Disclaimer: JK owns them all!
This chapter follows straight on from the previous one.
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When she arrived she noticed him straight away, casually leaning back against the greenhouses in dark jeans and a grey t-shirt. She smirked slightly as she contemplated whether he was actually able to stand near something without leaning against it, and continued to approach him. As he noticed her presence he shrugged away from the greenhouses and stood waiting for him to reach her.
"Potter didn't whisk you away to Hogsmeade again then?"
Ginny merely rolled her eyes. "Do you really want to bring up Hogsmeade, Malfoy?" She asked him in a lightly teasing tone.
"I'm not entirely sure that I shouldn't, considering I didn't actually do anything wrong." He said, turning away from her and beginning to lead her down the side of the greenhouses.
"Didn't do anything wrong?" Ginny asked in mock outrage. "Well apart from being drunk and disorderly-"
"I have definitely been more inebriated than that before and I don't recall doing anything "disorderly"."
Ginny scoffed. "Please," she said mockingly, "I don't think I even want to know what you and Zabini were talking about to make him use some of the gestures and poses he was doing." Draco merely smiled slightly at this and didn't respond for a moment, still walking. Finally he looked over at her with a slight twinkle in his eye.
"Are you sure you don't want to know?" he asked.
"No." Ginny said quickly, blushing, and Draco shrugged slightly, still with a small smile on his face. However, curiosity now peaked, Ginny found herself unable to leave it alone and after a few moments of silence she finally burst out: "oh fine, tell me then."
"It might shock you," Draco responded, surely purposefully trying to wind her up.
"Come off it, Malfoy," Ginny scoffed again.
"He was explaining his latest sexual escapades. With a Veela." Draco held a slightly amused look on his face but thankfully didn't watch Ginny's reaction as a blush rose swiftly to colour her cheeks.
"Oh." There was another awkward silence, which dragged on as they both continued walking, apparently lost in their own thoughts. Ginny, for her part, was trying to stop her imagination going wild at the thought that she and Draco were practically having a conversation about sex. Given her somewhat heightened sense of arousal after this morning's daydreams in the shower, she tried to stop herself getting carried away as she felt Draco's hand brush against her own as they walked. "Have you ever?" She blurted, unable to stop herself.
"What?" Draco questioned, glancing at her.
"Had- had sex with a Veela?" she asked, inwardly cursing herself for asking such a ridiculous question, whilst equally very curious to know the answer.
"No," he responded, his face showing distaste though he didn't seem much bothered by her asking. Well, he is a bloke, she reminded herself.
"You don't seem that keen on the idea," she noted aloud.
"Have you seen what they turn into?" he asked her, and she smirked as she realised that was a fair point.
They circled the end of the greenhouses and the edge of the castle and came to an area of hedgerow which Ginny was pretty sure had some mystical, magical properties which she should probably be able to list, but couldn't seem to bring herself to care about. She stopped, wondering why Draco had bought her to this dead-end, but he kept walking and reached out his hand towards the hedge which then parted just before he was about to touch it. Continuing forward Ginny watched as the hedge carried on creeping back from Draco's body and eventually a wooden door was revealed which Draco's seeking hand grasped the doorknob of, pulling open the door towards him and gesturing Ginny inside.
She stepped through in front of him and was only dimly aware of him following her and closing the door behind them as she drank in the sight before her. The gardens were amazing, a beautiful arrangement of every possible colour spread out before her. To her left was an area of precise rows of small dainty flowers, whilst straight ahead bushes and creepers spread out in a sort of jungle, and to the right she could see the edges of a pond with dragonflies whose bodies were the size of her arm flitting about over the water.
"C'mon," Draco said lightly after a moment of letting her take it all in. He led her past the neat rows on the left and she noticed more hedgerow appearing after them. Disappointed that the gardens ended so quickly she was suddenly excited to realise that the hedge had an opening, much like the opening to a-
"Maze," Draco confirmed, stepping inside and looking back at her. She stepped in next to him and noticed that the path immediately broke off to the left and right. She grinned up at Draco.
"Race?" she questioned, causing him to raise his eyebrows slightly at her before smiling back and spinning on his heel, running to the right. Ginny immediately felt her grin spread as she turned and took the left path.
She had began in quite a rush but it wasn't long before she slowed, realising that this was a rather long maze and she didn't particularly want to finally get to the middle only to collapse in exhaustion. She encountered several dead ends and had to turn back on herself often but she thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, feeling childish delight over the challenge she faced. She wondered if Draco had reached the centre and blushed again, thinking about how she had managed to instigate a conversation about sex with him. Pondering him again she couldn't help but dredge up the memory of Zabini thrusting his hips in a practiced manner, and Ginny's eyes fluttered closed as she imagined Draco thrusting, his outstretched arms holding her down… Ginny forced her eyes open once again fighting the urge to blush even though no one was there to see her. There was no denying it; she was lusting after Draco Malfoy. She'd long ago admitted to herself before that she found him hot, and whilst his brush off had made her feel foolish and hurt his kindness to her only made him more appealing. But he was different from all of the other guys she had known. Whilst many of them were undoubtedly kind, Draco's kindness seemed to come with real care and experience. His whole attitude was somehow much more… mature. As if rather than just being kind by habit, he was kind because he really considered what she was feeling. His aloofness and distance only made her want to cling to him more, to find out what fuelled these moments. The way he had succeeding in carefully pushing her away only made her more curious, as every rumour she had ever heard about the Slytherin and every presumption she had ever had seemed to be being blown away. Ginny had the feeling that when he had said he didn't want her to be unhappy the other day he said it knowing what unhappiness could do to a person, not merely as hollow words meant to charm her but little else.
