Sunshine and Shadows

Sunshine and Shadows
Chapter 2-

Awareness returned slowly. Ginny sighed as the dark madness receded from before her eyes. It was replaced by a view of white-blond hair laying over a patch of tanned flesh that thrummed steadily, as if a tiny heart beat just below the skin\'s surface. Beneath her fingers Ginny could feel a pounding that kept time with the little tic. A scent drifted into her nostrils, a mixture of surf aleanlean sweat. She breathed in deeply, turning her face further into the curve of warmth that supported her head.

\"Ginny?\"

Holy crap!

Launching herself upright, Ginny staggered to her feet and stared down at Draco Malfoy where he reclined upon a heavily cushioned sofa upholstered in deep sea green. Her eyes then darted about the room, alert, frightened. Finding no crowd of Death Eaters preparing her doom, Ginny returned her gaze to Draco, who had moved his body upright but remained sitting on the couch. \"What am I doing here?\" she demanded, forcing her voice to calm. \"What time is it?\"

\"I brought you here because you were having some type of fit.\" he drawled nonchalantly. \"As for the time, around midnight.\" Draco studied the young witch carefully. He had held her for hours as she had alternated between keening wails and muttered pleas. Nothing he had attempted was successful in freeing the girl from the black dream that prowled within her mind, so he had simply held her until the cries and whimpers ceased. He had been toying with the idea of summoning Professor Snape when her body had finally relaxed against his chest.

\"Midnight?!\" Ginny shrieked. \"Mum will be frantic! She probably has the entire family out looking for me. I have to get out of here!\" She spied her book bag in a heap near the door and scramble anxiously to retrieve her property.

\"You will need this.\"

Draco rose from the sofa, Ginny\'s wand held in his outstretched hand.

\"Yea, thanks.\" she said, coming forward, her fingers closing around the slender rod.

Draco tightened his grip. \"What happened to you tonight, Weasley?\" His voice was pitched low and Ginny was surprised to hear genuine concern in his tone.

Her cheeks flooded with heat, and with more force than was necessary, snatched the wand from his hand. \"It\'s nothing.\" she muttered. \"Look, can I disapparate from here?\"

\"Nothing? You were hysterical for nearly three hours.\" Draco demanded. \"I don\'t believe you.\"

\"Ok, how about I say it\'s none of your damn business and leave it at that!\" Ginny snapped, her face stinging. Turning away, she moved to the door but Draco\'s hand on her arm caused her to jump, screaming, out of his reach. \"Don\'t... don\'t ever touch me!\"

Draco raised both hands, palms outward. \"Who hurt you, Ginny?\" He inquired softly.

With a huff, Ginny glared at the young wizard. \"No one has \'hurt me\'.\" she replied with a sneer. \" I don\'t care for the touch of a Death Eater. So you can take your psudo-sympathy act and cram it.\" Her chin thrust itself out defiantly.

Hair, the color of moonlight, fell past Draco\'s shoulders, the rough cut fringe dangling over his eyes. In the lantern light, those eyes glittered like blue diamonds in the perfect setting of his tanned face. The black tank top he wore emphasized his broad chest and shoulders earned by hours of Quidditch play, the arms and hands equally developed. When he advanced, it was with a sliding, dancer\'s grace, made almost without conscious thought. Ginny backed way cautiously, her brown eyes never leaving the bronze figure that continued to move closer, until the bare skin of her back pressed against the cool wood of the chamber door, Draco\'s chest brushing lightly against her own. Ginny fingered her wand, but Draco moved no closer. His hair fell in a curtain on either side of his face as he looked down at her, his brows furrowed. Displaying his left forearm, he challenged her with its nakedness. \"I have no Death Eater brand, yet you accuse me.\" Ginny jerked her eyes from the smooth skin, her breathing becoming rapid and shallow.

As he lowered his arm, Draco allowed the back of his fingers to gently slide over her flushed cheek. Her eyelids fluttered and he could feel her tremble even though their bodies were not touching.

