Chapter 7
The Least Likely Prince Charming
Did Dumbledore Overdosed On Sugar, Again!?
Ginny Weasley glanced in her date planner as she walked down the hallway towards breakfast, and looked sadly at what she had to do today. The list was as follows:
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Potions
10:00 - 12:00 PM Double Arithmancy
1:00 PM Transfiguration
2:00 PM Charms
3:00 PM History of Magic
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Detention (cleaning portraits in Dumbledore's office with D.M. (stupid git).
10:00 PM Astronomy
Ginny just shook her head sadly at the long list of things she had to do. She really just wanted to pretend to be sick today, but Madame Pomfrey had caught on to that Fred and George creation a while ago, so there was no way to fool her. Ginny briefly toyed with the idea of asking a friend to hex her, but as that is always a risky business (having a fellow student hex you to get out of class could often have a person being laid up a lot longer and in a lot more pain than he or she had originally anticipated), so Ginny got prepared to drag herself through the long day.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was headed to breakfast. He was frowning as he shuffled his way down the hallway. His fellow students moved out of his way as he navigated the hallways, as it has been a well established fact among the Hogwart's population that Draco Malfoy was "not a morning person." Many a poor hapless student had learned long ago that even brushing into the sleeve of Draco's immaculately tailored robes before Draco had his morning tea could earn the innocent student a hex. Therefore, Draco had long ago established the ability to part the crowd like the Red Sea before 10:00 AM every morning.
Today, however, one student was not paying attention to where Draco Malfoy was shuffling down the hallway, as she had her freckled nose burrowed in a red date planner. Therefore, it came as no surprise to the students in the hallway when Draco brushed past the girl in his single minded determination to make it to the cafeteria. The petite girl looked up from her book, and glared at the blonde haired boy as he headed past without apology. Everyone in the hallway held their breathe in anticipation of what would happen next. "Hey, Malfoy" Ginny snarled at Draco's back. Draco slowly turned around to see who dared to talk to him before he had his morning tea. Draco knew, however, who that voice belonged to. It was the voice he heard in his dre.... uh... nightmares.
"Hey, Weasley." Draco replied as he looked at the girl. He couldn't stop the thought about how good she looked, even first thing in the morning. Draco was actually getting very tired of trying to stop the inappropriate thoughts (and drea..... uh...nightmares) he kept having about the girl. He kept reminding himself that this was a Weasley, and a Harry Potter fangirl, but somehow, these thoughts kept being overshadowed by the "other" thoughts he kept having. Like about how much he liked her smile, and how much he admired her spirit and courage, and how the lights reflected of her red hair, making in glint with so many shades of red, and like how cute the freckles were, marching merrily across her button nose............. Draco stopped himself in his wandering thoughts and glared at the object of his thoughts.
Ginny was watching Draco, as he looked at her. She heard his words as if they came from a distance, as she become mesmerized by his the different shades of gray and silver in Draco's fascinating eyes. She watched as he eyes got a almost dreamy expression, as he just looked at her for a few moments after he spoke. All of the sudden, Draco began to glare at her again. Ginny glared right back at the rude boy.
"Let me give you a lesson in manners, Malfoy, since it's obvious that your mother never bothered to teach you any." Ginny stated as she glared the blonde boy down. At the mention of "mother" Draco began to glare even more at Ginny and his clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.
"Oh, my mother taught me manners." Draco said with a smirk. "She just told me not to bother using them on muggle loving trash like you." He stated, and was satisfied to see Ginny's face turn red with anger.
Ginny shook her head and counted to 10 quietly to herself. She then said, in a calm voice "I don't know why I bother talking to you, Malfoy. It's obvious that you'll never be anything more that a bullying git, who nobody will ever really like, let alone love. I feel sorry for you, in a way Malfoy. You don't have to be the way you are. You choose to be that way." Ginny said, as she turned and walked away.
Draco stared at Ginny's back as she walked away. And something in what she said seemed to bounce through his head, as he thought for a moment.
