Kisses Like Chocolate

Ron Weasley was two things as a brother. Most of the time he was clueless, and when he wasn´t busy with that he was a grievous git. At least he was to Ginny, who felt like throttling him at the moment. Since they were outside on the school grounds, she was sure she´d be able to find a place to stow the body if anything happened, even though they did have a small group of friends listening to their argument.

"Look, you´ve gone bust with Dean. You need to give Harry a chance," Ron ordered as he pointed at Harry who was with him. Harry looked embarrassed at Ron´s suggestion and the idea of dating his best friend´s sister.

"Pfft!" Ginny scoffed. "So Dean liked Lavender more. So what? It doesn´t mean I´m crawling back to Harry. Get real, Ron!"

"Look, Ginny, you need to date someone that´s right for you," he said with eyes narrowed angrily. "Someone who is actually quality."

"You talk like a Slytherin!" she accused.

Ron gasped, "Take that back!"

"No! It´s not my fault you can´t take the truth. And here´s another one for you. If you´d get your head out of your backside, you´d see that Luna loves Harry!" Ginny shouted, indicating the Ravenclaw near her. "And you know what? Harry loves her, too, but he´s too much of a boy to admit it!"

She stared daggers at Ron and everyone around him before stalking off. She had enough of this stupid excuse for a conversation. Ginny might have been the youngest, but she was in no way going to let her brother´s whims dictate her love life.

She passed a small cluster of Slytherins and a brilliant idea struck her. She´d make Ron feel guilty about his elitism. If there weren´t pureblooded wizards in Slytherin house, she´d never find them anywhere.

When she came to the group, she studied each one of them. They were Slytherin enough, but none of them had that dangerously attractive quality she was trying to find until she saw Blaise Zabini. He was tall, dark haired, particularly handsome and a pureblood. The sixth year was perfect to help her annoy Ron.

"I have a proposition for you, Zabini," she said as she walked closer to the group.

The few boys looked at her in confusion, as Blaise frowned in her general direction. None of them had ever talked to Weasley, and they didn´t feel the need to start now.

"You don´t have enough money to proposition me, Weasley," he said as he looked at her skeptically.

"Not that kind of proposition, you pervert," Ginny said, as Blaise gave a look of disappointment. "I need you to help me get back at my brother Ron. Will you be my date for the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"What do I get out of the deal?" he asked with reserved interest.

"Only the satisfaction that you made my brother look like an ass," Ginny said, looking up at him. "Plus, I´ll treat you to something at Zonko´s or Honeydukes. Wherever."

She´d hoarded a small bit of money that was given to her when she, too, had been made prefect. This was a good use of it, in her opinion.

"So... I get to torment your brother and get wined and dined in Hogsmeade?" A wide smile broke across Zabini´s face. "I´m in!"

"Good," she said smugly. "I knew you´d see things my way. I´ll see you Saturday at ten."

When Ginny was walking away, she heard one of the other boys ask Blaise why he´d accepted. Zabini´s answer was to tell him it was stupid to refuse an all-expenses paid date, even from a Gryffindor.

===

Saturday came, and Ginny was looking forward to it. She´d tried planning what to do with Blaise to really get at Ron. Somehow nothing specific came to mind, but she knew something would work out. Fred and George had always taught her to take any opportunity when one finds it. She wasn´t all that worried.

"Who´s your date?" Ron asked as Ginny rushed away from the Gryffindors.

"A pureblood wizard I´m sure you´ll like," she said in a sing-song voice before disappearing.

Blaise was waiting for her at the gate resting his lanky form against it similarly to the way Ginny had in seen pictures of American cowboys.

"So," he said with a clap of hands when he saw her. "What´s on the agenda for this date of brotherly humiliation?"

"I just want him to see us together, and make it look interesting enough that he´ll jump to conclusions, if you know what I mean," she said, looking at him pertly.

"I can do that," he said. "I´m a great actor. So even if you´re the ugliest Harpy that Hogsmeade has ever seen, I´ll be totally devoted to you."

"For a price," Ginny said, reminding him of their arrangement.

"Of course," he nodded. "By the way, I like my chocolate dark and expensive."

She smiled at him and they walked their way to Honeydukes, taking care along the way to be loud, boisterous, and very much exaggerate the behavior of a couple.

When they walked into the store arm in arm together, it got the reaction she´d wanted. Several of the students turned and looked at the mismatched Gryffindor and Slytherin pair. Blaise removed his arm from hers and placed it possessively around Ginny´s waist.

"Let me show you the chocolate over here," he said, clearly liking the show they were making.

"It can´t be as good as your kisses, Blaise," Ginny said loudly. "Everyone knows how good of a kisser you are."

He raised his eyebrow and smirked in laughter. From the opinions of his past dates, the Gryffindor was more correct than she realized. "Not in front of the crowd, my dear," he said as he looked over her head pointedly at Ron.

Ron Weasley was staring at them in shock, his mouth agape. Beside him were Potter and Granger, who were never far from the red haired boy. Ron looked like he was about to have a fit.

Ginny walked past him with her head held high. She purchased the chocolate Blaise had chosen and handed it to him. "Sweets for my sweetie," she said with a girlish giggle and hugged his waist.

She winked at Ron over her shoulder before pulling Zabini out of the store.

