Summary: When Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express on the first of September, she was surprised to come face-to-face with the last person she expected to see back in school. He was still the same prat she remembered from years before, but now he has a much higher authority than ever before: he was this year's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Ginny wished this was all a dream, but to her dismay she was stuck with him for an entire school year!

Disclaimer: Once again I don't want to go through all the mumbo-jumbo of having to write this out, so I'm saying this now: NOT MINE!!! I keep on forgetting to add this on to this one: MAIN HP CHARACTERS AREN'T MINE, those other names you don't recognize are mine as well as the plot, and also other stuff that you don't recognize, kapish?

Setting: Ginny's in her 7th year; Draco graduated the year before

PhoenixRae's Notes: am I going too slow with this fic? too fast? please let me know 'coz I honestly am lost! :::laughs like a maniac::: :::clears throat::: sorry...just have to let that out of my system! anyways, as always read, review & enjoy this chappie...that's all for now....

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VI. Owling & Invitation

Ginny was training doubly hard for the last couple of weeks in preparation for the first match of the season. She owled her family and Harry to let them know how her training was going. She went as far as inviting those who'd be able to make it to attend her first match if they could. She wanted her brothers to see her go against Slytherin and pulverize them.

The weekend before the first match was a Hogsmeade weekend. Ginny owled Harry to let him know and asked if he could get a hold of the twins and Ron to set up a get-together at the Three Broomsticks with Hermione and herself. She missed hanging out with them since school started and she wanted to take advantage of the Hogsmeade weekend to get together with the people she missed.

Harry owled her back almost immediately, telling her that he has spoken to George and he said he'd love to meet at Hogsmeade to personally congratulate her. He also sent an owl to Fred and Ron telling them of the plan. Harry said either Ron or Fred would owl her back to let her know of their answer.

Ginny was practically walking on cloud nine when she got an owl at breakfast. She told Hermione that Harry and George said they'll see them at Hogsmeade this coming weekend as soon as she got to her Arithmancy class. Ginny also noticed the extra sparkle that lit Hermione's eyes as soon as she mentioned Harry and George were coming to meet them at Hogsmeade. Looks like somebody other than her fancied the Boy Who Lived at some point in their lives.

Her morning classes flew by so quickly and now she was on her way out of her Double Potions class. Snape was still a pain in the arse, putting her on the spot in class and almost reluctantly awarder her points for answering all his toughest questions.

She was busy talking to Colin about a project in Charms when Snape spotted her not paying attention while he was explaining he importance of eye of newt and the effect it has when mixed inappropriately with the potion they were brewing. Ginny surprised the pompous arse professor by answering him back verbatim. Everyone in class who knew she wasn't listening were shocked as well. They weren't expecting her to answer Snape correctly with her lack of attention in class.

So, armed with the fifty points Snape reluctantly awarded Gryffindor, Ginny marched off to her next class. Colin, who still couldn't believe how Ginny managed to answer Snape's questions, was walking with her to class. He was asking her how she managed to give out the correct answers when she was busy yakking with him.

"I wouldn't be able to answer him when I was put on the spot like that," he exclaimed, his eyes wide from fear as he pictured in his head what Snape would do to him if he wasn't able to answer at least one question he asked Ginny earlier.

"Oh Colin, you can do it too. You'll just have to train yourself, that's all."

"Train myself how?" he frowned and looked at her, or more like looked down at her since he was almost close to six feet in height to her five foot three stature.

Ginny stopped outside their classroom and pondered for a while on how to explain it to him. While growing up in a large household, Ginny trained herself to be always alert in case any one of her older brothers--most especially the twins--was up to no good and decided to play their tricks on her.

She first noticed she had a knack for dividing her attention when she was about twelve years old. It was summer and like most Hogwarts students, she was busy pouring out her time answering her summer homework. She was busy writing an essay when she heard a distinct sound from behind her; Fred and George wanted to use her as their test dummy for one of their numerous gag inventions. They were talking about it in a not so hushed tone since they thought Ginny wouldn't know about it because her head was bent down on the piece of parchment she was using to write her essay.

Fred agreed to sneak up behind Ginny and drop a Fire Bomb on her homework, but she was prepared for it and surprised her brother by turning around and scolding him for what he was about to do. Needless to say Fred accidentally dropped the Fire Bomb ball on himself and nearly singed his clothing. He was fuming mad at her for foiling their plan and after his irritation subsided he then asked her how she knew what he was about to do. She simply told him she heard him and George talking about it while she was writing her essay.

"Ginny?" Colin was still waiting for her explanation.

