Reviews: 28 | Table of Contents | - Text Size +
Title: A Fate Worse Than Death
Author: ragdollangel
Disclaimer: They aren't mine (although I wish they were). All hail JKR.
Feedback: Always appreciated =)
Date Posted: 13th June, 2005
Summary: It wasn’t half as bad as she thought it would be.
A Fate Worse Than Death
Ginny Weasley was muttering to herself as she walked down the hallway. How on earth did they imagine that she could do the whole thing without magic? It couldn’t possibly get any worse. At least she was sharing detention with someone else. That might make it a bit more bearable, and she could curl up in bed early tonight.
The lights were already on when she got there, and she peeked in. There was a boy standing in the middle of the room, with green robes and impeccable blond hair.
"Oh no", she mumbled frantically, "Oh no, no, no. I refuse to believe that he's here. Not him, please let it not be him. Please."
"Charming", said Draco Malfoy, "to see you conversing with yourself. Didn’t you have any friends as a child?"
He paused.
"Oh no, I forgot. You were too busy trailing around behind Potter to have a civilized conversation with anyone."
Ginny took a deep breath. There was no point in letting him upset her. She walked in and glanced up at the tall shelves lined with dusty trophies, and groaned inwardly. This was going to take ages. They'd better get to work immediately.
"So shall we start at the top or the bottom, Malfoy?" she asked finally.
Draco raised an eyebrow and thought for a minute, then reached out for her impishly.
"I think I'll start with the top," he said, his eyes glinting, "but I wouldn’t mind having a go at the bottom soon after."
Ginny turned crimson, and shoved him away.
"I was talking about the shelves, you git."
"Ah, we'll do that too, never fear."
He dusted his robes and smirked.
She just rolled her eyes and got down to work.
--
Halfway up the shelves, Ginny paused to wipe the sweat off her forehead. She shot a withering look at Draco, who had continued to be a pain in the arse, took off her sweater, and tossed it aside.
Draco raised his eyebrows slightly.
“I’m sorry,” she said blandly. “I left my breasts up in the dorm today.”
Draco smirked.
“Shall we pay them a little visit then?”
“We will do no such thing. There’s plenty of work left to do here.”
She picked up a rag.
“Now where was I?”
“We were talking about your breasts,” said Draco politely.
“We were doing no such thing.”
“Yes, we were.”
“No, we weren’t.”
“Yes, we were.”
Ginny took a deep breath.
"You’re not doing anything at all."
"Well", he explained lazily, "When you walk in here looking like a piece of pumpkin pie, how could you possibly expect me to concentrate on moldy old plaques?"
"I do not look like pumpkin pie", said Ginny, slightly flushed.
"Says who?" asked Draco, admiring his face in a newly polished House Cup.
"Oh, stop that!" she said peevishly, raising a cloud of dust. "You make me sick."
"Stop what?"
"Being so obsessed with your appearance. It's unnatural, that’s what it is. All you've done the entire time, is waltz along behind me, and smugly grin at your reflection. It's just disgusting to watch you."
"Hmm..." said Draco, wrinkling his nose, "Well, we can’t all carry off Potter's ragamuffin look with aplomb, I'm afraid."
She ignored him, and moved up to the next shelf.
"I could use some help, you know," she said finally.
"But you’re doing such a commendable job on your own," he replied, "We wouldn’t want to slow you down, now would we?"
"You’re hopeless", Ginny groaned, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smile.
--
He eventually did help her out; occasionally dusting something and helpfully pointing out whatever she had missed--up to the point where she wanted to knock him over the head with something.
"I do have friends, you know", said Ginny suddenly. "And I don’t always tag along behind Harry."
"I don’t know what all of you see in him anyway," said Draco, his brow furrowed as he rubbed away at a rusty spot. "He’s just a half-blind, messy haired bloke with a scar on his head."
"Don’t talk about Harry that way," fumed Ginny. "He’s a wonderful person, and he always-"
"Looks like someone still has a bad case of hero worship," drawled Draco. "Certainly Potter doesn’t deserve that much adoration, does he?"
"I don’t adore him! And, and… well, he’s much nicer than you, anyway," she ended vaguely.
Draco smirked, "You don’t really know that much about me, now do you?"
"You are a disgusting, despicable excuse for a person, with no consideration for anyone but himself." she said, gritting her teeth.
