Let the Games Begin
Chapter 4
Week two.
Ginny and Draco were going to be late. Very late. Neither of them had actually gotten up when they were supposed to. Or go to sleep when they were supposed to. If they had, they would have avoided their current situation.
As Ginny rushed into the kitchen, she looked at the clock on the stove which read 8:56AM. Their first ‘class’ started at nine. Well, at least she was dressed. She stuffed a doughnut into her mouth. Mmm, sweet chocolatey goodness.
Running back to her room, Ginny ran straight into Draco.
“Watch it, Weaslette.”
Ginny looked up at him. A half-dressed, wet haired, chest still glinting with water from his shower Draco Malfoy glared at her. Ginny’s momentarily stunned brain began to work again. She shook her head and glared back at him.
“Um na da un sul alf tressed!”
Draco raised an eyebrow. “Was that even in English?”
Ginny swallowed her doughnut before continuing. “For your information, yes it was. I said I’m not the one still half dressed!” She bit off of the second doughnut in her hand.
“I am astounded by the amount of food you can shove into your stomach on a daily basis,” Draco commented, pushing past her.
Ginny glared at his retreating back. Oh! She could just strangle him sometimes! Besides that first day, he’d been quite like himself most of the time. Sneering, sarcastic and a right git! He and Ginny were always bickering. It’d been too good to be true, she assumed.
Not waiting for said git, she hurried out of the apartment. Today was exactly a week since they’d arrived in San Francisco. She had spent an entire week living within a twenty foot radius of Draco Malfoy. What a story to tell the grandchildren, Ginny snorted. Even though living with Draco was no picnic, it was heaven compared to their training.
The Wildcat had not been kidding when she said that the training was hard. They stuck to a rigorous schedule. Nine until noon, they practiced hand to hand combat. Then, they had an hour of lunch. One till four, they had weapon skills training, a quick shower and then five until eight, they had a lesson on the different types of things they might end up fighting against and a short lesson on mind stability. Meditation in short.
If that wasn’t enough, they then came back and practiced the hand to hand combat they had learned earlier that day to keep from forgetting it, and to keep from pulling their muscles the next day. Finally, they got to pass out on their beds.
All in all, it was exhausting.
Ginny wasn’t complaining though. Not only was she now able to defend herself from creeps, she had also lost all traces of the baby fat she once had. She was a girl, after all, and that sort of thing did not go unnoticed by any member of the female gender. Well, maybe a few.
“Wait up!” she heard Draco call. Turing around, she saw him jogging toward her.
“Can’t wait to get beat up?” he asked with a smirk.
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, just dying with anticipation. You?”
“Completely ecstatic,” he replied.
Ginny opened the door to the gym with a smirk on her lips. Okay, well, maybe they did bicker for fun sometimes, but you could hardly call them friends. Could you?
“Nice of you to join us,” Kiara commented to the sniggers of the other Warriors-to-be.
“We, er, overslept,” Draco muttered. The Wildcat was probably the only person in San Francisco that Draco would listen to, Ginny observed.
“Well, you two will have to pair up then. We’re pairing up girl-guy today.”
“Why?” Ginny asked surprised. They had always paired up with members of the same gender.
“Well, when you receive your full powers, you will be partnered male-female, so its best to start now,” the Wildcat explained.
“When will we get out full powers? And what do you mean by full?” asked an American witch named Sage, who was the same age as Ginny.
“We are getting completely off topic, but if you want to know…” Kiara trailed off.
There were shouts of encouragement from her students.
“Alright then. I meant to tell you this when you completed your training, but since you seem so persistent, I’ll explain. Now, at this point in time, you only have enough of your Warrior powers to learn all of the things I am teaching you. Just enough strength, just enough agility, just enough mind power. Then, when I feel that you are ready and your protection is needed, I will release your powers. All of your powers are stored within my body, so that when I release them, that force will kill me.”
There were gasps from some of the girls.
“But you will no longer have any need for me. When you receive your full powers, you will know.”
“How?” asked Draco curiously.
The Wildcat raised her eyebrows. “Trust me, you’ll know. Now, we’ve wasted enough time. Pair up.”
