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: sorry 'bout the cliffhanger in the previous chapter. I figured that would be the best way to end that chapter--keeps you peeps wondering what exactly is it that Ginny & Hermione concocted as Draco's ultimate task.

PhoenixRae's Notes 2: uhm...in later part of this chapter things will get a tad bit 'racier' than usual so consider yourselves WARNED! uhm...well, I think the rating for this chap should be R to be on the safe side :::winks::: hehehehe, Ginny's gonna have her fun with Draco now and she's going to enjoy every second of it! :::evil grin:::

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XXI. Blondie's Final Task

Another Hogsmeade weekend. Hogwarts timed it this year for the end of November. Draco had been impatiently awaiting Ginny's final task that she wanted him to do. She skipped their usual date at the library last night and he was left to wonder if she was too mad at him for picking on her the way he did Wednesday afternoon or if she wasn't feeling well...but he saw her follow Granger towards the latter's private quarters so she could not not be feeling well.

He watched Ginny over at breakfast this morning. She looked way too chirpier than usual; his stomach butterflies started fluttering about and doing somersaults. He hated being put in suspense! Asking Granger again over breakfast wasn't any help either, like last night when she couldn't even provide him with the slightest bit of hint as to what Ginny had planned for him.

"Are you joining us at Hogsmeade, Professor?" Hermione asked on their way out of the Great Hall after breakfast.

"What for?" Draco snorted. He wasn't in his best of moods this morning having had a sleepless night thinking of what Ginny was planning. He couldn't come any where near what the stubborn redhead could possibly ask him to do for his final task of the week (which should've ended yesterday, but since she never gave him a task Thursday evening when they got together, he was still indebted to her to do one more task!).

"You could do some Christmas shopping while we're there," she suggested casually, "You are going to buy your mother and father a present this Christmas, aren't you?" she turned and looked at him expectantly.

"I already bought Mother a gift. As for my father..." his voice faltered and let out a sound that was between a snort and a sneer, "Lucius doesn't like Christmas much. And to hell with him and gifts! He never bothered to give me any gift of his own choosing. It was always Mother who bought his gifts for him."

"Oh," Hermione stored that tiny bit of information away and kept on walking back to the corridor leading towards the new teachers' quarters. "So...are you by any chance going back to your place for the holiday?"

Draco took his time answering. They must've walked fifteen steps before he replied, "No."

"Jeez, that took you long enough," Hermione rolled her eyes and kept on walking, storing yet another vital information at the back of her head.

"Why are you asking me all these questions anyway? It's not like you really care what I do and where I stay over Christmas."

"Now, now, Malfoy, don't be too cranky!" she scolded good-naturedly.

Draco rolled his eyes in frustration. "Is there a point to you following me?" he demanded irately.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and gave him a funny look, "I'm following you because we're head towards the same direction. Remember my living quarters is in the same place as yours, hm?"

She had him there. Of course she was following him because their living quarters are located in the same area. How stupid could he be for asking something as stupid as that?

Hermione was inwardly amused at the power Ginny had over Draco. He was ready to bite anybody's head off if they were unfortunate enough to cross his path.

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Enjoying a mug of butterbeer each at the Three Broomstick, Hermione shared her earlier encounter with Draco with the three seventh year girls who joined her there.

"Oh Gin, he could've skewered a wild boar with his glare! He was just ticked!" Hermione giggled.

Janelle and Twyla, who was just then updated about Ginny's 'date' with Draco and the tasks she asked him to do, sat opposite the two close friends and joined Hermione in a fit of giggles.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day a girl gets under Draco Malfoy's skin!" Janelle confessed.

"Well now you have. Cheers!" Twyla raised her mug and clinked it with Janelle's.

"Thank you! Now all I'm waiting for is the right man to come along and sweep me off my feet then I'm all set for life," Janelle grinned and downed her drink.

"Mm, speaking of Mr. Right, Twyla, have you asked your parents yet if you could stay with us over the holiday?" Ginny asked.

