Summary: Ginny's got a secret admirer. Could he be that cute new teacher? Could he be her house team's seeker? Could he be someone whom she knew right from her very first year at Hogwarts? Or could he be one of the most unlikely person to even notice her?
Disclaimer: NOT MINE! Although I wish they were a product of my very own imagination, sad to say I only own the plot & the other characters that might pop up somewhere down the road here.
PhoenixRae's Notes: sorry it took me a few days to update. Actually I was having some sort of dry spell after I uploaded the previous chapter, but thankfully it was just a short one! Anyways, read & enjoy this chappie!
PhoenixRae's Notes 2: once again, I will be using "Zambini" to spell Blaise's last name as oppose to Zabini since…well, since I started writing the fic using that last name and I don't want to confuse anybody by switching around…and I'm used to saying "Zambini" for some odd reason!
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VIII. Flirtatious Disaster
Ginny slid behind her desk in History of Magic and let out an exasperated sigh. Abigail wasn't far behind her and she sidled beside her best friend. They just barely made it to their last class after doing a stopover to break a fight between Ron and Malfoy. It would've been the umpteenth time her brother and Malfoy stopped traffic in between classes since the beginning of the school year, and it was getting on her nerves. She was often delayed from getting to her next class because of those two.
"Are you okay now?" Abigail asked when she noticed her friend angrily taking her things out of her backpack.
"What do you think?" Ginny snapped and slammed her book hard on her desk half of the students in the classroom turned to look at her questioningly.
Abigail gave them all an apologetic look then turned back to Ginny, "Hey, you still can't be bitching about your brother being an ass, can you now? I mean we all know how Ron and Malfoy are like whenever their paths happen to cross," she pointed out.
"I know that, Abs, it's just that…it starts to get annoying now that they seem to want to pick on each other all the time."
"True," Abigail nodded, "And boy you sure shocked the bejeepers outta those two goofs—as well as the rest of the student population watching—by telling them both to grow up!" she chuckled and shook her head, "Can't believe you have it in you, girl, to act like that."
Ginny smirked. She couldn't believe she had it in her as well to be able to act like that in front of her brother. But she was provoked, dammit! And damn Draco Malfoy for making her feel tingly inside every time their eyes locked!
That was what's gotten her in a rotten mood. She wouldn't be this pissed off if it hadn't been for her reaction to Malfoy. It happened during lunch when their gazes first locked, then again a few minutes ago when she broke the fight between him and her brother.
She was about to take her quill and inkbottle out of her bag when she noticed something hanging from the corner of her book. It was a folded piece of parchment with the sides burned.
Holy shit! she let out an audible gasp when she realized what was that piece of parchment. She knew very well that she didn't leave any of her APC's love letters stuck between the pages of any of her books so this couldn't be one of those she already received. How the hell did it get here? she thought as she snatched the piece of parchment hanging off the side of her book.
Damn blasted APC! she thought irately and unfolded the parchment, her eyes growing wider and wider by the minute as she read what was written on the parchment. Her hitched gasp caught Abigail's attention and soon her friend was peering over Ginny's shoulder and reading what she was reading.
"Oh my…" she gasped when she realized what had got her friend so enthralled about.
Turn it inside out so I can seeThe part of you that's drifting over me
And when I wake you're never there
But when I sleep you're everywhere
You're everywhere
Just tell me how I got this far
Just tell me why you're here and who you are
'Cause every time I look you're never there
And every time I sleep you're always there
'Cause
you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone
I recognize the
way you make me feel
It's hard to think that you might not be real
I sense it now, the water's getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me
'Cause
you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone
And when I
touch your hand
It's then I understand
The beauty that's within
It's now that we begin
You always light my way
I hope there never comes a day
No matter where I go
I always feel you so
'Cause
you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
I'm not alone
'Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I catch my breath it's you I breathe
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
You're in
everyone I see
So tell me
Do you see me?
Abigail practically keeled over trying not to giggle too much after reading Ginny's APC's recent love letter to her. Good thing Oliver wasn't in the room yet and they had a few minutes to spare before class started. Abigail couldn't help but think just exactly how romantic this faceless admirer of her friend was.
"Hello, Ginny, I say this bloke's head over heels in love with you already and you don't even know him yet!" she chided after her friend stuffed the parchment back between the pages of her book.
