A/N: Dude, you guys are the best! I think I have the greatest reviewers on
the planet! You guys seriously make me blush! With TEN reviews, this is
my highest reviewed chapter to date! I've finally hit the big time! I'll
add my personal messages at the end so that we can get moving with this
chapter! I've gotten positive feed back about the Creeveys, Tyler, and
Coop, so I guess, they'll be more into this story than I had originally
intended. Hope that's OK with everyone. Now back to the good stuff!
~Chapter 12~
"What are you doing!" Ron yelled in frustration, "You'll never get the Quaffle in if you're so timid!" The sun was slowly setting in the sky and he and Harry had been practicing with the Gryffindors for over an hour. Ron still didn't think they were getting anywhere; the team had absolutely no strategy. "Enough!" Ron said blowing his whistle. "Everyone back on the ground!"
The team touched down one by one. Emily wiped the sweat off her brow, she couldn't remember the last time they had practiced that hard and they had only been at it for an hour. Chelsea Martin, a chaser and their team captain, never worked them like Professor Weasley just had.
Ron pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep calming breath. "All right guys," he started, "practice wasn't—er—bad, but you guys need a lot of work! I think you guys need to start getting in as much practice as you can starting right after next weeks tryouts."
"But Professor Weasley" Chelsea whined, "we've got other things to do too! You can't just expect us to drop everything for practice, can you?"
Ron glared at her in disbelief, "How did you ever become captain?"
Chelsea blushed but didn't back down, "I care about Quidditch, but there are more things to life than the game."
"How exactly is it that you expect your team to pull together and work for the Cup when you're the first one brushing it off. You either suck it up and be a good captain or you find another way to spend your time, but you are not going to waste the time of your teammates with your I don't care attitude!"
Chelsea had never been so insulted, "Well, I never! I doubt you guys could do any better anyway! Consider this my resignation!" Chelsea turned and stormed off the field.
Ron stared after her in disgust; he hadn't actually expected her to ditch her team. Things, which weren't going good for the Gryffindors now just got worse. They'd lost their captain.
"Thank God she's gone!" Jordan Fitzgerald, a chaser, said.
"Yeah," agreed Connie Wright, their seeker, "now maybe we can actually focus on the game!" Everyone murmured their agreement but Harry and Ron looked puzzled. She explained, "She never wanted to teach us anything new at practice. We'd usually just run old drills for two hours two times a week."
"Well you're not going to win unless you buckle down and practice, practice, practice." Ron said. "We'll meet again next Friday for another session. We'll also have a vote for a new captain so take some time to think about who you think should do it." Ron turned to Harry, "Anything you'd like to add?"
Harry stepped forward, "I think you've about covered all the relevant points. I'll just say that you guys can't go so easy on each other in practice. Coop, I noticed when you'd send the Bludger toward Emily to keep her from blocking a goal you'd hesitate a little. I promise you that Slytherin isn't going to be so considerate of her. This is a practice; you're not doing anyone any favors if you take it easy on each other. A real game isn't going to be like that and you need to be prepared."
"Well put, Harry, er, Professor Potter," Ron said nodding his head, "Harry is right, if you're not practicing like it's a real game then you're wasting time. All right, that's it for tonight. I'll see you all next Friday for the next one."
"So, how do you think they'll do?" Harry asked Ron.
"I don't know, but it was like a bloody Shakespearean tragedy out there tonight!" Ron said, his frustration returning. "It's like they don't know how to trust each other out there. Obviously they haven't had much in the way of practice from their captain. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Across the pitch Coop rolled his eyes toward the sky praying for some Divine intervention, "How could you hold back! I don't need you doing me any favors," Emily said repeating Harry's words, "if I knew that you were hesitating I would have boxed your ears about it long ago! You don't hold back on Tyler!"
"Yes, but Tyler's a guy," Coop said in frustration. Tyler nearly choked.
Emily's eyes went wide with anger, "What?" was all she could articulate herself to say.
"Now, now Em, he didn't really mean that, did you Coop." Tyler shot a dirty look in Coop's direction wondering if he had gone mad. "You know how sometimes Coop just opens his mouth and things come out that not even he understands, this is just one of those times."
