Chapter 4 The Most Unusual Punishment
"Um, Gin?" Ginny jumped suddenly as if she had just been awoken from a nightmare. Looking down at her paper she noticed that she had been tracing and retracing the same line on her picture for the past hour. It had been a few months since her meeting with Jasmine Wolfe, and she had already pushed it out of her mind. Sighing, she discarded the page and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. "What's wrong?" Lavender asked her as she took a seat next to Ginny.
"Nothing! What makes you think that?" Ginny answered quickly with a glance over in Cho and Harry's direction. The sight of the two of them made her want to gag, but unfortunately she had never actually acted on that impulse.
"Really, now?" Lavender asked her as she picked up the new sheet of paper that Ginny had just written the words "Die, Cho, Die!" on.
"Oh. Must have picked up on some, erm, automatic writing! I've been practicing it, you know," Ginny lamely added, trying to save herself from more embarrassment. It was one thing to have Draco to call her jealous, but one of her friends would be pure torture.
"You truly are your brother's sister," Lavender laughed as she handed Ginny back her paper, "But you know, Harry is truly smitten. There's no way you can get between the two of them, Gin. You of all people should know that," Ginny looked at Lavender with pleading eyes.
"I know, but, it hurts. One minute he's kissing me, and then the next he's going out with Cho!" Ginny whispered. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she begged to herself that the last comment went unheard by Lavender.
"WHAT?" Lavender said loudly, causing Ginny to bit her lower lip and fidget with her hands. She couldn't believe that she had actually told somebody the one thing that she didn't want anybody to know.
"Okay, Lavender. You are the only person who knows that fact, and I would really appreciate it if we could keep it between the two of us," Ginny pleaded.
"Of course, Gin. I can't believe Harry would do something like that to you, though," Lavender said in disbelief.
"What, you can't believe that he'd kiss Ron Weasley's poor little sister? Or you can't believe he'd blow me off right after the kiss happened?" Ginny asked angrily, trying to keep her voice low.
"I can't believe he'd blow you off like that, Ginny! It's just so un-Harry-like, that's all," Lavender explained. Ginny began to put her books into her bag and stood up.
"Oh, okay. Well if you'll excuse me, I need to get myself to Defense Against the Dark Arts which my grades are lacking in before I'm late," Ginny said rather reproachfully and she turned and began to walk towards class. As she passed by some of the ghosts of Hogwarts she kept receiving encouraging words of advice about the whole Harry-Cho situation, but she tried her best to ignore it.
"You're late, Weasley," said a voice that came from behind her. She turned around to face Draco.
"You know what, Draco? I'm starting to believe that it's actually you who stalks me," Ginny greeted. He smirked.
"As thrilling as that notion may be, I happen to be the new TA in this class," Draco answered matter-of-factly, causing Ginny to snort with laughter.
"YOU? A TA? Right.." Ginny laughed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Draco slicked his hair back.
"Laugh it up, Ginny, but once you're in that classroom your fate might easily lay in my hands," he teased as he held open the door for her. She slipped into the classroom, hoping that she would be unnoticed.
"You're late again, Ms. Weasley," Professor Perry, their newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, added. Ginny sighed. It seemed as if that man had eyes in the back of his head.
"Sorry again, Professor," Ginny added in an exasperated tone and she watched Malfoy silently laugh at her.
"I'll as you to stay back after class so that I may speak with you. You too, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Perry added, and then he went back to his daily lesson. Ginny hadn't felt more embarrassed in her life than she had at this point. Never, in her life, had she wanted to be scolded in front of the likes of Draco Malfoy, and yet it had just happened. She pulled out her books and, making sure nobody was paying attention to her, casually slipped a piece of plain white paper into one of them so that she could draw without bringing unnecessary attention to herself. Ginny's eyelids began to droop as the class dragged on.
"Ginny, you'd better wake up before Malfoy decides to make you the center of a very embarrassing situation," Ginny heard her friend Mariesii say to her. Ginny's eyes flew open and she lifted her head off of her desk, wiping the drool that was dripping down her cheek. She looked at the picture perfect bobcat that she was drawing and noticed the big wet spot that sapped through the center of it. Frowning, she crumpled it up and placed it in her bag. She pulled out a new piece of white paper, but didn't begin to draw on it. Instead she watched as Mariesii and the rest of the class left the room. Had she really been asleep for that long? She couldn't tell.
