AN: Salutations, all. This chapter may or may not contain as much physical humor as the past ones. Additionally, in my haste to get this out to you, I DID NOT EDIT THIS CHAPTER AS THOROUGHLY AS I SHOULD HAVE! You have been warned. After not having enough time because of freaking AP European History, I decided I was fed up with trying to write a huge chapter, and was inspired by Blond, James Blond to just submit another smaller one (Thank you!). So, sorry, but this is how chapter size is going to stay for awhile.
On with the story, and don't forget to REVIEW after reading the chapter, please!
THE APPLE OF MY EYE: CHP 5
Upon reaching my dorm, I took my time in opening my large trunk and fishing around for the necessary items. I was currently wearing a wide leg trouser and sweater, and thought it best to layer up to avoid becoming soaked to the bone. No doubt with Malfoy at my side the job would take twice as long as it normally would. I slipped a pair of long johns on under my clothing, and grabbed a scarf, hat, mittens, and my cloak. The mittens and hat were fine, but the cloak had seen better days. The fabric was a little thin, but I didn't care. Okay, there were a few holes in it, but I found it comforting. It used to be Charlie's, and when I was little he'd wrap me up in it when I got cold and say something like, "Weasley men don't get cold, Gin. Comes along with the red hair, see." Utter nonsense, but it was still one of my favorite memories of him.
I glanced out the window as I finished up. Snow was still falling lazily from the sky, adding more to the workload that lay ahead of me. Surprisingly, not as many students were outdoors as I had anticipated. Come to mention it, there were hardly any students at all outside in the glorious winter air. Damn it all, not even Hagrid was outside clobbering about! Snapping my trunk shut with a resolute clank, I exited the dormitory whilst shaking my head in disgust at the pathetically lethargic beings I was forced to call peers. For the umpteenth time I contemplated why in the name of Merlin they hated the snow in the first place, and began to feel significantly less enthusiastic about the future of mankind, especially upon seeing a large number of them (aforementioned good for nothing twits) gathered in the common room. My spirits brightened however, at the notion of bringing at least one of the miserable pests outside with me in order to partake in one of life's finer indulgences.
At this point, a sort of half crooked smiled attached itself quite dumbly to my face. I wasn't going to let them drag me down. No way. Ginny Weasley was getting what she wanted today. Being under the scrutiny of half of Hogwarts wouldn't exactly be the best way to spend detention anyhow. No, being alone was most definitely the friendlier option, no pun intended. And by alone I meant with the snow of course.
So as I marched through the student infested common room, I was only aware of two things. The first was that many of them (students) seemed to have taken an interest in my shovel, and were eyeing it with increasingly uncomforting glances. The second, and more prominent thing that was lolling around in my brain, was a disturbing replay of Draco and the apple scenario from the day before, except for the apple was replaced by a snowball, and it wa-
Clank.
"What the…and just what in blue blazes do you think you are doing!" I rocketed out of my day dream with alarming speed, and whirled just in time to see a rather annoying looking second year smack the underside of my shovel for the second time with the back of his fist. He seemed rather taken aback at my outburst, and scurried away into the hole he crawled out of. I glared after him a moment before continuing my walk to the portrait hole, this time carrying the shovel with two hands in front of me, hopefully increasing the overall intimidation level of the item and keeping away any curious bystanders. I smiled a bit on the inside. Who's to say Ginny Weasley isn't resourceful?
Finally reaching the portrait hole, I climbed through successfully and returned the shovel to its comfortable place on my shoulder. On an act of ridiculous spontaneity, I started to whistle, and quite horrifically I might add, as I maneuvered towards the main hallway. I never could whistle properly, but with the shovel slung over my shoulder in such a fashion I really couldn't resist trying. I was also using it as means of forgetting about why I had screeched at that second year in such an unkindly manner. Normally I wouldn't be inclined to do such a thing, and guilt started to prickle inside my chest at the recollection. I wasn't Malfoy, after all. My brow furrowed at that thought. I might not be Malfoy, but he was still plaguing my thoughts a lot more frequently than not, and I realized quite quickly that that was why I had been so jumpy towards that little mate back in the tower. Hell, you try masking the fact that you think one of the biggest gits in the school is attractive and see what it does for your mental state.
I decided that continuously trying to make sense of the whole situation really was a waste of time. It wasn't like someone was going to be able to mysteriously read my thoughts. My whistling depleted in energy as I recalled Harry's previous study of Occlumency. Right then. So it was possible. But come on, let's be realistic people. What are the chances of someone feeling the overwhelming urge to read my thoughts? I'd have to say slim to none. And even if there is some deranged lunatic out there who wants to do so right now, what are the chances that they'd uncover that particular piece of information if they did read my mind? Er….well, given the fact that it had been floating around in my head for awhile…maybe it wouldn't be so hard to uncover. That wasn't a good way of looking at it. Perhaps I didn't want to know the answer to that one.
