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Elemental	By : AngelaBlythe Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Ginny Views: 3286 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
ELEMENTAL

~by The Labris~

CHAPTER TEN:

Respectfully Untitled

Violence Is Inherent in the System!�

Smatterings of blood lined the wall, and Dean, Colin, Harry,
and Hermione all rushed over to Ron to see if he was okay.

�Ron! Ron! Speak to me, Ron!� Hermione said
desperately. �Come on!�

�I swear to GOD, Ronald
Weasley! If you ever say anything like that
ever again, I�m going to KILL YOU!
Do you hear me!?!� Ginny screamed, struggling to free herself of Blaise�s tight grip.

�Jesus, Ginny!� Ron said, holding his nose as he stood.

Hermione �tsked� at him and healed
his broken nose. �Well, you kind of did deserve it, Ron.�

�Damn right you did!� Ginny screamed, trying again to
release herself from Blaise. �Let me go! Blaise! If you don�t let me go, I will scream!�

�Sorry, Ginevra,� Blaise said calmly. �You and I are going to go on a
nice walk up to your room.�

�You wouldn�t dare!� she whispered.

�Watch me,� Blaise said, tossing
her over his shoulder and trudging up the stairs, Colin and Dean in tow.

Ginny turned to her brother again and let out a string of
curses in mixed Gaelic and English that made his face pale. �And you
better hope when I get down here again, you�re long gone! �Cause if
you�re not, I�m really going to get angry! Do you hear me, Ronald Weasley!?�

�And so do the pigmies in the Philippines, Ginevra,� Blaise said dully.
�Silencio!�

Ginny didn�t seem to notice this; her lips kept moving as
she was brought up the stairs.

�Sorry, Ron,� Colin said desperately. �We�ll try to
calm her down.�

Then he dashed up the stairs after Ginny, Blaise, and Dean. Hermione shook her head and began
cleaning the blood from the walls and Ron�s shirt. She raised her
eyebrows as Ron stared blankly at the blood he wiped from his nose.

�She broke my nose,� he said in a small voice. He
seemed too surprised to be angry at that point. �She broke my nose.�

�Yes, she did, Ron,� Hermione said casually.

�I think the question here is why,� Harry said calmly.
He was the only one who hadn�t said anything. �One minute you were
talking, and the next you were on the floor bleeding. Who taught her how
to punch like that?�

�Charlie,� Ron grunted. �Said she could use some
self-defense. I�d say she caught on. Damn! That hurt!�

�What did you say to her, Ron?� Hermione asked sternly.

�I didn�t say anything!� Ron said defensively. �Not
one word, I swear!�

�We were talking about Malfoy,�
Harry said. �Then Ginny started to get this twitchy look; I remember
because Colin, Dean, and Blaise all turned to look at
her. Then she just flew across the table and punched Ron. It was a
clean right hook, I�ll give her that.�

�Lovely,� Ron muttered, finally standing and sighing.
When he listened hard enough, he could hear Ginny still screaming above him.

�Well, I think we need to explore the option that Ginny
likes Malfoy,� Hermione said quietly, looking
apprehensively at Ron and Harry.

�What?!�

Hermione flinched at the general consensus of her friends
and tried a different approach. She bit the inside of her cheek for a
moment before saying, �Okay, let me put it this way: Ginny has had a secret
boyfriend since winter holiday last year.�

�Nuh-uh!�

Hermione flinched again. �All right. And at the
risk of sounding terribly childish, yeah-huh. Please tell me at least one
of you sort of noticed.�

All she got back were blank stares. She sighed and
tried another approach. �Okay, Harry, didn�t you ever wonder why she
didn�t follow you around like a sick puppy all year? She�s practically
ostracized herself from us. She spends most of her time with Dean, Colin,
and Blaise.�

�You think she�s dating one of them then?� Ron said.

Hermione resisted the urge to punch him herself.
�NO! Ron, are you stupid? You know what? Don�t answer that.
Dean and Blaise are gay. Colin and Ginny are
like brother and sister.�

�Gay?� Ron said doubtfully. �With each other?�

�I don�t know,� Hermione said tiredly. �But I think
her secret boyfriend is Draco Malfoy.�

Ron snorted with a small smile on his face. �No,
Hermione; sorry, I can�t believe that. He�s always been mean to
her. Ginny�s smart; she�s learned. I don�t think she�d go after
someone like Malfoy. He�s a prick; everyone
hates him.�

�She�s started writing in a diary again,� Harry said
quietly.

Ron�s head swiveled to Harry, his eyes wide. �Are you
sure?�

�I�ve seen it, too, Ron,� Hermione said quietly. �She
looks very happy though. And her depression... Well, depressed
people don�t really punch people, now do they? I think it could actually
be good for her.�

�Okay,� Ron said, �I can buy the diary, but Malfoy?�

�Why else would she punch you, Ron?� Harry replied.
�You were saying some not very complimentary things about him. I�m not
saying any of them aren�t true, but they were pretty bad.�

�Why wouldn�t she tell me?� Ron said. �She�s going to
get hurt! Malfoy�s no good!�

Hermione snorted. �Well, with an attitude like that,�
she said dismissively, �I wonder. You wouldn�t have been reasonable about it;
you would have killed him, Ron.�

�Yeah, and?� Ron said, giving them a face that said
�obviously.� �He�s trying to manipulate her. His father�s a
bleeding Death Eater! And he left school early to be �abroad�? I
don�t think so. He�s training or something. He�s probably going to
use her as bait for something...or something.�

�I don�t trust it, Hermione,� Harry said thoughtfully.
�Ron is right; he�s out becoming a Death Eater.�

�Dreams?� Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. �Not really. I mean, I had
one around spring holiday, but I haven�t had one since. It�s kind of like
they�re all being filtered away, because I get some dreams...happy dreams at
least.�

Hermione frowned and sighed. �I don�t know what that
means, but I can do some research when school starts.�

�Are you both forgetting something?� Ron said tensely.
�Like my sister is being manipulated by Malfoy?�

Hermione sighed. �You forget, Ron, I�m only
guessing. She could just be standing up for him; she does that
sometimes. Like when you were making fun of that boy in Ravenclaw, that Someone Hickory. She looked ready to
punch you then, too.�

�Yeah,� Ron said. Then he snorted. �But he was
pretty stupid. And a Ravenclaw, too...�

Hermione smacked him upside the head, hard. She
frowned at him. �Gee, I wonder why she does it. I mean, other than
the fact that it�s rather satisfying.�

�Come on, Hermione,� Ron said. �I�m worried about
her.�

�We could watch her,� Harry said. �You know, not stalk
her or anything, but we could walk her to classes and sit with her and
stuff. I feel bad about second year still. All those times she
tried to tell us. I don�t want the same thing to happen twice.�

Hermione nodded her head. �I think that�s all we can
do for now. I don�t know if she would punch me, but I think she would
punch either one of you. You can be pretty annoying sometimes.�

�Oi!� Ron said. �I resent
that.�

�I�m sure you do,� muttered Hermione. �But really,
school starts in less than a week; we can watch her then. I just hope
she�ll forgive you before then, Ron, because I don�t want to explain to your
mother why your blood is all over her kitchen walls.�

Ron and Harry nodded in agreement.

Electrified with a Glance, Part I

Her heart leapt and sang as he walked into the room.
She�d waited nearly five months to see him again. Five months of crying,
of doubting, of wondering, of worrying, and of thinking. Five months she
spent scared for him, scared he might not come back, scared he might not feel
the same about her, scared he wouldn�t mean what he said in the dream.

She�d kept close tabs on him during those five months.
He hadn�t slept. Not once did she find him sleeping. He must have
found some sort of charm or potion to make him stay awake. She thought,
at first, that he was avoiding her. But then it came to her that she
wouldn�t want to sleep if she were in the company he was in at the time.
She didn�t want him to be in that company, full stop, much less herself.

So when she saw him again (they couldn�t meet on the
Express, her brother might find out, and he was getting pretty suspicious), she
felt like running to him and throwing her arms around him. He walked
casually to his seat, not looking her or anyone in the eye.

Ginny frowned when she noticed he looked very tired, very
tired indeed. And he had harsh rings around his eyes. He appeared
to have lost weight, or maybe he just got taller. His shoulders were a
bit broader; that Ginny noticed. Along with his eyes. They didn�t spark
the same as they used to. They didn�t carry that same glow when he looked
around. Ginny wondered what exactly happened to him on those trips
abroad.

But finally, he looked at her. It was brief, but Ginny
could tell he wanted to talk to her, see her. His eyes sparked momentarily
but resumed their deadness when someone asked him something. Ginny
noticed the Head Boy badge sparkling proudly on his chest and smiled. It
was too bad for him; he would have to have meetings with Hermione, and she knew
how much Draco loathed her. It wasn�t because
she wasn�t pureblood; it was because she made his life a living hell at home.

The headmaster made his traditional speech, and the new
students were sorted. Ginny smiled, remembering her own sorting. It
seemed so long ago. She sighed, casting another glance at Draco then looking across the table at Colin. He was
talking to Dean and Seamus about something or other. Ginny noticed Ron,
Hermione, and Harry were sitting suspiciously close to her. Usually they
sat all the way at the other side of the table. What were they doing over
here?

She sighed, picking at her food and letting her mind
wander. She was going to have to take care of the Terrific Trio if she
was going to sneak off any time soon. She bit her lip and sneaked a glance
at Ron and Hermione. Those two wouldn�t really be a problem; they were
pretty much caught up in themselves. And even though Hermione was Head
Girl that year and had special access to basically everywhere, Ginny doubted
she knew about Inverted Tower.

But Harry... Harry would be a problem.
Harry-who-couldn�t-keep-a-steady-girlfriend-for-the-life-of-him would
definitely be a problem. He needed someone who would grasp his attention,
if only for a little while. Ginny wondered... At one time it had been
Cho, but she was gone. Perhaps another little Ravenclaw would do the trick. Oh shit, he was looking
at her.

Ginny smiled quickly at him and took a bite of food, turning
to Colin and Dean. Just then, Draco caught her
eye and directed her attention surreptitiously to the exit. She licked
her lips, gave him the briefest of nods, and went back to eating. She
would leave in a few minutes; she�d give him time to go.

Soon enough, she saw Draco leading
the first years to the dungeons. The older years mostly stayed at the
table, chatting. Ginny took a drink of her pumpkin juice and turned to
Colin. �I�m going to turn in early. I�ve still got a scroll to
finish by Wednesday.�

�Ginny!� Colin said, grabbing his heart. �Did I hear
you right? Your homework isn�t done! For shame!�

Ginny snorted, smacking him upside the head before saying
goodbye to Dean and walking out the hall. She tried to act casual, tried
to blend in with some of the other people leaving, some likely looking Hufflepuffs.

But she veered off from them and went in the direction of
the dungeons, glancing behind her to see if she was being followed. When
she saw she wasn�t, she picked up the pace and turned a few corners. She
knew where Draco wanted to meet her; they met there
sometimes to go to Inverted Tower.

