"To be or not to be a Weasley"
By: Adrial
Chapter 11: Fall
AN: First of all, I'm so sorry about all the confusion with this chapter. I thought I'd finished with it around midnight on Tuesday, but I woke up this morning to realize that I'd uploaded a different version of ch.11-one that hadn't been changed the way I'd wanted yet. So that explains why it was up on Tuesday and yanked off on Wednesday. I've been gone all day helping my sister with her wedding plans so I'm just getting around to uploading the correct chapter. Sorry again for the confusion, you guys! (side note: the previous version was named "truth", but I changed titles at the last minute).
Hope you like!
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Everything's so blurry
And everyone's so fake
And everybody's empty
And everything is so messed up
Pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl
You could be my someone
You could be my scene
You know that I'll protect you
From all of the obscene
I wonder what you're doing
Imagine where you are
There's oceans in between us
But that's not very far
Can you take it all away?
Can you take it all away?
When you shoved it in my face
This pain you gave to me
Can you take it all away?
Can you take it all away?
When you shoved in my face
This pain you gave to me…
Oh,
Nobody told me what you thought
Nobody told me what to say
Everyone showed you where to turn
Told you where to run away
Nobody told you where to hide
Nobody told you what to say
Everyone showed you where to turn
Showed you where to run away…
"Blurry" By: Puddle of Mudd
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Ginny grinned as the tail end of her broom smashed beautifully into the back of an unsuspecting Slytherin beater, eliciting a howl of pain from underneath his heavy folds of green and silver and the shrill screech of Madame Hooch's whistle.
"PENALTY SHOT! WEASLEY! KEEP IT CLEAN OR YOU'LL BE JOINING FLINT IN THE LOCKER ROOM FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON!" She blew twice more for good measure and gave Ginny a heavy glare before rising up into the air to witness the very chaser Ginny had nearly managed to knock off of his broom wham the quaffle towards the Gryffindor goal that a scowling Ron was currently keeping.
Oops… Ginny bit her lip, though she didn't have any sympathy for the smarmy beater who had been hot on her tail since the beginning of the match, blocking every attempt she made to retrieve the quaffle and nearly causing her to kiss hard packed earth at least five times within the last ten minutes.
"Damn!" Ginny swore and punched the air as the quaffle just skimmed the top of Ron's finger tips, scoring the Slytherins another ten points and putting them in the lead by twenty. In a rush of heated exclamations, the game commenced, and Ginny could see Harry zooming above the game, emerald eyes seeking for their salvation and the end to one of the most intense games any of them had ever played. The faint zoom-zooming of quaffles and brooms registered in Ginny's mind and she shook herself out of her furious reverie, forcing herself back into the game.
In an instant, she set off after a Slytherin chaser who was in possession and dodged bludgers as she went, the roar of passing wind droning out the sounds of panting players' urgent shouts to one another and the incessant buzz of the crowd.
"Not so fast, you!" She yelled, successfully stealing the quaffle by circling the player until he was dizzy and loosened his grip. But it was as she switched directions and started her trek back to the opposite end of the field that she saw it-the pale blue glint of a spell aimed straight for Harry's back as he moved into a dead-man's dive for a golden glint at the bottom of a green sea. He seemed totally unaware as the jet of light caught him square between his shoulders and turned him flying in the opposite direction as if he'd just decided to change course all of the sudden.
But Ginny knew better. She instantly flashed her gaze back to where Harry had been previously heading and saw a blur of black speeding toward the ground. She noted the platinum glint of Draco's hair, heard the intake of breath from the crowd, and felt her heart drop as he closed a gloved hand around the snitch and arched skillfully out of his dive, a triumphant smirk set upon his face made of stone.
"No!" She cried.
Suddenly, like sharks enticed by the smell of blood, blurs of scarlet zoomed past her, sending her hair flying as they raced towards the cluster of Slytherin celebrators. Ginny strained to hear the commentary, wondering if the teachers were coming, and with a deep lurch in the pit of her stomach, whether or not Draco would make it out alive.
But that shouldn't matter! She growled at herself loudly, though no one could have possibly noticed over the great rumbling storm that was striking down upon the celebrating Slytherins at that moment. She caught one glimpse of the commentator and had to muffle her cry of frustration.
Lee Jordan's successor, Alfred Fledgling, was a red-faced, pimply fifth year Hufflepuff with a zest for harassing younger co-eds and hogging the bathroom for hours on end to sing show tunes while plucking his nose hairs-or so Ginny had heard. He also knew as much about quidditch comprehension as Ron did when it came to ancient runes.
In the commentator's seat, he wiped a soiled hand across his face, smearing pumpkin pasty across his chin and cleared his throat thickly. Wrapping a sticky hand around the microphone, he tried to decipher exactly what was going on and why Ronald Weasley was currently leading the contest for most the colorful scheme of swear words ever displayed in Hogwarts' History.
"Erm…penalty shot again?" He shrugged daftly and stuffed another pasty into his rapidly filling mouth.
A massive groan rippled through the stands, and he gulped.
"Guess not…um, well…has a seeker been injured, then?"
"Hey, Fledgling! Get that pumpkin gunk out of your ears and pay attention, would you?!" An angry cry elicited from the Gryffindor stands.
