Draco entered the room for detention on Monday night, and just as the door closed he let out a cheer. Ginny jumped, and looked at him incredulously. Draco Malfoy appeared to be… smiling.
"I did it!" Draco said as he approached her. "I just finished."
"And it works?" Ginny asked excitedly.
"Well, I haven't tested it yet, but theoretically it works. And I took some without dying."
Ginny snorted. "You took some even though there was a chance that it would go all wrong and you would die?"
"I may be exaggerating just a bit," Draco replied motioning a very small amount with his fingers. A grin was still plastered across his face.
"Well let's see it in action," Ginny said as she whipped out her wand. Draco made a motion to stop her, but she was too quick for him.
Before he knew what had happened, Ginny threw a Bat Bogey hex at him, but it bounced harmlessly off of him and rebounded onto her. Ginny had never been on the receiving end of that hex, but it certainly opened her eyes to why most boys seemed to be afraid of her.
After a few moments of Ginny wrestling to stop the hex and Draco trying to look guilty instead of amused, it ended as quickly as it began.
"What the bloody hell was that! You didn't say that it would rebound!"
"You didn't give me a chance to! You were all trigger-happy. I suppose you were just dying for an excuse to hex me again," he said defensively.
"That is not fair! Those things are bloody evil!" Ginny replied motioning wildly about her.
Draco tried to stifle a laugh, but it came out as a snort, which further increased his urge to laugh. Finally he burst out laughing, tears of mirth trailing down his cheeks. Ginny tried to remain indignant, with her hands on her hips and her eyebrow raised as a challenge, but the sight of Draco Malfoy laughing himself to tears was so unusual and welcome that she ended up laughing alongside him.
A few minutes later Draco finally managed to control himself and looked curiously at Ginny who was still red-faced from laughing.
Was I just laughing with a Weasley? Not laughing at her? No, certainly I was laughing at her. She deserved to get attacked by her own bloody bogies. Yes. It serves her right for attacking me. That was my plan all along… to humiliate her. Draco frowned. He should be thinking like that, because he was fairly certain that he still hated the girl. She is everything he looked down on in life: poor and associated with lesser beings. Then why did he have this urge to spend time with her? She likes potions. Yes, I am only fraternizing with her because of her potions knowledge. I will use her to get ahead, then get rid of her. Draco frowned again, and Ginny finally caught his eye.
"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked.
"How is your potion coming along? I finished mine, so I need something to do. I'll help you." How is helping the little Weasley using her? Again, he frowned. Did I just offer to help a Weasley… again? He shrugged and looked back up at Ginny.
"You okay?" she asked. "You seem to be having some inner dialogue- you are all frowns and shrugs. It is a little weird."
Draco waved off her question. As if I would tell her anyway, he thought. Then he frowned again. But I have told her things. A lot of things that no one else knows. He heard Ginny chuckle under her breath and looked up at her suspiciously.
"Why do you talk to me, Weasley?" Draco asked.
"Weasley? I thought we were past that, Malfoy."
Yes, I did suggest she call me Draco. Why would I do that? "Ginevra. Why do you talk to me?"
Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "Because we have detention together every night. And because we actually have something in common. No one else wants to talk about potions."
Draco let out a sigh of relief. "So you don't fancy us friends or anything?"
Ginny did not look him in the eye as she said, "Me, friends with a Malfoy? Not likely."
"Right. Good then." Is that a good thing? Draco shook his head to clear his mind. "Right, so how is your potion going? Any progress?"
Ginny grimaced. "None. I can't manage to find anything that will fill the love aspect of the potion except for cheesy love potion ingredients, but that is hardly true love, and I don't think it is quite as strong as I need it."
"Do you need my help?"
"…no."
"No?" he asked.
"…yes." Ginny looked up at him sheepishly.
"I knew it! Okay, good. So I was thinking about this today while I was waiting for mine to mature. What if you did a combination potion- you know where you place spells on the potion during brewing. I know a lot of really complex potions use that method, and yours is certainly complex."
Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know that might be just what I need." With that she set off to a pile of books that she had recently worked through. "I thought I saw a book on ancient spells over here that might have something in it."
Draco brightened. "So did I! Let me see if I can find it."
A few minutes later, the two were seated cross-legged on the floor in the center of the room with mounds of books around them, eagerly flipping through their respective books.
The pair spent almost an hour searching their books, detention forgotten, making notes, and consulting each other before they heard a door open and looked up to see Madam Pince who raised an eyebrow at them.
"I haven't heard any shouting from in here today. Have you decided to put aside your differences to work on the project?" Draco and Ginny nodded. "Then why is this taking so long to complete. I never intended you to be in detention this long, and you have barely made a dent in the project."
Ginny looked at Draco, then said, "Well, you see, we are just working hard to make sure that it is done correctly. Cataloguing is a difficult task, so we are inspecting each book to be sure and get it into its proper categories."
Madam Pince looked skeptical, but finally said, "I do appreciate that, and of course I want you to do it properly, but at the rate you are going you will be here until you are forty."
Draco cleared his throat. "We'll try to speed it up a bit. We're sorry."
Madam Pince gave them one more suspicious look before leaving them and closing the door.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this during detention," Ginny said finally.
"Right," said Draco. "How about we meet somewhere during our free periods?"
"You want to meet me somewhere of your own free will?" Ginny asked teasingly.
"Well, no. Yes. For the potion. You've got me intrigued, and I want to help."
Ginny sighed. "Okay, I have free periods on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00 until dinner. Are you free then?"
"Yeah, that is when seventh years take Divination. I hate that class and dropped it first chance I got."
