~ -
Ginny greeted her Sunday morning with very mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy, as always, to have everyone she loved together under one roof. On the other hand, she had more than a few reasons to avoid talking to all her brothers, especially if the talking involved one rather intriguing photograph in the previous Sunday newspaper.
She truly wanted the day to be done as soon as possible so that she could be away from any potential prying questions from her family. Unfortunately, such days had a way of dragging by in an agonizingly slow manner, much like molasses on a February morning.
Not that Ginny didn't have some fun during the day. The weather was pleasantly sunny and warm. She joyfully chased Bill's two children around the yard and later was even able to laugh off the infamously erroneous ways of the Daily Prophet, since there was no way that the topic of the last weekend's front page photograph was going to be avoided.
Fortunately, her assumption that the family held the integrity of the newspaper in rather dubious regard was correct. The initial discussion of the article was quickly followed with story after story of how Harry's reputation had been slandered regularly by overly ambitious reporters of the publication in question. There was plenty of laughter and Ron's face turned the requisite shades of purple as he allowed his temper to get the best of him as some of the stories were recounted. Harry, much the calmer, would only say that he was glad that the worst of it seemed to be in the past. He gave Ginny a sympathetic look and he encouraged her not to let the paper bother her too greatly.
Ginny herself contributed very little to the conversation, afraid that she might accidentally say something she'd regret. She felt somewhat undeserving of their support in the matter and glanced over at her mother with a slightly guilty look. Her actions on Friday night no longer left her completely blameless and she was well aware that her mother was thinking the same.
Although the article in the Prophet about her role at the Malfoy ball had been blown outrageously out of proportion, she had to admit to herself that the article wasn't entirely untrue. She had, of her own free will, gone to dinner with the man, albeit after the fact, and she had enjoyed kissing him...twice. And now she was looking to go out with him again this very afternoon.
As the participants in the conversation babbled on about Ginny being misrepresented, she remained silent and let them assume she was innocent. The downside, however, was that she felt like her silence in the conversation was nearly as bad as an outright lie.
Guilt aside, she still felt it was in everyone's best interest to assume that any relationship with Malfoy was non-existent. There would be a time and place to bring it up later if, by some unlikely chance, anything came of the situation. Announcing to the family seemed just a bit premature knowing the reaction that they would likely have.
She gave as small, grateful smile to her Mum, silently giving her a thanks that she was allowing Ginny to let it play out on her terms.
Finally, they sat for the meal and Ginny found herself eating far too quickly in some effort to make the afternoon pass more quickly. This did not pass unnoticed by her mischievous twin brothers.
"What's the matter Ginny?" Fred inquired, nudging her with his elbow.
"You look like you're trying to avoid us today."
"Not keeping any secrets, are you now?" they teased.
She dropped her fork. She was. Oh goodness, she was. She found herself mortified by the thought that perhaps someone had caught onto her unusual silence when they were discussing Draco and the Daily Prophet. She felt her body tense with anticipation as they implied that she was up to something elicit.
Fred and George took turns dropping teasing hints, until she threw a dinner roll at them, drawing Harry's attention from across the table.
"What is going on, guys?" Harry finally asked.
Ginny found herself looking away nervously, making Harry's gaze on her turn slightly suspicious. Wondering if every stray thought she'd been pondering all day was written clearly across her face, she settled on trying to give him her most innocent look possible, as she pointed a fork at her brothers. She then proceeded to shove a large portion of mashed potatoes into her mouth. The action was intended to distract Harry into thinking that whatever issue she was having was only because the twins had evoked it from her.
"Oh, tell him, Gin," Fred prodded.
Her mind immediately ran through any possible scenario where the twins might have identified Draco bringing her home on Friday night.
"You know he'll find out soon enough," George joined in.
She felt cornered. Did they somehow know more about her plans this afternoon? She tried to stave them off by giving them her dirtiest look, but the mouthful of potatoes ruined the overall effect. She shook her head negatively and settled for a glare to hide her embarrassment.
Her mind was so totally focused on someone finding out about her date that she'd completely forgotten that it wasn't her only secret of late.
"Quidditch, of course!" they said in unison to Harry.
Ginny let out an audible sigh of relief. Her brothers seemed to take it as her simply expressing her annoyance at them because it only prodded them to look rather smug.
"I'll let you tell him," Ginny finally gave in after swallowing her food. "Since you both obviously can't keep a secret."
Harry perked up at the mention of one of his favorite subjects. He appeared relieved that the conversation had finally turned from his past history with the newspapers and he eagerly leaned over to listen to whatever seemed to have them so excited.
"Tell me you aren't going to have me kicked off your team entirely, now,” he said in a somewhat conspiratorial tone. “Since Ginny has replaced me as Seeker, I'm starting to get a bit worried."
Easily, the twins could have gone on for at least twenty minutes teasing Harry about being replaced as Seeker. It became obvious that their news was much more important, because they dropped the subject and moved back to their original topic far too easily.
"Well, you've heard about the new Seeker on the Falcons,” one started.
Harry nodded. "She's the first witch to make it onto any professional team outside of the Harpies," he stated knowledgeably. "I can't believe that of all the teams out there that it's Malfoy's team that turns out to be the most progressive."
