All Harry Potter Characters don't belong to me.
The Source - Chapter Twenty-Eight
"Speaking"
<Thinking>
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Ginny was sitting in the common room and groaning in frustration. Harry and Hermione had got together not long after Sirius arrived and were now lovingly sitting together in a couch. Since the auction was so successful in raising 213 Galleons and was more that enough to fix the ceiling they were very giggly. This was annoying Ginny because they were giggling non-stop. Don't get the wrong idea, Ginny wasn't jealous, she just didn't like them being so lovey-dovey in front of everyone.
Then there was Ron who was pacing constantly in front of her mumbling curses about Draco and trying very hard to think of a way he could kill him before tomorrow morning.
Dean, Colin and Amy were also close by and were arguing about what they thought Draco wanted to do to her.
Ginny got fed up and so she stood up and started to leave the common room.
"Where are you going, Ginny?" Ron asked her.
"To the Hospital wing," she called over her shoulder.
Ginny was in fact going to Draco's room. She was so going to kill him for doing this to her. Why, oh, why, did he have to bid for her? If it were anyone else then it would not have been such a big deal. But a Malfoy bidding for a Weasley was bound to attract attention, and at 50 Galleons, there would definitely be problems, not so much for Draco but for her.
Ginny had received glares from many girls after the auction and had a big lecture from Ron telling her to be careful and blah, blah, blah. And this was all Draco's fault.
Ginny stormed into Draco's room and threw him his medicine before she sat down in a chair angrily glaring at him. Draco seemed oblivious at Ginny's anger and was just looking back at her innocently.
"Of all the ways you could annoy my brother, why did you have to use me?" Ginny demanded.
"Why do you always assume the worst of me, Weasley?" Draco asked innocently.
Ginny glared at him "Stop pretending, Malfoy, because I know exactly why you bid for me. Does 'It's a good way to piss off the elder Weasley' sound familiar to you?"
Draco dropped his innocent look and curse quietly. "Ok, so that's what I said, but it doesn't mean I meant it."
Ginny raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Then what do you really mean by bidding for me?" she asked.
Draco cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ah…because I have a potions test tomorrow and I want you're help?" he said, hoping it was a good reason.
Ginny just glared at him even more. "Are you trying to insult my intelligence here? You're good enough at potions already, so you do not need my help."
Draco sighed. "Alright, so I did buy you to piss off your brother, but it was only because he dared to tell you to be careful around me and that you best stay away." Draco finished angrily.
"You embarrassed me in front of the whole school just because of some little thing my brother said? What are you, some six-year-old?" Ginny yelled.
Draco got defensive. "Why is it that every time I do something, you always say that I embarrass you?"
"That's because you do. You just couldn't make it any more obvious that you wanted to buy me, and with 50 Galleons no less. Do you know how many glares I have received all day? Not to mention the insults."
"Well the whole point of buying at an auction is to have the highest price. Don't blame me for buying you at such a high price; blame Potter for raising it. And so what if you got a few glares, you won't die."
Ginny just growled in annoyance. She clenched her fists and breathed in deeply.
Draco was looking at her weirdly. He didn't know what the hell she was going on about.
"Ok," Ginny said, straining calmness. "I can't do anything about it now anyway so there's no point in arguing. It's just 24 hours. I'm sure I can manage 24 hours of being seen in public with you."
"Hey, you make it sound like its torture," Draco said, feeling insulted. "Do you know how many girls are lining up to spend even just an hour with me?"
"Well why didn't you bid for them?" Ginny said, her anger flaring up again.
Draco sighed, "Alright, alright. Can we just drop the subject now? I promise I won't embarrass you or anything, I just want to annoy your brother that's all."
"Fine," Ginny huffed. "But I won't be helping you in any way; I will only follow the rules of the auction."
"Of course," Draco said. Ginny then left his room.
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Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning when they bumped in Draco and his gang. Draco and Ron were glaring at each other while Harry was just staring at Crabbe and Goyle, and Hermione was giving disgusted looks at Pansy and Blaise.
Draco eventually broke eye contact and smirked. "Come over here, Little Weasley." he motioned for Ginny to walk towards him. "I want you to serve me at breakfast," he said arrogantly.
Ron clenched his jaw and his hands were balled into fists. Ginny slowly walked over to where Draco was and gave Ron a reassuring smile. Draco put one hand over Ginny's shoulder and gave Ron a victorious smirk. "Don't worry Weasley; I'll take good care of your sister." And then he walked into the hall with Ginny and his group.
