Tangled Web

Chapter Two - What Do I Have To Do

November 1997

"Bloody hell!"

"Bollocks!"

"Dammit!"

Ron turned a most unflattering shade of purple.

Harry just shook his head at the reaction of his team to his announcement that Professor Snape would be refereeing the Quidditch match against Slytherin. It seems Madam Hooch was called out of town at the last minute on an emergency and Snape very kindly offered his services. He sighed; this was not going to be fun.

"Okay, I realize this is much worse than we anticipated, but we can do this," Harry said, trying his best to channel Oliver Wood. "We just need to go out there and play a clean game. We've got the best team..."

"And they've got Snape," Seamus interrupted. He was looking a little green around the gills.

"I realize this, yes, but there is nothing we can do about it. We've just got to play our game."

"You do realize that our game and Snape don't mesh right?" Lavender asked. Pavarti nodded in agreement.

Harry hung his head, his words measured. "We've just got to play...."

"Well, I for one am looking forward to this," Ginny said, finally speaking up, much to Harry's relief. "I'm going to own Zabini!"

"Ginny, I think this is hardly the time for you to be thinking about your little vendetta," Ron warned.

"Knock her off her broom!"

"Yeah, you need to think about scoring!"

"I'd give anything to see her eat dirt!"

"She deserves anything after what she did to you, Gin!"

"Oi! Bright pink wasn't your color!"

"She's a sodden...."

"Okay, okay we all want to see Zabini go down. I get it, but that is not the goal here! The goal here is to win the Quidditch Cup. I want to win this! It's my last year! Focus people! Focus!" Harry shouted, exasperated.

Dean, Seamus, Ron, Ginny, Lavender and Pavarti stopped their ranting to look at Harry as if he'd gone completely, stark raving mad.

"You do realize that you sounded just like Wood, don't you?" Ron said with an incredulous look on his face.

"Oliver Wood," Lavender and Pavarti sighed dreamily in unison. Ginny rolled her eyes while Seamus and Dean snorted.

Harry sank to the bench, muttering a few curses as the rest of the team launched into a round robin discussion of the various merits of Oliver Wood as a Quidditch player and as an exceedingly handsome former Gryffindor with a Scot accent.

This wasn't going well at all and Harry hadn't even mentioned Malfoy yet.

~*~

Ginny sat on her broom glaring at Zabini across the Quidditch pitch thinking over the seventeen painful ways to kill her she'd managed to come up with so far. Her goal was to come up with fifty very painful, plausible and very doable deaths for Zabini so that, one day when the time came, she'd be ready. Plus it was a great way to pass the time in History of Magic class. She had a parchpad dedicated to it.

The sound of Snape's whistle brought her attention back to the pitch where the game started with lightening speed. Zabini was heading right for her; the quaffle was the last thing on her mind.

The girls collided hard, kicking and elbowing in attempt to unseat the other. Snape watched the two girls with great interest. He knew should have called a foul by now, but he wanted to see how this would turn out. This little thing between the Weasley girl and Zabini had been brewing for ages now and he had a front row seat.

Lavender scored, putting Gryffindor up by ten; while everyone watched Ginny and Blaise go at it.

Ginny didn't let Zabini distract her as she went to the goal with the quaffle. She out maneuvered Goyle at the goal posts with a quick fake to the right and a cut back to the left, easily scoring another ten points. Before she could celebrate, Zabini rammed her hard from behind throwing her forward, but she managed to hang on.

Ginny swung around to give Zabini a hard look, each one of her seventeen murder scenarios flitting through her brain.

"What's the matter, Weasel? Can't stay on your twig of a broom?" Blaise taunted, hovering just out of reach of Ginny.

Seamus quickly cut between the two girls before Ginny could kill Zabini, sending Ginny off to help Lavender and Parvati who were having a time with the Slytherin beaters. He gave Zabini a stern look of warning before returning his attention to the match.

Harry was acutely aware that this match was quickly getting out of hand. He knew he had to find the snitch quick before Ginny, Seamus or Ron committed a murder and they ended up losing on a technicality and that would make it rather difficult to pick up the Quidditch Cup. He'd never seen Ginny quite like this before, normally she was all talk, but there was something about Zabini that really brought out the worst in her. He did have to admit the little prank that turned Ginny's hair an awful shade of hot pink last week didn't do much to quell any animosities.

