Knock on the Sky

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Chapter One: Mine All Mine


Draco rolled his eyes and snorted while he stared at the red headed vixen in front of him as she warily eyed him with a tint of hatred in her eyes “Well, Red, it looks like we\'re stuck with each other for the next three hours, so lets make this as painless as possible and get it over with. Now, I\'m going to be setting some ground...well--\" he stopped to smirk in mid-sentence, \"air rules. I don\'t touch you you don\'t touch me. You listen to every word I say, because frankly if your flying is as bad as Madam Hooch claims it to be your very life will depend on every detail that comes from my perfect mouth, understand? Last, but certainly not least...don\'t touch me. I\'d rather not have to waste money buying a new wardrobe. You\'re just lucky I happen to not like my old Nimbus anymore, so it\'s yours to keep and practice with in your free time. The faster we get these lessons over with the happier I\'ll be.\"

Ginny\'s mouth had literally dropped at his long extended speech in which he\'d managed to compliment himself at least two times. \"You are an arrogant--\"

\"Now, now Red...\"

Gritting her teeth she glared at him with distaste. \"DO NOT call me \'Red\'. It\'s-it\'s--\" Ginny stuttered trying to find a word for the disrespectful name he had so ignorantly called her, \"weird!\" She finally spat out, anger boiling in her veins.

Draco, leaning his weight to one side, his hand on his angular hip, his aristocratic nose slightly tipped in the air, raised an eyebrow as if to say \'I\'m through with being patient\'. \"Are you finished?\" he said exasperatingly.

Ginny growled in a very un-lady like manner and straightened her back. \"YOU ARE...\"

Draco felt his eyes widen slightly at the curse words poured out of her mouth. He was surprised she\'d even know what some of the things she said meant. \"Ginevra, you should really wash your mouth out. Didn\'t your mother ever tell you it\'s not nice to have a mouth like a sailor? Merlin!\"

Ginny’s eyes flashed with surprise. \"You knew my name was Ginevra?\"

\"Of course,” he scoffed.

\"Well, I figured…everyone just assumed that \'Ginny\' was an abbreviation for \'Virginia\'?\"

Draco simply shrugged in an indifferent matter. \"Yes and wouldn’t it be lovely if your name was Virginia…that name is so virginal, however seeing that it is not it’s just one more thing I despise about you. If you must know why I know your name I was helping Snape with his papers. Virginia doesn’t really suit you anyhow especially since I wouldn’t expect someone like you to be a virgin.”

\"WHAT is that supposed to mean? I\'ve never even been kis-\" she started, but abruptly stopped at the look of amusement on his face. \"-sed properly.\"

Draco seemed to think on the matter by raising his hand and stroking his chin before answering. \"Perhaps, but then who\'d want to kiss you in the first place. Now, as much fun as I\'m having putting you in your disgusting scum filled place, we really need to start,\" he said as he turned his back towards her and started walking out towards the Quidditch Pitch.

It was then Ginny realized that they\'d been standing near the Hogwarts water fountain, which was an extremely open place, and as it would seem a crowd had gathered at their bickering. Her cheeks flamed instantly as her eyes dropped from the curious stares to the ground. Grumpily she followed Draco...very grumpily.

\"Pompous bastard,\" she muttered.

Draco turned his body towards her so that he was staring at her sideways. \"You\'ll have to speak up next time, I\'m trifle deaf in this ear from a Banshee screaming in it a few seconds ago.\"

\"A Banshee? Why you--\" Ginny started but Draco quickly cut her off.

\"Enough talk out of you,\" he said motioning towards his broom with his hands.

Fear engulfed the chocolaty brown depths of her eyes and her hands bunched at her bare hips, resting between her capped baby blue t-shirt and her tan cargo short shorts. Her fingertips nipped at the bottom of her shirt nervously.