Ginny faced Draco, both standing in the fighting stance.
“Begin!”
The two began to spar. A light, no stress, warm up spar.
“I wonder what our animals will be,” Ginny commented ducking one of Draco’s punches.
“You’ll probably be the Tigress,” Draco teased, blocking one of Ginny’s spinning kicks.
“Hey!” She hurled an extra strong kick at her roommate. Draco spun away just in time, chuckling.
“Well you’re probably going to be the Snake,” Ginny retorted, ducking and swiping her leg under Draco’s feet at the same time.
“Hit me where it hurts why don’t you?” He replied sarcastically.
“Oh I will,” she said with a smirk to rival Draco’s. She aimed a strategically placed kick below the belt at him. He managed to roll away just in time.
“Okay, that’s it, Red. You’re going down.”
Draco ran towards her and picker her up by the waist and slung her over his shoulder.
“Malfoy!” Ginny yelled in surprise.
“Draco! Put Ginny down!” Kiara commanded, laughing. The rest of the Warriors stopped to look at the spectacle.
“Yes! Exactly what she said!” Ginny pleaded.
“Why should I?” Draco asked her.
“Because I know where you live!” She retorted feebly. Draco snorted and gingerly set Ginny on her feet. Before Draco knew what was happening, she kicked him in the back of the knees, making his legs collapse under him.
“Hey!” Draco protested, now sitting on the floor. Ginny simply stuck out her tongue at him before she walked away.
Draco shook his head. “Women.”
~
Ginny plopped down at a table in their small cafeteria, if you could even call it that. With a tired sigh, she opened her bottle of water. It was noon, only eight more hours of torture to go. Lovely, she thought. Just lovely.
“Jesus tap dancing Christ on a popsicle!” Sage ranted, sitting down across from Ginny. “I want to kill her. Oh my God! Can you believe that?! Fucking jumps! Jumps!”
As she continued to rant, Draco and Sage’s friend, David, also American, both sat down at the table. The four, and only, teenagers had become fast friends.
“Jesus tap dancing Christ?” Draco asked, shaking his head.
“On a popsicle,” Sage affirmed, then shook her head. “God, I’m not even Christian.”
The other three laughed. Sage said things like that a lot. At first, it had shocked both Ginny and Draco, but by now they were used to it. The thing about the Warriors was, was that they were all quite different. From each other, and from probably the rest of the world too, Ginny thought. Things would be so different once she was back at Hogwarts. To her great amazement, Ginny found that she liked it here more than Hogwarts. Admittedly, Hogwarts was like a second home to her, which nothing could ever replace, but still. Being here was much more fun. She was brought back to reality by a hand waving in front of her face.
“Huh? What’d you say?” she asked, blinking around confused.
Draco chuckled. “You looked like you were on a different planet there. Mind sharing?”
“Nah, nothing’s new on Pluto,” Ginny joked, shrugging. “Seriously though, I was just thinking how different it’s going to be when school starts up again.”
David gave a grim smile. “I know what you mean.”
Sage nodded her agreement. “It’ll be so weird, knowing something that no one else does.”
“You’re used to that though, aren’t you Weasley?” Draco asked. Ginny thought she heard a slight trace of bitterness in his voice. Sage and David had seemed quite confused by why Draco and Ginny never called each other by first names, but then shrugged it off as a “British thing.”
She frowned. “Not true. I almost never knew what was going on. Harry, Ron and Hermione are the ones that always snooped everything out. I’m just the ‘little sister,’ remember?”
“You’re trying to say the Golden Trio never told you anything?”
“I wish! If I asked, they’d always say ‘you’re too young, Ginny.’ Or something stupid like that.”
“I find that incredibly hard to believe,” Draco concluded shaking his head.
Sage and David had been following this exchange with interest. Neither Ginny nor Draco ever said anything much about their lives. There seemed to be some underlying history between the two that was hard for the others to figure out.
“You- I- just. Ugh!” Ginny sputtered. “I’ll see you all later.”
Angrily she dumped her tray in the trash can. Draco was so unfair! What did he know about her life, anyway? He was just so aggravating!
Seven more weeks left, Ginny thought heading down the hall.
“Merlin, help me.”
