♥ "Loving, Losing, Wanting, Having" for Britt 2/2 ♥
Title: Loving, Losing, Wanting, Having 2/2
Rating: Sorta Naughty
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: Swearing and some scenes of a (mildly) sexual nature
Summary: Draco needs a personal assistant. Ginny wants an escape. What they get is each other. Featuring: laughs, lies, a very persistent house-elf, drunken misunderstandings, a great deal of name calling and a very naked Draco.
A/N: Thank you so much to my beta for her constant “less angst, more humour!!” prodding. Without her this fic would have been much darker. And (as always) thanks to the wonderful Mods who work so hard to bring us these things. Thank you!
Loving, Losing, Wanting, Having 2/2
It was a dreary grey evening in early June, heavy clouds covered the sky threatening rain, and Ginny was preparing to leave for the evening when her door banged open and Malfoy stormed into the room. His rudeness was hardly a one off occurrence so she took the surprise in her stride, sighing faintly as she put down her quill and looked up at him.
“Malferret, is the simple concept of knocking before entering a room really so beyond you?” she enquired mildly.
“This is my house. I will go wherever I damn well please,” he snapped with unnecessary force.
Ginny gave a little shrug to concede the point. He had been especially testy all day and months of experience had taught her that when he was in one of his moods whatever she said would automatically be wrong. Normally she’d bait him anyway and laugh as he had one of his little temper tantrums, but tonight she was tired and keen to end their interaction as quickly as possible so she could go home.
“Did you want something in particular? I was about to leave for the day,” she told him, glancing away as she tidied the pile of papers in front of her.
“Do you know what today is?” he asked icily.
“The 5th of June,” she replied simply, still sorting the things in front of her.
“And?” he demanded.
“It’s a Monday,” she offered, suspicions gathering about where this conversation was going.
“It my birthday Weasley. My damn birthday,” he declared, slamming his hand down on the table as he loomed over her.
“Yes I am aware of that fact. I wished you Happy Birthday earlier just before I brought you your afternoon coffee with the post. Surely you haven’t forgotten already. There were so many presents that I had to make two trips. You certainly are popular. Did you get anything nice?” she queried innocently, seeing how long she could draw out the moment before he exploded.
“What I didn’t get was anything from you. Everyone else remembered but you, who I trust most with the important dates required to run my business, forgot. Really Weasley the level of your incompetence shocks even me,” he continued berating her but she tuned him out. The look on his face was so cute when he flew into one of his indignant toddler tantrums.
Wait, where had that come from? Cute? No definitely not cute. Annoying. An annoying little spoilt child. That was more like it…surely.
“I didn’t forget,” she told him, interrupting his monologue. “But you’re really hard to buy for.”
“Everyone else managed,” he countered.
“Everyone else spent far too much money. Honestly Malfoy not even you can think you really need a diamond encrusted quill.”
“You’ve got no right to judge when you didn’t even bother to try,” he snapped looking, if she didn’t know better, hurt.
“Look I…made you something alright. It’s not fancy or expensive and after all the other stuff I didn’t think you’d even want it. But if it really means that much to you I’ll bring it in tomorrow okay,” she offered in an attempt to placate him.
“I want it now.”
“What? No. I told you it’s at home. Can’t you just wait till tomorrow?”
“I don’t believe you. Take me to this imaginary present or I’ll know you’re lying,” he argued.
“It’s not imaginary Malferret. I told you it’s at my flat.”
“So show me,” he dared her, holding out his hand.
“What? No. I am not taking you home with me.”
“Why not Weasley? Ashamed of the hovel that you live in?” he taunted.
“No!”
“So?”
“Fine,” she hissed with annoyance and she grabbed his hand.
“If you’re a bastard about this I will hex you birthday, or no,” she warned him a couple of seconds later as she snatched her hand back and he glanced around.
“It’s very…cosy,” he offered hesitantly as he took in the sagging couch, hundreds of photo frames and big black box that filled up the tiny room.
“Come on, your present is in the kitchen,” she told him with a sigh. She would give it to him, he would make a few disparaging remarks, leave and then she could have a nice evening in.
Reaching up she flicked the light switch and watched him jump as the light came on.
“Is that Electrivity?”
“Electricity yes. I live in a Muggle part of London,” she informed him.
“Why would you want to do that?” he asked and she laughed at the genuine confusion in his voice.
“Harry liked the privacy of living in the Muggle world. It made it harder for reporters to watch us all the time.”
“Potter’s here?” Malfoy queried, glancing around as if he expected him to jump out of a cupboard at any second.
“No. He gave it to me when we broke up.”
“And you like it here?” His voice held an edge of incredulity as he picked up her toaster and examined it.
“Put that down and close your eyes so I can get your present,” she told him, changing the subject abruptly.
He did as he was told and heard a door opening followed by a click.
“Okay, open them.”
She stood very still holding out the slightly wonky and hastily iced chocolate birthday cake with its single fluttering candle and waited for him to laugh or make some nasty remark. But instead he just stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Look I know it’s really crappy compared to all the other stuff but I swear it’ll taste better than it looks,” she rambled, feeling like an idiot. Why on earth had she ever thought he’d like it? He’d probably had nothing but the best birthday cakes money could buy since birth. How could her pathetic attempt ever compare?
“No one’s ever made me a birthday cake before,” he told her as he leaned over and blew out the lone flame.
She put the cake down on the table and glanced back at him. He was smiling now, an honest and genuine smile that softened his face and made it harder for her to remember why she hated him. Of course he had to go and spoil the moment.
“We should have dinner,” he declared suddenly.
“What?”
“Well I haven’t eaten yet and neither have you. We can’t just have cake so I shall take you to dinner. I know just the place. It might be a bit nicer than you’re used to but I’m sure you’ll adjust. Come one,” he said reaching for her but she backed away.
“I don’t want to go to some fancy shmancy restaurant, Malfoy. I’m not dressed for it and I’m tired.”
“Oh,” he muttered, clearly shocked by her refusal as the happiness slid from his face.
“Anyway haven’t you already got plans? It’s your birthday. Aren’t you meeting up with friends or family or something?” she asked and felt her heart sink as she realised what she’d said. Of course he wouldn’t be celebrating with his family.
“Or how about your legion of female fans? I bet none of them would say no to a fancy restaurant,” she prompted desperately, but the thought didn’t seem to cheer him up as he turned to sneer at her.
“Sorry Weasley. I’d quite forgotten that the finer things in life are wasted on someone like you. Don’t worry I won’t make the same mistake again.”
The words he hurled at her were bitter and sharp but she had spent far too long in his presence now to miss the thinly veiled hurt that was bubbling under the surface at her rejection.
“Malfoy wait!” she heard herself say. He was an annoying arse but no one deserved to be all alone on their birthday. Not even him.
“I’m not in the mood to go out and there’s no food in the house but I was going to order pizza and watch TV. You could join me if you want,” she offered hesitantly.
