My Angel

The next day, Ginny had somehow convinced herself that what she had felt yesterday was simply the effects of too much caffeine. She wasn't really attracted to Draco, and he most definitely wasn't attracted to her in the least. And as for the flashes of emotion, those were her imagination, also the result of too much caffeine. As far as she was concerned, he was an evil little scumbag who happened to have committed an act of goodness by killing his father, as paradoxical as that is. But the fact still remained that he was only there because he wanted to save his own skin, and given the choice, he probably wouldn't be around the Order of the Phoenix.

As she didn't have work that day, after breakfast Ginny decided to take Snuffles for a long walk. Considering everyone had been extremely busy lately, he hadn't been out of the headquarters for a while. She found his leash and collar, then found him. When he spotted the leash, he barked ecstatically, and rather loudly, and soon shrieks could be heard echoing throughout the house.

"Children of FILTH..."

Ginny groaned, having forgotten all about the portrait of Mrs. Black, as it had been a while since the last time anyone had woken it up. Snuffles whimpered, putting his tail between his legs. Harry came thundering down the stairs, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Draco.

"What the hell is that?" Draco demanded, looking slightly disgruntled. He appeared to have just rolled out of bed, as he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his hair was slightly mussed. Ginny was amazed that even after having just rolled out of bed, Draco still looked incredibly sexy! He had defined muscles and a broad chest, and even better, he had a six-pack.

"That would be an incredibly annoying portrait," Harry said, rushing off with Ron and Hermione to silence Mrs. Black as she continued to shriek.

"...scum! Disgracing the house of our fathers! Mudbloods..."

At least Kreacher was no longer there to add to the experience. He had died the year after Sirius had, having crawled into the airing cupboard and passed on (coincidentally the way that Sirius had once mentioned he hoped the house elf might die).

A few moments later, the shrieking stopped and Harry and Ron returned.

"What woke her up?" Ron asked.

"Snuffles," Ginny replied, buckling his collar and snapping the leash on. "I'll be back later."

Ginny left and started down the street, heading towards the nearby park, Snuffles trotting along happily before her. It was a wonderful spring day. It was neither too cold, nor too warm either. Birds flitted across the sky and squirrels chased each other up trees. It was a beautiful day to be outside.

The park was fairly empty, surprisingly, save for a few children with their mothers. Ginny walked Snuffles around the small pond in the middle of the park, then led him around the edge of the playground. Suddenly, Snuffles broke into a flat-out run, dragging her behind him.

"Snuffles! Stop! Heel! Something!"

Snuffles kept running, and Ginny was nearly losing her footing. Just then, as he whipped her around the corner, she slammed full on into Draco. Why he was in the park, she had no idea. It seems it was he that Snuffles had been looking for, because the dog was barking happily and trying to lick Draco's hand.

"Malfoy!"

Ginny was looking up into his gray eyes. He met her gaze and she was reminded forcibly of the other day. Perhaps it hadn't been the caffeine after all.

"Weasley," Draco breathed, reaching up to brush a piece of her hair back. But Ginny pulled away upon hearing that name.

"What?" Draco asked, bewildered, as Ginny stormed away, pulling Snuffles with her. But she didn't acknowledge him. That had stung. He couldn't even call her by her first name. She was just a Weasley to him. She felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes, which only heightened her anger. She wasn't even sure of where she was going. She exited the park and kept walking, still not knowing where she was going. If she kept walking, she could keep the tears from falling. If the tears fell, it would be admitting defeat. Defeat of what? Ginny wasn't sure.

Somehow, she ended up back at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. She removed Snuffles' leash and collar, then proceeded to storm down to the kitchen. Thankfully, she found it empty, and she was able to raid the fridge in peace. However, she found no chocolate in there, nor in the pantry, so she simply conjured some for herself. Chocolate was her comfort food. When the world was crumbling down, chocolate was her lifeline, oddly enough. It must have been the caffeine in it, or something.

Just as she was finishing her chocolate, Harry came bursting in.

"We've just had word that Voldemort is due to strike at the Delaney residence," Harry informed her. "We've got to leave here within the next two minutes."

"Fine, then. Accio Potions Kit!" Ginny said, waiting a few seconds while the potions box she carried during these sorts of things zoomed to her outstretched hand, glad that Harry had finally accepted the fact that she was a competent member of the Order. She tucked the box away in her robes, then stood up. "I'm ready."

Ginny followed him to the front hall, where everyone else was waiting. This time, they were also accompanied by Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt, but not Hermione, who was on call at St. Mungo's today. Moody held a rusty soup can, which Ginny assumed would be turned into a Portkey.

