"Gerroff me!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks jumped onto his chest and sunk his claws into Ron's skin, clearly missing Pig. The energetic bird flew in circles above their heads, as Crookshanks ran into the corner of a seat and started hissing.
"Ron, can't you control that thing?" Hermione said in an annoyed voice as she huddled in the corner, covering her hair with her hands to avoid Pig's droppings.
"Well he would have been gone already, if it hadn't been for that bloody thing! Now it's gone and got him all hyped up, it'll take days for him to calm down." Ron yelled back as he tried to catch Pig in the air.
It had been just Ron and Hermione sitting in the compartment of the train until the compartment door opened.
"Hey." Harry said as he weeled his trunk in the compartment and closed the door.
"I'm glad to see that you two have started off on the right foot this year, judging by the look on Hermione's face. " Harry commented, grinning as he heaved his trunk up on the shelf.
"Oh shut up." Ron commented, jumping in the air each time Pig flew by him, trying to catch the rambunctious bird. Harry sat down and adopted the same position as Hermione, hoping not to be pooped on.
Suddenly, the compartment door was slammed open with such force that the glass pane almost broke. In the door stood Draco Malfoy, with his arms folded and his classic smug look upon his face.
"Well, if it isn't…" Malfoy began, but was suddenly interupted by a great glob of mucousy white poop that had landed on his hair. Pig, satisfied with his work, sat down ontop of his cage and fluffed up his feathers.
"What…was…that…" Malfoy said, standing there in shock.
"I believe that would be called 'shit', Malfoy. " Hermione said, grinning.
"Shut up, Mudblood. You'll pay for this Weasley." And with one last glare, Malfoy turned around, slammed the compartment door and walked off.
Harry, Hermione and Ron burst into laughter.
"I'm sorry I got mad at you, Pig. You're a great bird." Ron said, patting the bird's head.
"Who were you sending a letter to, anyways, Ron?" Harry asked. "We haven't even left the station yet and you need to write to somebody?"
Ron sighed. "It's a letter to my mum. Ginny forgot her diary again." Ron rolled his eyes and walked over to the bird. Pig lifted his foot in the air and patiently waited for Ron to tie the letter to his leg. Ron gently tied the letter to the owl's leg and opened the window. Ron watched as Pig flew out the window and into the distance.
"So why couldn't she have just used Errol?" Harry asked.
"You know Errol, he's not doing that great lately. He'd probably get lost or something. " Ron answered. "Besides, I don't mind using Pig. The exercise helps keep him calm. He'll need it after that ruddy cat just about killed him!"
Here we go again, Harry thought as the train lurched and started forward as Ron and Hermione started bickering again.
Ginny rolled her heavy trunk into the only empty compartment in the train. She took out her favourite Muggle magazine from her trunk and began reading it. Soon she was lost in the magazine's numerous articles when the compartment door was opened and slammed shut.
Ginny gasped and looked up from her magazine.
"Jesus, why does this…" the person started but stopped as he heard Ginny gasp. Draco Malfoy turned around and looked Ginny in the eye. Ginny quickly closed her magazine and stuffed it back in her trunk.
"Oh. I thought this compartment was empty." He said, sneering. Ginny chuckled.
"Is that…bird crap on your…" she started.
"Shut up, okay?" Malfoy knelt down next to his trunk and opened it up. He brought out an elegant silver mirror from his trunk. Curled around the mirror's handle was a green snake with ruby eyes. He brought the mirror up to his face and looked at his hair. He muttered a spell, flicked his wand and his hair had returned to normal. Malfoy sighed in relief and returned the mirror to his trunk.
"Oh, heaven forbid a hair on your head should be out of place, Malfoy." Ginny said in a mocking tone of voice.
"Shut up." He said.
"Shut up? Is that all you can say today? Shut up?" She said, laughing. "You must be able to come up with something better than 'shut up'."
Malfoy glared at her.
"You're pushing your luck, Weaslette." He smirked.
"Oh, so I'm a Weaslette now, am I? And what are you, the Kid-Who-Got-Shit-On-By-An-Owl?"
"Weaslette…" Malfoy said in a threatening voice. "You're lucky I have a head boy meeting or I'd be showing you a thing or two right now." He said as he walked out of the compartment.
Just like the beginning of every year, the great hall was lavishly decorated with colorful Hogwarts banners and floating candles with wax dripping halfway down the base. The students sat down at their usual seats, and began talking about their summer. The girls pointed at all of the boys who had grown over the summer, and the boys mainly talked, with a few who checked out some new students.
Ginny looked in her dinner plate, and saw her shiny reflection smiling back. She smoothed down her wavy hair with her fingers, and smoothed her perfectly plucked eyebrows so they were laying in the proper direction. She looked up to find an extremely handsome older boy looking at her. That extremely handsome boy happened to be none other than Draco Malfoy. Ginny's insides churned and she tried to smile which ended up in a half smile and bit the side of her lip.
Draco did a dramatic hair flip; Ginny swallowed.
"Am I that georgeous?" Draco mouthed at her. Ginny scowled, then looked away.
"Ugh, damn nervous habit of biting my lip!" She thought.
Ting-ting-ting. Professor McGonagall tapped her water goblet with her fork. Professor Dumbledore stood up from his seat with his arms raised. His face looked a bit older, but the same.
"Thank-you professor McGonagall. Now that we are all here and seated, welcome and welcome back! Now I would like to remind all of you that the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden. And, Mr. Filch would like to remind all of you that there is a parchment of banned items available on Mr. Filch's door, and if a student is found to have any of these items, they will be confescated. Now, on a lighter note, we have two very interesting positions available. I will let Professor Snape speak on this matter for a moment. Professor Snape…"
Snape stood up and cleared his throat. Hermione folded her hands and placed them on her lap. Ginny rolled her eyes.
