it won't take long
which one's right
and which one's wrong
and yours is most likely to be misunderstood
- Lifehouse
Distractions
Ginny sat there, staring blankly at the two boys grinning in front of her. Suddenly, everything that had just occurred hit her. Had Malfoy actually said it was a pleasure to meet her? Then, she remembered that he only said that after Blaise told him something about a cow… Ginny sat upright, furious. “I refuse to be a pawn that the two of you use to get back at the rest of Slytherin or that pug-faced Pansy!” she shouted at both of them, her hands in fists. Then she turned to Blaise, “And if that’s what you consider a friend to be-“
Blaise leaned forward and held up his palm, interrupting her again. “Ginevra, I only said that to get Draco to talk to you. You know how he is with you Weasleys. When I first met you, I wasn’t going to use you or anything, honestly!” He wore a concerned expression.
“Then why the bloody hell did you want to be friends with me?” Ginny gritted through her teeth.
“Because…you seemed… interesting,” Blaise stammered lamely.
At this, Draco snickered, but stopped when both Blaise and Ginny glared at him. Ginny sighed resignedly and leaned back in her seat. “I’m ‘interesting’?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, you are,” Blaise stated sincerely. Ginny looked at him, silently asking him to explain. He sighed and said, “Well, you’re beautiful, you have more brains than that stupid brother of yours…” Draco grunted with agreement. “Plus, I’ve been watching you since that ‘incident’ your first year.” This time, both Ginny and Draco stared at Blaise in shock. “I noticed how the school avoided you, and that those friends of yours never paid attention to you,” he continued unwaveringly. “So, I figured that I was bored and you were… well, interesting,” Blaise finished, and turned his gaze to the floor.
Ginny’s mouth dropped open. He had noticed her? A Slytherin? And from the looks of things, he was embarrassed about telling her about it! After a short pause she said, “I can’t believe you saw that. Even my brothers and my friends never noticed what I was feeling.” She stopped, looked at Blaise’s averted face and asked softly, “You know who gave me Tom Riddle’s diary, don’t you?”
Blaise looked back at her, and opened his mouth to answer. “My father was a complete ass to give you that diary.” Ginny looked at Blaise with confusion, and then turned to Draco, realizing that he had spoken. Draco’s elbows were resting on his knees, and he had leaned forward to watch her. His silver eyes were furious, his blond hair falling in his eyes. “I don’t care if you’re a Weasley or if you were close to Potter. No one deserves to have that happen to them.”
Blaise, who had finally found his voice, added, “Draco had quite a tiff with his father about that.” When Ginny dragged her eyes away from Draco and looked to Blaise, he continued with a wry grin, “We grew pretty disillusioned with the whole Death Eater scene after that.”
Ginny looked at both of them, amazed again. Then she turned to Draco and said, “But you’ve made my life a living hell since then! All you ever do is tease Harry and Ron and call Hermione a m-”
“Well, just because I pity you doesn’t mean I can’t have my fun from time to time.” Draco interrupted as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He was smirking at her again, his eyes narrowed a bit.
She glared at him. “Pity me? You pity me?” Her angry gaze now encompassed both Blaise and Draco. “I don’t need your damn pity,” she said through clenched teeth. She stood up, still furious, and clenched her fists at her sides. “I may not be noticed by my friends or completely happy with them, but I can take care of myself!” With that, she shoved open the compartment door and left, leaving the two stunned Slytherins watching her retreating form.
Ginny walked as fast as she possibly could away from the compartment. She heard the door slide open again and footsteps pounding the floor behind her, but she kept walking resolutely forward. Before she could leave the car, someone grabbed her arm and forced her to twist around. Ginny’s gaze fell on Blaise, but before he could say anything, she angrily said, “Sod off, Zabini.”
Blaise shut his mouth, and looked a little hurt. “Zabini, is it? What happened to Blaise?” he asked her.
