The Claiming

Chapter Cover Art by Akiko Meigetsu

Chapter Two - The Price

Ginny sat on the couch and watched silently feeling a mixture of disbelief and mild concern as her brother Ron paced back and forth across the living room at the Burrow, ranting and gesticulating and turning an alarming shade of red. Ginny's mum sat in her rocker in the corner, knitting a light-weight sweater for Ginny to take to France with her. Her occasional glances at her youngest son when he shouted particularly loudly or made especially alarming sputtering sounds told Ginny that her mother shared her concern.

The other members of the family had all wisely realised they had pressing business the moment they reached the house and left quickly by Floo powder. The twins couldn't resist making a few well-chosen comments before they disappeared, however. When everyone had gotten home and she had admitted that she was, in fact, dating Draco Malfoy, Fred and George had, unforgivably (albeit predictably), laughed.

"Fraternising with the enemy, are you, sis?" chortled Fred. "I'd never have thought our own ickle Ginnikins was femme fatale spy material..."

"Do let us know what it's like to kiss pure evil, won't you, Gin?" added George, sputtering with laughter. "I mean, I've snogged some dodgy girls, but this really takes the cake."

They had laughed so hard as they got into the fireplace, that their destination was garbled almost beyond recognition. Ginny had sincerely hoped they ended up popping out of a fireplace in Siberia.

Ron's tirade had been going on for some time now and Ginny's mind returned to the present as she wondered if he would have permanent health effects. It seemed likely.

At first, she had felt sorry for her closest brother. After all, his blood pressure was rising of her accord; all she had to do was explain--on second thought...maybe not. In his current state, hearing "but I'm only snogging him to make Harry jealous" would probably not make him feel significantly better about the situation. But the longer she listened to him carry on about "no common sense" and "Malfoys are absolute rubbish, you know that!" and "I should have stopped you - I should have been there" and "how could you do this to the family?" she was beginning to really lose patience with him. I'm almost sixteen years old - I'm not a little girl who needs my big brother to choose my playmates for me. And if he spews one more trite cliché of brotherly concern at me, I'm going to kick him - or spew at him - I don't know which would be more satisfying.

"I'm almost sixteen! I don't need you to choose my playmates for me, Ron! And - " she began, but Ron cut her off.

"Oh! So you've decided to join the conversation, have you? What can you possibly have to say in your defense? And...and since when is Malfoy your playmate? Dear Merlin, if I thought for one second you'd been paymates - oh, God, I'm going to be sick..."

Molly Weasley tutted soothingly from the corner of the room. "Ron, dear, I do think you should calm down. Ginny is obviously old enough to choose her own, well, friends, and while we might not have chosen the Malfoy boy for her, it's ultimately not our choice..."

Ginny would have been grateful for this speech if she hadn't heard the implied ending to that thought: 'and hopefully, she'll snap out of it soon.' She was thoroughly sick and tired of everyone ignoring her completely, unless it was to try and control her life.

"'We might not have chosen the Malfoy boy?'" Ron sputtered angrily. "That's putting it a bit mildly, mum - I'd sooner choose the giant squid at Hogwarts for her! What can she possibly see in that, that -"

"Oh, honestly, Ron!" Ginny exploded as she leapt to her feet. "You've never even tried to talk to him rationally or get to know him. For all you know, he could have a really great personality. He could rescue kittens from trees and plant flowers and give meals to orphans and write sonnets and concertos!"

"Well, does he?" Ron looked like he was torn between wanting to rage and wanting to laugh. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Does he what?"

"Rescue kittens from trees and plant flowers and give meals to orphans and write sonnets and concertos and other drivel?"

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Ron, how would I know? It was just an example!" Ginny was shouting now, too, her fists clenched.

"Well, you don't appear to know him very well yourself then. Just give me one reason."

"One reason for what?" Ginny asked stubbornly. She was being intentionally obtuse, but it felt good to finally assert herself. To be independent and to have her family recognize that she was calling her own shots, whether they liked it or not.

