Ron, Hermione and Harry were all very excited for the rest of the morning. Ron kept complaining that he couldn’t believe he wasn’t invited as well and that he should been invited instead, but Hermione silenced him every time. In the end they quietened down and took off for a walk around the lake since the rain had subsided.
They walked around a few times before settling down onto the grass near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harry was cuddling Ginny into his arms and Ron, once again, was looking absolutely disgusted.
Finally Hermione brought up the point of the Ball and what she was going to wear. Ginny thought for a minute about this. She had already replied to the Ministry’s letter, and she had no idea what she was going to wear.
“I actually… don’t know…” Ginny blinked and Harry kissed the top of her ear, laughing.
“You don’t know? Ginny, the Ball is on the Thirteenth, today is the First. That means you only have twelve days to figure out what you’re wearing,”
Ron tilted his head, which accidentally bumped into Hermione’s shoulder and sat bolt upright, blushing,
“Yeah, and by the way, how exactly are you going to get there? Or get the clothes for that matter? It’s not like a sparkling gown is going to appear out of no where,”
Ron’s question was answered the following day in the Great Hall when Dumbledore stood up at breakfast announcing to all of the lucky students that they will report home on the tenth to give them time to get their clothes ready, and then come back to Hogwarts on the Fifteenth.
Ginny was helping herself to a blueberry muffin when he had said this, and found to her surprise a piece of paper stuck on top of it which she hadn’t noticed when she had picked it up. She had forgotten all about the notes she and Malfoy had been passing the day before and it all came flooding back when she opened up the paper:
‘So sorry Weasel, I thought it might’ve been you. I still wouldn’t mind causing you excruciating pain though. I heard you’ll be at the ball? How are you going to afford a dress with the money you have? I wouldn’t be surprised if you attended in a plastic bag. This should be fun. I’ll see you there’
She clenched her teeth with anger, and then read the note again ‘I’ll see you there’ wait... did that mean? Surely not… Malfoy couldn’t be going too, although it would make a lot of sense if he was... His father was in the Ministry after all…
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all too busy talking to see that she was reading anything, so she quickly took a mini-quill Fred and George had given her and wrote her reply:
‘So glad you could find something nice to say, Draco. And actually, I won’t be attending in a plastic bag, although I find it kind of amusing that’s the only thing you could think of as a plastic bag would not cover my whole body. Dirty boy.’
She laughed at her own response, quietly of course so Harry didn’t notice and read the note. She read over her reply. Yes, it did seem like she was flirting… Flirting with danger or so it might seem.
Sending the note over, one almost immediately was found hiding under her plate, its corner poking out so she could find it.
‘Weasley, I find it very admirable that you called me by my first name but that is not going to get you anywhere. Amusing? I was thinking more ‘sexy’ but ok, change my words. (PS: Oh no, you’ve found my hidden secret. After all, being dirty is what I do best)’
Unconsciously, she flushed red and looked over Hermione to see Draco, staring back at her with that adorably naughty smirk on his face. Was she, Ginny Weasley, falling for pretty-boy Malfoy? She scolded herself. She loved Harry. Yes she did… or maybe…
She picked up her quill again and Hermione looked at her as to say something, but Ginny shook her head fervently and gestured her to be quiet, so she resumed talking to Ron and Harry about Quidditch finals.
‘Maybe it would sound more dirty and less horrible if you were to compliment me more often Malfoy, when you said I was sexy I nearly dropped milk down my front. Wouldn’t want that now would we?’
She let the note float over to his table, rather surprised no one caught it out of the air half way through as her shielding charm wore off too early.
She saw Draco grin, then put his quill down to the paper and write a reply… Well, try to until Pansy tried to spy over his shoulder. She saw him bat her off him like she was some annoying spider and quickly made the note cross the room whilst he continued having a heated argument with Pansy about ‘her rights to know what he was doing’.
‘Milk down your front? Well I guess it would be such a pity if everyone could see through your shirt… Oh damn there I go again.’
She giggled and this time Harry noticed. He looked at her and tilted her head and she tried to crumple the paper into her cloak but before she could Harry reached out and grabbed it. A flush rose in her cheeks and Draco turned briefly from his table, a look of horror on his face.
“What’s this?” Harry said, quietly opening up the paper and reading it out loud, ‘God, you would’ve thought they could’ve shut up about Quidditch by now! – Hermione x.’
Ginny breathed out sharply. The writing had changed? Draco was a sly one…
“Yeah, H-h-ermione sent it to me,” she stared up at her friend and glowered. Hermione soon caught on.
She giggled nervously,
“Er, yeah… I was just trying to tell Ginny how boring it was listening to you two talk about Quidditch… Yeah…”
“Well you could’ve just told us,” Ron muttered, flush of red rising in his pale cheeks.
