Author's Note: Why hello there! Before you start to read this little fan fiction, there are some things that you might need to know:
This is set in an AU, therefore some things have not yet happened nor will they happen. A few examples of this are: Umbridge is not and will not be a DADA teacher at Hogwarts, Sirius Black is not dead, the golden trio never visit the Department of Mysteries hence none of the death eaters that appear there are arrested and Draco Malfoy does not become a death eater during his sixth year.
In this fic, it is Ginny's fifth year and Malfoy's sixth year.
The Yule Ball has become a yearly tradition and serves as a memorial to all those people whom has fallen victim to Lord Voldemort. Also, you have to be in fifth year or older to attend it unless you are invited by an older student.
With that, please read this fic, review and point out anything that might sound weird. And if you find misspelled words, forgive me for them ^_^"
It was an unusually warm and sunny October morning and almost the whole Hogwarts castle was emptied of people. The few ones whom still resided inside castle either had work to do or were trying to get away from the masses.
Ginny Weasley was currently hiding out in the library in hopes of not being disturbed. With a head held low, she sat brooding by a window and wished that her mournful life would simply end. Her hopes of ever becoming more than just a friend with the Boy Who Lived had been crushed, as he this morning had told her straight out that she was like a sister to him and then went off to drool over Cho. A sister?! Had she not shown her interest in him or was it that he was too thick-headed, a side-effect from spending too much time with her brother Ron? Or was it that she was not girlfriend-material, too innocent to even be considered anything else than a younger sibling?
Unable to figure things out, she continued to gaze out the window and soon felt hot tears coming from her eyes. Why were boys so dense?
Her melancholy was interrupted by a harsh snort coming from her left and as she turned towards the source of the noise, her eyes met something that she knew too well would try ruining her day further. Draco Malfoy was leaning casually against a bookshelf, seemingly utterly amused and as Ginny wiped away her tears, sneered at the younger girl in a contemptuous manner.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" the red-head asked with a hoarse voice and tried to keep it as steady as possible.
"Nothing, I'm simply amazed by the fact that Pothead has people crying over him," the blonde replied and sneered some more. "A bit pathetic if you ask me." The scorn in his voice was obvious.
"And why would I be crying over Harry?"
"Oh please Weasley, who else?"
"Actually, I was crying over a… a book I read." Malfoy rolled his eyes at her comment.
"Seriously Weasley, if you believe that I will buy that, then you're dumber than I thought."
Unlike most of the Weasleys, Ginny was quite good at lying when the time called for it, but today it somehow seemed she had lost her ability and her lie was too evident. She blamed it on heartache.
"Sod off, Malfoy," she turned around and faced the window again, determined to ignore the Slytherin until he went away.
"Oh, come on now Weasley, let me in the gossip about Pothead so I can taunt him with it."
Draco walked over to her and looked her in the eyes, smirking one of his sinister smiles. He was clearly not leaving.
"Is it Potty's infatuation with Chang that bugs you? That he has only eyes for her and her alone?"
Ginny felt herself stiffen. Malfoy had hit a sensitive spot and he knew it. He smiled yet another wicked smile.
"It is, isn't it?" he asked delighted. "Pothead's head over heels for Chang and that's making you devastated. You're realizing that you will never have him and that you're only a sister in his eyes, am I right? Can't say I blame him, you have that 'younger sister'- look written all over you."
Ginny remained silent, trying her best not to lose her composure and do a Hermione and slap the blond in the face. It was harder than one might think, especially when he constantly came with spiteful comments that tested her patience.
"… Cho might look all that innocent, but she has that aura around her that allures you, whereas you are simply a poor little blood-traitor. And you don't even have a real house, just some dump your parents built…"
That was the last drop for Ginny and she stood up and punched the boy, hard, in the face.
"So what!? I'm only considered as a sister to Harry, will most likely never have his affection and don't have that much money, but at least I have something you will never have: real family and friends that love me!" with that, she stormed off, leaving behind a gaping and slightly baffled Malfoy.
Trying to get the anger out of her system, Ginny made her way to the Astronomy Tower. Sliding down against a wall, she still felt furious and decided to try the famous
'count-from-ten-to-one'- method in order to calm herself. When it did not work, she chose a higher number and slowly counted down again. When she reached fourteen, she was disturbed by the sound of steps making their way up the stairs. Looking over, she saw a Draco Malfoy whom seemed slightly out of breath, making her believe that he had rushed all the way after her. But that couldn't be, right? Sliding down the opposite wall, Malfoy regained his breath and smirked at her.
"Quite the feisty one, aren't we Weasley? I never would have suspected that your punches was that hard."
Feeling her rage returning, she glared at him. How could one boy irritate her so?
"Go away, Malfoy. Don't you have some friends to torture with your presence? Or is it that they finally realized what a vicious, little manipulating and treacherous brat you are and left you?"
Malfoy scoffed. Clearly, he was enjoying himself.
"Indeed the feisty one. Tell me, is it typical Gryffindor behaviour to punch your fellow students or is it only everyone around Pothead that tends to use violence to express their feelings?"
If looks could kill, then Malfoy would have been dead a thousand times over. Had he stalked her all the way to the Astronomy Tower only to continue to mock her? She would not tolerate it further. Pulling out her wand, she stood up and pointed it at Malfoy.
"Go away or be blasted away, it is your choice, Malfoy."
Little sparks emitted from her wand. Malfoy simply looked at the enraged girl and smirked.
"Do yourself a favour Weasley and put away the wand. It is not very ladylike to threaten people."
