Protected

The music was blaring, as we entered the nightclub, watching all the people dancing in the center of the room. Lights flashed all around, not able for me to see really clearly. I followed closely behind Malfoy, as we made our way to one of the bars off to the side.

Once we reached the bar, I watched Malfoy lean across the counter and whisper something to the bartender, seeing the man laugh when Malfoy leaned back.

“Is this a gift you have?” I asked, loud enough so Malfoy could hear.

Malfoy just laughed, before turning back around and grabbing the two drinks from the bartender, earning a kiss on his cheek. He handed me one of the drinks, as he started to scope out the area, while sipping on his own beverage. “Come on,” he said, as he quickly maneuvered himself in between some of the dancers, locating an empty table in the back.

I took a deep breath, before following him over toward the table. “So what exactly did you say to him?” I asked Malfoy, glad the noise level was a little quieter where we were standing.

“Do you really want to know?” he smirked.

I chewed on my bottom lip, not sure if I really did or not. I honestly don’t think I could handle what goes on in that mind of Malfoy’s. “Do I?” I finally asked him.

Malfoy tilted his head, as he watched me. He then shook his head, “Probably not.”

I nodded, before taking another sip. That was settled then. Of course, there was still that lingering question in my head that I really wanted to know. “Malfoy, is it safe to presume that you’re bi?”

Malfoy chuckled and then nodded, “Yes, it’s safe to presume that. I’ve never really minded gender that much. I mean if I’m attracted to someone, then I go for it. Although, I must confess there are some advantages of being with a man than a woman,” he added, with a smirk. “Does that bother you at all?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “I mean why should I care if you like blokes? To each his own, I always say.”

Malfoy nodded, emptying the last of his drink. “I’ll be right back,” he said, before leaving to go back to the bar.

I glanced around the room, noticing a few girls staring at me. I blushed a little, before lowering my gaze to my drink. A few minutes later, I heard someone approach the table, clearing their throat, causing me to look up.

“Hi,” the girl smiled.

I cleared my throat, before answering. “Hello.”

“First time here?”

I nodded, feeling my cheeks redden again. Damn. Get a hold of yourself, Harry. It’s just a girl. “Yes, it is.”

“Where’d your friend go?”

“To get a drink at the bar,” I answered. Wait. Did I just admit that Malfoy was my friend? No, he is definitely not my friend. So what are we then? I mean I guess I can pretend we’re business partners or something. Yeah, that’ll work. “But we’re not friends,” I added. “We’re partners.”

“Oh,” she blushed, “sorry.”

I watched in puzzlement as she walked away. I was so confused. What did I say to cause her to leave? All I said was that we were business partners. I furrowed my eyebrows, still replaying the conversation in my head, when it suddenly hit me. I grunted, before smacking my forehead on the table. Bugger. It would probably have been better if I had actually said business partners.

“What did I miss?” I heard Malfoy ask a few seconds later.

“Just me being an idiot,” I mumbled, not ready to lift my head off the table.

“Nothing new there,” he sneered. “How come that girl left so quickly?”

I sighed, finally lifting my head up to stare at him. “Well, I think I may have possibly given her the wrong impression about me,” I explained.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, I told her that you and I weren’t friends, but business partners, forgetting to actually say the word business.”

Malfoy started to laugh, as he slid another drink over to me on the table. “I had no idea, Potter. Guess we don’t need that extra bed in our room after all, huh?” he joked.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing for my second drink. “You’re so funny, Malfoy,” I sarcastically responded.

“Well did you like her?” Malfoy curiously asked.

I shrugged. I only talked to her for a few seconds. Sure she was cute, but who’s to say what her personality was like. “I don’t know. I didn’t really talk to her much.”

“Talk to her? Potter, you’re here to flirt, not talk,” he expressed.

“Yeah, but-”

“No buts,” Malfoy interjected. “You will never see any of these people after tonight, so stop worrying so much and get out there and flirt,” he ordered.

“Fine,” I conceded.

“Good,” Malfoy smirked, before looking around the club. He then nodded, as he returned his attention to me. “There’s a girl standing alone at the bar in the back,” he explained. “Go get yourself a drink, and while you’re waiting, ask her a simple question to get her attention on you.”

I nodded, before taking a deep breath. I couldn’t believe I was going to do this. It has been so long. I walked away from our table and over to the bar in the back, glancing toward the girl standing there, seeing her slightly smile in my direction.

“Rum and coke,” I told the bartender, before turning around and leaning my back against the counter. I noticed Malfoy watching me, silently urging me to make my move. I closed my eyes and sighed, before finally turning toward her and speaking. “Pardon me, miss, but do you know of any good restaurants here in town?”

The girl turned toward me and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry I don’t. I’m just here visiting my cousin,” she explained. “I take it from your accent, you’re here visiting, too?”

“I am,” I nodded. “For a few months, actually.”

“A few months? Are you here on business?”

I grabbed my drink from the bartender, turning back around to face her. “Yes, I am,” I truthfully answered, lifting my drink to my mouth, quickly glancing in Malfoy’s direction. I noticed him talking to a young brunette, gliding his fingers over the young man’s hand as he spoke in his ear. I lowered my drink, gripping the glass a little tighter in my hand, as I continued to watch.

“You know, you don’t seem like the type who would be in this kind of atmosphere,” she recognized.

I sighed and looked over at her. “Yes, well, my…” I paused, reminding myself to say it right this time. “My business partner wanted to come here.”

“Ah, I see,” she nodded.

