The Secret [HeyThereLittleBear x Timelessmemories]

[timelessmemories]

Returning to Hogwarts for O.W.L. year had been strange. After the events of the previous year, Ginny Weasley had truly thought her mother wouldn’t let her return for school. Not after having fought at the Ministry, having fought with Dumbledore’s Army and gotten hurt. There had been loads of hushed words, cut off conversations when her or Ron entered the room over the summer, not to mention the basic worry that everyone had now that You-Know-Who was out in the open.

Things were changing, and that both frightened and reassured Ginny. The petite redhead had always believed Harry, that the worst wizard was back and at least now that the Ministry wasn’t being complete arses about it, the public knew as well. The public could at least attempt to protect themselves and those they loved. Which was where the reassured feeling came from. The frightened feeling was self explanatory. You-Know-Who was back and intended on killing the man she’d fancied since she was old enough to even know what it meant to fancy a boy.

When they’d gotten to Hogwarts, it was immediately evident that things were not going to be the same as they had been the last four years she’d been at school. Security sensors, professors casting charms to make sure the protective charm around the school was set, students walking in groups, and more than one student with tear streaks on their faces, red, puffy eyes, and just a feeling of sadness lingering inside the castle walls. There were still good things, though, ones that made her happy.

For example, there was quidditch. She was definitely planning on trying out for the team this year and was confident that she could be chosen as a chaser with how well she’d done last year on top of how much she’d been practicing. Her family was all right. Her father had healed from the wounds the previous year, all of them had healed from the fighting at the Ministry, and she was actually looking forward to getting through her O.W.L’s to start focusing on her career choice.

Then there was Dean. She’d started dating Dean the previous year, and at first it was great. He was a really decent bloke and was also good at quidditch. He didn’t have a problem with her family and originally didn’t seem to have a problem with the fact that she was a rather stubborn and independent woman. That had changed slightly after the knowledge that she’d gone to the Ministry and fought had come out. He was more protective, acting like he wanted to be some damn knight in shining armor that she didn’t need.

But now, three weeks into the school year, it was the day of the first Hogsmeade visit and Ginny thought that her and Dean just needed some much needed time together without her brother, Harry, or Seamus around. Going to Hogsmeade they could sneak off to one of the hideaway’s she knew about and just have some time together again to talk, maybe.

Putting on an emerald off the shoulder top that accentuated her lithe frame without being slutty and a pair of denim trousers, Ginny ran a brush through her ginger hair and left it down around her shoulders. She didn’t bother with any make up, she rarely ever wore any, and she made her way out of the girls dormitory down to the common room intending on waiting for Dean.

Leaning against the arm of the couch that was currently empty, she looked around the room. Letting the conversations filter through her mind until she saw Seamus and Dean walking down the stairs, a smile coming across her face as she walked towards Dean.

“Whoa, you look great!” Dean exclaimed, smiling as he looked around for a moment, making sure Ron wasn’t around before taking Ginny’s hand. That was infuriating. Ginny didn’t need anyone’s permission when it came to dating or holding someone’s hand.

“Thanks,” she responded warmly. “I’m looking forward to a date, just the two of us.”

Seamus suddenly looked uncomfortable and it took every ounce of her to not snap at him. Especially as Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “About that…I actually promised Seamus that I would go with him to Zonko’s and then work on a few things at the Three Broomsticks. You’re welcome to join us, though!” Dean explained, seeming to think that her being invited to be a third wheel to their date was enough.

Ginny just kept the smile plastered on her face and shook her head. “It’s fine, I’ll just get some homework done in the library.” She said with a half shrug.

Turning before waiting for Dean to respond, Ginny made her way out of the common room. She had absolutely no intention of going to Hogsmeade now, she’d probably have enjoyed herself but she was trying to keep herself from being around Harry too much. It just didn’t seem fair, not when she had fancied him for so long and was currently with Dean. Instead, she chose to make her way towards the library. Being a Hogsmeade weekend, there would be hardly anyone, if anyone at all, in there and she had a nice little niche in the back where there was just a small two seat desk she could sit at. That would have to do.

Walking to the back, she sat down at the table and then sighed. Since she hadn’t grabbed her bags, she didn’t have parchment, ink, or a quill. Sighing, she knew she should study for her O.W.L’s that were later this year, but she found she just had no motivation for that at the current moment in time.Taking out her wand, the redhead started absently drawing random pictures in the air, a gentle smile on her face as she just tried to think of a time when You-Know-Who was defeated and the only thing she would have to stress over were tests.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

As the sole heir to the Malfoy fortune and the son of the famous Lucius Malfoy, there were so many things that were to be expected of him. He had as of yet lived up to the name of what he was supposed to be, from being sorted into the Slytherin house and getting himself a spot on the Quidditch team through use of his father's money, but also lived up to his own personality. In the short six years that he'd been at Hogwarts he had carved a niche for himself among the lovely women in the Slytherin house and the easily corrupted males that were seeking their own strike to fame.