\"I a-I a don\'t have to actually get on the broom do I?\"

...And just when he thought these lessons would bore him to death so goes and says something so completely innocent that it sounded naughty. Draco smirked and easily slid into the double meaning. \"Oh, I\'d love for you to get on it.\"

Ginny winced as she felt her lower lip begin to tremble. She sucked it in and bit down as she eyed the broom with distaste. Trying to sound as if she weren\'t pouting she spoke. \"I don\'t want to though.\"

\"Oh, but it\'ll feel so good!\" Draco exclaimed, his voice sounding husky even to himself.

This was ridiculous! The little wench was turning him on and she didn\'t even know it. He had half a mind to saunter up to her, in a lazy manner of course, wrap his arms around the back of her, slide his hands into the backs of her pockets, and lift her up so that she could wrap those wonderfully slim, long legs around his waist.

\"I won\'t even know what to do if I get on it. I don\'t even understand the directions very well, do I go up and down, or can I go up to the side and then down. Even if I could I\'d never try it because I don\'t even think that can go up...I most likely won\'t be able to come back down.\"

Draco shut his eyes briefly at what she was saying. It was like she almost knew what to say...as if she knew he was giving her a double meaning, but the innocent look in her eyes made him believe differently as she still eyed the broom as if it would leap to life and bite her in the ass.

Cracking his neck he settled his eyes on Ginny\'s face and gritted his teeth. \"Get on the damn broom.\"

He was irritated and he was hot...in more ways than one. It was moments like this that had helped his decisions to start buying slacks a size bigger.

As he impatiently tugged at his sage polo t-shirt he glared at Ginny. \"Merlin, it\'s hot,\" he muttered, lifting his shirt off of his chest and pushing it back and forth to allow air access to his over heated body.

Ginny shifted her feet and gave him a growl. \"Why are you being so fidgety?\"

\"Because you\'re taking your happy ass time that\'s why,\" he yelled almost violently. His eyes darkened with a mixture of anger and lust as he watched her circle the broom. \"Get on the damned broom!\"

\"You do not have to shout! I\'m perfectly capable of hearing you Malfoy,\" she shouted back at him.

Draco raised his hands and viciously scrubbed at his face, trying to make himself calm down.

Boy did she know how to irk him.

\"Look, Red--\"

Ginny stomped her foot on the ground like a child throwing a temper tantrum. \"I have told you repeatedly not to call me \'Red\'. I know why you do it. You do it because you believe me to have red hair, but for your information it isn\'t red, it\'s a carrot orange.\"

Draco shook his head and stared at her, giving her an \'are you really that stupid\' look. \"I can\'t believe you just said that. Do you know how many lines of bantering I can throw at you this very minute because of that little remark?\"

\"Shove it!\"

He snorted and licked his lips in a hungry manner. \"Don\'t tempt me Red.\"

Ginny haughtily flipped her carrot colored, shoulder length hair to the other side of her neck, exposing the creamy flesh, which was so pale that someone could trace the blue veins that showed. Her skin reminded him of a very, very light pink cream sprinkled with dots of cinnamon.

Draco had never been very fond of cinnamon, however at the moment he found he was craving it.

He leaned back and allowed his eyes to travel over her. Her tan cargo hiker shorts came to the middle of her smooth, muscular thighs. Her shirt rose just above her naval, but rode higher up when she attempted to sit on the broom. Draco\'s eyes trained on the new exposure of skin and the stretch of her tan shorts across her thighs as she swiftly got up and swung her leg over the hovering broom. She repeated this on the broom off the broom routine about three more times, contemplating her decisions, until finally she got off and looked at him, shaking her head.

\"I can\'t do this.\"

Draco didn\'t answer because of the glistening moisture on her full pouting red lips. He had come to a conclusion that she was probably the only decent thing that the Weasley Clan had ever produced.

Speaking of production...

