Author's Note: My god, I am a complete idiot. I've been looking back over earlier chapters, and I keep switching from Pierce to Pierre (one of the OC's, Draco's friend). And I honestly can't remember which one I intended in the first place!!! Although, I do think it was Pierce in the first place, so I guess I'll just go with that. Maybe later I'll fix the mistakes, but whatever. So sorry, to anyone who was confused! Pierre and Pierce are the same person.
BTW, sorry it took so long! Finals and all that…I hate Biology, I hate Biology, I hate Biology….
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
You've Got Mail-Ch.11-Ready, Set, Fight!
"So…" Draco asked awkwardly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What do we do now?"
He and Ginny were in the kitchens, munching quietly on lunch leftovers and some pie. They'd walked there without realizing it after leaving the DADA classroom, and since lunch was just ending, they'd decided to stop in for some food.
Ginny slammed down her drink a bit harder than intended. "I don't know, Ferret, so quit asking me!" She snapped.
He looked taken aback, but he covered it with a sneer. "Fine, it doesn't matter anyways. We'll just go to Russia, find out what we need and-wait a second. What do we need in Russia?"
Ginny half choked on the turkey piece she was eating. Once her throat was clear, she looked at him cautiously. "Well, let's just say I have my sources," she said, satisfied with her vague answer.
Draco wasn't. "What the hell does that mean?" He asked with exasperation. Then an annoying look crossed his face, and he nodded in false wisdom. "Ah, I get it. You're performing raunchy and sordid deeds with people in exchange for information. No need to explain, Weasley."
The boy had thought she would jump up screaming bloody murder and hit him, but she did no such thing. In fact, Ginny laughed at that. Laughed a lot. He stared at her, till she finally quieted and wiped tears of mirth from the corner of her eyes.
"Sordid?" she gasped out, before dissolving into whoops of laughter once more. He scowled at her, before an idea struck and he grabbed the rest of her pie and shoved it in his mouth in one big bite. His cheeks puffed out with the food stuffed in them.
As soon as Ginny noticed (which was too soon for him to swallow the incriminating evidence) she let out an outraged gasp. "You ate my pie!" She accused with amazement.
"Schouves 'oo wigh'," he said thickly, spraying her face with spit and crumbs.
Her lip curled in disgust as she wiped the pie bits off her face, still looking livid. "But it was my pie!! Cherry pie!!! My favorite type of pie!!! MY pie!!!!"
Draco just grinned at her cheekily, before swallowing and opening his mouth to show the pie gone. "All gone now," he said cheerfully.
"Ooh!" She shrieked in frustration, before grabbing his half-finished Butterbeer and swigging it down. "Well I've got your drink!"
He scowled, and snatched up the bread she had just finished buttering. "Your bread!"
"Aha, salad!"
"More of your pie! Mmmm good!!"
"The rest of your sandwich!"
"Your ice cream!"
"I didn't even order ice cream!"
"Oh right, I meant milkshake!!"
About to make a snatch for the cookie Draco was guarding so closely, Ginny stopped suddenly. Ignoring his shout of triumph as he grabbed the turkey bit he'd been trying for, she started to laugh again.
"Wha' choo laffin' fo'?" He asked in confusion, once more flicking bits of spittle at her.
"This!" She replied with another laugh. "Do you realize how immature we look?"
Draco thought about it, munching thoughtfully on some more of her bread. Ginny took another look at him and almost started guffawing. He had gravy spread on one cheek, a dribble of chocolate milkshake down the front of his shirt, cherry preserve on his nose and crumbs everywhere. Just when she thought she could hold in her laughter no longer, did he finally speak.
"True," he said, before smirking. "But you're just saying that 'cause you, Miss Weasley, are losing."
Ginny didn't even answer, just rolled her eyes and tipped the water pitcher on his lap.
***
"I still can't believe you did that to me! It looks like I pissed my pants!!!" He shrieked, repositioning his sweater over the front of his legs as they walked back from the kitchens.
She glared at him. "Oh quit whining about it! I look at least as bad as you, if not worse, so shut up," said Ginny wearily.
It was true, the two students looked disgusting. Draco had food all over him face and shirt, even with some unidentifiable sauce in his pale hair, not to mention the water stain he was now covering up. Ginny, though she had managed to keep most of the food off her face, had tripped in the chocolate sauce around the table, and as a result, her entire left leg and most of her side had been stained with the sticky substance. Though their fight had been somewhat entertaining at the time (especially when Ginny had fallen and started cursing like a sailor) now they felt disgustingly sticky, and rather exhausted.
Ginny sighed happily as she thought of the shower awaiting her back at Gryffindor Tower. That thought sustained her till they got to the hallway that separated their routes. She turned, not really sure what to say.
"So, when do you think we should meet up for some more researching? We still need to find out about the brooch," he reminded. She groaned at that.
"Yeah, I guess we can just go to the library tomorrow after class, though try and do some of your own work during DADA," she said.
They were about to move apart, when suddenly Draco leaned close to her, till she could feel a slight stirring of breath on her cheek. Ginny knew she should be scrambling backwards, or yelling at him, or something, but as he approached, her legs grew numb and there was a slight fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach.
