A/N: This story is set pre-HBP.
Fear not the flame of my love's candle
Let it be the sun in your world of darkness
Give unto me all that frightens you
I'll have your nightmares for you
If you sleep soundly
-Evanescence
As she got ready for breakfast, she noted the pained expression on Draco's face as he slept. She sighed with longing when she realized that she wanted to smother him with love, showing him that he could trust and confide in her. Yet, she feared that he would never open up to her again.
Chapter Four: Yet Another Setback
After mulling over her thoughts in silence that morning, Ginny looked around her in amusement. Never in a million years would she have imagined herself back at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after all this time. Already, she was returning to her long-forgotten morning routine…
Careful to avoid waking Draco, Ginny quietly slipped out from under the sheets. She looked back to make sure she hadn't woken him and blushed as scenes from the previous evening flooded back to her. However, instead of feeling humiliated over how she had acted, a smirk of satisfaction spread across her flushed face.
Ginny silently dressed after gathering her clothes, which had been thoughtlessly strewn throughout the room in their haste to be intimately close with each other. Once she was done, she walked back to the bed, where her lover still lay in dreamy slumber. She bent down to kiss his forehead and tucked the covers around him in a motherly fashion.
As she made her way out of Draco's room and into the common room, she cursed the dark, window-less dungeons. Hopefully, the sun hadn't risen yet and the rest of Slytherin were still fast asleep in their dormitories…
A slight grin graced Ginny's face as she remembered how her biggest worry then had been getting caught sneaking out of her boyfriend's bedroom. Looking back at Draco's sleeping form, she couldn't help but wonder when everything had become so complicated.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered Draco's sympathy and understanding when she'd first encountered him on that train to Hogwarts all those years ago. She'd been instinctively wary of his behaviour then, but she chose to ignore her feeling and assumed that he had miraculously transformed into an honest, compassionate man despite his reputation and his struggles.
Yet, now – 'Since before his father's escape,' she reminded herself - Draco had completely isolated himself from the rest of the world, and her. Ginevra couldn't understand how he could turn his back on her, for she was the only person who loved him unconditionally, despite his egotistical and cynical tendencies. More importantly, she had supported him and continued to love him throughout the entire ordeal with his maniacal father and his career as a Death Eater and spy for the Order of the Phoenix.
'Wouldn't he rather have me by his side and not face his father alone?' Ginny wondered as she fastened her long black robes. 'Can't he see that he's returned to his old ways and become the person that I loathed all those years ago?' With a frustrated huff, she continued, 'Why doesn't he trust me? All I've ever done is love him…'
Taking one last look in the mirror, she quieted her tumultuous thoughts on a despairing note. 'I thought coming here to teach at Hogwart's would bring us closer together, but if he continues to close himself up and get angry when I offer to help him, I don't know how we can continue like this.'
Without a backwards glance at her boyfriend, Ginny closed the door softly behind her and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast alone. After all, she and Draco barely talked to each other any more; another hour apart would hardly make a difference – even on their first day as professors.
Draco sat down next to Ginny at the Professor's table later that morning without a word. Ginny simply turned to talk to Professor McGonagall, giving Draco the cold shoulder and ignored his presence.
He sneered at the back of her head, but refused to retaliate when his stomach growled in protest, reminding him of his ever-growing hunger. He didn't eat much, but the fact that he scooped food onto his plate now was an improvement from his usual habit as of late.
After hearing of his father's escape and the return of Harry Potter to his and Ginny's lives, Draco could not handle food. The thought of Lucius being at large tormented Draco every waking moment. He knew very well that his father was probably plotting his demise at that moment. Draco's paranoia only seemed to worsen at the sight of Potter, and the antagonism between them and memories of Harry harassing and attacking Ginny did nothing to ease his fears. Furthermore, with Draco's new position as Professor of Potions and helping the Ministry in their efforts to locate his father, he could hardly find time for rest, let alone for nourishment.
As a result, when Draco did eat, his stomach would lurch and churn afterwards until he vomited it all up by the end of the day. Now that Ginny was in a snit, Draco knew that he would be vomiting once again today if he ate anything. Thus, he resigned himself to pushing his food around on his plate.
Draco was so preoccupied with his thoughts that it took a while for him to realize that the loud chatter in the Hall had quieted. Looking up, he saw Dumbledore standing before his seat in the centre of the Head Table, facing the students. Clearing his throat, the Headmaster began, "As I am sure you are all aware by now, we have two new instructors with us this morning. They are both former students, and have been kind enough to accept long-term placements here at Hogwarts. Professor Malfoy will be teaching Potions classes, while Professor Weasley will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures."
The students greeted their new teachers with rather unenthusiastic applause, for they had become accustomed to these introductions and were not expecting Draco and Ginny to stay any longer then the other professors who had come and gone this year.
Draco paid no attention to the applause, but took this opportunity to glance at Ginny; she looked somewhat relieved, like all of her stress and anxiety had suddenly been lifted. He turned his eyes away before Ginevra could catch him admiring her.
Once the applause died down, Dumbledore finished, "I expect that you will make their transition here a pleasant experience for all. Dismissed." At that moment, the warning bell for the first class resounded through the great expanse of the Hall. Students noisily began to pick up their things and file out of the room.
Draco rose slowly from his chair and stood stiffly, waiting for Ginny. Ginny, however, didn't even look at him as she stood up and made her way to a side door. She had almost disappeared from sight when Draco caught up with her and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. Upset that she was acting so childishly, Draco snapped, "What the hell is wrong with you lately?"