Ginny just gave him a disgusted look, and tried to wriggle free from his grasp. But he just held on to her arm tighter. “I’m sorry Ginevra, Draco’s a complete prat and we don’t pity you. I already told you that he only started talking to you so he could get back at everyone else. But you know why I started talking to you Ginevra?” Blaise insisted, and Ginny momentarily stopped wriggling her arm to listen. “I think you’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met, and I’m not saying that to manipulate you. I mean it!”
Ginny sighed with defeat, and looked at him a bit curiously. “Tell me, why aren’t more Slytherins as charming as you are?” she teased.
Blaise grinned and said, “They are this charming, but only when they really want something. You’d be surprised how easy it is to manipulate people with a smile and a few nice words.”
Ginny smacked him playfully on his arm, as he yelped theatrically. They both stood grinning at each other for a minute. Blaise finally released her arm and asked, “Shall we go back then?”
Ginny stopped grinning, and returned, “But what about Malfoy?”
Blaise waved his hand impatiently, turned around, and dragged her back to the compartment. After he slid the compartment door open, he ushered her in and closed it. They both turned to find Draco standing and looking at Ginny intently. His face was impassive, but his eyes betrayed compassion of sorts. “I’m, err…” he began, his hands fidgeting at his sides. “I’m… I… regret saying that to you.”
Ginny looked at him, and smirked a little. “What’s wrong, Malfoy?” she asked innocently. “Have you never said ‘I’m sorry’ before?”
Blaise snickered when two faint pink spots appeared on Draco’s cheeks. Draco glared at Blaise, but that only made Blaise guffaw out loud. This in turn sent Ginny into a fit of giggles. So, for two minutes, the blond Slytherin clenched his fists and stood while the other two occupants of the compartment laughed openly at him. When they finally quieted a little, Draco merely glared at Ginny, and sat down again. He folded his arms across his chest and pouted like a little boy.
When Ginny witnessed this reaction, she let out another peal of laughter. Blaise once again joined her, and they both tried to sit while shaking with laughter. When Ginny finally stopped to breathe, she croaked, “Well, Draco… your strange little apology…” she giggled again, “is accepted.”
Draco sighed audibly and relaxed in his seat. He intertwined his fingers behind his head, and stretched his legs in front of him while leaning back. He looked at Ginny, and smirked a little when he said, “I only apologized for you having to hear that. I never apologized for saying those words.”
Ginny stopped grinning, and just glared at Draco. “Fine then!” she replied, turning up her nose at him, “Be a git all you want. I’m only tolerating you because of Blaise.” She turned to Blaise and smiled at him.
Blaise smiled back at her and was about to reply, when the door slid open again with a loud bang. Ron stormed into the compartment, followed by Harry and Hermione. “Ginny,” Ron began, “where the bloody hell have you been? Why the hell did we have to search for you all over this damn train? And why…” he trailed off, and his eyes lighted on Draco and Blaise. If it was possible, Ron’s face became even more distorted and his voice even louder as he bellowed furiously, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SLIMY GITS DOING WITH MY SISTER?”
Blaise and Draco turned to each other, each with a raised eyebrow. Draco turned away and sneered at Ron as he replied, “Oh, I forgot to tell you Weasley! We’re your sister’s friends.”
“Friends?” asked Harry before Ron could reply. “Friends don’t go around tormenting other friends or calling them a mudblood,” he said angrily. “Tell them, Ginny,” he said, turning to Ginny as he spoke.
Ginny looked at Harry, and then looked at Draco speculatively. She shrugged and retorted, “Well, I’m his friend, not his mother. He knows that I don’t approve of his past actions, but it’s really up to him to change…”
Hermione came forward from her position behind Ron, and gaped at Ginny. “Ginny, how could you say that?” she inquired, obviously hurt.
“Forget that shit,” Ron interjected angrily. “What the hell is this nonsense about them being friends? We all know that we’re your friends, and I’m your brother, for Merlin’s sake!” His temper was rising by the second, but he calmed down a bit and continued, “Come on, Ginny, let’s go somewhere else, where we can talk… alone!” while he glared at the two Slytherins.
