Chapter 6

The whole compartment stilled, and Ginny felt 7 pairs of wide open, unbelieving eyes staring up at her. Instantly she regretted her foolish action and cursed the Weasley temper she so often fell victim to.

Draco stared, open mouthed, his eyes going from her half-apologetic face to the pieces of his broken wand and back again.

"You broke my wand."

"You have another one," Ginny replied, instantly defensive, a defiant look in her eyes.

Draco shook his head in wordlessly, astonishment still clear in his eyes as their gazes locked, for the second time in one day.

"You-you don't?" Ginny felt the guilt swell up in her chest even more. She'd broken his wand. There was a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Again, Draco shook his head.

For a few, terse moments they stood like that, eyes locked and hearts pounding. Neither really knew what to say.

Ginny wasn't going to say she was sorry until he took back what he'd said about her father, and Draco still wasn't planning on apologizing for that at all, no matter that for the first time in his life, he felt a small twinge of regret.

In fact, now that the first shock had worn off, he was seriously debating retaliation.

But then the door was flung back and the spell was broken.

Professor McGonagall entered, almost stumbling as the carriage jolted slightly in the air. An irritated, but sickly, look was on her face, and Draco could tell the moment he saw her that this was her first time on a flying carriage. And she wasn't liking it. "What's going on in he-" she began.

Just then, her eyes fell on the pieces of Draco's broken wand, lying forgotten on the floor. Instantly, her eyes found Ginny's, then Draco's, who were both still standing face to face.

"Oh, I see." Her mouth had compressed into a thin line, and Ginny knew she was angry. "You two, come with me."

Ginny glanced at Draco, who motioned sarcastically with his arm. You go first.

Ginny nodded, and followed the Transfiguration teacher back into the smaller compartment.

Once they were all inside, McGonagall indicated they should sit down.

"I don't know what just went on in that room," she told them quietly, "But I demand an explanation, or as of this minute this trip will be canceled for you both."

Draco and Ginny exchanged glances. To get sent back to Hogwarts now, before they had even reached their destination, would be the ultimate humiliation for them and their houses.

Draco spoke first, and Ginny jumped in at the appropriate times to describe exactly what had occurred. To Ginny's immense surprise, Draco didn't even try to color the story in his favor, he told it exactly like it was. That really wasn't like him.

But then, he hadn't been acting like himself this whole week anyway. First with the sexy smiles and the seductive winks, then today, when he had actually blown up in front of the entire school…It was strange, to say the least.

Vaguely, Ginny wondered what was making him act that way.

McGonagall didn't say a word until they had told the entire story. Then she glared briefly at each of them. "I'm going to take 10 points from Gryffindor, Miss Weasley, because the breaking of another students wand is a very serious matter. And I'm going to take 5 points from Slytherin, Mister Malfoy, because provoking such an event was very stupid of you."

Since McGonagall had declared that she was taking 10 points from Gryffindor and only 5 from Slytherin, Ginny had felt cheated. But the teacher's last statement cheered her up quite a bit.

She grinned at Draco, who glared back.

"Harty-har-har," he told her sarcastically.

"And," McGonagall continued, causing both of them to glance quickly back at her (more?!!!), "You will both apologize to each other, or be stuck here in confinement until you do."

Ginny's smile disappeared. "I am not apologizing to him."

"And I am not apologizing to her."

"Very well," the Professor told them, "you will both be stuck in her until we reach the mountains."

"But I thought we were fixing to stop to refuel?" Ginny said, confused.

"When I said refuel, I was simply meaning food for ourselves. I will have something sent in here to you both."

The pair of them nodded. What else could they do?

Without another word, McGonagall walked out of the room and closed the door firmly behind her.

And then they were left alone.

A/N: Okay, another chapter finished. Can anyone guess what happens next? *grins* No not that! Get your minds out of the gutters people!

Thanks to my reviewers:

Kneh 13- I'm glad you liked that part, it was kind of a twist!

Dragonsprincess- Oops, my mistake. I kind of got ahead of myself, didn't I? Well, now, you know, in any case!

Laura- Thank you!

Hostile Twirler Pan- Ooh, you guessed it! There is another reason for stopping in Romania. Shhhh… *puts finger over lips* Don't tell!

Marybecca- I know, I hated to see Draco acting, well normal again too, but you can't expect him to just magically change. (Pun not intended) We're getting closer though. *winks*

Emerald Storm- I'm sorry. But I had to stop there. It was the perfect place. (For me the writer anyway!) Hope you liked this chapter too.