”I know you have it!” Ginny said, with a stern look at one of her worst enemies: Draco Malfoy. The hate and… Nausea that rose up in her whenever she looked at him was overwhelming. Usually Ginny didn’t need much to hate him, and usually she hated him enough with a distance between them; the further away, the better. But now, he had forced her to take action.
“Malfoy! Give it to me! I know you stole it, scum!” Ginny had confronted Malfoy in the corridor, just as the bell had rung for lunch. A lot of students had therefore gathered around them, highly anticipating what Ginny would do. Over the years, she had done some pretty damaging things to Draco Malfoy, all culminating in a kick in the crotch in Ginny’s fourth year. No need to mention that most of the public hoped for a similar conclusion this time as well.
“Well, Weasel. You can’t prove it, can you? In fact, I do not even know what it is. Accept it Red, you need to look for another villain. I simply do not have what you are looking for” Draco said, an evil grin twinkling at the corner of his mouth. “Now, if you excuse me, fair weasel, I have a lunch to eat. Crabbe – Goyle; let’s go.”
Draco left, with his henchmen right behind him. Most of the other students followed him, as lunch wouldn’t last forever. Ginny, however, stayed behind in the corridor where she had confronted Draco, obviously frustrated about the turn out. She didn’t notice the blond walking up to her, after everybody else had left.
“Hello Ginny. You seem frustrated – Did a Humplethrump get to you? They are known to cause anger in their victim and they only affect people with freckles. I know a cure, if you want to get rid of it“. Ginny looked up, noticing Luna first then.
“Hi Luna... It’s nothing, just some… issues, with Malfoy. You don’t need to worry for me; I’ll take care of it somehow. *Sigh* How’s your day?”
“It’s quite alright, thank you. The sunrise was very pretty this morning; I believe that the sundown will be even better! Do you perhaps want to watch it with me? I’ve found the most perfect place, right beside the lake” Ginny regarded this for a moment; thinking of some proper reason to not go, but she found none. An evening at the lake with Luna didn’t sound as the worst plan either.
“Sure, I’ll be glad to join you for sundown. I just have to deal with – something – before. Meet you in the main hall, later on, okay?”
Luna stared into who-knows-what for a moment (or somewhat more), before looking at Ginny, saying:
“That’ll be fine. You should go down after dinner, really, since it’s more beautiful to watch from the beginning” Luna smiled. “So you do not miss anything”
With that, she left, wandering down to the great hall, saying things about pudding.
Ginny, left behind, stood thinking about the sun and her own ups and downs in her current life, in something of a daze. This lasted for quite some time, until she realized that she had to ask Luna if Malfoy had come to her. Cursing Draco loudly, she ran after her newly departed friend.
“Luna, wait!”
*Time later, apparently*
“Not that I don’t appreciate your invite and your subtle way of manhandling me, Weasley, but since it doesn’t really fit my reputation to be seen with a Weasel, you better tell me why I am here.” Draco said all high and mighty.
Ginny, who after classes had found no better way to get what she wanted, had reduced the solution to the simplest form of investigation. To carry this investigation out, which was another form of saying “attacking verbally”; she had needed to get Draco alone, and had therefore cornered him in the library after the last class. Since this was a Crabbe-and-Goyle-free environment after their expulsion from said place, after an “accident” involving a few books, a small Christmas tree, a barrel, pictures of Pansy and Millicent, and, well, fire, it was the perfect place to approach Draco without unnecessary witnesses.
So Ginny had done exactly that, walked up to him while he was in the library, telling him that she needed to talk to him in a more private place. She had prepared to blackmail him, simply telling McGonagall that he had assaulted her if he wouldn’t agree to follow her, but surprisingly Draco had not protested at all. Instead he had just shrugged loudly and then followed silently, until they had reached the empty classroom Ginny had scouted out before.
“You know why you are here Malfoy!” Ginny said with a stern gaze. “I saw that you took something, something of my friend belongings!” She inhaled air, preparing herself. Apparently, the next thing was rather hard for her to say. She stood right under the blackboard, looking at Malfoy, who had not moved far away from the door they had come through.
“I saw you steal Luna Lovegood’s knickers!” She exclaimed loudly. After hearing this, Malfoy began to move to the windows on the left side of the room, from where Ginny stood. He walked slowly, not rushing anything. He reached his intention before he answered.
“You do not know that.” He answered calmly, looking out. This seemed to only infuriate Ginny more.
“Of course I know! I am not stupid!” Ginny screamed. “Luna dropped her stuff yesterday - as you know, you were there, in the same friggin corridor!”
Draco still looked out the window, either to avoid Ginny or because there was something worth looking out at. However, this time he answered faster.
