Woo! I got a chapter up sooner than last time. Anyway, please remember to review.
Disclaimer: It's not April Fools so you can't say that I own Harry Potter.
Chapter 16: You Must Be Lucky, Ginny
Laughter filled the air. Snowballs flitted around, playfully hitting other people. Trees were decorated with garland and snowy glass bulbs. Snowmen and their snow families were dotted along the ground, their creators staring at them in adoration and approval. Birds sang in the trees above, joyously chirping away the day. The sky was bright blue with only a bare trace of clouds and the sun spread its loving, warm rays on the world below. Christmas was near at hand.
"Stupid Christmas spirit," muttered Draco as he punched the head off a snowman, sending two first years, who had obviously just finished making it, running towards the castle, tears streaming down their cheeks. He plodded through the snow on his way to Herbology. "I don't see why everybody loves this time of year."
"You know, Draco," Blaise said from Draco's side, causing Draco to look at him out of the corner of his eyes, "you should really think about cheering up. No girl is going to want to go to the ball with you if you look like you just ate a jarful of bubotuber pus."
"Oh please, Zabini," Draco scoffed, "any girl would be thrilled to go with me; I'm the best Hogwarts has to offer. Anyway," he continued, "I was just commenting on how all this holiday cheer is really overrated."
Draco saw Blaise roll his eyes but he ignored his friend and kept on walking towards the greenhouses. The holidays really were a drag; seeing everybody else so happy made Draco even sourer, if that was possible. It reminded him exactly of what he didn't have. He couldn't quite explain it, but every Christmas left him with a longing for something…anything.
As they entered the greenhouse, Draco saw that Potter was sitting in the corner with his usual companions, Weasley and Granger. However, he was also joined by his other Gryffindor comrades, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. The six friends were all gathered together at one of the tables, talking while they waited for Professor Sprout to begin the lesson.
Draco and Blaise sat at the table across from Potter and his gang. Draco frowned and looked around; Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be found. That was unusual for them, because normally they followed Draco everywhere. Sometimes it got annoying, but they did serve their purpose of making a path for Draco in the crowded hallways. Without them, Draco had to fight his way through the crowds like everybody else. He shrugged his shoulders and slumped back in his seat, waiting for class to start.
"I just love this time of year," Ginny sighed, spinning in a circle through the snow, her arms spread wide. "I think Christmas must be the most wonderful holiday ever." Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and her cheeks were slightly flushed from the cold.
"Are you going home for Christmas, Ginny?" her friend Colin asked. Dennis Creevey was following the two down to the Quidditch pitch for practice that night.
"Yeah, me and Ron are," Ginny said. "Mum always wants us home for the holidays."
"Same with our dad," Colin said, shifting his broom to rest against his other shoulder. They fell silent and Ginny gazed at the stars above them. At the moment, she wished it didn't get dark so early in winter; it would make it harder to practice Quidditch. Though they wouldn't have another game for a few weeks, Harry was very adamant about practicing. Next weekend, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would have their first match.
As they neared the pitch, angry voices drifted through the air. Ginny groaned as she recognized them.
"Back off, Scarhead," came Draco Malfoy's snarling voice.
"We were here first, Malfoy," Harry challenged. "We have the pitch reserved for practice tonight, so get you and your team out of here."
"Your team isn't all here," Draco said, a sneer obvious in his voice. "Seeing as we are, we should get to practice."
"Uh-oh," Collin muttered and the three sped up. They walked through the doors to the Quidditch pitch and saw the rest of their team clustered together, facing off the entire Slytherin team. Harry and Draco were practically nose to nose, glaring at each other ferociously.
"Here's the rest of our team," Seamus said, noticing Collin, Dennis, and Ginny approaching. "Now get out of here, Malfoy."
"Watch your mouth, Finnigan," Draco shot back at him. "It doesn't matter if you're all here now. We're going to practice."
"Oh no you're not," Ron growled, stepping forward. Ginny saw that his ears were red from suppressed anger.
