A Stroll in Your Shoes

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter world, characters, etc…

Warning: There are quite a few lewd references, but it’s not really enough to make this story R. If you’re offended by it, I guess you shouldn’t read it. *shrugs*

A/N: Sorry I haven’t been replying to the reviews. I’ve just been so busy! But enough of my ramblings and onto the chapter!

It’s a Little Complicated

Two days had passed since her first dinner at Malfoy Manor, and during those days Ginny had spent most of her time in Draco’s room, trying hard to avoid Lucius and Narcissa as much as possible. Thankfully Lucius had to go to work for most of the day, whatever it was he did, and Narcissa was quite content to flitter around doing whatever it was she did. Really, Ginny didn’t end up seeing that much of them anyway, though Narcissa did like to pop her head in from time to time to make sure Ginny was doing okay. Ginny dreaded when she would be forced to listen to more talk about Death Eaters though; it was frightening enough being in the same house as one without having to hear what they were doing at the same time, but it almost seemed like the Malfoys didn’t like to talk about it. It was clear that Narcissa was firmly against the idea, and it seemed from what she had gathered that Draco had remained on the fence for this family dispute.

It really was amazing how different their families were. In her family the arguments were about who had to do the dishes, or who had to de-gnome the garden; here the arguments were about whether Draco should become a Death Eater or not and go murder innocent people…

Sighing, she lay on Draco’s bed, wondering how he felt about all of this. Before she had switched bodies with him she had always just viewed him as some stuck up snob that was as evil as he was annoying, but now she knew him better and understood that he really wasn’t all that bad. Even still, it seemed like his father wanted him to be a Death Eater, and she hoped with all her heart that he wouldn’t take up that offer. She couldn’t bear the thought of really having a reason to hate him again…

The door opened and Ginny looked up in surprise to see Mitsy walking into the room.

“Master Draco has guests. Mistress wishes you to come to the parlour.” The elf said squeakily.

“Alright,” Ginny said tiredly. She watched the elf bow its ridiculously low bow, and stood up off the bed, walking past Mitsy as she left the room. As she walked towards the parlour, she wondered who it was that had come to see the Malfoys. No one as of yet had come to visit them, so she had thankfully not been forced to spend time with pompous Purebloods who thought they were better than everyone else. Today, however, it seemed she was not so fortunate….

Coming closer to the parlour, Ginny stopped dead when she saw a familiar caramel skinned woman coming towards her, her voluptuous body clad in a tasteful, yellow dress that was casual and yet also elegant. Her silky black hair was falling freely around her waist, her amber eyes, much like her son’s, watching Ginny with a sly look- an equally sly smile on her ruby lips.

“Mrs Zabini,” Ginny said nervously. The woman looked like she was about to eat her, and did she just lick her lips?

“Draco,” Selina purred, stopping very closely front of Ginny, (who stepped back), “I was hoping I would run into you.”

Ginny stared at her perplexed. Was this woman coming on to her?

Selina took another step forward just as Ginny took another step back, forcing Ginny’s back to press up against the wall, her expression becoming rather nervous. Blaise’s mother was hitting on her, and she didn’t know what to do….

Trailing a finger down Ginny’s chest, Mrs Zabini smiled seductively up at her. “You’ve grown so much taller since I last saw you.” Her smile widened as she leaned in close, whispering into Ginny’s ear, “I can’t help but wonder where else you’ve grown….”

Ginny’s cheeks flooded with pink as she caught the insinuation, turning her face away from the warm breath that was fluttering against her cheek from Selina’s proximity. Instinctively she pushed the older woman away, taking a few hasty steps back to put herself at more distance. Selina’s face flashed with surprise, obviously confused as to why she was being pushed away. Ginny doubted it had ever happened before, for Mrs Zabini had to be the most beautiful, exotic woman she had ever seen. No wonder Blaise was so handsome….

“Something wrong, Draco?” Selina asked, raising one thin eyebrow.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ginny asked, her tone slightly angry, folding her arms defensively to stop any more of the woman’s advances.

Selina smirked, smoothing back her hair with one careless hand. “Hrm, perhaps it was too soon,” she mused to herself, amusement dancing in her amber eyes as she watched Ginny. “You are still so young…”

Ginny just glared at her. She knew very well what Selina was implying and she didn’t like it. Perhaps if she really were a sixteen-year-old boy the deliciously beautiful woman might have tempted her, but, as it was, she was a fifteen-year-old girl trapped in a boy’s body and had no desire to sleep with her friend’s mother.

