By the time the sun rose the next morning Ginny was already out by the lake, working on a paper. In truth, she never technically went to sleep the previous night. Things with Harry had got worse when she returned from Draco’s room last night. Biting her lip, she scowled at her essay, having half a mind to rip up the parchment and toss it into the water.
Ron had also been in a mood, it seemed, as he came down into the common room after hearing his sister and best friend shouting at each other. It took only minutes for his temper to spike, and he stepped in front of Ginny to scream at Harry harshly. Ginny and Hermione watched as the boys yelled at one another. Pansy’s name was mentioned and Ginny blinked at her brother, fighting her urge to ask him what she had to do with this.
The wind whispered around her and she turned her head to look behind her at the castle. Her brown eyes fell on Harry and Luna just coming into the grounds. She noticed there was now a smile on the raven-haired boy’s face, and she wondered if he had calmed down since last night.
As they came closer to her, Ginny noticed that Luna looked bothered by something. She kept quiet as they reached her and Harry cleared his throat distinctively to let his girlfriend know that the cause of his stress was just a few feet from them. After a few hushed murmurs, Ginny heard them start in a different direction.
Today just wasn’t going to be good.
Draco scowled at them from his seat by the window as they passed. He watched the dark-haired boy stop and smirk at him, and then pull his partner closer and brush his lips against her cheek.
“You’re staring again,” Blaise pointed out.
Beside him, the Mudblood giggled.
Draco glared. “What’s she doing with you? Don’t you value your reputation…or what’s left of it?”
The small grin on Blaise’s face made Draco flinch.
“Shouldn’t you be practicing dancing with your partner?” Blaise asked.
“No.” Draco sniffed arrogantly.
“Is it because Malfoys are just perfect dancers?” Hermione mumbled.
Draco sneered at her and Blaise chuckled.
Just as Draco was about to retort, he felt a hand against his hair. He nearly groaned, but instead turned his head slightly to face a redheaded vixen with her large brown eyes staring reproachfully at him.
Ginny smiled wearily. “Can I talk to you?” she whispered into his ear.
He had a feeling, by her tone, that their meeting would have little conversation involved. Realizing they hadn’t seen her yet, he stood and brushed himself off.
“I think you’re right,” he said to Blaise. “I should go ask Ginny if she’d like to dance.”
By his mate’s expression, Draco knew that was the most unbelievable story he'd ever come up with.
His lips crashed down on hers as soon as he saw her standing beside two statues in the hallway. He smiled down at her as he grabbed her hand and headed down the corridor. Ginny never asked where they were going. When they stopped in front of a door she grinned at him. As he opened the door, she gasped; the room was lit very dimly with several flower petals on the floor.
She practically squealed when she located the bed and the champagne bottle.
“Do you like it?” he asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “I thought it would be a nice place for a dance too. The ball is in two days.”
“I know when it is,” said Ginny, turning in his embrace.
Draco looked at her worriedly. “You still want to go with me, don’t you?”
Her damnable silence suddenly filled him with anger.
“I don’t know.”
He pushed a hand through his blond hair and stared at her, willing his eyes to not leave hers. He wanted to hit her, to shake her so badly that she reconsidered her answer.
I am a Malfoy – I do not strike women, no matter how heartbreaking they are.
“Draco, say something.”
He hadn’t realized she was still speaking until her voice floated into his brain. He loved her voice. Quickly and carelessly, he turned his back on her. She would not affect him. She was nothing to him.
“Do you see that door? Use it, Weasley.”
“I only said I…”
“I know perfectly well what you bloody said to me, you moron!” he snarled, whirled around, and gripped her frail shoulders. His mouth curled into a nasty sneer. “How dare you play with me, you bitch!”
Her eyes held fear.
“I didn’t…I love…”
He was shaking now. “Don’t say it! Do not fucking feed me that bullshit!”
“Draco, it’s not...” she started again, trying to calm him.
“I don’t want you.”
Ginny flinched for the first time since he had begun to yell at her. She calmly brushed a hand through her hair, and as she lowered it, she watched it tremble. “I know you don’t mean that,” she said softly.
She wasn’t crying or yelling at him. He took his hands from her and said in a whisper, “I’m sorry.”
When she gave him a faint smile, he watched her eyes light up slightly.
He nodded toward the door suddenly and her eyes narrowed. “I’m not sorry for anything I said.”
She was gone before he could say anything else.
He smirked down at his friend and sat beside him on the stairs. “You look like shit.”
Draco stared at Blaise, his gray eyes blank.
“Please don’t start,” he said softly, shaking his head. “I don’t need to hear it.”
Zabini frowned just as Pansy came into view. She stopped in front of her housemates and looked at Draco.
“Is he alright?” she asked. She sat down at Blaise’s feet and pressed her back into the wall, cocking her head at her childhood friend.
He thrust a hand through his blond hair and growled, “No, I’m not, Parkinson.”
Pansy sighed. “What did that bitch do to you?”
Thinking of Ginny, Draco suddenly found it harder to breathe.
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