Chapter Six- Angry expressions
Colin crept slowly towards the trio as they sat in the common room that evening. Harry was telling them about the detention he finished with Snape. "I've scrubbed cauldrons before with magic, this time he made me use my own toothbrush!"
"Err, hi…" Colin said quietly hoping that he wasn't intruding.
"Oh, Colin," Harry said peering over at Ron and Hermione's amused faces, "Quidditch isn't till tomorrow. Can it wait till then?"
"Oh, no Harry, erm….I have to tell Ron something!" Colin exclaimed. He shifted his feet around looking anxious as the three looked on, confused. Ron shrugged his shoulders and went to follow Colin to a corner of the room.
"What is it Colin, I have a lot of homework to do tonight," Ron said anxiously.
"Well…..it's something I saw earlier. It has to do with Ginny."
"What!" Ron yelled. Most of the common room looked up at this and stared. "Oi, get back to work!" With that the common room went back to its usual hustle and bustle of the evening. "Get on with it mate."
"Well, it's just that….I was looking for Daveigh after lunch and Harry told me to check the library. I went in there and I looked all over but didn't see her. Instead, I saw the back of Ginny's head and I figure I'd give the notes I borrowed from Daveigh to her." Colin stopped.
"Ok, so what?"
"Well, she wasn't alone….she was with Malfoy." Colin went on to describe what he had seen. Ron's face which was always red turned several shades darker. He looked like steam was about to burst from his ears.
"He did what!" Ron screamed. The entire common room stopped and turned to the commotion. Colin took a few steps back towards Harry and Hermione.
Ginny walked towards the common room that evening in a daze. She couldn't believe the nerve of Malfoy! 'What makes him think that I was thinking of him?' Ginny thought to herself as she approached the fat lady's portrait. She told her the password ('Prim Peacocks') and entered the common room. What she saw made her want to turn around and run back out.
"What's going on?" she said walked over to Hermione and Harry, "why does Ron look like he wants to kill Colin?"
"It isn't true Ginny is it?" Hermione whispered quietly drawing Ginny over to the side.
"Is what not true Hermione?"
"About you and Malfoy! Colin told Ron that he saw Malfoy about to kiss you in the library! Are you and Malfoy going out?"
Ginny stopped breathing for a minute. Did Colin really see and hear everything that happened. She began to feel sick. Ron quickly got away from Harry who was trying to calm him down and marched over to Ginny.
"Ok, start talking. Did Malfoy put his hands on you? What were you doing with him alone in the library! I will knock him bloody out before he touches you again!"
Ron squeezed his fists together.
"Ron….calm down. It's not what you think!" she said trying to reason with him. "Before you come to conclusions, erm…." She said thinking quickly… "He was teasing me again about the poor state of my clothing, that's all." She continued.
"And- and he was trying to be quiet so that Madame Pince wouldn't kick him out," she finished taking deep breaths.
Ron looked at Hermione who had a pleading look on her face.
"Are you sure?" he asked, "because if he did hurt you, you'd tell me right?"
Ginny nodded. Ron walked over and gave his baby sister a hug.
"Good. I already want to pound his face in. Just say the word and I'll come running. I'll teach him not to touch my sister or come near you again. " With that he walked over to his books and sat down to resume studying.
Ginny threw an exasperated look at Colin and marched up to her dormitory. Daveigh sat on her bed surrounded by dozens of books. Her other three dorm mates were also sitting on their beds studying. Ginny nodded to the other girls and peered at their lack of answer. Finally she sat down on Daveigh's bed.
"You will not believe what happened?" Ginny whispered to her friend.
Daveigh looked up and took something out of her ears. "What did you say?"
"What are those?" Ginny inquired about the things Daveigh held in her hand.
"Oh! They're ear plugs. Muggles use them to drown out noise. I put them in because I heard your brother yelling in the common room. I also gave some to Ashley, Naomi, and Lucy" She motioned over to the other three who looked like they had no idea what was going on around them.
"Oh Dava, I swear I just want to throttle Colin sometimes! And my brother!"she added.
Dava waited patiently for her friend to continue. She figured it must have to do with Malfoy.
"Colin saw me and Malfoy in the library earlier. And he told Ron what he saw. I mean, I guess he didn't hear anything Malfoy said to me. Because if he had, Ron would still be pissed off and hunting down Malfoy now as we speak."
"Ron has always been a bit of a hot head not to mention his hatred of Malfoy increases with every passing day!" Dava commented. "Don't worry about it; you just have to somehow stay away from Malfoy."
Ginny nodded and began to dress for bed. 'That's easy enough, it's getting him to stay away from me,' she thought and stalked to the bathroom.
