A/N: You don't know how many times I have rewritten this chapter, but here it is. So I hope you like it. I have just eaten six cookies, all which have given me sufficient energy, I'm sure, to write this. Sorry for the delay in posting new chapters. But keep these reviews coming. Inspire me ;)
Also,
HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)
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Dark Mark's Daughter
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Chapter Three – Red Heads, Quills and Fur
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'There she is, you idiot!' Draco elbowed Goyle so hard that the boy dropped his wand. This resulted in Draco letting out a long and frustrated groan.
If Goyle had been at all daring enough to speak what was on his mind, he would ask Draco why he couldn't curse Abbie Cavanagh himself. However he knew that Draco just didn't want to get himself into trouble, and that he'd rather risk it rather than have his head on a priceless silver platter. However he bent down and grabbed it between his pudgy fingers. As he held it out, purple sparks shot out of the end of it, and Abbie Cavanagh let out a squeal of pain and dropped her books and parchment.
Draco smirked. 'Blimey, Cavanagh! And here I was thinking that Goyle here had bad acne!'
Goyle flushed embarrassedly, wiping his face as if it would instantly wash off his pimples. He didn't like hurting people, and at the sight of Abbie's face, he felt extremely guilty. Tears poured down her cheeks, and sizzled as they touched her nose, which had swelled to the size of half a tomato, and was erupting with oversized purple blisters.
Goyle scratched his neck nervously as they passed. He knew that Abbie hadn't seen him, but what if she guessed? He'd be expelled, and his father would be absolutely furious. Goyle was disturbed from his pessimistic thoughts by Abbie, who ran past them sobbing, probably in the direction of the hospital wing, looking down to try and hide her face.
Draco sniggered, and taking the next right, took the shortcut to the dungeons. Now that the Ravenclaw seeker's nose was nearing the size of a baseball, the Ravenclaw match against Gryffindor would definitely be postponed. And seeing they had played Hufflepuff previously, that only left Slytherin.
'What's wrong with you?' he said roughly, viewing Goyle as if he acting in a highly offending way. When Goyle muttered a subtle 'no', Draco grunted, then entered the Potions classroom ignorantly, making his way towards his set seat next to Ginny Weasley. Usually, this would put a direct end to any of Draco's blissfulness, however, today he didn't care.
'Good afternoon, Malfoy.' Ginny said as he sat down, but he could hear the coldness edging in her otherwise polite voice.
Draco didn't answer, but instead began to spread out his set of new quills over the table. His mother had sent him them three days before, and they were of such a fine make that anyone who looked at them would know they were the best, and most expensive, quills available. Though he only half admitted it to himself, he saw them as the perfect way to brag to Weasley about what they both knew she couldn't have.
He glanced at Ginny from the corner of her eye, however she didn't seem to wear the reaction Draco had desired over her face. Instead, she was frowning somewhat curiously, but at the same, in revolt.
'They're funny looking quills, aren't they?' she commented, causing Draco to purse his lips in annoyance. 'I don't like this one. The colour's ghastly.' She had pointed towards the quill closest to her, her nose scrunched up in disgust, causing Draco to do the same, disgusted just as much by her lack of taste in such expensive items.
She had pointed to a brilliantly coloured quill, the center of the long, perfectly articulated feather a soft orange, which darkened to a vivid red, outlining the edges of the feather. The stem was black, and a silver rod curled around most of the stem, ending with a fancy letter 'D' in front of the feather. It also happened to be one of the more valuable of his quills.
'May I ask why your quills are closer to me than you?' Ginny asked sweetly, then added in the most brutally cold voice Draco had ever heard her speak in, 'It's almost like you're deliberately trying to wave your snobby upper-class, and may I add, rather ugly, quills under my nose!' With that, she opened her book forcefully and began to read the page she had opened on.