He shook his head briefly and then flipped both thumbs over his shoulder indicating that he wanted to get this done. \"Come on. Get on.\"

\"Can\'t I just watch you? It\'s easier and more fun for the both of us that way.\"

Draco gave his genuine smirk and lifted a finger up reminding Ginny of a light bulb blinking on. \"Ah, but then I wouldn\'t get my extra credit.\"

Folding her arms over her chest Ginny rolled her eyes. \"What do you need extra credit for? You\'re number two in your class...you\'ll never beat Hermione, she\'s way too far ahead.\"

\"Beating the mudblood isn\'t on my agenda. I know when I\'m at a loss, however Potter is close in tow and I can\'t have him passing me up.\"

\"Why are you so racist? Do you know how degrading and hurtful that word is? You could at least just stop being lazy and say muggle born...but then again I guess it wouldn\'t occur to you to actually be nice.\"

Draco smiled sarcastically showing every one of his front teeth. \"\'Nice\' isn\'t in my vocabulary.\"

Ginny raised on eyebrow, \"Really? \'Cause then...I mean you just said it, so would that technically mean it\'s in your vocabulary.\"

He opened his mouth to say something then shut quickly.

Well damn, she got him there.

\"Red, do not make this an impossible task, so would you please just get on the broom.\"

\"Wow! I\'m shocked, how much restraint did you push aside to be able to say \'please\'?\"

\"Shut up,\" he said emphasizing each word so that the \'p\' in \'up\' popped.

Ginny smiled devilishly. \"And was it not you begging just a moment ago?\"

He was just going to have to resort to force. With an evil glint in his eyes he advanced on her.

\"If you don\'t get on that broom...\"

\"Whoa! Don\'t you threaten me buddy!\" Ginny warned.

Draco rubbed his eyes in frustration at how ridiculous this position was that he was in.

\"You know, I don\'t see why I have to have a broom lesson. I mean it\'s not like I\'ll need it in the real world...oh, that\'s a bit of a tongue twister,\" she said muttering the last part.

Draco quickly bowed his head to hide his smile. It wasn\'t easy for a body to make him smile, but usually when it happened it would be plastered, annoyingly, to his face all day, however this would have to be an exception.

\"Would you just shut your mouth? Merlin, you\'d think you were killing yourself or something and killing you off doesn\'t sound too shabby at the moment. You are driving me insane! Now, get on the broom.\"

Ginny rolled her eyes, phasing his words. \"You threats are so worthless, but by all means if it makes you feel manly then spew away.\"

His eyes widened. He couldn\'t believe it. Was she trying to get the last word in?

\"You vicious, interfering...for the last time--\" Draco said through gritted teeth.

\"I think you\'re going to burst a blood vein. You better calm down.\"

Don\'t push me Weasel,\" he said, his voice taking on a deadly tone.

A shiver ran up her spin and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up as warning signs blinked ferociously in her head \'Stop, stop, stop\'.

She averted her eyes and gulped down the fear. \"I-I won\'t.\"

Draco took a deep breath to control his anger. \"Good, now get on.\"

Ginny nibbled on her bottom lip nervously as she felt the sting of tears enter her eyes. \"You know, I-I don\'t want to push you and I know you despise my family and everything that we stand for. I know that you can\'t bear to touch me, but do you think you could bring yourself to ride with me please? I\'m not cut out for this stuff. I just-I can\'t do it by myself. I don\'t get scared easily, so it\'s very rare when my hands start shaking like this. See,\" she said lifting up her hand. \"Please, just for the first time, would you at least ride with me?\"

Biting down on his teeth, Draco rested his weight on one foot, crossed his arms over his chest, and studied the frightened girl in front of him for a fraction of a second. He shifted his feet, as if too say he\'d made up his mind. \"Fine, these aren\'t my best clothing anyway.\"

\"Just had to say that didn\'t you?\"

\"What\'d you expect?\"

\"...For you not to say yes so quickly, thank you.\"

He grunted in response and walked over to straddle the broom. \"Just don\'t touch my skin. I\'m not really in the mood to scrub myself down to the bleeding point.\"

“You really should anyway,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose as if she smelt something foul. \"You\'re so immature.\"


As Ginny went to sit behind him she immediately learned that her earlier statement had been so far from the truth that she actually cringed. He smelled exotic and forbidden...if \'forbidden\' could even have a smell...it was like he\'d splashed drops of cologne into his bathtub water and soaked in it so that it would cling to his skin; however, it wasn\'t an over powering smell.