"Ms. Weasley, could you come up here for a second," Professor Perry said suddenly as he set his plans for the next class down on his desk.
"Yes Professor?" Ginny asked curiously, trying to pretend that she had no clue what this meeting was to be about.
"I've noticed some lacking in your grades, and not just for this school year, but last year also. In fact, looking back in your records I can see that you've never done quite well in this class," Professor Perry said as he picked up the file with her past grades in it to show her. She didn't look at it. "Only, it seems that lately you've been doing even more poorly than before," he added.
"I'm really sorry, Professor. I have a lot on my mind lately, and I just don't know how to pull myself out of this slum," she said in a vulnerable tone.
"Well, fortunately for you, I've come up with a plan to help you bring your grades up. In a month I'm going to give you a test. If you can pass this test by receiving an A, I will pass you for this semester. However, if you get anything lower than that grade I must fail you," Ginny's heart fell. She knew that she couldn't possibly pull it off.
"But where am I going to learn all of the material that I will need to learn by then?" Ginny asked, a sound of anger becoming apparent in her voice.
"Mr. Malfoy, will you come here for a second?" Professor Perry called to him. Draco made his way to the front of the room, a questioning look on his face. Ginny's face turned a slight shade of pink.
"Yes Professor?" he asked as he looked back and forth between him and Ginny. Ginny did her best to cast her eyes away from Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy here has one of the top grades in my lass right now, and that's why I chose him to be my TA," he said. Ginny crossed her arms in front of her.
"And your point would be?" Ginny said as if she had no clue what he was about to ask her. Her tone was full of attitude.
"The reason I asked Mr. Malfoy to be my TA was merely to have him help you learn all of what you will need to know to pass this class," Professor Perry explained to the two of them. Ginny looked at Draco as if it was the end of the world.
"You can't be serious!" the two of them yelled together, causing the Professor to laugh. Ginny felt like screaming.
"Oh, but I am. I expect you two in this classroom three nights a week for the next four weeks or else her both of you will fail my class," laughed Professor Perry as he exited his classroom.
"He can't be serious!" Draco yelled, flipping over one of the desks that sat idly at the front of the classroom.
"I'm pretty sure that he is," whined Ginny as she plopped herself down in one of the chairs and kicked at the ground.
"It had to be you!" Draco laughed as he put the desk he had just tipped over back into it's proper place.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked resentfully. She hadn't realized that any part of this was her fault.
"I knew that I was going to be tutoring one of the idiots in this class, but I wasn't aware that it was going to be the little Weasel, nor was I aware that if I didn't cooperate I'd be failed out of my best class!" he yelled. Ginny frowned, realizing that it was pretty much her fault.
"I don't enjoy this any more than you do, Malfoy, but I also am in dire need of help in passing this class. It seems as if you are in this same position now, also, so why don't we just set a schedule and do what Professor Perry asked?" Ginny said as she pulled out a sheet of paper to write down the plan, but Draco began walking towards the door to exit the classroom.
"You write your own damn schedule, Weasley. I'm leaving," he said and he exited the room. Ginny punched her fist against the table. Sighing, she put her stuff into her bag and walked her way towards her next class, trying to block out the fact that she might very well be failed out of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"He WHAT?" Mariesii shouted at Ginny who had just told her about Professor Perry's plan on passing her through his class.
"You heard me, Mariesii. He's making me work with Malfoy, or else we'll both fail the class, but I'm screwed either way because if I don't get an A on the test I'll fail anyway!" she groaned as she laid her head in her hands. Mariesii began to laugh. "What?" Ginny asked, wondering what Mariesii found to be so amusing.
"Nothing. It's just, you and Malfoy, working together. Virginia Weasley and Draco Malfoy. It has this sort of ring to it, you know?" she teased.
"No, I DON'T know. Nor do I want to! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go up to the dorm!" she said, both looking and sounding flustered. Still, Mariesii couldn't help but notice that Ginny's cheeks had gone a bit pink. Turning a corner sharply, she collided with another person.
