Looks like you're back for more *smirks.*
Wow, I must be channeling Draco today.
So, lovelies, enjoy chapter 7 of Sweet Revenge! *Blubbering and sobbing* it's the last chapter! But I also have a new fanfic, Erased, that should be up within the next couple of days. So yay.
Also, I changed my mind, we do find out what the prank was. It just never gets played : (
Disclaimer: Come on. You know that I don't own Harry Potter by now.
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Chapter 7: Time Stands Still For No Man
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Blaise muttered at Ginny. She nodded.
"Positive. Now shut up and move." They were almost at the wall that concealed the Slytherin common room. The lights in the torches down here were a sickly green that flickered over the damp walls eerily. Ginny shuddered. She had never liked the dungeons.
They stopped suddenly and unexpectedly. Ginny ran into Blaise. He gritted his teeth to stop from laughing and said, "Mudblood."
"That's not a very nice password," Ginny commented quietly.
Blaise shrugged. "I don't make them up."
They negotiated their way through the common room. Ginny held her breath, but Blaise's Disillusionment Charm seemed to do the trick. A couple times people actually banged into her, but it was so late at night that they just attributed their clumsiness to tiredness. Ginny had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"Here's the dorm," Blaise said in an undertone, gesturing at a door to their left. Ginny looked left and right, but nobody else was in the hallway. She entered.
Draco was sitting on the bottom bunk of one of the beds, moodily staring at the slats that kept the top bunk upright. He was still wearing his uniform. When she grew closer, she could tell that he was muttering something.
"-stupid bitch hates me because of Dumbledore, won't even let me tell her-" he mumbled angrily.
"Draco," Ginny hissed.
He sat up, looking alarmed. "Who's there?"
"It's Ginny," she replied, sliding onto the bed to sit next to him.
"Where the hell are you?"
"Right here-oh, crap, I forgot about the Disillusionment Charm! And I don't know how to take it off! Shit!" Ginny fumbled in her robes for her wand.
"Hold still." Draco pointed his own wand at her and said the incantation. Immediately she knew he could see her, because his smile could have lit up an entire city.
"There you are," he said, putting his arms around her. "I knew you would come back."
She shrugged him off; his face fell. "Not so fast. We have to talk."
"Talking is seriously overrated," Draco muttered. "Besides, we did plenty of talking this afternoon. Enough for a lifetime, in fact."
Ginny sighed. As badly as she wanted to just grab him and snog him senseless, she knew that she couldn't do that.
Because if he kissed her again, she knew she would be his forever. And she had to say something first, before she couldn't say it.
"You," she said icily, poking a finger into his chest, "are a two-faced, conniving bastard who idolizes his equally idiotic father. Our families hate each other, my brothers hate you, and none of my friends can stand you. Why would I want to even be near someone like that?"
Draco was motionless, white as a sheet. A weird whistling noise filled his ears. This couldn't be happening. "But-but you came back," he whispered in an unsteady voice.
She sighed again. This was the hardest part.
"As much as I loathe to admit it, you were right about one thing."
"What's that?" He knew he was grasping at straws, but there was still some small hope that she could feel even a fraction of what he felt for her.
Ginny drew closer, her face inches away from his. She felt a weird power that she was putting Draco in the position that he had often put her in. "I really just can't stay away."
There was a fraction of a second where she could see his broad grin, but then he covered her lips with his and she honestly couldn't remember a word of the previous conversation.
She pressed herself up against him, feeling the heat of his body where it touched hers. A pleasant buzzy feeling filled her up wherever he touched her. It was much better than that first, rushed kiss in the library. This kiss, the first of many, was a promise, one that said that they would stay by each other forever.
"Wow," Draco marveled when they finally broke apart after many minutes. He was flushed, as she undoubtedly was. Ginny felt smug that she could affect him this way.
"I know," Ginny replied.
Draco looked at his golden watch. It was just like the one her brother had, only nicer-looking. "Shit, it's about three in the morning." He glanced around. "I know this sounds kind of explicit, but if you want to stay-"
Ginny yawned, suddenly realizing just how tired she was. "I don't think I could make it all the way up to Gryffindor tower without falling asleep," she admitted.
"Well then, we should catch up on our rest. Don't want you falling down on the job. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday…"
"What if I don't want to sleep?" she whispered naughtily, taking his chin in her hand.
His eyes widened and then closed as she kissed him again. This kiss was more playful, less serious and important than the past few she had shared with him. Ginny ended it by nibbling on Draco's bottom lip.
"Ginny," he groaned, "we really should sleep."
But she didn't sleep, even long after his breathing had smoothed out into that of a sleeper's. She was too full of happiness, almost so much that she felt like she could pop like a balloon at any moment. Draco shifted in his sleep, putting his arms around her unconsciously.
She sighed.
Using his shoulder as a cushion, Ginny laid back on the bed, grinning beatifically at the underside of the bunk above them.
This, she thought, was her final, unintentional revenge on Harry and Hermione. Her happiness.
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"You knew the whole time and you didn't care?" Ginny said, her jaw nearly on the ground.
