AN: Ok..where do I begin? I guess with the sentence " truly amazingly
desperately sorry?" yeah that sounds pretty good. Anyway, It is a commonly
used excuse, but I was honestly so embroiled in sophmore year that even
having time to READ a fic became a challenge! However, your constant
reviews made me feel really bad, and when I kept checking this other
author's fic to see if they had updated (and they still haven't!) I
realized just how annoying it must be for those of you who like this fic
enough to keep track of it. I want to get this fic over and done with and
perhaps work on a H/G type thing(no I haven't converted..I just want to
experiment w/the ship) but Gamble of Love will always be my baby. Soo..to
all you faithful and fantastic reviewers, belated merry Christmas, and
early happy new year! Oh and I updated my bio. Last note, also put up a
little H/G ficlet for those of you who are interested.
************************************************************************
Despite dating Michael Corner and pseudo dating Dean Thomas (more a ploy to annoy Ron than anything else), Ginny had never actually kissed either one properly. With Michael they had only just passed on from holding hands to kissing cheeks, when he left her for Cho. Upon reflection, Ginny realized that perhaps he left her due to "frustration" because they were moving a little bit too slowly for his liking, and Cho had apparently kissed Harry without even DATING him to begin with! Hussy!
Ginny mentally shoved these thoughts out of her head as she continued to kiss Draco. She had read in so many romances that your mind was supposed to go completely blank the moment you were kissed, and that when you were only aware of the person kissing you, everything else would blur. On the contrary in her case, she was very aware of the warmth of Draco's smooth neck, the feel of her legs curled up against him, his strong arms wrapped securely around her.
Her stubborn thoughts snuck into her head again, and Ginny realized as she moved closer still to Draco, that if he even took this kiss a little bit further, all thoughts of chasteness, going slow and relationships would exit her head. With this in mind, she decided to pull away, but couldn't bring herself to. When Draco finally did, she looked up at him startled.
" Brilliant! I knew I'd do SOMETHING wrong!" she mentally berated herself.
Draco meanwhile knew that he had to pull away before he practically glued himself to Ginny, or took the kiss any further. He smiled upon noting the expression on her face, but couldn't bring himself to say anything coherent. For a second they just sat there, their legs touching, his arms still around her, wondering how their relationship had just suddenly been turned around. Ginny's prefect badge suddenly started buzzing, and slowly, reluctantly, she rose up out of his embrace.
" I, I er- have to go"
" I know."
" So um, I suppose I'll... see you around then."
" Yes, yes you will. Oh and Ginny?"
" Yes?"
" I won't get a detention for this will I?"
" No Draco. Well by-"
" Ginny wait! Are you going to the ball with Potter?"
At this Ginny frowned indignantly. Either Draco Malfoy was completely insecure, or a complete prat. How the hell could she sit there kissing him if she was going to the ball with Harry? She opened her mouth to tell him this, when some sort of demon seized her and she opted to raise her eyebrow instead.
" What do you think?" She asked, now experimenting with a smirk.
Draco had to bite his lip to stifle the grin that wanted to form across his face. That girl had guts! Mimicking his style! Oh well, time to let her know what she was dealing with.
" I think.." Draco drawled, then trailed off as he made his way toward her with a sexy smile on his face,
" I think.." he breathed again as he reached her and looked into her darkening eyes, his hand reaching out to cup her face gently.
" Yes?" Ginny practically squeaked, his closeness wreaking havoc with her nerves.
Draco leaned in as if he was about to kiss her, and then pushed a soft piece of fabric into her hands.
" I think you were going to leave behind Potter's invisibility cloak."
" Oh!" Ginny said, disappointed and frowning slightly.
" Well Thanks, I better get going."
" No problem, oh and one last thing Gin"
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned around for the third time.
" I'm Gin now am I? What is it this time Malf-"
He cut her off this time by once again placing his lips on hers, and she let her words out in a sigh as she kissed back. Seconds later, Draco pulled away, smiling a genuine smile this time.
" Goodnight." He whispered, and practically shot off in the other direction.