Draco had spent his years making a name for himself and had done well enough in his grades that he was able to keep passing to the next year. He'd fought his way through his social life until the Malfoy name was emblazoned in the mind of anyone that knew the Slytherin house. He had made quick work of becoming a young a rising socialite in a world where money could literally buy him anything he wanted...

Except, really, for one thing that he dared not want openly.

Draco lived in a world where he was expected to woo one of the daughters of another rich pureblood and have precisely two children that would grow up just as evil and filled with greed as his family had raised him. In his heart, that wasn't what he wanted and he hadn't known it until he'd found himself quietly yearning for her.

It had started sometime in his fourth year when he'd gotten a glimpse of her. Her hair was the color of fire and it was a personification of her spirit, which made her eyes burn like embers and her face in comparison look like a porcelain doll. There was no mistaking her lineage. Fiery red hair, freckled nose and cheeks, and secondhand clothing that looked it had been stitched at home. A Weasley. A blood traitor that sided herself with weaklings like Potter, who believed himself capable of saving the world from He Who Must Not Be Named, and worse, a cocky little shit that pined after her more openly than Draco ever could.

Even still he suffered in silence as he watched her from his place in a world where she could not exist. He lived in a world that was devoid of emotion. He kept everything that he felt at arm's length and anything besides contempt clean from his face. In comparison to her burning coal eyes, his were harsh and cold, long dead from having his boyhood dreams crushed and his aspirations for greatness kicked back down to size. Sure, he would be a wealthy and successful man, but he would never be a happy one and the difference was... Vast.

This year, though, would be his defining moment. It would be the time when he struck out a name for himself that was separate of his father's name and legacy. He would make it known that Draco Malfoy was more than twice the man his father could be. He was, after all, more cunning than anyone could ever imagine, and more crafty than he could even express.His task was simple enough, but even stil... He was just a boy trying to be a man. The Vanishing Cabinets hadn't worked in years, possibly even decades, and he knew that it was a long shot in the dark that they would ever work again.

But he didn't have a choice.

Unlike Potter, he wasn't given a life in which he could have chosen to do the right thing.There was one path for him, and he walked it with a grim set to his lips now, the color all but drained from his face and his hair a disheveled mess from his lack of sleep and poor attention to his own appearance. The task had taken its toll on him and he had changed from the beginning of the year. His arm ached dully as a grim reminder of what he was to be and who he had to impress, but even still he caught himself glancing over at Her. The way that her hair moved over her shoulder as she laughed just a bit at a joke he couldn't hear, the way the candlelight caught her eyes sometimes and made them glitter like stars...

A forbidden desire. A secret affection he kept locked away in his chest, she was too pure of a thing to ever wanted a twisted and darkened shell of a man such as himself.

She wanted someone like... Well, Dean. The guy that she was currently with but seemed to be more interested in his best friend than her. He couldn't help but notice that Dean seemed to be more interested in spending time with Seamus than the girl that was obviously doing her best to keep their relationship together. He felt bad for her, not just because she was the third wheel in a relationship that lasted longer than their own, but because he could see the way her face fell at times when Dean would ignore her when she spoke, or the way that her lips moved from a soft smile to a straight line.

He couldn't think about it. He couldn't spend his time on his own petty feelings. Draco forced himself away from thoughts of her entirely and instead made a decision that was... What he needed, not what he wanted. He found himself in the library, getting his hands on any book that would tell him anything he could find about the vanishing cabinets in desperate hopes that he would find something... Anything, really, that would unlock the secrets.

With his nose in a book for once, he didn't see her as she came in as much as he realized that he wasn't alone. She was quiet enough that he didn't pay much attention as she took a seat at a table, but his body was hyper aware of the other person in the library with him. His nostrils flared as he realized that there wasn't the soft scratching sound of a quill or the soft whisper of pages turning. He gripped the edges of his book so tight that his knuckles turned white, his jaw clenched as he fought against the urge to spit something acidic at the person that had come into the library to lurk.

Everything dissolved into soft surprise as he rounded around the bookshelf and caught sight of bright red hair falling over her pale shoulders, a green shirt making her seem like something from a book than a real person. His sharp insult died in his throat before it had been spoken and he pulled back out of her line of sight. His eyes glanced down at his outfit nervously, correcting the Slytherin tie that was around his neck and straightening his dark grey sweatervest that he'd layered over his white button-down. He looked like he was going to a funeral and she....

