Loving You Secretly Chapter 13: Dreaded Exams
"May I have your attention please? As you all know, your end of term examinations would be in two weeks time. I expect every single student to make it an effort to score in all the papers you are sitting for. Students of Durmstrang enter through a stringent selection test; hence I expect nothing less than straight 'Outstandings (Os)' from you. The Professors in school are more than willing to help you with your revision, should you encounter any problems, please do not hesitate to seek help from your professors. In addition, the library opening hours as well as curfew hours will be extended to allow students more time for revision. However, any students caught doing anything other than revising for the examinations beyond the usual curfew hours will be dealt with severely. That is all," Lucius Malfoy's voice boomed across the Great Hall.
"Sigh, it's the dreaded exams again. We'll have to put up with this torture every year till we graduate," Harry groaned as he stuffed another spoon filled with mashed potatoes into his mouth.
"What's it to you anyway, mate? You're always scoring straight "Exceeding Expectations (EEs)"; straight "Outstandings (Os)" is just one step away. I don't even care about it" Draco smirked.
"Look who's talking? You're the one scoring straight 'Os' that's why you don't have to care. Don't listen to him, Xav. He'll just corrupt you," said Harry, pouting away. Ginny laughed at the pair, sometimes they were so comical that if she wrote a book about them, it would be a best seller.
"Well, I don't care if you're scoring straight 'EEs' or if you're scoring straight "Os". We still have to revise. But maybe, just maybe, we could revise a little less than the rest. Don't worry, Harry. With Draco around, you'd be able to get straight 'Os'" Ginny said a she grinned at both boys.
"Who said anything about helping him?" Draco smirked.
"Xav, did you hear that? He doesn't care about anymore. He's going to leave me in the lurch. And you call yourself my friend. How could you do this to me?" cried Harry as he continued to pout. Ginny couldn't take it anymore; she burst out laughing so hard her sides are starting to ache.
"If Draco's not helping you, I will. I won't leave you in a lurch. We'll study together and we won't let him come along," laughed Ginny as she eyed the blonde. She knew she had hit a soft spot. If there was anything Draco didn't like, it's she being alone with Harry.
"Very well, I guess I have no choice but to coach you, mate. I can't let the both of you hang out too much on your own. Who knows what sort of thoughts would run through other's minds if they saw you two together too much?" said Draco turning a little pale in the face.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Draco asked as he followed Ginny into their dormitory room.
"Did what?" Ginny asked innocently.
"You know what? You really shouldn't try to get a Malfoy jealous. We do drastic things when we're jealous" Draco smiled mysteriously as he cornered the little red head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just offered to help Harry. I mean he's our friend and I do want to see him do well too," Ginny continued to defend herself, but could sense that her own voice was getting weaker.
"Really. Well then, maybe this will remind you that you're mine" Draco smirked as he bent down to kiss the redhead. It was a demanding kiss, a possessive kiss. A kiss that made Ginny wanted to say the words, "I'm yours to keep", but she restrained herself. When they finally broke apart, Ginny's face was flushed red and her lips were swollen. The sight of her made Draco wanted to make her rightfully his, reaching out to pull her closer to him, he stopped when he heard her whisper, "It's the second time we kissed"
"Yes, yes it is. I want you to know that I like you and I want you for myself only," Draco said as he watched her.
"Draco, do you like guys? I mean…I…" Ginny stuttered.
"Sigh, you still don't understand. Don't you see, I don't care if you're a guy or a girl. All I care about is you and that I like you" Draco said as he laced his fingers with hers. Pulling her closer when she nodded slightly.
"Let's get to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow" Draco said as he gave her a peck on the forehead.
Ginny changed and got under her covers, still thinking about the blonde and the kiss they shared. It was a big step they took and she made a mental note to tell her Aunt Narcissa about it.
"And then, he kissed me again. Sigh…what should I do Aunt Narcissa? What am I to do? To him, I'm a boy and that means, he likes boys and that means he's a …a…a homosexual?" Ginny cringed as she said the word.
