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Chapter Sixteen ~ Leave

August ended as day after day passed and before Ginny knew it, it was December; the holidays approaching faster than she’d like them to. Truthfully, she felt slightly bad because due to the intense training she was currently receiving, she was constantly away from her family and friends. She saw her family only for the Weasley weekly lunch at the Burrow. Her friends, well, she saw Luna at WWW and Neville at Auror Headquarters but Draco, even though he was an Auror, Ginny hardly ever saw him; only about once or twice a month. It was odd. She missed him; not like she’d ever tell him that. His teasing would only increase. She didn’t need that.

Ginny slammed the door behind her. She’d had a rough day. It wasn’t the training; Auror training was amazing, of course. It had definitely been the best decision she had ever made, to accept the Ministry of Magic’s offer. As the days had passed she had become better, more involved and more determined to be the best within her group. She has received high marks and was constantly being noticed for her great efforts. With rapid speed, she excelled in each thing they did and quickly surpassed the others in her group.

The training felt too easy to her. She was always studying new things; her brain absorbing information like a sponge. And that was where the issue lied. The other members had ambushed her when Dawlish left earlier that day. They were angry because she kept beating them; made them look bad, they said. They didn’t like that, not one bit. But all Ginny wanted was to be the best; she wasn’t trying to bring anyone down or step on their toes as she did just that. Regardless of what she told them, they had demanded that she drop out of training and of course, she told them to sod off if they knew what was good for them. Maybe a fist or two was thrown and a nose or tooth broken as a result of their unfortunate response to her words. Having grown up with six older brothers was not easy on Ginny, but she did learn a thing or two along the way.

She sighed as she made her way towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. As she grabbed a Butterbeer, there was a knock at the door. She took a sip and contemplated just ignoring whoever it was. The pounding continued; she closed her eyes and growled lightly, “Go away,” she called out.

“Open the door or I will break it down.” A deep voice told her.

She rolled her eyes and walked up to the door, opening it without looking outside. She knew who it was. The voice was pretty familiar.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist, Drackie-poo?” Ginny asked him as he stormed into the room, “why don’t you come in.” She muttered sarcastically to herself after he passed right by her.

Draco Malfoy was upset; that much she could tell. He began to pace in front of her as she leaned back against her front door. He was mumbling to himself but she couldn’t catch what he was saying. Something about “bloody nightmare”, “stuck up, arse”, “sore losers” and word she preferred not to even repeat in her mind.

“What’s wrong, Draco?” She asked as he continued muttering to himself.

“Why didn’t you just go and kill the entire bloody lot?” He hissed at her.

“Kill the entire bloody lot? Kill who? And why?” She watched him suspiciously.

“How dare they talk to you like that?” He growled, “as if they were so bloody good! They wish!”

“Whaaaaat?” Ginny asked him, confused. “What the hell are you going on about?”

“A bunch of filthy, sore losers is what they are! They can’t take being beaten fairly. Who do they think they are?” Draco continued to pace.

Ginny watched him pace a bit more until it finally dawned on her. He was talking about earlier when the other members of her group had ganged up on her.

“Draco, Draco, Draco!” She grabbed him as he paced in front of her. “Why are you so upset about it? They’re just people being people.” She shrugged. She wasn’t upset, just annoyed about entire situation.

He stopped and looked down at her; she gasped. His silvery – gray eyes were dark and troubled like the sky before the storm. He watched her with his stormy gray eyes; she bit her lip. Inside, her heart was pound rapidly.

“Red, I hope you taught those fuc – well, I hope you taught them a lesson.” His eyes narrowed.

“Do a few broken noses and teeth suffice as being taught a lesson?” Ginny whispered as she looked up at him. For some reason she could only whisper.

Draco chuckled and gently brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear; as he did that, his finger softly caressed her cheek. She closed her eyes, sighing and leaned into him as the small caress set her skin and body on fire.

“GINNY! GINNY! Open this blasted door right now!” A voice yelled causing Ginny to jump back from Draco’s touch. Her hand shooting towards her heart; it was beating rapidly in her chest. She couldn’t believe she’d been…she’d been… Oh sweet Merlin she wanted him to kiss her.

She looked up at Draco who was watching her with troubled eyes.

“How did you know?” She asked, going back to their earlier discussion.

Draco shrugged, “I know everything,” he muttered.

“GINNY WEASLEY, open this bloody door!” The voice yelled.

“You better open it.” Draco told her after she jumped. She’d completely forgotten about the person at the door.

“Coming, coming, hold your hippogriffs,” she frowned as she walked towards the door. Draco ran his hand through his hair as Ginny opened the door to find a very pissed off Ron.

“What the hell?” Ginny growled.

“What the hell to you!” Ron yelled.

“Merlin’s beard!” She turned her back on her brother and threw herself on the couch.