“There you are, Ginger,” a girl smiled, running toward us and bumping her bum against her friend’s hip. “Ooh, who’s the hottie?”

I blushed, suddenly aware she was talking about me.

“I can’t believe you just said that, Jess.”

“Why? He is hot,” she said, smiling at me. “Care to dance?”

“I’m not much of a dancer,” I replied.

“Oh my God, and he’s English!” she excitedly announced.

“Please excuse my cousin,” the girl I now know as Ginger said. “She’s a bit inebriated at the moment.”

I laughed, seeing her cousin run back on the dance floor, when a new song started to play. I shook my head, before returning my attention to Ginger. “So your name is Ginger?” I smiled.

“No, that’s my cousin’s nickname for me,” she explained. “My real name is Ginerva, but you can imagine how much I hate that name. So everyone, except for my cousin that is, just calls me Ginny.”

I suddenly paled, feeling myself getting very dizzy. I gripped onto the counter, as I felt my legs start to give out. Why? Why was this happening to me? Was this some sort of joke? Was this fate, telling me I should go back to her? Fuck. I won’t do it. I will not go back to her. Not after what she did.

“Are you alright?” I heard her quietly ask, as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head, feeling my heart speed up. My vision started to blur, and before I knew it, I had fallen to the ground, accompanied by total darkness. How could the world be so cruel?

*****

“Potter.”

I stirred a little, hearing him softly call my name. I could make out his voice a little, but I wasn’t ready to open my eyes just yet. My head hurt too much.

“Potter, come on. Please wake up,” I heard him again, noticing his voice becoming much stronger in volume now.

I let out a soft moan, before slowly opening my eyes. I stared up into gray eyes, shocked by the emotions I found hidden there. I closed my eyes, before opening them again. Those same eyes continued to stare down at me. Huh. I never noticed they had bright flecks of blue in them before.

“You bloody git,” he quietly yelled at me.

My head started to throb, and I reached up to rub the sore spot. “What happened?” I finally croaked out, realizing my voice hadn’t caught up to me yet.

“You fainted, you stupid idiot,” he continued to scold, but there was something in his voice that made me confusingly detect concern, instead of anger.

“I did?” I asked, before slowly sitting up, noting Malfoy’s hands carefully steadying me as I did.

I looked around, observing that we were in a small room. I could still hear music faintly playing in the background. “Where are we?” I wondered.

“In a back office of the club,” he replied. “Potter, what happened? One minute I saw you talking to that girl, and the next you were on the ground.”

I shook my head, not exactly sure myself. I remember talking to the girl and meeting her cousin, but after that, I was drawing a blank. “I’m not sure,” I finally answered.

Malfoy ran his hands through his hair, as he stood up, pacing the room. I was surprised to see him act this way. It actually puzzled me a little. I mean why did he care so much, anyway?

“Malfoy?” I hesitated, seeing him stop and take in a deep breath.

He turned toward me and sighed. I could tell he was fighting an internal battle with himself. “You frigging scared me tonight, okay?” he finally admitted, his voice quivering a little in the process.

I suddenly realized what that must have looked like to him, seeing me laying on the ground. No wonder he got frightened. Hermione and Ron have witnessed my little blackouts before, but not Malfoy. He has never been close enough to see those. And I’m guessing he was probably scared that if something happened to me, he would have no one to protect him anymore.

“I’m sorry, Malfoy,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Malfoy frowned, before sitting beside me on the ground. “I know you’ve had these episodes when you were younger. I mean rumors were always hard to ignore in school, especially when they were about you,” he smirked over at me, causing me to smile in response. “But after you defeated the Dark Lord, I figured those attacks would have ended. When I saw you lying on the ground, it just scared me to think that he was alive again, or someone else was somehow controlling you now, like he had.”

“I’m not sure what happened, Malfoy, but I know whatever it was, it wasn’t someone possessing my mind,” I stated, wanting to ease his worries. He looked so frightened, like a little lost puppy.

“You sure?” he quietly whispered, still looking at me in worry.

Don’t ask me why I did it, or what had possessed me to do it, but I reached out to Malfoy, brushing some loose strands of hair away from his face, as I stared into his timid eyes. “I killed him, Malfoy. He’s not coming back,” I assured him.

Malfoy slowly nodded, after I spoke. He bit on his lower lip, before hesitantly glancing away from me. “Just don’t fucking do that again,” he mumbled, a few minutes later.

I lightly chuckled, as I slowly stood up, feeling a little better now. “You want to go back out there?” I asked.

Malfoy turned toward me, cautiously watching my actions, before standing up as well. “Are you feeling alright?” he questioned.

I nodded, before suddenly feeling another dizzy spell take over. I lost my balance and reached my hand out to grab Malfoy’s shoulder to stop from falling. I felt him hurriedly wrap an arm around my waist, stabilizing me. I slowly looked over at him and swallowed, seeing him studying my face, with care in his eyes.

“We’re going back to the hotel,” he insisted.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Are you able to walk?”

“Not well,” I truthfully answered. “I’m still pretty dizzy.”

He nodded, gripping my waist tighter and bringing me closer to his body. “Then hang on,” he quietly said, before Apparating us to our hotel.

Merlin, I hope this doesn’t get back to Kingsley somehow, or anyone in the Wizarding World, for that matter. I’m the one who should be protecting Malfoy, not the other way around. Ugh. I can just see it now: Protected Witness Protects Protector. Stupid bloody headlines.

*****

hieisdragoness18: haha I think after this, Draco needs to give him some better lessons. :)