A/N: 500 Reviews! Wow…I simply cannot believe it. I'm seriously floored…Now I feel like I'm failing all of you with this chapter which is basically a filler/transition/longer-than-average-though one to hold you over until the grand finale. Hope you enjoy it…if you don't…I'm on codeine…I feel no pain…bwahahaha….Review, pretty please?
Chapter Thirteen
The scene in the Gryffindor common room was not a pleasant one. Ron was pacing back and forth, his face extremely red. Hermione was following him back and forth, looking rather irritated, but worried at the same time as she tried to calm him down. Harry sat in one of the over-stuffed red chairs, his face buried in his hands.
Ginny had just entered the room and was thankful that her brother hadn't noticed her yet as she tried to gauge his mood. "Harry, if you're upset, just admit it!," he was practically shrieking, looking at his best friend. Ginny sighed. Apparently his mood sucked.
"What's going on, Ron?," she asked in what she hoped was a calm tone.
Ron spun around on his heel and stalked towards her, looking very frightening indeed. "What is going on? What is going on?" He lowered his voice and looked at her very seriously. "Ginny, did you really kiss Harry?"
Ginny felt her cheeks turning slightly red. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Harry looking at her, an embarrassed expression on his already crimson face. She squared her shoulders and tried to look defiant. "Well…sort of. Why?"
Ron looked at his younger sister as if she had suddenly sprouted another ear in the middle of her forehead. "Why? Why?"
Ginny sighed, feeling a bit annoyed. "Yes, Ron, why? Why do you care? Why does it matter?"
Ron glanced around, noticing the eyes of most of Gryffindor house on him. "Can we go out in the hallway to talk about this?"
Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "No, Ron. I just woke the Fat Lady up to come in here. I'm not going to wake her up again so that you can yell at me. If you have something to say, say it now." Everyone in the common room was watching now. Ginny could see Seamus across the room, a look of concern on his face.
Ron looked a bit flabbergasted. While Ginny possessed the same Weasley stubbornness as he did, she rarely used it against him. He wasn't sure what to say. "Well…well, I never-," he choked.
"Never what?," Ginny asked, exasperated. "Ron, just what exactly is your bloody problem?"
Ron's cheeks grew even darker. "My problem? You're the one who mooned after Harry for years and years and then when he finally kisses you, you run away from him."
Ginny just shook her head in disbelief. "How do you even know about that?"
Ron tried to look smug, but only succeeded in looking like a dolt. "I have my sources." He exchanged looks with a little fourth-year girl. "She saw you kissing Harry and then running away from him."
Ginny rolled her eyes. Note to self, she thought, remember to put a rather large snake in that girl's bed. "Ron, I don't have a problem with what happened and neither does Harry. I very much doubt I broke his heart or whatever you were blabbing about before I got here." She lowered her voice so that only he could hear her. "So. Just. Bugger. Off."
"But…but…," Ron sputtered, apparently at a loss for words. Hermione walked over and grabbed Ron's arm, dragging him away from his annoyed sister and out the portrait hole, presumably to calm him down. Ginny shot her a look of gratitude and wondered, not for the first time, whether or not her brother was completely mad.
---
"…And the puffapods are required in order to…do what? Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco was vaguely aware of someone calling his name, though he couldn't quite place it. He was sitting at his table in the Potion's dungeon the next day, his chin resting in the palm of his hand in what he hoped appeared to be a thoughtful position, his quill poised on his parchment as though he was copying down notes. He was the utter picture of studious perfection. Mudblood Granger herself would have been proud, Draco mused to himself. But Draco wasn't listening to his greasy-haired (even the Slytherins admitted the man's hair was greasy, though they respected him a great deal) Potions professor drone on and on about Levitation elixirs. No, Draco was thinking very distinctly about a certain red-haired Gryffindor - and it certainly wasn't the one seated two rows behind him who was snickering with Potter over Draco's obvious lack of attention.
