Disclaimer: Don't own it, yada, yada, yada.....
A/N: Thanks for the reviews.... They are greatly appreciated. To all my loyal readers, THANK YOU!!! When I first started writing this, I was really nervous about posting it and stuff, but most of the reviews you guys give me keep me going... Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!!!! Anyway, I'm sorry about my attempts at love notes in the last chapter... I'm not a poet, so I guess Draco isn't either.... Anyway, Enough about me, lets see what Fate has in store for Draco and Ginny!!!
Last time, we had secret admirers, Draco/Ginny angst, and fate devising yet another plan....
So, what will happen next? If this a Cinderella story, don't you think it is time for the fairy godmother to show up? Who will the fairy godmother be, and will she (or he) help or hurt our fair couple's budding romance?
Find out now.....
The Least Likely Prince Charming
Chapter 13
The Least Likely Fairy Godmother
Ginny Weasley sat on her bed, and contemplated the box in front of her. Like any other girl, Ginny had a box of "keepsakes" given to her by her numerous ex-boyfriends. When the relationship ended, the things she could not bear to look at, but could not let herself throw away, were all shoved into this one box, and hidden in the dark corner of her trunk, only to be taken out and shoved in that dark corner far underneath her bed when as she unpacked.
Ginny was about to add more items to the box, and she didn't know why..... Why couldn't she make herself throw away the letters or the note that the prat, Draco Malfoy had sent her as a sick kind of joke? And why did she feel so excited by the foolish thought of him liking her, that thought that had crossed her mind before she realized the truth of the secret admirer gag... And why did she still feel so incredibly hurt by it, when she knew that it was just Draco being Draco....
Truthfully, Ginny didn't quite know the answers to any of these questions, and that scared her... A lot.... Because the only thing that all of this added up to, was the one thing that could NOT be true.... could it? Could Ginny Weasley have a crush on Draco MALFOY?
Meanwhile, as Ginny sat realizing some things that she really did not want to, Hermione was on her way to visit her wayward friend. For you see, Hermione had lied to her two best friends when she said she didn't think that Ginny and Draco liked each other. Because Hermione knew her two best friends, and she knew if she had clued them into the strange behavior she had observed that day in the library, and what it most likely meant..... Well, needless to say, Ginny would spend her days locked in her room, and Ron and Harry would have been expelled or in prison for killing Malfoy..... So, Hermione had kept her mouth shut and encouraged to boys to leave Ginny alone, so that Hermione herself could attempt to reason with Ginny, and talk her out of whatever unwilling attraction she may be feeling for Malfoy.
These were Hermione's thoughts as she searched for Ginny. Hermione spent a little bit of time searching, and, as always, it was the last place she looked that she found Ginny. Ginny was alone in her room when she found her.
"Ginny, can we talk?" Hermione asked, hesitantly as she observed the girl reading a letter as she sat on her bed.
Ginny jumped when she heard Hermione's voice, and quickly hid the letter she was reading in the nearest place she could find, which happened to be one of her school books.
"Sure, Hermione." Ginny said, and smiled nervously at her friend.
Hermione was curious about the letter Ginny was reading, but didn't mention it, as it was obvious Ginny didn't want to talk about it. And Hermione had more important things to talk to Ginny about....
"Ginny, I know you told us to stay out of it, but I wanted to ask you what is going on between you and Malfoy again, without Harry and your brother around to "help". Do you have a crush on Malfoy?" Hermione asked, and observed Ginny's reaction. What she saw was a slight blush of embarrassment, and a girl who was avoiding looking her in the eye as she answered.
"Yes." Was all Ginny said, as she avoided looking in Hermione's eyes, and felt the slight blush, which was the curse of her redhead complexion, stain her cheeks.
"Ginny!!! You can't like Draco Malfoy!! Think about what he has done and said to us. His father is in Azkaban for trying to kill us. His family Voldemort's most loyal supporters!!" Hermione started her tirade, but was interrupted by Ginny as soon as she took a breath.
"Hermione, you aren't telling me anything I don't already know. But just let it alone! I know that I shouldn't have a crush on him. I know all the reasons why. And it's not like he would ever return my feelings anyway, so why don't you just let me work through this on my own?" Ginny said calmly.