“Mother,” a voice said from the corridor that led towards the parlour.

Ginny turned to see Blaise watching them, a slightly suspicious expression on his face.

“Blaise, darling,” Selina said with unruffled calm. “What brings you out here?”

“Mrs Malfoy thought you might have gotten lost. She wanted me to go get you.”

Ginny caught his look and realised that in fact Narcissa Malfoy didn’t trust this woman one bit with her son and must have guessed correctly that Ginny was being held up by her.

“Well as you can see I am not lost. I just happened to run into your dear friend….”

Blaise shifted his eyes to Ginny, who just shrugged as if to say ‘yeah, it’s true.’ Nodding his head, but a frown still on his lips, Blaise walked back down the corridor, Selina and Ginny following behind. Once they all came to the parlour door, Blaise opened it and held it open for his mother (who winked at Ginny as she walked past) and then gave an almost apologetic look to Ginny before entering the room himself. Ginny sighed, thinking this was going to be very awkward, and walked into the room.

“There you are,” Narcissa exclaimed, seeing Ginny walk into the room. “I did wonder what was taking you so long…” She gave a rather nasty glare at Selina Zabini then and then turned back to Ginny. “There’s some refreshments on the table if you’re hungry.”

Ginny just smiled and nodded, taking a seat on one of the comfortable couches next to Blaise, her eyes automatically looking around the room as the two woman started to talk. There were a bunch of Witch Weekly magazines sitting on the white coffee table, the kettle still steaming with hot tea, and a plate of light food that looked quite delicious. Narcissa herself was delicately taking a sip of tea from her cup, her face placid, though Ginny knew it was just an act. She didn’t think she would ever understand how society woman put up with others they hated simply for reputation’s sake. It was clear from bother woman’s looks and talk that they despised each other just as much as the other.

Blaise shifted uncomfortably next to Ginny, leaning closer to whisper in her ear. “This is going to be extremely awkward. We should try get out of here while we can.”

Ginny just nodded to show she understood and waited for an opening to ask if Blaise and her could leave. Currently, Selina was discussing a new dress her latest toy-boy John had bought her, which she was planning to wear to the Parkinson’s dinner. Narcissa was smiling sweetly and nodding, exclaiming how beautiful Selina would surely look in it, and both women’s eyes were the only telltale sign that neither of them really enjoyed this discussion at all.

Coughing slightly, Ginny finally drew attention to herself, not sure how much longer of the tension she could handle anyway. Both women’s eyes snapped towards her, both focussing their attention on her instead of their own petty conversations.

“Is there something wrong?” Narcissa asked Ginny smoothly, her eyes frowning ever so slightly. Ginny knew she had broken a social decorum by interrupting, or whatever it was those pompous rich Purebloods called their weird idea of manners, but Ginny was desperately wanting to get out of the room, and judging by Blaise’s edginess he felt exactly the same.

“Well, you two seem to have plenty to say, and uh, Blaise and I want to catch up, so, uh, can we leave?”

Narcissa’s eyebrow rose slightly at Ginny’s less than eloquent speech but she nodded all the same. “Alright then.”

“Have fun,” Selina said with a wink, her eyes lingering on Ginny too much for Ginny’s liking as she and Blaise stood up. That woman was creepy….

As they left the room, the two woman immediately started discussing their sons, and it wasn’t until they were far from ear-shot that Ginny let out a deep breath, looking at Blaise with a tired expression. “I swear, I don’t know how you and Draco put up with this. High society is awful!”

Blaise laughed and slapped her on the back as they headed up to Draco’s room. “You’ll get used to it. You’ve got another week and a half left here after all…”

“Yeah, and I’m counting down the days,” Ginny mumbled unhappily, remembering just why it was so horrible living here; Lucius was a Death Eater…. She wondered if Blaise had any advice on what to do about that; she trusted him more than anyone else out of Draco’s friends….

“Blaise,” she began quietly, almost hesitantly, her hands fidgeting slightly.

“Yeah?” he said curiously, turning his face to look at her as they continued to walk towards Draco’s room, his amber eyes warm and friendly. It seemed to give her the confidence she needed, and so she decided to just plough on ahead.

“I’m scared.” She admitted in a small voice, voicing her fears for the first time since she had realised what situation she was in.

“Why?” he said, stopping in surprise, looking rather perplexed as to why she was scared, and yet his tone and face still showed that he did not take her admission lightly.

