Disclaimer: JK owns them all!
I have not abandoned this story! I am very sorry to those readers out there who have been kept waiting, all I can say is that Real Life has been busier than ever before and although I have thought about this fic loads, I haven't been writing it. I really hope you'll forgive me and give this chapter a read… Please?!
*******
Ginny had succeeded in completing no work whatsoever on Saturday night due to her thoughts constantly straying to a certain boy, and so when she awoke on Sunday morning (after a rather long lie in) she decided to commit herself to a day of work. She meaningfully strode to the kitchens to get some brunch, and headed straight back up to the Griffindor common room. She was perfectly aware that she was avoiding the Great Hall to deny herself the temptation of glancing over to the Slytherin table, but she reasoned with herself that going to the kitchens would save time in any case. She was rather uncommunicative throughout the day, although thankfully being friends with Hermione paid off in this instance as Hermione praised her for being so absorbed in her work.
That night Ginny's stomach clenched uncomfortably as she tried to come up with excuses to get her transferred out of her library duties for the rest of the term. She fell asleep troubled, and awoke on Monday in no better mood despite having dreamt of kissing a beautiful blond boy all night.
*******
He wasn't waiting for her, and she found herself feeling relieved. She was just approaching Madam Pince's desk and wondering where he was lurking when he appeared from amongst the bookshelves opposite the librarian's desk. Obviously he still hadn't managed to kick the habit of lurking completely then.
"Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy," The librarian greeted with a nod. "This week I would like you to resume your work copying out the texts you started on. I thought you would appreciate a break from the monotony of the quill work." When neither of the students said anything the witch frowned slightly before dismissing them.
It was odd to stop at the first desk again after having continued to the quill area for so long. As they took their seats Ginny reflected that it was probably a good thing they were back on the texts, she didn't fancy having to unstick Draco from a rogue quill again only to be reminded of how she had previous dealt with the problem…
She quickly seated herself and pulled the book she was writing in towards her. Thankfully Draco took his queue and pulled the Shakespeare book towards him, apparently not willing to argue about who began the dictating. As he began to speak Ginny dutifully wrote down everything he said, and realised that she was actually grateful for the fact that they were back on this task. Although it meant that she had no choice but to listen to him, it at least meant that there was no room for any discussion at their table. Whereas if they had been working on the quills the silence and awkwardness would have stretched and stewed, with this task they had no chance of considering what they might say to each other because the only acceptable thing to hear was the lines the great playwright had written, and Ginny's quill scratching along in response.
The evening was not without its awkward moments though, such as the times they bumped elbows, or the moment when Ginny realised she could smell Draco's seductive scent drifting towards her, tantalisingly tempting her to lean into him. If he felt any such awkwardness she could not tell, and tried not to guess. Ginny's last hopes had been dashed on Saturday when he had looked at her with a complete lack of interest or even the usual intensity she was used to. She had tried to harden her heart to it, but she couldn't completely ignore the disappointment that had plagued her. At least she had remained aloof in front of him, making it plain that the man she had been interested in was not the one who everyone else saw. She wouldn't deny Draco's physical appearance was appealing - what was the point when he knew she had been drawn to him? - but she would preserve her dignity in making it plain that she was not the kind of girl who persisted just because of that quality. If Draco had had any desire to prove his depth to her it had not shown in the look he had given her - one of bored nonchalance. She frowned as these thoughts ran through her head and suddenly the quill she was writing with snapped under the pressure she was exerting on it.
"Fuck!" she threw it down in annoyance, and reached down to begin fumbling through her bag for her wand.
"Reparo," she heard him mutter. "Here."
She turned back to him to see him holding the repaired quill out to her, his expression betraying nothing. If anything it angered her more. She stood abruptly.
"I don't need your help, Malfoy," she shot at him venomously, fighting the temptation to snatch the quill from him and re-break it. Fortunately she was spared as she was distracted by the arrival of the dismissal note from Madam Pince, and grabbing her bag she swept away from the library trying to convince herself that she didn't care about him and trying to ignore the niggling question that asked if she didn't care, then why was she so angry?
*******
Monday had been horrific, but Draco held no high hopes for Tuesday being any better. Sure enough he wasn't wrong. He didn't want Ginny to know he was purposefully waiting for her so just before she was due to arrive he left his extra studying and exited the library, only to wait a little further down the corridor and peer out of a broom closet nearby, looking up the way the Griffindor would appear from. She looked thoroughly miserable as she approached, he noted, and tried to ignore the tug in his chest at seeing her feeling this way. Part of him began to wonder if it was down to him, whilst another part scoffed at the thought.
The truth was that he had no idea what had happened with him and Ginny. They had gone from enemies, to reluctant work partners, to something approaching amiable acquaintances, to sudden fervent kissing, apparently back to enemies. Draco understood his reasoning for it - he told himself every day why he should push her away. He would get hurt; she wouldn't want him for long. He couldn't bear to have something as precious as Ginny in his now desolate life only to lose her. It could be a trick, a ploy from Potter. If it wasn't, if she truly wanted him… that was almost worse. If the truth came out Ginny might be made to suffer at the hands of experts in cruelty for her daring to involve herself with a Malfoy. Draco was hardly a stranger to suffering, but he did not relish the thought of more, and every way he looked at the situation he would suffer from somebody's hands.