"You know Oliver Wood plays for them," Fred added.
"Oliver probably had some influence. They say he's being groomed as the new Assistant Coach," Harry added. He'd obviously been keeping up to date with the latest Quidditch articles. "He'll do well. He probably had something to do with hiring a witch. It makes me wonder what it's like for her to be the only female on the team."
"You might be able to ask her yourself, if you're nice," George said.
"Yes, we happen to know her personally."
"Really?" Harry's face lit up.
Ginny rolled her eyes as the twins baited him. Knowing Harry, he was probably hoping that they'd set him up on a date with the aforementioned witch. He was about to be sadly disappointed.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised the contacts we have. Right, George?"
"You bet, Fred."
"Did you meet her at the joke shop?" Harry's enthusiasm was building and the twins were practically beside themselves with the glee of edging him on.
"Actually, she used to be an employee of ours."
"Played on the team, too."
"You might say we trained her."
"Yep, she wouldn't be the star player that she is today without our help.”
"Makes us famous, doesn't it, Fred?"
"I should say so."
The twins could go on all day like this, and Harry rolled his eyes at Ginny as she smiled at him.
Finally he could take it no longer. "Who are you talking about?" Harry interrupted.
"Well, it's our darling baby sister, is all," Fred gloated, his face beaming with pride.
As Harry looked over at her, she smiled shyly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her secret being known.
Harry looked confused. "I thought they published the new player as someone named Francine."
"One and the same, Harry!"
"That's all our doing too."
"But why? Why change your identity?" Harry asked, ignoring the twins and turning to Ginny. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that and her verbal pause unfortunately gave the twins the opportunity to answer for her.
"C'mon Harry, do you really think she'd have had a fair shot for a spot on Malfoy's team if she went as herself?"
"You're right there," Harry agreed, his disgust for his school adversary showing. Ginny found herself biting back a response. She suddenly felt they were being just a bit unfair. Quite truthfully, after the tryouts and the practice sessions this past week she found it unlikely that Malfoy would have been primarily responsible for rejecting her if she'd applied for the position as herself. After meeting the coach, her age and curvy stature would have had a far greater impact, but she said nothing.
"It's mostly that I'm too old. They think Francine's only nineteen," Ginny said, hoping that it would halt any further discussion on the matter.
"Yeah, and we made her an American. Show him your accent, Gin!"
"I'd have to use the spell,” she responded. “I keep slipping up. And I don't like it that much anyway."
"Well, it's a good thing you don't have to talk much while you're flying," Harry commented. "But do you really think it's a good idea to maintain an alias?" He looked at her a bit skeptically. She had to agree with him that it was a terrible idea, but the damage had already been done. She had to defend her choice.
"It's a little odd changing right now," she informed him. "Oliver and I have already talked about when I'll make some sort of announcement, if this even lasts past the next few weeks. Now is not a good time, because he says they'll likely just release me for deceiving them. I'll wait till they get to know me a little better. Besides, I'm just thrilled to be playing Quidditch right now. I mean, can you believe it?"
Her enthusiasm for her accomplishment started to show through as she spoke that last statement.
While it would likely be easiest to simply report that she really wasn't Francine before things went too far, she thought it would be rather a messy subject. But now, Harry knew and was also sworn to secrecy, along with Oliver and the twins. Slowly, enough people would know and her secret would come out. She figured that it wasn't a bad thing.
In the mean time, she had bigger secrets to keep, considering that she had a real date this afternoon with the team owner. This seemed far more disconcerting than the information about Francine becoming public knowledge.
- ~ -
She arrived at the manor as soon as she could break away from the family. Although her brothers had openly chastised her as soon as they suspected that she had a date, she'd refused to admit to it. Her mother was the only one who knew that she was meeting Draco and, despite giving her daughter a look of concern, still wished her luck as she waved Ginny off.
Ginny realized that she was getting far too familiar with arriving at the front gates of Malfoy Manor and she found that small fact just a tad disturbing. Nevertheless, she trod up the now familiar steps to the main door and waited for the house-elf to announce her arrival.
To her surprise, today was different, as it was Draco himself who greeted her at the door.
"I was getting a bit worried that you'd changed your mind," he said as he invited her inside. She had expected him to be angry, but was surprised to see that his expression seemed to be almost concerned.
"Family stuff," she responded, looking contrite. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to tear away from everyone. They all seemed to find it absolutely fascinating that I was leaving for a possible date, and I had to practically hex them all to get them to let me leave in peace."
"You'll have to tell me about having a big family," he said conversationally as they wandered through the halls of the manor, toward the back parlor and the gardens. "I don't have much experience with dealing with such a large lot."
She tried not to seem surprised by his statement. She had almost expected one of his old insults about her family, yet, once again, there was no trace of the malice she'd once known. He had been almost normal to be with over the last few days and she was reluctant to do anything that might disrupt this new way he'd been relating to her. She decided that perhaps treating him like a normal person was in her best interest.
Fortunately, the pause as she pondered her answer was only long enough to make her appear thoughtful. "It has its good and its bad. Sometimes it's wonderful because there is always something interesting happening, other times, it's difficult because there's very little privacy."
