See the prologue for the disclaimer.
Afraid of the Dark
Written by LJP
Chapter 7
"Gin, I didn’t like the way that git was looking at you. Are you sure he didn’t do anything to you?" Harry asked for the hundredth time as he led Ginny to a table for two right outside the ice cream parlor.
She sighed. "I told you Harry, I’m fine. Thank you for what you did, but I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
He nodded reluctantly and leaned back into his chair. "I know Gin. Sometimes I forget that you’re all grown up."
"I’m only a year younger than you." She laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"I know." Harry whispered. There was brief moment of silence. Ginny stared intently at the boy who lived over the top of her ice cream cone. "Did I ever tell you you’re beautiful?" He wondered. It seemed as though he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but once it was said, he couldn’t take it back. He did a good job at masking his surprise.
"No." She blushed, looking away. "I don’t think you ever did. But anyway," She continued quickly. "You don’t mean it."
He hurried to defend himself. "Yes I do! You are. There’s something different about you today Gin. You’re...glowing, radiant. And your hair —" He reached out, much like Draco had, and touched the lock lying against her cheek.
She fought back the urge to pull away.
Suddenly, Harry pulled his hand away. "You know, I wasn’t ever going to do anything about this." Ginny wanted to ask him what ‘this’ was. "I mean, you’re Ron’s little sister." She felt herself tense. "But I like you Gin. I was going to ask you to the Christmas Ball this year, but then we decided to go home and everything —" He cut himself off abruptly. "Do you want to grab dinner in Hogsmeade with me next trip?"
Ginny’s jaw dropped. "Are you asking me out on a date?"
Harry’s face reddened, and he looked down at the table. "Yes, yes I am." He moved his gaze to stare at her, his green eyes bright. He reached across the table to take her hand in his.
"Oh, Harry, I think..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Draco lurking in the shadows around the corner from their table.
"What?" Harry followed her gaze, but just missed spotting Draco, who was now walking past them, down the street.
Ginny reached out to turn him back to meet her look. She smiled. "I’d love to have dinner sometime with you Harry." She answered, loud enough to make sure Draco had heard her every word. His response was a miss-step in his walk, almost causing him to crash directly into a cart carrying rabbits. She smirked satisfactedly.
"Great!" Harry exclaimed. "That’s great."
Ginny just continued to lick her ice cream cone.
Draco hurried past the nauseating couple and slid inside the nearest store. To his misfortunate, however, he got stuck in "Ceritine’s Creature Cove," Diagon Alley’s resident pet story. He was currently receiving a very strange look from a green snake. Too bad he wasn’t a Parselmouth, like that git Potter...
His gaze traveled out the shop window.
The Ginny from last night was permanently etched into his mind forever. The Ginny that was like a vision in blue, an angel sent from heaven. Or, since Draco really never believed in heaven, an enchantress sent directly from Voldemort’s right hand. He smiled deviously at the thought.
He let out a sigh, causing the owl he was leaning next to to also give him a strange look. He had heard what she said as he passed. She was agreeing to go to dinner with — to date — that git, the boy who lived.
Potter and he should have been friends; they should have been the best of friends, but it was that bastard who refused to shake his hand that first day over six years ago. If Potter had taken his offer, where would they be now? Two of the most powerful wizards of this time, fighting side by side...
Ginny was licking her ice cream cone sensuously. Draco wasn’t sure if she knew he was watching, or if she was doing it for Potter. Her tongue flicked along the edge of the ice cream, then she sucked it back into her mouth, licking her lips delicately to remove any last trace of the cream from them. He groaned. Pure torture!
And Potter was on the receiving end — figuratively, of course.
Draco narrowed his eyes at the couple. Then, he stalked away, leaving the matter to be settled once the term resumed in a few days. That would give him enough time to develop a game-plan.
"Lord, what fools these mortals be." — William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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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.