"Ugh" Ginny groaned quietly as she rested her chin on the tower of books that were piled up in front of her. She despised Arithmancy.
Why, oh why did she choose this as her second subject?
She started to count down the last minutes until she was finally released for the weekend. As quick as a flash the Weasley girl packed her books, quill and parchment before heading to the door. But before she could escape, Professor Septima stopped her.
"Ah, Weasley! Hold on a minute, I promise I won't be long! Professor Binns has reached out to me to ask a favour from you. Last time he got to see you he forgot to bring it up, unfortunately."
Ginny frowned, her hand cupping her bag of school supplies. "A favour from me?" She asked confused.
What could he possibly ask of her? No scenario she could come up with made sense in her eyes.
"Yes. A student of his is struggling with keeping up on the topics. Interesting, really. Out of all the subjects this boy struggles with the one where all you have to do is read and remember..." The professor quickly shook her head when she realised that she had trailed off the subject completely. "Anyways. He is one year above you, year six. But since you are getting straight E's and O's he thought of you. He had asked Miss Granger beforehand but she declined the offer."
Hermione declined? How odd.
"Did she give a reason for why she declined?"
Septima sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. "You see, her and Draco don't get along too well. It would only have caused trouble."
Draco Malfoy. No wonder Hermione declined. Who would want to teach that bratty daddys boy?
"Oh. You know, I don't think I'd be the right fit either…His family and us Weasleys aren't exactly the best of friends." Ginny shrugged, thinking that this would probably be the end of this conversation - but she was wrong.
"Miss Weasley" The professor sighed, looking at her student. "I am afraid you might have to. If you agree to teach Mr Malfoy and make him pass, I will give you extra credit. The way it looks now you would probably fail this year in Arithmancy. If you manage that he passes, you will too."
Damn. She had a point. Ginny knew she was bat at Arithmancy but that she would fail it? It seemed like she did not have much choice. It was not like she was upset about failing herself but she knew her mother would be disappointed.
With a sigh the Weasley surrendered. "Fine. When would I have to start?"
A smile appeared on her professors lips. "This weekend would be lovely. Thank you, Ginevra. Me and professor Binns appreciate your gesture. You are free to go now!"
With a nod Ginny left the classroom, heading towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Did that really just happen? Did she just agree to be Malfoys tutor?
Fucking brilliant.
A groan left the redheads lips and she chucked her bag next to a couch. She recognised Harrys crazy locks and plonked down next to her friend. Harry chuckled.
"Well, someone doesn't look happy!" He teased but only received a death glare in return. "Well, I appreciate your observation skills. Yes, I am not happy. I am actually very unhappy - to say the least!"
Before Harry could say anything, Hermione, who just turned up out of nowhere, jumped on the sofa across from the two.
"Unhappy about what?" The witch asked before biting a big chunk out of her apple. Her eyes rested on Ginny.
"Because you declined the offer of tutoring Malfoy, I have to do it. Me. I won't survive this! Or maybe it will be him that'll die. I haven't decided yet!"
The Weasley girl wasn't actually mad or angry with Hermione. Simply upset that she is being pushed into something she definitely does not want to do.
Hermiones eyebrows shot up and she was chewing her piece of apple when she responded. "Hey! You can't blame me for that!" But the witch just couldn't hold back a giggle. "Oh dear. It really does not sound like a bag of fun, does it?"
The friends sat in the common room for most of the afternoon. Laughing, chatting, whinging. Dreading the next day already, Ginny tried to talk as little about the tutoring as she could but just couldn't completely escape her friends' teasing.
"Hey, you'll be fine. A'right?" Harry tried to cheer the Weasley up and Ginny smiled gently, looking up to the boy with the scar. "It's just Malfoy. He's a dick. But what's the worst that could happen? You could fail Arithmancy. But you wouldn't fail the whole year. Just walk off when he-" Harry cleared his throat. "If he acts up. You don't have to put up with it."
"You know, you could try. And maybe get some secrets out of him, y'know?" Ron chimed in, a devilish grin on his face.
Ginny could practically hear the thoughts of her friends and all the possibilities floating through their heads.
"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed, her brows furrowed in absolute disbelief. "Now, you didn't mature at all, did you? Ginny, don't listen to him! Yes, Draco is an absolute buffoon but that does not mean we have to get down to his level!"
What her best friend said made sense. A lot of sense, actually. But somehow for some reason Rons idea did not sound too bad.
"It wouldn't hurt to try though, would it? Malfoy's been ruining our lives for years Mione! Years! It's an opportunity, you know? To get back at him." Harry sounded calm, yet excited.
"I can't believe you, boys!" The bright witch shook her head, furiously. "Merlin, you are not any better than him!" She raised from her seat, giving her best friend one more look. "I've got some things to do in the library. Don't come up with anything silly!"
Were they really that foolish? Hermione was still in distress about what she just heard. Malfoy is a dirty ferret that's for sure but when did her friends bottomed out so much? She just couldn't understand. However, it was up to Ginny to decide what is right and a part of her really believed the Weasley girl had matured over the last summer.
Hermione headed towards the library, a certain book already in mind. She had to prepare for her Potions exam after all. With countless thoughts that floated through her impressive mind she had her eyes glued on the floor, walking her way by memory.
Her small frame flinched and the girl almost dropped her handbag when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"On the way to the library, are you?"
Fred Weasley leaned on the brick wall, a smug grin on his face.
"Merlin, Fred! You gave me a hell of a fright! What are you doing here? And where is George?" Hermione exclaimed, placing one hand over her heart.
The Weasley twins were definitely one of the few people she really did not expect to see on that day. Since they left school the year before to open up their shop and made their own living, there was no reason for them to be at Hogwarts.
"We came on behalf of mum, she asked us to check up on Ron and Ginny. Not too sure why, she just worries, I suppose. Also, George and I wanted to announce that we now officially moved out and wanted to invite the lot of you to a housewarming party tomorrow." The tall boy shrugged his lean shoulders, a smirk still remaining on his lips.
"Oh, and George is off to find the rest of you guys. Had a bet. Whoever finds someone first, wins. It's friday late afternoon. I knew you'd probably be in the library or on your way to it whereas he was convinced he'd find you guys at Hagrids'. Guess I won!"
Hermiones lips turned into a smile but she began to wonder if she was at the library really that often?
"Well, I'm sure you're house party will be a blast. Good luck with that. I really have to get going to grab the book I need, though." The witch picked up walking again but Fred mirrored her pace. "Come on, you should come. I thought you changed more than just your looks over the summer?" The Weasley twin teased, his hands in his trouser pockets.
Hermione had to laugh. "Don't be silly, Fred. I will probably never be a party kind of girl. But thank you for inviting me." She declined politely. But he wasn't having any of it. "Seriously, Granger! Nobody says you have to get blue and regret all your life choices! But I can guarantee you Harry and Ron will come and I am sure Ginny will, too! It's just a group of friends hanging out. Don't be a, what is the muggle saying for that? Party Trooper?"
"It's Party Pooper. And fine then if you will finally give it a rest, I will come. Satisfied?" She surrendered sighing but with a grin on her lips. The twins' charme was always delightful to be around.
"That's more like it. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Fred said, stoping in his movements before walking backwards. "I'll count on you!" The boy winked before walking off, back towards the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Weasleys."