Something To Believe

Chapter Twenty-Five: Drinks

Ginny nearly giggled. He was shy. How sweet.

She was in his lap, her fingers twined roughly into his silky locks. He was blushing hotly and refusing to kiss her, making her brush ler lips over his burning cheek in futility.

"Some boyfriend," she said. He rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably, lightly pushing her off.

She took the queue and flopped into the armchair opposite him. Better view, she thought.

"I...I've had feelings for you for the longest time."

"Well when I saw this," she answered, pulling the crumpled note, riddled with her name, from her pocket. He waved that away, swallowing, trying to form words, despite his embarrassment.

"No, I mean, for a long time. Since school," he said. "Since I first laid eyes on you, possibly."

"Oh, I didn't think you even knew my name." Now she was blushing.

"Well, no, actually, I didn't really. But I knew who you were, I..." He trailed off, turning to the fireplace. "Just fancied you, nothing more. I knew it could never be anything more."

"Why not - because you were such a snot to my brother?"

He grinned at her, "God, it was fun being a snot."

She rolled her eyes. "I had no idea, you never..."

"I couldn't very well come out and say it. You'd have hexed me into next century. Besides you only had eyes for Potter for the longest time. But I sent you a flower once, in your 5th year," he stood from his chair to kneel at the hearth rug.

"The day after my birthday! That was from you?" She remembered the pretty pink peony that arrived during breakfast, with no note or card.

"And there was one Quidditch match, you were playing against Ravenclaw - after you caught the snitch, I nearly ran to you, I wanted..." He trailed off, turning to face the fire.

She joined him on the rug. This felt familiar, a different rug maybe, the two of them were the same. She reached out and took his hand. He was hesitant but he didn't pull away. His palm was cold, sweaty - he was nervous.

"Why didn't you tell me these things earlier? At Grimmauld Place?"

"What, and encourage you? Besides, I...You know, I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I'm still furious with you."

"Are you really?" she cocked her head, hoping her well-practiced "I'm innocent, I swear" look worked on him.

"Yes," he said, licking his lips. He ran his hands over his face and roughly through his hair. "I'm not ready to just move forward. The feelings you somehow elicit in me - I - I don't entirely like it."

She drew herself up onto her knees and inched closer. She looked down at him, relishing in the way he tilted his head back to look her in the eyes.

"What are you so afraid of, Draco?"

"All this time, I was worried I'd break your heart," he gasped, his hot breath blowing back wisps of her red hair. "But I should have been worrying you'd break mine."

She flinched, burned by his words. Her brow furrowed as she slowly lowered herself away from him. "I wouldn't," she said, cringing at the whine in her voice.

"You already did, who's to say you won't do it again."

"Give us a chance."

"I'll think about it. For now," he stood, brushing himself off. "You should go. I"ll call on you soon."

She lay in her bed at the Burrow, bouncing a mini-quaffle off the ceiling and catching it single-handed. She had been spending most of her evenings this way, thinking. Now she had much to ruminate on.

He'd fancied her. Since school?

She replayed every moment of her academic career, analyzing every encounter she'd had with Draco.

There was a time in the library where she'd asked to borrow a quill, he'd looked up at her like she was a ghost. At the time she'd dismissed the look to him feeling like he was being mugged...

Once in Hogsmeade, she'd come up short at the counter, trying to buy her first lip gloss - but he'd sidled up beside her and pressed a galleon into her palm claiming he saw her drop it. She knew she hadn't, she'd never even held a galleon before that day...

She rewound further to the memory of her first interaction with Draco, in the bookstore so many years ago. She frowned thinking of Tom Riddle's diary slipping in her cauldron, pausing her arm to rest the quaffle on her chest. She was free. Thanks to him.

They were never going to get it together. They were never BOTH going to be on the same page. She imagined he was lying in his bed at the same moment, burning up inside. The way she was.

"Ginny, I heard you ran into Malfoy the other day," Harry said, shoveling a forkful of food into his mouth. The Weasleys all dined together at the Burrow, once a fortnight, and this included Harry and Hermione. Attendance was mandatory, and absentees suffered the wrath of Mrs. Weasley. She'd been pushing Harry to bring Draco along, but to no avail.