He was close enough now that Ginny could see the slight ring of blue surrounding his gray irises.
"Weasel," he murmured softly.
"Y-yes?"
He smirked, and reached a hand to her cheek slowly, before quickly swiping at her nose. "You had a bit of sauce on your nose," said Draco smirking even wider now.
Ginny felt a blush sweep over her cheeks. "Oh," she muttered. "Er, thanks."
He was still close, she noticed, but he did back up after he gave her an oddly familiar look.
"No problem," Draco said, before turning on his heel and walking away.
It was only after he left that she recognized the look. It was the same face he'd made in her dream.
Right before he'd leaned in.
"Oh God," Ginny said in amazement, stayed frozen in that same spot, till a group of third years passed by giggling, and she remembered her appearance and ran off.
***
"Stupid Weaselette," Draco muttered to himself as he stepped into the shower, allowing himself a slight smile as he felt the water wash away the food on his body. He grabbed a washcloth and proceeded to scrub his face clean, then, remembering how he'd touched her face, scrubbed his hand too. Five minutes later, excessive soap and scrubbing had turned it red, but he was satisfied. He'd managed to completely rid his skin of her essence, or so he thought.
Draco got out of the shower and hoisted a towel around himself, padding out into his room with a smirk. Sometimes, after annoying meetings with snotty Prefects or Granger, he wished he hadn't been chosen as Head Boy, but then he remembered the perks (his own room, bathroom, the ability to stay out late, and bully other students). Not even bothering to get dressed, he flopped backwards on his bed.
Why the hell had he done that? "You've got sauce on your nose." Even in his memory it sounded idiotic. And then he'd touched her-willingly, touched her. Draco shuddered in remembrance. Now, of course, it was repulsive to think of, but then it had been perfectly normal. He thought of every possibility that could account for his odd behavior, but none seemed to fit, except for one.
He sat up, grimacing slightly. "That's it," Draco announced to the empty room. "I'm going insane."
***
Ginny peeked her head out over the staircase railing and breathed a sigh of relief. The common room was completely empty, which meant everyone had already left for dinner. She wasn't at all tempted to join them. After the big and late lunch, followed by the food fight, and washing for almost an hour to get completely clean, Ginny wasn't exactly jumping to eat again. So, she'd decided to go for an evening walk.
She was halfway down the stairs before she thought of something and dashed up the stairs again, only to return with her laptop clutched in her arms. Well, as she thought, I might as well see if Dragon's on while I'm at it.
She sneaked out the front door quietly, managing not to be seen, except by one person lurking in the shadows. Ginny continued on, completely oblivious, till she reached a little secluded willow tree. With branches were bent down to the ground, and sweeping leaves, anyone inside would be completely blocked from outside view. Naturally, this made the tree a common known snogging spot, and Ginny was careful to check if it was occupied before she parted the curtain of whippy branches and stepped through.
The sky was darkening quickly, and the tree was in shadows, so it was especially hard for Ginny to see. She fumbled to remove her wand from her sweatshirt pocket and whispered, "Lumos," before sticking the wand into the soft dirt bright light side up, and settling down on the ground.
She opened up her computer, glad for the full night of charging it had gotten. Ginny signed on as Pyropinkmonkey12, and eagerly checked her buddy list. She gave a little sound of disappointment at seeing Dragon wasn't on. He and a couple of her Muggle-born friends were the only ones on the list, but since she was the only one with a laptop, they weren't on at Hogwarts. So, he was the only one she ever talked to now.
Ginny sighed and clicked on the Mail button. Even though she was online a lot, most of the time it was spent either talking to Dragon or browsing sites he showed her. Sometimes she took funny online quizzes, but most of them were about Muggle celebrities and such. Her favorite online pastime, however, was looking at sites on "witches." The information was so bogus it always made her laugh.
She went to her favorites and clicked on one of the quiz pages. As it was loading, a pop-up appeared, and when she moved the cursor to close it, accidentally clicked on the link. It led back to the main site, something about tracing your family's history.
Ginny snorted at the computer screen. "Like I really need to trace my family, the last thing anyone of us needs is more relatives," she said dryly, laughing a bit at her own joke. Suddenly, a thought struck. Her eyes lit up, and she leaned close to see the keyboard, before typing the word Claydor in the space for family name and pressed Enter.
Why didn't I think of something like this sooner? She thought with amazement. Once the new page loaded, she scanned it eagerly, but her face fell at the words "No information matching your request." The site did suggest other things, like splitting it up to be Clay and Dor, or that maybe it had been mistranslated, or changed legally. She groaned in frustration. That did no good, it just opened up a whole new can of worms for her to sort through.
Ginny growled in frustration, and was contemplating slamming the lid of her laptop shut, but then she realized that might not be the best place to vent her anger. Sighing, she shut the machine down and closed it gently, then leaned against the gnarled tree trunk.
"Stupid project, stupid Ferret boy, stupid Professor, stupid everything," she muttered to herself.
Suddenly, the branches parted. Startled, Ginny jumped up, clumsily grabbing her still glowing wand from the ground and pointing it shakily at the intruder. A man's head popped through.
"Miss Weasley?"
Her jaw dropped. "P-Professor Ivanovich?" She stuttered.
