A/N:
Holy hell, again. Three chapters, one night. Well, technically I cheated a bit. I didn't actually write all this in one night. I wrote this chapter back in January as a filler, because I knew I wanted Ginny in a new house and I wasn't quite sure how that would go down. So, one night, I was playing over conversations and such in my head, struck upon something like this, and wrote it down before I forgot it. So the style may be a bit off from the last chapter, but I did go back in and add a few tidbits here and there.
Some more Draco/Ginny action for you all. ;)
Ginny stood outside the entrance to the headmaster's staircase, pacing back and forth down the long, dark hallway. She was alone. The sound of her shoes against the stone floor echoed all around her like the beating of her nervous heart. Draco had been speaking with the headmaster for nearly 30 minutes. She never imagined it would take quite this long.
What is happening up there? What if he says no? We need him to say yes! If he doesn't, our plan will need some serious rethinking.
Upstairs in the office, Draco sat opposite the headmaster. They had been making small talk, then moved on to discussing Draco's responsibilities as Head Boy and how he seemed to be slacking lately, before Draco was able to change the subject towards his goal, his whole purpose for requesting this meeting with Snape.
"Sir, regarding my duty as Head Boy…" he began.
"Yes, what about it?" Snape drawled, uninterested.
"I received a rather odd request this afternoon, from a Gryffindor." He stated.
"As long as it wasn't that miserable Potter or one of his lot, then I see no reason for you to consult me with your responsibilities. You have the power to make necessary decisions." He spat, disdain for the Gryffindor house clear in his voice.
"No, it wasn't Potter. It was Ginerva Weasley, sir."
"The Weasley girl? That's not much of an improvement, Draco. I don't have time for the pathetic requests of a Weasley. I have a school to run."
"I'm afraid, sir, that I don't have the power to accept or deny her request. I did say it was quite unusual."
Snape grumbled low in his chest and rose from his chair, "Very well. What is it that the Weasley wants?"
Draco watched him quietly, he knew Snape would not like where this was going, it was bound to cause problems if he accepted and he and Ginny were going to cause him trouble if he refused. He was determined to get what he came for. This would not be a wasted endeavor. If he didn't succeed, Ginny could back out of their plan if she chose to. This was her condition, her demand. She wanted a new house, she wanted to be stripped of her Gryffindor title, and Draco could be the key to her sanctuary.
"It seems Weasley is demanding a chance to be re-sorted."
Snape furrowed his brow and narrowed his cold eyes at the boy before him, "What do you mean re -sorted?" he asked slowly.
"She is unhappy with the house the sorting hat chose for her. She feels she was placed in Gryffindor merely because of her bloodline, not because of any outstanding character traits she may possess. A student's house is meant to support them through their academics and help them succeed. Their house will help shape them into the person they were meant to be. Miss Weasley doesn't feel that is being accomplished in her current house, which leads her to believe she was not properly sorted. Therefore, she wishes to go through the sorting process once more, this time with the sorting hat doing its job correctly without any prejudices towards her surname."
When Draco finished he watched Snape carefully. His lips were in a tight line, his brows knit together, as if he were deep in thought. Draco had known Snape for years; he knew this was a good sign. The simple fact that Snape had not simply told him off already for not simply denying this request up front was good. He was considering it. Minutes ticked by in silence, all the while Draco and Snape were watching one another carefully. Draco's face was even, giving away no hint of his real intentions. His mask was in place, and it was perfect.
"If I grant Miss Weasley her request, this will surely cause some dispute amongst the other students. More and more of them will come to you with similar requests, thinking of it as a game. What would you tell them?" Snape questioned in his slow, cold voice.
It was too easy. Draco and Ginny had gone over every possible turn this conversation could take. They had been preparing all week; Draco had just the answer to give him. "That's simple, sir. I would deny them if they had no proper logic behind their request. If the reasoning was sound, much like in Miss Weasley's case, then I would be able to bypass your permission and allow them to be sorted again, since you had already allowed the action before. A new rule can be written to give such powers to the Head Boy and Head Girl, so the headmaster wouldn't need to be bothered by the whims of the students."
