Ginny stood in front of the wardrobe and listened to the Boggart thrash around inside. She couldn’t believe that Hermione had talked the professors into letting her lead impromptu Defense against the Dark Arts classes during the evening in the Great Hall. The sky reflected the students’ state of mind as lightning arced and thunder crashed above their heads. All the students had turned out to either participate in the activity, or harangue the students who failed at their task.
Hermione cleared her throat and said, “All right. We all know that there is a war going on. It’s important that we keep up our training. Tonight we will work on banishing a simple Boggart. Who would like to go first?”
Ginny stepped back to hide in the crowd. Unfortunately for her, Hermione called her name. “Ginny, why don’t you go first and show the others how it’s done?” Hermione gave her a reassuring smile and added, “Remember it will take the form you fear the most.”
Trying to appear brave, Ginny said, “It will probably be my mum suggesting I knit a sweater for Harry.”
Harry was standing nearby, and he chuckled. She arched her eyebrow at him. “Is that a comment on my knitting, Harry Potter?”
“No, you gave me a lovely tea cozy-sweater vest last Christmas. I’ve found it quite useful.”
Ginny winked at him, bit her lip and said, “All right, then let it out.” Harry pulled on the rope that was holding the door closed. When the wardrobe door opened, Draco Malfoy stepped out looking unbelievably sexy in his sweaty Quidditch Uniform. He lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his face, and exposed glistening stomach muscles in the process. He seemed to notice Ginny staring at him. He smirked at her and said, “Spying on me, Weasley?”
Ginny shouted the counterspell before any more damning words could escape the Draco-Boggart’s mouth.
He disappeared in a whirl of smoke, and she beamed with pride. “I did it,” she stated doing a small happy dance.
Everyone just stared at her. She looked to see that the Boggart was, in fact, back in the closet. “What? My happy dance isn’t that bad. What’s wrong?” she asked again, confused by everyone’s behavior.
Hermione refused to meet her gaze, Ron was turning the color of his hair, and Harry was looking at her like she had two heads. “Uhm, Gin, why is a sweaty Malfoy your biggest fear?”
Luna, god love her, stepped forward and saved the day. “I remember the day you went to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Slytherin team work out. That was right before you played Seeker against Malfoy. I guess you were pretty scared about that game.”
“Of course that’s why I saw Malfoy. I don’t normally play bloody seeker, but Harry got himself kicked off the team, and the responsibility fell on my shoulders. I was terrified. I went down to the pitch to watch Slytherin practice to see if I could get any clues as to what to do. Why else would the Boggart have turned into Malfoy wearing a Quidditch uniform?”
Everyone seemed to relax, and Ginny walked over to side of the room. She tried to blend into the shadows, so people would stop staring at her. She felt his presence behind her, before he said a word. “That was very interesting, Ginevra.”
The way he said her name, drawing out the syllables, gave her chills. She bit her lip and fought the urge to turn around. “It’s about the Quidditch game, it's not about you.”
She could almost feel the heat radiating off of his body as he inched closer to her. Using his height to his advantage, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I wonder if there isn’t more to it than that? I seem to recall the day when you came down to watch us practice on the pitch. More than once I felt your eyes on me. Maybe, you liked what you saw.”
Ginny remembered the day she’d gone to the pitch just to get away from Harry and Ron. They’d been laughing and joking and oblivious to her presence. She and Harry were supposed to be dating, but somehow that had turned out to be nothing more than a few snogging sessions and some mild groping. She was distinctly disappointed in the way he still left her out of the rest of his life. She wanted to sit by the fire with him and talk about their future. Ron and Hermione seemed to be the only two who were allowed to do that.
She decided that since she was going to be playing Seeker, she would watch the Slytherin’s practice. Everyone flew in certain repetitive patterns. If she could figure out Draco’s moves, it would help her out when she played against him. Rather than notice what moves Draco was making, she found herself focused on the young man himself.
His white blond hair gleamed in the sunlight. When he flew in lazy patterns, he was grace incarnate. At other times, he flew with wild abandon, and she saw him laugh and smile. His gray eyes crackled with electricity when he was searching for the snitch. When he caught it, his fierce look of joy took her breath away. If she wasn’t the one playing against him, she would have rooted for him. When he’d landed after practice and pulled his shirt off, she’d been hit by an unexpected wave of lust.
Muscles rippled across his shoulders and down his arms. His pectoral muscles were well defined, and they moved when he stretched his arms overhead. He stopped to talk to someone, and she allowed her eyes to follow the progress of a single drop of sweat from his shoulders down the valley between his pectoral muscles. The droplet danced over each ridge of his stomach muscles until it disappeared into the waistband of his pants. To her horror, she’d taken a moment to wonder what lay under those Quidditch pants. When she’d come to her senses and looked up, Draco was smirking at her.