Malfoy kept finding himself distracted by Blaise and Ginny's antics. He knew Blaise could be mean, down right vicious in fact, but this was something new. This had gone way beyond anything he'd witnessed before - it was like Blaise was on a mission to eliminate Ginny. He was impressed that Ginny hadn't backed down; she actually seemed to be dishing as much as she was receiving. He was not looking forward to an evening of Blaise ranting. His head was already hurting from just thinking about it. Malfoy sighed heavily, scanning the pitch for the thing that would end this nightmare; at this point he was almost willing to help Potter catch the damn snitch.

~*~

Ron and Seamus had to physically restrain Ginny once they got their feet back on the ground instead of celebrating a decisive Gryffindor victory over Slytherin. Harry caught the snitch just beating Malfoy to it, both crashing spectacularly in a heap on the pitch. Ginny had taken advantage of the distraction to deflect a bludger in Zabini's direction, nearly taking off her head.

Blaise hit the ground running, but found herself caught in Goyle's strong arms. She wasn't going anywhere as she struggled, kicking, clawing and screaming to free herself. Malfoy picked himself up off the ground gingerly, cursing with amazing fluency in several languages. He gave Blaise a hard look that caused her to instantly cease her movements.

"Mr. Potter," Snape said slowly, drawing each word out as he eyed the hissing, struggling Ginny, "I suggest you control your players before I have to deduct points."

"Ginny," Harry implored firmly, "please." He stretched a hand toward her, trying to calm her.

Ginny shrugged hard, pulling away from Ron and Seamus. "Get off me!" she demanded roughly. She shook her head and straightened her robes before giving Blaise a murderous look.

"Come on, Gin, lets go get cleaned up," Ron offered as he reached out to steer her toward the castle.

She shoved him away hard and stalked off. Ron and Harry exchanged questioning looks before following her with the rest of the team in stunned silence.

Snape held the Slytherin team back for a few moments trying to defuse the situation. He was really trying to protect the Weasley girl. He did like her, she was smart and quite good at potions and not nearly as cheeky as her brothers, but he'd never let on to that little fact. Zabini was another matter all together. He detested her just as he had detested her father during his days as a servant of Voldemort. Cut from the same cloth those two, stupid and foolish, blinded by ambition to achieve something they could never have. In the girl's case she was after the Malfoy boy knowing full and well about the arrangements with the Parkinson girl. And judging from her reaction today, she must know about the boy's little obsession with the Weasley girl.

As soon as Goyle released her, Blaise was off and running to catch up to Ginny. She wasn't quite finished with that bint. She slipped past Draco by shedding the robe he'd managed to grab. She shoved through the Gryffindors before they realized what was happening. The object of her hatred was just up ahead with her back to her. It would be so easy to take her down. Just a little shove would send her face down in the mud.

She hit Ginny hard from behind before anyone could shout a warning. Ginny stumbled, but managed to keep her footing on the slick ground. She spun around to face her attacker, knowing it was Blaise spoiling for a fight.

"What?" Ginny spit, narrowing her eyes to stare menacingly at the person she hated most in this world.

The two teams carefully circled around the girls not exactly knowing what else to do. Snape trailed behind waiting to see what would happen.

"You know what," Blaise hissed.

Ginny unconsciously flicked her eyes over Draco as he skidded to a halt at Blaise's side.

"That," screeched Blaise accusingly.

Ginny groaned, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I have no idea what you're prattling on about. Either say it or get the hell away from me. I'm bored of your little game!"

The Slytherin girl just stared hard at the Gryffindor girl, silently challenging her.

Ginny turned away having grown tired of the posturing; Blaise grabbed a handful of her robes to pull her back. "Afraid of me are you?"

Ginny shrugged off her gloves and robe in one swift move. "Get your hands off of me, bint!"

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me, bint!"

Murmurs and gasps erupted from the group watching the girls. Snape, who had finally come up to the rear of the group, tried hard to repress the smile that twitched at the corners of his lips.