"Hahahahahahahaha" Narcissa Malfoy couldn't help but laugh at this precious little treasure, which was sitting on one of the infirmary beds.
"What have I done to deserve a homosexual for a son?" Narcissa laughed as the thought came to her mind.
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to insult him. But I just can't stop thinking about it. What if, what if he only likes me in if I'm a boy? What if knows I'm a girl?" Ginny felt her heart sink at the thought.
"Don't worry dear. I'll personally make sure that he doesn't break up with you just because you're a girl, hahaha" Narcissa Malfoy attempted to comfort the redhead but ended up laughing harder at her own sentence.
"Maybe I should tell him the truth," Ginny said solemnly.
"No, no you shouldn't. If your secret is revealed, you'd likely risk expulsion from the school and maybe even worse, from the wizarding world. You mustn't tell anyone anything about your secret. At the very most, we'd try to keep you and Draco together till you graduate. That way, you'll be able to tell him the truth safely. Then we'll have the best wedding the wizarding world has ever seen in centuries," Narcissa said dreamily.
"Right," Ginny said as she grinned at the older woman, "Someday, I'm going to be his bride. I've dreamt of that before."
"And I'm going to be your Mother-in-Law," Narcissa said as she moved over to give Ginny a hug.
Little did they know that a blond was standing outside the infirmary smirking to himself. (I initially wrote, "grinning like a Cheshire cat", but I could hardly picture Draco grinning…)
"My bride? I'd like that," thought Draco as he moved away from the infirmary.
The library is one of the most frequented places by students who are attempting to cram last minute information into their heads. Without doubt, our favourite trio (in this case it's Harry, Ginny and Draco), is one of the groups that pops down to the library ever so often. Ginny was moving through the rows and columns of shelves trying to find a reference book to help Harry understand the theory of a relatively more advanced spell.
"Nope, not this. Not this either…oh…where can you be?" Ginny cried out in frustration.
"You know, books can't really talk, so you won't get any answer," a familiar voice spoke from behind her. It was Draco.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be helping Harry out?" Ginny asked without turning to look at him.
"Well, you see, Harry'll need a little breathing space of his own, he can't stand it if we were to breathe down his neck every minute, explaining one theory after another to him. So I figured I'd come and find some treasure," Draco said as he stepped closer to Ginny and looped his arms around his waist. This startled Ginny, who jumped away from him.
"What are you doing? There are people here, we could be caught," Ginny blushed as she looked at him, not daring to look him directly in the eye.
"Don't worry yourself about that. It's a common sight in the darker corners of the library. I'm just doing it in a brighter corner cause I've got nothing to hide," Draco smirked as he reached out to brush a stray strand of hair away from Ginny's face.
"You don't mean, there really are homosexuals in Durmstrang?" Ginny asked, completely shocked.
"Of course there are. Sometimes male hormones just go awry and voila, you get homosexuals. Especially when we don't see anyone of the opposite sex for a year, we get all confused and things happen," Draco said keeping the smirk on his face, " So you see, there's really nothing wrong with a little public display of affection."
With that, Ginny felt herself being pulled towards him. Turning her around so that her back was to his front, he looped his arms around her waist again before bending a little to nibble at where her neck and shoulder joined. Ginny enjoyed the feel of his kisses on her neck, but embarrassment took over and she pushed away from him again.
"I…I'm sorry…I…I'm…I'm scared," Ginny stuttered, " What if we were discovered? What if people start asking questions? And worse, what if we can't be together anymore?" Ginny asked as she looked at the blond, almost on the verge of tears.
"Okay, I understand. I'm sorry, I won't make you do anything you don't feel like doing anymore." Draco said as he ruffled her hair.
"Thanks. You're the best" Ginny said as she grinned at him.
"We have all the time we want in our room," Draco whispered into her ear before walking off, leaving Ginny blushing as she leaned against the shelf to steady herself.