The silence became stretched out like saltwater taffy before Draco spoke quietly and Ginny could feel his words vibrating within her own chest. \"Are you afraid off all men, or just me in particular?\"

A shudder ran through Ginny as she considered her response. She licked her lips, her eyes skittering away from his intense gaze. \"Yes, just you.\" She lied. Better to be scorned for the lie than hated for the truth. She felt his body stiffen slightly before his disbelieving snort raised the hair along her brow.

\"Bullshit, Weasley!\" he barked. \"I have never had the power to scare you, not even while you were still a baby at Hogwarts. You were the only one out of the entire Gryffindor pride that showed some sort backbone; well, except for Granger. Every time I came across you in the corridors, your little tail would fluff up and you would hiss and spit like a rabid kitten.\"

\"That\'s because you were always hexing me!\" Ginny snapped. \"You were a nasty, evil bully.\"

\"Yes, but you took my hexing and vexing without falling into a gibbering heap as you did tonight.\" He captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her face, and her glare back to him. \"If I had pulled my wand and threatened you in that alley, you would have hit me with everything you had,\" He grinned. \"Just like old times.\" His thumb stroked along her chin, pulling gently at the skin just below her lip. \"What did I do that frightened you so, Ginny-girl?\"

You touched me! Herd wad wailed.

\"Don\'t call me that.\" She whispered, her breath skimming over the back of his hand. \"I haven\'t been a girl in a very long time.\"
She watched as his brow furrowed in confusion. Ducking her head, Ginny squirmed around his frame, feeling suddenly chilled as she left the warmth Draco had provided. \"Look, I appreciate you watching out for me and all tonight, but I really need to get home. There will be hell for me to pay as it is.\" Her brown eyes darted to his face, then flitted away like a pair of frightened wrens.

\"What will you tell your folks?\" Draco inquired, as Ginny shouldered her bag. When she merely shrugged, he continued, \"I can accompany you. Explain what ....\" he began.

\"No!\" Ginny cried, raising a clenched fist. When he remained immobile, his eyes calm, she forced her fingers to relax then raked the trembling digits through her work grimed hair. \"You have already done enough damage for one night, Malfoy. Let\'s not make it worse by having you explain to my parents that you drove me to hysterics by assaulting me in a dark alley.\"

\"I did not assault you!\" Draco declared hotly. \"I invited you to spend some time in my company.\"

\"The difference being?\" she returned with a snarl, causing Draco\'s lips to twitch in a near smile.

\"Ok.\" He conceded with some reluctance. \"At least allow me to accompany you as far as your home. That way, if you splinch yourself, I will be around to enjoy the show.\" The evil glint Ginny remembered from school was back in the arctic blue of his eyes and for some reason, its return brought her comfort.

\"Fine!\" She huffed, poking her chin forward mulishly. \"Just to the lane, and then you get lost.\" Her voice hit the last two word hard.

\"Deal!\" Malfoy barked, then accio\'ed a light cloak from a nearby closet. \"It will be chillier there than here.\" He stated, catching her glare.

\"I know that, you daft bugger! I do this every freaking night.\" Jerking the door open, Ginny marched from the flat. Moist, salt air greeted her and Ginny sighed in relief as she spied the lights of Bangnor Regis shining small and bright in the distance. Draco must have taken a place in one of the up scale condominiums that had sprang up further along the coastline from the little seaside village, she mused. Of course, Draco would never consider staying in one of the local family inns. Too posh by far, the nasty git!

\"We will have to move to the pavement.\"

Ginny flinched, barely controlling the urge to bolt, when Draco brushed her arm in passing, his words hanging on the warm air. Following his lithe form, she found herself soon standing on a bit of sidewalk bordered by a low, shell covered wall. Draco turned and held out his hand, palm up. \"I installed the apparating wards to avoid being surprised by unwanted guests.\" He explained.

\"Your folks?\" Ginny asked, cautiously laying her palm upon his and feeling long fingers wrap around her hand. She fought against two opposing urges. One to snatch her hand away, the other, to cling to the firm warmth he provided.