"Erm, did he talk to you about me?" she asked across the table, acutely aware her whole family had paused mid-chew to hear.

"No, he hardly speaks at all lately. Actually, I heard from Pansy." Everyone's fork clattered to their plates.

"Pansy?"

"Pansy PARKINSON?"

"What were you doing with Pansy?"

"Who's Pansy?"

Harry grinned, mischievously, at their questions and took another large bite.

"I took her out to lunch yesterday, she works as a Ministry liaison at Gringott's."

Again, a flood of questions.

"Oh just a business lunch?"

"Does she work with you, Bill?"

"A lunch date?"

"Who's Pansy?"

"I did see Draco," Ginny said, not bothering to be heard over the others. "He came into the clinic about a week ago, we went out for tea afterwards - that's where he ran into Pansy."

"Did you invite him to dinner, dear?" Molly said, "You should have invited him - "

"Mum, he's not...I don't think he wants that right now," Ginny replied, blushing into her half-eaten plate. Her appetite was gone, all she could picture was eating intimate meals with Draco back at Headquarters.

"He asked me to give his apologies, Molly, he said he will try to come next time," Harry said, dutifully. He caught Ginny's eye and shrugged his shoulders.

"He must be so lonely out there, he's living in that giant house all by himself, I hear. Andromeda and Tonks get to visit him," she sniffed. "But they never invite me along," she muttered into her wineglass.

"Pansy thinks the four of us should get together sometime, Ginny, for drinks or something," Harry said.

"I'd like that. Maybe she can be the one to invite Draco?"

"She can handle that, I think," he said, nodding. He realized the whole table was listening, and that Hermione looked hurt. "You and Ron should join us, for sure," Harry added awkwardly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"So how is Pansy faring these days," Ginny asked, smirking at Harry. "Better now, I imagine, that she's making some friends." Harry's smile made his eyes crinkle at the corners behind his glasses. It warmed her heart.

"Seriously, who is Pansy?" Fred cried out, exasperatedly, slamming his drink on the table. George leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Oooooh, her! Yeah... Nice one, Harry!" Fred exclaimed, waggling his eyebrows.

"I was NEVER that small," Harry said, nodding at the group of 4th year boys near the door. They were in the Hogs Head tavern, it was the first Hogsmeade day for Hogwarts students.

"You were, I remember," Pansy said, fidgeting with her cocktail napkin. She took a long pull from a steaming concoction in a pewter mug. "We all were."

Draco drawled, "Little Weasley's STILL smaller than most of them."

"Stop calling me that," she hissed under her breath, while Pansy and Harry laughed.

The 4th year boys were now bickering with another group of boys over a table. It happened to be nearest a large group of girls.

"Oh, and of course, the animosity between houses lives on," Harry snickered. "Tame though, in comparison, eh, Draco?"

Draco arched an eyebrow as he purveyed the argument across the room. Two giggling girls passed the boys and their dispute was forgotten. One boy playfully punched another on the arm and they all scrambled to sit down at the table together.

"Some things never change," Pansy remarked. She swept her sharp-cut black bangs out of her eyes. "I only had one boyfriend through school, and to be honest, he was rubbish."

"Har, har," Draco scowled. "You didn't have honest feelings for me. You were only interested in one thing."

Ginny choked on her drink. Harry slapped her on her back, laughing.

"Power, I was going to say power," Draco blushed. "Shut up," he added under his breath.

Pansy leaned across the table, narrowing her hazel eyes. "I know you fancied someone else, you were always so distant." Her lips curved up in a devious smile. "Who was it, Draco?"

He stared into his bubbling beer for a long moment and then said, solemnly, "Your mother." Pansy stuck her tongue out at him.

They talked there for hours, and eventually watched the Hogwarts students bundle up and shuffle out, elbowing each other and hollering all the way through the door.

"We need refills," Harry said, standing. "Care to help me, Pansy?" The two of them wove their way across the less crowded pub to the bar.

