Nothing I Have Ever Seen

Chapter 5

The pub was as busy as usual, if not busier due to the excess of Christmas shoppers. A tall and bushy tree sat in the corner, lights and decorations twinkling merrily, adding to the undeniably warm and jolly atmosphere. Scattered liberally around the large pub were small groups of Hogwarts students. Draco wondered if it wasn't a mistake coming here. What would his fellow Slytherins think, given his present company? Considering he wasn't altogether sure himself exactly what he was doing with his present company. But Draco had always been one to act first, think later. He had considerable faith in his own instincts.

He got the two of them butterbeers and they settled at a cosy table in the window of the pub.

They sat in silence for a moment. Draco studied her profile as she gazed out of the window at the snow that had started to fall. He wanted to ask her why she'd sat all alone out in the dark last night. Why she'd sat for so long without revealing herself to him. Why there was this charged tension between them...

"What is it you want from me, Malfoy?" Ginny broke the silence, turning her penetrating stare onto him. Draco didn't reply. "Really, I know what you're like, my brother's told me."

"Oh really? And what exactly has your brother said?" Draco was somewhat taken aback by her brashness. Her apparent lack of trust in him.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "You know how you stand with my brother and his friends. Surely I don't have to tell you?"

This was not going at all the way Draco liked. It was not her place to bring up his relations with other people. Let it go, he told himself, this is not why you're here- you're not here to fight.

"No, you don't have to tell me. I couldn't care less. What makes their opinions so valid? Don't you have a mind of your own?" He couldn't hold that one in. It had to be said. He felt almost victorious as he saw the effect of his words.

Ginny's brow wrinkled slightly as she took her time to reply. "I don't need your insults Malfoy, if you've got something to say to me then just say it."

There was a challenge. What exactly did he want to say to her?

She must have taken his delay in response as a great effort to keep in an insult, as she started to gather her bags and made as if to leave. "I wasn't expecting much from you Malfoy. If you had any kind of decency you'd at least apologise for knocking me over back then. You'd think with a family as rich as yours, you could afford some manners. Money isn't everything, you know. You might have all the power in the world- but that won't earn you friendship. My brother and his friends were right about you."

"I don't give a damn about your precious brother or his pathetic friends," he spat before he could stop himself, all thoughts as to why he'd asked Ginny for a drink in the first place vacated his mind.

Ginny slammed her hand down on the table, almost spilling her butterbeer. "How dare you!" The shake in her voice went unnoticed.

Draco rose to his feet. Anger coursed through him. She had a cheek. It was almost downright rudeness. For once, he'd not started the brawl. This was all Potter's fault. He'd poisoned her mind.

Ginny rose level with him, her face inches away from his. There was a burning anger in her eyes, but was that disappointment as well?

A gust of cold air hit them as the door of the pub opened and Pansy and Flint walked in. They made as if to join him then stopped as their eyes drifted to his company. Panic hit Draco with a blast more icy than the wind. He couldn't let Ginny walk out on him with Pansy and Flint watching. How humiliating. He had to do something. And that something was what he did best.

"You're pathetic, Weasley. You're not worth my time. Get out of my sight. And don't ever bother me again," he hissed venomously at her, purposefully loud enough to be sure that Pansy, Flint and anyone else who cared to listen knew that he was leaving her. Definitely not the other way around... As if that would ever happen.

Ginny's surprised expression vanished as a look of total hurt and betrayal crossed her elf-like face. Her eyes shining with what were unmistakably unshed tears, she pushed past him, out of the door and into the street.

Regret hit Draco like a ton of bricks. What had he done? But he'd had to, he told himself. She'd forced him. She was about to make him look a fool.

Unsteadily he ran a hand through his hair as he turned to Flint and Pansy who were standing behind him.

"What was that about, Draco? Who was she?" Pansy asked, an unmistakable note of jealousy in her voice.

"One of your admirers Malfoy?" Flint joked, as Pansy's face fell. "Tell her where to go, did you?"

Draco remained silent as he stared at the door. The door that had been flung open by the only person who seemed important in his life at the moment. It was too surreal. He couldn't reply to Flint. It offered him a perfect explanation for the scene they'd just witnessed, but somehow, Draco was not proud of that scene. Not at all.

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