"You didn't tell them it was a date?"
Her thoughts immediately moved toward trying to come up with a cover story, but she didn't want to break the comfortable friendship that they seemed to be forming. She elected to be honest with her answer. "Mum knows that I'm out with you. Not much gets past her."
"And she didn't ship you off to St. Mungo's for an evaluation?"
She smiled, feeling rather shy. Honesty was more difficult than she initially thought. "No. She's a bit concerned, but she understands that I enjoy your company."
They entered the gardens, talking about family in general while Draco paused to point out different features of the area. There seemed to be a history or story behind every sculpture or section, and it spurred endless discussion. At some point, he'd taken her hand and Ginny tried not to let it show how much it affected her.
They finally sat, with his arm around her, watching the sun set. As Ginny accepted his embrace she no longer had any doubt that she was falling for him, despite her better judgment. The pause in their conversation gave her a chance to analyze the fact that things seemed to be moving quickly. If it were anyone else, she might not have given such a fact so much as a second thought, but it wasn't. She was with a man who was formerly associated with Death Eaters and she felt a small warning flag rise in the back of her mind. She needed to know more.
“Two months ago, I hated you, you know.”
“A lot of people hate me. I'm used to it,” he replied, half-jokingly.
“But this was different.”
“You didn't hate me, Ginevra. You may have disliked me intensely, but it's not in you to hate.”
It certainly was observant of him, she thought. No, she hadn't hated him even though she probably should have. She didn't have the history of dealing directly with him like Ron and Harry did and rightly couldn't form such a strong opinion of him based on what she knew. “How do you know that?”
“I read people well.”
“Not always. You didn't in school,” she said.
“Are you talking about Potter?”
“And my brother.”
“They really were insufferable back then, you know,” he said, smiling at the thought.
She had to admit that Ron definitely had his annoying moments, especially when it came to dissuading any potential boyfriends. But, she couldn't resist pointing out, “So were you.”
“We were children. We saw the world the way our parents taught us.”
She contemplated his remark. Was he trying to apologize for being so horrible? “Maybe....”
“I still do. But, I've learned from my parents' mistakes. You probably have too,” he said, staring off at the setting sun. He appeared to be contemplating something.
He seemed to be opening up to her, so, she decided to probe a bit to see how much he'd actually changed. “I hope I did. Do you still hold a lot of the same ideals that you did back then?”
“Do you mean do I still have a predisposed idea that purebloods are superior?”
“Well, that wasn't exactly were I was going, but since you brought it up...” Actually, that was exactly where she had been going, but she didn't want to sound rude.
“I won't lie to you. I still have some leanings toward that.”
She stiffened in his embrace.
“I can only be perfect in so many ways, Ginevra.”
She looked at him as if he had three heads. She had no idea how to interpret that last statement.
“Yes, it was a joke. You can laugh, you know.”
She did chuckle, but continued to question him. “But you still feel strongly about Muggle-borns?”
“It was how I was raised. It's part of who I am. I'm not going to go around insulting them, but I still have my doubts. I can't say I buy into the pureblood-only views either. After all, Voldemort was only a half-blood and he was incredibly powerful. Granger is Muggleborn and one one the most competent witches I've ever seen. I guess I need more information. In any case, I can't hold those kind of prejudices and be successful in business, so I've adapted, as my father says.”
She seemed thoughtful. “I like this side of you. You're different from what I expected after all I've heard about your family.”
He stared off into the distance thoughtfully and was silent for a long time before he spoke. “You're different from your family also, you realize.”
“How's that?”
“Your family, they consider my family as evil, don't they?”
“I suppose so. My parents have probably lost a lot of sleep over me spending time with you over the last few months, even if it was only for business.”
“Yet, you're still here. You've overlooked the past and you've started to see my parents as being different from the reputation they've acquired.”
“I've started seeing you differently too.”
“I was hoping you'd say something like that,” he said, his voice growing slightly husky. He looked at the sunset, then back to her. “Did you know that the sunset matches your hair?”
She smiled at the change of subject, but never got the chance to respond as he pulled her into a long, soft kiss. The sky slowly turned to twilight, a dull red glow the only remaining color on the horizon. Ginny found herself lost in the moment, as the sensation of his caress drove the dragonflies in her tummy into a frenzy.
She reached her hands up to the back of his neck, caressing his soft blond hair, and let out a moan as his lips moved to nibble on her neck and down to her collarbone.
Every fiber of her being wanted to let herself go and admit that she was falling for him completely, yet, a tiny, persistent voice seemed to interrupt her freefall.
“Draco?”
“Ummm...”
“We shouldn't be doing this....”
He pulled away from the kiss and looked at her. His gaze was so honest that it was almost her undoing.
“What's the matter, Ginevra?”
Anyone, anyone else who called her Ginevra, would have heard her berate them severely, yet each time she heard him call her by her given name, it sounded wonderfully like a caress. She loved him saying her name. She wanted to hear him say it more often, but something inside was holding her back from letting things happen.
“This is turning into something, isn't it?”
“I was under that impression, yes,” he said with a smile, and moved to continue to let his fingers pay homage to a spot on her neck, right near her ear.