Twyla made a face at her, "What does Mr. Right got to do with my staying over at the Burrow?" she questioned.

"Oh, you know, Percy's going to be there and you'll get to see him again," Janelle shrugged.

"So?" Twyla tried to act disinterested, but she couldn't stop herself from blushing which only worsened as her three friends teased her to Percy. "Stop it, you guys. Percy's just a friend. I don't fancy him that way," she denied.

"Yeah, sure," Ginny chided.

"Seriously!" Twyla insisted.

"If you say so," Janelle chuckled, "Anyway, Gin, when are you gonna tell him?" she changed the subject back to what they were talking about before they were side-tracked.

"As soon as I get the chance," Ginny replied confidently.

"And how soon is that?" inquired Twyla who was now greatly relieved the attention wasn't on her anymore.

"As soon as I possibly can."

"Like right now, you mean?" Hermione asked.

Ginny frowned at her, "No. How can I? He's not even here."

"Now he is," Hermione's head gestured towards the entrance.

Three pairs of eyes turned to the entrance and true enough there stood the blond teacher they had been talking about. He was scanning the place in search of an empty table when Hermione waved him towards their table.

"Mione, what are you doing?" Ginny hissed when Draco started towrads them.

"Making it easy for you. What do you think?" she smirked.

"But I'm not ready yet!"

"I thought you said you are?" Janelle frowned.

"I am," she admitted.

Now the blond chaser was even more confused.

"Gin, it's either you're ready or you're not. You can't be both! So make up your mind!" Twyla scolded.

"I already have. I'm ready, but when it's so unexpected like this...I'm not," she admitted.

"Oh brother," Janelle and Twyla rolled their eyes skywards and shook their heads.

"Gin, it's now or never girl. He's coming over this way so ask him now," Janelle cajoled.

Before Ginny could protest any further, Draco was already standing right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and and raked her gaze upward, but he wasn't looking at her; he was looking at Hermione.

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor," Hermione said as soon as Draco was nearby to hear and reply to her.

"It got boring in the castle," he answered with a slight shrug before turning to the rest of Hermione's companions. "Ladies," he inclined his head in greeting, his gray eyes looking at Janelle and Twyla and purposely overlooking Ginny who was right in front of him.

"Hello, Professor," Janelle and Twyla chorused.

"Care to join us, Malfoy? Or are you in such a rush to even sit down and chitchat with us?" Hermione invited.

Draco looked at the table occupied by four girls, one of them being a Muggle-born professor whom he was known to have despised all his school boy days. He didn't know exactly what he was doing here. All he knows was he couldn't stand it being locked up in the castle any longer pretending to write up next week's class discussion. Hell, he was already caught-up with his class schedule for the rest of the year he could teach his students without the aide of his scheduler.

"I don't want to intrude," he declined.

"Oh, you're not intruding, Professor," Janelle replied, "We're just recapping the events of this past week," she added with a toothy grin.

"Ah, girl talk," now he really wanted to get away. Ginny was still ignoring him while her friends were trying to engage him in a conversation that he might or might not enjoy discussing with them.

"Nonsense! We're done doing some girl talk," Hermione waved her hand, "Now we're on to discuss some topic that requires some male opinion."

Ginny groaned inwardly. God, Hermione, let him go away. He obviously wanted to go, so let him go! she wanted to plea with her friend. Although she appeared to be ready to ask him to do the final task she had planned up, now was not the time nor place for her to tell him about his final task. A lot of people for witness and she wouldn't be comfortable asking him with her friends present. She had this whole seduction scenario all planned up to get him all worked out before she dropped the bomb, but Hermione, Janelle, and Twyla were messing it up for her.

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"Did she tell him already?" Janelle whispered as she huddled closer to Twyla on their walk back to the castle from Hogsmeade.

"I don't know. When I last looked they were just walking and saying nothing to each other," Twyla replied, a bit miffed because Ginny hasn't got up the courage to tell Draco Malfoy the final task she had planned for him to do.

"Man, what is taking her so long?"

