A/N: Wow – I actually got some reviews! That's good news – right? Well, either way, I'm going to keep writing this story, so get ready for Chapter Two!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story except for the Matthew twins – as of now, anyway. I might introduce some characters later on, but I don't know yet. I'll tell you when I do, okay?
*
"Miss Weasley, you will do good in the future to come into class on time. Luckily for you, I am usually lenient on the second day of school, or else you may have found yourself in Professor McGonagall's office. Now, please take a seat!" scolded Professor Vector in a stilted manner. (A/N: Hehe – vocabulary workbooks actually do help… I owe one to Ms. Pettet – my English teacher – for this.)
"Yes, Professor Vector – you see, it's not entirely my fault. It just so happens that I couldn't –" Ginny began, but when she noticed that the veins in Professor Vector's neck were throbbing and his face was turning slightly purple, she gave up and sat down in the only remaining seat – the one next to her second least favorite person in the entire world.
"Ooh – Virginia's in trouble. What did the Virgin Mary do this time?" teased Mark Callaway – a brunette whose sole purpose in life was to annoy Ginny.
"Get stuffed, Callaway. I've got better things to do than listen to your shit," she said, grinning at the fact that her sudden swearing had made him very taken aback.
"Uh oh, now you're in trouble – Little Miss Weasley said a bad word!" he jeered.
Ginny gave him one of her sweetest smiles as she kicked him in the shins. Turning back around to face the professor, she gave him another smile and waved sarcastically. He ignored her completely.
Oh, why oh why did you decide to take Arithmancy? Just because Hermione likes it doesn't mean it's easy; it usually means the opposite. (A/N: Just to let you all know Arithmancy actually is a method of fortune-telling in a way. I found this out from my friend's book (Thanks Gena…) and it's true, so I'm not making this up!)
"Today, we will be doing something rather different. The whole of last year, we studied the phases of fortune-telling through the mathematical processes that make up Arithmancy. This year, however, we will be taking our studies to a greater depth. We will start to take the names of people we know or hold in high-esteem and apply the Arithmancical steps we have learned to decode these names and find the true qualities that these people possess. Now, each of you, choose one or two people whom we all know, and start. You may wish to reread your text before beginning, for I am quite sure that some of your knowledge will have leaked out during the summer. Now, get to work," said Professor Vector, in his usual breathy and impatient voice.
Ginny sat up a little more excited than before. Arithmancy was a way of using numbers to learn the horoscopes, fortunes, qualities, and personalities of people, places, dates, or things. It hadn't been her favorite subject last year, since all they had done was learn about it and how to do it rather than really going through the processes, but now that they were actually allowed to use what they had learned, her mind was full of ideas. But the one idea which she needed to start wouldn't come.
Who the hell should I do? I've only ever tried myself before – damn that was weird. I was nothing but contradictions as far as I could tell. I didn't dare tell Mum – she would've blown her top at me. But who do I do now?
As she thought about it, the answer came to her. Or rather, two answers came to her. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy – to her, they were two opposites and two inspirers. They were perfect.
She quickly wrote down their names on a piece of parchment and stuffed it in her pocket. She wasn't about to tell anyone exactly who she was using – nor was she going to use them for class. She was going to use them for her own purposes. On another piece of parchment, she wrote down the names Ronald Weasley and Fred/George Weasley. She reckoned that it would make more sense to use them for the actual assignment rather than the other two boys she had thought of.
In a way, you are crazy about guys, do you know that? Aurora was right after all.
Aurora Scott Matthews was Ginny's one and only friend at Hogwarts. Ginny had other friends, but none of them were as intimate as Aurora. The only down side was that whereas Ginny had signed up for Arithmancy, Aurora was in Divination; Ginny had Muggle Studies because she hated animals while Aurora took Care of Magical Creatures. And whereas Aurora hadn't wanted to take extra classes after school, Ginny had decided to take part in Advanced Defense lessons. (A/N: This is something I'm making up – I don't think Hogwarts offers ADADA – Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts! Let's just say that people from Hermione's year and older didn't have this option because they hadn't yet found two teachers for Defense classes, okay?) Luckily, however, both Aurora and Ginny took the Study of Ancient Runes, so they were together for that class.