"I don't know, Abs. It's sweet that he sends me these letters, but he's starting to creep me out," she lifted her brown eyes from the book on her table and looked at her friend, "An owl didn't drop this to me today, Abby. I found it tucked between the pages of this," she tapped her closed book, "book. I don't know how it got there, but it was there. I was surprised when I found out hanging from the side of the book, but I don't know how it got there in the first place!"
"Whoa! That's a tad bit too freaky for my taste, Gin," Abigail admitted.
"Tell me about it," Ginny rolled her eyes and stared at her closed book where her most recent love letter lay hidden from everyone's view.
Oliver wasn't in the best of moods that afternoon when he walked in to class. Gone was his usual friendly smile he often gave his students as soon as he entered his classroom, and he was walking rather briskly. Ginny couldn't help but notice how close his eyebrows were to being knitted together because he was frowning so deeply.
The entire class knew exactly how much foul a mood Oliver Wood was in when, as soon as he was standing in front of the room, told everyone to put everything away, take out their inkbottle and quill because he was giving them their quiz this early on.
"What's with him?" Abigail asked irately as she put away her stuff.
"I don't know," Ginny shook her head, doing the same her friend was doing and put away her stuff, "But it's weird he doesn't even give us time to review before the quiz," she added.
"I know!" Abigail agreed, "I know he often gives us pop quizzes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but he usually lets us review first before telling everyone to clear their desks!" she hissed.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Abs. I don't know who's got Wood's knickers in a knot, but I sure don't like this professor we have here right now," Ginny complained.
"Weasley!" Oliver yelled from the front of her class that made Ginny jump in her seat and turned to look at the annoyed professor.
"Yes?"
"I said no talking, didn't I? That'll be five points from Gryffindor and see me after class for your detention," he told her sternly.
"Detention?" she sputtered, her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets as she stared at the young professor before her. He had got to be kidding her! And he quickly took points off her house because she was talking? Hell, that was harsh!
"Yes. Detention," he elaborated more on the word before adding, "Now I suggest you pick up your quill and be ready for this pop quiz."
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Ginny was silently cursing under her breath as she made her way back to her History of Magic classroom shortly after dinner for her detention. It was just her luck to be serving detention tonight of all nights! She had stuff planned to do tonight—a complete manicure and pedicure session with Abigail since…well, since they both needed one. That plan of theirs had been burning in the back burner for weeks now and finally when they had a Friday night free off assignments and projects, she had to go to detention.
She complained to Abigail—and to Hermione as well—about Oliver singling her out in class this afternoon. Him taking points off Gryffindor she could understand, but giving her detention as well? That was a bit too much!
Ginny entered her History of Magic classroom still fuming mad at having to serve detention when a movement and a flash of white caught her attention. She thought it was just one of the Hogwarts ghost loitering about in the classroom. She didn't give it much thought until she heard the familiar sneer from the side of the room where she thought she saw the ghost loitering about.
"What's this, a weasel caught making a ruckus in class?"
Ginny shot him a fiery glare the moment he let the comment out.
"What are you doing here, bleached boy? Shouldn't you be out necking with your current girl somewhere?" she fired back at him.
Draco straightened from his slouching position and got up from his seat. He was scowling at her as he crossed the distance between them. Ginny knew her five foot five height was no match to his six foot two one; she had to pull her head all the way to the back just to meet his eyes.
"I should ask the same about you, carrot top. I would expect your brother to get himself in detention, but you?" he paused an gave her a slow appraisal, his grey eyes travelling appreciatively down her body then back up to meet her gaze once more. "Quiet, timid Ginny Weasley lugging herself in detention?" he sounded surprised, "What the hell did you do, Weaselette?"
Ginny shivered at his slow appraisal of her. Those cool grey eyes left goosebumps on her skin, and she hated the sensation she felt inside. This was Draco-Friggin'-Malfoy, the blasted git doesn't excite her…or does he?
No! her mind screamed in protest, Don't even entertain such thought, Ginny Weasley.
"Get lost, Malfoy," she shoved him away and walked to the front of the class to wait for Oliver.
"Sorry, Weasel, but I can't do just that," he smirked.
Ginny glared at him over her shoulder, "And why the hell not?" she demanded.