Ginny snapped back into present time and smiled at her friend. "It's a bit complicated, but in a nutshell you'll have to be able to divide your attention and try to concentrate on two things at once," she explained as best as she could.

Colin's forehead furrowed at the center, "How?" he asked when he still couldn't get it.

"Let's just drop it for now and get to class, okay?" she suggested and made a move to enter the room.

Reluctantly Colin agreed and stepped aside to let her precede him. The classroom was almost full when they got there, and as always Draco wasn't there yet.

Ginny slid into her seat and started taking stuff out of her backpack. Colin took his place beside her and did what she was doing, but he still kept on asking her how she trained herself to divide her attention. Ginny explained as best as she could for him to understand, but Colin still couldn't comprehend what she was telling him.

She was about to explain it to him again when she felt a presence loom over from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and slowly raked her gaze up a flat stomach encased by a silk shirt that screamed expensive all the way to a wide span of shoulders, a semi-thick neck before resting her eyes on the face of the owner. Derek had that familiar smirk that he copied from Draco plastered on his tanned face.

"What do you want, Derek?" Ginny asked disinterestedly.

Derek raised an eyebrow and leaned down until his eyes were level with hers, his hand braced against the side of her desk while the other was against the back of her chair. His blue eyes gazing at her lovely face appreciatively.

Ginny felt goosebumps all over her upper arms when she noticed the way Derek was looking at her. It was the same appreciative look he had when they were still going out and he wanted to get some snoggin'. It used to make her melt whenever she was the recipient of that certain look, but now it was making her feel icky and irritated.

"Look here, Derek, if you have something to say then say it, otherwise go pester somebody else. Colin and I are talking here," she said with a great big deal of irritation when Derek just continued staring at her.

"I just wanted to congratulate you, Gin," he shrugged, but he didn't leave right away.

"Is that all?" Ginny quirked an eyebrow, obviously she doesn't care about what he said just as long as he get out of her sight.

Colin knew Derek Boones was on Ginny's leave favourite people to associate with list, and his lingering presence at their desk was irritating the temperamental Gryffindor.

"Look Boones, you obviously have no business of great importance here so why don't you just bugger off and leave us alone, huh?" he shooed the annoying Slytherin away on Ginny's behalf. Like his friend, Colin doesn't think highly of Derek Boones either.

Derek tore his gaze from Ginny then and addressed the boy seated beside his former flame, an eyebrow raised questioningly at the gall of the meek Gryffindor to tell him to bug off.

"I'm not finished asking Ginny a question yet, Creevey, so why don't you bugger off and let me ask her my question," he sneered.

"I'm sure you can continue your courting of Ms. Weasley at another time, Mr. Boones," came Draco's dry-toned voice from the doorway. "I have a class to teach and you, lover boy, better get back to your seat and hopefully remain there for the rest of the period," he moved away from the doorway and stopped right behind the leaning Slytherin looming about by Ginny's desk.

Draco grabbed Derek by the collar of his robe and dragged him down the aisle before stopping five rows down to the front on the opposite side of the room where he sat. "I believe this is where you're suppose to be, Mr. Boones. Next time I have to escort you back to your seat you'll get points taken off and probably a detention depending on my mood," he warned the stubborn blond who glared at him.

Derek swatted Draco's hand off the collar of his robe and pulled his chair, angrily parking himself down and crossed his arms over his chest. From where Ginny sat she could tell Derek was shooting daggers at the back of their teacher's head as he walked to the front of the room, but Derek glaring a hole at the back of Draco's head wasn't what caught her attention.

This was probably the umpteenth time Draco intervened whenever Derek was around her, pestering her all the time with his annoying presence. She noticed Draco often embarrassed Derek at his expense, and he even docked off points from Slytherin at Derek's expense when he was being a prat. In his class Draco rarely docked off points from Gryffindor, except when one or two of her housemates were being smart-alecky then he deduct points off them, but they weren't really that high. One time when Colin wasn't paying attention to his discussion and he was asked to explain the different kinds of weapons to use when dealing with vampires, Draco only deducted five points from Gryffindor and a warning to Colin to pay attention next time when he failed to answer his question. When a Slytherin pulled a Colin act the next day in class, Draco not only docked off twenty-five points from the unfortunate student, she was also asked to submit two parchment's worth of detailed account on where vampires hide, how to hunt them, and most importantly how to kill them and their colony if ever they have one.

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Dearest Ginny,

I received your owl just now while I'm in the middle finalizing the interview article George and I made of Viktor Krum (it was damn near impossible since your brother often made side comments throughout which was recorded by the QuickNotes word-for-word!).

