Ginny went through the first month quite smoothly; Professor Moontide's class was very interesting, and Double Potions was alright, seeing that, as long as no mention of Sirius Black was uttered, Emmy was rather pleasant.. for a Slytherin. When Ginny saw the days sliding along in quick succession, nothing of interest puncturing her schedule, she began to fear for the worst. It seemed that when she was always most happy; that's when disaster struck.
And it did strike. It started with Hermione; deciding to wake up at 4 in the morning and moan about her Charms Exam. ('Oh, Hermione, come now, have you ever failed an exam?') This led to Ginny being very grumpy and sleep-deprived. She snapped at Ron, who had started his incessant arguing with Hermione in the Great Hall, and he appeared very hurt, and wouldn't speak with her, even after she apologized. To make things worse, Hagrid had found some nasty creature with large, sharp teeth, and it proceeded to bite Ginny, and she had to run to the Hospital Wing, muttering to herself.
She was careening towards Madame Pomfrey, turned a corner, and smacked right into the very person she least wanted to see; Draco Malfoy. Their lips met, and both stood quite still for a moment, trying to wonder how that could possibly happen. Ginny stood, staring into Draco's eyes, trying to puzzle out the fact that she, Ginny Weasley, was actually in the middle of (informally) snogging Draco Malfoy. Her whole spine straightened, and she could feel electric currents running from her head to her toes. She felt Draco lean in a bit closer, actually snogging her, then he jerked backwards, causing Ginny to heave a sigh and close her eyes. Malfoy (although Ginny couldn't see it) was standing, watching the red head, trying to fight an irresistible urge to run up to her and snog her senseless. Suddenly there was a great screech, and Malfoy pulled Ginny by the wrist into an empty classroom, locking the door quickly, then sitting against the wall. She heard an angry cry outside the door, then it disappeared, an annoying voice calling out "DRACO!" every five seconds.
"Who was that?" Ginny wondered aloud, trying to open the door and find out.
"NO!" Malfoy hissed, grabbing her hand away from the doorknob. Ginny turned, trying to grab her hand away from him. She couldn't.. wouldn't be bothered by the fact that Draco Malfoy, was, in essence, now holding her hand. They had bloody snogged just a moment ago! And she didn't care about that, either. Did she? He looked down at their hands, let go immediately, then turned towards the classroom, looking away from Ginny. He composed himself, then turned back, a dark look on his face.
"It was… Pansy. Pansy Parkinson." Ginny watched his face closely, trying to see if he was serious. She let out a burst of laughter when he turned pink slightly, which made him even a darker shade.
"She bloody follows me everywhere.." he paused. Why was he carrying on a decent conversation with this girl? She was a Weasley, after all. But there was a part of him, slowly taking over, that didn't care in the least who Ginny was. Weasley or not.
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Ginny's hand was still tingling where Draco had held it. She couldn't shake off the feeling the rest of the day. She breezed through her classes, forgetting completely about her bitten hand, and drifted through Hogwarts like one of the many ghosts that inhabited it.
Finally, she reached Double Potions, which slapped some sense back into her as she entered the dark dungeon. She spotted Emmy, collapsing down next to her. Emmy gave a small nod, which was actually quite friendly of her, and took out a quill and parchment, beginning to copy Snape's notes. She could hardly concentrate, remembering Draco, turning pink when she had laughed at him; grabbing her hand and holding it (momentarily); actually talking to Ginny like she was a human being.
Emmy seemed to notice something was up after Ginny gave a great sigh, during Snape's lecture about goat testicles and their uses. She hid a smile, looking over at Ginny, who was staring dreamily at Snape.
"Do you fancy Snape or something, Ginny?" she whispered, causing Ginny duck her head and hide a laugh.
"Fancy Snape? Who in their right mind would fancy Snape?" Snape cleared his throat at Ginny, frowning disapprovingly, then continued onward with his lecture.
"Who do you fancy, then? I know a girl doesn't sigh and stare at Snape like they cant's see him.. unless you're thinking of something else." Emmy scratched out Snape's words, then turned to look at Ginny, who was biting her lip.
"Well. . . I cant really tell you. . it's rather. . complicated?" Ginny felt Snape's breath on her neck and didn't need to turn to know his expression.
"Girls, Potions is not the time for socializing. Unless you would like a detention, to prove that to you?" Ginny and Emmy shook their heads mutely, bending over the parchment and scribbling down the notes.
Potions dragged on, Emmy giving Ginny strange looks, and vice versa, until, at last, Snape dismissed them to leave. Ginny tried to escape out of the dungeon as soon as possible, but felt Emmy grab her arm, turning her around.
"What do you mean, complicated? You will tell me, Ginny Weasley. I don't want this to affect our friendshi. . . Potion's grade." Her gray eyes were flashing indignantly, causing Ginny to quaver slightly. She held the girl's gaze, though, fidgeting slightly until she finally gave in with a sigh.
"Well. . i dunno, Emmy. I'm starting to think. . well, this might sound crazy, but. ."
"Emmy! Glad to see you endured Double Potions. . and I see we have Weasley, too. Your partner, if I remember correctly?" Malfoy stood next to Ginny, staring at her with his icy blue eyes. Those eyes, that could somehow stop her heart in an instant, turning her legs to jelly and sent her head reeling. They stared at each other for a long time, barely noticing the curious glances the other students were giving them. Emmy gave Malfoy a sudden prod, making his gaze snap away from Ginny, and, rather irritably, to Emmy. Ginny whispered something about Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was her next class, and turned to leave the two cousins. Ginny and Draco's hands brushed, sending an evident chill up Ginny's spine.
It might have been a trick of Ginny's vision, but she could have sworn she had seen Malfoy give a small shiver, too.