A War of Nerves

CHAPTER 6: Promises

Lily was snippish. Yes, snippish was the right word. Today, she was snippish. She had 'snipped' at Ron...twice. She had 'snipped' at Harry, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender. Yes, she had even 'snipped' at sweet Ginny Weasley. And she didn't feel bad, not at all. Good Merlin! I need to learn to relax! Mainly, her 'snippishness' was due to the fact that she had two weeks of detention...with Filch, which meant, oh joy, Forbidden Forest. Though, that wasn't all of it. No, she needed a boyfriend. Maybe not even a boy friend, just a good lay. And for the first time in her life, no one was willing to oblige, no one she wanted at any rate. All the cute Hufflepuff boys, (damn morals) avoided her in the halls and refused to make eye contact. Ravenclaws really weren't her type, and Slytherins, while willing, would hold it over her, and make fun of her. And if that happened, she might have to kill some one...after all, she was 'snippish.' And all the Gryffindors were currently paired off. Lavender and Seamus, Parvati and Dean, Harry and Ginny, Hell, even Neville had a Hufflepuff girl he was dating. Her and Ron were the only two left, and she wouldn't with him, he was her friend...and uncle...oh the wrongness.

So there she sat in the library, were she should have been studying, thinking about her morbid sex life, when the 'Sex God' more often known as Malfoy walked in. Good Merlin, I can't catch a break.

He came in and sat right in front of her, but didn't say a thing. Daddy's monkey pushes the button once again, Lily reminded herself. Determined to not let him provoke her, Particularly hard because I'm 'snippish' today, she didn't say a word, just went back to trying to read.

After a couple of minutes, he cleared his throat.

"Yes, Malfoy," she said, not looking up.

"Stop it," he said.

Lily frowned and looked up, "What?"

"I know what you are doing here. Stop before you get in my way," he said sharply.

She twirled the end of her quill around her ear and said, "Malfoy, I've no idea what yo' talkin' 'bout."

"Damn it!" he shouted. The librarian gave him a death glare and he said quieter, "Damn it Merrins, you know exactly what I'm talkin' about."

When in doubt, lie, Lily remembered from her training.

"Malfoy, just what are ya on? If yo' talkin' 'bout that prank Ron and Harry planned, I barely had anythin' ta do with it...unless you count the whole planning and executing phases."

Malfoy sneered and said in his cold drawl, "Just stay away," and left.

Lily bit some hair she had threaded through her fingers and quickly dropped it, Such a disgusting habit. She tapped her quill a couple of times on the desk, then closed her books and ran after him.

She caught Malfoy halfway to the dungeons and grabbed his arm inconspicuously, dragging him into a deserted classroom.

"God damn it Malfoy! What the fuck were you thinkin'!" she yelled, grabbing his jumper front and pinning him to the wall.

"I warned you!" he yelled back. "Just stop! You'll make it all worse!"

"I don't even care how ya found out Ferret Boy, but ya tell one soul, one fuckin' person, an' I'll kill ya," she warned.

Malfoy seethed for a moment before responding quietly, "I know what you think, and you're wrong."

"An' what ez'acly, do I think?" she asked, shoving him away.

"You think I am part of them, that I do my father's bidding...that I am a Death Eater," he said quietly, brushing invisible dust off of his robes.

"Do not," she said with a toss of her head. That was a lie. Yes she did, in the sense that he did every thing his father said. So he could choose not to, and that was just as bad as going around being a Death Eater. "I think you are something lower than even that. I think you're a monkey pushing buttons Malfoy, and you do ez'acly what Daddy Malfoy tells ya."

He glared at her.

"What did ya think ya were? Did ya think ya could sit on the high and mighty fence between Voldemort an' Dumbledore fo'ever? Did ya think fo' one second ya'd be safe if Voldemort won...if Dumbledore won?"

Lily could see Draco's jaws clenching and unclenching.

"That's what I thought. Pa-the-tic. Not even man enough ta choose a side. Ya disgust me Malfoy. No, I wont even give ya disgust, I'll give ya pity!" Then she spat in his direction and turned to leave.