"Oops, sorry. I guess, erm...that means…Slytherin loses!" He raised his hands in cheer, though befuddled as to why no one was joining in with him. Narrowing two squinty brown eyes towards the quidditch green, he tried to figure out how both teams had ended up on the ground, chests bumped against one another and fists flying in all directions. Two bushy eyebrows furrowed deeply.
"Has there been a draw, then?"
Luckily, his lack of observational skills was lost upon the crowd as their attention was held steadfast upon the pitch, pale faces flashing with worry, shock, excitement, and for those clad in silver and green, malicious satisfaction.
"Somebody get Dumbledore!"
"They're going to kill each other!"
"Look at 'em go!"
"That's right, Ron! Sock it to that slimy oaf!"
"Look at the blood!"
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Oy! Look a' that!
"It's Weasley! What's she doing up in the air again?"
"ORDER! ORDER!! I DEMAND ORDER ON THE FIELD!!"
But any chance of order was totally lost as the crowd closed in on the circle of Gryffindor/Slytherin battles. Madam Hooch skirted the outside of the fray, whistle blowing and hands flying in all directions. Her wand was forgotten in the folds of her cloaks, but at the rate things were going, she would have been lucky to get in a good shot at the instigators without taking out the entire teams in the process.
Ginny flew high above the mess, her eyes locked in their gaze with a flyer who hovered just above her, coyly jostling the skittering snitch between his fingers.
"My, my, Weasley. Seems as if you Gryffindors need to work on your losing skills. You'll all die from lack of blood, otherwise."
Ginny glared back at him, wishing she had the barbarity to spit or the muscle to pound the smirk off of his face.
"You're lucky I don't curse you off your broom right now, Malfoy! You know cheating isn't allowed." She gritted her teeth, ready to wage verbal warfare against the current bane of her existence.
"Oh, and what's a little weasel like you going to do about it, eh? Rat me out, are you?" Draco chuckled and leaned against the air casually, legs slung over the side of his broom as if it were a throne and he its deity.
"Fortunately for you, Malfoy, I have more class than that," Ginny met him with another penetrating gaze that quickly dissolved into a sly grin on her wind-flushed face, "However, my teammates don't." She laughed mockingly before flying back down to the ground to save the rest of her team from numerable law suits.
A shadow fell over Draco as he scowled back at the retreating red-head. What had she meant? No one had seen him throw that hex but her anyway.
….Right? He felt a cold chill run down his spine as uneven wisps of air blew at the hair on the base of his neck. Damn!
He quickly spun around, drawing his wand out defensively, and met a pair of blue eyes laced by a fire he'd only seen once before.
"Well if it isn't Senior Weasel here to defend his pathetic excuse for a team. Might I express my condolences for your most embarrassing loss?" Malfoy sneered, though kept safe enough distance to be able to retreat in case Ron unleashed the fury kindling in his eyes.
Ron growled deeply and zoomed forward. "I'm going to give you one chance, Malfoy, to wipe that bloody smirk off of your ugly face before I do it for you."
Malfoy placed a hand over his chest as if the malice in Ron's threat had burned him.
"Now, now, King Weasley, no need to get hostile. It's not really your fault that you can't seem to be able to tell a goal post from those donuts you're constantly shoving that fat face of yours with." His tone emboldened as Crabbe, Goyle, and a newly sprung Flint circled around him, offering grunts of support.
A rush of air drew the attention of the quartet, and suddenly Harry was hovering directly beside Ron. He locked his emerald gaze, which was challenging and rigid with boiling anger, on the four fliers before them. Ron chanced a glance at him and forced down the lurch of aching familiarity that sparked inside of his chest at the sight of the boy who'd become a stranger to him in the last month. However, he defiantly kept steely eyes forward and made no hint of even noticing Harry's presence.
"Oh, isn't this lovely, boys? It seems as if Saint Potter's come to the rescue once again." Malfoy released the snitch from his grasp, "Go on then, Potter. See if you can't keep an eye on it this time. I promise I won't…interfere."
"Go to hell, Malfoy!" Harry bellowed.
"Only if I get a seat next to the famous Harry Potter," Malfoy fanned his face mockingly and chuckled.
Ron withdrew his wand, barely raising it before Harry had his own poised and ready to fire. Malfoy motioned with a flick of his hand for his cronies to brandish their own.
On the ground below, Madame Hooch and Pomfrey were tending to the broken noses and/or limbs of players who hadn't been so fortunate to make it through the scuffle unscathed. Ginny was kneeling next to Collin Creevy who had been running onto the pitch to get a few photos of the fight before being dragged into the fray as well. His shattered camera hand was now being held gingerly by Ginny who waited for someone to come and tend to it. No one noticed the impending war above their heads until Ginny finally noted the roaring absence of swearing.
"Wait…where'd Ron go?"
Collin shrugged at her question and looked at around carefully. Finally, he drew his gaze upward and tugged on Ginny's sleeve.
"Erm…I think I found him, Gin."
Ginny's gaze flashed up to where he was looking and in a second she was on her broom and zooming towards the specks of black far off in the distance. Collin's hand dropped to the ground like a sack of dung ("GIN!"), and he howled in pain.
"Ron!" Ginny cried, "Harry! STOP!" She flew as fast as she could. They were so high up that the clouds blurred their bodies as they balanced on their brooms and flung curses at a group of four doing the same across from them.
Thinking fast, Ginny withdrew her own wand and aimed at the six duelers.
"Accio wands!"
