Disclaimer: Anything written by J.K Rowling is not mine (no duh)! She owns most of the characters and the other stuff that you recognize. I also do not own most of this plot. I have borrowed it from the movie She's All That, so some of the lines may be similar in certain places (though I have differed my story from the movie). I also do not own the song Beautiful; which is actually sung by Christina Aguilera.
Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I really loved them. I got so much more than I expected. I hope you all like the next chapter.
Chapter 2:
-
Every day is so wonderful
-
Blaise's smile was triumphant and Draco's face fell.
"Looks like we have a winner." Blaise sniggered. "Looks like Ginny Weasley is our girl."
"You cannot be serious. Ginny Weasley? Are you insane? I'd rather have Granger. At least I would have something to work with. I have to think about my reputation." Malfoy felt like banging his head against the wall.
"Maybe, but if I were you, I would not be standing around doing nothing. I would be over there talking to Ginny and starting to get some work done because it is going to take a while before she is ready to be accepted for Royal Wizards Ball." And with that, Blaise could not control himself any longer and he bent over laughing.
"Sod off." Malfoy snapped. Blaise shrugged an staggered off, sniggering.
Malfoy raked his hand through his hair. This was going to take a lot of work. He would actually have to associate himself with a Weasley. He looked at Ginny in disgust.
She had recovered from her fall on the ground and was dusting her clothes. She was relieved to find that her glasses were still in tact. She had broken a pair of glasses just the week before when she had accidentally tripped over her brother, Charlie. They were so damaged that not even a spell could fix them. She had to buy a new pair and this had annoyed her because she was already short on money as it was.
Ginny was totally unaware that Draco had walked over to her. He was uncertain as to what to say to her.
Pull yourself together. You are a Malfoy for goodness sakes. He could practically hear his father speaking to him.
"Uh, Weasley."
Ginny's head snapped up. Malfoy. What did he want with her now? Hadn't he tormented her enough already?
"What do you want?" she hissed. Ginny was not going to let herself be frightened like last time. She was going to stand her ground. Or at least try to.
Draco gritted his teeth and it took all of his willpower to stop himself from saying, "What could I possibly want with a Weasley?"
"I just wanted to say hello." he put on his most charming smirk (he never let anybody at Hogwarts see him smile).
Ginny leaned back.
"Excuse me?" She must be going crazy. It must have been those lollies that Fred and George gave me yesterday – I knew they had done something to them.
As if Draco could read her mind, he said, "No, Weasley. You are sane. Am I such a horrible person that saying hello to you is an inconceivable idea?" Draco had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming. This was his version of a horror movie. Forget all those muggle movies such as Scream; actually having to be nice to a Weasley was enough to give him nightmares.
Draco watched Ginny's reaction. Would she see through him? He hoped not. He had to win that bet.
Ginny felt like pinching herself to see if she was awake and not dreaming. What was going on here?
"Malfoy, what is with you?"
"I was just trying to be nice."
"Nice? You do not even know that meaning of the word."
Malfoy's face darkened. "Now wait a minute, all I did was say hello and you insult me. At least I'm not some moronic muggle-lover with more siblings than money."
"Bugger off. One minute you are threatening me and the next you are all civil. You are so infuriating. You think that you can just walk all over people." Ginny accused. She had never been so mad in her life. She was even angrier than when Draco had slipped a potion into her drink during her third year and her hair had been bright green for two weeks.
"Now you listen here, Weasley. I-"
"Time out. Time out." A voice cut in.
Both Draco and Ginny turned and saw that almost the whole of Hogwarts was standing there looking at them.
Ginny saw Colin and Lydia staring in shock. Don't ask. She mouthed to them. She then turned her attention back to the person who had interrupted their little "chat".
It was Viktor Krum.
Krum was an international quidditch star. While at school, he had competed against Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament and had even dated Hermione for a bit.
"Krum, what are you doing here?" Draco asked. They had briefly met last year and had not liked each other one bit. The rest of the people crowded in the aisle were wondering the same thing.
Hermione was even turning red at the sight of her former beau.
"I," Krum said, lifting his nose up into the air, "am teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. It is Professor Krum to you."
"Yes, Professor." Draco mocked. "What happened to your quidditch career?"
