Mutual Threats
OK, some of you may be waiting with baited breaths for Draco's full evilness to come out, but, just so you know, his plan for revenge isn't anything special. Just a little demoralizing. And Ginny can take care of herself. Most of the time.
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For a second Ginny was sure she would faint again, but she reprimanded herself so sternly that she was able to stay on her feet and walk calmly over to one of the couches, where she promptly collapsed.
She didn't know why she cared about Malfoy's judgement, but she did. He would hate her forever now, and the door of friendship that had slowly been creaking open had slammed shut with a resounding bang.
But there were others, Ginny reminded herself, as Tiffany, who was also settling down on one of the couches, smiled at her, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Ginny questioned her with a puzzled frown, to which the taller girl replied with a wink and a jerk of her head towards the group of golden chairs huddled in a corner of the hall-shaped classroom. They were disappearing quickly, as the older students seated themselves to leave the Latin Atrium.
Stopping short in a jolt of realization, she saw Draco also striding off towards a chair. The back of his robes flashed the neon-pink letters 'I LOVE GINNY' at her.
Ginny felt a surge of heat flooding over her, no doubt staining her cheeks as red as her hair. Her over-bright eyes glared at Tiffany, who was rolling on her couch in silent laughter.
Luckily, Draco was swept away in another second, without having noticed that he was wearing his fated enemy's name on the back of his black robes.
And, before Ginny had a chance to cool down her hot cheeks, the Latin teacher she had met before stood up and greeted the class.
She started off by raising her wand. From the tip of it, a red mist emerged, which the professor prodded with her wand till it took the shape of a word.
Fuga, read Ginny, her brows drawing together in worry. The nightmare she had been fearing had begun. The teacher was clearly asking a question and she had no idea how to answer it. She glanced around at Tiffany, and saw her face contort in concentration. Then, all of a sudden, it relaxed, and she drew out her wand and sent a message of red mist in the direction of Professor Callidam.
As Ginny watched, rather startled, the word Tiffany had released ("flight") flew through the air and was about to join the teacher's, when another word of red mist sped across the room and reached it first.
'Yes, fuga is flight. Very good, Mr Vide,' Professor Callidam told a boy with huge glasses who smirked across the room at Tiffany. She had been glowering at him furiously.
'But it was a good effort, Miss Major,' the teacher observed. 'You may decline it for us.'
Tiffany looked as though this was more than she had bargained for, but she began bravely: 'Fuga, uh, fugae, fugae, fugam, fuga. Then, in the plural. Fugae, fug-' There she stopped, shrugging at her teacher.
'I could remind you, Miss, that you learned how to decline this years ago,' she said through pursed lips. 'However, considering your work last year, there has been an improvement. Miss Leat?' She turned on Vanessa.
'Sorry, professor?' Vanessa, who had been scribbling on a piece of parchment, jumped nervously. 'What was the question?'
'Judging by your inattentiveness, I suppose you are bored with declining nouns. Just as well. We shall move on to verbs.' The professor paused and swept an icy glance around the class and settled it on Vanessa again. 'The English definition of ferre, a Latin synonym, and the full conjugation of the present tense, please,' she rapped out in drill-sergeant manner.
As Vanessa looked bleakly at their teacher, Ginny's mind reeled, trying to process all this information. How was she going to do it? There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to keep up with this class, not even if Professor Callidam helped her. It was probably a good thing she hadn't been chosen for the Quidditch team, Ginny thought a bit bitterly. She would never have been able to cope with extra Latin and Quidditch practices.
The teacher must have seen her despairing expression, for she cut short Vanessa's stammers and instructed the whole class to do the assignment on parchment by themselves. Then she walked over to Ginny's couch and gave her a rare smile.
'Now, I'll just start you off with the introductory vocabulary and basic grammar. After that, you'll find you can work on your own and be at the class' level very soon. If there is anything you don't understand, do not hesitate to ask me.' She paused for a second, and then added: 'Or Mr Malfoy might want to help you. He is quite an accomplished Latin scholar.'
Ginny smiled warily and shrugged her shoulders. She really appreciated the Professor's help, but she couldn't imagine ever understanding anything that had something to do with Latin. And asking Malfoy for help would be suicide. Before breakfast, she could have considered it, but now - hopeless. Draco Malfoy would never speak to her again.
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Draco knew that something was wrong the minute two girls started giggling behind him. He had just got out of the golden chair which had transported him into the 'Pure Magic' classroom. Having no idea what this class was supposed to be, he was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It didn't help that he seemed to be an amusing sight for all the girls in the class.
Suddenly, Jason appeared and hurried up to him. 'Sorry to have to tell you this, but you've got pink writing over the back of your robes,' he muttered as he passed him.
For a second, Draco stood as though frozen, not believing what he had heard. Who had had the audacity to put pink - PINK! - writing on his robes? Or was Jason fooling him?
Draco yanked his wand out of his pocket and touched the back of his robes with it. 'Latens appareat,' he said under his breath.
Out of the tip of his wand shot a small, misty replica of the back of his robes. They were black and looked perfectly normal, except that there were indeed the shocking pink words 'I LOVE GINNY' emblazoned on them.
Scowling as much as he could, Draco rapped out another spell and tapped his back with his wand again. Now, he trusted, the obnoxious writing would be gone.