She glared at him and he smirked; he thought that he had finally won and she was about to admit that she had been difficult and was sorry for treating him so coldly. Thus, he wasn't prepared for the way she dropped her eyes sadly and whispered, "When you remember that I'm your girlfriend and you want to be honest and sincere with me, and can treat me like an adult and an equal, come and find me…"
She quickly turned and walked away from him, leaving Draco staring at her retreating figure with his mouth agape.
'That stupid bint,' Draco cursed as he watched angrily as the Great Hall quickly emptied leaving him alone for the second time that morning. 'Why does she always have to take things the wrong way? She is so infuriating!' He ruminated as he started his long trek to the dungeons.
'I was only trying to keep Ginevra safe by not telling her about the Aurors suspicions before my father escaped. I had to deal with all of that on my own for months – the possibility that my own father might come back to finish me off – and she goes off on me like I'm the bad guy!' Draco vented internally as he turned a cold, dark corner of the familiar dungeon corridor.
"So I haven't been telling her everything recently – that doesn't mean she can treat me like shit and then blame all of her problems on me! She is so infuriating!" Draco fumed just loud enough for his nasty comments pique Peeves' curiosity.
"Is there trouble in paradise?" Peeves began in a sickeningly sweet voice. Draco looked up in shock as he continued, "Oh, how the ickle students will love to hear gossip like this about their two new professors!"
Draco's face paled at the thought of being laughed at by his own students. "Peeves, don't you dare!" he threatened in a loud voice.
"Or better yet," Peeves continued in a sing-song voice, "if only your father could see you now…" He cackled viciously as he merrily glided through the nearest stonewall. Draco lunged, and his outstretched fingers only just missed him.
Ginny entered her classroom to find a raucous group of students chatting amongst each other, completely disregarding her presence. Still annoyed with Draco, she strode to the front of the room, cleared her throat noisily, and demanded, "Silence!"
Every student's mouth dropped in surprise at their newest Professor's show of authority, and they settled down meekly, not daring to test her patience. Ginny glowered at them with her hands on her hips – if Molly Weasley could have seen her daughter at this moment, she would have been proud.
Ginny gazed at the group of fifth-year Gryffindors and Slytherins as they watched her expectantly, and suddenly remembered her time as a student. Her thoughts drifted to Hagrid – her favourite teacher. Her eyes pricked with oncoming tears as her thoughts drifted to the war and his horrible death, but she quickly stemmed them, not wanting to betray any weakness for her students to exploit.
"Hello everyone," she began in a steady, calm voice. "As you know, my name is Professor Weasley, and I am sure you have already discovered I am Professor Ron Weasley's younger sister. As such, I am confident that you will show me the same respect that you show him."
These comments ignited a low murmur, but were quickly brought to a halt when Ginny continued, "Now, I do not know what you have been studying up until this point, so we will start with a review of the basics."
She turned and waved her wand at the blackboard, where notes appeared in her own writing. The rustle of parchment and the scratching of quills met her ears as she began to lecture her students. The fluency and simplicity of her actions allowed her to finally relax.
Despite her awful morning, Ginny's mood soared when she realized that she might just love this new job.
Draco, on the other hand, entered his first class seething. He slammed the classroom door shut behind him, causing the second-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in his class to quiet down. They watched him warily as he strode purposefully to the front of the room, and the uncomfortable silence was only broken when Draco gritted out, "Page one hundred and nine… Now!" He added the last command after he had whirled around and only saw frightened students sitting motionless before him.
Throughout the lesson, Draco was terrifyingly reminiscent of Professor Snape, although he was completely unaware of it. His rage against his girlfriend caused him to reprimand his students scathingly for every wrong answer. The sight of the Gryffindor students incited Draco's rage even further; he deducted more points from Gryffindor that day than Snape had ever deducted from Neville Longbottom.
As he watched his students working quietly, he sighed mentally in frustration. His first day as a Professor had gotten off to a rocky start, and what seemed to be a safe and worry-free stay at Hogwart's did not seem to be ending anytime soon…
After his final class that afternoon Draco sat at his new desk in his new classroom and brooded. All of the things he had worried about when he was a student at Hogwarts seemed so insignificant when compared to what he had seen and experienced in his life since then – death, murder, deceit, cruelty, revenge...
Shaking his head to stop those memories, Draco glared at the shelves upon shelves of odd jars and trinkets that littered the room. The dark, dank dungeons only seemed to worsen his mood, reminding him of his miserable life. In fact, it seemed that Hogwart's only served to remind Draco of his miserable life – 'Except for when you fell in love with Ginevra Weasley that is,' Draco's conscience prompted and Draco suddenly realized that just because he was reliving memories if his past at Hogwart's did not mean that he needed to revert to all of his angst-ridden and self-centred feelings from all those years ago.
Smirking, Draco added one last item to his mental list of things he had faced in his life, perhaps the most important one of all: "Love". He was spurred into action by that thought, and quickly stood up. Opening the door of his classroom, he blindly made his way upstairs and through the corridors, searching only for the person that made his life worth living…
A/N: Sorry this update took so long, but I had actually decided to stop writing Something Real due to lack of interest. However, my beta, Jawy, asked me to continue to write the story at least for her - so I did and decided to post it anyway.
I've made some major changes to the plot for the rest of the story because it was far too predictable. I figured if I was bored writing it, you would be bored reading it and I will give you a hint about what's coming - I've never read an ending like the one I have planned. So please read and review and I promise the next update will be much more exciting - this is just establishing the setting, conflict, etc. for the upcoming chapters! Let me know what you think...
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