A/N THIS IS NOT A MALFOY/GINNY FIC!! Just, they're frenemies atm. This is all a bit Draco/Ginny, but it won't last. It just...came to me, I guess. I'm also having trouble deciding whether to call Malfoy Malfoy, or Draco. I just can't get used to calling him Draco!
3 weeks later, Malfoy found himself knocking at the door of McGonagall's office once more.
"Come in!" she called from within, and Malfoy entered silently, hiding the fact that, for the second time in such a short space of time, he was nervous again.
"Professor Malfoy!" she said cordially, getting up and shaking his hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts! Perfectly on time, I see."
Malfoy looked at his watch. It was exactly half an hour before the students were due to arrive.
"I'll show you to your office," said McGonagall, heading out of the door. A black cat followed her out, rubbing against Draco's ankles leisurely.
"Watch her," said McGonagall, looking back, unconcerned, "I got her off Mrs Figg. Think she's part Kneazle."
Half an hour later, Malfoy found himself chaperoning second years out of the carriages into the entrance hall.
They really are midgets, thought Malfoy, more amused than patronising, as he ushered 3 triplets that had tried to stick bits of treacle tart in his hair last year.
Across the hall, a group of seventh years entered, like a flock of birds. Malfoy thought he saw Ginny Weasley in there, and hastily headed for the Great Hall. Out of all the students at Hogwarts, Ginny was the one he really wanted to avoid. Far too close to the Potters.
"OI!" came a voice from behind him.
Slowly, Malfoy turned round to see the 7th year group looking at him venomously. He clocked Ginny at the front of the group, accompanied someone ridiculously short who Malfoy recognised, but couldn't put a name to.
Ginny's eyes widened when she saw his face until Malfoy thought they might have dropped straight out of her head.
She walked briskly towards him. brushing off short person as he tried to follow.
"A word, Malfoy," she said, her voice dripping with hatred.
"That's Professor Malfoy, Weasley." said Malfoy, smirking, "Or sir?"
Ginny looked at him, surprised, which she quickly turned into a look that would burn the lining of a snake's stomach.
"I said, a word, Malfoy."
Malfoy's smirk widened, but he followed her up the staircase until it wound round the corner out of sight, turning round to check no-one was following, then turning back to Ginny.
He was greeted by a stinging slap that set the skin on his face on fire.
"Ow!"
"That," said Ginny, letting off a tirade of words against him, "was for being an absolute jerk for the last seven years, and for being a spineless idiot, and trying to kill Dumbledore! Et cetera!"
"Ow?" said Draco again, touching his cheek gingerly, "Could you not have got this over with after the Battle? I can't go in there with my face on fire!"
Ginny whacked him again, cuffing him round the head.
"I was too busy grieving for my brother that night, jerk!"
Malfoy was shocked into silence.
"Didn't you know?" asked Ginny, looking at him incredulously, her anger fading.
Malfoy shook his head slowly.
"What about the rest of them? Everyone else that died?"
Malfoy shrugged.
"I've not been outside Malfoy grounds all summer." he said.
"And you never even bothered to find out? You are a bastard, aren't you Malfoy?" It was a rhetorical question, "come on. There's something you need to see."
"I'm supposed to be at the feast-" started Malfoy.
"So am I," said Ginny flatly.
"You won't be missed." argued Malfoy, "As a teacher on my first day, I probably will."
"Oh, shut up Malfoy," she said, heading for the grounds.
Malfoy followed her, cursing under his breath.
"You'll get me into trouble." he said, trying to keep up with her brisk pace.
"Then why are you following me?" queried Ginny smoothly.
That shut Malfoy up for a while.
They made it into the grounds, heading through the Quidditch pitch and out the other side.
"Ginny?" asked Malfoy, catching her up as she navigated a fallen tree trunk.
"What, Malfoy?" she asked irritably, inspecting her fingernails frustratedly. "Ruined, absolutely ruined. I painted these last night."
Girls, thought Malfoy exasperatedly, and then:
"Which one was it?"
"What?" asked Ginny, ducking under a low branch.
"Which brother died?"