"Don't talk to me like that, weasel," Draco said arrogantly, staring hard at Ron. "You're not fit to wipe the dirt off my shoes."
Ron's hands twitched like he wanted to strangle Draco, but he remained still. Ginny placed a hand warningly on his shoulder and Ron's head jerked to look at her as if only noticing her for the first time. His attention returned full-force to Malfoy and his crew though.
"Where's Madame Hooch?" Ginny whispered to Dean next to her. "I thought she was supposed to oversee all Quidditch practices."
"She was here," Dean whispered back at her, keeping his eyes on the Slytherins, "but that was before they got here. Said she wasn't feeling well so she left. Then the Slytherins showed up."
Ginny nodded and eyed Draco. He didn't look the least bit flustered, nor did he look like he was about to back down. Crabbe and Goyle were on either side of him. Goyle was cracking his knuckles threateningly and Crabbe was gripping his broom handle roughly.
"I know what we can do," Draco said, his eyes narrowing and a dark smile creeping up his face. "We'll have a Quidditch match…whoever wins gets the pitch to practice. Only rule is that you can't grab the Snitch before your team has scored 50 points; other than that, anything goes."
Dread filled Ginny at dark look on Draco's face when he had said "anything goes", and she became even more worried at the determined look on Harry's face; she started to talk Harry out of it. "Harry, I really don't think we should –"
"You're on," Harry stated. Ginny groaned. Draco grinned.
"You got yourself a game, Potter," he replied. "Team, this way!" Draco hopped on his broom and flew to the other end of the pitch. When the rest of the team joined him, they huddled together to talk. Ginny didn't like the looks they were sending their way.
"You sure about this, Harry?" Seamus asked him. He too seemed to notice the evil grins on the Slytherins' faces.
"We'll be fine," Harry said. "Let's just look at this as extra practice."
"Yeah, practice for death," Ginny mumbled, but nobody heard her. She sighed and listened to Harry prep his teammates.
"Just play the best you can," he said. "Ron, watch out for Aidan Tulson. I saw him at one of their practices and he's gotten loads better since the last game."
Ron nodded stiffly.
"And Ginny, Seamus, Dean – Crabbe and Goyle still can't hit worth beans, so I don't think you have much to worry about," Harry scratched his neck, his brow furrowed. "I think last week was just luck that they hit you, Ginny."
"Right…luck," Ginny said sourly. "Let's just hope luck is on our side tonight, alright boys? I'd like to live till Christmas, if that's alright with you."
"Geez, Ginny, what's got your pants in a twist?" Ron asked as the team started turning and walking towards their end of the pitch.
"Oh, I don't know, Ron," Ginny said sarcastically. "Maybe because we're about to play a bunch of hot-headed Slytherins who've been looking for an excuse to pound us all to a pulp," she whispered fiercely at him. "There's no teachers here to stop them from playing dirty, which is exactly what they're going to do, if you haven't noticed."
"Aw, stop being such a worry-wart," Dean said from her left. "This'll be fun."
Honestly, am I the only one of this team who has an ounce of sense? she thought to herself. She paused for a moment as the others walked past her. Well, I am the only girl on the team. Yep, I've got the most sense. She nodded and kept on walking.
When they reached their end of the pitch, they mounted their brooms and stared at the Slytherin team. The chest containing the Quidditch balls rested in the middle of the field. None of the Slytherins looked like they were about to open the chest and everybody remained still.
"Someone's got to open that," Ginny said to no one in particular. She sighed in exasperation when nobody answered her and flew towards the chest, all eyes on her. When Ginny released the balls, both teams raced forward to claim them.
Ginny glanced up and saw that all three Slytherin Chasers reached the Quaffle at the same time that Dean and Seamus did. As Dean reached for the Quaffle, Alan Howry kicked at Dean's face but Dean ducked. Howry ended up with the Quaffle and they raced towards the Gryffindor posts. Ginny gaped after the Slytherins; if this was a real game and Alan had actually hit Dean, then that would have been a penalty. She sped up her broom to catch up to Dean and Seamus, who were speeding after the Slytherins.
