[ I'd Rather Be In Love With You ]
chapter three: break my fall again!
Things pretty much turned out alright for Ginny on the first day except for Professor Snape who gave them homework for Potions on the first day. Everyone groaned of displeasure, which just resulted to Professor Snape giving them a follow up homework for their behavior.
"I swear that git jumps for joy whenever he sees us suffer." Ginny heard a fellow Gryffindor said. She sighed and silently agreed.
Finally, it was time for lunch. Ginny went straight to the Great Hall. She was the first to leave the class so when she got in the Great Hall, there were only a few people there. Ron, Harry and Hermione weren't there yet.
She sighed and went to sit on the Gryffindor Table. She sat and started eating since there was already food in the table. She took a mental note to do her Potions homework if she still had time after eating. After a few minutes, Hermione came in.
"Hey Ginny," she said the moment she sat down in front of her. "Hello Hermione," she greeted back. "Where's Ron and Harry?"
"Still in Divination I guess," Hermione replied.
"Oh, I see."
The Great Hall, by then, was almost filled with students. Ginny looked up to see if Ron or Harry were already coming. She caught sight of silver-blonde hair, and sure enough, there in the middle of the Great Hall, was Draco Malfoy, walking as if nothing was out of place when in fact the entire hall had gone a little silent and almost every head turned his way.
Ginny could see girls whispering with awe as their eyes followed Malfoy. Almost every female, including some Gryffindors, were all staring or probably gaping at him. And when Ginny took a closer look at the guy walking towards the Slytherin Table, she knew why. Draco Malfoy was incredibly handsome!
She noticed even before that his looks indeed were very much pleasant to look at but she always dismissed the idea since he was a Malfoy and Harry's nemesis.
But not now.
Right now, it was the first time she truly appreciated his looks. She didn't even consider much of his looks on the train coming to Hogwarts since he walked away almost immediately. But now, she really thought that Draco Malfoy's looks could melt any girl if not to send their mouths hanging wide open.
Ginny began to take in Draco's tall figure. His fine silver-blonde hair still neatly brushed and tucked behind his ears with its tips up to the back of his neck. His silver gaze that could make anyone shut up whenever they look at you. His towering height and broad shoulders that could make anyone cower against him. His nose, finely chiseled chin and jaw all perfectly in place in a face that could make any girl sigh and drool.
"It's amazing how he can ignore everyone," Hermione said, jerking Ginny away from her thoughts and sent her chasing them away.
"I guess," Ginny replied, bringing her attention back to her food. She remembered her little run-in with Malfoy on the train coming to Hogwarts. She didn't want anyone to know about it, so she avoided the subject.
"If everyone looked at me like that, I would've thought another head came off my shoulders!" Hermione said facing Ginny. More like feeling flattered, Ginny thought to herself.
At that moment, both Harry and Ron arrived at the Great Hall. "Hey guys," Ron said.
"Ron, haven't you noticed at all that both of us are girls?" Hermione asked, annoyed.
"What?" Ron asked while he took a seat beside Ginny.
"I think she wanted you to say 'Hey girls', Ron," Harry told Ron, smiling while taking a seat beside Hermione.
"What?" Ron asked again.
"Ron, please say something else besides 'what'," Ginny said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Why?" Ron asked looking way confused.
"Because..." Hermione started but she didn't finish it. Instead she went back to her food.
"Because, what Hermione?" Ron asked getting irritated and looking at Hermione.
"Oh nevermind," Hermione said.
"Because, what Hermione? I'd like to know," Ron said, a little louder this time.
At that point, Harry was trying hard not to smile, but failing miserably and Ginny was covering her mouth to hide her grin while shaking her head, but her eyes showed exactly what she was covering.
"I said don't mind it, Ron. Just forget what I said," Hermione said, getting angry.