It was only then that he had a chance to look and wonder at his surroundings. There were no tables or books in this classroom. It seemed quite bare, except for various objects, such as spell books, rolls of parchment, cushions, a Quaffle and even several things that looked like iron bars, lying untidily on the otherwise spotless floor. The room sported large windows and was painted an immaculate white.
By one of these windows stood a witch dressed in black robes. She waited until apparently all pupils were present and then marched over to join them.
She was still quite young, had short brown hair and a square-jawed face. Her light blue eyes flashed with every word she spoke.
'Where is Draco Malfoy?' was the first thing she demanded, in a deep, harsh voice.
Draco narrowed his eyes. What the hell did she want him for? Still, he had to answer, though he did it grudgingly.
'That's me,' he drawled, raising his eyebrows slightly at the witch. 'So, is it. uh, professor, or what?'
A few gasps from the girls told him they had fully understood the insult he had placed into his sneering answer.
But the witch merely looked him up and down with hawk-like eyes. 'Professor Sensit. So you're the one from Hogwarts?'
'One of them,' Draco acknowledged, with a bored shrug. What was this crazy lady on about, anyway?
'I was at Hogwarts too,' she told him abruptly. 'Have you never heard of Margaret Sensit?'
He searched his memory, without much success. The name had a familiar ring to it, but he certainly couldn't place it.
'Don't think so,' he said airily. 'It isn't my custom to learn the names of all the students who were at Hogwarts ten years ago by heart.'
Professor Sensit studied him, if possible, even more intently than before. 'Let me guess. Slytherin?'
'What's that?' piped up a girl who was running a comb through her hair.
'A Hogwarts school house, Miss Auben,' replied the professor curtly. 'A very reputed one, too,' she added, her eyes flashing back to Draco.
He smirked in return, mostly because he didn't know what else to do. With reputed, did she mean it had a good or a bad reputation? Was she on Slytherin's side or not? There was nothing to it but a straight question.
'In what house were you, Professor?'
For the first time since class had begun the teacher actually smiled. 'Find it out for yourself,' was her sly answer.
Then she turned to the other class members and started introducing herself and 'Pure Magic' - it seemed this was the first year the pupils were taking it - and left Draco to think the conversation over.
Something about Sensit bothered him. Margaret Sensit. he was sure he had heard that name before, but long ago. Maybe in one of his lessons at Hogwarts? That could be, but he didn't know in what context they would have talked about her.
As if I didn't have enough to worry about, thought Draco bitterly. Practically the only thing that worked out for me today was the Latin class. Big deal.
It couldn't make up for the vicious tumble of feelings that had been inside him since breakfast. No . that had been inside him since he had belatedly received his father's message.
Trying to blot out that memory and the cold nausea that came with it, he focused instead on the Professor's brisk explanation.
'The next question is, of course: What is Pure Magic actually?' The professor paused. 'Does anybody know?'
A few hands were raised; the witch nodded towards the boy with the red hair Draco had met earlier that day.
'The art of producing magic without a wand,' the boy replied promptly, but in a high-pitched, babyish voice. The class laughed and one girl blushed to a furious red. Obviously the boy had been imitating her.
'Yes, Miss Veems,' Professor Sensit told him crushingly. 'It's also a way of relieving your feelings. Or aggressions,' she added, pointedly staring at the red-haired boy, who yawned as an answer.
'Now,' the Pure Magic teacher instructed them briskly, 'find a place in the room and be careful not to be too close to anybody else. You don't want to hurt your fellow students.'
Draco sauntered over to an unoccupied corner, wondering what on earth they were going to do. Produce magic without a wand? Stupid. Not to mention entirely unreliable.
'OK, put your wand on the floor a few feet from where you're standing. Imagine you're being cornered and you need to get at your wand. Try to make your wand move towards you by concentrating on your inner powers,' Professor Sensit called out.
Having put his wand some feet away from him, Draco stood there, feeling dumb. He glanced over at Jason, who shrugged at him, nonplussed.
Well, if he couldn't do this it was time to make the teacher see that it was useless.
'Professor? Exactly what good is this - uh, exercise - supposed to do us?' he drawled.
Professor Sensit turned her fierce blue eyes on him immediately. 'Mr Malfoy,' she began, 'what would you do if Voldemort had you cornered, disarmed and helpless, and was pointing his wand at you to kill you?'
Draco's insides froze. He tried to think, but his mind was a whirl of confusion. Did she know? Did she know that his father had contact with the Dark Lord? Did she know that he came from a family of Death Eaters? Or had she merely chosen that as an example that would impress him?
She couldn't know, he finally decided. Outwardly, all he did was shrug.
The teacher appeared satisfied, for she turned away and left him to his thoughts.
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With a deep sigh, Ginny let herself fall into a small golden chair. She was exhausted from the day's efforts. Latin declinations, magic spells and lunar calculations were jumbled in her brain.
The chair whisked her away to the Intersection. Ginny got to her feet and started looking around her for transportation to her common room. The Intersection room was an awful mess, because pupils and teachers kept arriving and disappearing everywhere and mingling into an enormous crowd.
Again, as if on instinct, Ginny's wide brown eyes swept the people milling about and hastily turned away, again. She had been doing this all day - for no particular reason. Refusing to believe that she was looking for a particularly silver-blond head, she could find no explanation.
