Sweet Bondage

Chapter 4: Draco Malfoy

"Malfoy," Ginny breathed fearfully.

The familiar smirk made its appearance on the blond man's face. "The Weaslette has grown up, I see," he drawled lazily, looking Ginny up and down.

Ginny could not prevent the shiver that ran down her spine. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. Swallowing convulsively, she tugged on the elbow he hadn't yet released. "I was just going, so if you could just give me back my arm, I'll remove myself from your august presence."

The only answer she received was the further tightening of his grip on her elbow. That's gonna bruise, she thought idly, now trying to pry his fingers with her free hand. She stiffened when she suddenly found her front pressed to his.

"What's the hurry, Ginevra? The night's still young," he said smoothly, running his finger across her bare shoulder, "and we haven't danced yet. Shall we?" And without waiting for her acquiescence, he dragged her back to the dance floor.

Ginny was getting frantic. She was alone and the son of her family's mortal enemy, not to mention the man of her dreams, was detaining her unnecessarily. She scanned the crowd around her, hoping to see a familiar face she could call out to for help. That was a useless endeavor since the club was so dark she could barely see two feet in front of her. She felt, more than see, Draco draw her in, wrapping his arms around her, their bodies indecently close. She kept her arms against his chest, trying to lean as far away from him as she could as he started to move them along with the slow tune. When she felt his breath near her neck, she had to take a deep breath to control her rioting pulse. This was just a dream, she thought, he's not really here, holding me in his arms. I'm still in bed at Dana's.

"How have you been, little Ginny?" he said quietly by her ear. "I heard you did quiet well in your last year at Hogwarts. Head Girl, hmmm?"

Ginny looked at him in surprise. "How did you know about that?"

Draco gave a short laugh. "Nothing about the esteemed Weasleys stay a secret, Ginny, not after the war at least. You and your little band of merry Gryffindors have become quite the precious commodity in the wizarding world." He eyed the blank look on her face. "You don't know, do you? Typical," he snorted, "you're always the last to know about the more interesting developments in wizarding society."

"What are you getting at, Malfoy," Ginny demanded, her stance rigid at his slur of her and her friends. In love or not, she was not above hexing him if he continued in this vein.

"Relax, wildcat," he said, amused at her fierce look, "I meant no offense. It's just interesting to note that the desirability of your little team has been the stuff of gossip for the past few months and yet you're innocently ignorant about it. I wonder why that is."

"Explain," Ginny said through gritted teeth, now standing perfectly still.

Draco looked her directly in the eye. "Let's just say if your father weren't such an important person at the Ministry nowadays, you would be walking around now with a different family name."

Ginny's jaw dropped in shock and her eyes widened. On another, the look might come off as extremely unattractive, but on her it looked oddly endearing, cute even. Not that the incomparable Draco Malfoy would ever say so out loud.

As if realizing she was giving a good impression of a goldfish, Ginny quickly shut her mouth and shook her head. "I don't believe you."

Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "No skin off my back if you don't; I just wonder how long your father can resist the pressure and hold the bloodhounds at bay. I hear they come in packs, you know. It's a good thing the Weasel King is almost engaged to that loony character or he'd probably be as hotly contested as you are. I don't know why," he added with a sneer.

Ginny didn't want to believe him, but in all the years she had known him, this was the first time Draco Malfoy had ever looked this honest and sincere. It comes as no shock that causing her great unrest and fear for her future would bring out the best in him.

"How do you know all this?" she asked resignedly, her tone weary.

"I have my sources," he answered simply. "I have my ways of getting what I want. Any time. All the time."

Ginny blinked at him. Once. Twice. She couldn't have possibly heard him right.

"Why would you want to know anything that's going on about me?" she asked, confused.

Draco once again started moving them to the music. "Do you really have to ask?" he said, his hands branding her with his warmth where they touched her bare back. "I find you fascinating, Ginny," he whispered, his mouth brushing her ear, making her shudder, "I always have. It irritates me to no end how a freckled little girl could get under my skin, but you did. I used to wonder if you have it everywhere, you know."

"Have what?" Ginny gulped. Merlin and Morgana, if she was dreaming this encounter, then she never wanted to wake up again.