Hermione smiled knowingly and looked at Draco. The three of them were sitting on a bench in Greenhouse 4 usually frequented by second-years. It wasn't quite warm enough out to sit outside. "With you two making eyes at each other with every possible opportunity, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out."
"I was not making eyes at him," Ginny said indignantly.
"Who says she was talking about you?" Draco murmured in her ear, giving her a squeeze around the waist. She started to bat his hands away, but then she remembered that they had already come clean to pretty much everybody about their relationship. Seamus and Neville had taken it remarkably well, but Ron still wasn't speaking to her. Luna was trying to get him to come around. Ginny knew he would eventually.
"Get a room," Hermione said playfully, standing to leave. "Well, lovebirds, I've got to go."
"Library?" Ginny said inquiringly.
Hermione rubbed her forehead. "Damn Horcruxes," she muttered under her breath.
Draco looked concerned. "I've already told you what little I know, but if I can help somehow-"
She smiled tiredly at him. "No thanks Draco, you've already more than redeemed yourself in my and Harry's eyes."
"Just got to convince you're brother that I'm not a traitor nutjob," Draco whispered to Ginny.
Hermione shrugged. "If I know Ron, and I'm pretty sure that I do, he'll come around. Eventually," she amended.
"And then he'll act like Draco's his best buddy and pretend he never hated him in the first place," Ginny added. Hermione laughed.
"He would do that, wouldn't he?"
A pair of hands landed on the brunette's shoulders. She blushed when the Boy-Who-Lived joined them with an impish grin on his face. "If you're talking about me, I've already forgiven him," Harry reminded them.
"We're talking about Ron," Ginny told him.
"Luna'll convince him within the next few years." Harry smiled warmly at his girlfriend. "Want to take a break this evening, 'Mione?"
Hermione bit her lip. "Harry, we're so close to a breakthrough on how to destroy them…" The black-haired boy rubbed her back; she closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time in a few days.
"The Horcruxes aren't going anywhere," Harry reminded her. "Let's visit Hagrid. Or…we could stay in if you like?"
The couple stared in a lovey-dovey way at each other for a few moments.
Draco made a muted disgusted noise. "Is that what we look like most of the time?"
Ginny shook her head. "I refuse to believe that we are that bad."
Harry and Hermione glared at her. "Mind your own business, Ginny," Hermione snapped.
"My fault," Draco admitted.
The older girl rolled her eyes. "It always is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco looked offended.
"Nothing, nothing," Hermione replied, giggling when Harry kissed her neck.
"Get a room," Ginny mocked, and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I think we'll do just that. Bye, Gin. Bye, Malfoy." Harry nodded respectfully in Draco's direction.
The two Gryffindors walked off hand-in-hand, disappearing into the misty depths of the greenhouse. Draco looked at Ginny, eyebrows quirked in the gesture she loved.
"I think we could find something more interesting to visit than Hagrid. Tea. Ha." Draco grabbed her hand as they negotiated the semi-frozen ground. She colored at his touch.
"That's their little code word that they use around fellow Gryffindors when they don't want anyone to walk in on them while they're using the dorms," Ginny explained, watching the way the tassels on his blue knit hat bounced when he walked.
Draco stopped in his tracks. His mouth fell open in horror. "Potter-Granger-alone in dorm room…oh, that is just wrong. Sick and wrong."
Ginny shoved him playfully. "It's not that bad, you perverted idiot. I don't think they've gotten past second, anyway."
In an answer to Draco's questioning (and slightly scared) look, she said, "Don't ask how I know. I can just tell."
He shook his head. "Girls."
"What's wrong with girls?" Ginny said, a smirk curling her lips.
His heart beat faster as he looked down at her. "Um…well…"
"Come on, you can say anything to me," she cajoled, stepping a little closer. Her smirk grew bigger when she saw her swallow hard.
"They're just so…"
"So what?" she repeated, slinging her arms around his neck. Draco swallowed again when she started playing with the hair on his neck.
"Oh…Shit, I don't know."
Then he kissed her, and their foggy breath spiraled upwards in white swirls in the damp March air. When they finally pulled apart, Ginny rested her head on his chest. He started stroking her hair; she closed her eyes in pleasure.
"I love you," she murmured into the fabric of his shirt. She looked up, and his face was alight. It was the first time she had said it out loud.
"Me too," he whispered, smoothing her hair back as he leaned in for a kiss…
"Hello, Mr. Big-Shot Death Eater! Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?" came a familiar voice from not too far away.
Ginny and Draco groaned in unison as they turned to face Blaise, who was walking hand-in-hand with Alice. "As a matter of fact, you were, Blaisey-Waisey," Draco said smoothly, smirking a little.
The dark-skinned boy blushed. "Where did you hear that from?"
The couple just smirked like two cats who had swallowed the canary. "No need for you to know, Blaisey," said Draco, slinging an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.
"So what's up, Alice?" Ginny said far too loudly as she turned a vaguely pink color.
"Not much, Blaise was just going to help me with my…er…Herbology! Yes, that's it! Herbology!" Alice was also talking much too loud.