"That is none of your concern. There is to be no more fighting. And I do believe that you two should be at a meeting with the other prefects." Krum spoke pompously and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
"Shit." Draco muttered under his breath. He had totally forgotten. He raced off closely followed by Ginny and the other prefects, who had been watching the confrontation. He would have to find a way to get along with Weasley. She had been more irritating than he had remembered her being in the past. He had to convince her to trust him. It was degrading to have to talk to a Weasley and all for the sake of that stupid bet.
Draco pushed his thoughts aside as they reached the Prefects' compartment.
Professor Albus Dumbledore was standing, waiting for them. His white beard had grown even longer over the holidays and was well below his stomach. His face also had a few more lines on it than Ginny remembered.
"Ah, how lovely for you to all arrive. I suspect you were held up by something." His eyes twinkled and Ginny knew that he knew what had taken place just five minutes beforehand.
Ginny looked down at her hands and listened to Dumbledore as he spoke.
"As most of you probably know, there are twenty-four prefects altogether. Eight from each of the three upper years including the Head Girl and Boy. You have been especially chosen because of the qualities and skills that each of you possess. You are the role models for the rest of the school and this means that you have to set a good example. Your behaviour ought to be immaculate."
Dumbledore looked pointedly at Draco, causing him to squirm. Out of the corner of his eye Malfoy could see Ginny silently laughing at him. Dumbledore seemed to know everything that happened concerning Hogwarts.
"You will stay in a different area to the rest of the students. This is the first time that we have attempted something like this and we are sure that it will be a success. You will be shown to your rooms after the Sorting Hat Ceremony and Feast. Any questions?"
Ginny put up her hand.
Dumbledore peered at Ginny over the rim of his glasses. "Miss Weasley, you have something to ask."
"Yes. Who are we sharing rooms with?"
"You will be sharing your room with people of your year that are of the same gender."
The prefects shuffled out of the room.
"Where does that leave you, Weasley?" Draco provoked.
Ginny sucked in her breath.
Draco immediately regretted what he had said. He was supposed to be getting on her good side.
"Umm, Weasley."
"Yeah."
"Forget it." Draco sighed.
"What is it?"
"I really did just want to say hello."
"Yeah, sure you did." Ginny said sarcastically.
"I did. I know I am not always the nicest person but I was hoping as prefects that we might be able to get along." Draco tried his best to look sincere.
"You confuse me." Ginny rubbed the back of her head.
"I have that affect on most girls."
"I mean it. We were screaming at each other not long ago. You have tormented me ever since I started Hogwarts and now you want me to forget all this and just be friends. Why the change of heart?"
Draco was taken aback. So, the youngest Weasley is not as stupid as I thought.
"I just thought," Draco paused, choosing his words carefully. "I just thought that seeing as we will be living and working in close proximity to each other we should try to get along."
"I see your point but I still do not trust you." Ginny knew that Draco was making sense in what he was saying but she still did not fully believe him. He was hiding something. "I know what you are saying and I guess it would be good to try to co-operate." Ginny said this last sentence with some distaste. What was she thinking? Draco definitely had something up his sleeve.
Draco seemed to almost sigh in relief at Ginny's answer.
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "I know you are up to something Draco and I do not like it. You surprise me – and few people ever manage to do that."
Ginny tried not to shake as she walked away. She was somewhat unnerved from her experience. Malfoy made her uneasy and never once did she look at his eyes. He was a good foot taller than her and so this meant that she had to draw herself up to her full height to give herself more confidence when she was around him.
Ginny went into the bathroom to change into her school robes when she noticed that her second least favourite person after Malfoy was also there – Pansy Parkinson.
Ginny put her head down and meandered through the giggling group of girls. It was sometimes an advantage, looking the way she did. Nobody noticed her a lot of the time. It was like she was invisible. Ginny often wondered if anybody would actually care (apart from Colin, Lydia, Harry, Ron and Hermione of course) if she just disappeared one day and never came back. Probably not. It did hurt sometimes, having people treat you like you were either scum or invisible but Ginny was used to it. She had chosen to be like this for a reason.
She would never let anybody know about her secret.
Ginny found an empty cubicle and listened to the girls outside. She could easily hear Pansy's shrill voice.
"I had the greatest summer." Ginny heard her say.
"Did you see Draco a lot?" one girl asked.
