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Chapter Sixty-Eight

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The chair beneath her creaked as she shifted her weight back and forth. She had gotten a few dirty looks from some of the Slytherin girls in her class from the interruption, but it couldn't be helped. Ginny just could not keep still.

There was really no hope for her to pay attention in any of her classes. It was a lost cause as her thoughts kept drifting to the night before…

Ginny shivered as she remembered.

She had finally done it. She had been brave enough and she had finally touched it.

Harry's… penis.

Ginny's face flamed as she squirmed in her chair again. It creaked another time. Matilda Bodewell from Slytherin sent her another glare. Ginny ignored it. Her mind was too busy as it bustled through the memories on endless repeat.

"Trust me, Gin," He had said in that low, gravelly voice that always caused her body to quiver in anticipation, "All you gotta do is touch it and you'd be doing it right."

A violent shiver went down her spine, leaving behind a wake of goose flesh.

He doesn't even have a clue of how truly sexy he is. It was honestly still difficult for her to comprehend that he actually belonged to her and it didn't help matters that the more time that had passed over the years, the more irresistible she found him. Everything about him turned her into a puddle of goo.

His voice.

His fresh, pinewood scent.

His lean, fit frame.

His muscular abdomen.

His strong arms that held her in tight, secure embraces.

His green eyes that stared at her with so many varying emotions.

His thick, black hair that she liked to thread her fingers through while they snogged.

That sarcastic lilt that he got in his tone that only people who knew him well could detect.

And finally, even though she has yet to see it, the feeling of his - penis - in her hand was yet another thing about him that caused her to become completely enraptured by him… as if she wasn't already.

The whole experience was different than she had expected. His - penis - was most definitely hard in her grasp but it was also… well, soft definitely wasn't the right word, but the skin down there was smooth to the touch. Like silk wrapped around a polished wand. Yeah… that was the best she could think of to compare it to. Only, Harry's - penis - had been hot in her grasp.

Ginny shifted and again, Matilda Bodewell turned to glare at her.

Ugh, why couldn't she stop dissecting the details of last night?

Was it the way his hand had fumbled around in her knickers blindly - trying to find the spot that made her come undone - that she found so charming? What was it about his inexperience that made him so much more attractive to her? Was it because it confirmed to her that she was, in fact, Harry's first and only when it came to their newfound explorations?

It did stroke a possessive note deep inside her to know that even though she may not have had Harry's first kiss - which he had given to Cho - but she was mighty glad that she had gotten this from him when no one else had.

Or hopefully, no one ever would. Her love for him was strong enough to confirm to her that she wanted to be the only witch that ever touched Harry in such an intimate way.

'Then why are you holding back on shagging him?' A pesky, annoying voice popped into her head, sounding oddly like a mixture of Luna and Professor McGonagall - which was rather disturbing to her, given the subject. 'You love him. He has openly admitted to wanting to have sex with you. Why can't you just give in?'

Ginny bit her lip, so hard that her teeth threatened to break through skin. As much as it annoyed her to no end, she just couldn't answer that question… even to herself. All that she could think to say to such a question was that she simply wasn't ready yet.

The thought of having sex with Harry, to have a part of his body enter hers, sent equal shivers of anticipation and panic down her spine. Yes, she knew that it was something that she wanted someday but for now, she felt that her and Harry were on the same page as far as compromise went with their newfound arrangement. They both would get release by touching each other, which would also keep Harry from going 'barmy mad' - the memory of his admission from the night before still caused a giddy smile to stretch across her lips - and they would get to spend countless intimate hours together, learning each other's bodies. Which would give Ginny time to work up her comfort levels for finally taking the next step.

"Class is dismissed," Professor Flitwick suddenly announced just as his classroom Tempus alarm went off, causing Ginny to jump from her wayward thoughts.

The surrounding students all leapt to their feet and started to gather their books while Ginny stood slowly and gathered them rather robotically. Class had passed by quicker than she had expected and she hadn't paid attention to a single word that was said.

Once she had all of her things she walked out the door to find three of the Fifth-Year Slytherin boys standing there on the opposite wall. They all beamed as soon as they saw her enter the hall.

"Hi Ginny!" Nathanial, the tall blonde boy of the group greeted her enthusiastically as the others echoed him.

Ginny smiled at the lot of them. Not that they were ever mean to her in the past but for some reason, this year they were a lot kinder to her. At first, it had been strange for her to get used to the idea of nice Slytherins before she realised that she shouldn't judge them just by what house they belonged to.

"Hey boys," Ginny greeted back with a small wave before she started down the corridor.

The group of fifth year Slytherins decided to follow her.

"You want to meet in the library tonight and work on the homework Flitwick just assigned?" Finley, the shortest boy in the group with mousy, brown hair, piped up as he struggled to keep up with her.

