This Fire

This Fire

It all started with the eyes. She never noticed them before, they were just another added torture among a scowling angel's face.

She assumed it just happened to be one of her more observant Luna-esque days, but as time passed, she realized that those molten metal eyes paralyzed her during one of the oddest times in the history of Hogwarts. Not when they first met (which is what she originally thought) or whenever they got into a fight, but during his rounds with the Gryffindor girls.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ginny was heading downstairs to the Gryffindor common room when she noticed something rather strange. Normally, couples could be seen snuggling on the many sofas or off snogging in some corner. As she approached the bottom step, she realized that there was an awkward segregation between the males and females of Gryffindor. Throughout this intense segregation, there was one couple who looked oddly out of place: Ron and Hermione. Out of the entire house, they were the only ones who seemed to have not broken up overnight. Other than Ginny's brother and his Head Girl girlfriend, the girls (who were looking more like Barbie dolls by the minute) were completely separate from the boys and/or their former significant others. They were constantly primping themselves, gathering in groups to console each other, and compared to Ginny, some girls were sporting outfits that were downright obscene! She didn't know whether to gag at the sight of the girls or to well, gag, at the boys with their forlorn looks and downtrodden expressions cast in their former girlfriend's direction. Deciding she had just about enough of the sight in front of her, she walked out of the tower amidst a tidal wave of whispers from the females.

As she made her way through the halls, Ginny noticed that the Gryffindors weren't the only ones who seemed to have taken up segregation, but all of the houses were following it. The entire female population, especially the elder girls, were prancing around in the skankiest clothes they could find while whispering conspiratively and pointing at Ginny in her modest garb. As she kept on walking to the Great Hall for breakfast, the stares and whispers were getting more fervent causing Ginny to run past the gawking girls. Eventually, she got to the main hallway; she was in the clear, the home stretch, when she heard some rather interesting noises coming from one of the nearby classrooms.

Cautiously, she made her way over, the prefect in her kicking in, trying to pinpoint the right room. Upon getting closer, she heard giggling and a couple of suspicious slurping sounds. She was about to open the door, when the knob started turning of its own accord. Not wanting to be discovered, Ginny tried to make her body flush with some of the more in-shadow parts of the wall. The door opened and out stepped a very embarrassed and thoroughly snogged Lavender Brown. Ginny was expecting her male counterpart, whoever he was, to emerge soon after, but he didn't. Lavender raced off, barely noticing Ginny as she ran by.

Ginny was about to leave when she heard mumbling coming from the room Lavender just came out of. She carefully tip-toed over and peeked in slowly. She inwardly let out a gasp when she saw a rumpled looking Draco Malfoy sitting down at a desk, his head in his hands. What he was mumbling about, she didn't know, although she heard vague phrases like "She's not the one...the last one...What to do?" Hmm...she thought. I wonder what's wrong with him? She never saw him so vulnerable, so deconstructed and it intrigued her. She began noticing the little things then; how his hair gleamed in the morning sunlight, how his skin had an almost translucent quality when looked at from a certain angle, or his defined facial features ruined anytime he marred it with one of his penetrating glares or devious smirks. He looked up briefly causing Ginny to scramble. She was afraid he saw her, but when she took another quick look, found out that he didn't. His head was still slightly up, only this time glancing at a small forest green notebook.

Knowing that she was safe, Ginny continued her meticulous inspection. She ran her eyes over his face once more, stopping when she got to his eyes. She never appreciated their beauty before because she was either too busy or pissed off at him to notice, but this time she did. They resembled liquid mercury normally, but now they were brighter, reminding Ginny of a full moon with the slightest flecks of green mixed in. They paralyzed her, bore through her and controlled her all at once. In a way, they scared her too. Not because they reminded her of his father, but because they could command and control with just one look.

Ginny heard some more movement again, breaking her out of her reverie. Realizing what she was doing, she ran off towards the Great Hall. Not five seconds later, Draco came out of the classroom, the sound of Ginny's Mary-Janes making him suspicious. Shrugging it off, he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast and another possibility. Unbeknownst to him, he changed Ginny Weasley and it was thanks to his eyes.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ginny got into the Great Hall and almost immediately regretted it. She felt like everyone was staring at her, judging her for being late to breakfast. Even the teachers were staring at her. She had always hated it when people stared at her like that; it made her feel inferior.

After a good fifteen seconds of silence, Ginny walked forward to the Gryffindor table, triggering the others to continue their conversations.

Normalcy restored, Ginny took her customary seat next to Harry, taking in the noticeably sorrowful look on his face in the process.

"Harry, what's wrong? You look like someone died."

"No, I'm fine, Ginny. Really."