" Goodnight.." Ginny called to the breeze, touching her lips, and then her insistently buzzing Prefect badge, and making her way to the staffroom.
Once she got there, she was in such a daze that she didn't notice the intent looks directed at her. Or the fact that Lupin, Snape and Mcgonagall were all sitting unusually close to each other. All Ginny wanted to do was get back to her room, sneak past Harry, and dream of Draco. After signing out with Professor Mcgonagall, she floated out, her hand to her lips.
The three teachers faced each other once Ginny had walked out.
" Well, I suppose we can assume that something has happened." Lupin started out timidly, searching for the right words.
" Of course we can assume! It seems as though Ms. Weasley and Malfoy have definitely furthered their relationship a little bit." Responded Professor Mcgonagall crisply.
" That's all bloody great. But I'm frankly quite sick of losing sleep over this stupid ball! I mean if Hagrid wants us to tend to his Flobberworms, there's only so much we can do about it. The ball is tomorrow, and after all our efforts, all Weasley and Draco have managed to do is snog!"
" Severus! Do watch your language! Anyhow, what were you expecting them to do?"
Snape didn't respond, he just looked at her. Mcgonagall finally caught on and muttered "men!" under her breath as she gathered her things.
At this moment they were interrupted by a burst of song.
" Deck the halls with bows of holly hufflepuff la la la la la la"
They all winced as the shrillness was intensified, and a new voice joint in.
" Tis the season to be jolly ravenclaw and hufflepuff are going to the dance!"
" Sing we now our Christmas carol, Ravenclaw, hufflepuff, Ravenclaw!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Severus, who was secretly suffering a frightful hangover, and overcome with disappointment, waved his wand threateningly at them.
Flitwick and his team stopped dead in their tracks, staring up frightened at the Potions master, who was after all, quite talented in the dark arts.
"I. Have had. Enough. I will just sit through the stupid Flobberworm Fest if that's what it takes to escape this kind of racket. Oh and Flitwick? Congratulations."
With this, Snape swept out of the room, more upset than he would care to admit, leaving a strangely bereft pair of teachers in his wake.
Lupin and Mcgonagall parted ways resignedly, shaking hands and mumbling about what a pleasure it was to work with each other, and vice versa.
While Ginny Weasley went contentedly to sleep, 3 teachers were also trying to unsuccessfully accomplish the same. However, the feeling of disappointment just wouldn't wane. Harry Potter was undergoing the same trauma as he remembered Ginny's flushed face and reddened lips when she handed him back his cloak.
Harry hadn't wanted to notice it before, but now he knew that Ginny Weasley was most certainly over him. Curiosity over who was responsible for her condition was equivalent to the jealousy he was feeling. Swearing silently, he sat up in bed and looked at Ron, who was snoring and suddenly muttered some intelligible, which sounded distinctly like "Hermione."
Harry grinned sadly as he looked at his slumbering friend.
" At least some things still remain the same." Was the last thing he thought before going to bed.
***********************************************************************
No one went down to breakfast the next morning. Most of the girls were busy preparing their dress robes for the ball, and the boys were fretting over who to ask for their date. Ginny hadn't placed much importance on what to wear before, but now she felt a sudden need to look good. Good for Draco.
Although the Weasley family had come into sufficient amounts of money after the war, Ginny still wasn't used to picking out expensive dress robes that suited her. She had only one thing left to do. Call in the experts.
" Hermione! Help me, help me, help me! I have no ruddy thing to wear for this ball tonight."
Her brown haired friend simply grinned, and stepped aside. Lying on Ginny's bed were the most exquisite robes of pale, shimmering green.
" What? How?"
" I already knew you'd be stressing over this Gin, so I owled your mum in advance about the ball. We went and bought the fabric at Hogsmeade and Parvati had it styled in the way it would best suit you."
Ginny was lost for words, and extremely thankful that at least someone she knew was this practical.
" Oh Hermione, what would I do without you?" She muttered, half thankfully, half tearfully, and gave her friend a bear hug.
Hermione grinned and hugged her back before pulling away and asking her to try it on quickly before they were late for class.
