Chapter Fourteen
Initially unsure of the reaction of her peers, Ginny had nervously walked down to breakfast. Quietly peeking through the door of the Great Hall, she noticed that Draco was not in his usual seat at the table. Mentally, she wondered what his reaction to the article was. Disgust? Amusement? Sheer Anger? A combination of all three?
Luckily, her brother, Hermione and Harry were absent from the table as well. As inconspicuously as she could, she approached the table and sat down on the corner. Ginny's appetite was largely subdued and she opted for a glass juice instead of her regular meal. Glancing at the rest of the table, she saw Colin and he caught her eye. His expression was hard to read, but it was easy to tell that he wasn't very happy. With his mouth set in a firm line and the morning paper tucked under his plate, Ginny instantly gathered that he had read the article too.
Trying to see if he was well-versed in Legilimency, Ginny tried to mentally convey her story to him. His stony demeanor remained unchanged and she was forced to accept that verbal communication was the only alternative left. With a small sigh, she looked down – only to have someone rap their knuckles lightly at her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Lavender and Pavarti standing next to her with beaming smiles.
"Uhh…yes?" Ginny looked confusedly at them.
Pavarti nudged Lavender, who nodded surreptitiously and immediately blurted, "Are you really dating him?" Both girls looked expectedly at her, waiting for her reply.
Somewhat apprehensive of the attention she'd garner, she quietly mumbled out a "Yea, it's true." No sooner were the words spoken out of her mouth, Lavender squealed and leaped down to wrap Ginny in a tight hug. Completely bewildered, she looked at the two girls for an explanation and saw Pavarti grudgingly take out some galleons, which Lavender collected with a happy smile.
"Thanks Ginny, you just made me a little richer today," she concluded as a way of explanation, before both girls went on their way again.
Still a little surprised from this display Ginny turned back around in her seat. Everyone sitting within five meters of her was staring at her intensely. Quickly, her cheeks started blazing and she picked up her glass of orange juice to hide her discomfort. In her distress, she missed some of the looks of envy that she was receiving from a good majority of the girls. The others were only looking at her quizzically, wondering how such a quiet and timid girl had landed the resident 'Bad Boy' of Hogwarts.
The boy sitting next to her, whose face she vaguely remembered from a Potions class in fourth year, turned to her and caught her eye, "I'll just ask what everyone's been dying to ask you. Isn't Draco Malfoy a death eater in training?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, it seemed as though the entire table leaned in to hear Ginny's response. With a roll of her eyes, she put an end to that rumor, "No, that's only anti-Slytherin propaganda. It might surprise you, but his interests are quite different than those of his Father's. Quidditch occupies a good majority of his brain."
With a knowledgeable nod, the boy replied back. "I knew you were too smart to waste your time on someone who wasn't any good for you," and he turned back to his breakfast, without bothering to look at Ginny's reaction again.
A little surprised by his quick approval, she looked back dazedly. Deciding that she may as well leave before something really ugly took place; she gathered her bag and quietly left the area.
On her way towards the Charms classroom, she was stopped three times by a few girls who wanted to hear the truth about the article in the newspaper. Trying to avoid the topic was of no use, so Ginny kept her answers brief. Dodging people in the hallway, she turned around the corridor to see David standing in the middle of the hall, handing out copies of the day's paper to other students.
In her opinion, the last thing she needed was anymore publicity but David knew no bounds. With an annoyed expression on her face, she made her way towards him. Approaching David, she noticed that he had a pile of newspapers stacked at his feet and an armful was in his hands. To each passerby, he would hand one over with a happy smile, saying "Page 7 is the one you really need to read!" or "Ignore the rest and read page 7!"
When she was about a meter away, David looked at Ginny and gave her an ecstatic smile. "You want another copy?" She shot him the dirtiest glare she could muster as a reply.
"I'll take that as a no." He noted her grim expression with the same happy look.
Irately, Ginny began "David-" Cutting her off, he said, "Because I have a spare period."
Baffled, she looked at him, "I haven't even asked my question!"
"I knew you were going to ask me why I'm not in class," he replied with a knowing smile.
She huffed slightly, annoyed that he had guessed her question, but not wanting him to have the satisfaction of knowing he was right, she said, "For your kind information, I was going to ask you something else—"
David turned towards her, "Oh, my mistake. Draco's feeling a little under the weather today. I have it on good authority that he's caught the flu that was going around."
"I wasn't going to ask about him." Ginny muttered with clenched teeth, irritated that he had guessed her question again.
David hid a smile and feigned concern as he asked her, "Oh, forgive me. Pray tell, what were you asking?"
Confused for a second, Ginny was unsure of how to respond and David interrupted her, "Yep, that's exactly what I thought Ginnifer."
Deciding to cut to the chase and scare David, Ginny dived for the kill, "My brother has Transfiguration this morning. I believe this the corridor he'll pass to get to his classroom."
Immediately, David's eyes bulged slightly and he bent down to pick up the stack of papers, "You know what? I think all the relevant people have gotten the paper here. I think I'll go outside in the courtyard and hand out the rest."
Straightening up, he flashing Ginny a big grin and attempted to give a thumbs up with his arms full of newspapers. Frowning heavily, she grumbled "I said that so you could stop handing out these idiotic papers all together! Not hand them out in a different location."