Draco shook his head. \"Miss Parkinson.\" he replied bitterly, then grinned. \"You will have to step closer if we are to apparate as one.\"

Reluctantly, Ginny moved nearer until her shoulder was pressed into the fabric covering Draco\'s chest. \"Do you know the way?\" She asked in a strained voice. \"To my house, I mean.\"

She could feel his chuckle as Draco\'s torso shook beside her, then gasped when his long arms wrapped themselves about her narrow waist and gently held her against his body. \"Tell you what, Ginny-girl. You navigate and let me do the driving, ok?\"

Her insides quivered with trepidation, mixed with a tingle of something she could not identify, yet wanted to explore. With a sigh and a nod, Ginny lay her head upon Draco\'s chest and forced her self to relax.

There was a loud POP! then pavement lay empty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair appeared on a dirt track that wound its way through a small bit of meadow before melting into the chaos that was the Weasley front garden. A bit disoriented with the tandem apparation, the two young people leaned against one another, catching their breaths and their stomachs. Ginny had pressed her face into Draco\'s breastbone during the spinning flight, inhaling great lungfuls of his odor, absorbing the steady beat of his heart.

For his part, Draco had brought his free hand up to cup the back of Ginny\'s head, his cheek laying heavily on her tangled red curls. The scent of onions, grease and drink syrup barely covered the rising aroma of womanliness that filled his nostrils and set his nerve endings on full alert. As the world about them ceased its careening and Draco experienced the firm ground once more beneath his feet, he was forced to admit that he wanted this woman. Not just for a night or some hot weekend. He wanted her for always. There was just one small problem...

Pulling on her damp hair, Draco gently tilted her face up, his lips skimming over the heated skin of her brow.

Ginny shoved him away roughly, her cheeks flaming. \"Ok, you took me home. Now go!\" She bit the words off hastily as she glanced over her shoulder at the lighted windows of The Burrow.

\"You need to work on your manners, Ginny-girl.\" he drawled. \"People could get the idea that you did not want to be seen with me.\"

\"It seems that you are the only one that doesn\'t \'get the idea\', Malfoy!\" Ginny growled, turning to go. \"And don\'t call me that any more.\"

\"See you tomorrow, Ginny-girl.\" He quipped in a low whisper.

She froze in her tracks, looking back to where he stood upon the path. Her gaze traveled over him, admiring the way his cloak hung from his broad shoulders, the moonlight sheen of his hair as it was pulled across the clean line of his cheek by an errant breeze, the narrow line of his sculpted nose and brow, the blue fire of his eyes. Draco\'s form possessed all that was beautiful, alluring and sexual. He knew how to use the gifts genetics and money had provided and that made him very dangerous. She wanted him to be the boy that taunted and teased her back in school, not this delicious devil before her now. He repelled her, while at the same time, she longed to be held against his strength once more, to feel something...

Returning to stand before him, Ginny glared into his tanned face, her voice low and menacing. \"I want you to stay away from me. I am not going to be some final, sick fling before you shackle yourself to Parkinson. You may think you are sex walking, Draco, but you and everything you stand for, make my skin crawl.\" Ginny saw his eyes flinch in startled pain before the cold shutters she remembered from school slammed into place. \"You want me to beg? Ok, I will. Draco, please leave me alone. I really need the money I get from working at the cantina.\" She paused and swallowed. \" I don\'t want to quit, but if you come back to mess with me again, I will have to. If you have an ounce of pity in that heart of yours, please, please leave me in peace.\"

In the silence that followed her heated plea Draco glimpsed the future laying before him. The last days of sunshine were fast slipping through his fingers and shadows, deep and cold, were shrinking all that was bright and good into nothingness. His heart wanted to fail, to cease its beating at this bleak view. Then he lowered his gaze to the fiery young witch hissing before him and pledged that he would not go down without a fight.

\"You had better start writing that letter of resignation then, Weasel.\" he said tightly and before she knew what he was about, Draco had kissed her startled mouth and vanished.

TBC

Ok, I know it has been a long time in coming. It will be over in a few more chapters. I promise to work harder. I have no excuse for not finishing this. It really is a good story.

Well, at least it was when I dreamed it.

Really, I did dream it! I dream all my stories. I just wish I wrote them as fast as I dreamed them. I could have beat JKR to Harry Potter if I had just been quicker on the draw.

This is unbeta-ed, so be nice to me.

gotsnape