Ginny crossed her arms across her chest, and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere, Ron, so you can just bugger off!”
It was Ron’s turn to gape at her this time. He started to sputter something, before Harry piped up, “But Ginny, how could you prefer to be with them? Don’t you know he’s a Malfoy and that’s just his crony?” He asked as he jabbed a finger at Draco and then at Blaise.
“Well, Harry,” Ginny replied icily, “Blaise happens to be my best friend, not just his crony. And if it makes you feel any better,” she sighed, “Draco’s only here because Blaise is. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare come near me.” With that, she smirked at Draco, her brown eyes glinting at him.
Ron had found his voice again, “Wait till Mum hears this!” he shouted at Ginny, “And Dad! Don’t you know who Lucius Malfoy is? He’s the son of a bitch who gave you that damn diary and ruined your first year. And now you’re-”
Ginny interrupted his tirade, “I know full well who Lucius Malfoy is, Ron. But in case you didn’t notice, this is Draco Malfoy,” she said bitterly, “And he is most definitely not his father! So why don’t you just FUCK OFF!”
Ron just stood there for a moment, surprise and anger still evident on his face. “Fine then,” he sighed, “Just wait until I tell Mum!” He turned around, flanked by his best friends. As he slid open the compartment door, he threw over his shoulder, “I’d be expecting a Howler any day now, Ginny.” He stalked out of the compartment heatedly.
The compartment fell quiet until Blaise said, “Now you know what I meant when I said that you were much nicer than that damn brother of yours,” grinning at Ginny.
Ginny smirked a little, and then sighed, “But he’s going to tell Mum, and I will get a Howler. He’s just that much of an ass…”
“Well,” Blaise said, leaning forward, “Won’t it just irk him if we continued to be friends after that?” He was grinning evilly, his eyebrows raised. Ginny sighed, and looked out the window. Blaise put his hand on her knee and whispered, “Ginevra.”
Ginny’s head snapped back and she looked at him. Her eyes seemed sad and a little reluctant. “But what will I do when everyone else I know abandons me? You guys really aren’t going to be too popular with the Slytherins, and the Gryffindors will hate me…” Her thoughts trailed off miserably.
Blaise shook his head and replied, “Honestly, Ginevra, do you think we give a shit about what Slytherins think? This is our last year at Hogwarts! I’ll be surprised if I see half of them again after I graduate. And, well,” he fidgeted a little, “I don’t think they’re going to mind as much… uh, once Draco and I are through with them.” He threw Draco a sharp look, and Draco nodded his head.
“Are you sure you won’t…” Ginny blushed and hung her head. Her next words were barely an audible whisper, “leave me?”
“Ginevra, get up,” Blaise said sternly as he stood up. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, shaking her head. He reached forward to grab her arms, but she cringed away from him. He sighed, and said in a gentler voice, “I’m not going to hurt you, Ginevra. I just want to hug you,” and he sighed dejectedly.
Ginny’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. His shoulders were a little slumped, and he was staring at his feet. She timidly rose out of her seat, and before she knew it, Blaise had enveloped her in a warm embrace. She sank into his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder, sighing contentedly. She inhaled a little, smelling rain and his aftershave. They were both reminded of where they were when Draco cleared his throat.
Blaise released his arms and looked down at her with a grin. “I won’t leave you unless you don’t want me, Ginevra.”
Ginny smiled up at him and whispered, “Thanks,” before she sank into her seat again. Blaise sat down again, and grinned at Draco. Draco just glared at him with a snort, and muttered something about “growing soft.”
For the next hour, Ginny and Blaise talked about their respective summers. Draco often interrupted with a snide remark or a snort; the only response that he got was a sharp poke by Blaise’s elbow each time – Ginny just ignored him. They continued pleasantly until the train pulled to a stop at the Hogwarts station.
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