"Don't play stupid, Ginny. Give me one reason that git Malfoy is worth your time. Give me one positive attribute that slime has. Please don't tell me you're just dating him to make Harry jealous." Ron looked like a monumentally horrible thought was occurring to him. "You aren't just dating him to make Harry jealous?" he asked, sounding like he was afraid to hear the answer.

"Of course not!" Ginny replied hotly. "He happens to have a number of good qualities. He's a very smart dresser, and he has lovely blond hair, and...and...he's got a great, er, sense of humour! That's what! Draco Malfoy makes me laugh!" she concluded triumphantly. And it was even true, she reflected, so much the better.

"Sense of humour," Ron repeated slowly. "Oh, sure, I can see that, if your taste in humour runs towards the satanic. 'I almost got Hagrid's hippogriff killed! Wasn't that a riot?' or how about 'I dressed up as a dementor to try and make Harry fall off his broomstick and die! What a lark!' and let's not forget 'I got Harry and the twins banned from Quidditch!' Hilarious! Uproarious! You sure know funny, Gin."

"Ooooooooh!" Ginny gasped angrily. "I know he hasn't always been a forerunner for Nicest Boy at Hogwarts, but I like him, and I'm dating him, and you can just suck it up!" Ginny spun around and ran out of the room and up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door for good measure before she threw herself down on her bed, buried her head in her pillow, and began to giggle hysterically.

It hadn't gone well. No, she couldn't claim that the confrontation had been a success. But round one was over, and she felt slightly euphoric. The look on Ron's face when she had said Draco made her laugh - it was just priceless. Of course, he did make her laugh, and it would be tough having Ron mad at her all the time. But he would just have to get over it, wouldn't he? Because she was too far committed to this silly thing to back down now.

***

Ginny sat down at the breakfast table and eyed its other occupant cautiously. She had purposely come down to breakfast late, hoping to avoid the bulk of her family, and it had almost worked. Almost.

Ron sat at the head of the table, steadily working his way through his third plate of buttered scones, eggs, and ham. In the week since their row, Ron's hostility towards his sister had subsided gradually and they could now hold a civil conversation - so long as Malfoy's name wasn't mentioned - but their relationship retained a level of strain that hadn't been there before.

Ginny sighed. "Morning, Ron," she said hesitantly.

Ron looked up with a mouthful of eggs. "Mrnfffmf," he said before swallowing. He reapplied himself to his plate, pushing his food around as he loaded his fork with another shovelful. "Erm, say Gin, did you have any plans for today? I mean, if you're busy, that's fine, but I, ah, well, maybe we could have a go at Quidditch practice or summat if you wanted... " he punctuated the end of this speech by filling his mouth with the laden fork.

"Oh," said Ginny in surprise. "Uh, yeah, sure. I don't really have any pla-" she was distracted by the arrival of a gorgeous, pretentiously well-groomed tawny owl soaring in through the open kitchen door. It landed on the table next to her and gracefully held out its leg with a condescending glare. She quickly removed the envelope it was carrying and looked at the address. It was directed to "Miss Virginia Weasley" in bright green ink with silver sparkles in a precise, elegant hand. Ginny groaned inwardly, knowing exactly from whom it came, and wondering if there was any chance whatsoever that Ron had not noticed the arrival of the large bird sitting on their breakfast table.

"Could you kindly ask that great snob of a bird to sod off? He's putting me off my breakfast," Ron said plaintively.

Well, that tears it then, Ginny thought philosophically. Might as well open it now. She tore the envelope open savagely, taking a certain dark pleasure in seeing the lovely penmanship ripped askew. The envelope contained only a small slip of parchment conveying the message, "Will arrive at 11 am precisely. Expect you will be ready. D.M." Ginny groaned in earnest. It was one minute to eleven now. Of all the insufferable presumption...

"So what's the great git got to say?" Ron mumbled through a mouthful of ham. "Love sonnets?" He swallowed and smirked.

