CHAPTER III –A Dementor's Kiss
'Great…', was all Ginny could mutter. She absent-mindedly copied everything Snape had written on the dusty board, her mind drifting to other places. She still haven't recovered from the shock she got last night from him. That maladroit Malfoy will be teaching her advanced D.A.D.A. lessons, of all wizards… And what was worst is that she should only keep this to herself. She had been itching to tell this to Harry, but if she will do so, she would only get into a lot of hitch.
'Turn your books to page three-hundred and twenty-eight.'
Ginny hastily grabbed her copy of Defensive Magic Theory and did what they were told to.
'Read the first paragraph, Miss Weasley.'
Ginny rummaged through the pages, and stood up, stammering. Her hazel-brown eyes searched the first paragraph her greasy-haired professor was talking about.
'The Mercuniato Spell was a hex invented by a nobleman, Stanislav Schliwetzwich, who was one of the darkest sorcerers during the era of Wendelin the Weird. It was first cast on a Muggle, after he has been caught stealing some of Stanislav's possessions. It causes a sudden trepidation and the splinching of body parts to the victim.'
'Could you please explain to us, furthermore, the nature of this spell, and what must be the counter-jinx to this?' Snape queried, his dark eyes groping every bit of her.
Ginny nodded confidently, and cautiously placed her book on her desk.
'As it was said, it induces sudden fear to the victim. For instance, the thief who had himself as the hex's first prey, upon experiencing the effect of the spell, saw hundreds of cockroaches in his course, and had his hands dilapidated.' She paused, thinking of the next sentences she ought to say.
'The thief has a great fear of cockroaches,' she continued, 'and when he stole the nobleman's property, he most likely used his hands in carrying all possessions. Therefore, we can conclude that the spell splinches the body parts that had made offence to the one who casts it, and to make things worse, it causes dread – a fear that will haunt the victim forever,' she slightly trembled, 'if he did not manage to perform the counter-spell for this. And –'
'Enough, Miss Weasley. Well said. Ten points to Gryffindor.'
She couldn't believe it.
Snape had given her some credit for the first time in her stay in Hogwarts. She nervously smiled as she sat down, while the Slytherins stared at Snape questioningly.
'As what Miss Weasley had implied, the Mercuniato spell is one of the most grave spells in wizarding history, such that it was banned back in the Middle Ages. It was discovered, in contradiction with what Miss Weasley had said, that Muggles alone will experience eternal fear. Wizards and witches will only experience temporary fear, for it is the magical blood that flows in their veins that builds a barrier, which protects them from the dreadful effects of this hex.' Snape summoned his wand and began concentrating. It came from the wardrobe next to the door, and hit a rosy-cheeked Slytherin by the head. Some Gryffindors sniggered.
'To be able to realize the effect of this curse, may I ask Mr. Corner?', he called on Michael, a mouse-haired boy, who happened to be Ginny's first boyfriend, who was then quivering, knowing what would happen next. He stood in front of Snape and stared at Snape with eyes that seem to plead for survival.
Snape rose his wand and aimed it at the trembling boy.
'Mercuniato!'
His body shook violently, and minutes later, his tongue was detached from his mouth. He stared at Snape ferociously, and screamed. His body collapsed as he made ranting noises of an unknown fear; his eyes bulging out of their sockets. He trembled and afterwards, he can scream no more—the sight that was frightening him has petrified him.
Everyone in their class gawked at him, terrified.
Snape grinned wickedly, as he stared at the boy's stance.
Ginny couldn't stand this anymore. Michael was indeed pitiful. She rummaged into her pockets and grabbed her wand.
She grimly stared at Snape, and a shriek ran past her lips.
'Mercurio!'
Snape was thrown back onto the floor, barely hitting his head on the desk that stood beside him. Losing his composure in front of his students was one thing Snape loathed, but surprisingly, he tried to conceal his dislike of Ginny, as he stood up with trembling lips. He kicked Michael's side.
'Up!'
Michael immediately regained consciousness, shook his head vigorously, and stood up, stammering.
'Mr. Corner has been talking with Mr. Winthrop about Miss Weasley's good looks, while she was talking in front of me.' Snape glared at Michael as he resumed his seat. 'And disrespect must never be, in any way, seen in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor.'
The two boys hid their faces behind their books, from the stares they receive from their fellow Gryffindors.
He grinned at Ginny sickly.
'And twenty points to Gryffindor for Miss Weasley's intrusion which I have appreciated.'
The Gryffindors gave a sigh of relief.
Ginny sat uncomfortably on her seat. It was odd of Snape to appreciate her even if she had acted against his rules. Her teacher doesn't like sudden intrusions. Anyway, she was glad that she had saved a student from insanity.