"Now that we're all here..." Moody said in his growly voice, trailing off. Everyone knew what to do, and they all put a finger to the can. After a few seconds, Ginny felt that pull behind her navel and was being whisked away, Lupin knocking her on one side, Ron on the other. A few moments later, her feet made contact with the ground. This time, it looked like she was in a field. In fact, she was in someone's immense backyard, and could see a house over to her far left. She quickly scanned the sky and found it devoid of the Dark Mark, which reassured her for the time being. She then noticed that Draco had not accompanied them this time. What'd you expect, a redeemed Draco? He killed his father, he's done now.

"Okay, same thing as last time, don't move until you see the signal," Harry said quickly, disappearing under his Invisibility Cloak along with Lupin. Kingsley Disillusioned himself and the three of them headed off to the house.

Ginny sat down on a nearby tree stump, looking around with a sigh. Of course, it had started to rain. It wasn't so bad at first, a light mist, but then it started getting heavier. Just as she had been about to put a charm on herself to keep from getting soaked, the signal appeared. Ginny stood up and started running towards the house along with the others. However, they didn't make it as far as the house. Death Eaters Apparated all around them. Soon, spells were flying this way and that, and Ginny had no time to think about anything except each Death Eater she battled.

After about the third Death Eater, Ginny received a spell right across her shoulder that left a searing pain and a large gash that immediately started bleeding profusely. However, she had no time to do anything about it since there was another Death Eater advancing on her. The rain was really coming down now, to make matters worse. It was as if the Heavens had opened up and poured out an ocean on them all.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise as though an explosion had gone off. Ginny whipped her head around to see what had caused it, and in her moment of distraction, she was hit square in the chest with a hex. She let out a strangled cry and started to fall, when someone uttered a loud spell and strong arms caught her. She looked up and was suddenly sure she was delusional. A dripping wet Draco Malfoy was holding her.

"Draco?" she whispered, trying to put her hand to his face to see if he was real, but she suddenly felt overcome with weakness. He shushed her and fell to his knees, still holding her, his eyes locked with hers. His white shirt was ripped and muddy, and it had a bloodstain on it from where Ginny's gash was bleeding onto it. It was sticking to his chest and had become fairly see-through with the rain.

"Ginny," he breathed, still not breaking eye contact. The spells were flying all around them, and yet they were oblivious to it all. Ginny was only aware of his gray eyes, and his strong arms supporting her, and his lips as he leaned his head forward and kissed her. She suddenly felt herself melting, overcome with sheer bliss. She found the strength to put her arms around his neck, which prompted him to deepen the kiss. The rain continued to fall heavily, and the battle raged on around them. Finally, they broke apart as another loud bang went off. Draco looked around, found the source of the explosion, then stood up, pulling Ginny up with him.

"Come with me," he whispered, his mouth next to her ear. As she was too weak to walk, she had no choice, and so she simply nodded and let Draco carry her away from the spells and hexes and to the shelter of what appeared to be the Delaneys' garden shed. There, he laid her down and proceeded to examine the gash on her shoulder.

"Where's your potions kit?" he asked.

Ginny pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him. He scanned through the contents before finding one and poured a few drops of it on her wound. She glanced at it and saw it closing and healing over, with a weird tingling sensation. Draco then scanned the potions until he found another one. Of this, he poured a few drops into Ginny's mouth and instructed her to swallow. She obeyed and instantly felt some of her strength returning. It was only then that she realized that she had just kissed Draco Malfoy, in the rain, in the middle of a war no less.

"Draco, I don't--"

"Shh!" Draco silenced her by pressing his mouth to hers in a passionate, fiery kiss. Ginny forgot everything she had been about to say and let herself melt in his arms.

Ginny didn't come back to her senses until she realized that Draco was struggling to unhook her bra. She pulled back, though it took most of her willpower, and found that somehow Draco's shirt had also come off.

"Draco, this isn't right," Ginny said, searching for her shirt. "They're out there fighting and we're in here snogging. We really should go back out there." She found her shirt abandoned in a corner and grabbed it. In the process of trying to put it back on, Draco retrieved his own shirt, then checked his hair in the reflection on the back of a shovel.

"The world could be coming down, and you would still stop to check your hair," Ginny said flatly, rolling her eyes and getting up. As she left, she glanced back at Draco, who was indifferently straightening his clothes, not even looking up as she left. Wait...indifferent? That made no sense! He had saved her, and had just been passionately snogging her, and had almost unclothed her, and now he was acting completely indifferent. Ginny was suddenly overcome with anger again as she stormed back into the thick of things, somehow managing to channel all her anger into battling with the Death Eaters. And still, the rain fell.