A/N: Sorry if I made some time line error, I'm trying not to, but if I miss something, please do tell me. Thank you so much to: Draco-lover (I already got a beta, but thank you), Ms. Raye Sinic, Mage of fire, Dazma (I do try, but if I do that, it takes more time and I feel really guilty already. But I promise to try and put meat sometime soon… In fact I hope this chapter has some.), Jelena, Lee Velviet (poor you), Newt and Salamander.
***
Tutoring
At the end of his lesson, Professor McGonagall called him at her desk. His friend got out of the class and he approached the transfiguration teacher, wondering what he did. He was trying not to disturb too much in transfiguration because he really wanted to have good marks in that subject. Well, not in that subject particularly, in all subjects he tried to have good marks, really. But he had to concentrate more here.
He arrived at her desk and waited while she rummaged through her papers. Professor McGonnagal finally spared him a glance and, still sorting her papers, said:
"You must know that the NEWTs are approaching fast, am I right?"
"Yes, Professor."
Like she doesn't know that. She paused and looked at him.
"I am concerned about your marks, I won't hide it to you. I know you are working the best you can and your paper work show that you know the subject really well but still, when it comes to the actual transfiguration…"
"I know that. I'm working on it."
Really, what nerves! As if he did that on purpose. He was trying really hard not to let his marks going down.
"Yes, I know" the Professor continued, "but I'm wondering if you would like some help."
"Help?"
He didn't need help!… Well… maybe I do…
"Yes, help. I have a really good student that might be able and willing to help you with that. This student is one year below you, but very good, and the tutorials might be able to soothe that blockage you're having."
"Err… ok."
Everything to pass. He thought, he was a Slytherin after all, might as well act like one.
"Great then. I'm going to speak to her today. You'll be advised tomorrow at breakfast to know the details."
"Ok."
"You can go to your next class now."
With that, he left.
The day passed slowly, if normally, without too much incident. He was doing his history homework (speak in great details of the 74th Goblin Rebellion. Name the leaders and their achievement. Four rolls of parchment.) when he heard a tapping sound on the dormitory window. He looked up to see his owl looking at him, waiting to be allowed in the castle. He waved his wand and the window opened, letting the owl in. The animal landed on the arm of the overstuffed sofa he was sitting on. He undid the little silver ribbon and the owl returned outside –probably to the owlery. He closed the window the same way he opened it and broke his family seal stamped on the envelope and unfolded the letter.
Son,
Your Father and I are going to be away for a business trip during the Christmas Holidays.
You shall stay at your school for this year.
Your Mother.
WHAT?!? They… Great! And the list for they holiday had already been made. I'll have to ask Professor Snape if I can put my name on it at the last second, He thought, his parents had only assumed that it would be ok with the idea of staying with all those stupid... Oh magnificent!! Aren't Potter and those Imps of his staying each year?? Damn! Business my ass. It's their Death Eater stuff again I'm sure.
He was so agitated by the fact that he was going to be stuck at Hogwarts with Harry and his friends that he couldn't concentrate on his history homework anymore. After a good half hour of reading the same paragraph again and again he decided to go to bed and ask his head of house in the morning. He put his black silk pyjamas on and got in bed, closing the curtains, and turned on his stomach, automatically putting his right hand in his pillow case… and retrieving it as soon as he noticed it. With "shouldnavgivintbaktwer" as last coherent thought -well, as last thought anyway- he fell asleep.
***
Tuesday had been a really busy day beginning with that homework he didn't finish the night before and ending with a Quidditch Practice, with a demand to Snape in-between. The Professor hadn't say anything out of common. He looked at the letter he showed to him and, with a short nod, returned the piece of parchment to him and told him that it was understandable, he would be added to the list. Wednesday was a pretty normal, pretty boring day; Waking Up, Laughing a bit at Goyle's Expense –he was so sleepy that he almost got out of the common room with his ape-like stuffed slippers-, Breakfast, History, DADA, Laughing at Some Gryffondors for No Real Reason, Diner, Charms, Care of Magical Creature, Picking Up a Fight with Potter, Ending Up in Snape's Office with Potter and McGonagall, Being Told by Cat-Woman that his First Tutoring were to Take Place on Saturday in the Empty Local Next to the Transfiguration Class, Supper, Watching Crabbe Acting Like an Idiot Around a Obviously Non-Interested Ravenclaw, Homework, Bed.
***
Mumbling to himself, he reached the local Professor McGonagall mentioned, making sure no one saw him there. He opened the door and entered, looking around. There was someone at the farthest side of the room.
"Don't think I'll be nice to you just for that!" He began.
He was about to add something about him still able to hex the other student into last week even if he couldn't turn him into a puffskein, but at that point, the student turned around, white as a sheet and applied the psychology of 'being the wall'. He recognised the now-new-brick as being one of the fans of Potter.