'Such a suck-up'. Ginny thought. She returned her attention to Professor Snape.
"The Headmaster and I have discussed the possibility of having two student potions masters, preferable one male and one female. Only the most dedicated and mature…" he paused, and looked over to where Harry and Ron were sitting,"…students will be considered. For those who wish to apply will write a twelve-inch essay on why they should be considered for this position, and it shall be on my desk two weeks from now. These positions, of course, have many benefits. You will not get paid…" a corus of 'aww's was heard from the students. "…however, it is very handy for when applying for a job after Hogwarts. These two students will help in my classes, and help organize and clean the classroom afterwards. These students will also tutor for those who take remedial potions, and, occasionally, monitor detentions. "
Snape sat down, and instantly the students started talking.
"Silence." Professor Dumbledore said in a moderate, but serious tone of voice. Instantly the room fell silent.
"Thank-you. I highly recommend that many of you apply for these two very special opportunities. Now, I won't keep any of you waiting any longer. Tuck in!"
Instantly the food appeared, and gasps were heard from new first years.
"Ugh, did you see how he glared at us like that?" Ron said as he grapped a chicken drumstick from the platter infront of him.
"Incase you haven't noticed, Ron, he always glares at you two." Hermione pointed out as she grabbed Harry's plate and put a huge scoop of mashed potatoes on it. She handed it back to Harry.
"Thanks…" he said, with a confused look on his face.
"Well, yeah, but he doesn't need to do it infront of the whole school." Ron complained.
"Well maybe if you actually paid attention in class he wouldn't be like that."
"Hermione, you always pay attention during class, and he doesn't like you any more than he likes us." Harry said.
"He's got a point you know." Ron said, his mouth so full of chicken.
Hermione frowned. She knew he was right.
"So…Gin…how was your summer?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, it was alright." She answered plainly.
"Did you read that book I gave you?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"Oh, yeah. It was so good! And so romantic, too. " She sighed.
"I knew you would like it…" Hermione grinned.
"Oh, I loved it."
"Eww, you read those mushy muggle romance books? Ugh…those things are rotten." Ron said, his face scrunched up.
"Oh shut-up Ron, you don't even know what they're like. Besides, don't judge a book by its cover."
The rest of the night was spent in content silence with their mouths full. By the end of the night, their stomachs were stuffed and they were tired.
Chapter 2
"So are you going to apply for that teacher thingy?" Ron questioned Hermione with his mouth full of scrambled eggs. The trio had just woken up and were eating their breakfast in the great hall.
"Are you kidding me? And have Snape order me around? If it had been any other teacher I would." Hermione answered, sighing.
"I think I'm going to apply." Ginny piped up, sitting down next to Hermione.
"Oh hey Gin. Didn't see you there." Ron said. Hermione elbowed him in the side for being so inconsiderate. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"So why do you want to apply? I didn't know you were good at potions." Harry said.
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty good at it. It's all right, if Snape's in a good enough mood. Plus, it looks good when I apply for a job after school, just like he said. And…" Ginny emphasized the word 'and', "…there might be a really cute boy I get to work with." She grinned with excitement. She looked at Hermione who was chuckling herself. Ron slammed his fork down on the table.
"I won't have it." Ron said.
"Oh Ron, stop it." Hermione said. "She's in her fifth year. She's a big girl, she can look after herself."
"Thank you, Hermione." Ginny said as she dished out some sausages and toast on to her plate.
'Hmph.' Ron got up and left.
"So what do you think I should say in my application? It's going to be so hard to write…" Ginny groaned as she finished her last sausage.
"I have no clue." Harry said. "Sorry."
"Its alright." She said.
"I don't really think it will matter what you put, he will probably pick you." Hermione said.
"Are you kidding? What makes you say that?" She questioned.
"Well, lets see." Hermione thought for a second. "It sounds like you're practically on Snape's good side, so that's a plus. I'm not applying…" Harry laughed. "Shut up, Harry. You are mature…and being a pureblood is a plus. You also have a sincere interest in potions. So I'd say you're practically in." Hermione smiled.
"She's right, you know." Harry added.
Ginny blushed.
"Thanks you guys. Well, I think I'll get a start on the application before my first class. Have a good day you two." She placed her fork and knife on her plate and gathered her belongings and got up. She walked over to the doors in the Great Hall and pushed them open. As she walked down the hallway, she saw Draco Malfoy walking towards her.
"Weaslette.." He commented, passing her.
"Malfoy." She said, continuing her walk towards the library.
I wonder if Malfoy will apply to be a student professor… she thought. He is, of course, Snape's pet…
Ginny wandered into the library and took a seat at an empty table. She took out her parchment and measured it. It was exactly 12 inches long.
Perfect. Now, for the hard part…
She took out her quill and ink and wrote her name and the date at the top of the old, yellowed parchment. She bit the corner of her lip and began her essay. She made sure to take care and write her best handwriting she could. She began the essay off by saying that she would be a considerable candidate for this position because she has a sincere interest in potions and enjoys it very much. Soon she was lost in the essay, writing even about her love of the different styles of potions and how knowlegable she was – she even knew differences between 12th century potion recipes and 13th century potion recipes.
Soon enough, it was time for her first class – Advanced Potions, which was in the dungeons.
Almost a fortnight had passed, and Ginny had left her half-finished essay in the bottom of her bag for the entire time, and not once took it out to proofread and finish it. The only reason she remembered it was because Hermione asked her if she wanted anyone to read over her application essay for her.