Like moths drawn to a flame, six wooden wands came zooming toward Ginny's open hands. She tucked them securely in her robes and ascended upon the baffled boys.
"Ginny! What the bloody hell d'you think you're doing?!" Ron bellowed from a few feet above her. Ginny rolled her eyes and ignored him as she gracefully floated into the middle of their tense huddle.
"If you must know, Ronald," She narrowed her gaze at him bitingly, "I'm saving your arse from a year long suspension-that is what I'm doing."
Ron growled low, his red face looking as if it might self combust at any given moment. "Step aside, Gin, and give me back my wand." His tone was definitive and chilled but rather ineffective on its intended target.
Ginny scoffed, "Perhaps you didn't quite hear me, Ronald. Shall I make myself clearer then?" She held up his wand and her own, tapping the latter gently against the former.
Ron's face gaped open as his wand shuddered and puffed out of sight, leaving a tiny yellow fuzz ball in the palm of Ginny's hand. When it chirped and he caught a glimpse of a tiny orange beak, he flew straight for her.
Malfoy and his cronies broke out into a round of riotous laughter. Harry simply stared maliciously at them. Ginny would have bet that he didn't even register her presence through the thick rage that was seeping out of his eyes. The tiny snitch, oblivious to the tension, zoomed around Harry's head as if begging him to play.
Ginny cradled the tiny chick in her arms and nuzzled it affectionately with her nose. "Now, now, Ronald. It's for your own good." She turned defensively to shield the fragile cargo as Ron advanced on her.
Malfoy stopped laughing eventually and smirked. "Very cute, Weasley. I'll just be taking back my wand now." Malfoy glided over to her, and she flicked her gaze toward him.
"Fat chance, Malfoy. And you needn't really bother; I wouldn't be surprised if they're constructing a jewel encrusted bench for your smarmy arse to warm for the rest of the season right now anyway. Perhaps you could entice your father to come have a sit on it. It might make a nice change from a cold, cement floor, wouldn't you think?"
The instant the words had left Ginny's lips, she had to resist the urge to reach out and grab them back before they could reach Draco's ears.
The flicker of his eyes that had been painted blue by the skies around them was the only sign that he'd been fazed, however, and she bit her lip, waiting for him to explode.
Ron snorted from beside her, seeming to forget his anger in light of her excellent jab at Malfoy.
"Well done, Gin. Aim for the bollocks-just like I've always taught you." He patted her affectionately on her shoulder. Ginny shrugged him off automatically.
"Shove it, Ron. Let's head back before these-" She turned back to Malfoy and his grumbling entourage, noting the shadow that had fallen over his face, and suddenly lost the necessary gusto to further impose verbal harm on him.
Turning her gaze down, she blinked twice, "Let's just go, alright? I can hear Collin screaming from all the way up here."
The tiny chick wriggled in her grip, and she patted its tiny knob of a head gingerly before gently tapping it with her wand. Ron graciously accepted his wand back and tossed Harry his own.
"'Aye! What about our wands?" Goyle grumbled and held up a fist threateningly. Ginny tapped her chin as if considering the notion of returning them back to their owners.
"Well…I suppose it'd only be fair." She dug them out of her robes, indiscreetly muttering a few choice words beneath her breath as she did so.
With a smile, she lurched three of them back to their owners. Crabbe and Goyle inspected theirs for any damage while Flint stuck his in his robes and stared ferociously around himself like a rabid dog thirsting for blood.
Malfoy's eyes widened curiously as she took out his wand and stared at it appraisingly before scrunching up her nose and sticking it back in her robes.
"I'll be keeping yours for evidence, Malfoy. A simple test will prove that you used a disorientation spell on Harry to win the match." She turned her nose up at him and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow. Harry couldn't believe that this little imp of a girl was standing up to Draco Malfoy as if she had no idea that he was next in line to become the Dark Lord's premier arse kisser.
Ginny Weasley never ceases to amaze me. He shook his head bemusedly and then glared warningly at his enemies, daring them to follow them, as he turned on his broom and aimed it towards land. Ron sighed as if losing the opportunity to hex the smirk off Draco's face was like waking up on Christmas morning with no presents underneath the tree, but he dutifully followed his sister as she descended.
Malfoy's blood was boiling. He couldn't let her get the better of him. As soon as their backs were turned, his spun to his left and stole Crabbe's wand from his finger tips, "We'll see about that, Weasley! Accio wand!"
Ginny stopped in mid-air, fumbling to grab Malfoy's wand back, but it defiantly flew out of her grasp and to its rightful owner.
Smirking, Malfoy raised his wand and aimed straight at Ron's back, "Stupefy!"
"Ron! No!" Ginny cried and raced the short distance above her where Ron was trailing behind, oblivious to the rapidly approaching jet of scarlet light that was sure to knock him off his broom.
Ron quirked an eyebrow as Ginny suddenly rammed herself in his path and a strange gasping sound left her lips as she took the brunt of a spell square in her chest.
"GINNY!"
But she was falling……...down…
"NO!"
down…
"GINNY!"
down…
Open-mouthed and solid as stone, Ginny was powerless as she dropped lower and lower. Through wide hazel eyes she could see Ron reaching out for her, her skin felt the rush of air biting and whipping at it, and her heart felt lighter than a feather as it drummed in her chest. Somewhere Harry was fumbling for his wand as he dove for her, sputtering out incoherent spells that fizzled on the tip of his wand or barely skimmed the billowing curtain of auburn hair surrounding Ginny's face.
