Disclaimer: I do not own HP or anything to do with HP! It's all J.K. Rowling! I am not profiting from this in anyway.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! How're you all doing today? I'm very very very very very very very sorry for not updating sooner! I know it's been almost two months since I've updated and I'm really sorry! I hope that you all will forgive me and continue to read this fic. I was just a bit preoccupied with stuff and also a bit stuck on what to write and how. But, I will definitely try a lot harder to keep updating sooner, cause I know how most of ya'll must have forgotten this story hehe. Thanks a lot for sticking with me and thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them! Take care! Hope you liked this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!
Love,
Stompy_Sanji (coughing right now)
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Chapter 5
Draco was on his way to the Quidditch Pitch for practice and he had his teammates following in tow.
As he neared the pitch, he noticed that one of the teams was already in the air practicing. He heard mumbles from the back and frowned. He knew he had scheduled the pitch for today; it was already the first week of October and his team needed to practice.
We'll just scare them off the pitch. None of them would dare to challenge us, he thought smugly, as they all entered the Gates.
"It's those bloody Gryffs!" Blaise exclaimed irritated.
"How are we supposed to get them off the pitch?" Graham Pritchard asked hesitantly.
"We're Slytherins. We don't have to be scared of Gryffindors." Theodore Nott said arrogantly, puffing out his chest.
Draco looked up at the Gryffindor team. Sure enough, Harry noticed him and then signaled his teammates to land on the ground. His teammates stayed back as Harry walked towards the Slytherins.
"Here comes Scarface." Malcolm taunted.
Harry ignored his words and looked straight at Draco. "We scheduled this pitch until five." Harry told him calmly.
Draco narrowed his eyes a bit and said coldly, "Well, we'll wait until you're done." Behind him, he heard his teammates grumbling loudly.
Harry looked a bit surprised at Draco's words and just gave him a slight nod.
He turned back to his team and signaled them to continue practicing. They all flew back to their positions.
"Draco, what's wrong with you?" Theodore asked angrily, as he walked next to the captain. "We are not some scared Hufflepuffs, cowering away from a confrontation!"
"Nott, I suggest you do not make assumptions on things you do not understand."
Draco said, his voice low and intimidating. "We are going to sit down and watch their technique. Do you think they will be able to concentrate with us sitting here, watching their every move?" He walked over to the benches and sat down.
His other teammates soon followed, with Nott bringing up the rear, obviously embarrassed by Draco's words.
He noticed that the Gryffindors had also put their reserve team to practice with them. He studied each of the player's ability one by one. Starting with the Keeper, Ron, whose technique had improved immensely over the two years; then onto the Beaters, who had good aim and had hit the bludgers with a lot of power; Next to Harry, who was the seeker, his technique was flawless as usual, and that irked Draco even more. He watched the two Chasers; he didn't know the names of. Last, he observed Ginny as she wove her way through the others.
She was quite skillful with the quaffle, yet sometimes she seemed to go a bit too fast and lose control over her broom.
She needs to learn how to control her broom, he thought, as he watched her skid a bit, as she tried to regain control over her broom. He didn't know why that thought came into his head while he was watching her play. He noticed her serious expression as she made her way to the goal post. Then she put the quaffle through the goal and her face broke into a victorious smile.
"They aren't even paying us any mind." Draco heard Theodore mumble to the others.
How dare he make me look bad, Draco fumed. It seemed that he had underestimated the Gryffindors' tolerance.
After watching Ginny skid again for the third time, Draco saw Harry call a
time-out and then fly next to Ginny. He told her a few things with his hands demonstrating his words. She listened attentively and nodded appropriately.
Most of Ginny's hair had come out of her hair tie and as Harry flew towards the post to Ron, Ginny took her hair tie out of her hair. Her hair flew behind her as the wind blew in the opposite direction.
Her hair looks quite soft for a poor Weasley, he thought, as he watched her.
She had released both her hands from her broom and had bunched up her hair so that it could be tied neatly.
"Look at that Weasley fixing her hair." Malcolm started, "You'd think she was primping for the Yule Ball. Women and Quidditch don't go together I say." Draco ignored the comment he made and continued to stare at the girl.
Since Ginny's hands were preoccupied in her hair, when a gust of wind came from the opposite direction her broom shook and she gave a small yelp. She almost fell off her broom, but she quickly grabbed onto it and her hair fell out behind her.
She had better watch out. She can be quite clumsy, Draco thought.
Harry and Ron, who were busy talking at the time, noticed Ginny's predicament and then both of them signaled to the team to descend to the ground.