He wondered if what The Irish Louse had said the night before was true; was Weasley really angry at his sister for "breaking his best friend's heart"? Draco knew that he shouldn't have allowed the triumphant smile to cross his face the night before - hadn't realized until afterwards how it may have been perceived. But he couldn't help it. He loved Ginny - that much was very true - but having Potter all soppy and heartbroken over it was a definite bonus.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Snape had been addressing him until the tall, gangly professor was standing right over him, staring down at his prize pupil with a look of confusion and slight annoyance on his sallow face. His shadow fell over the blonde boy and Draco looked up, staring into his teacher's coal black eyes.
"Erm…what?"
Snape looked utterly shocked. Draco just continued to stare up at him, realizing that the teacher must have asked him something. "I'm sorry," Draco continued, feeling a bit foolish, despite himself, "I didn't hear the question."
Snape nodded curtly. "What are the puffapods for in the Levitation potion, Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco quickly rattled off the answer and felt a tiny sense of satisfaction as Snape moved on and he heard the Gryffindors behind him hiss in annoyance about how Snape would have surely taken loads of points off if they had stopped paying attention in class.
Draco tore his thoughts away from the red-haired girl and tried to focus on his Potion, all the while sending smug looks at Potter, who was having trouble with his Potion, it seemed. The salamander he fed it to wasn't floating, but rather hopping around quite spastically. Draco watched in contentment as his own salamander floated lazily to the ceiling.
"Very good, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, passing him on his way to yell at Potter. "Ten points to Slytherin." Draco smiled smugly and sat down in his seat. Blaise, who had successfully floated her salamander as well, turned in her seat and looked at him questioningly.
"So…did you tell her?," she whispered.
Draco glanced over to make sure that Snape wasn't watching. He wouldn't take any points off, but Draco didn't want to be on his bad side. "Sort of," he replied. "I told her I liked her."
Blaise snorted and rolled her eyes. "Like her? Like her! Cold hearted Draco! Oh! Worse than cold hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those words again and I will leave the room this moment*."
Draco stared at her blankly. "What?"
Blaise sighed and lowered her voice even more. "Never mind," she hissed under her breath. "You really need to read more."
Draco just shook his head and glanced at the magical clock on the wall. Only three more minutes. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He really needed to do something.
"Class dismissed except for Potter and Weasley," Snape said a couple of moments later as the bells chimed. Draco shot the two Gryffindor boys a self-satisfied look and walked out of the room. He usually waited for Blaise after Potions, but that day he had something else in mind.
He reached the door to the Transfiguration class just as the fourth-year students started to pour out of it, chatting with each other about how they had gotten to turn baguettes into badgers that day. Draco saw the dark-haired boy he was looking for and stepped in front of him, staring down his nose in an intimidating manner.
They boy's dark eyes shot backwards and forwards nervously. "What do you want, Draco?," he asked, looking as though he expected to be hexed at any moment.
Draco smiled lazily. "Not much, Malcolm, little buddy," he said in an overly friendly manner. "Just need you to do a little favor for me."
Malcolm Baddock took a step backwards and looked as though he was seriously considering bolting off, but the good foot of height that Draco had on him seemed to keep him rooted to the spot. "Oh yeah? What?"
"The sixth-year Gryffindors have Transfiguration here in about ten minutes. I want you to give this-," he said, holding out a scroll of parchment, "- to Ginny Weasley. Don't say who it's from. Just give it to her."
Malcolm, as it was his nature, looked suspicious. "Why don't you just give it to her yourself?"
Draco rolled his gray eyes. "I have other things to do," he muttered. He glared down at the younger boy. "See that she gets this letter or you'll regret the day you were sorted into Slytherin house."
Malcolm nodded numbly, looking as though all of his worst nightmares were suddenly coming true as he took the bit of parchment from the older blonde. Draco turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, anticipating (and slightly nervous about) the events he had just set in motion.
---
Ginny rounded the corner to Transfiguration, scanning the hallway ahead of her for signs of her brother. He was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.
After Hermione had led Ron off to calm him down, Harry had spent a great deal of time apologizing - for what, Ginny wasn't quite sure - and by the time she was done being screamed at and apologized to, she had collapsed in bed and slept deeply.