She was still holding him, her arms around his neck, and she slowly let go, her hands tracing his face as she pulled away. This was hard. She loved what was happening and if it was any other wizard in the world, she likely would have simply kept quiet and let things happen between them. But it wasn't any other wizard. She'd just spent the entire day worrying herself half to death that any of her brothers would suspect that she was secretly seeing this man.
“This is a little frightening for me.”
“Because of my family name, or my prejudices?” he asked calmly. He was no longer looking into her eyes but was focusing on his hand as it traced patterns on her shoulder. She could tell he was bothered by her statement.
“Neither.” It wasn't a lie, exactly. Neither was important to her, at least not after their conversation. This was something else, something that she couldn't quite place. She needed time to sort things out and found herself searching for the words that would give her that time.
“Good,” he said.
“I need you to understand that I have my own issues right now.” It was the first thing that came to her mind.
She did. She truly did have her own issues. It wasn't just his background and worrying about her brothers pitching a royal fit. It truly had to do with the fact that she was just jumping into the next convenient thing. She wasn't ready to fight the battle with her family over proprieties if this was simply going to be a fling.
Her statement seemed to finally get his attention, and he pulled away slightly, still holding her, and looking at her intently. “And those would be?”
“Six months ago, I was ready to move in with someone, and I'd just broken it off. Two months ago, I disliked you more than anyone in the world, except maybe your father. I'm.... I'm just not ready to get involved with anyone right now. I'm thinking that you and I had a wonderful moment last weekend and we're both just a little carried away with that.” There, she said something. It sounded like useless drabble, but it was the best she could come up with before she truly got into this farther than she was ready for.
“You're making excuses, Weasley.” His gaze leveled at her.
It was true. She was terrified that this fling that she seemed to be falling into was nothing more than a mistake, that she was carried away with the romanticism of the ball. She was afraid that he was nothing more than a beautiful, romantic fantasy.
“Not excuses. I don't want to make excuses.”
“Then what is your point? I find you interesting, Ginevra. I think that you find me the same. What is wrong with getting to know each other better?”
A million things. Not the least of which was trying to explain this to everyone. Her mother could be brought around, but her brothers would be difficult. And then there was her recently formed alter ego who happened to be working for him on his Quidditch team. And not the least of which was her fear of getting into another relationship. Marcus had been bad enough, and Draco's personality was so much stronger. She didn't want to have someone control her like that again.
“I'm not ready to be seeing anyone right now. This isn't about you. It's about me. I'm... I'm sorry. I really think that I need to go,” she said somewhat shakily. She couldn't do this. Not now. She needed to leave before she made a mistake. His expression showed no small amount of surprise, but he remained silent.
If he had tried to make some sort of excuse, to persuade her, she might have preferred it. But his reaction only made her feel worse. She suddenly realized that she wanted a relationship with this man, badly. She just wasn't ready for it, and he respected her for it. It was a reaction she'd been unprepared for and it made her feel even more attracted to him.
- ~ -
She tried to return to normal the next day. However, normal had taken on a radically different turn, as she quickly came to realize. Her life had now become hectic and exhausting due to her overbooked schedule. She found that between work and Qudditch that she was able to push thoughts of him aside, at least during her waking hours.
The next three weeks flew by, literally and figuratively.
Quidditch had become an all-consuming passion. Ginny was flying four days a week in practice matches with the team. She still had a great deal to learn as she practiced every maneuver and memorized every signal the team members gave each other in order to perform their aerial acrobatics in perfect sync. She found herself becoming more and more agile as she built up more strength and stamina. It was almost like she'd become fused to her her new, top of the line, team-issued broom.
After practice, she would hurry into Tinkerton's to keep up with her normal work schedule there. As a practice player, she didn't earn enough to quit her work at the caterers, but she had been able to cut back on her hours a bit. Ms. Tinkerton had been less than happy with her request but, because Ginny was one of her more valuable employees, she was willing to agree to a reduced schedule in order to keep her.
Each night, Ginny returned home and spent what little free time she had before bed talking to Fred and George, and sometimes Harry, about her daily exploits on the practice squad both in the air as well as with her teammates and coach.
They eagerly discussed each day with her, wanting every detail of what went on behind the scenes of a professional team. Her brothers now regularly boasted that they were her biggest fans, and subsequently saved every newspaper article, no matter how minor, from every publication they could find. They both claimed that if they looked closely at the pictures of the new girl on the Falmouth team, they could tell it was Ginny.
As it came to pass, Saturdays quickly became Ginny's favorite day of the week. That was when she attended the weekly Quidditch match to see her team perform at their best. She had to admit that she absolutely loved attending each match in person. Better still, she had the best possible seats in the stadium as she waited on the side of the pitch with the coaches and other backup players. Even if she never made the team, she decided that the experience itself was well worth her efforts.
Overall, she would say she was happy, although she was so busy that she barely had a moment to herself. Sundays were free, and she spent those sleeping as late as possible to catch up on her rest. She found that she didn't care. Each night she fell asleep, completely exhausted, her dreams an odd mix of Quidditch and a blond prince.
