Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter.
FFN A/N: I wrote this in response to a challenge issued by Mynuet at FIA, in which she asked for speculation about a character's New Year's resolution in relation to D/G. I hadn't intended to write it, but a rabid plot bunny attacked me in the middle of the night, dragged me from my bed, and forced me into it. So here you go.
Resolve
At twenty years old, Draco Malfoy had most of his life under control. He had an interesting job in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes at the Ministry of Magic. He had a spectacular flat in central London, away from his mother's daily influence. And, following Harry Potter's marriage to Cho Chang, he had been named Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Bachelor. With all of this going for him, it was high time to finally take control of his body as well.
So on New Year's Day, Draco made a resolution: to wank less often.
Oh, he would allow himself to indulge once each morning, in order to take care of the night's usual effects on his body. And possibly, on occasion, he would allow himself once before bed, if it had been a particularly stressful day. But he would stop allowing Blaise Zabini to pick the evening's entertainment when they went out on the town. And he would stop frequenting that bookstore in Knockturn Alley during his lunch breaks. And above all, he would stop slipping off to the loo at work, no matter how provoking the bint in the cubicle opposite his was.
For the first few days, keeping his resolution was a piece of cake. Over the weekend, his mother dragged him to an endless string of parties. With only Narcissa's aging friends and Pansy Parkinson to look at, he wasn't even tempted to break down.
The next week was only mildly more difficult. On Monday, Draco's feet automatically steered him towards Knockturn Alley, but he forced them to walk past the entrance and into Gringotts instead. He rewarded himself by withdrawing a large number of Galleons and promptly squandering them all at Quality Quidditch Supplies.
On Wednesday, Draco ran into Daphne Greengrass after work. In an effort to procure an invitation to accompany him to the Patils' ball the next week, Daphne artfully managed to rub her leg up against him without capturing the attention of passersby. This elicited quite a response from Draco, but by reciting Potions ingredients in his head, he was able to control himself enough to rebuff her advances.
On Sunday afternoon, Greg Goyle, who had a penchant for gambling, suggested that their group of former Slytherin classmates attend the Hippogriff Races. When they arrived at the track, Draco could see Blaise's disappointment at the lack of women in attendance, but he was secretly delighted.
That night, a smug smile crossed Draco's face as he contemplated his reflection in his mirror. He had made it through nine consecutive days without excessive wanking. Control was his.
Everything fell apart on Monday when Ginny Weasley returned to work.
She came running in ten minutes late, limbs and hair flying every which way in her haste. Her robes were not fastened correctly; they hung off her left shoulder, revealing freckled skin and her bra strap, which was a deep green. Draco couldn't tear his eyes away.
It took a moment for Draco to realize that Ginny had stepped into the doorway of his cubicle and had spoken to him. He looked up at her face, and lost focus. She looked different than she had before the holidays. Her hair was a shade lighter and shot through with gold. Her skin almost seemed to glow, even under the Ministry's artificial lighting.
Draco snapped out of his reverie when Ginny waved a hand in his face. "Huh?"
"Hello to you too, Malfoy," Ginny said with amusement. "I asked if I missed anything interesting when I was away."
"Uh… Well, there was one incident where a Muggle-born schoolgirl somehow turned her brother into a hamster. But other than that things have been pretty quiet," Draco responded, regaining control at least over his power of speech. "Where did you go, anyway?" he blurted out after a moment. Perhaps he didn't have total control over that either.
"Don't you pay attention to anything?" Ginny appeared to be slightly annoyed, but quickly burst into giggles. "I went to Bermuda with Luna Lovegood and her father to search for Periwinkle Bitherwillies."
For a moment, Draco thought he had lost track of the conversation again. He shook his head hard to clear it and asked, "What the hell are Periwinkle Bitherwillies?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," Ginny answered with yet another giggle. Draco couldn't help but notice it was quite musical. "But if it weren't for Periwinkle Bitherwillies, I would have missed out on a free trip to Bermuda!" She smiled brightly at Draco, and he would have drifted off again if she hadn't said cheerily, "Ah well, it was fun. But all holidays come to an end. I had best get to work!"
Watching Ginny's hips sway as she crossed to her cubicle, Draco thought that an extra wank that evening would be completely justified.
Draco's week passed extremely slowly. After that first night, he had avoided any extra wanking, but doing so had taken every last ounce of his willpower. It seemed as though every time he turned around, Ginny was bending over to pick up a quill she had dropped, or bending over his desk to point out an error in a report he was writing. He was constantly distracted by views of her breasts or bum. For a while, he wondered if she was displaying herself on purpose, but he quickly dismissed the thought. She was an innocent little Gryff, after all. Then she would turn her doelike eyes his way and thoughts of any kind fled him. By Thursday, Draco was startled to realize that the thought of visiting the bookstore in Knockturn Alley hadn't even crossed his mind all week. He hadn't needed any new "reading" material. He was consumed by thoughts of Ginny Weasley.
