You Again

You Again:

Chapter 6: The Weasley Temper

In this case, everybody paid.

Whilst Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley continued to punch, kick, gnaw, whack, bash and generally cause extreme pain for one another, Ginny was pulling herself up from the floor, muttering incoherently under her breath. If either of them had peered closely at the flaming red, fuming young woman, they would have seen an eternal fiery hell in her eyes. However, it was probably best that they didn't, as it most probably would have resulted in suicide. As it was, they were throwing each other about the house and, Ginny noticed seething, they had absolutely no regard for the furniture.

She also noticed that Draco's wand was still sitting in the living room and Ron hadn't even got his out. Apparently it was far more satisfying to feel your fist connect with someone's bone. However, this was not the point. The point was that there was an insane fight taking place before her and she had a duty to stop it, if only for the sake of her hall decorations which were thoroughly mangled.

Before Ron could block the next punch, a delicate freckled hand grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the wall with a large thump. He was about to make another run at Malfoy, but when the dull ache of his back connecting with the wall finally reached his brain, he made the wise decision to stay put. Ginny turned and shot a painfully sharp glare at Ron, silently telling him 'you'd better not try anything or I'll castrate* you with a blunt nail file.' The glint in her eye confirmed that she was not lying. He took a deep breath, unclenched his fists and nodded reluctantly, grateful that his testicles would survive this one. Ginny stood in the middle of the two like the wall in the play at the end of A Midsummer Nights Dream, only far less romantic. She then spoke quickly, before either of them could swing a punch. Both Ron and Draco immediately started speaking at once, gibber out excuses like school children about to get a serious telling-off.

Ginny raised her hands,

"LISTEN!"

They fell silent, and she continued, her voice sharp and formal,

"Ron, you idiot. I'm sorry but there's no such boyfriend. That was merely a cover to stop you finding out that Draco is living with me. Yes, living here - permanently. Before you scream your head off - he hasn't done anything to me; it's fine. I didn't want to hurt your feelings because you looked so happy when I told you I'd found someone, so I just went along with it. I'm sorry for leading you on. Forgive me?"

She said this last bit so fiercely all Ron could do was nod and clench and unclench his fists to stop himself beating the daylights and nightlights and out of Malfoy.

"Draco, why did you join in? Why couldn't you have just pushed him off and ran? Now my brother has a bleeding nose and it's all your fault."

At this point Draco made a motion to protest but Ginny held her hand up so he merely pointed to his crotch, wincing.

"Yes, ok Ron was a Bumhead, but so were you. I am sorry for sneezing, it was meant to be a diversion for Ron whilst I tried to think of a fake name. Forgive me?"

Draco also nodded numbly. Ginny then took a deep breath and asked calmly,

"Draco, where is Shadow?"

"He's hiding in the living room I think."

"Go and hug him, he's probably on the verge of a heart attack. Plus, I want you to go away whilst I sort things out. Go."

Draco wordlessly obeyed.

"And just where is he sleeping?" Ron asked after Malfoy had left.

"The cat?"

"No. Don't play dumb - you know what I'm talking about."

"Maybe I am dumb."

"Maybe you're not."

"But maybe I am."

"But you're not."

"Oh, but I am."

Ron curled his hands into gnarled little claws and growled, "JUST ANSWER THE BLOODY QUESTION!"

"Merlin, calm down Ron. You need a glass of water..."

"Ginny..."

"Ok, ok! He sleeps on the sofa. But don't think I'm happy about your complete and total lack of trust in me."

"Just so long as it's not with you."

"Ron, you think I'd sleep with him? I'm not about to submit to his womanizing 'charms'."

Although you wouldn't mind would you? Ginny mentally slapped her head angrily; her thoughts were gross.

Ron noticed her look of disgust, but didn't comment. A wise man had once said, 'if you want to live, leave it'. He thought about this for a moment, before coming to the conclusion that it had sounded a lot more impressive in the pub at the time.

"I'm sorry, I know. So really, you're still single?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Right. You did seem truly happy though - ever thought about being an actress?"

"No."

"And you were acting, right?"

"YES!"

"All right! - Don't have a fit!"

