Disclaimer: JK owns them all!
For my two reviewers, usha88 and Nutmeg44, I hope you like it!
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Ginny had been unsure what to mark her preferences as when she received the small form in with her usual Hogwarts letter enquiring as to what duties she would like to be assigned in her 6th year. The teachers had decided to introduce this new scheme in order to teach 6th and 7th years about the "responsibilities that come with age", or so they said. Amongst the students there was plenty of speculation as to what their real designs were, from trying to ensure the teachers had more time to focus their efforts on the war against evil, to supposing that actually they were beginning to worry what the students would do if they had too much time to plot and ponder on their hands. Either way, all of the 6th and 7th years had been sent a short note explaining that they would all have to take part in "extra curricular work activities to help ensure the smooth running of the school" and a list of some of the areas they might be assigned to, with a form for them to indicate their top 3 choices.
Ginny presumed she was far from the only one to choose "Quidditch supplies assistant" as a possibility (jobs included test driving the schools brooms amongst other things), and she hadn't held out much hope for that job. Her mother had persuaded her into adding "Charms homework helper" to the list, as it was an area which she was quite talented in and she would be "making herself useful". The only other thing she had considered was the library duties, although it seemed to her almost stupid to add it to her list, knowing that it would be Hermione's number one. In fact, in the end it was a slight challenge to the brunette that Ginny had listed the library at all. Hermione had walked in on Ginny and Mrs Weasley discussing her options and had immediately tried to put Ginny off the idea of applying to Madam Pince. She wasn't unkind, but the gentle nudge away from the library and towards something - anything - else had been enough to make Ginny grit her teeth slightly, and fill in the last space there and then, turning to smile at Hermione and say, "thanks Hermione, but the amount of time you spend in the library has really inspired me to take a greater interest in it this year. Maybe doing that duty would be an educational experience for me!" and with a sickly sweet smile she had reattached the parchment to the school owl which was patiently waiting, and opened the window for it before she could change her mind, or Hermione could change it for her.
It wasn't that she didn't like Hermione, it was just the way she was so convinced that Ginny wouldn't stand a chance against her when it came to the library duties. As it was, when Ginny had found out that she had been chosen for that job whilst Hermione was to help struggling Arithmancy students with their homework, she couldn't help but smile a little (well, ok, a lot) inside.
As Ginny made her way to the library for her first real session working there, she reflected how she hadn't anticipated having to share the duty with Malfoy of all people. Since when did he do work? Surely he would have made some statement about "my father" to ferret his way out of this one? She frowned as she remembered the way he had acted the day before. It was surprising to say the least, and had prevented her from mentioning her "duty buddy" to her brothers or the trio. She knew exactly how they would react, and she didn't want to deal with them kicking up a fuss about this and trying to tell her how to go about her business or what to do with the deplorable boy. She knew he was the son of a Death Eater who only knew how to be selfish and never saw the good in anyone. She knew he was a Slytherin, and yes, she knew he was a Malfoy. And she would deal with it by herself, in her own way. She hesitated outside the door to the library, well… at least unless it gets out of hand she thought, before taking a deep breath and entering the library.
Malfoy stood with one side leaning against one of the bookshelves just across from the doorway, but on the opposite side to` Madam Pince's desk so that he was hidden from her view. He had a book in his hands which appeared to have held his interest, but as the door closed behind Ginny he glanced up, and seeing it was her, quickly snapped the book shut and stood upright, slipping out from behind the bookshelf and leading the way to the desk. Ginny pursed her lips and frowned at his back. It was almost as if he had been… waiting for her? Shaking her head she hurried after him, reaching the librarian just as she turned to acknowledge them.
"Ah, good you're both here," the librarian glanced at her desk to look at the complicated device which rested there, "not quite late."
Ginny rolled her eyes slightly: she had thought the usually stern librarian had been uncharacteristically nice yesterday, obviously it had been a one off occasion for their introductory session - she certainly seemed to have recovered her usual charming personality swiftly. Malfoy looked at her questioningly as she caught his eye, and the amused look on her face rapidly disappeared as she turned her attention back to Madam Pince.