Ron was furious and was growing red in the face and ears. Harry and Hermione were desperately trying to calm him down and led him into the hall for breakfast.
Over at the Slytherin table, Ginny sat next to Draco while Crabbe and Goyle were on his other side. Pansy and Blaise sat on the opposite side of the table in front of Draco.
All the Slytherins could see how Draco's actions were pissing off Ron and were enjoying the glares they got from across the room. Ginny felt uncomfortable sitting at the Slytherin table but was definitely not intimidated by them.
"Weasley," Draco said. "I think I want some grapes for breakfast. Get me some." Draco was just sitting in his seat waiting to be fed.
Ginny sighed and grabbed a bunch of grapes from the fruit bowl. She picked one off the stem and handed it to Draco.
"Here," she said.
Draco shook his head. "I don't like the skin," he said casually.
Ginny silently groaned and started to peel the skin off one grape. The Slytherins who were close enough to see this all snickered and Draco smirked at the look on Ron's face as he could see his sister peeling a grape for him.
Ginny finished peeling the grape and handed it to Draco. "Here, no skin."
Draco just opened his mouth.
"You can't be serious," Ginny hissed as she held the grape.
"Of course I am. You are practically my slave for the next 12 hours you know. Why do things myself when you can do it," he said and then opened his mouth again.
Ginny grumbled to herself and then popped the grape into Draco's mouth. The Slytherins around snickered again and Ginny could see Ron was really furious. Ginny continued to peel and feed grapes to Draco throughout breakfast until there were only ten more minutes to class. At this time there weren't many students left over at breakfast. Even Ron, Harry and Hermione had left because they didn't want to be late.
Seeing that the Hall was practically empty Draco told Ginny she could stop feeding him.
Ginny sighed and wiped her fingers on a napkin. Draco could tell she was upset so he picked up an apple and started to peel it with his pocketknife. After he was done he handed it to Ginny.
"Here, you haven't eaten anything yet," he said kindly, and offered her the apple.
Ginny was frowning at him and refused to accept it. Draco gave her an apologetic look so she took the apple and started eating it. Draco smiled.
"Look, Weasley," Draco said softly. "I had to do that so other people in my house would know why I bought you at the auction. It would help decrease the attention placed on you because they know you are only a tool in my scheme to annoy your brother."
Ginny thought about it and then stopped frowning at Draco. "Ok, I understand."
"Good," Draco said and then stood up. "We better get going or we'll be late for transfiguration. As much as I don't care, an angry McGonagall is not how I want my morning to start."
Ginny nodded and also stood up. Draco picked up his books and dumped all of them into Ginny's hands. Ginny was weighed down by them and was about to fall, but then Draco performed a spell and the books felt weightless.
He then leaned forward and whispered into Ginny's ear. "We must keep appearances up but I would never make a lady carry heavy books."
Ginny blushed at Draco's thoughtfulness towards her and smiled. They then headed towards transfiguration class.
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They made it to class just in time and sat one desk away from where Hermione was sitting. There were whispers in the class about how Draco was treating Ginny like a servant, first with feeding him at breakfast and now carrying his books. The Slytherins were cheering for Draco while Gryffindors were feeling sorry for Ginny. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws just remained neutral.
(I'm assuming that in 7th year, since people can choose different classed to do then classes would not just be all Slytherin and Gryffindor. Anyone who choses to do that subject would all be placed in one class)
Hermione was watching Ginny as she entered and placed the books down. She could tell that a spell was cast on the books to make them weightless and smiled. <I guess Malfoy isn't as cruel as I thought>
"Alright class," McGonagall said, silencing her class. "Today you will be transfiguring matter from one state to another. In other words you will be required to transfigure liquids into solids and vice-versa. Please take out what you need and repeat after me."
Draco sat back in his chair and waited for Ginny to take out what he needed for today's lesson. After she was done, Ginny sat there quietly with Draco listening to the professor teaching them what incantation to say when transfiguring.
McGonagall had finished talking and left her students to practice by themselves. Draco was holding his wand and concentrating while Ginny sat there feeling very bored. Professor McGonagall walked over towards Ginny and smiled at her. Ginny looked up at the professor and smile back.
"Miss Weasley, maybe you could give this lesson a try. I'm sure Mr. Malfoy wouldn't mind." And then she left.
Ginny looked at Draco and he just shrugged. "Go for it, I don't care," he said and returned back to what he was doing.
Ginny had nothing else to do so she took her wand out and thought to transfigure her piece of parchment into a puddle of water. She repeated what McGonagall had said and was concentrating very hard but nothing happened. Ginny was getting frustrated so she just gave up and slumped back into the chair.