He took a long moment to consider as she watched him battling with his pride and weighing his options.
“I’ve always thought televisions were a very interesting invention. I wrote an essay about it once,” he offered tentatively.
“You took Muggle Studies?”
“Oh little Weasel don’t look so surprised. There are many things you don’t know about me,” he told her, all confidence and ego once again.
Ginny sighed and took him back into the lounge where she showed him how to work the TV so he could pick a film while she phoned for the food. At first they sat stiffly at opposite ends of the couch keeping as much space between their two bodies as humanly possible. But then the food arrived and there was a battle for who would get the last piece and she found herself so close that their legs were almost touching. They didn’t talk, both seemingly completely focused on the film while really caught up in their own thoughts. At some point during the evening she found that although she was not keen to get any closer she didn’t particularly want to move away. Overall it was not a bad way to spend an evening and it was nice to have some warmth in her normally cold and empty flat.
Later on he fell asleep against the arm rest and not having the heart to wake him she covered him with a blanket and left him to it. He awoke the next morning after a peaceful nights sleep with a smile on his face. She would never know, but it had been the best birthday he’d had in years.
**********
Film nights with Malfoy had somehow become a regular thing. She still wasn’t quite sure how it had happened but somehow it had become perfectly natural for Malfoy to follow her home every once in a while. As it turned out they had a very compatible taste in films and what to watch was one of the few things they rarely fought about.
“So you’re having sleep overs with your boss now,” was Bill’s worried reply a few months later when she finally plucked up the courage to tell him about it over lunch.
“Bill,” she whined, “you make it sound so sordid. All we do watch TV and eat take away food. It’s probably the most innocent way Malfoy has spent his evenings ever.”
“That’s why I have a problem with it Gin. The sort of person who is constantly written about on the scandal pages is not someone I want involved with my little sister.”
“Well that’s a load of crap. Harry had things written about him constantly all the time we were together,” she pointed out.
“Harry is a good guy.”
“Harry broke my heart. He broke my heart and you all continue to treat him like he’s still one of the family. Mum even invited him over for my birthday dinner. Do you have any idea how awkward that was?” she snapped.
“You know how attached she is to him. Try to understand. He doesn’t have anyone else,” he insisted.
“Neither does Malfoy.”
Bill sighed and dragged his hand through his hair.
“I don’t want to fight with you Gin. I know you’re not a fool so tell me something good about him. Give me something to tell Mum when she finds out what you’ve been doing.”
“There’s nothing for her to find out about. I’m not dating him. Merlin knows I’m not that stupid. The guy can’t keep a girlfriend for more than a week. We’re just friends. Well mostly, anyway. I know why you’re worried. Some days he’ll do something or say something and I see it. I see why people hate him. I see it so clearly. But on other days…” she trailed off with a shrug, unable to express her feelings in words.
“He bought me a couch for my birthday, Bill. I was expecting flowers or some useless trinket like he gives the others but he bought me something that I really need.”
“What, a more comfortable place for him to sleep?” Bill countered.
“Would you prefer I took him into my bed?” she joked and then regretted it when she saw the look on his face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I have no plans to date anyone at the moment. I am a smart single independent woman. I have no need for any man. And particularly not my boss, I swear.”
“You know we’re here for you Gin. We love you and if it ever came down to it we’d always be in your corner. All of us. Even Mum. You do know that, right?”
Ginny sniffed to try to counter the sudden aching in her throat.
“Sure Bill. I know.”
**********
A week later she was sitting on her brand new couch, drowning her sorrows, when someone knocked loudly at her door. Company was the last thing she wanted at that moment in time so she turned down the TV and went back to her glass of wine. Whoever was out there seemed very reluctant to give up as they knocked several more times, the ferocity of the sound increasing steadily.
Just when she was beginning to hope they’d taken the hint and left there was a pop and Malfoy appeared in front of her. She let out a sharp cry of surprise and yanked the blanket up to cover her face.
“Malferret do you not get how the knocking thing works? When people don’t answer, that’s the signal for you to go away. Not to just barge in uninvited,” she scolded tartly from under the covers.
“You didn’t come to work today and I know you’d never dare do that unless something was very wrong,” he replied.
“Like I told Blinky, I’m sick. I’ll be back to catch up on all the work as soon as I can, but right now you’d better leave because I suspect what I’ve got is very contagious and you wouldn’t want to catch it,” she bluffed and waited hopefully to see if he was buying it.
A moment later she felt the couch dip as he sat down next to her and she felt an arm slide tentatively around her shoulders. She tensed instantly and considered pushing him away but at that point she just didn’t have the strength. Instead she leaned into his shoulder and let the tears that she had been holding back fall in great wracking sobs.
“Don’t worry Weasel. I’m pretty sure you can’t catch a broken heart.”
“How did you know?” she asked in between sobs.
“His face is on the front page of every damn paper. It would be pretty hard to miss it. Although why on earth anyone would want to marry the speccy git is completely beyond me.”
“I wanted to,” she told him in a quiet tight little voice.
“Right. Sorry. I’m not very good at this whole consoling thing. Do you think you could come out from under that blanket before you suffocate?”
She shook her head sharply. “I’m a mess,” she explained.
“Please. The ice cream is melting,” he informed her.
“What?”
“I told Blinky that I wasn’t very good with crying women and he said he believed chocolate helped so he made you chocolate ice cream. But now it’s beginning to melt all over the place and I’m saying the wrong things. This isn’t going very well. Do you want me to just leave?” he asked and she realised that cool and calculating Malfoy was flustered.
She gave a big sigh, blew her nose on a tissue and removed the blanket. Instantly he thrust the large bowl and spoon at her. She picked up the spoon and began to eat in silence.
“So?” he prompted.
“It’s very good ice cream thank you. Try some,” she replied, offering him her spoon.
“Did it help?” he asked a while later when the ice cream was all gone and she was curled into his side.
“Maybe. More than the wine anyway. You must thank Blinky for me,” she told him.
“Do you want to…talk about it?” he asked hesitantly.
“No…yes…I don’t know that there’s really very much to say,” she told him tonelessly, but upon catching his sceptical look she sighed heavily and continued.
“I loved him for years and he never wanted to marry me. He’s only known her a few months and already they’re engaged. And the way that he looks at her. He never looked at me like that. Never. I see now, looking back I can see it so clearly. He was never in love with me. I’m sure he wanted to be. We were dating so I’m sure he felt like he should be, and I know he loves my family like they are his own. But how could he do that to me? If he didn’t love me how could he pretend?”
“I dedicated my whole world to making a life with him. Marriage, children, old age…I had it all planned…all revolving around him. And now he’s gone and I should hate him too much to want him back but there’s this gap in my world. My future is unravelling around me everywhere I look and she’s getting the security and the love that I thought would always be mine. And now I just feel terrible and empty. All the time. I keep waiting for it to hurt less, everyone says it gets better, but it doesn’t,” she told him quietly, staring at nothing in particular.
