Two Months

Chapter Four

Ginny entered the office one morning to find Malfoy deep in discussion with someone by the fireplace. Not really caring who it was, Ginny strode to her desk and sat down, looking into the 'in' box. However, she couldn't help but overhearing his conversation.

"My position is the highest I can go for someone my age," Malfoy was saying impatiently.

"It's intolerable," said a smooth silky voice. "It's perfectly disgraceful. A Malfoy actually working for the government? Why, Draco, you must have some sort of card up your sleeve. You were not raised to act this way.

"And are you sure you can survive on your own, Draco? It's a hard world, and the only way to get to the top, is to be the top. And you need wealth for it. I can provide that for you. If only you'd-"

"No," said Malfoy angrily. "I'm not like you. I can make my own way. I get respect; I'm not feared like you."

The other man gave a short bark of a laugh. "You really think they respect you? You're a Malfoy, Draco, and you will always be one. Nothing can change that."

Malfoy hesitated. Ginny could feel his anger raging through his veins. "I do not want to talk to you anymore," he said shortly. "Any connection we have ever had between us is gone. Do not bother me anymore."

"You can't run from it, Draco," replied the voice, slightly amused. "And don't worry. I will always be watching you. I shall talk to you again soon." There was a 'pop', and Malfoy turned back to his desk, sighing.

"Who was that?" said Ginny, before she could stop herself.

"Weren't you taught not to eavesdrop?" snapped Malfoy. There was a long silence. "It was my father, alright?"

"Okay," said Ginny quietly to herself, and went back to her work.

Malfoy swiveled around in his expensive leather chair to face her. "There's a department party tonight," he said. "I forgot to tell you. You're invited."

"A party?" said Ginny.

"Yeah," said Malfoy, turning back. "It's formal, and it's going to be at some guy's house. 14 Pentagonal Alley."

"Are you going?"

Malfoy glanced at her. "I'm Head of the Department. I have to go."

"Oh," said Ginny, feeling stupid. "When does it start?"

"Seven o'clock," he said shortly. "It'd probably go on until midnight. So are you going to go? I can pick you up if you want."

"I can get there by myself," said Ginny, "if I go."

Malfoy shrugged as he went back to work. "Alright. I'll see you there, perhaps."

***

Ginny couldn't decide what to wear to the party. She did not have many fancy clothes. She considered just dressing semi-formally with a dress shirt and a nice skirt, but decided against it, and just threw on her Hogwarts graduation dress. Ginny was fond of that dress; it was a nice pale champagne colored gown, with a V-neck and thin shoulder straps. There was also a noticeable but not too noticeable slit up one leg. Putting it on, she looked at herself in the mirror, and then strapped on her high heels. Grabbing the small jacket that had come with the dress and a formal purse, she headed out the door.

***

Walking up the driveway of the house where the party was held, Ginny decided that it was indeed a huge mansion.

"I'll walk you in," said a voice to her left. Turning, she found that it was Malfoy, cleaned up and dressed in a suit, offering his arm to her. She couldn't help thinking that he looked a great deal better than usual as she took his arm.

"Glad you could make it, Weasley," he said as they went in.

"Really?"

"No, but it's nice to hear, isn't it?" he said, looking down at her, his eyes dancing mischievously.

Ginny was about to retort something back at him, but she was interrupted by a yell. "Oi, Draco! Glad to see you!" A young, boyish looking man, perhaps slightly older than Malfoy, rushed over. He was energetic, with brown hair flopping back and forth as he bounded over, and a grin stretching across his face.

"Hello, Pete," replied Malfoy.

The man grinned and looked at Ginny. "Who's this?" he winked. "Another one?"

"Another one of what?" asked Ginny suspiciously.

"She's my secretary," said Malfoy. Peter nodded, and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Peter Davis, Miss--uh..."

"Weasley," said Ginny, taking his hand. "Ginny Weasley."

"Call me Pete. I thought you looked familiar," said the young man. "You're Fred Weasley's sister."

"Yes," said Ginny, smiling.

Pete grinned. "We had great times together, Fred and I. And George too. They kept me laughing for hours straight."

Ginny smiled politely as Malfoy lead her away. "Later, Davis," he called. Pete waved avidly.

