I don't own characters, etc in this story, or really much of anything....
J.K. Rowling owns all characters and the multimillions of dollars that come
from publishing the Harry Potter books.... Only borrowing for this
story....
A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews.... I really
appreciate them a lot. And thank you ronslilprincess for pointing out my
little boo-boo in chapter 2.... Very observant... I do reread my chapters
at least once, but I'm not the greatest at proofreading my own stuff... So
if anybody notices any errors like that, please let me know.... Thank you
so much for reading and reviewing everyone!!!!!! :-)
Anyway, in apology for my evil cliffhanger (the devil on my left shoulder
made me do it!!!), I have updated again (it was that little angel on my
right shoulder's idea).... Two updates in two days, it has to be a record
for me... I promise to try to update as soon as I possibly can.....
And onward to the story.....
The Least Likely Prince Charming
Chapter 9
"Studying with the Enemy"
It was 6:30 on a Thursday evening, and the library was crowded. Certainly more crowded than it ever is on an evening hour. Most students (if they are actually going to study) prefer to do their homework in the common room of their respective house. The students who hardly ever study (except for 12:30 the night before the test or paper was due) usually spent their time in more interesting places. But tonight, the library was filled with studiers and non-studiers alike, as the library was known throughout the school as the place to be from 6:00 - 8:00 every night. Because in the library, at a small table in a far corner, crowded in among some of the shelves of dusty books, was the "entertainment".
Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy were blissfully unaware of their status as the show to watch among the Hogwarts' students. They spent most of their time in the library in a strange dance that neither one of them quite understood. They did not really talk to each other, but would occasionally ask each other for help on difficult homework questions with shy voices and averted eyes. The rest of the time was spent giving each other quick glances, then pretending to be absorbed in reading their books. And the whole time they spent in their dance, the student body watched, and waited for the inevitable fight that would occur....
But it hadn't happened yet.... So quite a few of the students spent their every available evening in the library, hoping that IT would happen... But it didn't.... But they kept coming back, tortured by thoughts of "if I don't go, it will happen tonight, and I will miss it...." Needless to say, student grades on tests dramatically increased during the period of Draco and Ginny's studying detention, and Snape spent his free time during this period of time on the lookout for the student cheating ring he was convinced Harry Potter had established....
This Thursday night, Ginny and Draco were again seated together at their table, pretending to study. Each one, however, was more focused on something else other than the book he or she was supposed to be reading.
Draco was currently obsessed with Ginny's hair. It seemed to Draco that every night he had a new obsession. Just the previous study session, he had found himself counting the smattering of freckles on Ginny's cute nose.... But tonight, it was her hair. The way it glinted in the dim lights in the library... The shine of her hair as she flicked it out of her face... The way the one strand kept falling into her face despite her efforts at holding it back... The way he wanted to push that strand behind her ear, and nibble on her ear, and work his way from her ear, to her neck, before finally working his way up and capturing her cherry red lips with his own.....
Ginny Weasley was currently fascinated by Draco's eyes... Such a beautiful color, they glinted grey and silver and so many other unnameable colors in between... They were silver when he focused his intent glare on someone or something, but they were currently a cloudy grey.... Ginny found herself wondering what shade his eyes would be, as his head would bend down to capture her mouth with his.....
But she's a Weasley.... Draco thought.
But he's a Malfoy... Ginny thought.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and Ron were fighting.... Again... Harry was sitting, watching his two best friends with an amused smile on his handsome face. Ron's ears were turning redder and redder, and Hermione's cheeks were flushed red in anger... And Harry was amused, until they both turned to him, in unison... The glares they gave him wiped the smile off of his face in a hurry...
"What do you think is so funny, Harry?" Hermione said, with a glare.
"Yeah, Harry, what's so funny?" Ron also glared at Harry when he said this.
"Nothing, guys." Harry said. "I was just wondering what you two were fighting about now." Harry stated, as he looked at his two best friends.