“Would you like me to steal her away from him? I’m sure I could do it you know. Just say the word,” he offered after a rather uncomfortable silence lingered on for slightly too long.
“I don’t want revenge Malfoy. Making him feel worse won’t make me feel better,” she told him sadly.
“Stop being such a Gryffindor. Of course it will,” he argued.
“I’m so tired of being lonely,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Don’t be such a silly little Weasel. You have around a hundred brothers. I’m sure they all love you,” he told her but she didn’t seem to hear him.
“I just want to forget it all. Will you help me forget?” she asked, looking coyly up at him.
“I don’t think that would be a very good idea. Those spells are tricky…” he stopped as he suddenly became aware just how close her face now was to his.
“Weasley what do you think you’re doing?” he questioned and then hissed as she straddled him in one fluid motion and ground her pelvis into his.
“Who said anything about spells? I’m talking about sex. A quick meaningless toe curling shag. Come on Malfoy it’s nothing you haven’t done a million times before,” she coaxed, giggling lightheadedly.
“Ginny…no,” he groaned as she shifted against him again.
“Why not? You’ve shagged hundreds of women. What’s one more to you after that?”
All of a sudden he seized her shoulders in his strong hands and forced her backwards so sharply that she almost fell onto the floor.
“I said no Virginia. I will not shag you. You’re not like those women and I don’t want you to be. Stop this now!” he commanded, his voice shaking with angry horror.
For several heartbeats she sat stock still staring at him with shocked eyes, but then her lip wobbled as her face crumpled and she burst into embarrassed tears.
“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry,” she stuttered at him as she shakily tried to scramble away.
He stood and hugged her tightly to him to prevent her flight.
“Shit this is screwed up,” he muttered into her hair.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I did that. You’re my boss for, Merlin’s sake. What am I going to do?” She rambled, her body shaking with sobs in his arms.
“We’re going to forget it happened. You’re going to take a couple of days off to clear your head, and then you can come back to work and everything will be the same. Nothing has to change. We don’t want anything to change so it won’t.”
He was wrong of course. Even as he said it she knew that was not the way things worked. She had screwed up whatever good thing they’d had between them, and no amount of pretending otherwise would make it so.
**********
Three months and several stressful new product launches later and it was all over. Whatever fluke mixture of desperation, attraction and alcohol that had led to that night of insanity failed to develop into anything more. If anything he seemed colder towards her now and more distant as their film nights ceased and he chose to spend his nights with his many female admirers once again. Although some part of her ached with disappointment at the undeveloped potential of it all, her more sensible self was relieved. He was not an easy man to care for. As their workload increased so did the need for them to work more closely. After spending all day long with him she was rapidly back to desperately wanting to throttle his stupid self-opinionated little neck. Clearly they had far too much history together because no matter how much she tried to ignore his barbs he always knew exactly which buttons to push in order to get a rise out of her.
And then one day she had glanced at the calendar as she was brushing her hair and had realised that this time the following week she would be a free women. For some reason Malfoy had seemed in a particularly bad mood that last week. She had half expected him to ask her to stay. It had taken quite some time for her to learn the ropes and she had seen no sign that he was searching for a replacement to train. In the end even her last day had been particularly anti-climactic. She had written her last report, signed her last memo and filed her last entry in the, now perfectly organised, client database. Heading to his office she had been all prepared to rise above their petty squabbles, be the bigger person and wish him well. Only he hadn’t been there. Instead there had been only Blinky waiting for her with her final pay packet and the message that Master Malfoy had gone out.
The lack of finality about the whole thing had left a bitter taste in her mouth but now it was time she moved on. A week sunbathing on a secluded beach in the Bahamas had seemed like the perfect way to get over the surly Bastard. So here she was lying under a giant umbrella in the sun with nothing better to do than drink cocktails and listen to the sound of the sea lapping at the shore. Some time later she became aware of a small hand shaking her shoulder lightly but still half asleep she simply batted it away in annoyance. Clearly this person couldn’t take a hint as the shaking recommenced and her ears caught a faint whining. Sighing she opened her eyes and let out a sharp shriek as she caught of the small wrinkled face hovering directly over hers.
“Oh Miss Weezy. Blinky is sorry. So sorry,” the small creature squeaked at her.
“Blinky?”
“Yes Miss Weezy. It is me.”
“What are you doing in the Bahamas Blinky? Are you on holiday?” The second she said it she recognised the stupidity of her comment. Of course house-elves didn’t take holidays but her brain still felt fuzzy.
“Blinky is looking for Miss Weezy, Miss.”
“Why?”
“It’s so bad Miss Weezy. Miss Weezy must come with Blinky right now,” he stated, his panicked eyes even larger than normal.
“What’s wrong?” She queried, his panic beginning to rattle her.
“Oh it’s bad. Sooo bad.”
“Is it Malfoy, Blinky? Did he send you to fetch me?” she questioned impatiently, trying to pry the truth from the shaking elf.
“No…no…Master said I mustn’t be bothering Miss Weezy. I mustn’t bother Miss Weezy ever again. But Master went out for such a long time and Blinky was worried so Blinky went to find him. And Master was very angry and told Blinky to go away. But there was blood. So much blood. So Blinky said he would get Miss Weezy and Master forbid Blinky but then he fell down and he couldn’t get up,” he rambled on and on pacing back and forth as Ginny felt her blood run cold.
“Blinky where is Malfoy right now?”
“Blinky didn’t know what to do so Blinky took Master to the hospital but they took Master away and now Master is all alone. Miss Weezy left and now Master is so sad and so alone. But Blinky knows Miss Weezy is Master’s friend so Miss Weezy would not want Master to be alone, would she?” he squeaked just before he seized her hand in a surprisingly strong grip and snapped his fingers.
One moment she was perched on the edge of a sun lounger with baking hot sand between her toes and the next she flinched as her feet hit the cold stone floor of a hospital room and she shivered. This nagging discomfort flew from her mind a second later as she spotted the boy on the bed.
He looked so small and defenceless in that moment. A jagged raised line bisected his naked chest contrasting harshly with his ever pale skin that seemed to have taken on a sickly grey hue. He was disturbingly cold to the touch as she reached out to stroke his face and he failed to stir as his name left her pleading lips.
“Blinky is glad Miss Weezy is here now. Master does not like the hospital and Blinky did not want him to be all alone,” Blinky told her earnestly as she sat down and gripped Malfoy’s hand tightly. He did not squeeze back.
“Don’t worry Blinky I’m here now and so are you. We’ll make sure he gets better,” she said in a determined voice, not bothering to look around.
“Oh no. Miss can stay but Blinky must go. Blinky must go before Healer sees him or Healer will be very cross,” having said that he disappeared before she could stop him.