Coop, finally understanding what he'd just done tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Em—"he started.
Emily didn't want to hear it and turned and walked away. Tyler came up behind his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "You really did it this time buddy."
Coop shrugged Tyler's hand off his shoulder and turned to glare at him, "Really? I hadn't noticed! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!"
Tyler put up his hands in defense, "Don't yell at me, I'm not the one who said anything stupid!"
"How mad do you think she is?" he asked following her with his gaze as she entered the castle.
"I'd say she's pretty livid."
Coop sighed. "Well, I'll find her in the common room and apologize." And then as if to reassure himself, "Things will be back to normal by the time we go down to dinner."
~~~
Things weren't normal by dinner. Or at breakfast the next morning.
"Please Emily, talk to me!" Coop said as they headed into their History of Magic class, "I just want to apologize."
As she had done since practice the previous day, she ignored him and walked into the classroom, taking a seat next to Serena Gooding.
Coop and Tyler took a seat in the back row as Cho walked in. "Good morning everyone."
"Good morning, Professor Chang," the class chanted back.
The class was much more interesting than it had been when Professor Bins had taught it. As Cho told them about the Great Elfin Revolt of 1643 she conjured up images of the key people involved and then recreated the battle in the class.
Coop wished he could have been more into it, but found that he couldn't get past the fact that Emily hadn't forgiven him yet. When class ended Coop didn't try to talk to Emily as she walked out of the class. "Just going to give her some space then?" Tyler asked.
"What else can I do?" he asked as they headed toward Diviniation. They climbed into the musky dark tower and sat at one of the small desks. Professor Patil was sitting at her desk, her eyes closed and her head back.
Tyler watched their teacher. "Do you think she's asleep?" he whispered to Coop. Just then Parvati's eyes snapped open.
"Welcome, my young ones," she said standing. She walked around the room talking, "This is your first step to becoming gifted seers. Together we will unlock the mysteries of the inner eye," she said pointing her hand at her head, "You will learn how to get an advanced warning on all things that happen in life."
She stopped in front of Serena Gooding, "You should be careful when leaving class today," she said before moving on. "There are signs for us everywhere and I will show you how to pick up on them." She stopped again, this time in front of Coop, "A major folly could cost you a great deal."
Coop looked at Tyler, "Don't need an inner eye to know that," he mumbled.
They spent the rest of the class discussing the retrograde motion of Mars and the impact it would have on their individual lives. When class ended Serena tripped on one of the beanbags while walking out.
"I told you to be careful!" Parvati said laughing to herself.
In charms Ginny divided them into groups so they could practice enlargement and reduction charms. As Emily got into her group with Tyler and Coop she muttered under her breath, "I wonder if a reduction charm would work on Coop's ego." Tyler heard her and began coughing to cover up his laugh.
The trio began their attempts to enlarge their mouse and reduce it back to normal. "Engorgio!" Tyler said pointing at the mouse. The next instant the mouse started growing until it was the size of a house cat.
"So, I guess you have to talk to me since we're working in a group," Coop said to Emily as Tyler reduced the size of the mouse again.
"I don't have to do anything. It's a free country," Emily said mimicking a popular American expression.
"Actually, we're a monarchy. You know, loyal subjects of the royal family," Coop replied.
"Oh whatever! You know what I meant!" Emily said. "Engorgio!" she said more frustrated than she intended. The mouse instantly became the size of a small car, breaking the desk it was on and knocking students over as it grew.
"Reducio!" Coop said quickly bringing the mouse back to normal size. "Reparo!" the broken desk instantly repaired itself.
Ginny asked if everyone was all right and walked over to the trio. "Emily I'm glad you've got the hang of it," she said laughing, "but take it easy. I don't want to loose any students my first week!"
"I'm sorry Professor Weasley," she said turning red.
"It's all right." She turned to Tyler, "Tyler, I saw you practicing your charm, you're doing a great job!" she said patting his back.
"Thank you Professor," he said as she walked away. He sighed as she walked to another group, "She thinks I'm doing a great job."
"Snap out of it boyo," Emily said waving her wand in front of Tyler's eyes.
Coop smiled at his friend's audacity but quickly turned back to more pressing matters, "Em, please, just let me apologize. I didn't mean anything by what I said."
