Redemption
Confusion
I took several deep breaths and tried to compose myself. `What the hell just happened?' I wondered, though the question was more rhetorical than not. I mean, what had just happened what quite obvious, especially since I could still feel her soft warmth wrapped around me. Our bodies remained connected in the most intimate way possible; the warm damp skin of her stomach was pressed against mine as she lay limply beneath me.
"Could you get off of me? You're heavy," Weasley said after a few minutes.
I quickly pulled away, goose bumps rising on my arms and chest as the cool air from the flat suddenly hit them. I mumbled an apology and quickly yanked my pants back up before allowing my gaze to return to the redhead on the table. She was sitting up now, her head down and her right hand buried in her long soft auburn locks. Her long shapely legs were looking slightly pale against the sleek black table and also looking utterly irresistible. I sucked in a sharp breath as another spear of attraction shot through me and her head snapped up, her rich brown eyes connecting with mine. We stared at one another for another minute or two; both unsure of what to say before she averted her gaze and pushed her hair shakily out of her face. Putting her hands down onto the table, she slid down onto unstable legs. When she teetered dangerously, I stepped forward only to have her hold a hand up in my direction. She gripped the table with the other and held fast for a moment until she was stable before bending and pulling her tights up.
"Red, I-"
"This never happened," she stated, harshly cutting me off.
My brows snapped together, "What?"
"It never happened," she repeated, her words coming out shaky, but determined.
"So, you just want to forget-"
"I already have," she hissed glaring up at me.
I scoffed and shook my head lightly, "Fine. If you want to pretend like we didn't just fuck each others brains out, then so be it."
She glowered at me and reached down, snatching her coat from the floor, "Shut up Malfoy," she demanded while quickly slipping her arms into the sleeves. "This never happened and it won't happen again."
I arched a brow, "What won't happen again?"
"Exactly," she replied then after staring at me for a moment longer, she disapparated with a loud `pop'.
I glared at the spot where she had been a minute longer before looking around my ruined dining room. Crystal shards covered the floor and light dents and scratches littered the dark green walls. Brilliant, just bloody brilliant. The best shag I'd ever had in my life and I did it with one of the most annoying people I had ever met in my life who now wanted me to pretend that it had never happened at all. I sighed and bent to retrieve my wand. With a flick of my wrist and a few uttered spells, all of the expensive crystal place settings were whole once more and returned to their original locations. As I looked over the newly reformed table, my eyes locked on a spot located just below one of the wine glasses. Stepping forward, I ran a finger through the pool of thick liquid remaining on the surface. Lifting it to my nose, I took a deep sniff. As I suspected it would, her scent assaulted me, clinging to my nostrils just as readily as the moisture clung to my finger. Scoffing lightly, I shook my head and looked back down at the wet spot on the expensive black tabletop.
"Never happened my arse," I muttered before pointing my wand at the area and cleaning it away.
*********************
I shuffled into the kitchen the next afternoon wishing for nothing more than a strong dreamless sleeping draught. As I conjured myself a mug of hot tea, Tiffany walked in and gave me a wide grin.
"You look like shite," she chirped with a smile.
I glared at her, "Shut up."
"Long day?" she queried, taking the mug of tea that I had made for her when she entered.
"You have no idea," I muttered taking a sip of my drink and wishing it were something much stronger than tea.
"Did you talk to Harry?" Tiffany asked studying me nervously.
Because she had been the one to give me the Muggle newspaper with the front-page story on the Guardian Angel, Tiffany knew all about my impending meeting with the dark haired Auror. Just as I had thought, and to make my night even better, by the time I arrived home yesterday Pig had been waiting here for me with a letter from Harry requesting that I meet him at the Ministry this morning.
"Yes," I replied finishing my tea and setting the empty mug in the sink.
"And?" she pressed following me out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"And what?" I sighed collapsing onto the couch.
"And, what did he say," at my purposefully blank look she glared, "about Draco? What did he say?"
"Nothing," I shrugged.
"Nothing?"
"Yes nothing."
"But how is that possible… I figured that Harry would be looking for any reason to put Draco away for a bit. How is it he found out about what Draco was doing and said nothing?" she inquired shocked. "Did he do something?"
"No."
"Ginny," she whined.
I rolled my eyes, "I didn't tell him."
"You didn't tell him what?"
"My source," I looked at her and shrugged, "I refused to tell him."
Tiffany stared at me for a moment, shocked, before exhaling, "Really?"
"No, not really," I drawled sarcastically, "Blondie's in Azkaban right now, cursing my name and knitting you a sweater."
Tiffany's mouth fell open a bit, "Wow… I was so sure…" I gave her a dark look. "What?" she defended, "He was never on your favorite person's list, I thought -with some of the things you've said and all that you'd think he belonged in Azkaban too."
"Maybe he does," I grumbled sourly, "but not for saving lives and helping people."
Tiffany laughed merrily and I looked up at her, "Awesome Gin!" she shot up. "Then I have to get dressed!"
