Disclaimer: See previous chapter!
All the prefects were in the front car but one.
Draco sat tapping his foot impatiently.
"Where is the Weaselette?" he finally burst out. "I want to get this meeting over with."
The door opened quietly. The person then turned and shut the door just as softly.
Draco was about to unleash all his fury on the stupid Weasel when she turned and flipped her hair in the same manor as the girl at the train platform. Draco felt his eyes cross.
NO way! The girl on the platform could NOT have been Weaselette! He would not allow himself to be attracted to a muggle loving Weasley! His gray began to cloud over in anger. That was until she turned around.
Draco Malfoy, considered by many girls, in all four houses, to be the best looking boy in school and easily able to get any girl, felt his eyes bulge out and mouth fall open at the sight of how Weaselette had changed. He had never shown this much of a reaction to any girl at school, not even Pansy when he had been going out with her and Pansy was a very pretty girl with honey colored curls that hung down to her mid-back and icy blue eyes.
Several locks of Ginny's auburn hair fell over her shoulder begging Draco to reach out and push them back. Her lips were covered with a light pink gloss that made her mouth scream to him to be kissed.
BAD DRACO! He scolded himself over and over again. Nothing will make you feel attraction for a WEASEL!
"Where have you been Weaselette?" he sneered crossing his arms and glaring.
"Excuuuuuse me, but I had to break up a fight between two SLYTHERIN second years," Ginny said her eyes lighting up in anger and looking him over from head to foot. She couldn't help noticing how he was the most attractive guy she had ever seen.
"DON'T talk to my sister that way, Ferret boy!" Ron said jerking his wand out of his pocket.
Draco pointed his wand directly in Ron's face and said, "Well, well Weasley, I would be watching who I insult. I am head-boy. Furthermore I will talk how I please to you and Weaselette."
"Children," said Hermione stepping between them and taking out her wand, "Play nicely."
"Ron Weasley, you put your wand away this second or I will owl Mum, and you will get a howler in the morning as a welcome back present from your baby sister," Ginny said glaring at Ron.
"I will put my wand away when Malfoy puts his away," Ron said watching Draco's every move.
Draco slowly lowered his wand. Ron glared at him watching his every move and stuffed his wand into his pocket and slouched down into a seat.
Draco flopped back into another chair and Hermione sat down cautiously next to him.
"Let's get this over with," Draco said.
The meeting took until nearly noon. By the time it was over everyone in the front car was quite antsy and ready to go walk up and down the train just to not have to hear another word about there new duties. The food cart lady came just as they finished.
Draco flopped down next to Pansy and a window right after he got all of his favorite sweets. Pansy and he were alone in their carriage and she kept talking to him. He blocked her out and stared out the window for the next six hours. Pansy must have eventually reached the conclusion that he was paying absolutely no attention to her what so ever because soon their car was silent.
"Draco," Pansy said softly touching his arm and breaking him from his dreams. "We need to go let all the students know it is time to change and prepare for arrival at school."
"Yeah," he replied reluctantly pulling away from his warm comfortable seat.
Draco rose and stretched popping his back and neck and walked down through the cars with Pansy telling students to get ready if they were not ready.
When they entered the last car all hell almost broke loose.
Ginny sat quietly in her carriage when Neville joined her.
"Hello Ginny," he said looking at his shoes.
"Hey Neville, how was your summer?" she asked turning to look at him.
Neville turned crimson.
"It was pretty good, I guess. What about you?" he asked turning and looking at her turning even redder.
"Alright," Ginny answered turning to look out the window again.
She had hoped to find Luna but had been unsuccessful, so she had hoped to be able to spend the entire ride alone so she could think about how to make Ron see she had become a woman and did not need his protection. Luna would have been able to help her with this as Luna had a very protective father.
"I'll see ya Ginny," Neville said and left shutting the door behind him.
Ginny wished to be alone but had no luck. Many more boys flowed through her compartment to talk to her and see if she was interested in them. Boys as young as being in the fourth year came in and talked to her. Her list before she lost track was Seamus, Colin, Dean, Justin Finch-Fletchey, Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Dennis Creevy, and after that they were mostly a blur. Since the ride began she had not had two minutes of peace. Even Slytherin boys came and talked to her.