Emily sighed, "I know you didn't, but that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt my feelings."
"I know," Coop said hanging his head down, "I feel really bad about it."
Emily sighed again, "I guess it's all right."
Coop instantly brightened. Smiling he said, "And I promise, from now on, I won't take it easy on you at practice."
Tyler came up next to Emily and put an arm around her shoulder, "You may not live to regret that. He's a pretty good Beater."
"Is that so," Emily asked crossing her arms over her chest.
Coop winked at her, "Just remember, you asked for it.
~~~
Everyone was busily chatting in the hall. The first week of class was over. Ginny for one felt relived. She also felt accomplished. She made it through a whole week and she did a good job!
Her brother was telling her all about the Kneazle his class had observed that day. As she listened to her brother she kept glancing at Draco out of the corner of her eye. As was his habit, he sat at the end of the head table eating quietly. Other than his run in with Coop on the first day of class, she hadn't spoken to Draco since their picnic at the lake.
She very much doubted that he had any other interaction with anyone and when he got up after finishing his meal she made her excuses to her brother and followed him out. Ron saw his sister follow Draco out of the hall and his eyes darkened.
"Leave it alone," Hermione said from her place next to him.
Ron smiled sweetly at her, "I don't know what you're referring to."
She gave him a sweet smile of her own, "You don't fool me one bit Ron Weasley."
"So, you want to go for a walk after curfew?" Ron asked changing the subject, hoping it sounded nonchalant.
Hermione didn't answer him right away. They hadn't had a moment alone since she had kissed him. "Sure," she said equally nonchalant, "a walk would be great."
~~~
"Malfoy, wait up!" Ginny called out as she ran out of the hall.
Draco turned around and felt the now familiar tug in his stomach he got from seeing her. "Is there something you wanted Weasley?"
"So serious," she said scrunching up her face. "Well then Professor," she said stressing the word, "I was wondering if you'd care to join me for a walk."
Draco seriously contemplated it for a moment before he remembered himself, "I don't think that would be such a good idea."
Since she knew his MO by now, she grabbed on to his arm before he could walk away. "You just have to come!"
Draco looked at her confused, "And why is that?"
"Well," Ginny started, "it's dark outside and the Giant Squid might get me! A girl's got to have a protector."
Draco smiled, "Is that so?" Ginny nodded her head at him, "Well, in that case I guess I have no choice."
"Nope, none at all!" Ginny said as they headed to the door, but she didn't release his arm and he didn't try to pull it away.
It was a cool crisp night outside as they walked in silence. The full moon seemed huge in the sky and its reflection on the lake gave a shimmering impression.
"It's beautiful out tonight," Ginny said conversationally. They ended up walking to the same spot where they'd had lunch a week before. "How are classes going?" Ginny asked after a while.
"They are going better than I thought. I actually didn't think I could do this."
"Why not?" Ginny asked in genuine surprise, "You're a Slytherin, 'no matter what's the situation they may find, there is nothing that's got them beat,'" she said mimicking the Sorting Hat. Draco laughed at her impertinence. "Really though, I'm surprised you thought that way. You always seemed so confident while we were in school here."
Draco looked out over the lake, his eyes full of lament, "That was a long time ago."
"Not so long really," she replied trying to get him to snap out of his reverie. The defeated look in his eyes made a lump rise in her throat and she couldn't seem to get back down.
"I've grown up a lot since then, Weasley."
"How so?" she asked hoping that he would open up to her.
Draco wanted to tell her everything. He'd been holding so much in, but he couldn't bring himself to let anyone in. Especially someone who thought he'd led such a charmed existence. "I'm a Malfoy," he said simply, "I'm sure you can figure out the rest."
She probably could have figured out some of it, but she knew there was more, deep inside, that he couldn't bring himself to tell her. She shivered even though she wore her robe and knew the coldness she felt was from more than the night air.
"Cold?" Draco asked.
"No," she said. Draco looked at her skeptically for a moment and unzipped his own robe. "Don't do that," she said as he put his robe over her shoulders and zipped it up. "Now you'll be cold."
