An Unexpected Flame

AN – Hey thanks heaps for the reviews. Veronica and autumnconfusion you are the best! I have been really surprised that the chapters only cover a short period of time because usually that's not my style so if you think it is moving too slow let me know. Tell me what you think so far, thanks!

Aristocat

Chapter 3 – Bloody Malfoy

Ginny couldn't sleep that night. She just could not get Malfoy out of her head. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy?! One of her worst enemies, family rivals and all around git-jerk-bastard-ferret-boy-man. It had been utterly bizarre. She had gone out for air, Harry had followed, she had slapped the crap of him, this made her smile in bed but it quickly returned to anger as she remembered why she had slapped him in the first place, arrogant git, Malfoy had appeared out of thin air, they had sat, she bummed a smoke off of him and then they had sat some more. Then Draco had gone off on her and left in a huff. Seriously, what the hell! But what was really getting her was the fact that it had been…pleasant. She was ashamed to admit that it had been the only time since before the holidays that she had not been thinking about her troubles. She had been happily peaceful though she didn't dare show it at the time, too suspicious of Malfoy. Well it had been short lived because as soon as Malfoy had left he had then consumed her thoughts and still did now. Damnit! Damnit! She let out a scream of frustration as she changed positions in bed.

She was about the throw her sheets off and make even more noise when she heard a groan in the bed next to her. She froze, thankful that her curtains around her bed were closed as a blush crept on her face.

"Ginny…if you make one more noise I'm going to come over there and smother you with your own damn pillow. Now shush!" Claire snapped sleepily. Feeling guilty for the second time that night Ginny murmured a quiet apology and put her pillow over her face. Resisting the urge to scream she closed her eyes knowing sleep was far away.

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

After leaving Ginny outside Draco had smugly strutted to his new room. He had this one in the bag and if Potter's interactions with Ginny were anything to go off he knew that this plan was going to work out bloody brilliantly. He couldn't help but smile at the thought as he strode into the common room area for the Head Boy and Girl. However his smile quickly turned into a grimace as he noticed Granger at one of the tables with her nose stuck in a book.

"Oh…I forgot about you." He said flatly surprised that he had actually spoken aloud. Hermione shot him a glare.

"Like I'm so happy to see you." Granger replied sarcastically as she brushed her hair out of her face so she could hold the glare longer which Draco found amusing causing him to smirk. Looking around he took in the common room for the first time. It was nice. Quite a large room with couches, bookcases, study tables and a decent sized fireplace. It would have been perfect if Granger hadn't been there. He swallowed with distaste as he made his way to the room marked Draco Malfoy, Head Boy. But he refused to leave without having the last word.

"Oh and Granger." She looked up scowling waiting for the inevitable. "You've got a big chunk of spinach in your teeth, did you know?" Her reaction was completely worth it as she found and pulled out the large piece of spinach with a horrified expression. Placing his hand on his door and walking in, he couldn't help but chuckle as he caused her scream angrily for the second time that day.

Feeling content he didn't bother to read the note as he dropped into his king sized bed, he was going to need some sleep if he wanted his game to be at its best. For the first time in months he slipped into a deep sleep.

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

"Ginny……Ginny? GINNY!" As Ginny continued sleep, a smile crept on Claire's face as a wicked thought crossed her mind.

"Aguamenti" Claire laughed as the streams of cold water came out of her wand and drenched Ginny effectively waking her up.

"What was that for?" Ginny spluttered wiping the water from her eyes as Claire continued to grin smugly.

"Well you wouldn't wake up the normal way and paybacks a bitch. By the way, lessons start in ten minutes." Ginny's eyes bulged as she ripped off her covers and ran to bathroom casting a drying spell on herself as she went.

"Why didn't you bloody wake me up?" she screeched from the bathroom while attempting to brush her teeth and put her robes on at the same time. Claire chuckled while she waited in the other room.

"Did you miss the part where I yelled at you and soaked you in water?"

"Yeah well…whatever." Ginny replied irritably as she walked back into the room. "Now do I look decent?" She asked doing a little spin.

"Um you might want to untuck your skirt from your knickers and brush your hair a bit; it's sticking up at the back." Claire grinned clearly amused by the shocked Ginny as she dashed back into the bathroom.

"Ah shit, at this rate I should just get it over with and have a puking pastille now." She groaned in the bathroom. Coming in, Claire gave her a sympathetic look before leading her out of the room.

"Come on, it won't be that bad. Alex is waiting for as in dungeons." With that Ginny nearly vomited in her mouth, of all the subjects why Potions?