"Quidditch" said Ron as Hermione said at the same time "House elves." Both looked at each other as they responded, then promptly began to argue about what they each had thought they were arguing about before.
"I give up." Harry muttered, as he left the common room and his two idiot friends behind. He decided to go search for Ginny, as she was the only one who currently made sense in his mixed up world. As he headed toward the library, he thought of the conversation he had with her the other day....
FLASHBACK "Uh, Ginny." He stuttered, as he looked down at the girl with a head of bright red hair that was almost as familiar to him as his own.
Harry was nervous. He was about to do something he never dreamed he would ever do. But lately, this girl, the younger sister of his best friend, was on his mind more and more....
"Yes, Harry." Ginny said, as she looked up from the book she was reading and focused her cinnamon brown eyes on his, and smiled at him.
Harry was very nervous. This was his best friends sister, was the only thought that kept running through his head.
He took a deep breath, and went for it....
"WillyougowithmetoHogsmeadethisweekend?" He said as quickly as he could, on that one deep breath. And he saw the look on Ginny's face.
Somehow, in all his imaginings, Harry never pictured Ginny with THAT look on her face. Sometimes, he pictured her giving him a bright smile, sometimes he imagined her giving him that worshipful look of days past and kissing him passionately, sometimes he pictured her hexing him like she had all those other boys, and sometimes he pictured her contempt, as she told him that he had missed his chance long ago, and told him to get lost.
But Ginny was looking at him with an expression that was an odd mix of shock and pity...
"Never mind" Harry had said, before Ginny could reply. "It was just a thought." He stated, as he started to back away.
"Wait, Harry." Ginny said, and Harry stopped. "You meant as friends, right Harry?" Ginny said.
"Yeah." Harry had mumbled as he looked down at his feet.
"Because I promised myself that I would only be friends with guys for a while, Harry." Ginny said honestly. "After all those broken hearts, I need some alone time to recover." Ginny told him, with a sad sigh. "So, yes, Harry, I'll go with you. Because you're my friend. And I KNOW you need a helper if you have to play referee between Hermione and Ron again." she said, with a slight laugh and a sparkling smile.
Harry had smiled at that, and said to Ginny "Yeah, the havoc those two caused at Zonko's last trip to Hogsmeade...."
PRESENT DAY, HOGWARTS LIBRARY
The students packed in the library waited, as they held their breath.... It was going to happen now... For Ginny Weasley had spilled her bottle of ink, and it had ran over the table, like a black serpent on a path that led directly to Draco Malfoy's lap, and puddled onto his immaculate new robes...
"I'm sorry, Draco." Ginny said. Because Ginny truly was sorry. This may be her enemy, but she was still the type of girl who felt badly when she accidently hurt someone, no matter who it was. Ginny waited, anticipating Draco's comments on how her father would have to use his yearly salary to pay for his robe, or some other similar comment.... But none came.....
Draco just looked at his lap, as the ink spread over his new robe, creating a humongous blob shape, and heard Ginny apologize. He was angry and upset, because this was the new robe his father had given him for his birthday, but, for the first time in his life, he made a choice on his own. He didn't reply with a cold smile and cutting remark, like his father would have done, like his father would have wanted him to.
Draco looked at Ginny, and said "It's okay... I bet Snape knows a potion or two to clean it all up. Don't worry about it, okay?" He said to the worried girl.
Ginny heard Draco's words, and saw Draco saying them, but she was still unable to process what he was saying. She kept waiting for him to change his mind... To yell at her, to tell her how stupid she was, to demand she pay for the robes then and there.... But, to Ginny's surprise, it never came.
"Thank you." Ginny said, as she gave Draco a brilliant smile. As Draco looked at her, with her beautifully warm smile, he couldn't help thinking "it this is the reward I get, maybe I'll be nice more often."
