** I don't own the Harry Potter world, characters or places. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm simply borrowing them. Now, enjoy. ES <3 **

Chapter Twenty ~ Holy Sweet Chocolate Frogs

Ginny slammed the door to her apartment causing Artemis to jump in surprise. She meowed angrily then ran under Ginny’s bed. Ginny stomped into her kitchen and poured herself some Butterbeer. As she took a sip, she looked at the door and remembered the wards. She muttered the incantations and then the protection wards were up. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. She was stressed. She had just completed her second assignment. She was a little low; she realized that sometimes her assignments wouldn’t always be bad guys. She needed to get that and get it quickly. It was hard to kill someone who wasn’t on the list of the Undesirables.

She bit her lip as she massaged her neck. She needed to get away from her apartment, away from her life for a little bit.

She grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled on it.

Luna,

Gather Neville and meet me at our usual spot.

Gin

She rolled it up then closed her eyes, picturing where she wanted it to go and when she opened them, her hand was empty. She smiled as she heard Artemis approach her and brush against her legs. Ginny grabbed the cat food and poured some for her baby.

“Artemis, Artemis, Artemis. You stay home and watch the fortress,” Ginny commanded her cat jokingly.

Artemis meowed in response and continued eating.

Ginny smiled and with that, Ginny changed into a pair of faded jeans, a green sweater and tied her hair back into a simple ponytail. She grabbed her bag and threw her cloak of her shoulders. She made a final glance around the room and then blinked herself to meet Luna and Neville at their usual spot.

~.~.~

Ginny appeared in the back alley of Hogsmeade, behind the Three Broomsticks. She looked at her watch, realizing that it was half past six and the pub would probably be a little full. But since she had arrived before the others, she decided to head in to get their usual booth in the back.

As she entered the Three Broomsticks, the place was filled but she could see their booth, all the way in the back by the exit, was unoccupied. She smiled as she walked passed the bar, saying a quick greeting to Rosmerta and took her seat. She removed her cloak as she caught Neville and Luna entering the door. She smiled widely and waved them over; Neville waved back, Luna smiled and followed.

“Hey, guys!” Ginny smiled as they slide into their booth. “How’s it going? I feel like I haven’t seen the two of you in months!”

“Because you haven’t,” Luna told her as she signaled Rosmerta over.

“Ah, that’s right. You’re too busy with your “other” profession,” Neville added, complete with air quotations and everything.

Ginny grimaced, “really, I know I have been super busy but that’s why I called you two over. I needed to see you both.” She grinned sadly.

“Had a tough day at the office, huh?” Neville asked even though he knew she couldn’t tell him but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

“Not this time, Neville,” Ginny snorted to which Neville chuckled.

Rosmerta appeared then with three Butterbeers.

“I haven’t seen you three in months! Been too busy to come and visit, I see.” Rosmerta teased. “Here’s the usual. And to eat?”

“I’ll have the steak,” Neville ordered. Luna ordered the lamb chops and Ginny the roasted chicken.

As they waited for the food, Ginny couldn’t stop glancing over at Neville who expression became darker and darker with every moment that went by. Luna noticed it as well; Ginny frowned as she continued to look at Neville. He didn’t say a word but it seemed as if he was trying to avoid looking at the thing that made him so upset.

“Neville, what’s wrong?” Ginny asked as she reached across the table and grabbed his hand.

“Nothing,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

Ginny looked around but from where she was, she couldn’t see anything but a lot of customers.

“Neville, what’s made you so upset?” Luna tried.

Neville shook his head and looked down at his Butterbeer.

“Tell us,” Ginny said as she took a sip of her drink.

“Blaise is here,” he whispered.

Ginny smiled, she hadn’t seen Blaise in months! Since she’d been working, she hadn’t really seen anyone since the other day that she had gone to Draco’s. Pansy had been there. Are they together? Ginny couldn’t help but wonder when she heard Luna say, “Oh really? Where is he? We should call him over.”

“No…” Neville said and both Ginny and Luna frowned at him. They knew he was still a little weird about what had happened between the two of them but it had been months.

“Neville, c’mon don’t be a git.” Ginny told him.

“It’s not that. He’s not alone.” He whispered and his voice was thick with barely concealed anger.

“Is he with Draco?” Ginny’s ears perked up at Luna’s question. Sweet Merlin, she missed him. Even though she had technically seen him the other day, she still missed him. But right now, supposedly Blaise was here and she actually missed that sarcastic tosser.

“No, it is definitely not Draco.” Neville growled, his eyes looking away from the booth towards a dark corner of the Three Broomsticks. Ginny and Luna followed his glance and Ginny gasped when she saw what Neville was looking at.