Draco walked up to where she parked herself, bracing his hands on the back of her chair and the table, trapping Ginny. His eyes had the oddest glint to it that sure made Ginny feel so damn uncomfortable. His slow, devilish, knee-buckling grin caused the butterflies in her stomach to do some major somersaults.
"Because, carrot top, I'm here for detention too," he told her casually.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and glared at Draco. His newfound pet name for her was starting to get on her nerves. 'Weasel' and 'Weaselette' she could tolerate, but Carrot Top? He was asking for a good socking!
"Oliver gave you detention too, huh? What did you do in his class to land yourself in detention?"
Draco cocked an eyebrow when Ginny addressed their History of Magic teacher by his first name.
"Hmm…I wonder if you're here because of detention or you're here because you and Wood agreed to meet for a quick snog," he pursed his lips, his eyebrow knitted at the center as he watched her closely.
SMACK!
Ginny's palm hitting the soft flesh of Draco's cheek echoed around the empty and very quiet classroom. Ginny's angry brown eyes were glaring a hole right through Draco's blond head.
"How dare you insinuate that there's something going on between Oliver and me?" she hissed through gritted teeth.
Draco, obviously taken aback by Ginny's action, pushed himself away from her, his grey eyes matching the fire spewing out of her dark brown orbs.
Ginny suddenly felt fear as she continued to hold Draco Malfoy's angry gaze. Ooooh, you've done it now, Weasley. Damn blasted Weasley temper! He's gonna strike you. He's gonna strike you! her mind chanted nervously, watching Draco very carefully now and waiting for him to hit her back any second now.
Ginny braced herself for Draco's possible retaliation, but she was saved from being slapped senseless (she wasn't sure exactly how Malfoy would hit her back, but she could only assume he'd be giving her a husband and wife slap in return for slapping him!) when Oliver's stern voice cracked through the deafening silence that was settling between them.
"Malfoy, continue wooing Ms. Weasley after detention," he walked up briskly to where his two students were and pulled Draco away from Ginny, "And good job, Ginny. Malfoy's usually after girls who are easy to get—you're one tough cookie for slapping some sense into him, makes him realize he's only human."
Ginny couldn't believe Oliver just sided with her. Who was this man standing before her now? He wasn't the same man who gave her a damn detention this afternoon! Nevertheless, Ginny was glad Oliver was at her side right now. She honestly thought she'd be in much bigger trouble after slapping Malfoy (she wasn't out of the woods yet if Draco's deadly glares were anything to go by while Oliver was telling them what kind of chores they were required to do while serving detention with him).
Ginny spent the next two and a half hours with Oliver and Malfoy inside the History of Magic class alternately checking assignments and filing some of Oliver's files for each of his classes. It was a good two and a half hours as far as Ginny was concerned, but if she had to do any filing in the near future, she would have to pass—Oliver just had too damn much stuff to file and it wasn't funny! She got stuck doing the filing and Malfoy did the checking. Why couldn't it have been the other way around?
"I hate filing, Weasley. I mess it up, and once I do, Wood would let you do it, so why not do it now and save us all the trouble, huh?" he cocked that annoying eyebrow at her as he waited for her to reply.
Of course she said she'd do the filing instead. Malfoy's reasoning made some sense to her as far as she was concerned. God, you need to get your head examined, Weasley! You're starting to agree with Malfoy's reasoning?
She straightened up after putting away the last of the files she had to sort and put away. Malfoy was done checking and had been released by Oliver nearly fifteen minutes ago.
"All finished!" she announced rather a bit enthusiastically.
Oliver looked up from the essay he was reading, his brown eyes somewhat unfocussed. Ginny had this oddest sensation prickling at the back of her head at the way Oliver was looking at her now. She gave him a nervous smile and gingerly walked up to his desk, "That's all I have to file tonight, right Professor?" she asked when Oliver remained silent.
Ginny frowned. He was acting strange since this afternoon. She started waving her hands back and forth, but Oliver didn't do so much as blink.
Ah, screw it. It's already late and I'm tired.
"Oliver!" she practically yelled his name, but really her voice just rose a couple of notches higher than her normal tone.
Oliver snapped out of his trance and blinked a couple of times, his chocolate brown eyes focussing on Ginny's frowning face.