"Freckles," he answered simply. "It used to keep me up at all hours of night, thinking about you and freckles at interesting places." One of his hands came out front, teasingly trailing a finger from the smooth column of her neck, moving agonizingly slowly down her chest. "I used to wonder if you'd mind if I explored just how far reaching they really are. Of course, then I remember how adept you are at curses and hexes and somehow, the urge to follow through loses its urgency, not by much, but enough."

Ginny could only watch in morbid fascination as he drew invisible patterns on the valley between her breasts. She knew she ought to stop this, that what he was doing was wrong on so many levels, but she couldn't. She had always been honest with herself, sometimes even brutally so; she welcomed his advances and desired even more for something she didn't know the name to. Another might blame the alcohol they'd been imbibing for the uncharacteristic way they were behaving, but Ginny only acknowledged that being halfway drunk made her inhibitions take a momentary vacation. And the inner Ginny, the side of her she had spent all her adolescent life suppressing, welcomed the respite.

"But you don't have them anymore, do you?" he whispered huskily, invading even more of her personal space, one muscular leg insinuating between hers subtly. "Now you're all peaches and cream, soft as silk, and," he dipped his head and kissed the side of her neck, "sweet as honey," he finished, his tongue laving the erratic pulse at her neck.

Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from moaning. She was shaking so much; she was in serious jeopardy of collapsing on her feet. Damn hormones!

"Malfoy," she croaked, inwardly cringing at how she sounded, "are you drunk by any chance?"

He didn't let up kissing and nipping at her neck as he grunted, "Why?"

Ginny jumped in surprise when the hand that only moments before were idly tracing patterns on her skin, suddenly was lost inside the tops of her dress, gently playing with her left breast, pinching and pulling at the engorged nipple.

"Because you've apparently forgotten that Malfoys never associate with Weasleys," she answered, unable to keep the moan from escaping her lips. "And Malfoys don't do to Weasleys what you're doing to me now," she added breathlessly.

Draco chuckled as he momentarily ceased his ministrations at her neck. "Ah, but then no Weasley has ever been as exquisitely beautiful as you, my sweet, and I, sad to say, am just a man. An excellent example of a man," he said self-importantly, "but only a man nonetheless." His gray eyes suddenly darkened. "And you're every man's dream, Ginny Weasley," he said shortly before doing what he'd been wanting to do all night.

She had dreamed of this for more than two years but never, in all her imaginings, did she think that the fantasy would pale so miserably in the face of reality. Draco's mouth was so soft, so sweet that she could not help but press on; wanting to know everything there was to know about this man through this contact. When she felt his tongue prod at the seam of her lips, she opened it obediently, welcoming the invasion and reveling in it. Her arms rose up to wrap around his neck, drawing him even closer, as her tongue tentatively met his own.

Ginny had been kissed before, of course; she had gone out with Michael Corner for almost a year during her fourth year before she let that relationship go; Michael had wanted something she was not prepared to give and shortly thereafter, she realized there was no real foundation to their relationship. Then fifth year saw her taking up with Dean Thomas, but that, too, was an ill-fated union, considering that having an irate brother in the form of one Ronald Weasley breathing down your neck does not exactly inspire romance. Quite the opposite, in fact. Then sixth year had her falling in love with this prat who had his tongue currently down her throat. She had been so horrified at that apocalyptic realization that she had tried to bury the feeling by engaging in a sort of marathon dating for the first term of her sixth year. She only succeeded in angering her brother.

Now, Ginny had to concede that she had never really known what it was like to be kissed. Where before she had always been able to retain her level headedness, now she threw common sense out the window. If she could crawl under Draco's skin and allowed to stay there, she would have done so already. He made her feel so much passion, so much desire, that she feared she could very well forget her name at the intensity of it. That his hands was also busy touching areas no other hands had ever ventured into before was not helping her any.

Finally, when oxygen became a serious issue, they parted, breathing heavily, hearts pounding deliciously. Ginny laid her cheek against his chest, enjoying the rapid beating of his heart. I made him feel like this, she thought to herself joyously.