Caught gawking, all Ginny could do was blush and make a hasty retreat. That was two weeks ago. She kept waiting for the fall out, and apparently it had arrived.
Turning to face him, she gave him her best glare and walked away signaling he should follow her over to an alcove. “Fine, you caught me looking. It’s not like you don’t know what you look like. Although, why someone so evil has to look so good is beyond me. Go ahead. Tell everyone. Make a fool out of me. I don’t care anymore.”
The smirk he gave her as a response made her clench her fists and fantasize about decking him. She settled for snarling. He just laughed at her and walked away. Ginny slumped against the wall while chanting, “Stupid, stupid hormones.”
Luna found her a few moments later. “Is there a problem, Ginny?”
Ginny started ticking off items on her fingers. “My supposed boyfriend doesn’t really seem to be interested in me. I just admitted to Malfoy that I was gawking at him, and the evil bastard just smirked at me and walked away. I must be certifiably insane, because I still find him attractive.”
Luna smiled and said, “At least you have everything under control.”
They could hear Hermione rounding up the last of the students that hadn’t faced the Boggart yet. “Malfoy, get up here so we can end this session.”
Draco slowly approached the front of the room. “I bet it will either be my imprisoned father yelling at me and telling me what a disappointment I am to the Malfoy name, or it will be the Dark Lord.”
“Enough with the theatrics, Malfoy.” Ron muttered.
When the wardrobe door opened, and Ginny Weasley stepped out with what looked like a beach ball for a stomach, Draco froze. “That’s not possible,” he stammered.
The Ginny-Boggart started to yell at him. “Damn it, Draco. This is baby number six. I swear to god you’re sleeping on the couch for the rest of our married lives. This Weasley fertility is like some kind of hex. Until they find a cure, I’m cutting you off.”
Harry launched himself at Draco, who was protesting ever having thought about touching a Weasley. Hermione was holding back Ron to keep him from following his friend into battle. Luna had to say the counter spell to send the Ginny Boggart back into the wardrobe, before she revealed any more sordid details about their married life.
When Blaise and Seamus finally broke Harry and Draco apart, Harry was seething, and Draco was launching a full out denial. “I have no idea why the Weaselette appeared as my greatest fear.”
Ginny didn’t give him a chance to get much else out. She walked up to him with a huge grin on her face and yelled, “Hah!” Then, she walked away, head held high, with a very Slytherin smirk on her face.
Hermione cleared her throat and said, “All right. We all know that there is a war going on. It’s important that we keep up our training. Tonight we will work on banishing a simple Boggart. Who would like to go first?”
Ginny stepped back to hide in the crowd. Unfortunately for her, Hermione called her name. “Ginny, why don’t you go first and show the others how it’s done?” Hermione gave her a reassuring smile and added, “Remember it will take the form you fear the most.”
Trying to appear brave, Ginny said, “It will probably be my mum suggesting I knit a sweater for Harry.”
Harry was standing nearby, and he chuckled. She arched her eyebrow at him. “Is that a comment on my knitting, Harry Potter?”
“No, you gave me a lovely tea cozy-sweater vest last Christmas. I’ve found it quite useful.”
Ginny winked at him, bit her lip and said, “All right, then let it out.” Harry pulled on the rope that was holding the door closed. When the wardrobe door opened, Draco Malfoy stepped out looking unbelievably sexy in his sweaty Quidditch Uniform. He lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his face, and exposed glistening stomach muscles in the process. He seemed to notice Ginny staring at him. He smirked at her and said, “Spying on me, Weasley?”
Ginny shouted the counterspell before any more damning words could escape the Draco-Boggart’s mouth.
He disappeared in a whirl of smoke, and she beamed with pride. “I did it,” she stated doing a small happy dance.
Everyone just stared at her. She looked to see that the Boggart was, in fact, back in the closet. “What? My happy dance isn’t that bad. What’s wrong?” she asked again, confused by everyone’s behavior.
Hermione refused to meet her gaze, Ron was turning the color of his hair, and Harry was looking at her like she had two heads. “Uhm, Gin, why is a sweaty Malfoy your biggest fear?”
Luna, god love her, stepped forward and saved the day. “I remember the day you went to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Slytherin team work out. That was right before you played Seeker against Malfoy. I guess you were pretty scared about that game.”
“Of course that’s why I saw Malfoy. I don’t normally play bloody seeker, but Harry got himself kicked off the team, and the responsibility fell on my shoulders. I was terrified. I went down to the pitch to watch Slytherin practice to see if I could get any clues as to what to do. Why else would the Boggart have turned into Malfoy wearing a Quidditch uniform?”
