Revenge
Chapter Two: Dangerous
He wandered the corridors for over an hour before he remembered that he was supposed to be in Transfiguration. His lips still retained the almost painful feeling reminiscent of hot coals, tingling and shooting off sparks when he thought of their kiss. Everywhere her hands had met his skin - his neck, his back, his arms - cool shivers and goose bumps. It was a peculiar feeling. Even after seventeen years, Draco had never before found anyone irresistible enough to feel so needy.
Although her taint regarding making Potter angry had been the sole thought in his mind when he had decided to kiss her, the instant their skin connected, his thoughts mercifully died a quick death, and there had been no lingering thoughts of the Boy Who Sucked running rampant through his brain. No, she had been like a drug, wiping him blank but for pure bliss and unadulterated joy.
Of course, when the other Slytherin's came asking, which they were sure to do, in about twenty minutes, to be precise, making the Chosen Boy's life a little bit more awful by stealing his girlfriend would be the first thing to escape his lips.
Lips.
Oh, God, her velvety soft lips, so sweet in their caress-
He sounded like a swot.
But her drug like effects seemed to be holding. For over an hour, not one memory of the war came upon him unannounced, and for once, he was able to concentrate. On absolutely nothing at all. And it was marvellous.
***
Ginny had rather shocked herself.
She had always recognized that there was a glimmer of the brazen in her; a light reminder of her year with Tom. She had used to be afraid of that part of herself; had been for many years. Partly because to some extent there was a war going on inside her, between the sweet little innocent part of her, and the darker, more sinful side. But mostly because of her family- because as much as she knew her family loved her, she wasn't sure just how they would take to having a daughter filled with thoughts and ideas and desires inspired by the only very recently dead Lord Voldemort.
It wasn't as though she was going to become the next Dark Lord (or Lady, as it were) or anything; of course not. But she couldn't deny that while before Tom she had been innocent, subtle as a kettle, and dumb as a post, she was now in possession of the sly, intelligent qualities that tom had taught her through misfortunate experience.
Simply put, Ginny, like Tom, was dangerous to any who crossed her, albeit in a slightly different way. For example, Harry Potter and his dim-witted followers (perhaps Hermione was not so dim-witted as the others, but she was far too `good' and `pure' to expect anything.) they would do well to watch themselves, and not to underestimate Ginny.
So, to really test her newfound comfort with her `Dark Side', she was planning a little exhibitionism in the Great Hall during dinner.
As it was Friday, uniforms were not necessary after the final class of the day. She had already slightly broken the rule by wearing a muggle outfit to breakfast that morning, the school was simply too shocked to call her on it. And when a prefect had come up afterwards to deduct points, Ginny had run away before she'd had the chance.
The muggleborn students had been using the weekends as a letdown time and to wear their `muggle clothes' for eons, often to the shock of the traditional pureblood families, who, before integration with their fellow students, had never even heard of `trousers'.
With the help of Sterling and some of her less flashy fashion magazines, Ginny had managed to throw together a sexy new wardrobe that based on his reaction to her earlier, more conservative outfit, Draco would truly appreciate. This, of course, was her goal.
She had known Harry for six years, and she had known him well, through Ron's experience of him as well as her own. She knew that he would never regret something lost unless it was lost to someone he couldn't stand: Voldemort, Snape, Lucius, Draco…
And so, as she had decided that morning on a whim, she was going to make Harry regret his actions, and even more, the loss of her friendship. And she was going to use Draco to do it. She would win this war.
After all, it wasn't as if Draco would object.
***
Damn, he hoped she'd do it again, Draco thought idly, as he ran his fingers over his lips for the seventy-ninth time that afternoon, as distracted as he had been all day.
***
For the second time that day, Sterling stood in the dormitory she shared with Ginny and watched with equal parts fascination and concern as her friend rampaged around the room.
"I told you you should wear the green dress already," Sterling pointed out as another outfit flew across the room to land in a careless heap on her bed.
"I know, but-," Ginny panted as she struggled to remove a pair of skin tight jeans, "-it didn't feel dramatic enough!"
"Dramatic enough? What exactly are you hoping for? You're already going to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow, isn't that Drama enough for the Trio? They won't know whether to strangle and disown you or follow you!"
"I know, but the dress didn't feel like it was living up to the precedent of the skirt."