Suddenly, a hand timidly touched the sleeve of her robes. Turning around, Ginny saw Marianne Ponté - the Disciplina girl she had teamed up with in Flying.
'Hi,' Marianne greeted her.
'Hey, nice to see you again,' Ginny replied.
'Had a busy day?' The Disciplina girl gestured at the stack of books Ginny was carrying.
'You bet,' she answered, showing her the cover of a beginner's Latin book. 'This one in particular looks like a lot of fun.'
'Basic Latin Grammar,' Marianne read aloud. 'Why did you get that?'
Ginny explained about not ever having learnt Latin.
'Don't worry, there are plenty of people who know absolutely no Latin and they've been doing it for years,' Marianne replied dryly. 'We have it together with the Forma students, and all I can say is, I wonder how they passed last year's exams.'
Ginny laughed, suddenly comforted. Latin now seemed like a challenge, not a nightmare. Maybe Marianne could even help her with some of it.
But before she could mention this thought aloud, her Disciplina friend was approached by another girl in purple-lined robes. She shot Ginny a depreciatory glance and said to Marianne: 'Come on, let's go to the common room, the others are waiting.'
Reluctantly, Marianne said good-bye to Ginny and was pulled away by the other Disciplina girl.
Ginny shrugged, remembering Rachel's moan of disappointment when she found out that they had Flying with the Disciplina students. Why did those two houses dislike each other?
Turning around, she was about to search once more for a suitable golden chair or couch when she caught sight of her arch-enemy.
Draco, looking bored but rather disgruntled, was passing through a thick mob of people. Then suddenly, he stopped and stared straight at her.
What was he doing? Ginny found that her heart was pounding. He couldn't have forgiven her, so why was he smiling at her?
The next moment, Malfoy strode towards her. But - that was no smile on his face. That was a smirk, and one that meant trouble.
'Hey, Weasley!' he called out, eyes glittering. 'I completely forgot to ask you, how's your family? Surely you should already be smothered in letters from all your brothers who are so worried about their poor, helpless little sister. After all, she might be kidnapped by some bad Muggle - your father's own fault for playing buddies with them - or, who knows, she might have already collapsed from the effort of sucking up to every teacher.'
A shout of laughter, seeming to come mostly from a group of guys in blue- lined robes, followed his insulting proclamation.
Ginny felt as if the whole room was staring at her and bursting with laughter. Her cheeks grew hot with boiling rage, as she addressed Malfoy bitterly.
'Or maybe she's been put into the same house as a Death Eater,' she spat.
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Draco couldn't believe his ears. All he had done was try to get his own back for what had happened at breakfast, and now he was in the biggest mess imaginable. Most of the students in the room were looking around in a puzzled way, as if they didn't know what Ginny was talking about. A group of Fortuna girls looked up from their chatting, alarmed.
He had been praying this wouldn't happen. Deep down, he had been hoping against hope that Ginny would never mention anything like this. Anything that could be used against him. But now, she had done it. And there was no escape left for him.
Summoning up all the feelings of hatred and revenge that had been steaming inside him since Ginny's first insult, he bounded across the room towards her, quickly found a rather large armchair that was labelled 'Private Reading Room Nr. 3', grabbed the startled Ginny by her wrist, and pulled her into the chair with him. The Intersection whirled into nothing before their eyes.
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The room they landed in was quite dark; only an enchanted torch blazed red. But that was the only thing about the room Ginny took in. She was furious - she wanted to yell at Malfoy - kick him - hit him. This was one of his stupid jokes, no doubt.
'What-', she started angrily, but was cut off when Draco pushed her heavily against the wall and held her there. His face was millimetres from her own, and the expression there scared her.
His jaw was tight, merciless, his teeth were clenched in fury, and his eyes looked ready to kill.
Ginny choked her words back and emitted a dry sob. She regretted it the moment it had left her throat. Now he would think she was scared, which was not true.
She stared at him perplexedly. This was Draco, a Slytherin and her enemy, but not a person she should fear. She remembered how awkward he had looked when she had fainted on him - or he had caught her - the bloodied sweater in the Transport, and the smirk which showed more amusement and teasing than real meanness.
'Don't you have a brain?' he whispered fiercely. 'Can't you think? Can't you imagine what would happen if the word got out who my father is?'
'I think your housemates have a right to know who they're dealing with,' Ginny replied, struggling and failing to keep her voice cool and uninterested.
Draco grabbed her shoulders and flung them against the wall again, making Ginny scream as her head hit the hard surface. Then he tugged out his wand and forced her chin up with the tip of it.
'Look,' he hissed hoarsely. 'You know I can perform a killing curse - or any of the other Unforgivable curses. You know I can get to you anywhere. You know I'm smart enough for that. Now, I suggest if you know all that, you'll keep your mouth shut about me and my background. Got it?'
His voice spoke ultimate rage and loathing. The red light flickering across his face glinted in his evilly slit eyes. He looked half crazy - and half deadly serious.
The feeling in her that had at first been bewilderment and unease rapidly turned into fear. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. Draco Malfoy could and would kill her if she gave him the chance. And she had thought he had nearly been her friend. She wouldn't have been as scared of a random killer, but she was petrified of the truly evil side of the person she had thought she knew.