"Ginny. Hey," Harry said to her as he bent over to help her collect her items that had been spilled all over the floor.
"I can get it myself, Harry," she said a bit coldly as she snatched her items out of his hands and quickly began to pick the rest of it up.
"Is something the matter?" he asked her. She smiled and shook her head at him as she put her items back into her bag.
"No, nothing. I'm fine. Great. Wonderful! Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, and she began to try and rush away from him, but he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back to him. She found her back to be vulnerably against a wall.
"You don't sound wonderful, Gin. You sound a bit angry, even," he said. She faced her head to the ground.
"I told you that I was fine," she was trying to convince herself of that fact just as much as she was trying to convince him. His palm seemed to scorch into her flesh.
"Are you sure?" She looked up at him, and his hand fluttered to the necklace that hung around her neck. It's color was green. "The necklace seems to be giving you away," Harry laughed, which caused Ginny to smile. His head seemed to be moving closer to hers. Her heart fluttered as his lips came so close to hers that she could feel his soft breath pound at the entrance of her small lips.
"Weasley, I've been looking all over for you," she heard someone call. Harry guiltily pulled away from her.
"What is it this time, Malfoy?" Ginny said as she brought her fingers up and began to rub them against her bottom lip. Draco looked suspiciously back and forth between Harry and Ginny.
"I seem to recall a certain Professor telling us that our grades relied on this certain meeting that needs to be arranged for three nights a week. I'm sure you can help Potter, here, cheat on Cho some other.." mocked Draco.
"I wasn't cheating on Cho! Cho's the only girl I have any interest in what-so-ever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just take this book that I needed from Ginny and leave," Harry said guiltily as he grabbed Ginny's Charms book and walked quickly away from the two of them.
"So, where were we?" he asked her. Ginny was angered to the point of tears. On the one hand the boy that she had so often thought about seemed to be returning her feelings, and yet he so openly refused her.
"You're such a jerk, Draco," Ginny said as she began to walk away from him. She felt like she needed to be alone. She didn't want to hear any of Draco's crude remarks at the moment.
"What? Did you really think that Potter over there really has any interest in you? I don't think so! All he is doing is making sure that just because he has his 'girl' now doesn't mean that he isn't still being obsessed over!" Draco said harshly.
"Shut up, Malfoy. You don't understand one thing about Harry or myself!" Ginny yelled as she clenched her firsts at her sides.
"Really? I don't? Then what's that?" Draco asked as he pointed ahead of the two of them. Ginny couldn't believe what she was watching. Harry and Cho were kissing each other as if Harry hadn't just tried to kiss Ginny.
"We can meet in Professor Perry's room on Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's. Are you happy now?" Ginny asked as she quickened her pace, trying to get to the Gryffindor Common Room as quickly as possible.
"Great. See you tomorrow," Draco said, pleased that he had caused Ginny some pain for the evening. He turned and made is way in the other direction. Tears began to fall from Ginny's cheeks, but she hoped that no one would notice them.
"Scotched Butter," Ginny gave the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady who swung open her portal with only a sympathetic look in Ginny's direction. She made her way passed the kissing Ron and Hermione without catching either of their attention and ran the rest of the way up the steps and into her room, where she proceeded to cry until she fell asleep.
"Where you headed, Gin?" Mariesii called to her as Ginny began to leave the Great Hall after dinner. Ginny crossed her arms as she turned to face Mariesii.
"I seem to have a certain, unavoidable meeting with an arch-enemy," Ginny laughed as she continued walking backwards while facing Mariesii still.
"Oh. That's gonna be fun," teased Mariesii. Laughing, Ginny turned around and proceeded to walk faster towards Professor Perry's classroom in hopes that she would beat Draco their and be pinned the punctual one by the Professor. Unfortunately when she got to the classroom, Draco was already sitting there with what seemed like mountains upon mountains of books. Ginny rushed into the classroom.
"Sorry I'm late!" Ginny said suddenly, giving both the Professor and Draco a guilty look as she took a seat at the desk across from Draco.
