Title: The Protagonists
Chapter: Temperamental Teenagers
Rating PG-13 (for mild to medium cursing)
Summary: Ginny and Draco get in yet another fight, and the Dream Team runs into trouble. (Action chapter...)
Disclaimer: Draco and Ginny in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, but they don't belong to me.
***
The sun was high in the sky and shining merrily down upon singing birds and brilliant flowers. First-years chased each other in circles across emerald-green grass, older students practiced Quidditch on the pitch or did homework in the shade provided by trees. Even Filch looked cheerful. All in all, a perfect day.
Ginny was miserable. A perfect Saturday such as today should not be spent in a windowless, suffocating library with your arch nemesis. Her flame-red hair, now the color of dried blood from the humidity and sweat, hung in limp locks. The worst thing was that Malfoy sat opposite her, looking perfectly cool. Not a drop of sweat dared to drip down his forehead, every shining silver hair swayed silkily with his every movement, but never went out of place.
Malfoy, Ginny had to admit, was handsome. In a contest, he would beat Lockheart hands down. While Lockheart curled and primped and fussed, Draco was naturally gorgeous. Lockheart was arrogant and had an ego the size of the moon. He made you want to punch him. Draco was arrogant and had enough self confidence for several more people. He made you want to punch him as well, but you would get the feeling that if you satisfied your desire, you would surely die a very gruesome death.
Ginny turned a page in the book she was reading, How to Contact Distant Relatives, Friends, Enemies, and Acquaintances Using Divination, and the piece of paper ripped. She slammed the book on the table, causing Draco's head to jerk up reflexively and stood up. "I don't know about you Malfoy, but I am going to go outside and swim in the lake until I drown because I bloody can't take any more of this!" She exploded.
Draco regarded her with a gaze that would stop Fluffy in his tracks. "No, you're not. You are going to sit down and finish reading your book, and then, when you're done, you can go outside. I am not doing this work all by myself." He snapped irritably.
For a moment, Ginny stared at him in stunned disbelief. Then, in three quick steps, she closed the distance between them and slapped him as hard as she could. It left her hand numb and a bright red handprint on his cheek. "How dare you tell me what to do? How dare you order me around like I was some kind of servant-some House Elf!" She hissed.
He stood up, eyes blazing. Draco spat stinging remarks constantly, but it was rare that he got truly angry. This was one of those rare occasions. He put one hand up, covering the place where she had hit him with his own hand. Ginny was reminded of her dream, and she glanced at his hand. No, it wasn't the hand from her dream. It was similar, pale with long digits, but it was not quite perfect. A slender scar ran from the base of his thumb to his wrist. She unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Her relief was short lasting, however, when he grabbed her arms just below the wrists and slammed her into the wall, effectively rendering her helpless. Desperately, she tried to kick him, but he pressed himself so close to her, neither one of them could move a millimeter.
"Don't" He whispered coarsely, "ever touch me again."
"Well I can't help it, can I? If you would let go, I would gladly run up to my dorm, take a shower, and never ever touch you again. You're disgusting." She spat, and darted her head forward in an attempt to bite his nose.
She thought he would respond by hitting her, yelling at her, or something equally aggressive. Instead, he laughed. He smiled-a true smile-and his eyes danced in mirth. It was too much. If he had shown some sign of agitation, she wouldn't have done anything much-then it would have proven that he considered her something. But to laugh! It was the highest form of disrespect, actually thinking her anger and hatred of him was amusing!
She bent her hands down so that her fingers could reach his, and dug the nails into the tender spot beneath his cuticles. She expected him to bellow, to curse, or even to laugh again, but he did the most unexpected thing yet.
He enveloped her in a bruising kiss.
Ginny's first kiss.
She didn't even think to bite his tongue when he thrust it into her mouth.
***
Hermione wandered aimlessly through the town, looking for a wizarding store. They needed to buy Ron a better broom. The ancient Shooting Star he rode would hold them all up. She knew that a shop had to be around here somewhere-there was at least one in virtually every city. She, Harry, and Ron had split up to look for it, figuring that they would cover ground faster. She didn't really have to pay close attention-Wizarding shops always screamed ‘WIZARD!' at the top of their hypothetical lungs. Since muggles never noticed the stores anyway, the owners could afford to be garish.
So it happened that she never even noticed when a figure covered all in black began to follow her. She didn't even think about it when she turned onto a bicycle path void of people. When a gloved hand wrapped around her throat, though, she thought enough to shoot up red sparks before she lost all consciousness.
***
Ron saw the red sparks fly into the air and started to run. The muggles that noticed probably thought it was some sort of fireworks display being set off early, but he knew that it was either Hermione or Harry in trouble. Faint glimmers of the sparks hovered in the air, guiding him as he attempted to navigate his way through the impossibly maze-like muggle city. He cursed as he ran, the words falling into rhythm with his footsteps. "Damn her Damn her Damn her. I told her to go over the woods. Safer, Faster. But she had to be comfortable. Had to have a damned bed to sleep on. Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
He rounded another corner and found himself on a narrow path. It was paved like the one that the cars drove on, but was far to small for any of the automobiles to venture down. These thoughts flew fleetingly through Ron's head, but didn't stay long enough to inspire any real question. For the main part of the miniature road's scenery was a Death Eater dragging an unconscious teenage girl down its length.
He leveled his wand at the man and bellowed "Petrificus Totalatus!"
The Death Eater collapsed, unconscious, next to Hermione. Hardly pausing to draw another breath, Ron brought his arm down so that it pointed at his sleeping friend and whispered, his voice barely audible, "Enervate."
***
Blinding lights flashed through Ginny's head, blinding her physically and mentally. All her senses except for touch shut down, leaving her mouth on fire. Slowly, that faded as well and she went limp in Draco's arms. Images surfaced in her mind, rearing nightmarish heads to plunge themselves into her memory.
Ginny was washing dishes. She didn't know why she was, to tell the truth. She could have just as easily used a spell or even called a house elf to attend to them. But she was doing them anyway. It was such a peaceful task, with the warmth from the steaming water seeping through the rubber gloves. There was too much cold in the world. Sometimes you needed a little warmth just to prove that you weren't some statue, some ice sculpture.
Ginny finished rinsing the last dish and let the water drain out of the sink into the drain. She watched, fascinated as the water spiraled down the drain. The cyclone of liquid gave one last gurgle and sank from view into the magical water purification spell chamber.
Giving a small sigh, she turned around to face the man behind her. He was clothed all in black and only his hands protruded from the concealing cloak. She stepped back, pressing herself against the sink. "No, no! I was just... Just wanted to feel the warm water. It's just so peaceful. Please don't, don't..." Her voice trailed off as he took one menacing step forward. Ginny inwardly cringed as the one gorgeous hand balled into a fist and came crashing down upon her, knocking her to the floor. The world faded into darkness...
***
A/N So is this man with beautiful hands? Is it Draco? ... Please review.
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Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.