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Yes, I have." Ginny said. "To me, he's like candy. Something you know you shouldn't have but something you crave. But I can stop myself from eating a lot of candy, and I'll stop myself from feeling this way about Draco Malfoy." Ginny said, stubbornly.
"Ok, Ginny. But do me a favor. Stay away from the temptation. He may not be as indifferent to you as you would like to think. And I don't want you to get hurt." Hermione said.
"Yeah, right Hermione. If you think he might have a crush on me, it was all part of his little "joke"." Ginny said.
"What joke?" Hermione asked.
"Never mind." Ginny said with a sigh. "I have to go to Potions class, now, and it's too long of a story to explain right now."
"Well, tell me about it later." Hermione said, and resolved to find Ginny later and make her tell about the "joke", whatever it was.
"Ok." Ginny said with no intention of doing so, as she grabbed her books and put them in her backpack.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was doing his prefect duties. He was walking through the hallways, as he was supposed to be the hall monitor for this time of day. In the old days, Draco would have entertained himself by writing up as many of the students from other houses as he could. But now.... Well now the professors were lucky if he wrote up one person.
Severus Snape was observing his favorite student going through the hallway, and walking past quite a few blatant rule violations by the other students, and knew something was wrong. So, he decided to do something he rarely did for any student, except for a few select ones in the Slytherin House. He decided to find out what was wrong, and see if he could help.
"Malfoy!" He said loudly, and waited patiently for the student to stop and acknowledge him. But Draco didn't even pause in his slow, trudging step.
"Draco Malfoy!" Snape called more loudly.
As if from a distance, Draco heard someone calling his name, but he kept walking through the hallway, in no mood to talk to anyone. Then he heard his name, said more loudly, and recognized the irritated tone as Professor Snape's. He stopped and turned around slowly.
"Yes, Professor Snape." He said, as he face his professor.
"Come with me Malfoy. We need to have a discussion about your prefect duties." Snape said, quietly.
Snape led Malfoy to his office, which was located in the back of the potions classroom. He sat behind his desk, and motioned for Malfoy to sit in the chair across from him.
"Mr. Malfoy, it has come to my attention that you have lost that special talent you had in the past for your prefect duties. I was wondering if you would care to explain why, instead of being the prefect with the most write- ups like you used to be, you have the least write-ups, next the Weasley, who of course should have never been made a prefect in the first place." Snape said, with a sneer in his voice as he mentioned Ron.
"I don't know why, Professor." Malfoy said, quietly.
At this point, a disruption was heard in the classroom outside as the sixth years started to wander in and find their seats.
"Draco, I have a class to teach now, but I will find you later, and you had better give me a good reason why." Snape said as he dismissed him.
Snape gathered his notes, and quickly headed out to the classroom. "Can't let those students alone for a second, or they'll tear the place apart." He thought to himself.
As he walked out, he observed something rather odd. Draco Malfoy was leaving the classroom, as that youngest Weasley girl was entering, and they had accidently run into each other. This sight would have been normal enough, given the string of unfortunate accidents the two had been having lately. But what was odd was the two students reactions. Draco Malfoy looked at the girl with a very strange look on his face, which if Snape didn't know better, would have thought it was a look of longing! And Draco Malfoy mumbled an APOLOGY as he quickly headed out the door. And the girl's reaction was just as strange. She BLUSHED!! And she avoided looking at Draco, to the extent of it being very obvious that she was avoiding looking at him. A sneaking suspicion about what the problem his student was having entered his head....
Ginny was gathering up her books after potions class when she heard her name called from the front of the room by the professor.
"Ginny Weasley, come to my office with me, please." He said.
A couple of her friends looked at her nervously, and gave her reassuring smiles. Everyone knew she had done nothing wrong in class today. "Harry and Ron probably ticked him off, and he's going to take it out on me" Ginny thought to herself, as she headed back to the Potions Master's office.
"Have as seat, Miss Weasley." Snape said, and gestured for her to sit.
Ginny was quiet as she sat down, and looked at the professor expectantly.
"Miss Weasley, I would like to know what you have done to Mr. Malfoy." Snape said. "What do you mean, what I have done to HIM?" Ginny retorted.