Ginny was broken from her musing as suddenly the light seemed to change, and she looked up in surprise to find herself in a small clearing, bathed in sunlight.
"That," a drawling voice noted, "was hardly a race." Ginny looked down to see that Draco was sprawled out on what appeared to be a picnic blanket, a generous quantity of food laid next to him.
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She smiled brightly as she looked down on Draco and the picnic he had arranged, and he felt something in his chest jump at the sight of her. Merlin she is gorgeous his thoughts betrayed him, and he quickly sat up in case any other part of him were about to betray him also.
"This place is amazing." Ginny commented lightly as she dropped down on to the blanket, and Draco nodded, looking around once again at his surroundings.
"They put it here at the same time as the one for the Triwizard Tournament. It's a lot smaller obviously, but it was meant as a sort of lasting reminder of the final task. Then obviously things ended the way they did, and no one thought the lasting reminder would be welcome."
Ginny nodded quietly at his words, looking around her with a different perspective.
"It's still beautiful though," she said finally. "How did you find it?"
Draco shrugged lightly. "Last year… things started to get a bit… hectic… for me. I started to value any time or place that I could get away from… everything." There was an awkward pause as Draco's memories catapulted him back to the time he had spent ignoring his father's orders, seeking solitude, trying to come to terms with the decisions he had to make, coming to certain realisations… "Anyway," he continued, suddenly realising Ginny hadn't taken her eyes off him, "that's when I found it." She looked at him plainly, and he could see in her eyes that she knew there was more to his story. He readied himself for her incessant questioning to begin, but instead she finally looked away and smiled again at the food.
"Well, thanks for sorting all this out, I'm starving after that."
"I'm a bloke, all we think about is food."
"I thought it was sex?"
Draco looked up at her again in surprise.
"Well?" she squirmed under his gaze. "Isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well apparently men think about sex every seven seconds."
"We do?"
"Well, you tell me, have you thought about sex in the past seven seconds?"
"Obviously!" Draco cried, causing the girl to blush and gulp.
"You have?" she said, her voice seeming a little breathy to him.
"Of course!" he answered in a bemused fashion.
"Why "of course"?" she asked, and he couldn't help but notice her breaths seemed to be shallower, her eyes a little bright.
"Because you just mentioned it!"
"Oh." She said, suddenly looking away, closing her eyes and shaking her head a little. "Sorry," she said after a moment. "I'm a little… distracted today."
Draco had no idea what to say to that. Ginny certainly did seem distracted, and it was making him distracted - thinking about sex around her only made him imagine it with her, and he shifted slightly uncomfortably, trying to disguise the semi hard on that was being stimulated by their discussion and his enthusiastic imagination. He looked at her again and noticed the slight flush in her cheeks as she lightly nibbled at her lower lip subconsciously, making him want to capture her face in his hands and kiss her thoroughly to maul her lips with his own. He cleared his throat and looked away again, down at the food.
"Shall we eat then?" he asked quickly, seeing a safe topic and running with it. He saw her smile in what looked like a small measure of relief, and they began devouring the food, both stuffing their faces to start with in order to have a valid excuse not to speak for a few moments at least.
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When her hunger, and embarrassment, had subsided somewhat, Ginny lay back on the blanket, stretching out and enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. The days were beginning to get chillier but this one was sunny and bright, and she was damn well going to make the most of it.
Draco sat next to her facing towards the direction she lay back in so that he could observe her, his knees bent up with his arms resting lightly on them, seeming to enjoy the peace afforded by this place.
"So," he said eventually, and she opened her eyes which had drifted closed.
"So." She said, looking at the clouds above her but feeling Draco's eyes on her face. After a moment of her continued silence he spoke again.
"You know Muggles actually pay people to listen to them talk about themselves." She looked at him in disbelief. "Well, not all of them obviously." He allowed.
"Yeah?" she questioned and he shrugged, obviously not wanting to reveal where he had discovered that piece of information. "So when are you paying up for last night then?" Ginny teased, hoping to deflect the attention from her talking about herself.
"I thought we were doing it on more of an exchange basis," Draco started dryly, looking straight into her eyes, causing her heart to beat quicker as she felt the dread and nerves rise up within her. She turned her face away from him, breaking eye contact and trying to hide the fact her eyes were glistening with tears.