Right when Howry got within scoring distance, he passed the Quaffle to Aidan Tulson, who whipped the ball towards the far right goalpost. Though Ron swooped over and reached as far as he could, he wasn't quick enough to stop the red ball from zooming through the post.
The three Slytherin Chasers roared harshly in triumph and headed towards the other end of the pitch. Angrily, Ron shot the Quaffle at Seamus, and Ginny and Dean flanked his either side as they flew towards the Slytherin goalposts.
The three Gryffindors faced the three Slytherins and at a nod from Seamus, they split up. Ginny flew higher above everybody and kept a close eye on Seamus, who was heading straight towards Alan Howry. Dean flew below Seamus and off to his left; Aidan Tulson was knocking knees with him.
Ginny was just about to call to Seamus for the Quaffle when Blaise Zabini appeared out of nowhere in front of her. His black hair swished in the wind and his face had a dark look on it. Ginny pulled up short to avoid running into him. She moved left to go around him but Blaise moved with her, blocking her way. She moved right but he did as well. So they're playing man-to-man, thought Ginny. I can handle that.
Ginny faked like she was going to fly up and Zabini moved up as well, just as Ginny had planned. The Gryffindor girl zoomed downwards and past Zabini. He growled at her as she sped by under him and lashed out with his foot, trying to kick her, but Ginny was too fast for him. Within moments, she had caught up to Seamus. Now it was two-on-one – Ginny and Seamus on Howry. Seamus tossed the ball over Howry's head and Ginny caught it; she continued flying towards the Slytherin goals.
"Behind you, Ginny!" Seamus shouted from somewhere behind her, and looking back, she saw Blaise Zabini gaining on her. She tried to speed up but instead of going faster, her broom seemed to be slowing down. Frantically she spurted forward but soon her broom was at a complete stand-still in the air. She turned around and saw that Zabini had his wand aimed at her broom. The Slytherin boy approached her broom, his wand still holding her broom still.
"I'll take that," he said, reaching for the Quaffle, but Ginny hugged it to her and turned away. Blaise's broom was resting next to hers and he reached over and started prying her arms apart. Ginny was no match for the seventh year's strength and she desperately looked around for either Seamus or Dean, but it seemed their brooms were still as well. Both of them were watching Ginny and Blaise with angry and helpless looks on their faces. With another quick look, she saw that Crabbe and Goyle had also suspended Collin and Dennis.
Anger filled Ginny at what the Slytherins were doing. It wasn't fair at all. Her Weasley temper kicked in and she elbowed Blaise hard in the face, colliding with his nose. He grunted and his arms fell off of Ginny, cradling his nose. This gave Ginny the distraction she needed and she whipped out her wand. She pointed it at Blaise's hands, which were still on his face, and shouted "Levitrosoma!"
Blaise stared in shock at Ginny as his hands were frozen in place. Momentarily, Ginny giggled when she saw that they were both clamped around his nose, but then she cleared her throat. She then kicked at Blaise's broom and it lazily spun away; his wand was no longer pointing at her broom.
With a spurt of speed and a grin of delight, Ginny flew forward, leaving an irate Blaise Zabini behind her. Fight fire with fire, she thought. She looked over her shoulder and saw Blaise trying to wrench his hands off his face, but they wouldn't budge, thanks to her spell. Now it was just her and the Slytherin Keeper, Warren Quinn.
Ginny easily lobbed the ball through the air and it went sailing through the Slytherin hoop; now the score was tied. Ginny grinned and turned around. Howry had released his hold on Seamus's broom and was helping Blaise with his hands. Seamus was now with Dean and Aidan, arguing with the latter. Seamus must have said something to set Aidan's temper off, because Aidan's fist soon collided with Seamus's nose. Seamus clutched his nose just as Dean whipped his wand out and pointed it at Aidan. He had just opened his mouth to curse him when a stray Bludger went sailing into the group, breaking the three apart.
