The Professor

NB: I wrote this while quite young okay? I rewrote the ending, but that's about it. The rest is very badly written. The old version is still up here, under the pen name of Pezzy Mystic (don't read it!), and I have requested that it be taken down. I cannot log in to that account because I have completely forgotten the password.

UPDATE - 10 March 2006: Edited some stuff.

It was a quiet day in the little village of Ottery St. Catchpole and one rather large, magically supported household was looking rather peaceful, all except for one redheaded beauty who was flying about the house, looking for all her possessions and second-hand books.

She slid down the stair banister and landed in the kitchen. And sat down in a chair next to a raven-haired eighteen year old.

"Hey Harry!" Ginny piled her plate full of pancakes and drowned them in maple syrup.

"Looking forward to this year?" he asked, cutting up his pancakes with a knife and fork and trying to sound calm but turning a little red.

"Yeah I guess so. I heard that Snape retired! I hope this teacher's going to be nicer. They haven't told anyone who he is yet, I think they just want to surprise us!" she rambled on and on. Stuffing her mouth with food, employing the use of both hands.

Harry smiled at her and she almost blushed. A couple of years ago she would have been giddy with joy and probably have to fight the urge to giggle, but that had been before she had made herself get over him. Funnily enough, the very next day, Harry had noticed a great change in her; a strong, carefree and independent spirit that attracted him like nothing else.

"What are you going to do now you're out of school, Harry?" Ron, who was on Harry's other side. Harry got immediately distracted and told Ron about his plans to become an Auror. He made sure to speak loudly so Ginny could hear and glanced in her direction.

Ginny sighed and left the table, sick of hearing of his plans one more time. She pushed her trunk all the way down the stairs and it fell on the landing with a loud bang. The lid flew off, her clothes and books flying all over the place. Ginny quickly ran and packed her suitcase again, muttering curses under her breath as she put aside the clothes with inkstains for her mother to clean. Ginny never could got the hang of weightlessness charms, but vowed next time not to be too hasty about moving her trunk down the stairs. She remembered the last time she had tried a weightlessness charm. No one ever found out what happened to that brick, but sightings of it had been reported in the dungeons, scuttling away with a grating sound, leaving a trail of red dust.

Her father was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and he helped her take the trunk out to the car. Of course all of her brothers that were at home and Harry were going to see her off at King's Cross.

After magically cleaning the inkstains on Ginny's uniforms, Mrs. Weasley called out all the boys and they piled into the car. Ginny was stuck between Fred and Ron, both of who were talking to the people behind them, George and Harry.

Harry had taken up lodging at The Burrow at the end of seventh year. Ginny had noted with some satisfaction a few years behind that he had started to get increasingly, well, spotty. Of course, it was clearing up now, but it still gave her marvelous joy to know that the tables had turned. 'Hah!' Ginny thought, 'Taste your own medicine, Mr Potter!'.

He had also, she recalled, tried to catch her attention whenever he could. She smiled to herself when she remembered the Quidditch practices when he would try to show off his ability on the broom. Ron had, at one point when Harry was particularly distracted by a gazing, silently laughing Ginny, pulled his own Cleansweep from under him and smacked Harry in the head with it.

Ginny also remembered conversations she had overheard between Ron and Harry. Harry had told Ron the way he felt about her and Ron had gone very quiet, then took a deep breath. "Harry, you're a nutter." Ron said, trying to hide a smile.

She felt exhilarated about it. A boy liked her! It was a great ego-booster, but nothing more than that. She realised now that Harry felt more like a brother than anything else.

Throughout the entire trip she was aware of Harry's eyes on the back of her neck and wondered why all of her family had turned up to see her off to school. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing.

When they arrived at Kings Cross her trunk was hauled onto the trolley by her brothers and she thanked them. She walked to the barrier and went through, then Ron, followed by George, Fred, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley.

She hugged them all and shook Harry's hand.

"Ah, screw it." She pulled on Harry's hand and hugged him. She heard his heartbeat quicken through his chest when they embraced. Ginny smiled satisfactorily. Who knew, maybe when she came home he would be less spotty and more mature. Maybe …

"Goodbye, Harry, write to me?" Ginny said as she pulled away. She lowered her lashes. Harry fidgeted.

"Okay." he blushed.

"Gin!" her friend Kate ran up to her and pulled her toward the train. She waved goodbye again and followed Kate into their compartment, somewhere in the middle of the train. She put her head out of the window and waved again as the whistle blew and the train started to move. She could see her mother wiping her eyes with a handkerchief and all the males waving and in Harry's case, grinning stupidly. Ginny waved enthusiastically and beamed at them, it was after all, the last time a Weasley of this generation would be leaving for Hogwarts.

As they bunch of redheads and one black spot faded into the distance Ginny settled back on her seat and started to gossip with Kate. They speculated on the new Potions and DADA teacher, talked about the latest installments in the Harry/Ginny saga, their favourite bands and who was going out with who.

After they had changed into their uniforms, Ginny sat and leant her chin on her hand as she stared out at the scenery.

She hoped that this year was going to be better and she had a feeling it would. She could also feel an emptiness inside, that made her stomach twist into knots. This feeling … it felt like …

"For goodness' sake I only had breakfast two hours ago." she said, aloud to herself. Her stomach grumbled noisily.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"If you're hungry I can go track down the lunch cart." Kate said.