"Faster, Ron!" But his broom couldn't slice through the heavy currents of air.
"Ginny!" Harry's wand flew out of his grip as he gave up on spells and leaned into a perpendicular dive.
"NO!"
A dart of black flashed past both fliers as if carried on the back of the wind itself. In its wake a chill ran up and down each of their spines as they took in a sharp breath of air.
Before either registered what had happened exactly, they saw Draco Malfoy wrapping one arm around Ginny's rigid form and watched as he put every ounce of his strength into turning the end of his broom upright. The veins in his arms pulsed over his throbbing muscles with the effort. Emerald earth was glaring back at him, rushing up to meet him with cruel arms outstretched and threatening to swallow he and his precious bundle whole.
Suddenly another hand was helping, and he could see scarlet robes in the corner of his eye. Harry grunted and tried to balance on his own broom while doubling Draco's effort to pull out of the dive. Finally, the broom began to shake and tip upward, nearly splintering with the force of its dive versus the power of the two steering it up.
Draco's world rattled and spun as he felt the ground collide with his legs. Harry flew from his own broom and rolled a few meters away. Ginny's board-like body slipped out of Draco's arms and landed next to Harry as he fought for breath and reached out a hand to stop her from tumbling further.
Groaning, Draco felt as if he's legs had been sliced up with a rusty butcher's knife and thrown into a blender on purée. His vision faded in and out of focus as he numbly reached out to feel a body beneath his fingertips. All he found was a carpet of grass and no signs of life anywhere.
Please…please…
He desperately fought for the will to move but the unbearable pain of his lower half was as numbing as his fear that he hadn't been successful in his mission.
"Gin…" He coughed roughly. A slow trickle of blood was dripping off of his chin, and he focused on the drops of crimson as his sight rocked and swayed in and out of double vision.
Somewhere around him, voices were rapidly shouting, the stomp of footsteps surrounded him, and as he collapsed backward, he thought he'd caught a glimpse of gilded auburn curls before his world turned an ominous shade of black.
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"What WERE-YOU-THINKING?" Professor McGonagall pierced amber daggers into Draco's closed eyes, daring him open them and lash back at her, to give her more reason to expel him.
"Excuse me, Minerva, but given the fact that Mr. Malfoy is in my house," Snape's dark shadow spilled like oil over the wide space of the infirmary, "I do believe that it is within my jurisdiction to determine his punishment."
Draco groaned. Sunlight was seeping in through an open window like a fleet of charging daggers aimed straight for his head. McGonagall scoffed grumpily and pointed a shaking finger at the bruised body lying before them.
"Punishment?! The boy nearly killed two people and all you will do is give him a slap on his wrist! Albus, really!" She turned expectant eyes at Dumbledore who until that point had been rather enjoying the pair's animated squabbling. Awkwardly clearing his throat, the aged wizard stepped forward and held out two hands peacefully.
"Now, now, Minerva, I'm sure Mr. Malfoy has a reasonable explanation for his actions. Am I correct?"
Draco cracked open one of his eyes slowly as one word echoed off of his skull like a broken record.
Shit.
He decided that feigning unconsciousness would only worsen his ordeal, and he made quick work of opening his other eye and straining to sit upright.
"Professor Flitwick?" He squinted and gripped the side bars of his bed for support. Perhaps he could evoke some sympathy while he was still in a sick bed.
Dumbledore peered at him appraisingly from over his half-moon spectacles, and McGonagall scoffed once again. Snape's lip curled as he watched his guiltless pupil rise from his bed slowly and disjointedly.
"Mr. Malfoy, how nice of you to wake up." Dumbledore gestured towards a substantial pile of sweets that slightly resembled a small mountain on Draco's bedside table, and Draco felt as if he might be sick.
"N-no, thank you."
"Oh, quit your moaning, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall lashed scathingly, itching to have him booted out for sabotage and any other rule he might have broken. "Your legs have been healed and so has your jaw. You should be in perfect health for the ride home." She glared at him heatedly.
"Pardon me, Minerva," Snape cast a cold glare at his colleague and then at Dumbledore. "But I believe we have already decided on his punishment, have we not?" He narrowed his eyes at her as if challenging her to challenge him. Dumbledore nodded succinctly.
Minerva's face shook with bottled rage as she realized she was being overruled. In a furious huff not usually characteristic of the poised and immaculate professor, she whirled out of the room and out sight.
Snape's smirk deepened at this before he spun around to Draco once again and advanced on him.
"Mr. Malfoy, what have you to say for your most irresponsible and might I add stupid, actions?"
Draco knew that a simple "I dunno" would not suffice, and he racked his brain for something good.
Um…I'm really sorry?
Probably not.
I promise never to attack anyone again!
Puh...fat bloody chance…
Your hair's looking exceptionally glossy today. Is that yesterday's grease or the day's before?
Maybe not…
Snape cleared his throat impatiently, and Draco swallowed.
"I'm sorry, Professor. It's just that…you know the pressures that I'm-"
"Try again, Mr. Malfoy. Save your nonsense for another." Snape glared at him darkly. Draco lowered his head and stared at the stark, white linen.
"There is no excuse, Professor. I'll owl Mother directly and have her send for my things."
At that moment, Dumbledore chose to intervene.
