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 Note: all I can say for now is…hmm….for Blaise's last name I'll continue using "Zambini" and just correct it when I'm done revising this. *smiles*

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IX. That Familiar Scent

Abigail, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Colin, and everybody else at the Gryffindor table couldn't help but notice how much Ginny was glowing during breakfast. Every two seconds she would burst into giggles then blush profusely when asked what she was giggling about. She wouldn't say much to her friends or brother about why she was giggling, and it was annoying them to the brink of them wanting to strangle Ginny for being so coy!

Suspicions that Ginny had a boyfriend secretly stashed away somewhere spread like wildfire amongst her housemates, and Ron wasn't too happy about it. When he could no longer stand his friends and other housemates gossiping about his sister and her supposed boyfriend, he decided that enough was enough and confronted Ginny.

"Look, I know you hate it when I breathe down your back, but this is getting to be a tad bit too damn ridiculous, Virginia," Ron scolded when he cornered his sister en route back to the Gryffindor dormitory shortly after lunch Sunday afternoon.

Ginny frowned at her brother, "What the heck are you talking about, Ronald?"

Ron made a face at his sister that pretty much said he wasn't in any mood to play any games with her. He was trying to keep the rumours and speculations down and asked everyone in Gryffindor not to breathe a word about their assumption on why Ginny was smiling like an idiot the entire weekend. He didn't want the rest of Hogwarts to be talking about Ginny behind her back.

"I'm talking about you acting all lovesick-puppy-like!" he nearly yelled at her, but he hung on to his temper. He doesn't want to lose it right now out here in the open. "What's really going on, Gin? You've been acting strange since you came back from detention Friday night," he paused and studied his sister more carefully, "You're not hiding a boyfriend somewhere, are you?"

"What? Ron, please! If I have a boyfriend stashed away somewhere, I'd be flaunting him, not keep him stashed away under my four-poster bed or in my trunk!" she rolled her eyes at her brother and crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyway, can't I just be happy for once without any particular reason at all?" she questioned him rather irately.

"Not when you're driving me insane," he grumbled.

"Oh Ronald," Ginny patted his shoulder lightly, "Lighten up, big brother. I'm a big girl now and if ever I have a boyfriend giving me a little somethin'-somethin' on the side, it's none of your bloody business really," she winked and walked around her dumbstruck brother.

It actually took Ron a couple of seconds before what Ginny said sank in. With his eyes bugging out of their sockets, he whirled around and screamed to the top of his lungs:

"Who the fuck's giving you a little somethin'-somethin'?"

Everyone who was present in the hall turned and stared at the red-faced male redhead that had smoke coming out of his ears and nose. Hermione read Ron the riot act after he let the expletive slip his lips while Harry stood beside his friends, dumbstruck at what he just heard Ginny tell her brother.

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Ginny made sure to stay well away from her brother for the rest of the day. Her little stunt in the hall after lunch only made those gossip-hungry students have a field day guessing who Ginny Weasley's boyfriend was.

Ginny was amazed at how bored her fellow schoolmates were to find some bit of fun discussing her and her mystery guy. She overheard a group of jealous Slytherin seventh years speculating that her man was none other than Blaise Zambini! Ginny had no idea why they thought it was Blaise, but her query was soon answered when Abigail filled her in on the latest school gossip.

"Zambini saved you during the first match of the season, Gin. Apparently quite a lot of Zambini's adoring fans saw that tender moment you two had after he caught you."

"People already assumed because of that?" Ginny was shocked. How narrow-minded some people could be sometimes.

"You and Weaselette had a tender moment that day, Zambini?" exclaimed Draco in mock surprise from behind the two sixth year Gryffindors.

Ginny and Abigail looked over their shoulders and glared at the blond Slytherin.

"Don't you have anything better to do, bleached boy, than to eavesdrop on others' conversation?" Ginny snapped.

Draco looked at Ginny then, his eyebrow raised.

"Was I talking to you, carrot top?" he deadpanned.

"No, but you were eavesdropping on our conversation so I think I earned the right to join in on your conversation," she answered with a casual shrug.

"It wasn't my fault that you talk so loud, carrot top. Anyway," Draco ignored her once again to look at his companion, "Zambini, you still haven't answered my question. I seem to overhear Pansy and Millicent whining about you already off the market," he clucked his tongue and shook his head, "Pity," he shrugged.

"Malfoy, shut-up," Blaise hissed from the side of his mouth, "You don't have any fucking idea what the hell you're talking about," he accused.

Draco's eyebrow rose a notch higher (if ever it could raise any higher), "Half of the school's talking about it, Zambini. Every girl from Slytherin to Hufflepuff were speculating that you and carrot top have been—"

"Stop calling me by that blasted name!" Ginny interrupted him when Draco referred to her by his new pet name for her.

"—secretly seeing each other since…hmm…the beginning of the year?" Draco continued as if Ginny hadn't interrupted him.

"Ginny and I aren't together. Those girls who started speculating about us being an item must have drank too much butterbeer that addled their thinking," Blaise replied.