Ginny stopped short and looked back at them with wide eyes. "Flitwick assigned homework?"

They all nodded at her as Nathanial spoke up again. "Yeah, on what was taught in class today."

Ginny looked up at the ceiling and cursed under her breath. When she met their gazes again, it was to find all three pairs of eyes looking at her with concern.

"I-I wasn't paying any attention in class today… and I didn't hear that there was any homework," She explained as she cursed herself for getting distracted by - thoughts.

Easy smiles spread across each of their faces and Mason, another brunette, finally chimed in. "No need to worry about that! Just meet us in the library tonight and we'll help you."

Relief found her immediately and the building tension in her shoulders started to relax. "Really? You'd help me?"

All three nodded so eagerly that she couldn't help but smile.

"I don't know how to thank you," Ginny gushed as she turned and started down the corridor again. The boys followed closely behind her. "I feel like such a plonker for not even noticing Flitwick giving the assignment."

They passed by Matilda Bodewell who shot her the stink eye… Ginny was starting to wonder whether the Slytherin girl actually had a problem with her or if her face was just permanently stuck like that?

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Mason coaxed as Ginny tore her gaze away from Matilda.

"Yeah, it happens to the best of us," Finley chimed in as they turned the corner.

"Well, I'm just glad that-" Ginny stopped short as she almost ran into someone that was going the opposite direction, and at the abrupt stop, Nathanial, Mason, and Finley bashed into her from behind… But that wasn't what bothered her. After all, that had been an accident. No, what really rubbed her the wrong way was that Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her with his two goons shadowed behind him - Crabbe and Goyle.

His eyebrows rose as his eyes appraised her. "Weasely."

It wasn't a greeting. It was an acknowledgement… with a hint of yearning of wanting to say more.

She felt her hackles rising as she crossed her arms in disgust. "Get out of my way, Malfoy."

Draco ignored the demand and looked past her, his eyes narrowed into slits as he surveyed the three younger Slytherin boys. "Don't you have someplace else to be?"

All three boys jumped at the sharpness in Malfoy's tone. But to Ginny's utter shock, they started to obey Malfoy's unspoken command to get lost.

Only Nathanial lingered… meeting Ginny's side-glance for a beat of a moment. His eyes were worried as he gazed from her then up to Malfoy and then back to her. Her brows furrowed as she stared hard up at him. Why were they all scared of Malfoy?

Then, Malfoy cleared his throat as Crabbe cracked his knuckled into his other fist and Nathanial scampered off with the rest of them. Ginny watched them all turn the corner, disbelief and disgust roiled around in the bottom of her stomach.

"What? Practicing for your calling as a dog trainer?" Ginny queried in a monotone voice as she turned back to survey Malfoy with heavy scrutiny. She felt bad for slighting Nathanial, Mason and Finley with her comment but that was what it genuinely felt like. Draco set a command and they jumped to following his orders. Was it like that for all Slytherins?

His blonde brows rose minutely. "Why would I train dogs when there are Mudbloods around?"

With a flick of her wrist, her wand was out of her robe's pocket and in her hand, pointed menacingly at his nose. "Would you like to take that back?" Ginny hissed from clenched teeth.

Draco looked down at her wand, but there was no fear in his eyes - which irritated Ginny to no end. But what really set her on edge was what proceeded after that… he reached his hand up and merely batted her wand arm away. She sputtered indignantly and was a mere second from hexing him.

"Relax. I'm not here to spat with you. I just want to have a bit of a… conversation."

Her eyes narrowed, not trusting a single word that slid from the snake's tongue. But then, an unbidden thought entered her mind as she was reminded of Harry's theory that Draco Malfoy was now a Death Eater. Her glare relaxed as she eyed the tall boy in front of her critically. Perhaps she could have a conversation with him, if only to see if he somehow let slip that Harry's theory was indeed correct.

"What is it you want?" She asked, her voice still hard but not nearly as much as before.

His eyes widened slightly, so minisculely that she barely caught it. But she could tell… he was surprised that she was going along with this ruse.

"I've got a proposition for you that I urge you to accept," He stated formally as he folded his arms at the wrist behind his back, "I am prepared to offer you ten thousand galleons."

Ginny's jaw dropped. Whatever it was she had been expecting, it certainly wasn't this.

"In return," Malfoy continued after her lack of response. "You must do something for me…"

For some reason, Goyle snickered behind Draco's back which set her nerves aflame.

"You have to break things off with Potter."

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A/N: This was meant to be a longer chapter but I haven't finished the 2nd half yet and I figured that you guys deserved a little bit of something before I explained my long absence.

I have been really busy with work because of COVID-19. I hope that you all understand but just know that I haven't given up on this story.

I hope you all are staying safe. 3

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