"Who do you think you are?" he said, shaking in hate.

Lily smiled and turned around to face him, "Who do ya think I am, Ferret Boy?"

"Damn it! I don't bloody know!" he fumed.

"Don't you wish ya did? I'm sure Daddy Malfoy is very interested," she said imperiously. Raja would be proud.

Lily walked out the door and slammed it closed. That felt good. Perhaps I've even goaded him into choosing a side. I really don't care which way he goes, just as long as he chooses one. Get him out of my hair at least. Oh shit! She thought. Glancing at the clock it said, 'You're late.' God damn it, I forgot detention. Fuck!

"Might I suggest chewin' Ron?" Lily said as they sat in the Great Hall. Lily was bundled up head to toe in no less than three fur jackets, two scarves, six pairs of socks, a few jumpers, and of course huge boots.

"Might I suggest a warming charm," Ginny giggled.

Lily's nose turned up. "I choose ta not dignify that with an answer. An' I'm cold, so sew me!"

"Lily, it isn't even snowing," Harry said sensibly. It was two weeks before Christmas and they hadn't seen one spot of snow, odd for this time of year.

"Oh no!" Lily said. "Ya don't know the weather. He's one vindictive bastard. He's just waiting fo' me ta go, 'Hey, it isn't so bad out here...I THINK I'LL TAKE OFF MY COAT!' Then he is gonna come 'long an' say, 'Hey, look, isn't that Lily...WITH NO COAT! I think I'll make it snow now. Mwuhahahahah!' Yeah, and then they come, an' then what happens!"

By this time, people were looking at her like she had grown a third head. No this was past two heads, she now had three heads. Lily looked down and blushed a bit, "Sorry, I really don't like being cold. Give me 110 degrees, bikinis, hot dogs, and Quidditch on the beach any day, thank you very much!" she said in a huff.

"Gee, Lily," Harry said, trying to hold back a laugh, "I didn't know you were so adamant about it."

Ron burst out laughing at this point and Ginny was close to hysterics. Lily ground her teeth together and said, "Yer sick! Yer all fucking English my-blood-is-twelve-degrees-colder-than-everyone-else's freaks! It is Saturday! I'm going back to bed! Bastards!"

Then she got up, almost tripping over her coats, which earned her new bursts of laughter from her friends, and left the Great Hall. She gathered her coats around her tighter as she walked past some open windows and almost ran straight into the headmaster himself as she stalked off around a corner.

"Good Merlin! I'm so sorry Albus, I dinna see ya comin'," she apologized, re-gathering her coats.

"And a happy Saturday morning to you too Miss Lily," he said, blue eyes twinkling.

"Um, happy morning ta ya too," she said politely.

"I was wanting to talk to you, Miss Lily, about a letter I got from Miss Hermione Granger," he said.

"Oh, really," Lily said, genuinely interested now.

"Yes, she wrote me not too long ago talking about some ideas for the annual Yule Ball," he continued. "She was going to have the Head Girl position this year you understand, if she hadn't been transferred of course, and she sorely misses giving her opinion on certain activities."

"In my opinion she rarely ever is quiet when trying to voice hers," Lily said under her breath.

"Quite true," Dumbledore said with a hint of laughter in his eyes. "And she recommended some 'absolutely superb musical entertainment' in her letter. A group that goes by the name of The Sinner Sisters. She had this fantastic idea that they might enjoy playing a few songs during the Yule Ball."

A smile grew on Lily's face. She had known that Hermione had seen her group perform in Massachusetts, but she didn't know that she was going to write Dumbledore. Of course she wanted to play Hogwarts. The only question was, how much this would affect the timeline of her world. Lily snorted, it would be changed enough soon.

"Perhaps I would be interested in that Albus," she said slyly.

"Good, then it is settled. Do you play any of this 'rap' I've heard of?"

Lily raised an eyebrow, "Sorry Albus, strictly alternative and hard rock."

