Flipside

Chapter Ten

Ginny and Draco parted that night just outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. Standing in the shadows in case some unsuspecting students might find them; Ginny gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll send the costume back with an owl tomorrow," she whispered in his ear.

Draco gave her a sly smile. "And what would I do with a gold and scarlet dress? It's yours - keep it."

Ginny's eyes were as wide as saucers. "You can't be serious; the jewelry too?"

"Of course," he said laughing at her.

Her eyes positively lit up in happiness, and she pulled him down to her, giving him a proper kiss before turning around and disappearing into the Gryffindor common room.

When she entered the room, she was greeted with a hushed silence. She froze like a deer caught in headlights. Ginny couldn't take much more drama in one day.

To her relief, Hermione bustled over to her, and pulled Ginny over to some chairs by the fireplace. Facing away from the rest of the room, she cowered down into a chair, burrowing as deep into it as possible so that no one else could see her.

As she heard the rest of the House go back to their conversations, Ginny started to laugh. It was infectious, and soon she couldn't stop laughing even when tears were streaming down her face.

Hermione rushed over to her side, perching on the arm of the chair. "Ginny, what's wrong?"

"Oh my God Hermione, what have I gotten myself into?" Ginny said laughing through her tears. "I'm going to be an outcast from the House. All I wanted is to be inconspicuous, but now that might as well be impossible."

"Gin, just don't think about it tonight. Go to bed, and deal with all of this tomorrow." Hermione pushed a vial into her hands, "Here's some Dreamless Sleep. Just swallow the whole thing, and you should be good until tomorrow morning."

Ginny looked at her friend thankfully. "What would I do without you 'Mione?" she said with a smile.

Hauling herself up and out of the chair, Ginny tiredly walked up the stairs to her dormitory. Luckily no one noticed her departure, and if they did they said nothing of it. She slipped off her dress and the expensive jewels, placing them carefully in her trunk before locking it up. Ginny then threw herself on her bed and unplugged the vial Hermione had given to her. Upon swallowing the contents she collapsed into a peaceful slumber.

***

Ginny woke the next morning in serene bliss. Lying on her bed, she simply closed her eyes and basked in the few rays of sunshine that were streaming in through the crack in the bed hangings.

She lay peacefully for a few seconds, until she remembered the events of the night before. Ginny smiled at the thought of the time she had shared in the courtyard with Draco, but she couldn't help but cringe at the memories of the reception she faced when she returned to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny really had no desire to stay in her room for the day, but the thought of facing her fellow housemates chilled her to the bones. With a sigh, she heaved her book bag onto the bed and began to do some of her long overdue homework.

***

She didn't know how much time had passed, but it must have been at least late afternoon when she was finally interrupted from her work.

"Ginny! Get out of your room!" Hermione yelled from the other side of Ginny's locked door. "Come study outside with me! It's gorgeous out."

"Go away Hermione," Ginny called back. "I am perfectly fine where I am, thank you very much."

Even from the other side of the door Ginny could tell the anger and frustration in Hermione's voice as she replied, "Ginny! You can't just isolate yourself from the school again. Why must you insist on pushing us all away?!"

"Dear Merlin, 'Mione," Ginny replied, exasperated, "You don't understand, just go away."

Ginny cringed as she heard Hermione's muffled scream of frustration from the other side. Bracing herself for her friend's outburst, she tried to calmly look out the window and block out Hermione's voice.

As she was staring off out the window, a brown barn owl swooped into the room. Pushing away Hermione's voice that was still yelling through the door, Ginny went and unfastened the letter pinned to the owl's foot. Quickly she scanned it.

--Weasley

Off hiding again are we? Well we can't have that. Meet me on the seventh floor by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Now!

--D. Malfoy

Ginny immediately jumped to her feet. Suppressing a chuckle at the fact that Hermione was still carrying on outside her door, Ginny hastily threw on her robes. Pulling open the door she found a thoroughly miffed Hermione standing on the other side.

She gave the other Head Girl a huge smile. "You know what 'Mione?" Ginny said. "I think I will go out! Ta ta!"

Leaving a slightly disgruntled and confused girl behind her, Ginny took off full tilt down the hall and darted through the common room, ignoring and avoiding the stares and voices of the other students, before disappearing off through the portrait hole.

It took Ginny only a matter of minutes to make her way up to the seventh floor corridor where Draco was waiting for her. Slowing to a stop just before the last turn, Ginny caught her breath, peeking around to see if he was already present. Her heart started beating faster when she spied him leaning casually against the wall by the tapestry, the usual smirk upon his face. Smiling to herself, Ginny walked around the corner and over to where he stood.

"What were you going to do if I didn't show?" Ginny said smugly.

Draco just looked at her and laughed. "Like you wouldn't show," he replied.

Ginny swatted him lightly on the arm. "I have a mind of my own you know!" she said.

"Really?" he replied mockingly.

She just gave him her priceless, don't-mess-with-me glare. Laughing, Draco grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the hall into the room on the other side.

Ginny stopped him just inside the door. "How do you know about this room?" she questioned.

"The Room of Requirement?" he replied. "Honestly, did you think you and your little gang were the only ones who knew it was here?"

Ginny thought about this for a while; she remembered her fourth year, and how baffled the other members of the DA had been when they discovered this room.

"Well actually, yes," she admitted.

