The Game

The Game

Hey, get your hands off my baby.
The bet's off. It's not a game anymore.
You see the plan's gone wrong,
And you can't touch.
Not playin' like I was before.
You got to keep the game our little secret.
He can never know the score.
Now I love him I don't want him to hate me for it.
It's not a game anymore.
-"The Game", Nikki Cleary

Virginia Weasley, often called Ginny , and some of the other girls in her year were always competing. Whether it be in Quidditch or with guys, it didn't matter. Every once in awhile, when ey were bored, they would get together and then pick a guy. Then they would make a bet to see who could get him to kiss them first. It was a pretty petty thing to do, but it passed the time.
Today was one of the days when they were bored. Luna Lovegood (Ravenclaw), Veronica Schumer (Slytherin), Danielle Olsen (Hufflepuff), Cheyenne Bulstrode (Slytherin), and Ginny (Gryffindor) met in an empty classroom after classes to pick a guy. There was a debate going on between Luna and Danielle and the Slytherins. Danielle and Luna wanted to try to get Harry Potter, who had become one of the hottest guys in Hogwarts over the years, but the Slytherins wanted to try Draco Malfoy, another Hogwarts hottie. Ginny, quite frankly, didn't care which, except for the fact that if they chose Draco, she would probably have a harder time getting him to like her. Also, her brother, Ron, would kill her. The Malfoys and Weasleys had hated each other for a long time. Ron hated Draco Malfoy. He never really bothered Ginny directly, only her brother and his friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
So, the debate went on for a little while, but they finally picked Draco Malfoy. They had come to the conclusion when Veronica had brought up the fact that Harry was dating Hermione Granger, her brother's other best friend. The deal was that whoever got Draco to kiss them first within the next week would be the winner. The winner got to pick one of the other girls to be her personal slave for a day.
The next day, Ginny got up earlier than usual to get ready. She found one of her shortest skirts and one of her tightest shirts to wear under her school robes. It was Saturday, and they didn't have to wear their uniforms. She knew that Veronica and Cheyenne were probably already talking to Draco. All she could do was hope that they weren't having any luck. She was going to do everything in her power to get Draco Malfoy to kiss her. She didn't really care about the prize. Ginny just wanted to win.
When she had finished getting ready and was satisfied with her appearance, she went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she arrived in the Great Hall, she scanned the Slytherin table and was pleased to note that Draco was sitting there, by himself.
Ginny walked over to the table and stood next to where Draco sat. She was facing away from the Gryffindor table, but could feel her brother's glare from behind her. Draco, who had been looking at his plate when she'd arrived, looked up suddenly. "Hey," Ginny said with a flirtatious smile. "Can I sit here?"
Draco shrugged and nodded. Under his facade of indifference however, he was thrilled. He had been watching Ginny all year. She had grown up a lot from her first year when she was taken into the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny Weasley was considered one of the hottest girls in Hogwarts.
Ginny knew this and used it to her advantage every chance she got, like now. Draco knew she wouldn't have dressed like that if she weren't up to something. She was usually very conservative. I wonder what she's up to, he thought.
Ginny leaned over toward Draco, invading his personal space, and she could tell that he was more than a little uncomfortable with it. She smirked inwardly and moved back a little. "I've always wondered something," she said thoughtfully.
"What's that?" Draco asked, looking much more comfortable now that she'd moved.
"If you would ever consider going out with a younger girl, you usually only date seventh years," she replied, flashing him a smile.
"The would depend on who was asking," Draco replied coyly.
"Well, what if I were asking," she replied just as coyly.
"Then I would say that you are one I would consider. I know this may seem a little forward, but will you go out with me?" Draco asked, trying to hide his nervousness but failing.
"That all depends on when," Ginny said.
"Tonight, eleven o'clock, Astronomy Tower," Draco suggested.
"I'll be there," Ginny consented. Inwardly, she was celebrating. She was going to win this game yet. After Ginny had accepted Draco's invitation, they chatted easily with each other. Ginny began to slowly realize that Draco wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought. True, after his father had been put into Azkaban awhile ago, Draco hadn't been such a pain. He had been much more subdued, she'd noticed. Now, heading back to the Common Room, she realized that staying and talking to Draco hadn't been a good idea. She wasn't supposed to get attached to him, she was supposed to get him to like her then dump him.