I stopped momentarily, my head going in too many directions to permit even the most basic of my bodily functions to operate properly. My hand automatically brushed back my long bangs, and my eyes closed as I shook my head. I chuckled softly to myself. Ever have a moment where you feel like an immensely big idiot? This was one of those moments for me. I decided to stick to my earlier conclusion that went something along the lines of "despite the fact that it would be quite uncomfortable if anyone ever found out about it, my 'fondness' for Mr. Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly going to disappear, and therefore, I should waste none of my further energies on trying to rid myself of it." No, the only way I could possibly imagine the… (Oh
alright, I'll say it! It makes me sound like a skank, though.) lust going away is if Malfoy just happened to wake up one morning as…oh, I don't know, a female.
Smiling at my newfound state of peace and the hilarity of that image, I continued down the hall. I was just about to round the corner when a pair of voices I knew far too well reverberated from down the stone corridor.
"What do you mean you think something's wrong with her?"
I froze. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they were talking about. Glancing quickly from side to side, I ducked into a nearby window alcove, pressing my face against the stone in order to hear them better.
"Well I don't know how to put it, really. It's just that sometimes I get the feeling that she's really different than everyone else. She doesn't think the same way as we do."
"Thank goodness for that," I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes. Leave it to my brother to put something so eloquently.
"Come to think of it, she doesn't really seem to like the fact that we're in the Order at times."
"Yeah, maybe. Just seems like she doesn't understand how dangerous people are. She thinks that she can trust everyone."
"Never was a good sense of character," the softer voice said, and murmur of agreement followed.
"Right on that. I mean lookit the blokes she's fancied, and to think all those year-"
Too stunned to comprehend much, I tuned the last part out, swallowing a little out of disbelief. How was I supposed to take that? I didn't know whether to be offended or hurt.
"Yeah, well, even she can't possibly misjudge Malfoy, right?"
"Let's hope."
Their voices faded away as they moved farther down the hallway. A deep uneven breath worked its way into my lungs as I mulled over the charming conversation I had just overheard. It seemed that Ron had not only held on to his anger concerning yesterday, but he had voiced his opinions to Harry. This really shouldn't have surprised me in the slightest; I mean for God's sakes, Ron told Harry when his bloody shoelaces came untied. The thing that did surprise me was that not only did they think I had a horrible sense of character, but Harry had (or at least appeared to, from what I had gathered) agreed that there was some great danger in getting involved with Draco Malfoy's character. Brothers could be so stupid.
Rolling my eyes to signify waving the subject off, I came to the staircase leading to the entryway. A flash of silver caught my attention, and I looked up to see an unmistakably distinct figure, even in an excessive amount of winter clothing, pacing in front of the front door.
I had never really considered the phrase "turn that frown upside down" to be realistic, but at that moment nothing could have described me better. For as I began to descend the stairs towards him, nothing seemed more appealing than seeing Draco Malfoy in a wool hat and by the looks of it, 3 layers of cloaks.
I half heartedly tried to stifle a laugh at his idiocy. You'd think we were going in to the tundra by the looks of him. He appeared to notice my presence at the laugh, and stopped his incessant pacing to look at me like I was the ridiculous one.
I stepped off the last stair, biting the corner of my mouth to prevent the smile on my face from getting too big. A little kick in the pants to his ego couldn't hurt after all, but smiling like a clown-faced idiot would no doubt ruin its effectiveness. I nodded in acknowledgement.
"What, may I ask, is so amusing?" he seethed. I shrugged.
"Just wondering when the Ice Age decided to make another appearance."
"Gee Weasley, I didn't know your sense of observation was that bad. I saw you look out the window earlier. I figured a girl as sharp as you would have noticed the 2 plus feet and growing mound of snow on the ground." My eyes followed the curves of his arched eyebrow and lips before I realized he was serious. What a wimp.
"I can handle a little snow, and for your sake you better be able to do the same," I pointed at him with my shovel threateningly.
"Fine. Don't complain when you start to freeze to death."
"I'm not going to," I answered, ignoring his scoff, "now let's get a move on. Those flakes are just waiting to be stepped in." I gestured to the door, and watched bemusedly as he retrieved his shovel from its resting place against the wall, carrying it with one hand.
We each grabbed a handle on the heavy doors, and I noticed that he was wearing thick leather gloves, no doubt expensive ones at that. Maybe I did need warmer clothing. I wiggled my fingers reassuringly, brushing them against the soft fluff of yarn. Eh, I was more of a mitten person anyhow. The doors swung open, and we stepped outside in unison.
Immediately an icy sharp wind cut viciously through my cloak, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Draco flip up his collar. A shiver racked my body, and it instinctively jerked in his direction, desperate for the warmth of human contact. Between the cold and the way the snowflakes were clinging to his eyelashes, the man was downright magnetic. Barely managing to stop short before he noticed anything, I cursed silently. It was going to be a long day, and I could only hope that I would have enough restraint in me to last its entirety.
END CHAPTER 5
Thank you so much to all of my reviewers. You guys are great. Sorry if you're upset about the length, but after trying to find the time to make this longer and finding none in 2 weeks, I realized that this was how it was going to stay. Hope you aren't upset.