A collective breath of air was let out as the student's in the hallway as they watched Malfoy pause for a moment to stare at the retreating redhead's back. A few of the smarter ones reached for their wands, in expectation of stopping whatever hex Malfoy was planning for the retreating redhead. But, instead, Malfoy turned and walked toward the breakfast room, with an almost, well, thoughtful look on his face.
Several hours later
Ginny Weasly stood by the pheonix statue, waiting patiently for Dumbledore to come and let her in to perform her latest detention duty. It was 6:00 on the dot, and neither Draco nor Dumbledor were anywhere in sight. Suddenly, the pheonix statue began to move, and Ginny jumped, as the movement had scared her. Ginny watched as the statue opened up to reveal a disheveled Dumbledore.
"Ah.... Miss Weasley. Right on time, I see." "Let's see, where is Mr. Malfoy, this fine evening?" Dumbledore asked, with a kind smile.
"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore." Ginny said, as she smile back at him.
"I expect he will be here soon." Dumbledore said. "We'll wait for him to arrive before heading up."
These words were barely out of Dumbledore's mouth, when Draco came strolling around the corner. Draco looked at Ginny, and quickly looked away, before giving his best "I am a suck-up" smile to Professor Dumbledore.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor Dumbledore." Draco said, with just the right amount of fake apology in his tone.
"That's quite alright, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said, with another kind smile. "Let's head up to get you two started." He said, as he proceeded to lead Ginny and Draco up the stairs.
It has often been said that Albus Dumbledore is very shrewd, and is able to make almost uncanny observations. Albus himself preferred to think of it as being very observant of the people around him. And Dumbledore happened to observe some very odd behavior from his two warring students on the way up the stairs, and in their solitary and quiet cleaning work.
He noticed that Draco Malfoy, only son and heir to one of the biggest Deatheaters ever to attend Hogwarts, seemed to ignore Ginny Weasley, only daughter to 2 of the greatest living members of the Order, but only when Ginny happened to be paying attention. When the girl wasn't paying attention, Draco was watching her every move with a fascinated look on his face. And the girl wasn't any better. When she thought Draco wasn't looking, she was glancing at him with admiring eyes, and a shy smile on her face. As Albus Dumbledore watched his two students, he became more and more amused by his observations.
Ginny happened to be busy cleaning the portrait of some woman she knew she should know the name of because she was a former headmaster of the school and did really important things, but of course, she didn't know the name, when she heard laughter. She looked over, and saw Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his chair, and laughing as he looked from her, to Draco, and back again. Ginny looked at Draco, and saw him giving her an equally perplexed look.
Professor Dumbledore looked at his two students, and stopped laughing. "You may start packing up the cleaning things to put away." He said to the two students, and watched as they quietly, and without giving each other direct eye contact, packed the cleaning materials and put them away. He sucked on a lemon drop as he waited for them to come stand before him, awaiting his new orders.
"Miss Weasley... Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said. "I have decided to change your detention. For the rest of the time, you will spend detention together, helping each other with classwork and homework." Dumbledore said, with a smile. He saw the horrified looks on the two students faces, and could barely suppress the laughter in his voice. "Am I understood?" He asked, with a stern look from behind his half moon glasses.
"Yes, sir" the two students said, with disgruntled looks on their faces.
"You may now go." Dumbledore said. "Lemon drop before you go?" He asked before the students turned around to leave.
"No thank you." The two students said in unison, as they turned around to leave. As they left the room, an echo of an old man's laughter followed them out.
"What's with him, I wonder?" Ginny asked, temporarily forgetting that she was with Malfoy, as she asked a question she would ask anyone else in the same situation as she was right now.
"I don't know." Malfoy said, with a confused look on his face.
"Well, he sure found something funny." Ginny said, with a grimace. "I wish he had let me in on the joke." She said. "I feel like he was looking at US and laughing."
"Well, maybe he overdosed on sugar again, or something." Malfoy said, with a small smile.
Ginny looked at Draco, and shook her head. "Anything's possible, I guess." Ginny said, with a laugh.
Fate watched from far above. Things were going just as planned, although maybe a little faster than planned, thanks to an intelligent old man giving her a helping hand. Fate was happy with how things were going..... It wouldn't be long now.... It all depended on how much the little fish were going to fight Fate's hook.....