"Well, Miss Weasley, I can only conclude that his recent behavior change is due to something you had done to him. Mixing love potions, were you? I must admit it would be the perfect revenge for you to do to him for whatever imagined slights you and your "friends" may feel he has given you." Snape said, in his oiliest voice.
"Professor Snape, I'll have you know that if anybody was trying that trick, it would be MALFOY! He's the one sending "love letters" to try to trick me." Ginny spat out, indignantly.
"Well, Miss Weasley, love potions have a serious affect like that. A person under the influence of one will send the person who made it love letters." Snape said, snidely.
Ginny was getting furious. This was ridiculous! To accuse her of toying with Malfoy's feelings!!! But what if Malfoy was serious when he sent the love letters and stuff? Wouldn't she have been toying with his feelings when she told him off like she did? Suddenly, the more she thought about it, Ginny wasn't quite sure what happened in the Astronomy tower....
"You do know that making love potions has serious consequences at this school?" Snape said to the girl.
"I wasn't making any love potions. If you really want to know, PROFESSOR, Malfoy started sending me secret admirer letters. Only I didn't know it was him. After a whole bunch of these beautiful letters and gifts, the "Secret Admirer" wanted to meet me in the astronomy tower. See, here's that letter." Ginny said as she grabbed it out of her book, where she had placed it earlier in an attempt to hide it from Hermione's prying eyes.
Snape read the letter she handed to him, as Ginny continued the story.
"Anyway, I got to the tower, thinking it was probably Harry's last ditch attempt to get me to think of him as more than a friend, and completely expecting to have to turn him down again. But who would show up, with the other glass slipper, but Draco, in some attempt at a joke. So if anyone was playing with feelings, it was Draco playing with MINE." Ginny stated.
Snape hid a smile behind his stern look. Weasley's were so easy to prod into giving out the whole story... That Weasley temper was so easy to set off.... But Snape didn't bat an eye as he continued to ream out the Weasley girl. After all, you sometimes had to help out it the sneakiest of ways... Especially when telling her the truth wouldn't work out as well as making her realize it on her own.
"So, you're saying Draco and some of his friends were in the tower, laughing at you?" Snape asked, quietly.
"Well.... No." Ginny said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"And Draco told all the school about how he tricked you up there, afterward?" Snape asked, with a sneer.
"Well.... No...." Ginny mumbled again.
"And Draco plagued you ever since that day, with snide remarks and comments about your gullibility?" Snape questioned again.
"Well... No, he's been avoiding looking at me ever since...." Ginny whispered....
"And why should you care about it anyway? It's not as if Draco is someone YOU could like..." Snape said sarcastically.
The confusion on Ginny's face cleared, as she looked up at Snape with a breathtaking smile.
"You know, Snape, if I ever write a book about this, you'll be the fairy godfather...." Ginny said, as she jumped up, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, ignoring the strange look on his face as she left the room.
Snape shook his head, after the girl ran out. Must be something about those red heads, that melts even the iciest of hearts, he thought, as he reminisced about the red head he had loved, but had never had a real chance with because of his own stupidity and her great love for someone else, and how just loving her had changed him and his destiny.....
Fate smiled as she watched Snape reminiscence about the girl he loved.... It was never his fate to have her, as fate had had far different, greater plans for her... But fate knew that his ill fated love would cause him to want to help someone else like him, and he did try to help..... Now Fate was waiting anxiously to see if her fairy godfather's interference worked.....
Coming up: Where was Ginny going in such a hurry? Did our fairy godfather's plan work? We'll all just have to wait and see what happens next in Chapter 14 "Ten Ways to Charm a Prince."
A/N: The whole Snape thing (about the red haired girl he had loved) was based on the premise of what I believe will be revealed in future Harry Potter books.... I believe that in Harry's parent's later school years, that Snape had fallen in love with Lily, and that is another reason he hates Harry and his father so much..... And when he found out that Voldemort was going to kill Lily and James, is when he turned to be a spy for Dumbledore.... But that's all my speculation, and it probably won't happen, but that's just always the way I have pictured Snape in my characterizations of him..... Plus, in this story, it helps the plot because it gives him a reason to try to help Draco get the girl (you know, trying to help his favorite student get the girl, not repeat the mistakes he made in the past, etc...) I do believe that Snape sees a lot of himself in Draco, thus the whole favorite student thing....