And though she knew he would be there, she wasn�t quite
ready for the cold hand that covered her mouth and brought her down a dark
hallway. Draco stood in front of her, almost
touching, his cool hand on her mouth as he looked around suspiciously.

Up close, Ginny could see how tired he really did
look. His hair wasn�t shining like it usually did, his skin wasn�t as
resilient, and his eyes had dark rings under them. He looked as though
he�d been hunted though the woods for five months...which, upon reflection,
could actually have happened. Ginny had no idea what went on during those
months she hadn�t seen him.

Finally, he looked her in the eye, and Ginny saw a spark of
the man she knew in his gray-lit orbs. He took his hand from her mouth
and whispered lightly to her, �Oh gods, Ginny.�

And then his lips were on hers, pushing and insistent, as
though she were water and he a dehydrated man in the desert. His lips
were everywhere, his hands following. He was frenzied and almost rough,
and Ginny couldn�t help kissing him back in the same fashion. All the
tension she felt was draining away into his lips, and Ginny was sure she was
drowning his frustrations, too.

He picked her up roughly, practically slamming her against
the stone wall and propping her up, giving him better access at her mouth and
neck. Ginny groaned and ground her hips to his desperately. A gasp
tore his mouth from hers, but it wasn�t long before he was kissing her lips
again.

Ginny began hoisting herself higher, settling just above his
growing erection and rubbing sensually up and down his body. She�d never
felt that heat, the heat that made her feel as though her stomach was twisting
inside of her. The friction of the activity between her legs was making
her lightheaded and crazy.

And Draco was encouraging it by
grinding her against the wall, running his hands up and down her stomach and
breasts until she thought she would scream. When he finally stopped his
frenzied kisses, reluctantly, as Ginny remembered, he held her still against
the wall and began whispering to her.

�You have no idea how I�ve missed you, Ginny,� he said in a
low voice, almost gravelly, as though he hadn�t spoken in a long time. �I
thought about you night and day; believe me I thought about you at night.
How easy it would have been to give in to a dream of you! But I wanted to
protect you.�

�I know,� Ginny breathed into his ear. �I know.
I missed you, too. I need...� She breathed heavily into his ear,
lightly and sensually. �Draco, I want you in
me. I want you now.� To emphasize the point, she ground her hips
into his and bit his ear tenderly. �Draco...�
she whispered, almost a whimper.

She felt Draco stiffen, in more
ways than one, and he kissed her deeply. When he pulled back, he pressed
his forehead to hers. �Not here, love. Not now.�

Ginny nodded, slipping her cheek past his as she held onto
him tightly.

Electrified with a Glance, Part II

Harry frowned, telling Ron he was going to follow
Ginny. Ron didn�t seem to notice, but then he and Hermione were having an
exclusive conversation. Harry noticed a lot of conversations nowadays
were exclusive. And he didn�t really want to hear them, for fear of
finding out something he didn�t really want to know. He didn�t talk much
to Hermione or Ron about their relationship, but they didn�t make it weird
either. They were friends when they were around him and lovers when they
weren�t. It suited Harry just fine.

Though he knew Ron cared about his sister, he was busy right
now and might not be able to take what Harry thought he was about to see.
He wasn�t looking forward to this. He hoped the only thing he was going
to have to see was hand holding because if half what he thought was going to
happen happened, he might have to kill himself.

But he needed to make sure what he, Ron, and Hermione had
been wondering all summer was true. Were Ginny and Draco
going out? Or had it moved past that? He wanted to protect Ginny,
and Draco wasn�t a safe boyfriend, as far as Harry
was concerned. Harry didn�t know how much Ginny thought she knew about Draco, but Harry knew one thing too much. Draco�s father was a Death Eater, and Draco
had just come back from �Death Eater Training Camp.� Harry wasn�t
stupid. He could draw conclusions.

The only thing was he wasn�t quite ready for the display of
affection he ran upon. He saw Ginny grabbed around a corner, and he
waited. If she screamed, he would come and rescue her. If she
didn�t...well then, he would check who this person was and hopefully have more
self-restraint than Ron and not pulverize them on sight.

After a moment, when he deemed it safe, he peeked around the
corner. And lo and behold, not ten meters from him, in the middle of the
dark hallway, was Ginny�s trademark blood-red hair and Malfoy�s
trademark ghost-white hair. Draco had Ginny
pinned up against the wall and was kissing her quite thoroughly. Ginny
was hitching herself higher, giving Harry view of a creamy expanse of
thigh. Draco kept pressing against her, and
Harry caught the sound of Ginny sighing, low and sensual to even his ears.

Harry turned around slowly and pressed his back against the
stone wall. It was true. Hermione was right. How was he going
to tell Ron? Was he going to tell Ron? Hermione, sure...but
Ron? It was asking to be killed and strung up by his toes. It was
pretty much suicide. No, he was going to tell Hermione.

And Colin. He was going to want to protect his friend
too, and Harry rather doubted he would be too physical about it. He
wouldn�t kill Harry at least.

Harry sighed and made his way back to the common room.
The only problem was he couldn�t keep that visual image of Ginny�s perfect,
creamy thigh clutching Draco�s hip out of his
mind. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He hated being the sneaky one.

Love Point, Part II

�No! No, please,� Ginny whispered as Draco pulled away.