In the dark corner was Blaise accompanied by another man, cuddled in the shadows, so only if someone was looking for them, they’d be able to see them. They were very close; the man was running his fingers down the side of Blaise’s face. Blaise was smirking and whispered something into the man’s ear. The man chuckled then leaned down and kissed Blaise’s neck.

Ginny watched, unable to look away from the display. Since she was watching she didn’t notice that Neville had gotten up until he got in her line of sight as he made his way to the booth where Blaise and the mystery man were sitting.

“Uh-oh, Luna, this is about to get nasty.” Ginny said as she stood up, grabbing her wand. They both made their way towards Blaise’s booth. Neville was standing in front of the booth, his fists tight in anger. As the two women approached, Neville grabbed the mystery man’s collar and pulled him out of the booth. He held him close to himself and said, “get lost, now, and don’t ever meet with Blaise Zabini again. If I ever see you with him again, I’ll kill you.” Then he pushed the man towards the exit.

Ginny, Luna and Blaise watched Neville with surprise. He had just threatened someone. Neville never did that. NEVER. When Neville turned back towards the table, he was fuming, his nostrils flaring in fury; his eyes in angry slits. He grabbed Blaise’s arm and pulled him out of the booth as well.

“What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?” Blaise hissed at Neville.

Neville ignored him and dragged him towards their booth. As he pushed him into the booth, Ginny looked around and was astonished to see that they hadn’t caused any disruptions in the place.

“I put up a quick spell when Neville was making his way over. No one witnessed it.” Luna whispered into Ginny’s ear.

“Ah, Luna, you are a genius!” Ginny smiled at her best friend and slid into the booth, Luna slid into the spot next to her. Blaise and Neville faced them, not that they were paying attention the two women.

“Who do you think you are? You just ruined my date!” Blaise growled at Neville.

Still Neville didn’t say anything.

“You had no right! No sodding right! I was having a great night and you ruined it! What’s your damn deal?” Blaise drilled him.

Luna and Ginny looked over at each other and smiled slightly.

“Neville, dammit! For the love of Merlin, answer me! I can’t believe you! You good-for-nothing-lying-” Blaise was cut off from his rant by Neville’s lips slamming on his.

Ginny and Luna watched, wide-eyed, as Neville snogged Blaise right in front of them.

“Ahem,” Ginny cleared her throat, trying to get the duos attention. “You aren’t alone. You have company.”

The two pulled apart, both of their lips swollen and cheeks flushed. Neville blushed while Blaise smirked.

“Miss me, Neville?” Blaise teased.

Neville snorted then turned towards Ginny and Luna.

“Let me just say, wow. That was…well, wow.” Luna stared at the two of them.

That caused Ginny to break out in laughter.

“Happy now?” Neville whispered.

“Neville was jealous! Hah, now that is a laugh!” Ginny cracked up.

After that, they conversed over their meals and drinks. To Ginny, it was a nice get away. It felt good to relax for once and not worry about her jobs, all three of them. She had gotten to working back at WWW, but only part – time. Almost the bare minimum or whenever George needed her. Luna pretty much took care of everything there. The entire Auror thing was more like a cover story as well; making her a hit - witch full – time, all the time. But she loved her job. Sometimes. When she wasn’t thinking about the innocent woman she had just killed this morning.

She thought about her blonde hair lying against the woman’s white carpet, her brown eyes open in shock; no life inside them. Ginny and the woman had gone to Hogwarts together. She was a year older than Ginny. She had been a Hufflepuff student and a Dumbledore’s Army member. They had never been friends or even on talking terms but she had known her.

Hannah Abbott’s lifeless face kept appearing in her mind whenever she wasn’t paying attention.

Ginny wasn’t really upset, it was her job but it was odd to terminate someone’s life that you knew.

“Ginny, why are you so gloomy?” Blaise asked as he waved a hand in front of her face.

“Whaaat?” Ginny’s eyes focused and she realized that the others were looking at her.

“You went off on us and you got this distant look on your face.” Luna told her, watching her, trying to see into Ginny’s mind.

Ginny shook her head and decided that she needed to let it go. And so she did just that.

She let it go and put it behind her.

~.~.~

That night, Neville and Blaise walked Ginny to her apartment. Neville knew she could blink herself there but Blaise insisted and Ginny just couldn’t say no. Luna had drifted off towards her own place or so she said but Ginny suspected that she was actually going to see George.

Ginny ran up her stairs and looked down to see Neville and Blaise snogging again.