"I'm so gonna kill you!" Blaise said, slowly moving closer.

"I'd like to see you try," Ginny challenged, fists clinched, body coiled ready to spring just like Charlie had taught her.

Ron had had enough of this and was going to put a stop to it. He moved to step between the girls, distracting his little sister momentarily, just long enough to give Blaise an advantage.

She slapped Ginny hard, leaving an angry red hand print on her pale cheek.

"You bitch," Ginny growled, elbowing her big brother out of the way before she took a swing at the Slytherin girl, connecting hard with the girl's jaw, snapping her head back.

Blaise staggered back from the weight of the blow, her jaw going numb instantly, the awful metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. The Slytherin team as a whole took a step back, leaving her own her own.

Ginny waited for her to recover, but not too long before she delivered a nasty right uppercut that caught her nose. Blood from the blow splattered across Ginny as the wounded Blaise dropped to her knees screaming in pain and rage, using a hand to desperately staunch the flow of blood.

Draco watched Blaise in awe. He'd never seen her defeated at anything in his life, yet there she was on the ground, in the mud, bloodied and screaming. A wicked sneer settled on his lips as he recollected the scene that just played out before him. There was, after all, a first time for everything.

Ginny admired her handy work for a few moments. "Want some more, Zabini," she taunted, still clinching her fists.

Blaise looked down at her now red stained hands and uniform. "Bloody hell," she cried, full of pain, "I...I...th..think you broke my nose."

Snape had seen enough. He didn't want the Weasley girl to get into anymore trouble and Zabini just got the little comeuppance she so richly deserved.

"Miss Weasley and Miss Zabini that is quite enough," Snape said in a hard, commanding voice that up until now had been reserved only for Harry and Ron. "My office. NOW."

"Professor," Blaise started to whine.

"Spare me your drama, Miss Zabini, just MOVE!"

Snape snatched each girl by an arm, forcing them to move toward the castle and whatever punishment he was going to bestow, as the remaining team members watched in shock.

~*~

Draco waited for her behind a suit of armor in the long corridor that leads toward Gryffindor Tower. He knew Ginny would come this way after leaving Snape's office.

He wanted to see her, needed to see if he was honest with himself, which Draco wasn't, but that was another matter altogether. He had to see for himself if she was okay. The way she wailed on Blaise stunned him. He never dreamed she'd have that kind of violence in her, but then again she did have six older brothers so it wouldn't be out of the question that she would know how to fight.

He chuckled to himself as the actual fact of Blaise's stupidity dawned on him. His mother had warned him about the Zabini family upon discovering his little liaison. Something about Zabini's not being as good as Malfoys and only good for dirty work. They were not be trusted she'd said. Blaise got just what she deserved and by a Gryffindor to boot. Some things were just worth savoring, he couldn't wait to tell Mother.

The sound of heavy footsteps brought him back to the hallway. He could tell Ginny was still livid by the briskness of her walk. He watched her approach from his hiding place. She was still wearing her red and gold Quidditch uniform sans the robe which he saw Harry pick up from the muddy ground as Snape hauled both girls off toward his office. He could see the tan pants that clung to her impossibly long legs and disappeared into dark brown leather knee boots. The sweater hugged her curves and stopped just short of her softly rounded hips, accentuating the fact that she was no longer a little girl. Draco silently cursed school robes and uniforms as he felt a weird twinge in the pit of his stomach. She was viciously releasing her hair from the French braid she'd worn during the match, shaking it out in all its long red glory. She still had a little blood on her face from the blow to Blaise's nose; obviously Snape hadn't allowed the girls to clean up.

She had a wild, dangerous look about her that he wasn't used to seeing. He liked it.

Draco let her pass before he stepped out from his hiding place. "Weasel," he drawled slowly, "that'll be five points from Gryffindor for being out of school robes."

Ginny rounded on him in a heartbeat. "What the hell do you want, ferret?" she hissed. Malfoy was the last person she wanted to deal with at that very moment.