"I'll be all right," he said rubbing her arms to warm her up even more. She looked into his gray eyes and her heart stopped at the sadness she saw. She reached up her hand and touched his cheek, "Your eyes are so sad. I wish I knew why."
Draco stopped rubbing her arms and looked at her. "Thank you," he said to her.
Ginny looked at him bewildered, "For what?"
"For caring. No one's done that for a long time." And then he kissed her. Ginny closed her eyes and leaned into him not thinking of what this meant and not really caring. Draco brought his hands up to cup her face as Ginny's arms went around his neck.
She felt his tongue on her lips and opened them to let it in. He took what she offered him, seeming to desperately needing the human contact. Her mind was hazy and she couldn't think of anything other than Draco and their kiss. The need for air became too much and they finally broke off their kiss. He rested his forehead on hers while they took deep breaths.
Draco regained his composure first and pulled away. "I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, backing away.
Ginny reached out and took his hand, "It's alright," she said, still breathless herself.
He wished that were true, "No it isn't. I'm sorry," he said again. He raised her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it. "Good night," he said and left.
Ginny stood watching him enter the castle. She didn't know what had just happened. One minute Draco was kissing her senseless and the next he was pushing her away. All she knew was that it was the first time Draco had dropped his guard enough to show her any emotion. 'And what emotion it was,' she thought to herself raising her hand to her still tingling lips. Obviously it was just as powerful for him and leaving was the only way he knew how to deal with it.
She wrapped his robe tighter around her body feeling the evening chill for the first time. She turned and headed back up the walk to the castle. When she was half way there the door opened and her heart skipped a beat thinking that it was Draco again and was disappointed when it was just her brother and Hermione.
They held hands as they walked down the front steps completely oblivious to her presence. Ginny sensed they wanted to be alone and not really feeling like making conversation herself she dashed behind a tree.
She watched them walk down to the lake and stand where she and Draco had just been. Leaning against the tree she watched them. Hermione laughed at something that Ron said and Ginny felt a stab of jealousy at the easiness of their relationship. Ron sat against the tree and Hermione sat between his legs resting her head against his chest. Ginny decided to give them a bit of privacy and continued on her way to the castle. Why couldn't things be so easy for her?
A/N: All right, I finally threw some relationship stuff in there for you all! I know you've all been waiting patiently and I thank you. So Draco put the moves on Ginny...thank God that Ron didn't come out of the castle two minutes earlier or I think there may have been some bloodshed! Some pretty big stuff is coming!!! Can't wait for you all to read that! I know you all don't know what it is yet, but believe me...it will be good! If you really want to know what it is, just clear your thoughts and rely on your Seer abilities!!!
OK, to my reviewers:
Zee! You are going to make my head swell! Pretty soon my ego is going to take over the world! Be mean to me! LOL. As for the Harry speech, I think Harry would go that route too! Might as well cover all the important questions first! I'm glad you liked it!
Rhinemjr and Grumpy1 - Thank you both for the html tips, I never realized that I could save in html format and have gone back to change chapter 10 as well as the letters in chapters 1 and 2. I also changed the end part of 10 where we first meet Bryce; I didn't think it flowed as well as it should have. It's only a couple of changes, nothing major.
AurouraBorealis - Thank you for your enthusiasm! I'm trying to get the chapters out to you guys as fast as I can. I actually skipped out on my Geometry homework on Sunday to bring you that last chapter! I actually think I did really well on my test today though; maybe updating this story is a great way to clear my mind for test taking! It's weird because I'll sit in front of my computer wondering how I'm even going to get 2 pages filled and then I find myself with 8 page wondering how I'm going to stop!
Painterchica - I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me that you sat and read my story in one sitting, especially since it is so long! I'm glad that you are enjoying it. I tried not to make Emily, Coop, and Tyler too much like any other character, but I have to agree with you about the similarities! I do agree wholeheartedly that Draco is definitely picking up where Snape left off. But we all had that ONE teacher in school and I couldn't leave these kids without theirs! But we all love Draco! It just wouldn't be the same without him! I hope you were able to get your homework done! Of course l didn't study for Geometry and I think I did well! I guess I'll have to wait until I get my test back to see if my theory is correct on that one!
Hplova4eva - I'm glad you think it's awesome!