He forced his concerns to the back of his mind and tucked his book under his arm. Draco rounded the corner with a look of forced nonchalance on his face, staring at her as if he hadn't already spotted her before. "Weasley." He muttered her last name, the only one he'd ever called her before, looking at the pictures she was drawing in the air. "Shouldn't you be in Hogsmeade with your... Boyfriend?" He drew out the last word, saying it more as if it were a piece of slime than word, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

 

[timelessmemories]

Startled out of her thoughts, Ginny looked up and her chocolate brown eyes first took in the Slytherin tie that was over a grey sweatervest, a white button-down shirt. Then she raised her eyes further, seeing the blonde hair and finally his grey eyes. Of all people she could’ve run into. He was the last one she’d expected. The last one she’d wanted to run into. Why? This was the library, he was never here. That was why she could always rely on the library as being her place to run to. No Harry, Ron, Dean, and most of all….no Draco Malfoy.

He was the one person she avoided more than anyone else. Not out of fear. She didn’t fear him. No, it was worse. She found herself drawn to him like a moth to the flame and she’d noticed it her third year at the Yule Ball. She’d be dancing with Neville, but her eyes were drawn to him. Jealousy flaring at him with Parkinson, the twat, snippy woman that she found herself imagining in so many terrifying ways. Part of why she’d learned so much skill at hexes, curses, and jinxes was so that she could use them on the woman. Sure, she made sure she had a reason each time so she never initiated it but the fact was: It was jealousy.

Lowering her wand, she realized she really should not stay in the library and she stood up, moving so she was beside the desk instead of behind it and as a result just a bit closer to Draco. She put her wand in the front pocket of her jeans and then put her hands in the back pockets, making sure she didn’t satisfy the urge to reach out and touch his pale skin, to see if his blonde hair was as soft as it looked.

“And what, pray tell, do you think that you know about my dating life Malfoy?” Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. A slow smile crept over her face as she tilted her head, her red hair falling over her shoulder and lying against the green shirt. The green shirt that she realized matched the color of his Slytherin tie. Realizing that if she left it might actually seem like fear she changed her plan and moved so she was sitting on top of the desk, her legs swinging slightly as she moved so she was in front of Draco and facing him.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you be in Hogsmeade with your girlfriend? Or did someone cast a Bat Bogey hex on her again, or somehow manage to switch out her make up with a pimple causing potion?” Ginny asked, not even bothering to hide her amusement at the memory.

She’d had Fred and George to thank for that. They’d obviously not realized she was using it for Parkinson but it had worked incredibly. All she’d had to do was mail it to her anonymously and the woman had thought it was sent to her as a sample from some famous makeup brand. The next four days Parkinson hadn’t shown her face outside the Hospital Wing because her face had broken out in loads of pimples. It had been the best four days Ginny had in a long time.

Her focus shifted back to the gorgeous man in front of her and she leaned back on her arms. “Why are you even in the library? You’re never in here. Never back this far at least.”

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

The usual mix of emotions played across her face as she came to the realization of just whom had found her alone in the library essentially doing nothing of any serious nature. He almost let a smile twitch onto his lips but thought twice of it, because though it was an adorable situation to catch her off guard like this, he knew precisely what it would entail. Like most of the Weasley clan he was sure that she thought less of him that she did pond scum. She would at least take the time to scrape pond scum off her boots. The Malfoy family was a scum that the Weasleys thought needed to be left to rot and be tread on over and over again for their vile ways.

Unlike the rest of the Weasley family, though, she didn't look at him immediately as if he were made of rubbage and something that needed to be disposed of post-haste. She did raise, however, a very valid question. What did he know of her dating life? Quite a bit, truth be told. Rumors spread like wildfire throughout a school full of teenagers that had nothing better to keep their minds off their mounting terror than to gossip and whisper among themselves.

Rather than give away his embarrassing amount of knowledge on her personal life, he gave a scoffing laugh, "Who doesn't know about your dating life, Weasley? Making your rounds, eh?" His voice was scathing but there was another note there that he couldn't pull back from his voice just yet. It was a hint of jealousy, the comment made with a roll of his eyes as if she weren't any more important to him than any other Gryffindor.

But he was watching her even then, unable to help the way his eyes were drawn to her hair and how it fell over her shirt and the delicate way that she moved as if she were a dancer with an invisble partner. There was always music in the way her body moved and he wished so badly that he could have been the one to play it. He could only imagine the way it would feel to brush her red hair away from her shoulder and kiss along her skin, to smell her shampoo and have the acrid taste of her light perfume against his lips as he savored the warmth of her-- Stop.

The voice in his head cut the fantasies short and he brought himself back to reality quickly.

No matter how much wishing and hoping he did, she still was a Weasley and she stll didn't think he was worth much of anything at all. He moved his attention instead to her comment on Parkinson (he assumed, he couldn't remember which was claiming to be "dating" him).

