Fueling Fire | Draco and Ginny {DRINNY}

Chapter 8

Malfoy needed my help.

Draco Malfoy needed my help.

"Are you going to stare at me all day like a lost puppy or are you going to help me?"

He really did need my help. He wasn't kidding like I thought he was. I shook the look off my face. Still, I couldn't quite get my head around why he wanted me to help him. And he's Draco Malfoy, like he even needed help.

"With what?" I finally asked after a moment of awkward silence. He's the one who hated on the Weasley's. His family hated on us. Not mine. They were first. "What could I possibly help you with?"

"You sound surprised."

"Do you blame me?"

Draco pursed his lips. He was thinking. I could practically hear his brain screaming and his heart pounding. I could sense the sweat pouring.

"Look," he said and wiped the moisture off his forehead. "You're the one who said people shouldn't be afraid of me."

It came out as more of a question. Guess he just wasn't so used to wanting or even needing to converse with me. Clocks worldwide ticked backwards, loud and clear in my head. It was like trying to understand why you can't feed fire, ice. 

I tilted my head to the side. "Where are you going with this, Malfoy?"

"Alright, I'll tell you. I was kind of planning to, anyway. But just--don't laugh, okay?"

I drew an imaginary 'X' over my heart with my fingers and flashed a small smile. "Cross my heart."

Draco took deep breaths and rubbed his palms together. I couldn't help but wonder if a really nice guy was masked under that hard act? Possibly. Maybe. But he was being nice to me right now, wasn't he?

Only because he wants something.

"What you said. It gave me an idea. I-I'm not sure whether it's good or not, but I think it's time to leave the past behind." Yeah, no kidding. "But I've been thinking, and I mean really thinking, about . . . changing? And, no, before you say anything, I'm not considering changing the way you think I am. I was wondering if maybe you could help me get to know Shagwood."

Oh.

This was about Haley. But then again, almost everything was. 

He'd given me that entire, boring speech and in the end it turned out to be about Haley. I don't know why, but it made me feel . . uneasy.

I raised my eyebrows. Draco looked like he was about to wince loud enough to bring Pansy screeching back. I coughed awkwardly. "Yeah, uh. You can start by calling her Haley. Work your way from there. She's quite an easy target. In fact, she's an easy person, which you probably already know seeing as she actually slept with Crabbe."

Draco laughed. He sounded exactly the same as the way he did in my dream. And honestly, having dreams about Draco Malfoy was no coincidence. Just thinking about it and hearing it for real made my stomach tighten and my mouth dry. I felt the need to tell him about the dream. It was weird and I didn't like it. It was like trying to keep a baby a secret, or worse, a murder scene a secret. I was being over dramatic.

"Yeah," Draco scratched his head. "What the bloody hell was that about?"

"Honestly?" Draco nodded. "I have no idea."

Suddenly, a screeching, squealing, very happy looking blonde girl came running down the corridor. "Well, here's your chance."

"Oh, my goodness, Ginny, guess what?" Haley squealed, flapping her arms around like crazy as if she were a bird first learning to fly. She looked at Draco and then scrunched up her face. "Ew," she looked back at me as if Draco had disappeared. "What is he doing here? What is he doing with you? Why were you speaking with him?"

"Hi, Hannah," Draco smiled, and waved. I mentally face palmed. This was not going well. He gulped.

Haley rolled her eyes and then threw me a weird look before facing Draco with a disgusted look that I'd never seen before. "It's Haley, ferret. Gosh, talk about amnesia. You've teased my name for how many years now? What is this?"

Haley's never acted like that before. Ever. She must really want him to leave. "What's boosted your confidence?" I asked her. 

"A party," she grinned. "The best party ever."

"Wait, what party?" I asked again. Then it hit me. "Is that why you went to see McGonagall?"

"Who's invited to this party?" Draco asked, but Haley ignored him.

Haley nodded eagerly at me. That toothy smile just wouldn't leave her face. "It's going to be on Halloween instead of just a sweet feast. Well, there is going to be a sweet feast, but only for an hour for the first, second and third years. Since my birthday is four days before Halloween, I asked McGonagall about two seperate parties. One for my birthday and one on Halloween. The old cow made me choose one. So I asked her if I could have them combined on Halloween. Posters and notices will be all over the school tomorrow," Haley took a deep breath and then looked behind me. She started to run. "Hey, Cho! You know, I really need those jeans back!"

When Haley was gone and out of sight, I slapped Draco across the shoulder, hard. "Ouch!" he yelled, clutching his shoulder. "What was that for?"

I gave him a pointed look. 

Draco sighed. "I panicked!" he exclaimed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

I stepped aside as he walked past me. I watched him go. And before he left, I spoke.

"You should just go after her."

He whirled around, facing me with an expression I'd never seen when he looked at me before; calm. 

"I am," he replied. "By the way, I hope you liked the cardigan."

* * * 

Dun, Dun, Duuuun.