Chaos

Chaos

Chapter 4

"I know, I could poison myself, and you could find the cure."

"No, no, way too risky. I could save one of them in Care of Magical Creatures."

"Not a chance, you'd get yourself killed...er, sooner."

Draco cut in with a chuckle. "Aw, Gin, I didn't know you cared," he grinned as she reached over and smacked him lightly on the arm.

"You could endear them to Snape."

Draco laughed so hard that he gasped for air. "I couldn't even pull that off. Come on, there has to be some way to get those gits to like me. We just have to try harder."

"Draco, if I try any harder my own brother is going to hex me! Did you know that Harry is forming a brute squad to lynch you? Stop laughing, damn it! I'm serious!" Ginny couldn't help but giggle with him. She knew she shouldn't encourage him, but right now the idea of Harry being able to find enough people that disliked Draco to form a brute squad was really rather hilarious.

"How do you do it, Draco? How can you stand being everything that everyone wants you to be? I know it's hard work. It's hard work for me, and I don't have the disadvantage of five years of hatred." Ginny had been wondering how he could handle the pressure for quite some time now. She had to ask; her curiosity was driving her nuts.

"Clearly I'm not doing my job well enough," Draco drawled as he moved closer to her. "Potter and your brother are still convinced that I am pure evil, and I don't have you in my bed yet. Hell, I don't even have you in my arms yet. Care to change that?" He grinned at her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Draco, we've been over this. We're better off as friends; you know it as well as I do." Ginny sighed at the sadness in his eyes. She didn't want to hurt him with her continual rejections, but she hated the idea of the alternative. Why couldn't he understand that she was not a normal witch? She never would be normal again, and Merlin, how it hurt her to know that.

"I don't understand why you won't try. I don't claim to love you as anything more than a friend, you know. I'm not asking for a relationship here because that would be unfair. But I can't help but want you to be part of me in every way. We know each other, Ginny, and if I thought this was about how hurt you'll be when I die I would understand. But I don't think that's what this is. You're holding something back from me, and that hurts me more than your refusals," Draco murmured softly. He was staring into her eyes, and Ginny found that she couldn't look away.

"You love me? Really? Draco, I love you too, and you're right. This has nothing to do with the future." Draco nodded at her encouragingly, and Ginny closed her eyes. "I...I can't tell you anything right now. It's too hard, and it isn't the right time. Please try and understand, and trust that I will tell you when the time is right? I will tell you, Draco, I promise you that. Trust me, for now, please?"

"All right, you want time, and I'm willing to give it to you. Just don't make me wait too long." Draco kissed her neck, and winked at her. He couldn't deny her anything, and he knew it. Ginny had somehow gotten under his skin and into his soul. She was a part of him, whether he liked it or not. If he was honest with himself, he would admit that he didn't mind in the least. He knew that he wasn't in love with her, but he loved her. He often wondered if this was friendship or something more.

"Let's get back to work," Ginny said a bit too brightly.

"Let's not. We've been at this for hours, Gin," Draco smirked. "I'm exhausted, and you look more tired than I feel. I'll talk to Blaise and Pansy about it this week, and we'll see what, if anything, we come up with next week. Same time, same place?"

"Yeah, I have a Potions test to study for, anyway," Ginny said with a yawn as they walked to the door.

"Why didn't you tell me, love? You know that Potions is my specialty. It's already ten o'clock, and if you have the test I think you have it could take you all night," Draco gently scolded her.

"It's no big deal, really. I have most of my studying done, and we really are running out of time with Harry and Ron. For one thing, I want Harry off both of our backs soon! I feel like I have a freaking stalker, and I know he's actually worse with you."

"You have me there. We'll come up with something, I promise. G'night, Ginny," he whispered, bending down to kiss her. It was just a peck on the lips, but it sent shivers racing down her spine. Ginny liked how affectionate he was with her. His affection, much like Dean's, didn't feel wrong or dirty. Draco was one of the few people_maybe the only person_with whom Ginny felt like herself. It was nice to let her mask go completely. It was nice to have a best friend again.

Ginny couldn't help but wish that she could tell Hermione, Luna, and Dean what was going on. She knew that they would all come up with good ideas to help her out. It also kind of irked her that Draco could tell his whole house, and they would understand, but she couldn't tell two members of her own house for fear that they would betray her or hate her. Considering that she was supposed to belong to the "better" house, it really was a sad state of affairs. Ginny shrugged to herself and couldn't help but giggle as she remembered their little confrontation over houses, specifically his.