Malfoy turned to her. "Look, Weasley. I'd prefer that you call me Draco. Since everyone else here does. Okay?"

"Okay," said Ginny, wondering why she agreed so quickly. She shrugged to herself, and brushed the topic off her mind.

Draco looked around the huge ballroom. "I'm going to go greet some people. There's punch over in that corner," he pointed, and she let go of his arm. "I'll see you later."

"Okay...Draco," said Ginny quietly to herself, sounding out the name, which sounded so right. She walked to the punch bowl, and poured herself some of the bubbling liquid. Then she stood in the corner, watching the other couples dance and talk.

"May I have this dance?" a voice spoke next to her. It was Peter Davis, grinning and holding a cup of punch.

"I'd love to," said Ginny, setting her glass down. He did the same, and then led her onto the dance floor.

"Have you worked at the Ministry for long?" she inquired as he twirled her around.

"Nah," he said offhandedly. "Just started. Been working for about, six months. I graduated two years ago at Beauxbaton. I was an exchange student there."

"Oh," said Ginny. "So you know how to speak French?"

"Oui, madamosielle," said Peter. "I speak it pretty fluently."

Ginny smiled. "That sounds pretty good to me."

Pete smiled too. "So what about you? How long have you worked for Draco? He's a great guy, huh?"

"I just started," said Ginny. "And I don't know about the great guy part. He seemed pretty awful when I went to school at Hogwarts."

"You guys went to school together?" said Pete, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "He was a year older than me."

"So what's happening now? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Actually," Ginny admitted guiltily. "I'm engaged."

"Oh," said Pete, looking a bit disappointed. "To whom? Anyone I'd know."

"Harry Potter," said Ginny. "You'd probably know him."

His eyes widened. "The Harry Potter? Wow, Miss Weasley," he grinned, "or should I say soon-to-be Mrs. Harry Potter, you are one lucky lady."

Ginny smiled, pleased.

"I was going to ask if we could do something sometime, but I guess your agenda's already full."

"Oh, no," said Ginny. "I'm sure I could find some time to do something, as friends."

"Yeah," he grinned. "I wouldn't want to steal Harry Potter's wife from him."

Ginny was going to say something, but she was cut off by a figure tapping on Peter's shoulder from behind him.

"Do you mind if I cut in, Davis?" came Draco's silky voice.

Peter let go of Ginny. "Not at all, Draco," he said, looking up at him. "Having a good time?"

"Sure," said Draco without enthusiasm.

"Well, see you later, Ginny," said Pete, and he disappeared into the crowd.

"What was that for?" asked Ginny, as they danced. She was slightly angry with Draco for barging in on them, but also pleased that he'd want to dance with her.

"What?" asked Draco.

"Nothing," said Ginny, giving up. "Why do you want to dance with me?"

"What's wrong with that?" asked Draco, looking amused. "I already danced with everyone else."

"So I'm just your last resort," Ginny retorted.

"No," said Draco softly, still smirking, "I saved the best for last."

Ginny felt a sharp intake and she did not say anything for the rest of the dance.

"I need to sit down," she said, after the song was over.

She found a bench nearby, and sat, then realized that Draco had sat down next to her. Ginny needed to think. She was engaged. Then what was she doing at this party, dancing with these guys she hardly knew? How come she didn't go meet some of the ladies? And the worst part was, she felt...Ginny didn't want to think about what she felt. She needed to leave, before anything else happened.

Ginny looked over at Draco, who was watching her steadily. She wanted to say something to him, but the thing that came out was, "Are you flirting with me?"

"I don't flirt," said Draco, looking really amused. "I attract the attention of ladies I like."

"Are you doing that with me?" asked Ginny, half terrified now.

He studied her for a moment. "Possibly." Then, before Ginny could say anything, he leaned in and kissed her.

Ginny was too shocked to even push him away, as his hands went up to her face. Then she realized something even more horrible: she was kissing back, and she was enjoying it. Draco always had some sort of effect on her; even when he had laughed at her Valentine's song she had wrote for Harry. Maybe, deep down, she had always sort of liked him, but he was impossible to get, and she tried to hide her feelings by loathing him. But she never thought that maybe Draco could've liked her. He probably kissed all his lady friends, she thought with disgust, even though she didn't believe it. She tried to pull away from him, but her muscles refused to move, and she found herself becoming more eager rather than being angry with him.