The reason for his anxiousness became all too clear a few minutes later as a portly older wizard in a lime green robe bustled into the room and glared at her.
“Who are you?” he demanded in a gruff barking voice, startling her.
“Ginny Weasley sir,” she told him, rising awkwardly under his glare.
“Are you family? You shouldn’t be in here if you’re not,” he said, staring at her with suspicion.
“I’m…I’m his girlfriend,” she lied shakily, “please sir, what happened? Why won’t he wake up?”
“Mr Malfoy here made the foolish decision to Apparate whilst inebriated and, as you can see, managed to splinch himself rather badly.”
“If that’s all that’s wrong why does he look so bad? I’ve seen splinching cases before and they’ve never looked half dead?”
“I suspect Mr Malfoy has long been abusing his body and the effects are finally catching up with him. You young people think you can party all night long, never sleep and just patch yourselves up with potions. Well as you can see, the after effects mount up and the consequences can be deadly,” he told her gravely.
“Could he die?” she whispered, as ice slid down her spine.
“We are monitoring him carefully and doing all we can but it’s really up to him now. I will be back in a few hours to check on him. You may stay,” he informed her before striding out of the room.
“Malfoy,” she called softly, lightly patting his cold cheek as she sat down again.
“Malfoy, I need you to wake up now. Please open your eyes for me,” she pleaded desperately but he failed to react in any way.
“Please don’t die. I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t die…please,” she begged, clutching his hand as if she could will life back into him.
It must have merely been hours but later she would swear it seemed like days as she sat huddled in that chair, gripping his hand so tightly that later there would be marks, as she willed him not to love her, or even like her. But rather, simply just to live.
At first the movement was so tiny that she was sure she had imagined it. But then his hand twitched and he slowly, painfully opened his eyes and looked straight at her.
“Weasley?” he rasped, sounding confused as she leaned closer to hear him, “what in Merlin’s name are you wearing?”
She felt a highly inappropriate giggle rise up and bubble out of her throat with relief. He was alive. Thank Merlin! It was only then, with the pressing worry now lifted, that she realised she was still wearing her special hot pink beach bikini and she was freezing.
“Why are you wearing a bikini covered in cows? I know your taste in fashion is somewhat odd but it’s the middle of winter. Am I in a coma? Is this some sort of crazy coma dream?” he asked, glancing around agitatedly.
She laughed and touched his face, relieved to see he no longer looked quite so ashen.
“Relax. You’re not dreaming. I was in the Bahamas when Blinky came to get me. He was so worried about you that he didn’t even give me time to change and I didn’t want to leave you in case something happened.”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Freezing. But it didn’t seem so important a while ago.”
“Are you mad or just incredibly stupid? Get under these blankets before you catch your death,” he commanded as he moved to sit up but halted half way with a hiss of pain.
“Easy there. Now who’s being stupid? Just wait a sec and let me help you.”
After quite some effort on both their parts she eventually got him propped up into a reasonably comfortable sitting position before she climbed in next to him and hugged the covers around them both.
“I don’t know little Weasel. You’re so easy. All I had to do was almost die and you’re ready to hop right into bed with me. If I’d have known I might have tried this much sooner,” he joked and then regretted it as her face fell.
“Don’t joke Malfoy. You had me really worried there. I thought I was going to lose you,” she told him in a shaky fragile voice.
“Sorry. I’ve done some really stupid things lately. I regret them now. I just…missed you…missed this…so much,” he admitted, looking away.
“What are you talking about? It’s only been a couple of weeks. You make it sound like months.”
“Stop pretending Weasley. You know what I mean. Nothing’s been right between us for ages not since…”
“Since that stupid night I tried to jump your bones and you insisted that everything would be fine if we just didn’t talk about it? Yeah I noticed.”
“Well I want it back. Our friendship, I mean. I think I need it.”
“So what, you want me to come back and work for you again? Just like that?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know. I just want things to go back to how they were before it got weird,” he told her, the frustration clear in his voice.
“Come on Malfoy I think this whole mess is proof of just how badly that doesn’t work. You can’t just pretend things haven’t happened and we can’t go back,” she told him sadly and then raised a hand as he rushed to interject.
“No there’s no point in kidding ourselves. But equally I can’t deny that I care about you either. The last few hours have been the worst of my life and that has to mean something.”
“So what do you propose?”
“Our current relationship has far too many issues to work. I think we need a fresh start. No history, no expectations…we’ll just see how it goes. What do you say?”
“I say you Gryffindors are such optimistic idiots.”
“And I say you Slytherins are pessimistic twats, but so what? Let’s give it a try anyway,” she replied as she held out her hand to him.
“Ginevra Molly Weasley, pleased to meet you,” she told him earnestly.
He raised a sarcastic eyebrow at her but she just waited with her hand outstretched and eventually he sighed and shook it.
“Draco Malfoy, charmed I’m sure,” he drawled, sarcastically and she laughed.
“So now I have to call you Ginevra?” he asked, making a face as he said it.
“What? You really think I’m going to start calling you Draco? Not likely Malferret. That would just be too weird,” she replied cheekily and watched his face break into a grin.
Not so long ago she had been begging him not to die and now he was sitting there smiling away. The world truly was a wonderful place sometimes.
“Thank Merlin for that little Weasel. I mean no wonder everyone calls you Ginny with a name like that.”
“Shut it, Malfoy!” she joked and then snuggled gently into his warm embrace.
**********
“So how are things going?” Bill asked later that week after Malfoy had finally been allowed to go home.
“Slowly. There’s a lot that we need to work out, and he still annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but I know my life is poorer without him,” Ginny told him and then pulled a face as she realised what she’d said. “Merlin! Listen to me. I’ve gone all sappy.”
“But you’re not going back to work for him?” he queried.
“No I think we’ve got a better chance if I don’t have to listen to his demands all day long. His replacement started yesterday and so far Philip seems very competent.”
“He hired a male personal assistant?”
“I kind of insisted. Better to be safe than sorry. Malfoy does have a terrible history of dating staff,” she told him with an ironic smile.
“Does Philip know about this?” Bill asked.
“Philip is happily married with kids. I’m sure he’ll be fine. So enough about me already. How are Fleur and the kids?”
“They’re good. Very much looking forward to seeing you again for lunch at the Burrow on Sunday. I should warn you though I think Harry might be bringing his fiancée.”
“That’s alright, I plan to bring Malfoy,” she stated matter-of-factly and then burst out laughing at the shocked look on his face.
**********
Original Prompt that we sent you: Post war fic. Ginny works for Draco as a personal assistant.
The tone/mood of the fic: Humor, can start of just friendship.
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic: Chocolate Ice Cream, Bahamas, hot pink bikini decorated with cows. Briefcase.
