Curse David and his stupid ideas. Ginny silently seethed as she walked alongside Malfoy. Everyone was in the Great Hall this moment, the entire student population of Hogwarts would witness the most awkward encounter in decades...how she would live this down was beyond her. People would tease her mercilessly for months – years even! What would her friends say? Would they be mad that she didn't tell them that she had a boyfriend? Or would they think she needed to get her head checked?
Her nervousness kept doubling at an alarming rate, and dreadful thoughts kept racing in her head, each worse than the one before. What would Harry's reaction be? Would he be jealous like David predicted, or would he be indifferent to it all? And Ron! He'd kill Malfoy on the spot, probably wringing his neck. No, it would probably be worse. She imagined a gruesome scene; Ron bellowing uncontrollably, trying to smash every bone in Malfoy's body as onlookers watched with terror. Her imagination certainly wasn't helping her racing pulse.
"Do you have your will written out?" Ginny asked, thinking back to the horrible picture in her head where Ron was strangling Malfoy. He was fairly wealthy; having a written copy of a will was probably a commonplace concept amongst all rich families, she mused.
He looked down at her and gave her an incomprehensible look, "Oh yes, yes. I think I have copy right here," Malfoy replied back extremely sarcastically, he thrust his free hand in his robe pocket and pulled out an old folded piece of paper. Ginny rolled her eyes in annoyance; of course, he would only mock her concern.
With Ron's legendary temper, Malfoy would be lucky to make out of there alive. She cast another look at Malfoy, trying to determine how well he could fend for himself. He was actually as tall as Ron, with a fairly heavy built. For some odd reason she had always remembered him as a scrawny little second year...certainly, this had changed now. She surmised that Malfoy would probably be able to stand his ground and fight Ron. Now if he could take on both Ron and Harry was a different matter...
She scrunched up her face in contemplation...maybe if Malfoy knocked out Harry first, he could fight it out with Ron. It would be impossible to knock down Ron first...he would never go down without a bloody, bone breaking fight. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation. David ought to be locked up for all eternity, she thought darkly.
Suddenly, right before they were to enter, Malfoy quickly pulled her aside. She lost her train of thought and glared at him with displeasure. They were right outside the Great Hall, off to one side of the doors, temporarily shielded from the crowd inside. Ginny gave him a pointed look which seemed to say 'Why did you almost yank my arm out my arm socket?'
Malfoy completely ignored her vexed look and went on undaunted. "Listen, I don't think we should do this, but David told me to spoon feed you desert –"
Ginny interrupted him with a loud strangled gasp, a look of pure terror etched on her face.
"My sentiments exactly..." he muttered dryly.
"What else did that Neanderthal tell you to do?" Her brow was furrowed deeply and her angry scowl would have put Snape to shame.
Surprisingly, Malfoy let out a chuckle. "Trust me, that's better left unanswered."
"No, go on. Its better I present reasonable motives for homicide to the Wizengamot," she said crossing her arms in front of her.
"Well, for starters, he said we should make a grand impression on everyone. He wanted me to carry you inside the Great Hall in my arms –"
Ginny's eyes bulged out and she let out a squeak.
"Then he suggested that we should sit in a secluded, but visible area of the table. Whereupon, I was expected to magically conjure candles for a romantic candle-lit dinner. Music would be complimentarily provided by David himself, who, in his own words is 'one mean mandolin player–'"
Ginny buried her head in her arms and started muttering death threats. Malfoy overlooked her behavior and he went on describing David's elaborate plan. "During dinner, I was supposed present you with 34 red roses...each for the minute I've known you. He also thought it would be classy if I recited a sonnet to you while giving you the roses—"
"On second thought, I hope David has his will written out," Ginny clenched her fists, interrupting him again.
Malfoy smirked, "wait, it gets even better. After dinner, he adamantly insisted that I spoon feed you desert, which would be crème brûlée in heart shaped bowls. During desert, a dove – not just any owl- would fly in with a ring in its beak and drop it in your lap. After making sure that Harry and Cho were watching us, I was supposed to declare my undying love to you and ask you to marry me—"
Ginny was sure she was going to die of a heart attack any minute, she thought it was a pity she didn't have a will written out.
"You would then affirm your love between tears, and kiss me passionately. But, right before we kissed, David would interrupt and say 'But you're a Slytherin! She's a Gryffindor! It cannot be!' To which I was supposed to reply –" he closed his eyes and tried to remember that quote David made him memorize.
"Ah, yes. I was supposed to wrap you in my arms, look at you straight in the eye and say 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.' At this point, David would immediately usher us to the front of the Great Hall where he would quickly try to get us married, before your brother or any of the teachers tried to hinder our attempt to attain true love."
Ginny looked paler than the Bloody Baron by the time he had finished telling her about David's plan. Malfoy noticed her near dead expression, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on carrying out any of it."
His reassurance fell on deaf ears, Ginny had started to do the whole 'absently muttering threats' routine. Malfoy rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand again, he pulled her towards the direction of the Great Hall.