“Wait until you get a room, at least!” She yelled to the two of them. Blaise flicked her off without even pulling away from Neville. She laughed. She couldn’t help it. She was happy for them. Neville could finally get over his mental thoughts. She smiled down at them as Neville pulled away from Blaise’s lips.

“We’re off,” he told her as he grabbed Blaise’s arm and side – apparated to Merlin only knows where.

With them gone, she blinked herself into her apartment, right into her bedroom. She changed out of her clothes and threw on a pair of Bill’s old shorts and a Chudley Cannon’s jersey that used to be Ron’s. She brushed her teeth and slid into her bed, closing her eyes. Sweet Merlin, she loved her bed.

~.~.~

Ginny was running through Diagon Alley, her wand in one hand and the other holding a wizard picture of her and Draco that they had taken a few weeks before. In the picture, Draco had his arm around her and right before the picture had been taken, she had gotten on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. Anyway, the picture was quite humorous to say the least.

She was laughing, running from Draco who was behind her. She could hear him shouting her name. She had just passed WWW, without stopping, she ran right up the stairs. She chanced one glance behind her to see if Draco had already mounted the stairs but low and behold, the stairs were empty behind her! She turned back and began back up the stairs figuring that she had finally shook him off when she ran into something hard, solid and warm.

She looked up into his silvery – gray eyes as they fell back against the steps from their collision.

“For Merlin’s sake, Red, please refrain from trying to run through me, ‘kay? That bloody hurt.” Draco hissed as he stood up, massaging his bum.

Ginny chuckled from her spot on the stairs.

He looked down at her, a hard look on his face but it just caused Ginny to laugh harder.

Instantly, in the blink of an eye, Ginny was grabbed and thrown over Draco’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Angrily, she beat against his back which was hard, muscular, and beautifully divine.

She knew she could just blink herself out of this situation but she couldn’t do that! Draco didn’t really know about her powers, so she kept her mouth shut not that she minded, really.

Draco kicked open her door.

Ginny cried out, “my door, you bloody brute!” She growled as the door shut in her face. Draco ignored her and made his way towards her bedroom and tossed her on the bed.

“Think that was funny, did you?” He asked as he stood above her.

Ginny covered her mouth to hide her laugh.

“I bet you did. Now, now, that sodding picture is all over the Daily Prophet and I have all these little tarts owling me and visiting me at home asking who that skanky redhead tramp is with me in that photo. You couldn’t help yourself, could you? You just had to send it to the post to have them put up that picture! Now, my women won’t come anywhere near me. And it’s entirely your fault.” He growled as he hit her with one of her pillows.

Ginny cried out in surprise and tried to block the pillow from hitting her face.

“For your information, Ferret, I did not send that picture! Do you think I want a picture of me with some man – whore all over the Daily Prophet for my entire family to see? The answer is NO! I don’t want that. For the love of Merlin, look at your skanks instead of blaming me!” She threw a pillow at him and stood on her bed, making her an inch or two taller than him. She stood with her hands on her hips; her hair wild around her face, her chocolate brown eyes fierce.

Draco smirked as he looked at her, eating her beauty up.

As soon as he realized what he was doing, he took a step back and ran his fingers through his hair causing it to stand up all over the place.

Angrily, Ginny reached forward and grabbed him by his hair, pulling him closer to her; “I’m talking to you, you wanker.”

But Ginny pulled too hard which caused him to stumble forward falling on her in the process; the two landing on her bed, Draco on top of her.

For a moment the two didn’t move; their bodies touching in all the inappropriate places. Ginny’s body tingled from the close proximity. His face inches from hers. They stared into each other’s eyes.

Neither one of them moved away.

Draco then decided to throw all his morals and all that lovely bunch of bloody bull into the wind. He didn’t care anymore.

And with that, he broke the distance between them and smashed his lips against his redheaded minx that had been disrupting his mind for too damn long.

His tongue ran against her bottom lip begging for entrance. Her mouth opened in surprise at the feelings running through her. The second his tongue touched hers, she couldn’t contain the feels inside. She moaned as she ran her tongue against his and her fingers found their way to his soft hair. She tugged on it trying to pull him closer when he –

Ginny shot up in bed, panting. She could not believe the dream she just had. She had been snogging Draco Malfoy. She had been snogging Draco Malfoy and the dream was…the dream was…

“Holy sweet chocolate frogs,” She whispered into the darkness in her bedroom.

*****

hello, fans/friends! Just wanted to say thanks for reading. We made it to chapter twenty! wow! that's crazy! so thank you for that. And also thank you for all the votes and comments. It makes me so happy that you guys love this story! It means so much to me. So don't forget to keep voting, commenting, liking, tweeting - all those lovely things. 25 again? sounds good!

I love you guys!!!!

ES <3