Chapter 4
Week two.
Ginny and Draco were going to be late. Very late. Neither of them had actually gotten up when they were supposed to. Or go to sleep when they were supposed to. If they had, they would have avoided their current situation.
As Ginny rushed into the kitchen, she looked at the clock on the stove which read 8:56AM. Their first ‘class’ started at nine. Well, at least she was dressed. She stuffed a doughnut into her mouth. Mmm, sweet chocolatey goodness.
Running back to her room, Ginny ran straight into Draco.
“Watch it, Weaslette.”
Ginny looked up at him. A half-dressed, wet haired, chest still glinting with water from his shower Draco Malfoy glared at her. Ginny’s momentarily stunned brain began to work again. She shook her head and glared back at him.
“Um na da un sul alf tressed!”
Draco raised an eyebrow. “Was that even in English?”
Ginny swallowed her doughnut before continuing. “For your information, yes it was. I said I’m not the one still half dressed!” She bit off of the second doughnut in her hand.
“I am astounded by the amount of food you can shove into your stomach on a daily basis,” Draco commented, pushing past her.
Ginny glared at his retreating back. Oh! She could just strangle him sometimes! Besides that first day, he’d been quite like himself most of the time. Sneering, sarcastic and a right git! He and Ginny were always bickering. It’d been too good to be true, she assumed.
Not waiting for said git, she hurried out of the apartment. Today was exactly a week since they’d arrived in San Francisco. She had spent an entire week living within a twenty foot radius of Draco Malfoy. What a story to tell the grandchildren, Ginny snorted. Even though living with Draco was no picnic, it was heaven compared to their training.
The Wildcat had not been kidding when she said that the training was hard. They stuck to a rigorous schedule. Nine until noon, they practiced hand to hand combat. Then, they had an hour of lunch. One till four, they had weapon skills training, a quick shower and then five until eight, they had a lesson on the different types of things they might end up fighting against and a short lesson on mind stability. Meditation in short.
If that wasn’t enough, they then came back and practiced the hand to hand combat they had learned earlier that day to keep from forgetting it, and to keep from pulling their muscles the next day. Finally, they got to pass out on their beds.
All in all, it was exhausting.
Ginny wasn’t complaining though. Not only was she now able to defend herself from creeps, she had also lost all traces of the baby fat she once had. She was a girl, after all, and that sort of thing did not go unnoticed by any member of the female gender. Well, maybe a few.
“Wait up!” she heard Draco call. Turing around, she saw him jogging toward her.
“Can’t wait to get beat up?” he asked with a smirk.
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, just dying with anticipation. You?”
“Completely ecstatic,” he replied.
Ginny opened the door to the gym with a smirk on her lips. Okay, well, maybe they did bicker for fun sometimes, but you could hardly call them friends. Could you?
“Nice of you to join us,” Kiara commented to the sniggers of the other Warriors-to-be.
“We, er, overslept,” Draco muttered. The Wildcat was probably the only person in San Francisco that Draco would listen to, Ginny observed.
“Well, you two will have to pair up then. We’re pairing up girl-guy today.”
“Why?” Ginny asked surprised. They had always paired up with members of the same gender.
“Well, when you receive your full powers, you will be partnered male-female, so its best to start now,” the Wildcat explained.
“When will we get out full powers? And what do you mean by full?” asked an American witch named Sage, who was the same age as Ginny.
“We are getting completely off topic, but if you want to know…” Kiara trailed off.
There were shouts of encouragement from her students.
“Alright then. I meant to tell you this when you completed your training, but since you seem so persistent, I’ll explain. Now, at this point in time, you only have enough of your Warrior powers to learn all of the things I am teaching you. Just enough strength, just enough agility, just enough mind power. Then, when I feel that you are ready and your protection is needed, I will release your powers. All of your powers are stored within my body, so that when I release them, that force will kill me.”
There were gasps from some of the girls.
“But you will no longer have any need for me. When you receive your full powers, you will know.”
“How?” asked Draco curiously.
The Wildcat raised her eyebrows. “Trust me, you’ll know. Now, we’ve wasted enough time. Pair up.”
Ginny faced Draco, both standing in the fighting stance.