After a few moments, Draco grasped both her hands and tilted his head to the side. "C'mon, let's get out of here," he said, dragging her slowly away from the dance floor.

Ginny followed him mindlessly, her head full of thoughts about him and what tonight meant. She wasn't too surprised when he pulled her back to him once they reached an alcove and pressed her gently against the wall. She kissed him back passionately, showing him how she felt, holding nothing back. She felt his hands at her nape moments later, releasing the clasp of her halter top and drawing the soft material down, his hands automatically finding and kneading the soft globes. Her head fell back against the wall as incredible pleasure washed over her, her arms falling down to his waist to keep him close as she arched her back, offering more of herself.

"So beautiful," he murmured, trailing kisses all over her neck and shoulders, before finally settling on his goal. Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from crying out when he took one pebbled nipple into his mouth and started suckling on it. Dear Merlin, who knew there was a connection between her nipples and that now wet spot between her legs. She squirmed, afraid for him to find out he could bring her to such heights of passion so easily. But apparently, Draco guessed her thoughts when next she felt his hands pressed intimately at her core, her knickers notwithstanding. "And so responsive," he added huskily, rubbing the core of Ginny's desire with a practiced finger.

"Please," Ginny whimpered, her head tossing from side to side, unaware of what it was she was pleading for.

"Hush; all in good time, Ginny, all in good time," he said as he continued what he was doing, enjoying the untutored expression on his lover's face. Draco had never been a patient man, but with this woman, he was more than willing to test his limits. Out of all the witches he'd been with, and yes, there were more than he cared to count; Ginny Weasley was, by far, the best of them all. He liked watching her as pleasure upon pleasure assaulted her senses, something that he has never done before nor ever cared to do.

When he finally felt his patience nearing its end, he flicked an expert finger at a particular spot and drowned out Ginny's cry with his mouth as she came, kissing her fiercely. She slumped against him tiredly, clinging to his lithe form like a drowning person desperate for salvation.

After he was sure that she had recovered sufficiently enough to be able to stand, he took out his wand and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hold on," she heard him say before she felt herself being pulled into a double apparition. She closed her eyes tightly, afraid to see if he had splinched them both. The next thing she noticed was the soft sheets at her back as a welcomed burden pressed her into it. She opened her eyes and stared in wonder at the high ceiling of the room they had landed in. Her eyes took in the muted elegance of the bedroom; there was no question about it: Draco had taken her to his bedroom and she felt a multitude of questions attacking her from all direction. She looked down at Draco, who was currently trying, and failing, to divest her of her dress, and the first question tumbled out.

"You don't have a four-poster bed." She could have smacked herself for coming off so empty headed. State the obvious, why don't you, she thought to herself angrily.

He smiled that devastating smile before giving her a response. "No, I've never really liked those. It served its purpose in Hogwarts, of course, to give one a semblance of privacy, but why would I want one here? It's not like anybody can just come in to interrupt me and my - sleep."

The deliberate pause before he said sleep made Ginny blush. Yeah right, sleep my arse.

"Now, as much as I want to discuss my choice of beds," he continued, "I'd much rather get on with taking this dress off of you, but I seem to be having no luck whatsoever. Care to help?"

Ginny smirked at him and stole her hands underneath her hips. It never occurred to her that that action might bring to his attention the fact that she was bare from the waist up, her breast on display for his delectation. His eyes gleamed as he leaned over her and proceeded to make love to her breasts again.

Ginny groaned as she finished releasing the hidden clasp at the small of her back, her hands grasping his head as he feasted on her breasts. She writhed beneath him erotically, unknowingly rubbing at the bulge in his pants and jerked in surprise when he hissed as though in pain. He straightened up again, his eyes closed as he took deep, calming breaths.

"Draco, are you all right? Do you need anything? Can I get you anything?" she asked anxiously, her elbows supporting her weight as she rose slightly in worry.

When he opened his eyes, he didn't say anything. He only tugged on her dress until it came off and then looked at her intently, naked except for the dark green silk knickers that covered her curls. He then started to undress, unbuttoning his white shirt with precision movements and throwing the garment over his shoulder where it landed beside her dress. Then he started on his pants, getting rid of the belt first before systematically undoing the single button then unzipping it, letting it fall around his knees before pulling it completely off. Now clad only in his black silk boxers, he pulled that off too, daring Ginny with his eyes to look down at what he'd uncovered.

