The Sense of Magic

Summary: Ginny is going to be the governess of 5 children. Why? Who? When? What is that Slytherin doing in this fic? And what is Ginny going to do with 5 children? Need I tell you? R&R!!

Disclaimer: Oops! Forgot this earlier. Sadly, the recognizable characters are not mine. The foundation of the plot cannot really be called mine, either. But the idea of combining the characters from Harry Potter and the plot of the other story IS mine!!! Please respect that as I am respecting the rights of the people who DO own the characters, setting, and basic-est storyline.

"Hmmmmm…" Malfoy said. "I guess I should start on my quest for another governess. You don't look like you'll be here for long. I pray that you will be an improvement upon the last one, however. She stayed less than a quarter of an hour after meeting my children." Walking around her, he added. "Hat off! You should know better. Or didn't your mother teach you?" Before she could say anything in defense of her upbringing and her mother, he continued. "And what is that atrocious thing you are wearing? You must change your…clothes…before you meet the children."

"This is the only set of robes I have, Mal-sir," Ginny said, as politely as she could. "I have been caring for patients in isolation and most of my robes have to remain in the isolation unit or be burned. I'm sorry that I did not have the time to purchase any new robes. I tried to arrive as soon as possible. I did not think my wardrobe would cause you such concern. If it does, I'll order some material and sew some new robes. It's not all that difficult."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Malfoy smirked. "Please, I'll order the material. Merlin knows what your taste runs to. If I am displeased with the robes you sew, you will pay for the material AND the robes that I will then have to choose for you. As it is, you have to meet the children dressed as you are."

With that, Malfoy drew out a whistle. Sending a shrill call through the air that utterly shocked Ginny, Malfoy continued to whistle when bangs and stomps could be heard from another level of the building. With military-like precision, four children in identical clothes clearly meant to be uniforms marched down the stairs, their boots loud against the marble. Ginny stared in surprise. The procession would be perfect, except that there was a gap between the first two children and the last two children. With a final whistle, the four children turned and stopped in a perfect line in front of the stairs that led down to the foyer. They all waited in silence as Malfoy looked around. Sighting his goal, he grimaced a little. Ginny turned, worried for the object of his attention. What she saw was a young boy making his way slowly from another room with a book in his hand. He started up the stairs before realizing someone was glaring a hole into his back. Turning slowly, he looked guiltily at his father and quickly made his way to what was obviously his place in line. Handing the book to his father, he turned and bent over slightly. Giving him a small whack on the bottom with the book, Malfoy watched expressionlessly as he got into position.

"Miss," Malfoy started. When he didn't say anything else but started snapping his fingers at her, Ginny jumped, realizing what he wanted.

"Ginny," she supplied.

"Miss Ginny," Malfoy began again, "is your new governess." Seeing that he was raising his whistle, Ginny winced. "When you hear your signal, step forward and state your name."

Ginny flinched as he gave a series of short, sharp notes. They were followed by a couple of ordered stomps as the first child, a girl, stepped out of the line. Saying "Martina," she stepped back into her place with a few more stomps. This performance was repeated with the other children as they stomped forward and stated their names: Adrian, Galen, Ivory, and Cassius.

"Now," Malfoy drawled after the strange presentation, "Let's see how well you listened."

Handing her a whistle, he expectantly waited, a smirk on his face.

"But Mal-sir…" she stammered, "You can't mean for me to WHISTLE for your children as if they are dogs!"

"Of course I do. The grounds are extensive and you cannot scream for my children as if you were a madwoman. This has been the system, and it will remain as it is. You will not only USE the whistle I provide you with, you will also answer to a call. This is the sound you will answer to."

With that, he started to blow a shrill call that gave Ginny a horrible headache. After he finished, he turned around without a glance and started to leave the room. An unbelievably piercing sound filled the building. Turning around slowly, Malfoy was surprised to see the youngest Weasley staring innocently at him. Raising a brow, he silently questioned her.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know your signal," she answered innocently.

"You may call me 'Malfoy.'" With that, he turned on his heel once again and exited with his robes billowing grandly.

With a small smile, Ginny turned to her new charges. As stunning as seeing Malfoy was, seeing his children was even MORE surprising. They were all so young, and they all seemed so perfect. Even the little boy who had been reading and late to join the procession was standing ramrod straight, staring at nothing. Their rigid stances and seeming perfection were completely unnerving Ginny. With a larger smile, she approached the children.

"Please, be at ease," she began. The children only parted their feet, still in perfect position. "Will each of you please step forward once again? And will you please tell me how old you are as well as your names?"