Soon she left the compartment to search for Luna and every time she opened a carriage door and a male was in there they felt the need to try to keep her there for at least five minutes. Before she made it through two cars her pockets were full to overflowing with sweets from apparent male admirers. Boys as young as third year were trying to flirt with her. She did not know who half of them were. How did they know her?
"Well, well, well," a smooth deep voice came from behind her, "Ginny Weasley."
Ginny spun and was about to give the speaker a piece of her mind but felt her breath catch in her throat.
This boy was gorgeous. He had thick black hair that was smoothed back and a pair of the deepest most beautiful sparkling blue eyes Ginny had ever seen. He wore a dark forest green cloak that had a silver snake pendant fastening it around his neck. A Slytherin patch was sown on the left side and his clothes were neatly pressed. His chest and arms were lean but had a definite muscular tone. His shoulders were just the right size for her to rest her head on comfortably.
"D-do I know you?" she asked after giving her head a mental shake.
"I do not believe so," he replied in that same smooth voice, "I am Blaise Zabini." He never took his eyes from hers as he spoke. "I am a year ahead of you."
"Nice to meet you," Ginny replied neutrally unable to remove her eyes from him.
So far on the whole train ride, she'd only seen one guy that was as beautiful as this one, and he was actually a little more beautiful than this one, but she could sure learn to find this sweet boy more attractive. Mainly because the boy who was more attractive than this one had been a complete jerk to her since her first year and now he was head-boy, the Slytherin Prince himself. How a boy like Draco Malfoy became head-boy was unfathomable.
"How was the train ride so far?" Blaise asked staring straight into her eyes.
"Pretty bad actually," she replied scowling as she thought about everything that had happened.
"Want to come in and talk about it?" he asked.
"Why not?" Ginny replied as Blaise tuned and opened the compartment door behind him.
He stepped aside to allow her to walk through before him. Ginny smiled at him as she walked by and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Her hair brushed Blaise's hand and the side of his face. His eyes crossed and got glassy for just a second before he pushed it back. He shook his head and followed her in and closed the door and performed a silencing charm on the door.
Ginny sat on the right side of the carriage and Blaise sat directly across from her and leaned back comfortably.
"What has made the trip so terrible, my dear Ginny?" he asked giving an elegant hand gesture for her to begin the tale of her woes.
"Well it started before the train ride, if you want the whole story," she said watching him. "It is somewhat of a long story. Would you prefer the long or condensed version?"
"We have an hour and a half till we reach school and if you do not finish the story we always have the ride to the castle and the walk inside to the great hall so I think I should like to hear the long version." Blaise grinned, eyes dancing.
"If you are sure," Ginny replied and preceded to spill to Blaise the whole story of her day starting from having only half an hour to get ready to leave, to having to deal with the pompous elitist that had been made head- boy. To all the boys on the train being much kinder to her than they had ever been in the past. Her worries about how the staff had come to choose above stated pompous elitist had been chosen as head boy and about how he was probably going to abuse the power.
By the time she finished her retelling of the days events they were only twenty minutes away from Hogwarts and Blaise was leaning forward listening intently to every detail and occasionally nodding in agreement with her. He was used to listening to girls spill because he was normally so shy and quiet and such a good listener.
"I'm glad my day has been better that that," Blaise said with a small hint of mirth in his voice he continued, "and rest assured I'm even more happy that the male population was not flirting with me."
Ginny giggled then. Blaise laughed with her.
"Also Ginny, don't worry too much about Draco being head-boy. He's not nearly as bad as I am sure your brother and his friends have made him out to be," Blaise said with a wink, "and I hope you did find a friend on the train ride and it was slightly better at the end."
Ginny smiled at him. "Yes the end of the train ride has been quite nice in fact."
Ginny pulled her sleeve up and looked at her watch.
"Oh my GOSH!" she gasped jumping to her feet. "But I need to go help inform students to get ready for school."