"Urgh. As if. He is such a jerk."
Wow, Pansy and I actually agree about something. Ginny thought.
Ginny placed her ear against the door and heard Pansy say next, "I dumped him at the beginning of the holidays."
"You didn't!" Another girl exclaimed.
"It was so funny. I was all like, 'you didn't think that I would leave Hogwarts dating you. You did? How sweet.' You should have seen his face."
Ginny could not help feeling a tad sorry for Malfoy. Pansy was a first-class cow.
"Anyways, I met this really cute guy. You know Viktor Krum. He was really into me." Pansy continued.
"How into you?" Another girl saucily asked.
Ginny had to cup a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing.
Viktor Krum. I can't wait till she finds out that he is teaching at Hogwarts this year. As if he was into Pansy. She is probably making all of this up. Ginny thought maliciously.
The conversation turned back to Draco.
"You know, Pansy, I saw Draco talking with that awful Weasley girl. What's-her-name? He seems to be paying a lot of attention to her lately."
"Now that is just beyond gross. As if he would look at her. As if any guy would." Pansy sniggered.
Ginny tensed. Pansy may be gorgeous with her long straight blonde hair and emerald green eyes but that did not mean that she was beautiful within. Most of the boys at Hogwarts did not seem to notice this though. They practically worshipped her and many girls wanted to be her.
Another girl started to ask something. "Weren't you two supposed to go to that-" Ginny could not hear the rest of the sentence as the person in the cubicle next to her decided to flush the toilet. She only heard Pansy say, "Yeah, I was. But the poor thing will have to find somebody else now."
Ginny then heard the bathroom door swing open and Pansy and her followers went out. She sat down on the toilet seat cover and breathed in deeply. She would not let Pansy make her cry. That would be twice in one day that she would be reduced to tears. She was stronger than that. She was a better person than Pansy and Draco put together.
Ginny put on her robes and then went out and washed her face. One day she would prove her worth to the whole of Hogwarts.
But for now, she just could not wait to get to school.
The train finally stopped and they arrived at their destination.
As a prefect, Ginny helped assist the first years to Hogwarts Castle. She saw Malfoy as well but tried to ignore him. She saw that some of the first years had started to blush and giggle at the sight of him. Ginny just rolled her eyes.
"Malfoy has a big enough head as it is. He does not need them feeding his ego." She scoffed.
"Pardon, Ginny?"
Ginny saw that Hermione had come up next to her.
"Nothing, Hermione. Just talking to myself."
"Hey Ginny, are you feeling okay?" Hermione questioned.
"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seem…" Hermione trailed off as something caught her attention.
Ginny saw her looking at Viktor Krum. He had dark hair and skin but his eyes were surprisingly blue. He was good-looking and Ginny could not help but blurt out, "You still like Krum, don't you?"
"Do not be silly. As Head Girl I cannot afford to have a crush on a teacher."
Trust Hermione to always be proper.
"You did have something once. What ever happened?" Ginny pried but knew she had said too much when she saw Hermione stiffen.
Me and my stupid mouth. Ginny groaned inwardly. The few people who do actually like me I end up driving away.
"We better hurry." Hermione told Ginny and they both continued leading the first years to the castle.
When the did get there, they watched the usual Sorting Hat ceremony and then the room grew quiet as Albus Dumbledore stood up and gave his usual speech.
"This year we have an addition to our staff. I would like you all to welcome Professor Krum. No doubt most of you probably recognize him. He will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts."
The whole school inspected Krum. Ginny saw that Severus Snape looked displeased that once again he had missed out on teaching DADA. Ginny could not help but wonder why Viktor was teaching at Hogwarts. She recalled what Draco had said about Viktor's quidditch career. What had happened? Why did he stop playing quidditch all of a sudden? Ginny also saw Pansy's mouth drop open. It looked like that news was unexpected. Ginny suppressed a giggle.
Dumbledore continued talking again. "Though I am by no means gifted at Divination, I am certain that this year will be a year of change for some of you. Some of you will experience things that you have never experienced before. Some of you will change inwardly. Some of you will change outwardly. I hope you will all make the right decisions in the end."
Dumbledore then sat down leaving everybody in the hall to whisper about what he had just said.
"Sometimes I think that Dumbledore has lost the plot. What on earth was he talking about?" Lydia asked Colin and Ginny.