"Ginny, you can't have a precedent already; it's only been eight hours!"
"Whatever," Ginny said stubbornly.
"Fine," Sterling sighed with aggravation, "wear this."
She went to Ginny's closet and hauled out a pair of high waist pin trousers and a daring little gold blouse with flared sleeves and a collar that dipped low enough to reveal the very tips of Ginny's lacy black bra, without being overly trashy. She tossed out a pair of pumps and some dangly earrings and scowled fiercely until Ginny put them on.
The overall effect was posh elegance, which Sterling privately thought Draco would appreciate more than the trashy glam look Ginny seemed to be leaning towards. It was always better to ooze class than easiness, as Sterling's mother had always said. At least, she had until she'd run off with the bin man.
Perhaps it was better not to dwell on such things.
When Ginny finished her hair and Sterling pulled on her own clothes, they went to the common room, intending only to pass through and continue down to the Great Hall. But Sterling ran smack into the back of one rather large and imposing Harry Potter.
"Sorry," she muttered quickly, trying to escape before he saw Ginny but it was too late. He turned around to apologize but saw his ex-girlfriend standing a little bit behind her. Sterling watched with light amusement as his eyes widened and his pupils dilated to the point that the emerald of his eyes was largely disappeared. While she was waiting for the drool to start dripping from his lips Ron noticed his friends gaze and turned to follow it, seeing Ginny.
Please don't make a scene, Sterling thought fervently, save it-.
"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed, anger flushing around his collar, "What the hell are you wearing?"
The common room, predictably, went quiet. Fights were a commonly watched and eagerly awaited thing around Hogwarts, and Weasley fights were the best. Sterling would have rolled her eyes at the predictability of the stupid Gryffindor's, but held in the urge.
"Nothing; shut up Ronald," said Ginny, her voice clipped. She marched off in the direction of the portrait hole, looking every inch the blithely unconcerned female, but Sterling could see the girls tightly clenched fists at her side.
"I know it's nothing! Ginny, go change, or- or-; I'll write to mum!" Ron continued on, gaining pomp as he went. "And about that Malfoy thing! That was just disgusting, I'll bet she'd love to hear about that, now wouldn't she?"
Ginny slowly turned around, a tiny smile playing about her lips. "She already knows," she said simply, and then she continued her exit of the common room.
Ron gaped and deflated like a freshly popped balloon, recognizing that, if Mum already knew, he had nothing left to use as leverage.
Sterling did roll her eyes, and then followed the youngest Weasley ever to snog a Malfoy to the Great Hall.
***
"It was bound to happen sometime," Sterling told her. "You share a common room, you can't just not
see him ever!"
"I can avoid them," Ginny insisted, growing annoyed. She emphasized the word `them', lest Sterling think she was hung up on Harry and a mess because of it. Because she wasn't.
Quite the opposite. Even in the space of a day, she had gone from being outraged and rightly furious to highly annoyed, yet lightly amused.
It stung that he should think so lowly of her friendship to do such a thing as kiss Daphne Greengrass (or at least, that's what she assumed they did, she wasn't quite sure quite how far they got.), and then lie. It hurt that while she had been serious about their relationship, he obviously hadn't shared her respect. It cut her that even when he was in the wrong, he still patronized her.
But she didn't feel like killing him anymore. She just wanted to hurt him a little, like he had hurt her. She wanted him to feel used and dirty. She wanted to make him sad.
But she would never be able to go through with it. She could thrust the knife in Harry's chest, but when it came right down to it, she couldn't twist it. She couldn't make him scream with agony.
Not because she loved him.
But because she didn't.
He never broke her heart, but she knew exactly how to crush his. She knew exactly what to say, exactly what to tell him to make sure he would never be quite the same again. And a lesser, more spiteful girl would do it. But Ginny wasn't spiteful, or hateful. She was vengeful, but she wasn't cruel.
And so she would let him go, because he hadn't really damaged her. She would let him off with just a little revenge.
"Ginny?" Sterling said, hesitancy in her voice. Ginny looked up and realized that Sterling had been prodding her for some time now.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "Daydreaming." She looked around and realized that Sterling had hauled her off into an old empty classroom near the Great Hall.
"What exactly is your plan?" Sterling said, rolling her eyes.