" Oh yes, God forbid that Professor Binns has to start History of Magic without me." Ginny called out as she pulled the robes over her shoulders, and then turned around to face the mirror and gave a shocked gasp.
Hermione pulled the curtain aside and gave a gasp of her own.
" They're so low cut!"
" Ginny you look amazing!"
These remarks escaped at the same time. Hermione smiled slightly at Ginny's embarrassment and adjusted the robes slightly.
" Look Ginny, this is a style. Trust me, they are incredibly flattering. No boy will be able to keep his eyes off you tonight."
Hermione noticed that after this statement, Ginny turned rather compliant and docilely helped Hermione pick out accessories and shoes for the outfit before walking to her classes.
The wheels were already turning in our brilliant witch's head as she watched Ginny amble off to class.
" Ginny's never been particularly keen to have anyone notice her before! God knows, she doesn't really need those robes to have boys look at her. Why the sudden happiness that the robes were green? Who does she want to notice them?"
Lost in thought, Hermione collided with someone who appeared to be walking backwards, staring at something behind him.
" Malfoy!"
" Sorry er..Granger" he muttered in a daze, and kept walking, his hand now massaging his forehead as he shook his head from side to side.
Hermione couldn't help but notice that it was completely out of character for Draco Malfoy to be so absent minded. She wondered what he had been staring at so intently, and turned around to see, when her jaw dropped with shock.
Ginny was the only other person in the corridor, and she was still walking along to her class. Suddenly, it all made sense, and Hermione was absolutely flabbergasted by her discovery. She remained in a state of shock even in Charms, as she slid into the side beside Ron.
" Something wrong Mione?"
" Nothing. Nothing at all." She mumbled, not even paying attention. Which was definitely a first.
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AN: Alright! So there you have it. Plenty of D/G interaction, teacher interaction (NO there is NOT a love triangle between Mcgonagall, Snape and Lupin. Gross.) and Hermione interaction. Ever since reading all thos Harry Ginny fics, I guess I've started to feel a little more sympathetic to him, and decided to make him less of a cocky arse in this story. Don't worry, things definitely look up for the teacher trio, because there is more to the Hufflepuff Ravenclaw pairing, and the Flobberworm fest than you think! I would laugh mysteriously, but seeing how that turned out for Mcgonagall, I'd rather not. Now all you reviewers, you know what to do! Review review review! (Oh and go and constantly bug Serendipity, Draigonfire and NotSmith to update their fics.)
Despite dating Michael Corner and pseudo dating Dean Thomas (more a ploy to annoy Ron than anything else), Ginny had never actually kissed either one properly. With Michael they had only just passed on from holding hands to kissing cheeks, when he left her for Cho. Upon reflection, Ginny realized that perhaps he left her due to "frustration" because they were moving a little bit too slowly for his liking, and Cho had apparently kissed Harry without even DATING him to begin with! Hussy!
Ginny mentally shoved these thoughts out of her head as she continued to kiss Draco. She had read in so many romances that your mind was supposed to go completely blank the moment you were kissed, and that when you were only aware of the person kissing you, everything else would blur. On the contrary in her case, she was very aware of the warmth of Draco's smooth neck, the feel of her legs curled up against him, his strong arms wrapped securely around her.
Her stubborn thoughts snuck into her head again, and Ginny realized as she moved closer still to Draco, that if he even took this kiss a little bit further, all thoughts of chasteness, going slow and relationships would exit her head. With this in mind, she decided to pull away, but couldn't bring herself to. When Draco finally did, she looked up at him startled.
" Brilliant! I knew I'd do SOMETHING wrong!" she mentally berated herself.
Draco meanwhile knew that he had to pull away before he practically glued himself to Ginny, or took the kiss any further. He smiled upon noting the expression on her face, but couldn't bring himself to say anything coherent. For a second they just sat there, their legs touching, his arms still around her, wondering how their relationship had just suddenly been turned around. Ginny's prefect badge suddenly started buzzing, and slowly, reluctantly, she rose up out of his embrace.
" I, I er- have to go"
" I know."
" So um, I suppose I'll... see you around then."