*~*~*~*

Ginny looked in the mirror at about ten-thirty that night. She had taken off her robes and put on some more make-up. She'd also borrowed, or rather stole, Harry's invisibility cloak. She couldn't risk getting caught, her brother would kill her.
Ron had already given her a lecture about the dangers of Malfoy after breakfast. He didn't seem to realize that she wasn't a little girl anymore. That was one thing that infuriated her endlessly.
Ginny put the invisibility cloak around her, making sure she wasn't visible and walked out of her dormitory. She crawled oof the Portrait Hole and made her way to the Astronomy Tower. She was grateful that she didn't see anyone on her way.
When Ginny arrived in the Astronomy Tower, it was empty, save for Draco. He was standing against the far wall, looking slightly impatient. He also looked totally hot. He was wearing Muggle clothes, a pair of jeans and a blue button up shirt. The first few buttons were undone, and she could see part of his well-muscled chest. The blue color of the shirt also gave his eyes a bluish tint, rather than their regular grey color. Ginny decided to have a little fun. She snuck quietly until she was right next to him. She leaned over until she was right by his ear. "Hey, Draco," she whispered throatily.
He jumped about ten feet off the ground. He spun around to where voice had come from. "Who's there?" he demanded.
Ginny sniggered slightly at his reaction. She then took off the invisibility cloak. She smiled and said, "It's only me."
"Bloody hell, Ginny. You scared me half to death. Where'd you get that thing anyway?" he asked.
"It's not mine, I stole it from Harry," she admitted.
Draco raised one eyebrow. "Little Ginny Weasley, stealing something, I must say that I'm quite impressed. I never thought you had it in you," he said.
"I'm not 'little Ginny Weasley' anymore," she snapped.
"So I noticed," Draco replied, staring pointedly at her chest.
Now it was Ginny's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You like what you see, Malfoy?" she asked rhetorically. He so obviously liked what he saw. Ginny started to move slowly toward him. The closer she got, the more visibly nervous Draco seemed to get.
Ginny smirked to herself. This was going to be too easy. Then, suddenly, a thought struck her. What if one of the other girls had done the same thing she was doing now. She instantly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Being so close to Draco Malfoy was making her stomach flip and all she wanted to do was ravish him on the spot.
Right now, Draco was pushed up against the wall he had been leaning on. Her lips were a mere millimeter from his. She was teasing him, and it was driving him nuts. Before Ginny could realize what was happening, Draco's lips were on hers. After the initial shock wore off, she eagerly responded by crushing her mouth against his and moving her arms from her sides to run through his perfect hair. He moved his hands to around her waist and slid his tongue over her bottom lip, pleading for entrance. She quickly opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to enter.
Time was going by, but Ginny didn't know how much. All she knew was that she never ever wanted it to end. She felt Draco's hands on the bare skin of her back. It was like a jolt of electricity going up her spine. It also jolted her back to reality. If they didn't stop soon, they'd never stop, and Ginny knew she would regret it.
She mustered up all of her self-control and pulled her lips away from his. When she looked at him, he looked surprised. "I'm sorry. It's just if I hadn't stopped, I never would have, and then I would have regretted it," she explained.
"I understand. We did kinda get carried away. You want to go out sometime? Like on a real date?" he asked.
"Sure," Ginny replied with a smile.
"Next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. Want to go with me?" Draco asked.
"Alright." She glanced at her watch. Almost one o'clock. "I gotta go, see you tomorrow."
He nodded and watched her leave.