She just looked down, also stopping from walking as she wondered how best to phrase this. “Well… the first day I was here I had dinner with the Malfoys and somehow the topic got onto Death Eaters…”

Blaise paled and just watched her intently. “What happened, Ginny?”

She looked up then, meeting his amber eyes to see the concern shining from them. The use of her first name was proof of how serious this was, but his eyes would have told her that enough.

“Nothing bad happened; Lucius and Narcissa just had a bit of an argument about whether Draco should be a Death Eater or not,” she said quickly, “But that’s not what I’m scared, even though it does worry me,” she admitted.

“So what’s wrong then?” Blaise asked gently, prodding her to get it off her chest now.

 

“I’m living in the home of a Death Eater and if he knew that I was here and who I was, what do you think he would do?”

“Probably hurt you a lot and use you for some stupid plan… that or kill you,” he said bluntly, which Ginny found slightly annoying. She had always thought Blaise had more tact than that, but obviously he didn’t realise how upset this made her. Her thoughts must have showed on her face, because he was soon pulling her forward by her hand, obviously wanting to get her somewhere more private before he talked anymore about this.

“You never know when house elves might be listening,” he said quickly, pulling her into Draco’s room and shutting the door behind them. Ginny watched him sigh and then turn around to face her, his expression serious. “I can understand why you’re scared, Ginny, but thinking about it will only make it worse. Draco’s dad may be a Death Eater, but he also loves Draco. He won’t do anything while you’re in his body, so even if you are caught you’re safe.”

“Yeah, as long as the spell lasts,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “And even if he doesn’t hurt me, I just can’t pretend that everything is alright. I’m on edge the whole time. I can’t even think when I’m around the guy, and I was never a very good actor anyway,” she said with a sigh.

“Ginny,” Blaise said in a low voice as he gripped her shoulders, catching her gaze and keeping it locked with his. “You’ll be fine, okay? Draco would never let you get hurt you know? And don’t forget that Narcissa Malfoy is firmly against the idea.”

“But she hates Weasleys! The Malfoys have always hated the Weasleys, and I just happen to be one!” Ginny retorted anxiously, her voice getting louder and louder in her nervous frenzy.

“Shhh,” Blaise said quickly, clamping a hand over her mouth before she worked herself up anymore. “Do you want to alert the whole house to who you are?”

Ginny shook her head, gazing into his face. For some reason her heart had started beating rather fast in her chest, her breathing quickening as he held his hand over her mouth, his eyes locked on hers.

“Alright, I’m going to take my hand away, and you’re going to keep your voice down, right?” he said, giving her a sharp look.

Ginny nodded and took a deep breath when he pulled his hand away. What was that back there? Her body had just gone crazy all because he had touched his hand to her mouth?

“Now then,” Blaise continued, seemingly oblivious to Ginny’s confused thoughts. “I may be Draco’s best friend, but Lucius doesn’t like me anymore than his mother likes mine,” he said with a wry grin, which Ginny couldn’t help but smile at. “So I’m afraid that I don’t have much influence over him, otherwise I would try getting you to stay with me. Since that’s not really an option, you’ll just have to hold out for the next week and a bit before you can go back to Hogwarts.” He smiled reassuringly then, his hand giving her shoulder a heartening squeeze. “You’ve been pretending to be Draco for nearly three weeks, Ginny; you’ve managed to fool his teachers and his friends, and I’m sure you can fool his parents too if you really have to... Just stay strong and you’ll pull through…”

Ginny nodded her head, knowing he was right. She just had to put the thought behind her and do what she needed to do. It was just so hard when it was so frightening to think she could be killed if she slipped up….

“Thanks Blaise…” she said softly, giving him the smallest of smiles, her eyes still locked on his. “I’m glad I have you here with me to deal with this…”

He returned the smile with one of his own warm ones, his hand still resting on her shoulder as his eyes lit up with a glow she had not really seen before. “You’re welcome…”

Neither of them moved; for Ginny it was almost like she couldn’t. She just continued to watch him, finding it difficult to pull her gaze away from those beautiful amber eyes. Her breath hitched slightly as he took a step closer, her heart drumming against her chest as her body instinctively moved closer to him, their eyes locked on each other. She felt all her senses heightening so that she could smell the faint musky smell of his cologne, as well as hear his soft breathing. Her eyes dropped down to his lips which were unnervingly close, until suddenly she could feel his lips pressing gently at hers, slow at first until they were pressing more harder, his hand curling itself around her neck, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

A soft noise escaped Ginny’s lips as she responded to the kiss, their chests pressing up against each other, making her foggy brain faintly wonder how odd it was to kiss a boy in a boy’s body. There was no softness of touch between them- just two, toned, masculine bodies pressing almost painfully against the other from the angular shape of their bodies.