As it happened, Draco Malfoy wasn't the only one who saw Ginny's brilliant smile. And the other person who saw it, and saw who it was directed at was not happy. So, Harry went over to rescue Ginny.
"Hi Gin." Harry said, as he headed over to the table. Harry of course ignored Malfoy. "Still studying with the enemy, I see?" Harry said, with a cold glance in Draco's general direction.
"Hi, Harry. What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, giving Harry a friendly smile.
"Just looking for you, Ginny." Harry said. During this exchange, neither Ginny or Harry noticed the glowering looks being directed at them from Ginny's study mate.
"What's up, Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Just wanted to see if you had time to go out to the Quidditch field with me, Gin." Harry said. At the use of the shortened version of her name, the silver glare focusing on Ginny and Harry turned the color of ice, as it focused on Harry. "Sorry, Harry, I have to help Draco. I spilled ink on him, you see." Ginny said.
"Don't bother." Draco stated. "Go off with your boyfriend."
Ginny didn't bother arguing that Harry wasn't her boyfriend (although she didn't understand why she felt the urge to.... This was Malfoy, for Merlin's sake...) She just looked at Draco, and saw the familiar penetrating coldness in his silver eyes, and knew that the small moment of humanity she had glimpsed in Draco was over.
"Sure, then, Harry." She said. "I'm sorry again about the ink." She said to Draco, as she got up to leave. Draco just glared at her in response.
As Ginny and Harry left the library, neither one noticed the angry silver eyes following their every move.
And deep within Draco, that familiar feeling of jealousy he felt when he thought about Harry grew and grew..... Harry had parents who loved him so much they sacrificed their lives for him, friends who would do anything for him, surrogate parents like Hagrid and Dumbledore and the Weasleys who loved him like he was their own son, and now, the love of a red haired girl... The love of the girl, the special girl that Draco finally realized he has longed to have for himself... But Draco now knew he never would.....
Fate watched, and wiped a tear from her eye. Draco wasn't supposed to give up so easily, especially when he finally realized he was in love Ginny. And Harry was not supposed to be so persistent in is pursuit of Ginny. This was not going as she had planned.... But fate was resilient, and always had a backup plan, and if ever there was a time for backup plan, it was now...
Coming up: What is fate's back-up plan? And will Ginny and Draco survive it? And how will fate take care of Harry? Find out in Chapter 10, "Harry Potter Versus Fate"
The Least Likely Prince Charming
Chapter 9
"Studying with the Enemy"
It was 6:30 on a Thursday evening, and the library was crowded. Certainly more crowded than it ever is on an evening hour. Most students (if they are actually going to study) prefer to do their homework in the common room of their respective house. The students who hardly ever study (except for 12:30 the night before the test or paper was due) usually spent their time in more interesting places. But tonight, the library was filled with studiers and non-studiers alike, as the library was known throughout the school as the place to be from 6:00 - 8:00 every night. Because in the library, at a small table in a far corner, crowded in among some of the shelves of dusty books, was the "entertainment".
Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy were blissfully unaware of their status as the show to watch among the Hogwarts' students. They spent most of their time in the library in a strange dance that neither one of them quite understood. They did not really talk to each other, but would occasionally ask each other for help on difficult homework questions with shy voices and averted eyes. The rest of the time was spent giving each other quick glances, then pretending to be absorbed in reading their books. And the whole time they spent in their dance, the student body watched, and waited for the inevitable fight that would occur....
But it hadn't happened yet.... So quite a few of the students spent their every available evening in the library, hoping that IT would happen... But it didn't.... But they kept coming back, tortured by thoughts of "if I don't go, it will happen tonight, and I will miss it...." Needless to say, student grades on tests dramatically increased during the period of Draco and Ginny's studying detention, and Snape spent his free time during this period of time on the lookout for the student cheating ring he was convinced Harry Potter had established....
This Thursday night, Ginny and Draco were again seated together at their table, pretending to study. Each one, however, was more focused on something else other than the book he or she was supposed to be reading.