'Your opinion of them being ugly is only a result of your lack of taste, Weasley.' Draco said coolly, but even he could hear the obvious frustration in his voice. 'Which would be expected in a family like yours, who wouldn't be able to afford anything which even borders the line of considerable good taste.'
'Well as I see it, my selection in tasteful quills seems not to be so limited by price. In that case, I take pride in being able to select attractive quills without having my robe pockets overflowing with galleons.'
'These, Weasley, happen to be attractive quills!' Draco said, now snatching up his quills and putting them ruthlessly back into his bag.
'Only because you know how much they cost!' Ginny exclaimed. She was fuming now, and Draco had the theory that if he were to hold up the red-feathered quill Ginny had so rudely commented on to her face, he would not see the difference in colour. 'If I had given them to you and told you they cost a single sickle each, you would instantly hate them!'
Draco was now fuming himself, however though under his robes his fists were clenched in fury, the fact that he had been so affected by Ginny's words was not visible. 'I have-'
However he was interrupted before he could finish his sentence. 'You love everything, and everyone, for what they're worth!' Ginny claimed. 'Worth in money.' she added a bit more quietly. 'I wouldn't be surprised if you're heart was one big fat galleon itself!'
The two spent the remains of the lesson passing death glares between one another, Ginny thrusting the ingredients into the cauldron so forcefully that potion splashed over the table, burning miniature caves in the table.
When Snape had dismissed the class, Ginny stormed out ahead of him, and as Draco entered the dungeon corridor, he watched her with great dislike as she spied her friend Colin and snapped out of her bad mood immediately, filling the dimly lit and cold corridor with warm laughter. It was funny how she could do that, he thought – alight any negativity into laughter and good-spirit.
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'We're playing Slytherin tomorrow.' Ron said glumly, his eyes sunken, yet still glinting with frustration. 'Abbie Cavanagh stuck in the hospital wing for another week. Apparently someone cursed her in the corridor but she doesn't know who.'
Almost everyone groaned. Fia and Jack swore at the same time, causing Jack to grin at Fia stupidly. She narrowed her eyes at him, and then looked away. Andrew Kirke stamped his foot on the ground, and Amelia buried her head in her lap and muffled something which sounded like 'We're so going to lose!' Ginny thoughts flew directly to Draco Malfoy, and she bit her lip and cursed him under her breath.
'You'd have to be pretty thick to have someone knock you in the face with a curse and not see who it is.' Ron now said. 'What was she doing? Walking through the corridor with her blinking eyes shut?'
'Well we can't pull out.' Harry said.
'We'll better just make a complete fool out ourselves in front of the entire school instead.' Andrew muttered.
'Better that than not trying at all.' Ginny said. 'We have at least a minor chance of winning if we play.'
Andrew smiled sarcastically at the ground, shaking his head. Jack and Fia both raised their eyebrows as if to say they'd believe it when they saw it, and Amelia just stared open-mouthed at Ginny, as if she'd just suggested she jump off a bridge into a pit of dragons.
'Come on. I want to win the cup this year.' Harry said determinedly. 'Both of them! It's my last year here and I won't have another chance.'
However inspiring Harry's words may have sounded, Ginny didn't believe Gryffindor had any chance of winning with the team thinking so negatively. Even Ron hadn't stroked inspiration by what his best friend had said, and just stared at the ground, leaning on his Cleansweep 11, as if the ground would swallow him up any second.
The team did not practice that evening. In the end, Ron had sulkily told them that training was off, and had left with Harry next to him, who didn't make any effort to cheer his best friend up, but glowered at everything around him as well.
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Draco went back up to his dormitory with Pansy two hours past midnight, after having deducting as much points off students as possible, and putting a stop to their fun and sending them to their common rooms.
'Draco...'
'Be quiet Pansy.' Draco snapped, not wanting to listen to Pansy suggest they not go back to the common room yet one more time.
He saw Pansy flinch, but continued without care.
After abandoning Pansy in the common room, he slipped through the curtained archway to his dormitory, and by waving his wand, turned on the light, obviously not caring whether the rest of his roommates were awoken by it.
