Previously
"I forgot!" Blaise grinned. "With the Mudblood out of the way, you'll be top in every class, won't you?"
"That's my plan," Draco smirked.
"And if you are, your daddy will buy you a new cauldron or a Firebolt?" Theodore teased.
"Shut up," Malfoy groaned. "You'll never let me live that down, will you? I was a second year when Father and I made that deal."
"Yeah, and you were a spoiled brat."
"You say that like it's changed!" Blaise laughed. "I don't rely on my darling mother to provide for me, even though she's a gold digger with a new husband every month."
Draco scowled.
"Weasley got one thing right then, didn't she?" Theodore grinned. "I wouldn't want to be anything like you either, Malfoy."
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"That's good, Hannah! Nice job," Ginny smiled encouragingly as Hannah stunned her dueling partner. "Ennervate… And Lavender, you had a great jellylegs jinx. Make sure you're ready for a shield charm at any time though."
"Thanks, Ginny," Lavender said, dusting off her robes. "I always forget to be defensive."
"You need to concentrate," Neville announced to the group of younger students he was teaching. "You need to focus on stunning your opponent. Let's try the spell one more time without wands."
Ginny continued to circle around pairs of dueling students. "Good, Seamus!" She called out as Seamus properly performed the Furnunculus curse, causing boils to pop up all over Padma Patil's face. "Finite," she grinned, and the boils stopped materializing.
"Thanks, Gin," Padma giggled.
"Expelliarmus!" a first year shouted, and Ginny felt her wand fly out of her hand. She whipped around, and grinned at the first year, a small girl with frizzy blonde hair. "What's your name?"
"Violet Jones," the girl said in a small voice.
"Violet, that was a spectacular disarming spell."
"Thank you," Violet said quietly. Neville tossed Ginny her wand.
"Keep up the good work."
The meeting passed quickly, and by 10:00 when Ginny and Neville started sending everyone out of the Room of Requirement in groups of twos and threes, everyone was buzzing about when the next meeting would take place. Ginny and Neville promised to contact everyone before the following week.
"Walk with me?" asked a voice behind Ginny.
"Michael. Sure, I'd love to."
When they closed the door to the Room of Requirement and it vanished, it took them a second to figure out where they were. "Fourth floor," Michael declared. "West side—look, you can see the forest."
"It's a good thing you're here—I'd be wandering the castle for ages."
"You never were good with directions, were you?" Michael teased.
"Never," Ginny agreed. "How has your school year been?"
"Other than detention this evening? Lovely. It's been just wonderful."
"You were very brave—letting those students out of detention." She found herself tracing her hand over the cut on Michael's arm.
"Of course. Well—Ravenclaw Tower is…" his voice trailed away, and he smiled. He gestured upwards, and turned to ascend the nearest staircase.
"I'll see you in the morning," Ginny offered nervously.
"Tomorrow morning, yeah."
Ginny turned to go, and had barely rounded the nearest corner when she ran headlong into Draco Malfoy.
"Watch where you're going, Weasley." Ginny rolled her eyes and continued walking. "Curfew's in 40 minutes… you don't think you can make it to Gryffindor Tower in time, do you? That'll be another detention."
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ginny said angrily.
"Weasley, wait," Draco said, catching her arm. "I need to talk to you."
"What do you need so badly that you plan on making me late for curfew?"
"I was just wondering. What you said earlier tonight—it wasn't true, was it?"
"I didn't mean to hurt Hermione or Justin or Colin—no. Your father gave me a... a possessed notebook and took advantage of me. I wouldn't ever dream of harming other students. I'm not cut out for your lifestyle."
"That's not what I meant," Draco said through gritted teeth.
"What did you mean, then?"
"You said you wouldn't want to be like me."
"That was also true," Ginny said nonchalantly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to Gryffindor tower." She tore her arm out of his grip, but as she began to walk, he grabbed her other arm roughly.
"Take that back."
"Take what back? Do you need a blood traitor's approval now? Do you think that if I give you pardon for hurting eleven-year-olds and killing off Dumbledore and giving me hell for 6 years that you'll be a worthwhile human being? Is that how you Death Eaters work? I bet your father doesn't care what I think. Don't you want to be just like him?"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up about my father!" Draco yelled. His face turned red and his eyes became dark. "You don't know the first thing about him, and you don't know the first thing about me!"
Ginny drew out her wand and sent a burning hex straight at his face, causing him to jump back in shock and pain, and then stand, dumbfounded, with his mouth agape.
"Let's see… You've got a Dark Mark, you enjoy picking on younger students, and if you keep your mouth open any longer, Nargles might nest in your brain," Ginny began. Then, he voice faltered. "But you're right. I have no idea which one is first."
Draco closed his mouth, then opened it, then closed it again. After a moment, he raised his hand to his face where an angry red mark had already appeared and said, "you'll regret that, Weasley."
"I can fix that for you," Ginny offered hesitantly.
"I'm fine."
"I'll fix it," Ginny demanded. She reached into her bag and withdrew the jar of orange paste that he had given her earlier that week.
"Thanks, Weasley," Draco said as she began to smooth the paste onto his cheek.
"It's not a problem."
"It's the least you could do," Draco said quickly.
"The least I could do? Careful with that superiority complex, Malfoy—I could've left you with this burn so everyone would know not to mess with me."
"You would've been in detention until Christmas. And possibly through break."
Ginny almost laughed, but stopped herself. "Me? Detention for the whole of break? But Malfoy, you wouldn't be here to throw Unforgivable Curses at me and pretend I'm reformed."
"You can't think I'm going home for Christmas."
"You always do."
"I didn't second year or fourth year."
"Why not?"
"Not that it's any of your business," Draco began. "But Father wanted a relaxing Christmas with Mother during my second year, and fourth year was the Yule Ball."
"What's so special about this year?"
"Haven't you heard? The Carrows are throwing a party on New Year's," Draco said monotonously.
"Are they? Really?"
"Of course they're not," Malfoy laughed coldly. "Imagine that, a pair of Death Eaters throwing a party. Growing up in a house full of boys certainly made you gullible."
"Maybe so, but it also made me a particularly good flyer."
"We'll see in the next Quidditch match, won't we? Next Saturday we're playing each other, aren't we?"
"And I haven't been able to practice, what with all this detention nonsense."
"Then I'd better let you get back to your common room so you don't receive any more, shouldn't I?"
"I think it'd be the least you could do," Ginny said quickly, grinning.
"Careful with that superiority complex, Weasley," Malfoy drawled.
They parted ways at the end of the corridor: Ginny went up a flight of stairs towards Gryffindor Tower, and Draco went downstairs towards the dungeons. Draco poked his cheek tenderly, but didn't feel any pain. Stopping to catch his reflection in a window, he noticed that the burn was entirely gone. When the clock struck 11:00, he couldn't help but think that he and Weasley had talked for nearly 40 minutes.
When he got to the dungeons, he went straight to his bed and stripped off his shirt and pants. Pulling the covers up around him, he thought that he'd have to let his chasers give them an extra thirty or so points before he caught the snitch.
After all, she had treated him fairly well considering her family hated his… and he hadn't exactly been nice to her all these years. If he recalled correctly, the first thing he ever said to her was mocking her robes.
Yes, he thought carefully. I'll give them a thirty or forty point lead before I catch the snitch. It's the least I can do.
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A/N: Not very exciting, and for that I apologize. Quidditch match in the next chapter, and that'll be up before Thanksgiving if I get a lot of reviews.
So review. It's the least you can do ;)