Draco sniggered. "I'm sure that's all he's helping you with."
Both Alice and Blaise glared at him. Ginny shrugged. "He's impossible, but what am I going to do? Off him?"
The tension disappeared when Blaise laughed. "I'll help you with that," he promised, squeezing Alice's hand. He shot a look at Ginny that plainly said, Thanks for the help.
She gave him an understanding smile and nodded.
Ginny turned her eyes back to her boyfriend staring at her oddly. Blaise noticed the look. "Um…well, we had better get going! Time stands still for no man and all that!"
Once the other couple was gone, Draco chuckled, fiddling with Ginny's hair again. She closed her eyes. She loved it when he did that. "Well, that couldn't have been more awkward."
"You're telling me." Ginny exhaled a cloudy breath, staring at the opaque sky.
"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked her curiously as they began walking back towards the school.
She smiled at him; every time she did that, he was dazzled. He still couldn't get used to the fact that she liked him-no, loved him-back.
"The greatest prank that never got played," Ginny admitted as they entered the gargantuan front doors. A half-smile quirked his lips.
"We still have the plans. And the Polyjuice," he reminded her. She smirked.
"But there's no arsehole to play it on," she complained as Pansy walked up to them.
"There's always Slughorn," Draco suggested.
"He's pretty nice," Ginny argued.
"But he's awfully good for a laugh."
"I don't think he has a girlfriend OR a wife, so it would be impossible to go snog him and then change back and watch him scream." Ginny shuddered. "I cannot believe that I just talked about snogging Slughorn."
The other girl gave both of them a curious stare in turn. "What the hell are you two talking about?"
"The prank," they said in unison. Pansy smiled evilly.
"We never got around to that. Pity," she commented.
"How go things with Theo?" Ginny asked her. The Gryffindor girl was sad that she couldn't see her friend more often.
Pansy's grin broadened. "Unbelievably well."
Draco laughed. "I can't believe you can stand his afro!"
Ginny was shocked. "Theodore Nott has an afro? When did this happen? God, this I have GOT to see." She craned her neck to look for the tall Slytherin in the foyer, but no luck.
Pansy was glaring at Draco. "I can't believe she goes out with you. You part your freaking hair!"
"Ladies, ladies," intoned a familiar voice.
Ginny turned around, beaming. "Nev!"
Neville was standing above them. "Where's your boyfriend?" Pansy asked interestedly. Neville and Seamus were still the only out-of-the-closet gays in the whole school, which was impressive considering the amount of students at Hogwarts.
"Studying," Neville said with a shrug.
"So's Theo," Pansy said, smiling up at him. Pansy and Neville had really taken a shine to each other in the past few months. They had discovered a common obsession with their boyfriends and Herbology.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Great, they're never going to stop obsessing now. Come on, Gin."
They both waved goodbye to their friends, but neither one noticed. They were too busy discussing their boyfriends' personal habits, a conversation neither Ginny nor Draco wanted to be part of.
"I mean, honestly, that's so disgusting, how they talk about how Theo picks his nose or whatever," Draco said as they mounted the marble staircase. "I can't believe anyone would actually spend time talking about things like that."
"Draco," she said softly. He turned around, the remnants of a smile crossing his face. Ginny looked serious, and small, and very afraid.
"What's wrong, Gin?" he said, concerned, as they reached the top of the stairs. She stopped walking, leaning against the wall.
"What are you going to do about-about You-Know-Who, after school? McGonagall can't keep protecting you forever. It just makes me worried, that's all." She bit her lip, and Draco wanted to find some way to reach out to her, to comfort her, but he didn't know how. "I don't want you hurt."
"Aw, Ginny," he said, wrapping her in his arms. She began sobbing into his shirt, and he didn't even complain that she was getting his uniform all wet. "Obviously I can't go home, because my parents aren't too thrilled with me right now, and I can't go with you because Ron wouldn't exactly head up the Welcome Wagon committee. I might stay at the Order Headquarters or something." Harry had given him the Secret, in case he needed a place to hide from Voldemort.
Ginny wasn't sobbing quite so hard now, but tears were still leaking out onto Draco's shirt. She looked up into his face, and he caught his breath. Even while her face was puffy and red from crying, and there was a smear of blood on her lip from when she had bitten it too hard, Ginny was still beautiful to him.
"I'm sorry," she said, and there was no trace of a tear in her voice. "I know I'm a bloody idiot."
"Never say that," he murmured, taking her chin in his hand. "I wouldn't love an idiot."
She smiled hopefully, and as he kissed her, she knew everything would turn out all right. Ginny had a sudden flashback
to the vision she had had months before, of them in Malfoy Manor. That would happen, someday, somehow. Everything was
fine.
She didn't know how she knew.
She just knew.
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Many tanks to all those who read and reviewed this story!
(And yes, Ella, the afro was for you.)
Hopefully, I'll start working on the sequel to HLM/HLMN pretty soon…so you might as well go read that in your spare time!
Thanks for reading, I love you all! Really!
Kisses,
Your Lovee
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