A/N: So let's recap. In our last chapter Ginny was able to take unfair
advantage of the situation and make it work for her. Good for her I say.
Draco's not to happy with that, I'm sorry to report, but oh well! He's
always doing unfortunate things to others and it's high time that
unfortunate things happen to him!
Chapter 2
Draco woke up with a feeling of foreboding. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Crab and Goyle had already headed out of the dorm room, probably already stuffing their faces in the Great Hall, and Blaise was sleepily changing into his robes. "Tell me it was a horrible dream," he said his voice thick with sleep.
Blaise laughed, "Oh that was no dream, I'm afraid. Lessons start tonight."
"Great," Draco said. He sighed and got up. Blaise waited for him as he changed and they headed into the common room. Pansy was waiting for them and the three headed off toward the Great Hall. They sat at their usual spots at the table and began eating breakfast.
Draco's eyes began to wander the hall and it wasn't long before they landed on a certain red head at the Gryffindor table. "You can't really kill someone with a glare, Draco," Blaise said from next to him, "As much as I'm sure you want to at the moment."
As if she sensed that she was being talked about at that second, Ginny looked up from her conversation with Collin and looked right at Draco lifting an eyebrow at him. He looked away quickly. "This is going to kill me," he muttered.
Pansy leaned into him and with a hand on his thigh whispered seductively in his ear, "Don't worry, I'll be there to nurse you back to health." She leaned back and gave him a look that he knew very well and he smiled back knowing full well what it meant. It wasn't like Pansy meant anything to him, or that he meant anything to her, they just had an understanding. And that understanding worked well enough for them for the past year.
He finished eating and left the hall. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Ginny coming up behind him. "Did you forget about our agreement, Weasley? I told you, I have a reputation. I also don't feel like having to answer to your brother for why you're running out of the hall after me."
"I didn't forget about your precious little reputation," she said, "and I'm certainly not running anywhere after you. I just wanted to make sure that you remembered tonight at seven," she told him.
"I said I'd be there, and I'll be there, Weasley. I certainly don't need you after me like you're my bloody secretary or something." He turned around to leave.
"There's one more thing I'd like to add to our agreement," she called after him as he walked away.
He stopped, turned, walked back to her, and taking her by the arm dragged her to the little room next to the Great Hall. "Just what the hell are you about, Weasley?" he asked letting her go. "You have your agreement, we're not going to be adding concessions as you see fit."
"It's just something small, a trifle really. Of course if you'd rather go the other route . . . " she let the sentence trail off.
Draco closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He opened them and looked at her, "What do you want now?"
"I don't want you to call me Weasley anymore. I hate it when you do that," she said. "My name is Ginny and I expect you to use it.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said in disbelief.
"I'm serious," she said her brows drawing together.
"Why you little hypocrite," he started, "You expect me to call you by your first name when I don't believe I've ever heard the name Draco come out of these lips," he said grabbing her chin.
Ginny blushed when he let her face go. "OK, fair is fair. Draco it is then."
Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't believe this. Fine . . . whatever."
"Fine whatever . . . "Ginny said motioning forward with her hand.
"Ginny," he bit out. "Fine whatever, Ginny. Are you happy?"
"Overjoyed," she said.
"This is definitely extortion," Draco mumbled heading back toward the door. He had his hand on the knob when he turned back again. "This had better be the last I hear about anything being added to our bargain. That was the last indulgence."
Ginny nodded her head. "See you at seven," she called out again as he walked out.
At a quarter to seven Ginny found herself standing in front of the wall where the room of requirement would show up. It had been over a year since she'd last been there, but if memory served all she had to do was walk back and forth in this spot, three times, thinking about what she needed.
She started walking the whole time thinking about a place for her and Draco to practice her potions. After the third time she passed the same bit of wall the highly polished door appeared. She smiled to herself and walked in. In side she found that the room had indeed become what she most desperately needed. In the middle of the room were two cauldrons and just behind that was a desk with two chairs. On one side of the room was a blackboard, opposite that was cabinets with enough potion ingredients in it to rival Professor Snape's private stock, and around the rest of the perimeter were more books on potions than Ginny had ever seen in her life.
She walked over to the desk and put her bag down. Taking out her potions book and notes she sat at the desk to wait for Draco. She was looking over her shrinking potion notes when he walked in fifteen minutes later. "Wow, I'm mildly impressed," he said looking around at the room.
"Well, it has everything we need," she informed him.
Draco sat down next to her, "Alright, Weas—"she gave him a pointed look, "Er, that is Ginny, let's just get started. What are you working on?" She showed him her notes on the shrinking potion. "My God, Weas—, er, Ginny, no wonder you need help."
"Hey! It's for you to help! Not for you to criticize!" she said defensively.
