Note: Just to calm you lot down I will say that NO Draco did not agree to help Mr. Crabbe. That's all I'll tell about the story ^.^
Redemption
Understandings
I rolled my eyes as Tiffany lounged against Malfoy. There was a whole ruddy couch there yet she seemed incapable of finding a location that didn't require her to be draped all over him. She sat between his legs, her head leaning back onto his shoulder and her mouth moving slightly as she read the newspaper that he was holding.
"I can't believe it," Malfoy said, leaning back once he finished the article.
"What?" I asked pretending to look up from my book.
"You actually made me sound like a pretty good bloke," he gave me a surprised look. "I'm in shock."
"Not enough," I smirked, "you didn't keel over."
He grinned and held up two fingers barley spaced apart. "You were this close."
"Damn, maybe next time," I replied snapping my fingers. He laughed.
"This is really good Gin. What did your editor say?" Tiffany asked looking over at me and leaning back against Malfoy's broad chest one more.
I fought a frown, "Uh, the usual. You know, great work -you're one of the best, can't wait to see the public response and what not," I shrugged.
"One of the best?" Malfoy inquired arching an annoying blond brow.
I smirked, "Well I could be the best if I give up the name of the mysterious wizard in the article."
He grinned and Tiffany laughed, "Yes, well one of the best sounds quite admirable to me," he said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes. Somehow, in the last crazy couple of weeks, Malfoy and I had developed some type of… it wasn't friendship; it was more like a grudging respect for one another. I realized that he wasn't as annoying or as bad as he used to be, and he realized how truly spectacular I am. As odd as it is, I believe the way that he handled that night a couple of weeks ago was the turning point for us. I guess the only question is what direction we're heading in now.
"Of course it does Blondie," I snorted.
Tiffany sighed and picked up Malfoy's hand. I watched as she played with his long fingers; then, ran one of her fingers down his palm. "You have a long life line," she murmured.
"Heaven forbid," Malfoy smirked and Tiff elbowed him lightly in the stomach.
"Don't joke about that Draco, it's great that you have a long life line," she said looking back at him with a frown.
"That, my dear, is a matter of opinion."
"Is not."
"Is too, right Red?" Malfoy asked throwing me a crooked smirk.
Tiff gave me an arch look. "You better not agree with him," she warned.
"Heaven forbid," I muttered.
Malfoy chuckled and Tiffany rolled her eyes before adjusting so that she was straddling him. "Don't think like that Draco," she said leaning forward and kissing him gently. "I would miss you terribly if something bad were to happen to you."
Now I rolled my eyes.
"I'd miss you too," he replied, kissing her once more.
I mimicked spewing.
"Good," Tiffany responded before capturing his lips in a long deep kiss.
I made gagging noises.
"Go away Ginny," Tiffany muttered against his lips. Before I could respond, a tinkle of bells sounded in the air and Tiffany pulled away from Malfoy sighing, "Hold that thought," she said, tapping a finger against his lips before hopping off his lap and running to her purse to get her cell phone.
While she did that, I got up and headed into the kitchen to start on the dishes from dinner tonight. As I filled up the soapy water and put the various pieces of silverware, plates, pots and cups into it, I hummed a little ditty.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked from behind me.
I jumped a bit before throwing Malfoy a glare, "I'm minding my own ruddy business, perhaps you would be interested in giving it a go," I replied sarcastically.
He laughed softly, "Nah, maybe later. Are you doing dishes?"
"No," I rolled my eyes "I'm working on the Mona Lisa, I figured this time I'd make her a red haired Jamaican -what do you think?"
"I think that that is an odd, yet intriguing combination," he replied leaning against the counter to my left.
I snorted, "Go away Blondie."
"Why when-"
"Hey you guys," Tiff said coming into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I have to go."
"Why?" I asked with a frown.
"There's breaking news, a hostage situation at that bank on Main. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Make sure to bring details," I said.
"Which bank?" Draco asked quietly; I shot him a look.
"Oh no you don't." He and Tiffany looked at me, but my gaze remained on him. "You're staying right here mister. I'm not letting you out of my sight. The mysterious Guardian Angel will not be making an appearance tonight."
Malfoy gave me an amused and overly innocent look. "Now would I do something like that Red?"
"Yes," I replied immediately. "Which is why you're going to stay right here until Tiffany gets back Blondie."
He pointed down at the floor "Right here?"
"Yes, right here."
"What if I have to go to the restroom?" he quizzed, arching a brow.
"Ever heard of the buddy system," I replied with a cheeky grin.