Hermione got into a heated discussion with Ron, and then turned to Ginny for support, but she just glanced over the top of Hermione’s head and looked at Malfoy who had gone paler than usual, obviously thanking himself for the ‘balatro’ charm he had performed on the paper before sending it over. Then he smiled.
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Later that day, they headed to the library upon Ginny’s orders. This was mostly because Ginny needed to tell someone about her and Malfoy. She couldn’t keep it inside any longer. She couldn’t bear it.
Ron and Harry, still acting like Quidditch obsessed frogs, headed straight for the sports section which left Hermione and Ginny with no awkward speeches to make to get the boys to go away.
Hermione waited until the boys, now talking of diving tactics, rounded the corner and then almost attacked Ginny from across the table. She was careful not to raise her voice above a whisper, of course. A very harsh whisper.
“Ginny, what the FUCK is going on?”
Ginny took a deep breath.
“Well… That day, yesterday in fact, when you couldn’t find me in the common room, I had been down in the Great Hall,” she paused, “I had woken up really early and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, so I went round Hogwarts and then headed down for breakfast around seven,”
Hermione nodded and urged her with hand gestures to go on.
“No one else was there, apart from Parvati and Lavender and then a few first years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw came in after me. So I was about to sit down and get myself a piece of toast when I saw Malfoy…” she began to giggle and cut off for a minute, remembering him attacking his pancakes with his fork, “and he was just… attacking his pancakes,” she giggled again. Hermione blinked, “with a fork, Hermione. Anyway, I was laughing and I sent him a note asking if he was having fun, and he sent one back saying yeah and asked me if I knew what had made the giant hole in his pancakes,” she paused again, “So I replied, again, saying that it was him and he was a stupid git,”
Hermione smirked, but said nothing.
“And then you came in and he stopped sending them over,” she fiddled with her hair, “until today, he started sending them again and then he asked me if I was going to accept the invite to the ball. I said I already had and he said see you th—“
“What?! Malfoy’s going?!”
“Supposedly. Anyway… he kind of… started flirting” she flushed red and Hermione smirked again.
“Ginevra Molly Weasley! It’s a sin to flirt with a Slytherin. Especially Draco…” Hermione said with a mock tone of anger, “Seriously though? He was flirting?”
Ginny smiled a little, devious look in her eyes.
“Well, if you count him saying being dirty was what he does best… And that he thought milk down my top would be ‘such a pity’, yes, indeed, Draco Malfoy was flirting with me”
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Over the next few days, Malfoy and Ginny continued sending notes to one another, but this time not limiting themselves to the Great Hall. Notes appeared in the pockets of her robes and tangled in her hair and they sent each other tantalizing smirks when passing each other in the corridors.
Hermione was the only one who knew out of the group, her precious secret hidden away. Yet really, what was there to tell? It was an innocent game of love and hate between two rival houses, so why did it feel like more?
Harry and Ron had both noticed Ginny being more upbeat, yet weirdly mysterious. Apparently Harry liked her like this as Ginny found herself being pushed against many of the walls throughout Hogwarts, every time squirming out of his grip as he lowered his mouth to hers…
“What’s wrong?” Harry breathed into her ear one night as he backed her up against the dungeon wall, cold stone against her back.
Ginny looked up at him. What was she doing? She was slowly falling out of love with Harry and in love with someone else who had very elegant handwriting and a delicious smirk. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to make up an excuse as his grip hugged her wrists.
“Nothing… It’s just…” she paused, biting her lip, “We’re right near Snape’s office, he might catch us,” she whispered, thankful she actually could think of something. Harry’s response however, was something different.
“Oh who cares about Snape? He’s a greasy git anyway, I doubt he’d care…” he leaned in and kissed her jaw line. Ginny felt nothing.
She sighed. Something was odd down here, the cold sensation of stone against her back sending shivers down her spine. It would be a rather naughty place to have fun… What with Snape in the room directly opposite, yet she didn’t feel anything. Nothing at all.
“Harry I can’t do this,” she said firmly. Harry’s grip loosened.
“Ginny, what’s with you? You were fine before we started back at school, always up for anything and now you’re pushing me away?” he dropped his arms to his sides, his face crumpled.
“No, Harry! It’s not like that; I’m not pushing you away! I just think it would be better to er… Wait! Yeah…” she blinked at what she said, yet it seemed to satisfy Harry’s eager mind. Mind you, his face still looked saddened and slightly shocked.
She shifted out from under him and trailed her fingers across the wall before turning and looking at him with watering eyes. Why was she crying?