"What?" my brows furrowed.
"Draco stopped by earlier today," she rambled rushing to her room, "and we agreed that if by some miracle he hadn't been carted off in chains by tonight, we would go out to celebrate!"
"You two are going out?" I said standing and walking to her doorway, watching blankly as she rummaged through her wardrobe. "Tonight?"
"Yep," she shot me a grin, "what do you think?" She held up a short red halter dress.
I scoffed, "I think it's snowing and you'll freeze your arse off in that thing."
She winked, "Well if all goes as planned, then Draco can help me keep it warm."
I bit my lip to stop the sarcastic response that smacked strongly of jealousy from flying from my mouth. However, even biting my lip couldn't halt the muttered "Slut," from slipping out anyway.
Tiffany paused mid-shimmy into the tight red dress and looked at me, "Did you just call me a slut?"
My eyes widened and I gave her an innocent look, "What? -No, no of course not," I replied with a strained smile.
She studied me for a moment longer before sliding her dress the rest of the way up. "Right," she responded, sounding unconvinced of my innocence.
"I didn't, I said -`What?' as in: `What's the deal with you guys?' I mean, I have no idea what you see in that git," I tried again.
She considered my comment for a moment while putting her head through the top of the dress and then shrugged. "I see a lot in Draco and I think you do too."
"W-what?" I sputtered, my heart speeding up, "What the hell does that mean?"
She gave another hitch of her shoulders, "That means that you have to have seen something different in him than you use to if you didn't turn him in today."
"Oh…" I frowned.
"Why? What did you think it meant?"
I looked back up at her, "Oh -I, uh," I was saved from answering when the buzzer sounded. "I'll get that," I said quickly rushing out of the room and to the intercom by the front door. "Yeah?"
"Hey Red, can you ring me up?" Draco Malfoy's deep voice sounded from the other end, making my stomach flop uncomfortably.
Instead of answering, I just hit the button, granting him entry. A minute later he knocked softly at the front door. Taking a deep breath, I centered myself. Then, placed my hand on the knob and opened it. He stood before me dressed in black from head to toe, his white-blond hair and pale face standing out vividly against the darkness of the fabric. I had a mental flash of his toned chest peaking from beneath a black robe and flushed. Turning, I walked briskly from the door and plopped down onto the armchair.
"Good evening to you too, Red," he murmured, taking off his large coat and draping it over the side of the couch.
I was a bit surprised to see the snow white sweater he wore underneath it, finding it disconcerting how good the saintly color looked on the sinful blond. "Evening," I replied picking up a magazine and flipping through it.
Malfoy sighed and let out a low whistle, "Is Tiff here?"
"Yeah, she's getting ready," I looked over the magazine and smirked at him, "for your date."
He arched a brow and gave a small chuckle before putting a hand in his pocket and crossing the other over his chest. "So then it's safe to assume that a team of Aurors aren't waiting in the back to ambush me?"
I rolled my eyes, "As if they would need to ambush you, Blondie."
He laughed a bit louder now, "So when do I go down?"
My eyes flew to his, "What?!"
His brows rose, "When do I go down, you know -in flames? Is Potter coming to get me personally or am I unworthy of the honor."
I rolled my eyes, "No one's coming to get you, you prat."
He walked around to the front of the couch and took a seat, silently studying me, "Really?"
"Yes really," I grumbled, looking back down at my magazine and trying to ignore the effect that his presence now had on me. This new awareness of him was going to drive me completely daft.
"Why not?" he asked, holding up his hands when I shot him an annoyed look. "Not that I mind or anything, I just figured that once you told them about me it would be pretty much open and shut."
"She didn't tell them about you," Tiffany stated entering the room and walking to stand by the couch he was on.
His gaze flicked over to her, and then back to me, "What? -Why not?"
I felt my face flush under his scrutiny, but was saved from answering by Tiffany.
"According to her, though you may in fact deserve to be in Azkaban, you don't deserve to go there for helping people, yeah Gin?"
I nodded and flipped a page of the magazine, "Yeah."
"Wow…" I heard him breath.
"I hope that was in reaction to this lovely ensemble that I have put together for tonight," Tiffany teased.
I looked up in time to see Malfoy pulling his gaze from me and looking at her; he let out a low whistle and opened his arms for her as she climbed into his lap.
"Wow isn't strong enough to describe how you look," he murmured.
I fought the urge to gag.
"Mmm," Tiff whispered, "well what word is strong enough?"
"There is none," he replied and I rolled my eyes.
"How about an action," she inquired huskily before lightly kissing his lips.
"Get a room," I grunted glaring at the snogging couple.
"No problem," Tiff muttered, moving from his lips to his chin.
For his part, Malfoy just shot me a knowing look and arched an amused brow. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him and he grinned.
"What is this?" Tiffany asked pulling back from Malfoy's neck.
"What is what?" he inquired.
"This… it looks like a love bite," she looked at him, "I've never given you a love bite, where did you get one?" My breath stopped as Tiff lifted Draco's chin higher and showed me the mark. "That's a love bite yeah?"