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ginny woke up feeling wonderful. Next week, she was going on a date with Draco, she had won the game, and she wasn't sure, but thought she might be falling in love. She smiled to herself at the thought.
She got dressed and headed to the Great Hall. Just as she was about to enter, someone called her name. Ginny turned around and was standing face to face with Draco. "Hey. What's up?" she asked.
"I was wondering, want to sit with me?" he offered.
"Sure, but on one condition," Ginny replied.
"What's that?" Draco asked curiously.
"You sit with me at lunch," she said with a smile.
"Are you insane? Do you want me dead?" he exclaimed, horrified.
"Oh come on, it won't be that bad. We don't even have to sit with my friends," she coaxed.
"Alright, but sit with me at dinner," he said.
"How about we just switch off each meal. Deal?" she suggested cheerfully.
"Deal," Draco agreed, and they walked into the Great Hall together.
They sat with their backs turned to the Gryffindor table, but Ginny knew her brother was glaring at them. She also knew her roommates had probably told her that she was gone until one in the morning. Now she arrived in the Great Hall with his worst enemy. He was not happy with her, she could tell.
"I'll be right back. I've got to go call off my brother," Ginny whispered to Draco.
He nodded, and she got up to go talk to her brother. "Hey Ron," she greeted cheerfully.
"What the bloody hell are you doing with Malfoy?!" he demanded angrily.
"I don't know, maybe eating breakfast like everyone else," Ginny retorted.
"But why with Malfoy?" Ron persisted.
"Because I happen to like him," Ginny said.
"But why? He's a slimy git. He's insulted us for years. Why would you like him?" Ron asked.
"First of all, he's never really been mean to my face and second of all, he's not as bad as you think he is," Ginny replied calmly. Ron just looked at her, shaking his head mournfully. "Besides," Ginny added as an after thought. "He's a total hottie."
Ron then adopted a look of total disgust. "I really didn't need to know that," he said in revulsion.
Ginny just smirked at him and was getting ready to get back to Draco. She turned around to leave, but Ron stopped her, "You realize that when you smirk like that, you look just like him. You've already been spending too much time with him. Stop it!"
Ginny paid no heed to his request, and kept smirking. She then went back to the Slytherin table. She sat down next to Draco and turned to kiss him on the cheek. At the last second, Draco turned his head, and their lips met in a sweet kiss. It only lasted a few second, but it was a blissful few seconds. At that moment, as they pulled away, Ginny realized that she was in love with Draco Malfoy. The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. She must have shown some surprise on her face because Draco asked her what was wrong.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Ginny replied with a cheerful smile.
Draco gave her an odd look, but returned her smile. Ginny couldn't help but notice how much better he looked when he smiled. It was such a contrast to his usual nasty sneer or smirk. She liked it and made it her duty to make him smile more often. She must have looked like she was far away because Draco cut into her thoughts saying, "Knut for your thoughts."
"I was just thinking how nice you look when you smile, and how lucky I am that you're my boyfriend," Ginny answered with a smile.
"Am I your boyfriend?" Draco asked coolly.
"Well, I just assumed, but, you know, if you don't want me to be your girlfriend then-" Ginny began.
Draco cut her off, saying, "Of course I want you to be my girlfriend. I just didn't know if you wanted to be."
"I do want to," Ginny informed him. "Well, now that we have that all sorted out, are you going to kiss me or not?"
Draco didn't need much more prompting than that. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the Great Hall. Once they were out of the way of everyone's prying eyes, he pushed her up against a wall and kissed her, hard. She responded with just as much enthusiasm. Draco ran his tongue over her bottom lip, trying to make them part. Ginny moaned as he slid his tongue into her mouth. She pressed her body closer to his. Not that that was really possibly, they were so close already. She wanted, no needed, to feel his skin against hers. She began to fumble with the clasp of his robes, and they soon dropped to the floor. She was about to start her work on his shirt buttons, but a voice from the right of them stopped her. "MALFOY!" it was Ron, and he was thoroughly ticked. "Get your hands off of my sister!"
Draco and Ginny sprang apart guiltily, causing Ginny to smack her head into the wall she was pushed against. "Sorry, Gin. Are you okay?" Draco asked in concern.
Ginny nodded in reply. "I'm fine, and besides, it's not your fault," she said.
"Ginny. What are you doing?" Ron roared.
"I don't know Ron, maybe, ah, kissing my boyfriend," Ginny retorted.
"He's your boyfriend?" Ron yelled in surprise. "Why would you want to be his girlfriend?"
"I like him, Ron, and you can't stop me from dating him," Ginny reminded him. "Now, I'll talk about this later.
With that, Ginny grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him back towards the Great Hall. Ron shot Draco one last dirty look and then walked away. "You handled that well," Draco commented as they sat down.
"Yeah, well, I've had sixteen years of practice," Ginny replied. As she said this, Draco seemed to go into a daze. He looked like he was hundreds of miles away. "Draco," she called, trying to break him out of his reverie.
"I just realized something," he said suddenly. "Meet me by the lake at lunchtime."
"Alright, what are you doing?" she asked.
"You'll see," he yelled over his shoulder and then he was gone.
Ginny was about to go back to the Common Room, when Cheyenne came and sat down next to her. "Hey, what's up?" she asked Ginny.
"Nothing much," Ginny replied.
"Do you know where Draco went? I want to talk to him," Cheyenne inquired, looking ready to flirt.
"Stay away from him," Ginny growled.
"Why should I?" Cheyenne challenged.
"He's my boyfriend now, so stay away from him," Ginny replied, moving threateningly towards Cheyenne, her hand clasped on her wand.
"He's your boyfriend?" the Slytherin repeated in surprise.
"Yes," Ginny answered smugly. "Now, please stop the game, I won."
"Have you told Draco yet?" Cheyenne asked.
"No, and I don't intend to," Ginny shot back. Then realization dawned. They usually told the boy about the game after they were done. That was the whole point, to break their heart. "Please don't tell him, please."
"If you forfeit your prize, then we don't have to tell him," Cheyenne offered with a smile.
"Fine, whatever, just please don't tell him," Ginny consented.
"I won't, and I'll tell the other girls not to either," Cheyenne informed her. Then she was gone.
Ginny stood up and went back to her Common Room.