The morning after her talk with Blaise, Ginny had cornered Draco and railed at him for telling his housemates without telling her that he was doing it. He apologised quite sincerely a few times. She forgave him that night; well, actually she forgave him immediately, but there was no reason she needed to tell him that. She had also asked him how Blaise had known that she was in the Room of Requirements that night, but Draco didn't have an answer for her. He did assure her that no one else from his house would be cornering her. Ginny reached her room without any delays, and made herself comfortable for a long night of Potions work.

** ** **

Draco smiled to himself as he went on his rounds that night. Ginny loved him, he had a friend, and she was beginning to trust him. Their plans were working a lot better than he had anticipated, and all-in-all life was pretty good for him. At midnight he went back to the Slytherin common room and found Blaise waiting up for him.

"Hello, Blaise, what are you doing up so late?"

"I need to talk to you, Draco. It's rather urgent," Blaise said. Draco sat in his favourite armchair by the fire and raised an eyebrow. "Your father is rather, um, upset, shall we say, and he seems to be in a bit of a hurry to...end things." Blaise looked at Draco warily, hoping the other boy would get his meaning.

"My father finally got told that I won't be becoming a Death Eater, and now he wants me dead as soon as possible, right?" Draco smirked.

"Right. Your mother will be sending you a packet of sweets. I wouldn't suggest eating them, or allowing anyone else to, unless you want them dead, of course," Blaise said with a small chuckle.

"Thank you, Blaise. I really appreciate the warning. As long as you're here, I need to talk to you about something." Blaise nodded for Draco to continue. "That prat Potter and the Weasel aren't falling in line. Ginny and I have been racking our brains trying to figure out how to get the gits to befriend me, but we haven't come up with anything that is plausible. I was wondering if you had any ideas."

Blaise paced by the hearth as he thought. An idea was coming to him, but he would definitely need some help to pull it off. It was possible though, and it was good. "How much do you trust me Draco?" he asked.

"I trust you with my life, you know that. Why?"

"I have an idea, but it may take a while to get it to work. If I think it's possible I'll let you know, all right?"

"Fair enough, Blaise." Draco stood up and stretched. "I'm off to bed then. G'nite, mate."

"Night Draco, remember what I said," Blaise said sternly. Draco nodded and trudged off to his room.

Blaise sat down in the chair that Draco just abandoned and got to work planning everything he would need to pull this off. He would have felt badly about lying to Draco, but he was a Slytherin, and these things weren't supposed to bother him. Blaise went up to bed once he had everything worked out in his head. He was going to have a busy day tomorrow.

** ** **

Hermione came down to breakfast looking absolutely wretched the next morning. Ginny was sure that she didn't look that much better, but Hermione actually looked sick. Her complexion had a green tint to it, and she looked like she was contemplating running away from the food in the Great Hall. Ginny smiled sympathetically at her friend, and pulled out a chair for her.

"C'mon Mione, sit down and have some toast and marmalade. It really will make you feel better," Ginny coaxed. Hermione sighed and did as her friend bade her to.

"Oy, Hermione what's she talking about? What's wrong?" Everyone that heard Harry looked like they wanted to hit him. Really, how dense could he be? Harry looked rather confused, of course. What amazed Ginny was that Ron did know what was wrong with Hermione.

"Uh, Harry, I think she's sick. Is it the flu, do you think, Hermione?" Ron asked. Harry turned rather red in the face when he noticed how everyone was looking at him.

"I am almost positive it is. I was hoping not to get it at all this year. I'm going to go ask Professor McGonagall if I can go see Madam Pomfrey after I get done with my...toast." Hermione looked at the dry toast with actual loathing, and Ginny and Ron tried very hard not to laugh at the expression. Hermione wandered off towards the Head Table, and Ginny went back to trying to eat her breakfast.

"Are you not feeling well either, Gin?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine, Harry. I was up late studying Potions last night, and I'm tired, that's all," Ginny murmured. She was really trying to keep her temper in check with Harry and trying not to take offense to everything that he said to her. He was asking about her health; he was just trying to be nice, really.

"You know I could help you with Potions if it's giving you so many problems," he offered. Ginny tried not to snort. He was just trying to help, she told herself.

"No, thank you Harry, if I need help in Potions I think I will go to Hermione. She seems to have a better grasp on the class than you or Ron do. Besides, I am not having trouble with Potions, I just have a test."