"Fine. Suit yourself," Ron said, giving up then looked at Harry. "Harry about the Quidditch practices…"
Harry and Ginny both looked at each other, smiling, and shook their heads. Obviously, what's obvious to both of them isn't so obvious to Ron after all. Hermione had started to like Ron in their fourth year, even more when they were in the fifth year, but Ron didn't notice anything. Whenever Hermione acted out of place, he always assumed it was her time of the month. During their fourth year, Ron seemed to like Hermione a little more than a friend but it didn't seem so obvious. They were in their sixth year and ever since Ron got in the Quidditch Team as a keeper to replace Oliver Wood, it was all he ever thought about. "Quidditch this and Quidditch that," that was mostly what they would hear him say. Hermione thought that after Oliver Wood, Ron was the second person who took Quidditch very seriously. Even more seriously than Harry when in fact Harry was the Quidditch Captain.
"… and that's why we need to think about practices as early as this time," Ron finished.
"Ron, it's the first day of classes, forget Quidditch for the moment. We'll think about them in a week or two," Harry told him.
"Oh please yourself. But I'm telling you if you want to have the Quidditch Cup for the third time in a row, we better get a move on now," Ron insisted.
"Ron, before we even get to the practices, why don't we try thinking about possible players for the team. There's only you and me at the moment. Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia and Katie Bell have already left," Harry said.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Ron said frowning. Harry looked at him knowingly.
"Yup. It's pretty much up to the both of us to choose thoroughly. We'll hold up some kind of an audition next week so we'll have plenty of time to choose," Harry said.
"Who should we consider?" Ron asked yet again.
"I told you, we'll think about it some other time, for now, let's just eat. I'm starving," Harry said and took his fork and started eating.
Ron sighed and said, "Fine."
A moment later, Ginny got up from the table and started for the library.
"What's the rush, Gin?" Harry asked when she told them of her destination.
"Well, since I'm already finished eating I might as well start on some homework so I won't have to worry about it later on. And besides, classes won't start in the next forty five minutes," Ginny replied. And with that she walked out of the Great Hall.
"Probably a homework on potions," Ron said, thoughtfully making Harry and Hermione look at him.
"How do you know?" Harry asked.
"Because Snape is the only teacher worse enough to give homework on the first day," Ron replied with a shrug.
* * *
"Pansy, would you care to move a little?" Draco said in the Slytherin Table growing impatient by the moment because Pansy was trying her best to be as close to him as possible.
"Sure, Draco. Whatever you say," Pansy replied, a little disappointed that Draco still shows no sign of ever being interested in her. Even though Pansy is clawing after Draco, there is no way that she would ever dare to defy him. She was as scared of him as everybody else.
Draco continued his meal quietly. He was eating hurriedly so he could get the hell out of there. Although he was able to keep his cool, he couldn't help but notice that people indeed are staring at him. He noticed that almost everyone fell silent whenever he gets in a room.
The first day was bad for Draco. It seems that the teachers were quite observant of him. Professor McGonagall was constantly looking at him in Transfiguration afraid that he might hex one of his classmates any minute. During Defense against the Dark Arts however, Moody was looking at him suspiciously like he did something bad behind his back. All Draco could do was keep his face blank so as not to arouse any more suspicions from the auror. His next class would be Potions and he was thankful since he knew Snape would more or less understand his predicament since he, too, was a Death Eater.
Draco got up immediately after he finished eating. He didn't want anybody thinking that there was something going on between him and Pansy so he decided to go somewhere else. He went to the library instead, since he knew he wouldn't catch Pansy or any of her friends lurking in the library. They just didn't consider the library as an 'eligible hangout' since Madam Pince was always ready to pick on them if they get noisy. Whatever, Draco thought. Eligible hangout or not, as long as Pansy and her stupid friends are nowhere in sight, is fine enough for him.
Draco was so absorbed with his own thoughts that he didn't notice there was a ladder perched in a shelf. He bumped into it, causing the ladder to shake a little violently and then he heard a gentle scream. Since the shelves in the library are a little high, ladders were there for the convenience of everybody. Unfortunately, someone was using the ladder that Draco bumped into.
Draco looked up and sure enough, he could see black robes and a mass of red hair falling towards him.
"Aaaahhhh!!!"
"Gotcha!" Draco said when he caught her just in time, holding her with one arm beneath her knees and one across her back. He was sure she was a first or a second year since she was very light. He bent his head to look at her and saw that she was covering her face with her hands.
