Double Standard

6: Trick of Fate

Of course, with Harry being Harry, fate still had some tricks to play on him--and Draco Malfoy, currently between girlfriends, was to be a key player in the ensuing soap opera.

Ginny was in the Three Broomsticks waiting for Harry to get off from his job at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (he wasn't an Auror yet, this job was sort of a precursor to that). There were female Aurors, Ginny knew that--some very beautiful as well as extremely competent. They were bound to interact with Harry on occasion, maybe even come on to him from time to time, if only because of his looks and fame ... not to mention people who sought out the help of the MLE.

Ginny knew she had to cut him some slack, but at the same time, couldn't let him have free rein, either, not after what he had done during the war. She also couldn't spend her time picturing Harry shagging every witch he met; she'd drive herself up a tree in no time. A cultured male voice brought her back to reality. It was surprising not to hear it with its trademark sneer, but she recognised it nonetheless.

"Weaselette, is that you?" Draco Malfoy asked as he approached her.

Ginny was also surprised to see that he even wore Muggle-type clothes--jeans, a T-shirt and hoodie with top-flight athletic shoes--when ordinarily he wouldn't have been caught dead in them. He must have mellowed considerably from when Harry and Ron had rescued him from the flaming Room of Requirement during the Battle of Hogwarts. Or he could have come to the realisation of the merits of Muggles on his own. Whatever the case, she was glad of it because it would make life a lot easier for both her and Harry.

Ginny frowned at the old derogatory nickname. "The war's over, Malfoy. Isn't it about time you called me by my name? I'm Ginny."

"If you say so ... Ginny. By the way, what are you doing here by yourself?"

"Waiting for Harry. We're having supper after he gets off work. He works in the MLE."

Draco's mouth twisted. "Can't say I'm surprised to hear that. Potter's always been the do-gooder type."

"I'd be thankful for that if I were you ... Draco. He could have just left you to the Fiendfyre, you know."

Draco held his hands up in a peacemaking gesture. "No insult intended ... this time. Just making an observation."

Looking around, Draco noticed that the pub had filled up seemingly by magic and that the only free seats were beside and across from Ginny. He was dubious as to the possibility that she would allow him to sit with her, but he didn't have a choice but to ask.

"Looks like I'm forced to ask if I can join you since I don't see any other free seats in here."

Ginny frowned. "I don't know. Harry might get the wrong idea, and it doesn't pay to get on his bad side, as you well know."

"From what I heard of him during the war, he's literally the wizarding world's equivalent of Don Juan," Draco remarked as he slid into the seat across from Ginny and ordered a firewhisky when the server came by. "I just can't understand how he could do that when he had a dish like you at home."

"He claimed he was under 'a lot of stress' and needed 'closeness' and 'release' even while claiming to love me. At that point in time, I was convinced that he no longer knew the meaning of the word! Never mind that I went through the same kind of stress and needed closeness and release just as much, but managed to stay faithful to him. He toes the line now, because he knows what I'll do if he doesn't. We had a bit of trouble when I first learned of his cheating, and I told him I wouldn't take him back unless he did some crawling--and even then, we took the Unbreakable Vow."

Draco was hard-pressed to conceal a smirk. He could just imagine how Potter had reacted to that!

"I bet he enjoyed that. How's he doing?"

"Pretty well so far--fortunately for him. We had a close call a while ago when Romilda Vane tried to get to him again by using a love potion in her perfume. But I got there before any more than snogging ensued. Harry swore to me up and down that it wasn't as it seemed, that she had been the aggressor."

Draco looked thoughtful. "She did have that reputation at Hogwarts, that's for sure."

"I ordered her off the premises and set up the wards so that they wouldn't allow her in again."

"Good for you," Draco said, taking another swig of firewhisky. "And am I correct in assuming you've severed ties with Granger because she was the one whose idea it was to have Harry shag witches during the war, and her one of them? So much for her supposedly being his 'surrogate sister'. I'm afraid that's one time when the know-it-all didn't know squat!"

"You are," Ginny confirmed. "When I got upset, she claimed I was 'over-reacting,' that it was 'not a matter of cheating, but fulfilling a basic need.' ... and that they were all supposedly 'victims of circumstances.' Huh!" Ginny scoffed. "Harry visited me several times during the war, and we had plenty of opportunities to shag, but never did more than snog and caress. I think I can guess why now." Her lips twisted bitterly. "It was because he was shagging 'Mione and four others the whole time."

"He was a bloody fool to have had the opportunity to shag you and not taken advantage of it." Draco's voice held such sincerity that Ginny had to look up at him; his eyes held every bit as much and she was warmed by it in spite of herself.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if he and I could have actually taken each other's virginity, but no, he let 'Mione talk him into it, even claiming that she and the others 'made' him do it. Yeah, right!" Ginny scoffed again before taking a swig of her own drink, having put up a Muffliato spell in order so that she and Draco wouldn't be overheard by others near them. "How the bloody hell would he have felt if I'd done that to him?"

"You wouldn't," Draco stated matter-of-factly. "Whatever your other faults, you're not that kind of person." In earlier days he would have been sure he was going soft, but now he knew he was stating a simple fact.

"Damn bloody right I wouldn't," Ginny emphatically agreed.

