Captured By A Dragon

Chapter Eleven: Anything But Thrilled

"Ginny, wake up..."

Someone was shaking Ginny's shoulders.

"Ginny!"

"Chocolate pickles..." Ginny muttered in her sleep, covering her eyes. She heard a loud and girlish giggle in the distance.

Suddenly, Ginny jumped up in her bed, her eyes wide open.

"Who's there?" she exclaimed, looking everywhere but where Hermione was sitting right behind her.

Hermione laughed quietly and Ginny jumped about a foot in the air.

"Hermione!" she yelled, hitting Hermione in the face with her pillow.

"Calm down, Ginny, it was just a joke!" shouted Hermione, trying to block her face with her arms as Ginny swung like a maniac. Ginny stopped hitting her and Hermione saw that she looked like she was about to explode at any second.

"Whoever said you could come in here and wake me up?" she roared.

Hermione was completely silent, shocked by Ginny's outburst. She did not say anything as Ginny inhaled a humongous breath.

"Get out! Now!" she screamed, and Hermione practically flew out of the room in a flash. Ginny scowled and went back to her pillow for some more sleep, covering herself entirely with her blanket. At that moment, her alarm clock rang.

"DOES THE WHOLE WORLD WANT TO WAKE ME UP?" she bellowed, and she got out of bed furiously, wrapping her blankets around her nightgown.

A voice answered, "Well maybe if you weren't up so late last night with Malfoy you wouldn't be tired."

Ginny whipped around to the doorway where Harry stood, looking straight at her. He was still in his pajamas, his hands in his pockets. What made Ginny even angrier than before was that he had a grin as wide as Christmas on his face.

"What do you want, Harry?" she said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes at the ceiling.

"The same thing you want," he replied.

"And what's that?"

Pause.

"What do you want, Ginny? An unhappy relationship with Malfoy?"

Harry looked like he was about to vomit from the thought of Ginny and Malfoy together.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and made a face. "Listen, Harry, just because you're in love with me doesn't give you the right to criticize Draco, who's completely innocent."

"Innocent?" Harry said loudly, the grin he had sported earlier completely gone. "You call that monster innocent? Oh yes, he's an innocent little lamb who has done no harm at all to anyone. Have you lost your mind, Ginny?"

"Well, okay, he may not be completely innocent, but you know what I mean!" Ginny told him fiercely.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Just come down to breakfast," he said, leaning on the doorway.

"No," Ginny said childishly, and she plopped back down on her bed to go back to her peaceful sleep... or so she thought.

Harry walked briskly over to her four-poster and pulled her covers off her entirely like her mother used to do, only to find that she was in her underwear... only her underwear.

Ginny's eyes widened as she lay there, mortified.

"HARRY!"

She jumped out of bed, trying to cover herself up with her hands, and ran to the bathroom as fast as she could, slamming the door behind he.

"Ginny..." Harry began.

"SOD OFF, HARRY! I DON'T NEED YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT SEEING MY BODY, IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU'RE IN MY DORMITORY!" she bellowed, her voice slightly muffled from the thick door.

"What are you doing in there?" asked Harry, coming closer to the door.

"Nothing you need to know, Mister Eavesdropper!" Ginny screeched.

Harry laughed.

"Why, shaving your bum?"

Almost at once, Ginny whipped the bathroom door open and rushed out, still in her underwear. Obviously she didn't care at all about that now. Harry took a step backward when he saw the look of pure venom on her face.

"I HOPE YOU-KNOW-WHO KILLS YOU TONIGHT! IN YOUR SLEEP! AND I'LL HELP HIM!"

Silence.

"What did you just say?" he asked, folding his arms, his eyes narrowed in disgust.

Harry couldn't believe Ginny just said that. She could tell when his jaw dropped open. Ginny had never been so infuriated in her life. She was breathing hard, her face beet red, and Harry's thoughts raced through his mind. He didn't doubt that Ginny was incapable of something of the sort; Voldemort had possessed her in their second year.

"Don't make me say it again," Ginny said, finally going back down to her normal speaking voice.

"I don't know what your problem is, Ginny," Harry muttered in rage. "It's like you're constantly angry. Are you and Malfoy having problems already -?"

Ginny brought her face closer to his and Harry stopped talking at once.

"Listen, Harry, I don't have time to answer your stupid twenty questions, so why don't you just leave before we repeat what happened the last time you got in my face?"

She half-grinned slyly, hoping this would at least scare him off.

Harry swallowed and glared at her. "I'm starting to think that maybe it's that time of the month again," he spat.

