A Clinic
As one should expect, everyone was thoroughly surprised to see all the Weasley children gathered in the common room. Any student’s attempt at asking a question, however, was stopped at the sight of Ginny’s tear- stained face. Seeing that the Weasleys were having a “family-only” sort of moment, everyone quietly went up to their dormitories. Everyone but Harry and Hermione, that is. All was silent, except for the shuffling of feet.
Scanning the scene before her, Hermione deduced that Ron had already told his brothers the news. Hundreds of possible scenarios flashed through her mind. Please say they didn’t do anything stupid, please.
The stony silence was finally broken when Fred noticed the two spectators. “Oi! Hello Harry, Hermione.”
Before anyone else had the chance to react, Ginny took a step back from her eldest brother, and made her way up to bed.
Everyone’s eyes followed her as she did so.
When Hermione thought Ginny was out of earshot, she turned to look pointedly at Ron. “What did you do?” she asked with a none too gentle voice.
“It’s none of your business, Hermione.” Ron closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and rubbed his temples.
“Well isn’t it?” Bill stood to face his brothers. “They’re just as a part of this family as any of us.” He paused, seeming to attempt to reign in his temper. It didn’t work. “What in the hell were all of you thinking? Giving her an ultimatum like that?”
“We were only trying to protect our sister, Bill,” Charlie defended.
“Oh, really? Well, what if she had chosen Malfoy instead? What then?” Bill shouted at his brothers.
“But she didn’t,” Percy said matter-of-factly.
“You gave her an ultimatum?” Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Yeah, they did,” Bill turned to look at Hermione. “It was Ron’s idea. Either her brothers or Malfoy.”
“What?” Hermione shouted.
“Hermione, you should really quiet down. The whole Tower can hear you,” Ron tried in vain to calm her down.
“Quiet down? You’re her brothers!” Hermione stated indignantly.
“Yes, we are, and we care about her. That’s why we did it,” Ron tried to explain.
“Brothers that claim to care about her, and then threaten to deny her?” Hermione looked over the five Weasley boys, who in turn, looked down at their feet. “What is wrong with all of you?”
Seeing that she wouldn’t receive a legitimate response, Hermione huffed and stomped up the stairs to her dormitory.
After the slamming of a door was heard, Percy took a deep breath and sat on one of the couches. “We still haven’t told mum and dad yet.”
Fred snapped his head up and looked at Percy in shock. “Are you kidding? Do you want dad to get sent to Azkaban?”
“Dad’ll kill Malfoy’s dad for sure,” George backed his twin.
“Well they’ll find out one way or another,” Percy stated the inevitable.
Silence, once again, engulfed the common room.
*****
Ginny lay in bed, crying. Her roommates had been awake when she had entered, and they had all looked very worried. But because her curtains were drawn, and a silencing spell was cast upon her four-poster bed, no one could hear her sobs.
*****
Draco’s eyes snapped open. He had been rolling around in bed for the past hour. He knew something was wrong.
He turned his head to look at the mirror near his bed. His hair fell in soft strands around his face, as he stared into his steely grey eyes. The silk bed sheets were tangled around his legs, and they still felt a little damp with sweat from earlier that night. The damp sheets drew his thoughts toward the fiery red head that helped him get them damp. He sat up to look at the scrap of green cloth that she had forgotten on his desk and couldn’t help the fluttering in his stomach. He shook his head and chuckled softly. Who would have thought that a Malfoy could love? Much less love a Gryffindor?
He laid back down into the soft sheets and wondered if she was okay.
*****
In the common room, the Weasley boys were awaiting to escort their sister to breakfast. The night before, they had all paid a visit to Dumbledore. He had allowed them to stay in Gryffindor Tower for as long as they wanted.
Ginny’s brothers weren’t the only people waiting for her; the Gryffindor Quidditch team was waiting as well. Since Harry had become captain, it was customary for the team to have breakfast together. Hermione was waiting, too.
When Ginny had finally come down, she was clearly unhappy. Her fellow chasers were unsure if she was fit to play. But when they addressed her about the issue, she assured them that she was alright.