“Ron followed her into her apartment, slamming the door shut. “Malfoy,” he nodded calmly towards Draco whose eyebrow rose in amusement. “MALFOY?” Ron looked back so fast that his neck crackly. “Bloody hell,” he muttered as he massaged it. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly as he made his way towards Ginny’s fireplace. Both Ginny and Ron watched him as he stepped into it and smirked, grabbing some floo powder from the pot. “Shagging your sister,” he said, winking suggestively at Ginny as he dropped the powder, calling out “Coral Manor.”

And with that, Draco Malfoy disappeared.

Ginny blushed as she wondered who lived at Coral Manor. She’s never heard of the name but that wasn’t surprising.

“What did he say?” Ron’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts of who Draco was with at the moment. When she looked at Ron, she could have sworn the black cloud around him was his murderous intent.

“Relax, Ronald. Draco and I are not shagging.” She rolled her eyes as she lay back on the couch and began braiding her hair. “Anyway, why are you here, really?”

“I was going to ask you originally how your training is going? You know, since you’re in a different group and Dawlish won’t tell me a damn thing. I’m curious about my baby sister –” Ron was saying as he sat down beside her but she cut him off.

“Baby sister…? You are a whole seventeen months older than me. I am not a baby. But anyway, training is going well. Now, go home. I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” She sighed, closing her eyes.

“Yes, I heard it was a long day. You shouldn’t have fought with your group members, Ginny. That doesn’t look good for you.” He watched her sadly.

Ginny sat up quickly, glaring at Ron; “Like hell I’m going to allow them to force me to quit. I’ve worked my arse off to get where I am today. I had to teach them a lesson. It was the only option. They should be happy that they were still conscious when I was finished with them.” She told Ron viciously.

“Ginny…” He looked at her.

She looked back at him, “No, Ron. I will not quit and I will not apologize. I will not say anything actually. They deserved it. Now, please go. I’m tired and so hungry that I could eat a hippogriff.”

Saying all that she would say, she kicked Ron out and got a nice, peaceful shower. And as she lay in bed that night, Ginny couldn’t help wondering who Draco was with and what they were doing.

~.~.~

“Draco, darling, come back to bed,” the feminine voice purred from behind him as he stood in front of the window.

He closed his eyes, rubbing his temple as he tried to get a certain redhead out of his mind. He couldn’t believe he had gotten so upset over something so trivial. He never did that. He was always composed; always collected. But not when he had found out about Ginny’s group ganging up on her and trying to force her to quit because she was better than them. His blood had boiled and he’d run there, at his nonhuman speed, and arrived after she had left; the remains of the fight being a few of the other members rolling on the floor with bloodied noses and mouths. He would have laughed if he hadn’t been so upset at them.

After he’d rushed over to her apartment and though she seemed a little annoyed, she’d looked as if she’d just been involved in a small row instead of an ambush. She’d acted as if nothing had happened. Then he had touched her, lightly, and she had sighed and dear, sweet mother of Merlin he wanted to kiss her, push her body against the wall and thoroughly ravish her.

But than her moronic brother had appeared and ruined the moment. Maybe, that’s for the best; a voice in Draco’s mind told him.

Maybe it was. He couldn’t do that. They were friends. They couldn’t be more. He was involved in other things that wouldn’t allow his mind to be preoccupied, distracted.

But there was just something about the beautiful Ginevra Weasley that set his blood boiling in a completely different way.

Suddenly he felt soft hands wrap around him and a warm body rub up against his back. His hostess had grown impatient.

“Draco, I’m hungry again,” the woman whispered into his ear. “Aren’t you?”

“Ravenous,” he responded as he turned around and hungrily slammed his lips on hers but wishing the entire time that the lips were someone else’s entirely.

~.~.~

The morning of Christmas, Ginny woke up feeling odd. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly so she just went on getting ready to spend the day at the Burrow. She jumped into the shower and when she got out, she threw on a pair of jeans and the new jumper her mother had made her that arrived this morning. It was chocolate brown, like her eyes.

After Ginny dressed, she fed Artemis and made herself hot chocolate. She sat at her dining room table and drank her hot chocolate as Artemis ate her food. She wondered what Luna and Neville would be doing today. As she thought about that a light tapping on the window interrupted her. It was a black owl. Ginny let it in and it quickly dropped the letter and disappeared. She opened it and Neville’s clear writing appeared on the paper.

Ginny,

Happy Christmas! Hope you have a great day.

You’ll never believe where I am spending my Christmas.

Oh, I’ll tell you! Blaise’s place, supposedly his mother is away with her eighth husband or something on holiday. So he has the house to himself. You should come and bring Luna. We’re throwing a tiny party with just a few friends. Draco is going to be here.

Come. Well, try.