Guess he knows who sent it, then, Ginny thought bitterly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "No. He says he's coming to see me -- well, now, actually."

"And I always perform that which I promise," came the familiar lazy drawl from the doorway. He had impeccable timing, she had to give him that. He stood leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, as though standing in the door of the Weasleys' kitchen was something he did every day. His smirk faltered as he looked around the shabby kitchen with its rickety table over a worn hand-woven rug. He began to sneer and opened his mouth to comment when he took in Ginny's tumbled curls, threadbare flannel pyjamas, forest green robe, and fuzzy unicorn slippers. Malfoy stood up straight, donning an expression of mingled shock and disapproval. "Why aren't you ready, Ginny?" he demanded sulkily. "I specifically said I would be arriving at 11 am. A Malfoy does not expect to be kept waiting, you know."

"And your sodding great show-off of an owl only arrived two minutes ago," Ginny retorted hotly. "I swear you planned it that way on purpose. Well, suit yourself. If you can't have the courtesy to give a lady proper notice of your arrival, you can just sit in the living room while I get ready." And she flounced up the stairs, leaving Malfoy and her brother staring at each other in consternation.

I can't believe his nerve! Coming here without any advance notice and expecting me to be ready! Who does he think he is? Although, on reflection, Ginny thought as she started peeling off her pyjamas in her bedroom, it's quite funny thinking about Malfoy and Ron downstairs, trying to figure out how to make polite conversation. I don't know which of them is the most uncomfortable. Some perverse instinct in her made her take her time about getting ready to go to - actually, she had no idea where they were going. Malfoy hadn't exactly been forthcoming with details.

Well, it was a beautiful day out, she knew that much. Better dress for nice weather. She pulled on a pair of short faded blue shorts with only the smallest of holes on the bum. Then she tied the strings of her favourite white bikini top (covered with sprigged scarlet pimpernels - her nod to her Muggle literary fantasies) around her neck and back and topped it with a loose, sunny yellow tank top. She combed her curls, and as a final gesture of banality, added an enormous straw sunhat. She hoped it would embarrass Malfoy exceedingly to be seen with her in public. "Serve him right," she muttered to herself. She glanced quickly in the mirror ("Don't you look lovely, dear," it said encouragingly) then traipsed happily down the stairs, wondering what the boys had gotten up to in her absence.

***

They walked in silence down a small country lane leading to a pretty and secluded lake. They hadn't spoken since leaving the Burrow. Ginny replayed their exit in her mind, trying to decipher the meaning of Malfoy's current silence.

When she had come downstairs, Ron had been sitting on the edge of their mother's rocking chair, looking extremely uncomfortable, while Malfoy lounged insolently on the couch. She noticed, however, that he had carefully positioned himself to give an appearance of casual ease while letting as little of his body as possible actually touch the couch. When she had entered the room, he had stood up, fastidiously dusted the back of his robes, lifted a large picnic basket from the floor, snapped "About bloody time" at Ginny, and stalked out the door without looking back. She wasn't entirely sure why she had followed him.

Ginny glanced sidelong at Malfoy as she walked, wondering if he was angry. To her surprise, he was swinging the picnic basket, whistling softly, and looking entirely unconcerned. "This isn't much of a date, Malfoy," she began peevishly, "why bother coming to get me at all if you're not even going to talk to me?"

Malfoy looked at her blandly. "Oh, did you want to talk?"

Ginny sighed in exasperation. "Honestly, Malfoy, you don't know the first thing about how to treat a lady. No wonder you've never had a girlfriend." She noticed with some satisfaction that he flinched, though his face was otherwise impassive. "You don't give me any notice that you're coming, you act like a barbarian thug in my own house - I'm surprised you didn't drag me out by my hair - you don't even have the courtesy to tell me what we're doing on this alleged date, and now you stomp along without even speaking to me! I have half a mind to dump you."

Malfoy's eyes widened innocently. "I don't stomp," he said placidly.