She wanted to scream out hysterically, but she couldn't find her voice. Her whole body was tightened into unnatural stiffness, and she felt if she could just move she would be sick.
It was no wonder then, that her forehead began to throb wildly, and her consciousness to leave her.
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Draco glared at the trembling girl in front of him in grim triumph. He knew he could hate her properly, and now he did. Cowering, scared, panicked little fool. The red firelight danced in her huge brown eyes, opened wider than he had ever seen them. He knew she was frightened to death.
That was when he made his mistake. He gazed into her glassy eyes, void of everything now, and felt a sharp and heaving jolt in his stomach. He knew the pain was visible on his face, but he couldn't remove it and assume his detesting mask. It was like last night, when he was facing his father.
Now feeling only hatred for himself, he shoved Ginny against the wall one last time - something inside him screamed out in pain when he did it - and whirled around, his robes flinging behind him.
Well, he thought with bitter regret and disdain, at least I've done what father asked. I threatened her till I was positive she'd never say a word.
He was just about to bound into the lone golden chair waiting where he had left it and disappear, when a mixture between a piteous call and a tormented sob reached him, followed by a soft thump.
'Draco!'
Slowly, battling furiously within himself, he turned around again.
Ginny was sprawled face-down on the floor as if she had just collapsed there, her silky red hair tumbling over her shoulders and screening her face. In the distorting light her slight frame looked wrecked. She looked dead.
Draco hung back, looking in horror and disgust at the figure on the floor. Then a desperate, but commanding, desire took over.
He raced over and threw himself on his knees beside her. As gently as he could with his trembling fingers, he turned her over and lifted her head into his lap.
Her face was drawn and pale. Immobile. But when he touched it, fearing her to be truly dead, she stirred and her eyelids flickered.
Utterly confused, Draco stared as her face, completely opposite from the panic it had worn before, broke into a radiant smile and her eyes, though still enormous for her small face, lit up like two stars.
'Thank you, Draco,' she whispered, reaching out a pale hand to clasp his fingers.
And that made up for everything: all the pain, disappointment and suffering he had ever experienced was somehow bathed in warmth. And he was holding this warmth in his hands; it was his.
Happiness and sorrow, bitterness and peace, they were all ringing in him till he couldn't bear it anymore.
Ginny's head slipped from his knees, and he lost all control.
He bent over her and touched his lips to hers, kissing her over and over again. He wasn't even worrying about if she was answering his tenderness or not. He was simply racing against time, willing her not to regain consciousness yet. He knew he would never have another chance to feed the starved part of his heart.
He hovered over her, letting her warmth, her safety, and her smile sink into him. Ginny's hand stole up to the side of his face and drew it down close to hers. This time it was she who bridged the small space between their lips, holding him to her.
And then, before he could do anything more, he felt her slipping from him. The soft lips that had been pressed against his fell back, and her arm slid off his shoulder.
With a last kiss that was passionate in his despair, he got up and pulled Ginny's once more limp form across the floor to the golden chair. When he had heaved her and himself into it, the private reading room vanished, and they were back at the mercifully empty Intersection.
Guilt knotting itself in his stomach, Draco left the girl slumped in the chair and headed off to another transport bringing him to his common room. He half yearned that some idiot would be showing off his stupidity there. If there was one thing he needed now, it was distraction.
Distraction from the awful thing he had done.
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*coughs* I'm really embarrassed about this, people, I wanted to do some nice D/G sap - finally - but, the way it turned out, it looks more like some freak attack Draco had. (Bad doggy! Stay!) So anyways, hope you're not too grossed out. Also not by Ginny's paralyzing fear. You just have to remember, she's not herself at the moment. And, let's face it - wouldn't you be creeped out if a mad guy was threatening you? I'll leave that for you to decide.
Greetings and heartfelt thanks, O Worthy Reviewers! *bows low*
cuty-cat - yeah, can't u imagine how cute that's gonna be? Draco and Ginny, studying Latin together. *snicker* And a tip: next time you're bored at school in the computer room, check out Gundam Wing sites and write them down!
Liz Swarthy - yeah, D/G absolutely rulez when it comes to HP. Well, you'll absolutely love him in this chapter then. he's totally unholy!
Taunting Ave - hope you haven't died yet. *grin*
Sesshiria - thank you, I don't think he's too bad myself. But it isn't hard to write. Just think EVIL. *g*
Arianell - me too, tho I think Hogwarts is still the best. *sighs* Note to self: put in Ginny and Draco riding off into Sunset.
Pandora666 - i will continue, no problem with that. it's the updating SOON that I have major difficulties with.
Larien - cool. you study Latin, too! I really love the Fortuna suam sequi. might put that in. Do you mind?
Diana - the swimming pool? Haven't thought much about that yet, but it will be used, preferably by our favourite couple!
caitlin aka ruler of the world - *sniff* someone loves my story. sorry, I'm in a depressive mood today, so this really means a lot to me!
Angela Ang - with any luck I'll update soon. summer holidays are in sight!
Witch am I - here you are, the new chapter, served on a silver platter it doesn't deserve. *g*
May the Hold and Fair cuty-cat continue to be my editor and give me her Outstanding advice! *j/k, and u noe it*
I herewith depart,
Shooting Jewel
OK, some of you may be waiting with baited breaths for Draco's full evilness to come out, but, just so you know, his plan for revenge isn't anything special. Just a little demoralizing. And Ginny can take care of herself. Most of the time.