She wondered if Draco was like this all the time, if he knew how he made her feel whenever he touched her, or spoke to her. Probably, she decided. But he acted as if he didn't know, and he didn't go out of his way to talk to her. Ginny was frustrated. It wasn't as if she hadn't spoken to guys as she had with Draco before; why would this be any different--

"Draco!" a voice suddenly called, alarmingly near.

The two broke apart. Ginny found that she was breathing quickly, but when she looked over at Draco, he seemed as though nothing had happened.

"Draco!" the voice shouted again, and Draco stood up, searching through the crowd of people. A short pompous man appeared from the dance floor. He reached Draco.

"Mercer Rogers," Draco greeted him shortly.

The man sighed. "I'm glad I found you, Draco. Those foreign people, they want to talk to you. I can't do anything; I don't speak French."

"You think I do?" snapped Draco, looking back at Ginny briefly. "Goddamnit, who invited them anyway?"

Mercer Rogers hesitated. "McGuire. Len McGuire. He thought we'd make a good impression on them. His office is right next to mine, remember?"

"I know who McGuire is," said Draco impatiently. "I'm not some sort of blubbering fool."

"Sorry," Rogers mumbled.

"Tell him he's fired. I'll go deal with the foreigners. Isn't there anyone in this goddamn department who speaks French? Or has any sense?"

"Peter does," Ginny suddenly piped up. "He studied at Beauxbatons."

Draco didn't say anything, but turned to Rogers. "Did you hear what she said? Go fire McGuire and find Davis for me. Now!"

"But, Draco, what'll I tell him? He's so--"

"You're a creative guy," said Draco, already brushing past him. "Think up something." He disappeared.

Mercer Rogers sighed, and then caught sight of Ginny. "Peter Davis, is it? Always liked that kid. You're Draco's secretary, aren't you? Having fun yet?"

"I can't say," said Ginny, shrugging, but smiling. "Besides, he'd kill me if I told you everything I know about him."

"Uh-huh," said Rogers, disbelieving. "Yes, well he's a mysterious man. Sometimes it seems like he wants to kill me too, and other days he doesn't. You be careful, missy, hear?"

"Yeah," said Ginny. The man winked, and left.

Sighing, Ginny sat back down. He left her, just like that. Not even a 'good-bye'. Why was Draco so confusing? She couldn't stop thinking about him, and hoped that he would come back. Standing up, Ginny walked around and met some of the other people from her department, finding out that Padma Patil also worked there, but her office was pretty far away from Draco. She did not see Draco for the remainder of the evening, but she did find Peter Davis again and after dancing with him again, she left at ten o'clock.

Around midnight, as Ginny was preparing to go to bed, the phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Ginny?" Even with all the noise in the background, she could tell it was Draco.

"Yeah?" she said, irritated and annoyed.

"Are you home?"

"Where else could I be?" There was no mistaking the contempt in her voice.

"Why'd you leave so early?"

"How'd you know I left?"

"Peter told me," Ginny could practically see him next to the pay phone, leaning against the wall, his expression somewhat annoyed. "Listen, I'm still at the party. Did you get home okay?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, with no expression whatsoever.

"Did you have a good time?" If Ginny had listened more carefully, she could've heard the slight fakeness in that question.

"Yeah," Ginny lied.

"I was going to introduce you to some people, but then you left. Padma Patil was there. She went to Hogwarts?"

Ginny imagined Draco and Padma in a lip lock, and felt furious. "I saw her," she said, forcing herself to talk normally.

"Okay," the voice at the other end sounded slightly defeated. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then he hung up.

Ginny stared at the receiver in her hand, furious. She knew she had wound herself up by imagining things, but Draco was no better. He had ditched her because some foreigners were angry, and then hung up on her. She sighed, and put the receiver back. Lying down on her bed, she looked at the photo of Harry by her bed stand. The photo Harry grinned and winked at her. She smiled, somewhat content, and fell asleep.