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: Sorta Naughty/T
Canon or AU?: It doesn't matter
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?): Virgin, good girl Ginny. OOC Draco. Too much Weasley
Rating: Sorta Naughty
Possible Spoilers/Warnings: Swearing and some scenes of a (mildly) sexual nature
Summary: Draco needs a personal assistant. Ginny wants an escape. What they get is each other. Featuring: laughs, lies, a very persistent house-elf, drunken misunderstandings, a great deal of name calling and a very naked Draco.
A/N: Thank you so much to my beta for her constant “less angst, more humour!!” prodding. Without her this fic would have been much darker. And (as always) thanks to the wonderful Mods who work so hard to bring us these things. Thank you!
Loving, Losing, Wanting, Having 2/2
It was a dreary grey evening in early June, heavy clouds covered the sky threatening rain, and Ginny was preparing to leave for the evening when her door banged open and Malfoy stormed into the room. His rudeness was hardly a one off occurrence so she took the surprise in her stride, sighing faintly as she put down her quill and looked up at him.
“Malferret, is the simple concept of knocking before entering a room really so beyond you?” she enquired mildly.
“This is my house. I will go wherever I damn well please,” he snapped with unnecessary force.
Ginny gave a little shrug to concede the point. He had been especially testy all day and months of experience had taught her that when he was in one of his moods whatever she said would automatically be wrong. Normally she’d bait him anyway and laugh as he had one of his little temper tantrums, but tonight she was tired and keen to end their interaction as quickly as possible so she could go home.
“Did you want something in particular? I was about to leave for the day,” she told him, glancing away as she tidied the pile of papers in front of her.
“Do you know what today is?” he asked icily.
“The 5th of June,” she replied simply, still sorting the things in front of her.
“And?” he demanded.
“It’s a Monday,” she offered, suspicions gathering about where this conversation was going.
“It my birthday Weasley. My damn birthday,” he declared, slamming his hand down on the table as he loomed over her.
“Yes I am aware of that fact. I wished you Happy Birthday earlier just before I brought you your afternoon coffee with the post. Surely you haven’t forgotten already. There were so many presents that I had to make two trips. You certainly are popular. Did you get anything nice?” she queried innocently, seeing how long she could draw out the moment before he exploded.
“What I didn’t get was anything from you. Everyone else remembered but you, who I trust most with the important dates required to run my business, forgot. Really Weasley the level of your incompetence shocks even me,” he continued berating her but she tuned him out. The look on his face was so cute when he flew into one of his indignant toddler tantrums.
Wait, where had that come from? Cute? No definitely not cute. Annoying. An annoying little spoilt child. That was more like it…surely.
“I didn’t forget,” she told him, interrupting his monologue. “But you’re really hard to buy for.”
“Everyone else managed,” he countered.
“Everyone else spent far too much money. Honestly Malfoy not even you can think you really need a diamond encrusted quill.”
“You’ve got no right to judge when you didn’t even bother to try,” he snapped looking, if she didn’t know better, hurt.
“Look I…made you something alright. It’s not fancy or expensive and after all the other stuff I didn’t think you’d even want it. But if it really means that much to you I’ll bring it in tomorrow okay,” she offered in an attempt to placate him.
“I want it now.”
“What? No. I told you it’s at home. Can’t you just wait till tomorrow?”
“I don’t believe you. Take me to this imaginary present or I’ll know you’re lying,” he argued.
“It’s not imaginary Malferret. I told you it’s at my flat.”
“So show me,” he dared her, holding out his hand.
“What? No. I am not taking you home with me.”
“Why not Weasley? Ashamed of the hovel that you live in?” he taunted.
“No!”
“So?”
“Fine,” she hissed with annoyance and she grabbed his hand.
“If you’re a bastard about this I will hex you birthday, or no,” she warned him a couple of seconds later as she snatched her hand back and he glanced around.
“It’s very…cosy,” he offered hesitantly as he took in the sagging couch, hundreds of photo frames and big black box that filled up the tiny room.
“Come on, your present is in the kitchen,” she told him with a sigh. She would give it to him, he would make a few disparaging remarks, leave and then she could have a nice evening in.
Reaching up she flicked the light switch and watched him jump as the light came on.
“Is that Electrivity?”
“Electricity yes. I live in a Muggle part of London,” she informed him.
“Why would you want to do that?” he asked and she laughed at the genuine confusion in his voice.
“Harry liked the privacy of living in the Muggle world. It made it harder for reporters to watch us all the time.”
“Potter’s here?” Malfoy queried, glancing around as if he expected him to jump out of a cupboard at any second.
“No. He gave it to me when we broke up.”
“And you like it here?” His voice held an edge of incredulity as he picked up her toaster and examined it.
“Put that down and close your eyes so I can get your present,” she told him, changing the subject abruptly.
He did as he was told and heard a door opening followed by a click.
“Okay, open them.”
She stood very still holding out the slightly wonky and hastily iced chocolate birthday cake with its single fluttering candle and waited for him to laugh or make some nasty remark. But instead he just stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Look I know it’s really crappy compared to all the other stuff but I swear it’ll taste better than it looks,” she rambled, feeling like an idiot. Why on earth had she ever thought he’d like it? He’d probably had nothing but the best birthday cakes money could buy since birth. How could her pathetic attempt ever compare?
“No one’s ever made me a birthday cake before,” he told her as he leaned over and blew out the lone flame.
She put the cake down on the table and glanced back at him. He was smiling now, an honest and genuine smile that softened his face and made it harder for her to remember why she hated him. Of course he had to go and spoil the moment.
“We should have dinner,” he declared suddenly.
“What?”
“Well I haven’t eaten yet and neither have you. We can’t just have cake so I shall take you to dinner. I know just the place. It might be a bit nicer than you’re used to but I’m sure you’ll adjust. Come one,” he said reaching for her but she backed away.
“I don’t want to go to some fancy shmancy restaurant, Malfoy. I’m not dressed for it and I’m tired.”
“Oh,” he muttered, clearly shocked by her refusal as the happiness slid from his face.
“Anyway haven’t you already got plans? It’s your birthday. Aren’t you meeting up with friends or family or something?” she asked and felt her heart sink as she realised what she’d said. Of course he wouldn’t be celebrating with his family.
“Or how about your legion of female fans? I bet none of them would say no to a fancy restaurant,” she prompted desperately, but the thought didn’t seem to cheer him up as he turned to sneer at her.
“Sorry Weasley. I’d quite forgotten that the finer things in life are wasted on someone like you. Don’t worry I won’t make the same mistake again.”
The words he hurled at her were bitter and sharp but she had spent far too long in his presence now to miss the thinly veiled hurt that was bubbling under the surface at her rejection.
“Malfoy wait!” she heard herself say. He was an annoying arse but no one deserved to be all alone on their birthday. Not even him.
“I’m not in the mood to go out and there’s no food in the house but I was going to order pizza and watch TV. You could join me if you want,” she offered hesitantly.
He took a long moment to consider as she watched him battling with his pride and weighing his options.