Draco sighed with relief as he Apparated to his flat after work on Friday. He would have two full days free of Ginny. He was convinced that her entrance on Monday had merely taken him by surprise and that a couple of days away would be just what he needed to banish her from his mind.
Draco escorted his mother to the ball Saturday evening. He was prepared to endure playful comments from all of her friends about how handsome he looked in his dress robes. He would then attempt to slip into a dark corner to drink away his boredom. At first, the evening seemed to progress as he had expected. He smiled politely as innumerable middle-aged women kissed his cheek. He danced with Millicent Bullstrode after his mother bullied him into it. He danced with Pansy Parkinson after she bullied him into it.
Draco had just taken a glass of champagne from one of the floating trays when he caught sight of Ginny. He stopped short. He had never expected her to be there. And he hadn't expected her to look so… beautiful. She was resplendent in rich brown robes that hugged her figure and emphasized her pale skin and flaming hair. He watched her for a moment as she danced with Potter, her face alight with an enthusiastic smile. Then he drank his wine in a single gulp and started moving towards the nearest loo.
Draco stopped as soon as he realized what he was doing. No, he wouldn't do this. He would keep his resolution. He would just have to try to avoid her for the rest of the evening and concentrate on something else. Presumably drinking. He grabbed two more glasses and sat down at an out-of-the-way table.
But he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Draco drank champagne like water as he watched Ginny dance with partner after partner. As the evening progressed, he wanted more and more to dance with her as well, even though he knew it would be tempting fate. Finally, Draco's resolve snapped.
Ginny and one of her brothers were standing nearby, watching the dancing. As Draco approached, Ron saw him first.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked with barely concealed hostility.
"I wanted to ask your sister if she would do me the honor of dancing with me," Draco said as stiffly as he could, trying to control his rapidly beating heart. He turned to Ginny. "Would you?"
Ginny smiled at him and was about to respond when Ron interrupted. "No, she would not like to dance with you. So just sod off, you wanker."
Draco's temper erupted. Ron Weasley had always irritated Draco, but he had always been able to keep his cool before. But for the git to use that insult at just the moment Draco was trying desperately to prove it false… It was too much for him to bear. His wand was in his hand before Ron had a chance to blink. He would have thrown a hex if Ginny hadn't intervened just then.
"Draco, put that away," she said so sternly that he couldn't help but return his wand to his robes.
"Ron, it's my decision. I can handle myself." She sent her brother a significant look, and Draco wondered if they were silently rehashing an old conversation. "Draco and I work together, remember?" Ron's ears were still red, but he nodded stiffly and walked away.
Ginny turned back to Draco and smiled once more. "Of course I will dance with you."
As he escorted Ginny onto the dance floor, Draco attempted to calm himself using his old trick of reciting Potions ingredients in his head. It didn't seem to be working. Her proximity was sending shivers down his spine. And once she was in his arms, the sensation was worse. He closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten.
"Draco, are you all right?" Ginny asked, and when he opened his eyes, he could see the concern in hers. "You've been so… tense all week."
Tense? Of course he'd been tense! She'd been prancing around in front of him, and he hadn't had any means of release. But he couldn't say that. "Er… I'm fine."
"If you say so," Ginny said with disbelief. As she moved closer, she brushed up against a sensitized part of Draco's anatomy.
Potions ingredients! He had to recite Potions ingredients. No, that hadn't worked. Think of Snape reciting Potions ingredients. Or Snape reciting Potions ingredients while naked. If that didn't work, nothing would!
But Draco would never know whether or not that mental image would suffice, because just at that moment, Ginny brushed up against him again, harder this time. He couldn't help but let out a gasp.
Ginny looked up at Draco with wide eyes. Draco looked on in horror as a look of recognition flitted across her face. Then, very, slowly, she smirked at him. "Does that have anything to do with why you got so angry at Ron?"
Draco's face paled with mortification. He tried to deny it, to make one of his usual snide comments, but all he could manage was to splutter a little. Ginny moved even closer to him. "Do you want to slip away somewhere to take care of that?" she asked mischievously. "I won't be offended if you do."
Draco found his tongue. "I can't."
The sly amusement on Ginny's face turned into confusion. "What do you mean, you can't?"
Draco figured he had already embarrassed himself as much as possible; telling her the truth couldn't hurt matters. "I... I, uh… I made a New Year's resolution."
Ginny's face lit with understanding, then the sly amusement returned. She pulled herself up so that her mouth was next to Draco's ear, dragging her body against his along the way. The problem nearly resolved itself (in what would have been a most messy and embarrassing way) when she whispered, "Then do you want to slip away somewhere together so I can take care of it for you?"
As he led her out of the ballroom, Draco made one last resolution: to see as much as he possibly could of Ginny Weasley.