Alrighty, so here's chapter 15! Hope yall like it, it was really fun to write :)
To Guest on chapter 5: I know right! Good luck! Who knows, maybe we'll be able to take over the world with the ability to smack guys in the face with our ponytails! Mwhahahah! Eh, or not hehe ;)
"YOU'RE WHAT?"
Malfoy glanced over at Ginny and almost laughed out loud at her horrified expression. If he hadn't had a reputation to uphold, he might have let it loose.
What was the reason for her outburst, you ask? Well, he had just unwittingly confessed that he was not, in fact, going home for Christmas. Instead, he was staying at Hogwarts during the holidays for the first time.
The blond teenager had no idea how she had weaseled the information out of him. Ahh, what a perfect description for the Weaselette, he thought with an almost fond smile.
Wait, what? Him? Fond of the Weaselette? Definitely not! That was simply absurd. Why in Salazar's name was he acting like this around her? It had become more and more noticeable over the past few days. No longer would he make snarky remarks about how ugly she was (a total lie now). She honestly didn't know how beautiful she was. He smirked to himself in amusement.
Not that he was about to inform her. That was definitely not in his job description. Although it might be interesting to see how she would react. Hmm. . . .
As for making fun of her for her lack of money, well that simply was not an option anymore, just like with her supposedly being ugly. Her idiotic father had apparently been promoted and now made a lot more money. It was sort of funny how the world worked.
While the Malfoy name was being dragged through the mud, and he loosing everything because of it, the Weasley name was being praised right alongside that blasted Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die-Like-A-Normal-Person. But did he say anything about it? No, but only because he had more dignity than that. At least, that was what he told himself.
Nor did he mention anything about her older brother Fred. Only a short time ago, he would have been reveling in the ability to make her run crying out of the room with a single comment from him. Now, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The words were there, but something always held him back. The only excuse he could come up with was that he was loosing his touch.
A strangled screech brought his thoughts back to the teenage girl in front of him. "Yes, I am staying here at Hogwarts. Is there a problem with your vocal cords?" he asked innocently. Ginny's face contorted as she struggled with holding back an infuriated scream.
She had been waiting for Christmas break ever since she had started having detention with the stupid git. Now, she found out that he would be here too. Why was fate so cruel to her?
Ginny merely glowered at him instead of replying, and went back to staring out of the window with her arms crossed stubbornly, muttering darkly under her breath. Since it was the day before Christmas break (and the professors had run out of things for the two teenagers to do), they were forced to spend three hours in an empty classroom for their detention. Every now and then, a professor would pop in to make sure they weren't at each other's throats.
Malfoy allowed himself a satisfied grin when she wasn't looking. Ah, yes. It is good to know that I can still get under her skin at least, he thought with a content sigh. It was a little game they played. And right now, Malfoy was most definitely winning.
The hours went slowly for poor Ginny. It seemed almost as if time itself was on Malfoy's side. If things kept going this way, he would win their little game of wills. Now, we all know how competitive Ginevra Weasley is. She was not about to loose. Even if it was just a simple game of wills as she so aptly put it.
Ginny pointedly ignored Malfoy's bored mumblings and simply stared out of the window to the forest beyond. She was determined to win this round by not giving in to his attempts at conversation. Even if she was about to go crazy from the silence and inactivity, just like he was.
Malfoy watched her with narrowed eyes as she fidgeted in her chair a few times, and that was when he knew that she was at the breaking point. It was time to make his move.
"Soooo. . . .what's your favorite color?" he asked in a carefully bored tone, slouching back in the chair and carefully tipping it up so that he was balancing on the two back legs with his hands laced behind his head.
At the sound of his voice, Ginny started, clearly not expecting him to ask something like that. She stared at him with narrowed eyes much like he had done to her a few seconds ago. Most people would have heard his statement and just thought that he was merely asking her a random question out of boredom.
But, Ginny knew Malfoy. He would never ask a random question. Everything has a purpose. Everyone has a hidden motive. She had learned that in her first year from Tom Riddle himself.
Malfoy waited patiently for her reply. He saw a cloud pass over her face and tilted his head to the side in thought. If it had been anyone else, they would have answered after only a few seconds, albeit maybe in a terrified or suspicious tone depending on who it was.
But, this isn't just anyone. It's the Weaselette. She's one of a kind and you know it, a voice whispered from the back of his mind smugly. Oh, shut up already, he snarled silently. What was it with him and voices in his head?
"White."
Malfoy jerked his thoughts back to the present and stared at Ginny in confusion. "My favorite color is white," she repeated slowly. He raised an eyebrow at the odd answer. "Most people would say red, blue, or even the best one, green," he told her with a bemused smirk. Shrugging, she debated on how to explain.
"Well, white reminds me of snow, pure and innocent. Snow is beautiful when no one is around to soil it. But, once you step foot in it, it becomes dirty and stained. No one likes dirty or stained things. But, when you find that one place in the snow that is perfectly white, then you know that there is still some good in the world. Even if everything is going completely wrong with your life, you can still look at the pure white of the snow and know that things will turn out okay. You just have to stay strong," she whispered softly, a distant look in her chocolate brown eyes as if she was remembering something.
He gazed at her silently, taking in everything she had said. What was it about her that drew him? She was good and he was evil, no question. In all the fairytales, the beautiful princess always ended up with the knight in shining armor and they rode away into the sunset on his white horse. Not once did the princess fall in love with the dragon keeping her prisoner.
"So, what about you?" she asked after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Brown. Like your eyes," he answered absently, not even thinking about what he said. He was lost deep within his thoughts and didn't notice the effect his words had on her.
Ginny stared at him, a confused look her eyes. What did he mean by that? A shy blush worked its way across her fair face. All too soon, her whole face was practically the color of her hair, she was blushing so bad. The worst part, however, was the fact that she had no idea why she was blushing. Just as she was about to open her mouth to demand an explanation of his surprising answer, the door opened and McGonagall glided in.
"Your detention time is over for today," was all that she said before turning and walking back out of the room. Malfoy and Ginny exchanged mystified glances at the Headmistress's odd behavior. Finally, they just shrugged and headed for their respective common rooms.
As she was walking down the corridor towards the Gryffindor tower, she heard something that would keep her up all night long pondering the meaning.
"Don't choose the knight."
Ginny turned around to ask him what he was talking about, but the confusing young man was already gone.
So, how was it? Comments, thoughts, prayer requests, pleas of insanity? Hehe just a little inside joke from my history teacher ;)
Just wanted to say thanks to OnMyHighHorse for telling me about how I've been misspelling definitely! I went back through here changing it, and I think I corrected them all. If not, tell me and I'll go look at it again. Thanks sooo much! Because I've been having to post as I write, I haven't had as much time to read over the chapters as I would like, so mistakes are more common than usual. I'll try to look over the future ones better :) Again (because you can never say thank you enough lol) thanks for bringing it to my attention! See, I do read all those reviews! ;)