Wonderful chapter 2

The summer holidays passed quickly and soon it was time to go to board the train at Platform 9 ¾. Mr Weasley, along with Mrs Weasley, drove Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny to the train station and they arrived fifteen minutes early. After placing their trunks in the luggage car, Ginny went in search for an empty compartment, not wanting to sit her brother and his friends. She did not want to see Ron and Hermione kissing every other minute. Since Harry started going out with Susan Bones just before Christmas, it got much worse as she had to put up with two couples sucking face throughout the train ride.

Having found an empty compartment, Ginny placed her neatly folded robes on the shelf above her head and sat down to look out the window. She was dressed in her school skirt, shirt and her house tie hung loosely around her neck. She rummaged though her book bag and took out her CD player. After checking that there was a CD in it, she switched it on and leaned back, enjoying the heavy beats of the songs. Just then, the door of the compartment opened, and Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini stepped in. The three teenagers stared at each other in silence for a few minutes when Draco spoke up.

"Weasley, do you mind if you sit here?" he asked.

"No, go ahead," Ginny said, motioning to the seats opposite her.

The two boys sat down opposite her and stretched their long legs in front of them. Ginny ignored the presence of the two Slytherins and closed her eyes but kept her hand close to her wand for precaution. She must have dozed off as the next thing she knew; someone shook her awake and pulled her left earphone roughly.

"What?!" she growled, grumpy from having her nap interrupted.

"Do you want anything from the snack trolley Weasley?" she heard a voice that she identified as Malfoy.

She opened her eyes, blinked away the rest of her sleepiness and saw that the snack trolley had stopped at their compartment. The lady smiled kindly at her and pointed to the selection of chocolate and sweets on the trolley. She got a few handfuls of Chocolate Frogs and a large packet of Every Flavour Beans. After eating five chocolate frogs, she looked up and found the two Slytherin guys staring at her.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, both annoyed and puzzled.

"You. How can you eat so much chocolate and not feel sick?" Draco asked.

"I just love chocolate," she said and shrugged nonchalantly. She offered the boys her opened box of beans and watched them inspect the beans carefully before popping it into their mouths.

"So, what are you listening to?" Blaise asked.

"Iron Maiden, why?"

"Was just curious because when Draco pulled off your earphones, I could hear the drumbeats all the way here," Blaise said. "Do you always listen to music with the volume that high?"

"It's heavy metal. If it's not loud …."

"What's the point," Draco finished for her, remembering their meeting at Diagon Alley.

Ginny smiled at him, remembering the incident too. "You're right. The Iced Earth live album is great," she said.

"I know. I have their whole discography."

"Really?! Do you have it here with you? Can I see it?" Ginny asked excitedly. She was a very big fan of Iced Earth but she didn't have all the albums since the music store doesn't always have it in stock.

Draco opened his bag, pulled out a rather thick and large CD carrier, and passed it to her. Ginny was like a kid in a candy store, getting excited over the different CDs that he had. She passed the carrier back to him, pulled out her own CD carrier, and showed it to him. For the rest of the journey, Ginny and Draco discussed the different bands and the different genres of music they listened. Ginny found out that after his father's death in the war, Draco had turned to music to deal with his grief. Even though his father was a Deatheater and wasn't much of a father to him, Draco still loved him and mourned his death. He had stumbled upon the music store at Diagon Alley and instantly fell in love with CDs and heavy metal.

Before they knew it, the train had pulled into Hogsmeade station. They packed up their stuff and alighted. As Ginny was about to go off in search for her brother, she felt Draco hold onto her wrist. She turned around in surprise and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Hey Weasley, do you think we could exchange CDs sometime?" he asked, looking a bit uncertain and his eyes were unreadable.

Ginny smiled at him and said, "Sure. I'd like that."

Draco smiled back and let go of her wrist. He watched her weave through the throng of students and walked up to her brother and his friends. Just before she boarded the carriage, he saw her turn back in his direction and gave him a dazzling smile. He felt Blaise elbow in the ribs and he turned to his best friend with a scowl on his face.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"The carriages are leaving with out us if you don't hurry. You can ogle at her later in the Hall," Blaise said, dragging Draco by the arm to the last carriage.

"I wasn't ogling at her. I was just seeing if she made her away safely to her brother," Draco mumbled.

"Whatever," Blaise answered.

In the Great Hall, Ron sat down beside Ginny and started bombarding her with questions.

"Where were you Ginny? I looked around and I couldn't find you on the train," he asked, with a worried look on his face.

"I was in the last compartment Ron," she said. That is if you actually really bothered to look for me, she added silently.

"How come you didn't seat with us?" Ron asked, motioning to Harry and Hermione.

"And see all of you make out? No, thank you. I'd rather sit by my lonesome and listen to my music. Now shut up, I want to see the Sorting."

The Sorting was over quickly and after the required speech by Dumbledore, the Feast began and everyone tucked into the food with gusto. When the Feast ended, the House prefects led all the students back to their dormitories. Ginny smiled to herself as she lay down to sleep that night when she thought back about the discussion that she and Draco had on the train. Malfoy's not so bad when he wants to be. If only he'd stop being such a prat.

