Chapter 25

Slytherin vs. Gryffindor (Part I)

*~*~*

Draco was lounging on a sofa; his feet stretched out and propped up on a cushioned footstool. Ginny’s head lay on his lap and she had her knees bunched up with a book propped up against them. A large book hovered just before Draco, the page turning at each lazy wave of his wand. His other hand subconsciously toyed with Ginny’s red tresses.

Since the Hogsmeade trip less than a week before they had been trading off nights in the Tower of Travels with Blaise and Colin. Their secondary meeting place was a snug little study that was on the fourth floor behind large tapestry that looked like it was part of the wall. Ginny took credit for finding this particular room as in a mad rush to hide from her brother she had pulled Draco into the room without thinking much on it. He had commented on how cozy the room was and it was his suggestion that they meet there on nights when Colin and Blaise had the Tower or when the Tower was unsuitable (the night of the blizzard in the mountains had shown just how unpredictable the Tower could be at times). She had been reluctant, but gave in when he placed another heart melting kiss on her lips.

The problem with the study was that aside from casting a silencing charm around them there was only the tapestry as a barrier between the room and the remainder of the fourth floor and any sounds could escape to make someone suspicious. Draco would typically cast the charm, but Ginny felt it would be safer to at least try to remain quiet while in the room. He laughed at the suggestion, though they did choose to use their time in the study for actual studying purposes.

The first evening they met in the room she had made herself comfortable on the couch and then sent Oya with a note to fetch Draco. When he arrived with his books he told her to sit up so he could get comfortable too. She had protested at first (in the process sitting up anyway) and he had taken his seat, then pulled her back for a quick snog before telling her she could get comfortable again.

She had laid her head on his lap and found it odd how comfortable she felt around him. He would always play with her hair as if it was something he had done all his life and it had just become habit. She loved it when he ran his fingers through her hair, though she never thought Draco to be the sort who would show such affection carelessly. The way he looked at her with his playful smirk and the way he’d hold on to her hand when no one was looking (and even when people were looking, at which point she’d almost regrettably pull her hand away lest their secret be discovered. Each time he’d give a mischievous grin as if he were playing a game and trying to get caught.) was all so unexpected. And yet she was only falling deeper in.

Had it only actually been a week since he had given her his ring? She wondered how it could be possible. They had spent weeks snogging each other and nothing but, however, after he gave her the ring she felt the change. This meant something.

It didn’t even really hit her until she realized after the first night in the study that the only time they kissed was when he first entered the room and then he gave her a short, but sweet, kiss goodnight.

In fact, during the course of the week they had spent every night together, but only one had been spent doing nothing but snogging. The remainder of the week they had studied and talked. And talked. And talked some more. It should have been distressing knowing how much she had in common with the one she previously knew as King Ferret and Son-of-a-Death-Eater. He made her laugh gleefully at some of the preposterous stories he told about growing up in the care of house-elves. In true Malfoy style he had thrown a tantrum at the age of five and sent the three house-elves who were tending to him flying around him crashing into each other’s heads until his mother scolded him.

“You prat!” Ginny exclaimed after her laugher died down.

“Am not. I wanted a chocolate frog and they wouldn’t give me one,” he said. “So I taught them a lesson.”

She continued chuckling. “You don’t always get what you want, you know.”

“Yes I do. Dobby got me the chocolate frog after my mother left. He was ridiculously afraid of heights.”

“You couldn’t seriously have always gotten your way.” She shouldn’t have been shocked.

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “A Malfoy gets what a Malfoy wants.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“I got you, didn’t I?” he said accompanied by the standard Malfoy smirk of deviousness.

Ginny was about to dispute the matter, but it was true. He had her. So she decided to push the issue elsewhere. “You haven’t beaten Harry in Quidditch, isn’t that something you want, but haven’t gotten?”

His face soured immediately, and she almost regretted broaching the subject. Almost. But she still enjoyed tormenting him.

“I’ll beat him soon enough,” he said with determination.

“Tomorrow, even?” she asked, feeling a little devious herself.