Ginny couldn't hold in her anger.

"AARRRGGHHH!!"

As if she were a tiger hunting for prey, she pounced on Harry and starting slapping his arms like a little girl. She didn't want to hit him with magic, all she wanted to do was hit him senseless.

Harry himself was yelling in pain as waking Gryffindors watched in the doorway, gasping as Harry's glasses went flying off and shattering all over the floor, boys shouting for Ginny to take her bra off, Hermione screaming, "Stop, stop, stop!" and Ginny hitting Harry as hard as she possibly could.

"GET OFF OF ME!" he cried rather shrilly, and he turned her over while pinning her down with his legs. Several of the spectators in the doorway cheered him on as if it was an amusing Muggle wrestling match.

"AARRGGHHH!!" Ginny yelled again, and she bit Harry's arm. The crowd suddenly yelled even louder, and Harry shrieked in pain as tiny amounts of blood starting to creep out of the spot where Ginny had sunk her teeth in.

Ginny stood up triumphantly, flipping her hair.

"Ginny!" Ron shouted, suddenly dashing in with sopping wet hair and his clothes disheveled. It seemed he was taking a shower when the fight had broken out. He walked over to Harry to see if his arm was okay, but Hermione pushed him over.

She muttered something under her breath and with a blinding white light, Harry's arm was magically healed. The three of them stood up, Harry eyeing Ginny with a mixture of fear and foreboding, Ron picking up the remains of Harry's glasses and repairing them with his wand. Ginny, realizing that more than two dozen people were staring at her half-naked, grabbed her blanket from her bed and wrapped it around herself.

"That was not necessary," Hermione said quietly, looking at both Harry and Ginny. There was silence. Hermione went on. "I don't know what has been going on with you two, but you better sort it out or I'll..." Hermione faltered for a second. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall about the fight!"

Suddenly, Harry and Ron started arguing.

"Oh, you've been saying you'll 'tell Professor McGonagall' for the past seven years," said Ron.

"Hermione, there's really no point," Harry told her. He looked at Ginny, who shifted where she was standing. "It was just a row, that's all."

Ginny thought to herself that Hermione must be angrier than she was. Ron, red in the face, scurried out of the room with Harry, and the Gryffindor crowd slowly dispersed. Ginny realized that she still had the blanket on, and, making sure that everyone had gone, put the blanket back on her bed and started searching through her drawers.

She glanced over at Hermione, who was standing near the doorway, her arms folded and furious look on her face.

Ginny sighed and smiled at her.

"Stop looking at me like that, 'Mione," she said carelessly. "Like Harry said, it was just a row - "

"I think you've got that wrong, Ginny," Hermione murmured. Ginny swallowed. "You could've really hurt Harry, and he really could've hurt you."

Ginny suddenly let out an awkward laugh as she put on a t-shirt.

"But nothing happened, we just - "

"Ginny, listen to me," interrupted Hermione. She sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting down. After putting on a pair of jeans, Ginny hesitantly joined her and lay down, stroking the soft sheets. Hermione didn't look at her as she spoke.

"I know you and Harry have had it rough," she said. "I know it hasn't been easy with him and Cho, but - "

"Who ever said this had anything to do with Cho?" Ginny interrupted loudly. Hermione went on, and she turned around to lay down with Ginny for what appeared to be a girl talk.

"I feel as if you're hiding something from me, Ginny," she said. Ginny didn't say anything. "And if you are, you know you can tell me anything."

"I know," said Ginny in a hard voice. "It's just... he never lays off! He's always in the middle of everything, I want him to... to... go away!"

Hermione looked confusedly at Ginny, her eyebrows together.

"In the middle of what?" she asked.

Ginny shook her head. "Nothing," she said, sighing. She couldn't bring herself to tell Hermione about her and Draco - she was definitely not in the mood for more yelling. "I mean... in general."

"Ginny... didn't I just say you can tell me anything?" Hermione told her, her eyes big and her eyebrows raised.

There was a long silence in which Ginny fidgeted with her bed hangings and looked at the ceiling.

Hermione suddenly sat back up and got off of the bed, looking back at Ginny thoughtfully.

"If you don't want to tell me, I understand. Just remember that my office door is always open."

She half-grinned and walked out of the room.

&&&&&&&&&&

Though Ginny was having trouble with getting the sleep she had told him she would undoubtedly have, Draco was dreaming peacefully in his dormitory. This was not going to last, however, for right at that moment, somebody shook him awake unpleasantly.

"Wake up, Draco!"