They looked at the floor for a minute, unsure of what to say or do. Draco came strolling back in, petrified cat lying stiffly in his arms. He looked at the two awkward figures, staring anywhere but at each other, and then turned and strolled back into the living room to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer (his secret muggle obsession that he'd rather die than confess). Neither seemed to notice.

"Right. Well I'd better be going then."

"Um, yeah."

Ron kissed her on the cheek and then hugged her tightly,

"Bye then Gin. Speak to you soon!"

"Bye! Love you!"

"Love you too."

"Please don't tell everyone about Draco."

Ron hesitated, frowning slightly, but then he smiled.

"Sure. Whatever you want, Gin. Bye!" and with that he walked down the steps of her porch and out into the almost empty street. Ginny waved him off gratefully, until he turned the corner at the end of the road.

*****

A couple of streets on, Ron stopped. Ginny and his worst enemy? GINNY and his WORST ENEMY?!! His face turned bright red, causing passers by to glance worriedly at him wondering if he was about to spontaneously combust. He paused, sighed, shrugged his shoulders then let out the loudest, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he could muster, causing a street full of people to wince collectively. He ran the rest of the way home, muttering incoherently about 'bastards', 'Malfoys' and various hexes he was going to use.

*****

Sighing, Ginny shut the door and turned to see Draco raising his eyebrows accusingly at her.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm sorry, I forgot about the whole 'sneeze when you want me to run' thing. I really am sorry..."

Draco sighed heavily but shrugged his shoulders and walked off to get back to Buffy. He checked to make sure that Ginny didn't follow, since if this ever got out his manliness would be under severe questioning. He would have gotten up and shut the door to make sure she couldn't hear the Theme Tune, only the sofa seemed to have swallowed him whole, and getting up would require a lot of heaving and grunting and general effort. So he gave into the soft springs of the sofa and surrounded himself with pillows; Shadow snuggled comfortably on his lap, trying desperately to forget the disturbing scene that had happened between Draco and the redhead man that his cat instincts decided he didn't like (this being mainly because Ron had tried to eliminate the man who fed him on a daily basis and provided a comfortable lap). It was hopeless, only an animal-therapist or a healthy 'Obliviate' spell could save him now. After purring briefly, Shadow weighed up the options and decided that sleep was the best thing he could do.

Ginny opened the door to see Draco and Shadow curled up together on the sofa, looking utterly gorgeous. She paused, considering whether she had meant the cat or the man, and hurriedly assured herself that she was talking about Shadow.

It took her a moment to ponder her next move. Sighing, she sat down next to Draco and lifted his arm, placing it over her shoulders before Ginny snuggled down with them. She idly stroked the sleek, black fur of Shadow, his purring calming her, allowing her, for the first time, to think about what had just happened.

Ron knew.

She gazed up at Draco who seemed deeply engrossed in the American TV programme he was watching. He didn't seem to have noticed that she was there, despite the fact that she was practically sitting on him. Sad, she thought, shaking her head - the effects Sarah-Michelle Gellar can have on a man.

"Draco, do you think he'll tell?"

Draco jumped about a foot in the air and turned to look at this person who had suddenly appeared beside him; a faint blush creeping up his face as he fumbled for his wand, flicked it at the television set, turning it off.

He gestured to the blank screen,

"I was just browsing... I wasn't actually watching it, you know," he laughed tightly. Thankfully, Ginny appeared to be too engrossed in her own life to notice.

"I mean, he's a Weasley, he'll give up and blurt it out to someone eventually, right?" a Cheshire-cat smile spread across her face as she thought of something. "And I'd hate to be around when my brothers find out that you tricked me into this whole thing... it won't be pretty. Not at all," she said, shaking her head mournfully for effect.

Just as she had hoped, Draco sat up so fast that Shadow went flying off his lap in a random direction (judging by the stunned yowl, it was in the general direction of the book case), a look of dread in his eyes.

"How would they find out?" he asked slowly. "Who would tell them?"

Ginny shrugged innocently,

"We-e-e-ell, I am a Weasley, too. We are very bad at keeping secrets. But then, I'm sure that I'd remember to keep it a lot better if I didn't have to see all of those women you bring back strolling through the house. A half naked woman can cause all sorts of words to slip out at the worst of times."