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

Draco didn't know if it was a good or bad sign that she had missed breakfast. He was actually quite annoyed, he had spent the entire time watching the entrance to the Great Hall. He wasn't even able to enjoy breakfast. Damn woman…or girl. She was already causing problems. Refusing to wait any longer as it would just look sad if he was the last one at breakfast Draco walked into the Entrance Hall. That was when once again his luck seemed to change. A tired and messy looking Ginny was making her way down the stairs with one of the girls he had seen her with the other night. With a quick ruffle of his hair blonde hair he made his way up the stairs in her path. But they didn't get to pass each other.

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

Ginny was still in a daze as she followed Claire to Potions. After having two hours of sleep at best she was understandably out of it and was not enjoying herself at all. As she began to make her way down the Entrance Hall stairs she couldn't help but think that she was moving too quickly than was safe for her in her current state of mind. Too late. Her foot hooked on the back of her other leg. It was then that she realised she was going to fall and that it was going to hurt. Squeezing her eyes shut, she put her arms in front of her face and hoped for the best.

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

He was getting ready to bump her slightly when he heard a squeak and looked up in time to see Ginny begin to fall down the stairs. The two options flew through his head as time seemed to stop.

He let her fall down the stairs. The pros would be that he wouldn't have to touch her but then again he would have to do that and more eventually for is plan to work. And of course it would be hilarious to watch.

He could catch her, be a hero and it would be another chance encounter that she would obsess about which is exactly what he was aiming for.

Face set, Draco knew what he had to do. After all he was going to have to get used to her and having a bit of leverage always helped. As soon as he decided time seemed to speed up again. Ginny fell forward so quickly that Draco had to bolt up the remaining stairs to catch her before her head could crack open. He managed to get her at the right angle as she ended up landing on his chest. Ready for the impact he managed to get one hand on her shoulder to soften her fall and the other on her back to steady her. As she fell her body wasn't the only thing that hit him, her long red hair managed to get all over his face. Although this should have sickened him to the point where he threw her down the rest of the stairs, he was hit with an odd sensation. Her hair smelt…nice, like a nice subtle flower he couldn't put his finger on. Draco assumed that this odd feeling was brought about by his final acceptance of his task. Before he could dwell on it further he was brought back to the situation by a gasp as Ginny collided with his shoulder.

/\/\/\/o\/\/\/\

Waiting for the crack of her head on the stairs and the pain and blood that would surely follow, Ginny was extremely surprised when she collided with something solid before she had expected. She could tell that it was a person and most likely a guy considering the boyish smell, which smelt really good, not to mention the muscle she could feel against her. Although she couldn't deny that it hurt, her shoulder was definitely going to bruise and she landed on her ankle funny, it was thankfully a lot better than it could have been and she had been caught by some toned and good smelling guy. Maybe her luck was changing. As he held her in his arms firmly, she leant back and brushed her hair out of his face with a shy grin.

"Sorry about that I….." That was when she discovered Draco Malfoy smirking at her. Of all the people in the bloody school, why did it have to be Malfoy?

"Ginny! Are you alright? I thought you were gone but luckily this guy sprinted up the stairs and caught you." Said Claire as she walked down the stairs to meet the two, it was then that she realised who had caught Ginny.

"Draco Malfoy." She breathed equally as stunned as Ginny. Looking between the two Malfoy couldn't help but grin. Snapping out of it Ginny suddenly realised he was still holding her and she quickly shook his arms off her. However as tried to stand by herself her ankle flared in pain and she fell sideways. Surprisingly quick on his feet, Malfoy side-stepped and caught her in his arms again with a snigger. Damnit! She felt the blush slowly creep across her face as she looked up at Malfoy again stubbornly.

"Weasley if you wanted me so badly you could have just asked."

"Don't flatter yourself Malfoy!" she said, flaring up at him. "Now take your hands off of me." With a snigger he did what she asked. She managed to hop for a moment before sitting on the step. With a look at Malfoy that said "take that" she turned to Claire.

"I'm going to head to the Hospital Wing but you better get to Potions. If you're any later you are going to be on Snape's bad side for the rest of the year."

"Surely you don't expect me leave you to get there by yourself when you can barely stand." Claire scoffed but before Ginny could reply Malfoy cut in.

"Weasley girl's right. And seeing as I'm here and have a free I may as well help her." Malfoy interrupted causing both girls to look at him in surprise. Wanting Claire to get to Potions on time Ginny nodded but reluctantly.