***
Draco picked at his food, overturning potatoes and chicken pieces in his boredom. All around him, his stupidest housemates filled his ears with incessant chatter. So and so's dress robes are out of style, someone else was rumored to be dating a Hufflepuff, and yet another person was whining about grades.
Idly, Draco wondered what they'd do if he just snapped and started screaming at them, cursing everything in sight.
Thinking up which curse would be best suited for which Slytherin kept the blonde boy occupied for the rest of dinner. It was only afterwards, however, once he'd run out of spells and was heading back towards the common room, did his boredom return in full force.
He started to watch a chess game between two fifth years he didn't know, but he quickly lost interest. Draco sighed inwardly. What he really wanted to do, go on his computer and chat a bit with Cocoa, would be sure to get him ostracized and possibly hurt in the Slytherin Common Room. He blanched a bit, and decided to find something else to occupy his time.
Draco turned to look at Pierce sitting in the armchair across from him. "So," he started, squinting to try and read the title of the book the other boy was reading. "What's that?"
Pierce looked up with an expression of disgust on his features. "'History of the Founders.' One of the most boring books in existence I think," he paused for a wide yawn. "I'm doing badly in History of Magic, so Binns said that if I read this book and write a four foot essay on it, he'll consider passing me. Damn ghost." He passed Draco the book.
Turning it over to the back, he saw some tiny print. Squinting again, he barely managed to read the summary of the book. Basically, it was a detailed history of almost everything that had ever occurred in the famous four's lives. He wouldn't have been surprised if there was even a chapter on their potty training days.
Since Pierce didn't seem to want it back any time soon, Draco flipped to a random chapter near the end and read the title out loud. "'The Next Generation.'" He smirked. "Well, you were right; I doubt even the Mudblood could read this."
"Yeah, but if I want to graduate, I have to read it," Pierce said with a slightly bitter laugh.
"Well, you don't look too excited about it. Mind if I take a look?"
The look the other boy gave him made it clear he thought Draco was insane, but he shrugged. "Knock yourself out."
What the heck, I'm bored anyways, maybe this'll actually put me to sleep, Draco thought dryly. Nevertheless, he opened the book back to the Next Generation chapter. Maybe there was going be some sex in it.
Alas, there was absolutely no mention of sex, or anything remotely interesting. It just talked about how the relationships of the founders affected their magic.
Of course, it was almost mandatory for anyone who attended Hogwarts to know of the pairs. Rowena Ravenclaw had been with Salazar Slytherin, and the goody two shoes Gryffindor had shacked up with Helga Hufflepuff. The leftover, as Draco so fondly thought of her. Even now, the Houses still displayed some sort of those bonds. The only other acceptable match for a Slytherin was a Ravenclaw, and though Ravenclaws were much more open-minded about relationships, they didn't freak out like Gryffindors if a housemate was friends with a Slytherin.
This chapter was just recapping all Draco already knew. Getting vastly bored, he skipped backwards to see the chapter on the construction of Hogwarts. He was dozing within minutes.
***
"What are you doing here?" He asked. She started at the harshness underlying his voice.
Ginny put her wand down from the fighting stance she'd adopted at the sound of an intruder. "I went for a walk, Professor," she replied defensively.
Ivanovich was silent for a moment. "Alright, but in the future, I would advise you to be more careful," he said. "It won't do for young students to be wandering out this late at night," the DADA professor added in an undertone.
The redhead bristled at his voice and nodded curtly, before stooping and starting to gather her laptop. "Fine," she muttered, "I'll be heading back then, I guess."
She brushed past the older man, but his arm snaked out and grabbed her arm. Ginny stifled a shocked cry as his fingers dug in, knowing they'd leave marks behind.
Before she could get her arm free or yell at her professor, he leaned down and whispered to her, "I know what your little plan is. You're going to Russia, and I can't stop you, but I sure as hell can warn you. You mess with this, and I won't hesitate to get rid of you." His grip tightened. "Merlin knows no one will miss you," Ivanovich sneered viciously.
She tore herself away from his grasp, and sprinted towards the castle. Ivanovich watched her go with a cold stare.
***
Draco awoke with a start, groggily pushing away the hand gently shaking his shoulder. "What do ya want?" He slurred sleepily.
The hand shoved harder. "Wake up, you idiot. It's almost eleven, and I need my book back."
That woke him up a bit more, and Draco opened his eyes finally. The vision of Pierce's annoyed face in front of him blurred, then went back to normal as he yawned. Stretching, Draco handed over the book and started to get up.
"Alright, I'm up," said Draco irritably. He hated taking naps or going to bed early. He could never get back to sleep afterwards, and they usually just left him more tired than before. Pierce grunted and headed back to the dorm, clearly intent on more sleep now that he had his dull book back. Draco watched him go with slight annoyance. Though he wasn't too eager to spend the whole night in an armchair in the Slytherin Common Room, it was preferable to staring at the ceiling in the dorm, listening to his roommates snore.
His eye twitched involuntarily at the thought.
Finally, Draco managed to drag his body up the stairs to his bed, collapsing on it with a colossal yawn. A loud snore reached his ears, and fed up, he snapped the curtains shut, casting the strongest silencing spell he knew.
