The Safe House

Chapter Seven

The silence had resumed. Ginny couldn't even imagine having to face him the next day and had decided that things were much simpler when they avoided each other. She thought that Draco must have felt the same way because he did not once bother her. She couldn't deny any longer that she was growing more and more attached to the tall blond. She had finally accepted that he was, indeed, a better man than she had ever thought he could be. He was witty, smart, fiercely protective of those he loved, and so damn sexy. Well, I am only human, and it's not like he wasn't dreaming about some woman several weeks ago. She tried to laugh at both of them being caught having sex dreams. It wasn't working. No matter how many times she tried to reason with herself that she should just grow up and get over it, she would clearly remember crying out his name during her climax. So the silence had resumed.

What Ginny had no way of knowing was that every night since her wanton display, Draco had been having his own fantasies. He was very glad to have reclaimed the wand so he could lock the door and silence his room when he went to bed. Unfortunately, as much as he enjoyed indulging himself with own his lascivious thoughts, he was terrified of actually acting on them. Having Ginny Weasley in his bed sounded like a wonderful solution until he remembered her undying love for Potter. Even Draco wasn't deluded enough to ignore his growing feelings for Ginny. His attraction to the youngest Weasley had always been based on more than just her looks. Yes, she was beautiful with her long, wavy red hair, bright caramel eyes, full pouty lips, and pale skin. Her body had always been fit, but she had gained more curves with age, and he had not failed to notice. But it was her quick wit, sharp tongue, kind heart, and pure confidence that had him hooked. She had shown up at the house with a broken spirit that he at first attributed to the war, but over time, and through a few telling conversations, he suspected that Potter was really to blame. He hated him. And he didn't think he could ever hand Ginny back over to his childhood rival if he let this attraction between them develop into anything more.

ooo

One evening, after spending most of the day in her room, Ginny was humming to herself as she marked the calendar on the refrigerator. Draco had transfigured a calendar out of some old magazines, and Ginny had begun marking the weeks spent in the house. It had been seven weeks since Ginny's arrival on the first of March. Draco looked up from his dinner when he heard her and watched her turn to gaze out of the window. The sun was setting and the light made her skin glow and her hair look like fire. He missed her. And with that realization, he decided to make his move.

"Ginevra, I think we should be friends."

She coloured slightly and turned to face him. "Okay. I think so, too…Draco." She couldn't help but mirror his expression as his face broke into a broad smile.

The next month seemed to fly by once the two housemates had cleared the air. They spent almost all of their time together. They would read books aloud to each other, cook meals together instead of taking turns, battle it out in never-ending Chess games, and spend hours getting to know every detail of their lives and dreams, the non-sexual ones. There were some uncomfortable moments when the conversation would turn more serious. Draco was always quick to change the subject to something lighter or make a sarcastic remark. Ginny would always smile knowingly as she took up the new topic or joke. Draco was delighted to learn of Ginny's fascination with dragons that she had gained from her brother Charlie. He also had been obsessed with the magical beasts since he had discovered that they shared a name. They often would randomly quiz the other with some obscure dragon fact. To his dismay, Ginny was very good at this game and had taken to keeping a tally of their scores, hers being much, much higher.

She was heading into her room for bed, and they had parted at the top of the stairs when she turned back to him. "Inside of their eggs are actually bright yellow, unlike the outside?"

"How do you know these things?" He looked at her disbelievingly. "Okay. I will go with the Romanian Longhorn." His face looked superior, but he was completely guessing.

"You think you are so very clever, don't you? And I know these things because I actually held the baby dragon in my hands just after it hatched, so I saw the eggshell. It was when I visited Charlie the summer before my fifth year, which you know about, and therefore, think that you are correct."

"Am I?" The Smirk of Triumph.

"Ukrainian. Ironbelly. Goodnight, loser. Oh, and Draco?"

"Yes."

"That's forty-three to me and what was it? Oh yes, seventeen to you. Goodniiight!"

ooo

It was almost June, and the two had begun eating their lunch outside on the particularly nice days. They were spending more and more time exploring the woods, looking for any plants that could be used for making potions. Ginny had taken it upon herself to work on the garden and wanted to expand its contents to include some of the magical plants that they had been growing in the greenhouse. She enjoyed the dirt in her hands and the heat of the sun, making her feel almost as if she were back at the Burrow. Draco enjoyed her wearing shorts and his thin white vest, making him feel as if he were getting a free show every time she bent over on her knees.