"Aww, you say that but you don’t mean it," he replied cheekily.
"Shut up, Malfoy."
--
He decided to keep her entertained while she finished the rest of the cleaning. It was only fair, he said, since he wasn’t doing any of the work. And since she was sure she could finish much faster if he didn’t help, she agreed.
In fifteen minutes she was laughing like she’d never laughed before.
She shook her head in disbelief. Who would have ever thought that Draco Malfoy would be prancing around with messy hair, doing a fairly good impression of Snape while she, Ginny Weasley, giggled and snorted in the most undignified manner?
Who would have thought that they would actually be having fun? Though she tried her hardest, she couldn’t help but laugh at his totally flippant attitude to everything.
And he wasn’t all that bad to look at either.
--
When everything was finally finished, Ginny sank onto the floor and leaned back against the cool stone wall. She closed her eyes and sighed.
He moved up closer to her, and sat there quietly, his shoulder touching hers. She turned towards him and started to speak, "So are we-"
"Shh", he said gently, tracing the curve of her cheek with his finger. "You really talk too much, Weasley. You need to give a bloke some time to think."
She tilted her chin towards his face, and smiled. He leaned in and kissed her.
"So are we going back to the whole I-hate-you-and-I-would-rather-die-than-be-seen-with-you status after this?" asked Ginny, after a minute.
"We’ll work on that, shall we?" grinned Draco, "I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of you."
"I’d better have a word with Ron first", she said, "He’ll go positively bonkers if someone else tells him. Well, he’ll go positively bonkers when I tell him, but at least it’s a bit more straightforward this way. I can’t imagine what he’ll say. I mean, I can imagine it, but I really don’t want to think about it. Why couldn’t you have been someone a little more normal? I don’t know why-"
"So do I get to tell Potter first?" interrupted Draco, smirking, "Or your brother?"
"You will do no such thing," said Ginny in an exasperated voice. "I’ll break it to them. Didn’t you listen to a word I just said?"
"Not really," he replied, twisting a strand of her copper hair around his finger, "You look fairly decent when you cluck, and I was a little distracted."
"Oh shut up," she said, and kissed him.
-fin-
Author: ragdollangel
Disclaimer: They aren't mine (although I wish they were). All hail JKR.
Feedback: Always appreciated =)
Date Posted: 13th June, 2005
Summary: It wasn’t half as bad as she thought it would be.
A Fate Worse Than Death
Ginny Weasley was muttering to herself as she walked down the hallway. How on earth did they imagine that she could do the whole thing without magic? It couldn’t possibly get any worse. At least she was sharing detention with someone else. That might make it a bit more bearable, and she could curl up in bed early tonight.
The lights were already on when she got there, and she peeked in. There was a boy standing in the middle of the room, with green robes and impeccable blond hair.
"Oh no", she mumbled frantically, "Oh no, no, no. I refuse to believe that he's here. Not him, please let it not be him. Please."
"Charming", said Draco Malfoy, "to see you conversing with yourself. Didn’t you have any friends as a child?"
He paused.
"Oh no, I forgot. You were too busy trailing around behind Potter to have a civilized conversation with anyone."
Ginny took a deep breath. There was no point in letting him upset her. She walked in and glanced up at the tall shelves lined with dusty trophies, and groaned inwardly. This was going to take ages. They'd better get to work immediately.
"So shall we start at the top or the bottom, Malfoy?" she asked finally.
Draco raised an eyebrow and thought for a minute, then reached out for her impishly.
"I think I'll start with the top," he said, his eyes glinting, "but I wouldn’t mind having a go at the bottom soon after."
Ginny turned crimson, and shoved him away.
"I was talking about the shelves, you git."
"Ah, we'll do that too, never fear."
He dusted his robes and smirked.
She just rolled her eyes and got down to work.
--
Halfway up the shelves, Ginny paused to wipe the sweat off her forehead. She shot a withering look at Draco, who had continued to be a pain in the arse, took off her sweater, and tossed it aside.
Draco raised his eyebrows slightly.
“I’m sorry,” she said blandly. “I left my breasts up in the dorm today.”
Draco smirked.
“Shall we pay them a little visit then?”
“We will do no such thing. There’s plenty of work left to do here.”
She picked up a rag.
“Now where was I?”
“We were talking about your breasts,” said Draco politely.
“We were doing no such thing.”
“Yes, we were.”
“No, we weren’t.”