"No, you're not. You look like every single boy at this school, except for maybe well Malfoy, but that's beside the point. The point is, what's gotten into the school that has caused the entire male population to-"

"Be in such a bad mood? And why the girls are putting more effort into their appearances? Or why did every single boy in Hogwarts get dumped, myself included, by their girlfriends as of 5 p.m. yesterday? I'm surprised you don't know why, Ginny."

"Know what? Harry, what's going on? I feel like there's a conspiracy against me. And not every girl dumped their boyfriend; Hermione didn't."

Harry chuckled at the last bit. "No, Gin, there's not a conspiracy against you, the girls are just shocked that either a) you don't know, or b) you know, but just choose not to react in the manner that they did. And if Hermione did break up with Ron using the same reason that every other girl in Hogwarts is using, I'd think something was gravely wrong with her."

"Know about what, Harry?!" Ginny was quickly losing her patience and the Boy Wonder wasn't helping out whatsoever.

"Malfoy's dated almost every single seventh and sixth year girl in the past two weeks."

"What?!"

"Geez, Gin, not so loud. I'm right here, you know."

"Oh, sorry. So, how exactly did he accomplish this downright amazing feat and why?"

"Apparently he's searching for a certain girl. He hasn't been sleeping too well as of late and as far as I've heard, it has to do with these odd dreams he's been having, all centered around one girl."

"And where did you hear this?"

"From my girlfriend...well ex-girlfriend, Pansy."

"Oh. So what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, all of the girls in school have gone completely insane because of this. Most of them have dumped their boyfriends and have taken great care to make sure that Malfoy notices them as much as possible. The fact that you don't know about this, or don't care, makes the girls think that you're odd."

"So...Malfoy's gone all Prince Charming to some random girl's Cinderella and that's why the whole school is topsy-turvy?"

"Yeah, pretty much. He finished off the last of the Gryffindor seventh year girls with Lavender this morning and he's already gone through every other house, so I expect that he'll be setting his sights on the Gryffindor sixth year girls soon. I'd watch out if I were you, Ginny."

"Dully noted and thanks for the information, Harry."

"Anytime."

Soon after, Ginny left breakfast and wandered the halls, alone with her many thoughts.

Strange ideas were running through her head as she walked, all involving a certain blond Slytherin. Given the situation of the past two weeks and the information Harry gave her, Ginny's mind was swarming with questions.

Does he like me? Does he want to ask me out? Should he ask me out? Should I do anything for him to notice me? What type of boyfriend would he be? Is he a good kisser?

Ginny's thoughts ran through her brain in this fashion, the next one more questionable than the last.

As she meandered throughout the castle, she eventually found her way back to Gryffindor Tower and subsequently, her room.

That night, Ginny had dreams. She always had dreams, but these weren't your run-of-the-mill "run-off-with-Harry-and-have-seven-kids" dreams. No, these were of a different breed. They were unusually erotic; something that the Harry dreams never were and the only thing she remembered when she awoke were a pair of gunshot metal eyes.

As the week progressed, the eyes were somewhat of a pattern in her dreams. During the day, they'd burn through her and at night they were overwhelmingly beautiful, destroying her ever so sweetly in the process. She was on the verge of a meltdown and it was all because of Draco Malfoy's eyes. She needed to clear her mind of everything and Ginny knew of only one way to do just that.

* * * * * * * * *

Ginny entered the prefect's bathroom later than the norm. She didn't want anyone to disturb her and she could always say she was making her nightly rounds if anyone caught her out after hours.

She turned on two of the taps; one for the water, the other for a good amount of bubble bath. After a while, she closed off both taps and proceeded to undress. She took the clip out of her hair and placed it inside of the bag she brought, laying her clothing on top of the bag.

Gingerly, she stepped into the tub, allowing her body to warm up to the water's temperature. Once she was fully in, she committed to washing her body and hair. Too preoccupied with the task at hand, Ginny forgot about the silver eyes and didn't notice a certain someone enter the bathroom.

She whipped her head out of the water, laughing about how ridiculous the girls of Hogwarts have looked as of late. She looked down at her pruned hands and thought it was time to get back to bed. She turned on the drainage system and stepped out, grabbing a towel off the floor as she did so.

Ginny began drying off her body, deciding to let her hair drip-dry to its naturally curly self; she'd straighten it in the morning. Satisfied with her job, she wrapped the towel around her body and turned around to gather her clothes and bag.

The last person she expected to see was Draco Malfoy staring at her with a look of...adoration?

So of course, Ginny did the most logical thing: scream bloody murder and hope to god that someone heard her.