I froze for a moment as I recognized the mark on his neck -my mark on his neck, then gave Tiffany a shaky nod. She slapped him on the shoulder.
"What's this about?"
Draco shrugged, "It was just a one time thing."
"A one time thing?" Tiff rolled her eyes, "You shagged someone else?"
He nodded, "Yep."
Instead of hitting him or yelling at him like I expected her to and would have done myself, Tiffany just rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully on the shoulder.
"You prat, I hope you used protection."
His brows raised, "What kind of protection?"
"The same kind that we used," Tiffany responded with a frown.
"Ahh…" Draco looked around the room, "nice place, did you guys redecorate?"
She smacked him in the shoulder again. "Draco," Tiffany whined, "How could you shag some tramp and not properly protect yourself."
I glowered at the term `tramp' and Draco laughed catching my dark look.
"I don't know, it just kind of happened -there really wasn't time to search for Muggle prophylactics," he grinned shooting me a mirthful look over Tiffany's head.
I gave him the one fingered salute.
"So, she was a witch," Tiffany stated before readjusting so that she was straddling him "was she prettier than me?"
Draco took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Well… she was… different from you. But you're both beautiful in your own way," he shrugged.
"How very diplomatic of you," Tiff smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Who was better?"
"Better?" Draco's brows rose once more.
"Yeah, better -me or her?"
The blond scoffed and gave a wry smile, "You are not really asking me that."
I set down the magazine, no longer pretending to read and waited for his answer with open curiosity.
"I totally am," Tiffany said leaning back on his lap, "so stop avoiding the question. Was she better than me?" She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to respond, "And don't give me any of that, `you're both different' crap."
Draco made a pained face and sighed, letting his head fall back onto the couch, Tiffany poked him in the shoulder and I scooted further up in my chair. When his lifted his head, his silvery eyes flashed quickly to me before looking back at her.
"Honestly?"
"There's a concept," Tiffany commented drolly, "yes, honestly."
Draco opened his mouth to reply, but ended up giving a strained smile. He ran his hands lightly down her bare arms then pinned them to her side. "She was." My and Tiff's mouths dropped, "But," he continued quickly, "it was a one time thing -in fact, we can forget that it ever happened."
I recoiled a bit when he repeated my words to Tiffany, and sat back in the chair crossing my arms over my chest. Turning my gaze to the table, I did my best to suppress the hurt that flowed through me at his declaration, reminding myself that it was what I had wanted. What I had demanded, so it was perfect. However, I couldn't stop myself from listening intently to the rest of their conversation.
"So how high did she set the bar?" Tiffany sighed. I didn't hear a response from Draco but a minute later Tiff spoke once more. "Wow that damn high yeah?"
My head snapped up and my gaze shot to him, but he was frowning and looking at Tiffany's hands, which were clasped and pressed against his chest. I felt my lips turn up a bit at the corners when I noticed the blush that crept up his neck and the look on his face that indicated that he would love to be anywhere but here right now.
"Well I guess you and I will just have to keep working at it," Tiffany grinned.
I don't remember throwing the pillow at her head. I just know that the next moment they were looking at me shocked expressions and my own face was lit with mortification.
"I….uh…. was wondering if you two -could perhaps take this disgusting conversation somewhere else," I said trying to disguise my sudden burst of anger with repulsion.
Tiffany laughed and rolled her eyes, "Of course Gin, sorry I forgot you were there for a moment."
"Yeah, well I am pretty forgettable," I replied sticking my tongue out at her.
"I didn't forget you," Draco stated dryly. My eyes went to him and he smirked at me, "You know, the next time you want us to leave, you can just ask. You don't have to throw things and hit people."
I glared and grabbed another pillow, throwing it at his head. He caught it and looked down at it for a moment before looking at me once more, "Don't hit me Red," he smirked, "or I'll be forced to hit you back."
I felt my face flame and quickly turned my head in an attempt to hide it, "Whatever, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."
"Yeah," Tiffany said getting off of Draco. I frowned when his hands remained on her hips. "We really should get going, we have plans remember." She arched a brow, "Though some of them may be changing due to some recent discoveries."
Draco gave a low chuckle and stood from his spot, "Naturally."
I rolled my eyes and skirted around the couple, ignoring the heat that radiated from his body as I passed. I halted abruptly when his hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. My startled gaze flew to his, but he was looking down at where we were connected, after a moment he looked up at me, his eyes indecipherable.
"Thanks Red, you know. For what you did today," he offered me a crooked grin and my heart sped up. "You didn't have to shield me from Potter and… well; I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it."
"I…" I licked my lips and his eyes darkened, "uh, no problem. Just don't make it a habit yeah?"
He gave a small nod of his head and I pulled my wrist free of his loose grasp. Taking a deep breath, I gave them both a wave, hurried to the solitude of my room and collapsed against my door. What was he doing to me?
A.N. That's it for this chappy. What do you think? Please review and let me know!!!
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