"I don't remember ever setting an exact time, Ginny," Draco said mockingly, trying to make Ginny sound even more like an idiot. She just smiled.
"I'll be leaving the two of you now, but don't think for even one minute that I wont know how long you'll have been in this classroom after I've left," the Professor warned and he exited the classroom.
"You ready to begin?" Draco asked as he pulled out a pair of silver-framed glasses and slipped them onto his face. Ginny burst out in laughter, causing even Draco's cheeks to appear slightly flushed.
"You? Wear glasses?" mocked Ginny in a disbelieving tone. Draco glared at Ginny through his glasses.
"Yes I have to wear glasses, and I don't think that they are half bad. I find them very Merrill Murten.." started Draco.
"Merrill Murtenheimer....You know who Merrill Murtenheimer is?" Ginny interrupted as she pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts books and placed them on the table next to Draco's.
"Of course I know who Merrill Murtenheimer is! She's only one of the greatest artists of..." started Draco, but once again Ginny interrupted.
"Of all time!!" Ginny said as if it was the most completely obvious thing in the world. "Since when have you been into art, Malfoy?" She asked him suspiciously.
"Since when have you wanted to find out, Ms. Weasley?" Draco asked coldly as he opened one of his books.
"Well excuse me for trying to spark some kind of interesting conversation between us. So sue me," she said as she opened her books also.
"Since I was eleven. I saw her "Dances With Dragons" in a magazine and I was instantly attracted to her work," he admitted, causing Ginny to laugh. It only took another ten minutes before the two of them began to warm up to one another and began to get into a deep and intelligent debate on their favorite artists. It seemed as if they had totally forgotten about Ginny's lack of comprehension of the material in the class, but they continued to talk for about an hour.
"Erm, well, I guess I'd better get going to the Common Room. Thanks for, well, tutoring me Malfoy," Ginny laughed as she realized that they hadn't actually been studying in the first place.
"Yeah, don't mention it. Literally," he added, and he turned and left the room. Ginny didn't understand what he had meant by that last remark, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to. Turning out of the classroom with her books in her hand, she turned to walk towards her room.
"Um, Gin?" Ginny jumped suddenly as if she had just been awoken from a nightmare. Looking down at her paper she noticed that she had been tracing and retracing the same line on her picture for the past hour. It had been a few months since her meeting with Jasmine Wolfe, and she had already pushed it out of her mind. Sighing, she discarded the page and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. "What's wrong?" Lavender asked her as she took a seat next to Ginny.
"Nothing! What makes you think that?" Ginny answered quickly with a glance over in Cho and Harry's direction. The sight of the two of them made her want to gag, but unfortunately she had never actually acted on that impulse.
"Really, now?" Lavender asked her as she picked up the new sheet of paper that Ginny had just written the words "Die, Cho, Die!" on.
"Oh. Must have picked up on some, erm, automatic writing! I've been practicing it, you know," Ginny lamely added, trying to save herself from more embarrassment. It was one thing to have Draco to call her jealous, but one of her friends would be pure torture.
"You truly are your brother's sister," Lavender laughed as she handed Ginny back her paper, "But you know, Harry is truly smitten. There's no way you can get between the two of them, Gin. You of all people should know that," Ginny looked at Lavender with pleading eyes.
"I know, but, it hurts. One minute he's kissing me, and then the next he's going out with Cho!" Ginny whispered. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she begged to herself that the last comment went unheard by Lavender.
"WHAT?" Lavender said loudly, causing Ginny to bit her lower lip and fidget with her hands. She couldn't believe that she had actually told somebody the one thing that she didn't want anybody to know.
"Okay, Lavender. You are the only person who knows that fact, and I would really appreciate it if we could keep it between the two of us," Ginny pleaded.
"Of course, Gin. I can't believe Harry would do something like that to you, though," Lavender said in disbelief.
"What, you can't believe that he'd kiss Ron Weasley's poor little sister? Or you can't believe he'd blow me off right after the kiss happened?" Ginny asked angrily, trying to keep her voice low.
"I can't believe he'd blow you off like that, Ginny! It's just so un-Harry-like, that's all," Lavender explained. Ginny began to put her books into her bag and stood up.