The two girls looked awfully alike, but where dissimilar in many ways. Aurora had a twin sister – not to mention a six-year-old sister too – whom Ginny despised, but she had no brothers. Though they were both redheads, Aurora had eyes of soft hazel and Ginny's were a startling azure blue, and over the summer, Ginny had had to get glasses. She didn't mind wearing them, for they were thin silver frames and in her opinion added to her looks. Aurora was more girlish in her mannerisms which made Ginny scornful of her at times. Aurora's hair was long and wavy, but Ginny's was short and straight – as close to a boy's as her mother would allow. Aurora was slightly like a child in many ways, and though Ginny often acted ignorant and docile, her real personality was far from that – something only Aurora knew. Ginny hated her name so much she tormented all those who liked it, yet Aurora was happy with herself the way she was and had no self-complaints whatsoever. And, while Aurora was a favorite among the boys in their year, Ginny had no luck whatsoever. But she didn't mind – except when it came to Harry – so she was able to settle for just teasing Aurora.
Forty minutes later, Ginny and Aurora were sitting together in a corner of the Defense classroom, discussing their previous classes. Aurora was the one person whom Ginny could trust with all her secrets, and vice versa. These two girls were so full of one another's mysteries that it was often very hard sometimes for them to keep all their thoughts bottled up inside, but they managed.
"Oh, gosh, Ginny, you're the only tomboy I've ever seen that's actually crazy about guys!" squealed Aurora.
"Hush, Rory, Professor Marion'll here you. Besides, I'm not crazy about them – I just thought I should use them for the assignment. It's not my problem if I have a wild imagination, is it?" Ginny snapped.
"But what made you choose Malfoy? I thought you hated him?" Aurora refuted.
"I'll tell you later – I meant to talk to you about that, anyway. Meet me in the library at lunch, okay?" Ginny ordered.
"Oh, alright, but Ginsters –" Aurora pleaded, but Ginny didn't listen.
Aurora sighed and pulled her textbook towards her to read. Deciphering the hieroglyphs of the Ancient Egyptian wizards was hard – their entire hieroglyphic alphabet was a lot more complex than that of the Muggle systems. They spent the rest of the class just taking notes on what Professor Marion was dictating and decoding the messages in their books.
"Ginny, do you think we should try out this year?" Aurora started again.
"Try out for what?" Ginny asked back without looking up from her books.
"For the Quidditch team – I figured that we ought to give it a try – at least this once. There's no harm in trying, is there?" Aurora asked slowly.
Ginny looked up at her friend. She pulled off her glasses and leaned back in her chair, thinking a while. Then, she spoke.
"Is there any particular reason why you want to try out?" Ginny asked.
To her surprise, Aurora blushed. "No, why would there be? I just thought you might want to – and if you do, I guess I could try. I just thought it would be a good change. We don't really do much anyways after school since we signed up for the easier subjects. It might be fun; you'll never know till you try it."
"Rory, I already take Advanced Defense. I don't have time for Quidditch," Ginny said, sighing and turning back to her work.
"But Harry and Draco play Quidditch," Aurora teased.
"Aurora Scott Matthews, I'm not about to waste my time on some stupid sport just because two boys play it!" Ginny screamed.
Aurora sat stunned in her seat. Ginny had never yelled at her before. Sure, they had argued in the past uncountable times, but the arguments had never before been settled in this manner. Ginny's voice had risen to such a level that the whole class had turned around to look at her. Even Professor Marion was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Miss Weasley, unless you have any plans of apologizing, I request that you please leave this classroom at once," he said.
Ginny, with her mind throbbing, picked up her bag and walked out. She didn't know what had come over her to yell at Aurora like that, but at the same time, as she walked back to the Common Room, she realized that Aurora had in a way been provoking her.