When Ron, Percy, the twins, and Charlie tried to greet her, Ginny ignored them. She walked right past them and went straight to Bill. “Shall we go to breakfast, then.” She smiled toward her eldest brother, Hermione, and her teammates.
Bill nodded, and they all headed down to the Great Hall.
*****
As they entered the hall, Ginny could feel Draco’s eyes follow her. There was no doubt that Goyle had informed him about his incident with Ron.
She felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder and looked up to see Bill staring in the direction of the Slytherin table. Ginny looked around her eldest brother and saw that her five other brothers were doing the same, only much more maliciously.
She sighed. They must really mean it, then, she thought. As she continued walking toward the Gryffindor table, she kept her eyes forward.
Ginny knew that if she confronted Draco about her situation, he would do something stupid. So, her plan was to just ignore him until she could think things through.
Ginny wasn’t as worried about what her family would do about her relationship with Draco, but more about what Draco’s parents would do. Sure, her family would probably threaten to disown her, but only threaten. There was no doubt in her mind, that they would learn how to accept their relationship over time.
Draco’s parents were a different story. She wasn’t worried about Draco being thrown out onto the streets, or anything like that. Though Lucius would no doubt threaten to disown Draco, Ginny highly doubted that Lucius would do so. Since Draco was Lucius’ only heir, he would certainly fight his hardest to keep his son. Lucius would resort to anything to continue the Malfoy line, including threatening Ginny’s life.
*****
Draco watched Ginny as she took a seat with her brothers, her teammates, and Granger. She was ignoring him, and it frustrated the hell out of him.
On their way to the hall, Goyle had told him about his incident with Weasel. Her brothers had found out about them, and must have said something to her.
It wasn’t as if Draco wasn’t expecting something like this to happen. He knew that Ginny’s family would find out about their relationship eventually, and he also knew that they wouldn’t be too happy about it. He didn’t think they would do anything drastic though--something drastic enough to cause Ginny to ignore him, anyway. What in the bloody hell did they say to her?
Throughout breakfast, Draco kept his eyes fixed on Ginny, hoping that she would acknowledge him in some way or another. She didn’t. She had kept her eyes on her food the entire time.
Breakfast had ended and everyone was beginning to make their way to the Quidditch Pitch. When Harry had begun to lead his team out of the hall, Draco seized a chance to try and get close to Ginny. He called for his team to head for the pitch as well. Draco had hopped that on the way out of the hall, he would be able to brush arms or make eye contact with her.
Seeing both quidditch teams rise at about the same time, the students had all cleared a path for them. Draco kept his eyes on Ginny, who kept her eyes on the floor. Both teams were almost at the doors, when Ginny finally looked up at him. Just as Draco met Ginny’s eyes, Harry stepped in front of him.
“Malfoy,” Harry nodded toward Draco dryly.
“Potter,” Draco nodded back just as dryly.
A flame of jealousy shot up Draco’s spine as he saw Harry put an arm around Ginny and whisper something into her ear. The whole time, Ginny stared into Draco’s eyes helplessly.
“Well, well, well. It seems Weaslette has finally got her wish to come true,” he said, sneering. He looked at her brothers and saw how approval shined in their eyes as they looked on at Ginny and Harry. “And it seems that the Weasels have finally got theirs as well.” He raised a brow toward the Weasley boys, who, in turn, glared at him.
*****
Both teams got into position for the start of the match. The keepers went to their posts, the chasers and beaters formed a circle, and the seeker floated just above the circle.
Draco desperately wanted to talk to Ginny, but she was, once again, avoiding him.
“I want a nice, clean match from all of you,” Madam Hootch, looked around the circle of players, and pointedly glared at the Slytherin beaters. “Especially from you two.” With one final nod, Madam Hootch blew the whistle and tossed the quaffle into the air. The game had begun.
Ten minutes into the game, the Gryffindor stands erupted for what seemed like the hundredth time since the match had started. Ginny Weasley was putting on a clinic. Gryffindor was leading Slytherin 250-0. Of the 250 Gryffindor points, Ginny was responsible for 220.
