Ginny looked away from Dangerous Magical Artifacts and pushed back the sleeve of her jumper to look at her watch. 10: 27. She’d been in the library nearly four hours. She felt like she needed a few matchsticks to keep her eyes open. Or a coffee would be nice.
She noticed the few remaining people were scraping their books off the tables to trudge out the door. Madam Pince would be round in exactly three minutes to chuck them all out, but Ginny was nowhere near finished. Not only did she need to do a three foot Charms essay, research the use of Dream Inflicting Potions and perfect transfiguring a toad into a hamster, she also still had to catch up on the work she never managed to finish yesterday because of her stupid detention. And she wanted to spend at least another hour looking up possible objects that had anything to do with dragons and snakes. Like looking for a bloody needle in a haystack. The Restricted Section was where she needed to look next.
Deciding on a plan of action, she looked furtively around, before pulling all her books off the table and onto the floor and crawling under her desk, which was partially blocked from view by the tall Care of Magical Creatures bookcase. She used her hand to drag in her chair so that it was neatly pushed up against the desk, and checked that none of her books were sticking out.
Leaning with her back against the wall, she crouched and held her breath as Madam Pince strode past, paused for a moment by the door, then switched off the lights and shut the library door firmly behind her, plunging Ginny into darkness.
She waited a couple of seconds, then began fumbling around in her robes for her wand. It was not an easy task, sitting down with her knees pressed up against her chest.
“Boo!” a voice whispered in her ear.
Ginny jumped a mile and screamed for a split second before being cut off by a hand clamping around her mouth.
“Idiot! Do you want to be caught?” It was Malfoy.
He removed his hand quickly, before wiping it on the front of his robes.
“I’m the idiot? What did you think I would do if you crept up on me in the pitch black and said ‘boo’? Never do that again!”
“Oh, it was worth it.”
Ginny could imagine his smirk. She felt his hand touch her side, “What do you think…”
“Relax, Weasley. Here’s your wand.” He put it in her hand.
Ginny was glad it was dark when she felt her face heat up.
“Lumos,” she muttered, watching the pale green light blossom out of her wand. He was kneeling next to her and the strong shadows showed up the sharp contours of his face in the half-light. “So, what do you want Malfoy? Come to kill me?” She was only half joking.
“Yes, of course, that’s why I gave you your wand,” he retorted.
“Hmmph. Well, whatever you want, get it over with quickly, as I have a billion and one things to do.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping we could start off with a lengthy game of chess, after which we could sit in the Defense against the Dark Arts section with a Gin and Tonic discussing the merits and …”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Shut up. You’re babbling.” She crawled out from under the desk and stood up, straightening her robes.
“I am not babbling! Malfoys do not babble.” He sounded affronted.
“And I really don’t care.”
“My, we are touchy today.”
“Yes, I am! And I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You’re like Malfoy-on-a-high and I am not in the mood to deal with that. It’s all your stupid girlfriend’s, sorry, ex-girlfriend’s, fault. I have about a hundred feet of essays to write, toads to blast into space and a never-ending number of books to sort through. If you’d just gone and done your stupid debt repayment bit right, then I wouldn’t need to be spending all my time holed up in this dingy, bloody, prison searching for a dumb object, which, probably, nobody even knows exists, so won’t be in a bloody book in the first place! So, if you’d like to g…”
“And I was babbling, was I?”
Ginny attempted to slow her breathing. “If you know what’s good for you, you should leave right now, unless you have something helpful to say.”
“Okay. I do. There’s no point in looking in the library, even the Restricted Section, for this…this dragon Horcrux. It could be anywhere. You need to actually look at possible objects in real life.”
Ginny gaped at him. “Sorry, but I though I said helpful? Not ridiculously vague and pointless. You’ve paid off your debt anyway, so go and find a new Slytherin slut to play with and stop wasting my time.”
Draco frowned. “You could clearly use my help. But of course, you’re too Gryffindor to accept help. Too proud and self absorbed.”