Ginny sighed and leaned back against the chair of the patio set. "What I wouldn't do to fly right now."

"Really?" He pictured many naughty things that she could do for him, to him, and with him. "Would you do the dishes for a week?" Draco didn't even glance her way as he calmly questioned her.

"Yes, yes, and yes again! Are you telling me you have a broom?" She was practically squealing with excitement.

"Calm down, Ginevra. I am saying that I may have a broom, and if I did have a broom, which was slightly-damaged-from-one-of-my-last-missions, it would be available for a cost." He looked over at her and couldn't keep the haughty look on his face when he saw her bouncing in her seat.

"Dishes for a month! And laundry! Please, Draco, please let me have it. I'm sure I could fix it. We always had old brooms growing up, and by the time I was given them … well, the point is I want that broom!"

"Deal. And you know that you won't be able to fly very high with the wards in place."

She was smiling so wide that it was almost creepy, so he immediately went up to his closet and retrieved the broken broomstick.

They had agreed that she would only have to do the dishes for two weeks and no laundry because he didn't really believe the broomstick was salvageable. She worked diligently on applying all kinds of different charms to the broom, but was having no luck after days of trying. She even kept him up very late one night, reading over all the magical books that could contain any suggestions or ideas on how to fix the broom. It was around three in the morning when Ginny realized that the broomstick had not been broken, and instead of repair, it required a bit of curse-breaking. Draco quickly performed the counter curses he knew without success. Ginny had learnt some more complex spell-work from her brother Bill, but she couldn't quite remember the spells correctly. Finally, she conceded that the broomstick would probably not fly again.

ooo

Ginny stood outside Draco's door, lightly tapping. Tap, Tap, Tap

"Go away! It's too early to breathe."

She giggled at his response before knocking loudly. Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock

"Ginevra, please go away. I need my rest."

"Your beauty rest? Yes, you do. Come o-on, unlock the door, you know I won't leave you alone!"

The door unlocked and Ginny entered his room for the first time since her third week at the house. Draco was still buried in the covers and seemed to be asleep again. She took the opportunity to inspect the room more closely. It was nearly twice the size of her room. The dark purple of the bedclothes was also found on the curtains that were closed, blocking out much of the morning light. There were actually three windows in his room, two facing the front and one to the back. He had a bookshelf filled with what appeared to be magical books, some of which she had seen the night before. There was a small desk near the bookshelf on top of which were three neatly organized stacks of papers, a quill and ink set, and a clock.

"What on earth do you need to lock your door for? Draco?" She plopped down on the end of his bed, and he harrumphed as he turned away from her.

"Why do you need to push your bedside cabinet in front of your door?" He had not emerged from the blankets, but Ginny could hear the victory in his voice.

Well, I can play this game, too. Trying to embarrass me? Ha! "I think that would be pretty obvious, Draco, considering the last time you came to my rescue. Are you telling me that you also need a little privacy? That's fine. In fact, I know how hard it can be in the mornings for you so I will let you get back to sleep." She reached over to give him a pat on the back when he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on top of him.

"Oh no, Ginevra, you've woken me up now, you should definitely do with me as you please." He was holding her really close, and her chest was pressed into his. He locked his eyes onto hers, and she thought that she saw a brief look of sadness when he reached up and ran his hand through her hair. "Go on, love, get breakfast going, and I will be down in a few minutes." His voice was light, but it sounded forced.

She slowly and carefully pulled herself off of him. Mumbling an agreement, she shut the door as she left his room and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I must be crazy. HE is making me crazy! Maybe he's bent! Merlin's Beard, that's it! He has never made one remark about his dream lover - maybe it was a man. She sat down at the table with a loud thump and leaned her head on her right hand. No, that cannot be it. I know for a fact that he was very much into the ladies at Hogwarts. Lavender would not shut up about their little tryst. Slytherin Sex God, indeed. Lavender Brown! What is wrong with ME? She sat listing all of the things that were wrong with her; having been with Harry being reasons one through seven (one for each year she wasted on him). He is NOT interested in you like that, and you need to accept that before you make a complete fool of yourself – again!