"Oh, okay. Well, the offer is a standing one, just in case. You might want to go see Madam Pomfrey, by the way. You really don't look too good, and I would hate for you to get sick," Harry said with a gentle smile.

That did it.

"Harry, I'm fifteen years old and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I know when to go to a Mediwitch, I know when to study, and I know when, how, and who to ask for help. And for the record never tell a woman that she doesn't 'look so good' under any circumstances. I don't care if she's bloody dying you never say that! Now, if you want to make small talk, try topics like the weather, Quidditch, or the trip to Hogsmeade. But try them on someone else, because you just ruined any chance of me having an appetite." With that Ginny got up and stormed out of the Great Hall. Harry looked after her with a bewildered expression on his face.

"What just happened there?" Harry asked Ron and Dean.

"You just tried to tell Ginny what to do and she didn't appreciate it, mate," Ron said. "She went off on Bill for that once, when she was five. I learned to just steer clear of talking about her life with her. It's easier to talk about your life, or general topics. Ginny knows that she is highly sensitive about her life; it's why she rarely talks to people about herself." Dean nodded vehemently at this.

"This has happened to you?" Harry asked Dean, looking rather shocked at the possibility.

"Oh yes, that happened a few times until I figured out how to work around it. I got hexed once. Ginny is a very private person, and we would all do best to remember that," Dean said matter-of-factly.

Harry felt very stupid for not knowing all of this about the girl that he liked so much. He had known her longer than Dean had. Why didn't he know these things? More importantly, how was he going to get Ginny to spend time with him if he wasn't allowed to talk to her about her life? How was he supposed to get to know her? Why was she making this so hard for him? Didn't she see that he was ready to allow her to be with him? He didn't understand her. She had been following him around forever, and now that he was giving her the chance to be more than his friend she was being downright mean to him at every turn. This had to stop. Playing hard-to-get was one thing, but this was ridiculous. Harry decided to talk to Ron about the situation soon. With that decided he went back to breakfast and complaining about how much Potions homework Snape had given them.

** ** **

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Great Hall, Draco was eating his breakfast with Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle. They observed Ginny's dramatic exit, and couldn't help but laugh. Draco didn't know what Potter had done to rile her temper, but he was actually quite happy for it. He loved watching Ginny when she was angry. He looked over at Blaise and saw the same appreciation in his friend's eyes. That was curious. Draco wondered if Blaise had developed feelings for Ginny. He would have to ask later.

Blaise did indeed like watching Ginny get all riled up, but he was far more interested in Granger's quiet departure from the Great Hall. Unless he missed his guess, she was going to see Pomfrey, which was fine by him. Blaise rose and excused himself from the table.

He followed Granger to the hospital wing and found a corridor off to the side to wait for her. As far as Blaise was concerned, the timing for her sudden illness couldn't have been better. She more than likely had the flu, which meant that Pomfrey would give her some vile potion or the other and tell her to skip classes and get plenty of bed-rest. Granger would ignore the suggestion, but he didn't particularly care one way or the other. All that Blaise cared about was the fact that he needed a word with one Miss Hermione Granger, and he intended to have it now.

** ** **

Back at the Great Hall, Pansy was moving closer to Draco, which, in his experience was never a good sign. She winked at him and said, "I know how much you want to go after the Weasellette, but I think you are looking for something that she won't, or can't, give you."

"Pansy, what on earth are you talking about?" Draco snarled.

"I am saying that you look rather frustrated lately, love. And I'm guessing that little Ginny isn't doing anything to help matters." She grinned, and moved even closer to him. "You know, I'm sure Goyle wouldn't mind if I helped to...relieve your frustrations."

"Pansy, go shag your boyfriend, I have other things on my mind. And it will be a cold day in hell before I go down that road again, just so you know." He smirked and she returned his smirk.

"Your loss, Draco, but you know I'm right about her. She won't be able to make you happy, not for very long at least."

"Well considering that I don't have that long, I think I'll take my chances with Ginny," Draco said, throwing in another smirk for good measure. Just then the owl post came. The two Slytherins watched the hundreds of owls fly in and find the recipients of the packages and letters they carried. Draco's mother's owl came bearing his weekly package of sweets. Draco looked from the box of deadly treats to Pansy and grinned.

"Want a sweet Pans?"

"Sure, Draco--"

"--Not in this lifetime," he said, grabbing the box away from her. She pouted at what she thought was his cruel joke. Draco disliked the girl, but he'd rather see her alive. To make the whole think look normal he laughed in her face.

With that he got up and went to find Ginny.