It was Blaise. He was in his green silk pajamas, the fabric washing over his skinny arms and legs.

Draco opened his eyes wearily and looked at Blaise.

"Wha?" he said as he rubbed his eyes ferociously with both of his hands.

Blaise looked at him with his arms folded.

"C'mon, Draco, breakfast starts in less than five minutes and you're not even up!"

"Well you're not dressed, Zabini, why should I be?" Draco responded in a croaky voice, not yet adjusted to the morning chill.

Blaise rolled his eyes and left the dormitory without saying another word.

Slowly, Draco got out of his four-poster bed and started to get dressed. Once he was fully clothed, he walked out of the dormitory, all the way out of the common room, and straight to the Great Hall. He wanted to bump into Ginny at least accidentally while he was walking, but everybody was already in the Great Hall, he must've been late.

As Draco walked through the Great Hall doors, Ginny was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, and he was standing almost right in front of her. Ginny's friends were all with her, so he couldn't say anything to her. All he did was smile and went over to the Slytherin table, in which Blaise was saving him a spot.

&&&&&&&&&&

God, he was handsome. He was everything Ginny could ever dream of, even more.

Ginny and her girlfriends were sitting right at the end of Gryffindor table, near the Great Hall entrance, eating their breakfast. Her friends, who had heard of the fight earlier, asked every single question possible, from "Why did you do it?" to "How many slap marks were on his face?"

Suddenly, breaking the conversation, Draco walked into the Great Hall looking frazzled. He spotted Ginny almost immediately.

Ginny and Draco were just looking at each other, not even noticing the people all around them. Draco sneaked a grin at her and walked off to his own House table.

"And just what was that all about, Ginny, dear?" said Jamie, one of Ginny's girlfriends. The fight had completely slipped their minds after what just happened in front of their own eyes. Ginny turned to look and every one of her friends was staring at her in a bizarre way, desperate for an answer.

"Excuse me?" she asked, pretending she didn't hear correctly.

"You heard her," said Shannon. "Why were you and Malfoy smiling at each other?"

Ginny laughed quietly.

"Don't be so silly, Shannon, why would me and Malfoy ever even be making eye contact? That idea is just absurd, an absolute outrage, a - "

"Don't play dumb," interrupted Heidi. "Believe me, I know people dumber than you and they don't even act like that." They all laughed together as Ginny put down her fork.

"Well... I can't really tell."

"Why not?" said Taryn, the last of the bunch. Ginny turned bright pink as she looked down at her plate.

"Wait, wait, wait... do you like him or something?" Shannon asked. She leaned in as if it were a secret huddle. Once again, Ginny turned crimson and didn't answer. Instead, she got up.

"Er - I think I'm full enough. Nice talking to you girls, but I must be off."

Ginny left the Great Hall while her friends stared at her untouched food.

&&&&&&&&&&

Draco knew they were probably talking about him. Of course he knew. What else would they be huddling in on or talking about?

And look at my poor girlfriend, Draco thought. He saw her pink face and when she deserted the Great Hall, Draco stood up to follow her.

"Where are you going?" Blaise asked. Draco looked down at him and thought for a moment.

"The bathroom."

Blaise probably knew it was a complete lie, but he stayed silent. Blaise never really asked many questions, which was one of the reasons Draco liked being his friend; no questions.

Draco practically flew out of the Great Hall and looked around for Ginny. Finally he saw her walking down the corridor and he caught up to her.

"Ginny."

Ginny jumped and looked up at Draco with her hand on her chest.

"Draco!" she cried. "You scared me."

Draco grinned and took her hand off her chest and onto his. She leaned back on the corridor wall and they kissed. First lightly, then hard and long.

After awhile, Ginny looked down and then looked back at Draco, his blue gray eyes sparkling. She almost considered telling Draco all about her and Harry's row, but decided to give Harry a break for once. Ginny couldn't risk him being punched in the face by none other than Draco Malfoy for no reason at all, no matter how much she may have wanted it; people would ask questions.

"Breakfast is almost over," she said quietly, smiling.

Draco had a look of seriousness on his face. You're right," he said, slightly backing away. His hand was still leaning on the wall, as if Ginny was in his arms.

"Meet me in the Owlery at... 5:00?" he asked her.

"Of course," Ginny told him, and Draco kissed her on the cheek before going back to the Great Hall.

Ginny sighed heavily and continued walking down the corridor, dreamily thinking of what her and Draco might do in the Owlery.

What she didn't know was that somebody watched them... a terrible somebody... a father of some sort.