Draco had sat in his bed for five minutes, berating himself. He really was a coward. "No, you are just protecting yourself, and that's being a good Slytherin." He fell back and let out a large sigh, "God, I love her."

ooo

Before the sun had risen on the fourth of June, Ginny crept down the stairs, still dressed in her pyjamas. She knew that Draco's birthday was the next day and had planned on baking a cake to surprise him. They had barrels of sugar and flour in the pantry, but they were only used sparingly. Ginny felt that Draco's birthday was a worthy cause for breaking into the limited supplies. She had convinced Draco to help her in the garden all the previous day and then insisted they finish the Muggle book that they were reading before bed, knowing that he would be exhausted and would want a lie-in. She hoped this would give her plenty of time to bake and decorate his cake. She had even been able to nick the wand from him whilst he drudged up the stairs already half-asleep.

"Good morning, sleepy head." She called to him from the dining room that was, until recently, missing a dining set. Draco had transfigured the table and chairs for Ginny from some of the more unused pieces in the house and some old broken pieces of furniture they found down in the cellar. The dining room had become her research station during her attempts at fixing the broom.

A groggy voice sounded from the kitchen "What are you doing in there?"

Draco appeared, after a moment, with a bowl of fruit in his hand. He was not yet dressed for the day, and his hair was standing in many directions. He slouched down in his seat and ate very slowly. She looked up from her current project and sighed. He was adorable to her when he was like this, and it was a rare treat for her to see him so unguarded.

"It's a surprise," she teased. "If you're a really good boy today, you just might get to find out tomorrow." She laughed quietly to herself when she realized that he hadn't caught on to her not-so-subtle reference. "Draco, are you even awake? We were not up that late."

"Hmm?" He was still chewing his food as he raked his hand through his hair, reminding Ginny very briefly of someone else.

"Goodness! You should just go back to bed. Honestly, Draco, I think I can guard the house for a few more hours."

"No, no, I need to get up. I just didn't … " he yawned, "Sleep well. So what were you saying about being a good boy?"

Figures. Of course the only thing he heard was something he could make into innuendo. "I said that I have a surprise for you, for tomorrow. So I may need you to occupy yourself until I am finished."

"Yes, I am very good at occupying myself." He wriggled his eyebrows and took another bite.

"I'm sure you are. Now go away and don't peek. Promise to stay out of this side of the house, please." She reached over to him and took his bowl, walked him into the kitchen, and sat him down again.

"Alright, woman. I get it. Stay away from the dining room."

"Thank you. Oh yeah, you left your wand by the chair last night, but I might need it today so just let me know if you want it."

It had been four days since Ginny had remembered the counter-curse that she was sure would work on the broom. In fact, she had dreamt about it and woke up in the middle of the night frantic for a piece of paper to write it out. It took all of her will to not immediately repair the broom, but she had decided that it would be the perfect gift for Draco's birthday. And she also knew herself well enough to know that she would not be able to resist flying on the broom for very long. It really worked out perfect, she thought as the broom began to hover over the dining table that afternoon. I can't wait to see his surprise!

ooo

Ginny was asleep by nine that evening after being up so early, but she felt it was well worth it to make the delicious chocolate cake that her mother had made for her birthdays. She knew that Draco loved chocolate more than she did so she didn't think he would object to her using two of his precious chocolates to shave over the double-layered cake that was hidden away in the sitting room. She felt very content, and for the first time since arriving at the house, Ginny was glad to be there.

"AAAHHHH!"

"AAAAAOOOHHHHHAAAAHHHHH!"

"PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE STOOOOOOOOP! RRRRRRRRRRRRRR! PLEEEEASE!"

It felt like a bucket of ice had been poured over her head. Ginny recognized real pain when she heard it. She had, after all, been involved in healing witches and wizards who were subjected to some rather heinous curses. She practically leapt out of her bed, tore her door open and was bursting into Draco's room within seconds. She was shocked when she entered the room, unprepared to see what she had only heard about before.

Author notes:

This chapter is where a lot of the fluff begins, but it doesn't really end that way. :) I hope you like it. Let me know!