Bombshell - As always you are my most polite reviewer!
And to my new reviewers, raven-roka, samijo, lilaznslytherindevil, killtheposeurs, Nerwen Faelvirin, and JRT01, welcome aboard!
~Chapter 12~
"What are you doing!" Ron yelled in frustration, "You'll never get the Quaffle in if you're so timid!" The sun was slowly setting in the sky and he and Harry had been practicing with the Gryffindors for over an hour. Ron still didn't think they were getting anywhere; the team had absolutely no strategy. "Enough!" Ron said blowing his whistle. "Everyone back on the ground!"
The team touched down one by one. Emily wiped the sweat off her brow, she couldn't remember the last time they had practiced that hard and they had only been at it for an hour. Chelsea Martin, a chaser and their team captain, never worked them like Professor Weasley just had.
Ron pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep calming breath. "All right guys," he started, "practice wasn't—er—bad, but you guys need a lot of work! I think you guys need to start getting in as much practice as you can starting right after next weeks tryouts."
"But Professor Weasley" Chelsea whined, "we've got other things to do too! You can't just expect us to drop everything for practice, can you?"
Ron glared at her in disbelief, "How did you ever become captain?"
Chelsea blushed but didn't back down, "I care about Quidditch, but there are more things to life than the game."
"How exactly is it that you expect your team to pull together and work for the Cup when you're the first one brushing it off. You either suck it up and be a good captain or you find another way to spend your time, but you are not going to waste the time of your teammates with your I don't care attitude!"
Chelsea had never been so insulted, "Well, I never! I doubt you guys could do any better anyway! Consider this my resignation!" Chelsea turned and stormed off the field.
Ron stared after her in disgust; he hadn't actually expected her to ditch her team. Things, which weren't going good for the Gryffindors now just got worse. They'd lost their captain.
"Thank God she's gone!" Jordan Fitzgerald, a chaser, said.
"Yeah," agreed Connie Wright, their seeker, "now maybe we can actually focus on the game!" Everyone murmured their agreement but Harry and Ron looked puzzled. She explained, "She never wanted to teach us anything new at practice. We'd usually just run old drills for two hours two times a week."
"Well you're not going to win unless you buckle down and practice, practice, practice." Ron said. "We'll meet again next Friday for another session. We'll also have a vote for a new captain so take some time to think about who you think should do it." Ron turned to Harry, "Anything you'd like to add?"
Harry stepped forward, "I think you've about covered all the relevant points. I'll just say that you guys can't go so easy on each other in practice. Coop, I noticed when you'd send the Bludger toward Emily to keep her from blocking a goal you'd hesitate a little. I promise you that Slytherin isn't going to be so considerate of her. This is a practice; you're not doing anyone any favors if you take it easy on each other. A real game isn't going to be like that and you need to be prepared."
"Well put, Harry, er, Professor Potter," Ron said nodding his head, "Harry is right, if you're not practicing like it's a real game then you're wasting time. All right, that's it for tonight. I'll see you all next Friday for the next one."
"So, how do you think they'll do?" Harry asked Ron.
"I don't know, but it was like a bloody Shakespearean tragedy out there tonight!" Ron said, his frustration returning. "It's like they don't know how to trust each other out there. Obviously they haven't had much in the way of practice from their captain. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Across the pitch Coop rolled his eyes toward the sky praying for some Divine intervention, "How could you hold back! I don't need you doing me any favors," Emily said repeating Harry's words, "if I knew that you were hesitating I would have boxed your ears about it long ago! You don't hold back on Tyler!"
"Yes, but Tyler's a guy," Coop said in frustration. Tyler nearly choked.
Emily's eyes went wide with anger, "What?" was all she could articulate herself to say.
"Now, now Em, he didn't really mean that, did you Coop." Tyler shot a dirty look in Coop's direction wondering if he had gone mad. "You know how sometimes Coop just opens his mouth and things come out that not even he understands, this is just one of those times."
Coop, finally understanding what he'd just done tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Em—"he started.
Emily didn't want to hear it and turned and walked away. Tyler came up behind his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "You really did it this time buddy."
Coop shrugged Tyler's hand off his shoulder and turned to glare at him, "Really? I hadn't noticed! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!"