But he had no idea what she was thinking. She had kissed him, had seemed to want him so much… it made him hard just thinking about it. She had refused his rebuttals and stubbornly seduced him… until she hadn't. And then there had been Saturday. And yesterday she had seemed on the verge of killing him.
None of that - the rationalisations or the ponderings - stopped him from wanting to comfort her. From wanting to wipe the look of misery from her face, from wanting to kiss her and immerse himself in her and only her…
She stopped outside the library and took in a deep breath, schooling her expression before entering. He waited a few moments before slipping in after her, knowing he would spend the evening listening to her voice grind out words she wished she didn't have to utter to him.
*******
Wednesday was just as bad. Draco certainly didn't think Ginny had appreciated him spouting Shakespeare, especially as they had encountered an interlude of sonnets. He thought he heard her make some sort of noise as he read Sonnet 8, especially the lines "Why lov'st thou that which thou receiv'st not gladly, Or else receiv'st with pleasure thine annoy?". But maybe he was imagining things. Maybe the old bard was getting to him.
*******
"You seem distracted, Ginny." Luna observed quietly on Thursday as the Ravenclaws and Griffindors trudged back to the castle following their Herbology lesson in the greenhouses.
Ginny looked up at her friend with a slight, apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, Luna. I'm just tired… these bloody extra duties don't help." She added irritably kicking a stone out in front of her and narrowly avoiding the ankles of another student.
Luna eyed her friend thoughtfully. Ginny was no stranger to hard work, and had seemed happy with her allocation to the library. Last week she had been bouncing around beaming but the past few days she had seemed somewhat… flat.
"I have to go Ginny, I have Divination next and you know how long it takes to get up there. I'll see you in History of Magic tomorrow. I think Professor Binns will be very pleased with my parchment on the experimental wand work used in the Battle of Furgin."
"The Battle of… oh crap! I was focusing so hard on my other assignments on Sunday I completely forgot that one and I'm supposed to have practised my Cheering Charms for tomorrow and they're awful. Bloody fucking library duties in my way again!"
Luna raised her eyebrows slightly but decided to refrain from berating her friend, who had already sped off grumbling.
When Ginny approached Madam Pince's desk that evening she was too preoccupied with her focus on the librarian to notice Malfoy appear behind her, quiet as a ghost.
"Madam Pince?"
"Yes you may continue with the texts Miss Weasley, carry on."
"Um I was actually… I was going to ask if there would be any chance of um… Well the thing is I forgot I had an extra assignment in for tomorrow." Ginny cringed as the librarians piercing gaze suddenly focused upon her.
"And?"
"I was just wondering if by any chance there might be a possibility of me potentially not participating in my library duties tonight please?" Ginny said in a rush. She knew her answer as soon as the librarians look hardened.
"Miss Weasley, do you not think time management is a valuable lesson to learn during your school years?"
"Y-yes, Madam Pince, I only-"
"And are you under the impression that throughout your life you will only have to deal with one task at a time all neatly lined up and never overlapping?"
"No of course not I just-"
"In that case I'm sure you can understand that I haven't the least sympathy. Carry on." The witch turned her back abruptly leaving Ginny to traipse to the desk in the duty area and collapse into her chair. It was only then that she realised Malfoy had been following her the whole time, her sudden shock at seeing him causing her to snap out violently at him:
"I can see why they call you the Prince of Slytherin Malfoy, slithering about like a snake."
He ignored her as he carefully took his seat. She yanked the Magical Creatures book towards her irritably when suddenly Malfoy spoke.
"Look." He began, and when she did indeed look at him she noticed that he looked rather apprehensive about having spoken, as if afraid she might bite his head off. Not that he'd be wrong there Ginny thought irritably. "Why don't you write your assignment now?"
Ginny stared at him blankly for a moment before responding as if she were talking to a complete idiot: "Ummm because we are doing library duties Malfoy. That's what we're here for, remember? And Pince just told me I couldn't duck out."
"I know, I mean- I meant… why don't you just write it now? I can just copy the book, it's my turn to do the writing anyway and it will obviously be slower than if you were reading it out and I was copying it down but I doubt she'll notice, as long as something extra gets written."
Ginny frowned at him for a moment, confused. "Why would you do that?"
He looked at her then, and as he caught her eye his careful mask seemed to fall once more. "Because I don't want you to be unhappy," he said, apparently without considering his words as he quickly flushed a light pink when he realised what he had said, and looked away again. Ginny had blushed too, but she didn't look away.
"Yeah, right."
"Look," he said looking back at her after a moment, the detachment back in his eyes. "I don't want to argue about this. Either go do your work or don't. I'm just saying you might as well, you can work round by the quills and obviously get all the books you need… but it's up to you." He held her gaze for a moment longer and when she refused to look away he reached out and tugged lightly on the book she held. She frowned and let go of the book - and her hold on Draco's eyes - knowing she wouldn't get a better offer than this.
A few hours passed and Ginny was just reaching a point where she thought she could add a concluding paragraph and declare the work finished when she noticed Draco appear from behind the bookshelf which had divided them.
"We're dismissed." He said simply, and turned to leave.
"Wait, Malfoy," Ginny called, standing up. He turned back warily. "Thanks." She said simply, and somewhat awkwardly.
"Just don't make a habit of it," he said neutrally, not meeting her eye.
"Why, miss me?" She asked, more out of cheeky habit than anything else.
Suddenly his eyes locked with hers again, just for a moment, and the renewed intensity of his gaze made her heart thump loudly, as he briskly turned and walked away, making no reply.