“I’ve always thought televisions were a very interesting invention. I wrote an essay about it once,” he offered tentatively.
“You took Muggle Studies?”
“Oh little Weasel don’t look so surprised. There are many things you don’t know about me,” he told her, all confidence and ego once again.
Ginny sighed and took him back into the lounge where she showed him how to work the TV so he could pick a film while she phoned for the food. At first they sat stiffly at opposite ends of the couch keeping as much space between their two bodies as humanly possible. But then the food arrived and there was a battle for who would get the last piece and she found herself so close that their legs were almost touching. They didn’t talk, both seemingly completely focused on the film while really caught up in their own thoughts. At some point during the evening she found that although she was not keen to get any closer she didn’t particularly want to move away. Overall it was not a bad way to spend an evening and it was nice to have some warmth in her normally cold and empty flat.
Later on he fell asleep against the arm rest and not having the heart to wake him she covered him with a blanket and left him to it. He awoke the next morning after a peaceful nights sleep with a smile on his face. She would never know, but it had been the best birthday he’d had in years.
**********
Film nights with Malfoy had somehow become a regular thing. She still wasn’t quite sure how it had happened but somehow it had become perfectly natural for Malfoy to follow her home every once in a while. As it turned out they had a very compatible taste in films and what to watch was one of the few things they rarely fought about.
“So you’re having sleep overs with your boss now,” was Bill’s worried reply a few months later when she finally plucked up the courage to tell him about it over lunch.
“Bill,” she whined, “you make it sound so sordid. All we do watch TV and eat take away food. It’s probably the most innocent way Malfoy has spent his evenings ever.”
“That’s why I have a problem with it Gin. The sort of person who is constantly written about on the scandal pages is not someone I want involved with my little sister.”
“Well that’s a load of crap. Harry had things written about him constantly all the time we were together,” she pointed out.
“Harry is a good guy.”
“Harry broke my heart. He broke my heart and you all continue to treat him like he’s still one of the family. Mum even invited him over for my birthday dinner. Do you have any idea how awkward that was?” she snapped.
“You know how attached she is to him. Try to understand. He doesn’t have anyone else,” he insisted.
“Neither does Malfoy.”
Bill sighed and dragged his hand through his hair.
“I don’t want to fight with you Gin. I know you’re not a fool so tell me something good about him. Give me something to tell Mum when she finds out what you’ve been doing.”
“There’s nothing for her to find out about. I’m not dating him. Merlin knows I’m not that stupid. The guy can’t keep a girlfriend for more than a week. We’re just friends. Well mostly, anyway. I know why you’re worried. Some days he’ll do something or say something and I see it. I see why people hate him. I see it so clearly. But on other days…” she trailed off with a shrug, unable to express her feelings in words.
“He bought me a couch for my birthday, Bill. I was expecting flowers or some useless trinket like he gives the others but he bought me something that I really need.”
“What, a more comfortable place for him to sleep?” Bill countered.
“Would you prefer I took him into my bed?” she joked and then regretted it when she saw the look on his face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I have no plans to date anyone at the moment. I am a smart single independent woman. I have no need for any man. And particularly not my boss, I swear.”
“You know we’re here for you Gin. We love you and if it ever came down to it we’d always be in your corner. All of us. Even Mum. You do know that, right?”
Ginny sniffed to try to counter the sudden aching in her throat.
“Sure Bill. I know.”
**********
A week later she was sitting on her brand new couch, drowning her sorrows, when someone knocked loudly at her door. Company was the last thing she wanted at that moment in time so she turned down the TV and went back to her glass of wine. Whoever was out there seemed very reluctant to give up as they knocked several more times, the ferocity of the sound increasing steadily.
Just when she was beginning to hope they’d taken the hint and left there was a pop and Malfoy appeared in front of her. She let out a sharp cry of surprise and yanked the blanket up to cover her face.
“Malferret do you not get how the knocking thing works? When people don’t answer, that’s the signal for you to go away. Not to just barge in uninvited,” she scolded tartly from under the covers.
“You didn’t come to work today and I know you’d never dare do that unless something was very wrong,” he replied.
“Like I told Blinky, I’m sick. I’ll be back to catch up on all the work as soon as I can, but right now you’d better leave because I suspect what I’ve got is very contagious and you wouldn’t want to catch it,” she bluffed and waited hopefully to see if he was buying it.
A moment later she felt the couch dip as he sat down next to her and she felt an arm slide tentatively around her shoulders. She tensed instantly and considered pushing him away but at that point she just didn’t have the strength. Instead she leaned into his shoulder and let the tears that she had been holding back fall in great wracking sobs.
“Don’t worry Weasel. I’m pretty sure you can’t catch a broken heart.”
“How did you know?” she asked in between sobs.
“His face is on the front page of every damn paper. It would be pretty hard to miss it. Although why on earth anyone would want to marry the speccy git is completely beyond me.”
“I wanted to,” she told him in a quiet tight little voice.
“Right. Sorry. I’m not very good at this whole consoling thing. Do you think you could come out from under that blanket before you suffocate?”
She shook her head sharply. “I’m a mess,” she explained.
“Please. The ice cream is melting,” he informed her.
“What?”
“I told Blinky that I wasn’t very good with crying women and he said he believed chocolate helped so he made you chocolate ice cream. But now it’s beginning to melt all over the place and I’m saying the wrong things. This isn’t going very well. Do you want me to just leave?” he asked and she realised that cool and calculating Malfoy was flustered.
She gave a big sigh, blew her nose on a tissue and removed the blanket. Instantly he thrust the large bowl and spoon at her. She picked up the spoon and began to eat in silence.
“So?” he prompted.
“It’s very good ice cream thank you. Try some,” she replied, offering him her spoon.
“Did it help?” he asked a while later when the ice cream was all gone and she was curled into his side.
“Maybe. More than the wine anyway. You must thank Blinky for me,” she told him.
“Do you want to…talk about it?” he asked hesitantly.
“No…yes…I don’t know that there’s really very much to say,” she told him tonelessly, but upon catching his sceptical look she sighed heavily and continued.
“I loved him for years and he never wanted to marry me. He’s only known her a few months and already they’re engaged. And the way that he looks at her. He never looked at me like that. Never. I see now, looking back I can see it so clearly. He was never in love with me. I’m sure he wanted to be. We were dating so I’m sure he felt like he should be, and I know he loves my family like they are his own. But how could he do that to me? If he didn’t love me how could he pretend?”
“I dedicated my whole world to making a life with him. Marriage, children, old age…I had it all planned…all revolving around him. And now he’s gone and I should hate him too much to want him back but there’s this gap in my world. My future is unravelling around me everywhere I look and she’s getting the security and the love that I thought would always be mine. And now I just feel terrible and empty. All the time. I keep waiting for it to hurt less, everyone says it gets better, but it doesn’t,” she told him quietly, staring at nothing in particular.