“Yes, we were.”
Ginny took a deep breath.
"You’re not doing anything at all."
"Well", he explained lazily, "When you walk in here looking like a piece of pumpkin pie, how could you possibly expect me to concentrate on moldy old plaques?"
"I do not look like pumpkin pie", said Ginny, slightly flushed.
"Says who?" asked Draco, admiring his face in a newly polished House Cup.
"Oh, stop that!" she said peevishly, raising a cloud of dust. "You make me sick."
"Stop what?"
"Being so obsessed with your appearance. It's unnatural, that’s what it is. All you've done the entire time, is waltz along behind me, and smugly grin at your reflection. It's just disgusting to watch you."
"Hmm..." said Draco, wrinkling his nose, "Well, we can’t all carry off Potter's ragamuffin look with aplomb, I'm afraid."
She ignored him, and moved up to the next shelf.
"I could use some help, you know," she said finally.
"But you’re doing such a commendable job on your own," he replied, "We wouldn’t want to slow you down, now would we?"
"You’re hopeless", Ginny groaned, trying unsuccessfully to hide her smile.
--
He eventually did help her out; occasionally dusting something and helpfully pointing out whatever she had missed--up to the point where she wanted to knock him over the head with something.
"I do have friends, you know", said Ginny suddenly. "And I don’t always tag along behind Harry."
"I don’t know what all of you see in him anyway," said Draco, his brow furrowed as he rubbed away at a rusty spot. "He’s just a half-blind, messy haired bloke with a scar on his head."
"Don’t talk about Harry that way," fumed Ginny. "He’s a wonderful person, and he always-"
"Looks like someone still has a bad case of hero worship," drawled Draco. "Certainly Potter doesn’t deserve that much adoration, does he?"
"I don’t adore him! And, and… well, he’s much nicer than you, anyway," she ended vaguely.
Draco smirked, "You don’t really know that much about me, now do you?"
"You are a disgusting, despicable excuse for a person, with no consideration for anyone but himself." she said, gritting her teeth.
"Aww, you say that but you don’t mean it," he replied cheekily.
"Shut up, Malfoy."
--
He decided to keep her entertained while she finished the rest of the cleaning. It was only fair, he said, since he wasn’t doing any of the work. And since she was sure she could finish much faster if he didn’t help, she agreed.
In fifteen minutes she was laughing like she’d never laughed before.
She shook her head in disbelief. Who would have ever thought that Draco Malfoy would be prancing around with messy hair, doing a fairly good impression of Snape while she, Ginny Weasley, giggled and snorted in the most undignified manner?
Who would have thought that they would actually be having fun? Though she tried her hardest, she couldn’t help but laugh at his totally flippant attitude to everything.
And he wasn’t all that bad to look at either.
--
When everything was finally finished, Ginny sank onto the floor and leaned back against the cool stone wall. She closed her eyes and sighed.
He moved up closer to her, and sat there quietly, his shoulder touching hers. She turned towards him and started to speak, "So are we-"
"Shh", he said gently, tracing the curve of her cheek with his finger. "You really talk too much, Weasley. You need to give a bloke some time to think."
She tilted her chin towards his face, and smiled. He leaned in and kissed her.
"So are we going back to the whole I-hate-you-and-I-would-rather-die-than-be-seen-with-you status after this?" asked Ginny, after a minute.
"We’ll work on that, shall we?" grinned Draco, "I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of you."
"I’d better have a word with Ron first", she said, "He’ll go positively bonkers if someone else tells him. Well, he’ll go positively bonkers when I tell him, but at least it’s a bit more straightforward this way. I can’t imagine what he’ll say. I mean, I can imagine it, but I really don’t want to think about it. Why couldn’t you have been someone a little more normal? I don’t know why-"
"So do I get to tell Potter first?" interrupted Draco, smirking, "Or your brother?"
"You will do no such thing," said Ginny in an exasperated voice. "I’ll break it to them. Didn’t you listen to a word I just said?"
"Not really," he replied, twisting a strand of her copper hair around his finger, "You look fairly decent when you cluck, and I was a little distracted."
"Oh shut up," she said, and kissed him.
-fin-
The End.
ragdollangel is the author of 5 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 8 members. Members who liked A Fate Worse Than Death also liked 1214 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 8 members. Members who liked A Fate Worse Than Death also liked 1214 other stories.
Leave a Review