"Oh, okay. Well if you'll excuse me, I need to get myself to Defense Against the Dark Arts which my grades are lacking in before I'm late," Ginny said rather reproachfully and she turned and began to walk towards class. As she passed by some of the ghosts of Hogwarts she kept receiving encouraging words of advice about the whole Harry-Cho situation, but she tried her best to ignore it.
"You're late, Weasley," said a voice that came from behind her. She turned around to face Draco.
"You know what, Draco? I'm starting to believe that it's actually you who stalks me," Ginny greeted. He smirked.
"As thrilling as that notion may be, I happen to be the new TA in this class," Draco answered matter-of-factly, causing Ginny to snort with laughter.
"YOU? A TA? Right.." Ginny laughed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Draco slicked his hair back.
"Laugh it up, Ginny, but once you're in that classroom your fate might easily lay in my hands," he teased as he held open the door for her. She slipped into the classroom, hoping that she would be unnoticed.
"You're late again, Ms. Weasley," Professor Perry, their newest Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, added. Ginny sighed. It seemed as if that man had eyes in the back of his head.
"Sorry again, Professor," Ginny added in an exasperated tone and she watched Malfoy silently laugh at her.
"I'll as you to stay back after class so that I may speak with you. You too, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Perry added, and then he went back to his daily lesson. Ginny hadn't felt more embarrassed in her life than she had at this point. Never, in her life, had she wanted to be scolded in front of the likes of Draco Malfoy, and yet it had just happened. She pulled out her books and, making sure nobody was paying attention to her, casually slipped a piece of plain white paper into one of them so that she could draw without bringing unnecessary attention to herself. Ginny's eyelids began to droop as the class dragged on.
"Ginny, you'd better wake up before Malfoy decides to make you the center of a very embarrassing situation," Ginny heard her friend Mariesii say to her. Ginny's eyes flew open and she lifted her head off of her desk, wiping the drool that was dripping down her cheek. She looked at the picture perfect bobcat that she was drawing and noticed the big wet spot that sapped through the center of it. Frowning, she crumpled it up and placed it in her bag. She pulled out a new piece of white paper, but didn't begin to draw on it. Instead she watched as Mariesii and the rest of the class left the room. Had she really been asleep for that long? She couldn't tell.
"Ms. Weasley, could you come up here for a second," Professor Perry said suddenly as he set his plans for the next class down on his desk.
"Yes Professor?" Ginny asked curiously, trying to pretend that she had no clue what this meeting was to be about.
"I've noticed some lacking in your grades, and not just for this school year, but last year also. In fact, looking back in your records I can see that you've never done quite well in this class," Professor Perry said as he picked up the file with her past grades in it to show her. She didn't look at it. "Only, it seems that lately you've been doing even more poorly than before," he added.
"I'm really sorry, Professor. I have a lot on my mind lately, and I just don't know how to pull myself out of this slum," she said in a vulnerable tone.
"Well, fortunately for you, I've come up with a plan to help you bring your grades up. In a month I'm going to give you a test. If you can pass this test by receiving an A, I will pass you for this semester. However, if you get anything lower than that grade I must fail you," Ginny's heart fell. She knew that she couldn't possibly pull it off.
"But where am I going to learn all of the material that I will need to learn by then?" Ginny asked, a sound of anger becoming apparent in her voice.
"Mr. Malfoy, will you come here for a second?" Professor Perry called to him. Draco made his way to the front of the room, a questioning look on his face. Ginny's face turned a slight shade of pink.
"Yes Professor?" he asked as he looked back and forth between him and Ginny. Ginny did her best to cast her eyes away from Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy here has one of the top grades in my lass right now, and that's why I chose him to be my TA," he said. Ginny crossed her arms in front of her.
"And your point would be?" Ginny said as if she had no clue what he was about to ask her. Her tone was full of attitude.
"The reason I asked Mr. Malfoy to be my TA was merely to have him help you learn all of what you will need to know to pass this class," Professor Perry explained to the two of them. Ginny looked at Draco as if it was the end of the world.
"You can't be serious!" the two of them yelled together, causing the Professor to laugh. Ginny felt like screaming.