�I�m sorry, Ginny,� he said softly. �I have to go; I
can�t be missed.�

Ginny�s bottom lip trembled, and she looked at Draco hopefully. �Take me with you, Draco. Please. I don�t care who sees. I
don�t care, really.�

Draco sighed, running his fingers
through her hair. �Ginny, think about what you�re saying here. I
have to protect you. I need you to stay safe. I need that.�

�I�d be safe with you,� Ginny said soothingly, kissing his
earlobe and nipping at it suggestively. �No one would know. You
have separate rooms.�

Draco groaned as Ginny�s foot ran
up his calf and she looked at him, her pouting, full lips shimmering with
anticipation. She just looked so beautiful, her ruby hair falling
slightly over her face, her skin flushed and glowing with tiny beads of
sweat. She looked at him with her soft, metallic eyes and bit her lip
slightly.

Gods! Just to touch her again! He didn�t deny
that he wanted her. He�d wanted her all last year but had been scared she
was too young and would reject him. He knew it was foolish to think she
might reject him� But now that he�d killed... He wasn�t the same person
with whom she�d fallen in love. He wasn�t the same, and it scared him
more than anything that she wouldn�t love him in spite of it. Or dare he
dream, because of it.

But the moment of weakness took him, and he kissed her all
too inviting, fleshy lips and mumbled into her ear, �Let�s go through the
tower. No one will see us.�

So they made their way, barely noticing where they were
going or what wall they stumbled into. Draco
paused only briefly to loosen his tie and bring it over his neck as he opened
the door to Inverted Tower. The tie was lost on the ground, along with
two pairs of shoes and a sock. Draco barely
made it to his bed before his vest was off and he was fumbling at the shirt
Ginny wore, which was containing two of the three places he really wanted to
visit that night.

Draco had time to place a few
high-level charms on his room before he was pulled down on top of a very
forceful Ginny. This surprised him; he had always figured her for the
blushing virgin type. �Oh, but not when she kissed him like that.
Her hands flew to his pants and began unzipping them skillfully. It made Draco wonder exactly where she learned it. One-handed
was definitely a skill.

�Ginny,� he gasped as her fingers wound lightly around his
manhood. She smiled a devilish smirk in response. �Have you ever
done this before?�

�No, but judging by your reaction, I�m doing okay.�

Draco�s eyes bulged as her
fingernails swept deftly down his tip, and she smiled again, licking her lips.

�I think that�s enough from your skilled, little hands,
love,� Draco said in a low voice. He was
certainly not going to come in his pants with her. Wresting her hands
over her head and pinning them there, he groaned when she lifted her hips to
his and ground against him expertly.

Draco, caught a bit off guard by
her forwardness, quickly came to his senses and pinned her legs down, enjoying
how she squirmed beneath him. �Shh, love,� he
murmured into her ear. �I�m in no rush.�

He kissed her again, a slow and lingering kiss, shivering
slightly as her chest heaved against his. He could almost feel her
nipples straining through her clothes. She arched her back into his kiss,
playing kitten-like with his tongue in her mouth. He heard her moan as he
pulled back, keeping one hand pinning hers over her head and propping himself
up over him.

�If I let your hands go, will you be a good kitten and play
nice?�

Her eyes widened for a moment, and then a smile broke onto
her face. �Only if you promise to play dirty,� she cooed. Then her
face turned more serious and lustful. �I need you, Draco.
I want you.�

Draco smiled, planting a soft kiss
in the corner of her mouth before letting go of her hands and watching them
fall limp next to her hair, haloing her face. She was biting her lip
again, as his fingers unbuttoned her shirt slowly and deliberately. He
wasn�t sure how, but the playful atmosphere turned intoxicatingly sensual and
deep. He wasn�t sure if he should kiss her or tease her. He could
do both...

She watched, her fingers obviously itching to touch him, as
he unbuttoned her shirt. Draco smiled darkly at
her, running his fingers over her exposed flesh on his way up. She hummed
sweetly as he took off her shirt and then her bra, his fingers circling her
rosy nipples lightly. She closed her eyes and arched her back to
him. Draco kissed his way up her stomach and
finally tasted the sweet flesh of her erect nipples, sucking and biting ever so
lightly.

It earned a pleasured sigh from her, and her hands inched to
his shirt, pulling it over his head after undoing the first few buttons.
She looked at him appreciatively, her metallic eyes somehow earthy in their
dark shade of lust. He loved looking into her eyes. Her hands
traced his pectorals lightly, fingers skimming briefly over his abs and working
their way up to his hair. She brought him into a deep kiss and began
edging her hips closer to his.

�Draco,� she murmured into his
lips, hers brushing against his delicately.

Draco looked in her eyes the whole
time he took off her skirt and underwear. She looked so beautiful, the
anticipation sparkling in her eyes and the love vibrating off her very
body. Draco removed his pants and boxers as
well, watching her eyes drift downwards and smile almost in a proud
fashion. She bit her lip, running her silky fingers up and down his
shaft, making Draco think he might die if he didn�t
have her now.

Ever the gentleman, he nudged her entrance with his hand,
slipping past her moist folds and dipping into her. She moaned and threw
her head back wildly, her hands clutching at Draco�s
green bedspread. He watched her face contort into beautiful phases of
pleasure as he entered her again, wasting no time in finding her nub and
flicking it skillfully. She bucked against him, causing a smile of
pleasure to light Draco�s face, happy he could give
her such delight.

�Please, Draco... Now...�
she sighed lightly, her lips swollen from her teeth and his kisses.

�I�ll be gentle,� Draco promised.

�Mnm, don�t care��

So positioning himself at her entrance and giving her the
briefest of kisses, he broke through her hymen, clamping down on her lips and
swallowing her yelp. When her breathing came softer against his cheek and
she began to adjust, Draco began sliding in and out
of her slowly, straining to keep rein over every instinct that told him faster.