His arm lifted the book in his head to show her, though he carefully hid the title and the spine from her view so that she wouldn't know precisely what he was researching, "Unlike you, some of us are actually here to study. What were you doing? Drawing pictures?" He scoffed again and shoved his hands back into his pockets, "Guess studying is a waste of time, didn't do your brothers much good."

The comment wasn't true but he couldn't stop the casual malice against her family, something that was more than just bred into him but also beat into him quite literally with the sharp nose of the serpent on his father's cane. He'd questioned it at a young age why he wasn't allowed to play with the Weasley children, and even as a tender toddler his father had delivered a harsh swing to the backs of his thighs and corrected him on his status in the world. It was one of many 'lessons' his father maintained throughout his life.

"Maybe you should learn from my example. Might could set you right from all of your... Mistakes."

 

[timelessmemories]

His comment on her dating life, with what sounded like jealousy, caused her heart rate to increase. Yet, mentally, she knew that wasn't possible. Even though she got jealous of the women around him, the women who were able to be close to Draco Malfoy, there was no possible way that he was jealous. She was just imagining things. He only felt contempt for her. She was a Weasley, a blood traitor in the eyes of the Malfoy family. Which meant that he would never feel any jealousy when it came to any men in her life. Which caused her eyes to narrow as she tried to push that small pang of regret out of her heart.

“Making my rounds slower than you.” She responded, attempting to bring her infamous temper into her voice but only able to present a hint of it, the rest of her voice providing a tone of what seemed like longing. “And you even have Parkinson who is constantly getting in other women’s way on their path to get in line.”

Seeing the book in his hand, she raised an eyebrow. She had been to the library multiple times and she had never once seen him there. She would remember if she had, not to mention the section of the library they were in was usually left alone. That was why she chose it as her small part of the castle where she could be left in peace, without having to deal with the daily knowledge of Harry Potter, Voldemort, her idiot brothers. Now, however, she was curious about the book, not helped by the way that he was holding it. The man had effectively blocked the title while commenting on her family.

Brushing some hair aside, Ginny couldn’t help the smile that flickered across her face. “My brothers…let’s see.” She tilted her head slightly. “There’s Bill, who is well respected at Gringotts and engaged to Fleur Delacour.” She frowned for a moment. “I don’t really understand why, probably a lapse in judgement on his part.” She shrugged. She couldn’t stand that woman and it was obvious from the scorn in her voice but she pushed that aside as a genuine smile came to her face. “Charlie, my favorite, who works with dragons and is happy and decently paid. Percy—“ she cut herself off as her anger flashed across her face. “He’s a bloody idiot, studying did absolutely nothing for him.”

Pausing for a moment, she turned away from Draco as she tried to school her face. She was still angry with her older brother, over the pain she saw her parents go through, the idiocy he’d shown and the fact that he still hadn’t apologized to their mother. Turning back to Draco, when she thought all the anger was gone from her face she continued. “Fred and George who make so much money it’s actually a bit ridiculous. Just like their fashion sense,” she snorted. “And then there is Ron.” She paused as a smirk came to her face. “I’ll give you that one.”

Leaning forward slightly, she raised her eyes to meet his grey ones. Ones that she would willingly get lost in. “But tell me, Malfoy, why study at all when studying would be a waste of time for you? You don’t have to do anything, you’ll just inherit all that Malfoy wealth without earning any of it or lifting a finger. Just for being born in the right family.” That was something she’d never understood. Maybe it was from growing up poor but she thought people should earn their wealth and not just be handed everything they wanted. Much as seeing her parents, she fully believed people should do what they love and with who they loved and who made them happy.

But that thought led to another. She had been with Dean for a while and while at first he had made her happy, now she was upset and frustrated almost all the time. “Bullocks.” She muttered. She realized now that she really did need to end things with Dean. However, realizing that while having a conversation with Draco whom she could never be close to was annoying. She needed to stop this line of thought.

Leaning forward just a touch more, she felt her hair slide back over her shoulders, framing her face. A small smile appearing there. “Was that an offer to teach me, Malfoy? Because it sure sounded like it.”

Maybe it was foolish. Actually, there was no maybe, it was absolutely foolish but the thought of spending more time with Draco was appealing. She knew he was intelligent, she’d heard Hermione complain at times about how much she pushed herself to make sure she was top of the class, especially because of his intelligence. Not to mention, it was her O.W.L. year and she really did need to study just a tad bit more.

“If it was…I’d accept.” Ginny said in a barely audible voice, a faint blush on her cheeks as she looked down at their feet.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Damn. The girl had done her homework on him better than he had ever realized. There was a flutter of hope in his chest as his mind started swirling with all of the possibilities. Was it possible that she had been wtching him ever as intently as he had been watching her. She'd certainly noticed the fact that he had been with...Well, supposedly been with so many girls.

