Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine.

A/N: This was written for Roma's writing challenge at the DG Forum.

The rules are that it must be DG centric, include a misused piece of fruit or vegetable, and be 300-700 words.

The Smirking Pumpkin

Ginny gritted her teeth. It just wasn't fair. Everyone else was off watching the Quidditch game between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and here she was stuck carving pumpkins to decorate the Great Hall as punishment for something she hadn't even done.

Stupid Halloween. Stupid Professors. Stupid Draco Malfoy.

Her eyes glared at the blond sitting opposite her. It was all his fault. He was the one who had been trying to get into that locked door. She had just happened to be walking down the corridor at the wrong time. Not that the professors had believed that.

She gouged an eye into the pumpkin, a dark scowl plastered on her face. The other eye soon followed, and then she cut out the mouth. That was when she realised it was smirking at her; smirking at her just like he had when she had got in trouble because of his actions.

Ginny gripped her knife tighter. With purposeful determination she dug the knife into the pumpkin and proceeded to disfigure the smirking face.

"You know, Weasley," drawled the blond. "I don't think they had the mutilation of pumpkins in mind when they set us this task."

"What are you going to do about it? Start a protection act for the abuse and misuse of vegetables?"

"Now, Weasley, that's not nice. Vegetables have feelings too."

"I guess that makes them more human than you," responded Ginny with false sweetness.

Draco laughed. He actually laughed.

"My, my, we are feisty today," he observed, his grey eyes glinting with amusement.

Ginny just sniffed haughtily and returned to her now disfigured pumpkin. She could feel him still watching her, and after a few minutes of trying to ignore his smirking gaze, finally snapped and raised her face back to his.

"What? If you've got something to say to me, just say it, otherwise stop staring at me and carve your stupid pumpkin. It's you're fault we're here, anyway," she grumbled under her breath.

"You really don't like me, do you, Weasley?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't under the impression that I was supposed to like you."

Draco just laughed again and then continued carving the face on his own pumpkin.

She stared at him. He did not stare back.

Irritation built up inside her. How dare he make cryptic remarks like that and then ignore her! And what did he mean by that, anyway? Why should he care if she liked him or not? It wasn't as if he had gone out of his way to be nice to her. The situation they were in right now was a case in point. He was constantly getting her into trouble, not to mention teasing her at every opportune moment.

She stared at him suspiciously. "What's it to you, anyway? It's not as if you like me."

"Now what gave you that idea?"

Ginny blinked. "I—What?"

An amused expression came to his face. "You didn't think I would allow myself to be placed in detention with you and miss a Quidditch game purely to admire your pumpkin carving skills, did you?"

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, treacherous little beasts that they were.

She lifted her chin. "Well, I hate to break it to you, Malfoy, but you're wasting your time. I have absolutely no interest in you whatsoever."

"So you say now."

Arrogant prat.

"Don't delude yourself. I would rather snog this pumpkin than you."

"Well, I always knew you had bad taste, Weasley, but I didn't realise it extended to disfigured vegetables."

Ginny scowled.

Draco smirked.

"Think what you like, Malfoy," she said haughtily. "It doesn't change a thing between us."

He just smiled knowingly. "It will, Weasley. It will."

Ginny glared at him and then looked back down at the pumpkin in her hands. That was when she realised with horror that it was still smirking at her.

Stupid pumpkins. Stupid Halloween. Stupid Draco Malfoy.