When she began moving her hips in rhythm with his, Draco moved against her faster, plunging into her tight
warmth deeper and deeper. She was saying his name, very softly, yet
reverently. Her eyes opened, and she looked at him squarely, biting her
lip to stifle a moan growing in her throat. One more deep thrust, and
then another, and then another, and then another...

Her eyes literally glazed over when she came, his name on
her lips while she did so being the happiest moment of Draco�s
life in total. He came in that bliss, sure her name was uttered many
times before the spiraling of his climax withered down.

He found himself next to Ginny, her deep breaths and
heartbeat the only noises he heard. She looked at him lovingly, brushed a
bit of his hair off his face and behind his ear. A soft kiss on his nose
brought him out of his nirvana and prompted him to pull the covers over both
their heads, pinning her down again. She giggled briefly before he brushed
his nose across hers and felt her sober.

�I love you, Ginny,� Draco
whispered. He could feel the smile on her lips as he kissed her.

�I love you too, Draco,� she
whispered back. She nestled down next to him, her fiery hair brushing
playfully at his nose as she ducked her head under his chin. Draco made himself comfortable, placing a protective arm
around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head before drifting off into
sleep.

The Morning After Is So Clich�

The first thing Ginny�s mind wanted to do when she woke was
deny the events of the last night as one more of her dream fantasies. She
was quickly, and happily, proven wrong when Draco�s
casual gaze met hers, his eyes bag-less and more alive than she�d seen them
before. He looked at her, his face masked and his hands playing in her
hair.

�Morning, love,� he said lightly, smoothing back a strand of
her hair and kissing her forehead.

Ginny smiled. �Good morning, Draco.
What time is it?�

�Nearly six. You�re up early; I expected to have to
wake you.�

Ginny sniffed. �I don�t sleep much anymore.�

Draco nodded. �You�ve got to
get out of here; I�ve got duties, and you can�t get caught in the Head Boy�s
bed.�

Ginny nodded, kissing him briefly before rising from the
bed, apparently unabashed by her nudity, and began padding about the room,
picking up her clothes as she went. She put them on carefully and
quietly. Then she turned to him and sat on the edge of his bed.

�When can I see you next? Because if you think you�re
getting in this bed alone again, you�re dead wrong.�

Draco smirked and said, �Wait for
me in Inverted Tower; I�ll be there. How could I refuse such a generous
offer?�

Ginny turned her nose up and snorted. �Damn straight.�

Then she disappeared down the secret passage to her rooms,
and Draco didn�t see her until that night.

A Good Reason for Anger � Well, a Reason At Least

Harry watched as Ginny came down the stairs that morning,
her face glowing and a radiant smile on her face. It took Harry one in
three guesses to figure out where she had been last night. He shouldn�t
approach her, he knew, but the fact that she was with a Malfoy
all night had been gnawing at him for nearly half the night. Combined
with the fact that he still couldn�t get the visual image of her creamy thigh
out of his mind didn�t make him the happiest of campers.

She trotted over to Colin, who kissed her cheek and patted
the seat between him and Dean. She plopped down comfortably and joined in
a conversation Harry couldn�t hear.

For some reason, it made Harry angry. He couldn�t even
describe it. He�d always pictured Ginny as the innocent little girl who
had a crush on him. He�d always seen her as the good girl, the one who
would grow up and be like her mother, marry a good man and have a Weasley brood of her own. She couldn�t have a �Weasley brood� with a Malfoy,
especially not Draco Malfoy.

As much as he hated to admit it, Harry was jealous. It
wasn�t just because Ginny didn�t have feelings for him. He could handle
it if Ginny were to develop feelings for Colin Creevey
or Seamus Finnigan or anyone. The fact that it
was Draco Malfoy grated on
Harry�s nerves. It was like a competition he�d just lost, even though he
wasn�t really fighting for Ginny.

He didn�t like the way it made him feel, but he still had
the intense urge to pull Ginny aside and yell sense into her. Ron would
if Harry told him. But Harry didn�t want to see blood on the
ground. Because it wouldn�t be Draco�s
blood. Well, maybe some of it would be, but if Ginny caught wind her
brother was going after Malfoy, she would throw a
royal fit and most likely kill him. She�d probably kill Harry too.
Harry didn�t want a repeat of the summer.

So, sighing, he turned from the common room and made his way
to the Great Hall. He was thankful Ron wasn�t there yet; he�d have a
chance to talk to Hermione in private. When he sat down, Hermione took
one look over her book at him and set it down.

�What happened?� she said flatly.

�You were right,� Harry said in a toneless voice.

Hermione sighed, a mask over her face. �Did you see
them together? I noticed him leave with his first years, but I didn�t
notice Ginny leaving.�

�She escaped with a passing group of Hufflepuffs,�
Harry informed her. �And yes, I did see her.�

Hermione sighed again. �Thank the gods it was you and
not Ron. He would have blown a gasket.�

�I almost did,� Harry muttered.

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing to that. �I saw
her this morning leaving the showers. I don�t think that she,� she
coughed politely, and her face turned a little pink, �stayed the night.�

�She hadn�t come back at two when I went to bed,� Harry
said. �I think we have to assume she did indeed �stay the night.��

Hermione bit her lip and said, �I suppose I should talk to
Ron about it. He�s been twitchy at night... We just won�t go
there.�

�Thanks,� Harry said dryly.

Duty, Honor, and the Difference Between Slytherins

Duty.

Who ever heard of a Slytherin with
a sense of duty?