"Oh." said Ginny, her voice unexpectedly softer. "Fred. One of the twins."
"Oh." said Malfoy in return, unsure of what he was supposed to say, and trying vaguely to remember which one that was.
Ginny laughed.
"Malfoy speechless! This will go down in my memory. Anyway, we're here now."
Malfoy looked at her, perplexed. It was Dumbledore's tomb.
"I've seen this," he said, "I came to the funeral."
"You did?" asked Ginny, then brushed it off. "Doesn't matter. It's what's behind it I'm talking about."
Malfoy squinted into the darkness, registering the sheen of black marble, then caught Ginny's exasperated look.
"Oh." he said, feeling stupid, then drew out his wand and muttered "Lumos."
By the flickering wandlight, he caught the sight of names engraved into black marble.
"So this is..." he began, looking at Ginny for confirmation. She nodded.
Malfoy took a deep breath and edged closer to the memorial, inspecting the names.
Most of them he didn't recognise, except a few. He noticed the surname Tonks, and wondered if she was related to his mother.
"Creevey," muttered Malfoy, "He's the little squirt-"
"With the camera, yeah," supplied Ginny helpfully.
Malfoy swore.
"What was he doing there? He was just a kid, that's wrong!"
Ginny shrugged.
"He idolised Harry. Of course he'd try and sneak back, lots of people would. I did."
Malfoy continued to read the memorial in silence until he reached the end of the names, then turned to Ginny.
"So you and him are-" he looked at her, trying to get the point across.
"Yes, he and I are-" she inserted the same look back mockingly at him, "not that it's any of your beeswax. You done?"
Malfoy nodded, easing himself back up to a standard position.
"McGonagall will do her nut," he said, extinguishing his wand, "she expressly told us not to be late to the feast."
Ginny looked at her watch.
"It's only been half an hour, and I was one of the first in. The last students are probably only just arriving- if we get back fast enough, you won't be that late." she said, looking towards the castle.
"We won't though," said Malfoy glumly, starting to pick his way through the bushes.
A wicked grin spread across Ginny's face.
"I have a better idea," she said, and then stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.
A large, black shape flew against the sky and landed swiftly, with a rush of air past Malfoy's face.
"Buckbeak and I have got much closer over the summer, haven't we Beaky?" she smiled at Malfoy, ruffling the hippogriff's feathers. "Doesn't even need me to bow anymore!"
Malfoy looked at it in horror, remembering the last time he and Buckbeak had met.
"Oh," said Ginny, furrowing her brow, "I forgot about that."
"Good for you," said Malfoy, stepping back a little.
"Don't be a girl, Malfoy. You'll just have to prove to him you've changed." she said, and her eyes said prove to me you've changed, "and if you can't- well, if I can't handle a hippogriff, you might as well leave me to the acromantula. So," she finished, turning to Buckbeak, "Bucky? This is Draco. He won't hurt you..." Gently, she ruffled his feathers. Taking his cue, Malfoy walked slowly forward and bowed to the hippogriff, truing to communicate that he was sorry (and, he realised, he was) and just how much he'd changed.
Shaking off Ginny, Buckbeak trotted forwards and stuck out his neck towards Draco. Terrified, he shut his eyes and stood stock still, feeling the bird dig its beak into his hair.
Finally, Buckbeak stepped back. Cautiously, Malfoy opened one eye and saw Buckbeak cast a leaf away, evidently taken from his hair after the scramble here. Malfoy began to relax and opened his other eye, noticing Ginny absolutely wetting herself laughing.
"Shut up, Weasley," he said stiffly, extending a careful hand towards the hippogriff, "if we get there too late, I'm docking points from Gryffindor."
"I dare you to," said Ginny, trying to keep a straight face and mount a hippogriff at the same time.
A few embarrassing minutes later, Draco found himself mounted behind her. The hippogriff took off jerkily and they headed back to the castle through the dark of Hogwarts' night.
A/N Odd question...did I make up the memorial thing? I know I've read it somewhere before, either I wrote it, or its another fanfic...it might even be in the books. I'm going nuts, I tell you.