Again he laughed at her. "Well your secret is out; my father knew all about this room, and he passed along said piece of knowledge to me."

Ginny merely shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well," she sighed. "As far as I know, no one uses this room much anymore."

Then, Draco stepped away, allowing her to see what was in the room for the first time. The room was surprisingly a lot smaller than the last time Ginny had been there. All that was there was a small table, set exquisitely with a romantic candlelight dinner for the two of them. Over in the far left corner, a violin lay resting against the wall. As Draco snapped his fingers, the small silver gloved hands that had been present at the Ball the night before appeared, and began playing a soft melody on the instrument.

"Oh Draco," Ginny breathed, "this is amazing, and I'm starved - I haven't eaten all day!"

"I know," he said smugly, "I figured you wouldn't feel up to coming to meals, and I know you didn't go down to the kitchens. Crabbe and Goyle spent the entire day stuffing themselves in the kitchens, and they said no one else had been there. I do have my sources, you know." He winked at her.

"This is so thoughtful of you!" she exclaimed.

Ginny made a move towards the table, but before she could plop down into the chair, Draco swept over and suavely pulled it out for her. She couldn't help but giggle at the gesture, thinking about the comment she made to him just over a week ago about Malfoys not being polite. Then Draco settled himself down across from her.

"Errr - Draco?" she asked. "Aren't you forgetting something?" She gestured to the empty plates and goblets sitting in front of them.

"I overlook nothing, my dear," he said haughtily, and snapped his fingers again. Immediately their plates were heaped with a pile of Fettuccini Alfredo, and the goblets filled with pumpkin juice.

"Oh this is amazing," Ginny gasped as the food appeared. "Think of the epileptic fit Hermione would have, knowing the extra work we forced on the house elves." Ginny stifled a laugh as Draco rolled his eyes at the mention of Hermione and her S.P.E.W campaign.

As the two dug into their platefuls of pasta, they continued on with idle banter. It wasn't until Ginny's plate was almost completely empty that she finally decided to bring up the issue they had been skirting all evening.

Putting down her fork, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. She looked seriously at Draco, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Draco," she ventured. "I understand my reasons for wanting to keep any relationship between us quiet, but I don't understand why you do not seem to care if it isn't. Is there not as much - if not more - at stake for you as there is for me?"

"Ginny, I -" he started.

But she wasn't finished, "I mean, what did you tell your father about the Ball? I'm sure someone would have told him who you went with. And -"

Draco put his hand up to cover her mouth. "Enough questions," he laughed. "Just let me put in my two cents worth OK?" He slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth, raising his eyebrows at her to see if she was about to start blabbering again. But Ginny just silently nodded her head, and let him continue.

"Alright," he started, "First off, I want this kept secret as well as you. I was relieved when you bit the bullet and said it first; I was only teasing about the rest. Secondly, my father did find out - and was furious, I might add - but I told him it was simply a creative way for me and you to piss off Potter. And my father, while not completely happy with it, was satisfied." Draco's features softened as he gazed at Ginny. "Enough of this," he proclaimed and stood up, grasping Ginny's hand and bringing her to her feet with him. "Dance with me, we hardly danced at all last night."

With a silly grin plastered on her face, Ginny allowed herself to be pulled close to him as he swept her across the room. Ginny was awestruck by how well Draco knew how to dance, how to move to the beat and be able to gently guide her as if it was simply effortless. And she was amazed at the fact that she could stay with him, for even though she had a good sense of rhythm, dancing was not something Ginny indulged in often.

After awhile Ginny realized that they hadn't been moving for the past few minutes. Instead they stayed rooted to the same spot, swaying slowly with the music. His arms were wrapped snuggly around her waist and she laid her head on his chest, her eyes closed. She let the music fill her ears and inhaled deeply, taking in as much of his musky scent as she could.

She could feel his hands softly caressing her lower back as they continued to sway, and she tried to suppress a moan as he gently massaged her muscles between his fingers. Her lips pressed softly against his neck as she sighed. She felt his cheek against the top of her head, and then felt him placing gentle kisses across her forehead. Slowly she lifted her head up and stared into the murky depths of his eyes, and he brought a hand up, brushing it across her lips.

Then his lips were on hers - devouring her in sudden passion. She could hear a low growl emanating from the back of his throat as his tongue probed against her lips, pushing inside her hungry mouth to explore. Without realizing it, they carefully maneuvered over towards the one wall, and he pinned her to it as he moved his lips down across her jaw line, placing carefully planned kisses and nibbles along her neck.

Next she felt his hands slowly slide down her back, just barely reaching her waist as she shivered at the sensation. He toyed playfully with the hemline of her shirt, before slipping his hands underneath the fabric and began to slowly explore the supple skin of her back. Inching his hands higher, Ginny gasped as his fingers moved around her side and brushed against the sensitive underside of her breasts.

The shock of his touch brought her down from the cloud he had put her on. Untangling her hands from where they had wrapped themselves up in his hair, she quickly placed her palms on his forcefully chest and pushed him away.

"I can't do this Draco," Ginny gasped. "Not now." She looked up at him, pleading silently with her eyes. Slowly, Draco nodded and stepped away, picking up their discarded robes.

They both quietly made their way to the door, Ginny afraid to say anything more. As they stepped out into the hall, she impulsively grabbed Draco, kissing him hungrily as if it would be last time they saw each other. Then she turned, and sauntered down the hall and made her way to the tower.