Ginny saw the challenge in his eyes and for the first time in her life, she considered backing down from it. But she was a Gryffindor, damn it, and Gryffindors never backed down from a challenge. Sending a silent prayer to all her ancestors from beyond, her gaze drifted south until she was met with a sight that was sure to be a regular fixture of her dreams from here on out. Gryffindor bravery be damned, she was not going to let him stick that thing in her. No sir!

"Ummm," she started, flicking a nervous gaze at the amusement on Draco's face. "Would you mind easing off the leg a bit? I'm starting to lose all feelings there," she said, hoping he would believe the lie. When she felt him comply, she quickly turned over to make her escape easier. Only, Draco had other plans.

As she hurriedly slithered from under him, he placed his hands on both sides of her hips and dragged her knickers off her hips without preamble. All Ginny could utter was a muffled 'Eep' as she was turned over onto her back again with Draco covering her from head to foot. She gasped as he easily pried open her legs and nestled between it, his erection pressing intimately against hers.

"What's the matter Ginny? Am I too big for you to handle?" he asked, his lips twitching.

Ginny closed her eyes as she heard the double entendre. Smug bastard, she fumed.

"Of course not," she lied through her teeth, "I was just uncomfortable, is all."

Draco smirked. "Liar," he said smoothly, running his hands on her thighs. "God you're beautiful," he breathed in wonder, staring hard at her. "You almost make me regret what I have to do."

If Ginny's mind hadn't been too muddled by what he was doing to her limbs, she might have been able to ask him what he meant. As it was, it was too late for her.

"How many have there been, Ginny?" he asked, his tone hard. "How many others have seen you looking like this, so ready, so willing." That, Ginny heard, and when she opened her mouth to answer him, he stilled her with a finger to her lips. "It doesn't matter. Tonight is mine. Tonight you won't be able to think of anybody else but me as I give you pleasure. I'm going to ruin you for any other man, Ginny," he promised as he replaced his finger with his lips.

Ginny wanted to tell him that there were no others but predictably, as soon as he started kissing her, all sense of logic left her except the need to prolong this moment. Her breath hitched as she felt one of his wonderful hands find her core and part the swollen lips, unerringly finding that nubbin of flesh that was the source of all her pleasures.

"I want that when another hand is doing this," he said huskily as he rubbed his thumb gently at the sensitive flesh, causing her to arch her hips against his hand, "all you'll see and think about is me. And when he does this," he said as he slowly entered her with a finger, "you'll remember how much I filled you, that no one else can ever measure up." He inserted another finger, wanting to go with his natural inclination and just take her, but knowing that in order for her to remember this night, he would have to deny his baser urges. "Do you understand me, Ginny?" he asked fiercely as he watched her face.

Ginny looked at him and nodded. "No one else," she whispered. The possessiveness on Draco's face assured Ginny that there was nothing for her to worry about. Raised in an environment of love, she knew how to recognize the same in other people, and the emotions pouring out of Draco was so full of it that she was humbled by the sheer magnitude of his regard for her. Never in all her life did she expect him to return her feelings; three years ago it would have been unheard of. It never occurred to her that Draco, being raised the way he was, with cool detachment and aloof concern the way most affluent purebloods were raised, would be unable to recognize the same and mistake it for lust.

By sheer instinct, Ginny's legs rose to a bent position, her thighs cradling the tense wizard above her. She reached a hand out to lovingly touch his face, marveling at the softness of the skin that met her hands. She felt him shift his weight as he prepared himself to enter her and she willed her body to relax as she felt that unfamiliar object begin to prod at her opening. He was having very little success and looked increasingly confused as he tried and tried, and still nothing was happening.

With a curse, he summoned his wand and cast a lubricating charm on himself. Ginny closed her eyes to prepare herself for the inevitable, her hands grabbing the headboard unconsciously. She felt Draco raise her hips to angle her better.

