Draco was waiting for her.
"'Lo," he greeted, stretched out on the makeshift bed, feral and quite lusciously nude.
"Hallo, yourself," she said amusedly, discarding her robe and inching towards the edge of the bed.
"Why don't I help you with that?" he impishly asked. He undid her buttons in one fluid motion and dragged her down on top of him.
"Much better," she said with a smile. Her lips met his, and so it began once more.
"Hey, do you think something's up with Ginny?" Ron said tentatively.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, she's just acting weird. She used to go to every single Quidditch game there was, not to mention all the practices. And the past three months or so, she's hardly gone to any games."
"She went last week," Hermione said pointedly. "When we played Slytherin."
"True enough," Ron admitted. "But just now when I asked if she wanted to hang out with us at Hogsmeade's- you know, like always- she said no."
"Maybe she's got a boy she fancies," Hermione said. "You're making a big deal out of nothing."
"Maybe I should go talk to her," Harry said, wiping his glasses off on his robes.
Ron seemed placated with that solution. "Right, right. If there's anything wrong, she'd spill to you."
"I think I saw her heading down to the dungeons," Hermione noted. "Who knows why."
Briskly Harry nodded, and went off in search of Ginny.
Harry passed by the Potions room, and saw the capricious sixth year Gryffindor known as some odd Eastern Euro name since Sunday.
"Hi, Drucilla," he said, taking a quick look about.
"Celestine," she interjected. "I changed this morning. Drucilla just sounds so dark. It was giving me bad chi."
"Do you have detention?" he questioned.
She nodded glumly. "Snape called me by," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "you know, the name, and I was just trying to explain that that wasn't my name anymore, and he looked dreadfully irritated, and said in that really sinister tone that I was being disrespectful. I was just trying to straighten things out, you know?"
"Right," Harry said, glancing around a bit more. "Listen, have you seen Ginny?"
"Indeed I have," she said brightly, happily pouncing on a new subject. "Truth be told, she was skulking about down here, looking quite odd, so of course I hid. She rapped thrice- wait, maybe it was twice." She thought about this for a bit. "No- no, it was definitely thrice. Anyhow, she banged on an odd spot of wall down the hall a wee ways, and the wall cracked open. She went in, so naturally, I stuck a Chocolate Frog in the entrance to investigate later. I thought I heard Snape coming, so I rushed back here."
"Thanks," he said, beginning to scan the hall for the Chocolate Frog.
He spotted it beyond a couple doorways, and quickly peeked in. "Gin," he began to say, but the sound died in his throat.
The first shock was that she was definitely not clothed.
The second, and much larger, was that a decidedly naked Draco Malfoy was on top of her.
The third, and largest of all, was that Ginny did not seem to be minding these two facts in the slightest.
His draw dropped, and he blinked to see if he was hallucinating.
He wasn't.
He backed away from the opening and the Chocolate Frog slipped out of place. "My god," he said, stunned.
"What?" Celestine called anxiously from down by the Potions room. "Tell me!"
He ignored her, and went back to the Gryffindor commons to sort out the scene.
Ginny walked back to Gryffindor Tower, delightfully sated. "Sorrel wood," she said, gliding into the commons with a grin stretched from ear to ear.
Harry was waiting.
"Didn't know you were so chummy with Malfoy, Gin," Harry said in a hard voice.
"I'm not," she replied, shrugging.
His eyes narrowed. "You don't have to lie to me. I saw you two, and you were starkers and going at it like rabbits."
"You caught us on a good day," she said blandly. "Most of the time we can't even bother to get our clothes off."
"God, Ginny, what's gotten into you?"
"Funny how you're concerned about my sex life," she said sweetly, "considering how fervently you rejected the possibility of being a part of it."
"Is this for revenge, then? Are you punishing me?"
"Contrary to popular belief," she said, rolling her eyes, "the world does not revolve around you."