As the months went on, fall settled onto Hogwarts castle. Ginny and Daveigh buried themselves beneath the increased school work they received with every passing day. For Ginny, she relaxed into a comfortable schedule. Three days out of the week she would go to class, and in the evening her workout consisted of Quidditch practice run by Harry who was just as demanding as Angelina Johnson had been on them the previous year.
After practice Ginny would stride into the common room tired and dirty. She knew that Harry missed Quidditch after his life-long ban Umbridge gave him in the previous year. He seemed to be making up for it with long practices and structuring new play strategies then having them run them over and over. What didn't make it easier was that Ron had become a body guard for Ginny. After the fiasco with Colin, Ron made sure Malfoy didn't step within feet of Ginny when he was around. Every where Ginny went, Ron always seemed to be there. Ron would wait for Ginny outside of every class she had. He even risked being late to his advanced potions class one time to make sure she got into Divination 'safely'.
Ginny began to get tired of his constant protection and eventually convinced Hermione to talk to him about it in the common room one evening.
"Please Hermione," Ginny said, "I know you can talk some sense into him. I'm sure Malfoy won't bother me anymore; he lives to make Ron and Harry's lives crazy anyway."
Hermione put down her book and looked at Ginny. "Ok Gin, I'll do what I can. I won't make any promises. I swear he is as stubborn as a ton of bricks!"
"Thanks Hermione. Anyways, he'll listen to you. Perhaps you can convince him to go with you for the first Hogsmeade weekend."
Hermione blushed and walked over to Ron. Ginny watched as Hermione reasoned with Ron. It seemed to work at first then Ron jumped up and shook his head.
"Hermione, it's for her own good! I am the only one she has here. With Fred and George gone, I have to set a good example for her. Plus, Malfoy is pure evil. Who knows why he has targeted her? He probably does it to get back at me and Harry! One of these days Hermione I swear…..it'll be me and him alone in a hallway….and then…."
"Ha! You want to set a good example for her you say! Your brothers left school last year; they didn't even take their N.E.W.T.S. And then what Ronald! What kind of example you'll be setting then for her, you're a prefect and all you want to do is beat Malfoy to a bloody pulp!" Hermione pointed out.
"Bloody hell Hermione, she wouldn't know. It would be just one curse, perhaps one where he could disappear for a while. Or I could stash him in that vanishing cabinet Montague was put in last year. That was bloody brilliant!" Ron reminisced. "He was gone for months!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Honestly-!"
She looked over at Ginny with an 'I give up' expression. Ginny sighed and took out her charms homework.
Ginny wasn't the only one who was busy. Malfoy had prefect duty at least two times a week which usually set him back with homework. He owed Snape an essay on wolfs bane potion that was due a week ago. Having the head of Slytherin house as a professor was a good thing, especially when it came to Potter and his Gryffindor friends. Malfoy gloated each time Potter or Weasely got detention or points taken away from Snape.
'I still don't understand how they both got into advanced potions.' Draco thought one day. 'Dumbledore probably gave them both special recommendations, he couldn't bear for Saint Potter or the blood-traitor Weasel to fail at something. Potter was even taking remedial potions last year.'
He chuckled recalling seeing Potter's face when Malfoy walked in on the tutoring session. His face was priceless. Malfoy couldn't wait to reveal his findings to the rest of Slytherin. His victory didn't hold very long when he found out about his father being put into Azkaban prison by the trio.
'Damn Potter and Weasley and the rest of their little friends anyway,' Malfoy thought. Actually, his father being in jail was a blessing in disguise. It meant that his father wouldn't hassle his son about becoming a deatheater and being inducted into Voldemort's inner circle. Draco thought about his mother alone in Malfoy mansion.
'She probably doesn't miss him either,' he thought.
His parents were married in name only, but in public appeared to be deep in love for the benefit of the wizarding world. Draco always needed to remain the perfect son. His grades were just enough to get him by each year. He also kept the appearance of being the admired and handsome son of one of the richest wizard pure-blood families in England.
Draco thought back to the moment when he was sorted into Slytherin. It was the happiest moment of his life and he gained a true friend in Geoff Lovegood.
His mind shifted over to the only female Weasley at Hogwarts. Draco thought about their last encounter in the library. He was angry at the thought of Dean Thomas dating Ginny. Draco didn't want to think about Ginny in Dean's arms. Instead he thought of her creamy skin he was able to glimpse down her shirt when he had embarrassed her.
"I did walk away," He said out loud remembering what she said before she ran out of the library, "maybe that was a mistake." Draco looked around the Slytherin common room. Pansy was talking with Millicent Bulstrode, deep in conversation.