\"What did you say?\"

\"Nothing,\" she sighed out and placed her hands behind her steadying herself on the broom.

Her gaze wondered as Draco rambled on, telling her to be prepared for this, and watch out for this. It was then that she really took the time to notice the warm sun that beamed down upon the Quidditch Pitch. It was wonderful how the rays of sun shot through the air and rested against the shockingly green grass. The sun was powerful today and Ginny couldn\'t imagine how hot the seats could be if there\'d been a match today. If Ginny was an artist she knew she\'d paint this moment. It was as if time had stood still and for that particle of time the orangish yellow rays of light, with a background of a clear almost cloudless blue sky, was breathless and absent of any sort of evil and if it wasn\'t for the birds chirping and fluttering about Ginny would have believed that time had stopped.

\"Okay, are you ready?\" Draco said startling her out of her dream.

\"What? No--\" Ginny started just as Draco kicked off. \"I didn\'t hear what you said!\" She finished in a scream.

Her whole body jerked forward, her front crashing against his back as he went straight up, her arms swiftly came around his midriff and she clutched him tightly.

He grunted and brought one of his hands down to loosen her death grip as she buried her face into his back. \"I need to breathe!\" he hollered back.

\"Oh my God, I\'m going to have a heart attack!\" she cried out.

Draco smirked. \"You\'re not going to have a heart attack. Now, you need to get in front of me.\"

Shivering as she felt Draco come to a stop. Slowly she lifted her head from his back and flinched at how high they were. \"Couldn\'t we have done this on the ground,\" she squealed causing Draco to jerk away from her.

\"Damn woman! I think you just burst my eardrum. Ever think about joining the Opera?\"

\"Not joking here...\" she started.

\"Neither am I.\"

Ginny licked her bottom lip, her arms still wrapped around his waist. \"Tell me again why I need to be in front of you?\"

...Because I\'ve felt your thighs on my back and now it\'s my turn to make you uncomfortable.

\"For steering, which is a key factor of broom riding.\"

\"Of course, because they just make tons of books listing off on how to perfect your riding abilities on a broom,\" Ginny snorted sarcastically.

\"I\'m tiring of this constant banter, however fun it is. I\'m just not in the mood today. Before you ask again why we need to do this up here...it\'s for balance, which is another factor you need to keep in mind.\"

Ginny sighed and slowly nodded. \"Okay, now how do I go about getting in front of you?\"

Draco, looking forward grinned in satisfaction. It really wasn\'t necessary for her to get in front of him, she really wasn\'t ready for the steering yet, but the way she\'d have to do it was all too appealing. \"Wrap your legs around my was and swing over.\"

\"You\'re not serious are you?\"

\"Fortunately, yes,\" he smirked.

\"Fine,\" she gritted out as she lifted her legs and wrapped them tightly around his waist, noting that Draco had pushed his hands behind himself to steady her so that she wouldn\'t fall while she\'d been raising her legs.

\"Now just slide around to the front,\" he said.

Ginny growled as she did so. \"For some reason, I have this tiny feeling that you\'re getting off on this.\"

\"Now, what ever gave you that idea Red?\"

\"Oh, I don\'t know,\" she growled, rolling her eyes. \"Would you concentrate and hold the broom still?\"

\"Don\'t tell me what to do,\" he said wiggling the broom.

Ginny gasped and dropped her body closer to his, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, the side of her face plastering to his as she gazed at the ground with fear. \"What is the matter with you? Do you know how high up we are?\"

\"I have a fairly vague idea.\"

\"You\'re such an ass. I mean would it hurt to be civil to me? Just this once and then you can go back when the lesson is over. I happen to be at a disadvantage here and it\'s not entirely fair.\"

\"Why should I do that for you?\"

She groaned in defeat and finally settled herself in front of him. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her snuggle back into him. Placing his hand on her lower back he softly pushed her forward on the broom, his body following hers as he did this.