"Excuse me," a unpleasant little voice said. Ginny turned around and was startled to see Hogwart's resident metal case, Malcolm Baddock, staring at her.
"Erm…yes?"
"This is for you!" He dropped a sheet of parchment on the floor and stared at it as though expecting it to explode. Then, without another word, he turned and ambled away.
Ginny rolled her eyes and picked up the sheet of parchment. She unfolded it and scanned the contents. It was a brief and direct message:
G. -
Meet me after the Quidditch match tomorrow, behind the tapestry. Don't be late.
- D.
She had no doubt who the note was from - Draco, of course. She felt a tiny twinge of excitement; he had never sent her a note before. She looked down at the parchment again…something about it was vaguely familiar…
"Miss Weasley, are you planning on kindly joining us for class or were you perhaps going to absorb the lecture through the wall?"
Ginny jumped in surprise. "Professor McGonagall! I'm sorry!," she exclaimed, rushing into the class. She sat down at the first desk she came to and as McGonagall began to lecture, unfolding the sheet of paper in her hand to look at it again. Where had she seen that handwriting before?
---
The sun was shining brightly the next day as Ginny followed Hermione out onto the Quidditch pitch for the Slytherin - Ravenclaw game. The Gryffindors rarely went to the Quidditch matches unless they were the ones playing, but with the points going into the Quidditch cup finals so close, the entire school had turned up. Nearly everyone, save the Slytherins themselves, were waving the bronze and blue banners of Ravenclaw house. If Ravenclaw won, Slytherin would have no chance of winning the cup.
Ginny and Hermione both filed up the steps into a section filled predominantly with Ravenclaws. Parvati was there however, sitting with her sister, along with a couple of the girls in Ginny's year. They moved over to allow room for Ginny and Hermione and started talking excitedly about the match.
Ginny tried to listen to their conversation, but her thoughts kept distracting her from the excited giggles around her. She could see across the Quidditch pitch to the opening towards the Slytherin locker rooms. Draco was standing in the entranceway, his arms flailing around wildly. He seemed to be giving some sort of pep talk.
Ginny snorted at the thought of Draco giving an encouraging speech. She could just imagine it. "You better win or I will send my father and his evil dementor friends after you. Now, play well!" She laughed out loud, causing the girls around her to look at her curiously.
To her luck, loud male voices broke through the crowd before they could ask any questions. They all looked over to see Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville squeezing towards the crowd as they came up the bleachers to join them. Ginny scowled at her brother and shifted her gaze to Harry, who was behind him and gave her a small shrug.
Harry sat down next to Ginny and smiled before turning his attention to the pitch before them. Ginny could feel Ron's eyes burning into the back of her head - surely he was wondering why she was sitting next to Harry. How could she possibly sit next to him without trying to snog him? Stupid brothers. A moment later the voice of Mayes Jordan, the younger brother of the Weasley twin's friend Lee, echoed through the stadium.
"Welcome, boys and girls, professors and slimy Potions Masters - ouch! - to this pivotal Quidditch match. Today we have Ravenclaw-," a loud cheer went up as the bleachers erupted in raucous cheers, "-and Slytherin!" There was a rush of boos from the crowd, except for the contingent of Slytherins across the field.
"I give you the Ravenclaw team," Jordan cried, "Boot, Brocklehurst, Turpin, Cornfoot, Entwhistle, Li, and McDougal!" The crowd cheered once again and the Ravenclaws soared into the air and did a lap before landing back on the ground in front of Madam Hooch.
"And I also, quite regrettably - sorry, Professor - give you the Slytherin team." Jordan's voice lowered in a revolted tone as he announced the members of the Slytherin team who also rose into the air to do a lap before settling down.
Ginny's eyes were only on Draco however. He had a look of utter concentration on his face that she had never seen before as he shook hand with Mandy Brocklehurst, the captain of the Ravenclaw team. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the teams were off. Ginny tuned out Jordan's rambunctious, sometimes demeaning, commentary and simply watched Draco fly around. He was high above the rest of the players, scanning the sky for the snitch, all the while shouting out directions to the players below him. The wind was whipping through his blonde tresses and he had a look of intense focus about him.