“Maybe next time, Harry…” she managed a smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow,”
And with that, she flung herself as quickly as she could from the dungeons and even though Harry was in the same house as her, she didn’t want him near her. She didn’t want to hold him or kiss him, she wanted…
They walked around a few times before settling down onto the grass near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harry was cuddling Ginny into his arms and Ron, once again, was looking absolutely disgusted.
Finally Hermione brought up the point of the Ball and what she was going to wear. Ginny thought for a minute about this. She had already replied to the Ministry’s letter, and she had no idea what she was going to wear.
“I actually… don’t know…” Ginny blinked and Harry kissed the top of her ear, laughing.
“You don’t know? Ginny, the Ball is on the Thirteenth, today is the First. That means you only have twelve days to figure out what you’re wearing,”
Ron tilted his head, which accidentally bumped into Hermione’s shoulder and sat bolt upright, blushing,
“Yeah, and by the way, how exactly are you going to get there? Or get the clothes for that matter? It’s not like a sparkling gown is going to appear out of no where,”
Ron’s question was answered the following day in the Great Hall when Dumbledore stood up at breakfast announcing to all of the lucky students that they will report home on the tenth to give them time to get their clothes ready, and then come back to Hogwarts on the Fifteenth.
Ginny was helping herself to a blueberry muffin when he had said this, and found to her surprise a piece of paper stuck on top of it which she hadn’t noticed when she had picked it up. She had forgotten all about the notes she and Malfoy had been passing the day before and it all came flooding back when she opened up the paper:
‘So sorry Weasel, I thought it might’ve been you. I still wouldn’t mind causing you excruciating pain though. I heard you’ll be at the ball? How are you going to afford a dress with the money you have? I wouldn’t be surprised if you attended in a plastic bag. This should be fun. I’ll see you there’
She clenched her teeth with anger, and then read the note again ‘I’ll see you there’ wait... did that mean? Surely not… Malfoy couldn’t be going too, although it would make a lot of sense if he was... His father was in the Ministry after all…
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all too busy talking to see that she was reading anything, so she quickly took a mini-quill Fred and George had given her and wrote her reply:
‘So glad you could find something nice to say, Draco. And actually, I won’t be attending in a plastic bag, although I find it kind of amusing that’s the only thing you could think of as a plastic bag would not cover my whole body. Dirty boy.’
She laughed at her own response, quietly of course so Harry didn’t notice and read the note. She read over her reply. Yes, it did seem like she was flirting… Flirting with danger or so it might seem.
Sending the note over, one almost immediately was found hiding under her plate, its corner poking out so she could find it.
‘Weasley, I find it very admirable that you called me by my first name but that is not going to get you anywhere. Amusing? I was thinking more ‘sexy’ but ok, change my words. (PS: Oh no, you’ve found my hidden secret. After all, being dirty is what I do best)’
Unconsciously, she flushed red and looked over Hermione to see Draco, staring back at her with that adorably naughty smirk on his face. Was she, Ginny Weasley, falling for pretty-boy Malfoy? She scolded herself. She loved Harry. Yes she did… or maybe…
She picked up her quill again and Hermione looked at her as to say something, but Ginny shook her head fervently and gestured her to be quiet, so she resumed talking to Ron and Harry about Quidditch finals.
‘Maybe it would sound more dirty and less horrible if you were to compliment me more often Malfoy, when you said I was sexy I nearly dropped milk down my front. Wouldn’t want that now would we?’
She let the note float over to his table, rather surprised no one caught it out of the air half way through as her shielding charm wore off too early.
She saw Draco grin, then put his quill down to the paper and write a reply… Well, try to until Pansy tried to spy over his shoulder. She saw him bat her off him like she was some annoying spider and quickly made the note cross the room whilst he continued having a heated argument with Pansy about ‘her rights to know what he was doing’.
‘Milk down your front? Well I guess it would be such a pity if everyone could see through your shirt… Oh damn there I go again.’
She giggled and this time Harry noticed. He looked at her and tilted her head and she tried to crumple the paper into her cloak but before she could Harry reached out and grabbed it. A flush rose in her cheeks and Draco turned briefly from his table, a look of horror on his face.
“What’s this?” Harry said, quietly opening up the paper and reading it out loud, ‘God, you would’ve thought they could’ve shut up about Quidditch by now! – Hermione x.’
Ginny breathed out sharply. The writing had changed? Draco was a sly one…
“Yeah, H-h-ermione sent it to me,” she stared up at her friend and glowered. Hermione soon caught on.
She giggled nervously,
“Er, yeah… I was just trying to tell Ginny how boring it was listening to you two talk about Quidditch… Yeah…”
“Well you could’ve just told us,” Ron muttered, flush of red rising in his pale cheeks.