Ginny turned her full attention to Draco, noting the delicate pink across his cheeks.

"So how is your training coming along? Harry tells me you're exceptional at deception and inscrutability," Ginny said, trying to take a pull of her drink, now mostly ice. Harry had insisted she refrain from alcohol or he'd never hear the end of it from Molly.

"I'm well practiced at keeping a straight face. Having lived with you," he drawled. "And if you can say 'incrut-inscoo-inscruta-bill-ity' right now, you need a stronger drink," he said, himself knocking back the rest of his firewhiskey.

Ginny giggled, blushing as she thought about the effect firewhiskey has on Draco. Makes his eyes shiny and his cheeks flush.

"You're impossible to read," Ginny said, "There are times I wish I could tell what you were thinking. I wish I knew what you wanted."

"What I want is simple, no need for mind-reading - Oh...oh! Oh my god," he interrupted himself. "Oh my god," he pointed at her face jerkily, his hand still clutching his empty glass. "You're not 17 yet!"

"Yeah, you know my birthday's in fall. So?" Ginny said, cocking her head.

"Let me see, today is...one, two, no, three weeks?" he was muttering to himself, looking at his wristwatch.

Three weeks - she did the math quickly. She'd be 17 in a mere three weeks. Maybe then she'd start getting the respect she deserves. Maybe then she'd get more responsibility and less babysitting. She doubted it, her mum would consider her a child even when Ginny had babies of her own.

Harry and Pansy returned.

"Pansy and I were going to get some dinner," Harry said, setting down only two drinks. One was a butterbeer with ice, the other another finger of firewhiskey. He was very clearly NOT inviting them along. Ginny took the hint and stood to hug him and Pansy goodnight.

"It was wonderful spending some time with you, Ginny," the pretty black-haired girl murmured, "I've heard so much about you...from everyone." Pansy leaned over to wrap her arm around Draco's shoulders in a quick hug. He rolled his eyes, but patted her on the back.

"Bye, love," Draco called. Ginny's fist clenched as she sat back down. He never called me 'love', she thought, sulkily. He only calls me "Little Weasley" now. She hated it.

"See you, then," Harry said, shrugging on his coat and ushering Pansy out.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Ginny reached across the table and grabbed the firewhiskey glass. With reaction time faster than she'd expected, Draco's hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.

"Oh come on, there's hardly anyone around."

"Let's get out of here, too."

"Where'd you have in mind?"

The park was cold, and empty. She shivered, immersed in chilly fog. She stepped away from Draco, she's used his wand to apparate them both here. She didn't want to risk getting splinched because he couldn't hold his liquor.

"I love coming here," he said, grinning. His eyes were bright, his hair askew because he kept running his black-leather-gloved fingers through the strands.

"You come here often?" Ginny asked, confused, glancing down toward number 12. "Why?"

"Reminds me of you," he said, leaning into her, smiling.

"That's silly, you should just come straight to me," she replied, loving the carefree Draco with her now. She grabbed his lapels and pulled him down closer. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. What would he do if I just kissed him, right now?

"I remind you of me, too, don't I?"

His face scrunched up in confusion. "You remind me of...yarn."

Ginny laughed. She led them to the bench under the lamppost. Draco sat heavily beside her. He wrapped his cloak carefully around the both of them.

"So, Draco..."

"Yes, hmm, what?" he said, distractedly. He was brushing hair back from her cheek. His gloved fingers were cold on her skin.

"What is it that you want? You said it was simple?"

There was a long pause, while he blankly stared at her hair. After a few moments, she shook her head, it would be impossible to get straight answers out of him in his current state.

He reached over and took her hand.

"Ask me again on your birthday."

Author's Note:

It's been so long...I guess I really wasn't done!

But you must remember what happens now right? You REVIEW! Please leave a comment, it encourages me to continue :) I have some ideas already formulated for the next chapter - shouldn't be YEARS til you hear from me again...

Also the little stories about Draco and Ginny at Hogwarts - I think I might flesh some of them out and incorporate them in a different story.