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For a second Ginny was sure she would faint again, but she reprimanded herself so sternly that she was able to stay on her feet and walk calmly over to one of the couches, where she promptly collapsed.
She didn't know why she cared about Malfoy's judgement, but she did. He would hate her forever now, and the door of friendship that had slowly been creaking open had slammed shut with a resounding bang.
But there were others, Ginny reminded herself, as Tiffany, who was also settling down on one of the couches, smiled at her, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Ginny questioned her with a puzzled frown, to which the taller girl replied with a wink and a jerk of her head towards the group of golden chairs huddled in a corner of the hall-shaped classroom. They were disappearing quickly, as the older students seated themselves to leave the Latin Atrium.
Stopping short in a jolt of realization, she saw Draco also striding off towards a chair. The back of his robes flashed the neon-pink letters 'I LOVE GINNY' at her.
Ginny felt a surge of heat flooding over her, no doubt staining her cheeks as red as her hair. Her over-bright eyes glared at Tiffany, who was rolling on her couch in silent laughter.
Luckily, Draco was swept away in another second, without having noticed that he was wearing his fated enemy's name on the back of his black robes.
And, before Ginny had a chance to cool down her hot cheeks, the Latin teacher she had met before stood up and greeted the class.
She started off by raising her wand. From the tip of it, a red mist emerged, which the professor prodded with her wand till it took the shape of a word.
Fuga, read Ginny, her brows drawing together in worry. The nightmare she had been fearing had begun. The teacher was clearly asking a question and she had no idea how to answer it. She glanced around at Tiffany, and saw her face contort in concentration. Then, all of a sudden, it relaxed, and she drew out her wand and sent a message of red mist in the direction of Professor Callidam.
As Ginny watched, rather startled, the word Tiffany had released ("flight") flew through the air and was about to join the teacher's, when another word of red mist sped across the room and reached it first.
'Yes, fuga is flight. Very good, Mr Vide,' Professor Callidam told a boy with huge glasses who smirked across the room at Tiffany. She had been glowering at him furiously.
'But it was a good effort, Miss Major,' the teacher observed. 'You may decline it for us.'
Tiffany looked as though this was more than she had bargained for, but she began bravely: 'Fuga, uh, fugae, fugae, fugam, fuga. Then, in the plural. Fugae, fug-' There she stopped, shrugging at her teacher.
'I could remind you, Miss, that you learned how to decline this years ago,' she said through pursed lips. 'However, considering your work last year, there has been an improvement. Miss Leat?' She turned on Vanessa.
'Sorry, professor?' Vanessa, who had been scribbling on a piece of parchment, jumped nervously. 'What was the question?'
'Judging by your inattentiveness, I suppose you are bored with declining nouns. Just as well. We shall move on to verbs.' The professor paused and swept an icy glance around the class and settled it on Vanessa again. 'The English definition of ferre, a Latin synonym, and the full conjugation of the present tense, please,' she rapped out in drill-sergeant manner.
As Vanessa looked bleakly at their teacher, Ginny's mind reeled, trying to process all this information. How was she going to do it? There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to keep up with this class, not even if Professor Callidam helped her. It was probably a good thing she hadn't been chosen for the Quidditch team, Ginny thought a bit bitterly. She would never have been able to cope with extra Latin and Quidditch practices.
The teacher must have seen her despairing expression, for she cut short Vanessa's stammers and instructed the whole class to do the assignment on parchment by themselves. Then she walked over to Ginny's couch and gave her a rare smile.
'Now, I'll just start you off with the introductory vocabulary and basic grammar. After that, you'll find you can work on your own and be at the class' level very soon. If there is anything you don't understand, do not hesitate to ask me.' She paused for a second, and then added: 'Or Mr Malfoy might want to help you. He is quite an accomplished Latin scholar.'
Ginny smiled warily and shrugged her shoulders. She really appreciated the Professor's help, but she couldn't imagine ever understanding anything that had something to do with Latin. And asking Malfoy for help would be suicide. Before breakfast, she could have considered it, but now - hopeless. Draco Malfoy would never speak to her again.
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Draco knew that something was wrong the minute two girls started giggling behind him. He had just got out of the golden chair which had transported him into the 'Pure Magic' classroom. Having no idea what this class was supposed to be, he was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It didn't help that he seemed to be an amusing sight for all the girls in the class.
Suddenly, Jason appeared and hurried up to him. 'Sorry to have to tell you this, but you've got pink writing over the back of your robes,' he muttered as he passed him.
For a second, Draco stood as though frozen, not believing what he had heard. Who had had the audacity to put pink - PINK! - writing on his robes? Or was Jason fooling him?
Draco yanked his wand out of his pocket and touched the back of his robes with it. 'Latens appareat,' he said under his breath.
Out of the tip of his wand shot a small, misty replica of the back of his robes. They were black and looked perfectly normal, except that there were indeed the shocking pink words 'I LOVE GINNY' emblazoned on them.
Scowling as much as he could, Draco rapped out another spell and tapped his back with his wand again. Now, he trusted, the obnoxious writing would be gone.