It was currently 11:30 at night, and Ginny was sitting at a table by the fireplace in the practically deserted commonroom. She was scribbling away at her essay, crossing things out and adding words here and there. She was exhausted, but she had to finish this essay before she went to bed. A couple times she just wanted to throw the parchment into the fire and forget about even applying, but decided against it. She still had to write out the good copy, and it was too late to ask Hermione to proofread it. She was probably asleep right now in their dormitory, all cozy and comfy. She would have to trust her own judgement on this. She decided she would reread it in the morning when she wasn't so tired, before she handed it in.
Finally, at 1 am, an exhausted Ginny trudged upstairs to her dorm and collapsed on her bed. She was too tired to change into her night gown, so she just slept in her clothes all night long.
"Ginny…" Hermione tapped Ginny on the shoulder. Ginny mumbled and put her pillow over her head. Hermione cleared her throat.
"Ginny…Ginny…" She continuously poked the large lump that was underneath the covers.
"Ginny!" Hermione ripped the covers off of Ginny and opened the curtains to the dorm. All of the beds in the dorm were empty, except for Ginny's.
"Ginny! You're going to be late!" Finally Ginny stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"What time is it?" Ginny mumbled in the middle of a stretch.
"Five minutes until class starts."
"What? I still need to read over my essay! Ugh…" Ginny ran around the room, tossing dirty clothes this way and that until she found some clean clothes.
"Thanks for waking me up." She said, as she began to undress.
"No problem. Good luck!" Hermione called as she ran out the door. Ginny was hopping around the dorm trying to put her pants on and looking for where she had put down her essay before she went to bed.
"Shit!" She said to herself, as she pulled her shirt over her head. She looked on the floor, and there lay here essay.
"Thank God I didn't step on it." She said as she grabbed it and ran out the door.
Five minutes later she arrived in the Potions classroom, just before Snape was going to begin class. She walked to the front of the room and placed her essay on a surprisingly large stack of essays for the student teacher positions.
"Good morning, Professor." She mumbled before she took her seat.
I wonder why so many people are applying…and this is only the first class of the day! I bet its because people would love the chance to boss their peers around. Ginny sighed. I bet I'll never get in now…
Ginny slumped down in her desk and barely listened at all to that day's lecture.
Ginny walked down the hallway by Professor Snape's classroom one week later, and noticed everybody was crowded around a notice pinned up on the wall. She walked up to the crowd and pushed her way through to the front, to read what it said.
NOTICE
TO ALL WHO APPLIED
TO BE A STUDENT TEACHER
Due to the large amount of students who applied,
The following students have been chosen
To take a test
Blaise Zabini
Draco Malfoy
Ginny Weasley
Hannah Abbot
Lavander Brown
Millicent Bullstrode
Seamus Finnigan
Susan Bones
Terry Boot
This test will take place in the potions classroom on Tuesday, September 23rd.
Good Luck
Most of the students had walked away from the notice. For some reason, Ginny's eyes kept lingering on two names; her own, and Draco Malfoy's. She felt her cheeks getting red. She walked away, mumbling to herself. She'd have to get ready for this 'test'.
Chapter 3
"So what do you think this 'test' is?" Hermione asked Ginny over dinner.
"No clue." Ginny said, and sighed.
"Don't worry about it, Gin. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll do fine." Harry said with his mouth full.
Ginny stared at him with her eyes wide open.
"Are you kidding me? I don't even really know what I'm up against. I mean, there's Malfoy, who will for certain get in because he's Snape's favourite student. But what about Lavender? I don't know what she's like in potions. And Seamus? And there's Millicent Bullstrode, who has a better chance than she is because she's in Slytherin. "
"Well…Lavander's alright. Most of the time she's talking about fortune telling, and silly nonsense like that." Hermione said.
"And there's Seamus…He's okay. Not quite at Hermione's level, but able to follow instructions fairly well." Harry added.
"Millicent…well…I haven't really paid attention to her work habits that much. But I'm sure you're better than her." Hermione patted Ginny's shoulder.
Ginny sighed.
"I'm still not so sure…I mean, what kind of a test is it? Is it written? Or what if it's an oral exam? Oh I'd get so nervous…"
"You could also have to make a potion and get graded on it, like we do in class." Hermione added. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds more like Snape's way of testing you. I don't think he'd have the patience to ask each of you one by one oral questions." Harry pointed out.
"Oh great. So it's either a written test, or making a potion. " Ginny huffed. "Hermione, will you help me study? Or lend me some of your notes on making potions?" Ginny inquired in a dissapointed tone of voice.
"Yeah, sure. I have some notes you could borrow too." Hermione responded.
"Thanks, Hermione." Ginny said, with a greatful look upon her face.
"No problem. Remember though, you've got a week until the test. And don't forget this time." Hermione chuckled.
"Oh yeah, Hermione, its so funny that I forgot." Ginny grumbled in a sarcastic tone of voice.
"Well, I'll get you a homework planner or something for Christmas, to help you remember." She said, smiling. Harry shook his head at Ginny, eyes wide open. Ginny remembered what happened the Christmas Hermione gave Ron and Harry planners that yelled at them to do their homework.
"Err…that's okay, I don't need one. It was…er…just because I just got back from summer. My brain was out of routine." Ginny smiled.
"Alright. Well, I should be going, lots of homework to do." Hermione quickly gathered her things and walked off.
Ginny sat at the table, with only Harry across from her. She sat with her elbow on the table and her head resting in her hand. She had her fork in her other hand, and was twirling her pasta with it.
"You okay?" Harry inquired.
"Yeah…I'm okay. Just tired. Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason…you just seem stressed." He smiled slightly.
"Yeah, I'm just wondering what kind of test this is going to be. Well, I guess I should get going. I should study, and I have homework to do. So, see you later." Ginny left the table and walked towards the doors. She left the Great Hall and made her way to Griffyndor Tower and stopped in front of the Fat Lady. She was sitting there, laughing with her friend Violet, and had a bottle of gin in her hand.