There was a nugget of truth in every lie and the lies that spread about him wrere numerous. He had been attempting to work his way through the dating pool but his attempts had always ended the same. The girls that were "interested" in him weren't interestd in anything more than the Malfoy last name and the money that he could offer to spoil them like the rotten princesses that they viewed themselves to be. Although he wasn't opposed to spoiling someone with presents, he didn't like the expectations that they'd had going in that he would, of course, buy them all of the riches in life that they couldn't afford themselves. It had always left an ash taste in his mouth as if he'd licked the grates of a fireplace and he couldn't shake it even when the dates were long over.

His father had made a name for himself doing this very thing and it was no secret in the wealthy community that Lucius was known to entertain several women of class and stature in private while his wife was busy attending "the boy". Draco had been young when he learned about his father's interests beyond closed doors and learned that his father was interested in women that weren't his mother. Only Purebloods of class, of course, because he was still a Malfoy, but that hadn't sat well with him over the years. His dream of becoming just like his father had morphed into being better than that man.

And if Lucius were in his shoes right now....What wouldn't he do?

Draco swallowed the lump in his throat becaues he realized he hadn't hardly heard anything that she'd said about her brothers, though he could tell from the flare in her eyes and the blush in her cheeks that she'd been passionate about it. He couldnt' help but feel that dull ache in his chest when he lookeed at her and he knew that right now, his father wouldn't be standing around talking with a blood traitor of any sort. That thought was enough to fuel fresh fire through his cold veins and lend him strength that he so desperately needed.

"You're right. I will earn my father's wealth - but what good is that wealth if I'm too dumb to put it to good use?" He countered, knowing well enough that his grades in most classes were above average. it had been rumored that he paid off the teachers to give him excellent grades in his earlier years, but those that whispered about him in private didn't see him leaning over books on his bed long past when everyone else had been asleep. There were few things that he could stand and being seen as unintelligent was one of them. He could ignore the rumors, but Ginny thinking them true... He didn't want to even entertain that notion.

But even as the words were forming in his mouth, he heard her softly muttered words and saw the color on her cheeks, everything in his mind faltering before withering away into nothing. His cold eyes moved over her face and watched her for a moment as he struggled now with his ability to speak the English language. Everything about her from the tone in her voice to the way that her cheeks were rosy made his heart stutter and now he knew -- knew - that this blush was reserved for him and him alone. He started, stopped, took a breath, and tried again.

"I...It would be a disservice not to teach you." He said after a moment, sliding his hands out of his pockets and approaching her slowly. Even from a distance he could smell the scent of her shampoo and he wanted so desperately to reach across the empty space and touch her skin, just to see if she felt like the porcelain she looked to be made of. He resisted the urge to do something so intimate and instead grabbed a chair that was next to the one she'd been seated in. He set his book on the floor with the spine turned away from her, ever cautious that she wouldn't be able to see what he'd been researching.

The lump was back in his throat but he forced himself to speak anyways, "Even a blood traitor can be taught." He added, just in case someone was close enough to hear their exchange. But even with the harsh tone in his voice, his eyes were soft and his face surprisingly meek as he grabbed one of the books on the desk and turning it over in his hands to get a look at what it was she was studying.

 

[timelessmemories]

Hearing Draco Malfoy of all people state that he was actually attempting to study because he wanted to put it to good use made Ginny wonder for a moment what use he was going to put it to. All the redhead knew about the Malfoy fortune was that it was used for bribes and to get what they want; that it was most likely received due to being Pureblood and dealing in the Dark Arts, which she didn’t think was very admirable. But she did allow herself a small flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe the blonde in front of her would be different. Maybe he truly would be able to put the money, all that wealth, to good use instead of to bad. After all, he was still here speaking with her. That wasn’t something he normally would’ve done. Nor his father.

Yet he was answering her questions, and as her eyes flickered back up to him after her question she noticed that he seemed to start to talk but then stopped. Hearing him agree to actually teaching her, she couldn’t help it as her chocolate brown eyes widened slightly. Her mouth seemed dry now as he moved to sit in the chair beside the one she’d vacated, watching even as he called her a blood traitor but his eyes were soft, his face non threatening as he picked up her Potions book. Was this really happening? Was she really going to stay in the library and be taught by Draco?

Yes, yes she was because why the hell not? She was a good student, but so was he. No one ever came to this part of the library anyway so there was no reason to think that they’d be interrupted and the truth was…she didn’t want to separate from him just yet. The moment this bubble was pierced, the second they left this area, they would have to go back to being extraordinarily harsh to one another. She would have to be willing and able to cast the bat bogey hex—her specialty—on him, or at least be willing to be cruel. So for now, she wanted this. She wanted to see his soft face, his soft tone of voice, even his cool grey eyes. She needed to.