Ginny gave a small frown and then she landed on the ground. She threw her broom down onto the grass and then continued tying her hair. Her teammates had already started walking out.
Draco noticed that her cheeks were tainted a soft pink, indicating that she was probably angry with herself for being careless. The temper must definitely run in the family, he thought.
The Gryffindors didn't even bother to acknowledge the Slytherins as they walked out of the Quidditch pitch, indicating the end of their practice session.
He signaled his team to get up into the air, and they did so at his command. He watched as Ginny picked up her broom and stalked away, following her teammates.
Draco watched her go and then he reprimanded himself. Stop staring at the girl before others think you fancy her! He grimaced a bit and then looked up to his teammates. They were all floating lazily, talking to one another.
"Get into position!" Draco yelled at them, and then he mounted his broom.
"I don't know why we have to do this on Mondays. What a way to start the week!" Ron grumbled to Harry and Ginny, as they sat on a bench, waiting for the club meeting to start.
"At least we get more time to practice." Harry said, and Ron wrinkled his nose at him, "but I agree with you." He added quickly.
"Alright, students, settle down!" Madame Hooch shouted over the chattering.
"Settle down, settle down! We're starting now!"
Ginny was sitting between Ron and Harry. She looked around and noticed that there weren't as many people as expected. Also, there were only students from the fifth year and up who had joined.
They must have gotten scared off knowing that they might have to be with Draco and his goons, Ginny thought, as she looked at Draco, who was sitting up in front with the other Slytherins away from everyone else. Must think they'll catch some germs if they sit close to us, she thought.
"I see some new faces, welcome! Let me give a little introduction on what will be going on with this club for the rest of the year." Madame Hooch started, as she stood in front of everyone. "I have already made four leader-teams. So the remaining sixteen of you can choose which team you want to be on, as long as in every team we have six other players. With your team, you will all discuss pointers on Quidditch and even practice a bit. The practicing will be two teams against each other while the other two teams watch on. After a thirty-minute game, the two teams spectating will give their opinions and pointers to help the others. I will now separate the teams, so that you all can see who is in which team." She took out the folded parchment from her robes and unfolded it. "Alright, everyone know what team they're on?" She paused and looked around.
Everyone was silent and a few nodded their heads yes. "Alright, then. Team One, sit on the right of me. Team Two, next to Team One, right-center. Team Three, left-center and lastly, Team Four, on the left."
Ginny sighed and then the three of them stood up.
Ron stopped her before she could go anywhere and said seriously, "Be careful of
Malfoy, Gin, and don't let him boss you around."
"I can take care of myself, Ron." Ginny snapped, a bit defensively. Ron's face fell a bit and Ginny felt a bit bad for snapping at him. She knew that he was just worried about her. "Thanks, I will." She said softly and then gave her older brother a reassuring smile.
Ron smiled back and then walked to his spot.
Harry was standing behind her, waiting until she got to the aisle. "Ginny," Harry started, as he pushed up his glasses, "you know we're just worried about you, and you know how Ron is."
Ginny turned to face him and said, "I know, Harry. I did feel bad for snapping at him. It's just that sometimes I feel like he doesn't think I can take care of myself. It gets a bit frustrating sometimes."
"I understand, and we do think you can take care of yourself. You've proven that ever since your fourth year." Harry said and smiled at her.
"Potter, Weasley! Get to your places!" Madame Hooch yelled at them from her spot on the pitch.
Harry and Ginny both blushed at being yelled at by the teacher and quickly walked out to the aisle.
Before parting ways, Harry said, "Goodluck, Gin."
"Same to you." She said and smiled at him.
"Ms. Weasely, please sit next to Mr. Malfoy." Madame Hooch said to her, as Ginny was approaching her team. She noticed that both Su and Kevin had sat on the second row, behind of Draco, and so next to him was an empty spot.
She groaned inwardly. Could this be anymore awkward? She thought, as she slowly made her way towards him. She looked at him and noticed that his face was neutral, as if it didn't bother him that she was going to be sitting next to him. Now that's odd, she thought. She sat down a few inches away from him and didn't bother to greet him.
"Alright. Now, the remaining students, please pick your teams." Madame Hooch announced.
It took a few minutes before the other sixteen students actually got up to make a move. It seemed that they had realized just how diverse each team really was. Even two of the Slytherin boys seemed to hesitate before getting up and walking straight to her group.