Ginny stamped her foot. "Can you at least tell me what we're doing today? I gave up Quidditch practice with Ron for this."

"I should have thought it was obvious," stated Malfoy, indicating the picnic basket in his hand.

"So we're going on a picnic."

Malfoy nodded.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "All right that sounds nice enough, but honestly, Malfoy, well - a girl likes to be asked sometimes! Just because this relationship is a charade doesn't mean we have to act like it for Merlin's sake!"

They arrived at the edge of a beautiful little lake. The water was a brilliant sapphire blue and sparkled invitingly under the warm summer sun. There was a large, leafy tree at the southern side of the lake, providing comforting shade. Ginny gasped happily and smiled at Malfoy. "Right. This is beautiful. You're forgiven. Can we declare a truce and enjoy the day?"

Malfoy looked at Ginny uncomprehendingly. "I needed forgiveness?"

"Oooooooh! Men! You bloody well did need - " Ginny noticed the small half-smile tugging at the corner of Malfoy's mouth and her tirade died on her lips. "You've been laughing at me all along, haven't you? How long have you been egging me on?" she demanded.

Malfoy grinned maliciously. "The whole time. You're really quite adorable when you're angry."

Ginny growled menacingly.

Malfoy laughed ruefully. "But don't leave me alone with your brother again. He tried to hex me!"

"He did not! He would never!" Ginny protested, but then she saw that Malfoy was laughing at her again.

"Well, maybe he didn't. But if a glare could have done it, he would have. Where did he learn to glare like that?"

Ginny grinned. "Never mind that. Ron is dealing with this in his own way. Now what do you want to do this afternoon?"

Draco yawned and stretched, causing his shirt to ride up and expose a lightly muscled and beautifully flat tummy. "Lie under the shade of that tree while you fan me with palm fronds, rub oils on my back, and do a strip tease before performing raunchy sexual favours for me...oh, and feed me lots of chocolates." He grinned at Ginny. "Oh, and incorporating all of these at the same time would be an added bonus," he added musingly.

Ginny glared at him.

"No? Well, then I guess we could just go sit under the tree and eat lunch while we stare at the bloody lake," he amended glumly.

"That's better," Ginny smiled and led the way to the shade provided by the large tree.

It really was a beautiful day and a beautiful picnic, Ginny reflected happily as she munched on the offerings from the picnic basket. She was sure Malfoy's mum hadn't packed this lunch for them; she didn't seem like the maternal picnic-packing sort. More likely it was legions of house-elf slaves, but it was a very nice selection nonetheless. She had already eaten a slice of meat pie, several pieces of ripe sweet fruit, and was starting in on a helping of trifle. She had discarded her top in order to sunbathe and scooted out from under the protective shade of the tree.

"Are you entirely mad?" Malfoy inquired.

"Mmmmmm...Ron seems to think so - why?" Ginny asked dreamily. The sun was putting her into a very lazy and contented mood.

"Well, you'd have to be mad or stupid to sit in the sun like that. Don't you know you'll get a terrible burn? Your skin is just as pale as mine is and you've got the added worry of increasing your already shocking number of freckles."

Ginny giggled good-naturedly. "It's just a little spell I made up. I could share it with you, but I'm sure you don't want beauty tips from a Weasley," she teased.

"Certainly not," he replied huffily.

Ginny smiled. "All right then, go ahead and sit in the shade and miss out on all the lovely sun." Malfoy lay back on his large beach towel and closed his eyes. Moments later he surreptitiously cracked one eye open just enough to peek at her through his long lashes. She had pulled out her wand and was rubbing a small dab of green goo just on the tip of it. She pointed the wand at her right leg and murmured, "aloe tectum". She then repeated the process on the other exposed regions of her person.

When she twisted around to do her back, Malfoy sat up and leaned toward her, straining to see what the goo was she was using. Suddenly, she turned around and found herself inches from his surprised countenance.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" she asked suspiciously.

Draco caught his breath as a slow blush overtook his smooth, pale skin. "Oh, I was, er, you know..."