“So were other people. I haven’t seen you rounding up Finnigan like this, have I? He would be one of the prime suspects, in my opinion... I’m sorry, Weasley, or no, I’m not. I still do not see a reason for you to suspect me” He paused. Literally. He seemed to ponder on something.
“By the way, why does Loony Lovegood carry around panties in her bag?” He looked at Ginny, as if he was casually interested, not bothered at all by Ginny’s accusation in the first place. “And why do you know that?”
This broke Ginny’s flow somewhat. Punctured her balloon. Broke her spell, etc, etc. She had in short not seen this coming.
“I’m her friend, Malfoy, and friends trust each other enough to talk to each other, which is something I expect you to know nothing about. “
“So why does she carry them around?” He insisted. He looked at her now with a shade of hunger in his eyes, still not breaking his calm demeanour.
Ginny didn’t answer at first, judging his new look to be a little too interested, raising her suspicion more to that he had taken the panties. She didn’t know if he was the villain or not, she had just hoped that he would have proved that when she accused him of being it.
“I won’t tell you” She said at last. She didn’t know herself, for sure. Only that Luna sometimes did things that sometimes required her putting on new panties afterwards. What the activity were Ginny could only guess, but knowing Luna it probably was swimming in the lake, or something as innocent. It did not have to mean that she masturbated in the corridors, not necessarily. For some reason it fired her up again, the fact that even Ginny did not know what she did.
“That’s beside the point, for Merlin’s sake! Does it matter why she carries them around, really? Do you want to know if they were used before, or if you got unlucky and got a clean pair? What did you expect!?” Now Ginny screamed again, even moving closer to Malfoy as she did. “Fuck you, Malfoy! “ She said the last part with such force that she ran out of breath. She gasped for a little while before she continued, in a somewhat tired voice. “Just admit it now so we can get the hell out of here.”
“You still speak like you are certain that I took them” Draco said, still as calmly. Which angered Ginny, of course, but now she controlled it better.
“I haven’t heard a single word from you to convince me otherwise, Malfoy” Ginny knew her argument was feeble, but it was, in some ways, true. Draco had yet to say that he did not take them, and Ginny would not let him go before she was sure of it.
“Enough! This leads us nowhere, Ginger. You wouldn’t trust me even if I said I didn’t take her underwear, no chance in hell. To trust my word is impossible for you. You aren’t really looking for the panties either; you just want to blame me!” Draco’s eyes were dark now; apparently he did not enjoy the accusations any longer. From the first words he had worked up energy enough to raise his voice, for the first time in the argument. His calm demeanour was gone like the wind. “You even said so: †˜just admit it now’! There is only one truth for you, isn’t there?”
He had moved slightly forward. Ginny and he only stood two meters apart, glaring at each other in the unused classroom. No muscle was moving; no part of their body was twitching. Every sound in the room was heard, every breath was counted. The clouds outside the window took a still, as did every clock in the room. The seconds counted slowly, the world waited for the conclusion following Ginny’s words. The tension could be seen.
What broke the tension, were however not words. Ginny backed down. She looked away, looked down, stepped down, admitting fault, in the same move that started the world again. The clouds picked up their pace, moving as fast as they had ever done before. Nothing had really changed. Nothing had, except the belief of a girl. Her perception, which had been so clear, had with nothing changed to doubt, only an exchange of accusations. Was what Draco said really true? Did she really look after Luna’s thing, or did she only try to frame the bastard responsible for much of the crap in her, and her friends’ life?
Draco, of course, saw this as clear as sunlight shine through open sky. He knew to take advantage of it. It had gone on for too long now for Draco to just walk away. He had to earn something, and he knew exactly what he wanted.
“So…” The tension disappeared, into a spooky uneasiness, as Draco began to smile. A little, little smile, which, dangerous enough, reached his eyes. “How do we settle this, Weasley?”
He walked over to the window and took a quick look at the increasing clouds, before turning around, leaning comfortably, blocking any kind of involvement from the outside world. Everything for Ginny was now in this room, there was no other involvement. She had nowhere to find strength, except in herself.
“I do not have them. That I’ve said. But I may know where they are.” He showed his teeth in a grin of the devil. Ginny shuddered.
“Why didn’t you say so before?” She asked. “Then this could have been avoided”
“I do not do stuff for free, weasel, I’m not that kind of person.” He sniggered. “Even now, I will need something for this; something to exchange, something appropriate for the prize.”
Draco did a pause; mostly for theatrical reasons. It did look smooth with a pause.
“I need something of you. Something equal to the piece of information you will get” His smile, the smile of a calculating demon, had really started to bug Ginny. She felt rather insecure as it was; she felt that she had lost the grip of the situation. Since Draco revealed that he had the upper hand, she knew that this would not get a cheap solution. But she hadn’t lost yet. She still had a little gusto.