"Giving up so easily, Weasley?" Draco drawled out at he was in the middle of changing a cup of juice into something solid.
Ginny huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's too hard, I'll be learning it next year anyway so there's no rush," she said
Draco tutted at her and turned to face her as he took her hand which held the wand and positioned it for her. "Your hand movements were wrong that's all," he said in a teacher sort of tone. "Try it now, and remember to flick up a bit more."
Ginny nodded and tried it again. She tapped on the parchment and flicked up while saying the incantation. And then it changed into a puddle of water. Ginny smiled widely and looked at Draco to see if he was looking at her success.
Draco glanced at it quickly and said "Good," tonelessly, but Ginny could see that the side of his lip was twitched up slightly.
<This day might not be that bad after all,> she thought.
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Their next lesson was Arithmacy and Hermione and Harry were in this class. Once again Draco entered the room with Ginny behind him carrying all his 'heavy' books. Draco sat at the back of the room while Harry and Hermione sat at the front.
Draco was relaxing in his chair resting his eyes while Ginny copied down all the notes and questions they needed to do. Ginny had to elbow Draco awake when it was nearly the end of class and he yelped out loud, which caused the whole room to look in their direction.
Ginny blushed and declined her head. "What are you all looking at?" Draco snapped and then they all turned back around.
Draco and Ginny were the last ones to leave the classroom and Draco was yawning as they walked towards the great hall to get some morning tea.
Draco was stretching his limb as they walked and then he spoke. "It's quite nice having a slave. I don't have to take down boring notes which gives me time to get more sleep."
Ginny snorted. "I could just take down fake notes for you so you learn the wrong things," She said arrogantly.
Draco laughed. "Yeah right, you wouldn't dare do that."
"And why not?" Ginny asked slightly insulted.
Draco smiled at her. "Because you're not that kind of person."
Ginny didn't know how to answer to that so she just left it and they walked together in silence.
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After morning tea, Draco had double Auror training with Harry and Sirius. Ginny was very exited and was smiling through out the whole trip to the old classroom they used.
They entered the room and saw Sirius already there waiting for them, but Harry wasn't there yet.
"Hello, Ginny, Draco." Sirius greeted them.
Draco just said a simple 'hi' and then sat down on a chair.
Ginny however was more excited and was still smiling. "Hey, Sirius," she said cheerfully. "What are you going to teach today? Anything I could participate in?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Sirius said mysteriously.
Harry then walked into the room and greeted all of them.
"All right, now that we are all here," Sirius began. "Today we'll be doing strong summoning spells. These spells allow you to summon very large objects, which are a short distance away to come towards you."
The double lesson was very boring for Ginny. Even though they had gone outside so that there would be more room for Harry and Draco to practice, all she did was sit there and watch them.
Sirius left Draco and Harry to practice by summoning big rocks to come towards them and went over to sit with Ginny.
They both sat there in silence watching Harry and Draco try to make the big rocks move towards them, but they still didn't even budge and inch.
"How long will it take for them to get those rocks moving?" Ginny asked tiredly.
"Don't know," Sirius answered. "Depends on the person. Some take days, others take months."
Ginny sighed. "That means I'll be sitting here for the rest of the lesson watching them stare and point their wands at rocks."
Sirius laughed. "Welcome to my world," he said and Ginny also laughed.
Ginny could see that Draco was concentrating very hard because his eyebrows were knitted together and he was frowning. <Please let him do it, please let him do it,> she chanted in her mind.
The big rock then shook at bit and Ginny held her breath. The rock shook some more and Draco was starting to grin. He was going to make the rock come towards him.
But then it stopped. Draco lost his grin and went back to frowning while Ginny sighed in disappointment. She just sat there watching him try again.
"He's a good kid," Sirius suddenly said.
"Huh?" Ginny said. She didn't hear Sirius because she was so engrossed in watching Draco.
"I said Draco is a good kid. Once you know him that is. And he's quite talented, too."
Ginny nodded while smiling. "He is isn't he?" she said proudly and returned to watching him.
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Lunch was next and Ginny was once again sitting next to Draco cutting up his food for him. He didn't request Ginny to feed him this time because he found that then she would not have enough time to eat herself.
Nearly all the Slytherins were ignoring Ginny while she ate silently and was glad for it. Draco's plan seemed to work and no one noticed her unless she was doing something very obvious for Draco and attracted other Gryffindor's attentions. Draco was talking to some other 7th year Slytherin and wasn't paying attention to Ginny so she just sat there observing the people around her.