This is going to get very violent very soon, Ginny thought. Too much raging testosterone… Ginny's attention returned to the game when she saw Alan Howry with the Quaffle shoot towards the Gryffindor goalposts and she flew after him. Before she got far, however, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and saw Blaise yanking on her hair to slow her down. He gave one last hard tug and, smirking, flew past her, leaving her far behind.
Ginny rubbed the back of her head and followed him. Seamus appeared at her side and he asked, "You alright, Ginny?"
"I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. "But if they score again…" she trailed off, shaking her head with anger. Her heart dropped as she saw Zabini toss the Quaffle towards the Gryffindor goalposts, but this time Ron was able to stop it. He passed the Quaffle to Dean who headed back towards them.
"Come on, I've got an idea," Seamus said. He and Ginny were in the middle of the pitch and headed toward the Slytherin side as Dean came towards them; all three Slytherin Chasers following him dangerously closely.
Howry grabbed on to the end of Dean's broom, slowing him down. Blaise grabbed Dean's right arm while his left still clutched the Quaffle. Dean started wobbling backwards, caught off-balance by Zabini's pulling him back. Aidan made a grab for the Quaffle. Dean tried to fight them off by shoving them with his shoulders, but he was no match for three Slytherins.
Just as it seemed that Dean would lose the ball, Seamus pulled out his wand and pointed it had the four Chasers. "Accio Quaffle!" he shouted and Dean's grip loosened. The red ball went zooming across the pitch towards Seamus.
"Good one, Seamus!" Ginny clapped him on the back as the Quaffle flew into Seamus's hands. They could hear the Slytherins cursing all the way across the field as they hurried to catch up to Ginny and Seamus. The two Gryffindors approached the Slytherin goalposts long before the Slytherins ever got there. They also scored before the Slytherins could do anything about it.
Twenty to ten, Ginny thought. Only three more goals until Harry can catch the Quaffle. She glanced up to see where Harry and Draco were and saw that the two of them were flying in circles very high up in the air and yelling at each other. The two of them were obviously arguing, as usual, and Ginny only hoped that Harry was paying attention to the score. The sooner this game ended the better.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of three angry Slytherin Chasers zooming towards her. Turning and sighing, she saw Blaise Zabini carrying the Quaffle; Aidan Tulson and Alan Howry flanked his either side.
Ginny was just about to back away when, with a shout from Dennis Creevey, a Bludger flew straight into the three Slytherins, scattering them aside like rag dolls. The motion caused Blaise to drop the Quaffle and with a cry of surprise, Ginny sped downward to catch it.
The wind of her downward rush blew a few pieces of Ginny's hair out of her pony tail, but she ignored them. The only two things she was aware of were the Quaffle that was falling towards the ground and Blaise Zabini who was directly behind her.
The moment her hand wrapped around the Quaffle, Blaise and his broom collided with her. The force of the blow not only knocked the air out of Ginny and the Quaffle out of her hands, but caused the two Chasers to plummet to the ground in a tangle of legs, arms, and broomsticks. Twigs from each broom broke off and Ginny's arms flailed about, trying to grab onto something, anything. It seemed, though, as if she was no longer properly on her broom and was merely tangled with Blaise and their broomsticks, merely a fly trapped in a spider web.
The Quaffle long forgotten, Ginny braced herself for the bone-crushing crash that was to come. The only comforting thought as she fell to the ground was that she probably hadn't been high up enough to die from the fall; the Quaffle hadn't been more than twenty feet off the ground when she had caught it. She was barely aware of the screams and shouts of her teammates above her; the roaring of the wind in her ears drowned out the sound.
Ginny looked down with fear as the ground rushed up; she tucked her head into her chest to prepare for the landing. Without warning, she and Blaise slammed into the ground in one tangled mass. Her head, covered by her hands, smacked into the ground and black dots appeared before her eyes. She gasped for breath but a sharp pain stabbed through her left side, leaving no air for her to breathe.
Ginny groaned and tried to move her legs but found they wouldn't budge. Panic filled her and she sat up only to see that they were trapped under Blaise's body, which wasn't moving. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she fell backwards. She was distantly aware of her teammates descending towards them but her mind wouldn't focus. Her body ached all over and she could hardly breathe.