“Hmm,” she said as she gracefully slid off of the table and walked around so she could sit back down in the chair she’d vacated. As she pulled it out with one hand, she skillfully pulled it just slightly angled, that way she would be sitting closer to Draco than she would’ve been if she’d left it. She then carefully sat down, only allowing herself the briefest of blushes as her leg brushed against his. “I’m not going to complain, but I’m surprised that you are willing to help me.” She said softly. In a rare moment, she looked at him, her chocolate eyes warm. “Thank you.”

Pushing aside some of her books, she pulled out parchment, ink, and a quill. Potions was one of the classes she wasn’t the best at, and she knew she should probably attempt to at least pay attention to anything Draco teaches her since this would be useful. If only it was Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then she could’vej ust pretended to pay attention and focused on the scent. She was immensely glad she’d put on her mango pomegranate lotion, that she didn’t smell like sweawt from the quidditch pitch. Yet at the same time she was almost wishing that he had just come from the quidditch pitch because it was taking every ounce of her to not lean over just to run her hands through his silky blonde locks.

“Potions first then?” She asked as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She had a hair tie on her wrist, and biting her lip, she wondered what would be the better option. Should she tie her hair up so it was out of her way, or leave it down just in case she blushed again? Her face was so pale that when she blushed it was instantly noticeable. Her hair was like a curtain, the reddish-brown hair that was able to hide everything when moved just so over her shoulder. Glancing at the man’s grey eyes as she shifted in the chair, her leg brushing against his again and a small electifyign feeling going through her leg, she knew what she’d have to do.

Down. Leaving it down was the only possible option.

Setting her quill down for the moment, Ginny rested her elbow on the table, her cheek on her hand as she looked at the blonde Slytherin beside her. “Malfoy, why are you deciding to help me of all people?” She asked in a soft voice. “You said it yourself, I’m a blood traitor, you hate me and my family, so why?” she smiled then. “Not that I’m complaining. You are far better at Potions than Dean and he doesn’t really give me the time of day anyway.” She muttered as her eyes flashed angrily for a moment. It was sad that she was having more of a conversation now with Draco Malfoy than she had in three days with her own boyfriend.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

The way her body moved was like poetry and he couldn't help but wish he was the one that was writing the verses, but instead he was the reader that was sucked in through every line and having his heart tugged painfully as she worked her way into him. She was a worm that had worn its way through his flesh and made a nest of emotions for her in his heart, which previously cold felt dripping and he was... Powerless. He was Draco Malfoy, a boy of a family of pride and legacy and he was powerless to her.

She was the radiant sun that Icarus flew too close to and oh god he could feel her melting away his wax wings and leaving him falling so fast and so hard towards-- Towards what? What was he so afraid of? The thoughts were too much for him to think on while trying to keep his composure around her, so instead he let himself memorize the way she looked right now. Her face was lax though her eyes were guarded and distrusting, which was obvious because she feared his motives.

Her mouth wasn't taut, which told him she at least felt comfortable enough she wasn't guarding her words but so much. There was a tension in her he could almost feel and he let that little seed of hope grow in his soul as she slide her chair slightly closer to his. The soft brush of her leg against his own was enough to send a jolt through him that made his spine go stiff and every inch of him feel like he was on fire.

Draco let out his breath in a slow shudder and he forced himself to stay calm but the air was thick enough he could have sworn it had been replaced with liquid. He tried not to choke as he fought his way back to the surface through all of the tension and made himself focus on the one thing that was making his world feel like it was closing in on him -- Her.

He let himself be drowned in the way her eyes looked at him and let his heart feel the soft crunch as she spoke and he knew without a doubt that he didn't have a chance. But still the tender bloom of hope had already taken root in his heart and he let it flourish as her leg brushed him again. It couldn't be mere coincidence and she wouldn't let someone so vile touch her. Perhaps - just perhaps - this wasn't beyond saving.

Concentrate.

He had to concentrate.

Her question had him stumbling for an answer that wasn't three words consisting of eight letters he could possibly regret for the rest of his life. He choked on the words he wanted to say, fought them down, and offered her instead a soft smile. "I thought you Weasleys believed that people could change." He challenged, his smile turning towards a smirk as he made eye contact with her. His heart was pounding in his chest and he couldn't resist it, because she looked too tender not to touch.

He broke the bubble of space between them and used trembling fingers to touch her hair, moving a piece of it away from her face. He could feel his fingertips brush across her cheek, just barely moving over the bone as he tucked it back behind her ear. "Don't hide your face. You're a pureblood. Act like it." He hid the tenderness of the moment behind falsely harsh words, though his tone didn't sound quite right. His heart was threatening too hard to leap from his chest and he almost couldn't bear it.

