Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, spells, places ect, they all belong to JK Rowling, you know the drill...
Chapter 3 - Herr Zabini
Ron was sitting in the usual spot under the beech tree on the edge of the lake with Harry. They had just come from a particularly gruelling Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Snape, and so Harry and Ron had taken advantage of the beautiful weather and sat down in the shade for a few moments of peace whilst Hermione rushed off to check something with her Arithmancy teacher.
"I can't believe that of all the people in Hogwarts, it's Ginny that's practically running the students here now!" Ron said, running a hand through his messy red hair. "I mean, I'd love to have that sort of power, but if I tried to take Ginny on, she'd blast my ass into next week."
"Hmm," Harry said distractedly, his eyes glazing over at the sound of Ginny's name.
"Harry? Erm…Harry? You there still?"
"What?" Harry said, looking up in alarm, "Oh, right…"
"What's up, mate? You've been a bit out of it lately," Ron asked, frowning.
Harry blushed slightly and said, "It's nothing Ron, honestly."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, poking lazily at an ant on the ground, "You can talk to me about it if you want, you know."
"It's…it's not really something I can talk to you about, Ron," Harry said, turning his head away as if he didn't want to let anything on to Ron.
"Is it a girl?" Ron asked, a grin creeping on his face as a bunch of students walked past, "C'mon Harry, we can talk about these sort of things, that's what friends do…"
Harry sighed. "Ok, it is a girl," he admitted.
"Really?" Ron asked eagerly, obviously mulling over the fact that he could possibly soon be giving Harry tips instead of vice versa, "What's she like then?"
"Well she's…well, to be honest, she's taken at the moment, but you know, if I could just…" Harry finished, looking helplessly at his best friend.
"Harry, mate," Ron said, grinning again, "The girls are all lining up to have a chance with the famous Harry Potter. All you'd have to do is look at the girl and she'll dump this other guy like this-"
"Are you kidding, Weasley?" A deep voice laughed from behind, "Who'd actually want to go out with Potter? The only reason he's got girls queuing up is because he's famous. Nothing to do with looks or anything, obviously"
The two boys turned around to see Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy and a few younger Slytherin stragglers.
"Get stuffed, Zabini," Ron snarled, getting up and dragging Harry to his feet.
"Or what?" Zabini said calmly, a small smile playing around his lips. "Going to set the little Weaslette on us? Maybe you want us to give you a moment whilst you both go and fetch her?"
Ron started to protest but Harry merely looked just behind the Slytherins and said, "No need."
Zabini gave a sigh, and with that small smile on his face, turned around to face the 'Little Weaslette' that currently had her wand pointed at him. Zabini's stragglers all pulled their own wands out, whilst Malfoy curiously stood slightly back to watch.
"Any last words, Zabini?" Ginny asked the still wandless boy in front of her. The smaller Slytherins tried to move in front of him but Zabini pushed them out of the way. "Not really, Red," Zabini said, sighing again, "Lets get this over with then."
"What, you're not going to proclaim that you're about beat me because you're Slytherin, and there's no way a lowly Gryffindor like me could ever have a chance of surviving?" Ginny asked, eying him suspiciously.
"No, Red, I'm not going to," Zabini sighed, "I do believe in all the 'Slytherin is better than Gryffindor stuff', but I'm just not as public about it at some of my classmates." Here he eyed Malfoy, who gave a malicious grin. "But, the way I see it, a pretty girl matters more to me than which house is better, and the blood-traitor doesn't really bother me much at the moment. I mean, being a Pure-Blood is enough for now. We'll sort out the blood-traitor part later."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Are you hinting at something, Zabini?"
"Maybe. It depends, really," Zabini said, walking slowly over to Ginny, "What would you say if this hinting was really something more, Red?" He was now only a couple of inches away from her.
"You want to know what I'd say?" Ginny asked quietly, looking nowhere but him, "Maybe it'd be better if I showed you, Blaise?"
"Go ahead," Zabini grinned, closing his eyes and puckering his lips, waiting for contact. And contact he certainly got.
"What was that for, Weasley?" Zabini yelled from the floor, glaring at Ginny's outstretched wand and rubbing his behind where he'd fallen.
"You should know from all my other duels not to mess with me, Zabini," Ginny said, grimly, "So get your arse off the floor and face me."
Zabini scowled at her and drew his wand as he stood up. "Malfoy, would you care to do the honours?" Ginny asked, not taking her eyes from the tall black boy in front of her. Malfoy moved in between them and they both turned round so they were facing opposite directions. Because of the long-standing enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, duels between the two houses were usually conducted properly.
"Walk 10 paces away. Turn around, and when I count to three, begin duelling," Malfoy said. The two students did so, both waiting as Malfoy's count slowly reached its end.
"One, Two, Three-"
And so minutes of furious battling began. Zabini was the hardest opponent Ginny had faced so far, but that wasn't to say he was better than her. Him being a Slytherin and a possible future Death Eater candidate, she'd been expecting him to know a few tricks. He so far seemed to be bereft of any horrific curses however, but at one point managed to get a lucky shot in.
"Incarcerous!" Zabini shouted. Ginny fell to the floor bound in ropes.
"Ginny!" Harry cried, and started off towards her. Malfoy turned round, wand in hand, pointing it straight at the raven-haired boy before him. "Stay back, Potter," He said, "Weasley's got to fight her own duel. She agreed to that when she performed the 10 steps."
Harry looked at Ginny on the ground for a moment and then groaned and stepped back.
"Want some help, Weasley?" Zabini called, advancing on her, "Diffindo!"
Ginny muffled her cry of pain as the curse split the ropes and also the skin on her arm, leaving it bleeding as she cradled the deep wound. Zabini gave a gloating smile and raised his wand again as Ginny tried to force back the tears.
"Stupefy!" Zabini yelled triumphantly. Ginny gritted her teeth as the red jet of light flew towards her and threw herself into a roll. Her hand picked out her wand from the ground and she turned in mid-roll and cried, "Protego!"
A surprisingly bright shield formed in front of her, and the stunning spell Zabini had cast hit it with a chime. It didn't stop there however. The stupefying charm rebounded from the magical shield and shot back. Before Zabini could so much as cry out, he was out cold on the floor. As the darkness started eating at the corners of her vision, Ginny dragged her and her still bleeding arm over to Zabini's limp form and managed to place a kiss on his lips before giggling giddily at the pale faces of Ron and Harry.
"Weaslette 9, Nasty People 0." And with that, she promptly passed out.
A/N: I'm not hugely pleased with this one. I really didn't want to repeat anything from the two previous chapters, but I wanted another duel before the final encounter. Sorry for the wait too, I started back at school the day after I posted chapter 2, and my teachers have been swamping me with homework, as well as having to revise for two stupid maths tests. Please remember to review!! Cheers very much x
