Fire and Ice

A Moment of Weakness

"Tom... oh Tom..."

Jerking upright, Draco whizzed around to the figure sleeping on the floor, moaning in her sleep.

"Tom, Tom please..."

Huh, always assumed she was a virgin. Guess she's just a slag like her mother.

"Tom, Tom don't,"

Oh, so I guess this Tom is a kinky one. For some reason unknown to the youngest Malfoy, Draco felt a rush of dislike for this "Tom".

Observing Giiny's facial expressions and movements, Draco saw that her face was scrunched up uneasily, with beads of sweat ichting towards the corner of her shivering lips. Her body was twitching slightly, her fists were clenched. Frowning, Draco stood, unsure whether to wake her; he could tell that she wasn't at ease. For the second time that day, a tear cascaded from her unopen eye.

However, Draco Malfoy didn't care for other's pain, so he sat down, painted an indifferent expression on his face and stared at the ceiling.

"Tom," Draco's left hand twitched.

"Tom," Draco's fist clenched.

"STOP TOM, STOP! STOP"

Racing forwards, Draco clenched Ginny's shoulders and shook. Scarlet locks spilling out from underneath her, Ginny screamed and shoved Draco away, with enough force to knock any other man down. However, keeping a firm grip on her, Draco sat her up, and grabbed his wand.

"Calm!" he growled. Suddenly, Ginny stopped screaming, and began choking. Whoops, he didn't know the spell was going to be that powerful.

"Breathe." She stopped choking. And began sobbing.

Awkwardly holding her a fore-arm's length away from himself, Draco began rubbing her back. Not to comfort her, but to comfort himself. The sounds of her blood-chilling scrreams still echoed in his aching ears. As soon as she stopped shrieking, Draco's headache subsided, leaving an eerie feeling of nothingness. Strange.

Without realising, Ginny had fallen into Draco's arms, clutching them around her torso. Unwilling to touch her but even more unwilling to let go, Draco's body curved inward, his arms like towers, protecting Ginny from the horrors of her nightmare.

Minutes passed, as well as Ginny's sobs.

"I.." her voice wobbled, and Draco glanced down. She steadie herself, and spoke in a clear, slightly shaky voice. "I don't usually cry." her voice softened. "Just a moment of weakness."

Nodding, Draco looked straight forward. It was often when Draco didn't voice his thoughts, but not often when he had no thought to voice on.

"Thank you, for being nice."

Stiffening, Draco stifled a scowl. He was not being nice. He just couldn't think of anything else to do while he watched a girl cry, other than attempt to comfort her.

"Why did you cry when I insulted your family?"

The question escaped from his mouth. Cursing inwardly, Draco sat up and leant Ginny against a table leg, not unkindly.

Ginny froze, then sighed.

"No one has ever spelled it out for me. It was a shock." without waiting for Draco to reply, she continued. "We have money, but not a lot. My clothes aren't second -hand, they're more like forth-hand! My house isn't filthy, but it is messy. My whole life, my eyes have skipped past the imperfections of my life. But now..."

Expecting a quick response, Ginny lifted her head to face Draco, only to see him frowning, looking straight ahead. His mouth was vibrating. Suddenly, his head shook, and he stood, striding towards his blazer. Conjuring two wine glasses with his wand, Draco set them on a table and pulled out a small bottle of Fire Whisky. He turned to face his family's youngest enemy.

"Well, if I'm gonna drink it, I guess I'm not drinking it alone."