- ~ -
Ginny greeted her Sunday morning with very mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy, as always, to have everyone she loved together under one roof. On the other hand, she had more than a few reasons to avoid talking to all her brothers, especially if the talking involved one rather intriguing photograph in the previous Sunday newspaper.
She truly wanted the day to be done as soon as possible so that she could be away from any potential prying questions from her family. Unfortunately, such days had a way of dragging by in an agonizingly slow manner, much like molasses on a February morning.
Not that Ginny didn't have some fun during the day. The weather was pleasantly sunny and warm. She joyfully chased Bill's two children around the yard and later was even able to laugh off the infamously erroneous ways of the Daily Prophet, since there was no way that the topic of the last weekend's front page photograph was going to be avoided.
Fortunately, her assumption that the family held the integrity of the newspaper in rather dubious regard was correct. The initial discussion of the article was quickly followed with story after story of how Harry's reputation had been slandered regularly by overly ambitious reporters of the publication in question. There was plenty of laughter and Ron's face turned the requisite shades of purple as he allowed his temper to get the best of him as some of the stories were recounted. Harry, much the calmer, would only say that he was glad that the worst of it seemed to be in the past. He gave Ginny a sympathetic look and he encouraged her not to let the paper bother her too greatly.
Ginny herself contributed very little to the conversation, afraid that she might accidentally say something she'd regret. She felt somewhat undeserving of their support in the matter and glanced over at her mother with a slightly guilty look. Her actions on Friday night no longer left her completely blameless and she was well aware that her mother was thinking the same.
Although the article in the Prophet about her role at the Malfoy ball had been blown outrageously out of proportion, she had to admit to herself that the article wasn't entirely untrue. She had, of her own free will, gone to dinner with the man, albeit after the fact, and she had enjoyed kissing him...twice. And now she was looking to go out with him again this very afternoon.
As the participants in the conversation babbled on about Ginny being misrepresented, she remained silent and let them assume she was innocent. The downside, however, was that she felt like her silence in the conversation was nearly as bad as an outright lie.
Guilt aside, she still felt it was in everyone's best interest to assume that any relationship with Malfoy was non-existent. There would be a time and place to bring it up later if, by some unlikely chance, anything came of the situation. Announcing to the family seemed just a bit premature knowing the reaction that they would likely have.
She gave as small, grateful smile to her Mum, silently giving her a thanks that she was allowing Ginny to let it play out on her terms.
Finally, they sat for the meal and Ginny found herself eating far too quickly in some effort to make the afternoon pass more quickly. This did not pass unnoticed by her mischievous twin brothers.
"What's the matter Ginny?" Fred inquired, nudging her with his elbow.
"You look like you're trying to avoid us today."
"Not keeping any secrets, are you now?" they teased.
She dropped her fork. She was. Oh goodness, she was. She found herself mortified by the thought that perhaps someone had caught onto her unusual silence when they were discussing Draco and the Daily Prophet. She felt her body tense with anticipation as they implied that she was up to something elicit.
Fred and George took turns dropping teasing hints, until she threw a dinner roll at them, drawing Harry's attention from across the table.
"What is going on, guys?" Harry finally asked.
Ginny found herself looking away nervously, making Harry's gaze on her turn slightly suspicious. Wondering if every stray thought she'd been pondering all day was written clearly across her face, she settled on trying to give him her most innocent look possible, as she pointed a fork at her brothers. She then proceeded to shove a large portion of mashed potatoes into her mouth. The action was intended to distract Harry into thinking that whatever issue she was having was only because the twins had evoked it from her.
"Oh, tell him, Gin," Fred prodded.
Her mind immediately ran through any possible scenario where the twins might have identified Draco bringing her home on Friday night.
"You know he'll find out soon enough," George joined in.
She felt cornered. Did they somehow know more about her plans this afternoon? She tried to stave them off by giving them her dirtiest look, but the mouthful of potatoes ruined the overall effect. She shook her head negatively and settled for a glare to hide her embarrassment.
Her mind was so totally focused on someone finding out about her date that she'd completely forgotten that it wasn't her only secret of late.
"Quidditch, of course!" they said in unison to Harry.
Ginny let out an audible sigh of relief. Her brothers seemed to take it as her simply expressing her annoyance at them because it only prodded them to look rather smug.
"I'll let you tell him," Ginny finally gave in after swallowing her food. "Since you both obviously can't keep a secret."
Harry perked up at the mention of one of his favorite subjects. He appeared relieved that the conversation had finally turned from his past history with the newspapers and he eagerly leaned over to listen to whatever seemed to have them so excited.
"Tell me you aren't going to have me kicked off your team entirely, now,” he said in a somewhat conspiratorial tone. “Since Ginny has replaced me as Seeker, I'm starting to get a bit worried."
Easily, the twins could have gone on for at least twenty minutes teasing Harry about being replaced as Seeker. It became obvious that their news was much more important, because they dropped the subject and moved back to their original topic far too easily.
"Well, you've heard about the new Seeker on the Falcons,” one started.
Harry nodded. "She's the first witch to make it onto any professional team outside of the Harpies," he stated knowledgeably. "I can't believe that of all the teams out there that it's Malfoy's team that turns out to be the most progressive."