===

"Do you always do that to boys you date?" Blaise asked when they were out walking on the street.

"What?" Ginny asked, still smiling at the first strike against Ron.

"Are you so saccharine sweet?" he said with a shudder. "That´s really disgusting, you know."

"It is," Ginny agreed. "I´m not really like that, but I had to annoy Ron."

Blaise gave her a portion of the chocolate bar before saying, "Good to know."

Ginny hummed in satisfaction at the taste of the chocolate. "Oh, this is good!"

"I know," he said with a wink and a slow smile.

Ginny looked at him and thought that if she wasn´t using him to annoy Ron, the Slytherin might be a good guy to know. He was surprisingly amiable, and not as much of a daddy´s boy as Draco Malfoy.

Before she could really think of Zabini´s good qualities, Ron and the rest of the trio found them.

"What do you think you were doing in there?" he demanded.

Ginny tasted her piece of chocolate again and looked at him innocently while she finished it. "I thought I was buying chocolate. That´s what one does in Honeydukes, Ronald."

"No, you idiot. What were you doing with him!" Ron said, pointing to Zabini.

"What´s wrong, Ron?" Ginny asked with exaggerated concern. "You still don´t like my choice of dates?"

"He´s a Slytherin!" Ron said distastefully.

She looked at him as if he were a babbling idiot. "Yes, and Blaise is a tall, dark and handsome, pureblood wizard. Just like Harry. I don´t think I could do better than that." Ginny acted content and snuggled closer to Blaise who thinly tried to hide his laughter at Ron.

"But Ginny..." Ron started.

"Ron!" Harry interjected. "She was right. I like Luna, so stop trying to set us up." As evidence, Harry stood closer to Luna, who had come out of Honeydukes with them, and put his arm around her shoulder.

"At last!" Ginny said with a sigh. "You see? There´s nothing for me and Harry, so why don´t you go along and fix your own love life? I have a Slytherin to kiss."

"You wouldn´t!" Ron said in a last protest.

"Of course I would. He is my date," she said with a wicked laugh.

"I can not watch this idiocy!" he protested before walking away from the whole group.

Ginny just laughed at him as he went.

===

After Ron walked fuming in the opposite direction down the street, Ginny steered Blaise away from the others to continue the rest of their date.

"Thank you," she said with a contented smile. "That went well."

"You seem proud of yourself," he commented.

"Very!" Ginny said, turning her smiling face up to him. "So what would you like to do next?"

"How about that kiss?" he said, looking intently at her.

"What?" Ginny asked, puzzled only for a moment.

"You told your brother that you and I were going to kiss. You know he won´t believe you if you don´t actually do it," he answered logically.

"Sure, but I..." Ginny said haltingly really looking up at the attractive Slytherin. She´d only been joking when she said it. Darn the truth in humor anyway!

Blaise waited for her to say something. "I do believe there is a kiss in the contract for this date somewhere."

"But, but..." Ginny sputtered. How quickly he´d turned the tables of power on her.

"It goes like this," Zabini said before taking her small face in his hands.

He pressed his soft lips to hers, and she let go of a breath, opening her lips slightly. The kiss was so soft at first, she wasn´t sure it was happening, but then she could taste him. There was the hint of chocolate on his lips from the piece he had been eating. Ginny wanted to taste him again, so she kissed him back while pulling him closer to her.

It was a simple kiss, but Zabini was enjoying it, so he didn´t let her go. He turned his head and opened his mouth more so he could read to suckle on her bottom lip. Ginny enjoyed the sensation, so she pulled at his shoulders to bring him closer to her. They continued kissing, until she could taste his own flavor underneath the chocolate. Rich and dark was only the tip of the iceberg in explaining it. It was intoxicating, and Ginny felt like she wanted to kiss him again and often.

When their kiss stopped, Ginny breathed airily, "Oh, that was good..."

He smiled wide at her, showing a dimple in his right cheek "Definitely worth trying again, I might say."

"Yes," she agreed, "but there´s only one problem."

"What´s that?" Blaise asked, scoffing at the idea of any kind of problems with kissing.

"If you keep kissing me like that," Ginny admitted, "I won´t be lying to Ron about being attracted to you."

"Oh, that could be a problem," he said showing a deeply concerned expression on his face. "Maybe you need professional help!"

Ginny looked at him before breaking into laughter. "From the Love Doctor?"

Blaise laughed with her. "Oh, gods, no! That is cliche, isn´t it?"

"Yes," Ginny said, smiling with mirth. This fake date had definitely turned out better than expected, and they´d only just started. "So... what do you want to do?"

"I say we enjoy the rest of this date and talk about the possibilities of more," he said while putting his arm around her when they walked around the street.

"Oh, you´re a hard negotiator," Ginny said in mock protest.

"Very Slytherin quality. You´ll have to get used to it if you want more dates from me," he said.

"Who cares about dates?" Ginny said with a laugh. "I just want more kisses!"

"That," Blaise said with a slow, sexy smile, "can be arranged."

After a short moment, Ginny tugged at his robes. "Right now, please!"

Blaise looked at her in surprise. "So soon?"

"Yes!" she said, nodding.

Blaise rolled his eyes as if the task were laborious. Then he winked and gave her the second of many kisses they had on their first date together.