Tiffany laughed and Malfoy groaned.
"Well, I'll leave you guys to hash this out," the brunette said pulling out her phone and checking her text messages. "My camera man is downstairs. I guess I'll see both of you when I get back," she finished giving Malfoy a wide grin before coming forward and placing a quick peck on his lips. "Bye."
When the door closed behind her, Draco turned and looked at me. "Now what?"
I threw a dish towel at him, "Get to work, I wash, you dry."
He picked the cloth up from his chest and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
***************************
Twenty minutes later the kitchen was spotless and I leaned against the counter adjacent to Weasley as we both sipped on Witches Brew beers.
"Why didn't you just use magic?" I inquired taking another swig of my drink and arching a brow in her direction.
"Didn't want to," she shrugged. "Sometimes I just like to do things the Muggle way. It's a chance for me to relax a bit, unwind."
"Cleaning?" I quizzed with an incredulous look. "You need a social life Red." Weasley glared and threw a dish towel in my direction, my right hand shot up to catch it before it could hit me in the face. "You really need to work on that temper of yours," I smirked, frowning when I noticed that her face had lost some of its coloring.
I pressed a bit further back into the counter when she suddenly came towards me, "What are you doing?!" I demanded, but she ignored me.
Instead, she roughly grabbed my right arm and forcefully turned it over, her gaze fixed on my forearm. I closed my eyes and cursed softly as the dark mark stood out dramatically against my skin.
"Why do you still have this?" she whispered harshly, her accusing gaze flying up to my face.
"You ask me that like I have a choice," I replied with a frown.
"Don't you?!" she demanded dropping my arm.
"No, I don't," I hissed, quickly pulling the sleeves of my sweater back down.
"Yes you do," she glared up at me, "get rid of it!"
I scoffed, "You don't think I've tried! You don't think that I've been to every specialist, Muggle and wizard alike, to get this thing removed?!"
"Then why is it still there?!" She accused, stepping back and glowering up at me.
"Because it can't be taken off!" I yelled back. "Even when they get it to go away, it comes back in a matter of hours. The only options I have left are cutting off the skin or amputation, and I'm not going to do either."
"Why not?" Weasley spat. "If it were me, I'd do anything to get rid of it, anything!"
"Well that's you, but I'm not going to walk around with one bloody hand just to try to get rid of this. Besides what does it matter?!"
"What does it matter? How can you even ask that?!"
"Easy! You act like getting rid of this mark will change who I am, what people think of me! It won't! I'll always be me -Draco Malfoy. It doesn't matter what's on my arm as long as I have my name and my face! I'm marked, branded like fucking cattle, and getting rid of a stupid magical tattoo won't change that!"
My chest rose and fell rapidly and I glared down at her for a moment before turning and stalking from the kitchen.
"Where are you going?!" she demanded, following me.
"Home," I clipped out, grabbing my coat.
"No," she grabbed my hand, "you can't."
"I'm not going to save anyone Weasley," I spat, glowering at her. "I'm just going home to be alone if you don't mind."
"I do mind!"
"Why?!"
"I-I… well, I don't know," some of the fight left her and she frowned.
I scoffed lightly and rolled my eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling. I did my best to calm the racing of my pulse, and my damndest to convince myself that our argument, and not the small warm hand that was holding my own, caused it. I tugged at my hand, but she held fast.
"I have to go," I stated flatly.
"Why? Big plans," she quipped with a smirk. "Stop being such a brat and sit down Blondie."
She gave my hand a small tug, leading me to the couch and I automatically followed.
"Have you tried makeup?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.
"No, I just usually go for long sleeves," I shrugged, self-consciously pulling at the right sleeve of my sweater.
She nodded lightly before smacking her lips and clapping her hands together "So…"
"So?" I gave her a sidelong glance.
"So… what are you going to do with your days now that your job moonlighting as Superman is done?"
I lifted a brow, "Superman?"
"A Muggle superhero," Weasley said leaning back on the couch and looking over at me. "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He tends to spend his day, and/or nights running around saving the lesser mortals from either the powers of evil or their own stupidity."
"Ahh," I commented leaning back "sounds like a busy man."
"Alien," she corrected, I gave her a surprised look and she gave a dainty hitch of her shoulders. "He's from a planet called Crouton or something… I'm not too sure. It's Ron's latest obsession though. I guess he gets a lot of free time between Quidditch games and one of the Muggleborn players introduced him to the comic."
"Sounds thrilling," I said sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, totally," she muttered derisively, "you can't have a conversation without him going on and on and on and on and on and on about it," she rolled her eyes and mimicked shooting herself in the head.
