You Again

You Again

Chapter 4: Draco Tells All

Saturday arrived soon enough, and Ginny was practically beaming with obvious joy. Her and Jon had been out again and were getting on brilliantly, and...it was the weekend and at the weekend a certain redhead doesn't have to go to work. It had taken her ages to convince Jon that she and Draco were in NO way involved, but he was still particularly icy in Draco's presence (and vice-versa).

Ginny hummed a little tune her mum used to sing to her when she was little as she walked into the living room (still in her pajamas at 11:00am? It must be the weekend!)And picked up a Witch Weekly* magazine from the coffee table. She lazily pushed Draco to one side of the sofa and sat down, right in the middle - humming her little tune all the while.

"Whaa...?" Draco sleepily rubbed his eyes and pulled himself into a sitting position. "Ginny? Can't you read those crap gossip magazines somewhere else?" He glared darkly at the disgustingly chirpy redhead sitting on his bed/sofa.

"No," she replied simply, smirking mischievously into a page of her magazine. Kelsey Kaber** laughed in her photo, and waved to Ginny.

"Fine," he stomped out the room, hugging his pillow to his chest (though, technically it was Ginny's), his blonde hair sticking up all over the place, muttering groggily under his breath.

Ginny made her way out shortly after he left, (she had only really gone in there to annoy him - it was too much fun to resist) and rushed off to her room to get dressed. She emerged about 15 minutes later; muttering a hair-fixing charm, before tucking her wand back safely into the pocket of her gray woolen coat and hurrying to the door.

"I'm just going over to Jon's house, I'll be back at around...later. BYE!" Ginny called before closing the front door behind her. She had left a note on the kitchen table in case Draco hadn't heard her.

He emerged about half an hour later, wearing a towel round his waist and his newly bought green fluffy dinosaur slippers. He trudged over to the table, bit into an apple and read the note that sat lopsided in the fruit bowl:

Draco,

I'm just off to Jon's house for about a couple of hours (although it will quite possibly be longer) so no need to worry - not that you would, of course.

Don't wreck the house while I'm gone, and if you are planning on bringing some poor stupid woman back, make sure she's gone before I get back. And I don't want to find any red pairs of knickers lying around on my couch (or any other colour for that matter)!

Have a good Saturday!

Love,

Ginny

He sighed grumpily, picking up his wand from the kitchen table and performing the simple Wingardium Leviosar on the note and dropping it neatly in the bin (yes, he really is that lazy); he didn't like that Jon guy at all. There was something dodgy about him - he could feel it. Before Draco could swing into full brooding mode, the kettle boiled and began pouring coffee into a mug of its own accord, so he went over to make sure that it made it Black (no milk, no sugar - just pure, dark coffee!). Draco had a feeling that today was going to be yet another boring day.

Ginny came home at around 11pm looking tired and annoyed.

"Have fun did we?" Draco asked mockingly, eyeing her extremely angry expression. She reached down as she passed him and clouted him sharply round the head. She smiled, satisfied, as he gave a cry of pain (our own sadness seems to bring out a peculiar need for pain in others).

"You know what? I was thinking..." Draco looked up at Ginny whose eyebrow was arched in disbelief.

"Wow, Draco. It's a miracle - I didn't know even know Malfoys had brains," she looked down to where the blonde man was seated, now glaring.

"Yes Ginny, I've been thinking. Get over it. Anyway, you were right in what you said earlier this week - you have a right to know why I'm here. Sit down," Draco wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but he wanted to hear why she was so upset, and figured that it should work if they tried a "I tell mine, you tell yours" thing. Plus, he needed to get this off his chest, and wasn't listening practically her job?

Ginny sat opposite waiting for the reason why her second worst enemy (her first worst enemy being that annoying skin-cat from down the hall. It always meowed at 4:00 am! What kind of evil demon does that?!) Was living with in her apartment with her.

"Ginny, when I was 19 I... Deserted the Dark Side. You know, Ditched the Death Eaters. Erm...sorry I've run out of alliterations***. So, much like Severus I decided that since I had grown sick of the ringing in my ears from the constant screams of muggles and muggle-borns, I figured I should use my position as the son of the most trusted Death Eater to my advantage. Dumbledore, sensing my change of heart, allowed me to help him and the Ministry by becoming a spy. It took many tests and trials and even a Veritaserum potion before I gained the Ministry's full trust, and even now I believe they are a bit sceptical. However, even Voldemort and his groupies aren't that stupid, and eventually...they found me out," Draco took a breath, and turned to grin sheepishly at an open-mouthed Ginny.