Something was trapped under her left side, the side that she suspected contained some broken ribs, and she shifted her wait to her right side. From under her she pulled the broken remains of a broomstick, one which she sadly recognized as her own. It was obvious that one end of the broom, the bushy end, had been lying atop Blaise while the other end had been under Ginny's left side; when they had crashed, she had landed on top of the broom, breaking her ribs and the broomstick in half.
Tears sprang to Ginny's eyes, partly from pain and partly from the loss of her broomstick. As if from a distance, she heard Ron's voice calling her name. It became jumbled together in her mind, however, and her eyelids fluttered open and shut. Desperately she fought off the unconsciousness that was clouding her vision. Though she struggled to stay awake, the shock was too intense and she welcomed the blackness that numbed her pain.
Draco watched with growing horror as Blaise and Ginny collided with a thud that he could hear from way up in the air. They fell towards the ground and all Draco could do was stare with his eyes wide. Within seconds of their collision, Ginny and Blaise crashed into the ground. He couldn't tell from this high up, but it didn't appear as if either player was moving. Panic filled him and he thought of how he could possibly be in trouble if either died since it had been his idea for a Quidditch match. He remained motionless as the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins sped to the ground to check on their fallen teammates. Slowly Draco followed them.
When Draco reached the ground, he saw Ron Weasley cradling his sister's head in his lap and calling her name, trying to wake her. He saw that Ron's eyes were slightly watery and the rest of team was gathered around with worried expressions on their faces.
In a daze, Draco turned to Blaise who was lying just as motionless as Ginny. Draco expected them to be unconscious; they had fallen nearly thirty feet. He bent down next to Blaise, who was being fanned by their Keeper, Warren Quinn.
"He's alive," Quinn stated, watching nervously as Draco bent over Blaise and shook his shoulder. Their Chaser didn't move an inch. Draco glanced over his shoulder and was filled with unexpected worry at the sight of Ginny laying there. Her crimson hair was barely pulled back in its earlier pony tail and her face was smudged with dirt from when she had hit the ground. He looked to see if her stomach was moving to determine if she was still alive, but he couldn't tell. Desperately he wanted to ask if she was alive, but he didn't dare. At the moment, Ron's face was darker and more irate than he'd ever seen it. The red-haired boy was staring at him dangerously, his body shaking with anger. Ron rose with jerking motions and stepped towards Draco, his hands outstretched and his head shaking back and forth. He stopped and looked back at Ginny though; then he turned back to Draco and pointed a finger at him.
"I swear I'm going to kill you," Ron said hoarsely. "If she doesn't get better, I am going to kill you."
Draco, along with the rest of the Slytherin team, watched as Ron turned, picked up his sister, and took off running towards the castle, the rest of the Gryffindor team in tow.
Draco turned back to the Blaise and sighed. "Well let's go then," he said heavily. His usual cool attitude of arrogance was long gone. He may have hated Ginny Weasley, but he sure didn't want her to die.
With a wave of his wand, Blaise was levitated behind him. With Draco leading the way, the Slytherins headed towards the castle.
A strange noise filled Ginny's ears. Groaning, she opened her eyes and glanced around. The room she was in contained lots of white; white sheets, white walls, white clothes. There was only one place like that, and that was the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. Relief flooded through her at that realization for that meant that she wasn't dead. With a rush of memories, she remembered the unexpected Quidditch match, the collision with Blaise, and the painful crash to the ground. She sat up and was greeted with a dull pain in her side, though one not as intense as earlier. The only thing that really hurt was her head; she could feel the blood pounding in it.
She heard the sound that had woken her up again and she glanced sharply to her right. Her brother Ron was slumped against her bed, his head resting on his elbows. Snores were emanating from his partially opened mouth.
Ginny turned to her left and saw that the bed next to her was occupied by Blaise Zabini. Good, she thought. He's not dead. A sharp intake of breath next to her made Ginny turn her head back again and she saw that Ron was now awake and staring at her.