Draco was currently obsessed with Ginny's hair. It seemed to Draco that every night he had a new obsession. Just the previous study session, he had found himself counting the smattering of freckles on Ginny's cute nose.... But tonight, it was her hair. The way it glinted in the dim lights in the library... The shine of her hair as she flicked it out of her face... The way the one strand kept falling into her face despite her efforts at holding it back... The way he wanted to push that strand behind her ear, and nibble on her ear, and work his way from her ear, to her neck, before finally working his way up and capturing her cherry red lips with his own.....
Ginny Weasley was currently fascinated by Draco's eyes... Such a beautiful color, they glinted grey and silver and so many other unnameable colors in between... They were silver when he focused his intent glare on someone or something, but they were currently a cloudy grey.... Ginny found herself wondering what shade his eyes would be, as his head would bend down to capture her mouth with his.....
But she's a Weasley.... Draco thought.
But he's a Malfoy... Ginny thought.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and Ron were fighting.... Again... Harry was sitting, watching his two best friends with an amused smile on his handsome face. Ron's ears were turning redder and redder, and Hermione's cheeks were flushed red in anger... And Harry was amused, until they both turned to him, in unison... The glares they gave him wiped the smile off of his face in a hurry...
"What do you think is so funny, Harry?" Hermione said, with a glare.
"Yeah, Harry, what's so funny?" Ron also glared at Harry when he said this.
"Nothing, guys." Harry said. "I was just wondering what you two were fighting about now." Harry stated, as he looked at his two best friends.
"Quidditch" said Ron as Hermione said at the same time "House elves." Both looked at each other as they responded, then promptly began to argue about what they each had thought they were arguing about before.
"I give up." Harry muttered, as he left the common room and his two idiot friends behind. He decided to go search for Ginny, as she was the only one who currently made sense in his mixed up world. As he headed toward the library, he thought of the conversation he had with her the other day....
FLASHBACK "Uh, Ginny." He stuttered, as he looked down at the girl with a head of bright red hair that was almost as familiar to him as his own.
Harry was nervous. He was about to do something he never dreamed he would ever do. But lately, this girl, the younger sister of his best friend, was on his mind more and more....
"Yes, Harry." Ginny said, as she looked up from the book she was reading and focused her cinnamon brown eyes on his, and smiled at him.
Harry was very nervous. This was his best friends sister, was the only thought that kept running through his head.
He took a deep breath, and went for it....
"WillyougowithmetoHogsmeadethisweekend?" He said as quickly as he could, on that one deep breath. And he saw the look on Ginny's face.
Somehow, in all his imaginings, Harry never pictured Ginny with THAT look on her face. Sometimes, he pictured her giving him a bright smile, sometimes he imagined her giving him that worshipful look of days past and kissing him passionately, sometimes he pictured her hexing him like she had all those other boys, and sometimes he pictured her contempt, as she told him that he had missed his chance long ago, and told him to get lost.
But Ginny was looking at him with an expression that was an odd mix of shock and pity...
"Never mind" Harry had said, before Ginny could reply. "It was just a thought." He stated, as he started to back away.
"Wait, Harry." Ginny said, and Harry stopped. "You meant as friends, right Harry?" Ginny said.
"Yeah." Harry had mumbled as he looked down at his feet.
"Because I promised myself that I would only be friends with guys for a while, Harry." Ginny said honestly. "After all those broken hearts, I need some alone time to recover." Ginny told him, with a sad sigh. "So, yes, Harry, I'll go with you. Because you're my friend. And I KNOW you need a helper if you have to play referee between Hermione and Ron again." she said, with a slight laugh and a sparkling smile.
Harry had smiled at that, and said to Ginny "Yeah, the havoc those two caused at Zonko's last trip to Hogsmeade...."
