been allowed to just go barreling into a relationship with her, you'd have just used her up like all your past girlfriends. You would have lost interest the moment you'd shagged her, and then tossed her aside for the next willing girl. I'm not the only one who thinks she's perfect for you, but I was the only one who was willing to do something to make sure you didn't mess this up. So, I set about making her think I was after you, and in doing so she was determined to keep hold of you even longer."
"But I haven't-that is we-"
"Yeah, I know," Pansy cut in to save her friend the embarrassment. "Meanwhile, you've fallen for her, because you've taken the time to get to know her. She's gone past the point of just being a pretty face or having a great rack. She's an interesting person that you like spending time with."
Draco smirked. He couldn't hide anything from Pansy.
"Of course, the question still remains... What are you going to do about her?"
"Nothing."
Pansy frowned. She knew it was never definite that her plan would work, given the difference in background and the centuries old dispute between their families, but his answer did confuse her.
"I don't want to do anything about her." A small smile of genuine happiness crept across Draco's mouth. "She's my girlfriend."
She looked at him expectantly. There was more he wanted to say she could feel it, but to push him would be akin to casting a Silencio.
"I love her," Draco whispered.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~fin~
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Thanks to Rainpuddle13 for her amazing beta skills!
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