"Oh, my dear girl. Do you happen to be in Gryffindoy?" Violet shreiked with laughter. "Err… I meant to say Gryffindor." The Fat Lady laughed and hiccuped.
"Indomitus formo". Ginny grumbled, rolling her eyes at the two ladies.
"Oh my, you smart, smart child. You already know the password! I daresay you read my mind! What are they teaching you nowdays?" She chuckled, as she swung open to give Ginny access to the Gryffindor common room. She stomped in and flung her bag on a table that Hermione was sitting at. Hermione jumped and looked up at her, with a questioning look on her face.
"Ready to study?" Ginny gave her a very fake, incincere smile.
"So, remember, a bezoar is used to…?" Hermione questioned Ginny. They were sitting infront of the fireplace by a table, with papers and notes spread out on the whole table. Ginny was resting her head on her hand, and tickling her nose with the end of her quill with the other. They had been studying together for quite a while.
"It's used to…cure poisons." She answered dully.
"And what is it?"
"It's…" Ginny scrunched her nose up in thought. "Err…something found in a goats stomach, I think."
"Very good." Hermione shuffled some of her papers around. "Here's a tip. When you are making any potion to cure any skin ailments, wait one minute before stirring the potion. And, when you chop fluxweed, chop it on an angle. I'm not sure why, but It helps. "
"Okay, I'll try to remember that." She smiled. Hermione sorted through some notes and make a stack of papers.
"Here are some notes from last year. And of course, you can study your textbooks, and you can ask to borrow mine any time you need to. And…" she glanced at her watch," It's 11:30. I should be getting to bed now, and so should you." Hermione gathered all of her papers and put them in her bag before getting up and walking towards her dorm.
"Hermione?" Ginny said, just before Hermione opened the door.
"Yeah?"
'Thanks. It means a lot to me." Ginny smiled.
"You're welcome." Hermione returned the smile before she opened the door to her dorm and left. Ginny sighed.
Well…that was fairly…productive. She thought as she gathered her things and headed off to bed. When she left the Gryffindor common room was nearly empty, except for a couple of people staying up late to play Wizard's Chess and another person studying. It was quite a peaceful sight; the room had an orange glow to it from the crackling fire, and the only noise heard was the rustling of papers and the low murmers of the two chess players talking. A feeling had stirred inside of Ginny, one she hadn't felt in quite a while. She felt homesick.
A week later, the day of the test, Ginny woke up early to review the notes that Hermione gave her. She went to breakfast, only to eat an egg and a slice of toast, and then left to review some more. The test was this afternoon, after all of her classes. She was so nervous she had 'butterflies' in her stomach, or so Hermione called it. She went to her classes, as usual, but didn't perform to her usual standards.
As she was going from her last class to the Gryffindor common room, Ron spotted her and started talking to her.
"Hi." He said, looking straight ahead as he walked.
"Hi…" She said, cautious.
"I hope you aren't doing this teacher thing because you have to work with a guy…"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Ron, I'm not that stupid. I thought you knew me?"
"Yeah, but you never know, I mean, with those hormones in you and everything…"
"Oh Merlin, you're really one to talk to about hormones. Remember with whats her name? Snogging in the common room?" She rolled her eyes.
"Well, I didn't come here to argue, I just wanted to say…Good luck."
"Oh…thanks." Ginny smiled. "It means a lot to me."
"Yeah, yeah." They entered the common room and both went their separate ways. Ginny entered her dorm and looked in the mirror. She saw her reflection, but a bit paler than usual for some reason. Her hair was dry and brittle; she pointed her wand at her head and muttered a quick spell. It was back to normal. She took her favourite unicorn hairbrush and slowly brushed her hair until it was silky soft. For some reason she felt she needed to make a good impression, even though she had already met Professor Snape before.
Ginny didn't really know if Professor Snape liked or favoured her, it was hard to tell. He never smiled at anyone, and it was easy to tell if he didn't like a person, because he made little side comments or gave him or her sneers. She was thankful she had never been on the receiving end of his comments, she had seen some girls break down and cry after classes. The most she got from him when he inspected her potions were a quiet "Hmm…" or sometimes an eyebrow lift. At least he never scowled.
Ginny placed her brush next to her bed and looked one more time in the mirror.
I think its as good as it's gonna get.
She put a dragonfly clip in her hair that Hermione had given to her one year for Christmas. She left her dorm and headed off towards the dungeon. She had the 'butterflies' in her stomach worse than ever now, and she had an almost confused look on her face. Several people she knew passed her in the hallways and wished her 'good luck'.
After what seemed like an eternity, she finally got to Snape's classroom. She stood infront of the door for a second, took a deep breath and finally went in. Snape's classroom looked normal, except for the nine cauldrons that were situated around the classroom, already being heated by a magical fire underneath. Snape was sitting at his desk, and students were already standing around him.
Oh great, it's a potion I have to make.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, neither early nor late, just on time." He said, and wrote something down on a clipboard with a piece of parchment on it. Ginny bit her lip and walked up to the front and joined the other classmates.
"So you're test will be to create The Draught of Living Death. This potion can be challanging, and…" Snape was interrupted by Blaise Zambini, who came rushing in the classroom, out of breath.
"Tsk tsk, Mr. Zabini." Snape picked up his clipboard and scribbled something on the parchment.
"Sorry, Proffessor." Zabini walked down and stood next to Draco Malfoy.
"Before I was rudely interrupted, I said you will be making The Draught of Living Death. There are supplies in the storage cabinet. " Snape flicked his wand and his chalk board flipped over. "The directions are right here. You will have one hour and twenty minutes. You may begin."