"Ah, oh well. Is there anything you would be requiring?"

Lily bit her lip in thought. "I'll need for Muggle musical equipment to be able to play, music instruments, I mean."

"Done. Anything else?"

"Any requests?"

"Do you know any Beach Boys?"

Lily coughed and said, "Bye Albus! And thank you!" as she ran off. There was no way a Beach Boys song was poisoning her guitar.

When Lily got back to her dormitory, she found an eagle sitting on her window sill, drinking her owl, Nike's, water. It screeched and extended its wingspan in impatience.

"Oh, hello Abra," she said to the gold tipped eagle, pulling off its letter. "Thanks baby, I'll send back on Hermes, okay?"

The eagle screeched indignantly and took off out her window. Lily opened the letter.

Dear Lily-

Things are so boring with you gone! Oh, please! Just write the message so Abra can come home. It is enough that I have to listen to your whining here, I don't want to sit through a note of it. And besides, I haven't written to Sirius in a while.

Apparently, her friends were making this a joint effort.

Shut up Raja! As I was saying, I miss you so much! Speak for yourself. Yes. I haven't missed her in the least, the prick. Anyway, I have been working on Hermione - She sat on me! And when I refused to do what she said for the second time, she sat on me...again! I feel so violated. -and got her to write a letter to Bumblecore - That is Dumbledore, Brigid. Yeah, Dumbledore, dumb ass. Yeah, Dumbledore, geeze! -that would convince him to let us perform at the Yule Ball you apparently have there. It was frightening really. B-chan was ranting and raving about seeing you for hours. I was scared. So this way, you'll be able to see us for real. And 'I Want You' is now a sex song. It was Hermione. She had sex, she turned it into a sex song. Can you two forget to mention that just once? Um...NO! Who does she think we are? Father Confessors? Tell me your sins child and you'll be forgiven! Ha, ha, ha...oh, my sides. Yeah...right. Anyway, just wanted to warn you! Start thinking of songs. Or perhaps you could do something constructive and actually write a new one...maybe about me. I hope you are having fun at Hogwarts -Say hello to Ron, Harry, and Ginny for me please! -and have a happy holiday season. Hope to see you! I want good Christmas presents! Me too! I require a minimum of sixty dollars spent on my happiness.

Your loving friends (and Raja),

Brigid 'B-chan' Kells Morgan 'Raja' Estellan

Gwen 'I feel I should have a cool quoted nickname' Matson

Katie 'Me, too' Matson Hermione Granger

Wow. So that was interesting. Um, perhaps I should work on some songs, Lily thought.

"You play music?"

"Yes."

"As in the guitar and drums and piano?"

"Yes. But I jus' play the 'lectric (A/N: electric) guitar."

"And you are performing...here...at Hogwarts?"

"Um...yes. Might I ask ya why this botha's ya so much?"

"Because it is weird!" Ron shouted.

"I fail ta see what is weird 'bout it, but if ya say so Ron," Lily said in an

exasperated voice.

"I think it is cool," Ginny (A/N: We really haven't seen her in a while, have we? Or Harry for that matter. Hm...maybe I'll get some H/G-ness going on in this chapter. He, he, he) said excitedly. "Do you play Muggle music?"

"Yes, a bit," Lily said, taking a bit of her dinner. "But really, there isn't much different, besides the way it is preformed."

"And you sing?" Ron asked, still in disbelief and food flying from his mouth.

"I provide the vocals, well, mos' o' 'em anyway," Lily conceded.

"That is cool," Harry said, throwing an arm around Ginny's shoulder as he sat at the table. "And your friends, are they going to be staying here for Christmas?"

"I think so, some o' it at any rate. Ya see, this is our last week before break, but their firs' week is this week. An' they have three weeks instead o' two."

"That isn't fair!" Ron said indignantly.

"Ron, yer makin' a fool out o' yo'self, shuddup," Lily said as she wiped a few flecks of food off her face.

Ron glared at her and ate some more chicken.