"Care to wager on that?" Ginny said with such cunning innocence that Draco immediately knew she was up to no good.

"And what would be the terms, exactly?" he asked, clearly interested that she had proposed another wager. He was almost surprised, considering the fact she had lost the last bet, even if it wasn't by much.

"If Harry catches the Snitch, as always, you lose and you have to shake his hand and congratulate him for being the better Seeker," Ginny stated.

"Are you insane? I will not congratulate him," he responded, the resentment still apparent on his face.

Ginny goaded him. Yes, she loved to torment him so. In a small way it made her feel like she was getting at least a small amount of payback. Perhaps it was possible to like Draco and still get a little vengeance.

"So you’re willing to admit that you really don't always get your way and that Harry will beat you again because you know he's the better Seeker? I always knew it," she said airily. Her purpose was to annoy him and she knew she'd succeed. Harry had always been a sore point with Draco. She knew that he was jealous of Harry, and perhaps should not have even attempted such mischievousness, but- really she couldn't resist.

"You're supposed to be my girlfriend."

"So what's your point?" she asked, knowing full well he meant that she was being a bit mean.

"I think that's a bit inappropriate." He was obviously irritated.

"Well, he is a better Seeker."

"He is not. And even if he was, you're supposed to be on my side. You're supposed to tell me that you know I'll beat him. How truly unsupportive of you," he said sourly, though Ginny thought she could hear a bit of humor and mockery in his words.

"First of all, no one said that because I agreed to be your girlfriend I should suddenly fawn over you and tell you all sorts of untrue things. I'm not here to worship the ground you walk on, my dear Casanova. Second of all, if you're so sure of your talents, then why don't you take the bet?"

"Alright, I'll take the bet. But, if I win, then you have to announce to the school that you are my girlfriend," he said smirking despite the bitterness.

Ginny didn't respond for a moment. She knew that Draco's talent as a Seeker was actually comparable to Harry's. She still wasn't quite ready to inform the entire school that she had actually given in to Draco Malfoy's charm. Aside from her friends telling her she was absolutely insane and trying to hex Draco, everyone would actually think she was just another conquest. If things didn't work out (as she was still almost determined that they wouldn't) then she didn't need everyone telling her what she already knew. She was stupid for falling for him. Half the girls probably couldn't blame her for it, but she'd always prided herself on trying to make smart decisions. Agreeing to be Draco's girlfriend was probably not one of her most intelligent choices. It was a moment of weakness (much like any time she was dealing with Draco, and she still cursed herself for not being able to avoid it), she had given in.

She was just going to have to make sure he didn't win.

"Just so you remember, I play for the Gryffindor side."

"Are you afraid that I really do have talent?" he asked, the bitterness replaced with an expression of smugness.

"I never said you didn't have talent. But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my boyfriend." Ginny was getting the feeling that the bet may have been a bad idea.

"I was counting on that. I told you I wanted to see what you could do on a real broom. That's why I got you the Pegasus. However, I'm still going to win. I'm looking forward to seeing the shock on everyone's face when you reveal our dirty little secret." Now she was sure it was a bad idea.

"Why are you so insistent on letting everyone know I'm your girlfriend. Do you really think it's necessary to have everyone know that I was stupid enough to fall for the infamous Malfoy charm?"

"Yes. And I would like to be able to kiss you in public. The secrecy game is only a thrill for so long, you know."

“Getting bored already?” she chided.

“Hardly. You are by far the most interesting girl I’ve ever met,” he paused a moment and then added, “and the most stubborn.”

“Well,” she said returning the smirk he had given her, “I must give you credit for being persistent. It’s usually very difficult to change a Weasley woman’s mind once she’s made it up.”

“So the bet’s on then.”

As he pulled her into his arms with a roguish look in his eye, somehow she got the feeling he had twisted things into his favor yet again. She just sighed and enjoyed getting lost in his embrace once more.

*~*~*

“This is complete and utter shite, Blaise, and you know it!” Colin yelled in an uncharacteristic fury.