~          *           ~

The first day of the lessons went smoothly and Ginny was adapting very well to her new classes. The last lesson of the day was N.E.W.T level Potions with the Slytherins. Ginny settled herself at Harry, Ron and Hermione's table as they waited for the rest of the class and Professor Snape to come in. The first order of business that Snape did was to pair a Slytherin with a Gryffindor. Ron, Harry and Hermione had Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson as partners, respectively. Ginny was paired with, who else but Draco Malfoy.

"Weasley, you do know that this is a 7th year class right?" he asked as he sat down beside her.

"I know that Malfoy. The professors pushed me up to 7th year since I did so well for my O.W.L.S." She gave him a smug look before turning to face the board. Ron, who was sitting at the table in front of her, kept turning back every ten minutes and shooting death glares at Draco, to make sure that his sister was all right.

"Ron, I'm fine. I can take care of myself," she whispered at him, not wanting to give Snape reason to give Ron a detention on the very first day of school. "Turn around and concentrate on your potion."

"If they pushed you up a level, how come they didn't do the same for Granger?" Draco whispered to her, once Ron had stopped turning back to give him death glares.

"They tried to in her third year but she turned it down. She said there wouldn't be anyone to keep the boys in line if she was pushed up a few levels," she answered back, while taking notes from the board.

"Huh," was all he said.

The rest of the lesson went quickly for them. They worked very well together; with Draco cutting the potion ingredients into the required size while Ginny weighing out the required ingredients. When the lesson ended, they bottled the psychedelic coloured potion into the bottles provided and placed it on Snape's desk as they left the classroom. As she was about to join her brother and his friends, who were waiting for her, Draco held her wrist for the second time that week to prevent her from leaving. She turned to face him and raised her right eyebrow.

"Hey Weasley, you're not bad in potions as I thought." he said, smirking slightly. "For a Gryffindor."

"You're not too bad yourself," she quipped back. "For a Slytherin."

"Well, see you around Weasley," he said, winking at her as he left.

Ginny stood rooted to the ground, gaping and staring at the Draco receding back. He didn't just wink at me, did he? He has a nice butt. Wait, did I just check his butt out? Oh my God, I just did! Ok, I have to stop it looking at his behind but what a sexy behind it was. Ginny sighed mentally, turned around and made her way to where he brother and his friends were standing. As she got closer, she saw that her brother's face was red and only Hermione's presence was preventing him from flying of the handle.

"What did that filthy Slytherin Ferret want!" he shouted, nearly blowing out her eardrums in the process. "Did he do anything? Do you want me to pound the snot of him? I would be more than happy to do it."

"Ron, he didn't do anything to me. Please calm down. I don't want mum to send a howler on the first week of school because you got detention or worse, suspended, for beating up a student. He just said that I wasn't bad at potion as he thought. That's all he said," Ginny said softly, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I'm worried about you. I don't want that Slytherin Ferret to hurt you," he said softly, slinging a hand around her shoulder as the four of them made their way back to the Gryffindor tower.

"Don't worry Ron. I know how to take care of myself."

"Ok but you'll tell me if he tries anything right?"

"Of course, dear brother." Ginny kissed her brother's cheek lightly before going up to her dorm room to wash up before dinner.

~          *           ~

Dinner was the same as always. Ron gulped down enough food for four people Harry was busy making lovey-dovey eyes at Susan and Hermione was eating and reading at the same time. Ginny was happily eating her food while listening to her sixth friends, telling her about their first day back at school.  Unknown to her, a certain blonde male from the Slytherin table, was watching her every move.

Draco watched as Ginny laughed at something Colin Creevey said. Over the past few years, Draco had watched the youngest Weasley blossom from a shy little girl into a pretty, young woman. She wasn't pretty in the classic sense but there was something about her that was unforgettable and breathtaking. Ever since she bumped into him at Diagon Alley, he couldn't get her out of his mind. More than once, he had contemplated sending her an owl to get to know her better but he didn't know how she was going to react to that. He looked at her laughing again and sighed, spearing his potatoes with his fork. He stared at the way her hair fell over her shoulders when she tilted her head back as she laughed, wishing that he could run his fingers through them.

"If you stared at her any harder, you might burn a hole through her," Draco heard Blaise comment beside him.

"I'm not staring at her," he mumbled, as he blushed ever so slightly, giving away his embarrassment.

"What ever. Just make sure that her brother doesn't catch you staring at her like that or you might end up at the hospital wing," Blaise advised. Draco just grunted noncommittally and carried on eating his dinner.

A few minutes later, the tables cleared of all dishes and food, and all the students stood up to make their way back to their common rooms. Ginny had looked up from her table and found Draco smiling at her. She shyly smiled back and she blushed furiously when he winked at her. She smiled all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. As she was brushing her hair while getting ready for bed, she couldn't help but think, it's been a very weird day, a day where Draco Malfoy smiled and winked at me, Ginny Weasley. What is the world coming to? What'll he do next, kiss me and declare his undying fro me. That has as much chance as a snowball in hell.

Ginny shook her head at that thought and got into bed. I just hope that tomorrow won't be as weird as today, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.