Draco watched Ginny's pliant form, from the slender hands holding on to the headboard, to the exquisite face, the bountiful breasts, the slim waist, to the auburn curls concealing her sex. If this were any other place and time, and if he was another person, perhaps he may not be doing this, but he was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prince and resident sex God, and hater of all Weasleys.

Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from crying out as she felt Draco's penis enter her, the lubrication charm working like a, well, charm. No matter how she tried to relax, the pain was making her lose her control over her body. She had expected it to be painful; after all, how many stories had she heard from her housemates about the gore and pain involved with losing one's virginity; she just never expected the sharp, knife-like pain that sliced through her as Draco broke through her hymen, forever marking her as his.

Without meaning to, a sob broke through her lips when the pain persisted, mitigated by the slow rhythm Draco had created. Thankfully, he must have heard her for he stopped, catching the lone tear with his tongue.

"What's wrong, Gin?"

Ginny took a deep breath before opening her eyes, staring deeply into bottomless pits of gray. "Could you just - just stop for a moment? It hurts too much and I didn't want you to think badly of me if I passed out in the middle of - er" Ginny trailed off, looking away from him, unable to say the word.

When Draco finally understood what was wrong, he cursed rather fluently. "Shit! Buggering fuck! Why the hell didn't you tell me!" he demanded, careful not to move too much, not wanting to cause her any more hurt.

"I wanted to," she said quietly, her lips quivering, "but you didn't want to hear, and then you started kissing me again and I couldn't think straight anymore. I'm sorry," she pleaded, her eyes looking at him beseechingly.

Draco silenced her the only way he knew how. By her own admission, nothing else matters when he was kissing her, and he was ruthless enough to use the advantage she had inadvertently given him. He was of two minds about what he had done tonight; the revelation of Ginny's virginity really threw for a loop, but was that really enough reason for him to forget his plans for her? Could he really just forget years of hostility for this slip of a girl? The Slytherin in him said no, but the man behind the mask was not so sure.

"Don't, Gin," he said quietly when he stopped his assault on her lips. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be the one asking your forgiveness for being a prat and not realizing sooner what was staring me in the face." He gave her a crooked smile and chucked her under the chin. "It's just hard to believe that someone as beautiful as you could stay untouched. The male population of Gryffindor must have their heads buried so deep in their arses, or they're just plain stupid."

Ginny smiled shyly at him and let the slur on her house pass. She noted that the pain had considerably lessened when she moved her hips; there was still a slight discomfort caused by the unfamiliar fullness but it was nothing compared to her earlier pain.

"I didn't really notice if anybody was interested in me like that," she admitted, looking at his lips instead of his eyes. "I was interested in somebody else entirely unacceptable, somebody from a different house." She snuck a quick look at him to gauge his reaction to her confession before fixing her gaze back to his lips.

Only years of constantly putting on a stoic front kept Draco from showing his surprise. She had liked him that long? Ginny Weasley, his bat-bogey hex benefactor? If she wasn't under him now, filled with his throbbing erection, he might scoff at the absurdity of that little tidbit. Speaking of...

"He must be totally without a brain for not noticing you and doing something about it," he said, carefully watching her expression as he slowly withdrew from her welcoming heat and just as slowly thrust back in.

Ginny's eyes flew up to meet his. "I think he's doing quite well in making up for lost time," she whispered as she experimentally wrapped one leg around his waist, then another, straining to meet his thrust halfway. Unbelievable pleasure started coursing through her, but Draco's slow pace was killing her. "Umm, Draco?"

"Yes, Gin?" he replied, his voice strained.

She blushed. "Could you move a bit, you know, faster?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, thank god," he murmured shakily and ground himself hard against his lover's hips.

Ginny's giggle at his obvious relief ended in a gasp as Draco showed her the extent of his need for her. She helplessly moaned as he set a furious pace, driving into her like there was no tomorrow. She welcomed him and met him thrust for thrust, her legs tightening around his waist as she strained against him. When she came, she could not help crying out his name, her love for this man overwhelming everything else. She wrapped her arms around him as he strived to reach completion, showing him that her heart and her body was his for as long as he wanted it. When he started to come, she felt herself coming for the second time as well, joining him, their cries filling the room. Their breathing ragged, they lay side by side on the bed, spent, and deliciously tired.