"YOU?!?!"
The brick became whiter, if that was possible
"I.. I.. just… developing"
The student, Carven… Colsen… Cosin... Colin... Colin! Right! That guy's name's Colin, pointed at some of his already developed photos. On top was one of Potter catching the snitch against the Hufflepuff team. He began to stride toward Corvin or whatever and the more he walked, the more the human-made-brick was sliding slightly toward the door, still glued to the wall, but moving at least.
"Not YOU!"
The voice surprised him and he turned toward the general goal direction of camera-boy to see… yet another of Potter's fan Great! I must've picked the wrong door and fallen in a cult reunion!
"And what do YOU want here, red?"
Colin profited of this exchange and flied out of the room, letting his pictures, forgotten, on the desk.
"I am supposed to meet someone here. Professor McGonagall asked me too."
"Well… I suppose you've found the 'someone' in question"
Ginny stared at him for a moment and, once the aberration of having to be his tutor passed, a twitch in the corner of her mouth and a glint in her eyes appeared, lightning all her pretty face. FRECKLED! Freckled face!
"Don't you dare say anything to anybody about this." He warned "I can still make your hair choke you."
"Such originality! I won't tell. Anyway I promised Prof. McGonagall not to."
"Well then, what do we do?"
***
"Relax! It's not by acting like a jerk that you'll be able to do it more easily! You need to concentrate and it's not by thinking about how you hate to do this that you will!"
"But I DO hate this!"
"Forget that you do! I don't know, think about puppies and kitties if it helps you, I don't care, but don't think you don't want to do the transformation"
"Look, it's the fortieth time I'm trying this. I'm tired! And those stupid… things… are not even close to a white mouse."
"Take a break if you want. I think that one do look a bit like white mice…"
He glared at her.
"It's purple with fluo green polkadots, fangs as big as my little finger and ears as big as those of an house-elf!"
"Yeah… but if you look the general height and body-form…"
"… It looks like a bloody monstrosity"
"Right. I wonder what you were thinking to obtain that result. This one certainly doesn't looks like anything"
Ginny pointed a… big skinny brown… thing… (it has the very general shape of a rat with a way too big posterior a wrinkled long muzzle that ended by a round, black nose and big whiskers. Rat-tailed with round ears of 4centimetered in diameter. It had tiny forelegs and the hind legs of a gerbil, but bigger -which gave his posterior an even bigger look- and seemed to have enough brown tan skin to cover three of those things) with her chin. To her surprise, her comment was earned by what was the closest thing to a chuckle she thought he could manage. After five sessions, it was the first time she heard him emit a sound that wasn't meant to be disagreeable. She tried her luck;
"It's too bad those… animals?… will disappear after a couple of hours. You could have opened a pet shop."
"More like a zoo, really," he said, siting down on one of the locals chair.
Ginny sat down on the teacher's chair, behind the big desk where all the experiments that didn't jump of it to explore the local where roaming around. She stroked a little mouse-like animal that had a pretty pink tint with heart-shaped little ears, a tiny bunny tail and two small little white-pink wings. It's really adorable. She looked over at him to see what he was doing and saw that he was really busy trying to get off of three mice-like creature, each the size of a chinchilla; one was deep bleu with four rat-like tails with some porcupine pikes, and boar-like defences, the second was grey with long bunny-like ears and antler-like spike on his back, the last one was like a white mouse if you don't take care of the size, the orange eyes, and the 3 centimetres claws at each of his fingers. Busy! Great! She subtly took a quill and a roll of parchment and began drawing all those silly rodents. She was almost the three quarters of them all when she heard someone clearing his voice. She raised her head and saw that he was looking at her –while maintaining the blue chinchilla at good distance with his foot- one eyebrow raised, looking impatient.
"I said I'm ready to try again."
"Oh! Sorry"
She wasn't really sorry, more embarrassed; last time he saw her drawing, he ripped them into pieces, and she rather liked those little rodents muzzling each other on her parchment. She put the quill and parchment away and took an unused mug, put it on the desk and waited for him to try and do a white mouse that actually looked like one… and he did!
"Wow! Relaxing helped you it se…"
She didn't have the time to finish her sentence that the cute little white mouse decided it would be fun to play with the other experiments on the desk and breathed fire on a little half-rat half-bunny that never even asked to live in the first place.
"Umm…"
"Yeah… I'll try again…"
***
To Be Continued…
A/N: last minute note; I know HE never saw batman, hating muggles and all, but I'm fairly sure that the term CatWoman can exist anyway… and meanwhile, it gave us a pretty little image of Professor McGonagall in CatWoman's suit. (http://membres.lycos.fr/wolfy136/catwomen.gif) Please Review! é_è I want to know how you find it. And as soon as I found a scanner, I'll show you the brown little guy with too much skin!