'They must think that it's better to be with Draco, since he's the leader of Slytherin', she thought, amused by the idea that someone would feel comfortable being with Draco. Or, maybe it was out of fear?
She noticed that the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were going towards Harry and Ron's group willingly, while the Slytherins were going towards Draco's and Theodore's group. They must be thinking that Harry and Ron will protect them against the Slytherins.
Ginny was amused by the whole situation. She could see that this Intra-house Relations Project was going to be a lot harder than Professor Dumbledore thought it would be. It was obvious that there was lack of trust amongst the different houses.
There was one Ravenclaw girl, who bravely walked over to Ginny's team. She sat down next to Ginny and gave her a smile. Ginny smiled back in greeting. She liked the fact that now there were three girls in the team and she could tell this girl would be quite able to handle Malfoy's ways.
"My name's Orla Quirke." The Ravenclaw said, "I'm in my fourth year."
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Gin-" Ginny started to introduce herself, but Orla cut her off.
"I know who you are." Then she smiled brightly at Ginny.
Ginny was a bit taken aback by the girl's forwardness, but smiled back. I guess that's what you get when you're the Boy-Who-Lived's best friend's little sister.
"We need three more people for Team One, and we need five more people for Team Four." Madame Hooch said, as soon as everyone had settled down.
Several groans could be heard and after a little quarrelling amongst the students on both Ron and Harry's team, eight students finally stood up and slowly divided themselves into the two teams.
Ginny noticed that they were all boys that had gotten up to change teams. She guessed that both Ron and Harry had something to do with it. Three second year boys she didn't know, sat behind her next to Su and Kevin.
Next to her, she heard Draco mumble something.
She decided that whatever it was he was saying, she would ignore it.
"Thank you for co-operating," Madame Hooch said. She stood with a quill in hand and parchment, writing. "Give me a moment while I record your names."
Ginny shifted a bit in her seat. She felt a bit restless as she waited for Madame Hooch to finish. She really wanted to get up from her spot. She didn't feel comfortable sitting next to Draco. At least she wasn't too close to him.
She looked at him from the corner of her eye and noticed that he was looking straight ahead.
"Now, to move onto the next section. Amongst your teammates, decide who is going to be captain, etc. And remember, this club is to promote good relations amongst the different houses, try to get a long; oh, and try to have fun."
Ginny heard a snort coming from the back.
She bit her lip. This was definitely going to take up the rest of the half hour that was left. At least time was going by fast enough; soon enough, this would be over.
She wondered who from her group was going to make the first move to get the discussion going.
No sooner had she thought that, an indifferent voice was heard - none other than
Draco Malfoy of course, spoke up, "I'm captain."
Ginny turned to him sharply and rolled her eyes at him. That was mature, she thought irritated. Why did he have to be so arrogant! Before she could even remember of her plan to be nice to Draco, she was ready to snap at him.
That little Weasley just openly rolled her eyes at me, Draco thought incredulously. Who does she think she is?
"Won't you let others voice their own opinions before you make your own decisions?" She snapped at him.
This girl was not going to make it easier on him. How could he try to be nice to her if all she did was talk back to him and embarrass him?
"I didn't see anyone else saying anything." He replied coldly. He looked her in the eyes, hoping to intimidate her with them.
She looked back bravely and replied, "You didn't give anyone else a chance to!"
Draco fumed silently. She was pushing it. He tried to bite on his tongue; he had to remember his plan. He couldn't mess it up now. He mentally counted till ten and then calmly asked, "Ok, Ginny, would you like to give it a go then?" He made sure to put some emphasis on her name so that even though it sounded like a normal question, it wouldn't be too nice a question because it would sound like he was patronizing her.
Her cheeks were starting to turn a bit pink and Draco knew that whatever he said from here on would make no difference to calm her rising anger. "Don't you patronize me, Malfoy!" She spat at him. She leaned in close to him, until their noses were only a few inches apart and whispered, "Why do you always have to be such an arse about everything?"
Draco glared at her, and leaned in a bit closer, his eyes boring into hers. He knew they both must have looked like they were having quite a row-which they were. "And, Ms. Virginia"-again he put more emphasis on her name-"do you always have to be such an ice queen?"
Her eyes widened a bit, but then she recovered and said, "It's only when you're around, you git."
Draco leaned back and gave a chuckle, which was very un-Draco-like. He couldn't help it. He found the situation ironic and the way she had said it. He knew a way to turn this around and progress to getting on her good side. "Ah, Ginny, I'm flattered." He said, but this time he didn't put any emphasis on her name.