"Ginny!" he shouted and threw himself at her, wrapping her in a giant hug.
"Oof," went Ginny as her brother tackled her in a hug.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, looking at her side. "Madame Pomfrey said not to really touch you right now. She said your side hasn't healed fully quite yet."
"What happened?" Ginny asked. "I mean after I hit the ground." She rubbed her shoulder and wearily looked around.
"Well you and Zabini crashed, and then we flew down to you. Both of you were unconscious so we took you and Zabini up here; we all sort of quit the game." Ron sighed and continued. "Pomfrey said that you broke two of your left ribs and that you have a concussion, but other than that and a few bruises, you should be fine. All Zabini got was a broken leg, a broken nose, and probably the biggest headache ever."
"I'm sure I could give him a run for his money," Ginny said, holding her head in her hands. The pounding was getting worse, probably because she was sitting up. Stupid blood rush, Ginny thought.
"Ah, well it's still the middle of the night," Ron said. "I can go get Pomfrey if you want," he said, standing up and heading for the door.
"No, it's alright, Ron," Ginny said. "I'll probably fall back asleep in a minute anyway. Why don't you go to bed? It's late and I'm fine now."
"No, I'll stay with you," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders. "You know, just to make sure nothing happens."
Ginny didn't quite know what to say. Her brother was acting…dare she say…sweet? It was very unusual for Ron, but she was enjoying his attitude. It reminded her of days of old when they were little and played their silly games together, of when they were best friends. They still were, but this little action of Ron's gave Ginny a sense of comfort.
She snuggled down under the blankets and pulled the crisp white sheets up to her chin. Ron settled back in his chair, folded his arms over his chest, and sighed. He eyed Ginny as she closed her eyes contently. Before long, she had fallen back asleep.
Madame Pomfrey insisted that Ginny remained in the Hospital Wing for the next three days. Within a few hours, her ribs had completely healed but the school nurse said it would take longer for her concussion to go away. Sometimes Ginny would get dizzy just by sitting up in bed and she constantly had a headache, so she figured it would be best not to argue with Pomfrey.
Blaise Zabini was also ordered to stay in the Hospital Wing for one day after the Quidditch match because of his injuries. He and Ginny spent most of that day in a glaring contest which Ginny felt confident that she had won. Growing up with six older brothers had taught her the meaning of patience and stubbornness, the latter being a prominent Weasley trait.
The rest of the Gryffindor team all came down to visit her that day as well; she enjoyed all the attention she received, but after a while she just wanted to be left alone. In the evening, a few of the Slytherins came down to see Blaise and Ginny huffed when they entered, turning her back to them. However, she watched Draco out of the corner of her eye while they were there. A few times she'd catch him glancing at her, and whenever Draco saw that she noticed him, he'd glance away quickly. A feeling of smugness came over Ginny at the thought that possibly Draco had been worried about her, even if the tiniest bit. She noticed that most of the time that the Slytherins were visiting Blaise, Draco was quiet and she wondered why. Was he perhaps feeling guilt for what had happened at the Quidditch match? Was he regretting his rash decision to a game?
From what Ginny had heard from Ron and Harry, both the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were in trouble. When Madame Pomfrey had learned of the reason for Ginny's and Blaise's injuries, she had alerted their head's of houses, who had had to tell Professor Dumbledore. As of yet, Ginny didn't quite know how their team would be punished, but she could bet that it wouldn't be very good.
Footsteps near the back of the infirmary caused Ginny to sit up in her hospital bed. It was the day that she would be able to return to classes. For the two days she had missed, Hermione had been sure to bring her all of her books and homework so that she wasn't behind. Also during those visits, Hermione made sure to express her disapproval for the Gryffindors' actions in accepting the game. Ginny chose to ignore all her exasperated sighs.
"Well, Miss Weasley," greeted Madame Pomfrey as she entered the room, "I think you are free to leave now."
Ginny jumped excitedly out of the bed, already dressed in her robes. "Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," she exclaimed.