"So what was that tender moment those girls were talking about?" Draco insisted, very much interested to know what really happened after Blaise saved Ginny during the first match of the season.

"Nothing," he denied hotly.

"Nothing?" Draco didn't look like he believed him at all. He cast a questioning look from Ginny's fuming face back to his housemate's blank one. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Think what you want to think, peroxide pest, but what Blaise just told you was the truth!" Ginny nearly yelled at the bull-headed Slytherin.

"Somehow I doubt that," there was a distinctive glint in the corners of his grey eyes that told Ginny the wheels in his head was turning. Draco Malfoy wasn't an easy person to dupe, and she wasn't the world's greatest liar either!

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes skyward and turned her back to him once more to conceal her facial expression. She knew if Draco Malfoy studied her face long enough he would be able to figure out that something did happen shortly after Blaise saved her sorry behind. "Let's go, Abs," she hooked her arm with her friends and dragged Abigail to the direction of the courtyard where they intended to go in the first place.

"Ginny, wait!" it was Blaise who called her.

Ginny looked over her shoulder and caught Draco glaring at Blaise before the other Slytherin heartthrob excused himself from his companion. She could tell the two boys exchanged a couple of words that resulted in Draco wearing a very sour face, but Blaise ignored him and went to her anyway.

"What does he want now?" Abigail whispered as she watched the tall, dark haired Slytherin walk towards them.

"I have no idea," Ginny replied honestly. "Hey Blaise, what's up?" she asked when he finally reached them.

"Uh…" he glanced at Abigail then back at Ginny, "Mind if we talk alone for a couple of minutes?" he asked.

Abigail raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, "And why can't I hear what you have to say to my friend, huh?" she demanded.

"Because, Wilson, what I have to ask Ginny is so damn important that I don't want an audience lurking about," Blaise snapped at the brunette.

Abigail was about to argue with him when Ginny decided to step in and stop their brewing fight. She doesn't want Abigail to rearrange Blaise's face—or vice-versa!

"Abs, it's alright. Just give us a couple of minutes, okay?"

"But Gin—"

"He's a nice guy, although he could be a pompous jackass like Malfoy sometimes, but still, he's better than Malfoy," Ginny pointed out.

"Hey, I'm standing here, by the way. Don't be talking about me as if I'm not around to hear it," Blaise complained when Ginny unwittingly insulted him.

Ginny frowned up at him, "Shut up, Blaise," she said then looked back at her friend who gave them a weary look before stepping away.

"Thank God she's gone," Blaise mumbled under his breath.

Ginny glared at him then, "Don't you dare be following that comment with an insult directed to my friend, Zambini," she threatened.

"Don't worry, Ginny, I won't, although I have quite a few choice of words to use on that hellion of a friend of yours," Blaise replied.

"Zambini…" she hissed.

"Okay, okay," Blaise raised his hands in surrender, "I won't call your best friend any names. Anyway, I just got one thing to ask you."

"Okay," she crossed her arms over her chest and stood back, waiting for him to go on.

Blaise looked confused all of a sudden—confused and nervous at the same time.

"Zambini, what is it you wanted to ask me about?"

"Ginny…I…uh…well, what I wanted to ask is—" Blaise was saved from saying what looked to be something he was having a hard time spitting out when Draco suddenly appeared beside him, clapping him soundly at the back.

"Cat got your tongue, Zambini?" ridiculed Draco.

Ginny shot him a look that could have fried any person within range. Why does he keep on popping when he was least wanted to be at?

"What do you want now, bleached boy? Can't you see we're talking here?" she gestured at Blaise standing before her, "Go pester somebody else, alright?"

"No, not alright," Draco shook his head and turned to look at his housemate, "I would suggest you ask carrot top out later, Zambini. Practice starts in ten minutes," he reminded his housemate.

Blaise looked irritated at Draco.

"I know we have practice. And I'm not asking Ginny out on a date. Go on ahead to the pitch, I'll show up on time. I always do," he snapped at the blond Quidditch captain.

"Not good enough, Zambini," Draco shook his head, "We're having a quick pep-talk before practice starts."

"I already know what we're going to discuss. Fill me in about the pep talk later at practice," he shooed Draco away and turned back to address Ginny, but Draco was persistent. He wouldn't leave him alone for just a couple of minutes to say his piece.

"Malfoy…" he snarled, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides when his friend and housemate wouldn't leave him alone.

"Look, Blaise, if this pep talk bleached boy's itching about is so damn important then go. We can talk later," Ginny interrupted, sensing that Blaise and her wouldn't be able to have a decent conversation with Draco lurking about.

Blaise looked defeated, but he conceded nevertheless. He knew he wouldn't able to talk to Ginny anyway with Draco around. He bid her farewell and the two walked away arguing.

As they passed her Ginny stilled. That scent…it wafted towards her when Draco and Blaise walked by. Dumbstruck, she followed the two departing Slytherin with her gaze. Could her APC be either one of those two?

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A/N: sorry for the delay. I didn't have any Internet connection the past 2 weeks so I wasn't able to upload this soon. And to make this short, a huge THANK YOU shout-out to all! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try and get the next one out soon. THANKS!!