Tyler put up his hands in defense, "Don't yell at me, I'm not the one who said anything stupid!"
"How mad do you think she is?" he asked following her with his gaze as she entered the castle.
"I'd say she's pretty livid."
Coop sighed. "Well, I'll find her in the common room and apologize." And then as if to reassure himself, "Things will be back to normal by the time we go down to dinner."
~~~
Things weren't normal by dinner. Or at breakfast the next morning.
"Please Emily, talk to me!" Coop said as they headed into their History of Magic class, "I just want to apologize."
As she had done since practice the previous day, she ignored him and walked into the classroom, taking a seat next to Serena Gooding.
Coop and Tyler took a seat in the back row as Cho walked in. "Good morning everyone."
"Good morning, Professor Chang," the class chanted back.
The class was much more interesting than it had been when Professor Bins had taught it. As Cho told them about the Great Elfin Revolt of 1643 she conjured up images of the key people involved and then recreated the battle in the class.
Coop wished he could have been more into it, but found that he couldn't get past the fact that Emily hadn't forgiven him yet. When class ended Coop didn't try to talk to Emily as she walked out of the class. "Just going to give her some space then?" Tyler asked.
"What else can I do?" he asked as they headed toward Diviniation. They climbed into the musky dark tower and sat at one of the small desks. Professor Patil was sitting at her desk, her eyes closed and her head back.
Tyler watched their teacher. "Do you think she's asleep?" he whispered to Coop. Just then Parvati's eyes snapped open.
"Welcome, my young ones," she said standing. She walked around the room talking, "This is your first step to becoming gifted seers. Together we will unlock the mysteries of the inner eye," she said pointing her hand at her head, "You will learn how to get an advanced warning on all things that happen in life."
She stopped in front of Serena Gooding, "You should be careful when leaving class today," she said before moving on. "There are signs for us everywhere and I will show you how to pick up on them." She stopped again, this time in front of Coop, "A major folly could cost you a great deal."
Coop looked at Tyler, "Don't need an inner eye to know that," he mumbled.
They spent the rest of the class discussing the retrograde motion of Mars and the impact it would have on their individual lives. When class ended Serena tripped on one of the beanbags while walking out.
"I told you to be careful!" Parvati said laughing to herself.
In charms Ginny divided them into groups so they could practice enlargement and reduction charms. As Emily got into her group with Tyler and Coop she muttered under her breath, "I wonder if a reduction charm would work on Coop's ego." Tyler heard her and began coughing to cover up his laugh.
The trio began their attempts to enlarge their mouse and reduce it back to normal. "Engorgio!" Tyler said pointing at the mouse. The next instant the mouse started growing until it was the size of a house cat.
"So, I guess you have to talk to me since we're working in a group," Coop said to Emily as Tyler reduced the size of the mouse again.
"I don't have to do anything. It's a free country," Emily said mimicking a popular American expression.
"Actually, we're a monarchy. You know, loyal subjects of the royal family," Coop replied.
"Oh whatever! You know what I meant!" Emily said. "Engorgio!" she said more frustrated than she intended. The mouse instantly became the size of a small car, breaking the desk it was on and knocking students over as it grew.
"Reducio!" Coop said quickly bringing the mouse back to normal size. "Reparo!" the broken desk instantly repaired itself.
Ginny asked if everyone was all right and walked over to the trio. "Emily I'm glad you've got the hang of it," she said laughing, "but take it easy. I don't want to loose any students my first week!"
"I'm sorry Professor Weasley," she said turning red.
"It's all right." She turned to Tyler, "Tyler, I saw you practicing your charm, you're doing a great job!" she said patting his back.
"Thank you Professor," he said as she walked away. He sighed as she walked to another group, "She thinks I'm doing a great job."
"Snap out of it boyo," Emily said waving her wand in front of Tyler's eyes.
Coop smiled at his friend's audacity but quickly turned back to more pressing matters, "Em, please, just let me apologize. I didn't mean anything by what I said."
Emily sighed, "I know you didn't, but that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt my feelings."
"I know," Coop said hanging his head down, "I feel really bad about it."
Emily sighed again, "I guess it's all right."