" Yes, yes you will. Oh and Ginny?"
" Yes?"
" I won't get a detention for this will I?"
" No Draco. Well by-"
" Ginny wait! Are you going to the ball with Potter?"
At this Ginny frowned indignantly. Either Draco Malfoy was completely insecure, or a complete prat. How the hell could she sit there kissing him if she was going to the ball with Harry? She opened her mouth to tell him this, when some sort of demon seized her and she opted to raise her eyebrow instead.
" What do you think?" She asked, now experimenting with a smirk.
Draco had to bite his lip to stifle the grin that wanted to form across his face. That girl had guts! Mimicking his style! Oh well, time to let her know what she was dealing with.
" I think.." Draco drawled, then trailed off as he made his way toward her with a sexy smile on his face,
" I think.." he breathed again as he reached her and looked into her darkening eyes, his hand reaching out to cup her face gently.
" Yes?" Ginny practically squeaked, his closeness wreaking havoc with her nerves.
Draco leaned in as if he was about to kiss her, and then pushed a soft piece of fabric into her hands.
" I think you were going to leave behind Potter's invisibility cloak."
" Oh!" Ginny said, disappointed and frowning slightly.
" Well Thanks, I better get going."
" No problem, oh and one last thing Gin"
Ginny rolled her eyes and turned around for the third time.
" I'm Gin now am I? What is it this time Malf-"
He cut her off this time by once again placing his lips on hers, and she let her words out in a sigh as she kissed back. Seconds later, Draco pulled away, smiling a genuine smile this time.
" Goodnight." He whispered, and practically shot off in the other direction.
" Goodnight.." Ginny called to the breeze, touching her lips, and then her insistently buzzing Prefect badge, and making her way to the staffroom.
Once she got there, she was in such a daze that she didn't notice the intent looks directed at her. Or the fact that Lupin, Snape and Mcgonagall were all sitting unusually close to each other. All Ginny wanted to do was get back to her room, sneak past Harry, and dream of Draco. After signing out with Professor Mcgonagall, she floated out, her hand to her lips.
The three teachers faced each other once Ginny had walked out.
" Well, I suppose we can assume that something has happened." Lupin started out timidly, searching for the right words.
" Of course we can assume! It seems as though Ms. Weasley and Malfoy have definitely furthered their relationship a little bit." Responded Professor Mcgonagall crisply.
" That's all bloody great. But I'm frankly quite sick of losing sleep over this stupid ball! I mean if Hagrid wants us to tend to his Flobberworms, there's only so much we can do about it. The ball is tomorrow, and after all our efforts, all Weasley and Draco have managed to do is snog!"
" Severus! Do watch your language! Anyhow, what were you expecting them to do?"
Snape didn't respond, he just looked at her. Mcgonagall finally caught on and muttered "men!" under her breath as she gathered her things.
At this moment they were interrupted by a burst of song.
" Deck the halls with bows of holly hufflepuff la la la la la la"
They all winced as the shrillness was intensified, and a new voice joint in.
" Tis the season to be jolly ravenclaw and hufflepuff are going to the dance!"
" Sing we now our Christmas carol, Ravenclaw, hufflepuff, Ravenclaw!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Severus, who was secretly suffering a frightful hangover, and overcome with disappointment, waved his wand threateningly at them.
Flitwick and his team stopped dead in their tracks, staring up frightened at the Potions master, who was after all, quite talented in the dark arts.
"I. Have had. Enough. I will just sit through the stupid Flobberworm Fest if that's what it takes to escape this kind of racket. Oh and Flitwick? Congratulations."
With this, Snape swept out of the room, more upset than he would care to admit, leaving a strangely bereft pair of teachers in his wake.
Lupin and Mcgonagall parted ways resignedly, shaking hands and mumbling about what a pleasure it was to work with each other, and vice versa.
While Ginny Weasley went contentedly to sleep, 3 teachers were also trying to unsuccessfully accomplish the same. However, the feeling of disappointment just wouldn't wane. Harry Potter was undergoing the same trauma as he remembered Ginny's flushed face and reddened lips when she handed him back his cloak.