Stomp, stomp. "I am Martina. I am twelve-years-old. I do NOT need a governess." Stomp, stomp.

"That's wonderful. I'll just be your friend," Ginny replied.

Stomp, stomp. "I'm Adrian. I'm ten-years-old. I'm incorrigible!"

"Congratulations." Ginny smiled, tiredly.

"…What's incorrigible…?" Adrian asked, a bit uncertain.

"It means you want to be what you are." Seeing his reassured nod, Ginny smiled again.

"I'm Galen…" the little boy shyly stated. "I'm turning this old," he continued, holding up eight fingers.

Not to be outdone, the girl next to him held up six fingers. "And you're Ivory, aren't you?" Ginny asked sweetly seeing the adorable girl nod eagerly.

Feeling a tug on her robes, Ginny turned to look at the youngest child. "I Cass-i-us," he stated proudly. "I oldest!" Holding up all the fingers on one hand, he smirked at his siblings. Realizing he forgot something, he also stomped, rather loudly, on the hard marble floor. All of the children crowded around the tired Ginny, stomping and pulling on her robes.

Zabini suddenly popped up, interrupting. "It's time for you five to go outside while your new governess gets settled."

As the children walked slowly to the door, Zabini tugged at Ginny's luggage. She had only brought one suitcase and a long, narrow box. Unwilling to release the box, she allowed him to take the suitcase and followed him toward the stairs. When he turned expectantly at the foot of them, she also turned. Slowly, she met the gaze of the children. Martina looked smug about something, Adrian looked a little worried, Galen looked downright nervous, and the youngest two were innocently, but eagerly waiting for something to happen. Feeling something moving in her robe, Ginny calmly looked down and met the ugliest toad she had ever seen. Sighing, she picked up the toad with one hand and put it on Martina's head. With a "thank you," she turned to walk up the stairs in front of an amused Zabini. The children stood there, at a complete loss for words…

Reaching her rooms and thanking Zabini for his assistance, Ginny locked the door and collapsed onto her bed. Sighing, she tiredly sat there, without moving. She should feel…something. A short time ago, she would have laughed at the ingeniousness of her young charges. She would have felt angry at being manipulated into caring for MALFOY's children. She would have been outside, trying to repay the children for their thoughtful gift. What had happened? What IS happening?

Outside, the ingenious children were wondering what had gone wrong. Their governess had not reacted at all. Martina was mad that her plan had failed, Adrian was wondering if they would have better luck with the next one, Galen looked glad, upsetting Martina even more, and the youngest two were crying. They had been looking forward to having their newest friend scream with joy at their wonderful present. All the other women had…

Malfoy had watched from behind a shadow, as bemused as his children as to why the female had not reacted suitably. That toad had been disgusting, and every woman he knew would have fainted at the sight of it. Malfoy smirked at the memory of his oldest daughter's face when the youngest Weasley thanked her. It probably wasn't all that surprising that she didn't mind odious toads. After all, she was related to so many of them. He doubted that the Weaslette would be able to survive for long, however. She had won the first battle, but the war was far from over. The Weasleys may have a lot of faith in their sister (and some may be deserved), but his little devils had not gotten rid of so many governesses by smiling sweetly.

Throughout the day, Ginny found even more surprises. As she sat on pinecones, found herself tripping when her shoelaces were knotted together, and walked through doorways followed by various objects hitting her in various parts of the body, she began to feel nostalgic. Fred and George had always played similar tricks on her. Of course, they grew more creative as they invented more pranks and learned more magic tricks. Still, she couldn't help but remember her favorite, or least favorite, of her brothers' tricks. They had all combined their talents and pin money to contribute to Ginny's birthday present one year. She had woken up that day, excited to open her presents. Going to fix her hair, she had screamed in horror upon finding blonde where there was supposed to be red.

Her entire family had rushed into the room, worried. When her brothers say her in front of the mirror, they turned tail and ran. Chasing after them, screaming bloody murder, she had spent her last birthday with all of her brothers present "hating" them. Of course, they redeemed themselves by presenting her with the best presents they could afford. By the time she was heading for bed, they had all made up. Even with her blonde hair, her mood couldn't be dampened. Even though Harry hadn't gotten her a present (he and Ron gave her a "joint" present), she was happy that every Weasley (honorary included) had been here to celebrate her happy day. Laying down, she was surprised when her head hit a hard item: a book. Turning on her bedside lamp, she saw red as she read the title: Blonde Jokes for (Blonde) Dummies. After that, the Weasley twins always turned her hair different colors whenever they thought to.

Author's Note: How's this chapter? PLEASE, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!