"I can't," she said after a moment, meaning for it to come out strong but instead it only escaped as a whisper, making her feel mortified at her own weakness and stupidity. Before she could stand up and run away again though, she suddenly felt his hand take her own, which was lying limply at her side. He didn't say anything, only held her hand and turned his gaze away from her, seeming to understand her desire to not have an audience as she tried to stop herself from crumbing apart again. She was so grateful that she found herself clutching his hand in return, holding on to him firmly. He let the silence stretch on and kept the strong solid hold on her hand, gradually moving his thumb in soothing circles over the back of her hand, and soon her eyes fluttered closed again and her heart returned to its steady beat.
Eventually she felt him shift slightly, and she opened her eyes the barest crack to watch him lie himself down, spreading out next to her, his head at her feet and his feet and her head, their hands still clasped resting gently on the blanket beneath them.
"So," she said lightly.
"So." He agreed from down by her feet, making her smile slightly.
"Advanced NEWTs huh?" she asked lightly, referring to the books she had found him studying several weeks ago. His slow thumb movements over her hand stilled and Ginny took it upon herself to take over, now tracing small patterns with her thumb on the back of the hand she still held. Her actions seemed to stop him from tensing so much.
"I told you, I'm not taking them."
"But you're studying for them." Ginny stated.
"Not for them, I'm just studying the material."
"But if you're doing the studying why wouldn't you take the exam?" Ginny questioned, confused as to his reasoning. To her surprise he let out a derisive laugh.
"Yeah right, your brother and co. would take kindly to that wouldn't they?"
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked frowning slightly, not understanding why it would bother them. Draco sighed slightly, as if she were being a bit simple.
"They'd think I was "up to something" Ginny," he stated simply.
"But you're not," she said, frowning further, then suddenly she sat up, and looked firmly down on him, causing his own eyes to open. "Are you?"
"What do you think?" he asked her quietly, looking at her in a way which seemed to bear his vulnerability to her, and she shook her head slowly, the action filled with hope which she didn't want to be crushed. "Of course not." He continued, and though he didn't show it she thought he was pleased by her response, as he began to work circles into the back of her hand again. "But that won't stop them thinking that. They're very… eager… to find conclusions, your friends, aren't they? Mind you, they have surprised me by not threatening to kill me yet this term."
"Why would they threaten to kill you?" Ginny asked, curious again.
"You're kidding right?" Draco asked, his eyes firmly trained on the clouds above him. "Spending hours shut away with you doesn't seem to me like something they'd be very happy with me doing."
"They don't know," Ginny said, in a small voice, causing Draco to look back at her in surprise and then sit up next to her.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I- I haven't told them." There was a pause.
"Why not?"
Ginny stood up, breaking away from him and letting go of his hand finally. "Isn't it obvious?" she said, stomping away from him to fiddle with the edge of the hedge. "Like you say they're pretty "eager" to get involved. I didn't want to have to deal with them pestering me about you all the time, questioning me about your actions every day. And I didn't want to have to deal with their overprotective bullshit. I can look after myself, I don't need them treating me like a 10 year old taking sweets from a stranger. Or making a scene going to McGonagall saying that I shouldn't have to work with a certain slimy git." She said looking back over her shoulder at him with a smirk.
"I seem to remember you rather enjoying kissing this slimy git," Draco teased lightly, causing Ginny to stiffen; it was the first time they had spoken about their previous… actions.
"Well," she said after a moment, "I didn't really think if I told Ron, Harry and Hermione about that their reactions would have been much better."
"They seriously don't know?"
"Of course not," Ginny said rolling her eyes. "Like you said, you're still alive aren't you?"
"I thought maybe it was his idea."
Ginny's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "You thought it was Ron's idea that I kiss you?"
"Not his. Potter's." There was beat of silence.
"What the hell?" Ginny suddenly exploded. "You thought it was Harry's idea for me to kiss you? You think Harry asked me to do that? You thought I would agree to do that just because Harry asked me? You may have shown some Gryffindor chivalry but only a true stinking Slytherin could come up with a cunning plan like that. What the hell is wrong with you Malfoy? I know your dad's a bastard but don't you trust anybody?"
"Would you have?" he asked in a tone of forced calm, his eyes glinting at her anger of her belittling his problems.
"I DID!" she raged at him, fuming. "I DID! I kissed you didn't I? I didn't even consider that you were doing it back as some kind of trick, or ploy. For fuck's sake I thought I'd seen something in you… found the real fucking deal underneath all the bullshit that surrounds you. Is this the reason why you broke it off?" she demanded suddenly.
"It's one of the reasons-"
"One of!" she scoffed mockingly, "well I suppose that shows your true Slytherin colours for self-preservation doesn't it?" she asked rhetorically, her voice still coloured by anger. Suddenly her face dropped and she seemed on the verge of tears as she whispered: "You're just as bad as the rest of them." Before turning and speeding away from the clearing, plunging back into the maze and attempting to navigate amongst the winding pathways, as well as through her own troubled thoughts.
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A/N OK don't kill me for ending it - yet again - with a down turn for their relationship! Don't worry things will be repaired… at some point ;) please review and let me know what you think!