Ginny was so blissfully tired that she could not prevent her eyes from drooping. Draco noticed her struggle and kissed her eyes closed gently. "Sleep," he whispered, and with a smile on her lips, Ginny let herself fall into the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness.

Draco watched Ginny as she snuggled against him, her face unbelievably innocent in sleep even after what they had been up to tonight. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and stared at her, weighing his options. He knew Ginny expected something from him after tonight, but he also knew that tonight could never happen again. That was the plan and he had to stick to it.

When he had seen her tonight at his club, he had been floored by the vast change in her physical appearance. If he had not heard that pouf Creevey say her name, he would never have recognized her. Who knew the snotty brat would grow into such a vision of beauty?

He remembered the first time he had met her, during his second year at Hogwarts, at Flourish and Blotts. She had quickly become the target of his vitriol, after her staunch defense of Saint Potter. The-Boy-Who-Lived-to-make-his-life-hell was still at the top of his hate list, of course, but she came a decent second. He had taunted her every chance he could get, throwing her poverty in her face as often as the opportunity presented itself. She was as worthy an opponent as Potter, never failing to respond to his provocations.

Over the years, he had developed quite a perverted attachment to her, his day not quite complete if he hasn't stirred her anger at least to some degree. He even acknowledged that her hexes was a necessary evil, something he was more than willing to receive, as long as he was able to ruin her day.

Then seventh year came and something about her changed. She no longer responded to his jeers and taunts, preferring instead to avoid him altogether. He had redoubled his efforts, calling her names even his mother would admonish him for and still nothing happened. He had insulted her family, friends and her choices of boyfriends, in that order; she still refused to respond. Despite her prefect status, he had delighted in giving her the worst detentions in Hogwarts history; she only did them with nary a peep. He took house points off her; she doubled her efforts at her studies to get them back. At one point he had even considered hexing her just so he could see whether he'd finally get a reaction from her but refrained from doing so, not wanting Dumbledore to revoke his Head Boy badge and giving it to Potter.

Thus, he had left the hollowed halls of Hogwart's School of Wicthcraft and Wizardry decidedly unsatisfied. He had of course asked himself more than a dozen times why he could not just leave her alone; his stubborn streak insisted that she deserved all she got from him for being a Weasley and a muggle-loving blood traitor. If that didn't quite ring true to the minuscule portion within him that was honest, he quickly banished the thought. He had promised himself that one day, she was going to get what was coming to her, and he was going to be the one to do it. Her slight to him had become something of an obsession to him, and it demanded remuneration, maybe not in blood, but she was going to pay.

And tonight was the perfect opportunity for him to finally extract his revenge. Revenge for what, a small voice inside his head asked with a sneer. She hasn't done anything to you that you didn't do to her first. Are you really this petty that you're willing to hurt this lovely girl for something that was your fault to begin with?

Draco's jaw clenched in fury as doubts assailed him. There was no room for him to have second thoughts, damn it! He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys finish what they've started, no matter what it takes.

Oh, go put a sock on it! That inner voice admonished. You know you like her, why can't you just accept the fact that you fell for a Weasley and was too afraid to admit it? Is it really such a hardship for you to set aside your prejudices for one moment and look at this girl, and SEE beyond her name? It's not difficult, you know, all it would take is a little honesty.

No! I will not let one night of passion cloud my judgment. I DO NOT like her; it was just sex, so stop messing around with my head. I do not need some wacko in there telling me otherwise.

You sure it was just sex? The voice taunted. And I happen to be your superego, my boy, and I don't mean that literally. You certainly don't need any more help in that area, considering it's already the size of Greenland. I'm your conscience, so you can't hide anything from me. I may have been dormant for all of your life, but you woke me up, and I've had all the rest I need so don't bother silencing me again, it won't work this time. I'm here to stay. Deal with it.

Draco flopped on top of the bed, moving away from Ginny, the balls of his hands pressing angrily against his eyeballs. If he didn't know any better, he could swear he was going crazy. And it was entirely this girls fault, she made him so confused!