"S-sorry," he apologized then quickly gathered his brain, "You're all done?" he inquired, inspecting the file cabinets she was busy cleaning up just moments ago.
"Yes. I'm all done filing your stuff. Honestly, Professor, you need to have some sort of filing system!" she scolded him.
Oliver looked sheepishly at her. And…was that a hint of blush she saw creeping up his neck? Ginny couldn't believe it, but Oliver Wood was embarrassed!
Hell, this boy is getting stranger and stranger by the minute.
"So," she clapped her hands and rocked back and forth on her heels, "If that's everything for tonight, Professor, I think I should be going then, huh?"
"Uh…yes," he nodded then more firmly he added, "Yes, you may go."
"Thanks," Ginny smiled and made her way towards the door. She was almost to it when she heard Oliver called her again. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Yeah?"
Oliver looked a little bit uneasy, then after making up his mind he cleared his throat and met her brown ones.
"I'm sorry for acting like such an arse this afternoon. I was just in a rotten mood and…I didn't mean to take it out on you," he apologized.
Now that's more like the Oliver Wood I know, she thought gaily and gave him one of her sweet, warm smile she reserved for special people (namely her family and very close friends—Oliver fell somewhere in between those two description).
"That's alright, Ollie, just make sure you don't do it often."
Oliver let out a sigh of relief and returned her smile. "Good. So we're friends?"
Ginny frowned, "We were never enemies, silly."
Oliver chuckled, "Alright. Well, have a good night, Ginny."
"You too, Ollie. See you tomorrow."
Ginny had the brightest smile plastered on her face as she exited her History of Magic classroom. So all was well between her and Oliver. He was in a rotten mood he said it so himself. Now him being in a rotten made her wonder why he was in that kind of mood in the first place!
She rounded the corner towards the stairs that would take her to Gryffindor tower (a shortcut she only recently discovered and was thankful for) when someone hidden in the shadows grabbed her; a big, strong hand covered her mouth to stop her from screaming and a strong, muscular arm wrapped around her tiny waist as she was hauled into the shadow with this stranger who came out of nowhere. She struggled, of course, kicking and pounding on her captor's arm with her balled up fists, but it was a futile attempt to say the least. Her captor did not release her until they were hidden deep shadow of an unfamiliar corridor.
As soon as her mouth was freed, Ginny was ready to give whomever this git was an earful, but then she wasn't able to breath a word before her mouth was covered in a kiss that was more forced than welcomed. Ginny tried to scream, but her captor wouldn't let her; his mouth on her mouth came down hard. Ginny felt like her teeth would be knocked down her throat at the force of his kiss.
Her hands found their way up and pressed against a wall of hard, male chest. She flattened her hands against it and tried to push him away. She tried to pry her mouth from his, but he proved to be more powerful than her—and very much intent on kissing her—to actually let her go.
She whimpered against him, pounding her fists against his chest. Who the hell was this man who practically kidnapped her on her way to her dormitory? She struggled to be free off him, but she was soon realizing it wouldn't do her much to struggle, so she tried to relax, and the moment she did her captor's mouth softened against hers.
Ginny's eyes widened when she noticed the change in him. She could hardly see his face (he was good at keeping to the shadows as to avoid being discovered), but there were other things (his scent, his built) that should be able to help her. And this musky male scent she was inhaling emanating from her faceless captor sure smelled familiar.
Now where have I smelled that before?
"Ginny…" he captor spoke huskily against his mouth, making Ginny freeze in his arms.
She managed to pry her lips from his and pulled her head back, squinting her eyes trying to decipher his face, but it was so damn dark where they were that she couldn't even make-out the shape of his face!
"Wh-who are you?" she asked, her ears pricked up. Maybe his voice would hint her as to who he was.
There was a long, pregnant silence, which made it damn near impossible for Ginny to breathe. Would he answer her? God, I hope so! Nobody goes around grabbing me in the middle of the night and snog the living daylights out of me! Not that he was a good snog because…well, dammit! Who are you?
She wanted to scream out her query when he spoke again.
"You know me, Ginny," he still spoke using the same, husky whisper which made it damn near impossible for her to pinpoint him out of the many male students of Hogwarts.
"Uh…I don't think so," she shook her head 'no', "You see, if I know you then I wouldn't be asking you who you are, right?"
