Author's Notes/Disclaimer:
I own nothing, please don't sue.
This story takes place in Ginny's sixth, and Draco's seventh year.
Chapter One: The Official Worst Day of Ginny Weasley's Life.
Saturday morning 10:00am-10:30am.
Something was tapping at the window. Ginny kept her eyes closed, in the futile hope that if she ignored it, it would go away, but instead, it got louder.
"Liz, Nat, could one of you get that? Please?" She croaked. Receiving no response, she groaned and rolled unsteadily out of bed. Both her roommates' beds held rumpled sheets and bunched blankets, but no sleeping girls. Ginny glanced at the wall and groaned as she stumbled toward the window. She'd missed breakfast, again. She was slightly consoled by the fact that at least it was Saturday morning, so she wouldn't be in trouble for missing classes.
She opened the window, jumping a little when a large owl she didn't recognize swooped into the room, missing her face by only a few inches. It was large, black, and slightly… greasy? It glared at her and stuck out a leg, waiting impatiently for her to retrieve her message. Still sleep-addled, she clumsily untied the parchment and received a nip on the hand when she attempted to give the bird an owl-treat.
Miss Weasley,
It is my unpleasant duty to inform you that you are currently failing potions. If you require a tutor, please obtain one, but if you grades do not improve by the next grading period, I will be forced to withdraw you from the potions O.W.L. testing next month.
Sincerely,
Professor Severus Snape
(Potions Master)
'Crap.' Ginny thought, crumpling the note and tossing it angrily at the wall. She had been doing well in potions until the most recent semester, where her grades had taken an inexplicable dive. She growled, and kicked the wall in frustration. She had worked extremely hard, done all her papers, and her potions seemed fine when she brewed them in class, so what was she doing wrong?
Professor Snape seemed to be equally confused. As much as he hated Gryffindors (Harry, Hermione, and Ginny's brother, Ron in particular) he'd taken a liking to the small redhead with big dreams of becoming a medi-witch. Much to the surprise and disbelief of her brother, Professor Snape had encouraged her, saying her skills would be much needed in the dark days ahead.
However as much as he liked her, he couldn't pass her if her potions were sub-par, as they seemed to be lately.
Reigning in her temper, she stepped down the stairs heavily to find an empty common room. Most of the seventh year Gryffindors (along with the seventh year Ravenclaws) were supposed to be gone, due to a week-long DADA field-trip deep into the dark forest, but where was everyone else? She looked around in confusion for a moment, before she realized that it was a Hogsmeade weekend.
Why hadn't anyone woken her? She wasn't particularly close to her roommates, but wasn't Dean supposed to have waited for her?
She took a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. 'Don't scream. Don't scream.' She repeated to herself, trying unsuccessfully to calm herself down.
It was George this time.
Her brothers took turns, (and great amusement, it seemed) in scaring off potential boyfriends, even giving points for the more creative methods.
Ron, in some misguided case of chivalry was trying to protect her. He had ever since she was a little girl, but lately it had grown out of hand. He'd recorded some of the more dangerous quidditch games on his omnioculars and convinced his mother to pull Ginny from the team in her position of reserve seeker. She still hadn't forgiven him for that one, though it did give her a certain grim satisfaction that only through Harry's begging that Ron didn't get pulled from the team himself.
Bill and Charlie were also overprotective, but she could forgive a little more from them. Unlike Ron, they were so much older than her that she would always seem like a little girl to them, and they could only harass her via letters for the most part.
But Fred, George, and, to her surprise, Percy, didn't seem to care much about protecting her, but about topping each other in points for outrageousness. The twins were pure mischief, but Percy had a competitive streak a mile wide.
Much to her dismay, Harry joined in the competition on Ron's turn, and there seemed to be no motives involving jealousy on his part.
She ground her teeth and flopped back onto one of the frayed, overstuffed red sofas in the common room, flinging her arm dramatically over her eyes.
"This is it." She announced to the empty room. "I've hit rock bottom. I'm going to die quidditch-less, unemployed due to extreme potions-failure, loveless, and a virgin." She thumped her head against the pillow for emphasis. "How, in Merlin's name, could this day get any worse?"
Now, you must understand that Ginny was still very sleepy, extremely grouchy, and tended toward angst as much as the next sixteen-year-old girl (which was quite a lot), but, being a witch, she really should have known the power of her words.
No sooner had she finished speaking, when someone started pounding violently at the door to the common room. Startled, she jumped, falling off the couch and landing with a loud thump on the floor. She scrambled to her feet, and rushed over to the painting-entrance. She pushed the door open cautiously and peeked outside.
"Malfoy?!?" She exclaimed. The blond Slytherin looked nothing like his usual, composed self. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was hanging over his eyes. A bruise was staring to form at his jaw, and he was bent over, clutching his side, as he panted. He'd apparently been leaning on the painting, because he'd staggered back a few unsteady steps as she swung the door outward. "What do you want?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.
"No. Time." He panted, "Get Potter. Now."
"What?" She replied, stepping back a pace. His eyes were almost… desperate. He pushed past her, knocked her to the side as he stumbled into the Gryffindor common room. "Hey!"
Finding the room empty, he whirled back to face her, scowling. "Where is he? I need stupid hero-Potter. Now!"
She scowled right back. Normally she would have been cowering in fear, but she'd officially had enough. Her lip curled back in a sneer, and taking in his flushed face, clenched fists, and wild, desperate eyes, she hissed "He's on that DADA field trip. Wanker."
He ran a sweaty palm through his hair and cursed. Abruptly, he collapsed back onto a chair. Then he cursed some more.
Ginny was still glaring at him, when she realized he seemed to be ignoring her, staring blankly at the wall. They sat there in uncomfortable silence as the minutes stretched on, his expression growing more and more hopeless.
Finally, if only to break the silence, she asked "Why do you need Harry anyway?"
He looked at her, seeming to remember himself, but not able to completely push the utter despair from his face.
"Oh Merlin." Ginny gasped, "This isn't some kinky forbidden love affair is it?"
That seemed to snap Malfoy out of his brood. "What? No! Ugh. No!"
Ginny raised a doubtful eyebrow, "Then why?"
Malfoy took a shaky breath, "Because Voldemort is going to end the fucking world tomorrow. I've heard Potty's had some experience with it, and we could really use the help."
"We?" Ginny squeaked.
It was then that Ginny found out that even if you'd hit rock-bottom, there was always room to dig.
Well? What do you think? This story is going to be over the course of one day, a chapter for each hour approximately. I'm pretty much winging it, so suggestions are always appreciated. All that's really planned so far is that Draco and Ginny have to stop a disaster from happening, and to do that, they need to go to… muggle London.
Feedback please!