It was only then that he had a chance to look and wonder at his surroundings. There were no tables or books in this classroom. It seemed quite bare, except for various objects, such as spell books, rolls of parchment, cushions, a Quaffle and even several things that looked like iron bars, lying untidily on the otherwise spotless floor. The room sported large windows and was painted an immaculate white.
By one of these windows stood a witch dressed in black robes. She waited until apparently all pupils were present and then marched over to join them.
She was still quite young, had short brown hair and a square-jawed face. Her light blue eyes flashed with every word she spoke.
'Where is Draco Malfoy?' was the first thing she demanded, in a deep, harsh voice.
Draco narrowed his eyes. What the hell did she want him for? Still, he had to answer, though he did it grudgingly.
'That's me,' he drawled, raising his eyebrows slightly at the witch. 'So, is it. uh, professor, or what?'
A few gasps from the girls told him they had fully understood the insult he had placed into his sneering answer.
But the witch merely looked him up and down with hawk-like eyes. 'Professor Sensit. So you're the one from Hogwarts?'
'One of them,' Draco acknowledged, with a bored shrug. What was this crazy lady on about, anyway?
'I was at Hogwarts too,' she told him abruptly. 'Have you never heard of Margaret Sensit?'
He searched his memory, without much success. The name had a familiar ring to it, but he certainly couldn't place it.
'Don't think so,' he said airily. 'It isn't my custom to learn the names of all the students who were at Hogwarts ten years ago by heart.'
Professor Sensit studied him, if possible, even more intently than before. 'Let me guess. Slytherin?'
'What's that?' piped up a girl who was running a comb through her hair.
'A Hogwarts school house, Miss Auben,' replied the professor curtly. 'A very reputed one, too,' she added, her eyes flashing back to Draco.
He smirked in return, mostly because he didn't know what else to do. With reputed, did she mean it had a good or a bad reputation? Was she on Slytherin's side or not? There was nothing to it but a straight question.
'In what house were you, Professor?'
For the first time since class had begun the teacher actually smiled. 'Find it out for yourself,' was her sly answer.
Then she turned to the other class members and started introducing herself and 'Pure Magic' - it seemed this was the first year the pupils were taking it - and left Draco to think the conversation over.
Something about Sensit bothered him. Margaret Sensit. he was sure he had heard that name before, but long ago. Maybe in one of his lessons at Hogwarts? That could be, but he didn't know in what context they would have talked about her.
As if I didn't have enough to worry about, thought Draco bitterly. Practically the only thing that worked out for me today was the Latin class. Big deal.
It couldn't make up for the vicious tumble of feelings that had been inside him since breakfast. No . that had been inside him since he had belatedly received his father's message.
Trying to blot out that memory and the cold nausea that came with it, he focused instead on the Professor's brisk explanation.
'The next question is, of course: What is Pure Magic actually?' The professor paused. 'Does anybody know?'
A few hands were raised; the witch nodded towards the boy with the red hair Draco had met earlier that day.
'The art of producing magic without a wand,' the boy replied promptly, but in a high-pitched, babyish voice. The class laughed and one girl blushed to a furious red. Obviously the boy had been imitating her.
'Yes, Miss Veems,' Professor Sensit told him crushingly. 'It's also a way of relieving your feelings. Or aggressions,' she added, pointedly staring at the red-haired boy, who yawned as an answer.
'Now,' the Pure Magic teacher instructed them briskly, 'find a place in the room and be careful not to be too close to anybody else. You don't want to hurt your fellow students.'
Draco sauntered over to an unoccupied corner, wondering what on earth they were going to do. Produce magic without a wand? Stupid. Not to mention entirely unreliable.
'OK, put your wand on the floor a few feet from where you're standing. Imagine you're being cornered and you need to get at your wand. Try to make your wand move towards you by concentrating on your inner powers,' Professor Sensit called out.
Having put his wand some feet away from him, Draco stood there, feeling dumb. He glanced over at Jason, who shrugged at him, nonplussed.
Well, if he couldn't do this it was time to make the teacher see that it was useless.
'Professor? Exactly what good is this - uh, exercise - supposed to do us?' he drawled.
Professor Sensit turned her fierce blue eyes on him immediately. 'Mr Malfoy,' she began, 'what would you do if Voldemort had you cornered, disarmed and helpless, and was pointing his wand at you to kill you?'
Draco's insides froze. He tried to think, but his mind was a whirl of confusion. Did she know? Did she know that his father had contact with the Dark Lord? Did she know that he came from a family of Death Eaters? Or had she merely chosen that as an example that would impress him?
She couldn't know, he finally decided. Outwardly, all he did was shrug.
The teacher appeared satisfied, for she turned away and left him to his thoughts.
**************************************
With a deep sigh, Ginny let herself fall into a small golden chair. She was exhausted from the day's efforts. Latin declinations, magic spells and lunar calculations were jumbled in her brain.
The chair whisked her away to the Intersection. Ginny got to her feet and started looking around her for transportation to her common room. The Intersection room was an awful mess, because pupils and teachers kept arriving and disappearing everywhere and mingling into an enormous crowd.
Again, as if on instinct, Ginny's wide brown eyes swept the people milling about and hastily turned away, again. She had been doing this all day - for no particular reason. Refusing to believe that she was looking for a particularly silver-blond head, she could find no explanation.