Hermione got into a heated discussion with Ron, and then turned to Ginny for support, but she just glanced over the top of Hermione’s head and looked at Malfoy who had gone paler than usual, obviously thanking himself for the ‘balatro’ charm he had performed on the paper before sending it over. Then he smiled.
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Later that day, they headed to the library upon Ginny’s orders. This was mostly because Ginny needed to tell someone about her and Malfoy. She couldn’t keep it inside any longer. She couldn’t bear it.
Ron and Harry, still acting like Quidditch obsessed frogs, headed straight for the sports section which left Hermione and Ginny with no awkward speeches to make to get the boys to go away.
Hermione waited until the boys, now talking of diving tactics, rounded the corner and then almost attacked Ginny from across the table. She was careful not to raise her voice above a whisper, of course. A very harsh whisper.
“Ginny, what the FUCK is going on?”
Ginny took a deep breath.
“Well… That day, yesterday in fact, when you couldn’t find me in the common room, I had been down in the Great Hall,” she paused, “I had woken up really early and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, so I went round Hogwarts and then headed down for breakfast around seven,”
Hermione nodded and urged her with hand gestures to go on.
“No one else was there, apart from Parvati and Lavender and then a few first years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw came in after me. So I was about to sit down and get myself a piece of toast when I saw Malfoy…” she began to giggle and cut off for a minute, remembering him attacking his pancakes with his fork, “and he was just… attacking his pancakes,” she giggled again. Hermione blinked, “with a fork, Hermione. Anyway, I was laughing and I sent him a note asking if he was having fun, and he sent one back saying yeah and asked me if I knew what had made the giant hole in his pancakes,” she paused again, “So I replied, again, saying that it was him and he was a stupid git,”
Hermione smirked, but said nothing.
“And then you came in and he stopped sending them over,” she fiddled with her hair, “until today, he started sending them again and then he asked me if I was going to accept the invite to the ball. I said I already had and he said see you th—“
“What?! Malfoy’s going?!”
“Supposedly. Anyway… he kind of… started flirting” she flushed red and Hermione smirked again.
“Ginevra Molly Weasley! It’s a sin to flirt with a Slytherin. Especially Draco…” Hermione said with a mock tone of anger, “Seriously though? He was flirting?”
Ginny smiled a little, devious look in her eyes.
“Well, if you count him saying being dirty was what he does best… And that he thought milk down my top would be ‘such a pity’, yes, indeed, Draco Malfoy was flirting with me”
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Over the next few days, Malfoy and Ginny continued sending notes to one another, but this time not limiting themselves to the Great Hall. Notes appeared in the pockets of her robes and tangled in her hair and they sent each other tantalizing smirks when passing each other in the corridors.
Hermione was the only one who knew out of the group, her precious secret hidden away. Yet really, what was there to tell? It was an innocent game of love and hate between two rival houses, so why did it feel like more?
Harry and Ron had both noticed Ginny being more upbeat, yet weirdly mysterious. Apparently Harry liked her like this as Ginny found herself being pushed against many of the walls throughout Hogwarts, every time squirming out of his grip as he lowered his mouth to hers…
“What’s wrong?” Harry breathed into her ear one night as he backed her up against the dungeon wall, cold stone against her back.
Ginny looked up at him. What was she doing? She was slowly falling out of love with Harry and in love with someone else who had very elegant handwriting and a delicious smirk. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to make up an excuse as his grip hugged her wrists.
“Nothing… It’s just…” she paused, biting her lip, “We’re right near Snape’s office, he might catch us,” she whispered, thankful she actually could think of something. Harry’s response however, was something different.
“Oh who cares about Snape? He’s a greasy git anyway, I doubt he’d care…” he leaned in and kissed her jaw line. Ginny felt nothing.
She sighed. Something was odd down here, the cold sensation of stone against her back sending shivers down her spine. It would be a rather naughty place to have fun… What with Snape in the room directly opposite, yet she didn’t feel anything. Nothing at all.
“Harry I can’t do this,” she said firmly. Harry’s grip loosened.
“Ginny, what’s with you? You were fine before we started back at school, always up for anything and now you’re pushing me away?” he dropped his arms to his sides, his face crumpled.
“No, Harry! It’s not like that; I’m not pushing you away! I just think it would be better to er… Wait! Yeah…” she blinked at what she said, yet it seemed to satisfy Harry’s eager mind. Mind you, his face still looked saddened and slightly shocked.
She shifted out from under him and trailed her fingers across the wall before turning and looking at him with watering eyes. Why was she crying?
“Maybe next time, Harry…” she managed a smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow,”
And with that, she flung herself as quickly as she could from the dungeons and even though Harry was in the same house as her, she didn’t want him near her. She didn’t want to hold him or kiss him, she wanted…
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