Why the hell does Aurora want to try out for Quidditch, anyway? She's never asked before, and she can always go and play herself even if I'm not. She's such a little kid, still – she always has to depend on me.
Ginny dragged herself into the Common Room. Fortunately, the Fat Lady had apparently forgotten about the events of the previous night and didn't mention anything.
Ginny walked up to her dorm and flopped down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, just thinking and sighing. She wasn't sure how long she was lying there but after a while, Aurora walked in.
"Ginny, are you alright?"
"Did you know that there are more than four-hundred and fifty-three of those little flowers on the wallpaper on the ceiling? And those are just the flowers inside the little square thing that this four-poster makes," Ginny said sardonically.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong with me. Something's wrong with you," she answered, sitting up.
"What's wrong with me?" Aurora asked calmly. She may not have been used to Ginny yelling at her, but she was more or less accustomed to Ginny's variant moods.
"I don't know. I was hoping that you could tell me. Since when have you been interested in Quidditch?"
"I thought you were the one interested in it. I guess I was wrong. And I'm sorry if I made you upset this morning."
"What do you mean this morning?" Ginny asked, slightly confused.
"You dope, it's two in the afternoon already! Didn't you know? I looked for you in the library but you weren't there, and after that I had to go for Care of Magical Creatures, so obviously I didn't expect you to be there. We have a free class now – or, I do anyway. You're supposed to be in Defense," Aurora said, smiling.
"Oh shit, I really need to get a watch," Ginny said, shaking her head. She picked up her stuff from where she had thrown it on the floor and rushed out of the dorms and down the stairs to the main halls.
Aurora shook her head after her. "The day she's on time to a class is the day I tell her the truth about something, for a change."
*
"I – I'm not late, am I?" Ginny wailed as she approached the Defense classroom. The fifth years were filing out slowly.
"Ah, Miss Virginia Weasley, what a nice surprise," said the man.
Ginny's jaw dropped. She blinked hard a number of times. She couldn't help it – this had got to have been one of the hottest men on the planet. And here he was, taking her Advanced Defense class – it was a pity she wasn't the only one who had signed up for it.
"I – uh – I –" she started. It was hopeless. She was too shocked to say anything. If she hadn't been, she probably would have noticed that the others in the classroom were sneering at her.
"Well, take a seat, Virginia. And no, you're not late, by the way. Though you might want to come in a couple of minutes earlier, next time, hmm?" he said.
Ginny was about to walk in when a fifth year who was walking out knocked her shoulder.
"Watch where you're going, will you?" she snapped.
The boy whirled around, with an eyebrow raised at her. She gasped. It was Draco. Two days in a row – something was definitely wrong. Why did she keep bumping into him, of all people – literally? If she hadn't been so burdened with her thoughts, she would have realized that he was looking at her with surprise too.
"Well, if it isn't Miss I'm-telling-my-brother-on-you Weasley," he smirked.
"I didn't expect you to make that recognition," she sneered back.
"Yes, well, I have, so there's no point in talking about it, is there?"
"No, I suppose not. I just like getting on your nerves," Ginny said, glaring.
"You don't suppose that a little brat like you could possibly make me waste my time, do you?" he said, glaring back.
"Well, if I'm 'a little brat', and you're not wasting your time right now, I'm guessing you enjoy talking to me – even if you have a class to go to?" Ginny said. Now it was her turn to smirk.
"You just wait. I'll get you one of these days. You and your pigsty of a family – and all those uncouth absurdities you call friends –"
In a second, Ginny was glaring at him, her face slightly pink with frustration, and Draco was rubbing his cheek, which was a bright red.
"What on earth did you do that for?" Draco asked her, still stunned that she had attempted to slap him – and done it.