'And now—'
The door suddenly opened. The whole class craned their necks to see who had just arrived, and the door revealed a pale, blonde boy, whose robes fluttered as if a breeze had ran past him. He coolly made his way through the front, and spoke to a flabbergasted Snape.
'May I speak to you, Severus?', Draco said curtly.
Snape nodded and faced his confused students sternly. 'Do the exercises on page three-hundred and thirty.'
The students immediately had their partners. Michael found this a way to express his remorse to Ginny.
'Sorry for that, Gin. I didn't mean to –' , Michael said apologetically.
'No, that's okay. How're you feeling?'
'Fine. You're brilliant Ginny. How'd you do that? Thanks, by the way. I've seen a dozen of Flobberworms crawling under my feet before you made the counter-jinx.'
'That's pretty awful.' She smiled weakly at his funny revelation. Gee, Flobberworms are nothing for a man to be afraid of.
They soon began on practicing the spell. Ginny managed to block the spell Michael aimed at her. She wasn't really concentrating; she focused on the conversation the two men were having.
'—not at this moment, Draco. Can't you see what time is it? You're too anxious.', Ginny could hear Snape hiss.
'Just let her come with me, will you!' Draco bellowed. Snape stared at him at disbelief.
'Wait for a few more minutes. This class is about to end in a minutes time.'
He stood angrier than ever. He held out his arm in front of Snape, and pushed away all his garments that covered his arm, to let Snape see something Ginny couldn't perceive. She noticed Snape wince as he saw this.
'Alright.' Snape finally gave in hesitatingly, his lips giving a slight tremor.
Ginny wondered what was on Draco's arm. She was so fixed on their conversation, that she was unaware of the spell which would be hitting her.
'Sacro—'
Draco lunged forward, to Snape's surprise, and pointed his wand to Michael.
'Petrificus Totalus!'
And he punched Michael's nose, before his body became petrified.
He grabbed hold of Ginny's petite arm and led her outside the classroom. The other students gasped as they saw the two of them stormed out of the room. Still amazed by what Draco had done for her, Ginny didn't have the chance to protest. She stared at her hero like a madman.
'And what the hell did you just do?' Ginny snarled under her breath as they made their way to one of the empty classrooms.
'Idiocy, Weasley. I've just saved you from the Sacronus curse, if you must know.' Draco quipped.
He tapped his wand on the door and whispered 'Alohomora'. The door slowly opened. Ginny winced as Draco grasped her arm tightly.
'Let go of me, Malfoy! You're already hurting me!' she bellowed at him.
He ignored her unanswerable query, and summoned one of the over-stuffed chairs that stood against the wall.
'Sit.', he ordered her.
'And why should I?'
'Because I told you to!' Draco sounded aggravated. Ginny suddenly feared his temper, and sat on the chair awkwardly. With a flip of a wand, he locked the door, just to make sure there won't be intrusions.
Ginny slightly whimpered.
'I asked Severus to allot this time for our first lesson. We will be having the next session later this night.'
'For all I care, Malfoy. And what are you going to teach me? Teach me how to transform a chair into a ferret, perhaps.' She glared at him.
He gave her a gruesome look.
'Is this how you thank people, Weasley?'
'Is this how you treat women? And I did not remember myself asking for your special rescue, Malfoy. You were on your own—'
'If it hadn't been for your lack of attention… and by the way, why are you listening to our conversation?'
'Because it's none of your business, Malfoy.' Ginny was even more agitated. Draco had caught her eavesdropping.
Draco gave a snort of disgust.
'What else did you hear, Weasley?'
Draco seized her arms, and moved closer to her; his face a few inches from hers. He glowered at her, piercing her with his cold, grey eyes.
'I didn't hear anything', she whimpered.
'Liar.'
'I swear', she lied, holding back her tears. He was getting really frightening.
'Fine.'
He loosened his grip, and beckoned her to sit on the summoned chair. He drew a black satin kerchief from his pocket and handed it to Ginny, who was silently snivelling. She sat down.
'Stop crying. You're so pathetic.'
'I'm not crying, and I'm not damn pathetic.', she lied again.
Ginny gently wiped her tears with the kerchief Draco handed her.
'Then what do you call that?', Draco pointed at her tears that dampened his kerchief. She snuffled.
With it, Ginny could smell Draco's scent – a fragrance that soothed her nerves in an instant. She stared at Draco, with a thousand questions buzzing in her head.
'Let's get this over with.'
Draco stood up, gently brushing his robes against hers. Ginny had stopped crying. She knew it best not to insult him again.
'What was your last lesson?', Draco asked her stiffly, as he fumbled with the books he had brought earlier. He had forgotten to left those in the Slytherin dungeons, in the excitement of his first day of being a student-teacher.