"Now, now, Mr. Malfoy. We are not going to be expelling you, if that is what you're assuming." His blue eyes weren't twinkling like usual but there was something hidden in them that even as Draco stared bewilderedly into them, he could not decipher.
"Excuse me, Professor?"
Dumbledore rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I presume that you did not mean to harm Miss Weasley in any way, as was witnessed by your obvious attempt to save her."
Draco's heart jumped into his throat. Ginny… He'd been so worried about his own punishment that the thought of how his reckless charade had ended had eluded him. He fought the urge to jump out of bed and comb the entire castle for her.
Dumbledore noted the urgent flicker in Draco's eye and locked it in his memory. "Your attempt, I am happy to say, was not in vain. Miss Weasley was easily remedied by Madame Pomfrey, and she is doing quite well. As is Mr. Potter, though I do believe he has a might bit more of grudge against you than she," He raised an eyebrow suggestively towards Draco.
"Excuse me, Professor, but might I ask what it is you're planning to do with me if you're not going to expel me?" Draco was entirely at a loss as to why he was being kept in school. Surely he'd done enough to be thrown out.
Dumbledore nodded briefly. "Well, despite the well-being of your peers, your actions were both unjustified and unredeemable. It is with great consideration for your future that I have decided to keep you here."
Draco fought the urge to roll his eyes and beg him to get on with the point.
Dumbledore, however, seemed to have no need in prolonging his sentencing. "Most notably, your place as quidditch seeker has been revoked as has your position as Slytherin Prefect."
Draco gaped at him for a moment, feeling the sting of his consequences.
"Yes, sir."
"And as per request of Professor Snape," Dumbledore glanced briefly towards him, "You have been allowed to use your wand only during lessons. At all other times it will be in his direct possession."
"Yes, sir." Draco's head lowered significantly at that. Wand-less, quidditch-less, and revoked of authority? This day was turning out bloody terrible.
Dumbledore was silent a moment as he let the gravity of punishment weigh down on Draco's conscience.
"I've only one request for you, Mr. Malfoy. And it is the hope that in time you will learn to reconcile with your foes. For it is in alliance that the greatest of life's battles are won."
Draco met his gaze and nodded silently, contemplating his declaration that was fit for a fortune cookie as it struck a peculiar chord in his mind.
With that, both professors left silently, leaving Draco to his thoughts. The most predominant of all was the burning question as to why he had been spared. It didn't matter anyway. In two months he would never see the inside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ever again. Inside he needn't wonder why a thought that would have before been of comfort to him now felt so foreboding.
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"He did what?" Ginny narrowed her gaze at the face of her brother over her half-eaten breakfast. Ron swallowed his juice before answering.
"I've told you ten times, Gin. Malfoy tried to hex me, you took it like the daft little sister that you are," He glared at her for a moment, "And Harry saved you before you hit the ground. End of story. If we're lucky Malfoy could be on his way to Azkaban by now." He grinned at the thought and chomped into a roll.
Ginny's brow furrowed, and she turned curiously to look at Harry. He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin.
"Guess I'm not the only one who likes to play the hero, eh?"
Ginny forced a laugh and shrugged. Beside Harry, Hermione was shooting looks in Ginny's direction. A sharp kick from beneath the table elicited a gasp from her. She quickly darted her eyes up to meet Ron's threatening glare, and she shut her mouth. They'd all agreed not to tell Ginny who her real savior was. Hermione was all for it; there was no need to bring Malfoy back into good light after he'd obviously hurt Ginny deeply. But Ron's reasoning was different-he'd been so stunned to believe Malfoy was capable of doing a good deed that he settled on forcing the notion that Harry had gallantly saved the day again on himself, and it was actually working quite well.
He was almost acknowledging Harry's presence now.
Ginny stared at her plate silently for a moment, ignoring Dean as he fretted incessantly over her, refilling her glass and even going as far as to butter her toast for her with Ron scowling in his direction every time he was or wasn't looking. She felt slightly claustrophobic in the protective huddle she was encased in and anxiously fiddled with her hands in her lap.
"Damn!" Dean swore as the orange juice slipped out of his grip as he made to replenish Ginny's glass and splashed all over her. Ginny gasped and jumped up abruptly, shaking the table with the speed of her movement. Dean immediately summoned a napkin from a third year across from them and began sopping the juice off of Ginny's jeans. A sense of frustration nearly suffocated Ginny as Ron leapt up to his feet and began berating Dean for bothering her.
"Look what you've done, you git! Why don't you wipe her arse for her, too?"
"Ron!" Hermione grabbed his arm and tried to calm him down, but Ron flashed a heated gaze towards her and she recoiled. "Please, Ron…you're being ridiculous."
"Don't you "Ron" me! You think you can just go back to bossing me around, do you?" He forgot about Dean and narrowed his eyes at a baffled Hermione. Harry immediately stood at Ron's words and placed himself between the two.
"That's enough, Ron. Don't take out your temper on her. She's done nothing."
Ron looked fit to spit. "Nothing, eh? Well, isn't that just bloody grand?" He laughed sardonically and crushed the roll he'd been holding in his hand, "Look at prissy Potter here to defend his witch! Never thought you'd have one, did you?" He was quaking with rage now.
Ginny's lip quivered as she fumbled to stop Dean's attempts to dry her clothing.