"I think you know the answer to that, Draco," she said, still glaring. She turned on her heel and walked defiantly into the classroom, leaving both Draco and the professor shocked. She slammed the door behind her, leaving Draco staring at the door. After a couple of seconds, he walked off, picking up his books from where they had fallen when she had slapped him.
"Those Weasleys…"
Inside the classroom, Ginny sat down in the front row seat, next to a girl from Ravenclaw that she didn't know. She didn't much want to find out; for she was far more interested in finding out exactly who the professor was at the moment. Luckily for her, the other girl didn't have a chance to introduce herself at the moment.
"Well, I'm sure by now we all know Miss Virginia, but I'm afraid that not all of us know the rest of you. If you'll all please say a couple of lines about yourself when I call roll, it'll be a help for all of us to know a little about everyone. By the way, I'm Professor Michael Hornsby. I'll be your Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts until and unless you wish to drop this subject. Now, let's start."
Professor Michael Hornsby – Mike Hornsby – he sounds American. Well, that would explain his accent. I wonder why we got a new professor this year. I'm not complaining – this guy is definitely way more interesting than Professor Jorgen was last year, but – I don't know. We were never told that we were getting a new professor, were we? I don't know. At least Professor Jorgen seemed like a teacher. This guy's too – good looking – to be a professor.
Ginny was the last person on the list. When she got up, she flashed the professor one of her thousand-pound smiles. (A/N: Get it – million-dollar smile – thousand-pound smile, ha – I'm a genius, I know.) To her surprise, he smiled back. He had a smile that reminded her of Gilderoy Lockhart – and for some reason, she liked him even more for it.
"I'm Virginia Weasley – but I prefer to be called Ginny, if you don't mind. Um, I – I hate Potions and Slytherins no matter what you may think, but it doesn't mean I'm about to play Quidditch for the Gryffindor team. I'm not that patriotic – or whatever. And whatever you do, be careful what you say around me, or you may just hate yourself for it," she said in a rush, shrugging her shoulders as she finished and sat down.
"Well, now, what a vivid imagination this young girl has," the professor laughed.
"I'm not young and I don't have an imagination. Well, maybe I do, but I say what I think and nothing else. If you don't believe me, well, that's your problem," she said. Ginny had no clue whatsoever as to what she was doing, but she didn't quite care. She had never talked back to a teacher before, at least never intentionally, but here she was nearly arguing with him. Slowly, her appreciation for this man was deteriorating. He was irritating to her, not fascinating. And he didn't understand her. She hated people who didn't understand her – which basically meant that the only person she didn't hate was Aurora – and, of course, her brothers, Harry, and Hermione.
"Uh – right, well, that's all of you, I suppose. Let's go on, then, shall we?" he said as calmly as ever.
Ginny sighed. Advanced Defense wasn't quite what she thought it would have been. She sighed again. Last year had been awesome. They had done all sorts of stuff – interesting stuff. Ginny was interested in Defense. Her whole obsession with Harry had made her want to be an Auror. And then, of course, was Mad-Eye Moody, last year's Defense professor. He had been an Auror. She wouldn't look back now.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, Professor – uh – Hornsby, but, I was just wondering if you knew who was teaching the normal Defense classes," Ginny asked sweetly, and smiling at him. Jeez, if I try and keep this up for another five minutes I'm going to blow – literally.
"Ah, let's see now. I do believe Professor Dumbledore mentioned the name to me at some point in time. Now, who was it again? I do believe he's taught you before – Professor Lapin? No – it's a Professor Lupin – that's who it is," he answered. After answering, he immediately turned back to the class and started lecturing again.
Professor Lupin – why's he teaching again? I'm not arguing against it – he was cool too, but – I thought he was fired or something? No, he was resigning. That's it – because he was a werewolf. Then why has he come back? It's not because of – oh no, that's it – Harry…
Ginny groaned loudly. Unluckily for her, she hadn't been paying attention to what Professor Hornsby had been saying, or she would have been able to save herself.