Blaise stood up then and took one of her hands in his.
"Since you are running out on me, perhaps you will give me the privilege, nay the honor, of riding in the same carriage up to the castle and escorting you inside?" he asked taking her hand to his lips and kissing her fingertips softly.
Ginny smiled and could not hold in the giggles as Blaise batted his eyelashes against her hand.
"Of course Blaise, or should I call you Monsieur Zabini?" she asked just as the carriage door opened.
"Ginny Weasley!" Ron burst out furiously and stared at her in shock.
Ginny felt her smile fade but Blaise continued to hold her hand.
"WHAT do you think you are doing?" Ron yelled. "WHY are you talking to one of them?"
Ron spat as he glared at Blaise as if he was the dirtiest and most vile thing he had ever seen.
"Blaise has been very kind to me!" Ginny said waving her finger in his face. "He IS MY friend."
"He's using you! Slytherins and Gryffindors are NOT friends!" Ron said lip curling as he continued to leer at Blaise.
"RONALD ALEXANDRE WEASLEY! You-will-NOT-tell-me-who-my-friends-may-or-may- not-be!" Ginny yelled pushing Ron with every word.
She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Ron's face right between his eyes. Ron pulled out his wand quickly too.
"What's going on here?" came the lazy drawl of Draco Malfoy to the left of the feuding siblings. "Now I hope two prefects were not about to have a fight. But then again I also hope I have not interrupted a family fight because I would hate to miss a chance at seeing the little Weaselette kick your butt Weasley."
"Not at all Malfoy," Ron said lowering his wand.
Ginny smirked at Ron as she turned and walked up to Blaise. She slid her arms up around his neck. She leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
"I'll meet you when we get to school," she said squeezing him round the middle before turning and walking back to the front car.
Draco felt Pansy grab his arm as they watched Weaselette kiss Blaise's cheek. Her nails dug into his arm very uncomfortably.
"Draco, we need to talk on the way to school. Weaselette can't go around touching what belongs to me." She hissed glaring at Ginny as she walked by heading for the prefect car.
All the prefects were in the front car but one.
Draco sat tapping his foot impatiently.
"Where is the Weaselette?" he finally burst out. "I want to get this meeting over with."
The door opened quietly. The person then turned and shut the door just as softly.
Draco was about to unleash all his fury on the stupid Weasel when she turned and flipped her hair in the same manor as the girl at the train platform. Draco felt his eyes cross.
NO way! The girl on the platform could NOT have been Weaselette! He would not allow himself to be attracted to a muggle loving Weasley! His gray began to cloud over in anger. That was until she turned around.
Draco Malfoy, considered by many girls, in all four houses, to be the best looking boy in school and easily able to get any girl, felt his eyes bulge out and mouth fall open at the sight of how Weaselette had changed. He had never shown this much of a reaction to any girl at school, not even Pansy when he had been going out with her and Pansy was a very pretty girl with honey colored curls that hung down to her mid-back and icy blue eyes.
Several locks of Ginny's auburn hair fell over her shoulder begging Draco to reach out and push them back. Her lips were covered with a light pink gloss that made her mouth scream to him to be kissed.
BAD DRACO! He scolded himself over and over again. Nothing will make you feel attraction for a WEASEL!
"Where have you been Weaselette?" he sneered crossing his arms and glaring.
"Excuuuuuse me, but I had to break up a fight between two SLYTHERIN second years," Ginny said her eyes lighting up in anger and looking him over from head to foot. She couldn't help noticing how he was the most attractive guy she had ever seen.
"DON'T talk to my sister that way, Ferret boy!" Ron said jerking his wand out of his pocket.
Draco pointed his wand directly in Ron's face and said, "Well, well Weasley, I would be watching who I insult. I am head-boy. Furthermore I will talk how I please to you and Weaselette."
"Children," said Hermione stepping between them and taking out her wand, "Play nicely."
"Ron Weasley, you put your wand away this second or I will owl Mum, and you will get a howler in the morning as a welcome back present from your baby sister," Ginny said glaring at Ron.