'Good,' he thought, 'I can actually sit here for a minute without her all over me.'
Geoff bounded into the room. "Prince of Slytherin!" he shouted. He called Draco by the nickname all of the Slytherin's dubbed him. Geoff bounced unto the leather couch next to Draco.
Draco scowled and scooted over to allow Geoff room. "What!"
"Hey, don't yell at me," Geoff said. "I know it's been a while since you've gotten any, but come on, don't blame it on me. You know, that look on your face only enhances your natural beauty." Geoff snickered.
Malfoy took his wand out and pointed it at Geoff's throat. Geoff didn't even flinch; he sat with a bored and amused expression on his face. Malfoy threatened to curse him at least once a day and never acted on his promise.
"Are you upset about the little Weaselette?" Geoff said. Draco put his wand away. His body grew heated at the thought of Ginny Weasley but kept an expressionless look on his face.
"I've been watching you through dinner over the past month. You used to pretend not to look at her, but I know you had a little infatuation. Actually, I am surprised Pansy never stopped through her awe to notice your attention was, otherwise engaged." Geoff pointed out. "What happened, gave up? Did Ginny Weasley not fall to her knees like the others do?"
Draco turned to his friend. "Listen, Lovegood'" he said, "Sometimes it's good to get under Weasley's skin and I did it through his sister. No big deal. Now I'm bored with it and her and that's all."
Geoff looked at Malfoy with a astonishing expression. He decided to press further.
"You don't mind if I go for it," Geoff said looking for a reaction, "I bet I can cool down the fiery little morsel. I think her hair on top isn't the only thing that's red…."
Geoff paused and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Malfoy. Draco sat with an indignant expression. His neck muscles flexed some and he gripped his wand tightly making his knuckles turn white.
"So Draco, what do you say? How do I do it? Should I entice her with my charms? Maybe I'll talk to Luna and dig up some dirt on her."
"She's taken," Draco whispered.
"What's that? Speak up…."
"She's dating someone."
Geoff looked surprised. "Who?"
"Dean Thomas." A pained expression washed over his face for a brief second but was gone in a flash.
Geoff pondered for a second. Malfoy didn't let a little thing like a boyfriend stop him when he pursued other girls. This made the pursuit more challenging for him and he thrived in his victory.
'He must really care for her,' Geoff thought. 'I think I'll ask my cousin if Ginny is dating Dean.' "Well, that's all right, I'm not one for ploughing where other's have been before. Actually, I prefer brunettes."
"Huh, what" Draco said deep in thought.
"Brunettes. You know that girl that's always with Weasley."
"Granger?" Malfoy exclaimed, "You must be joking. You think that is attractive. I thought you had better taste, you dated Padma Patil. Now that's one female I wouldn't mind, 'ploughing'," He said using the word Geoff did earlier.
"Good luck with that if you try. She's harder to get into than Dumbledore's office. Anyway Malfoy, I'm not talking about Granger, I'm talking about the petite brunette with the long hair…and those amazing eyes…never saw any like them."
"Oh, her. I think her name is Danielle or something like that," Malfoy smirked, "you like a Gryffindor. I never saw that coming. You dated or shagged almost every girl out of Ravenclaw with the exception of the first years, Patil, and your own cousin."
"She looks like something out of a fairytale," he said recalling a muggle fairytale his cousin Luna told him once.
"Listen, when you've finished with the mush you're spouting out, come and find me."
Malfoy got up and walked over to Crabbe and Goyle who looked to be struggling with a plant. The plant was choking Crabbe and Goyle attempted to cut the vines off of him.
"Still struggling with Herbology, eh Goyle?" Malfoy teased. Goyle had a disgruntled expression on his face. "You're dumber than a bag of rocks; do you even know what this plant is?"
Goyle shook his head and Crabbe attempted to but couldn't with the plant around his throat.
"Devil's snare, that's first year material. For god's sake!" Geoff said walking up and pulled out his wand. A jet of blue flames shot out and the plant loosened its grip and released Crabbe's throat.
"Thanks," Crabbe said rubbing his throat.
"You know Goyle, if you'd actually pick a book up once in a while, you'd know that Devil's snare would have killed Crabbe in another couple of minutes if Geoff hadn't come along and saved the day." Malfoy sneered. 'Why I even waste time with these goons is beyond me,' he thought and escaped to his dormitory.
Geoff shrugged at Crabbe and Goyle. 'Sounds like Malfoy is pissed about the Weaselette having a boyfriend. Looks like I may have to visit my cousin and inquire about the Gryffindor romance,' Geoff thought.
Geoff followed behind Malfoy with an amused expression. Haunted in his mind was a pair of brilliant violet eyes and long black hair.
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