A/N: Thanks for the reviews.... They are greatly appreciated. To all my loyal readers, THANK YOU!!! When I first started writing this, I was really nervous about posting it and stuff, but most of the reviews you guys give me keep me going... Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!!!! Anyway, I'm sorry about my attempts at love notes in the last chapter... I'm not a poet, so I guess Draco isn't either.... Anyway, Enough about me, lets see what Fate has in store for Draco and Ginny!!!
Last time, we had secret admirers, Draco/Ginny angst, and fate devising yet another plan....
So, what will happen next? If this a Cinderella story, don't you think it is time for the fairy godmother to show up? Who will the fairy godmother be, and will she (or he) help or hurt our fair couple's budding romance?
Find out now.....
The Least Likely Prince Charming
Chapter 13
The Least Likely Fairy Godmother
Ginny Weasley sat on her bed, and contemplated the box in front of her. Like any other girl, Ginny had a box of "keepsakes" given to her by her numerous ex-boyfriends. When the relationship ended, the things she could not bear to look at, but could not let herself throw away, were all shoved into this one box, and hidden in the dark corner of her trunk, only to be taken out and shoved in that dark corner far underneath her bed when as she unpacked.
Ginny was about to add more items to the box, and she didn't know why..... Why couldn't she make herself throw away the letters or the note that the prat, Draco Malfoy had sent her as a sick kind of joke? And why did she feel so excited by the foolish thought of him liking her, that thought that had crossed her mind before she realized the truth of the secret admirer gag... And why did she still feel so incredibly hurt by it, when she knew that it was just Draco being Draco....
Truthfully, Ginny didn't quite know the answers to any of these questions, and that scared her... A lot.... Because the only thing that all of this added up to, was the one thing that could NOT be true.... could it? Could Ginny Weasley have a crush on Draco MALFOY?
Meanwhile, as Ginny sat realizing some things that she really did not want to, Hermione was on her way to visit her wayward friend. For you see, Hermione had lied to her two best friends when she said she didn't think that Ginny and Draco liked each other. Because Hermione knew her two best friends, and she knew if she had clued them into the strange behavior she had observed that day in the library, and what it most likely meant..... Well, needless to say, Ginny would spend her days locked in her room, and Ron and Harry would have been expelled or in prison for killing Malfoy..... So, Hermione had kept her mouth shut and encouraged to boys to leave Ginny alone, so that Hermione herself could attempt to reason with Ginny, and talk her out of whatever unwilling attraction she may be feeling for Malfoy.
These were Hermione's thoughts as she searched for Ginny. Hermione spent a little bit of time searching, and, as always, it was the last place she looked that she found Ginny. Ginny was alone in her room when she found her.
"Ginny, can we talk?" Hermione asked, hesitantly as she observed the girl reading a letter as she sat on her bed.
Ginny jumped when she heard Hermione's voice, and quickly hid the letter she was reading in the nearest place she could find, which happened to be one of her school books.
"Sure, Hermione." Ginny said, and smiled nervously at her friend.
Hermione was curious about the letter Ginny was reading, but didn't mention it, as it was obvious Ginny didn't want to talk about it. And Hermione had more important things to talk to Ginny about....
"Ginny, I know you told us to stay out of it, but I wanted to ask you what is going on between you and Malfoy again, without Harry and your brother around to "help". Do you have a crush on Malfoy?" Hermione asked, and observed Ginny's reaction. What she saw was a slight blush of embarrassment, and a girl who was avoiding looking her in the eye as she answered.
"Yes." Was all Ginny said, as she avoided looking in Hermione's eyes, and felt the slight blush, which was the curse of her redhead complexion, stain her cheeks.
"Ginny!!! You can't like Draco Malfoy!! Think about what he has done and said to us. His father is in Azkaban for trying to kill us. His family Voldemort's most loyal supporters!!" Hermione started her tirade, but was interrupted by Ginny as soon as she took a breath.
"Hermione, you aren't telling me anything I don't already know. But just let it alone! I know that I shouldn't have a crush on him. I know all the reasons why. And it's not like he would ever return my feelings anyway, so why don't you just let me work through this on my own?" Ginny said calmly.