'Draco! Turn the fucking light off!' Blaise groaned, peering at Draco furiously from his bed. 'You have no fucking consideration for anyone else in this fucking room!'
But Draco had turned around, his face fuming and nostrils flaring, and in his hand he held –
'Fur!' Draco shouted, dropping a tuft of ginger fur onto the ground. 'Cat fur! Why is there cat fur? None of you have cats!'
Crabbe was sitting up, gawking stupidly at Draco, who had not moved since his discovery.
'Did you see it?' Draco asked angrily, looking at Blaise, and then at Vincent Crabbe. 'Did you see whatever left this?'
Crabbe shook his head. Goyle was still sleeping; one arm hanging off the bed, and loud snores emitted from his mouth.
'There's been no fucking cat in here.' Blaise said grumpily, hitting his pillow and dropping back onto it. 'I'm allergic, and no one in here owns a cat.'
Scowling, Draco changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed, cursing everything red.
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Ginny returned from the kitchens an hour to midnight, her arms overloaded with food. She had planned her timing accordingly so that Malfoy hadn't caught her, and after watching him leave, she'd made her way into the kitchens, and to the hundreds of house elves' delights, had collected as much food as her arms could hold.
Amelia was playing Exploding Snap with Colin and Jack, however it seemed that Fia had stormed off to her dormitory as soon as they had gotten back to the common room after Quidditch training.
'Oh yum, Ginny! Where have you been? You've been ages!' Amelia said, taking the bottle of pumpkin juice just as Jack's cards exploded in his hands. 'She locked me out.' She then said cautiously, nodding her head towards the small spiral staircase leading up to their dormitory.
'Well, you know Fia.' Jack said, shrugging his shoulders. 'Can't stand the idea of not winning, or knowing anyone better than her.'
'She's as ambitious as a Slytherin.' Colin said suggestively, earning him a smack over the head from Amelia.
'Don't say that! She'd never be like... like them!' Amelia said, looking scared at the mere thought.
'No, she wouldn't be.' Ginny said, which seemed to reassure Jack, who took a butterbeer and leaned back in his seat to make himself more comfortable.
'Now, what were you saying before Ginny returned?' Jack said breezily.
'Well, I was saying that when my grandmother found out my father was engaged to a Muggle, she threatened to set a dragon loose at their wedding.' Amelia began. 'But Dad, he said that nothing could stop him marrying Mum, because he was in love.' Jack sniggered into his butterbeer bottle, but Amelia didn't notice. 'Did you know my Dad was one of the ministry members who saved that village from that Norwegian Ridgeback in Sweden? Sent the dragon right back into the Norwegian mountains where it belonged!'
Ginny, with her own butterbeer, sat back and listened to Amelia continue her exaggerated stories about her family, rolling her eyes several times, which made Jack snigger and Colin grin widely. Two hours later, Ron came storming out of his dormitory telling them all to go to bed, because they had an important Quidditch game the next day, so after Ginny whispering alohomora at their locked dormitory door, they both climbed into bed.
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malunatic – Aw thank you :) That's reassuring ;)
Anaili – Well nothing about their Quidditch match this chapter, but it will be taking place next chapter, and I promise an entertaining game ;) At least I'll try.
fcuking cathy – Thank you :)
jennifer – Thanks, I'm glad you find it funny.
AnimagusInTraining – Thank you :) Well I'm taking a bit long to build up any obvious... emotions between Draco and Ginny.. I hope people aren't getting annoyed at not finding any yet ;)
zuvalupa – Thank you :) I'll bring more soon then!
lily-evans – Draco could be seeing things... ;)
MissSeventyFive/Miss75/Miss57 – I couldn't help laughing at how you signed three different reviews with different names each time. I think you're the same person anyway. Crabbe and Goyle are fun to play around with it's just hoping whether other people find it just as fun to read.