<Might as well see of I can find out some secrets,> Ginny thought. She then 'accidentally' dropped her knife and crawled under the table to get it. While Ginny was under the table she took the opportunity to stick a few of her special parchments under some popular people to see what they were saying or planning to do.
Draco had noticed Ginny going under the table to retrieve her knife but thought it was weird how she was taking such a long time. He peeked under the table and saw her sticking pieces of paper under the tables.
He shook his head. <She just never stops does she?> he thought sadly.
Ginny finally 'retrieved' her knife and sat back in her seat. She noticed that Draco wasn't sitting next to her and was instead already standing and waiting for her. She quickly got up and stood next to him holding his books.
"Let's go, Weasley," he said and then started walking.
Ginny followed behind him.
Ginny was dreading potions because it was the only class where just two houses were learning together. Potions is such an important subject that everyone does it so classes have remained the same since first year. That meant it was held with Gryffindor and Slytherin together.
Draco sat in his usual seat on the right side of the room while Ron, Hermione and Harry were on the table just next to them.
Draco gave Ron an "I'm-more-superior-than-you" look before he sat down with Ginny next to him. Ginny didn't want to look at her brother or her fellow housemates so instead started to unpack Draco's things.
Ron was not happy about what he was seeing and had his jaw locked and fists clenched.
"Ron," Hermione was trying to calm him down. "Ginny's only helping him copy down notes and stuff like that. It's quite normal; a lot of students who bought people are asking them to help out in their classes. Nothing bad is going to happen," she reassured him.
Ron managed to calm down a bit but was still glaring at Draco. Draco didn't miss Ron's glares and was actually enjoying it.
"Hey, Weasley," Draco said to Ron. "I know I'm gorgeous but you don't have to stare at me all day."
All the Slytherins cracked up laughing and Ron turned his red face away.
"That should stop him from staring," Draco whispered to Ginny and she smiled secretly.
Snape stormed into the room and everyone diverted their attentions to him. He wrote the potions they were making today on the board and told them to get it done by the end of class or else they would get a whole weeks worth of detention. They had to work with partners and since Snape knew of Ginny's abilities he allowed her to be Draco's partner.
The potion was quite hard but if you concentrated it would be possible to complete. Draco was already very good at potions and with the help of Ginny he was sure it would turn out even better.
Everyone was too busy worrying about their own potion to actually notice that Draco and Ginny were working quite well with each other. They split up the work so that it would help them be more efficient and Snape sat back watching his students. While Draco was in charge of getting the ingredients, Ginny remained at the desk to cut them up appropriately and separate them into the right amount. After all the ingredients had been prepared and placed into separate dishes, Draco retrieved a cauldron and was boiling some water.
While they were waiting for the water to boil, Ginny sat back down and copied down the potion on a parchment for Draco to use later. When the water had boiled, Draco called for Ginny to help him. Though he was capable of completing the potion by himself he felt an urge to do it with her. It seemed to make it more enjoyable.
"OK, then the newt eye goes in," Ginny said and Draco dropped the newt eye in.
"When that sinks to the bottom the dried centipede goes in and then we are done," Ginny said happily.
Draco waited for the newt eye to sink and then he added the dried centipede. The potion started to bubble rapidly and then there was a small poof of smoke. Draco got a ladle and put some of the potion into a glass vial. He examined it and then nodded in approval. He then showed it to Ginny and she smiled.
"We're done!" she said excitedly.
"Yes we are, and before everyone else, too," Draco said.
Snape had walked towards them and looked at their potion. He just nodded and then turned around to face the rest of the class. "You must also complete all the questions on the board and hand it to me by the end of the day," he announced to the rest of the class.
Snape then walked away while everyone else in the room groaned. All except Draco, who was sitting down answering questions with the occasional help from Ginny.
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When the bell went off, signalling the end of classes, only a couple of people were ready to leave potions class, while majority of the students were still either finishing the potion or still copying down the questions. Draco was especially happy that he was able to finish the potion and questions today. He wasn't sure if he could have finished all those questions without help from Ginny, but he would never tell her that.
"Let's go put these books away in my room," Draco said to Ginny.
Ginny just nodded and followed him. As soon as they entered the room Draco took the books from Ginny and put them on his desk.
"So what do we do now?" Ginny asked.
Draco raised his eyebrow and smirked. "What do you want to do?" he asked suggestively.
Ginny smiled. She knew he wouldn't do anything to her and he was just playing around.
"How about we go get my homework," she suggested.
Draco frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be my slave, and not the other was around."