With blessed quiet all around him, Draco leaned back, and tried to fall asleep again. After about two minutes of waiting, he snapped his eyes open again and sighed, then rolled onto his side, thinking a different position would help him sleep.
It didn't.
Getting frustrated now, Draco shut his eyes tight and tried to think of anything calming, that would get him to sleep.
And somehow his thoughts drifted to Ginny.
His mind recalled a conversation he'd had with Stephen and Pierce a while ago. Pierce had said she was pretty (though he'd used cruder words). Draco, in that state of drowsy half-sleep, considered it. Yeah, he could see that. A sudden vision of him snogging her drifted in. He smirked and rolled over onto his side. Maybe I will try some of the things my roommates are gonna do for their partners on the research trip, he thought.
With a gasp, his eyes snapped open and he shot straight up. Needless to say, he didn't sleep too well that night.
***
Ginny shut the door to her room behind her and leaned against it, heart pounding. Her breath came fast and shallow, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, her body seemed to calm down, and she slid to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees.
It was a good thing her roommates were all still at dinner, or else they would have been questioning her like mad. Ginny lifted her head up to make sure the coast was clear, and caught sight of her arm. She paled considerably. There was a clear handprint on the flesh of her upper arm.
Ginny stood, her resolve to clean up a bit strengthening her shaky legs. One of her roommates-Annabelle, was it? She couldn't really remember-was interested in Medical magic, and Ginny knew she had some books on the subject. With only a bit of guilt, she started rifling through the girl's belongings, past clothes, makeup, and other things, till she found a book on common ailments. She flipped it open to the index and quickly located a spell to get rid of a rather large bruise. She said the words, and instantly sighed in relief as the pain in her upper arm lessened, then faded away completely.
As she put the book and her laptop away, Ginny thought over what she could do now. As much as she'd like to shrug off Ivanovich's threat, she knew he wasn't joking. But she couldn't just abandon the project, and let a murderer walk free!
Ginny wasn't even aware she'd been pacing till she tripped over Tina's bed with a high-pitched shriek. Blinking in surprise, she sat up, and winced before moving the book she was sitting on away from her. The pages were bent, and Ginny grimaced as she opened the book and tried to flatten the creases again. Tina was so obsessive about things like that.
Her eyes were drawn to the spell at the top of the page she was fixing. It was an advanced Charms book, and she didn't recognize the spell, though it looked interesting. Apparently, it was supposed to guide you to the thing that would best help you in whatever you specified you were searching for.
"'Most used for missing persons, items, or information…" she read quietly, trailing off at the information part. Getting excited quickly, she scanned the spell. It looked rather simple, the only problem was that it would continue draining magic from her body until the spell found and delivered whatever it was that would help her. She bit her lip at that. Ginny knew of the dangers of things like that, but this important.
Her resolve strengthened, she stood and started the spell. "I need to find out information on William Claydor and his death," she said firmly, then looked down at the book and read off the words of the spell. There was a bright light, and some pain in Ginny's chest. The light grew brighter as the pain grew worse, and Ginny knew it was the magic being sucked out of her for the search.
Finally, there was a sudden wrench in her heart, and the light blinked out. The pain faded away for the most part, and Ginny collapsed on her bed in relief. On the palm of her wand hand, a bright circle had been imprinted. It was to stay there until the search was complete, then once it faded away, she'd come back to the place where she started the spell and retrieve whatever it was that would help her.
She stared at the circle mark for a long time, yawning widely. That spell had taken a lot out of her. She heard some footsteps approaching, and, not wanting to answer any odd questions, Ginny hurried to put away the book. Aimee came in just as Ginny shoved her marked hand behind her and out of sight.
"Hey Gin," her friend said. "Why weren't you at dinner?"
Ginny made a face. "It's a long story." Seeing the unfazed look on her friends face, she sighed and told the whole story of her food fight with Malfoy. By the end, Aimee was giggling hysterically, and the redhead was crimson with embarrassment.
"Shut up!" Shrieked Ginny as she heaved a gold pillow at her guffawing best friend. Aimee gave a small, "Oof!" as it hit and knocked her backwards. She reappeared with her hair in a disarray and glaring furiously.
"Oh you're gonna pay for that one. Bring it here!" Aimee cried, chucking another pillow at her friend. It took several more solid hits on both sides, before the finally collapsed on the floor next to each other, breathing heavily.
"That was fun," Ginny said through shallow breaths. She laughed. "I've been acting so childish today. First a food fight, now a pillow fight. Might as well just put my hair in pigtails and grab a dolly."
Aimee laughed at that. "We needed a break," she said with a shrug. Getting up and leaning back on her forearms, she added, "All this studying isn't good for us. It's a proven fact you know. Too much studying and," here she leaned close to Ginny conspiratorially, "we'll end up like Hermione!"
The redhead laughed loudly at that, till her stomach protested and she clutched the stitch in her side. She loved Hermione dearly, sure, but sometimes her study habits were just a bit too much to handle. Ginny sighed. I wonder if she and Ron and Harry are all okay again? She thought sadly.
She didn't dwell on that for long, because Aimee had thrown another pillow at her, and really, what could be wrong with the world during a pillow fight?