 

[timelessmemories]

Her chocolate brown eyes never left his face. Studying him, how his eyes seemed slightly gaunt, how he was paler than normal, but then his grey eyes were making contact with hers and Ginny couldn’t turn away. Not now. His answer wasn’t really an answer, but for the moment she didn’t care. She did believe that one could change, for the right reasons and if Malfoy really did change…if he truly came to the good side then she would fully support him on that choice. She would do everything she could, and more than she probably needed to, to make him feel welcomed because it would be the possibility that these feelings could come to light. The feelings that she was trying so hard to push down and hide, even more than her previous feelings for Harry. They didn’t come close to the way that a simple touch from him, a simple brush of their legs, made her heart race.

She watched as his fingers moved to touch her hair, she could feel his trembling fingers and her heart lifted slightly. If he was touching her, then he couldn’t think her as terrible as the blood traitor word that was used so often. Even with him reminding her she was a pureblood. Yet, she wasn’t listening to that as her eyes had closed for the briefest of moments as her head slightly tilted into his fingers, into his touch. She felt a craving, just from that moment, the briefest of touch from his trembling fingers against her cheek, to have him touch her more.

Pureblood. She was pureblood. Which meant…that he wouldn’t be defiling himself if he touched her.

The smallest of hopes flickered inside her and her own hand raised, gently taking his and keeping it against her cheek as her brown eyes opened and met his grey. “You’re right,” she said in a soft voice, one she wasn’t sure was even loud enough for him to hear. She was Gryffindor, supposed to have bravery and loyalty. Yet here she was. Ginny Weasley, who was currently in a monogamous relationship with a muggleborn wizard, slightly frightened of how Draco Malfoy was going to react to her keeping his hand against her face just because she craved his touch and thinking of how his lips would feel against hers. No thoughts in mind at all about Dean, or Harry. She couldn’t care less about them in this moment.

Because it was Draco Malfoy, the man she’d always had a longing for, and she thought maybe just maybe it was possible to have something.

“I am a pureblood.” She stated. “And a pureblood witch and wizard can have a conversation, they can touch,” she whispered. She could feel how fast her heart was racing. With the silence in the library she was sure that it was audible to even him as her face took on a slightly pink hue. It wasn’t possible for her to not turn pink, not when he could easily rip his hand away and leave. Along with spreading the fact that the youngest Weasley was here, with him, trying to allow that small flickering hope to grow.

But she couldn’t let go. Not with him. So her eyes stayed on his and she waited, her teeth taking her bottom lip slightly between them as she waited and hoped.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

He was out of control. He was flying with a blindfold on and positively sure he would lose the ability to land at any moment now but he couldn't find it in him to back away. He couldn't’ find it in him to do anything that his heart wasn’t crying for and right now his mind was blank save for that cry in his chest that was telling him he needed her. He had been in love with her for years and had never been this close before. This was the first conversation they’d had in which he didn’t have to insult her, the first conversation in which she didn’t storm away or draw her wand on him.

His heart was pounding in his chest and he heard her words through a haze. Yes. Purebloods could touch. His eyes were stuck on hers and he felt like if he so much as breathed the moment would be gone. He saw her teeth bite her lip and he lingered there on the cusp of a decision as his breath caught in his throat. She was looking at him in a way that set his soul on fire and he couldn’t help it. He was seeing red. It wasn’t the color of anger but the color of passion as it rose up and took him over.

He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t fight it.

The same hand that brushed her hair back moved again, slipping past her hair and to the back of his neck. His fingers were strong as he grasped her, pulling her suddenly in to him. His lips met hers and it was the sweetest satisfaction. His heart was leaping into his throat and his soul knew that this moment was one he would remember for a lifetime. This wasn’t thought and ego dictating what he wanted for his life. This was Draco, deciding for himself that he wanted her. His lips were hungry on her mouth and he wanted to taste her, to hold her close and shield her from the things in the world that he knew were coming that would take all of her that was beautiful and that he loved in her.

OOC

Kinda short -- sorry!

 

[timelessmemories]

Her chocolate eyes wouldn’t leave his face, they couldn’t. She thought that her heart was going to burst right out of her chest if he didn’t say anything soon. What she expected was for him to push her away, to say something cruel to her, but what she hoped. Well. What she hoped was something unreasonable. She wanted him to touch her, she wanted him to say something, that there was reason for the small bubble of hope. What she got? Well, what she got was oh so much better than she’d ever thought. So much better than she ever expected and so much better than she’d ever received before.