Snape nodded, "And if I said no?"
"We could possibly be losing a very powerful witch, by not letting Miss Weasley grow her abilities in the house where she belongs. She will not excel in Gryffindor. Her marks are already seriously lacking, as I'm sure you're well aware of. She will have no hope of achieving great things or even learning much of anything while at school."
"What leads you to believe she could achieve such greatness if she changed houses? What if she was meant for Gryffindor, and is simply another pathetic whelp like the rest of her family?"
"Her past, sir. It's unlike that of her family's. It's interesting. She confronted the Dark Lord as a mere child in her first year, but not only shared her mind and body with him, but she lived to tell the tale. She is not the typical Gryffindor. Even you cannot deny that. The Dark Lord chose her, sir, perhaps he saw something in her that the Sorting Hat did not."
Snape didn't reply. He didn't see the need to. He returned to his seat and sat there watching Draco again. Their situation was indeed out of the ordinary, but deep down he had the strangest feeling that Draco was right, that the Weasley girl was bound to do something important with herself. That she could prove herself worthy of a new name, one befitting that wouldn't drag her through the mud as her family had.
Downstairs, Ginny gave up her pacing and stopped near the wall at the end of the corridor. She sighed heavily and leaned her forehead against the cold stone wall. Her eyes came to a close, trying to relax herself. A noise sounded from down the hall, stone sliding on stone. Ginny lifted her head and glanced down the hall to see the Headmaster's staircase moving. Her eyes lit up and she pushed off the wall, walking up the hall towards the entrance, when Draco emerged from the hidden staircase. She approached him slowly. He did not look victorious. He didn't smile or sneer. His face gave away no hint of emotion, no hint of what occurred in Snape's office. Each step she took in his direction made her heart sink a little lower, disappointment weighing heavy in her chest.
She stopped a few feet from him, searching his face, his eyes. She spoke in almost a whisper, all of her hopes and dreams in one small word, "Well?"
He looked down at her with his sharp eyes, his face still perfectly smooth until the corner of his lips twitched and turned up into a smirk, "He said yes."
Her eyes widened in shock. If she hadn't been so happy then her jaw may have dropped. Instead, her face lit up and she squealed in excitement. Closing the distance between Draco and herself, she threw her arms around him and started laughing, "Thank you! Oh, thank you, Draco! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He chuckled softly and gently hugged her in return. He had known she would be happy, but he didn't know quite how happy. To be honest, he was certain this was the happiest he had ever seen her. Granted he had never paid her much mind in all their years attending Hogwarts together. She was, however, very nice to look at, but he hadn't even noticed that until he saw the way Potter had been ogling her the year before. Yes, he wanted to make Potter's life hell at every chance he got, but he didn't have any desire to go after a Weasley just to do so. But…wasn't that what he was doing now? What had made him change his mind about Ginny? Their encounter on the train? No, even then he didn't have the intention of stealing her away, or pretend to. It had to have been when he snogged her in his room. He hadn't planned it; it was a sudden impulse that he simply couldn't fight at the time. He vowed not to lose control like that again. He was a Malfoy; they were the essence of control.
So why did he suddenly care if he made her happy or not?
Ginny looked up at him with a huge grin on her face, her emerald eyes sparkling like jewels, "When is it going to happen? How are we going to go about this? How long do I have to wait? Will it be in the Great Hall like with the first years?"
He smiled down at her and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, "Professor Snape is waiting for us in his office. He would like to do the sorting in private, right away, so we don't have to schedule another meeting with him."
Every muscle in her body froze when he touched her face, her hair, in such a gentle manner. The smile on her face slowly melted away until she was simply gazing up at him with a look of admiration. His thumb stroked along her jaw line as his smile also vanished. His clear blue eyes became intense, she felt her pulse speed up and her breathing quicken as he leaned down to her slowly.