David, as usual, remained unfazed by her anger. "Oh, lighten up and get to class." He started walking away but he turned around to add his final words, "Oh by the way, be prepared for a nice surprise today." Ginny's eyebrows shot up in alarm, the last thing she needed was one of David's surprises.
"Hey! Wait now, come back! I'm not done with you!" Her yell fell on deaf ears as David quickly left the corridor. Annoyed, she let out an exasperated sigh and narrowed her eyes at his retreating back. She turned around and started making her way to class. Ginny had moved about a few meters when she noted Ron's scowling face three feet away from her. His robes were slightly skewed and it looked like he had run straight from Gryffindor tower. A few feet behind him, Hermione was running to catch up with Ron.
Ginny tried to look composed and decided to play it cool. "Where's the fire, Ron?"
He fixed her with an angry glare and pulled the morning paper from his robe pocket, "What exactly is the meaning of this?"
Ginny momentarily faltered and Ron waved the paper in her face. "Draco Malfoy? Why are you dating the bloody King of gits? Is there a shortage of eligible men in this country?"
She gave him a smile and putting her acting skills into action she began, "Ron, you don't know him. No one knows him, he's not like he seems—"
Her brother quickly interrupted her and said, "I'm well acquainted with that ferret, Ginny. I don't need you to sing his praises."
"Really Ron, I know what I'm doing. If you could just see us when we're together, you'd—"
"See how bloody crazy this all is!" Ron finished her sentence. "Look," he began with an air of finality in his voice, "I know the gossip column in this paper is trashier than Pansy Parkinson's personality, so I'm willing to take this with a grain of salt, but I don't want to see you around him anymore, do you understand me?" He pointed his index finger at her, waiting for her answer.
Annoyed by his bossiness, Ginny snapped at him, "Just who do you think you are? You don't even know him and yet here you are passing out decrees!"
Hermione, who had been watching the two siblings argue for a while now decided to interrupt the argument, "Look Ron, your sister has a point. You can't boss her around."
"Oh I'm sorry, so if my sister wants to date an idiotic imbecile, I should say 'Yes Ginny, please feel free to throw away your life dating a moron!'" Ron said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
"I don't want a lecture from you Ron! As long as Draco treats me respectfully and nicely, I don't see why you have to butt your nose in this," Ginny gazed coldly at her brother.
He let out a snort of disbelief, "Mark my words Ginny, he'll end up hurting you and then you'll come to me and Harry crying, asking us to go deal with him."
Ginny suppressed a scream of anger, how dare he mention Harry now, it was because of him that she was in this mess! "Think what you want Ron, I won't come crying to you." She clenched her fists together and span around, leaving him spewing incoherent threats towards Draco.
Moving away quickly from the few stragglers who had stayed to see her argument with Ron, she made her way to her class. Settling in her seat, she noted the curious stares she was getting from some people in the room. Trying to play it cool, she nonchalantly opened her text book and pretended to read. Students around her were whispering in low tones, but she managed to make out a few sentences here and there, "…Draco Malfoy, yes yes…", "…I didn't even know she knew him…", "…whatever happened to Potter?" and "…I wonder if their parents know" were among a few of the phrases she managed to hear before Professor Flitwick entered the room and put an end to all the pointless gossiping. Ginny did her best to pay attention to the day's material and ignore the looks she was still receiving from some of the girls in the room.
Keeping her demeanor poised and calm, she managed to pass through the entire day's classes without any mishaps. When ever anyone would approach to inquire about the article, she would reply back briefly and quickly find another place to go. David's words rang throughout her ears constantly and she anxiously wondered what his surprise would be. After her last class, she had hurriedly raced back to the Gryffindor tower to hide from one of the random groups of girls who had suddenly decided Ginny was to be their new best friend because she was dating Hogwarts' most sought after bachelor. She idly wondered how long she'd have to keep up with this insanity, as she ran up to her dormitory.
Upon entering her room, she noticed that there was an owl sitting by her window ledge. Curiously she approached it and unfastened the letter tied to the owl's neck. With its haggard appearance, Ginny guessed that it was most likely one of the overworked delivery owls which belonged to the Owlery. Opening the piece of parchment, she instantly recognized David's handwriting and quickly read through the message.
Dear Ginnifer,
Through great difficulty, persistence, swearing, and a severe reduction in Draco's Gringott's vault, I have managed to reserve a table for you and your Prince Charming at Atlantis for this coming weekend. It pains me to blatantly point out your flaws, but the lack of etiquette you often display makes one believe that you were raised by howler monkeys somewhere in South American forests. Though your subpar upbringing will never bring a rift in our friendship, I ask you to consider Draco's reputation in high society. Please meet Monsieur Malfoy and yours truly in the classroom three doors down from Professor Flitwick's office for some etiquette classes today at 4.00.
Have a nice day,
You-know-who (not the psycho you-know-who…just the normal one)
Ginny read the last part and let out a snort, how David could consider himself normal was beyond her. She picked up her robe and started walking out of her room since it was close to 4. Quizzically, she wondered what David was up to now, and grimly prepared herself for an evening with David and Draco.
A/N: Holy! I can't believe I forgot all about this story...hehehe, is anyone still reading this? I had this chapter written ages ago, but I never uploaded it :S ...but not to worry, now that I have a lot of free time these days, I think I'll finish this story for good this time! Review, review, review!