"Sounds like he was just making excuses to have his cake and eat it too, as the Muggles say--and pretty flimsy ones at that."

Ginny was pleased to note that Draco had mellowed and matured considerably after what Harry had done for him and his family during the Battle of Hogwarts. Certainly he wasn't fond of owing Harry a life debt, but the truth could not be denied, even by such as Draco. By this time, Draco's inhibitions had loosened enough due to the firewhisky that he reached for Ginny's hands and held them. They were warm and soft, and she smelled of flowers. He could definitely see why Potter had fallen for her. If only he could have woken up sooner ...

"Potter's one lucky bloke--and if he's smart, he'll never let you go. If he does, though, I'll be waiting to snap you up like a shot." Again, Ginny saw the truth of this in her companion's smoky blue eyes and squeezed his hands back.

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind."

Just then an angry and familiar voice cut in. "Get your bloody meathooks off my fiancée, Ferret-Boy!" Harry had barely stepped into the pub when he spotted Malfoy sitting with Ginny, their heads close together and holding hands, their eyes holding a sappy look usually reserved for bad romance novels.

Ginny looked up and smiled, releasing Draco's hands. "It's all right, Harry. Draco's only here because all the other seats were taken."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Harry almost sneered. His eyes were a blaze of green, his hand just itching for his wand.

Ginny gave her intended a hard look. "For Merlin's sake, Harry, nothing happened! Draco was merely congratulating me on our engagement."

Harry gave Malfoy a look which went right through him, but Draco didn't flinch. "Ginny's right, Potter--and after what you did to her during the war, you deserve to lose her." He looked at Ginny like she was something edible.

Harry went on. "Don't worry; I assure you I'm paying for that mistake every day. And one more look like that in her direction, Ferret, and I'll make you regret the day you were born. Remember, you still owe me a life debt. Don't make me cancel it."

"Believe me, I know. Don't worry, I'm not staying. I was just keeping Ginny company until you got here. She said you got off work late."

"Yeah, that's right, as far as that goes," Harry reluctantly conceded. "But I still don't want you anywhere near her unless absolutely necessary--and even then, I intend to be there and watch you like the proverbial hawk."

"Don't worry, I won't be ... as long as you treat her right. But if you ever abuse her in any way--" Draco broke off abruptly but Harry knew what he hadn't said.

"Just do us both a favour and stay the bloody hell away from her, period!"

Harry had enough problems getting Ginny back as it was without Malfoy adding to them. And even as much as he would have loved to warn Gin away from him, if he wasn't careful, she'd likely end up right in the Ferret's arms, if only for rebound's sake. After what he had done to her, abused her trust, cheated on her, stolen her right to claim his virginity, she technically had every right to get revenge on him and pursue someone who truly appreciated her.

Whatever his other faults, however, Harry couldn't let Ginny go. She was his heart, his soul, his other half. He had come far too close to losing her forever for him to feel comfortable allowing other blokes anywhere near her. Moreover, he loved her with every fibre of his being, even if she didn't believe it, and intended to spend the rest of his life showing her, doing everything in his power to make things up to her.

It wouldn't be anywhere near what she deserved, but it was all he could do ... all any human could do, be they wizard or Muggle. Just the same, he had every intention of keeping a discreet eye on Draco if the Ferret was anywhere around Ginny, especially after his veiled threat to take her if Harry didn't treat her right ... and Harry knew him well enough to know that he meant it. Perhaps he could help defuse any potentially explosive confrontation by inviting Draco to their wedding.

"Come on, love, sit down. Let's get something to eat." Ginny pulled on Harry's arm to get him to sit down beside her; Harry allowed himself to be pulled down and seated. The server seemed to materialise out of thin air and took their orders, returning with their charmed plates and glasses which would automatically fill with their desired food and drink upon request. They then settled down to eat, all conversation temporarily shelved.

After he had paid for their meal and they left the pub arm-in-arm, Harry apologised for his earlier outburst. "Didn't mean to cause a scene, love. I guess I'm still afraid of losing you."

"Harry, when will you realise that I would have more cause for concern than you?"

"Not any more," he declared. "And I intend to spend my life doing everything humanly possible to make it up to you." They stopped on the street and he pulled her out of the way, proceeding to snog her within an inch of her life.

"Harry ..."

"Quiet, love. We have better things to do with our lips." He moved to once again silence her with a passionate kiss, moving sensuously against her, fortunately having had the presence of mind to have thrown his Invisibility Cloak over them beforehand so they would not be seen. Otherwise they'd have been on the front page of every newspaper in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds within 24 hours.

Again, it was blissful oblivion. All Harry knew was the warm sweetness of Ginny's lips and tongue, her lovely, compact body, the floral smell of her. It was incredible that he could ever have wanted to shag anyone else when Ginny was in the world. Definitely not the smartest thing he had ever done, to put it mildly, and he would likely pay for his stupidity for the rest of his days. But now all that mattered was her nearness. He shivered deliciously when her fingers stroked the back of his neck, then ran through his shock of black hair before going down to his waist and slipping beneath his shirt to stroke the smooth skin of his bare back.

Now that they were together again, there was no need for him to ever seek anyone else out. Truly, there was no excuse for what he'd done; besides, the only person he ever wanted to know intimately, now or ever, was Ginny.