Ambivalent
Chapter three
By cocoa-latte
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Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Ginny woke up as a bright ray of sunshine landed on her face. The red head girl turned sideways and squinted. She didn't want to get up. Not after yesterday night's events. She turned over on her soft feather mattress and slowly got up with a sigh. She pulled the royal red and gold curtains open around her bed, and was immediately blinded by all the sunlight that flooded the room.
Ginny cautiously looked around the room. She was the first to wake today. It was unlikely that she was first; considering what a heavy sleeper she was. Ginny walked to the bathroom she shared with the others and began to brush her teeth rigorously. She finally decided. She wouldn't do the dare.
Ginny could hear footsteps padding on the hard floor. She turned around to see Ali walk in.
"Morning," Ali called sleepily, "I feel kinda sick at the moment."
"Good morning Ali," she called, ignoring her last part of her comment. It was obvious that Ali had way too much to drink last night.
"What class do you have first?" she began jovially.
Ali's hand was on her head. "I don't remember," she groaned, "Let me check my timetable."
Ginny watched Ali retrieve her schedule for a few moments before shaking her head in slight disappointment.
"Oh!" the usual perky brunette exclaimed, "I have Care of Magical Creatures for the morning; then potions in the afternoon."
"Really? Me too!" Ginny said happily, "I wanted to get into Advanced Potions, but I didn't make it. You know Professor Snape." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Snape annoys me. He picked on me so much last year. Just because I answered one freaking question wrong on the first day of school. How could I have possibly remembered all the insane details of one small insignificant potion that I made in Potions three years back?" Ali seethed, "Like, honestly, he has some serious problems. Not everyone is a potions master. I don't even know why I'm taking it again this year. Well, my mom wants me to; so I suppose that's the only sole reason."
Ginny nodded anxiously, "Well, I'm going to go down to the great hall and grab some breakfast now."
"Oh, okay. See you in Care of Magical Creatures!" she called.
"Bye." Ginny gave a smile as she combed the brush through her red hair one last time. She placed her belongings back into her trunk and headed down the stairs to the common room. Ginny took a deep breath of the common room. She absolutely loved the smell of firewood and ashes.
She stepped out of the portrait of the fat lady. The halls were unusually empty. 'Well, it is pretty early, after all,' Ginny thought mechanically. Her reverie was suddenly broken.
"What do we have here, Weasley?" a voice drawled.
She stopped short and took a quick sharp breath and composed herself. "Look Malfoy," she began, "let's not start." She spun around to face him.
He stayed silent.
She wouldn't kiss him. She wouldn't let the dare get to her. She already decided that she wouldn't do it. She wouldn't. Ginny looked up at him. "What? Cat got your tongue?"
"No," he sputtered, "I'm going to the great hall for breakfast. Now if you kindly step aside, it would make thing much easier."
Ginny stepped sideways, her eyes never leaving his. 'God, he's hot! Not to mention arrogant."
Draco gave Ginny once last lingering glance and a smirk before sweeping his cloak around him and stalked off to the great hall. 'Stupid mudblood loving bitch,' the grey-eyed man thought.
Ginny sighed. Those icy grey eyes of his and those unusually soft hands… Ginny took a sharp breath, pushing the thoughts out of her head. She would not tolerate thoughts like these for Malfoy. It didn't matter how good he looked. Ginny toke a few more deep breaths before heading down to the Great Hall, following the footsteps of a suspicious blond.
Ginny walked into the large "enclosed" room, and glanced around apprehensively. There wasn't a terribly large amount of Gryffindors at the table. However, she wasn't surprise. It wasn't unusual, considering how early in the morning it was, and considering how drunk numerous of them were last night. She would have expected a hangover from a good lot of them.
Ginny noted that the infamous dream team weren't present at the Gryffindor table.
Ginny walked guardedly to the never-ceasing table and sat down beside a tall seventh-year who she didn't know. He was just as tall sitting down, as she was standing. She gave a small sigh before helping herself to some scrambled eggs and pumpkin juice.
"Well, well, well," a voice drawled. A rather sexy voice, she'd have to admit.
"What do you want, Mal-ferret?" she spat, not bothering to turn around to face him. She continued eating her breakfast.
"I see that Potty, the other Weasel, and Mudblood aren't here." Draco gave a smirk. "What's the matter with them? Did Weasel get his head stuck in the loo? I'm not surprised if his head didn't come out. But then again, Potty's wouldn't have either. His head's big that it would get stuck in any hole"
Assuming that 'Weasel' was Ron, she got up to face him, and seized the collar of his green and silver wool sweater and pulled his face close to hers. "Don't insult my family," she said harshly, clutching Draco's collar tight.
She let go of him.
Malfoy's nose wrinkled up in disgust. "Look, I don't need you to filth my clothes. In case you haven't noticed. These are new, and yes, you might be thinking that yours are new as well, but they really can't be compared to the quality of mine. Knowing you, and your family, I wouldn't be too surprised."
"You're still insulting my family, Malfoy," Ginny said with false cheerfulness, "So tell me, since you're so smart. What happens next?"
Draco snorted. "You attempt to hit me, but horribly fail. I do master in—"
Before waiting for Draco to finish the rest of his sentence, Ginny raised her hand a made a stab to slap Draco's face.
Draco looked up at her in surprise before catching her wrist midway.
He clutched her smooth hands tight. "As I was saying, before you rudely interrupted me: I do master in the arts of fighting, as you can probably see.
She pulled her hand away from the tall man that stood before her, forcefully. "Leave me alone," she hissed, her usually warm brown eyes were flashing harshly.
"No need to get upset, Weasel."
"What the fuck is your problem, Mal-ferret?"
"Me? Have a problem?" he crossed his arms. "So, you think it's okay if you call me "Mal-ferret," and I can't call you "Weasel?"