"Plan?"
"Yes, plan. Plan - what is your plan?" She snapped her fingers in front of Ginny's face.
"Oh. Well, I was just going to wing it."
"Wing it?" Sterling demanded incredulously. "Don't you even have some sort of basic outline down?"
"A bit. Go in, sit with Malfoy, snog him, renew plans for Hogsmeade," Ginny said.
Sterling let out a strangled cough.
"You will never be any good at subterfuge. I don't think being an auror is the best career choice for you."
Ginny shrugged.
"At least make it look like the Trio made you do it," she said, shaking her head.
"I can do that," Ginny said, and then she giggled.
***
The effect of Ginny's entrance on the male population of Hogwarts was much the same as that morning, except for the fact that this time they were somewhat more prepared to be shocked.
They had been used to skirts on girls, as they had essentially been wearing very long skirts themselves over pants for centuries. Witches, however, at least from traditional Pureblood families, had been living in a pre-WW1 muggle clothing era for centuries. Pants on a woman were shocking.
Jeans, the students of Hogwarts had almost managed to handle on girls. Almost. A boy still occasionally got hot `round the collar when a muggleborn girl strolled by, much to the entertainment of the muggleborn boys, but, in general, the fainting spells had passed.
But never before had any of those boys who had been so shocked seen anything like Ginny Weasleys legs sheathed by a pair of trousers like these.
Mile high slim legs.
Fantasies abounded.
One young Hufflepuff even brought back the fainting.
Ginny Weasley was in the building.
***
Harry had often thought about what life would feel like if he weren't himself; the savior of the Wizarding World. Would it be better, or worse? Perhaps his relationships would go easier.
But, it was pointless to digress and try to fool himself into thinking that his status would be changing any time soon. He was who he was, and he would never, short of a dangerous spell or two, be anyone different. And as his life went on, he was finding that he was alright with it.
But when Ginny walked into the Great Hall that evening, he had a taste of what his life would be like if he were someone lesser. Someone invisible.
She laughed her way over to the Gryffindor table, brushing off comments and lascivious attempts at flirting from some of the braver boys, making her way to where the Trio sat. She did not glance at Harry. Not even once.
"Hello, Hermione," she said, her smile like a small sun in his line of vision. His heart clenched and he was reminded why he had fallen for her to begin with. Why he had fallen in love with her.
Hermione was confused, Harry could see, unsure what to do. Stay loyal to Ron and Harry and say nothing, or give in to common courtesy's demands and say hello back? Her inherent genius had not prepared her for this stupid feud.
And it was stupid.
Finally, Hermione gave in and smiled back, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. Ron looked furious.
He interrupted, just as Hermione was about to say hello back and invite Ginny to sit with them. Harry was glad he did.
"Go away, Ginny. You can't sit here until you apologize." Ron said, his fists clenched on the table.
"Oh?" Ginny said, her smile fading a little into one more bitter and annoyed. "And is this opinion shared by the lot of you?" she asked, her voice light despite the tense words.
"Yes," Ron said tightly. Hermione looked rather shocked at him, and Harry felt a little bit annoyed
himself with Ron, for an inexplicable reason. Which was ridiculous, because he had no claim on Ginny anymore. He had
given her up, hadn't he?
"Alright then." Ginny smiled again. "It was nice chatting with you, Hermione." She waved and looked towards the Slytherin table, where Draco looked at her with welcoming lust in his eyes. Harry found his own hands hardening into fists. Draco sodding Malfoy.
She waltzed down the hallway with very little care for what everyone around her was saying and made her way to the far table, where Draco was again budging up to make room for her.
Unlike this morning she was not wearing overly restrictive clothing, and so instead of sitting with her back to Harry and Ron and Hermione, she straddled the bench so the three of them could see the side of her smiling face as she leaned in to receive a peck on her cheek by the Slytherin Bugger.
Harry knew then exactly what it would be like to be treated as someone normal, someone mundane. He had been thrown over, by the very girl he had cheated on to encourage interest.
His stupid plan had blown up in his face.
And, he thought with sickness churning in his belly as Ginny moved in for a good snog, Draco Malfoy was reaping the benefits.
How could she?
Draco Sodding Malfoy.
Harry threw up in his Shepherds Pie.
How was that for mundane?
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