As she was pulled into him, one of her hands moved to his waist and the other tangled itself in his blonde hair. Her lips pressing against his hard as she moved as close to him as she could without ending up in his lap. None of the snogs she’d ever had were like this. This felt right, full of passion. Every ounce of her was poured out of her and into him. This was so much better than kissing Dean, her thoughts weren’t even on him. She wasn’t thinking about Dean, or Michael, or Harry. All that was in her thoughts were Draco Malfoy, the man she was supposed to hate but the man she was snogging with as much passion as she could. If this was the only time they were going to do this, then she was going to make it as memorable as possible.

But eventually she needed to pull back, she needed to breathe. Pulling back reluctantly, she was breathing heavily as she stayed only a few inches from his face and looked into his beautiful grey eyes. “That…that was more than I expected.” She said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.

Her hand moved from blonde hair and down to his cheek before she leaned in and pressed her lips softly to his, her eyes closed as she wondered what now? Pulling back once more she moved her hand down to rest on his thigh as she looked at him, slight sadness in her brown eyes.

“So what now?” Ginny asked. Now that her lips weren’t on his, she couldn’t help thinking of Dean. She’d have to end things with him, regardless of what happened here with Draco, but what was going to happen here with Draco? “Do we go back to insults and drawn wands? To you and I acting as if we hate one another?”



OOC:

See more

No worries! Short happens sometimes depending on the conversation. As long as there’s quality (and more than one measly line) then I’m happy.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

There had never been a moment in which he’d felt more alive than now. Her hand was curled around his waist and the other twisted into his hair and everything felt right. She was pressed against him as if she wished nothing more than to press into him and be encased inside the warmth of his body. He brought her as close as he could, feeling the warmth of her skin and the intoxicating smell of her hair nearly making him dizzy. Gods, this was the first kiss in which he’d actually felt something besides disgust, the first time his lips had touched another person and he hadn’t wished to wash them immediately.

He was reluctant to let this moment end but when it did he kept her close, feeling the rush of her gaining her breath back and searching her eyes for the answers to questions he dared not ask aloud. He wanted more. He wanted to push her on top of the table and kiss her until she was breathless and her cheeks as red as her hair. He wanted to take of her all he could get and make her see how he felt about her because he knew… He knew his lips would fail him now. He had messed up everything else in his life by his mouth keeping his pride, and he couldn't’ lost this. Not her.

She kissed him again and this one was softer, sweeter than before. It was a promise that there were more to come, that it wasn’t just in his mind that she had wanted him. Her eyes were on fire when she opened them again and the part of him that was forever weak to the magic of her was stopped in its tracks, his eyes watching the way she looked at him as if he hung the stars.

But her questions couldn’t be ignored and he reluctantly let his hands slide off her, his fingers tracing down her arms until he found her hand. He brought it to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on the back of it, his eyes closing as he struggled to regain his thoughts.

“I don’t know.” He admitted, feeling ashamed of himself or even daring to open a door he didn’t know how to close. He looked away from her, because it was too hard for him to look at her face. “I shouldn’t have done it.” He admitted, one of the very few times he had ever admitted guilt in his life. “I… You’re not safe. With me.”

 

[timelessmemories]

Her brown eyes stayed on his face even as his eyes closed and he brought her hand to his lips to place a kiss there. Stayed on his face as he looked away from her and said he shouldn’t have, that she wasn’t safe with him and she shook her head. She wasn’t safe no matter what, if they were going to be honest with one another. What she knew, without a doubt, was that she didn’t want to walk away from this without the knowledge that she’d be able to have another moment with him, to touch him again, to talk to him, because she hadn’t felt as much with anyone as she had in that single kiss with him.

Her free hand moved to his face and she gently turned it so that Draco was facing him and Ginny gave him a small smile. “Draco, I’m not safe in general. None of us are.” She said softly. “I’m a blood traitor, friends with Hermione Granger--a muggleborn, friends with Harry Potter--the man that You-Know-Who wants dead. I’m not safe without you in my life, it wouldn’t be any worse with you in it.”

She didn’t know what she could do to try and convince him that was true, to convince him that as dangerous or potentially disastrous having moments with one another could be--she wanted to. She did not want to just go back to having to pretend she hated him without ever getting a chance to be true to herself. They’d had this moment and they were both intelligent people, so there was a way, there had to be a way for this moment to be repeated.

Letting her thumb move for a few seconds along his face, she slowly lowered her hand as her cheeks felt warm and she knew there had to be a pink tinge. “I don’t know….how you feel. But I don’t want to just go on as if this never happened. I don’t want to just go back to Dean and try to make things work or go along as enemies. I don’t even care if you and I are just a secret, stealing moments here and there, but I do know that this shouldn’t be the end.”

Taking a breath, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and then looked at the books on the table. She knew she should study, it would be the smart thing, to leave-give him time to think but then a small smile flickered across her face. “I believe you offered to help me study.”