***
Wow, I revised this chapter so bloody much, it isn't even funny. After Ivanovich like hurt her, it started to get all depressing…not my intent for this story! An American Witch in Hogwarts is my angsty story ^_~
BTW, sorry it took so long! Finals and all that…I hate Biology, I hate Biology, I hate Biology….
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
You've Got Mail-Ch.11-Ready, Set, Fight!
"So…" Draco asked awkwardly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What do we do now?"
He and Ginny were in the kitchens, munching quietly on lunch leftovers and some pie. They'd walked there without realizing it after leaving the DADA classroom, and since lunch was just ending, they'd decided to stop in for some food.
Ginny slammed down her drink a bit harder than intended. "I don't know, Ferret, so quit asking me!" She snapped.
He looked taken aback, but he covered it with a sneer. "Fine, it doesn't matter anyways. We'll just go to Russia, find out what we need and-wait a second. What do we need in Russia?"
Ginny half choked on the turkey piece she was eating. Once her throat was clear, she looked at him cautiously. "Well, let's just say I have my sources," she said, satisfied with her vague answer.
Draco wasn't. "What the hell does that mean?" He asked with exasperation. Then an annoying look crossed his face, and he nodded in false wisdom. "Ah, I get it. You're performing raunchy and sordid deeds with people in exchange for information. No need to explain, Weasley."
The boy had thought she would jump up screaming bloody murder and hit him, but she did no such thing. In fact, Ginny laughed at that. Laughed a lot. He stared at her, till she finally quieted and wiped tears of mirth from the corner of her eyes.
"Sordid?" she gasped out, before dissolving into whoops of laughter once more. He scowled at her, before an idea struck and he grabbed the rest of her pie and shoved it in his mouth in one big bite. His cheeks puffed out with the food stuffed in them.
As soon as Ginny noticed (which was too soon for him to swallow the incriminating evidence) she let out an outraged gasp. "You ate my pie!" She accused with amazement.
"Schouves 'oo wigh'," he said thickly, spraying her face with spit and crumbs.
Her lip curled in disgust as she wiped the pie bits off her face, still looking livid. "But it was my pie!! Cherry pie!!! My favorite type of pie!!! MY pie!!!!"
Draco just grinned at her cheekily, before swallowing and opening his mouth to show the pie gone. "All gone now," he said cheerfully.
"Ooh!" She shrieked in frustration, before grabbing his half-finished Butterbeer and swigging it down. "Well I've got your drink!"
He scowled, and snatched up the bread she had just finished buttering. "Your bread!"
"Aha, salad!"
"More of your pie! Mmmm good!!"
"The rest of your sandwich!"
"Your ice cream!"
"I didn't even order ice cream!"
"Oh right, I meant milkshake!!"
About to make a snatch for the cookie Draco was guarding so closely, Ginny stopped suddenly. Ignoring his shout of triumph as he grabbed the turkey bit he'd been trying for, she started to laugh again.
"Wha' choo laffin' fo'?" He asked in confusion, once more flicking bits of spittle at her.
"This!" She replied with another laugh. "Do you realize how immature we look?"
Draco thought about it, munching thoughtfully on some more of her bread. Ginny took another look at him and almost started guffawing. He had gravy spread on one cheek, a dribble of chocolate milkshake down the front of his shirt, cherry preserve on his nose and crumbs everywhere. Just when she thought she could hold in her laughter no longer, did he finally speak.
"True," he said, before smirking. "But you're just saying that 'cause you, Miss Weasley, are losing."
Ginny didn't even answer, just rolled her eyes and tipped the water pitcher on his lap.
***
"I still can't believe you did that to me! It looks like I pissed my pants!!!" He shrieked, repositioning his sweater over the front of his legs as they walked back from the kitchens.
She glared at him. "Oh quit whining about it! I look at least as bad as you, if not worse, so shut up," said Ginny wearily.
It was true, the two students looked disgusting. Draco had food all over him face and shirt, even with some unidentifiable sauce in his pale hair, not to mention the water stain he was now covering up. Ginny, though she had managed to keep most of the food off her face, had tripped in the chocolate sauce around the table, and as a result, her entire left leg and most of her side had been stained with the sticky substance. Though their fight had been somewhat entertaining at the time (especially when Ginny had fallen and started cursing like a sailor) now they felt disgustingly sticky, and rather exhausted.
Ginny sighed happily as she thought of the shower awaiting her back at Gryffindor Tower. That thought sustained her till they got to the hallway that separated their routes. She turned, not really sure what to say.
"So, when do you think we should meet up for some more researching? We still need to find out about the brooch," he reminded. She groaned at that.
"Yeah, I guess we can just go to the library tomorrow after class, though try and do some of your own work during DADA," she said.
They were about to move apart, when suddenly Draco leaned close to her, till she could feel a slight stirring of breath on her cheek. Ginny knew she should be scrambling backwards, or yelling at him, or something, but as he approached, her legs grew numb and there was a slight fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach.
He was close enough now that Ginny could see the slight ring of blue surrounding his gray irises.
"Weasel," he murmured softly.
"Y-yes?"
He smirked, and reached a hand to her cheek slowly, before quickly swiping at her nose. "You had a bit of sauce on your nose," said Draco smirking even wider now.
