This fanfic brought to you by: The Wonderful World of Harry Potter, a universe by J K Rowling. She gets the credit, not me.
Chapter Three: Staying Grounded
The next day, Ginny found it strangely easy to concentrate on her lessons. Her Charms class was unusually distracting, as they were learning how to perform Cheering Charms. Colin and Ginny had been paired together, as usual, and Colin had been completely overenthusiastic with his wand, causing Ginny to go into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. As her Care of Magical Creatures lesson involved feeding Kneasle Hawks, which could become violent if manhandled, so the Gryffindors had to work hard to control the animals.
Ginny managed to keep other things on her mind until dinner, where Hermione sat next to her, saying things like "Remember to keep your pants on," causing Ginny to playfully smack her on the shoulder.
Nine o'clock came too soon. Ginny had shimmied into her jeans and pink sweater and was dashing down the stairs to the dungeon, knocking on the dungeon door.
"Come in," Snape called. Ginny entered, and Snape stood in front of his desk.
"You're late, again, Miss Weasely," Snape said. Ginny started to explain, but Snape cut her off. "I don't want to hear whatever excuse you have." he said, stepping closer to her. "I want you to help me clean my office." He stepped away from her, moving to a statue of a gargoyle. He muttered something, and the gargoyle shuffled aside, revealing a stone archway which led to a bedroom. Snape turned to look at Ginny, raising an eyebrow.
Ginny didn't expect this. "C-can't I just finish up the cauldrons?"
Snape let out a harsh laugh. "I finished them myself this afternoon, due to your lacking skills." He watched her, thinking, "What, are you frightened of my office?"
"No," Ginny said a bit too quickly.
Snape laughed again. "Good," he muttered, motioning her to follow him.
Ginny followed the thin back into her teacher's chambers. He pointed at a very messy desk, saying "Clean this," before moving over to his wardrobe.
Ginny bent over the desk, moving the papers into the folder on the desk. She looked over some of the papers, most of which were ungraded homework assignments. She shoved them into the folder, which somehow never seemed to expand, absorbing all the papers into one flat envelope. She cleared the desktop's contents into four folders and wiped the sticky and dusty desktop with a bottle of Mrs. Scour's Magical Mess Remover that looked at least fifty years old. She opened a drawer to store the folders, and she spotted a scroll with a green seal on it. A skull with a snake emerging from the mouth was burnt into the wax, and the seal was unbroken. Ginny sunk down below the edge of the desk, trying to peel back the edge of the scroll, but she was stopped.
"What are you doing?" Snape asked, ripping the scroll out of her hands and pulling her to her feet by her arm, right next to his body.
Ginny blanched, feeling Snape's breath on her face. "I-I--"
Snape stared into her face, holding her gaze with his cold black eyes which were currently furious and terrifying.
"Do not," Snape hissed into Ginny's face, "go through my personal possessions." He pushed her back, causing her to flail into a shelf behind his desk, knocking several potions onto Ginny's head and shoulders. She immediately went dizzy, slumping against the wall.
"Foolish girl," Snape groaned, "could you possibly be. . ." But Ginny heard no more. Her ears started ringing oddly, as if she'd been hit over the head with one of Snape's cauldrons, and her vision went blurry. She felt herself fall forward onto the cold stone floor, and felt no more.