Everyone seemed to relax, and Ginny walked over to side of the room. She tried to blend into the shadows, so people would stop staring at her. She felt his presence behind her, before he said a word. “That was very interesting, Ginevra.”
The way he said her name, drawing out the syllables, gave her chills. She bit her lip and fought the urge to turn around. “It’s about the Quidditch game, it's not about you.”
She could almost feel the heat radiating off of his body as he inched closer to her. Using his height to his advantage, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I wonder if there isn’t more to it than that? I seem to recall the day when you came down to watch us practice on the pitch. More than once I felt your eyes on me. Maybe, you liked what you saw.”
Ginny remembered the day she’d gone to the pitch just to get away from Harry and Ron. They’d been laughing and joking and oblivious to her presence. She and Harry were supposed to be dating, but somehow that had turned out to be nothing more than a few snogging sessions and some mild groping. She was distinctly disappointed in the way he still left her out of the rest of his life. She wanted to sit by the fire with him and talk about their future. Ron and Hermione seemed to be the only two who were allowed to do that.
She decided that since she was going to be playing Seeker, she would watch the Slytherin’s practice. Everyone flew in certain repetitive patterns. If she could figure out Draco’s moves, it would help her out when she played against him. Rather than notice what moves Draco was making, she found herself focused on the young man himself.
His white blond hair gleamed in the sunlight. When he flew in lazy patterns, he was grace incarnate. At other times, he flew with wild abandon, and she saw him laugh and smile. His gray eyes crackled with electricity when he was searching for the snitch. When he caught it, his fierce look of joy took her breath away. If she wasn’t the one playing against him, she would have rooted for him. When he’d landed after practice and pulled his shirt off, she’d been hit by an unexpected wave of lust.
Muscles rippled across his shoulders and down his arms. His pectoral muscles were well defined, and they moved when he stretched his arms overhead. He stopped to talk to someone, and she allowed her eyes to follow the progress of a single drop of sweat from his shoulders down the valley between his pectoral muscles. The droplet danced over each ridge of his stomach muscles until it disappeared into the waistband of his pants. To her horror, she’d taken a moment to wonder what lay under those Quidditch pants. When she’d come to her senses and looked up, Draco was smirking at her.
Caught gawking, all Ginny could do was blush and make a hasty retreat. That was two weeks ago. She kept waiting for the fall out, and apparently it had arrived.
Turning to face him, she gave him her best glare and walked away signaling he should follow her over to an alcove. “Fine, you caught me looking. It’s not like you don’t know what you look like. Although, why someone so evil has to look so good is beyond me. Go ahead. Tell everyone. Make a fool out of me. I don’t care anymore.”
The smirk he gave her as a response made her clench her fists and fantasize about decking him. She settled for snarling. He just laughed at her and walked away. Ginny slumped against the wall while chanting, “Stupid, stupid hormones.”
Luna found her a few moments later. “Is there a problem, Ginny?”
Ginny started ticking off items on her fingers. “My supposed boyfriend doesn’t really seem to be interested in me. I just admitted to Malfoy that I was gawking at him, and the evil bastard just smirked at me and walked away. I must be certifiably insane, because I still find him attractive.”
Luna smiled and said, “At least you have everything under control.”
They could hear Hermione rounding up the last of the students that hadn’t faced the Boggart yet. “Malfoy, get up here so we can end this session.”
Draco slowly approached the front of the room. “I bet it will either be my imprisoned father yelling at me and telling me what a disappointment I am to the Malfoy name, or it will be the Dark Lord.”
“Enough with the theatrics, Malfoy.” Ron muttered.
When the wardrobe door opened, and Ginny Weasley stepped out with what looked like a beach ball for a stomach, Draco froze. “That’s not possible,” he stammered.
The Ginny-Boggart started to yell at him. “Damn it, Draco. This is baby number six. I swear to god you’re sleeping on the couch for the rest of our married lives. This Weasley fertility is like some kind of hex. Until they find a cure, I’m cutting you off.”
Harry launched himself at Draco, who was protesting ever having thought about touching a Weasley. Hermione was holding back Ron to keep him from following his friend into battle. Luna had to say the counter spell to send the Ginny Boggart back into the wardrobe, before she revealed any more sordid details about their married life.
When Blaise and Seamus finally broke Harry and Draco apart, Harry was seething, and Draco was launching a full out denial. “I have no idea why the Weaselette appeared as my greatest fear.”
Ginny didn’t give him a chance to get much else out. She walked up to him with a huge grin on her face and yelled, “Hah!” Then, she walked away, head held high, with a very Slytherin smirk on her face.
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