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Even Better Than the Real Thing
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Please note, that I do not own the characters Draco Malfoy or Ginny Weasley, or any other magical lingo.
This is a Draco/Ginny story.
Also: The chapter titles will be from excellent songs that may have inspired my writing. I'll leave "credits" at the end of each chapter, so you can listen to the songs, if you want. :-)
Background info: Ginny is in her fifth year, while Draco and others are sixth years. Sirius was cleared in Harry's fifth year and has set up a home for himself and Harry.
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Chapter 1: Hard to Explain
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Draco Malfoy checked his pocket watch. It was nearly seven o'clock. In front of him, his sketch book lay open, his favorite eagle quill resting in between the pages. A few pieces of parchment were spread out on the table in the library.
It was Saturday. The first day of Christmas holidays. Most students were spending their breaks at school, as their parents thought it safer under Albus Dumbledore's watchful eye. Draco was still at Hogwarts, too, but for different reasons.
Having spent the entire afternoon finishing a detailed sketch of a Hungarian Horntail, he sat back in his chair to contemplate his holidays. His father had insisted he remain at school. He had tucked the letter into his sketch book, still wondering about his father's reasons. He never questioned his father, only obeyed. Lord Voldemort, though, ultimately controlled all of his father's actions. He sighed, pushing the thoughts of the Dark Lord from his mind, and reached out to close his book.
He heard the doors of the library open and close as someone entered, and he leaned back in his chair to peek around a row of shelves.
He groaned when he saw who had entered.
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Ginny checked her wristwatch. It was nearly seven o'clock. It was nearly the end of the first day of Christmas vacation. She was sitting in the warm and quiet library at Hogwarts. She smiled, thinking to herself, two entire weeks of no schoolwork.
Hermione and Ron were sitting in the Common Room, playing chess. Harry had gone "home" to Sirius for the break. And Ginny, wanting to be alone, spent the afternoon in the library, flipping through her journal.
Ron bought her this soft-leather book last Christmas. Ginny asked Hermione, twice in the past year, to check the scarlet notebook for any magic. Hermione confirmed that there were no magic attached to the book, and that it was perfectly safe for her to write in it. She shuddered remembering her first diary.
The library door slammed, and Ginny turned her head to see who walked in. She rolled her eyes, and tried to bring her mind back to her notebook. She picked up her quill to write:
The past few years have been lonely. It's near to Christmas time again, and I am reminded that I have no friends outside my family…
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Draco nearly choked when he felt hands on his shoulders. Pansy Parkinson and her friends just came to the library, in search of victims to bore. She stood behind him, resting her hands on him, feeling him. Her friends felt free to seat themselves at his table. They shoved his papers and books aside, carelessly. He growled.
"Pansy, how'd you find me here?"
"Oh, Draco!" She giggled. He closed his eyes, groaning inwardly. Seeing that there weren't any more chairs around the table, Pansy stepped around Draco's chair to seat herself in his lap. She grinned at him when he opened his eyes in shock.
Draco stood fast and letting her drop to the floor. Pansy looked up with wide eyes. As Draco packed away his things, he smirked.
"Why, Pansy, you can have my seat, I was just leaving. No need to sit on the floor."
He closed his bag, slung it over his shoulder and strode for the exit. Pansy crossed her arms over her chest and harrumphed on the floor.
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Ginny saw Pansy saunter into the library, obviously looking for someone. She walked past Ginny's table, intentionally knocking over the stack of Ginny's schoolbooks. She walked past a few rows of books, looking down each aisle, to the table on the other side. She stopped in front of the "Magical Beasts" section and silently clapped her hands together and bounced on her feet; it was evident she'd found her friend.
Ginny heard giggles and soft whispering, as she leaned down to pick up her disarrayed books. She rolled her eyes again, now angry for being so distracted. Well, glancing at her watch again, it is dinner time, she thought. She put her books into her bag and closed it. Making sure to pick up her diary, she made her way towards the door.
She heard heavy footfalls behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Draco Malfoy nearly running for the doors. Ginny tried to move out of his way, not wanting to attract any of his attention.
He ran into her right side, knocking her things to the floor. He tripped over her bag and collapsed in a pile of robes and books. Ginny's eyes grew large as she stood over him. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
But seeing the look he shot up at her, she definitely didn't dare to laugh, but she couldn't resist a smile.
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Draco easily weaved through a row of books, and made straight for the exit. He looked over his shoulder to see if Pansy was running after him. He would go up to his room and put away his things and then head down for di—
Before he knew what was happening, he found himself colliding into something. And very hard. He tried to recover himself, but stumbled over something else, and tumbled to the floor rather ungracefully. His bag flew open, books and parchments were everywhere.
He tried sitting up and saw what, or rather who, he'd run into. It was Weasley's little sister, what's-her-name. She looked rather amused. Draco scowled at her, and felt dissatisfied as he saw her smile sweetly. Rather too sweetly.
"Weasel. Can't you watch where you're going?" Draco smirked when he saw that wiped the grin off her face. He pulled himself to his knees, eyeing the rows of books, nervously, behind the girl. Draco started to stuff his things back into his bag, not caring about anything but getting out of there.
"Me?!" The girl looked rather affronted. She sighed, then knelt down and started to help Draco put away his things. She gathered her own bag and books. Under her breath, he heard her mutter, "Well, I'm sorry."
Draco looked up at her, surprised. He'd only been teasing. The little Weasel apologized. For him running into her. He stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder, glancing towards the table where he'd left Pansy. She was probably sitting and plotting something hideously cute for Draco.
"Weasel, there's no need to –"
But before he could even finish the thought, he saw Pansy walking confidently towards him, trying rather hard to look attractive. He cleared his throat, looked to the little girl in front of him, and then turned to dash out of the library.
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Ginny stood there, holding her bag in one hand and a book in the other, as she watched Draco run for the doors again. She followed his eyes and saw Pansy walking towards him with a hungry look. Ginny smirked, as she thought, well, it is almost dinner-time. She saw him disappear out the doors. Pansy broke into a run, shoving Ginny out of the way, to try to catch him.
Ginny sighed. Slytherins! She hitched her bag onto her shoulder and looked down at the book she held.
It was a green dragon-hide sketchbook. And inscribed on the cover, most likely in real gold, was one word:
Malfoy
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U2 – Even Better Than the Real Thing
The Strokes – Hard to Explain