Hermione ran up to the two friends who were a few paces ahead of them (she hung back with Malfoy on the walk back until the paths cleared and no other students could see him and Ginny walking back to the castle together without any chaperone).

"I think we better move quick," she told the two seventh year blonds.

"Why?" Janelle and Twyla chorused, frowning at Hermione's decision to leave their friend alone with Malfoy.

"Because our darling Ginny needs some privacy, that's why," Hermione replied back.

"Why? What does she need the privacy for?" demanded Twyla, "Besides, I wanna see Malfoy's reaction when Ginny finally tells him what his final task would be."

"Yeah, me too," agreed Janelle.

"Honestly you two," Hermione rolled her eyes in frustration and pushed the two girls forward, "We'll soon find out what Malfoy's reaction was after Ginny told him. Now let's go. Quit looking over your shoulders because Ginny knows and it's only making her more nervous," she reminded as she fell into step behind the two blond Gryffindor Quidditch players.

"Why would she be nervous? I mean, I thought she said she was ready to ask him already!" Twyla pointed out.

"In case you two have forgotten, Ginny maybe gutsy sometimes, but deep down inside she's still the same shy little girl we all knew from years before! Now move along you two and quit looking over your shoulders!" she scolded and turned Janelle's head to face the path ahead of them.

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Draco knew that something was up from the moment he walked in to the Three Broomstick and saw Granger waving him towards their table. All three young women--excluding Ginny--looked very excited for some apparent reason. He didn't want to join their little group at the pub, but Granger, Isaacs, and Harris wouldn't let him leave. Ginny was unusually quiet the whole time they were at the pub; she only joined in on their conversation to share her opinion about whatever harebrained topic Granger or one of the two other girls could think of discussing and decided to tweak his mind about his opinion of whatever it was they chose to discuss (honestly he couldn't remember what were the topics they talked about because there was a lot of them; they just jumped from one subject after the other without warning him of the sudden change). Ginny still wasn't talking to him no matter how much he tried to draw her in to the conversation.

She was still pissed off at him for what he did Wednesday afternoon in class. But that's just ridiculous! his conscience argued, She can't still be holding a grudge against you for picking on her in class! he wished so too. It was just a pure, harmless fun, why would she be so mad at him for that?

"G--"

"B--"

They spoke at the same time and stopped at the same time when they realized the other was going to say something. They both waited for the other to continue, but neither one of them did. Finally Draco has had enough of this silent war crap Ginny obviously started. In as much as it wounds him to do it, he knew he owed her a sincere apology for acting like an ass Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm sorry," God, why is it so hard for me to do that?

Ginny stopped walking and faced him, "What did you just say?" she questioned.

Draco stopped walking too and turned to face him. He took a deep breath and held her gaze. She was going to milk him for every drop he was worth. Hell, he had this gut-feeling that she wouldn't let it get past her that he just apologized to her.

"I said I'm sorry," he shrugged.

Ginny stared at him for the longest time. She made him nervous just by doing that. He couldn't tell if she accepted his apology or if she would forego with this silent war raging between them. Nothing about her facial expression nor her eyes told him of what she was thinking about.

"Are you really sorry?" she asked after a couple of minutes lapsed.

Hell. She was going to make him grovel, wasn't she?

"Yes, I'm really sorry," he nodded.

Again she was silent. Nothing about her facial expression betrayed her real emotions. He thought she would just give him a very long once-over look then walk off, but what she did next surprised him. It was so unexpected that he didn't know whether to be glad or scared shitless because she had a wild card in her hands and she was giving him her best poker face.

Ginny decided to play with his mind some more. She could tell this situation wasn't making him any more comfortable than he should be; she might as well make some more fun of it before dropping the bomb to him.

She knew the path Hermione chose for them to use to go back to the castle was secluded and hardly anybody passed by this way; not a lot of student was aware of this hidden path leading back to Hogwarts. Taking advantage of their somewhat semi-secluded surrounding, she closed the distance between them until she was standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with the handsome devil himself. She would have her fun now after her friends tried to sabotage her well-laid plan earlier at the Three Broomstick.