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"Yes, I have." Ginny said. "To me, he's like candy. Something you know you shouldn't have but something you crave. But I can stop myself from eating a lot of candy, and I'll stop myself from feeling this way about Draco Malfoy." Ginny said, stubbornly.
"Ok, Ginny. But do me a favor. Stay away from the temptation. He may not be as indifferent to you as you would like to think. And I don't want you to get hurt." Hermione said.
"Yeah, right Hermione. If you think he might have a crush on me, it was all part of his little "joke"." Ginny said.
"What joke?" Hermione asked.
"Never mind." Ginny said with a sigh. "I have to go to Potions class, now, and it's too long of a story to explain right now."
"Well, tell me about it later." Hermione said, and resolved to find Ginny later and make her tell about the "joke", whatever it was.
"Ok." Ginny said with no intention of doing so, as she grabbed her books and put them in her backpack.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was doing his prefect duties. He was walking through the hallways, as he was supposed to be the hall monitor for this time of day. In the old days, Draco would have entertained himself by writing up as many of the students from other houses as he could. But now.... Well now the professors were lucky if he wrote up one person.
Severus Snape was observing his favorite student going through the hallway, and walking past quite a few blatant rule violations by the other students, and knew something was wrong. So, he decided to do something he rarely did for any student, except for a few select ones in the Slytherin House. He decided to find out what was wrong, and see if he could help.
"Malfoy!" He said loudly, and waited patiently for the student to stop and acknowledge him. But Draco didn't even pause in his slow, trudging step.
"Draco Malfoy!" Snape called more loudly.
As if from a distance, Draco heard someone calling his name, but he kept walking through the hallway, in no mood to talk to anyone. Then he heard his name, said more loudly, and recognized the irritated tone as Professor Snape's. He stopped and turned around slowly.
"Yes, Professor Snape." He said, as he face his professor.
"Come with me Malfoy. We need to have a discussion about your prefect duties." Snape said, quietly.
Snape led Malfoy to his office, which was located in the back of the potions classroom. He sat behind his desk, and motioned for Malfoy to sit in the chair across from him.
"Mr. Malfoy, it has come to my attention that you have lost that special talent you had in the past for your prefect duties. I was wondering if you would care to explain why, instead of being the prefect with the most write- ups like you used to be, you have the least write-ups, next the Weasley, who of course should have never been made a prefect in the first place." Snape said, with a sneer in his voice as he mentioned Ron.
"I don't know why, Professor." Malfoy said, quietly.
At this point, a disruption was heard in the classroom outside as the sixth years started to wander in and find their seats.
"Draco, I have a class to teach now, but I will find you later, and you had better give me a good reason why." Snape said as he dismissed him.
Snape gathered his notes, and quickly headed out to the classroom. "Can't let those students alone for a second, or they'll tear the place apart." He thought to himself.
As he walked out, he observed something rather odd. Draco Malfoy was leaving the classroom, as that youngest Weasley girl was entering, and they had accidently run into each other. This sight would have been normal enough, given the string of unfortunate accidents the two had been having lately. But what was odd was the two students reactions. Draco Malfoy looked at the girl with a very strange look on his face, which if Snape didn't know better, would have thought it was a look of longing! And Draco Malfoy mumbled an APOLOGY as he quickly headed out the door. And the girl's reaction was just as strange. She BLUSHED!! And she avoided looking at Draco, to the extent of it being very obvious that she was avoiding looking at him. A sneaking suspicion about what the problem his student was having entered his head....
Ginny was gathering up her books after potions class when she heard her name called from the front of the room by the professor.
"Ginny Weasley, come to my office with me, please." He said.
A couple of her friends looked at her nervously, and gave her reassuring smiles. Everyone knew she had done nothing wrong in class today. "Harry and Ron probably ticked him off, and he's going to take it out on me" Ginny thought to herself, as she headed back to the Potions Master's office.
"Have as seat, Miss Weasley." Snape said, and gestured for her to sit.
Ginny was quiet as she sat down, and looked at the professor expectantly.
"Miss Weasley, I would like to know what you have done to Mr. Malfoy." Snape said. "What do you mean, what I have done to HIM?" Ginny retorted.