Footsteps echoed from the Headmaster's stairs, a bitter voice called out to them and they jumped, releasing one another as Snape yelled, "Draco, hurry up already! I haven't got all night!"
He sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair, turning towards the stairs and motioning for Ginny to follow. She gulped and jogged a few steps to catch up with him, a bit shaken by what almost happened. She climbed the stairs in silence, spiraling up and around until they reached the top and found Snape waiting impatiently in the doorway to his office.
"Well it's about time," he complained, "Hurry up already; I haven't got all day!"
They entered his office and sat in the chairs in front of his desk. He closed the door with a loud bang and approached the two students. Ginny's eyes were glued to his desk, where atop sat the famous Sorting Hat. As far as she knew, she would be the first person in Hogwarts history to ever wear the sorting hat for a second time. No one had ever changed houses before, but she was certain that she would. She was not meant for Gryffindor. She was different from her family. This was the first big step to separating herself from the crowd, from the Weasleys.
"Miss Weasley," Snape began, crossing the room and standing in front of his desk, "Mr. Malfoy has presented me with your request to be sorted again, and I have agreed out of…mere curiosity. The Sorting Hat has never been wrong before."
"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, sir. And I mean no disrespect to you or the Sorting Hat, but you're wrong. I feel the Hat was wrong about me because it didn't look properly. It saw me as a Weasley and immediately tossed me into Gryffindor without a second thought. I don't think that was right, regardless of how many Weasleys have gone into Gryffindor before me," she stated firmly, "Look at the Black family for example. Sirius had been the only Black in history that wasn't sorted into Slytherin, but he did so well in Gryffindor because he belonged there. Slytherin would have eaten him alive."
"I have already made my decision, Miss Weasley. I applaud you for doing research to back up your case and defend yourself, but if you would now refrain from speaking, we can continue with the sorting and be on our way."
A light blush rose to her cheeks and she nodded, lowering her gaze to her hands folded in her lap. She had just been insulted and complimented in the same sentence, but she chose to bite her tongue instead of firing back with another witty response. Things were already going her way; she didn't need to anger anyone just yet.
Snape lifted the Sorting Hat from his desk and lowered it onto Ginny's head. It immediately sprang to life, confused. It had already done its job little over a month ago. It was never used twice in the same year.
"What is going on here?" it bellowed.
"Just do your job without prejudice against a Weasley like you should have done when I was 11." Ginny ordered the hat atop her head.
"Do as she says," commanded Snape, "without further question."
"Yes, yes, alright. No need to get snippy," grumbled the hat, no doubt upset at being woken almost a year too early. "Now, what do we have here? Ah, the female Weasley. You're a Gryffindor, you are."
Do not judge me on my bloodline! Look deeper than that! Look at who I am!
"Definitely a feisty one, nasty little temper there. Brave, I see. Sharp too. Yes, a clever minded girl. You use that to your advantage. Hmm…a strong desire to prove yourself, very determined on that I see. Now, where to put you? Most definitely not in Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw would nourish your mind, but not your ambitions. Gryffindor suits you well…but perhaps not well enough. I see a darker side to you, much darker. Gryffindor would only lead to conflict. Yes, I see that now. Very well, then. You shall go to Slytherin!"
A knot formed in her stomach as Ginny listened to the Hat's ranting. It was talking in circles to her. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. Her entire future rested on this moment. A low buzzing began in her ears. When the hat shouted Slytherin, it was as though someone had lifted a veil and cleared the fog from the room. She could see and hear again, the knot vanished and her stomach calmed itself. Slytherin? She would be a Slytherin? She was no longer a Gryffindor! She was now a Slytherin! Yes, that suited her just fine
A/N: Yes, yes. I know it was a bit obvious, but it will totally make things more fun from now on. 'Cause now, they're in the same house. Yeah, Draco's got his own private suite as one of those lovely Head Boy perks, but they're still in the same house, which means more fun and more time together! Yay for Draco/Ginny banter.
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