"Please note that we have taken all necessary precautions to ensure that cheating is not possible. This is a 2 hour paper, you may begin now" Peter Pettigrew announced to the hall filled with students taking their last paper.
Draco stared at his exam paper and smirked, "This is even easier than last year's paper," he thought as he proceeded to fill in his answers. Meanwhile, in front of him, Ginny was already diligently writing on her answer script. Harry was fidgeting a little in front of Ginny.
"He must have forgotten the theories he memorized again," thought Draco as he finished the first half of the paper, leaving another hour and a half for the second half of the paper.
"Alright, times up. Please put down your quills and remain silent as I collect your scripts" Peter Pettigrew announced as he gave a wave of his wand, summoning the scripts to pile up neatly before him.
"How did you do?" Ginny asked as she leaned back towards Draco's desk.
"Fine. I had half an hour left and I ended up taking a nap. Harry looks a little fidgety, did he forget his theories again?" Draco asked.
"Yup, he forgot the one about the Switching Spells, but I suppose he remembered it again cause he was doing a little punch in the air (symbolizing victory). I had only 15 minutes left so I did a thorough check of the paper. I think I should be able to do fairly well." Ginny said as she nodded.
"I'll make it," Harry grinned as he turned around to face his two best friends.
Ginny was feeling completely off. She didn't feel right. Her head was spinning and she felt as though she was about to burst into flames any minute. Lying on her bed, Ginny tried to forget her discomfort and attempted to sleep but her throat was starting to hurt too. Feeling frustrated, Ginny grabbed her wand and attempted to summon a glass of water. Much to her dismay, she was so weak she wasn't able to sustain the spell and the glass of water started zooming around in the room, spilling water everywhere, and to her horror, the glass of water hovered over Draco for a while before tipping the remaining contents on his head.
SPLASH
"What the…" Draco sat up with a start. Glaring around the room, he noticed that his little princess was attempting to cough, laugh and apologise at the same time.
"What's going on around here?" He asked as he made his way towards her, noting the unusual paleness of her face.
"Sorry, I was trying to summon a glass of water, but…" Ginny wasn't able to finish her sentence as she had lost consciousness.
"Xav! Xav! What's wrong? Answer me" Draco called out as he shook the unconscious girl, but to no avail.
"Don't panic, don't panic. Right now, you'll have to take her to the infirmary," Draco mumbled to himself, trying to calm his own nerves. Picking her up gently, he gasp as he felt her body heating up.
"She's running a high fever. I'd better hurry," Draco thought as he ran as fast as he could out of the dormitory and towards the infirmary.
"Mother, Mother, it's Xav, he's running a high fever" Draco yelled as he entered the infirmary.
"Oh dear, put her down on that bed over there and I'll have a look at her," Narcissa said as she emerged from her room donned in her nightgown.
"Mother, will he be all right?" Draco asked, the anxiety in him almost bursting out.
"Don't worry dear. It's the 'Post Exam Fever'. She must have overworked herself during the exam period and after the exams, when she starts to relax, her immune system weakens as well, so the virus attacks. She'll be fine, just a common cold. Some of my specially brewed potion would do," Narcissa said as she tipped the contents on the spoon into Ginny's mouth. Draco watched as Ginny gulped down the potion, not missing the look of agony on her face as the potion glided down her throat which was aching as well. Stroking her hair lovingly with one hand while the other hand simply held on to hers, Draco planted butterfly kisses on her fingers. Whispering sweet nothings to her, telling to get well because he just couldn't bear to see her suffering.
"Draco dear, you really should get some sleep" Narcissa said to her son as she watched in fawn over the little redhead.
"I'll be fine mother. I just want to be here with her," Draco said softly.
"Alright, just make sure you get some rest too, okay. I don't want to have to treat the both of you" Narcissa said before retiring to her own bedroom.
THE END of the chapter
Well, there you have it, another chappie up. This chappie isn't too exciting. I mean what's so exciting about Exams. But holidays are fun…so stay tuned for the Loving You Secretly Holiday Chaps.
Love
tgimd