Trained in the way of competition and ambition from a young
age, Slytherins viewed duty as a thing bought by the
rich and at a heavy price. They saw that some gave into duty easily, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.
So when duty was measured against power, the former was dismissed in favor of
the latter. And why? In the name of efficiency. In the name
of growth. And in the name of ambition. What use had a Slytherin for duty?

But for some odd reason, Draco was
drawn to the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because
of that simple notion. It was his duty to inform the headmaster what Voldemort planned. It was his duty to tell the
headmaster what went on during the months he was absent from school. It
was his duty to protect the people who had never done anything but shun and
hate him for nearly six years of his life.

Duty.

And that same sense of duty found him seated in a large,
leather chair in front of a fire with his � or should he say Snape�s? � silver medallion looped over his head.
That same sense of duty found him spilling his guts to an attentively
listening, aging man whose existence he had once mocked and cursed. That
man was now his only hope for redemption, and perhaps freedom, from his father
and the Death Eaters. So now, sitting in that chair, listening to the
headmaster accept and offer to protect him, what did he feel?

Loyalty.

Another feeling Slytherins had no
use for. Why be loyal to something or even someone? Betrayal was
always an option, always. If it was better for you, who cared who got
hurt and who cared how it affected the masses? The promise of power had
always swayed the Slytherin mind and would continue
to do so.

So why feel loyal to Dumbledore?

He inspired it. He perspired it. He manufactured
it in every smile, nod, sparkle of his eye, turn of his hand, breath, movement,
and word. He inundated people with a certain sense of safety and rewarded
them with cleanliness when they told the truth. Cleanliness, another
thing foreign to Slytherin, turned out to be a very
welcome thing. And as all things grow, so did loyalty. Draco�s loyalty grew from a seed to an oak in nearly an
hour. He could only imagine how Snape must
feel, must have felt.

�You see, Draco,� the headmaster
said, using his given name freely. �Do you see the way it is, the way it
was?�

�Yes, Headmaster,� Draco replied,
fingering the medallion on his neck again. Partly out of nervousness,
partly out of shame. All the things he�d said over the years, what he�d
done over the years, and � what disgusted him most � what he�d thought over the
years. He never realized how much Lucius had
poisoned him. �I want to make it up to you, Headmaster. I want to
make it up to everyone.�

Dumbledore sighed, looking at Draco
with his hands laced together on his desk. It wasn�t the same, sparkling
gaze he gave most of the time. There was something calculating in it,
something powerful. Draco imagined he was
seeing the Dumbledore who defeated Grindelwald all
those years ago. He imagined he was seeing the real Dumbledore. It
was terrifying and awesome at the same time.

�You truly feel the need to right what has been wronged, Draco?�

�Yes.� It was automatic.

Another sigh from the headmaster. �What would you be
willing to do?�

�Anything. I would spy for you, go undercover, and
pretend to be a loyal Death Eater. I would...I would even die,
Headmaster.�

A pained look came into the headmaster�s eyes. He
appeared to be remembering something. His eyes became glassy for a
moment; then he looked at Draco hard. �To die
for the cause is a heavy burden, young Draco.
To hear you say that brings back the memory of so many young people who have
told me that in the past. Mundungus Fletcher,
Dorothea Polenin, but most of all, I think the person
of whom you remind me is Severus Snape.
You have his attitude, at least when he was younger.�

To Draco�s surprise, he felt
pride. To be compared with his � for all intents and purposes � idol
brought great pride to his heart. �Thank you, Headmaster.�

Dumbledore nodded briefly. �I would like to tell you
something, Draco, something I told Severus when he was young.

�When I was a boy attending Hogwarts, Slytherins
were much, much different. They had not been corrupted with the poison of
Voldemort yet; they had not been tainted by Grindelwald�s evil. Slytherins
were, as they are now, ambitious, cunning, quick, and, believe it or not, brave
and loyal. Their loyalty was not a loyalty that was bought easily or
bought at all with material goods. And their bravery was only surpassed
by the greatest of Gryffindors.

�Gryffindor and Slytherin didn�t
get along then because of the similarities between the houses, as opposed to
now when they don�t get along because of the differences. The only
difference then was sacrifice. When it came down to it, Gryffindors were able to sacrifice more than Slytherins. But there always comes a time when Slytherins see the need for sacrifice. Severus saw it; you see it; hopefully others will too.

�You have broken the mold, Draco.
You have proven your conditioning wrong. You have defeated your father,
your father�s father, and Voldemort. Your
victory has been ensured, but the victory of the rest of us still hangs in the
balance. You can affect this balance, Draco.

�So do you really understand now? Do you know what it
will mean for you, for the cause, and, dare I say, Miss Weasley?�

Draco�s eyes widened.

�Yes, Draco, I know of your young
relationship with Miss Weasley. The secrets
Inverted Tower will tell when you have the right password...�

�You know about Inverted Tower?� Draco
asked in a semi-strangled voice.

�Oh, yes. Very little happens in this castle that I
don�t know about. For that matter, very little happens Minerva doesn�t
know about either. But I don�t think you�ll have to worry about her; she
supports you spending time with Miss Weasley.
She believes in Miss Weasley enough to think she can,
as Minerva puts it, �straighten out his father�s brainwashing.� I think
she has a measure of respect for you, Draco, something
she very rarely feels for Slytherins.�

Draco couldn�t help the throbbing
vein in his left temple. They knew? But � but how? Draco shook his head and blinked a few times. He
always had suspected Dumbledore knew everything. Now his suspicions were
confirmed. And it was a little creepy.

�Um, thank you. I think,� Draco
said uncomfortably.