There you go again, barking up the wrong tree, the voice scoffed. Why does it automatically become Ginny's fault once something doesn't go your way? Are we still five here? Why was I not informed about this growth retardation?

Enough, already! I am not changing my mind about this, he thought fiercely. The plan doesn't change and you can give me hell about this all you want, but since you don't have a body to speak of, I am making all the decisions from here on out. Can YOU deal with it?

The voice was quiet for so long that Draco was hoping it had finally gone away. Fine. Draco groaned; no such luck.

Fine, the voice said resignedly, I'll stay in the background and watch you throw away the best thing that has ever happened to your miserable life. Like you said, I don't have a body that can feel. But know this, boy, the voice said seriously, there will come a time when you'll regret your decision tonight. Just pray that that girl over there would still be willing to have you once the dust settles, 'coz if she doesn't, I'll be forever thanking my lucky stars it's you that has the body and not me. You're making your bed tonight; I hope it'd give you as much satisfaction as you're certain it would.

Draco waited a few moments, expecting THE VOICE to continue its litany, but when it didn't, he finally sighed in relief. He really had no need of a superego or whatever the hell the voice said it was, he had more than enough on his plate right now without having to deal with that as well.

He turned on his side and continued watching as Ginny slept. He didn't know how long he stayed in that position, but when she started to stir, he quickly got off the bed before she realized he had been watching her all through her short slumber.

He picked up his discarded clothes and methodically started putting them on. He itched for a shower, but he had to get on with what he had to do first. He sat on the foot of the bed, buttoning his shirt, carefully keeping his back to Ginny. When he felt the bed dip behind him and arms wrap around him, he quickly got up before Ginny could complete the action. He schooled his features to reveal nothing before he faced her.

Ginny was sitting on the bed, looking deliciously rumpled, the sheets wrapped around her protectively, and he felt the urge to prolong the moment a little more if that meant he could be in her arms again. But no, he had to do this NOW.

"Hi," Ginny said shyly, watching him fix himself up. She was sorry that she could no longer see how magnificent he was naked, but she was sure she'd be seeing a lot more of him soon. What he said, though, had her looking at him quickly.

"You'd better go, it's morning already," he said dispassionately as he finished doing up the buttons of his shirt, giving her an impersonal look.

Ginny was more than confused, she was flabbergasted. What was going on? What happened to the Draco she had spent the night with? Who was this man who had his face and his voice and his body, and yet was not him at all? She looked at him, not knowing what to say or do.

Draco sighed loudly before picking up her discarded dress and throwing it at her. "Go on. Get dressed. You have to get out of here before Pansy sees you."

Hearing what Draco said as she caught her dress felt like she had been backhanded. How could he possibly just dismiss what happened between them?

"What's wrong, Draco? Why are you saying this to me? I don't understand." Her voice sounded so plaintive and weak that she hated it. She watched his eyes harden and the sneer materialize.

"What is there to understand? We had sex, simple. Don't tell me you thought it there was more to it than that?" An amused expression slowly replaced the sneer. "You did, didn't you?"

Ginny cringed as he laughed, the sound cutting through her heart viciously.

"You have got to be the most deluded witch I have ever met, Weaslette. Did you honestly think that I, a Malfoy, would ever stoop so low as to actually take a Weasley seriously? I mean, in what alternate universe would that happen?"

Ginny felt tears prickling the back of her eyes but she refused to let them go; she could not break down now, there was more at stake here than just her lost innocence.

"I know you felt something for me too, Draco, I know it," she insisted. "I could see it in your eyes. Why are you denying it now?"

Draco lost his mirth, and a cold look came to his eyes. "You saw what you wanted to see, little Ginny," he said scathingly, "not what was there. You wanted to believe it so much that you put a nice name to what was really there: lust. Don't look to me for salvation when it was you who caused your fall." He turned his back on her as the first tear started to fall.

Ginny swiped furiously at the tears that would not stop coming. He was right, of course, all of it. All of this was her fault. She may have been so blinded by her love that somehow she had projected the feelings on to him and mistook that as his sentiment for her. She had wanted it so much that she did not, even once, stop to think whether any of it was real. He was right.