Ginny sighed. "Well you don't have anything else to do. And if you really don't want to come then I'll go by myself." Ginny began to walk out of the room but then Draco ran after her.
"All right, but just because you have to be with me until 9 o'clock tonight and that I could do with a stroll," he said casually.
Ginny smiled secretly at the excuses he came up with, but was still happy that he was accompanying her.
By the time they had collected all of Ginny's homework it was time for dinner so Draco and Ginny headed to the great hall.
Draco attended to his dinner himself so that Ginny could enjoy her dinner and take her time eating. A lot of the 7th-year Slytherins were doing Snape's homework while eating and Draco smirked at them.
Ginny had finished her dinner and yanked Draco's sleeve to get his attention.
"I have to go to the hospital wing," she said quietly. "Can I go by myself, or do you have to come with me?"
Draco got a napkin and wiped his mouth. "I'll go with you," he said. "They won't have time for me anyway." He gestured to his friends who were still scribbling down answers.
They got up and left the great hall to head towards the Hospital wing. They entered and Madam Pomfrey greeted them.
"Good evening, Madam," Ginny said politely.
"Hello there, Ginny, how has your day been?" Madam Pomfrey asked and then glanced at Draco who had found a seat to sit on while he waited.
Ginny smiled. "It was quite interesting," she replied.
Madam Pomfrey nodded and then went back to her office.
Ginny went into the back room and got the things ready to make Draco's daily medicine. She was in the middle of making to potion when Draco stepped into the room and stood next to her.
"Is that for me?" He asked.
"Yep," Ginny answered and then added some more ingredients. There was some bubbling and then it stopped. Ginny spooned the potion into a bottle and gave it to Draco.
"Here you go," she said and was waiting for him to drink it, but he didn't.
"I'll drink it later," he said, answering her confused look. "Do you want to go outside or something?" he said, and gestured to the grounds in front of the school.
"Sure," Ginny said, and walked beside him down the hall and outside.
They ended up sitting on the steps outside which lead into the school. They were silent for a long time before Ginny laughed quietly.
Draco looked over at her and had a questioning look on his face. "What's so funny?" he asked.
Ginny shook her head. "Nothing really," she said casually. "It's just weird how I don't have to have an excuse to be able to sit here with you. For one day, I'm actually allowed to be near you without questions asked."
Draco also laughed a little at what she said. "Yeah, and then after tomorrow you'll have to go back to being with the Dream team, and I'll have to do potions with another dimwit again."
Ginny smiled. "Finishing first feels really good, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, but not without you," Draco said and then slapped his hand over his mouth.
<You weren't supposed to say that out loud! You idiot. What is she going to think now?>
Ginny was shocked for a few seconds but then smiled and pulled Draco's hand away from his mouth. "Don't worry, Malfoy. I know what you mean, and I won't take it the wrong way."
"You do?" Draco asked surprised. <What did I mean anyway?>
"Yeah," Ginny answered. "You meant that without my help you wouldn't be able to finish first, anyway"
"Hey, I so could have made that potion by myself," he said defensively.
Ginny laughed at his serious reaction. Draco realised that she was joking with him so he relaxed and also laughed.
The laughter died down and they sat in silence again.
"Would you like to go Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?" Draco asked suddenly.
Ginny's heart skipped a beat and she looked at Draco silently. <Is he asking me out?> She wondered hopefully, <No. You have to be with him for 12 hours tomorrow, remember.>
"Don't I have to go where you go, anyway?" Ginny said.
"Yeah, but I just thought it would be polite to ask. That's all," Draco said hesitantly.
"Oh, then, um… Sure. I'll go to Hogsmeade with you," Ginny answered.
"Good then. I'll… um, wait for you outside the Gryffindor portrait," Draco said nervously.
"OK," Ginny managed to squeak out.
There was silence while Ginny was calming down her rapidly beating heart and Draco was gripping his hands tightly trying to lose his nervousness.
Ginny glance at her watch and saw it was 9:30. She wanted to stay here forever but knew that it would be strange if anyone saw them, now that they were not expected to be together, so Ginny forced herself to tell him.
"Malfoy, its 9:30 now," She said sadly.
Draco took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. "Indeed it is. Time sure flies fast don't it?"
"Yeah, it does," Ginny said softly. "I should be heading back." and then she stood up.
Draco also stood up. "I'll wait for you at the Gryffindor Portrait then," he said.
Ginny nodded and then left quickly. Draco also made his way back to his room.
End of Chapter Twenty-Five. Thanks for reading and I Hope you Review.
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