Call to Destiny

Chapter 10

Of Quips and Fangs

Ginny ran out of the bathroom, hair sopping wet and clothes disheveled. Damn Draco, she thought, pulling on her boots.

"Hurry up!" Draco yelled from the kitchen.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Ginny yelled back. She finally got on her left dragon hide boot. Nearly all of the Warriors had gone to bed at near six in the morning and Kiara was insisting on having class as usual. Well, classes started at eight and it was currently 8:12. Ginny was willing to bet her Warrior powers (that she didn't even have yet) that nobody was there yet. Amazingly enough, Draco had actually woken her up, not the other way around, and now he was being incredibly bossy. Seeing as nobody was probably there yet, she did not see why she had to rush. Stupid Draco.

Ginny jogged into the kitchen in search of a brush. Draco was standing there, leaning on the counter; cool as anything, sipping coffee. Ginny glared at him.

"Have you seen my brush?"

Draco pointed to the table. Ginny ran over and picked her brush up and started tearing at her hair.

"Now I know why your hair looks the way it does," Draco commented.

Ginny glared at him. "Aren't we supposed to be hurrying?"

"Nobody's even there yet," Draco answered nonchalantly.

Ginny wheeled around to face him, eyes narrowed.

"What?" Draco asked.

"You mean to tell me, that I nearly had a heart attack getting out of bed, fell in the shower and got dressed like a maniac for no reason?" Ginny demanded.

Draco smirked. "You forgot that your shirt is inside out."

Ginny let out an angry noise. "I hate you sometimes! Now, turn around!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"So I can change my shirt," Ginny stated.

"You could go into another room."

The redhead glared at him. "Turn."

Draco put up his hands in mock defeat and turned towards the cabinets.

Ginny angrily pulled off her black shirt and turned it right.

Draco chuckled.

"What?" Ginny asked, pulling on her shirt.

"I'm wondering what would happen were we to be paired up when we get our ranks,"

"You can turn around," Ginny said. "And I don't think Kiara is crazy enough to that. We'd end up killing each other."

Draco picked up the keys to the apartment as Ginny picked up a bagel, and the two headed out.

"It's not Kiara's pick," Draco said, locking the door.

Ginny looked up at him curiously. "Well then, whose pick is it?"

"The Fates, I think."

"Oh."

Ginny took a bite of her bagel as she thought about this. The Fates. The Fates rarely dealt with humans. By many, it was considered a blessing and curse to have interaction with the Fates. She wondered what her mother would say if she knew that her daughter's fate was being meddled with by the Fates. What if they did put her and Draco together? It'd be interesting to say the least.

"What would you do if the Fates did pair us up?" she asked.

"Well, we'd be stuck for life, then wouldn't we?" he asked.

"Weren't you the one who told me to never answer a question with a question?" Ginny smirked.

"Yes," Draco answered, also smirking. "And I see you didn't follow my advice."

Ginny's mouth dropped open. He- he. . . She snapped her jaw shut, and then sighed defeatedly.

"If I wasn't so damn sleepy, I'd kill you," she proclaimed.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You really must be tired."

"You don't say?" she drawled sarcastically, pushing in the door to the gym. Draco laughed and followed her in.

"Ah, you're the first to arrive," Kiara said jauntily as they entered.

Ginny gave the woman a murderous look. "Only because Draco over here forced me to get up."

The Wildcat laughed.

"Kiara," Draco began, looking slightly pissed off for the first time that morning. Before, he'd been slightly amused. At Ginny's expense, of course.

"Yes?"

There was hint of laughter in her voice.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you know how late we were all up, right?"

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. Ginny was struck by how beautiful this woman was. She was smart, strong and beautiful. Old as dirt, perhaps, and not really human, but that didn't matter when you looked like a twenty year old supermodel. Why can't I be like that? Ginny wondered. Well, besides the old as dirt and not really human part.

"So then," Draco continued. "Why the hell did you make us come to training at eight in the bloody morning?"

Ginny had to suppress a grin. So he was just as tired as she was. Ha. Serves him right.

Kiara's grin widened. "For a very good reason. When you'll be back at school, you'll get news of demonic activity and you'll have to sneak out late at night to vanquish the demons. You'll get back in at around five in the morning completely exhausted and then have to get up in a couple of hours to go to class."

Ginny smirked. Ha.

"Both of you."

Ginny's smirk immediately turned into a frown. Draco chuckled as the redhead shot him a glare.

"So, even if we're not paired together we still have to work with each other?"

The Wildcat's eyes glittered with a knowledge and mirth unknown to the two Warriors. "I trust you won't kill each other."

Ginny had just opened her mouth to explain that yes, they would kill each other, when Alexis and Nick walked in.

"I hate you, Kiara," Alexis grumbled, then yawned.

"Agreed," Nick said, rubbing his forehead.