"Well, how do you expect to follow the potion later if you're writing all over the place in your notes? Look," he said reaching into his own bag and pulling out his potions notes, "see how I have mine? Order is the name of the game here." He got up and walked over to the chalkboard. "OK, I guess, the best thing to do is just start over. Remember, order is important."
He spent some time writing out the instructions of the potion telling her what the individual ingredients were and just when to add them. Then he gave her many common uses for the potion. Finally then went to the cabinets and started gathering ingredients for the potion.
Walking back to the caldrons they put their ingredients down. "OK, just mirror what I do. Let's just see if we can get this right." They went step by step and still she added the rat spleen too soon causing a loud pop and a cloud of black smoke to rise up in her face.
"Sorry," she said waving her hand in front of her face trying to get rid of the smoke.
"I hope you don't do this bad in class," he said waving his wand over her caldron, emptying it.
She smiled weekly, "I told you I needed help."
Draco sighed, "You're almost as good as Longbottom."
"Do you ever call anyone by their first name?" Ginny asked.
"My friends," he replied.
"And those who blackmail you," she added with a sly grin.
"Let's get back to work." They went back to it and eventually on her fourth attempt, she finally was able to get her potion to match his."
"I did it!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, hopefully on your O.W.L.S. they'll take your best attempt out of four," he said sarcastically. "Oh, and with any luck someone will be there doing everything step by step with you, too."
She made a face at him, "Kill joy! You couldn't let me be happy for one minute?"
"No." He looked at the clock in the room, "It's late, we should wrap this up for the night."
"Oh, we need to talk about a schedule," she said as he cleared their caldrons. "I've got Quidditch practice tomorrow and I don't know when you guys have yours."
Draco thought for a moment, "We don't have practice until Friday."
"OK, then on Thursday," she said slinging her bag over her shoulder, "at seven?"
"Thursday is fine," he agreed pulling his bag over his shoulder as well.
"Thanks for your help tonight, Draco," she said.
"You're welcome," he said and in the next instant his hand was cupping her face and his thumb was rubbing at her cheek. Ginny's eyes fluttered a little and her heart started beating erratically in her chest. With one final rub he removed his hand from her face. "You've had a smudge of soot on your face since your caldron blew up the first time," he explained.
Her hand went up to where his had just been a moment before, "Oh, thank you."
"Well, good night Ginny," he said walking out.
"Good night," Ginny said still standing there with her hand on her cheek.
A/N: Aww the cuteness! I love the little moments. Anyway, so what does everyone think? Review if you have time!
Chapter 2
Draco woke up with a feeling of foreboding. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Crab and Goyle had already headed out of the dorm room, probably already stuffing their faces in the Great Hall, and Blaise was sleepily changing into his robes. "Tell me it was a horrible dream," he said his voice thick with sleep.
Blaise laughed, "Oh that was no dream, I'm afraid. Lessons start tonight."
"Great," Draco said. He sighed and got up. Blaise waited for him as he changed and they headed into the common room. Pansy was waiting for them and the three headed off toward the Great Hall. They sat at their usual spots at the table and began eating breakfast.
Draco's eyes began to wander the hall and it wasn't long before they landed on a certain red head at the Gryffindor table. "You can't really kill someone with a glare, Draco," Blaise said from next to him, "As much as I'm sure you want to at the moment."
As if she sensed that she was being talked about at that second, Ginny looked up from her conversation with Collin and looked right at Draco lifting an eyebrow at him. He looked away quickly. "This is going to kill me," he muttered.
Pansy leaned into him and with a hand on his thigh whispered seductively in his ear, "Don't worry, I'll be there to nurse you back to health." She leaned back and gave him a look that he knew very well and he smiled back knowing full well what it meant. It wasn't like Pansy meant anything to him, or that he meant anything to her, they just had an understanding. And that understanding worked well enough for them for the past year.
He finished eating and left the hall. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Ginny coming up behind him. "Did you forget about our agreement, Weasley? I told you, I have a reputation. I also don't feel like having to answer to your brother for why you're running out of the hall after me."
"I didn't forget about your precious little reputation," she said, "and I'm certainly not running anywhere after you. I just wanted to make sure that you remembered tonight at seven," she told him.
"I said I'd be there, and I'll be there, Weasley. I certainly don't need you after me like you're my bloody secretary or something." He turned around to leave.
"There's one more thing I'd like to add to our agreement," she called after him as he walked away.
He stopped, turned, walked back to her, and taking her by the arm dragged her to the little room next to the Great Hall. "Just what the hell are you about, Weasley?" he asked letting her go. "You have your agreement, we're not going to be adding concessions as you see fit."
"It's just something small, a trifle really. Of course if you'd rather go the other route . . . " she let the sentence trail off.