"Then what the hell is it for, Ginny?" he countered, quiet rage filling his voice. "It's Malfoy! That's something you don't mess around with! What am I supposed to tell Ron?"
"You don't," she snapped. "Because it's none of his business. And for that matter, none of yours. 'What I choose to do is of no concern to you, and your friends. Cos it's me, and my life.'"
"So I'm supposed to just not tell my best friend that his baby sister is messing around with our common enemy?"
She tilted her head in consideration. "Yep, that sums it up quite nicely."
And with that, she walked off.
Ginny propped her face up on her elbows and focused on her book.
A knock came at the door.
"Ginny?" Hermione said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
She sighed and closed the volume. Harry had blabbed. Sneaky rat.
"Come in," she said. She surveyed the dorm, but everyone was either at the pitch or in the commons.
"I talked to Harry," Hermione said slowly, taking a seat next to her. "And we agreed maybe he wasn't the best person to talk to you."
"You make it sound like I have a disease," she said irritably. "I don't. I'm having sex. Get over it."
Her friend heaved a large sigh. "Are you sacrificing your dignity for sex, then?"
"Of course not," Ginny replied with a cheeky grin. "For great sex."
"Ginny," Hermione said patiently, "You're more than that, and you know it. He doesn't love you."
"He doesn't need to," Ginny retorted. "It's mindless sex, for jovesakes."
Hermione rose and glanced at her. "But does it have to be heartless as well?"
Ginny stared at the ceiling all night.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe she was too young to have lost her dreams of romance, too young to live for pleasure and not for love. But weren't the ideals of love those that always broke hearts? She knew exactly what she was getting from Draco. There were no doubts. Feelings had little place among them. They had sex, and that was that.
And yet, she felt empty.
"I feel empty," she said aloud.
"Do you?" chirped Celestine. "I've got some biscuits here, want some?"
Ginny sent her a withering look through the darkness. "Not that kind of empty. Why are you still awake?"
"Thinking of new names," Celestine informed, giving her a biscuit anyway. "How about you?"
What the hell, might as well go for it. "Wondering if my shallow relationship with Draco Malfoy makes me a shallow person."
"Draco Malfoy?" Celestine repeated. Ginny could just imagine her ears perking up. "How is he?"
"Fantastic," Ginny confessed.
"Wo-ow," she said with a jealous twinge in her voice. "You're a lucky bird. So what's the problem?"
"I don't know. You ever think about that whole happily ever after bit?"
"Ah, well, sometimes. But if my Prince has teeth like most of our royals, I'd stick with good sex, thank you."
Ginny cracked a small grin. "That's not exactly what I was looking to hear. I'm serious. Pink house, white picket fence, the whole schmear?"
"Two-point-five kids and a nanny," said Celestine dreamily. "And a husband who's madly in love with me."
"Yeah." Ginny cleared her throat. "I think I want that."
"And you think that being in a superficial relationship would detract from you search for Prince Charming."
Ginny turned over in surprise. "How did you know that?"
Celestine made a dismissive noise. "It doesn't matter. But as long as you have these niggling thoughts in the back of your mind, you're not going to be satisfied with what you've got any longer."
"Maybe I should break it off."
She thought perhaps Celestine had nothing to say to that, and the room was comfortably quiet. That was, until Celestine made a noise and said, "Can I have him?"
Ginny hurled the biscuit at her. "No!"
"Just asking," she said meekly.
"What's going on?" Draco asked. "Looking for an advance on this weekend?"
Ginny sat in the once disputed chair in the library.
"There's not going to be a weekend."
His eyes clouded with confusion. "You're not taking that divination business to heart, are you? It's really utter bull."
"No," she said firmly, "I'm not going to be with you this weekend."
"Next weekend, then?"
"No," she said. "Not again."
"Ever?"
"Never." She fidgeted with the edge of her shirt, but continued. "It was fun while it lasted, I guess. But I'm not going to be a fling. Don't make that face at me. You're not hurting. You're irritated that you'll have to find someone else who'll share your bed on a regular basis, but it's not as if there's a shortage of willing girls."