Ginny felt a blush sweep over her cheeks. "Oh," she muttered. "Er, thanks."
He was still close, she noticed, but he did back up after he gave her an oddly familiar look.
"No problem," Draco said, before turning on his heel and walking away.
It was only after he left that she recognized the look. It was the same face he'd made in her dream.
Right before he'd leaned in.
"Oh God," Ginny said in amazement, stayed frozen in that same spot, till a group of third years passed by giggling, and she remembered her appearance and ran off.
***
"Stupid Weaselette," Draco muttered to himself as he stepped into the shower, allowing himself a slight smile as he felt the water wash away the food on his body. He grabbed a washcloth and proceeded to scrub his face clean, then, remembering how he'd touched her face, scrubbed his hand too. Five minutes later, excessive soap and scrubbing had turned it red, but he was satisfied. He'd managed to completely rid his skin of her essence, or so he thought.
Draco got out of the shower and hoisted a towel around himself, padding out into his room with a smirk. Sometimes, after annoying meetings with snotty Prefects or Granger, he wished he hadn't been chosen as Head Boy, but then he remembered the perks (his own room, bathroom, the ability to stay out late, and bully other students). Not even bothering to get dressed, he flopped backwards on his bed.
Why the hell had he done that? "You've got sauce on your nose." Even in his memory it sounded idiotic. And then he'd touched her-willingly, touched her. Draco shuddered in remembrance. Now, of course, it was repulsive to think of, but then it had been perfectly normal. He thought of every possibility that could account for his odd behavior, but none seemed to fit, except for one.
He sat up, grimacing slightly. "That's it," Draco announced to the empty room. "I'm going insane."
***
Ginny peeked her head out over the staircase railing and breathed a sigh of relief. The common room was completely empty, which meant everyone had already left for dinner. She wasn't at all tempted to join them. After the big and late lunch, followed by the food fight, and washing for almost an hour to get completely clean, Ginny wasn't exactly jumping to eat again. So, she'd decided to go for an evening walk.
She was halfway down the stairs before she thought of something and dashed up the stairs again, only to return with her laptop clutched in her arms. Well, as she thought, I might as well see if Dragon's on while I'm at it.
She sneaked out the front door quietly, managing not to be seen, except by one person lurking in the shadows. Ginny continued on, completely oblivious, till she reached a little secluded willow tree. With branches were bent down to the ground, and sweeping leaves, anyone inside would be completely blocked from outside view. Naturally, this made the tree a common known snogging spot, and Ginny was careful to check if it was occupied before she parted the curtain of whippy branches and stepped through.
The sky was darkening quickly, and the tree was in shadows, so it was especially hard for Ginny to see. She fumbled to remove her wand from her sweatshirt pocket and whispered, "Lumos," before sticking the wand into the soft dirt bright light side up, and settling down on the ground.
She opened up her computer, glad for the full night of charging it had gotten. Ginny signed on as Pyropinkmonkey12, and eagerly checked her buddy list. She gave a little sound of disappointment at seeing Dragon wasn't on. He and a couple of her Muggle-born friends were the only ones on the list, but since she was the only one with a laptop, they weren't on at Hogwarts. So, he was the only one she ever talked to now.
Ginny sighed and clicked on the Mail button. Even though she was online a lot, most of the time it was spent either talking to Dragon or browsing sites he showed her. Sometimes she took funny online quizzes, but most of them were about Muggle celebrities and such. Her favorite online pastime, however, was looking at sites on "witches." The information was so bogus it always made her laugh.
She went to her favorites and clicked on one of the quiz pages. As it was loading, a pop-up appeared, and when she moved the cursor to close it, accidentally clicked on the link. It led back to the main site, something about tracing your family's history.
Ginny snorted at the computer screen. "Like I really need to trace my family, the last thing anyone of us needs is more relatives," she said dryly, laughing a bit at her own joke. Suddenly, a thought struck. Her eyes lit up, and she leaned close to see the keyboard, before typing the word Claydor in the space for family name and pressed Enter.
Why didn't I think of something like this sooner? She thought with amazement. Once the new page loaded, she scanned it eagerly, but her face fell at the words "No information matching your request." The site did suggest other things, like splitting it up to be Clay and Dor, or that maybe it had been mistranslated, or changed legally. She groaned in frustration. That did no good, it just opened up a whole new can of worms for her to sort through.
Ginny growled in frustration, and was contemplating slamming the lid of her laptop shut, but then she realized that might not be the best place to vent her anger. Sighing, she shut the machine down and closed it gently, then leaned against the gnarled tree trunk.
"Stupid project, stupid Ferret boy, stupid Professor, stupid everything," she muttered to herself.
Suddenly, the branches parted. Startled, Ginny jumped up, clumsily grabbing her still glowing wand from the ground and pointing it shakily at the intruder. A man's head popped through.
"Miss Weasley?"
Her jaw dropped. "P-Professor Ivanovich?" She stuttered.
***
Draco picked at his food, overturning potatoes and chicken pieces in his boredom. All around him, his stupidest housemates filled his ears with incessant chatter. So and so's dress robes are out of style, someone else was rumored to be dating a Hufflepuff, and yet another person was whining about grades.