"You really like him, don't you?," a voice whispered in her ear and Ginny broke out of her trance, looking over at Hermione.
"What?," she asked, feeling a bit scared. What exactly did Hermione know?
"You like him," Hermione repeated. Ginny looked around, hoping nobody else could hear the brown-haired girl. "Malfoy."
Ginny felt her cheeks tinge a dull red. "I do not," she muttered. "That's insane. I just think he's…not half bad. Not nearly as bad as you three make him out to be."
Hermione, to Ginny's surprise, didn't argue. She simply focused her eyes back on the game ahead of her. "Just be careful, Gin," she said quietly. "Just be careful."
Ginny was shocked. What was this? No words of protest, no yelling or screaming about how Malfoy was the worst thing in the world. She started to feel a bit worried. Had Hermione suddenly gone mad? She pondered this for a moment, staring at her friend, but Hermione seemed to be of quite a clear mind. Apparently not.
Ginny turned her attention back to the Quidditch match. She couldn't wait until it was over.
---
Next Chapter - The conclusion of the Quidditch match, the secret rendezvous behind the tapestry, and (bloody finally) the Quidditch try outs…Will Draco ever admit he gave Ginny the rose? Will Seamus bugger off? Will Ginny ever stop being completely dense? Find out on our next episode…eeek…sprained ankle = too many bad old soap operas.
*The quote that Blaise uses comes from the movie version of Sense and Sensibility…when I was writing it just sort of popped into my head…All rights to that particular quote go to Jane Austen and Emma Thompson, I suppose, who wrote the screenplay.
Much thanks to my loooong list of fabulous reviewers…you are all awesome and if I could thank each of you individually, I would - unfortunately, that would mean you wouldn't get a new chapter until next June. But I appreciate it, really I do…enough of my babbling. Much thanks to:
Angel-Hiragizawa32, Missfizz, SeZzA, Cassandra Sistenta or Krey-Zey, Txt-eva, Xela, Mezz, Opal.star, Silver Essence, Bynkee, Schem, Angel, Reality, Chocolat elf, Baby-grassie, Tigerlily Loamsdown, Gohansfan, Fyrechild, Hollypop, Sabra, Red Magic Marker, Hpangel, Charismatic, Kristendotcom, Sakura1287, Karly, Ravyn Nyte, Isadora, Missy, Crystal, Brianna Darknight The Angel of Darkness, Zechs2062, Alexia Croft, Cgrwchick631, Slytherin-cool, Random Artemis, Miss. Charlet, Jenn, Rainbow Dreamer, Baby, VirtualFaerie, Excillian, My lost childe, Emo_Chick, Ashleigh, Kelly, Kerry, Kylie, Tuilindo, Stacca, KeeperOfTheMoon, Ginny001, Rebuky, Karen, JT Jones, Jadis Ionian, Jen, Simply Bewitching 1, DreamofTF, Lyss, Brittney, Rupretsmasweethart, Randa, Laura Wilson, Pebble of Insanity, Eraserhead, JS12, and Mocha Dream.
In reply to some of your concerns -
- Yes, Ginny is quite dense. That comes from growing up with a bunch of guys. Don't worry though, she'll get over it.
- Seamus is growing on me too, for all of you who loff him. There may very well be a very surprising ending…
- Draco was a bit OOC in Chapter 12, but I couldn't help it…oh well.
- Yes, 'loathed enemy' is in reference to Romeo and Juliet…every good story needs a good, clichéd R+J quote. Blaise is turning into quite a literature aficionada, by the way.
- Thank you to everyone concerned about my stinking ankle…it hurts…*pouts*
What do y'all think?
- Should Ginny follow her heart and pursue Draco, despite the trouble it may cause or should she take the safe route and go for good, safe Seamus?
Anyway, sorry for the non-fluff chapter. The next one will be a billion times better, I swear. Review, review, review…