"You know Oliver Wood plays for them," Fred added.
"Oliver probably had some influence. They say he's being groomed as the new Assistant Coach," Harry added. He'd obviously been keeping up to date with the latest Quidditch articles. "He'll do well. He probably had something to do with hiring a witch. It makes me wonder what it's like for her to be the only female on the team."
"You might be able to ask her yourself, if you're nice," George said.
"Yes, we happen to know her personally."
"Really?" Harry's face lit up.
Ginny rolled her eyes as the twins baited him. Knowing Harry, he was probably hoping that they'd set him up on a date with the aforementioned witch. He was about to be sadly disappointed.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised the contacts we have. Right, George?"
"You bet, Fred."
"Did you meet her at the joke shop?" Harry's enthusiasm was building and the twins were practically beside themselves with the glee of edging him on.
"Actually, she used to be an employee of ours."
"Played on the team, too."
"You might say we trained her."
"Yep, she wouldn't be the star player that she is today without our help.”
"Makes us famous, doesn't it, Fred?"
"I should say so."
The twins could go on all day like this, and Harry rolled his eyes at Ginny as she smiled at him.
Finally he could take it no longer. "Who are you talking about?" Harry interrupted.
"Well, it's our darling baby sister, is all," Fred gloated, his face beaming with pride.
As Harry looked over at her, she smiled shyly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her secret being known.
Harry looked confused. "I thought they published the new player as someone named Francine."
"One and the same, Harry!"
"That's all our doing too."
"But why? Why change your identity?" Harry asked, ignoring the twins and turning to Ginny. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that and her verbal pause unfortunately gave the twins the opportunity to answer for her.
"C'mon Harry, do you really think she'd have had a fair shot for a spot on Malfoy's team if she went as herself?"
"You're right there," Harry agreed, his disgust for his school adversary showing. Ginny found herself biting back a response. She suddenly felt they were being just a bit unfair. Quite truthfully, after the tryouts and the practice sessions this past week she found it unlikely that Malfoy would have been primarily responsible for rejecting her if she'd applied for the position as herself. After meeting the coach, her age and curvy stature would have had a far greater impact, but she said nothing.
"It's mostly that I'm too old. They think Francine's only nineteen," Ginny said, hoping that it would halt any further discussion on the matter.
"Yeah, and we made her an American. Show him your accent, Gin!"
"I'd have to use the spell,” she responded. “I keep slipping up. And I don't like it that much anyway."
"Well, it's a good thing you don't have to talk much while you're flying," Harry commented. "But do you really think it's a good idea to maintain an alias?" He looked at her a bit skeptically. She had to agree with him that it was a terrible idea, but the damage had already been done. She had to defend her choice.
"It's a little odd changing right now," she informed him. "Oliver and I have already talked about when I'll make some sort of announcement, if this even lasts past the next few weeks. Now is not a good time, because he says they'll likely just release me for deceiving them. I'll wait till they get to know me a little better. Besides, I'm just thrilled to be playing Quidditch right now. I mean, can you believe it?"
Her enthusiasm for her accomplishment started to show through as she spoke that last statement.
While it would likely be easiest to simply report that she really wasn't Francine before things went too far, she thought it would be rather a messy subject. But now, Harry knew and was also sworn to secrecy, along with Oliver and the twins. Slowly, enough people would know and her secret would come out. She figured that it wasn't a bad thing.
In the mean time, she had bigger secrets to keep, considering that she had a real date this afternoon with the team owner. This seemed far more disconcerting than the information about Francine becoming public knowledge.
- ~ -
She arrived at the manor as soon as she could break away from the family. Although her brothers had openly chastised her as soon as they suspected that she had a date, she'd refused to admit to it. Her mother was the only one who knew that she was meeting Draco and, despite giving her daughter a look of concern, still wished her luck as she waved Ginny off.
Ginny realized that she was getting far too familiar with arriving at the front gates of Malfoy Manor and she found that small fact just a tad disturbing. Nevertheless, she trod up the now familiar steps to the main door and waited for the house-elf to announce her arrival.
To her surprise, today was different, as it was Draco himself who greeted her at the door.
"I was getting a bit worried that you'd changed your mind," he said as he invited her inside. She had expected him to be angry, but was surprised to see that his expression seemed to be almost concerned.
"Family stuff," she responded, looking contrite. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to tear away from everyone. They all seemed to find it absolutely fascinating that I was leaving for a possible date, and I had to practically hex them all to get them to let me leave in peace."
"You'll have to tell me about having a big family," he said conversationally as they wandered through the halls of the manor, toward the back parlor and the gardens. "I don't have much experience with dealing with such a large lot."
She tried not to seem surprised by his statement. She had almost expected one of his old insults about her family, yet, once again, there was no trace of the malice she'd once known. He had been almost normal to be with over the last few days and she was reluctant to do anything that might disrupt this new way he'd been relating to her. She decided that perhaps treating him like a normal person was in her best interest.
Fortunately, the pause as she pondered her answer was only long enough to make her appear thoughtful. "It has its good and its bad. Sometimes it's wonderful because there is always something interesting happening, other times, it's difficult because there's very little privacy."
"You didn't tell them it was a date?"