Coop instantly brightened. Smiling he said, "And I promise, from now on, I won't take it easy on you at practice."
Tyler came up next to Emily and put an arm around her shoulder, "You may not live to regret that. He's a pretty good Beater."
"Is that so," Emily asked crossing her arms over her chest.
Coop winked at her, "Just remember, you asked for it.
~~~
Everyone was busily chatting in the hall. The first week of class was over. Ginny for one felt relived. She also felt accomplished. She made it through a whole week and she did a good job!
Her brother was telling her all about the Kneazle his class had observed that day. As she listened to her brother she kept glancing at Draco out of the corner of her eye. As was his habit, he sat at the end of the head table eating quietly. Other than his run in with Coop on the first day of class, she hadn't spoken to Draco since their picnic at the lake.
She very much doubted that he had any other interaction with anyone and when he got up after finishing his meal she made her excuses to her brother and followed him out. Ron saw his sister follow Draco out of the hall and his eyes darkened.
"Leave it alone," Hermione said from her place next to him.
Ron smiled sweetly at her, "I don't know what you're referring to."
She gave him a sweet smile of her own, "You don't fool me one bit Ron Weasley."
"So, you want to go for a walk after curfew?" Ron asked changing the subject, hoping it sounded nonchalant.
Hermione didn't answer him right away. They hadn't had a moment alone since she had kissed him. "Sure," she said equally nonchalant, "a walk would be great."
~~~
"Malfoy, wait up!" Ginny called out as she ran out of the hall.
Draco turned around and felt the now familiar tug in his stomach he got from seeing her. "Is there something you wanted Weasley?"
"So serious," she said scrunching up her face. "Well then Professor," she said stressing the word, "I was wondering if you'd care to join me for a walk."
Draco seriously contemplated it for a moment before he remembered himself, "I don't think that would be such a good idea."
Since she knew his MO by now, she grabbed on to his arm before he could walk away. "You just have to come!"
Draco looked at her confused, "And why is that?"
"Well," Ginny started, "it's dark outside and the Giant Squid might get me! A girl's got to have a protector."
Draco smiled, "Is that so?" Ginny nodded her head at him, "Well, in that case I guess I have no choice."
"Nope, none at all!" Ginny said as they headed to the door, but she didn't release his arm and he didn't try to pull it away.
It was a cool crisp night outside as they walked in silence. The full moon seemed huge in the sky and its reflection on the lake gave a shimmering impression.
"It's beautiful out tonight," Ginny said conversationally. They ended up walking to the same spot where they'd had lunch a week before. "How are classes going?" Ginny asked after a while.
"They are going better than I thought. I actually didn't think I could do this."
"Why not?" Ginny asked in genuine surprise, "You're a Slytherin, 'no matter what's the situation they may find, there is nothing that's got them beat,'" she said mimicking the Sorting Hat. Draco laughed at her impertinence. "Really though, I'm surprised you thought that way. You always seemed so confident while we were in school here."
Draco looked out over the lake, his eyes full of lament, "That was a long time ago."
"Not so long really," she replied trying to get him to snap out of his reverie. The defeated look in his eyes made a lump rise in her throat and she couldn't seem to get back down.
"I've grown up a lot since then, Weasley."
"How so?" she asked hoping that he would open up to her.
Draco wanted to tell her everything. He'd been holding so much in, but he couldn't bring himself to let anyone in. Especially someone who thought he'd led such a charmed existence. "I'm a Malfoy," he said simply, "I'm sure you can figure out the rest."
She probably could have figured out some of it, but she knew there was more, deep inside, that he couldn't bring himself to tell her. She shivered even though she wore her robe and knew the coldness she felt was from more than the night air.
"Cold?" Draco asked.
"No," she said. Draco looked at her skeptically for a moment and unzipped his own robe. "Don't do that," she said as he put his robe over her shoulders and zipped it up. "Now you'll be cold."
"I'll be all right," he said rubbing her arms to warm her up even more. She looked into his gray eyes and her heart stopped at the sadness she saw. She reached up her hand and touched his cheek, "Your eyes are so sad. I wish I knew why."
Draco stopped rubbing her arms and looked at her. "Thank you," he said to her.