Not lowering her wand, Ginny took one step closer to Malfoy as she was trying to show him that she was serious. His smirk grew wider.
"Come on now Weasley, if you blast me away, I will not be able to tell you why I'm here."
This seemed to catch the girl's attention. Was Malfoy here for something else that mockery? Doubtful, if it was not to mock her, then it was to put some baleful plan into action.
"As if I didn't already know that."
"I doubt it," the blonde replied and looked at her like she was never going to figure it out.
Hesitantly, Ginny lowered her wand. As much as she hated to admit it, she was curious about the reason behind Malfoy's presence. Could it really be that he had something worth hearing on his mind?
"I knew you would be interested," the blonde smirked.
"So, what is it?"
"Straight to the point, aren't we? Very well then." He inhaled and then looked her straight in the eyes, as if he was preparing to sell a product to a most reluctant client. "I'm giving you a chance to obtain your heart's desire, something that you have always wanted, but never gotten. And I'm giving it to you for no fee at all!"
Ginny raised her eyebrow. What in the world was Malfoy rambling about? Getting her heart's desire? He couldn't possible mean… Before she could continue her trail of thoughts, the blonde continued his little seller-speech.
"What I'm saying is this: I'm going to be your love coach!"
Ginny's mouth dropped. Was she seriously hearing those words coming out of the Slytherin's mouth? He couldn't be for real; it was all clearly a big joke.
"Trying to pull my leg, aren't you Malfoy? You have come up with a new, wicked plan which will most likely destroy an innocent person and for what? To keep you Slytherins amused!"
She was furious again. How dared he try to trick her with such a foul trick?! 'I'll be your love coach' my ass! She wasn't taking this anymore; it had been enough that she even had considered listening to him. Oh Ginny you fool. Trusting a Slytherin was like believing that giant spiders wouldn't eat you if you crossed their path: foolish!
She turned around and was heading for the stairs when she was stopped by Malfoy. He had grabbed hold of her arm and it seemed that he was not letting go.
"What is it with you Gryffindors never trusting us Slytherins? What have we ever done to deserve such distrust? Do you seriously believe that we would play with other people's emotions just to keep ourselves amused?" Malfoy said with a serious voice.
"Yes, you bloody well would!" the red-head replied and yanked her arm free. "As long as you didn't get in trouble for it, you would do most things normal people didn't even consider doing!"
The blonde chuckled a little
"True and we would be damn proud of it to. But that doesn't mean that this is one of those times."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Oh, come on Weasley, get it into your head that I'm being serious!" He crossed his arms and gave her a look that told her that he believed her to be a stubborn, thick-headed fool not to realise the honest intentions of his offer.
"Ever since I started here, no, even before that, you have been mocking, torturing and insulting my family, friends and myself at all possible times. Do you seriously think that I'll believe this little 'good guru' act that you're pulling off? Get a hold of yourself Malfoy!"
Malfoy sighed at her outburst and mumbled 'Gryffindors'.
"I know I might not have been the nicest block towards you, but I'll have you know that I am not ashamed of it! It is in my nature to be a bastard! However, I'm not lying when I'm offering to be your love coach nor is it a joke. If you don't try to run of again, I'll tell you my reasons behind this offer."
Once again, Ginny was staring at him in disbelief.
The boy sighed again. "Be a true Gryffindor and have some faith in your fellow students: sit down and hear me out and if you don't like what I'm saying you may leave. But not until I have finished, okay?"
Even though he was not pleading or anything alike, Ginny felt obligated to at least listen to him and reluctantly, she sat down against the wall yet again.
"Okay Malfoy, what's your reasons? A sudden impulse to redeem your past deeds?"
"Of course not, we Slytherins don't come with a conscious," he replied and smirked at her.
"No, to tell you the truth, I'm partly doing this because I'm bored. So you weren't wrong when you said I'm doing this to amuse myself, however, it is not in a bad way. Furthermore, I'm doing this because I'm intrigued."
"Intrigued?" Ginny answered sceptically.
"Yes, intrigued. I'm wondering if it is possible to turn little innocent, 'girl-next-door' Ginny Weasley into a man-eater. Can you imagine everyone's faces? Oh, how sweet it would be releasing a man-eater into Hogwarts whom will crush loads of hearts and know that I created her!"
He lost himself in a daydream where he seemed utterly content with himself and muttered things such as 'good work Draco, good work indeed'.
This was not the Draco Malfoy she was used of seeing and even though she should have been a bit frightened of him, her head was filled with other, more important thoughts. If she could become a man-eater and have all the boys' attentions, maybe she could at last get his attention. Maybe he would finally realise that she was more than sister-material and…
"See, it is a good deal, is it not?" Draco, whom had finally snapped out of his little daydream, was turned her way and smiling at her. "Stop hesitating and say yes. We both know that you want to!"
He reached out his hand and awaited her approval. After giving it a few more seconds thought, she took his hand and shook it. What was the worst that could happen anyway?
"Feels great, doesn't it?" the blonde flashed another smile and seemed genuinely delighted.
"Though I'm going to warn you right now Weasley. I have one rule and one rule only about this coaching. Or well, there are several rules, but the most important one that you must never forget is this one: you may not fall in love with me."
"You wish!" She rolled her eyes. As if she would ever fall for such a bastard!
"Good that we are on equal terms." He got up from the ground and walked over to the stairs.
"Don't contact me, I'll contact you." with that, he left her with a slight wave of his hand and the sight of his back disappearing down the stairs.
Even though she had decided on her own to agree to this little game, Ginny couldn't shake the feeling off that she had just made a deal with the Devil. Or at least one of his underlings.