Draco looked down just in time to see her score, and listened for the score. When he heard just how much his team was losing, he was torn between screaming at his keeper and smiling for Ginny.
A pair of frantically waving arms drew Draco’s attention. The Slytherin keeper was trying to signal something. Draco glanced at Harry, and saw that he hadn’t noticed anything. Draco saw his keeper point forward with his nose. Draco smirked as he saw the snitch no more than two meters from the goal posts. Before Harry new what was going on, Draco was already halfway to the snitch.
On the other side of the pitch, Ginny had just stolen the quaffle from a Slytherin chaser. She was flying at full speed toward the Slytherin goal posts.
Ginny, not noticing Draco, saw that the Slytherin keeper was distracted and tossed the quaffle through an unguarded hoop. Just as Draco reached out his arm toward the snitch, Ginny finally noticed him and skidded into a halt.
After Draco had securely curled his fingers around the snitch he looked up to come face-to-face with Ginny.
They locked eyes, and the entire pitch looked on with silence. A good two minutes later, Ginny finally broke eye contact to take notice of the flittering snitch within Draco’s right hand. She then looked to her right to find that all her brothers were staring directly at her. Ron, Charlie, Percy, and the twins looked furious, and took off for the stairs toward the ground. Ginny looked helplessly at Bill, who gave her a sympathetic look. Ginny took a deep sigh and with a single tear roll down her face, she quickly headed to the ground.
Draco saw the tear and looked toward where Ginny had been staring. He saw a flash of red hair begin to descend the stairs, he made frustrated growl and quickly made his way to the ground in hopes of catching Ginny before her brothers did.
Just as Draco reached the ground, the Gryffindor stands erupted as they realised who had won the match.
“Malfoy catches the snitch, but Gryffindor defeats Slytherin 260-250!” bellowed the student commentator.
Draco was running in the direction Ginny had headed, but just as she came into view, he was forced to come to a stop when five sets of red hair went to block his path.
(A/N: Review....Just because I'm fifteen chapters into the story, doesn't mean I won't keep reminding you guys.)
As one should expect, everyone was thoroughly surprised to see all the Weasley children gathered in the common room. Any student’s attempt at asking a question, however, was stopped at the sight of Ginny’s tear- stained face. Seeing that the Weasleys were having a “family-only” sort of moment, everyone quietly went up to their dormitories. Everyone but Harry and Hermione, that is. All was silent, except for the shuffling of feet.
Scanning the scene before her, Hermione deduced that Ron had already told his brothers the news. Hundreds of possible scenarios flashed through her mind. Please say they didn’t do anything stupid, please.
The stony silence was finally broken when Fred noticed the two spectators. “Oi! Hello Harry, Hermione.”
Before anyone else had the chance to react, Ginny took a step back from her eldest brother, and made her way up to bed.
Everyone’s eyes followed her as she did so.
When Hermione thought Ginny was out of earshot, she turned to look pointedly at Ron. “What did you do?” she asked with a none too gentle voice.
“It’s none of your business, Hermione.” Ron closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and rubbed his temples.
“Well isn’t it?” Bill stood to face his brothers. “They’re just as a part of this family as any of us.” He paused, seeming to attempt to reign in his temper. It didn’t work. “What in the hell were all of you thinking? Giving her an ultimatum like that?”
“We were only trying to protect our sister, Bill,” Charlie defended.
“Oh, really? Well, what if she had chosen Malfoy instead? What then?” Bill shouted at his brothers.
“But she didn’t,” Percy said matter-of-factly.
“You gave her an ultimatum?” Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Yeah, they did,” Bill turned to look at Hermione. “It was Ron’s idea. Either her brothers or Malfoy.”
“What?” Hermione shouted.
“Hermione, you should really quiet down. The whole Tower can hear you,” Ron tried in vain to calm her down.
“Quiet down? You’re her brothers!” Hermione stated indignantly.
“Yes, we are, and we care about her. That’s why we did it,” Ron tried to explain.
“Brothers that claim to care about her, and then threaten to deny her?” Hermione looked over the five Weasley boys, who in turn, looked down at their feet. “What is wrong with all of you?”