"Now, now," Kiara placated. "There's a very good reason for all of this. When everyone gets in here, I'll explain."

"Well, while we're waiting, I'll catch up on my many hours of lost sleep."

With that the blond girl lay down on the mat covered floor, folded her arm under her head and closed her eyes. Kiara, Draco, Ginny and Nick all stared at her.

"Stop staring at me," she muttered.

They looked away quickly.

Nick muttered something about Alexis and mental illness. Ginny yawned. Ali had the right idea. She walked over to a stack of practice mats.

"Taking a nap?" Draco asked, smirking.

Ginny glared at him. "No, I'm just sitting down, but if I do fall asleep I blame you."

~

Half an hour later they were still waiting for four people. Sage, David, Maria and Roby.

About twenty minutes ago, Draco had sat down beside Ginny. The other Warriors were now sitting or lying in different areas of the room. Or sleeping in Ali's case.

Ginny suspected that Juli too was dozing on Ryan's shoulder. Ginny herself would have dozed off but she didn't want to end up leaning on Draco, since she was still mad at him.

Everyone was so sleepy and tired. Besides Kiara, who was reading a book, although she too had sat down. The air of the room was sleepy and quite peaceful. Nobody was talking. It sort of reminded Ginny of the 'project' that had taken place in this very room. It was hard for her to believe that it was only a few days ago. The sleepy sort of silence then in the waiting/watching room was a bit similar to the one right now, except with a couple major differences.

For one, then everyone had been tense and freaked out, today everyone was calm and relaxed. Then too, they had all been strangers to one another. Today, they were all comfortable with each other. It had always amazed Ginny that such things could happen in the space of a couple of days.

A big sign of them being so at easy was the way they were dressed. During the 'project' they had all dressed to intimidate one another, consciously or not. Today, however, everyone was dressed in the closest things to pajamas. Actually, she thought, Ali was wearing pajama bottoms. Everyone else, that is, was wearing sweat pants and t-shirts. Well, besides Draco.

The girls had their hair up in ponytails and braids, and none of them had make-up on. The guys especially looked like bums. Well, besides Draco. He always seemed to stand out, didn't he? Well, he looked like a bum dressed in designer clothes. Ha, a designer bum.

Ginny snorted at this.

"What?" Draco asked. He was sitting with his legs drawn up to his chest and arms resting on his knees.

"Nothing," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Just thinking about how much I hate you today."

Draco chuckled quietly. "Just think, we could still be sleeping."

Ginny looked over at him, and then punched him. Hard.

"Ow!" Draco yelped, rubbing his arm.

"Serves you right," the redhead muttered.

"Hey, you guys?" Ali asked sleepily, lifting her head and opening an eye. "Could you keep it down? I'm tryin' to sleep."

With a huge yawn, she settled back down onto her arm.

Ginny and Draco exchanged amused glances, which caused them both to laugh.

"Shh!" Ginny hissed hitting him on the arm again, but still laughing quietly herself.

"Lay off the arm, would you?" Draco asked, laughter ebbing away.

"Why should I?"

"Well, I may actually need my left arm, say when we get back to school?"

Ginny was about to quip with the "don't answer a question with a question," but remembering her results from last time, she thought better of it.

"Wait a second, you're left handed?"

Draco looked over at her, eyebrows raised. "Yes, I am."

"I didn't know that."

"Oh, Weaslette," he mock sighed, leaning his head back against the stack of mats behind them. "There are so many things about me you don't know."

Ginny ignored the sarcasm. "Like what?"

Draco looked at her with a look of surprise on his face. "Like what?"

She nodded, turning around so that she was facing Draco, but still leaning on the mats sideways. "Yeah, like what?"

The phrase "like what" was starting to sound funny to Ginny.

Draco seemed taken aback. "Why do you care?"

Now it was Ginny's turn to look surprised.

"Because I've been living with you for nearly five weeks and know barely anything about you."

"I still don't understand."

Ginny flapped her hand. "Just tell me something about you that I don't know."

Draco leaned his head back again. "Alright, but give me a minute."

Ginny brought her legs up to her chest, hugging her knees and putting her head down on them. She looked at Draco as he pondered her request. Funny, that he would find such a simple question so hard.

"Well, my birthday is January twenty third," he said.

"Really?" she asked, straightening up. "Mine's August twenty third."

Draco chuckled. "Well that's surprising."

Ginny counted quickly in her head. "So, you're exactly a year and six months older than me."

"I am, aren't I?" he said, looking at her. Suddenly he got a gleam in his eyes.

"Alright, now you tell me something about you that I don't know."

Ginny furrowed her brow. What did he not know about her that she wouldn't mind him knowing?

"Okay, well, I've always been able to beat Ron when we used to wrestle as kids. But now that I think about it, it makes sense," she said, smiling slightly.