"You must be lucky, Ginny," Pomfrey said, shaking her head. "Lucky that that fall didn't kill you or Mr. Zabini."
Ha, luck, Ginny thought. There were two ways to look at the situation. 1: She wasn't lucky because she had fallen in the first place or 2: She was lucky that she hadn't died. Being the optimist that she was, Ginny chose the latter. I suppose I was lucky.
"However," continued Madame Pomfrey, "if you have any problems, any at all, come right back, you hear?" the nurse cautioned.
"Don't worry, I will," Ginny reassured her, grabbing the few 'get well' cards she had received. After thanking the nurse again, she exited the Hospital Wing.
The afternoon had just turned into evening and the halls were crowded with students hurrying down to the Great Hall for dinner. A few students said 'hello' to Ginny in the halls while others said they were happy she was well. Ginny smiled to herself, glad that not everybody hated her. Her stomach growled, reminding her of the early lunch she had eaten. She excitedly made her way towards the Great Hall, happy to see her friends and family again.
When she entered the Great Hall, she sighed contentedly and made her way over to the Gryffindor table. Ron scooted over for her and she sat in between him and Harry.
"How're you feeling, Ginny?" Harry asked her.
Ginny smiled into her lap before replying "Fine, thanks." She looked around. "Where's Hermione?"
"She said she was skipping dinner," Ron said through a mouthful of chicken pot pie. "Said something about studying in the library, I don't know."
Ginny shook her head. If Hermione wasn't in class, sleeping, or eating, then she was in the library. Looking over at the Slytherin table, Ginny saw Draco glance down quickly. A small smile played on her lips and she wondered if perhaps Draco's heart was softening a bit. Who would have thought it possible, Ginny pondered.
Maybe Draco is human after all.
Draco watched intently as a certain red-head bobbed in and out of the students and came to a halt at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. A strange and foreign feeling was in Draco's stomach and he couldn't quite describe it. He felt a great weight lift off his shoulders; Ron Wesley had threatened to kill him if his sister didn't get better. Draco wasn't particularly afraid of one Weasley, but he had a feeling that Ron would've enlisted the help of his brothers to carry out that task. Seeing Ginny up and about was a good thing indeed.
Yet seeing Ginny well wasn't good only because that meant that Draco wouldn't be castrated with a splintery wooden spoon by six angry red-headed blood traitors…no, it was more than that. Somehow, Draco's spirit had been dampened by the turnout of that spontaneous Quidditch match against the Gryffindors. He had expected to beat them badly and possibly even make Ron Weasley cry in frustration, and he had in fact told his team to do anything necessary to win, but he hadn't planned on anybody getting seriously injured as they had. And he certainly hadn't planned on getting punished for it. Indeed, he felt that he was in big trouble.
"Attention, students," Albus Dumbledore called to the Great Hall. Draco looked up; he hadn't even noticed that the headmaster had stood up, so absorbed in his thoughts had he been. "I would like both the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams to meet me in the Transfiguration classroom this evening after dinner. That is all."
As Dumbledore sat down, snickers broke out around the room. By now, almost everybody had heard of what had taken place Saturday night down at the Quidditch pitch. A few students had even gone far enough to say that every student on those two teams would no longer be able to play Quidditch at Hogwarts. Draco thought that that was an overstatement, but he couldn't be too sure. He sighed and stared at his plate.
Why did it seem that lately, Draco's life was filled with nothing but trouble?
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A/N: Well I hope you guys liked that chapter; it was fun for me to write. I didn't get near as much in it as I wanted to, but I cut out some of what I had and am using it for the next chapter. So yes, that means I have part of the next one written. Yay! But school starts again tomorrow :( so that means I'll be getting super busy again. Too bad Christmas break can't last forever, right? Well, at least I got another chapter up. Please please please review! I know everybody says that, but it's so motivating. Unless it's a flame or something, but so far I've been lucky (like Ginny,lol)and you guys have been nice to me. This is my first story ever so I guess I'm happy.
REVIEW! And Happy New Year!
Lauren
