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Scarlet Woman
Part Seven
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Dinner had been a forced affair, or at least it had felt that way to Draco. He'd spent the meal trying to make small talk and had failed at each attempt. Ginny would make a noncommittal grunt, and go back to looking down at her plate of spaghetti. He scrubbed ruthlessly at the congealed pasta sauce currently adhered to the dishes and pots filling the small sink.
And now he was taking out his frustration and anger on the dinner plate in his hand, scrubbing at the persistent grime like nothing else in the world mattered. Which wasn't the case, of course. Ginny sat in the other room, listening to the radio, and here he was, elbow deep in grimy soap water, beating a plate into submission.
She's just too damn calm! He thought viciously.
It was enough to drive him mad.
…Or to drive him to volunteer to do the dishes.
Either way, Draco wasn't acting normally, and it was all her fault. Sighing at the childish idea, he pulled the drain stopper and grabbed a towel sitting next to the sink. Drying his hands, he walked into the living room, ready to confront Ginny and tell her that, damn it, he wanted to talk about what was going on between them.
Of course, she ruined his plans by being asleep on the bloody couch.
His anger dissipated almost immediately. Ginny's hair was spread out around her head like a red halo, the crimson strands blending into the black leather. She breathed in slowly, her chest rising and falling smoothly with each lungful.
Carefully, Draco sat down by her feet, and watched her sleep.
It was no wonder he'd had to live with her memory for years. Her mere presence in his life had driven him to the point of frustration so quickly that it astounded him. He'd learned in the Order that staying cool was the same as staying alive. But there was something about Ginny that just pushed his buttons, and tweaked him in such a way that the harder he tried to stay calm and collected, the more he wanted to just take her and… do something.
Lost in his thoughts, Draco was jerked to awareness when his doorbell rang. Ginny shifted and moaned in annoyance. Sleepily, she opened her eyes and started to sit up. She caught sight of him at her feet.
"Draco?"
"Don't bother, go back to sleep." He stood and answered the door.
The two officers that greeted him were a surprise.
"Hello, sir. My name is Officer Bricalus, and this is my partner, Officer Marcado. We're sorry to bother you at so late an hour, but we need to ask you a few questions."
"Sure. Why don't you come in?" Draco ushered the two men into the apartment, though his wariness steadily grew, especially when he noticed that Ginny was edging towards the door. That wouldn't do, he decided. He firmly took her hand and tugged her onto the arm of his chair. He gestured for the men to take the couch. "What exactly do you need to talk to me about, sirs?"
"There was a murder nearby tonight. We were wondering if you'd heard or seen anything during the evening."
Ginny covered her mouth with a hand, turning slightly pale. Draco started telling Bricalus about their evening. Ginny shifted uncomfortably behind Draco's chair.
"I'm sorry we can't be of more help," he concluded, noticing the tension radiating off of Ginny.
"That's all right. If you see anyone suspicious in the area, or notice any disturbances, please call me at this number." Bricalus handed Draco a business card, then stood. His partner, however, remained sitting, his eyes on Ginny.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Red."
Ginny wet her lips. "It's not what you think, sir."
Marcado didn't look like he believed her. He turned to his partner.
"She's a prostitute, John."
The officer's calm demeanor changed instantly.
"Sir, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you a couple more questions."
Draco glared at the two men. Ginny started to get up, but he shot her a look that said not a chance in Hell. She settled, with a slump of her shoulders, onto his arm rest.
"Were you aware that this woman was a prostitute?" Bricalus took out a pencil and a small notebook. He flipped it open, waiting for Draco's response.
"Yes, I was." He fought back a smirk at the officers startled reaction. "However, she happens to be someone I went to school with, and I was merely helping an old friend in need."
The officer looked like he didn't believe Draco, either.
Ginny sighed. "I'm not selling any more, officer. My friend's going to help me get back on the right track and off the streets. There's nothing illicit going on."
Bricalus hesitated, then slipped his notebook and pencil into his pocket and stood. "Then you won't mind if we keep an eye on your apartment."
It was a statement, not a question.
Draco nodded curtly. "No, I don't mind. But I'd very much like it if you two left now."
He tried not to slam the door behind them.
Ginny had gone into the kitchen as the officers had left. She was facing the window, looking out on the street. She turned when he entered.
"I hate this. I hate my past, and I hate the assumptions." She whispered, then wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the shivers that were moving across her skin. "I hate it."
Draco didn't say anything.
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Pursued.
The chase was all she knew, that she was being followed down a dark street with heavy feet pounding behind her.
"You'll never escape, Doll." It was Tom's voice, but it wasn't. The terror it evoked was the same.
Ginny ran faster, and faster. Soon the world was a blur, and instead of running, she was flying. She felt the broomstick beneath her, and it wasn't her life on the line but the game against Slytherin. She needed to win, to make that final goal.
The Quaffle was clenched tightly to her side, and she was just about to make the goal when Draco flew in front of her. She was stopped in her tracks, unable to move as his eyes locked with hers.
"I've got you, Ginny. You may not know it, but you're mine." Slowly, Draco started to shift. Eyes went from steel grey to endless black to vibrant green to deep brown. Hair went light, then dark, then darker, then a vibrant red. Slowly, they melded together, blurring and blending until it hurt to watch it happen. Ginny threw an arm in front of her face to block the light.
Suddenly someone grabbed her arm and threw her. She hit the wall that had rapidly appeared and slid to the ground.