The cauldrons were labeled with names and positioned so that girl was inbetween two boys. Ginny was in between none other than Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. The other students found their cauldrons and immediately read the ingredient list, and most ran to the cupboards. Ginny stood at her desk and read through the whole list of instructions. Step number four specifically instructed that the wormwood should be kept in its own bottle and only removed just before it is chopped and added. She rolled her eyes as she looked at all of the other people grabbing jars of wormwood, and one person had actually started to cut it up and measure it out. She glanced over at Malfoy, who was still reading the directions carefully, his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.
Well, I better get started. She grabbed the wormwood, asphodel, powdered moonstone, dried root of daisies, dried nettles, bat spleen, fluxweed, and Joberknoll feathers. She left the syrup of hellebore in the cupboard, because she remembered reading in a book that the longer syrup of hellebore stayed in a cool and dark place (like a cupboard), the more potent it is. Ginny read over the first step once more. Chop three dried roots of daisies and two pinches of powdered moonstone. Add to cauldron, stir three times counter clockwise. Ginny removed the daisy roots from the vial and counted three out. She carefully chopped them, and opened the bottle of powdered moonstone, so she could add both of them at once. She added the daisy roots to the cauldron, and quickly added two pinches of powdered moonstone. She stirred the potion three times, and her potion turned a bright green color. She read the second step.Squeeze the juice from one bat spleen into the cauldron and add one handful of dried, chopped nettles.
Ugh, bat spleen she thought.
She grabbed the bat spleen and rolled up her sleeves. She held it over the cauldron and squeezed the thick goo out of it, but because it was so small she only got a couple of drops out of it. She hastily wiped her hands on a towel. She removed the nettle leaves from the container and chopped them up quickly. She measured out one handful of them and added them to the potion.
Slice fluxweed and add to the potion.
She took the fluxweed out of its vial and placed it on her cutting board. She was about to start cutting it when she heard Hermione's cheery voice in her head saying "Remember when you're cutting fluxweed, cut it on an angle. I don't know why, but it helps." She tilted the fluxweed on an angle and started chopping. She glanced over at Malfoy who had just taken his fluxweed out of its vial.
"Psst." She whispered at Malfoy. He looked at her and gave her a funny look.
"What?" he said in a hoarse whisper.
"Cut it on an angle." She said, pointing to her fluxweed. "Like this."
"What?" he looked confused and annoyed.
"Cut it on…" she started, but he interrupted her.
"I heard what you said, but why?"
"I don't know, but trust me, just do it." She nodded at him, as if to reassure him.
"I'm not falling for that." He sneered, and looked at his fluxweed.
"Then why have I already cut mine like that then? Just trust me." She smiled. She added the fluxweed to her potion; it hissed when it landed in the concoction and melted.
I hope its supposed to do that…The next instruction read: Chop one quarter of a cup of wormwood and add to potion, mix for five minutes stirring counter clockwise. The wormwood should be kept in it's own separate vial until the last moment it is needed.
She glanced over at a couple of others who had just added the wormwood to their potions. The potions hissed quietly, but remained a murky green colour.
Ginny rolled her eyes at them. It was because they took the wormwood out of the jar at the beginning of the class, because all they did was read the list of ingredients instead or read the instructions. Snape looked at the couple of student's potions who had hissed; he sneered. He obviously knew what they had done wrong.
Ginny took the wormwood out of the bottle and quickly put it on her cutting board. She frantically started chopping it, then measured it out as quickly as possible. She dumped the wormwood into her potion and heard a loud 'hiss' come from the cauldron. Immediately her potion turned a bright yellow colour. She grabbed her watch in one hand and her stirring spoon in another and began stirring her potion, which was bubbling away madly. She glanced over at a few of the other students whose potions were still green, and she actually heard one person mutter an 'oops' when they read step number four. Malfoy's potion was also a bright yellow colour; this, for some reason, reasurred her. Her arms were getting sore, so she had to switch between arms throughout the five minutes. After she was done, she read the next step.
Step number five said:
Make the fire small enough so that the potion is simmering. Once the potion is simmering, add one teaspoon of syrup of hellebore, stir six times clockwise. Add one Joberknoll feather to the potion, simmer for one minute. Add one pinch of asphodel, potion will react. Simmer for fifteen minutes; let potion cool for five minutes before handing in sample.
What does it mean 'potion will react?' Ginny got suddenly nervous. She took her wand out and flicked it at the fire so it was smaller. She waited a moment for the bright yellow potion to come down to a simmer. She walked over to the cupboard and looked for a vial of syrup of hellebore, preferably one that hadn't been taken out of the cupboard yet. She found a bottle of it at the very back, and she took it out and brought it to her cauldron. She took one teaspoon out and added it to her potion; nothing happened. Once she stirred it six times it turned a slight orange colour. She returned the bottle of the syrup to the cupboard so the next person who used it would have syrup as potent as possible.
She jogged back over to her cauldron and took one Joberknoll feather from its package and added it to the potion. She timed one minute and let it simmer. She opened the very tiny bottle of asphodel and took a pinch between her two fingers. She stood as far as possible away from her potion, with her arm extended over it, and she added the pinch of asphodel, and her arm shot back and she stepped away. Immediately, her potion whistled extremely loudly and startled everyone else in the room except for Professor Snape. The potion bubbled wildly some of the potion landed on the floor. She took her wand out and quickly muttered a spell to clean up the floor. She heard Professor Snape scribbling madly away at his parchment. Her eyes returned to her potion, and it turned a deep and intense colour of dark blue. She bit the corner of her lip thinking, "I hope that was supposed to happen." She timed her watch for fifteen minutes and let the potion simmer away as she watched some of the other students finish up their potion. Hannah Abbot was splashed on her arm by her potion when it reacted, and she immediately fell down on the unconscious. Snape walked over towards her, muttering 'tsk tsk tsk'. He lifted her up and carried her out towards the door, but he stopped and faced the students.