Idly, Draco wondered what they'd do if he just snapped and started screaming at them, cursing everything in sight.
Thinking up which curse would be best suited for which Slytherin kept the blonde boy occupied for the rest of dinner. It was only afterwards, however, once he'd run out of spells and was heading back towards the common room, did his boredom return in full force.
He started to watch a chess game between two fifth years he didn't know, but he quickly lost interest. Draco sighed inwardly. What he really wanted to do, go on his computer and chat a bit with Cocoa, would be sure to get him ostracized and possibly hurt in the Slytherin Common Room. He blanched a bit, and decided to find something else to occupy his time.
Draco turned to look at Pierce sitting in the armchair across from him. "So," he started, squinting to try and read the title of the book the other boy was reading. "What's that?"
Pierce looked up with an expression of disgust on his features. "'History of the Founders.' One of the most boring books in existence I think," he paused for a wide yawn. "I'm doing badly in History of Magic, so Binns said that if I read this book and write a four foot essay on it, he'll consider passing me. Damn ghost." He passed Draco the book.
Turning it over to the back, he saw some tiny print. Squinting again, he barely managed to read the summary of the book. Basically, it was a detailed history of almost everything that had ever occurred in the famous four's lives. He wouldn't have been surprised if there was even a chapter on their potty training days.
Since Pierce didn't seem to want it back any time soon, Draco flipped to a random chapter near the end and read the title out loud. "'The Next Generation.'" He smirked. "Well, you were right; I doubt even the Mudblood could read this."
"Yeah, but if I want to graduate, I have to read it," Pierce said with a slightly bitter laugh.
"Well, you don't look too excited about it. Mind if I take a look?"
The look the other boy gave him made it clear he thought Draco was insane, but he shrugged. "Knock yourself out."
What the heck, I'm bored anyways, maybe this'll actually put me to sleep, Draco thought dryly. Nevertheless, he opened the book back to the Next Generation chapter. Maybe there was going be some sex in it.
Alas, there was absolutely no mention of sex, or anything remotely interesting. It just talked about how the relationships of the founders affected their magic.
Of course, it was almost mandatory for anyone who attended Hogwarts to know of the pairs. Rowena Ravenclaw had been with Salazar Slytherin, and the goody two shoes Gryffindor had shacked up with Helga Hufflepuff. The leftover, as Draco so fondly thought of her. Even now, the Houses still displayed some sort of those bonds. The only other acceptable match for a Slytherin was a Ravenclaw, and though Ravenclaws were much more open-minded about relationships, they didn't freak out like Gryffindors if a housemate was friends with a Slytherin.
This chapter was just recapping all Draco already knew. Getting vastly bored, he skipped backwards to see the chapter on the construction of Hogwarts. He was dozing within minutes.
***
"What are you doing here?" He asked. She started at the harshness underlying his voice.
Ginny put her wand down from the fighting stance she'd adopted at the sound of an intruder. "I went for a walk, Professor," she replied defensively.
Ivanovich was silent for a moment. "Alright, but in the future, I would advise you to be more careful," he said. "It won't do for young students to be wandering out this late at night," the DADA professor added in an undertone.
The redhead bristled at his voice and nodded curtly, before stooping and starting to gather her laptop. "Fine," she muttered, "I'll be heading back then, I guess."
She brushed past the older man, but his arm snaked out and grabbed her arm. Ginny stifled a shocked cry as his fingers dug in, knowing they'd leave marks behind.
Before she could get her arm free or yell at her professor, he leaned down and whispered to her, "I know what your little plan is. You're going to Russia, and I can't stop you, but I sure as hell can warn you. You mess with this, and I won't hesitate to get rid of you." His grip tightened. "Merlin knows no one will miss you," Ivanovich sneered viciously.
She tore herself away from his grasp, and sprinted towards the castle. Ivanovich watched her go with a cold stare.
***
Draco awoke with a start, groggily pushing away the hand gently shaking his shoulder. "What do ya want?" He slurred sleepily.
The hand shoved harder. "Wake up, you idiot. It's almost eleven, and I need my book back."
That woke him up a bit more, and Draco opened his eyes finally. The vision of Pierce's annoyed face in front of him blurred, then went back to normal as he yawned. Stretching, Draco handed over the book and started to get up.
"Alright, I'm up," said Draco irritably. He hated taking naps or going to bed early. He could never get back to sleep afterwards, and they usually just left him more tired than before. Pierce grunted and headed back to the dorm, clearly intent on more sleep now that he had his dull book back. Draco watched him go with slight annoyance. Though he wasn't too eager to spend the whole night in an armchair in the Slytherin Common Room, it was preferable to staring at the ceiling in the dorm, listening to his roommates snore.
His eye twitched involuntarily at the thought.
Finally, Draco managed to drag his body up the stairs to his bed, collapsing on it with a colossal yawn. A loud snore reached his ears, and fed up, he snapped the curtains shut, casting the strongest silencing spell he knew.
With blessed quiet all around him, Draco leaned back, and tried to fall asleep again. After about two minutes of waiting, he snapped his eyes open again and sighed, then rolled onto his side, thinking a different position would help him sleep.