Draco's entire body stiffened when Ginny's warm breath fanned his lips. The little vixen was up to no good, and yet it felt so damn right what she was doing right now.

"Am--am I...am I forgiven now, Ginger?" he stammered as he tried to steady his quavering voice. God why does she have to wear that tantalizing perfume? It was simply driving him wild with want!

"Mmm..." Ginny murmured and chuckled when she heard Draco's surprised intake of breath when she boldly traced his lips with her tongue.

"Hell, Weasley..." he hissed under his breath, his arms snaking around her tiny waist and hauled her closer to his body. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

For her reply she gave him a wide, seductive grin and continued tracing his lips with her tongue, her arms wrapping around his waist too, closing around his back. Her hands rested just above his buttocks, slowly working her fingertips down until each hand were cupping each butt cheek. Draco gasped for breath once more and tried to capture her mouth for a kiss he had been craving for, but Ginny duck her head to the side and started trailing her tongue down the side of his mouth down to his throat, her hands squeezing his buttocks until she felt him jerk against her; his throbbing manhood pressed against somewhere between her tummy and nether region.

He was hard as a rock! She almost feel sorry for him for what she was about to do...

"Ginny..." he hissed through gritted teeth. She was torturing him with her touch and her mouth. She nibbled at his neck and she felt one of her hands releasing his well-squeezed butt cheek and ventured...Draco gulped audibly when he realized where her hand was going. He closed his eyes and counted one to ten, trying to ignore the soft touch of her wandering hand as it rested at the crux of his arousal.

He was caught somewhere between heaven and hell with what this brazen redhead was doing to him!

She stopped nibbling at his neck and pulled her head away, a seductive grin still playing on her sinful lips as she looked back at him, "What?" she asked innocently and her hand oh-so-gently closed around his manhood.

"Gin, I'm warning you now, either you stop what you're doing right now or go ahead and let me off this misery you're putting me through," he stated simply, hoping she would concede and pick his latter choice.

"Why Malfoy, you're a very hard man to please, aren't you?" she grinned mischievously, her hand on his crotch still driving him crazy!

"Weasley..." he hissed, his gray eyes ablaze with his pent-up lust for her and the will to hold on to his sanity and not embarrass himself in public!

"You asked me a while ago if you're already forgiven," it wasn't a question, but Draco nodded in agreement while he tried to ignore her hands (one on his front and the other squeezing his behind). "Well I have...and as for your final task..." her voice trailed off and her head slowly moved closer, her eyes focused on his lips.

Their lips were just a mere breath away from each other when Ginny forego his lips and went up on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "You're going home to the Burrow with me for the holiday," she whispered before disentangling herself from him.

She stepped out of the circle of his arms and left him standing there, dumbstruck at the shocker she just gave him. Grinning mischievously she walked the rest of the way back to the castle whistling a happy tune.

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A/N: :::evil cackle::: am I evil or AM I EVIL?! hehehehe, awww...poor Malfoy left all alone with a...uhm...woodie? so guys weren't expecting that, were you? you thought Ginny concocted something for him to do that was worse than death? is it disappointing? intriguing? or plain ol' not so clichéd? let me know what you think 'coz while writing this chapter I just enjoyed the little seduction game Ginny played on our poor, unsuspecting DADA teacher...

Polgara: well Derek better keep his big mouth shut if he knows what's good for him! *LOL* and how'd you like the way Draco & Ginny flirted in the latter part of this chapter?

Loves-Kiss: hmm...is there some fluff here in this chap, ya think? hehehe

myobgirly: I know shouldn't have stopped where I did in the previous chapter, but that's the beauty of it...got ya'll thinking what Ginny got planned to do on Draco

Hunter: I think you've been waiting for them to kiss since...uhm...can't really guess, but maybe since they first started to flirt with each other? :::grins:::

cute_hik007: thank you!