He chuckled at her reply. It was a low, rumbling sound that came from the pits of his stomach. He raised his hand and traced his index finger against the side of her face. Although Ginny couldn't see him clearly, she knew his eyes were on her face, following the trail his finger was making.
Dammit, who the hell are you?
"I'm sorry I had to do what I just did, Ginny, but I couldn't help myself anymore. Every time I see you all I wanted to do was kiss you. Hold you in my arms and feel alright, but I couldn't do that in broad daylight nor would I be able to do that in the company of others," he confessed, his voice a low crescendo that was soon soothing Ginny's nerves.
"W-why couldn't you?" she asked nervously.
"Because," she felt him shrug, heard the rustling of his robes when he did so.
"Because?" she prodded.
"You're so beautiful, Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor House," he sighed, his index finger now tracing her lips.
Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor House…
"Holy shit!" she gasped, "You're—"
"Shh…" he pressed his finger against her lips to silence her, "Do you see me, Ginny Weasley?" he asked, his breath fanning her lips and before she could reply, she felt those same lips that were kissing her rather roughly just moments before cover her mouth once more, but this time he was more gentle.
Ginny moaned and leaned in to his kiss, her mouth softening against his expert lips. His tongue darted out to trace the line between her lips, coaxing them to part and give him access to the depth of her moist crevice.
This was crazy. She had definitely lost her sanity. She was snogging in the dark on some unknown hallway with her damn APC! And Merlin, she was enjoying it! Her first impression of his kiss was soon rectified by this second one.
Her hands that were pressed against his chest that was meant to push him away curled over his robes, pulling him closer as she moved into the circle of his arms that went around her small waist. She opened her mouth for him and got lost in the sensation his expert tongue were doing to her whilst his hands wandered lower to cup her bottom…
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A/N: let's leave our frisky couple here for now, shall we? Hehehehe, can you guess WHO Ginny's snogging with now? Sorry, not much hint to go by in this chap, but…well, hope you enjoyed it.
A/N 2: our sweet, romantic APC borrowed Michelle Branch's Everywhere song for this fic.
PhoenixRae's THANK YOUs:
Krissy, chi-chan // ako kanmu, crazyfriendsfan, Junebug (now why do you want it to be Blaise for some reason???), MiSs-BeHaVe (sorry to confuse you so, but it's all part of the wicked master plan :::grins:::), vanns, Lia (ho-ly, girl! that was a very long review! :::laughs::: ahh, now who wouldn't want to kiss him after his verbal fight with Ron? :::giggles:::), Noelle, izzy (no, you're not dumb. when I conceived the plot for this story I initially intended for the readers to keep on guessing who our APC is...so just keep on guessing!), Yochy, imanewuser (I'll do my very best to give out a BIG HINT as to who our APC might be, but no guarantees since I just type whatever comes to mind...), dragon-girl, Miss Marauder, Icecoolers the Ecck (so you like Abby? or you're an Abby? hehehehe, thanks!), Cassandra Sisenta or Krey-Zey, Blue thorn a.k.a. B.C.R., txt-eva, Slytherin Child (hehehe, sorry to disrupt your well-laid-thought-out idea of who our APC is...you may be right and you may be not; I will neither agree nor disagree with your theories there :::evil cackle:::), string bean love, Curly-Q, MelissaAdams, Lady Phoenix Feather, SAKURAnTOKYO, Vld (if I reveal our APC now during this early on in the story, I doubt you'll guys have any interest in the future chapters, so please be patient and get your brain cells workin' by trying to tick off the 'not possible' APC candidates, hehehehe), annie li, talieta, animezebra, Isis (I won't tell...I won't tell...I won't tell...for now, hehehehe :::evil grin:::), kitty (thanks for clearing that up, and 'kitty' is a cute name, although I doubt it would fit me if I use it, hehehe), OpalKoboi, Imp, fishy, Crystal, monopolyQueen (I'm glad you were able to laugh at the way the characters interact...I intend for some scenes to be funny and hey, if you were able to laugh then I must've done a good job), myobgirly (aawww...school's busy? got finals or what?), Shinomori Kibou, AlliKat (hehehe, yeah, it's understandable how sometimes it's kinda bit too lazy to login when reviewing), spunkygabi (of course I'm alluding to somebody...hehehe :::evil grin:::)