I laughed, "Did you tell him that you don't care."
"All the time," she said picking up a pillow and fiddling with the tassels, "yet he continues to speak." She gave me a look, "I've learned to ignore it now, but it's too late to save the part of my brain that he had already infected."
I gave her a grin, "Aww, too bad Red. I know that you only had limited space in there to begin with," I ribbed, catching the pillow when she attempted to smack me with it.
"You never answered my question, what are you going to do now?" she asked.
I shrugged, "I don't know… nothing I suppose."
"You should find a job," she stated as if it were the most obvious solution.
"What do you think I spent my first couple of months back doing?" I frowned, "There's no work out there for, as I've been called, `my kind'." I gave a hitch of my shoulders, "I've given up on the concept."
"Where did you try?"
I glanced at her, prepared to see a disbelieving look and was surprised to see one that was merely curious. "Everywhere."
"Like…"
"Like, several shops, stores, business, Gringots, several places in Hogsmeade," I looked over at her, "I was even stupid enough to try the Ministry."
Ginny's brows rose, "And what happened?"
I gave a cynical smile, "I'm a danger to moral."
Her mouth formed a small `o' and she sighed, looking down at her hands. "Do you want me to see if I can find you something at The Prophet?"
"Wait," I held up a hand, "you're offering to find me a job?"
He face colored slightly and she gave me an annoyed look. "Yes, someone needs to make sure that you have something to do to keep you out of trouble."
I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "A bit of charity work, then?"
She shrugged and smirked at me, "Well, it's already December and I'm behind on my good deeds, so I figure helping you find a job will take care of this year and next."
"Gee thanks," I scoffed, "but I'm good. I don't want to go anywhere near the Prophet."
"Why not?" She frowned.
"Because they're not my biggest fan, and I'm not theirs. You know, just because I wasn't living in England doesn't mean that my family didn't have a way to get copies of your past posts," I smirked; she flushed more.
"Right… well the offer's still open."
I gave her a small nod. We both jumped a bit when the door opened and Tiffany walked back in.
"Hey you guys," she sighed, plopping down onto the couch beside me.
I looked down and gave her a subtle smile, "Hey, how'd it go?"
She groaned and leaned back, "Horrible," she sighed.
I stiffened, "What happened?"
"Nothing," she rolled her eyes, "absolutely nothing. Peaceful resolution just minutes after we
arrived."
Ginny laughed, "Then what took so long?"
She shrugged, "Interviewing, getting info. Then, we had to go down to the office and get the story to the printer in time enough to make a last minute addition to tomorrow's post."
"Sounds exciting," I grinned.
Tiffany rolled her eyes once more, "Hardly," she then looked over at me, "however, I can think of something exciting to do…"
I arched a brow, "Oh really?"
"Mmm-hum," she grinned, before wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me forward for a kiss.
"Well, that's my cue," Ginny said, I felt the couch shift as she stood up, "I'll catch you guys later."
"M'kay," Tiffany murmured kissing my neck.
I turned my head and arched a brow at Ginny, "You sure you don't want to watch?"
"Ha-ha," she glared before turning and storming off to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. I laughed.
A.N. Okay sorry I just feel the need to rant. I'm so beyond mad, this "artist" on deviant art called ~CautiousRealRose ~AKA~ Kathleen first insults my H/Hr, D/G, R/L artwork that I did in photoshop in three long paragraphs about how Harry and Ginny belong together as do Ron and Hermione, then when I send a long reply of my own she has the nerve to call me "Not a real Harry Potter fan, who hates JKR" just because I don't like the ships and told me to "Go fuck myself" then when I replied to that, the cow reported me for copyright infringement so that it would be removed because she didn't think it portrayed the proper ship according to JKR. Which they did because I used pictures… that's right pictures of the actors and actresses, now my WHOLE deviant art account is empty because ONE person didn't like Harry/Hermione and felt the need to go into MY artwork with MY ship and complain about it. I'm pissed off because we don't go into Ron/Hermione artwork or stories complaining about their ship, so why the hell can't they just stay out of ours *le sigh* Okay I feel a bit better. For those of you who have time then please feel free to go to her deviant art account and let her know that Harry/Hermione, Draco/Ginny shippers aren't going to go away even if she goes around reporting all of our artwork. You can pull her up either searching Greg and Magie on deviant art, hers is the poorly drawn one in light pencil or by clicking the links if they show up. If you don't do that or don't have a deviant account I just thank you for listening to my rant.
-->