"Perfect. We'll meet then."
"Where? I usually work in an abandoned classroom down in the dungeons."
"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be seen roaming the dungeons during my free period. There is a girls' toilet I always work in. Hermione told me about it. No one ever goes in there because of Moaning Myrtle."
Draco blanched. "Surely we could find somewhere else?"
"No, I have been working there for a while now and it wouldn't seem strange for either of us to be in that part of the castle."
Draco paused before replying, "Fine."
"Good, now let's get to work on these books." She motioned to the piles of books around the room.
"Great," he replied sarcastically. "Should be fun."
The pair stayed later than usual that evening to make up for their hour of not working. By the time they left, the library and corridors were deserted.
As they were about to part, Ginny asked, "Do you know where Myrtle's bathroom is?"
Almost too quickly Draco replied, "No, never been there." Except for that time I went to cry and Potter nearly killed me, he thought.
Ginny furrowed her brow for a moment as if in thought, then smiled and said, "I'll show you now while everyone is in their common rooms."
Draco was about to protest when Ginny grabbed his by the arm and pulled him in the right direction.
The corridors were chilly that evening and Ginny had not put on her cloak before she went down to detention, so she pulled her arms around herself to stay warm. Draco noticed her shivering and before he realized what he had done he put his cloak over her shoulders. The shocked look on Ginny's face and his own confusion almost prompted him to grab it back from her, but he refrained from doing so. She had stopped to look at him.
"Draco Malfoy, are you being nice to me?"
Draco shook his head and replied, "I think I am. Why am I?"
Ginny shrugged. "Thanks, though."
"You're welcome." Draco saw that they were nearing Myrtle's bathroom.
"Here we are," Ginny said. "Do you want to meet Myrtle? She's a bit emotional, but not half bad."
"She is a ghost, you realize?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Ginny asked.
"Besides the fact that she is dead, nothing I guess."
"Good." With that, she dragged him into the bathroom. "Myrtle!" Ginny called. "I brought you a boy!"
Draco looked horrified. "What are you doing? You sound as if I am meant as bait or something."
Ginny shrugged as she saw Myrtle float out of a bathroom stall. "I know that boy," said Myrtle.
Ginny looked at Draco then back to Myrtle. "You know him?" she asked.
"Yes. He was crying last year." Draco's calm persona snapped. Immediately he was behind ice-cold eyes and an expression of fury.
"You cried in a girls' toilet?"
"Oh yes, it is so funny!" Malfoy cried. "Go and tell all of your friends. No, they know anyway, because Potter saw and tried to KILL me. That is really what this is all about isn't it! Give me that!" Draco snatched his cloak from Ginny's shoulders and stormed out.
"What just happened?" Ginny asked Myrtle incredulously.
"I think he was a bit angry," she replied in her singsong voice.
"Because he thought I was mocking him." Ginny ran out of the bathroom, leaving Myrtle to call after her.
When Ginny finally caught sight of Draco on his way down to the dungeons, she called out to him out of breath. "Draco! Stop, please. Just stop!"
Finally he stopped and turned, his eyes cold and his lips pursed. "What do you want? No, I don't care. You are a Weasley. You are poor. And worst of all, you are a blood traitor. I don't even like you. I hate you. And I think you should leave."
"Well then you've just proved your point haven't you? If you really hated me, you wouldn't let me leave until you had hexed me halfway to China," Ginny reasoned, hoping she was right.
Draco pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at her. "If that is what you would rather."
"Draco, please stop. You know I didn't call you up to the bathroom to mock you. Please, let's just stop fighting. We have been getting along lately, though I can't imagine why." Ginny looked up to see Draco smirk and lift his eyebrows. Taking this as a sign of decreased hostility, she continued, "After all you are an arrogant blood purist, and I am a humble blood traitor." Draco nodded.
It is much easier to communicate with the girl as long as I can pretend that I am doing it because of how much I despise her, Draco thought. I cannot take her kindness, and I will not have her pity.
Ginny, feeling heartened, said, "So can we still be sworn enemies who like to work on potions together? I could really use your input, as much as I hate to admit it. I might even consent to flatter you a bit if you are really useful."
Yes, sworn enemies, Draco thought. That is a relationship I can understand. I know how to work that one. Friendship… more? That is impossible to comprehend. Being enemies is much better.
Draco smirked. "Yeah, without me you'd probably do something stupid like add a root too early and burn all your hair off. I can hardly deride your red hair if you haven't got any."
"Exactly," Ginny said relieved. She stepped forward and put her hand out for him to shake. "You don't hate me, just everything about me?"
He stepped forward and shook her hand. "Well, not everything," he replied. "I do quite like your humor. And you talk to me, which is more than I can say about the rest of my house," he paused, then continued, "or the rest of the school for that matter."
"So I will see you tomorrow in our glamorous laboratory?" Ginny asked.
"I think I can make time," he replied, smiling.
"Good. See you then."
"Goodnight. And if you weren't my sworn enemy, I would probably apologize for acting like a prat earlier."
Ginny smiled and tipped her head at him. "And if you weren't my sworn enemy I would tell you not to worry about it. And I might even forgive you." She exaggerated a shiver and said through a broad grin, "Lucky for me, though, you are. That might be horrific."
Draco put on a false face of seriousness. "Yes, terrible. It might inspire to great acts of violence. Like… torturing puppies."
"You wouldn't!" Ginny cried.
Draco lifted his hand to stroke his chin. "Too bad we will never have the chance to find out."
Ginny shook her head. "Too bad. Now hurry up and leave before I think you've had a change of heart."
"Goodnight, weasel."
"Goodnight, ferret."