"I will put my wand away when Malfoy puts his away," Ron said watching Draco's every move.
Draco slowly lowered his wand. Ron glared at him watching his every move and stuffed his wand into his pocket and slouched down into a seat.
Draco flopped back into another chair and Hermione sat down cautiously next to him.
"Let's get this over with," Draco said.
The meeting took until nearly noon. By the time it was over everyone in the front car was quite antsy and ready to go walk up and down the train just to not have to hear another word about there new duties. The food cart lady came just as they finished.
Draco flopped down next to Pansy and a window right after he got all of his favorite sweets. Pansy and he were alone in their carriage and she kept talking to him. He blocked her out and stared out the window for the next six hours. Pansy must have eventually reached the conclusion that he was paying absolutely no attention to her what so ever because soon their car was silent.
"Draco," Pansy said softly touching his arm and breaking him from his dreams. "We need to go let all the students know it is time to change and prepare for arrival at school."
"Yeah," he replied reluctantly pulling away from his warm comfortable seat.
Draco rose and stretched popping his back and neck and walked down through the cars with Pansy telling students to get ready if they were not ready.
When they entered the last car all hell almost broke loose.
Ginny sat quietly in her carriage when Neville joined her.
"Hello Ginny," he said looking at his shoes.
"Hey Neville, how was your summer?" she asked turning to look at him.
Neville turned crimson.
"It was pretty good, I guess. What about you?" he asked turning and looking at her turning even redder.
"Alright," Ginny answered turning to look out the window again.
She had hoped to find Luna but had been unsuccessful, so she had hoped to be able to spend the entire ride alone so she could think about how to make Ron see she had become a woman and did not need his protection. Luna would have been able to help her with this as Luna had a very protective father.
"I'll see ya Ginny," Neville said and left shutting the door behind him.
Ginny wished to be alone but had no luck. Many more boys flowed through her compartment to talk to her and see if she was interested in them. Boys as young as being in the fourth year came in and talked to her. Her list before she lost track was Seamus, Colin, Dean, Justin Finch-Fletchey, Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Dennis Creevy, and after that they were mostly a blur. Since the ride began she had not had two minutes of peace. Even Slytherin boys came and talked to her.
Soon she left the compartment to search for Luna and every time she opened a carriage door and a male was in there they felt the need to try to keep her there for at least five minutes. Before she made it through two cars her pockets were full to overflowing with sweets from apparent male admirers. Boys as young as third year were trying to flirt with her. She did not know who half of them were. How did they know her?
"Well, well, well," a smooth deep voice came from behind her, "Ginny Weasley."
Ginny spun and was about to give the speaker a piece of her mind but felt her breath catch in her throat.
This boy was gorgeous. He had thick black hair that was smoothed back and a pair of the deepest most beautiful sparkling blue eyes Ginny had ever seen. He wore a dark forest green cloak that had a silver snake pendant fastening it around his neck. A Slytherin patch was sown on the left side and his clothes were neatly pressed. His chest and arms were lean but had a definite muscular tone. His shoulders were just the right size for her to rest her head on comfortably.
"D-do I know you?" she asked after giving her head a mental shake.
"I do not believe so," he replied in that same smooth voice, "I am Blaise Zabini." He never took his eyes from hers as he spoke. "I am a year ahead of you."
"Nice to meet you," Ginny replied neutrally unable to remove her eyes from him.
So far on the whole train ride, she'd only seen one guy that was as beautiful as this one, and he was actually a little more beautiful than this one, but she could sure learn to find this sweet boy more attractive. Mainly because the boy who was more attractive than this one had been a complete jerk to her since her first year and now he was head-boy, the Slytherin Prince himself. How a boy like Draco Malfoy became head-boy was unfathomable.
"How was the train ride so far?" Blaise asked staring straight into her eyes.
"Pretty bad actually," she replied scowling as she thought about everything that had happened.
"Want to come in and talk about it?" he asked.
"Why not?" Ginny replied as Blaise tuned and opened the compartment door behind him.