"Dumbledore always knows what is going on around Hogwarts. He probably knows something that we do not." Colin suggested.
"This year has certainly been strange so far." Ginny remarked. She relayed what had happened that day with Malfoy to her two friends.
"Blimey. Draco obviously has something planned. I would watch out if I were you." Colin warned.
"That is what I was thinking." Ginny admitted.
"Maybe Malfoy did have a change of heart?" Lydia said and thought about this for a moment before saying, "Nah. He doesn't even have one. I would be careful around Malfoy, Gin."
Ginny looked at Malfoy who was sitting with all the other Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle had finally arrived and were laughing at something he had said. Malfoy looked up and saw Ginny. He said something else and continued laughing, leaving Ginny to think that he has said something about her.
She lowered her eyes and continued eating her treacle tart, which did not seem to taste as good as it usually did.
Ginny and the other prefects were led to the prefect quarters, which happened to be located in the astronomy tower.
"Great. Now we have to walk forever to get to everywhere else in the school." A Hufflepuff prefect, Hannah Abbot, had uttered.
They were shown their rooms. Ginny was sharing a room with Amanda Banks (who was in Ravenclaw), Suzanne Flint (who was in Slytherin) and Jemima Norris (who was in Hufflepuff). They were girls in her year but Ginny did not really know them. Amanda and Jemima seemed okay but Suzanne was another story. She was Marcus Flint's (the previous Slytherin quidditch captain) younger sister so that probably explained her nasty attitude. She had made it clear to Ginny that she did not want to be on the same planet as her, let alone in the same room. Ginny was thankful at least that Pansy was not a prefect.
All the prefects shared a common room and two bathrooms (one for the boys and one for the girls).
Most people had gone to bed, exhausted, but Ginny could not get to sleep. She decided to go down and have a shower.
Ginny went down and undressed and saw herself in the mirror. Her skin was porcelain white and she hated it. She undid her hair and took of her glasses. She twisted the taps and stepped into the shower cubicle, closing the curtain behind her.
Ginny had been there for ten minutes when she noticed that she was not alone.
There was somebody else in the room with her. She could hear footsteps coming closer to her cubicle.
Ginny peered out from behind the curtain and her eyes widened.
"Malfoy?"
A/N: So, what did you think of my second chapter? Be a darl and please review! I absolutely loved all the reviews I got for the first chapter so I hope you guys like the second chapter just as much. I was still trying to set up the plot in that chapter - there will be more of a plot in the next. I will also try to include some more Ginny and Draco interaction as well as some other stuff from the movie – things will definitely move a lot faster!
Because I am on a high at the moment I have decided to list everybody that not only had questions but also reviewed. Thanks so much you guys!
Some of you wondered why Ginny made herself look ugly and all I am revealing at the moment is that you will find out eventually. Just not yet.
mtm123: No, I haven't read Hermione's All That but thanks for letting me know. I checked out her story after you mentioned it and it is really good. My fic is going to differ from hers (or his) though. I am glad you like it!
bb: thanks for the advice. I followed it for this chapter and I will alter my disclaimer for the previous one. Thanks for the compliment!
Gryffindor112789: No, I did not mean to change the station from King's Cross. I am such an idiot! I did go back and fix it though. Thanks for your review. I really love She's All That as well.
Chocoliciouz: Not to sure as yet about Blaise at the end and whether he will steal Ginny. You will just have to wait and see. (As a hint, my story does follow that plotline of the movie so it will be similar in places…) Thanks for you review!
Lili-lulaby13: Yeah, having Usher or Lee Jordan as a DJ would be funny – good idea. I might try and include that. Thanks!
Thanks also go to:
liveandletlive, prisoner of love, Sammy Baggins, Liraniel, mrsmunkee, The Future Mrs Ja rule, anniePADFOOT, froeth, dreamingofhorses, Ennaurial, CLG, Line-from Denmark, Pretty-In-Pink02, Noelle Andrews, lorablak, Petetraj, chelsea, crazyginnygirl, Lady Mo, Nichole Malfoy, Menace of Mine, Aisha, Jonah, H.S, PrettyGal1212, ayumi-dono, animezebra, confusedlost, Picklegal, Ehlonna, sumwun, ailsa, princess of rivendell and baby blue gal.