"Ron…please, just calm down." Harry's voice was like ice but he kept his temper in check.
"No, you couldn't stand not having what someone else wanted, could you?!" Ron's face glowed with a fury that seemed to stem from his very soul. Behind Harry, Hermione was red-faced and trembling slightly to overcome her tears.
"Ron-"
"Go on then! Take her! She's bloody…YOURS!" With that, Ron's fist rose into the air and came smashing down on the table, nearly cracking the solid oak.
Not one person was moving in the Great Hall. A pin drop could have been heard. The only sounds were of Ron's deep breathing, Harry's teeth grinding together in self-restraint, and Hermione's quiet sobs. In her haste to break up the squabble, McGonagall had stopped in her tracks at Ron's near-explosive temper, looking torn between running for reinforcements or patting him on the back sympathetically. Ginny folded her arms across her chest furiously.
"Oh, would all of you just GROW UP?!" Her voice echoed off of the walls deafeningly, and one or two first years ducked beneath their tables for cover in case either of the heated upper classmen decided to take aim on innocents.
Ginny roughly batted away Dean's hands and stepped over the bench, stomping all the way to the giant doors and out of them before anyone bothered to snap out of their shock.
Her shoes clicked loudly against the stone floors of the castle as she wandered aimlessly, feeling the fumes of her anger ebbing slowly. As she rounded a corner, a lumbering shadow spilled out before her, and she quickly stepped aside to avoid being trampled by an ambling Hagrid who was toting a rather large crate towards the courtyard.
Ginny smiled at him, and he stopped abruptly. "Hello, Hagrid."
"'Aye! How're yeh feelin', there, Ginny?" He clapped her awkwardly on her back, his hairy face wrinkled by his infectious grin.
"Much better, thank you." She smiled genially and tried to inconspicuously pop her back properly into place from his blow.
Hagrid chuckled loudly and scratched his chin with a shake of his head. "Never though' you'd be owin' Malfoy one for savin' yer skin, eh? I 'most passed out mehself.
Ginny laughed and rubbed her shoulder gingerly, though her eyes narrowed deeply as she caught on to what he had just said.
"What do you mean, Hagrid?"
The evident curiosity in Ginny's face quickly alerted Hagrid that he should not have probably said that.
"Erm…" He fumbled for quick cover up, and nodded towards his wobbling crate as it suddenly gave a great lurch and jumped forward. Hagrid placed a large paw in front of Ginny protectively and scooped up the crate again.
"Watch'er, Gin! Eh, yep…I was jus' bringin' this crate o' mifflers down to the green houses for Professor Sprout. She's mixin' up some healin' potions for the infirm'ry as Poppy's in a right state trying to keep up with this blasted flu been goin' 'round." He nodded cordially to her and hoisted the crate into his arms again, realizing that a quick exit would be most efficient. "Hope ter see yeh 'round, Gin."
Ginny scoffed, "Wait! What did you mean, Hagrid?" She called after him, but he merely waved a giant hand back at her and disappeared through the large doors that lead to the grounds.
Ginny kicked the floor with her shoe with a frustrated growl and stomped in the opposite direction. She had potions in twenty-five minutes so she decided to run up to her dorm and grab her things, as well as to change. Her jeans were sticking uncomfortably to her legs from the juice. Perhaps the walking time would allow her some sort of idea as to why everyone was treating her so oddly. As she passed by the infirmary, Hagrid's rushed excuse about the flu bug was proven by the ten or so occupants filling the room with gagging noises and the putrid smell of vomit. Ginny scrunched up her nose and walked quickly past.
"Poor Madame Pomfrey…" She sighed and shook her head. She'd been eyeing a future in healing for some time now, but if that meant cleaning out puke-buckets, she might decide to take up Seamus' offer to become his personal bed-maiden.
Fat chance…. She laughed to herself. At least someone wasn't treating her as if she were some delicate little child. Sure…he treated her more like a sultry bint, but it was better than nothing, and she loved the distraction from Ron's ever-present self-pity party and Harry and Hermione's woeful love life.
She quickly made her way to her room and grabbed her text books and a quick peak at the looking glass after she'd slipped into her regular school pleated skirt. Once she'd muttered a shining spell for her hair and her soft curls sprang to life, she smiled approvingly and bounced down the steps. Sure, she still wasn't sure what Hagrid had meant, but she was in a much better mood after having some alone time. As she stepped through the portrait hole and began her long trek to the dungeons, the after-breakfast crowd began filtering through the hall.
Thankful for the protective cover of the pack, she submerged herself deeper within the bustling students. Unluckily for her, a head of red hair does set one apart from a crowd rather easily.
"Ginny! Hey-Ginny! Wait up! Oy! Watch out, you!"
Damn! The bloody boy finds me everywhere I go!
Scoffing, she suddenly wished she could melt into the corridor wall. Dean scrambled to avoid tripping over a couple of second years, though he'd managed to kick one of their shin's in the process.
She promptly picked up her pace. Just a few more feet and she'd be in the safety of her potions class, though seeking solace in the dreary dungeons with a snarling Snape looming over head like some great beast was in itself too ironic for Ginny to even fathom. However, the approaching menace to her nerves had driven her to it.
"Gin!" Dean panted, being jostled too and fro by the bustling crowd. "Gin! Wait! Just listen-I'm sorry about the juice!"