"Well, Miss Weasley, I can only conclude that his recent behavior change is due to something you had done to him. Mixing love potions, were you? I must admit it would be the perfect revenge for you to do to him for whatever imagined slights you and your "friends" may feel he has given you." Snape said, in his oiliest voice.
"Professor Snape, I'll have you know that if anybody was trying that trick, it would be MALFOY! He's the one sending "love letters" to try to trick me." Ginny spat out, indignantly.
"Well, Miss Weasley, love potions have a serious affect like that. A person under the influence of one will send the person who made it love letters." Snape said, snidely.
Ginny was getting furious. This was ridiculous! To accuse her of toying with Malfoy's feelings!!! But what if Malfoy was serious when he sent the love letters and stuff? Wouldn't she have been toying with his feelings when she told him off like she did? Suddenly, the more she thought about it, Ginny wasn't quite sure what happened in the Astronomy tower....
"You do know that making love potions has serious consequences at this school?" Snape said to the girl.
"I wasn't making any love potions. If you really want to know, PROFESSOR, Malfoy started sending me secret admirer letters. Only I didn't know it was him. After a whole bunch of these beautiful letters and gifts, the "Secret Admirer" wanted to meet me in the astronomy tower. See, here's that letter." Ginny said as she grabbed it out of her book, where she had placed it earlier in an attempt to hide it from Hermione's prying eyes.
Snape read the letter she handed to him, as Ginny continued the story.
"Anyway, I got to the tower, thinking it was probably Harry's last ditch attempt to get me to think of him as more than a friend, and completely expecting to have to turn him down again. But who would show up, with the other glass slipper, but Draco, in some attempt at a joke. So if anyone was playing with feelings, it was Draco playing with MINE." Ginny stated.
Snape hid a smile behind his stern look. Weasley's were so easy to prod into giving out the whole story... That Weasley temper was so easy to set off.... But Snape didn't bat an eye as he continued to ream out the Weasley girl. After all, you sometimes had to help out it the sneakiest of ways... Especially when telling her the truth wouldn't work out as well as making her realize it on her own.
"So, you're saying Draco and some of his friends were in the tower, laughing at you?" Snape asked, quietly.
"Well.... No." Ginny said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"And Draco told all the school about how he tricked you up there, afterward?" Snape asked, with a sneer.
"Well.... No...." Ginny mumbled again.
"And Draco plagued you ever since that day, with snide remarks and comments about your gullibility?" Snape questioned again.
"Well... No, he's been avoiding looking at me ever since...." Ginny whispered....
"And why should you care about it anyway? It's not as if Draco is someone YOU could like..." Snape said sarcastically.
The confusion on Ginny's face cleared, as she looked up at Snape with a breathtaking smile.
"You know, Snape, if I ever write a book about this, you'll be the fairy godfather...." Ginny said, as she jumped up, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, ignoring the strange look on his face as she left the room.
Snape shook his head, after the girl ran out. Must be something about those red heads, that melts even the iciest of hearts, he thought, as he reminisced about the red head he had loved, but had never had a real chance with because of his own stupidity and her great love for someone else, and how just loving her had changed him and his destiny.....
Fate smiled as she watched Snape reminiscence about the girl he loved.... It was never his fate to have her, as fate had had far different, greater plans for her... But fate knew that his ill fated love would cause him to want to help someone else like him, and he did try to help..... Now Fate was waiting anxiously to see if her fairy godfather's interference worked.....
Coming up: Where was Ginny going in such a hurry? Did our fairy godfather's plan work? We'll all just have to wait and see what happens next in Chapter 14 "Ten Ways to Charm a Prince."
A/N: The whole Snape thing (about the red haired girl he had loved) was based on the premise of what I believe will be revealed in future Harry Potter books.... I believe that in Harry's parent's later school years, that Snape had fallen in love with Lily, and that is another reason he hates Harry and his father so much..... And when he found out that Voldemort was going to kill Lily and James, is when he turned to be a spy for Dumbledore.... But that's all my speculation, and it probably won't happen, but that's just always the way I have pictured Snape in my characterizations of him..... Plus, in this story, it helps the plot because it gives him a reason to try to help Draco get the girl (you know, trying to help his favorite student get the girl, not repeat the mistakes he made in the past, etc...) I do believe that Snape sees a lot of himself in Draco, thus the whole favorite student thing....