Ginny looked at him bewildered, "For what?"
"For caring. No one's done that for a long time." And then he kissed her. Ginny closed her eyes and leaned into him not thinking of what this meant and not really caring. Draco brought his hands up to cup her face as Ginny's arms went around his neck.
She felt his tongue on her lips and opened them to let it in. He took what she offered him, seeming to desperately needing the human contact. Her mind was hazy and she couldn't think of anything other than Draco and their kiss. The need for air became too much and they finally broke off their kiss. He rested his forehead on hers while they took deep breaths.
Draco regained his composure first and pulled away. "I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, backing away.
Ginny reached out and took his hand, "It's alright," she said, still breathless herself.
He wished that were true, "No it isn't. I'm sorry," he said again. He raised her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it. "Good night," he said and left.
Ginny stood watching him enter the castle. She didn't know what had just happened. One minute Draco was kissing her senseless and the next he was pushing her away. All she knew was that it was the first time Draco had dropped his guard enough to show her any emotion. 'And what emotion it was,' she thought to herself raising her hand to her still tingling lips. Obviously it was just as powerful for him and leaving was the only way he knew how to deal with it.
She wrapped his robe tighter around her body feeling the evening chill for the first time. She turned and headed back up the walk to the castle. When she was half way there the door opened and her heart skipped a beat thinking that it was Draco again and was disappointed when it was just her brother and Hermione.
They held hands as they walked down the front steps completely oblivious to her presence. Ginny sensed they wanted to be alone and not really feeling like making conversation herself she dashed behind a tree.
She watched them walk down to the lake and stand where she and Draco had just been. Leaning against the tree she watched them. Hermione laughed at something that Ron said and Ginny felt a stab of jealousy at the easiness of their relationship. Ron sat against the tree and Hermione sat between his legs resting her head against his chest. Ginny decided to give them a bit of privacy and continued on her way to the castle. Why couldn't things be so easy for her?
A/N: All right, I finally threw some relationship stuff in there for you all! I know you've all been waiting patiently and I thank you. So Draco put the moves on Ginny...thank God that Ron didn't come out of the castle two minutes earlier or I think there may have been some bloodshed! Some pretty big stuff is coming!!! Can't wait for you all to read that! I know you all don't know what it is yet, but believe me...it will be good! If you really want to know what it is, just clear your thoughts and rely on your Seer abilities!!!
OK, to my reviewers:
Zee! You are going to make my head swell! Pretty soon my ego is going to take over the world! Be mean to me! LOL. As for the Harry speech, I think Harry would go that route too! Might as well cover all the important questions first! I'm glad you liked it!
Rhinemjr and Grumpy1 - Thank you both for the html tips, I never realized that I could save in html format and have gone back to change chapter 10 as well as the letters in chapters 1 and 2. I also changed the end part of 10 where we first meet Bryce; I didn't think it flowed as well as it should have. It's only a couple of changes, nothing major.
AurouraBorealis - Thank you for your enthusiasm! I'm trying to get the chapters out to you guys as fast as I can. I actually skipped out on my Geometry homework on Sunday to bring you that last chapter! I actually think I did really well on my test today though; maybe updating this story is a great way to clear my mind for test taking! It's weird because I'll sit in front of my computer wondering how I'm even going to get 2 pages filled and then I find myself with 8 page wondering how I'm going to stop!
Painterchica - I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me that you sat and read my story in one sitting, especially since it is so long! I'm glad that you are enjoying it. I tried not to make Emily, Coop, and Tyler too much like any other character, but I have to agree with you about the similarities! I do agree wholeheartedly that Draco is definitely picking up where Snape left off. But we all had that ONE teacher in school and I couldn't leave these kids without theirs! But we all love Draco! It just wouldn't be the same without him! I hope you were able to get your homework done! Of course l didn't study for Geometry and I think I did well! I guess I'll have to wait until I get my test back to see if my theory is correct on that one!
Hplova4eva - I'm glad you think it's awesome!
Bombshell - As always you are my most polite reviewer!
And to my new reviewers, raven-roka, samijo, lilaznslytherindevil, killtheposeurs, Nerwen Faelvirin, and JRT01, welcome aboard!