"Don't go anywhere. I'll know if you've cheated. I'll be right back, but in the mean time, Mr. Malfoy will be in charge." He quickly walked out of the door with Hannah Abbot lying limp in his arms. Malfoy walked up to the front of the room while his potion was simmering and sat on the front of Professor Snape's desk.
"So…" He said, swinging his legs contently. Some of the others eyed him cautiously. He looked over at Seamus's potion, which was a puky green colour.
"Oh dear, what happened here?" Malfoy asked, walking over to his potion. "It looks like you puked in it." He said, laughing. Seamus scowled at the comment he made.
"Shut up, you great git. Atleast I'm not the teacher's pet and a suck up, like you are." Seamus retorted.
"Stop it you two, okay? Just leave him alone, Malfoy." Ginny commented as she sat on her stool, with her arms folded and legs crossed.
"Who are you to tell me what to do? I'm the one in charge while Snape's gone." Malfoy sneered at her. Ginny stood up.
'Wanna bet my potion will turn out better than yours will?"
"Don't even temp me, Weaslette. Or you might just find…" he grabbed a bottle of asphodel, "that something you don't want…" he motioned tipping the bottle into her potion, "will end up in your potion, and ruin the little chance you had." He smiled. She hated that classic, icy smile he gave.
Ginny laughed.
"Little chance? Excuse me, but my potion looks exactly the same as yours. " she walked up close to him, "and, who were you taking tips from on how to cut your ingredients?" she murmured, so the others would not hear her.
"I didn't need your help. I already knew how to cut that stupid stuff." He said, and walked away from her and returned to his own potion. That same moment, Snape walked through the doors to the classroom and assumed his position behind his desk. Ginny's watch alarm went off; she took her wand out of ther cloak and flicked it at the fire and muttered "amputo incendio". Immediately the fire dissapeared and she timed another five minutes on her watch to let the potion cool down. She ladled her potion into a vial and labeled it with her name and placed it on the Professor's desk.
"Miss Weasley, please do not clean out your cauldron. If the batch is as good as I think it is, I will be bottling it up and sending it to the hospital wing."
"Oh. Yes sir." Ginny was quite shocked. She cleaned up her untinsels and stuck the extra ingredients back in the cupboared, and as she walked out of the classroom, she stuck her tongue out at Draco Malfoy.
Just for fun, of course.
Chapter 4
Ginny walked into the Gryffindor common room where Ron, Harry and Hermione were waiting for her. As soon as they saw her enter the portrait, they all stood up and asked in unisen,
"How was it?" Ginny laughed.
"It was alright. We had to make a potion…the Draught of the Living Death. It was all right, but I remembered what you said about cutting the fluxweed. One girl actually got splashed on her hand, I think it got absorbed into her blood stream and she was asleep. Other than that, everything went alright."
"Well that's good. I'm sure you're in." Hermione said, patting Ginny's shoulder.
"And guess what he said afterwards?" Ginny confessed, grinning. "He told me 'don't clean your cauldron out, because if you did as good of a job as I think you did, I will be bottling it up and sending it to Madame Pomfrey." Ginny blushed slightly.
"Wow! You should be proud of yourself. I'm surprised Snape even said something like that." Harry replied.
"Thanks." She said as she slumped down into a chair next to the fireplace where the other three joined her. Harry sat in an armchair next to Ginny and Ron and Hermione sat together on a couch.
"When is Ron going to ask her out?" Ginny whispered to Harry. Harry shrugged.
"Dunno. I wish they would hurry up though."
"So, how were your guys' classes?" Ginny asked the group. Ron shrugged.
"Alright I guess. Snape took points off again…" Ron began, but Hermione interupted.
"Because you were late." Hermione retorted, looking at Ron.
"Well, yeah, but it wasn't my fault. And Snape didn't need to take 40 points off. He's just looking for an excuse to take points off of Gryffindor, you know that." Ron added.
"Well it was you fault that you gave him the chance to take points away!" Hermione scowled at him. "Why were you late? Were you having a snog with Lavander again?" Ron blushed.
"No, I was late because I left my potions book in my dorm, that's why." Ron responded.
"Suure." Hermione said in a very sarcastic tone. They were both facing the opposite ways on the couch. Ginny look at Harry and they rolled their eyes at the two.
"Well, I think I'm going to go eat dinner now. Do you want to come with me, Hermione?"
"Sure, Ginny. Anywhere's better than here." She commented as she stood up and walked downstairs with Ginny.
"So, up for a game of wizard's chess, Ron?" Harry questioned.
"Sure, mate." He responded. They walked over to the chess table and reset the pieces from the last game.
"So…when are you gonna ask her out, mate?" Harry asked, curious.
"What? Ask who out?"
"You know who, Ron. Hermione."
"Oh man, I get so nervous. I don't think I can do it…" Ron moved the first pawn on the board.
"Oh, come on, Ron. It's so obvious she likes you."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. I know so."
"Miss Weasley, I would appreciate it if you would come to this classroom at seven tonight." Snape muttered under his breath to Ginny during the potions class.
"Yes, sir. " Ginny felt nervous. Did she get in, or not? She had a strong feeling that she did get in, by the looks of the other student's potions. Collin Creevey leaned in and whispered,
"So did he tell you that you're in?" Collin grinned.
"No! I don't know for sure that I am, so there's no use in even getting my hopes up."
"Oh, come on. I know that you got in. You know that you got in. Just admit it."
"I don't know that I got in, I'm not psychic. And I'm not saying anything until I know for sure, and that's that." She said, ending the conversation. She looked at Professor Snape as he began his lecture. Half of her seemed nervous, and half of her couldn't wait until she found out.