"Obviously," she spat at him, "It wasn't me who started this whole name-calling thing first." She looked at him harshly.
Draco gave a small shrug. "Well, it's not like I thought that you'd get it. After all, you're just a Weasley." He turned his back on the petite redhead and walked away with a smirk hidden from her. There really was nothing better than annoying a Weasley.
Ginny dug her nails into her skin. She had never met such an aggravating ass as bad as Malfoy. She reckoned that he was only doing this because of her brother; her stupid brother.
Ginny flopped back down onto the long wooden bench moodily and stabbed her fork into her scramble eggs and stuffed a mouthful into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds before swallowing. She had Care of Magical Creatures first thing in the morning, then followed by Potions (ulgh) in the afternoon, and then Divination in the evening.
She saw a flurry of bright red hair sit down beside her. She noted that Hermione and Harry weren't there. "Morning Ron," she said absently. She looked up at her brother. He looked unusually tired and ragged this morning. "You look rather tired."
Ron groaned and rubbed his temples. "I have a History of Magic exam today. I stayed up pretty late studying it in my room last night and that was after my detention with Snape."
'Good,' Ginny thought, 'He probably hasn't heard about my dare to kiss… Malfoy.'
"Oh, I hope you do well, then," she said casually, "So, where's Hermione and Harry?"
"I reckon that Harry's going to skip breakfast to cram for the exam. I'll bring some toast and sausages for him later. And, I'll bet you almost anything that Hermione's is in the library." Ron laughed. "You're up pretty early today. Did something come up?" he asked with concern.
"Nah," she lied easily, "Ali's alarm clock woke me up, and I couldn't fall back to sleep."
"Well, yeah, Ali probably needs a pretty loud alarm clock to wake her up."
Ginny lied again. "She didn't even wake up. I had to shut off her alarm clock, and then wake her up myself."
"She's kind of odd," Ron muttered.
"I know," Ginny said pleasantly with a nod, "She's really nice though."
Ginny drank the rest of her chilled pumpkin juice before abruptly standing up. "I better get going now." She didn't want stick around with Ron any longer. "Bye," she called.
"G'bye."
Ginny walked out the great hall and pushed the front doors of the school open. She felt the breeze blow past her as she began to walk briskly towards the willow tree by the lake. She didn't have much time to enjoy nature. Her first class would be starting in thirty minutes.
Ginny walked down the rather steep hill, and watched her stout shadow. Her Hogwarts robes billowed in the wind with her every step. Ginny gave a small smile. She loved coming to her willow tree in the morning. The area was empty, and she was often the only one there.
A few minutes later, Ginny slowed down her pace as she reached the tree. She ran her fingers through her hair, helping to untangle the mess the wind had made. Ginny sat down in the shade and fingered a blade of grass.
Ginny paused as a shadow fell over her.
"What do we have here?" a voice drawled.
Ginny seethed. 'Malfoy," she thought malevolently. "What do you want again?" she asked, her tone bored.
"You sure are polite," Draco said, giving the redhead a smirk.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I appreciate the sarcasm."
"Thanks, you too," Draco parroted in the same tone.
"Anyway," Ginny began; her tone slightly more pleasant, "What was it you wanted?"
"Why do you always assume that I want something? I might not have wanted anything at all from you."
Ginny could feel her blood begin to boil. "Look, it was you who started this stupid conversation, not me."
The tall blonde gave a shrug, and couldn't help but noticed how her hair luscious red hair fell down her back.
Ginny stood up abruptly and swept her robes together. "Well, if you don't want anything, I'll be going now. Unlike you, I actually care about attending my classes."
As Ginny speed walked up the massive hill, she tried to ignore how she could feel Draco's cold eyes on her back.
Ginny hurried back to Gryffindor tower to pick up her books for her first class; Care of Magical Creatures. She skidded to a stop when she reached the infamous portrait of the fat lady in pink. "Balderdash," she said the password quickly, before the fat lady even asked.
She hurried up the stairs and picked up one of the books that were strewn all over her night table. 'Shit, where did I leave my good quill?' She sighed. She didn't have time to find it; she would have to borrow it from someone else.
Ginny glanced offhandedly at the large clock that hung on the wall. 'Bloody hell,' thought Ginny grimly. She only had four minutes to get down to Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid's cabin wasn't exactly the nearest class either.
She rushed out the portrait and walked briskly to her next class. The hallways were unusually empty, save for the Slytherins. She figured that most students have already arrived in their first class. 'Shit, I'm going to be late. First class of the day too.'
She hurried out the great wooden front doors, and hurried down the slippery slope. Again, she glanced at her watch. One minute left. 'Now, I'm being paranoid,' Ginny thought, with a small grin on her face.
She arrived to the small crowded area that was Hagrid's cabin, just on the time. She could hear the bells distantly ring from the school.
Ginny swept up her robes and sat down on a garden bench, beside a Hufflepuff, who she wasn't to familiar with.
"Mornin'," the tall half-giant called merrily to the class.
"Good morning," the class chimed back dully.
Ginny, who wasn't paying too much attention to the class, threw her head back, and looked up at the clear sky. She didn't realize exactly what she was thinking, until her thoughts wandered over to a certain blonde man, and she was already certain that she felt a certain chemistry between the two of them. Neither she nor he would ever admit it, or anything.
A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading, and a bigger thanks to people who reviewed! I'm really sorry that it took so long for this chapter to be finished! I'm trying to alternate each story that I update, so I'll update this one again, after I finish writing the next chapter for my other story. I'm also working on a side story, which I haven't posted yet, so I'm sorry if it kind of seems like this story is my third priority. It's not, I promise! Scratch that, I don't promise. I'll try though, that I can promise! A big thanks to my beta: evil-mittens!