Dumbledore only smiled and said, �You will need to protect
her, Draco. She is in great danger.�

�I know, Headmaster,� Draco
replied solemnly.

The headmaster sighed and pulled out a drawer in the
desk. After rummaging about for a moment, he pulled out a simple
box. Then he placed it on his desk and pushed it over to Draco. He looked at Draco
encouragingly, so Draco tentatively opened it.
He pulled out a red gold, coin-like pendant and glanced questioningly at the
headmaster.

�It�s Godric�s Crest,� Dumbledore
explained. �He created it as a form of protection against the darker
powers. I gave Severus one; he carries it on a
chain around his neck. It�s a very handy little coin if you discover all
of its secrets.�

Draco stared at it for a
moment. Ancient runes were imprinted on the surface of the coin, and when
Draco touched it, an antediluvian magic vibrated from
it. �Thank you,� Draco said cautiously.

Dumbledore just nodded again. �I believe it will help
you. Now, Draco, I think it is time for you to
return to your rooms. Goodnight and good luck.�

Draco stood, thanking the
headmaster again and heading towards the door. Then he stopped and turned.
�Professor Snape gave me a medallion...�

�The Voice Recorder,� Dumbledore said. �Yes, I know.�

�I want you to have it,� Draco
said. �There are a lot of things recorded that I think you should hear.�

He took off the medallion and placed it in the headmaster�s
hands. Then, after a brief nod, he left. Under the guise of
monitoring the midnight halls, he made his way to his rooms, tossing his robes
into the corner and shucking off his shirt and slacks. And then he very
nearly flopped down on a peacefully resting Ginny Weasley.

Draco�s eyes widened, surprised
she�d got through his charms without him realizing it and then setting them
back up with apparently no trouble. With a smile on his face, he crawled
into the bed next to her. She instinctively moved closer to him, her arms
going around his neck. Yes, Draco could get
used to this.

Diamond in the Ruff�

It was dangerous, he had been told, to mingle with these
people. He didn�t want to live like this, not knowing what he was going
to have to say to whom or what he was going to have to do to make someone slip
and reveal something. Percy was smart; there was no way around
that. But Percy wasn�t cut out for this court-trained, Slytherin-like information gathering job. And
Charlotte hadn�t been much help.

�I will leave you with a friend, though I can�t tell you
their name. Go with your instincts,� she said.

Oh, fine, he could go with his instincts well enough.
His instincts told him to bolt from the room and not come back until he had the
greatest Aurors of all time backing him, so he could
throw the lot of them in Azkaban where they could rot away their preposterous
excuses for lives. His instincts told him that if they knew the real
reason he was there, they�d Avada Kedavra
him on the spot.

�Percy Weasley, imagine seeing you
here!�

No! Nonononono! Not her! Not-her-not-her!
�Ms. Mariner,� Percy said courteously, nodding his head.

Her name was Marissa Mariner, and she was the daughter of
Archibald Mariner, the commissioner of the International Confederation of
Wizards. Archibald Mariner was a very powerful man, a very powerful
man. He was also a good man, very fair and very wise. He was one of
the few men Percy trusted in the ICW. Too bad his daughter was a
manipulative, Slytherin whore.

Percy knew her well. Actually, he didn�t really know
her, but he knew of her. She was in his year at Hogwarts, a particularly
loose woman as he remembered. He�d heard horror stories about how she
slept her way to better marks in Snape�s class and
whored around with Marcus Flint and the like. Percy wasn�t denying she
was pretty, because she was. Her hair was so black it seemed blue, and
her eyes were of the same color. She had perhaps the whitest skin he�d
ever seen, and blue, runic tattoos peeking out from her scanty,
midnight-colored dress.

Percy didn�t like her, and she knew it. He supposed it
was half the reason she bothered him. He�d had a rather hard time with
Penelope about her. But Penelope knew what type of person she was and
eventually just ignored her.

�Oh, Percy!� she cooed. �Fancy seeing you here!
And look how handsome you�ve become. It seems just the other day you were
skin and bone, and now, well now, you�re so manly.�

�You haven�t changed a bit,� Percy replied icily. He
really wanted her to leave.

Instead she let out a high-pitched sound that Percy was
forced to assume was her version of a laugh. �Oh, Percy! Such a
kidder.�

�I am truly sorry, madam,� Percy said in a stony
voice. �But I have business to talk, no time for trivial matters such as
how much I�ve changed from school. Good-day, Ms. Mariner.�

�Percy!� she said in a whine.

But Percy ignored her, walking off to talk to Monte Simmons,
a person on his list of people to watch and a member of the Improper Use of
Magic Office. Before he knew it, he was forcefully being led to the back
of the room by a strong arm, through a heavy door and down a dark passage.
He barely had time to complain when he was forcibly pushed against a
wall.

�I swear to the gods,
Weasley,� Marissa�s cold voice said, �you fuck this
up for me, and I�ll skin you alive. What the HELL are you doing here?�

Percy, too stunned to speak, merely sputtered out
unintelligible phrases for a moment. �Now, Ms. Mariner ��

�Oh, cut the shit, Perce,� Marissa said darkly as she let
him go, lighting a cigarette with her wand and taking a short puff. �How
the hell did you get here?�

Percy, thoroughly confused, not to mention upset, glared at
the smoking woman and said, �Not that it�s any of your business, but I was
invited to this little impromptu get-together.�

Marissa snorted and took another drag of her cigarette
before crushing it on the ground. �You can�t be one of them, Perce; I
know you. It isn�t in your character. You don�t even like me.
So, I ask you, who got you the invite to the party?�

Percy looked at her hard. Had he misjudged her?
Why was she here? Listen to your instincts... Okay, instincts were
good. Charlotte Teasdale had said he would find a friend...but it
couldn�t be Marissa Mariner. She was � well, she was a Slytherin. She was scum beneath his feet.