Suddenly, a hand timidly touched the sleeve of her robes. Turning around, Ginny saw Marianne Ponté - the Disciplina girl she had teamed up with in Flying.
'Hi,' Marianne greeted her.
'Hey, nice to see you again,' Ginny replied.
'Had a busy day?' The Disciplina girl gestured at the stack of books Ginny was carrying.
'You bet,' she answered, showing her the cover of a beginner's Latin book. 'This one in particular looks like a lot of fun.'
'Basic Latin Grammar,' Marianne read aloud. 'Why did you get that?'
Ginny explained about not ever having learnt Latin.
'Don't worry, there are plenty of people who know absolutely no Latin and they've been doing it for years,' Marianne replied dryly. 'We have it together with the Forma students, and all I can say is, I wonder how they passed last year's exams.'
Ginny laughed, suddenly comforted. Latin now seemed like a challenge, not a nightmare. Maybe Marianne could even help her with some of it.
But before she could mention this thought aloud, her Disciplina friend was approached by another girl in purple-lined robes. She shot Ginny a depreciatory glance and said to Marianne: 'Come on, let's go to the common room, the others are waiting.'
Reluctantly, Marianne said good-bye to Ginny and was pulled away by the other Disciplina girl.
Ginny shrugged, remembering Rachel's moan of disappointment when she found out that they had Flying with the Disciplina students. Why did those two houses dislike each other?
Turning around, she was about to search once more for a suitable golden chair or couch when she caught sight of her arch-enemy.
Draco, looking bored but rather disgruntled, was passing through a thick mob of people. Then suddenly, he stopped and stared straight at her.
What was he doing? Ginny found that her heart was pounding. He couldn't have forgiven her, so why was he smiling at her?
The next moment, Malfoy strode towards her. But - that was no smile on his face. That was a smirk, and one that meant trouble.
'Hey, Weasley!' he called out, eyes glittering. 'I completely forgot to ask you, how's your family? Surely you should already be smothered in letters from all your brothers who are so worried about their poor, helpless little sister. After all, she might be kidnapped by some bad Muggle - your father's own fault for playing buddies with them - or, who knows, she might have already collapsed from the effort of sucking up to every teacher.'
A shout of laughter, seeming to come mostly from a group of guys in blue- lined robes, followed his insulting proclamation.
Ginny felt as if the whole room was staring at her and bursting with laughter. Her cheeks grew hot with boiling rage, as she addressed Malfoy bitterly.
'Or maybe she's been put into the same house as a Death Eater,' she spat.
****************************************************
Draco couldn't believe his ears. All he had done was try to get his own back for what had happened at breakfast, and now he was in the biggest mess imaginable. Most of the students in the room were looking around in a puzzled way, as if they didn't know what Ginny was talking about. A group of Fortuna girls looked up from their chatting, alarmed.
He had been praying this wouldn't happen. Deep down, he had been hoping against hope that Ginny would never mention anything like this. Anything that could be used against him. But now, she had done it. And there was no escape left for him.
Summoning up all the feelings of hatred and revenge that had been steaming inside him since Ginny's first insult, he bounded across the room towards her, quickly found a rather large armchair that was labelled 'Private Reading Room Nr. 3', grabbed the startled Ginny by her wrist, and pulled her into the chair with him. The Intersection whirled into nothing before their eyes.
******************************************
The room they landed in was quite dark; only an enchanted torch blazed red. But that was the only thing about the room Ginny took in. She was furious - she wanted to yell at Malfoy - kick him - hit him. This was one of his stupid jokes, no doubt.
'What-', she started angrily, but was cut off when Draco pushed her heavily against the wall and held her there. His face was millimetres from her own, and the expression there scared her.
His jaw was tight, merciless, his teeth were clenched in fury, and his eyes looked ready to kill.
Ginny choked her words back and emitted a dry sob. She regretted it the moment it had left her throat. Now he would think she was scared, which was not true.
She stared at him perplexedly. This was Draco, a Slytherin and her enemy, but not a person she should fear. She remembered how awkward he had looked when she had fainted on him - or he had caught her - the bloodied sweater in the Transport, and the smirk which showed more amusement and teasing than real meanness.
'Don't you have a brain?' he whispered fiercely. 'Can't you think? Can't you imagine what would happen if the word got out who my father is?'
'I think your housemates have a right to know who they're dealing with,' Ginny replied, struggling and failing to keep her voice cool and uninterested.
Draco grabbed her shoulders and flung them against the wall again, making Ginny scream as her head hit the hard surface. Then he tugged out his wand and forced her chin up with the tip of it.
'Look,' he hissed hoarsely. 'You know I can perform a killing curse - or any of the other Unforgivable curses. You know I can get to you anywhere. You know I'm smart enough for that. Now, I suggest if you know all that, you'll keep your mouth shut about me and my background. Got it?'
His voice spoke ultimate rage and loathing. The red light flickering across his face glinted in his evilly slit eyes. He looked half crazy - and half deadly serious.
The feeling in her that had at first been bewilderment and unease rapidly turned into fear. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. Draco Malfoy could and would kill her if she gave him the chance. And she had thought he had nearly been her friend. She wouldn't have been as scared of a random killer, but she was petrified of the truly evil side of the person she had thought she knew.
