Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.
I Will Love You Forever
Chapter 1: Surprise in the Mail
Summary: The new DADA teacher resembles Snape, so Draco and Ginny are determined to get to the Bottom of it. So why are the trio and Dumbledore Trying to stop them? Why is the secret so important?
Warning: Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley story, so if you don't like the ship, please go away.
"Ginny dear! Breakfast is ready!" came the cheerful voice of Molly Weasley, followed by the enticing smell of pancakes.
Virginia Weasley, the one which both the voice and the smell was directed at, sighed and started brushing her wet hair as slowly as possible without making it seem suspicious.
She was fourteen, average height with wavy red hair and rebellion clearly in her mind.
She finished brushing her very long hair and gave her outfit a final look over. She had on her shabbiest jeans and a t-shirt which had a picture of a Quaffle being chased by Bludgers.
Her mother had told her to put on something 'nice', a request Ginny was blatantly ignoring.
"Ginny! Get down here at once! They'll be here any minute!" Molly Weasley roared up the stairs.
By 'they' she meant Harry and Hermione, who were supposed to spend the last two weeks of the holidays with the Weasley's.
By the sudden increase in noise downstairs, Ginny presumed that their VIP guests had arrived. Ginny's crush on Harry had diminished over the past year, as she began to see him more as a brother. As for Hermione, she was counting down to the day Hermione would be her sister-in-law.
Closing her bedroom door behind her, she walked down the stairs, careful to avoid the step where the twins had hidden their ink bombs (which were still their experimental phase).
"Hi Harry, hi Hermione!" Ginny greeted sitting down at the breakfast table.
"Took you long enough" Ron grumbled under his breath. Ginny decided to ignore the comment and turned to Mrs. Weasley.
"Mum, can I have waffles for breakfast instead?" she asked, giving her mother puppy dog eyes. Mrs. Weasley sniffed, clearly not happy with her daughter but unable to resist her most charming and innocent gaze.
"Fine!" she snapped and turned towards the kitchenette.
"Thank you!" Ginny replied, grinning at Ron's dark look as he gazed mournfully at his pancakes and syrup.
"Where's Mr. Weasley? Isn't he coming down for breakfast?" inquired Hermione, after swallowing a rather large bite of toast.
"No dear, he's already eaten and vanished off to work after another emergency call from the Ministry." she answered, a worried expression on her face.
"What's it about this time?" Ron asked with his mouth full.
"Ron, that's disgusting, close your mouth!" Ginny complained, as Ron stuck his tongue out at her, all covered in pancake mush.
"He said something about Fudge wanting his advice on something, top-secret, in a matter of urgency." Mrs. Weasley explained, setting the hot waffles on Ginny's plate.
She breathed the sent in deeply and then to Ron's annoyance said "They smell delicious Mum!"
"Just hurry up and eat, I don't want you fainting." Molly ordered, turning to pile more pancakes on Harry's plate, ignoring his protests and insisting he was looking 'peakish'.
"I don't know why he keeps on calling dad; it isn't as if he's important, if they can afford to give a corner office and a lousy salary." Ron grumbled reaching for more syrup and butter.
"Haven't you heard? Dad's become popular at the Ministry, especially the way he stuck with Dumbledore and kept his job." Ginny informed after swallowing a large bit of her waffle.
"Some people even think that he might become Minister after Fudge." Hermione said as she finished off the last of her breakfast.
Just then a flurry of owls came in to deliver the post. Three went to Mrs. Weasley dropping their burden off before flying away. All the rest headed straight to the Hogwarts students and dropped the letters in front of the recipient.
"Hogwarts letters!" Ron cried in delight as he grabbed his first letter. Hermione was also excited as she yelled, "Our OWL's results!"
(A/N: I know that they were supposed to get it earlier, but for the purpose of this story please conveniently forget it.)
Ron and Harry both turned pale as Mrs. Weasley dropped her own post to see theirs.
"Well open it!" Mrs. Weasley ordered a petrified Ron, who was looking at the letter as if it were a Howler.
Hermione on the other hand had ripped open her envelope and was scanning it frantically. Her lips moved quickly, silently reading her results as her eyes widened in delight.
"YES! Yesyesyesyesyes!" she cried happily, jumping up and down in excitement, waving the letter in the air.
"What are you so happy about?" Harry asked gloomily, looking at his own results, still unopened.
"I got all Outstanding!" she said, waving her results under Ron's nose.
"All right, all right!" Ron snapped, "No need to tell the whole world about it". This placed a dent in Hermione's happiness, but she quickly recovered to ask, "Why, what did you get?"
"Dunno, haven't looked yet" Ron answered, edging away from her just incase she snatched the letter off him.
"Well, go on!" she urged, eager to see what his results were.
"Erm... eh" Ron muttered as he nervously fidgeted with the envelope.
"Oh! Let me!" Hermione demanded, exasperated, reaching out to grab it.
"NO!" Ron leaped back terrified, not seeing the hurt look that crossed Hermione's face.
Ginny who had been quiet for now, saw her friend's reaction and jumped to the rescue.
"Here, let me open it," she ordered Ron, who looked between Hermione and Ginny, as if deciding if they were ganging up on him.
Cautiously he reached over and placed the letter in his sister's outstretched hand. Ginny opened it as slowly as she dared without Hermione launching herself at her.
Ginny scanned the contents, a proud feeling overcoming her as she announced, "For Charms and E, Transfiguration E, Herbology A, Defence Against the Dark Arts an O, Potions E, Care of Magical Creatures O, Astronomy A, Divination P, History of Magic A."
"Well, all in all, you did OK," Hermione consoled Ron, who was looking fearfully at his mother.
"At least you did well in the subjects that mattered." Mrs. Weasley said at last, as Ron breathed a sigh of relief, glad not to have unleashed his mother's infamous temper.