He knew he was taking a risk by being so easy-going in front of the others, but he couldn't help it this time and he thought that maybe it would make her more willing to to trust him later on.
Ginny's eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in suspicion. She gave him one last glare, didn't bother to give him an answer, and then turned to the others sitting behind them.
Draco cursed softly to himself. He couldn't believe that he actually chuckled. Him? Chuckle? That was a scary image. He knew he had to get her to trust him, but next time he hoped he could find a more dark way to be nicer to her instead of being so jolly. It made him a bit sick to think he acted the way he did. But it just happened. That chuckle came out of nowhere.
"I would like to be a chaser." This girl said. She was sitting next to Ginny.
Draco glared at her. He didn't want them to think he had turned soft or anything. He had to regain control.
The girl just stared back at him nonchalantly. She wasn't scared of him at all.
Oh no, another Ginny Weasely, he thought sarcastically.
He saw Ginny smiling. Probably happy that this girl is acting just like her, he thought.
"That's a good choice, Orla!" Ginny said brightly to the girl. "Anyone else have a position in mind?"
Not only was she sitting next to him, she was also being the leader. Infuriating
girl!
"I'm a beater." Kevin spoke up.
"Great, we didn't have any before." Ginny said, smiling encouragingly at them all.
She was too nice, well, at least to everyone except to Draco and his friends. He noticed that she even smiled towards the other two Slytherin boys who had joined their team, and to his surprise, they smiled back.
They are spineless fools, easily swayed by a pretty face with a pretty smile, he thought and then almost cursed aloud. What was he saying?
He looked around to see how the other teams were doing. He checked Potter's team first and noticed that he was leading the others; even Crabbe was listening.
When he looked at Ron's team, even the other boy was leading his group, with Goyle listening attentively.
Draco's anger rose. What were they doing? He definitely needed to talk to them after this.
He looked at the last group and saw that Theodore was the only one talking, therefore most likely the one leading. He smirked. At least one Slytherin was taking lead.
Then he thought back to himself and thought, I'm not leading this, that girl is!
He looked back to her and caught her words, "…now that that's settled, who do we choose for captain?"
She looked around at them all and when she got to Draco, she looked at him a bit longer, as if daring him to challenge her.
He didn't back down. "I already told you, Weasely, I am. I don't take orders."
She looked around at everyone else and then said in a lighter tone, "Fine, Malfoy. You're the captain."
Draco was a bit surprised but didn't show it. She actually let him be captain. She was soft.
"Ok, students, our first session is over!" Madame Hooch said, as she was sitting on her broomstick, levitating a few feet off the ground. "I hope that you have all settled on who does what, If not, meet up and continue later this week. Next week, please tell me what the positions are and I'll explain more of what's going to happen. Take care, class, and remember to get a long. " She waved to them and then flew into the air.
He was glad that Ginny had settled everything so that he didn't have to meet them outside of this club. He had better things to do. Well, Ginny was involved in his plans, so he would have to keep trying to get closer to her somehow.
Everyone around him got up quickly, including Ginny. They all walked over to their friends and slowly walked out onto the Pitch to go back inside the castle.
Draco saw both Crabbe and Goyle waiting for him at the aisle of his row. He got up lazily and walked over to them slowly. He had a bone to pick with them.
Again, it was after band practice and Ginny was sitting around waiting until the guys packed up the instruments. She didn't want to walk alone. Ever since that incident with Draco, she thought it unnecessary to walk by herself. At least until they had their first DA meeting, which would be tomorrow on a Sunday, since they had no classes.
She sat on a desk, drew her knees to her, and rested her head on it.
She had gotten through the week fairly good. The classes weren't too bad and Quidditch Practice had gone well. They had also practiced with their reserve team and everyone was excited with the upcoming match with Slytherin.
Yet, on a Wednesday, when she was walking to her Care of Magical Creature's class, Draco was walking back to the castle alone for once. He actually acknowledged her presence with a nod.
She was shocked. She didn't know why he would have bothered to do that. At first, she thought that maybe she had imagined it, but then he had said, "Weasely," in greeting.
She didn't know what he was up to. First, that night after her practice: He didn't even say anything to her about it. He acted as if it never happened. He had really confused her that night, when he cornered her. After that, she had felt a slight physical attraction to him. Then, there was the Quidditch meeting: He had ignored her completely, which was just as well. After that, the time when they were practicing: They had marched up to the fields, and Draco didn't even put up a fight. He just sat down and waited. Last, the Quidditch Club: He was his normal Draco-like self, except when he chuckled. Then, on Wednesday he openly greeted her.