"Malfoy! Were you trying to look in my bikini?" Ginny demanded.

"Yes!"

Strange, Ginny thought, he sounds relieved.

"That's exactly what I was trying to do," he continued rather too hastily. Ginny smiled inwardly at his attempt to sound offhanded and randy. "You know, nice breasts, sunny day, stretching into odd positions - how could I resist?" he asked, grinning lasciviously at her.

Ginny cast her eyes down modestly. It was very fetching, although she was unaware of it. Then she looked up at Malfoy and met his eyes directly before returning her attention to her skin. "It's just a simple protection spell, you know," she said offhandedly. "I put a little Aloe vera on the tip of my wand - that's a plant that helps with sunburn - and the spell is 'aloe tectum'. It doesn't work indefinitely, but for a couple hours in the sun, it works wonders. I'm even able to tan a little bit."

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy asked petulantly. "Are you still on about that stupid spell? I told you I'm not interested. I am, however, interested in - " He began to lean forward, but Ginny pushed him away.

"What makes you think I want to fool around with you, Malfoy?" she demanded.

Malfoy looked genuinely surprised. "Of course you do. I'm a Malfoy. We're irresistible. Anyway, that kiss at the train station was lousy. You need the practice."

"I wasn't trying to kiss you at the train station," protested Ginny weakly. He really was very attractive.

"Well, next time, see that you do. It's worth the effort. Besides, there's a price to be paid for using a Malfoy," and with that he grinned wickedly as he leaned in again to kiss her and this time she didn't resist. He gently pushed her down onto the beach towel they shared under the warm, caressing summer sun.

***

It really wasn't that bad, Ginny reflected later. Malfoy was asleep on the beach towel, having first moved it into the shade, and Ginny rose silently without waking him and, retying her bikini strings, dove into the cool lake to swim and relax. He actually is a fabulous kisser. She would have no trouble at all pretending to like that part. As for the rest - she wasn't sure what she had expected.

At first she had been nervous and unsure, not knowing what she ought to do, or what she ought to let him do. But then she had realized that under all his bravado, he was as nervous as she was and that had relaxed her a little. After he had kissed her again, he began to explore her body with his hands, caressing her all over. She hadn't like it at first and had tensed up, but she soon discovered that if she closed her eyes, her tactile senses were greatly increased and it was very intense and tingly and...nice. When he had reached around her back, untied her bikini top, and began to caress her breasts it sent electric shivers coursing through her and she had decided that this, too, she could learn to enjoy.

His hands were soft, gentle, and smooth - almost effeminate, just like everything else about him. Maybe that's why she had never felt properly threatened by him as everyone else seemed to be. He was so soft and pretty. And he wasn't really mean, only spoiled and petty and - and scared. It surprised her to realize it, but it was so obvious, why didn't anyone else see it? He wanted so badly to be powerful and respected - all the malice was just a defense mechanism. She could respect that. She wanted to be noticed and valued, too, and sometimes it made her want to lash out against the world.

Ginny stopped swimming mid-stroke and flipped over onto her back, floating. She was stunned. Was she actually empathising with Draco Malfoy? Another stunning thought hit her. Did she actually enjoy spending time with him? She rather thought she did. He was infuriating, but he was also funny, and she rather enjoyed their sniping banter. And more to the point, he saw her. Not only as a silly girl he could manipulate, or a pretty body he could possess, he really saw her. On some level, he understood her; he saw through her defenses to her insecurities, and accepted them without comment. She liked that. For the first time in her life, she had someone wholly her own to talk to who could see how she felt and didn't define her by her family. She had a feeling that in Malfoy's eyes, she barely counted as a Weasley. Surely he wouldn't lower himself to go out with her if he thought of her as a Weasley. It was a comforting thought.

***

Coming Soon

Chapter Three - Getting Noticed: In which Draco is accused of being gay, Ginny eavesdrops, and Harry gets mad (but for all the wrong reasons).

A/N: All art within the chapter is by Willow.