Ginny didn't say much during dinner as she sat with the trio. She kept glancing at the wall to look at the time, counting down the minutes she had until she would be finding out. She already knew Malfoy probably got in, just because he was such a suck up and in Slytherin too. Then she realised, if she got in and Malfoy got in, how horrible of a time would they have?
Oh Merlin. She thought. Well, he is pretty cute. What did I just say? Oh my Merlin, Ginny, you've gone insane. Bad Ginny! Bad, bad Ginny!
…But you know its true. He's got pretty blue, icy eyes, and they way his platinum blonde hair falls in his eyes just…
Ginny's thoughts were cut off by Harry.
"So what are you thinking about?" Ginny froze.
"Umm…nothing at all. Why do you ask?"
"Because you were staring over at the Slytherin table with your head to the side. And you were smiling. Now if you ask me, that's a very strange thing to do."
"I was? Oh…I was looking over at the clock to see how much time I had left." She smiled at Harry.
Oops. She put some mashed potatoes and roasted beef on her plate and began eating.
Fifteen minutes until I find out.
She began counting down as she was eating. Fourteen, then thirteen, then twelve. She listened to Hermione and Ron arguing about something as she gazed at the clock. Her eyes fell on a certain person at the Slytherin table. Pansy Parkinson was squished up next to him, talking to him, but he looked bored and not interested. At one point he actually tried to shove her off of his arm, but she shook it off and continued to rest her head on his arm, trying to get as close as she could to him. He rolled his eyes.
Ginny was surprised that she hadn't noticed how good-looking he actually was. He had nice hair, piercing eyes, pale complexion, and a body to die for. He was tall, slim, and muscular. She found herself thinking it would be nice having him being a teacher with her. Well, he wasn't the nicest of people, but he was nice to look at. Suddenly he got up and headed for the doors.
Why is he leaving? She thought. She looked at the clock, and it said five minutes to seven. She had five minutes to get downstairs to the dungeons.
"Uhh...I have to go now, guys. See you later." Harry gave her a quick 'bye' and Ron and Hermione didn't even hear her because they were arguing. She walked quickly out the doors of the Great Hall and down to the dungeons, thinking, "I wish they would hurry up and go out already! Then maybe we'd get a bit of peace and quiet."
She was so excited and so nervous she could feel her stomach tossing and turning inside her. She stopped infront of Snape's classroom door and straightened her clothes and hair out. She confidently opened the classroom door and stepped inside. She saw Professor Snape sitting in his usual spot at his desk at the front of the room. Malfoy was sitting casually on a student's desk infront of him. Ginny walked forward inbetween the desks slowly and cautously.
"Evening, Professor." She greeted him with a smile on her face. "Malfoy." She said in a scowling tone of voice, to greet him.
"Weasley." Malfoy muttered in response.
"Well, congratulations you two." Snape drawled. Ginny smiled, Malfoy's face remained emotionless.
"Now, you two are required to teach classes once in a while. So basically, what you have to do, is read up on the topic that you are teaching about, then talk about it. But the key is to know enough about the topic that you feel comfortable talking about it. And of course, ask questions. And," he glanced at Malfoy, "there will be no teasing the students." One third of the block should be devoted to you two teaching, and two thirds to the students working. Usually on an essay or a potion. And you have to set a good example to the students, which means try not to argue infront of them. "
"So when you are making up a lesson plan, write down a few notes to help you remember things. At the beginning of the lesson, you should basically introduce the students to the subject. Talk about the history of the subject, who discovered or invented it, etc. Then, mention its uses in today's magic and medicine. Then I would assign some reading to do from the text books, and then either assign an essay or a potion that contains the engredient that you have been talking about, or the potion, if it is within their range. All right? Teaching is something that just takes practice. So think about it tonight. And don't forget, you also have to clean the classroom and help re-organize it once in a while, as well as monitor a few detentions. And, don't take crap from students. They are required to respect you, and if they don't, you can take points off or assign detentions."
"The first class you will teach will be the seventh years, and you will talk about the use of dragon parts in potions. I would suggest using the library. You will be teaching them third block on Thursday next week. Good luck." The two turned towards the door and began to walk out. Just before Ginny left, Snape spoke up.
"Oh, and Ginny? Good work on the Draught of the Living Death you made. Madame Pomfrey was greatful for it." Ginny left and blushed after she shut the door.
"Look whose potion was given to Madame Pomfrey?" she gloated as she danced a little victory dance. Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"But I can't believe I have to teach with you though, ugh." She said as she continued to walk. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall. He held her wrists up above her head and pressed his body up against hers. He could feel every curve of hers up against his firm body, and he suddenly realised how much she had grown up. He ran his lips along her jaw line and neck, and her breathing became ragged. He laughed.
"Are you sure it will be that bad? Besides, you've grown up Weaselette; maybe we can have a quick shag when we need to "re-organize" the cupboards." And with that, he let go of her wrists and walked off, leaving a very shocked Ginny leaning up against the wall.
Chapter 4
Draco woke up early the next morning, alone in his Head Boy's room. He turned his head to look out the frost-covered window, and looked in direction of the Malfoy manor. He worried about his mother, and he hated it, because everytime he pictured her in his mind, her soft ivory complexion and blonde hair, his stomach ached. He hated his father for beating her and for leaving her for weeks at a time, and it killed him that he couldn't be there with her right now. His mother had never done anything wrong to him, and he treated her like dirt. Everytime he tried to do something, to stand up to his father, he couldn't do it. He was punished cruely with endless cruicatus curses and beatings.
No, he couldn't think about that right now. He had to concentrate on school.
