The Best Laid Plans - Part 6 of A Woman Scorned (H/D, PG-13)

[sesheta66]

Title:   The Best Laid Plans - Part 6 of A Woman Scorned
Author:   sesheta_66
Rating:   PG-13
Word Count:   2347
Pairing/Characters:   Harry/Draco, Ginny
Challenge:   100quills  prompt 032 - "dream" and slythindor100's prompt 45 - "Whatever gets you through the night"
Warnings:   No beta. Please point out any errors you find.
Summary:   Harry needs to get out, and soon.
Disclaimer:   The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

Part 1 - A Valentine Surprise
Part 2 - The Plan
Part 3 - Without a Trace
Part 4 - A Beautiful Lie
Part 5 - Whatever It Takes

Harry felt the bed shift under the weight of Draco's body, as he lowered himself to caress Harry's cheek. Still half asleep, Harry leaned into the touch, and placed a soft kiss on the palm of his hand. He felt fingers lace through his hair, brushing it off his face.

Draco's lips touched Harry's temple, planted soft kisses all along his jaw line, and continued over to his ear, where his tongue flicked Harry's lobe before pulling it into his mouth. Harry groaned at the contact. "So good. Don't stop," he said with a husky voice, still not opening his eyes. He felt the gentle nibbling of teeth before the kisses returned to his face, and slowly made their way to his mouth.

Draco's tongue slipped into his mouth, and Harry welcomed the feel. Wait ... something wasn't right ... the tongue was ... the scent of flowers ... NO! Harry's eyes shot open as realization hit, waking him from his half-dream. He turned his face away, almost spitting out his next words. "Ginny - what the hell?!?"

"You looked so peaceful, I hated to wake you, but when I touched your cheek, you kissed my hand and I just knew you wanted me too. Then when I started to kiss your ear, you begged me not to stop." She gazed longingly at Harry with glazed eyes and cheeks slightly flushed. She reached for Harry's face and he turned away.

"No, Ginny," he said, a little harsher than he had intended. "You can't just do that. I was asleep, and I didn't have any idea what was happening."

"You seemed to be participating just fine," she pouted. "You wanted it too."

"No I didn't. I had no idea who --"

She jumped up, pushing Harry's chest away, even though he was already lying down. "Don't!" she shouted. "Don't you dare tell me you thought ... that I ... that I was ... him!" The last word was screamed with such venom it caused Harry to pull back, startled. "That's sick!" she said as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, marched out of the room, and slammed the door shut behind her. Harry heard her mumble an incantation, and he felt the tingle of the wards around the room go up.

"Shit!" he screamed, and there was a second flutter of magic as his anger and frustration got the better of him. I need to stay calm. No use getting her more angry than she already is.

"Great," he said to himself. "All that work for nothing. Now I'm back where I started." As he sat on the bed replaying what had just happened, he felt ill. She's right. That was sick ... what she did anyway. God, what will she do next? He had to get out of this place. Soon. Harry didn't know how much more he could take, how much longer he could stay locked up and not try to kill her. He shuddered at the thought. His days of killing were long gone, he reminded himself. He sure hoped it didn't come to that in the end.
It was several hours before Ginny made a reappearance at the door with Harry's food. Several hours in which he had time to figure out how to recover at least some of the ground he had lost this morning. "Ginny," he pleaded. There was no point dropping the act now. It's not like he had some secondary plan in his back pocket. "Ginny, please. You know what it does to me being locked in here." He looked at her with frantic eyes, and began pacing back and forth, his agitation apparent.

"Why the hell should I do anything for you after what you did to me this morning?" What I did to her? She can't be serious. She really must be unhinged! Well ... two can play that game.

"What I did? Oh, God, Ginny, what happened?"

She looked at him, confused. "What?"

"I remember nodding off, then next thing I recall is you storming out of the room. Ginny, why would you sneak up on me when I was asleep? Surely you knew I would react badly." Confusion was painted all over her features. "Or ... no ... maybe you didn't know. I mean, it's not something I tell people, and it hasn't happened for a while." He watched her face for a reaction. Satisfied that she had no idea what he was talking about, he continued. "I don't even tell those people who are closest to me." Must let her think she's one of them.

"Ginny, I've had dreams ... nightmares, ever since the war. Recurring ones about Voldemort, about being locked up, being helpless, being tortured out of my sleep over and over again. I suppose it's my mind replaying all the worst moments of my life, all jumbled together. Sometimes the dream will seem so real, and then something - the slightest little something, like someone touching me - feels off, not quite right. I don't always remember the details, but I always feel heavy-headed afterwards. I feel a weight on my head now that I haven't felt for a long time. I think I might have had one of those nightmares today."

He watched her face gradually make its way through anger and frustration, on to confusion, and eventually to what might be something approaching pity. Perfect. He walked over to the bed, sat on the edge and buried his face in his hands. "Ginny, don't you understand how hard this is for me? I am not good at showing weakness. And this morning, I think I may have lashed out at you. You stormed out, and I didn't see or hear from you for hours. God, if I ever did anything to hurt you, I'd never forgive myself, Ginny. He let his shoulders slump, then shook his head, as if to cast away some horrible thought. Almost as an afterthought, he added, "If I said something to hurt you, I'm sorry."

"It's okay Harry," she said, putting the tray of food down on the table. I'm okay, really I am. I just wish you had told me."

Suddenly, he jumped up and leapt at her, grabbing her shoulders before she knew what was happening. He shook her gently, whispering, "Oh Ginny," then embraced her in a powerful bear hug. "I'm so glad I didn't hurt you. I don't know what I would have done ... oh, Ginny." He held her until he felt her arms lift up and hug him back. Excellent.