"Well, Miss Weasley, I would have thought something of this nature would have pleased you. Apparently I was mistaken. Now, tell me – what is so disturbing to you that you have to disrupt the class in this manner?" he asked stiffly.
"Oh, I was just – I wasn't really complaining about – um – what we were talking about, I was just –"
"Professor Hornsby isn't class over?" whined the Ravenclaw next to her.
He looked quickly at his watch, and sighed. "I'm afraid so. Thank you, Miss Johnson, for reminding me. Well, I'll see you all on Thursday," he said, grinning around at them all and walking out.
Ginny let out a sigh again, this time of relief. She looked at the blonde next to her and gave her a thin smile. She didn't want to admit it, but the Ravenclaw had saved her from getting into trouble on the first day of school.
"Um, thanks, I guess…" Ginny muttered. She got up and started grabbing her stuff.
"You're welcome. I'm Jackie by the way – Jackie Johnson. I'm Angelina's sister," she said, smiling.
"Angelina – do you mean as in the Chaser Angelina – in Gryffindor?" Ginny asked, suddenly interested.
"Yeah, she's my sister. She's Quidditch Captain this year. She was so excited when she found out!" Jackie said, grinning happily. Apparently, there was no such thing as sibling rivalry in the Johnson family. Jackie seemed only too happy to share in her elder sister's pride and joy.
"Oh, your sister's Captain this year? Do you know what she's doing for tryouts?" Ginny asked slowly.
Maybe it won't hurt to tryout – Rory did have a point. I may be able to do something fun. But I'm not doing it because of Harry and Draco – that's one thing Rory has to get clear first.
"I'm not sure. She didn't tell me because I'm in Ravenclaw," she answered, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'd better be going," Ginny said. She walked out before Jackie started talking again. Ginny walked back to her dorm slowly, thinking carefully.
So, Professor Lupin had come back to Hogwarts. He was teaching again, even though he was a werewolf. Angelina Johnson was the new Quidditch Captain. Her younger sister was in Ginny's Advanced Defense class. Rory was keeping something from her – something related to Quidditch.
And most importantly, what was it with Draco Malfoy? Why was she running into him all over the place? Well, no, she wasn't running into him all over the place. It had only happened twice so far. But meeting up with Draco Malfoy twice in two days was twice too much.
"Not you again…" came a sneering voice from behind her.
Ginny groaned, turned around, and put her hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes at the boy and said, "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Of course, I do. Who wouldn't have a problem with Mudblood-loving filth like you in such a school?" Malfoy scoffed.
Ginny was about to walk up to him and slap him again, but using his reflexes, he ducked just in time. Instead, she kicked him in the shins.
"Ow, you bloody git, you need to control that short temper of yours!" he yelled.
Ginny was about to answer, but she was cut off by someone else. Someone was calling her name. And that someone didn't sound too happy.
"Miss Weasley, Mr. Malfoy – come with me please," called Professor McGonagall. Her lips were pressed tightly together and she was peering down at them through her glasses with a malevolent look.
Both Ginny and Draco groaned. It was one thing to get into trouble; but it was quite another to have gotten into trouble with your brother's archenemy – or in Draco's case, his archenemy's best-friend's sister.
Life stinks – with Draco.
*
"Ginny, that's not the point!" a hassled Ron Weasley said.
"Yes, it is! McGonagall's a fat old lady who's gone off her rocker! That's why she gave me a detention too! I wasn't the one who was swearing!" Ginny shouted back, sitting down in an armchair with a huff.
They were back in the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron, being a prefect, had heard from Hermione – who, in turn had heard from McGonagall – that Ginny had gotten a detention – with Malfoy. It was a sign of how much all three of them – Hermione, ron, and Ginny – hated the Malfoys that Ginny put all the blame on him while Ron and Hermione were torn between lecturing Ginny and congratulating her for getting Malfoy into trouble. What the four of them, however – Malfoy included – did not know, was that this was soon going to change – and sooner than anyone would have expected.
*
A/N: That's all, folks – so please review!