Ginny Weasley glanced in her date planner as she walked down the hallway towards breakfast, and looked sadly at what she had to do today. The list was as follows:
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Potions
10:00 - 12:00 PM Double Arithmancy
1:00 PM Transfiguration
2:00 PM Charms
3:00 PM History of Magic
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Detention (cleaning portraits in Dumbledore's office with D.M. (stupid git).
10:00 PM Astronomy
Ginny just shook her head sadly at the long list of things she had to do. She really just wanted to pretend to be sick today, but Madame Pomfrey had caught on to that Fred and George creation a while ago, so there was no way to fool her. Ginny briefly toyed with the idea of asking a friend to hex her, but as that is always a risky business (having a fellow student hex you to get out of class could often have a person being laid up a lot longer and in a lot more pain than he or she had originally anticipated), so Ginny got prepared to drag herself through the long day.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was headed to breakfast. He was frowning as he shuffled his way down the hallway. His fellow students moved out of his way as he navigated the hallways, as it has been a well established fact among the Hogwart's population that Draco Malfoy was "not a morning person." Many a poor hapless student had learned long ago that even brushing into the sleeve of Draco's immaculately tailored robes before Draco had his morning tea could earn the innocent student a hex. Therefore, Draco had long ago established the ability to part the crowd like the Red Sea before 10:00 AM every morning.
Today, however, one student was not paying attention to where Draco Malfoy was shuffling down the hallway, as she had her freckled nose burrowed in a red date planner. Therefore, it came as no surprise to the students in the hallway when Draco brushed past the girl in his single minded determination to make it to the cafeteria. The petite girl looked up from her book, and glared at the blonde haired boy as he headed past without apology. Everyone in the hallway held their breathe in anticipation of what would happen next. "Hey, Malfoy" Ginny snarled at Draco's back. Draco slowly turned around to see who dared to talk to him before he had his morning tea. Draco knew, however, who that voice belonged to. It was the voice he heard in his dre.... uh... nightmares.
"Hey, Weasley." Draco replied as he looked at the girl. He couldn't stop the thought about how good she looked, even first thing in the morning. Draco was actually getting very tired of trying to stop the inappropriate thoughts (and drea..... uh...nightmares) he kept having about the girl. He kept reminding himself that this was a Weasley, and a Harry Potter fangirl, but somehow, these thoughts kept being overshadowed by the "other" thoughts he kept having. Like about how much he liked her smile, and how much he admired her spirit and courage, and how the lights reflected of her red hair, making in glint with so many shades of red, and like how cute the freckles were, marching merrily across her button nose............. Draco stopped himself in his wandering thoughts and glared at the object of his thoughts.
Ginny was watching Draco, as he looked at her. She heard his words as if they came from a distance, as she become mesmerized by his the different shades of gray and silver in Draco's fascinating eyes. She watched as he eyes got a almost dreamy expression, as he just looked at her for a few moments after he spoke. All of the sudden, Draco began to glare at her again. Ginny glared right back at the rude boy.
"Let me give you a lesson in manners, Malfoy, since it's obvious that your mother never bothered to teach you any." Ginny stated as she glared the blonde boy down. At the mention of "mother" Draco began to glare even more at Ginny and his clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.
"Oh, my mother taught me manners." Draco said with a smirk. "She just told me not to bother using them on muggle loving trash like you." He stated, and was satisfied to see Ginny's face turn red with anger.
Ginny shook her head and counted to 10 quietly to herself. She then said, in a calm voice "I don't know why I bother talking to you, Malfoy. It's obvious that you'll never be anything more that a bullying git, who nobody will ever really like, let alone love. I feel sorry for you, in a way Malfoy. You don't have to be the way you are. You choose to be that way." Ginny said, as she turned and walked away.
Draco stared at Ginny's back as she walked away. And something in what she said seemed to bounce through his head, as he thought for a moment.
A collective breath of air was let out as the student's in the hallway as they watched Malfoy pause for a moment to stare at the retreating redhead's back. A few of the smarter ones reached for their wands, in expectation of stopping whatever hex Malfoy was planning for the retreating redhead. But, instead, Malfoy turned and walked toward the breakfast room, with an almost, well, thoughtful look on his face.