“Begin!”
The two began to spar. A light, no stress, warm up spar.
“I wonder what our animals will be,” Ginny commented ducking one of Draco’s punches.
“You’ll probably be the Tigress,” Draco teased, blocking one of Ginny’s spinning kicks.
“Hey!” She hurled an extra strong kick at her roommate. Draco spun away just in time, chuckling.
“Well you’re probably going to be the Snake,” Ginny retorted, ducking and swiping her leg under Draco’s feet at the same time.
“Hit me where it hurts why don’t you?” He replied sarcastically.
“Oh I will,” she said with a smirk to rival Draco’s. She aimed a strategically placed kick below the belt at him. He managed to roll away just in time.
“Okay, that’s it, Red. You’re going down.”
Draco ran towards her and picker her up by the waist and slung her over his shoulder.
“Malfoy!” Ginny yelled in surprise.
“Draco! Put Ginny down!” Kiara commanded, laughing. The rest of the Warriors stopped to look at the spectacle.
“Yes! Exactly what she said!” Ginny pleaded.
“Why should I?” Draco asked her.
“Because I know where you live!” She retorted feebly. Draco snorted and gingerly set Ginny on her feet. Before Draco knew what was happening, she kicked him in the back of the knees, making his legs collapse under him.
“Hey!” Draco protested, now sitting on the floor. Ginny simply stuck out her tongue at him before she walked away.
Draco shook his head. “Women.”
~
Ginny plopped down at a table in their small cafeteria, if you could even call it that. With a tired sigh, she opened her bottle of water. It was noon, only eight more hours of torture to go. Lovely, she thought. Just lovely.
“Jesus tap dancing Christ on a popsicle!” Sage ranted, sitting down across from Ginny. “I want to kill her. Oh my God! Can you believe that?! Fucking jumps! Jumps!”
As she continued to rant, Draco and Sage’s friend, David, also American, both sat down at the table. The four, and only, teenagers had become fast friends.
“Jesus tap dancing Christ?” Draco asked, shaking his head.
“On a popsicle,” Sage affirmed, then shook her head. “God, I’m not even Christian.”
The other three laughed. Sage said things like that a lot. At first, it had shocked both Ginny and Draco, but by now they were used to it. The thing about the Warriors was, was that they were all quite different. From each other, and from probably the rest of the world too, Ginny thought. Things would be so different once she was back at Hogwarts. To her great amazement, Ginny found that she liked it here more than Hogwarts. Admittedly, Hogwarts was like a second home to her, which nothing could ever replace, but still. Being here was much more fun. She was brought back to reality by a hand waving in front of her face.
“Huh? What’d you say?” she asked, blinking around confused.
Draco chuckled. “You looked like you were on a different planet there. Mind sharing?”
“Nah, nothing’s new on Pluto,” Ginny joked, shrugging. “Seriously though, I was just thinking how different it’s going to be when school starts up again.”
David gave a grim smile. “I know what you mean.”
Sage nodded her agreement. “It’ll be so weird, knowing something that no one else does.”
“You’re used to that though, aren’t you Weasley?” Draco asked. Ginny thought she heard a slight trace of bitterness in his voice. Sage and David had seemed quite confused by why Draco and Ginny never called each other by first names, but then shrugged it off as a “British thing.”
She frowned. “Not true. I almost never knew what was going on. Harry, Ron and Hermione are the ones that always snooped everything out. I’m just the ‘little sister,’ remember?”
“You’re trying to say the Golden Trio never told you anything?”
“I wish! If I asked, they’d always say ‘you’re too young, Ginny.’ Or something stupid like that.”
“I find that incredibly hard to believe,” Draco concluded shaking his head.
Sage and David had been following this exchange with interest. Neither Ginny nor Draco ever said anything much about their lives. There seemed to be some underlying history between the two that was hard for the others to figure out.
“You- I- just. Ugh!” Ginny sputtered. “I’ll see you all later.”
Angrily she dumped her tray in the trash can. Draco was so unfair! What did he know about her life, anyway? He was just so aggravating!
Seven more weeks left, Ginny thought heading down the hall.
“Merlin, help me.”
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