"Ok, fine - you won't see them anymore. But what the hell is so wrong with having a couple of ladies in here every now and again?" Draco was extremely reluctant to agree, and if he was to give up his favourite hobby, he at least wanted a good reason.

"I told you..."

"Yeah, Ginny, and I'm really an evil chinchilla sent by my evil chinchilla grandfather to kill all redheads, because they give him a nervous twitch."

"Really? That's very-"

"No. Now cut the crap and tell me,"

Ginny's evil glinting smile fell from her face, like an abseiling cheetah**, "They make me feel fat and ugly."

At this, Draco laughed causing Ginny to jab him painfully in the shoulder,

"It's true! How would you feel if I brought a heap of gorgeous men, strutting around looking like I'd turned my Hoover onto a catwalk***?"

"I'd feel great, because I would take one look at their heavily oiled bodies and know that I was ten times sexier than them."

"Shut up."

*****

Ron burst through the door to his comfortable London home, wheezing like an old man. He made an attempt to explain to Hermione; who, by the way, was looking vaguely concerned, but eventually gave up and bent over, leaning against the wall. His wife sighed, and went back to whatever she was doing before he made his dramatic entrance.

"Herm...?" he turned and his eyes locked with Hermione's. She had her hand on her stomach and was reading The Complete Handbook of Pregnancy.

Without lifting her head she replied absently, "Mmm?"

"I have something to tell you. But I shouldn't be telling you."

Her head instantly shot up, the book fell forgotten onto the coffee table, "Then why are you telling me, Ron?"

"So you don't want me to tell you?"

"I never said that. What is it?" as much as she hated going against her morals, sometimes she couldn't resist. This was one of those times.

"Ginny has a room mate."

Her warm face lit up with delight, a thick and untamable strand of hair falling from behind her ears. "That's wonderful! Is he male? Is he cute? Is he rich? Is he a wizard? Is he-"

"He's Draco Malfoy!" Ron blurted out, and then held his breathe waiting for her to start yelling her protests.

Sure enough, Hermione rose up in her chair,

"How the hell did that happen?" she shrieked, horrified with the image of Draco being in the same city as her, let alone her sister-in-laws home.

"I don't know...but promise not to tell anyone I told you. Especially not Ginny," Ron's eyes were full of warning, and much as she wanted to run and tell the world, Hermione couldn't help but comply.

Sighing heavily, she shrugged, "Not my business, I guess. Are they together, though? I mean, if he looks anything like he did when he left Hogwarts then...wow!"

Ron frowned, "What do you mean, 'wow'?"

Hermione leant back on the sofa and smiled to herself. "Oh, nothing."

"I thought you hated Malfoy?"

"Oh, I do. I loathe him as much as you do, if not more...it's just...it's just...those eyes...so deep. Those strong, muscly Quidditch legs. And that bu - "

"Hermione! I get the picture. That's disgusting..."

She laughed and then added, "Oh, but you are still the best man any woman can get...even if you don't have such great legs," she leant in to kiss him, but blew a raspberry on his face, instead. "I just hope our baby won't get your legs, huh?" Hermione laughed again breaking away from Ron's scowling face.

*****

Ginny was just getting ready for bed when Draco burst into the room, a bedraggled looking Shadow in his arms. Ginny stood frozen, before realizing that she was standing there in her underwear. She sheepishly grabbed her dressing gown.

"Nice; matching black silk. My favourite colour," Draco noted, merely for the enjoyment of watching Ginny's blush deepen.

"Why are you here?" she asked, staring fiercely at a blob of dust on the carpet. Was it wool, or cat hair?

Draco's eyes grew wide again, as he remembered the fact that he was supposed to be panicking.

"I have a date with Kate...Katherine...Kylie...whatever, and she's allergic to cats. What do I do with Shad?"

Ginny pursed her lips and took Shadow off of him. "I thought you weren't going to bring any women back?"

"Ah...no I believe it was 'you will not see them'. And you won't. So long as you don't go in the living room," he smiled cockily at his own genius. Ginny whacked him around the ear and then proceeded to the bathroom. Arsehole.