"Will you stop muttering like that? People will think I have you under the Cruciatus," he said agitatedly, giving her a glare. Ginny snapped her head up and fixed him with a glare of her own.
"It'd look more real if you smiled at me," he supplied trying to be helpful.
If possible, her glare got even harder.
"See, now people are just going to think I've given Snape Polyjuice Potion and made him look like you."
Ginny slapped her forehead in frustration.
"No, now you just look like Professor McGonagall after she's explained something to Goyle for the twentieth time."
She opted for a loud wail and threw her hands in the air.
"No, that won't do either. You look like someone who's been in the same room as Professor Binns too long."
She rolled her eyes this time and looked at him coldly. "Tell me, what else do you do besides stalking the teachers here?"
"Help students annoy Potter. Over 93 served," he offered helpfully, reminiscing back to all the times he had gotten everyone to taunt Harry about something or another.
"Well, 94 now, I suppose," he corrected himself and he pointed at her.
Ginny just shook her head in exasperation. They should screen out lunatics from enrolling at Hogwarts, she thought. She'd have to take this matter to Dumbledore soon, or else more students like Malfoy or David would keep enrolling.
"Ok, let's just get this dinner over with." She tried composing herself by taking a deep breath. She chanted 'I can do this' three times and took another deep breath. Looking up at Malfoy expectantly, she said "alright, we can go inside now."
"Are you quite sure? I wouldn't want to interrupt that ritual you had going on there," Malfoy replied, and he started to reenact Ginny's expressions. Her face started forming into another scowl, but he pulled her inside the Great Hall before she could fully turn it into a menacing glower.
Contrary to Ginny's deep fear, no one stopped eating their dinner. Nor did an immediate silence descend upon the students, no one even looked at them with gasps of horror. Not waiting to give anyone a chance to notice who had entered the Great Hall, Malfoy casually walked with Ginny to the end of the Slytherin table, where no one was seated.
Most probably because they had walked with such a casual countenance, no one had given them a second glance. Had they stood around awkwardly, they would've easily garnered the attention of a few people. But the secret was simply that they were so casual about it, as though they had done this a million times before and it was nothing out of the ordinary for them.
Ginny quietly eased into to seat opposite of Malfoy. She looked a little pale, but no where near the ashen expression she had before. Malfoy also noticed her mood change, he leaned over the table and conspiringly whispered, "Don't look so grim. I promise I'm not going to serenade you with a cheesy sonnet and old roses."
She managed to let out a weak chuckle at his attempt at humor. Looking behind Malfoy, she noticed that Ron, Harry and Hermione weren't in their usual spot. This indicated that they had already had their dinner and left, because the Quidditch field was booked by Hufflepuff tonight, so they couldn't possibly be out flying before dinner.
Malfoy started filling his plate and he saw her looking intensely behind him, "what? Is there a troll behind me?"
"No," she replied absently, "I was looking to see if my brother was here."
Malfoy let out a scoff and rolled his eyes at her answer.
"What was that for?" Ginny looked at him over the small helping of fish and chips she had taken.
"I don't get it. You're 'dating' me, not your brother. Who cares what he thinks?"
"You don't understand…my brother's very over protective of me. He used to give death glares to Colin because he suspected Colin had a crush on me. If he gave someone like Colin death glares, imagine what he'd do to you!"
"He wouldn't be able to lay a hand on me, that's for sure," Malfoy replied back conceitedly, he flexed his arm trying to show off his bicep.
Another giggle emitted from Ginny, "Malfoy, no one wants to see you stretch flab," she replied tongue in cheek.
He looked outraged, "I'll have you know that I train two hours daily for Quidditch practice," he shot back with a half-hearted glare. "You're the envy of every girl tonight."
"Lucky me," Ginny muttered sardonically.
As they both tucked into their dinners making small talk and smart quips, a few students around them finally started noticing them. They whispered amongst themselves, but no one dared to approach the intimidating figure of Malfoy who seemed to be absorbed with that Weasley girl. Even Slytherins at the table looked on warily, but no one made any comments to the couple.
Each individual had their own theory, some plausible, 'maybe they're working on a group project together'; others were ridiculously farfetched, 'I heard Malfoy is trying to convert her into a Death Eater,' and the ever popular, 'she must be under the Imperius.'
Only one person was able to enjoy his meal fully, he helped himself to a third helping of desert (the ever desired chocolate pudding). David's mandolin lay long forgotten as he looked at Draco and Ginny getting to know each other, he was sure his plan was going to be a success. With the slow but steady attention they were gathering, the news would spread quickly; and the fact that they were oblivious to it all the attention they were receiving, proved to the public that they really were a couple. Their relationship would seem more credible and believable, no one would ever believe that they were forced to date.
A/N: Is there anyone even reading this story anymore? I apologize for being the World's slowest updater, but I don't abandon my stories...so better late than never I suppose. Well, the good news is that the next chapter is almost finished, so I'll have it up within a week. And I realize at this point the story is going very slowly, but I promise the action will pick up very soon. Anyways, feel free to leave a review!