Her thoughts immediately moved toward trying to come up with a cover story, but she didn't want to break the comfortable friendship that they seemed to be forming. She elected to be honest with her answer. "Mum knows that I'm out with you. Not much gets past her."
"And she didn't ship you off to St. Mungo's for an evaluation?"
She smiled, feeling rather shy. Honesty was more difficult than she initially thought. "No. She's a bit concerned, but she understands that I enjoy your company."
They entered the gardens, talking about family in general while Draco paused to point out different features of the area. There seemed to be a history or story behind every sculpture or section, and it spurred endless discussion. At some point, he'd taken her hand and Ginny tried not to let it show how much it affected her.
They finally sat, with his arm around her, watching the sun set. As Ginny accepted his embrace she no longer had any doubt that she was falling for him, despite her better judgment. The pause in their conversation gave her a chance to analyze the fact that things seemed to be moving quickly. If it were anyone else, she might not have given such a fact so much as a second thought, but it wasn't. She was with a man who was formerly associated with Death Eaters and she felt a small warning flag rise in the back of her mind. She needed to know more.
“Two months ago, I hated you, you know.”
“A lot of people hate me. I'm used to it,” he replied, half-jokingly.
“But this was different.”
“You didn't hate me, Ginevra. You may have disliked me intensely, but it's not in you to hate.”
It certainly was observant of him, she thought. No, she hadn't hated him even though she probably should have. She didn't have the history of dealing directly with him like Ron and Harry did and rightly couldn't form such a strong opinion of him based on what she knew. “How do you know that?”
“I read people well.”
“Not always. You didn't in school,” she said.
“Are you talking about Potter?”
“And my brother.”
“They really were insufferable back then, you know,” he said, smiling at the thought.
She had to admit that Ron definitely had his annoying moments, especially when it came to dissuading any potential boyfriends. But, she couldn't resist pointing out, “So were you.”
“We were children. We saw the world the way our parents taught us.”
She contemplated his remark. Was he trying to apologize for being so horrible? “Maybe....”
“I still do. But, I've learned from my parents' mistakes. You probably have too,” he said, staring off at the setting sun. He appeared to be contemplating something.
He seemed to be opening up to her, so, she decided to probe a bit to see how much he'd actually changed. “I hope I did. Do you still hold a lot of the same ideals that you did back then?”
“Do you mean do I still have a predisposed idea that purebloods are superior?”
“Well, that wasn't exactly were I was going, but since you brought it up...” Actually, that was exactly where she had been going, but she didn't want to sound rude.
“I won't lie to you. I still have some leanings toward that.”
She stiffened in his embrace.
“I can only be perfect in so many ways, Ginevra.”
She looked at him as if he had three heads. She had no idea how to interpret that last statement.
“Yes, it was a joke. You can laugh, you know.”
She did chuckle, but continued to question him. “But you still feel strongly about Muggle-borns?”
“It was how I was raised. It's part of who I am. I'm not going to go around insulting them, but I still have my doubts. I can't say I buy into the pureblood-only views either. After all, Voldemort was only a half-blood and he was incredibly powerful. Granger is Muggleborn and one one the most competent witches I've ever seen. I guess I need more information. In any case, I can't hold those kind of prejudices and be successful in business, so I've adapted, as my father says.”
She seemed thoughtful. “I like this side of you. You're different from what I expected after all I've heard about your family.”
He stared off into the distance thoughtfully and was silent for a long time before he spoke. “You're different from your family also, you realize.”
“How's that?”
“Your family, they consider my family as evil, don't they?”
“I suppose so. My parents have probably lost a lot of sleep over me spending time with you over the last few months, even if it was only for business.”
“Yet, you're still here. You've overlooked the past and you've started to see my parents as being different from the reputation they've acquired.”
“I've started seeing you differently too.”
“I was hoping you'd say something like that,” he said, his voice growing slightly husky. He looked at the sunset, then back to her. “Did you know that the sunset matches your hair?”
She smiled at the change of subject, but never got the chance to respond as he pulled her into a long, soft kiss. The sky slowly turned to twilight, a dull red glow the only remaining color on the horizon. Ginny found herself lost in the moment, as the sensation of his caress drove the dragonflies in her tummy into a frenzy.
She reached her hands up to the back of his neck, caressing his soft blond hair, and let out a moan as his lips moved to nibble on her neck and down to her collarbone.
Every fiber of her being wanted to let herself go and admit that she was falling for him completely, yet, a tiny, persistent voice seemed to interrupt her freefall.
“Draco?”
“Ummm...”
“We shouldn't be doing this....”
He pulled away from the kiss and looked at her. His gaze was so honest that it was almost her undoing.
“What's the matter, Ginevra?”
Anyone, anyone else who called her Ginevra, would have heard her berate them severely, yet each time she heard him call her by her given name, it sounded wonderfully like a caress. She loved him saying her name. She wanted to hear him say it more often, but something inside was holding her back from letting things happen.
“This is turning into something, isn't it?”
“I was under that impression, yes,” he said with a smile, and moved to continue to let his fingers pay homage to a spot on her neck, right near her ear.
