In life there are rules that everyone follows. They aren’t necessarily written down or memorized by young children, but they are there all the same. They are well-known and they are adhered to. They aren’t particularly strict or unreasonable. They are the type of things that are usually classified as manners and common courtesy. Things like not walking up to someone and telling them that they’re ugly. Things like not punching someone in the face simply because you can. However, there are people who choose not to abide by these rules. People who think that they are above the rules. People who think the rules are silly or unimportant. People who have absolutely no regard for anyone but themselves. There are also situations where the rules don’t apply.
Ginny Weasley happened to be in one of those situations as she stood in the empty corridor watching Draco Malfoy in annoyance. At that moment in time they were breaking quite a few of the unspoken rules. When she had first encountered him, he had been making his rounds as Head Boy and she had been returning from a detention. He was the first to disregard the so-called ‘rules’ with a rude comment.
“If it isn’t the female weasel,” he said. She heard the sneer in his voice, though she couldn’t see his face when he was so far away in the dimly lit corridor.
Scoffing, she retorted, “If it isn’t the ferret.”
They weren’t the most original insults. In fact, they had said those same words numerous times before. It was almost tradition to start out on of their many verbal fights. Draco took a few steps closer until he was only a couple feet in front of Ginny, his face coming into view as he stepped into the light.
“I’d be careful, if I were you, Weasley. I could deduct house points, not to mention give you a detention, for being out after curfew.”
Ginny Weasley rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed with his threats. She smiled. Not a genuine smile, more a cheeky smile, as if to say ‘that’s what you think.’ “I have a pass because Professor Sprout kept me late for detention.”
Malfoy didn’t show his annoyance at not being able to take points from Gryffindor. Instead he said, “Let me see it.”
Ginny wasn’t impressed by his attempt at bullying her. She held out her hand to show him the pass and when he had examined it and reluctantly handed it back to her she crossed her arms and gave him a fake smile. “May I return to my room now?” Her voice was mockingly sweet and falsely polite and her tone wasn’t lost on Draco.
His temper began to flare and suddenly, for a reason that he was sure he would never decipher, he pulled Ginny into his arms and kissed her. She gasped and stiffened against him before finally gathering all her strength and pushing him away.
Draco had broken another rule. He kissed his enemy. It was something that was really never done. People just didn’t go around kissing people they hated, that they argued with on an almost daily basis. It just wasn’t done and both he and Ginny knew that.
He just stared at her, shocked by his own actions, as Ginny began to turn red with uncontrolled rage.
“Of all the arrogant, conceited, utterly ridiculous things—“ she yelled, only to be cut off by Draco’s lips descending on hers again.
That was Draco’s third ignored rule of the night. It seemed he was making a career of disregarding the rules. If it was uncommon to kiss your enemy, it was even more unheard of to do so twice with no explanation.
This time, though, Ginny didn’t push him away. Instead she found herself wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and returning the kiss. It was as if her body had suddenly forgotten who it was she was kissing. It only knew that someone was kissing her soundly. All rational thought fled from Ginny’s mind as she kissed Draco with an abandon that she didn’t know she possessed. They kissed with fervor until they ran out of breath and were forced to break apart.
“Well, Ginny, I believe you enjoyed that quite as much as I did, so hopefully you won’t feel the need to refuse me when I ask to be my girlfriend,” Draco said smoothly after a moment of silence.
For a moment, Ginny was caught up on how quickly he had reverted back to the cool, controlled bastard she knew so well. Then she realized that he had called her by her first name for the first time in her entire life. It was only after those two things ran through her mind, that what he’d actually said was actually comprehended by the red head. Her head snapped up to look him in the eye. She expected that he would be laughing at his own fantastic joke. She didn’t expect that he would seem serious, if not almost nervous. Ginny didn’t say anything, though; she just grabbed Draco’s face and pulled him into another heated kiss.
Malfoys and Weasleys did not date each other. It was a rule. A rule that everyone in the wizarding world knew very well. A rule that had never been broken. A rule that no one had ever felt the need to break. It also happened to be just another of those rules that Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley chose to ignore. For them, it was just another one of those rules that didn’t apply.