He'd never seen her like this before. Her eyes were nearly black with seething anger as she glared at him, cheeks flushed scarlet. He'd heard of the infamous Weasley temper, but here it was in the flesh right before him. This was not the wide-eyed, blushing Ginny he'd kissed years ago in the cold garden.

This version stepped up to him, challenging him with her anger darkened eyes, her body rigid as she flexed her fists at her sides. She was not in the least bothered by the fact that he was looming over her.

"Tsk, tsk, such language from a young lady and a Gryffindor prefect no less," Draco chided, a lazy smile curled his lips.

"Prat!"

His smile widened.

"Pillock!"

"You truly wound me with your weak curses," Draco raised his hand to his chest in mock distress. "You can do better than that."

"You're a bastard!"

"I hate to disappoint you, Weasel, but my parents are married."

Ginny growled her frustration. She was breathing hard as her body shook in righteous indignation. She hated that he was playing her like a fine instrument for his amusement.

"Get the hell away from me before I slap you."

Ginny could feel her hand itching in anticipation of the delicious feeling of knocking that smirk off his face.

"Oh! Five more points from Gryffindor, nah, make it ten. Threatening a Head Boy is a very serious offense," Draco said delightedly, silver eyes sparkling. He was enjoying this a little too much, but he didn't care at the moment. He wanted to push her to the edge just to see how far she'd let herself go, hell he wanted to see just how far he'd take it.

"I hate you...you...bloody...wanker," Ginny stammered, her brain failing her at the most inopportune time. She wished she had her wand so she could hex him to hell and back a couple of times.

The sparkle left his eyes as he absorbed her words. It felt like being hit by a bludger, no worse than that, both bludgers at the same time. Emotions make one weak, never show your opponent what you are thinking, let alone feeling his Father's voice flitted somewhere deep in his brain. His face remained impassive, his gray eyes turned to stone.

"Silly red haired Gryffindor bint," he muttered, his pride wounded.

Ginny sputtered at the insult. She fumed as her anger took over her reasoning, her deeply repressed jealousy bubbled up.

"Do you want me to kick your arse like I kicked your little girlfriend's arse?" she asked dangerously, her eyes narrowing.

He could feel the rage permeating off of her in waves and he gave her his best smirk in response.

"Blaise?" he chuckled. "I've got better taste than that."

"I know you're shagging her," Ginny whispered bitterly.

"I am?" Draco pondered slowly, raising an eyebrow, obviously amused by this little turn of events. The little wench was far smarter than he gave her credit for. "Jealous much are we?"

She raised her fist to punch him, meeting his challenge because she was at the end of her rope. Draco grabbed her wrist hard before she could land her blow. Her eyes widened in shock as he pull her hard against him, forcefully twisting her trapped wrist behind her back as her head lolled back. She immediately started to struggle against him, causing him to only tighten his grip on her. He bent his head low, crushing her lips in a brutal kiss. She tried desperately to push him away with her free hand, but it was no use, he was too strong for her. His free hand snaked its way to her back in an attempt to quell her squirming.

Draco wasn't quite sure what to do at this point. He wanted her to stop struggling, he did know that much, but how to make her stop was the question he couldn't answer. He also knew that he didn't want to stop kissing her. So he did the only thing he knew to do, he relaxed his hold of her while slowly easing into a more gentle kiss. She responded to his softer kiss with one of her own, her arms finding their way around his neck. His hands found their way around her waist, holding her close against his long body. Moments stretched on for an eternity as they lost themselves in each other. He abandoned her mouth in favor of applying gentle kisses along her jaw has he worked his way toward her neck. She tangled a hand in his soft hair as she guided him; she stood on her toes in an attempt to get closer to his deliciously warm mouth. Ginny moaned softly in his ear as his lips grazed a sensitive spot on the side of her slender neck. Encouraged by her response, Draco gingerly nipped the newly discovered spot causing her to gasp as her knees nearly went out from under her.

A loud noise around the corner caused them to jump apart, breathing hard and staring at each other, eyes wide in disbelief.

Ginny shivered, feeling the distinct loss of his soft lips on her mouth and her body pressed close to him. Her mind was slowly coming back to her. Kissing Seamus never felt like that. She never mourned the loss of his touch. He never made her feel that she would die if he didn't keep kissing her. She raised her hand to lightly touch the place on her neck Draco had just nibbled, and then trace her kiss bruised lips.