** ** **

Ginny had gone to her broom closet after her little altercation with Harry. She had hardly been surprised to see Dean stick his head in the door a few minutes later. She nodded for him to come in.

"You okay, Gin?" he asked, coming over to give her a hug.

"Yeah, thanks, Dean. He just makes me so mad! Was I in the wrong there? Did I bite his head off for no reason?"

"No, you were perfectly in the right, sweetheart. But the boy likes you. He wants to be the big strong man and take care of you, protect you..."

"Gag me! I don't need anyone protecting me or taking care of me. And I certainly don't need the Great Harry Potter liking me; Great Prat Harry Potter is more like it," she murmured. "Why can't he just stay out of my life like a good little boy?"

"Gin, you need to calm down. I've tried to talk to him, and so has Hermione. But he won't listen to reason. Seamus said that Harry thinks you're playing hard-to-get. He thinks you are worried about how Ron would react to the two of you being together." Dean stopped and laughed at the face she was making. It looked like someone had forced her to drink sour milk. "He is completely blind, Gin, and you're going to have to set him straight...soon! It was all I could do to keep Seamus from spreading what Harry said around."

"Thank you for that, by the way. I really appreciate everything you've been doing for me Dean; I want you to know that. You're right; I have to set Harry straight. How could he possibly think I like him?" Ginny tried not to pull another face as she thought about the ridiculous notion.

"I don't know, but you are going to have a time of convincing him otherwise. I have to head to class, and you had better do the same soon." With that Dean pecked her cheek and left the closet, leaving Ginny to ponder how she was going to convince Harry that he had a snowball's chance in hell of dating her. More importantly, how was she going to manage to do it nicely?

Ginny was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Draco come in. He could tell she had no idea that he was there and snuck up behind her. Waiting until he was mere inches away from her, Draco whispered, "Did you miss me last night?" Ginny didn't even flinch; she just smiled and turned around.

"As a matter of fact, I did," she said. "I was up all night, as you predicted, studying for this horrid test. I think I might be coming down with the flu, too. Do I look pale to you?"

Draco laughed and said, "That's like me asking you if I look pale. You always look pale, Gin; it can't exactly get worse just because you're sick. Come here." He motioned her forward, and she obeyed, letting him lean in to kiss her forehead. "Yup, you have a slight fever. Go to the hospital wing and get some Pepperup Potion before class. And try to cut back on these things, it might help," he said, taking the cigarette from her hand and stealing a drag.

Ginny chuckled and waved her hand at him. "You can have the rest of it. I'd better head to class. I'll have to stop by the hospital wing before lunch." She kissed him on the cheek, and he pulled her into a brief hug. "What was that for?" she asked.

"You looked like you needed it. Good luck, Gin, and feel better. You're not as fun to pick on when you don't feel well," he said with a wink. Her chuckles floated back behind her as she left the closet. It still amazed her how much better Draco could make her feel. Ginny trotted off to Herbology humming under her breath.

** ** **

Hermione left the hospital wing 10 minutes after she entered, carrying a slip of parchment and a few vials of potions. Madam Pomfrey told her to take the day off and drink a Pepperup Potion every eight hours. Hermione intended to stash the potions in her room and head to class. She was not about to miss a full day of classes just because of the flu. She barely paid attention to where she was going; having memorized the castle a while back, she just let her feet take her where she needed to go. She heard someone clear his throat and stopped to see who was there.

"Hullo Hermione, luv, got a minute?" Blaise grinned and pulled her into the corridor that he had been waiting in. Hermione smiled and gave him a one-armed hug.

"I would kiss you, but I don't want to get you sick. How can I help you, Blaise?"

"I need a favor from you, my dear. I won't lie; it's a really big favor."

Hermione snorted. "The last one was a really big favor. Don't tell me you need to know when Ginny will be alone again?"

Blaise laughed and said, "No, but I would like to remind you that you were paying me back at that point. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have a clue what those two were about. Now, Ginny and Draco need your two best friends to come around and be chums with Draco. He asked me to help him find a way to make that happen. I need your help to pull it off," he said.

"I don't know why Ginny won't tell me what's going on. I really am rather hurt by her silence," Hermione admitted. "If she had come to me...it's not like I would ever turn her away!"

"I think your little friend is so used to having to hide who she is that she forgot that there are some people she can trust. Tell her you know. I hate seeing what this is doing to you. In the meantime, will you help me?"

"What exactly do you have in mind, Blaise?" she asked hesitantly.

He grinned.

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