Draco closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He opened them and looked at her, "What do you want now?"
"I don't want you to call me Weasley anymore. I hate it when you do that," she said. "My name is Ginny and I expect you to use it.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said in disbelief.
"I'm serious," she said her brows drawing together.
"Why you little hypocrite," he started, "You expect me to call you by your first name when I don't believe I've ever heard the name Draco come out of these lips," he said grabbing her chin.
Ginny blushed when he let her face go. "OK, fair is fair. Draco it is then."
Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't believe this. Fine . . . whatever."
"Fine whatever . . . "Ginny said motioning forward with her hand.
"Ginny," he bit out. "Fine whatever, Ginny. Are you happy?"
"Overjoyed," she said.
"This is definitely extortion," Draco mumbled heading back toward the door. He had his hand on the knob when he turned back again. "This had better be the last I hear about anything being added to our bargain. That was the last indulgence."
Ginny nodded her head. "See you at seven," she called out again as he walked out.
At a quarter to seven Ginny found herself standing in front of the wall where the room of requirement would show up. It had been over a year since she'd last been there, but if memory served all she had to do was walk back and forth in this spot, three times, thinking about what she needed.
She started walking the whole time thinking about a place for her and Draco to practice her potions. After the third time she passed the same bit of wall the highly polished door appeared. She smiled to herself and walked in. In side she found that the room had indeed become what she most desperately needed. In the middle of the room were two cauldrons and just behind that was a desk with two chairs. On one side of the room was a blackboard, opposite that was cabinets with enough potion ingredients in it to rival Professor Snape's private stock, and around the rest of the perimeter were more books on potions than Ginny had ever seen in her life.
She walked over to the desk and put her bag down. Taking out her potions book and notes she sat at the desk to wait for Draco. She was looking over her shrinking potion notes when he walked in fifteen minutes later. "Wow, I'm mildly impressed," he said looking around at the room.
"Well, it has everything we need," she informed him.
Draco sat down next to her, "Alright, Weas—"she gave him a pointed look, "Er, that is Ginny, let's just get started. What are you working on?" She showed him her notes on the shrinking potion. "My God, Weas—, er, Ginny, no wonder you need help."
"Hey! It's for you to help! Not for you to criticize!" she said defensively.
"Well, how do you expect to follow the potion later if you're writing all over the place in your notes? Look," he said reaching into his own bag and pulling out his potions notes, "see how I have mine? Order is the name of the game here." He got up and walked over to the chalkboard. "OK, I guess, the best thing to do is just start over. Remember, order is important."
He spent some time writing out the instructions of the potion telling her what the individual ingredients were and just when to add them. Then he gave her many common uses for the potion. Finally then went to the cabinets and started gathering ingredients for the potion.
Walking back to the caldrons they put their ingredients down. "OK, just mirror what I do. Let's just see if we can get this right." They went step by step and still she added the rat spleen too soon causing a loud pop and a cloud of black smoke to rise up in her face.
"Sorry," she said waving her hand in front of her face trying to get rid of the smoke.
"I hope you don't do this bad in class," he said waving his wand over her caldron, emptying it.
She smiled weekly, "I told you I needed help."
Draco sighed, "You're almost as good as Longbottom."
"Do you ever call anyone by their first name?" Ginny asked.
"My friends," he replied.
"And those who blackmail you," she added with a sly grin.
"Let's get back to work." They went back to it and eventually on her fourth attempt, she finally was able to get her potion to match his."
"I did it!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah, hopefully on your O.W.L.S. they'll take your best attempt out of four," he said sarcastically. "Oh, and with any luck someone will be there doing everything step by step with you, too."
She made a face at him, "Kill joy! You couldn't let me be happy for one minute?"
"No." He looked at the clock in the room, "It's late, we should wrap this up for the night."
"Oh, we need to talk about a schedule," she said as he cleared their caldrons. "I've got Quidditch practice tomorrow and I don't know when you guys have yours."
Draco thought for a moment, "We don't have practice until Friday."
"OK, then on Thursday," she said slinging her bag over her shoulder, "at seven?"
"Thursday is fine," he agreed pulling his bag over his shoulder as well.
"Thanks for your help tonight, Draco," she said.
"You're welcome," he said and in the next instant his hand was cupping her face and his thumb was rubbing at her cheek. Ginny's eyes fluttered a little and her heart started beating erratically in her chest. With one final rub he removed his hand from her face. "You've had a smudge of soot on your face since your caldron blew up the first time," he explained.
Her hand went up to where his had just been a moment before, "Oh, thank you."
"Well, good night Ginny," he said walking out.
"Good night," Ginny said still standing there with her hand on her cheek.
A/N: Aww the cuteness! I love the little moments. Anyway, so what does everyone think? Review if you have time!