PRESENT DAY, HOGWARTS LIBRARY
The students packed in the library waited, as they held their breath.... It was going to happen now... For Ginny Weasley had spilled her bottle of ink, and it had ran over the table, like a black serpent on a path that led directly to Draco Malfoy's lap, and puddled onto his immaculate new robes...
"I'm sorry, Draco." Ginny said. Because Ginny truly was sorry. This may be her enemy, but she was still the type of girl who felt badly when she accidently hurt someone, no matter who it was. Ginny waited, anticipating Draco's comments on how her father would have to use his yearly salary to pay for his robe, or some other similar comment.... But none came.....
Draco just looked at his lap, as the ink spread over his new robe, creating a humongous blob shape, and heard Ginny apologize. He was angry and upset, because this was the new robe his father had given him for his birthday, but, for the first time in his life, he made a choice on his own. He didn't reply with a cold smile and cutting remark, like his father would have done, like his father would have wanted him to.
Draco looked at Ginny, and said "It's okay... I bet Snape knows a potion or two to clean it all up. Don't worry about it, okay?" He said to the worried girl.
Ginny heard Draco's words, and saw Draco saying them, but she was still unable to process what he was saying. She kept waiting for him to change his mind... To yell at her, to tell her how stupid she was, to demand she pay for the robes then and there.... But, to Ginny's surprise, it never came.
"Thank you." Ginny said, as she gave Draco a brilliant smile. As Draco looked at her, with her beautifully warm smile, he couldn't help thinking "it this is the reward I get, maybe I'll be nice more often."
As it happened, Draco Malfoy wasn't the only one who saw Ginny's brilliant smile. And the other person who saw it, and saw who it was directed at was not happy. So, Harry went over to rescue Ginny.
"Hi Gin." Harry said, as he headed over to the table. Harry of course ignored Malfoy. "Still studying with the enemy, I see?" Harry said, with a cold glance in Draco's general direction.
"Hi, Harry. What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, giving Harry a friendly smile.
"Just looking for you, Ginny." Harry said. During this exchange, neither Ginny or Harry noticed the glowering looks being directed at them from Ginny's study mate.
"What's up, Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Just wanted to see if you had time to go out to the Quidditch field with me, Gin." Harry said. At the use of the shortened version of her name, the silver glare focusing on Ginny and Harry turned the color of ice, as it focused on Harry. "Sorry, Harry, I have to help Draco. I spilled ink on him, you see." Ginny said.
"Don't bother." Draco stated. "Go off with your boyfriend."
Ginny didn't bother arguing that Harry wasn't her boyfriend (although she didn't understand why she felt the urge to.... This was Malfoy, for Merlin's sake...) She just looked at Draco, and saw the familiar penetrating coldness in his silver eyes, and knew that the small moment of humanity she had glimpsed in Draco was over.
"Sure, then, Harry." She said. "I'm sorry again about the ink." She said to Draco, as she got up to leave. Draco just glared at her in response.
As Ginny and Harry left the library, neither one noticed the angry silver eyes following their every move.
And deep within Draco, that familiar feeling of jealousy he felt when he thought about Harry grew and grew..... Harry had parents who loved him so much they sacrificed their lives for him, friends who would do anything for him, surrogate parents like Hagrid and Dumbledore and the Weasleys who loved him like he was their own son, and now, the love of a red haired girl... The love of the girl, the special girl that Draco finally realized he has longed to have for himself... But Draco now knew he never would.....
Fate watched, and wiped a tear from her eye. Draco wasn't supposed to give up so easily, especially when he finally realized he was in love Ginny. And Harry was not supposed to be so persistent in is pursuit of Ginny. This was not going as she had planned.... But fate was resilient, and always had a backup plan, and if ever there was a time for backup plan, it was now...
Coming up: What is fate's back-up plan? And will Ginny and Draco survive it? And how will fate take care of Harry? Find out in Chapter 10, "Harry Potter Versus Fate"