Love,

Neville

Ginny stared wide-eyed at the letter. Neville was staying with Blaise for Christmas! Oh sweet chocolate frogs, she though happily. Not that she would ever tell Neville that she was happy that he was having a fling with Blaise. He didn’t think it was a fling but Ginny knew they fancied each other. It was just that Neville believed he wasn’t gay and Blaise is a bloke. It complicated things.

After she finished her hot chocolate, she grabbed her cloak and the presents. She decided to floo to the Burrow, since it was so bloody cold outside.

As she came through the fireplace at the Burrow, magically cleaning all the soot off, she could hear that her family was all present. She smiled happily as she made her way to the kitchen where she found Molly, Fleur and Luna. When she saw Luna, her mouth dropped in surprise.

“Luna? What are you doing here?” Ginny asked. Complete deja vufrom finding her working at WWW.

Luna looked up and Ginny could final see her outfit. Luna was wearing a green dress that looked like a Christmas tree with red tinsel on it. And in her white-blonde hair, was red garland braided in. She also had small lite up Christmas trees hanging from her ears. She was all decked out in Christmas gear.

“Hello, Ginny. George invited me since daddy’s away on a secret Quibbler expedition.” Luna told her. Ginny couldn’t help but smile. Ah, so George invited her; Ginny thought as she looked over to see George sitting at the table looking over at the women in the kitchen suspiciously.

Ginny waved at him innocently which caused him to stand up and brush his hair over his missing ear. Ginny smirked at him and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

“That’s nice, Luna.” She smiled and made her way to the living room to drop off the presents.

Sitting in the living room was the rest of her family. Her father was reading the Daily Prophet while Charlie and Bill were talking over the playing Victoire. Percy was also reading the Daily Prophet and Ron was setting up the Wizarding Chess board. Ginny put down the presents and went to sit down in front of Ron.

“Are you up for a match?” She asked.

“I was waiting for you,” he smiled at her. “You're white so you go first.”

“Okay, pawn to E5.”

The game went on and after five games of Wizarding chess, Ron winning three, Molly called in everyone for dinner. The Weasley lot sat around the table and began to eat. Ginny was sitting between Ron and George.

Conversation went on and on about all different kinds of things; Ginny was stuck in between Ron and George who were arguing about the Quidditch world cup which was coming up in August. Ginny really wasn’t paying attention much because she could see her mother glancing her way every once in a while. It was really getting on her nerves. Finally, having had enough, she looked over at her mother and asked what was wrong.

“Ginny, dear, I was wondering how Auror training was going.” Molly said.

Ginny smiled, “it’s going beautifully, mum! I’m the best in my group.”

“Oh, really? Is that right?” Molly asked, unenthusiastically.

Ginny’s eyes narrowed, “yes, mum. It’s amazing. I love it so much. I was definitely meant to do this.”

Molly frowned.

“Spit it out, mum.” Ginny told her.

“It’s just that being an Auror is dangerous.” Molly told her.

“Yes, mum, I know that.” Ginny responded.

“You can get hurt.” Molly added.

“And I can help the Wizarding Community by catching dark wizards.” Ginny told her.

By now, the entire table had quieted down and was looking between the two women.

“But…why…why can’t you leave that to other people?” Molly asked.

“Because this is what I want to do!” Ginny growled, standing up and slamming her hands against the table.

Everyone looked at her. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. No one said a word. She closed her eyes and sat down again.

Finally discussions picked up and everything went back to before aside from the tension spewing between Ginny and her mother.

As she dug into the mash potatoes, Ginny had a weird feeling in her chest and eyes. Her eyes stung and her chest felt heavy. She inhaled, exhaled trying to calm the feeling. Nothing helped. She closed her eyes, rubbing them; still didn’t stop.

She stood up and excused herself, heading towards her old room. As she closed the door behind her, she started to calm down.

“Must be anxiety,” Ginny told herself as she sat down on her bed. She was so strung up from the argument with her mother. She felt so uncomfortable, angry and hurt. It was like her mother didn’t believe she could do it. She bit her lip, urging herself not to cry.

Ginny wanted to leave, to be somewhere else, anywhere else. She wanted to be at a Blaise’s place already; with Neville. With Draco, who she trusted and who she knew believed that she could do it. Sighing she leaned back on her childhood small bed and closed her eyes.

“Ginny?”

Her eyes shot open and she looked up to see Draco looking down at her. She sat up quickly.

“What are you doing in my bedroom, Draco?” She asked him.

“Your bedroom…? Red, you’re lying on my bed in Blaise’s house.”

*****

Hello! hah, hope you're having a great day or night, wherever you are in the world! Just wanted to say sorry that this upload took so long! hope you'll accept my apology and read and LOVE IT :D well I have to go.

Love you guys,

ES <3