She was still holding him, her arms around his neck, and she slowly let go, her hands tracing his face as she pulled away. This was hard. She loved what was happening and if it was any other wizard in the world, she likely would have simply kept quiet and let things happen between them. But it wasn't any other wizard. She'd just spent the entire day worrying herself half to death that any of her brothers would suspect that she was secretly seeing this man.
“This is a little frightening for me.”
“Because of my family name, or my prejudices?” he asked calmly. He was no longer looking into her eyes but was focusing on his hand as it traced patterns on her shoulder. She could tell he was bothered by her statement.
“Neither.” It wasn't a lie, exactly. Neither was important to her, at least not after their conversation. This was something else, something that she couldn't quite place. She needed time to sort things out and found herself searching for the words that would give her that time.
“Good,” he said.
“I need you to understand that I have my own issues right now.” It was the first thing that came to her mind.
She did. She truly did have her own issues. It wasn't just his background and worrying about her brothers pitching a royal fit. It truly had to do with the fact that she was just jumping into the next convenient thing. She wasn't ready to fight the battle with her family over proprieties if this was simply going to be a fling.
Her statement seemed to finally get his attention, and he pulled away slightly, still holding her, and looking at her intently. “And those would be?”
“Six months ago, I was ready to move in with someone, and I'd just broken it off. Two months ago, I disliked you more than anyone in the world, except maybe your father. I'm.... I'm just not ready to get involved with anyone right now. I'm thinking that you and I had a wonderful moment last weekend and we're both just a little carried away with that.” There, she said something. It sounded like useless drabble, but it was the best she could come up with before she truly got into this farther than she was ready for.
“You're making excuses, Weasley.” His gaze leveled at her.
It was true. She was terrified that this fling that she seemed to be falling into was nothing more than a mistake, that she was carried away with the romanticism of the ball. She was afraid that he was nothing more than a beautiful, romantic fantasy.
“Not excuses. I don't want to make excuses.”
“Then what is your point? I find you interesting, Ginevra. I think that you find me the same. What is wrong with getting to know each other better?”
A million things. Not the least of which was trying to explain this to everyone. Her mother could be brought around, but her brothers would be difficult. And then there was her recently formed alter ego who happened to be working for him on his Quidditch team. And not the least of which was her fear of getting into another relationship. Marcus had been bad enough, and Draco's personality was so much stronger. She didn't want to have someone control her like that again.
“I'm not ready to be seeing anyone right now. This isn't about you. It's about me. I'm... I'm sorry. I really think that I need to go,” she said somewhat shakily. She couldn't do this. Not now. She needed to leave before she made a mistake. His expression showed no small amount of surprise, but he remained silent.
If he had tried to make some sort of excuse, to persuade her, she might have preferred it. But his reaction only made her feel worse. She suddenly realized that she wanted a relationship with this man, badly. She just wasn't ready for it, and he respected her for it. It was a reaction she'd been unprepared for and it made her feel even more attracted to him.
- ~ -
She tried to return to normal the next day. However, normal had taken on a radically different turn, as she quickly came to realize. Her life had now become hectic and exhausting due to her overbooked schedule. She found that between work and Qudditch that she was able to push thoughts of him aside, at least during her waking hours.
The next three weeks flew by, literally and figuratively.
Quidditch had become an all-consuming passion. Ginny was flying four days a week in practice matches with the team. She still had a great deal to learn as she practiced every maneuver and memorized every signal the team members gave each other in order to perform their aerial acrobatics in perfect sync. She found herself becoming more and more agile as she built up more strength and stamina. It was almost like she'd become fused to her her new, top of the line, team-issued broom.
After practice, she would hurry into Tinkerton's to keep up with her normal work schedule there. As a practice player, she didn't earn enough to quit her work at the caterers, but she had been able to cut back on her hours a bit. Ms. Tinkerton had been less than happy with her request but, because Ginny was one of her more valuable employees, she was willing to agree to a reduced schedule in order to keep her.
Each night, Ginny returned home and spent what little free time she had before bed talking to Fred and George, and sometimes Harry, about her daily exploits on the practice squad both in the air as well as with her teammates and coach.
They eagerly discussed each day with her, wanting every detail of what went on behind the scenes of a professional team. Her brothers now regularly boasted that they were her biggest fans, and subsequently saved every newspaper article, no matter how minor, from every publication they could find. They both claimed that if they looked closely at the pictures of the new girl on the Falmouth team, they could tell it was Ginny.
As it came to pass, Saturdays quickly became Ginny's favorite day of the week. That was when she attended the weekly Quidditch match to see her team perform at their best. She had to admit that she absolutely loved attending each match in person. Better still, she had the best possible seats in the stadium as she waited on the side of the pitch with the coaches and other backup players. Even if she never made the team, she decided that the experience itself was well worth her efforts.
Overall, she would say she was happy, although she was so busy that she barely had a moment to herself. Sundays were free, and she spent those sleeping as late as possible to catch up on her rest. She found that she didn't care. Each night she fell asleep, completely exhausted, her dreams an odd mix of Quidditch and a blond prince.
- ~ -
Author notes: Remember, reviews really are important. Even if you think it's awful, please let me know, so that I can improve. Thanks!!!
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