"So who're ya goin' ta the Yule Ball with Gin?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny said, not skipping a beat.

Harry and Ron snorted at the same time and eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh, come off it you two," she said, giving the boys a dirty look. "I'm going with Harry."

"That is better," Harry said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Ginny smiled sweetly and a hand could be seen traveling under the table.

"Argh! My eyes!" Ron shouted dramatically. "Not here! Not anywhere! I'm blinded!"

Lily smacked Ron upside the head, "Shuddup Weasley, 'fore I get nasty."

"Oh, I'm scared. What are you going to do, get your date to beat me up?"

"I don't see you with a date Mr. Weasley," she scoffed.

"And you won't either," he said, "I'm going to be playing the field."

"I'm sure," Lily bantered, "I bet that I can get propositioned by mo' people than you."

"What do I get if I win?"

"My Firebolt III. What do I get?"

"Bragging rights?"

"Guess again big boy."

"Arithmacy homework."

"Deal!" Lily practically shouted. It was a little known fact that Ron was an idiot passant when it came to Arithmacy. Lucky bastard, Lily thought.

"Also, the bet is too easy, I'd win by a landslide," Ron argued.

"Then pick a person," Lily countered.

"Neville Longbottom," he said quickly with a smile. Everyone knew that Neville was practically inseparable from his Hufflepuff girlfriend.

"That is fuckin' impossible!" she shouted loud enough to get a nasty look from Filch, who had just entered the hall.

"Hey, a deals a deal," Ron said.

Lily glared at him for a moment, then her face broke out into an evil smirk.

"Oh, no," Ron said fearfully.

"Vincent Crabbe," she said smugly, leaning back as far as she could before catching herself, there weren't any backs to the benches.

"No!" Ron yelled.

"Yes," Lily said evilly.

"I'll switch you," Ron said.

At this, Lily burst out laughing, "Deal!" she said, taking his hand and shaking it. It felt good to be talking to Uncle Ron again.

They laughed for longer than necessary and then Ron turned sharply from his left to his right. "Hey, Lily? Where are Ginny and Harry?"

"Harry! Where are you taking me?" Ginny complained as she followed Harry with a blindfold over her eyes down the halls of the school.

"We'll be there soon Gin," Harry said, rubbing his thumb on her hand as he held it. "Do you remember," he continued, "when we first began dating?"

Ginny giggled a bit and turned, in Harry's opinion, a delicious shade of pink. "Yes."

"And do you remember what I said, about me and you?" he asked, opening a door into an abandoned room with a couch and a table with lots of decorations.

"Yes," she answered, very serious now.

"Well," he said, sitting her down on the chair, "I've decided, that-"

"Harry Potter! If you don't take this blindfold off right now..." she threatened.

Harry chuckled a bit and slowly undid the scarf from her face. Ginny blinked in amazement at the room. He had two mysterious boxes, one large and one small, on the table. There were candles and a nice, pleasant aroma circulating around the room. Ginny gasped and brought her hand to her heart. "Harry?" she asked in a shaken voice.

"As I was saying," Harry said with another chuckle, "I've made a decision, Ginny."

She nodded.

"Ginny, I love you. I want to give you a promise ring, Ginny," he said, quite seriously. "I want you to promise to be mine, forever."

Ginny's lower lip trembled for a moment then she licked her lips and said, "Harry, if you had any idea how long I've waited to hear those words..."

"Is that a yes?" he asked, getting a little nervous.

"Of course, I'd love nothing more," she said sincerely.

Harry broke out into one of his charming to die for smiles and Ginny couldn't help but hold back a sob. And then he laughed, "I almost forgot," he said, "open these."

He pushed the boxes to her. She pulled the red ribbon off the large package and opened it. In the box, under a thin layer of tissue paper, there were a dozen roses. She sniffed them lightly and put them back in the box. Then she took the smaller box and she could see Harry stiffen a bit. Biting her lip, she took off the top. In it lay the most intricate, most expensive, and most beautiful necklace she had ever seen, a ruby with a diamond in its center, her birthstone in his, on a golden chain. Ginny's eyes went wide open. "Harry?"