"Yeah, I will be fine." With a suspicious look between the two Claire nodded before hurrying down the stairs. When they were alone she looked up at him with a livid look.

"If you think you're helping me you are really thick and don't think I won't use hex you just because you stopped me from falling down the stairs." She said tossing her hair out of her face glaring at Malfoy.

"Do you really think I want to even touch you Weasley? There is nothing I would rather do less but I feel slightly responsible." She arched an eyebrow at him curiously. "Since I was on your mind all night you could hardly sleep, you were so tired you tripped and nearly fell." Her face pale after getting over her blush suddenly began to turn a red all over again and this time out of anger.

"Malfoy" she said in a low deadly voice before she lunged for him. Unfortunately she seemed to have forgotten how quick he was earlier and given her off balance she of course completely missed him and headed for the stairs again. Closing her eyes and expecting the worst she was relieved to fall into his chest again and it felt kind of good as much as she hated to think it.

"Weasley, we could play this game all day and of course I know you want to. Right now I need to get you to the Hospital Wing and if you're not going to come willingly then I will have to take you by force." Before she could react to his words he threw her over his shoulder and marched up the stairs.

"MALFOY PUT ME DOWN NOW!" she yelled, banging her fists as hard as she could on his back.

"You know Weasley, the more you hit and try to deafen me the more likely I'm going to drop you which I might just do for fun anyway." He smirked as she continued.

"You also realise it will cause people to come out of their classrooms and see you like this." She could tell he was laughing at her inwardly as she stopped. She couldn't imagine anything worse happening than that. As he was climbing the last set of stairs she was surprised they had gotten there so quickly. He was a lot stronger than he looked…not that she had looked. Bloody Malfoy. She grumbled to herself as they neared the Hospital Wing when she suddenly realised how this looked.

"Malfoy put me down now." She said slightly panicked as he didn't slow his stride.

"I'm sorry I can't quite hear you. You see some ungrateful and annoying girl thought it would be fun to scream in my ear. Doesn't seem so fun now does it?" he drawled causing her to growl loudly. Draco threw the doors open as he entered the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was there in a heartbeat.

"What's happened?" she asked worriedly taking in the slumped figure over Malfoys shoulder. Before she could reply however he dropped her roughly on the bed causing Ginny to shoot him daggers. Madam Pomfrey shocked and confused looked on.

"It's no big deal. I was feeling really tired and tripped as I was walking down the Entrance Hall stairs. Luckily…" she said sarcastically. "…Malfoy caught me but I still managed to hurt my ankle." The witch made a strange face as Ginny explained.

"Well as long as you made it in one piece. I will just get something for your drowsiness. Mr. Malfoy you may leave now." As she hurried off, Malfoy waited with a stupid grin on his face causing Ginny to glower at him. When Madam Pomfrey disappeared however she was next to Malfoy in second her hand up and ready. Unlike Harry however Draco was expecting it and quickly dodged to the side as he grabbed her wrist.

"Nice try but we are not all as stupid as Potter. You really are a feisty one." She glared at him not wanting to give him the satisfaction when he did something to her in return. However he just grinned smugly and left the Hospital Wing without another word. What was his deal? Madam Pomfrey hurried back in the room with a small vial of blue potion which she handed to Ginny.

"Drink that, you will need to rest here for ten minutes for it to have its full effects. Let's look at that ankle." Even though she lifted it up softly Ginny cringed.

"Hmmm. Yes it is a bad sprain but it is easily healed. It is a good thing Mr. Malfoy was there."

"Why?" she asked bluntly causing the nurse to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well most people try to walk on these kinds of injuries which double's the healing time and of course from stopping you from falling in the first place which would have been a lot worse. Very helpful indeed, 10 points to Slytherin please let him know when you say thank you." Fortunately Madam Pomfrey was focussing on her ankle otherwise she would have seen the mixture of emotions that covered Ginny's face. First embarrassment as she would have been 'one of those kind of people', then slight guilt because she had been kind of harsh on Malfoy and then anger as the nurse gave him points for what he had done and that she expected her to thank him. Her ankle grew suddenly cold and then warm after a few seconds. The nurse nodded happy with her work.

"Now just rest for ten minutes from now and your ankle will be fully healed by lunch time though it may feel a bit uncomfortable until then. You can head back to class when your resting time is over." She said in a business like manner before hurrying off and making a few beds. This was going to be a long day because Malfoy was not leaving her thoughts any time soon. Bloody Malfoy.

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