“It’s hard to name a prize on something unknown, idiot. Why should I even believe that you know something about it?” She asked, defiantly.
“Ahaha, but you don’t, you just have to trust me” He didn’t get further, as Ginny interrupted him almost violently, determined to have some defiance left. Every little spark of hate, every outburst was important for her, if only to act as she still knew what she was doing.
“Bullshit! I wouldn’t trust even if you just had saved my mom from a dragon!”
“But I was there, Red. I was at the very scene where she dropped them, as you so well know. I was there, as capable seeing everything as anyone.” He smiled so wide now, his teeth reached his ears. “I know who took them and I believe I am the only one who do” He whispered, in dramatic glee.
The triumph was his, and both of them knew it. There was no point going around the cradle anymore, it was just wasting time.
Ginny was thinking if she could just go, leave the place and admit defeat, but choose against it. She needed what he knew. To go would mean losing the only lead she had, and she really wanted to find the knickers. So she had to pay; there was no other option.
“What do you want, Malfoy?” She asked. They both knew it was a sign of defeat. Malfoy smirked.
“I want you... to undress - ” Malfoy began, but he was interrupted loudly, by Ginny.
“WHAT?!! Of all the low things you could ask, you go for the lowest? You’re really pig. A filthy, insane pig!“ She screamed, although not with the same muster as she had before.
“- to your underwear” Malfoy calmly concluded. After a quick thought he added: “You do wear underwear, right?”
Ginny stared blankly at him, still not believing what he demanded of her.
“Of course I wear underwear...” She stated, in an almost-but-not-quite-defeated voice.
“What colour? Wait! Don’t tell me. I like a surprise” Draco enjoyed this, she could tell. Of course he enjoyed it; he had got her exactly where he wanted, or almost so. Even though she screamed at him mere seconds ago, it was a scream that were predictable and lacked both courage and faith, as both already knew that she had lost. That she had lost bitterly.
“Only to my underwear... That is all, right? If you have some devilish plan to get me to do more, I would like to know it now, so I can punch you and go”
“No, that is all. To your underwear is enough. But do it now – “ Draco said, dragging. “ - And do it sensually”.
Ginny stared at him for a while, with eyes clearly stating what she thought of him, before she reached down to grab her robe. She took the sleeves and dragged it quickly over her head, ignoring Draco’s last words, so that he would not get everything exactly as he wanted it.
Underneath her robe, she wore a simple tank top, coloured deep green, socks reaching to her knees, and blue knickers. Ocean blue. Draco could also see, from where he stood, that underneath her top she had a bra with blue straps as well, even if he could not be sure of the colour of the actual bra.
“That is too fast, Weasley. You need to do it slower...” Draco said, still clearly enjoying what he saw so far.
She gave him a look of deepest grief, then turned around, letting her back face him. As she realised that going against him would be pointless at this time, she was prepared to do the last thing he had asked of her. So she cuddled up, crossed her arms as she took her hands down, in a motion that mostly looked as if she were hugging herself, then she grabbed the top and dragged it slowly over her head. In this single, dragging motion, she realised that she had ultimately, and completely, lost. She sighed, deep.
Draco let out a single, slightly louder, breath as this happened. As it left him, he did one of his trademarked, more sinister smiles. The whole thing had gone precisely as he had hoped it would do. He had the girl, who hated everything about him, from his ancestors to the nails on his toes, bent to his will. If he wanted, he could probably extract and take away her virginity, with the simple tool of information. Information she was not sure he had. Life was wonderful...
“Now, Red, I need you to just turn around”...
*Time later, again. But not as much.*
Ginny hurried out of the room, with clothes on, cursing Draco with every breath. She could not believe what he had made her done, or more what she had let him do to her. The anger that rose in her when she thought of how easily she had given up her nudity was great and intense, but was as soon as it had risen suppressed by the shame she felt because of it. Draco had beaten her this time, and it would take a long time before she would let it go.
Luna’s knickers had been picked up by Ron. In the confusion he felt that he did not have the opportunity to give them back, so he had approached Luna after dinner, before she went down to the lake, and with a very, very red face given them back to her. He had just not said anything to Ginny, and why would he?
Luna did not even seem to have noticed them gone, and had in fact never said anything to Ginny about it. Ginny had assumed Draco stole them, and gladly attacked him for it. She felt so stupid, and so used, and even if it mostly was her own fault, she needed vengeance. He had nonetheless used her.
The revenge would need to be harsh and preferably public, she decided there and then, and she began to see vivid pictures of what she would do against him, all while faceless people laughed at him. She stormed down to the lake, hopefully in time for the sunset, imagining all kinds of horrid things she could do.
As she saw Luna waving at her, Ginny smiled back to her. Oh, the revenge would be sweet. Bittersweet, but still damn sweet. She knew it.