“Would you like me to steal her away from him? I’m sure I could do it you know. Just say the word,” he offered after a rather uncomfortable silence lingered on for slightly too long.
“I don’t want revenge Malfoy. Making him feel worse won’t make me feel better,” she told him sadly.
“Stop being such a Gryffindor. Of course it will,” he argued.
“I’m so tired of being lonely,” she mumbled into his chest.
“Don’t be such a silly little Weasel. You have around a hundred brothers. I’m sure they all love you,” he told her but she didn’t seem to hear him.
“I just want to forget it all. Will you help me forget?” she asked, looking coyly up at him.
“I don’t think that would be a very good idea. Those spells are tricky…” he stopped as he suddenly became aware just how close her face now was to his.
“Weasley what do you think you’re doing?” he questioned and then hissed as she straddled him in one fluid motion and ground her pelvis into his.
“Who said anything about spells? I’m talking about sex. A quick meaningless toe curling shag. Come on Malfoy it’s nothing you haven’t done a million times before,” she coaxed, giggling lightheadedly.
“Ginny…no,” he groaned as she shifted against him again.
“Why not? You’ve shagged hundreds of women. What’s one more to you after that?”
All of a sudden he seized her shoulders in his strong hands and forced her backwards so sharply that she almost fell onto the floor.
“I said no Virginia. I will not shag you. You’re not like those women and I don’t want you to be. Stop this now!” he commanded, his voice shaking with angry horror.
For several heartbeats she sat stock still staring at him with shocked eyes, but then her lip wobbled as her face crumpled and she burst into embarrassed tears.
“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry,” she stuttered at him as she shakily tried to scramble away.
He stood and hugged her tightly to him to prevent her flight.
“Shit this is screwed up,” he muttered into her hair.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I did that. You’re my boss for, Merlin’s sake. What am I going to do?” She rambled, her body shaking with sobs in his arms.
“We’re going to forget it happened. You’re going to take a couple of days off to clear your head, and then you can come back to work and everything will be the same. Nothing has to change. We don’t want anything to change so it won’t.”
He was wrong of course. Even as he said it she knew that was not the way things worked. She had screwed up whatever good thing they’d had between them, and no amount of pretending otherwise would make it so.
**********
Three months and several stressful new product launches later and it was all over. Whatever fluke mixture of desperation, attraction and alcohol that had led to that night of insanity failed to develop into anything more. If anything he seemed colder towards her now and more distant as their film nights ceased and he chose to spend his nights with his many female admirers once again. Although some part of her ached with disappointment at the undeveloped potential of it all, her more sensible self was relieved. He was not an easy man to care for. As their workload increased so did the need for them to work more closely. After spending all day long with him she was rapidly back to desperately wanting to throttle his stupid self-opinionated little neck. Clearly they had far too much history together because no matter how much she tried to ignore his barbs he always knew exactly which buttons to push in order to get a rise out of her.
And then one day she had glanced at the calendar as she was brushing her hair and had realised that this time the following week she would be a free women. For some reason Malfoy had seemed in a particularly bad mood that last week. She had half expected him to ask her to stay. It had taken quite some time for her to learn the ropes and she had seen no sign that he was searching for a replacement to train. In the end even her last day had been particularly anti-climactic. She had written her last report, signed her last memo and filed her last entry in the, now perfectly organised, client database. Heading to his office she had been all prepared to rise above their petty squabbles, be the bigger person and wish him well. Only he hadn’t been there. Instead there had been only Blinky waiting for her with her final pay packet and the message that Master Malfoy had gone out.
The lack of finality about the whole thing had left a bitter taste in her mouth but now it was time she moved on. A week sunbathing on a secluded beach in the Bahamas had seemed like the perfect way to get over the surly Bastard. So here she was lying under a giant umbrella in the sun with nothing better to do than drink cocktails and listen to the sound of the sea lapping at the shore. Some time later she became aware of a small hand shaking her shoulder lightly but still half asleep she simply batted it away in annoyance. Clearly this person couldn’t take a hint as the shaking recommenced and her ears caught a faint whining. Sighing she opened her eyes and let out a sharp shriek as she caught of the small wrinkled face hovering directly over hers.
“Oh Miss Weezy. Blinky is sorry. So sorry,” the small creature squeaked at her.
“Blinky?”
“Yes Miss Weezy. It is me.”
“What are you doing in the Bahamas Blinky? Are you on holiday?” The second she said it she recognised the stupidity of her comment. Of course house-elves didn’t take holidays but her brain still felt fuzzy.
“Blinky is looking for Miss Weezy, Miss.”
“Why?”
“It’s so bad Miss Weezy. Miss Weezy must come with Blinky right now,” he stated, his panicked eyes even larger than normal.
“What’s wrong?” She queried, his panic beginning to rattle her.
“Oh it’s bad. Sooo bad.”
“Is it Malfoy, Blinky? Did he send you to fetch me?” she questioned impatiently, trying to pry the truth from the shaking elf.
“No…no…Master said I mustn’t be bothering Miss Weezy. I mustn’t bother Miss Weezy ever again. But Master went out for such a long time and Blinky was worried so Blinky went to find him. And Master was very angry and told Blinky to go away. But there was blood. So much blood. So Blinky said he would get Miss Weezy and Master forbid Blinky but then he fell down and he couldn’t get up,” he rambled on and on pacing back and forth as Ginny felt her blood run cold.
“Blinky where is Malfoy right now?”
“Blinky didn’t know what to do so Blinky took Master to the hospital but they took Master away and now Master is all alone. Miss Weezy left and now Master is so sad and so alone. But Blinky knows Miss Weezy is Master’s friend so Miss Weezy would not want Master to be alone, would she?” he squeaked just before he seized her hand in a surprisingly strong grip and snapped his fingers.
One moment she was perched on the edge of a sun lounger with baking hot sand between her toes and the next she flinched as her feet hit the cold stone floor of a hospital room and she shivered. This nagging discomfort flew from her mind a second later as she spotted the boy on the bed.
He looked so small and defenceless in that moment. A jagged raised line bisected his naked chest contrasting harshly with his ever pale skin that seemed to have taken on a sickly grey hue. He was disturbingly cold to the touch as she reached out to stroke his face and he failed to stir as his name left her pleading lips.
“Blinky is glad Miss Weezy is here now. Master does not like the hospital and Blinky did not want him to be all alone,” Blinky told her earnestly as she sat down and gripped Malfoy’s hand tightly. He did not squeeze back.
“Don’t worry Blinky I’m here now and so are you. We’ll make sure he gets better,” she said in a determined voice, not bothering to look around.
“Oh no. Miss can stay but Blinky must go. Blinky must go before Healer sees him or Healer will be very cross,” having said that he disappeared before she could stop him.
The reason for his anxiousness became all too clear a few minutes later as a portly older wizard in a lime green robe bustled into the room and glared at her.