"Is something wrong Ginny?" he asked very nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Harry, I...I don't...this is so beautiful. I don't know if I can accept it."

"Why not?" he said standing up from his chair.

"Harry, I love you, but, do you understand what this means?" she asked him. She was fully aware of what this meant in the wizarding world, but he was raised by Muggles, he couldn't possibly know...could he?

He shook his head and sat down on the couch in the corner.

Ginny licked her lips and forced a smile, "The giving of jewelry in the wizarding world can mean a few things; death, marriage, and bribery. If I took this, I would expect that you would want to marry me, and would end up marrying me. It isn't something some one does lightly."

Ginny got up and sat next to Harry and took his hands in hers. "It is a truly beautiful gesture, but I know you didn't know what it meant. And if we never worked out, then, I wouldn't want either of us hurt, or feeling in debt."

Harry closed his eyes. He stood up from the couch so suddenly, Ginny was almost frightened. He walked over to the table and grabbed the box. Ginny was in tears. He was going to reject her. He was going to leave her. He never wanted to see her. He was going to go and years from now say to his wife, Probably Lily, 'Yeah, there was this one girl, when I found out what giving her the necklace meant, I never wanted anything to do with her.' 'Who was she?' 'Oh, some girl. Jennifer, Jill, Ginny, who knows? Who cares?' More tears ran down Ginny's face.

Then Harry turned around. "Ginny," he said when he was directly in front of her. Ginny prepared herself for the worst and dropped her eyes. And then he dropped down on one knee, "Marry me."

She let out a choked sob.

"Ginny," he said in a pleading voice, "look at me, please."

He lifted her chin and he saw a mixture of happiness and sadness in her eyes.

She nodded her head 'yes' and affirmed her decision by whispering, "Yes," into his ear as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Harry lost balance and found himself pinned on the ground and Ginny kissing him senseless, her heart fluttering erratically against his chest and hands moving to remove his glasses.

"I love you," she whispered into his ear softly, nibbling it tenderly.

He was lost in her. He needed to find some control or things were going to get very serious very soon. He rolled her over on her back and propped himself up with an elbow. As he looked down, he saw her eyes were loving, trusting, deep brown with need, need for him. No one had ever looked at him like that. And with her flaming soft red hair fanning her face, he was sure there was no sight on earth quite as exquisite as her.

"Harry," she whispered in a low voice, thick with emotion, "Make love to me, Harry."

He was lost in her. Harry dumbly brought his face down to her chest and began showering it with feather light kisses. Slowly unbuttoning her shirt so that he could trail lower down, he felt her shiver and had an insatiable urge to cover her with his body. He pulled off her shirt and cupped her full breasts in his hands, sucking at them through the fabric of her bra.

Ginny inhaled sharply. Never had she experienced such beautiful pain in her life. She had a sudden need to feel his skin and put her hands under his shirt, feeling the smooth tightness of his skin and finally lifting the obtrusive material over his head. He smiled down on her, his dark green eyes deeper than usual. Never had she dreamed (this realistically of course) that he would ever be doing this to her. She could feel his erection pressing against her and almost groaned. So this was what it felt like. She moved her hands to undo his belt and jumped as Harry bit harder at her shoulder as she brushed past his arousal. That'll leave a mark, Ginny thought.

It was hard keeping his control while Ginny's not so innocent movements distracted him. He wanted this to be as enjoyable as it could be for her, since he was suspecting it was her first time. Forcing himself to slow down, he began drinking of her mouth again; it was sweet and tasting faintly of honey. He managed to unclasp her bra with out much trouble while he simultaneously kicking off his shoes so she could slide his pants off. Then she made it impossible for him to slow down. He felt her hands run down his boxers and grab hold of him lightly, running her fingernails down his length and finally pulling the boxers off. He stifled a moan and decided he'd had enough foreplay. He almost too roughly pulled off her skirt, shoes gone long ago, it slid easily off her waist and fell on the pile of previously deserted clothes.