After a short, but satisfying snogging Ginny and Draco had decided to see if Blaise and Colin would bear witness to their agreed wager. They never intended on walking in on an argument, perhaps a little snogging, but Colin and Blaise got along too well for both Ginny and Draco to ever think they would argue.

They didn’t have time to open the door to the Tower. Colin was already barreling through it.

“What’s going on here?” Draco asked firmly.

Colin looked too infuriated to speak; he simply glared in the direction of the door.

“You’re being unreasonable, Colin,” Blaise said stepping through the door looking in a state himself, but seemed far more collected than Colin at the moment.

“I’m being unreasonable!? I think I have every right to be unreasonable after that bloody comment! And I thought I could share everything with you without worrying about it getting thrown back into my face,” he said and promptly turned to run down the tower stairs.

“Colin, wait…” but it was too late. He was already out of sight. Blaise moved to follow him, but Ginny stopped him.

“Give him a little time to cool off,” she said soothingly.

“Sodding hell!” Blaise screamed with sudden rage slamming his fist into the door making both Ginny and Draco flinch. He pulled his fist back gritting his teeth and rubbing at the raw pain he had just inflicted upon himself. “I didn’t mean to, Gin,” he said, his voice carried none the explosive rage he had shown only a moment before. He was sorrowful. “Tell him to come back. Tell him I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it! I…Damn it!”

“Trust me,” Ginny continued in her most soothing tone. “It’s better that he has time to cool off. What happened?”

He walked back into the tower where a large tent had been erected in the middle of a desert environment. Several multicolored cushions were scattered about the canvassed floor. An open picnic basket remained open and half its content eaten. Clearly, at one point they were having a good time.

Blaise threw himself on a pile of pillows and groaned in frustration.

Draco brushed the sand off several of the cushions and made himself comfortable. “I believe you’re being a bit over dramatic again, Zabini,” he informed his friend as he popped a couple of grapes into his mouth. Blaise glared at him.

“Don’t start with me, Malfoy.”

Draco rolled his eyes. Ginny also glared at him.

“Alright, Casanova. If you’re going to be a git about it, why don’t you leave and let me talk to him,” she scolded.

Draco gave her a winsome grin. “And this is why you’ll always be a Gryff. You’re so caring others feelings. Funny, you are capable of going from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes,” there was no bitterness behind his words and it seemed to be said in good nature, but Ginny suddenly felt very hypocritical. Draco continue, “He really is prone to these dramatic outbursts. Trust me, it’s better to let him pout it out and realize that it’s not that big of an issue.”

Blaise glowered at him some more. Ginny did the same.

“I recall not too long ago someone else I know,” Blaise said pointedly at Draco, “had a bout of dramatics himself, over a – ”

“Fine,” Draco interrupted in apparent fear of his true nature being discovered. “Go on, share.”

The corner of Ginny’s lip raised just a fraction at Draco’s lack of concern. How could he be such a prat and still manage to make her like him? She sighed inwardly as Blaise started his story.

“I’m not even sure what happened. We were talking about Harry-Bloody-Potter and the next thing I knew we were arguing!”

Draco smiled. Ginny frowned.

He proceeded to tell them that Colin had a crush on Harry Potter for a long time. This was no surprise to either Draco or Ginny. They had apparently gotten into a discussion about the best way to come out to the public. Colin had simply gotten tired of hiding. A few rumors had circulated about his crush on the famous Harry Potter and one day he decided not deny the fact that he was indeed googly-eyed over the Boy Who Lived. Rumors spread and when he was asked point blank if he was gay he began freely admitting it. His parents and brother already knew about it and with Ginny as his best friend he felt strong enough to deal with any problems the truth might cause. Harry had issues with it at first, but Colin explained that he knew Harry wasn’t gay and there wasn’t a chance in hell. Though if he ever changed his mind…

Blaise had informed Colin that he didn’t plan on coming out any time soon. Colin expressed his desires to be with someone he didn’t have to sneak around with. Blaise had apparently taken offense and Colin had tried explaining that he didn’t mean Blaise had to come out soon, but he wanted him to think about it.