Draco smirked. "That's all well and good, but tell me something about you that isn't so obvious,"

"Wait a second, didn't I start this conversation?" she asked. How did he always manage to turn the tables on her?

"Yes, you did start the conversation, and now I am continuing it. Now, give me an answer."

"Fine, but you have to tell me something like that too," she bargained.

Draco nodded. "Deal."

Why did he want to know? Ginny thought. The word blackmail came to mind, but maybe there was something else to it, too. Maybe he was interested to find something out about her. Ginny dismissed this thought as quickly as it came. No, this was Draco she was talking, well, thinking, about here. She suddenly realized he was still waiting for an answer. Quickly, she thought.

"When I was little, whenever it would rain at the Burrow, I used to sneak through the backdoor and take a walk in the rain," Ginny said. "Mum never caught me, and none of my brothers knew, and I didn't want them to. It was just a little bit of time for me to get away from everything, you know? The rain was just so soothing. And Ottery St. Catchpole is so beautiful when it's raining. Nobody'd be about, and it'd just be me outside, all alone."

She smiled at the memory.

"I remember the summer before I started Hogwarts, it was just drizzling but I decided one last walk in the rain was in order, so I snuck out while Mum was fussing over Harry. I'd gotten about five meters away from the house when it suddenly started pouring. I mean, I was soaked through and through in a couple minutes. But it was so fun I ran towards the creek nearby and just ran around like a complete lunatic in the pouring rain."

Ginny realized she was rambling. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

She looked down at her boot covered feet.

"Sounds nice," Draco said.

Ginny looked up. "Really? No jokes?"

He shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Nope, not one."

She put her head on her knees again. "So, what about you?"

"When I was younger," Draco began tilting his head back against the mats. "I used to sneak out of Malfoy Manor and go to the stables, get my horse, and ride out in the rain."

Ginny lifted her head again. "No way."

"No way what?" he asked looking at her.

"You and I cannot have something in common, it's too bizarre."

Draco smirked. "Hell is freezing over as we speak."

Ginny laughed. "I can't believe it. You seriously...? Rain?"

Draco looked over at her, an amused look in his eyes. "What about rain?"

"I can't picture you in the rain, I just can't."

"I like the rain. It makes for a nice escape, as you seem to know," Draco said shrugging.

"I can't believe you and I have something in common," Ginny said shaking her head. "Something so weird too."

Draco leaned his head back against the mats again. "I don't know who you're calling weird, Weaslette. I certainly don't fit into that category."

Ginny snorted. "Oh, right. So sorry, Your Highness."

"That's much better."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

Suddenly the door to the gym opened up. All the Warriors-to-be looked up. Sage and David walked in. Sage for some odd reason had her hand over her mouth and David looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"About time," Kiara commented, and then frowned. "Sage, what's wrong?"

"Long story," she mumbled, coming over to where Ginny and Draco were sitting.

Sage plopped down beside Ginny, looking at the red haired girl with a very pitiful expression.

"What happened?" Ginny asked cautiously.

David chuckled as he sat down, forming a circle. "Oh, it's a long story."

Sage took her hand off of her mouth, revealing huge vampire fangs in place of where her canine teeth should have been.

Ginny's eyes widened. "Sweet Merlin."

"Bloody hell, what did you do, Graham?" Draco asked looking as surprised as Ginny felt.

"Does aren't, real, are they?" she asked.

Sage shook her head. "No, they're plastic."

"Can you take them off?"

Sage shook her head again.

"I'm amazed she doesn't have a speech impediment," David chuckled.

The brunette girl shot him a murderous glare.

"What- how- huh?" Ginny asked feeling very confused.

"Well, last night, when we got back I was looking for my pajama pants in one of my drawers, when I found these fangs," Sage began explaining. "They're professional Muggle movie fangs that I paid like twenty bucks for last Halloween, but then I lost them. So, I decided to put on the mold and then wear them today and stuff. Well, you're supposed to glue them on, and then take them off five minutes later, or else they'll get stuck for a while."

"How long did you leave them on for?" Ginny asked slowly.

"Erm," Sage said. "I kind of fell asleep before I could take them off."

Draco burst of laughing. "Brilliant Sage, simply brilliant."

David grinned. "That's what I said."

"It's not funny!" Sage protested, giving them all a very good look at her fangs.

Ginny snorted, trying to keep from laughing.

Sage looked over at her and began laughing too. A very pitiful laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

"Only you Sage, only you," Ginny choked out.

"How long will they stay on, again?" David asked, looking very amused.

"A month."

"A month?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but you can buy this special stuff to get them off," Sage explained.

"And are you going to buy it?" Draco asked.

Sage looked at him as though he had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Psh! I'm not spending twenty bucks on some crap solution. Besides, I'm kind of attached to them now."

Ginny laughed.

A day here was never boring. Not with Sage around.

Not to mention Draco.