Well, her logic kind of worked. Someone did hear her, unfortunately that someone was Draco Malfoy, who ran over and promptly clamped a hand over her mouth. She looked him straight in the eye to try to invoke fear, but that didn't work all too well. She became overwhelmed by his eyes. Ginny still couldn't get over them. While most girls fawned over Draco Malfoy for his lips, athletic built, or his infamous member, Ginny felt herself drawn to his eyes. At that moment, Ginny official declared herself insane for having a crush on a boy she hated all of her life, but hormones were funny little things and they were in overdrive.

Draco took his hand off of her mouth once she calmed down, causing Ginny to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Malfoy, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

That didn't go as well as I hoped, Ginny thought.

"I came in here to bathe, Weasley. Don't tell me that's a crime now."

"No, it's not, but you could have seen something."

No! NO! Don't blush! Don't do it, Ginny! Aww, Christ. Too late.

"I assure you, Weasley, I did not see anything that Mummy or Daddy wouldn't like."

"Oh, ok." Getting the last word in, Ginny turned around to gather her belongings and leave. She was caught by the hand in mid-turn and gathered into Draco's arms for one hell of a kiss.

She obviously wasn't expecting this and attempted to pull away, but his hold was too strong. After a few seconds of resisting, she gave in, instead deepening the kiss. When he pulled away, she felt that something vital was missing from her being, like he took something from her body just by kissing her. As soon as the feeling left, it came back in the form of Draco's smile.

Wow. Wow. My god does he look sexy when he smiles.

She was so entranced by the smile she barely heard him say "I knew it was you. I had a feeling it was you all along."

She had somewhat of an idea as to what he was talking about, but all thought was lost as he pulled her in for another lingering kiss.

* * * * * * * * *

One Month Later

"Draco, my love, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Gin. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me about your dreams again?"

Draco and Ginny were enjoying a Saturday by the lake. Ginny was leaning against a monstrous oak with Draco's head in her lap.

"I thought I already told you about them?"

"You did, but I'd like to hear the story again. It's so romantic, and you rarely ever do anything romantic for me."

"Ginny, I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented by that last comment."

"Well, it's true!"

"It's not and you know it Ginevra Molly Weasley!"

"Ok. Name the last time you did something romantic for me."

"Umm...no...those were the dreams..."

"Exactly."

"Ginny, please don't ruin the wonderful day we've been having."

"I'm not, I'm just saying, I'd expect a lot more out of a guy who spent the last three months trying to find me."

"Would it make you happy if I made it up to you tonight?" Draco asked with a smirk.

Ginny slightly colored, but replied with an "I'd be very happy indeed."

She hadn't meant to insult Draco with the comment about his dreams, but she knew he was dedicated (or just really tired) if he went through those lengths to find her.

A few minutes passed before Draco spoke up with a question of his own.

"Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you say 'yes' when I asked you out? You could've said 'no'-" Ginny silenced him with her finger; she loved it when he babbled.

"I know, I could have said 'no' to you, but there's just this thing about you that I couldn't say no to."

"And what was that?" Draco asked with a sly grin.

"Definitely not what you're thinking of Mr. Malfoy."

"Then what, pray tell, was it, Ms. Weasley?"

"Well, besides the fact that you spent three months trying to find me, your eyes."

"Really? That's a new one. Please, if you can, inform me of this fascination you have with my eyes."

"Umm...remember the day that you thoroughly snogged Lavender Brown in the old Charms classroom?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I happened to be walking by and I heard you two and since I'm a prefect, I had to check it out. Lavender left the room before I busted the two of you, though she didn't notice me and I peeked in and saw you. You looked so deconstructed that it intrigued me. At one point, you tilted your head allowing me to see your eyes. Draco, you have some of the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. They controlled me from that moment on. And no, I did not stalk you like some rabid fan girl, because if I know you Draco Malfoy, that's what you're thinking."

When Ginny finished, Draco was looking up, giving her an almost wistful smile.

"What?"

"Nothing, Ginny. Nothing at all."

The feeling was mutual in Draco and Ginny's case: life was wonderful.

* * * * * * * * *

"This Fire"

Eyes, boring a way through me
Paralyze, controlling completely
Now there is a fire in me
A fire that burns

This fire is out of control
I'm going to burn this city
Burn this city

This fire is out of control
I'm going to burn it
I'll burn it
I'll burn it down

Eyes, burning a way through me
Overwhelm, destroying so sweetly
Now, there is a fire within me
A fire that burns

This fire is out of control
I'm going to burn this city
Burn this city

This fire is out of control
Then I, I'm out of control
And I burn
Oh, how I burn

This fire is out of control
I'm going to burn this city
Burn this city

-Franz Ferdinand