*~*~*~*

At lunchtime, Ginny headed down to the lake. When she arrived there, Draco was sitting on the ground, a picnic basket next to him, with his back towards her. He was looking over the lake and looking deep in thought. The giant squid surfaced lazily every once in awhile. Ginny walked up to where Draco was sitting and sat next to him.
"Hey," she said quietly.
"Hi," he replied, somewhat sadly.
She knew something was bothering him, but she had no idea what. "What's wrong?" Ginny asked in concern.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Draco demanded quietly.
"Tell you what?" Ginny asked, feigning innocence, but she had a pretty good idea what he was talking about.
"You know what I mean, Ginny," Draco replied.
"I was going to tell you, really I was," Ginny defended, tears springing to her eyes.
"When?" Draco asked coldly.
"I was going to tell you after we kissed, but it was late so I had to leave. Then, I was going to tell you today, but I couldn't. I was too afraid to tell because I thought that you'd dump me, and now you're going to dump me anyway. You weren't supposed to find out. Please, don't d me, I think I'm in love with you," Ginny ranted and then burst into tears.
Draco just stared at her wide-eyed. Then, he moved towards Ginny and put his arms around her. She put her face into his chest and just cried. "I'm not going to dump you. I just wanted to know why you didn't tell me," Draco murmured softly, stroking her hair lightly.
Ginny slowly stopped crying and then looked at him. "You're not going to dump me?" she asked in amazement.
"No, I'm not," Draco replied with a smile. "I'm going to keep you around for awhile."
Ginny smiled back at him. "Now, this isn't why I wanted you here," he began slowly. "The reason I wanted you here was to tell you something. Ginny, I love you too, I have for awhile now."
Ginny's face broke into the widest smile possible. Then, she leaned in and kissed him. They were still at the lake when dinner came around, picnic basket, along with everything else, forgotten. No one ever knew where they were.

THE END