Seeing that she wouldn’t receive a legitimate response, Hermione huffed and stomped up the stairs to her dormitory.
After the slamming of a door was heard, Percy took a deep breath and sat on one of the couches. “We still haven’t told mum and dad yet.”
Fred snapped his head up and looked at Percy in shock. “Are you kidding? Do you want dad to get sent to Azkaban?”
“Dad’ll kill Malfoy’s dad for sure,” George backed his twin.
“Well they’ll find out one way or another,” Percy stated the inevitable.
Silence, once again, engulfed the common room.
*****
Ginny lay in bed, crying. Her roommates had been awake when she had entered, and they had all looked very worried. But because her curtains were drawn, and a silencing spell was cast upon her four-poster bed, no one could hear her sobs.
*****
Draco’s eyes snapped open. He had been rolling around in bed for the past hour. He knew something was wrong.
He turned his head to look at the mirror near his bed. His hair fell in soft strands around his face, as he stared into his steely grey eyes. The silk bed sheets were tangled around his legs, and they still felt a little damp with sweat from earlier that night. The damp sheets drew his thoughts toward the fiery red head that helped him get them damp. He sat up to look at the scrap of green cloth that she had forgotten on his desk and couldn’t help the fluttering in his stomach. He shook his head and chuckled softly. Who would have thought that a Malfoy could love? Much less love a Gryffindor?
He laid back down into the soft sheets and wondered if she was okay.
*****
In the common room, the Weasley boys were awaiting to escort their sister to breakfast. The night before, they had all paid a visit to Dumbledore. He had allowed them to stay in Gryffindor Tower for as long as they wanted.
Ginny’s brothers weren’t the only people waiting for her; the Gryffindor Quidditch team was waiting as well. Since Harry had become captain, it was customary for the team to have breakfast together. Hermione was waiting, too.
When Ginny had finally come down, she was clearly unhappy. Her fellow chasers were unsure if she was fit to play. But when they addressed her about the issue, she assured them that she was alright.
When Ron, Percy, the twins, and Charlie tried to greet her, Ginny ignored them. She walked right past them and went straight to Bill. “Shall we go to breakfast, then.” She smiled toward her eldest brother, Hermione, and her teammates.
Bill nodded, and they all headed down to the Great Hall.
*****
As they entered the hall, Ginny could feel Draco’s eyes follow her. There was no doubt that Goyle had informed him about his incident with Ron.
She felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder and looked up to see Bill staring in the direction of the Slytherin table. Ginny looked around her eldest brother and saw that her five other brothers were doing the same, only much more maliciously.
She sighed. They must really mean it, then, she thought. As she continued walking toward the Gryffindor table, she kept her eyes forward.
Ginny knew that if she confronted Draco about her situation, he would do something stupid. So, her plan was to just ignore him until she could think things through.
Ginny wasn’t as worried about what her family would do about her relationship with Draco, but more about what Draco’s parents would do. Sure, her family would probably threaten to disown her, but only threaten. There was no doubt in her mind, that they would learn how to accept their relationship over time.
Draco’s parents were a different story. She wasn’t worried about Draco being thrown out onto the streets, or anything like that. Though Lucius would no doubt threaten to disown Draco, Ginny highly doubted that Lucius would do so. Since Draco was Lucius’ only heir, he would certainly fight his hardest to keep his son. Lucius would resort to anything to continue the Malfoy line, including threatening Ginny’s life.
*****
Draco watched Ginny as she took a seat with her brothers, her teammates, and Granger. She was ignoring him, and it frustrated the hell out of him.
On their way to the hall, Goyle had told him about his incident with Weasel. Her brothers had found out about them, and must have said something to her.
It wasn’t as if Draco wasn’t expecting something like this to happen. He knew that Ginny’s family would find out about their relationship eventually, and he also knew that they wouldn’t be too happy about it. He didn’t think they would do anything drastic though--something drastic enough to cause Ginny to ignore him, anyway. What in the bloody hell did they say to her?