'Mercuniato Spell.' Ginny muttered, idly thinking about her bag.
Draco stared at her.
All of a sudden, he laughed heartily. She flinched, for she had never seen him laugh that hard.
'Mercuniato? I've been using that since I was a kid!'
Ginny grimaced.
'Back to the realm of Malfoy boastfulness.', she thought.
Regaining his composure, Draco continued, 'Very laid back, that spell was. I will be just teaching you more complex forms of hexes, jinxes, and curses, which we sixth-years are currently taking.'
'You mean, I'll be studying D.A.D.A. as if I'm a sixth-year?', said Ginny, eyes filled with awe.
'Precisely. In this manner, you have the ability to surpass the skills of the feeble-minded students of my year,' he smirked, giving her a thought that Harry is one of those feeble-minded students he was talking about.
'Harry is not feeble-minded, Malfoy!', she glared at him.
'I did not say anything, Weasley. You're the one who's saying it', he snapped.
'Look,' she said, finally giving up, 'could we just agree on something? I'm tired of this uncivilised conversation, you know.'
'What is it?'
'If you fancy a decent discussion with me, could you please stop insulting the people I'm close to?'
'Then stop insulting me, too.'
'I was about to say that. But if you must know –'
Draco did not let her finish. He was also getting tired of arguing with her, and he wanted to start their lesson at that very moment.
'Fine. So,', Draco smoothed his sleek hair once more, 'would you mind if I continue with our lesson, Weasley? We'd better not dawdle.'
'No, Malfoy.' Ginny replied awkwardly.
Draco squinted at his watch before he spoke.
'Our first lesson would be about performing non-verbal spells.' He mumbled dully, as he set off across the room.
'Whoa! That kind of spells that you ought not to incantate?', she spoke enthusiastically.
'Yes, Weasley, as to say they are non-verbal', he replied scathingly.
Ginny slightly frowned at him, and gave a silent giggle as Draco suddenly cringed when he bit his tongue. She suddenly had a recollection of what happened in the hospital ward, the time when Draco had his tongue glued on the roof of his mouth.
Draco scowled at her, but chose not to retaliate.
'Now, stand up.', he said stiffly.
Ginny did as what he had ordered her.
'Bring out your wand.'
'I left it downstairs. I dropped it when you dragged me all along.'
'What?' Draco remarked sarcastically.
'I said I dropped it, and don't expect me to go all the way down there just to retrieve it.'
'I won't do that. Snape would punish me.'
'Why not Severus, this time?'
He stared at her. He had been on first-name terms with their Defence teacher since his first year. But he just insulted her.
'You silly, little sister of a prat!' Draco sneered.
'Do-I-have-to-tell-you-again-that-you-MUST-NOT- INSULT- THEM?' she bellowed, referring to her prat of a favourite brother.
Draco took no notice of her.
He brandished his wand and muttered, 'Accio, Ginny's wand.'
Before Ginny could've reproached him for using her first name, the classroom door slammed open, and a familiar wand came hurtling out of nowhere. Unexpectedly, the wand hit Ginny's head, and it made her almost knocked out of the floor, if it hadn't been for Draco's body. She sort of lied on top of him; her hands grasping his broad shoulders with an enormous force, her legs in between his, her fiery hair thrown all over Draco's face, and her crimson lips resting on his. Ginny opened her eyes to see her greatest fear. Draco was still immobilised, not looking shocked; rather looking pleased with himself. He pressed his lips harder on hers, to lock her in his kiss, but she refused. She broke the kiss and tried to regain her composure by arranging her robes and tucking her tresses behind her ears.
She gasped at him as he sat on the floor. Their faces both turned slightly pink.
'AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? HOW DARE YOU!', she screamed, knocking him on the floor once more.
'It's just a kiss. Did you like it? Was it better than Potter's?', he replied jocularly.
'You're snogging me, Malfoy. You're not supposed to snog me off! I'm not yours!'
'So does it mean—'
'No, Mr. Draco Malfoy. You'll never be my boyfriend.' She bellowed once more, advancing on him as if she had read his thoughts.
'So,', he ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at Ginny picking up her wand, 'was it inviting?'
Ginny gave him a disgusted look.
'No. In fact--' she slapped him hard on the face (It left a huge hand mark.), 'it was a Dementor's Kiss. You've just sucked out the living hell out of me.'
She got to her feet at once and placed the cursed wand inside her robes.
Draco stared at the spot where she had kissed him on purpose.
'Meet me at the dungeons, ten o'clock.', said Draco, pretending to have not felt the pain on his cheek.
She spat on him, and stormed out of the room, leaving Draco in an unexplained mirth.