SAngel: of course all is well, hehehehe

wowsergirl: :::laughs::: advanced classes are never easy as far as I'm concerned. I don't think I really need to tell you what's happening with Draco...but as for Derek...I think he's taking a holiday for now :::evil grin:::

MelissaAdams: if Ginny told him she was pregnant & claimed him to be the daddy, I'm sure Draco will suffer from a major stroke! *lol*

Beccs: did I keep you waiting for the next chapter long enough? hehehe

Cactuskitty: now don't be hurting yourself by smacking yourself every two seconds! *LOL*

N'Isil: I love Draco too when he's being very flirty. as for Derek...well, he'll make an appearance later on...don't wanna ruin Draco & Ginny's fluffy moments now, do we? hehehe

Faltering Hues: I wonder what is it about this story that excites you to read it (",)

Kilmeny: if you liked the wicked Ginny in the previous chapter, I hope you enjoyed her again in this chappie...making poor Draco all horny and all then leaving him like cold turkey! *LOL*

nicole: what Ginny had up her sleeve wasn't something really...uhm...well, it wasn't some very complicated task to do...but then again, wouldn't going to the Burrow and spend time with Muggle-loving people be complicated for a guy like Malfoy?

December's Girl: I think Ginny did get to warm him up...but not in his room :::winks::: hehehehe

Ishizu-Sango-Halliwell: well...uhm...is what Ginny did devious enough for ya? :::grins:::

hasapi: the reason why I post new chapters like everyday now is because I'm enjoying writing this fic so much that I can't stop thinking about ideas for the next chapters

string bean love: wow...you're freakishly obsessed with this fic? uhm...should I be scared or should I be proud? hehehehe

The Dragon Guardian of the Sea: well, Ginny did that just for the hell of it (I haven't seen that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond and I rarely watch that show). I think it would be fun to rattle Draco's cage & keep him in suspense

Trixie-Guest: thanks for liking my style, and look, you didn't have to wait too long to read what happened next!

Ali Lee: thanks for liking the D/G pairing here

Lady Godiva: yep, I heard that curiosity killed the cat :::winks::: and...well, let's just say that Ginny and Draco will have another obstacle to cross once someone finds out

Crystal: he did get part of what Ginny planned for him, hehehehe

Anh D-ao: hehehe, well if you're blushing from what Ginny did to Draco in the library in chapter 20...uhm...well, I could just imagine how you reacted when she did what she did to him in this chapter! *lol*

Xela: I'm gonna try and get him to take his clothes off in this fic...but...uhm...well, hehehe, we'll see if he'll eventually get to take anything off :::wink, wink:::

Eva: oh I did have loadsa fun writing this chapter...hope you have fun reading it too

Nicole: hehehe, yep, probably. I'm from Canada. Where are you from?

KeeperOfTheMoon: *lol* how can Ginny be pregnant when they haven't even slept together yet?

Arella Hallo: nope, no need to tell me that. and...uhm...well, Draco didn't suffer from a heart attack here...maybe from just some major hard-on! *lol* :::blushes::: whoa! I'm soooo bad *LOL*

avapouhi: here's more, more, more, more

Lainy: I'll sure try to keep 'em coming as soon as I can

Jane: here's what she got planned for Draco

slytherin-cool: hehehe, it's all cool. sometimes I like calling him by his last name as well...and as for Ginny's plan...well, here it is!

Wizzabee: thanks! and here's the chapter to answer your question

Redbug: whoa! lucky you! uhm...maybe not, but at least you don't have to go to school or work *lol* no snow here for me today, but the temps are really freezing!!!

Cheater531: I hope this one is as good as the previous one

Kelsey McCartney: I had to do a cliffhanger for the previous chap...to keep my readers on the edge of their seats, hehehehe

Jade Stellar: whoa! are you a psychic or something? hehehe, but then again, whenever Derek's in the pic, there's always bad news that follows him

Sharlene: uhm...well, there's no need for me to tell you when you already read the answer, hehehe

spunkygabi: I know not a lot of peeps enjoyed the cliffhanger in the previous chappie

me: *lol* no need for threats. I update one chapter a day (or two to three chapters a day depending how pumped-up I am :::winks:::)