I threw on a hoodie over my pajamas and headed off through the empty hallways towards Snape's office. I'm not sure I had ever been up this early on a weekend. I wandered into Saturday's detention stifling a yawn with the back of my hand.
Malfoy shuffled in sleepily a minute later and sat in the chair next to mine in front of Snape's dark wood desk. I said nothing but couldn't help a glance over at him. He seemed less awake than I, ruffled hair and squinting eyes. It was weird to see him so….not put together. It was quite un-Malfoy of him. He wore dark sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He looked, well, cute. I chastised myself quickly for such thoughts, and tried to remember his biting words in the hallway on Thursday.
As the clock struck 8, Snape walked in briskly. He leered over us from behind his desk, looking down the bridge of his nose.
"You can leave once the potions classroom is mopped down and every cauldron spotless." Was that it? He opened his mouth again.
"Without the use of magic. Wands?" My shoulders drooped. There it was. We handed over our wands reluctantly. He put them in his desk and handed out some mops, buckets, and scrubbers.
Supplies in hand, I walked briskly to the potions room with Malfoy following behind. I just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
I checked the antique clock on the wall. Only 8:10?! I could've sworn it had been an eternity already. My arms hurt from scrubbing cauldrons and my stomach grumbled. Even Malfoy was waking up, his grunting increasing in volume as he applied the cleaning solution to a particularly gross cauldron.
"-stupid detention. Stupid morning. Stupid weasl-" I heard Draco mumbling loud enough for me to hear.
"Hey!" I snapped. He turned around and glared at me.
"It's your fault we're here. If you hadn't cursed out your stupid brother…" His eyes flared, but it was hard to take him seriously with his casual clothes and messed up hair.
"If I hadn't stopped him then you'd be grumbling about a black eye instead," I finished. Malfoy opened his mouth to respond, then promptly closed it. We lapsed into silence again, working separately.
That was, until it was time to mop. It seems that both of us were ill equipped to be mopping while trying not to slip on the soapy water we poured. My shoes could not stay gripped and it was only a matter of time before-
"Ah!" I started to trip and slide, and couldn't find anything to hold onto. My eyes widened in alarm. I knew I was only a second away from crashing down on the stone. I saw a flurry of movement out of the corner of my eye as Malfoy reached out to grab my arm. Instead of stopping me though, he fell down with me.
Ow. I guess he fell down ON me would be a more correct statement. I landed painfully on my back. There was a weight pushing down on my body. I looked up to find a pair of grey eyes on me. His eyes were so close to mine I could see the individual flecks of silver in his eyes. I blushed a scarlet hue. It was suddenly hard for me to swallow. He looked as embarrassed as I. And then he smirked, as if this had been his plan all along. I couldn't resist bursting out in laughter, the combination of his closeness and his expression an addictive drug. His mouth upturned and then laughed along with me.
He rolled off me and we lay next to each other on our backs, grinning at the ceiling like idiots.
"I didn't know you could laugh, Malfoy" I teased.
"What, surprised?" He looked over at me with a mischievous smile.
"Actually yes, yes I am." He found this amusing enough to merit a wink.
"Well know you know, Weasley, I do more than annoy first years." I rolled my eyes and groaned.
"I despise that, you know." I told him. He scrunched his eyebrows at me.
"What? First years? Me too." I gave him a mock glare.
"No not that. When you call me Weasley." That nickname had been grating on me. He looked way too happy to know his irritating measures were working. God, why did Malfoy enjoy pushing my buttons? And why didn't I seem to care as long as he kept looking at me like I was the only thing in the room?
"Well, what am I supposed to call you, Weasley?"
"Ginny! Obviously." I don't know why I was even telling him this. Did I even want to be on a first name basis with him?
"Gi-nny," he sounded it out as though saying something alien, "I think I prefer Pet." I opened my mouth in surprise. How did he manage to find a nickname more condescending? Although, perhaps I should just be glad he didn't call me Ginerva.
"You wouldn't dare." I glared at him, already knowing I had lost this one. He only raised his eyebrows, as if saying 'we both know I would.'
He slowly rolled up from the floor. I was mildly disappointed that the moment had ended so quickly. Guess we would go back to ignoring each oth-
A delicate hand outstretched towards me. I grabbed it and let him pull me up. My hand felt on fire from where he touched me. I pulled my hand back quickly before the contact killed me. We were so close I could reach over and kiss him.
Ginny! Pull yourself together. He hates you and you hate him. So just stop this bizarre line of thought.
"So… how's potions going?" He looked genuinely interested. I suddenly felt shy and avoided his careful gaze. I shrugged.
"I did well on the last test. You're a-" I looked back to find his bright eyes on me.
"A what? A god, an amazing quidditch player… shall i continue?" He leaned his head back into folded hands as if he could go on all day. I gave him a light shove for his arrogance.
"In your dreams Malfoy. A good tutor, ok?" He grinned as if I had just told him he was the king of the world.
"Why thank you, Pet." I cringed outwardly at the nickname for his benefit, while secretly enjoying our inside joke.
"Would you want to work together on the potions essay? You're not entirely dreadful to work with." He asked.
I gaped a little at him. It was one thing to tutor me when I had asked, but to voluntarily ask to work with me? Was this the Malfoy I knew and hated? Apparently not. It seemed that he was taking my surprised silence for a turning down, because he started walking in the opposite direction, cheeks pink. His confidence at the question wavered with every passing second. He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably as my quiet stretched on.
"I just… I meant it might be more fun with you than by myself... Um, nevermind, forget I said anything." He pretended to busy himself with the mop handle. Was I really making Draco Malfoy, notorious for his overconfidence, nervous? My stomach tingled with butterflies at the thought.
"Sure I'll work with you, Malfoy. Meet you in the room of requirement tomorrow night?" I said quietly. I wasn't sure he heard me at first, the only evidence of a reaction his body frozen in place. I walked over and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him towards me. Malfoy looked at me so hopefully I almost buckled at the knees. He nodded.
We worked for another hour in companionable silence until the classroom was spotless. Back in Snape's office we got our wands back and went our separate ways.
—
When my friends asked later how detention was, I looked down at my lunch and mumbled "not so bad actually. Not so bad at all."