Ginny muffled a snort of laughter and chanced a hasty glance over her shoulder before practically sprinting the rest of the way to the end of the hall. She faced the stairs and began taking them in two's-one set…three sets, four, five, down, down, down…she lost count as Dean's voice faded into the murky swamp of the dungeon air which seemed to drown out anything other than the skittering beetles that lounged in the darkest of corners or the wispy mazes of spiders whose lips still dripped from their last meal.
Ginny had never felt more relieved in her life.
She was a few minutes early despite her earlier distractions and one of the only students in the room at all. Her peers usually liked to stand outside of the entrance, taking advantage of the last breaths of fresh air they'd be able to inhale before being subjected to an hour and half of boiling cauldrons over-flowing with wrong-footed potions and the damp, mildew-y stench of Hogwarts' lowest residence.
Matilda Madrid, a gangly Ravenclaw with stringy black hair and beady eyes a shade lighter than ebony, looked up briefly from her copy of the Daily Prophet. She noted Ginny with an appraising gaze before turning her gaze back to the newspaper. Ginny's heart lightened slightly. They were having potions with Ravenclaws, which meant that-
"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed, feeling a smile crack the stony contours of her face at the sight of a blonde head in the back of the room. Luna's glasses were shoved up on her head, holding back her golden bangs. She glanced up from a thick book she was reading and the faint dream she'd been submerged in dwindled from her gazes in a fleeting haze.
"Hello, Ginny," She said fluidly, carefully closing her book and gesturing for Ginny to take a seat beside her. Ginny quickly obliged, setting her things next to Luna's on the ground and relaxing considerably.
"Dean giving you a hard time as usual?" Luna smiled bemusedly, though her blue gaze managed to look sympathetic. Ginny blew a rush of air up over her forehead and nodded gravely.
"Bloody prat won't learn to give up. After I kicked him in his ruddy bollocks last week, you'd he'd take a hint and save himself from further torture." Her eyes lit up mischievously and she leaned in conspiratorially, "You think if we make a shrinking potion today, I'd be able to save some for dinner? I'd love to see exactly what it would shrink if I slipped it into Dean's pumpkin juice."
Luna's eyes barely flinched, but the corners of her rosy lips curved almost unnoticeably. "Perhaps it would be a wiser idea to try-"
"To pay a bit of attention to the start of class, Ms. Lovegood?"
The sudden drop in temperature registered all around the room as fifth year Gryffindors cringed and Ravenclaws shivered slightly. Professor Snape briskly slithered over to them, liquid black eyes fixated on their startled faces, his black cloak billowing behind him and laying a blanket of chill over each he passed.
Ginny wanted desperately to roll her eyes at his routine show of his arse at the start of every class, but she chose rather to bite her tongue and stare at her potion's book. Luna merely gazed at him dreamily, unfazed and unwilling to cower or even look as if he'd startled her.
"Actually, Professor, I was going to say that perhaps it would be better if Ginny told Dean that he should waste his time on more promising affairs, such as courting a Slytherin or taming a wild dragon. But I suppose your suggestion is just as good."
Ginny's lips pursed. Please don't laugh…please don't laugh… She felt her mouth twitch.
Snape glowered at Luna and his face shook with disdain. "Ten points from Ravenclaw for that mouth of yours, Miss Lovegood. Twenty from Gryffindor for speaking after the start of class and encouraging the last semi-decent line of students left here to poison their potential decency with the influence of one such as your self, Miss Weasley."
Ginny's bloody boiled underneath his icy shadow. Why you grouchy little bastard…
Luna's face was stone-still, but only Ginny could feel the usual pacifying aura of her good friend sizzle slightly.
Finally, Snape whirled around and stalked down the aisle towards his deep mahogany stained desk.
What a lovely day this is shaping out to be… Ginny sighed and glared at the text as the words blurred together. She suddenly wished she and Luna were still talking.
"Professor Snape."
Oh, bloody hell. Ginny slumped deeper into her seat. Maybe he wouldn't see her. Just a bit further-perhaps she'd be able to duck underneath the desk and pretend she'd dropped her quill.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy? I do hope you have a reasonable excuse for interrupting my class like this?" Snape stalked over to his prized pupil and jutted out his chest authoritatively.
Draco's eyes skimmed the room casually before locking on Ginny's. She barely had a chance to jump at their sudden connection before he was turned back to Snape and speaking again.
"I apologize, Professor, but I didn't see you at breakfast, and I've got a free period now."
Malfoy reached into his robes and withdrew a thin piece of wood that resembled a wand. Upon closer inspection from over the top of her text book, Ginny saw that it was, in fact, Draco's wand.
Snape looked from the wand to his prize pupil and quickly snatched it. In a puff it was gone, and Draco nodded slightly.
Ginny was more than confused now. Why would Snape be holding Draco's wand in between his classes?
Rachel Simpleton, a busty Ravenclaw with a reputation for juggling more wizards around than an angry mountain troll, nudged a girl beside her and nodded towards Malfoy, "I've heard that after what happened last weekend, they've got him locked up in a cell all day, and they only let him out for lessons."
The other girl gasped and turned around to tell the boy sitting next to her. But Ginny hadn't been paying attention. All eyes were suddenly on her.
"What?" Ginny hissed and tried to look interested in her text once again. The gapers quickly lost interest and returned to their whispering.