"But I want you," he said stubbornly.
"You can't have me," she said as if she were talking to a child.
"No one denies me," he said, but his words were only a shadow of what they had been.
"Grow up, Malfoy. It's not a game. And I'm done."
And that was that. It ended as quickly as it had begun.
Draco slumped on his davenport.
"She snubbed me," he said in utter amazement.
"It's okay, sugar," Pansy said, patting his tummy. "I'm here for you."
"No offense, Pansy," he said, "but you're not exactly known for the exclusivity of your company."
"None taken," she said brightly. "In fact it's kind of flattering. But really, you need to stop looking like you feel miserable. It's terrible with your complexion."
"But I am miserable," he protested.
"Pretend that you're not, dear," she said critically. "Makes your skin look quite wan."
"She snubbed me," he said again, dumfounded.
"It was just sex," Pansy said disdainfully. She pinched his cheek with great affection. "You don't usually get this upset, sugar."
"I don't usually get upset at all. I do the dumping," he said.
"Well, that's a good thing, because you definitely do not look your most attractive like this."
He made another face.
"It was just sex, right?"
"I don't know," he said. "Maybe it was something more."
"More than sex?" She looked bemused.
"I think maybe it is." He looked at his watch, and headed for the door. "Gryffindor is having Quidditch practice. She's bound to be there."
"Are you going to seduce her again?" she called after him.
"Not quite," he yelled back.
Pansy considered his hasty exit and shook her head. "Definitely not up to par," she confided in the cushion.
"I'm glad you're coming with us again, Gin," Ron grinned.
Hermione had saved them both seats in the stands. They went up to join her. "Yeah, me too," Ginny said, forcing a smile.
"Hey, 'Mione," Ron said, taking her hand and sitting down.
Ginny sat down next to them, and the smile became real.
It was peaceful and wonderful.
And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't.
Draco Malfoy came barreling through the pitch, leaving players cursing "Damn Malfoy" and "Slytherin!" alike.
"Ginny!" he shouted.
She pretended to ignore him.
"Ginny!"
She stood up, her hands bolted in fists at her sides. "What the hell do you want, Malfoy? It's over."
"What's over?" Ron asked Hermione.
"Don't ask," she advised.
"Did you ever stop to think," he said, only slightly out of breath, "that maybe it could be something more?"
"It was clear that you didn't want it to be," she said frigidly. "What we had was confined to the bed."
"Bed?" Ron said in a panicked tone.
A pained look came over his face. "Maybe it wasn't," he said. "Maybe... maybe I love you."
Ginny was just frozen.
For a full minute, she just stood there.
Draco held his breath.
Then, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"You asshole," she said, crying, running down to where he stood. "You complete asshole."
His face fell. She was going to slap him, wasn't she?
Then she flung her arms around him.
"You asshole," she cried, tears pouring down her face, dripping on him as well in their tight embrace, "You just told me you loved me, you needn't look as if you have indigestion."
He fastened his arms around her, and a hopeful look drew across his features. "Maybe you love me too?"
"Of course I love you," she said, sniffling. She lifted her head, blinked out the last of her tears, and he kissed her.
"Someone explain this to me," Ron said, bewildered.
"Maybe it's best that we just accept that this is," Hermione said, clapping his back.
[fin]
[more a/n: ahhhh. nice, eh? I apoligize to Apopilis who didn't like the fact that they lived happily ever after, but I couldn't bear for them not to be, especially after giving them the shaft in Entropy. Well, up next, I'll be writing a short (ah, 15-20k or so) fic- the last of the Merck Sindex- with a Ginny pairing I haven't used yet. Gasp, I know. Anyhow... until then, pwease review, and food for thought: how come everyone always drools over Draco in leather pants? I think Draco in *no* pants is much, much better. ;)]
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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.