"I pity you Ron," Ginny said in pretend sorrow.
"Why?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"You have to spend another two years with Snape." Ginny replied in glee as Ron's happiness transformed into horror.
"Bloody Hell!" cried Ron, dreading another two years of Snape's torture.
Mrs. Weasley admonished him off with a stern "Ronald!" as Hermione launched into another one of her lectures about respecting teachers, even though they did have a hooked nose and greasy hair.
Harry, relieved that Hermione hadn't demanded on seeing his results yet, slipped the envelope in his pocket and gave Ginny a sheepish grin.
Ginny replied it with a roll of her eyes before looking pointedly at Hermione, which, translated into English, meant, she'd remember soon enough.
Then Ginny popped the last of her waffle in her mouth and reached to open her own Hogwarts letter. It felt heavier than normal.
As she neatly tore the side of the envelope, a shiny badge in Gryffindor fell out. The word Prefect was written on it, unmistakable to miss.
Her mother, who had turned around from the washing to ask Harry if he wanted some toast, pounced on it like a cat.
And before Ginny could say "groaning goblins" she was gathered into an emercible, bone crushing hug.
"My only baby daughter! A prefect! What wonderful news! How grown up she's become. Imagine that, a Prefect of Hogwarts!" Mrs. Weasley cried (literally) in delight as Ginny fought to keep breathing.
Ginny, after freeing herself from her mother's suffocating embrace, sat down on her seat with a thoughtful look.
She was going to get hell from the twins, and not to mention the stream of so-called "proud" letters from Percy. Everyone was going to look up to her, and if anyone caught her playing pranks or sneaking about on her daily routine, then she'd lose the badge, leaving her parents disappointed. This badge was a curse that was going to single-handedly screw her life.
Mrs. Weasley, not seeing the disappointed look on her daughter's face, kept on asking what she wanted as a reward for becoming prefect. Ginny insisted that she didn't need anything (after all, she didn't feel she deserved a present for ruining her life). In the end she gave in, just to stop her Mum nagging her endlessly, continuously reminding Ginny how honorable it was to be a prefect.
When it was all settled (though Ginny hadn't decided what to get yet), she sat, gulping down a glass of water only to have to spit it out again, when she found another surprise waiting for her in the mail.
"Oi!" Ron shouted indignantly as water droplets landed on him.
Ginny ignored him, still staring at her envelope with wide eyes. As the trio looked on with confusion, she carefully opened it, as if it would explode in her face.
Once opened, she glanced at the letter and her jaw dropped open. Squealing with excitement she jumped up from her seat, attracting the attention of her mother.
"What are you so happy about?" Molly asked, wondering if her daughter was going slightly mad. After all, someone who had received a huge shock like the Prefect's badge would be a little hysterical.
"Mum, you know that advanced Potions course I wanted take? The one that could help me move up a year if I did well?" Ginny asked, hardly containing her excitement.
"Yes. Professor Snape was very kind to give up his time for it." Molly said frowning in bewilderment.
"Why in the world would you want to spend extra time with Snape for?" Ron interrupted loudly, which earned him a glare from Ginny and his mother.
"Anyway, it meant that I had to do my potion OWLs at the same time as the fifth years. Ginny said nervously, wondering how her mother might react to this.
"And you couldn't be bothered to tell me?" Molly Weasley asked, her voice rising, causing everyone to wince.
"Well, with all the drama at the end of the year", Ginny explained, casting a glance at Harry, "It kind of slipped my mind".
"What did you get?" ask Mrs. Weasley, apparently forgiven her daughter, or maybe didn't want to bring up the last week of school in front of Harry.
"I got an Outstanding, which means I can skip a year and start on sixth year NEWTS class with Ron." Ginny said hurriedly, trying not sound as if she was bragging.
Hermione and Harry both looked astonished as Ron sat slack-jawed.
Mrs. Weasley on the other hand, seized Ginny into another Hagrid like hug.
"Mum, stop it! You're killing me!" Ginny protested struggling.
Her mother put her down smiling, and said "Well, that's two gifts for you this year."
"There's no need Mum!" Ginny tried to persuade.
"You'll need at least a new Potions Kit, won't you?" Molly demanded.
"Well yes. Professor Snape did say that faulty equipment does no-one good." Ginny admitted.
"That's settled then. A new Potions Kit it is" Mrs. Weasley said as she wandered up the stairs.
"Does that mean I have to spend class time with you as well?" Ron asked, apparently over his initial astonishment.
"Well done Gin!" Harry congratulated.
"What does this letter say?" Hermione asked, poking a small piece of paper lying on the table.
Picking it up, Ginny read aloud,
"Dear Miss Weasley,
Congratulations on the outstanding results you achieved in OWL's Potions. In fact, if memory serves me correct, you are our highest achieving Potions student ever. With this in mind, I invite you to move up a grade to start sixth year NEWT level Potions.
Sincerely,
Dumbledore."
"Wow, the smartest Potions student ever!" Harry said in awe.
"Hey, does that include Snape as well?" Ron asked which was followed by snort from Ginny. (Most un-ladylike)
"Will you stop bagging Snape out?" Hermione asked, seeming a bit irritated.
"Yeah, he's nice if you get to know him" Ginny defended and the trio stared at her as if she had grown two heads.
"Err, Ginny? Even I wouldn't go that far" Hermione said, wondering if all the excitement had gone to Ginny's head.
"Yeah I know. That was freaky, did I actually say that? Anyway, what I mean is, that he is civil, at least to me" Ginny corrected, much to the relief of Ron.
"So, who do you think will be the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher?" Ron asked, trying to steer the conversation from a NICE Snape.
A/N: So what do you think? Please Review.
Rubookmark