Half an hour later, Draco Malfoy sat at the dining room table, picking at an unidentifiable stain. His date hadn't shown up...this...this woman had had the audacity to stand him up! He picked up a knife and stabbed the table. It was rather half-hearted, considering the fact that he'd been stood up for the first time in his life. He was confused. He should have been fuming, angry and hurt, but instead he felt a sort of relief. He didn't want some tart; he didn't want a one-night-stand with a lady whose name he couldn't even remember. He knew exactly whom he wanted, and he couldn't have her.

Draco refused to think about her, so he steered his mind determinedly in a new direction. Bunnies, he pondered, absently, desperate to distract himself from that damn redhead, what curious creatures, with those odd little snowball tails and twitchy noses. Silent, too...always just nibbling away at a carrot or something. Actually, I'm sure I heard that they really preferred apples and the whole carrot thing was just a myth. Hmm...wonder where that came from then...

Yes, he could easily avoid unwanted thoughts, nothing to it, really.

The Unwanted Thought sat opposite him, staring tiredly at her game of Wizard's Chess. Ginny's thoughts kept travelling in unwanted directions also. Directions that involved Draco, warm hugs and tender butterfly kisses. Obviously, she had read one too many Trills & Swoon trashy Romance novels - they always got the difficult, brooding man and turned him into a sweet and kind father with little cute kiddies running at their feet. Yes, she had definitely been reading too many.

But she could see it now...

"Drakey, hon! Timothy's just knocked the Christmas tree over!" exclaimed a tired, but warm looking woman with untamed fiery hair.

A tall, handsome blonde swooped the small child into his muscular arms, and ruffled his hair lovingly.

"Now, little tyke, what do you say?" his tone was mocking and his eyes sparkled.

"Sowwy..." mumbled Timothy, his face buried guiltily in his father's jumper.

Draco Malfoy lightly placed the little boy back onto the carpet, and sat down with his wife by the crackling fire.

"Oh, Gin...you truly are the most beautiful woman ever to walk this earth. How did I ever manage to be this lucky, eh?"

Ginny giggled, as he trailed soft kisses down her neck...

Ginny shook her head, pulling herself from the fluffy daydream. Was that what she wanted? A sweet gentleman? If so, then what the hell was she doing chasing after Draco? Surely her school sweetheart, Harry, would be far better suited to the job.

But, she admitted resignedly, she didn't want Harry anymore...an odd feeling jolted her very core. I want Draco.

Draco pulled himself up, sick of avoiding the Unwanted Thought, and moved silently behind her hunched figure, staring down at her red hair, using every muscle he had to stop himself from stroking it. She tensed feeling his presence, but continued her pointless game. Silence hung thickly in the air, until he decided that there was absolutely nothing to lose (hell, it wasn't like he wanted to live anyway! Let her chuck him out, let Lucius find him - who gives a damn), and that he couldn't spend his life thinking of bunnies to distract himself,

"Ginny..."

She turned to see the face of Draco - his eyes were closed, and a crooked smile was stretched lazily across his face

"Mmm?" she breathed it more than spoke, accidentally knocking over her King. Oh well, she thought, game over.

"Look at me a minute."

Nervously, she turned fully in her chair so that she was now facing his pale form, wondering what he was on about, but knowing for sure what she wanted him to be on about. "Like this?"

"Yes. Like that."

He studied her face carefully a moment, deep in thought. After a minute or so, he finally shrugged his shoulders, and leant in, the distance between his snowy white, sculpted face, and her own warm, milky, freckled one closing in at an alarmingly rapid rate.

It was at this moment that Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she began choking - violently.

Bent over the chair, she coughed and coughed, hoping her lungs didn't come soaring out and hit Draco in the face. Chess pieces went flying everywhere as she leant on the table for support, and spit went flying everywhere. Yep, this would be a typical Ginny moment, she thought bitterly.

"Ginny! Are you ok?" relief and disappointment was evident in Draco's voice. He began slapping her on the back, and, eventually the choking ceased. Ginny looked up at him, tears still streaming down her pink tinted cheeks, and smiled,

"Sort of ruined it, didn't I?"

"Not at all. It's not quite so romantic, but how's this?"

Draco smirked for old times sake, cupped her face just like they did in the Trills and Swoon novels and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Her eyes widened, but Ginny didn't hesitate in returning the favour, their two bodies locked together, her back pressing against the hard wood table. Perhaps there was no tomorrow - but right now, neither of them particularly cared.