\"Do you have to do that?\" Ginny whispered softly shuddering with their close proximity.

Draco took a deep breath before answering, inhaling in and out as he tried to control his breathing. \"Yes. Now take us slowly back down to the ground. Whatever you do, do not move your hands or you\'ll lose control and your balance, then you will fall to your bloody, bloody death.\"

\"Wow, thanks for that lovely image!\"

\"My pleasure.\"

They began going down towards the ground. It was a little rocky at times making Ginny clench her teeth, but it wasn\'t so bad, pretty manageable actually.

\"Good,\" Draco said huskily. \"Now go a little faster.\"

So she did, but just as the broom started picking up speed she\'d lost her balance. With a scream lodged in her throat, she, in what seemed to be slow motion, dropped from the broom.

Draco, with his seeker reflexes, jerked forward, grabbing her hand just in time. \"Damnit! Weren\'t you listening to me?\"

\"It\'s easier to listen then to actually perform you half wit,\" She cried out, tears streaming down her face. \"P-please don\'t drop me!\"

\"How in the bloody hell can you just insult me and ask me to help you in one sentence you daft, daft girl!\" he grunted as he tried pulling her back onto the broom. \"I got you,\" he mumbled his face softening at the terrified look in her face. \"Ginny, you’ve got to help me though. I\'m at a bit of a disadvantage since I grabbed your wrist backward. If I pull you up I\'m going to twist my arm out of socket and drop you anyway. So I need to know if you have the strength to hold yourself up dangling from the broom while I take us down?\"

She shook her head. \"Okay.\"

He awkwardly placed her hand on the length of the broom. Ginny instantly put her other hand on it, gripping tightly. Draco placed his hands over hers; holding her in place, just to be safe, as he went carefully down to the ground.

Air blasted into her chest as Ginny felt her feet touch the ground. She let go of the broom and launched herself into Draco\'s arms, clutching him tightly around the neck. With his feet on the ground and the broom still between his legs, he stared on in shock at the tenderness of the hug. Awkwardly he patted her on the back and then jerked his hand back, staring at, horrified.

He was definitely not a hugging person.

\"Hey, get off me!\" He shivered and pushed her to the ground.

The shove was so hard that her head flipped back as her rump landed on the grass. She jerked her head back up, her hair wildly everywhere, her eyes wide with shock and pain.

\"Hey!\"

\"Don\'t touch me again,\" he said with a cool demeanor as he leaned forward and raised the sleeve of his arm.

Ginny gasped as she saw The Dark Mark engraved in his arm.

\"You see this?\"

Ginny nodded her eyes wide with fear.

\"Don\'t touch me, don\'t stand close to me...if you so much as look at me wrong...you will treat me with respect and you best keep this to yourself. If I get kicked out of Hogwarts I\'ll know who to go after...and no more talking back, got it?\"

Ginny pouted and mumbled grumpily under her breath. \"Still didn\'t have too push me.\"

Draco screamed in frustration. \"I can not believe you! What is the matter with you? SHUT UP!\"

Ginny flinched and bit her lip looking down, her hands still supporting her body behind her.

\"You don\'t have to shout,\" she whispered.

His eyes widened. Ginny closed her eyes instantly, waiting for his next move, but she was quickly jolted from her fear as she heard him laugh. Opening one eye she looked up at him.

\"You are unbelievable, you know that?\" He stated.

Draco gave her one last look, got off the broom, threw it down at her feet and walked away.

To Be Continued...

Well, I hope I didn’t totally ruin the first chapter. *Crosses fingers that it’s better* Anyhow, the original fist chapter was seven pages with the lyrics, without the lyrics this new version is eleven pages. I apologize for taking it down to fix it up, but I had just had it with the story and wanted to do it all at once. I’ll be quick with getting the new revised chapters out. *Right!* I understand that what happened in this chapter seemed a bit too quick and inappropriate for this point in the story, but remember this story was partially started (the first chapter anyhow) by a different author…not that I wouldn’t have done the same thing! ~Aya