Several hours later
Ginny Weasly stood by the pheonix statue, waiting patiently for Dumbledore to come and let her in to perform her latest detention duty. It was 6:00 on the dot, and neither Draco nor Dumbledor were anywhere in sight. Suddenly, the pheonix statue began to move, and Ginny jumped, as the movement had scared her. Ginny watched as the statue opened up to reveal a disheveled Dumbledore.
"Ah.... Miss Weasley. Right on time, I see." "Let's see, where is Mr. Malfoy, this fine evening?" Dumbledore asked, with a kind smile.
"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore." Ginny said, as she smile back at him.
"I expect he will be here soon." Dumbledore said. "We'll wait for him to arrive before heading up."
These words were barely out of Dumbledore's mouth, when Draco came strolling around the corner. Draco looked at Ginny, and quickly looked away, before giving his best "I am a suck-up" smile to Professor Dumbledore.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor Dumbledore." Draco said, with just the right amount of fake apology in his tone.
"That's quite alright, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said, with another kind smile. "Let's head up to get you two started." He said, as he proceeded to lead Ginny and Draco up the stairs.
It has often been said that Albus Dumbledore is very shrewd, and is able to make almost uncanny observations. Albus himself preferred to think of it as being very observant of the people around him. And Dumbledore happened to observe some very odd behavior from his two warring students on the way up the stairs, and in their solitary and quiet cleaning work.
He noticed that Draco Malfoy, only son and heir to one of the biggest Deatheaters ever to attend Hogwarts, seemed to ignore Ginny Weasley, only daughter to 2 of the greatest living members of the Order, but only when Ginny happened to be paying attention. When the girl wasn't paying attention, Draco was watching her every move with a fascinated look on his face. And the girl wasn't any better. When she thought Draco wasn't looking, she was glancing at him with admiring eyes, and a shy smile on her face. As Albus Dumbledore watched his two students, he became more and more amused by his observations.
Ginny happened to be busy cleaning the portrait of some woman she knew she should know the name of because she was a former headmaster of the school and did really important things, but of course, she didn't know the name, when she heard laughter. She looked over, and saw Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his chair, and laughing as he looked from her, to Draco, and back again. Ginny looked at Draco, and saw him giving her an equally perplexed look.
Professor Dumbledore looked at his two students, and stopped laughing. "You may start packing up the cleaning things to put away." He said to the two students, and watched as they quietly, and without giving each other direct eye contact, packed the cleaning materials and put them away. He sucked on a lemon drop as he waited for them to come stand before him, awaiting his new orders.
"Miss Weasley... Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said. "I have decided to change your detention. For the rest of the time, you will spend detention together, helping each other with classwork and homework." Dumbledore said, with a smile. He saw the horrified looks on the two students faces, and could barely suppress the laughter in his voice. "Am I understood?" He asked, with a stern look from behind his half moon glasses.
"Yes, sir" the two students said, with disgruntled looks on their faces.
"You may now go." Dumbledore said. "Lemon drop before you go?" He asked before the students turned around to leave.
"No thank you." The two students said in unison, as they turned around to leave. As they left the room, an echo of an old man's laughter followed them out.
"What's with him, I wonder?" Ginny asked, temporarily forgetting that she was with Malfoy, as she asked a question she would ask anyone else in the same situation as she was right now.
"I don't know." Malfoy said, with a confused look on his face.
"Well, he sure found something funny." Ginny said, with a grimace. "I wish he had let me in on the joke." She said. "I feel like he was looking at US and laughing."
"Well, maybe he overdosed on sugar again, or something." Malfoy said, with a small smile.
Ginny looked at Draco, and shook her head. "Anything's possible, I guess." Ginny said, with a laugh.
Fate watched from far above. Things were going just as planned, although maybe a little faster than planned, thanks to an intelligent old man giving her a helping hand. Fate was happy with how things were going..... It wouldn't be long now.... It all depended on how much the little fish were going to fight Fate's hook.....