Throughout breakfast, Draco kept his eyes fixed on Ginny, hoping that she would acknowledge him in some way or another. She didn’t. She had kept her eyes on her food the entire time.
Breakfast had ended and everyone was beginning to make their way to the Quidditch Pitch. When Harry had begun to lead his team out of the hall, Draco seized a chance to try and get close to Ginny. He called for his team to head for the pitch as well. Draco had hopped that on the way out of the hall, he would be able to brush arms or make eye contact with her.
Seeing both quidditch teams rise at about the same time, the students had all cleared a path for them. Draco kept his eyes on Ginny, who kept her eyes on the floor. Both teams were almost at the doors, when Ginny finally looked up at him. Just as Draco met Ginny’s eyes, Harry stepped in front of him.
“Malfoy,” Harry nodded toward Draco dryly.
“Potter,” Draco nodded back just as dryly.
A flame of jealousy shot up Draco’s spine as he saw Harry put an arm around Ginny and whisper something into her ear. The whole time, Ginny stared into Draco’s eyes helplessly.
“Well, well, well. It seems Weaslette has finally got her wish to come true,” he said, sneering. He looked at her brothers and saw how approval shined in their eyes as they looked on at Ginny and Harry. “And it seems that the Weasels have finally got theirs as well.” He raised a brow toward the Weasley boys, who, in turn, glared at him.
*****
Both teams got into position for the start of the match. The keepers went to their posts, the chasers and beaters formed a circle, and the seeker floated just above the circle.
Draco desperately wanted to talk to Ginny, but she was, once again, avoiding him.
“I want a nice, clean match from all of you,” Madam Hootch, looked around the circle of players, and pointedly glared at the Slytherin beaters. “Especially from you two.” With one final nod, Madam Hootch blew the whistle and tossed the quaffle into the air. The game had begun.
Ten minutes into the game, the Gryffindor stands erupted for what seemed like the hundredth time since the match had started. Ginny Weasley was putting on a clinic. Gryffindor was leading Slytherin 250-0. Of the 250 Gryffindor points, Ginny was responsible for 220.
Draco looked down just in time to see her score, and listened for the score. When he heard just how much his team was losing, he was torn between screaming at his keeper and smiling for Ginny.
A pair of frantically waving arms drew Draco’s attention. The Slytherin keeper was trying to signal something. Draco glanced at Harry, and saw that he hadn’t noticed anything. Draco saw his keeper point forward with his nose. Draco smirked as he saw the snitch no more than two meters from the goal posts. Before Harry new what was going on, Draco was already halfway to the snitch.
On the other side of the pitch, Ginny had just stolen the quaffle from a Slytherin chaser. She was flying at full speed toward the Slytherin goal posts.
Ginny, not noticing Draco, saw that the Slytherin keeper was distracted and tossed the quaffle through an unguarded hoop. Just as Draco reached out his arm toward the snitch, Ginny finally noticed him and skidded into a halt.
After Draco had securely curled his fingers around the snitch he looked up to come face-to-face with Ginny.
They locked eyes, and the entire pitch looked on with silence. A good two minutes later, Ginny finally broke eye contact to take notice of the flittering snitch within Draco’s right hand. She then looked to her right to find that all her brothers were staring directly at her. Ron, Charlie, Percy, and the twins looked furious, and took off for the stairs toward the ground. Ginny looked helplessly at Bill, who gave her a sympathetic look. Ginny took a deep sigh and with a single tear roll down her face, she quickly headed to the ground.
Draco saw the tear and looked toward where Ginny had been staring. He saw a flash of red hair begin to descend the stairs, he made frustrated growl and quickly made his way to the ground in hopes of catching Ginny before her brothers did.
Just as Draco reached the ground, the Gryffindor stands erupted as they realised who had won the match.
“Malfoy catches the snitch, but Gryffindor defeats Slytherin 260-250!” bellowed the student commentator.
Draco was running in the direction Ginny had headed, but just as she came into view, he was forced to come to a stop when five sets of red hair went to block his path.
(A/N: Review....Just because I'm fifteen chapters into the story, doesn't mean I won't keep reminding you guys.)
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