She could feel the heat rise in the room to an almost unbearable temperature. And then she gasped, loudly she assumed by the way Harry smirked. He had moved his hand into her knickers and was touching her in the most pleasurable way possible, doing something with his fingers and driving her mad. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and bit her lip. Unintentionally, another gasp escaped from her and she said weakly into Harry's chest, "Harry, now."

She didn't need to ask twice. Harry slid off her knickers and pressed his tip into her. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. She obviously didn't know how strong she was, he knew he would have bruises or marks in the morning. Letting her a while to adjust, he positioned himself so he could break through her fast and painlessly.

Ginny winced as he entered her. It wasn't so bad actually. Especially when he ground his hips against her like that. He began a slow motion and she followed, encouraged by his soft loving words. She was dying, or finally living, she couldn't tell which right now. And then she saw the stars. She was living, and it felt grand.

Harry thrusted into her one last time before exploding into her warm, tightness. He fell to the side of her, careful not to crush her under his body weight. She was now whispering something into his ear, it was soft and almost unintelligible, but it didn't matter, they were loving words. Harry reached over and took his Hogwarts robes and flung them over Ginny and himself. She moved closer into him, her breathing slowing to a reasonable rate against his chest. Pulling her head under his chin, he heard her whisper softly, "Harry? was I...totally awful?"

How could she say that? She was perfect, everything about her was perfect, "You were wonderful, Gin. Wonderful."

She seemed comforted by this; he could tell by how her eyelashes fluttered to a stop against his chest. He pulled her even closer and thought how well she fit, how well they fit. Not wanting to be disturbed, he placed a locking spell on the door and fell asleep.

If it wasn't for Peeves, the shrieking poltergeist, Harry wouldn't have woken up for a while. For once, he was thankful for the disturbing little demon. He put on his glasses and looked down at Ginny. She was sleeping so peacefully. It was hard to believe that he would have her for the whole winter break; it was only three short days away. Begrudgingly, he caressed her cheek as a means of awakening.

"Not now Lil, I've just had the most wonderful dream," she moaned, throwing an arm on his chest and falling asleep.

He chuckled a bit and tried again. She opened her eyes sleepily and smiled, "Hullo, Harry."

"Hullo, Ginny," he replied. She seemed content, happy, and tired. She ran her hand through this thick hair causing it to stick on end and kissed the corner of his mouth. He smiled into her, the tricky little vixen, and pulled away saying, "If we get started with that again, we'll never leave, Gin."

He could feel her bottom lip brush past his and he sighed, he may as well let her have her way, she seemed quite happy. And then Peeves flew past the room again and she said, "Okay, okay! I get the point!"

Harry laughed and said, "We need to get back to our dorms, we'll take my Invisibility cloak."

Ginny nodded and began getting halfway dressed ("Harry? Have you seen my bra, what about my knickers?") in the dim light. He got dressed as well and he saw her looking at the necklace, still in its box, discarded on the ground. As she was about to pick it up, he grabbed it. He saw an unreadable expression come over her face, but it was replaced quickly with trust. He drew the necklace out of the box and moved around behind her. She pulled her hair away and he slipped it around her neck, clasping the back ("How the hell does this work?") with a bit of trouble.

Ginny turned around and smiled at him, "Ready?"

"Yeah," he said grabbing his coat. "One minute Ginny," he said as she put her hand on the door.

"What?" she asked.

"Would you come to the Yule Ball with me?"

"But Harry, we are going," she said, a bit confused.

"I know. But, I never asked you," he said lamely.

Ginny's eyes welled up so fast it made your head spin. She threw her arms around Harry's neck and began kissing him within an inch of his sanity. "That is the nicest...almost the nicest...thing you've ever done for me Harry Potter," she whispered brokenly into his ear.

He threw his cloak over her, pulling her closer to him, arms snaked about her waist. And he smiled. That was the day that Harry learned asking was a very, very good idea.

And roses lay happy on the table.