It didn't.
Getting frustrated now, Draco shut his eyes tight and tried to think of anything calming, that would get him to sleep.
And somehow his thoughts drifted to Ginny.
His mind recalled a conversation he'd had with Stephen and Pierce a while ago. Pierce had said she was pretty (though he'd used cruder words). Draco, in that state of drowsy half-sleep, considered it. Yeah, he could see that. A sudden vision of him snogging her drifted in. He smirked and rolled over onto his side. Maybe I will try some of the things my roommates are gonna do for their partners on the research trip, he thought.
With a gasp, his eyes snapped open and he shot straight up. Needless to say, he didn't sleep too well that night.
***
Ginny shut the door to her room behind her and leaned against it, heart pounding. Her breath came fast and shallow, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, her body seemed to calm down, and she slid to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees.
It was a good thing her roommates were all still at dinner, or else they would have been questioning her like mad. Ginny lifted her head up to make sure the coast was clear, and caught sight of her arm. She paled considerably. There was a clear handprint on the flesh of her upper arm.
Ginny stood, her resolve to clean up a bit strengthening her shaky legs. One of her roommates-Annabelle, was it? She couldn't really remember-was interested in Medical magic, and Ginny knew she had some books on the subject. With only a bit of guilt, she started rifling through the girl's belongings, past clothes, makeup, and other things, till she found a book on common ailments. She flipped it open to the index and quickly located a spell to get rid of a rather large bruise. She said the words, and instantly sighed in relief as the pain in her upper arm lessened, then faded away completely.
As she put the book and her laptop away, Ginny thought over what she could do now. As much as she'd like to shrug off Ivanovich's threat, she knew he wasn't joking. But she couldn't just abandon the project, and let a murderer walk free!
Ginny wasn't even aware she'd been pacing till she tripped over Tina's bed with a high-pitched shriek. Blinking in surprise, she sat up, and winced before moving the book she was sitting on away from her. The pages were bent, and Ginny grimaced as she opened the book and tried to flatten the creases again. Tina was so obsessive about things like that.
Her eyes were drawn to the spell at the top of the page she was fixing. It was an advanced Charms book, and she didn't recognize the spell, though it looked interesting. Apparently, it was supposed to guide you to the thing that would best help you in whatever you specified you were searching for.
"'Most used for missing persons, items, or information…" she read quietly, trailing off at the information part. Getting excited quickly, she scanned the spell. It looked rather simple, the only problem was that it would continue draining magic from her body until the spell found and delivered whatever it was that would help her. She bit her lip at that. Ginny knew of the dangers of things like that, but this important.
Her resolve strengthened, she stood and started the spell. "I need to find out information on William Claydor and his death," she said firmly, then looked down at the book and read off the words of the spell. There was a bright light, and some pain in Ginny's chest. The light grew brighter as the pain grew worse, and Ginny knew it was the magic being sucked out of her for the search.
Finally, there was a sudden wrench in her heart, and the light blinked out. The pain faded away for the most part, and Ginny collapsed on her bed in relief. On the palm of her wand hand, a bright circle had been imprinted. It was to stay there until the search was complete, then once it faded away, she'd come back to the place where she started the spell and retrieve whatever it was that would help her.
She stared at the circle mark for a long time, yawning widely. That spell had taken a lot out of her. She heard some footsteps approaching, and, not wanting to answer any odd questions, Ginny hurried to put away the book. Aimee came in just as Ginny shoved her marked hand behind her and out of sight.
"Hey Gin," her friend said. "Why weren't you at dinner?"
Ginny made a face. "It's a long story." Seeing the unfazed look on her friends face, she sighed and told the whole story of her food fight with Malfoy. By the end, Aimee was giggling hysterically, and the redhead was crimson with embarrassment.
"Shut up!" Shrieked Ginny as she heaved a gold pillow at her guffawing best friend. Aimee gave a small, "Oof!" as it hit and knocked her backwards. She reappeared with her hair in a disarray and glaring furiously.
"Oh you're gonna pay for that one. Bring it here!" Aimee cried, chucking another pillow at her friend. It took several more solid hits on both sides, before the finally collapsed on the floor next to each other, breathing heavily.
"That was fun," Ginny said through shallow breaths. She laughed. "I've been acting so childish today. First a food fight, now a pillow fight. Might as well just put my hair in pigtails and grab a dolly."
Aimee laughed at that. "We needed a break," she said with a shrug. Getting up and leaning back on her forearms, she added, "All this studying isn't good for us. It's a proven fact you know. Too much studying and," here she leaned close to Ginny conspiratorially, "we'll end up like Hermione!"
The redhead laughed loudly at that, till her stomach protested and she clutched the stitch in her side. She loved Hermione dearly, sure, but sometimes her study habits were just a bit too much to handle. Ginny sighed. I wonder if she and Ron and Harry are all okay again? She thought sadly.
She didn't dwell on that for long, because Aimee had thrown another pillow at her, and really, what could be wrong with the world during a pillow fight?
***
Wow, I revised this chapter so bloody much, it isn't even funny. After Ivanovich like hurt her, it started to get all depressing…not my intent for this story! An American Witch in Hogwarts is my angsty story ^_~