Draco watched her with darkened eyes as his heart raced, unsure of his own reaction to what had just happened. "You did that before," he said softly.

"Did what?"

"Touch your lips. You did it that night in the garden, like you couldn't believe I'd kissed you."

"I did?" she whispered.

He nodded, smiling warmly at the memory.

"Why? Why did you kiss me?" She looked deeply into his eyes.

He reached out to her, taking her hand in his, bring it to his lips. "Because you're beautiful."

Ginny turned pink and glanced down the corridor avoiding Draco's gaze. He tenderly kissed her hand before pulling her closer. She finally looked up at him with warm brown eyes. He suddenly felt the need to drown himself in her, everything about her felt good, warm and right.

He could no longer resist her lips, bending low to kiss the corner of her mouth.

The feel of his kiss shocked her back into reality. She stiffened, pushing him away. "No," she breathed. "We...we can't."

"Ginny," he begged.

"You're a...a Malfoy...we just can't," she said flatly, tears pooled in her eyes.

The sight of her nearly in tears almost broke the heart he just realized he had. He tried to reach out to her only to have her push his hands away.

"No...no...no," she cried, trying to stifle the sobs that threatened to consume her. "I can't."

Ginny looked at him one last time before the tears spilled down her cheeks, grief over of what might have been and what could never be finally overwhelming her already reeling senses. She took off towards the Gryffindor Tower entrance before he could stop her.

Draco stood in the corridor a long time after Ginny had left him trying to gain some control over his own emotions. He had not expected to feel like this, his heart and mind racing, loosing the ability to think rationally. He could feel the pain of her rejection tight in his chest. His eyes burned. He would not cry, that was out of the question, Malfoys do not cry. He sucked in a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever he was going to have to face back in the Slytherin common room; there was Blaise to deal with and the questions pertaining to his prolonged absence. They could all go to bloody hell for all he cared at the moment. He took another deep breath, resigning himself to his fate, put on his best stony face and started the long trek down to the dungeons.

~*~

Snape held her a few minutes longer than the Weasley girl; he wanted to berate Blaise for her poor showing for Slytherin.

She was angry, embarrassed and a few other things just couldn't quite put her finger on yet. She would puzzle it out later. Right now all she wanted was to extract a little revenge on the girl that had caused all of this.

Blaise hurried down the long corridor that led to the Gryffindor Tower, following the sounds of Ginny's footfalls. Why did those goody Gryffindors get a tower while the Slytherins were stuck down in the cold, damp dungeons? She mentally added that to her ever growing list of grievances against the red-head.

She could not wait to get out of this school and away from Weasley, especially the part that removed Draco from the girl's presence, she being a year behind and all. That is what irritated her most, his little obsession. At first she thought nothing of it, just a passing fancy she told herself, but he just wouldn't let it go. The little Yule Ball thing was chalked up to Weasley torture, but obviously there was more to it than that. This has been bothering her for a while. Pansy was one was thing, but Weasley, she's a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake, what happened to Slytherin pride?

The sound of voices up ahead stopped Blaise from rounding the corner. She quickly identified Ginny's angry voice. She was very curious to see just who else she'd found to argue with, it seemed like she was trying to catch everyone at Hogwarts on this day. She'd have to wait to hex Ginny once she was free of whoever was arguing with her. It isn't wise to commit a crime with witnesses as her father was fond of saying. She absently twirled her wand while she bided her time.

Blaise perked up when she heard her name from around the corner. Her mouth fell open, finally recognizing the other voice. What? She couldn't have possibly heard that right, better taste than that. Was he talking about her?

The sound of struggling finally tempted her enough to hazard a peek. She saw way more than she wanted to see - the love of her life was kissing her sworn enemy.

If this day wasn't going well before then it just most definitely went to hell.

"I am going to kill you, Ginny Weasley, if it is the last thing I do. I swear to Merlin I will," Blaise swore vehemently to herself as she kicked a classroom door out of frustration before stalking off to find Pansy.