"I told you, you stinking whore, you're nothing. You're mine, you slut. Don't ever think different."
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Ginny bolted awake, a scream trapped in her throat. Her heart was racing and she could feel tremors shaking her whole body. Trying to calm down, she rolled off the clammy sheets and walked into the kitchen, her bare feet padding gently against the tiling. She was surprised to find Draco sitting in the darkness, a cup resting between his hands, his eyes staring into it.
She moved slowly towards the sink and to the window. "I'm sorry if I woke you." The light from the street cast a soft glow around Ginny, and she stared out the window, wondering about what had happened only hours ago.
"I wasn't sleeping." She heard him shift in his chair, the cup rasp against the table softly.
The silence that moved slowly into the kitchen wasn't awkward. It was just there, like a third person in the room, waiting for the cue to leave. But Draco didn't say anything, and Ginny stood and looked out the window. When she heard the chair at the table scrape back, sliding against the linoleum, she was startled from the relative peace of the kitchen.
She turned, quickly, and saw Draco walking towards her. "What-"
She was cut off by his lips finding hers in the dark. A soft, tender touch that left her shaking. He kissed her slowly, quietly. Ginny tried to fight against the gentleness in his kiss, tried to fight against the tenderness he offered, and couldn't.
When their lips parted, she felt a tear move down her cheek, and drop slowly onto the kitchen floor. With no words spoken, Draco understood and held her. He dropped his head into her hair, and held her safe.
A soft thank you was all that was said for the rest of the night.
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When Draco woke up in the morning, he was startled to find himself lying on the couch with Ginny spread across his chest. As his memory of the night before returned, he simply watched as Ginny breathed in deeply, sleeping soundly for, perhaps, the first time since he'd brought her here.
I wonder why she can't sleep, he thought idly, twirling a strand of her red hair around his finger. He might ask her later, but right now he was simply enjoying the feel of her body on his. So what if nothing had happened that night? It had been a long time since he'd had a woman curled up with him, especially one he cared for.
Maybe the past isn't as easy to escape as I thought. Draco continued to twirl the strand of hair around his finger, closed his eyes, and found himself looking back on his life.
He'd never been one to express emotions besides scorn and disdain. He had been a bastard when he'd started school, and he was still a bastard when he'd left it. But something had tempered it, and that thing was lying on his chest, asleep.
There was something about Virginia Weasley that he couldn't ignore. During school, he'd gone out of his way to annoy her, to make her life a living hell, and he'd done a damned good job of it. But somehow, he'd formed a friendship that centered on their fighting. And when he'd left school, he'd been changed enough to talk to Dumbledore and join the Order of the Phoenix.
He'd learnt a lot during the War. That the Death Eaters were cowards who were killing in the name of hypocrisy, that the Order was trying to stop the world from falling apart, and that Virginia Weasley would save your life, no matter which side you were fighting for.
He'd seen her, once, on a battle field. She'd looked like an angel, saving those she could. Making the passing easier for those she couldn't. Her hair had been tied up, and her white healer's robes were stained with carnage. It was the first time he'd seen her since he'd left school, and he had been impressed.
After the war, he started painting. It had taken almost two years for him to get anywhere with his art. At the time, there hadn't been much call for emotionally unsettling pieces like his. Vivid colors, vague shapes, and an unconventional use of perspective had brought in a younger crowd, and had made him some money. But now, he only painted for himself.
And, sometimes, for his past. For Ginny.
But as she started to slowly wake up, he decided that she didn't need to know that.
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Authors Note: I am really sorry for the long wait on this chapter, and I really want to thank you all for being so patient with me. I've been working on this on and off since the last update, but I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit down and just write. School's pretty hectic right now, which is usually what happens at this time of the year, but I'm going to try and make myself write at least once a day so I can keep this moving at a quicker pace. In the meantime, I'm going to act like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar and look chagrined. *sheepish grin*
Fanfiction.net:
Thanks to Slytherin Fox, SarkLover, Wizzabee, dream-me-up-a-toaster (where did you come up with your name? And thanks for the puppy banishing ^_^), ilovedraco, unperfection (because it's a better plot device to use scars than to have a dead Draco… lol), Shellbert, Kavi Leighanna (*glomps* thanks) , Debbie, number1chick, Jade Summers, GodessOFmars2, Ginny* (well, you might be confused by the ending because it's not the end, just the last chapter; Keep reading, I'm not done just yet!), black crayons, xangelcrisisx, MeteorLight8, Neni Potter, glitterfairyxoxo, rukki, and fyrechild. I appreciate all of your comments. It's you guys that I write for.
Portkey.org
Thanks go to Edana, dave gerecke (well, it's still not finished, but there's at least an update…), syvixxie, PeachBlossom92, Cute Sleeper (he couldn't have killed her, he was with Ginny when the murder happened. Sorry to burst any bubbles…), Enter Name, elle, Undone, Kirixchi, kimmaree, ~*~Hermione~*~, laila, Ezmerelda (I fixed that over at ff.net, and I'm about to do it here. Thanks for catching it ^_^;) , prue1912, dracosgurl159, mp, knzelovesblack, Emily, Enter Name #2 (hey buttermallow! Glad you like this, I'll have to make sure you find out about the update!), mary_sintome, Awen and Anasis, Liz21 (you have the same name as my sister! Cool…), and Rainpuddle13.
And, again, thanks go to my beta, Sarah. I don't know how you managed to put up with me for five months before I even gave you anything to look at. You rule. And I hope those pinkies of yours feel better soon!