"So, naturally my father kicked me out in the blink of an eye and I'm currently in hiding from just about everyone I ever hung out with over the past however many years. And this is my hideout. I thought they'd never suspect me to come here, or even for you to let me stay, but today I got this message by owl," he pushed a scrap of black and silver paper across the table to Ginny. It read:

You do not lie in safety. You are vulnerable as a lamb even as you read this letter. We could slaughter you or those whom you hold most dear before you could open your mouth to cry for help. Don't get too comfortable, lamb, because when we deem it necessary, we'll be there - and shortly after, you will not.

"So basically, I'm screwed. There's only one person for them to kill, and that's me. You see, the thing is, I don't have any friends or people I hold dear... or at least, I didn't used to," the last part was barely a whisper, but Ginny who had always had good hearing, heard it and looked carefully up into those mesmerizing pools of grey. "Ginny, listen...I don't want to be the one responsible for your death. I'm not going to give a soppy speech or anything - no need to panic, but if I am suddenly gone because they've found me...then... you know, don't come looking for me, because if you're going do that you might as well try to po-go**** up Mt. Everest. Basically, it's stupid. So...er..." at this point Draco's cheeks turned a milky pink and he leaned forward as if to hug Ginny, but quickly changed his mind and moulded it into a brief handshake.

Ginny swallowed the tears that were threatening to fall, and smiled slightly.

"Now. Your turn: why the mood?" Draco asked.

"Oh, well...I don't really want to tell you," Ginny blushed and looked at a stain on the kitchen floor, her mind briefly wondering if it was honey or golden syrup.

"Come on! I just practically placed my heart on the table and left you free to examine it!"

"O.k., well...me and Jon had a fight. But I don't care - he's just a bumhead, I should have seen it."

"Bumhead? Interesting word you've got there..." then Draco realised what it was she had said, and grinned with glee, "HA! I knew he was a jerk, what'd he do?"

"You don't have to be so bloody smug about it! It's none of your goddamn business," She should have stopped there, she knew she should have stopped there, but somehow the words just kept on falling out of her mouth, "God, what's the big deal? I mean we'd only been dating a week. A week! I barely even know the guy! I know you can sleep with women after an hour, but I'm not like that!!!" She finally gained control of her mouth and forced it shut, realising that she might as well have announced with a huge megaphone, "I'm an uptight freak who is afraid of sex! Did everybody hear that? What about you in the back?!".

Draco laughed and spoke softly,

"I'm just a big manipulator. Don't go by my standards, you'll be branded a slut, trust me. But you're right; what is the big deal? He's just a jerk who needs to find himself a whore if that's all he's interested in. That just isn't how relationships work."

Ginny blushed - who would've thought she'd be talking about her sex life with Draco Malfoy? She really needed to get herself a girly friend - where's Hermione when you need her?

Draco noticed this and a little thought appeared in his mind.

"Ginny, no need to get so flustered, if you don't want to talk about it with me, I don't mind. But be honest...would you have slept with him if he'd have asked you in, say...another month?"

Ginny thought for a moment before shaking her head, no. "I don't think I loved him, and that's what matters to me,"

Draco hid his smirk: he knew this speech - it was the talk of optimistic virgins. He was far too cynical to believe in love himself, but he remembered telling Pansy how much he'd loved her the first time they'd ever had sex. A load of crap, but it had worked like a dream. He felt a flash of guilt as he saw Ginny's round, sincere chocolate eyes. But still, 22 years old and no sex! You had to hand it to her - she was pretty strong.

"Ok Gin, I'm off to bed. Er...'night,"

Ginny sighed in exhaustion, "yeah, night Draco,"

He watched her retreating back for a moment, wondering what it would be like to stroke it, feel the curves of her hips as he kissed her.

Bad thoughts, Draco. She's out of range - even for you. Unlike Pansy and all the other sluts, she really is going to wait for love, and that's something Malfoys are incapable of.

He blew a stray strand of hair out his eyes and trudged into the living room.