"Hey, open your eyes, you're not dead," Draco said with a stifled laugh. Draco caught his breath and his eyes widened when the girl in his arms revealed her face. She looked familiar alright and he thought she had the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. She surely isn't a first or a second year as he previously thought.
Her name was also Ginny Weasley.
Ginny could see that her shock was reflected in the eyes of the person who caught her. Of all the people to catch her, why did it have to be him? She knew from the moment he said, "Gotcha!" and when he did catch her, she was pressed to his chest and she could smell him. A very nice distinct smell familiar smell that sent her senses reeling. Ginny's heart then started to pound furiously in her chest. She could hear it and she had a nasty feeling that maybe he did too because it was so loud in her ears. Ginny was well aware of his strong arms across her back and beneath her knees and she felt a slight tingling sensation. She looked into his silver gaze and they were so beautiful she couldn't look away. What is happening to me, she asked herself.
Reality struck Ginny the moment Draco moved and placed her on her feet. As he did, she thought she also heard his heart pounding like hers but then again, maybe she was hearing things.
The moment he let go of any contact with her, her knees felt wobbly that Ginny thought she wouldn't be able to stand. She kept her gaze to anything but Draco and she couldn't seem to find any scathing remark to say to him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that Potter isn't anywhere to catch you, Weasley?" Draco drawled covering for his own shock.
Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "Once is enough for me, Malfoy and frankly I don't give a damn if he does or not!" Ginny snapped, glaring at him. What the heck is his deal? An apology would be nice to hear, she thought to herself.
"Oh really, Weasley? Well, I don't think Potter would even give a damn if someone caught you or not because the way I see it, Potter has far more important things to do that to mingle with a little weasel like you," Draco snapped back.
At this, Ginny tried to suppress the urge to kick him hard on his groin. "Why do I even put up with you?" She shouted at him, stepping aside to walk past him.
A moment later, a Draco's hand grasped her right arm and turning her so she would face him. Ginny saw the intensity of anger in his cold gray eyes and suddenly his grip on her arm was getting painful.
"Let go! You're hurting me!" Ginny said trying to jerk her hand free of his grasp but to no avail.
"Putting up with me? Excuse me, little Weasel, but I'm putting up with you," Draco bit back his eyes giving her a burning glare. "Next time you decide to say something, try thinking twice before you do, because it's going to cause you a lot of trouble one of these days," he said angrily and with fury flickering in his hostile gray eyes he let go of her hand. "You should be thanking me, Weasley. If it hadn't been for me you'd be paralyzed from the neck down," he added loudly.
"And if you had been watching where you were going I wouldn't have had the reason to fall!" Ginny shouted back, massaging the place in her arm where Draco's hand had been.
Draco opened his mouth to shout something sarcastic back to her when a furious voice stopped him, causing them both to look at the source of the voice.
"What are you people shouting about?" Madam Pince roared. "This is a library for Merlin's sake not some courtroom where you people argue your heads off!"
"I'm sorry Madame Pince but I was-" Ginny started.
"Save your explanations for the headmaster, lass! I suspect he'll be wanting to see both you when I tell him of this! It's the first day of school and I don't expect you students to shouting about in here!" Madam Pince said angrily.
"You both better expect detention because that's what you're going to get for discarding school and library rules on the first damn day of school!" she added deliriously.
"But Madam Pince-"
"I said save it," she added looking at Ginny with cold piercing eyes implying that she better shut up. "Now, either you shut your mouths or get out of here and settle your argument somewhere else. I refuse to hear any more shouts." And with that she turned around and walked away leaving the two looking at her.
Ginny's eyes never left Madam Pince's retreating back and then she let out an exasperated sigh. There's no way she could get out of this. She was going to have detention! Detention! On the first day of school! All because Draco Malfoy wasn't being careful. She turned sideways glowering at him.
Draco noticed her looking at him so he turned to look at her too.
"I am going to hate you forever for this, Malfoy," she told him and then walked away.
Draco rolled his eyes and exhaled. Now that Weasley's out of the way and he was in the library, he might as well stay get something to read.
Because the alternative would be enduring Pansy Parkinson's revolting prattle.
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A/N: Please review:) Thanks to those who did.
Dislcaimer: I don't own anything in this story except the plot, so please don't sue me. Thanks!