"No thanks." Ginny smiled and pulled out a warm, squishy sandwich she had somehow sat on. "I got mine"

Kate frowned. "I got a raise in pocket money, I'll get you something?"

"I'll be OK, Kate. I'm not going to die of starvation."

"Alright, but seriously Ginny, you're a bit too skinny." Kate was always concerned for Ginny's welfare and sometimes Ginny didn't mind but other times, it just annoyed the crap out of her. Kate eyed the other girl's slim figure enviously.

"Hello, iz zis seat taken?" A boy had entered the compartment and was pointing at the seat next to Ginny. He was a little taller than Ginny, with black hair that brushed his shoulder, steely grey eyes and a Teutonic accent. Ginny could just imagine him saying 'Ve haf vays of making you talk, ja?'.

"No," said Ginny, moving her bag to the overhead compartment. "I'm Ginny and this is Kate, what's your name?"

"I am Villiam, I vas transferred to Hogvarts from Durmstrang."

"Is that William or Villiam? Sorry it's just the accent …"

"It is Villiam."

"OK Villiam …" Ginny sat down.

"Villiam."

"Vwilliam." he tried to say it.

"OK William," Kate looked ready to laugh. "Which year are you in?"

"I am in zer sevenz year" he said.

"We'll be seeing a lot of you zen, sorry, er, then." Kate smiled brightly.

"So, mind if we call you Will?" Ginny asked.

"It is fine viz me." He said, pronouncing every syllable as if he had a hard time speaking English.

"So, Will, where are you from, originally?" Ginny asked.

"I vas born in Germany and I haf travelled around zat area for most of my life, you know, Romania, Hungary, Belgium … zat
vich vasn't spent at Durmstrang of course."

Ginny and William talked for the rest of the train trip and Kate just looked on with a smile on her face and occasionally said something.

As they neared the school, Ginny and Kate felt like they had made a new friend in Will, who enchanted them with tales of castles and forests and the mysteries of Durmstrang.

Their journey came to an end and they all exited the train, trying to find their way to the carriages. The found an empty carriage and as it headed to Hogwarts, they talked about the Sorting. Will desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor.

"Zo I suppose Ravenclaw vouldn't be so bad." he said after a moment's consideration.

When they got off the carriage, Professor Flitwick took Will to the first years to be sorted. They entered the hall and took their places at Gryffindor, saving a seat for Will. They were sure he'd be in Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall started calling out the names from the parchment she held.

"Alberry, Jacob"

A small boy walked up to the hat, shaking. He sat on the stool and closed his eyes tight. The hat said, "Hufflepuff!" and he ran over to the Hufflepuff table, amidst cheering and clapping.

Ginny looked over at Will, he wasn't hard to spot. He was towered over the first years that seemed to get shorter and shorter every year. She looked at the scared faces of the little kids. 'So cute!' she thought. 'I just one to hug one of them!'. Soon came Will's turn.

"Malfoy, William!" The hall went completely silent as William took the hat. He sat there for a while, listening to the hat. It finally called out, "Gryffindor!"

There was no applause, only shocked silence. Will took the hat off and sat down in the place Kate and Ginny had saved for him. The whole school began to whisper behind their hands and look at Will.

"Vy is everyvun staring?" Will asked Ginny.

"I think you're the first Malfoy in Gryffindor, ever." she answered.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kate asked.

"Vat? Zat I am a Malfoy?" He shrugged. "I didn't zink it vas important at ze time." Ginny stared vacantly into the distance, then stood up and walked out of the hall. Will tried to follow her but Kate stopped him.

"Let her be." she said and Will sat back down.

"Vat's ze matter?" he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Ginny's family are the enemies of the Malfoys. She's been teased for the last six years by that prat Draco Malfoy and this year was going to be her year off."

"But I vouldn't tease her! And I happen to know Draco Malfoy. He can be a cruel, but deep down," Will looked thoughtful "Very deep down, he has a good soul." he said, smirking at the memory of his relative. Dumbledore stood up and the whole hall quieted.

"This year we have a transfer student at Hogwarts, direct from Durmstrang, William Malfoy. And as you may have heard we have a new Potions Master who, sadly, cannot be with us at the moment, as he has some urgent business to conduct, but for now, let's eat!" the table suddenly groaned under the weight of the food and Will's eyes widened in shock, he wasn't used to this. He eagerly picked up bits of food and placed them on his plate, intending to eat the lot.

He waddled back to Gryffindor tower with Kate and went straight up to his dorm. The other seventh year boys were already there.

"Hi, William." one of them said.

"Call me Vill." Will said, smiling as he fell down onto his bed.

"OK Vill." one of the other boys said. The others turned from what they were doing and looked at the new kid with mischievous smiles on their faces.

"Cool, he's got an accent! Say, asta la vista, please?" one of the muggle borns said. Will remembered the movie he was referring to. He grinned and made his accent thicker and his voice deeper.

"Asta la vista, baby." The other boys laughed and made him say lines from the Terminator movies.

"I'll be back," was a very popular quote, but the boys kept calling him Vill instead of Will. He didn't mind a bit, yet his mind was unsettled - he had make it up to Ginny somehow. He wasn't sure what he was making up for, but he knew that he really did want to be her friend. As he lay trying to go to sleep, he tried to think of what he was going to say.