He threw back the green silk sheets and left his warm, comfy bed. Slowly the half-asleep platinum blonde entered the hot shower and washed himself. The steaming hot water relaxed his tense muscles and the worries of his mother left him like the water flowing down the drain. He faced the shower and let the hot water run down his face.
Draco didn't shower to get clean, he showered to relax. He used spells to get clean, most of the time.
He turned off the shower and dried himself off by hand. He stood infront of the foggy mirror and waited for it to clear; he could slowly see himself again. He dried his hair with the towel and applied liberal amounts of hair gel to smooth it back. He liked this hair gel because when it dried, it left his hair soft, not crunchy and sticky like the other brands did, particularily the muggle brands (he knew this because once when he ran out he stole some from a boy in his dorm). Draco shaved his soft, light colored stubble that had grown overnight. He put cologne on and quickly got dressed. He thought about the day ahead of him and how much he dreaded school, and how Pansy Parkinson, the stupid girl, would be waiting outside his portrait door begging for a quick shag. He scooped his books off the floor and put them in his shoulder bag and got ready to leave. He opened the portrait door and looked up at Pansy.
Only it wasn't Pansy.
It was Ginny Weasley, who gave him a very unsincere, sarcastic smile.
"I thought we could get started on our teaching plan." He stood there looking at her.
"So are you going to invite me in? We could go to the library instead—" She started, but stopped once he opened the portrait wider and stepped out of the way. She walked in the room and sat down on the bed, and felt the green silk sheets. Draco sat across from her on a chair. She looked up and gazed at his gigantic four poster bed that was carved out of cherry wood. The posters were carved in the shape of snakes with piercing eyes, which reached the silver and green silk canopy. The bed was obviously made from some sort of down or feathers because her body sunk into the mattress and she could feel every bit of stress leave her as she sat there. The walls had a silverish tinge to them which shimmered when the light hit them a certain way.
"So, are we gonna start, or are you just going to stare at my belongings?" He asked, watching her gaze at the bed.
"Uh, yeah, let's start. Okay," she said, as she took out a piece of parchment and her quill and ink, "What do you know about dragon stuff?" she dipped her quill in the ink and got ready to write.
"Dragon hide makes for very nice clothing." She looked up at him.
"Come on, I'm serious." She said.
"I was too." She gave him a serious look.
"Alright. Umm…it was once believed that dragon dung would ward of savage beasts. And apparently if you rub it on your face, it relieves certain skin conditions." Draco said, with a matter-of-fact look on his face.
"Okay…" Ginny gave him a strange look and wrote those two points down on the parchment. "If you wear a dragon's tooth around your neck, it supposedly brings you good luck." Ginny continued as she added those two points down onto the parchment.
"Dragon scales, especially dragon scales from the Hungarian Horntail, are the toughest scales in the world." He watched the red head writing. She had long, beautiful silky hair and creamy, ivory colored skin.
"An ointment made from dried dragon's eyes and honey will cure nightmares. And the fat of a dragon, dried in the sun would cure ulcers. I don't actually know if those work though." He said, his eyes following her elegant fingers and she scribbled down notes. His eyes moved to her plump pink lips, which he thought looked very—
She cut his thoughts off by asking, "Anything else? What about dragons in today's magic?"
"One potion that uses a lot of dragon parts is 'Confirmatio Midicinus". You need a drop of dragon's blood, ground dragon's horn and a scale." Her eyes widened.
"Draco, you just solved half of our problem! Instead of them writing an essay, they can make that potion!" she grinned, but stopped when she realised she had called him 'Draco' and not 'Malfoy'. She frowned, and muttered "er, I mean, Malfoy."
He felt strange when he heard her call him 'Draco', and he wasn't used to the feeling. It felt like a strange twinge in his chest. He actually liked the way his name sounded when she said it, with her soft voice.
"Its okay, I suppose we should call each other by our first names, seems how we will be working together for quite a while." She smiled softly.
He's not that bad. She thought. All these years, Ron, Harry and Hermione had made him seem like such a horrible person.
"Well, Draco. You are a very knowledgeable person." She looked up at him. "What was that potion called again?"
"Confirmatio Midicinus." She scribbled the potion's name down.
"Right. I'll have to find out how to make it somewhere in the library, but no problem. Anything else? Should we assign an essay or something?" she proposed.
"Oh course we should assign an essay. Something like…a two foot long essay. Sounds good to me. "
"We could do that," she said, then paused, "but we'd be the ones marking it, and I daresay you don't really want to mark thirty two-foot essays."
"Oh. You've got a point." He almost looked dissapointed. "I had been looking forward to adding onto the Dream Team's workload."
"The 'Dream Team'? That's what you call them?"
'Yeah, that's what all the Slytherins call them."
"Huh. I've heard of the 'trio', and the 'Golden Trio', but never the 'Dream Team'."
"Yeah, and you used to tag along with them. It was kind of pathetic, actually."
"I know, but it was because I was scared about coming to Hogwarts and didn't know anyone else. But thank Merlin I'm not like that anymore." Ginny chuckled. "Do I still have that reputation?"
"Yep." He said plainly.
"Shit. I'll have to work on that. Alright, I guess its time for breakfast, so I'll see you later?"
Draco nodded. Ginny gathered up her things up and put them in her bag. She walked towards the portrait door, and, as she walked out she gave Draco a wave.
Ginny layed in bed later that night as the other girls in her dorm were sleeping. One thought ran through her head like a scrolling marquee, screaming "I like Draco Malfoy." Her stomach churned with feelings of pleasure and guilt; he was so handsome. Draco Malfoy was a rogue, he was forbidden. She was expected to date nice boys, not sexy and mischevious boys like Draco Malfoy. He was the Slytherin sex god, untouchable, and out of her league.
But damn it, she was Virginia Molly Weasley, and she was gonna get him.
One way or another.