"Oh, but I am. I expect you two in this classroom three nights a week for the next four weeks or else her both of you will fail my class," laughed Professor Perry as he exited his classroom.
"He can't be serious!" Draco yelled, flipping over one of the desks that sat idly at the front of the classroom.
"I'm pretty sure that he is," whined Ginny as she plopped herself down in one of the chairs and kicked at the ground.
"It had to be you!" Draco laughed as he put the desk he had just tipped over back into it's proper place.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked resentfully. She hadn't realized that any part of this was her fault.
"I knew that I was going to be tutoring one of the idiots in this class, but I wasn't aware that it was going to be the little Weasel, nor was I aware that if I didn't cooperate I'd be failed out of my best class!" he yelled. Ginny frowned, realizing that it was pretty much her fault.
"I don't enjoy this any more than you do, Malfoy, but I also am in dire need of help in passing this class. It seems as if you are in this same position now, also, so why don't we just set a schedule and do what Professor Perry asked?" Ginny said as she pulled out a sheet of paper to write down the plan, but Draco began walking towards the door to exit the classroom.
"You write your own damn schedule, Weasley. I'm leaving," he said and he exited the room. Ginny punched her fist against the table. Sighing, she put her stuff into her bag and walked her way towards her next class, trying to block out the fact that she might very well be failed out of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"He WHAT?" Mariesii shouted at Ginny who had just told her about Professor Perry's plan on passing her through his class.
"You heard me, Mariesii. He's making me work with Malfoy, or else we'll both fail the class, but I'm screwed either way because if I don't get an A on the test I'll fail anyway!" she groaned as she laid her head in her hands. Mariesii began to laugh. "What?" Ginny asked, wondering what Mariesii found to be so amusing.
"Nothing. It's just, you and Malfoy, working together. Virginia Weasley and Draco Malfoy. It has this sort of ring to it, you know?" she teased.
"No, I DON'T know. Nor do I want to! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go up to the dorm!" she said, both looking and sounding flustered. Still, Mariesii couldn't help but notice that Ginny's cheeks had gone a bit pink. Turning a corner sharply, she collided with another person.
"Ginny. Hey," Harry said to her as he bent over to help her collect her items that had been spilled all over the floor.
"I can get it myself, Harry," she said a bit coldly as she snatched her items out of his hands and quickly began to pick the rest of it up.
"Is something the matter?" he asked her. She smiled and shook her head at him as she put her items back into her bag.
"No, nothing. I'm fine. Great. Wonderful! Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, and she began to try and rush away from him, but he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back to him. She found her back to be vulnerably against a wall.
"You don't sound wonderful, Gin. You sound a bit angry, even," he said. She faced her head to the ground.
"I told you that I was fine," she was trying to convince herself of that fact just as much as she was trying to convince him. His palm seemed to scorch into her flesh.
"Are you sure?" She looked up at him, and his hand fluttered to the necklace that hung around her neck. It's color was green. "The necklace seems to be giving you away," Harry laughed, which caused Ginny to smile. His head seemed to be moving closer to hers. Her heart fluttered as his lips came so close to hers that she could feel his soft breath pound at the entrance of her small lips.
"Weasley, I've been looking all over for you," she heard someone call. Harry guiltily pulled away from her.
"What is it this time, Malfoy?" Ginny said as she brought her fingers up and began to rub them against her bottom lip. Draco looked suspiciously back and forth between Harry and Ginny.
"I seem to recall a certain Professor telling us that our grades relied on this certain meeting that needs to be arranged for three nights a week. I'm sure you can help Potter, here, cheat on Cho some other.." mocked Draco.
"I wasn't cheating on Cho! Cho's the only girl I have any interest in what-so-ever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just take this book that I needed from Ginny and leave," Harry said guiltily as he grabbed Ginny's Charms book and walked quickly away from the two of them.
"So, where were we?" he asked her. Ginny was angered to the point of tears. On the one hand the boy that she had so often thought about seemed to be returning her feelings, and yet he so openly refused her.
"You're such a jerk, Draco," Ginny said as she began to walk away from him. She felt like she needed to be alone. She didn't want to hear any of Draco's crude remarks at the moment.