Harry hadn't wanted to notice it before, but now he knew that Ginny Weasley was most certainly over him. Curiosity over who was responsible for her condition was equivalent to the jealousy he was feeling. Swearing silently, he sat up in bed and looked at Ron, who was snoring and suddenly muttered some intelligible, which sounded distinctly like "Hermione."
Harry grinned sadly as he looked at his slumbering friend.
" At least some things still remain the same." Was the last thing he thought before going to bed.
***********************************************************************
No one went down to breakfast the next morning. Most of the girls were busy preparing their dress robes for the ball, and the boys were fretting over who to ask for their date. Ginny hadn't placed much importance on what to wear before, but now she felt a sudden need to look good. Good for Draco.
Although the Weasley family had come into sufficient amounts of money after the war, Ginny still wasn't used to picking out expensive dress robes that suited her. She had only one thing left to do. Call in the experts.
" Hermione! Help me, help me, help me! I have no ruddy thing to wear for this ball tonight."
Her brown haired friend simply grinned, and stepped aside. Lying on Ginny's bed were the most exquisite robes of pale, shimmering green.
" What? How?"
" I already knew you'd be stressing over this Gin, so I owled your mum in advance about the ball. We went and bought the fabric at Hogsmeade and Parvati had it styled in the way it would best suit you."
Ginny was lost for words, and extremely thankful that at least someone she knew was this practical.
" Oh Hermione, what would I do without you?" She muttered, half thankfully, half tearfully, and gave her friend a bear hug.
Hermione grinned and hugged her back before pulling away and asking her to try it on quickly before they were late for class.
" Oh yes, God forbid that Professor Binns has to start History of Magic without me." Ginny called out as she pulled the robes over her shoulders, and then turned around to face the mirror and gave a shocked gasp.
Hermione pulled the curtain aside and gave a gasp of her own.
" They're so low cut!"
" Ginny you look amazing!"
These remarks escaped at the same time. Hermione smiled slightly at Ginny's embarrassment and adjusted the robes slightly.
" Look Ginny, this is a style. Trust me, they are incredibly flattering. No boy will be able to keep his eyes off you tonight."
Hermione noticed that after this statement, Ginny turned rather compliant and docilely helped Hermione pick out accessories and shoes for the outfit before walking to her classes.
The wheels were already turning in our brilliant witch's head as she watched Ginny amble off to class.
" Ginny's never been particularly keen to have anyone notice her before! God knows, she doesn't really need those robes to have boys look at her. Why the sudden happiness that the robes were green? Who does she want to notice them?"
Lost in thought, Hermione collided with someone who appeared to be walking backwards, staring at something behind him.
" Malfoy!"
" Sorry er..Granger" he muttered in a daze, and kept walking, his hand now massaging his forehead as he shook his head from side to side.
Hermione couldn't help but notice that it was completely out of character for Draco Malfoy to be so absent minded. She wondered what he had been staring at so intently, and turned around to see, when her jaw dropped with shock.
Ginny was the only other person in the corridor, and she was still walking along to her class. Suddenly, it all made sense, and Hermione was absolutely flabbergasted by her discovery. She remained in a state of shock even in Charms, as she slid into the side beside Ron.
" Something wrong Mione?"
" Nothing. Nothing at all." She mumbled, not even paying attention. Which was definitely a first.
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AN: Alright! So there you have it. Plenty of D/G interaction, teacher interaction (NO there is NOT a love triangle between Mcgonagall, Snape and Lupin. Gross.) and Hermione interaction. Ever since reading all thos Harry Ginny fics, I guess I've started to feel a little more sympathetic to him, and decided to make him less of a cocky arse in this story. Don't worry, things definitely look up for the teacher trio, because there is more to the Hufflepuff Ravenclaw pairing, and the Flobberworm fest than you think! I would laugh mysteriously, but seeing how that turned out for Mcgonagall, I'd rather not. Now all you reviewers, you know what to do! Review review review! (Oh and go and constantly bug Serendipity, Draigonfire and NotSmith to update their fics.)