"The first thing I will have you work on here will be the restoration of a few key texts. And by restoration," the witch explained, whilst leading them to a far corner in the library through a labyrinth of shelves, "I mean reconstruction in many cases." They had reached an area of the library which Ginny had not noticed previously, which was segregated by a small rope. As Madam Pince reached towards it, Ginny realised it had magical properties as it unhooked itself from one side and coiled back to allow them to enter the area beyond. "This rope has now been enchanted to respond to your presence and not just my own," they were informed, "and it will serve as an area for you to conduct some of your duties." They rounded another large bookshelf to be greeted by one which had a desk in front of it - upon it were some quills and ink, and two books: one dusty, yellowing, and with warped pages, and the other an obviously brand new book. "You will be copying out some of the special editions we have in the library which have been rather affected by age, but which are not easily replaceable. You'll be pleased to hear that I have already inspected examples of both of your handwriting and have deemed them adequate for the job." Madam Pince paused, and Ginny had the feeling she had just bestowed the equivalent of a great compliment on both of them. She surprised herself by feeling pleased by the praise, and listened further as the librarian continued: "One of you will dictate from the original text whilst the other copies it down. Note that it is extremely important that you are accurate in your replication: everything must be perfect. I will be displeased with errors. Well. That is all. I shall leave you to get on with it." And with a final forced smile the librarian whisked away.
There was an awkward silence following her departure, as both Malfoy and Ginny attempted to look anywhere but at each other. Finally, Malfoy dragged out one of the chairs in front of the desk noisily, seating himself in front of the new book. Ginny glanced at him apprehensively before pulling out the only remaining chair and seating herself next to him. She felt uncomfortably close to him, but there was enough room for both of them to have enough elbow space if they didn't sprawl. She saw Malfoy delicately stroke the front of the new book from the corner of her eyes before flipping the cover open and exposing the new page, which he smoothed out with his pale hand. Like everything else she had observed of Malfoy in the past few days, the action surprised her. It seemed so normal, and almost… gentle. So like something that anyone who appreciated books would do, not the kind of thing she would expect from a destructive Slytherin. Ginny roused herself from her thoughts as she noticed him reach across to the ink and load a quill, poised to begin writing. She quickly began to open the battered book in front of her, before a creak in its spine made her slow and turn the page with more care. She sighed slightly as she saw the title: "The Originals and Origins of Muggle Stories Concerning Magical Creatures". She could only hope it was slightly interesting - though she supposed she should feel lucky it wasn't anything more complex. She began to turn the page again to begin the book when Malfoy spoke for the first time.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a slightly peevish tone.
"I'm finding the beginning, Malfoy, what does it look like?" Ginny replied in a somewhat strained voice, annoyed at his manner.
"Weasley," the boy began in a low voice, "didn't you hear what she said? It has to be an exact copy." He enunciated clearly, looking up at her with eyebrows raised. She in turn frowned, before looking back to the title page on the book and understanding what he was getting at.
"No way, title pages and everything?" she whined slightly, catching sight of him shrugging casually. "Ugh, fine. OK, ready?" he nodded curtly, eyes set on the blank page in front of him. "Right. The Originals and Origins of Muggle Stories Concerning Magical Creatures by Grendalso-"
"Is that a new line?"
"What?" the red head replied turning to the blond, whose focus still lay on his page, now containing the title. She had to admit his script was elegant, but what was he on about now? He sighed seeming annoyed before answering:
"If this is going to be at all efficient you need to tell me when to start a new line, or a new page. Hopefully you'll be good enough at reading to make it obvious when a new sentence starts." He paused as Ginny's eyes narrowed at him, but before she could retort he looked up at her again, his grey eyes showing no sign of malice. "You know I'm right. I'm not trying to be… Look, if we do it wrong she'll just make us do it again wont she? And I don't know about you but I don't fancy getting on her bad side on our first day, not when we've got to come back every day until Christmas anyway…" he looked away from her then, and Ginny realised he was right. She didn't exactly want to give him the satisfaction of saying it so explicitly so though.
"The Originals and Origins of Muggle Stories Concerning Magical Creatures, new line, by Grendalso Herbone. New page…"
*******
An hour and a half later Ginny's voice was interrupted by a small note landing on the page in front of her. Malfoy glanced up at her as she opened it and explained to him:
"Madam Pince says our time is up." She stood quickly, brushing against Malfoy's arm as she did so, and flinched quickly from the contact, recoiling from him slightly. She quickly gathered her things, looking at him slyly as she did so to see if he had noticed her extreme reaction. He had his jaw clenched tightly, and his eyes were hard as he grabbed his own belongings, but before she could think of anything to say he had stood, and walked away. What's the matter with me? Ginny thought to herself in annoyance. She shouldn't feel bad for flinching from him, he was a Slytherin for goodness sake, rubbing against them was not a desirable situation to be in! Ginny hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and turned her back on the desk, trying to ignore the small voice which was saying: why is your skin still tingling from his touch then?