She wanted to scream out hysterically, but she couldn't find her voice. Her whole body was tightened into unnatural stiffness, and she felt if she could just move she would be sick.
It was no wonder then, that her forehead began to throb wildly, and her consciousness to leave her.
******************************************
Draco glared at the trembling girl in front of him in grim triumph. He knew he could hate her properly, and now he did. Cowering, scared, panicked little fool. The red firelight danced in her huge brown eyes, opened wider than he had ever seen them. He knew she was frightened to death.
That was when he made his mistake. He gazed into her glassy eyes, void of everything now, and felt a sharp and heaving jolt in his stomach. He knew the pain was visible on his face, but he couldn't remove it and assume his detesting mask. It was like last night, when he was facing his father.
Now feeling only hatred for himself, he shoved Ginny against the wall one last time - something inside him screamed out in pain when he did it - and whirled around, his robes flinging behind him.
Well, he thought with bitter regret and disdain, at least I've done what father asked. I threatened her till I was positive she'd never say a word.
He was just about to bound into the lone golden chair waiting where he had left it and disappear, when a mixture between a piteous call and a tormented sob reached him, followed by a soft thump.
'Draco!'
Slowly, battling furiously within himself, he turned around again.
Ginny was sprawled face-down on the floor as if she had just collapsed there, her silky red hair tumbling over her shoulders and screening her face. In the distorting light her slight frame looked wrecked. She looked dead.
Draco hung back, looking in horror and disgust at the figure on the floor. Then a desperate, but commanding, desire took over.
He raced over and threw himself on his knees beside her. As gently as he could with his trembling fingers, he turned her over and lifted her head into his lap.
Her face was drawn and pale. Immobile. But when he touched it, fearing her to be truly dead, she stirred and her eyelids flickered.
Utterly confused, Draco stared as her face, completely opposite from the panic it had worn before, broke into a radiant smile and her eyes, though still enormous for her small face, lit up like two stars.
'Thank you, Draco,' she whispered, reaching out a pale hand to clasp his fingers.
And that made up for everything: all the pain, disappointment and suffering he had ever experienced was somehow bathed in warmth. And he was holding this warmth in his hands; it was his.
Happiness and sorrow, bitterness and peace, they were all ringing in him till he couldn't bear it anymore.
Ginny's head slipped from his knees, and he lost all control.
He bent over her and touched his lips to hers, kissing her over and over again. He wasn't even worrying about if she was answering his tenderness or not. He was simply racing against time, willing her not to regain consciousness yet. He knew he would never have another chance to feed the starved part of his heart.
He hovered over her, letting her warmth, her safety, and her smile sink into him. Ginny's hand stole up to the side of his face and drew it down close to hers. This time it was she who bridged the small space between their lips, holding him to her.
And then, before he could do anything more, he felt her slipping from him. The soft lips that had been pressed against his fell back, and her arm slid off his shoulder.
With a last kiss that was passionate in his despair, he got up and pulled Ginny's once more limp form across the floor to the golden chair. When he had heaved her and himself into it, the private reading room vanished, and they were back at the mercifully empty Intersection.
Guilt knotting itself in his stomach, Draco left the girl slumped in the chair and headed off to another transport bringing him to his common room. He half yearned that some idiot would be showing off his stupidity there. If there was one thing he needed now, it was distraction.
Distraction from the awful thing he had done.
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*coughs* I'm really embarrassed about this, people, I wanted to do some nice D/G sap - finally - but, the way it turned out, it looks more like some freak attack Draco had. (Bad doggy! Stay!) So anyways, hope you're not too grossed out. Also not by Ginny's paralyzing fear. You just have to remember, she's not herself at the moment. And, let's face it - wouldn't you be creeped out if a mad guy was threatening you? I'll leave that for you to decide.
Greetings and heartfelt thanks, O Worthy Reviewers! *bows low*
cuty-cat - yeah, can't u imagine how cute that's gonna be? Draco and Ginny, studying Latin together. *snicker* And a tip: next time you're bored at school in the computer room, check out Gundam Wing sites and write them down!
Liz Swarthy - yeah, D/G absolutely rulez when it comes to HP. Well, you'll absolutely love him in this chapter then. he's totally unholy!
Taunting Ave - hope you haven't died yet. *grin*
Sesshiria - thank you, I don't think he's too bad myself. But it isn't hard to write. Just think EVIL. *g*
Arianell - me too, tho I think Hogwarts is still the best. *sighs* Note to self: put in Ginny and Draco riding off into Sunset.
Pandora666 - i will continue, no problem with that. it's the updating SOON that I have major difficulties with.
Larien - cool. you study Latin, too! I really love the Fortuna suam sequi. might put that in. Do you mind?
Diana - the swimming pool? Haven't thought much about that yet, but it will be used, preferably by our favourite couple!
caitlin aka ruler of the world - *sniff* someone loves my story. sorry, I'm in a depressive mood today, so this really means a lot to me!
Angela Ang - with any luck I'll update soon. summer holidays are in sight!
Witch am I - here you are, the new chapter, served on a silver platter it doesn't deserve. *g*
May the Hold and Fair cuty-cat continue to be my editor and give me her Outstanding advice! *j/k, and u noe it*
I herewith depart,
Shooting Jewel