Luna gazed discreetly at Ginny from the corner of her eye and realized with a nod of acceptance that no one had told her yet, obviously. She wasn't usually one to disperse vital information concerning one's life to people, but since the entire school already knew, she couldn't see what harm could be done.
"Gin…" She whispered without moving her lips. Malfoy was turning on his heel and leaving now. Snape watched him go and then turned back to his students, stalking the tables to see that each was doing as they were told and berating those that weren't. Ginny waited until he was bent over a flushed Gryffindor as the latter shakily dumped a pile of fig-root into his cauldron.
"What?" She hissed out of the corner of her lips, chopping up her own roots carefully. Luna leaned in and pretended to be adding a flask of pumpkin essence.
"Do you remember that day?"
"What day? Oh no, Luna! Not the pumpkin!" Ginny hoarsely whispered and quickly stopped Luna's hands from adding in the powder. It wasn't usual for her friend to be so spacey-well, at least during lessons.
Luna looked as if nothing had happened.
"The day you fell…" She switched flasks and reached for the correct one-ginger root.
Ginny nodded succinctly and focused on dividing the proffered roots into equal slices.
"What about it?"
Luna kept quiet as Snape slowly made his way to their table and peered over Ginny as she slipped each piece of root into the cauldron at exact three-second intervals. Finding no error in her procedure, Snape curled his lip and slithered off to another table.
Both girls exhaled.
"Well…what have you been told about it exactly?"
Ginny fought the urge to shake the point out of Luna's mouth. "Exactly what everyone else saw. Harry caught me before I fell. And my bum still hurts like hell, thank you." She allowed a small giggle to escape her lips at that, but when Luna shook her head slowly and did not join in, she turned subtly towards her with a curious gaze.
"Why? That's all, isn't it?" Ginny suddenly smelled something fishy. And it wasn't her potion.
Luna shook her head slowly. "No, Gin. It wasn't Harry who saved you."
"Then who-"
"It was Draco Malfoy."
Screeeeeeeeccchh.
Ginny had slid her seat back and stood up straight as a plank, staring openly at her nonchalantly faced partner.
"WHAT?"
She felt something taping her shoulder and brushed it off automatically. When it persisted, she whirled around.
"MAY I HELP YOU?" Her stomach dropped as she saw Snape's beady little eyes glaring daggers into her own.
"Erm…what I meant was…may I…" She turned her head down and admitted defeat. "May I help you write out that detention slip?" As an afterthought, she quickly added, "Professor…that is."
Cringing, she sat back down. But Snape was not finished yet.
"Twenty-five points from Gryffindor!" He roared, "For interrupting your peers during one of the most vital OWL lessons you will ever receive. Take another ten for getting cheeky with one's superior at the end, and how about five for sitting before I told you to do so."
Ginny nodded but her mind was swimming. Draco saved me?
Snape whirled around in a flurry of black robes and stormed over to his desk to whip out his handy-dandy, over used detention slip book.
As he furiously scribbled the date and time of her punishment, Ginny gave Luna an accusatory look that asked for confirmation.
Luna nodded slowly, not daring to draw attention to her self. Ginny bit her lip, and abruptly she stood and stalked over to Professor Snape.
"Professor!" She announced his name and then folded her arms over her chest. Slowly, Snape's eyes rose from the red slip of paper and glared back at her.
"I-I, erm…." Ginny thought quickly. "I'm feeling faint, sir."
Snape's lip quivered angrily. "Faint, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny nodded rapidly, and quickly fanned her face as if the effort was too great.
"Oh…I do believe…I think I might be starting my…erm…well…it's been around twenty-eight days since the last time, so I…oh…I don't know what to do!" She covered her face and turned around as if in embarrassment. She then winked at Luna and whirled back around
"I'm seeing RED, professor! Oh, the pain!" She clutched her stomach. Snape had the gall to lean back away from her and grimace in disgust.
"Oh, shut your blubbering, Miss Weasley! Go see Madame Pomfrey if you must! But don't think you'll be receiving credit for this lesson just because you carry an extraneous X chromosome."
The whole of the class had to hold back their snorts of laughter. Ginny continued moaning as she backed out of the classroom, thanking him in between her sobs.
From her seat in the back of the classroom, Luna shook her head and continued to chop her roots. Ginny Weasley would have some explaining to do later.
Outside the class, Ginny sprinted up the stone steps and out into the airy corridor. Flashing her gaze in each direction, she tore off towards the left and found herself in the main entrance hall. She racked her brain for anywhere Draco might go during his free period, and only one place struck her as plausible.
Inhaling deeply, she glared at the path before her as she jogged towards her destination. She'd had enough playing these games.
That Draco Malfoy has got one hell of a lot of explaining to do.
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AN: Oh…I know…What an awful place to stop this chapter! I'm terribly sorry! But, hey, I think I deserve a break for the lack of cliffies so far in this fic. And this one was only a minor cliffie. I just didn't want it to get too long. It's already close to 9K words, and for me, that's a LOT. But I told ya that it'd be out sooner! And look at that…I delivered! :D
Anyways, thank you so much for your fantastic reviews last chapter! For those that have been eagerly waiting for some actual romance, (and believe you me, I'm getting a little anxious for some, too!) the next chapter will be the answer to many a reader's D/G dream. J don't forget to review! I still can't believe I hit (and PASSED) that 100 mark, btw. makes me feel all special and everything!
thanks so much again!
Ciao!
~Adrial~