“Who are you?” he demanded in a gruff barking voice, startling her.
“Ginny Weasley sir,” she told him, rising awkwardly under his glare.
“Are you family? You shouldn’t be in here if you’re not,” he said, staring at her with suspicion.
“I’m…I’m his girlfriend,” she lied shakily, “please sir, what happened? Why won’t he wake up?”
“Mr Malfoy here made the foolish decision to Apparate whilst inebriated and, as you can see, managed to splinch himself rather badly.”
“If that’s all that’s wrong why does he look so bad? I’ve seen splinching cases before and they’ve never looked half dead?”
“I suspect Mr Malfoy has long been abusing his body and the effects are finally catching up with him. You young people think you can party all night long, never sleep and just patch yourselves up with potions. Well as you can see, the after effects mount up and the consequences can be deadly,” he told her gravely.
“Could he die?” she whispered, as ice slid down her spine.
“We are monitoring him carefully and doing all we can but it’s really up to him now. I will be back in a few hours to check on him. You may stay,” he informed her before striding out of the room.
“Malfoy,” she called softly, lightly patting his cold cheek as she sat down again.
“Malfoy, I need you to wake up now. Please open your eyes for me,” she pleaded desperately but he failed to react in any way.
“Please don’t die. I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t die…please,” she begged, clutching his hand as if she could will life back into him.
It must have merely been hours but later she would swear it seemed like days as she sat huddled in that chair, gripping his hand so tightly that later there would be marks, as she willed him not to love her, or even like her. But rather, simply just to live.
At first the movement was so tiny that she was sure she had imagined it. But then his hand twitched and he slowly, painfully opened his eyes and looked straight at her.
“Weasley?” he rasped, sounding confused as she leaned closer to hear him, “what in Merlin’s name are you wearing?”
She felt a highly inappropriate giggle rise up and bubble out of her throat with relief. He was alive. Thank Merlin! It was only then, with the pressing worry now lifted, that she realised she was still wearing her special hot pink beach bikini and she was freezing.
“Why are you wearing a bikini covered in cows? I know your taste in fashion is somewhat odd but it’s the middle of winter. Am I in a coma? Is this some sort of crazy coma dream?” he asked, glancing around agitatedly.
She laughed and touched his face, relieved to see he no longer looked quite so ashen.
“Relax. You’re not dreaming. I was in the Bahamas when Blinky came to get me. He was so worried about you that he didn’t even give me time to change and I didn’t want to leave you in case something happened.”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Freezing. But it didn’t seem so important a while ago.”
“Are you mad or just incredibly stupid? Get under these blankets before you catch your death,” he commanded as he moved to sit up but halted half way with a hiss of pain.
“Easy there. Now who’s being stupid? Just wait a sec and let me help you.”
After quite some effort on both their parts she eventually got him propped up into a reasonably comfortable sitting position before she climbed in next to him and hugged the covers around them both.
“I don’t know little Weasel. You’re so easy. All I had to do was almost die and you’re ready to hop right into bed with me. If I’d have known I might have tried this much sooner,” he joked and then regretted it as her face fell.
“Don’t joke Malfoy. You had me really worried there. I thought I was going to lose you,” she told him in a shaky fragile voice.
“Sorry. I’ve done some really stupid things lately. I regret them now. I just…missed you…missed this…so much,” he admitted, looking away.
“What are you talking about? It’s only been a couple of weeks. You make it sound like months.”
“Stop pretending Weasley. You know what I mean. Nothing’s been right between us for ages not since…”
“Since that stupid night I tried to jump your bones and you insisted that everything would be fine if we just didn’t talk about it? Yeah I noticed.”
“Well I want it back. Our friendship, I mean. I think I need it.”
“So what, you want me to come back and work for you again? Just like that?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know. I just want things to go back to how they were before it got weird,” he told her, the frustration clear in his voice.
“Come on Malfoy I think this whole mess is proof of just how badly that doesn’t work. You can’t just pretend things haven’t happened and we can’t go back,” she told him sadly and then raised a hand as he rushed to interject.
“No there’s no point in kidding ourselves. But equally I can’t deny that I care about you either. The last few hours have been the worst of my life and that has to mean something.”
“So what do you propose?”
“Our current relationship has far too many issues to work. I think we need a fresh start. No history, no expectations…we’ll just see how it goes. What do you say?”
“I say you Gryffindors are such optimistic idiots.”
“And I say you Slytherins are pessimistic twats, but so what? Let’s give it a try anyway,” she replied as she held out her hand to him.
“Ginevra Molly Weasley, pleased to meet you,” she told him earnestly.
He raised a sarcastic eyebrow at her but she just waited with her hand outstretched and eventually he sighed and shook it.
“Draco Malfoy, charmed I’m sure,” he drawled, sarcastically and she laughed.
“So now I have to call you Ginevra?” he asked, making a face as he said it.
“What? You really think I’m going to start calling you Draco? Not likely Malferret. That would just be too weird,” she replied cheekily and watched his face break into a grin.
Not so long ago she had been begging him not to die and now he was sitting there smiling away. The world truly was a wonderful place sometimes.
“Thank Merlin for that little Weasel. I mean no wonder everyone calls you Ginny with a name like that.”
“Shut it, Malfoy!” she joked and then snuggled gently into his warm embrace.
**********
“So how are things going?” Bill asked later that week after Malfoy had finally been allowed to go home.
“Slowly. There’s a lot that we need to work out, and he still annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but I know my life is poorer without him,” Ginny told him and then pulled a face as she realised what she’d said. “Merlin! Listen to me. I’ve gone all sappy.”
“But you’re not going back to work for him?” he queried.
“No I think we’ve got a better chance if I don’t have to listen to his demands all day long. His replacement started yesterday and so far Philip seems very competent.”
“He hired a male personal assistant?”
“I kind of insisted. Better to be safe than sorry. Malfoy does have a terrible history of dating staff,” she told him with an ironic smile.
“Does Philip know about this?” Bill asked.
“Philip is happily married with kids. I’m sure he’ll be fine. So enough about me already. How are Fleur and the kids?”
“They’re good. Very much looking forward to seeing you again for lunch at the Burrow on Sunday. I should warn you though I think Harry might be bringing his fiancée.”
“That’s alright, I plan to bring Malfoy,” she stated matter-of-factly and then burst out laughing at the shocked look on his face.
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Original Prompt that we sent you: Post war fic. Ginny works for Draco as a personal assistant.
The tone/mood of the fic: Humor, can start of just friendship.
An element/line of dialogue/object you would specifically like in your fic: Chocolate Ice Cream, Bahamas, hot pink bikini decorated with cows. Briefcase.
Preferred rating of the the fic you want: Sorta Naughty/T
Canon or AU?: It doesn't matter
Deal Breakers (anything you don't want?): Virgin, good girl Ginny. OOC Draco. Too much Weasley