He cornered Ginny the next day before lunch.
It was going to be awkward, that was certain. It was going to be horribly unpleasant, and he was slightly frightened for his life.
Plus, if he was honest with himself, he was kind of weirded out that Zabini wanted to date a thirteen year old Gryffindor redheaded blood traitor. But who could question Zabini's tastes when there was so much at stake?
"Hey, Weasley!" he called to Ginny as soon as he spotted her, walking towards the Great Hall with her patched-up backpack swaying slightly behind her. Ginny turned to look at him and paled as soon as she saw who was calling her. Her friends stood next to her proudly, as though they could help her against him. He snarled at them. "I need to talk to Weasley. Alone."
They scampered off, and Draco leaned forward. He would have to play this cool, he realized. Ginny probably wouldn't respond well to threats, and he doubted Zabini would be all right with the whole thing if Ginny was just too terrified to turn him down. No, he'd have to be smart.
"Er, listen. . . Ginny," Draco said in what he hoped was a friendly, non-violent tone. "You know Blaise Zabini?"
She nodded, her eyes on the ground, one finger playing nervously with a lock of hair. Draco ran a hand through his well-gelled hair. "Look, he likes you, all right? You want to go out with him?"
Ginny made a sound most resembling a squeak. Draco sighed. "I know, I know, it's really weird. But can you?"
She looked like she was going to pass out when those rotten Weasley twins came up to her.
"Malfoy," one of them said, tilting backwards on the balls of his feet, "are you talking to our sister?"
"Because," the second one said, "we don't like it when Slytherins talk to our sister."
"Especially Slytherins like you," said the first one, crossing his arms.
"So get out of here," the second one said, putting a hand into his pocket and drawing out a fistful of colorful candies, "or we'll make sure your next taste of candy is not so pleasant."
"Yeah," said the first one. "We've been looking for a tester for our gag candies."
"Let's just say," said the second, "they're called gag for a reason."
"Just a friendly suggestion," the first one added.
Laughing nastily, the two of them left, each of them with a hand laid protectively on Ginny's shoulder, leaving Draco alone. As the Weasleys walked off, he could hear one of the twins saying, "Ginny, if that git ever tries to threaten you again, you just let us know, all right? Trust me, he'll never try it again."
Draco sighed. His life was harsh.
﴾ ﴿
Professor McGonagall announced the Hogsmeade trip the next day, and while a tiny, tiny, tiny part of Draco wished he could be going with Hermione, he was mostly glad to be going with his fellow Slytherins anyway.
Blaise caught him getting his things together as the students all left the classroom. "Hullo, Malfoy," he said in a suspiciously civil, if quiet, tone.
"Zabini," Draco said, fearing the conversation that lay ahead.
"Just checking on how things are going with Ginny Weasley," Zabini said. "Have you spoken with her, yet?"
"I'm working on it," Draco said, figuring this was a safer bet than explaining what had really gone on. "I think the next Hogsmeade weekend will work," he added, lying through his teeth.
"Good," said Zabini. "I suppose I'll just have to keep this around until then."
He gave a quick, furtive glance around the room and, finding it deserted, pulled something small out of his pocket. "Because I'd just hate for this to have to go around the school."
Draco looked. It was a reel of film in a clear case. Zabini smirked and slipped it back into his pocket. "That's right, Malfoy. Oh, and don't try any funny business. I'll be taking this with me to Hogsmeade. It'll be on my person the entire time. To get to it, you'd need to get through me first. And I don't think that'd be a very. . . enjoyable experience for you, what with you needing tutoring and all in waving your wand around and trying not to look completely pathetic in front of your precious little Mudblood. . . crush."
With that, Blaise Zabini left the room, leaving Draco's blood pressure skyrocketing.