"I guess I just figured you knew, that maybe Ron had told you," he said as he released her.

"Ron knows?"

"Well, yeah. He has seen me when I wake up from one of those nightmares, and he's been at the receiving end of some nasty words, to hear him tell it. A couple times he said he was afraid I was going to throw him across the room." Harry shuddered. "I had asked him not to tell anyone, but I figured that he knew I wouldn't have meant that you were just 'anyone'." There we are. That did it. Keep smiling, Ginny.

"Really?" she asked. "You wouldn't mind if he had told me?"

"Of course not," Harry replied, putting what he hoped was a convincing look of confusion on his face. "I mean, we've been so close for so long, I just naturally assumed he would know that was okay." He walked away and began pacing again, mumbling under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing ... really."

She eyed him suspiciously.

"I just said that I'm so glad you left when you did, because I ... oh, never mind."

"No, Harry. Because what?"

"Because I couldn't imagine hurting someone as ... well ... someone like you. And I never would under normal circumstances. And I didn't think it was a concern, because it's been so long since I've had one of those nightmares. I guess I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now."

She took a few minutes to absorb everything Harry had said, then furrowed her brows as she looked at him. "Why do you suppose you had another one now, then?" Finally she asks.

"Well ... I don't know really ... I mean ... oh, never mind. I'm sure I'll be fine," he said, not wanting to sound too anxious to tell her exactly what he thought.

"Harry, c'mon, it's me. You can tell me what you're thinking."

"Well, I don't want to sound, I don't know, ungrateful."

"What is it Harry? Just say it."

"Well, I can't help thinking that it might have been brought on by ... well ... by being locked up." He walked away from her, back over to the bed, and resumed his position with his head in his hands. "I don't know, Ginny. It's the only thing I can think of. The last time I woke up feeling like this was when I had to stay locked inside for weeks, because of the escape of a couple Death Eaters who had sworn revenge on me. I was climbing the walls, and I remember feeling trapped, like a caged animal. All I wanted to do was get out."

He threw himself down on the bed, curled up and hugged his body tightly, his back to her. "Never mind that, Ginny. I'm just glad you're okay. I was afraid, when you first stormed out of here, that I had done something awful to you."

"You don't remember what happened?" she asked.

"No, why? Did I hurt you?" he asked in a panic, standing up and turning to face her. "God, Ginny, are you okay?" He started to pace around the room again, muttering under his breath. "Can't sleep, won't sleep, can't hurt her, can't sleep, won't sleep ..."

"Harry," she called out to him. He ignored her and kept muttering under his breath. She came up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him hard. "Harry!" she yelled. He shook his head and focussed on her, as if coming out of a trance.

"What?" he asked, a confused look back on his face. He was getting pretty good at looking confused. He tried not to think of the mileage Draco would be sure to get out of that. Not much of a reach there, Potter. Harry bit back a smile as he could almost hear the snarky tone of his boyfriend's voice teasing him.

"Harry, you didn't do anything to me, see? I'm fine." She twirled around on the spot.

"But you said --"

"It was nothing. I over-reacted. I thought you were thinking about ... oh, never mind that."

"So what happened then?"

She hesitated for a moment. For the briefest of moments, she looked unsure of herself, and then, an instant later, her 'happy face' had been put back on. "Nothing that you need to worry about, Harry. Nothing at all." Liar.

"I need some potion, Ginny. Something to keep me awake." He looked at her hopefully, but she looked sceptical. "Or at least something that will give me dreamless sleep.  Anything to get me through the night.  Do you think you could do that for me? Please? I think I might go crazy if I start having those dreams all the time now."

It was a risk, he knew, asking her to leave to get something. She was likely to be suspicious, but he had to press just a bit more. "You could Apparate to an apothecary and be back in no time, right? I'm really beginning to feel desperate here. I won't go anywhere or do anything." He rubbed his eyes for effect. "The wards here are strong, you said it yourself. I don't have a wand, so it's not like I could do anything anyway. Please, Ginny. I'm begging you."

If Harry's suspicions were right, it meant that Ginny had been avoiding magic, and the wizarding world entirely. Ever since she had dropped the wards on the room, and he had been wandering around the house, Harry had been taking everything in, observing every little detail. Except for the wards, there was nothing magical to be found. There were Muggle appliances, and there was electricity, but there was no indication that the magical world even existed. Harry knew that a witch or wizard's magical signature could be traced, and with Ginny's dad working at the Ministry, he was sure she knew that too. But she didn't need to know that he knew. He might just get her to slip up. Maybe she would be seen. Maybe she would use magic. At the very least, she might leave him alone for a while. Even that would be worth it.

"Maybe tomorrow," she finally replied.

"Tomorrow then," Harry agreed, giving her a small smile. Hopefully she wouldn't sneak up on him when he was sleeping again.

Over the next three days, Harry played up the nightmares as best he could without going overboard, making them appear just that little bit worse each day. He twitched and flailed at night, grumbling and mumbling inaudibly as he 'awoke', with no memory of conversations with Ginny in the aftermath. Of course, he remembered everything, and he wasn't having nightmares. Well, none except the one he was living. He noticed that she kept a distance from him, for which he was grateful. He couldn't stand the thought of her lips on his again.

On the fourth morning following the 'incident,' Harry 'awoke' from his latest nightmare with a scream. He got up, threw a book across the room, and stomped on the floor to make sure Ginny was awake. He waited until he heard her coming down the hall, then made his way back into the bed, feigning sleep. Deep, even breaths. He could feel her watching him, making sure he really was asleep. When she walked away, he could faintly hear, "If I go in disguise ..." before her voice trailed off.

Soon, Draco, he thought to himself and smiled. 

Part 7 - At His Wit's End

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