"What? Did you really think that Potter over there really has any interest in you? I don't think so! All he is doing is making sure that just because he has his 'girl' now doesn't mean that he isn't still being obsessed over!" Draco said harshly.
"Shut up, Malfoy. You don't understand one thing about Harry or myself!" Ginny yelled as she clenched her firsts at her sides.
"Really? I don't? Then what's that?" Draco asked as he pointed ahead of the two of them. Ginny couldn't believe what she was watching. Harry and Cho were kissing each other as if Harry hadn't just tried to kiss Ginny.
"We can meet in Professor Perry's room on Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's. Are you happy now?" Ginny asked as she quickened her pace, trying to get to the Gryffindor Common Room as quickly as possible.
"Great. See you tomorrow," Draco said, pleased that he had caused Ginny some pain for the evening. He turned and made is way in the other direction. Tears began to fall from Ginny's cheeks, but she hoped that no one would notice them.
"Scotched Butter," Ginny gave the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady who swung open her portal with only a sympathetic look in Ginny's direction. She made her way passed the kissing Ron and Hermione without catching either of their attention and ran the rest of the way up the steps and into her room, where she proceeded to cry until she fell asleep.
"Where you headed, Gin?" Mariesii called to her as Ginny began to leave the Great Hall after dinner. Ginny crossed her arms as she turned to face Mariesii.
"I seem to have a certain, unavoidable meeting with an arch-enemy," Ginny laughed as she continued walking backwards while facing Mariesii still.
"Oh. That's gonna be fun," teased Mariesii. Laughing, Ginny turned around and proceeded to walk faster towards Professor Perry's classroom in hopes that she would beat Draco their and be pinned the punctual one by the Professor. Unfortunately when she got to the classroom, Draco was already sitting there with what seemed like mountains upon mountains of books. Ginny rushed into the classroom.
"Sorry I'm late!" Ginny said suddenly, giving both the Professor and Draco a guilty look as she took a seat at the desk across from Draco.
"I don't remember ever setting an exact time, Ginny," Draco said mockingly, trying to make Ginny sound even more like an idiot. She just smiled.
"I'll be leaving the two of you now, but don't think for even one minute that I wont know how long you'll have been in this classroom after I've left," the Professor warned and he exited the classroom.
"You ready to begin?" Draco asked as he pulled out a pair of silver-framed glasses and slipped them onto his face. Ginny burst out in laughter, causing even Draco's cheeks to appear slightly flushed.
"You? Wear glasses?" mocked Ginny in a disbelieving tone. Draco glared at Ginny through his glasses.
"Yes I have to wear glasses, and I don't think that they are half bad. I find them very Merrill Murten.." started Draco.
"Merrill Murtenheimer....You know who Merrill Murtenheimer is?" Ginny interrupted as she pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts books and placed them on the table next to Draco's.
"Of course I know who Merrill Murtenheimer is! She's only one of the greatest artists of..." started Draco, but once again Ginny interrupted.
"Of all time!!" Ginny said as if it was the most completely obvious thing in the world. "Since when have you been into art, Malfoy?" She asked him suspiciously.
"Since when have you wanted to find out, Ms. Weasley?" Draco asked coldly as he opened one of his books.
"Well excuse me for trying to spark some kind of interesting conversation between us. So sue me," she said as she opened her books also.
"Since I was eleven. I saw her "Dances With Dragons" in a magazine and I was instantly attracted to her work," he admitted, causing Ginny to laugh. It only took another ten minutes before the two of them began to warm up to one another and began to get into a deep and intelligent debate on their favorite artists. It seemed as if they had totally forgotten about Ginny's lack of comprehension of the material in the class, but they continued to talk for about an hour.
"Erm, well, I guess I'd better get going to the Common Room. Thanks for, well, tutoring me Malfoy," Ginny laughed as she realized that they hadn't actually been studying in the first place.
"Yeah, don't mention it. Literally," he added, and he turned and left the room. Ginny didn't understand what he had meant by that last remark, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to. Turning out of the classroom with her books in her hand, she turned to walk towards her room.