“Ginny,” Blaise breathed her name, before once more capturing her lips in his as he steered her back against the bed, both of them collapsing against it in a heap of tangled limbs. It almost felt wrong to be kissing Blaise in Draco’s body, but at the same time her brain was going pleasantly mushy from the effect of his kiss, and she found herself not really caring enough to stop the handsome boy from kissing her.

Just when things were beginning to really heat up, the door opened and as a screech sounded around the room, followed by a gasp, Ginny found herself falling backwards as she quickly scrambled away from Blaise, landing hard on the floor.

“MY SON IS GAY!” Narcissa Malfoy’s voice exclaimed dramatically, and as Ginny looked up from the floor, wincing slightly from the pain, she met Narcissa’s horrified gaze and knew then and there that this had been a horribly bad mistake.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Blaise said quickly, his cheeks going slightly pink, but before he could say anything more, a new interruption took place in the form of his own mother.

“Well no wonder you had pushed me away, Draco,” Selina Zabini said in amusement. “Mind you, this is an interesting development… think of all the kinky possibilities…”

“ENOUGH!” Narcissa screeched, effectively silencing the woman’s musings and Blaise’s ramblings. “You will not be going anywhere near my son, and neither will that- that boy!” she cried, turning to look at Blaise with an angry and disturbed expression.

“Mother please,” Ginny began, but Narcissa just glared at her, forcing her to fall silent.

“Perhaps we should go, Blaise…” Selina said with a lazy smile, clearly enjoying the whole situation. “Narcissa looks like she’s about to have an apoplectic fit…”

“Get out!” Narcissa yelled at Selina, losing all of her usual composure in her disgust for the situation she found herself in, as well as her annoyance that Selina Zabini should be there to see it.

“I’ll talk to Draco,” Blaise mouthed at Ginny, who nodded, if a little reluctantly. Of course Draco would have to know that his mother now thought he was gay; she just was rather worried at how he would react to the news.

“Come on, Mother,” Blaise said tiredly, steering Selina away from Narcissa and out of the room. Instantly the house elf appeared to show them out of the door, and Ginny could only watch as Blaise and Selina left, leaving her to the wrath of Narcissa Malfoy.

The door was shut with one elegant hand, and Ginny swallowed as she turned to look at the coldly beautiful woman that was Draco’s mother, inwardly cringing at what Narcissa would say.

“Would you care to explain to me Draco why you were kissing Blaise Zabini?” she said calmly, apparently able to get her composure back now that the Zabinis were gone.

“I….” Ginny frowned. How was she supposed to explain this? She couldn’t very well tell the truth, but then what was she supposed to say?

“Yes?” Narcissa prompted.

“Um, well you see….” Damn, what do I say…? “We….were just experimenting….”

“Experimenting?” Narcissa repeated, one thin eyebrow rising.

“Yes…” Ginny said slowly, trying to formulate a plausible lie. She had heard of other students kissing others of the same sex at Hogwarts and claiming it was all in the name of ‘experimenting’, so she didn’t see why this should be any different. It was just unfortunate that she was dealing with the Malfoys who took reputation seriously, and clearly had a thing against homosexuals….”

“So then you’re not gay? You were just experimenting?” Narcissa said hopefully.

“No, Mother, I am not gay,” Ginny deadpanned in what she hoped was a voice that would stop anymore of Narcissa’s questions. Narcissa, much to Ginny’s relief, seemed to take the hint and simply nodded her head.

“I’m glad to hear it. Do you have any idea how upset it would make your father and I to know that we would never have grandchildren because you decided to get into your head that you liked men? Merlin forbid the Malfoy line ever dies out because our only heir becomes homosexual….”

“You don’t need to worry Mother,” Ginny said, trying to keep a straight face. “I don’t like guys.”

Narcissa looked at her suspiciously for a moment, and in a way Ginny could understand. She and Blaise had certainly not been holding out when they were kissing, and it was obvious they had both been enjoying themselves…

“Alright, well please don’t try anymore experimenting, Draco; it’s not becoming…”

“Yes, Mother,” Ginny said dutifully, and breathed out a sigh of relief once Narcissa left. That had been horribly awkward, but now she would have to face Draco’s reaction which she just knew was going to be worse….