“I panicked. We’ve only been going out since the start of term and he’s already talking about me telling everyone! It took me long enough to accept myself and now he’s already wanting me to think about the next step. What was I supposed to do!” He groaned in frustration again.

“See, I told you he was being over dramatic,” Draco stated as Blaise shot him another glare.

Ginny ignored Draco’s thoughtlessness. She felt the need to help the two through their difficulties, but sensed the irony in the situation. “What did you do?”

“I told him…it was stupid of me, I know…but…I felt like he was pushing me to do something! It was like he was giving me an ultimatum.”

“Out with it, Blaise,” Draco said impatiently. “What did you say that could possibly warrant such an theatrical performance from the both of you?”

“I told him if he wanted a black haired, green eyed boy wonder prancing around at his side that he should go convince Harry-Sodding-Potter to be his public boy-toy just like he always dreamed and let me stay out of the spotlight where it’s safe. I’m such a bastard!”

Ginny moved to speak, but Draco was already commenting.

“Yes, you are a bastard,” he said matter-of-factly. Ginny was stunned. “First off, this is a minor argument and Colin will get over your stupidity. Secondly, why the hell is everyone so damned jealous of Harry To-Hell-With-Him Potter!”

“Like you should talk,” Ginny interjected with a wry smile.

“Exactly. That’s why my beaters are going to bloody him up tomorrow,” he replied dismissively. Ginny opened her mouth to reply in outrage, but he continued quickly. “But that’s not the point. Do you like him?”

Ginny failed to believe that Draco was actually giving his friend advice on his love life.

Blaise sighed heavily, “I think it’s worse than that. I think I love him.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Marvelous,” he said unenthusiastically. “What you’ll need to do now is make some sort of grand gesture to tell him so. Extremely over the top apologies are almost guaranteed to work,” he said glancing over at Ginny and winking slyly.

Again, Ginny was going to add something, but Blaise jumped up. “You’re right! I can fix this. He can’t completely hate me,” he muttered almost to himself.

“And if he does, there’s always the Imperius curse,” Draco added as Blaise left the tower. Neither of them had any idea what he was going to do to fix it. Ginny was still trying to digest the fact that she had just witnessed Draco urging his friend to go after Colin.

He was constantly surprising her with little oddities she’d never expect of him. He was making it more difficult to remember exactly why she had ever hated him.

~*~*~

The following day, Ginny performed her ritual pre-maintenance on her broom and donned the scarlet and gold uniform. As it was the first game of the season she was nervous, but even more so as she had a bet riding on the winner of this game. She was anxious to prove her abilities as a beater and she couldn’t help feeling the need to show off a bit in front of Draco.

As she was double checking her Quidditch gear Ron had approached with Harry at his side.

“So which side is he cheering for?” Ron asked in attempt at being nonchalant.

“Excuse me?” she said, unsure of what he was talking about.

“Blaise. Isn’t he watching today? I thought he might have a difficult time choosing sides, you know. Though, I doubt he’d be brave enough to cheer on his Gryffindor girlfriend. Can you imagine the razzing he’d get?” he asked cheerfully as he elbowed Harry.

“Um…yeah,” she said feeling a little sick to her stomach.

“You better not go easy on them just because he’s a Slytherin,” Ron warned her unnecessarily.

She regained a little nerve. “As if I’d purposely lose the game just because my boyfriend is a Slytherin.” She almost couldn’t believe her brother even had the thought.

“Well, you know how sneaky those Slytherin are. Probably trying to take advantage of -”

“Ron,” she interrupted. “Let’s not have this discussion for the millionth time. We’ve got some Slytherin arse to kick.”

Ron and Harry smiled. “Exactly. And you can plow another Bludger into Ferret’s stomach! And this time we get to be present,” Harry said excitedly. For a brief moment Ginny thought about losing the game so Draco wouldn’t have to congratulate him. But it was only a brief moment.

She nodded and took a deep breath as the remainder of the squad gathered.

“Alright, team. It’s the first game of the season,” Harry started a little nervously. It was his first game at Captain and his first team pep talk. As he continued Ginny felt her anxiousness melt away and she felt bound and determined to win this one. She had to.

~*~*~