She didn't understand what he was playing at. One minute being such a prick, the next being indifferent, and then being…normal.
She had better keep her guards up. Knowing Draco Malfoy he was up to no-good. Yet, at the same time she had to get him to trust her. She then realized that if she had to get him to trust her, she would have to open up to him first. Draco definitely did not look like a bloke who would open up to just anyone, especially a Weasely.
"Gin, ready to go?" Colin asked, as he stood in front of her. She jumped a bit. "Are you ok?" He asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Ginny replied and then jumped to the floor. "I was just thinking about my mum." She lied.
"Don't worry, Ginny, they're safe." Dean said, coming up from behind her. "C'mon, let's go back to the Tower and get some sleep; especially since we have that DA meeting tomorrow." He gently guided her out of the room and they all walked back to the Tower quietly.
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Author's Notes(2): Review time :0) Sorry if this takes up a lot of space.
Phoenix12: To my beta-reader and friend, thanks so much! I'm really glad that you liked this chapter! Hopefully I send you another one soon to beta-read *wink* take care! Have a great week!
Kitten35: Mika! Hey! Thanks so much for always reviewing! I loved your poem! Hope you get more reviews! :0) I hope you like this chapter! Take care!
Black Elf: Hey! Thank you so much for always reviewing and being so sweet about everything! Can't wait for the next chapter of SoL! Yay! I hope you have a great week! Ttyl!
Heather-Weasely-lover: Thank you so much for taking the time out and reviewing! I'm really glad that you like my fic! Hope to hear from you soon! :0)
Snuffles2984: Meria! How are you? Thanks for encouraging me and reviewing! I love your Sirius fic! It's one of the best out there! Waiting eagerly for the next chapter! :0)
Anji: See! I didn't forget to put you in here this time-maybe it's cause of the trick you played-dutty jed! To my twin sis, thank you for reviewing! I hope that you review this chapter and please no more jokes! :0) I hope you liked it! Keep reviewing!
Xman2: Thanks for reviewing! I decided that in my fic I wanted Lucius to be free-ok I'll be honest, I forgot Lucius was in Azkaban. :0)
Vu: Thanks so much for reviewing! Hope to hear from you soon! Take care!
Swimfan: Thanks for reviewing! He is a meanie, isn't he? Yet, we still fall for the bad boys. * Sigh* Hope to hear from you! Take care! Have a great week!
Darcy16: Awww, you're too kind! Thanks A LOT for your review! After reading your review I really wanted to start updating, but I was a bit busy with things. But, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter and that you will continue reading this fic even though it took so long for me to update, and sorry for making you wait long for the next chapter!
CarleeAK: Thanks so much! I'm glad that you loved it! :0) Yeah, I was racking my brain as to what would the basis of this story be about. I'm glad that you like that idea! Take care! Hope to hear from you soon!
Rubyblack: Hey! How are you? Thanks so much for reviewing! I really appreciate it! Sorry for taking a while to update!
Chi7890: Hey! Thanks so much for taking the time to review my story! I will get back to reading yours! It's harder to change someone who wants to be evil, lol. Ginny a rocker. I didn't know that many people had this. Well, I just thought that her being in a band would help to thicken my plot and help the story to progress, and thanks for letting me know how you felt about that :0) I really appreciate your feedback! About the Phoenix's Tear part, you're close; maybe you're right on target. *Wink* It may not seem like it makes sense right now, but hopefully it'll come together as we go along chapter to chapter.
CheeseMaster77: Hey! How are you? Haven't heard from you in a while, hope everything is going great with you! Here's another chapter! I hope you like it and thanks a lot for reviewing!
Wizzabee: Thanks so much for taking the time out to review! I really appreciate it! Hope to hear from you soon! Take care! :0)
Blustarr, Cynthetic, and Gohansfan: How are you? Hope you get a chance to read this chapter and I hope that you haven't given up on me! Take care! Hope to hear from you soon! :0)
Beauty Eclipsed: I love your name btw! How are you doing? Thanks so much for reviewing to both my stories! I really appreciate it! Hope you like this chapter! Have a great week!
Kinipela12: Thanks so much for taking the time out and reviewing! Hope things are going great with you! Take care! :0)
Ok, that's all folks! :0) I just wanted to take the time out to thank ALL of you for reviewing! As you have read, over and over again, I really do appreciate all your reviews and I hope to hear from you soon! Have a great week and take care! Paix! *HUGS*