So Malfoy is favouring Gryffindor over Slytherin during your DADA classes with him? Hmm...that's odd. I thought Malfoy would remain loyal to his former housemates. Well, I really shouldn't be worrying that much about it since Hermione owled me as well telling me just how well she and Malfoy were getting along.

CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE IT?!

I nearly fell off my chair when I read Hermione's latest owl post to me. I know they were both hired as new teachers this year at Hogwarts, but for them to actually get along after spending years snarling, insulting, hating, and hitting each other (it was mostly Hermione hitting that damn ferret 'coz I think deep down Malfoy was a gentleman at heart) they'd end up like the best of friends!

Anyway, enough about Malfoy. On with other pressing matters at hand. Ron contacted me earlier today and told me that he spoke with Fred as well (and Percy since he was nearby when they were talking) and they'll be joining us as well (Percy included!) this Saturday at the Three Broomsticks. We will be there around two-thirty in the afternoon. If we get there first we'll save a seat for you and Hermione, but if you two were there first, make sure to save a seat for the five of us.

Okay, I think I'll end my letter here. Hope you have a good day and don't worry too much about Malfoy acting weird. That git's always been weird as far as I'm concerned, now he's just acting more weirder than usual. Anyhow, keep me posted on what else is happening there in school. And send my regards to Hermione. I wanted to send her an owl but I'm pressed for time. I need to submit this interview article before today's deadline and I have yet to delete some of George's 'witty' comments about Krum.

Your friend always,

Harry

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My Dearest Harry,

I am not worried about Malfoy acting weird. Hell, he can act as weird as often as he likes as long as Gryffindor prosper in his weirdness! And as long as he gives Derek as much detention in a month for the rest of the school year I'm more than happy with it (I have a huge, dopey grin plastered on my face right now thinking of all those detentions Derek would have to suffer through).

Anyway, Hermione sends her regards back to you. She even told me to tell you not to do any interviews with George around--he's bound to mess things up for you and your precious articles! (laughing hysterically here) Yeah, like you can pry George away from you. That brother of mine is always into some sort of mischief like Fred is...oh wait, they're twins! Duh! Of course they're both into mischief! Sorry, been hanging around Twyla and Janelle a lot lately because of practice--having some blond moment here.

Anyway Harry, I think I'll end this letter now, but before I do, mind if I ask you just how well do you know Malfoy? I know he's a pain in the neck (or sometimes even lower), but surely there must be a time when he had his guard down. I'm just asking out of sheer curiosity.

Take care of yourself and send my regards to George.

Love always,

Ginny

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Dearest Gin,

Just out of sheer curiosity myself...do you fancy ferret boy?

Your friend always,

Harry

p.s.

George sends his love, by the way.

Ginny stared at the letter (more like a note) in her hands. She had been owling with Harry back and forth, and in most of her letters to him she expressed her annoyance at Derek, her Quidditch practices, her classes, and more often than not she mentioned Malfoy's penchant for picking on her in his class. Sure she tend to talk about Draco a lot in her letters since his class and Snape's class were the only ones she doesn't particularly like.

How could Harry speculate on her fancying Draco Malfoy based on her letters to him? She complained a lot about Snape too, does that mean she fancied her potions teacher too?

Ginny sat back and pictured Professor Severus Snape in her head. Straight, chin-length greasy black hair, small, black beady eyes, a crooked nose, and a permanent smirk etched on his face. Not to mention he had a liking to wearing all black for his attire every damn day!

Eeewww! Ginny shuddered at the bad mental picture. Severus Snape might be a much better teacher than Gilderoy Lockhart (a one-time DADA teacher whose memory got wuped out), but she'd sooner fancy the vain blond former teacher than moon over cranky Professor Snape!

Now Draco Malfoy was an entirely different matter.

She pulled up her feet and rested it on the armchair she was sitting on, drawing her arms around her legs and pulled them closer to her chest. She rested her cheek on her knees, letting her hair cascade down the side of her leg as she gazed into the roaring fire in the hearth. Her red hair looked like it was on fire as well as she sat there peacefully. It was already Friday night, all the students went to bed almost an hour ago; they were excited about tomorrow, and so was Ginny, but now her mind drifted off to a certain blond haired teacher who did nothing but both infuriate and amaze her instead of the special event happening tomorrow.

When Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express at the end of last term, she caught sight of the newly grad Draco Malfoy boarding the train as well after Crabbe and before Goyle; his two nitwit friends still stood guard to their leader, making sure no one dared to mess with him. Ginny doubted that anyone would dare pick a fight with Draco.