She started to dress with more calm than was in her at the moment, thankful that the tears had finally stopped. She was calling herself ten kinds of a fool to ever think that Draco Malfoy could ever love her. She should have known all along that she was just another shag in his book, another notch on his bed post.

Grooming herself as best she could, she turned and picked her wand up from the floor. She knew she'd have to use the floo to get out of there and she'd have to talk to him to ask him for some floo powder.

"I need to borrow some floo powder," she stated hollowly, not looking at Draco as she spoke.

"By the fireplace," was his only reply.

She strode to the huge fireplace and started a fire. She made to scoop a handful of the powder but then decided that she could not leave this as it was and turned around to face him again. "There's one more thing before I go," she said and started for him. His bored look was the last straw and Ginny's hand struck before she could think twice about it. He could only stare at her as she heaved a shaky breath, her back rigid. "I could have loved you so much, Malfoy, but now I see that I'll only be wasting my time." Tears were once again coursing down her cheeks. "You're right, I am a sorry excuse of a witch for making the mistake of loving you, but you know what? I don't care! At least I know how to love. Can you say the same?" She went back to the fireplace and grabbed a fistful of floo powder. "I pity you Malfoy. There's not enough galleons in the world to buy you a heart." She threw the powder into the fire without breaking eye contact with him. "Don't you ever come near me again or I swear to Merlin you'll be the last one in your line."

The threat of castration only made Draco Malfoy smile. "With pleasure, Weaslette." But inwardly, Draco winced. And it didn't help matters that the voice reared its ugly head again.

How's that bed now, boy?

Ginny kept her face from showing just how much he had hurt and broken her. She called out 'Dana Shaw's flat' and stepped into the fire. The last thing she saw before the fire swirled around her was Draco's back as he left his bedroom, creating even more distance between them. But now, Ginny feared that distance may very well be the least of her problems; the events of last night has erected a solid barrier that she didn't think would ever be torn down again.

As she stepped out of Dana's fireplace, she went directly to the bathroom, stripping as she progressed. She knew the apartment was deserted as surely as she knew that Dana had spent the night elsewhere. She had often criticized her friend for being so free with her body, but now she was glad for the solitude it afforded her.

She stepped under the shower and turned the dial on full blast. The sharp stinging of the water as it touched her skin was largely ignored. She scrubbed herself thoroughly, leaving her skin pink with the savagery of her scrubbing, almost as though thinking that if she did it hard enough, it could wash away the memory of Draco's touch. But she knew it would take more than a simple cleansing shower to erase that memory, and that even if she crawled out of her skin, she would never be rid of the mark he had etched into her very soul. Somehow, she knew she'd never be the same again, as though last night had started a chain of events that she had no power of stopping. She only hoped her family would never find out that Ginevra Weasley had struck again, and that this time, she had gone in with both eyes open.

And then finally, when it all became too much, she cried.

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A/N: Thank you so much to all those who reviewed, and those who haven't, well, thanks for reading my fiction anyway. I never get enough at how so many seem to like this story. I don't have a lot to say usually, so if I don't make a habit of answering questions on the review boards, I don't mean to offend.

Sailor Universe: Funny guess, but as you've probably already read by now, the answer's no. Keep on guessing though, you never know, you might just hit one one of these days.

V. Crowe: Yes, you probably have read this before. I am posting this story on another D/G website, but I won't say which one (harharhar!!!) That one has the very latest chapter, but the format here at Portkey is better than that one. I get to show all the italics here, whereas I'm still trying to figure out how to do that over at the other site. Trust me, you're better off reading this story here than over there.

To all the others who reviewed, thank you again. This is just a warning to those who hate cliffhangers. My readers have often figuratively thrown fits at me, accusing me of being an evil witch, what with my cliffhanger chapters and all, but I never set out to do that, it just seem to come out that way. And I am trying to pace my chapters posting here, especially as I am currently working on chapter 18, and the end is still not anywhere in sight. So if it sometimes takes days before I post a new one, don't write me off. Please? I assure you will not regret it.