He stepped aside to allow her to walk through before him. Ginny smiled at him as she walked by and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Her hair brushed Blaise's hand and the side of his face. His eyes crossed and got glassy for just a second before he pushed it back. He shook his head and followed her in and closed the door and performed a silencing charm on the door.
Ginny sat on the right side of the carriage and Blaise sat directly across from her and leaned back comfortably.
"What has made the trip so terrible, my dear Ginny?" he asked giving an elegant hand gesture for her to begin the tale of her woes.
"Well it started before the train ride, if you want the whole story," she said watching him. "It is somewhat of a long story. Would you prefer the long or condensed version?"
"We have an hour and a half till we reach school and if you do not finish the story we always have the ride to the castle and the walk inside to the great hall so I think I should like to hear the long version." Blaise grinned, eyes dancing.
"If you are sure," Ginny replied and preceded to spill to Blaise the whole story of her day starting from having only half an hour to get ready to leave, to having to deal with the pompous elitist that had been made head- boy. To all the boys on the train being much kinder to her than they had ever been in the past. Her worries about how the staff had come to choose above stated pompous elitist had been chosen as head boy and about how he was probably going to abuse the power.
By the time she finished her retelling of the days events they were only twenty minutes away from Hogwarts and Blaise was leaning forward listening intently to every detail and occasionally nodding in agreement with her. He was used to listening to girls spill because he was normally so shy and quiet and such a good listener.
"I'm glad my day has been better that that," Blaise said with a small hint of mirth in his voice he continued, "and rest assured I'm even more happy that the male population was not flirting with me."
Ginny giggled then. Blaise laughed with her.
"Also Ginny, don't worry too much about Draco being head-boy. He's not nearly as bad as I am sure your brother and his friends have made him out to be," Blaise said with a wink, "and I hope you did find a friend on the train ride and it was slightly better at the end."
Ginny smiled at him. "Yes the end of the train ride has been quite nice in fact."
Ginny pulled her sleeve up and looked at her watch.
"Oh my GOSH!" she gasped jumping to her feet. "But I need to go help inform students to get ready for school."
Blaise stood up then and took one of her hands in his.
"Since you are running out on me, perhaps you will give me the privilege, nay the honor, of riding in the same carriage up to the castle and escorting you inside?" he asked taking her hand to his lips and kissing her fingertips softly.
Ginny smiled and could not hold in the giggles as Blaise batted his eyelashes against her hand.
"Of course Blaise, or should I call you Monsieur Zabini?" she asked just as the carriage door opened.
"Ginny Weasley!" Ron burst out furiously and stared at her in shock.
Ginny felt her smile fade but Blaise continued to hold her hand.
"WHAT do you think you are doing?" Ron yelled. "WHY are you talking to one of them?"
Ron spat as he glared at Blaise as if he was the dirtiest and most vile thing he had ever seen.
"Blaise has been very kind to me!" Ginny said waving her finger in his face. "He IS MY friend."
"He's using you! Slytherins and Gryffindors are NOT friends!" Ron said lip curling as he continued to leer at Blaise.
"RONALD ALEXANDRE WEASLEY! You-will-NOT-tell-me-who-my-friends-may-or-may- not-be!" Ginny yelled pushing Ron with every word.
She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Ron's face right between his eyes. Ron pulled out his wand quickly too.
"What's going on here?" came the lazy drawl of Draco Malfoy to the left of the feuding siblings. "Now I hope two prefects were not about to have a fight. But then again I also hope I have not interrupted a family fight because I would hate to miss a chance at seeing the little Weaselette kick your butt Weasley."
"Not at all Malfoy," Ron said lowering his wand.
Ginny smirked at Ron as she turned and walked up to Blaise. She slid her arms up around his neck. She leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
"I'll meet you when we get to school," she said squeezing him round the middle before turning and walking back to the front car.
Draco felt Pansy grab his arm as they watched Weaselette kiss Blaise's cheek. Her nails dug into his arm very uncomfortably.
"Draco, we need to talk on the way to school. Weaselette can't go around touching what belongs to me." She hissed glaring at Ginny as she walked by heading for the prefect car.