Marissa sighed, rolling her eyes. �Fine, you want
proof, Perce; I�ll give you proof.�

She propped her foot up on the wall, pulling back her blue,
almost negligee dress robes and displaying her pale thigh. Percy politely
turned his head.

�Oh, Perce, you�re such a prude; I�m just getting my
identification,� she said in a sing-song voice.

�My mistake,� Percy said formally. �I was under the
impression you, madam, were a whore by profession and were going to entertain
��

But the rest was cut out by her laughter, a rich courtesan�s
laughter. Percy flushed pink and turned to her again. She smirked
at him, displaying her pearly whites, and held out a golden medallion.
Percy recognized it; Charlotte had given him an identical one. It meant
he was an Unspeakable, or working as one.

�I�ll need to see yours,� Marissa said lightly, �you know,
to verify you are who I think you are. I really don�t want to Obliviate you, Perce; I like you.�

�I find that very hard to believe, madam,� Percy said
coldly, reaching into his shirt and showing her his medallion of proof.
�Now, if you would please tell me what this is all about, Ms. Mariner��

Marissa looked at him in a calculating manner. �I take
it Teasdale just sort of left you with the �go with your instincts� bit, did
she? She told me that, but your instincts always were better than most,
Perce.�

�Would you please stop calling me �Perce�?� he said, irritated.
�It makes me uncomfortable.�

�Aw! Kiss kiss, Perce!�

�Surely you jest, madam.�

Marissa just laughed again, her throaty chuckle making his
hair stand on end. He really didn�t like her. She stopped laughing
and turned serious. �But getting down to business...�

�I always assumed your business involved that, yes,� Percy
said dryly.

�Oh,� Marissa said playfully, batting her thick eyelashes at
him. �Feisty, aren�t we? Someone got a sharp tongue after school,
didn�t they? But if you must know, yes, most of my business involves me
getting down and dirty with some of the scummiest men on the planet.
Well, I guess I should get some props; I do Obliviate
them afterwards.�

Percy frowned. �Who exactly do you work for, Ms.
Mariner?�

Marissa frowned as well, taking out another cigarette and
taking a long drag off it before she answered. �Always were
straightforward and proper, weren�t you, Weasley?
Well, it�s to be expected. I suppose I should tell you the truth.
After all, Teasdale would have expected me to explain some things to you.�

�I like to think that,� Percy said, noting her change in
behavior and posture. Percy settled on the option that she could have Multiple
Personality Disorder. Either that or she was just insane. Same
thing once he began thinking about it.

She took another drag off her cigarette and said, �Let me
tell you a story, Perce; just for kicks, eh?

�Once upon a time, there was this girl, and her name was
Marissa. She loved her mother and father very dearly. But one day,
her mother was killed by some bastard claiming to be the high lord of
everything, whatnot, so on and so forth, forever more, and etcetera.
Well, let�s just say Marissa didn�t like that very much, and neither did her
father.

�Now Marissa was a fourth year when this happened, a very
pretty, yet still impressionable fourteen-year-old witch who just happened to
excel in Charms. She was a Slytherin but, as it
turned out, not a very good one. For you see, she wished day and night
for the destruction of that man who killed her mother and left her father in a
pit of depression.

�Marissa was smart and had a cunning, Slytherin
mind. So, as a fourth year, she began devising a way to bring down the
man who killed her mother. Sure, it involved sex, manipulation, lying, Obliviating, stealing, and, yes, killing. But what
exactly would we not do for honor, Weasley?
What wouldn�t you sacrifice?

�As it turns out, Marissa would give everything, and she
did. She gave up her virginity to some bastard claiming to be very high
on the Death Eater mailing list of He Who Must Not Be Named. She gave her
reputation over to be called a whore and slag by every boy in her school.
She gave up her life to catch the son of a bitch that killed her mother.

�And so it went on for young Marissa. She would gather
information from the men she had sex with, Obliviating
them afterwards (I did mention she was a skilled Charmer, right?). She
moved into the highest circles of trust, gathering information from the most
important people and giving it over to her father, an influential wizard and
good friend of Albus Dumbledore and, coincidentally,
Charlotte Teasdale.

�Now Marissa moves with the most dangerous people in the
world, sleeping with and Obliviating them. She
has their trust; they have confidence in her opinion. And let me tell you
this, Weasley. If I don�t like you, if I don�t
give you the official Whore�s Guarantee, you�re as good as nothing, because
these people won�t believe for one minute the Golden Boy of All Good Boys Weasley wants any part of the game they�re playing.

�So what�s it gonna be,
Perce? You going to trust the whore, or are you going to get eaten alive
by the piranhas at the party?�

Percy considered this for a long while, watching her flick away
the stub of cigarette she�d let burn out while she was talking. She had
the medallion, she had a convincing story, and she had a clear reason for
wanting Voldemort dead.

Percy stuck out his hand. �Deal.�

Marissa took it and winked. �Kiss kiss!�

�I�ll decline, thank you,� Percy said dryly.

�Violence Is Inherent in the System! � if you�ve ever
watched Monty Python�s Holy Grail, you�ll know that the mud-farming, political
theorist says this to King Arthur��Help! I�m being oppressed!�

�Diamond in the Ruff � reference to the magical genie lamp
is called this in Aladdin (or Arabian Nights, whichever you prefer)
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