She noticed the change in Draco since her sixth year. He grew a few inches taller, gained some weight which was then lost due to his non-stop workout practicing Quidditch. He became good at the sport as well after years of rigorous practice. And his few added pounds became muscles overtime. His arms started sprouting them, his legs became toned as well, not to mention his butt started attracting more attention than the rest of him! If those girls she heard gossiping about it were telling the truth, Draco Malfoy owned a very nice, firm buttocks. He also started showing off a perfect set of six-pack whenever he wore those muscle shirts that hugged one's body.

Quite a lot of girls swooned whenever he walked back into the castle after his Quiddith practice, all covered in sweat and mud, but Ginny wasn't among those who swooned over him. Sure she stole one or two glances at his rear-end and found out that none of the girls were lying when they said he had a nice butt, but other than admiring his awesome behind, she never paid anymore attention to the rest of him.

Until now.

His hair was no longer slicked-back like before. It was still long, but instead of using tons of gel on it, he let it lay on his head with some sort of wet look style to it. Some of his blond locks were even getting in his eyes, but with a quick brush of his fingers, he combed his hair back to get it off his eyes. Ginny found the action sexy most of the time since he just do it automatically while teaching in class. And her eyes to be glued on his fascinating tushies whenever his back was facing them.

Ginny let out a long, hearty sigh. Her eyes were still on the fire but her mind was off to la la land. She gotta admit, Draco Malfoy was still the hunkiest male at Hogwarts; Derek Boones was just a copycat who couldn't oust the number one heartthrob of the school.

And you're starting to like him, a small voice in her head teased.

"Yeah...maybe," Ginny said sleepily to no one in particular before her eyes closed, a content smile on her face as sleep took over her.

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A/N: hmm...didn't expect this one to be a bit longer than my previous chapters. nevertheless, hope you enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed writing/typing it. comments/suggestions are welcome--i'm open to it so please don't forget to leave it in your reviews, thanks!

mavis: oh that's already a given! :::laughs::: derek taunts ginny and ginny reacts, but then against every time she does draco's nearby to give derek detention *LMFAO*

kellyanne: oh no, please don't take draco away! right now rest assured that i'll be updating if not every day then it's going to be every other day or if i'm really busy it's gonna be every second day! *lol*

Arella Hallo: oh i'd never do that. there's no fun being a seeker. now her being a beater...hehehe, she can have way soooo much fun with the bludger and club in her hands! *LOL*

MelissaAdams: aww...hopefully your pc gets fixed soon and you recover all those files you lost or misplaced or whatever. and LGO will be sitting there quietly until i decide to continue it again! *lol* thanks for the compliment, btw

Polgara: yep, there are rules against student/teacher relationships in school which draco will follow to a T--and so would ginny, hehehehe but derek being a prat that he is will cook up some sort of mischief...dunno yet if it requires some blackmailing or whatnot...we'll just hafta wait and see what he could come up with :::winks:::

Xela: *LOL* that was my fave bit while writing the previous chappie--draco slapping ginny's rump! under any normal circumstance no teacher in their right mind would do what he did, but then it's draco malfoy we're talking about here--he can do whatever he damn pleases to do!

me: i'm doing my best to update as often as i can. since i am oozing with ideas for this one i'll be updating either daily or every other day, but once i get stuck it might take a very long while for me to do so...

Anyanka: ron finding out about his little sister's affair with draco (or any other guy for that matter) is always hilarious to read...and don't you worry, we'll see some ron-temper-tantrums thrown in if ever something happens between the professor and the student that ron doesn't particularly like

tigereyes320: i'm trying to aim for this fic to be more funny and a bit romantic--not dramatic! *lol* and i don't think any school tolerates student/teacher relationship so that's one of the major trial draco & ginny must face in this fic

Faltering Hues: you said it girl (about draco being the sexiest wizard alive!)...and send draco on a vacation to your place? uhm...why not i just send derek instead and have draco vacation with me, hm? :::evil grin::: now that sounds more like it! *lol*

Cassandra Sisenta or Krey-Zey: i just checked it out and it was good...update it so i'll find out what happens next :::grins::: and you know what? while i'm writing/typing ginny practicing at the pitch in the previous chapter, i was seriously considering about sending draco on his broomstick and surprise her, but i thought better of it...so maybe draco & ginny playing Quidditch together or against each other will come in later chapters :::winks:::

SAngel: amen to that! *lol* they're a cute pair, this two, too bad it ain't going to happen in the book series :-/