“Yeah, and you’re too Slytherin to offer help without something in return. I just haven’t figured it out yet. If you weren’t a Malfoy, I’d think you were guilty about something, but then Malfoys don’t feel guilt, do they? So what is it?”
Draco narrowed his eyes at her. She was bang on the mark. He was guilty. He knew about the Death Eater’s plot to kidnap her, but he was not going to tell her. That would be betraying everything he knew, everything he had ever known. So why was he guilty? Like she said, Malfoys don’t feel guilt. She was just a worthless Weasley Muggle-lover, so why would he care if she were kidnapped? That’s right, I don’t care, he told himself.
“Well, you’re never going to find out. See you tomorrow.”
Ginny watched his inner turmoil in fascination. He was guilty! She could see it in his expression. As much as he clearly tried to hide it, it was still written all over him. She had always prided herself on being able to read people; so perhaps it wouldn’t have been so obvious to most people. But that left her thinking. What was he guilty about? Had he done something terrible? No, if he had, he would have stayed away from her, to avoid the guilt. This was something he hadn’t done yet, or something he knew but wasn’t planning on telling her. That must be it. Well, she doubted he was going to tell her that now, if ever. But perhaps she could use his help in finding the Horcrux.
“Malfoy, wait!”
He turned, about to open the door to leave.
“Spit it out. What do you want to tell me?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Nothing, Weaslette. Nothing important.”
Ginny didn’t believe him; there was definitely something up. “Fine. Goodnight.” She decided she might as well give up on the Horcrux search for now and get on with her homework. Okay, Potions…
“Oh, wait!” She said again.
“What is it this time?”
“You’re good at Potions. What are the uses of the Dream Inflicting Draft?”
Draco rubbed his eyes. “Give someone sleepless nights for days, discover your inner desires, a form of torture for those in Azkaban, you can alter it to make it into a Nightmare-All-Night Draft…”
“Hang on, you’re going too fast. Let me write this down.” Ginny was furiously scribbling away on her parchment.
“Weasley, it’s ten-thirty at night. Don’t you think you ought to be in bed?”
“Not when I have Charms and Potions to finish by the morning. What was use number two again, and who would benefit from it?”
“For goodness sake. Just give me the parchment.” Draco pulled out the chair opposite Ginny and sat down at the desk. Using his wand he conjured up three candles, which stood in the middle of the desk separating them both. “Get on with your Charms essay and I’ll do this. I’ll get it done in about a third of the time it would take you anyway.”
Ginny watched as his hair flopped over his face as he bent over the parchment, his quill scratching, and a look of concentration replacing his usual sneer or frown. There was definitely something going on. She shrugged and began on her Charms.
After ten minutes or so went by, Draco looked up. “I’m done. You’ll just need to use Eclypsia to change it to your handwriting.” Ginny didn’t look up for a moment, clearly stuck in a train of thought. Her hair had amazing gold colours flickering in the candlelight, and her brows were slightly furrowed. In this light, her eyes looked an almost golden brown, like a tiger’s, and her skin seemed flawless. Draco could see why so many of the boys in school had tried to ask her out. Only a select few had ever succeeded. Draco blinked. What am I thinking? She’s a Weasley for goodness sake! He cleared his throat. “I said, ‘I’m done’. I hope you’re grateful.”
Ginny looked up, startled for a moment, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Oh, thank you. Yes I am. You’re like the ‘Fountain of Potions Knowledge.’”
Draco smiled. “The Fountain of Potions Knowledge? I like it.”
Ginny laughed lightly, thinking how odd it was to see Malfoy smile. He never smiled. “Frankly, if I were you, I’d prefer the ‘Slytherin Sex God’ title. But, whatever floats your boat…”
“Hmm, yes. Being the Slytherin Sex God does have its advantages.”
“If you want a crowd of Slytherin whores drooling all over you, then yes. I’ll have you know that you have no similar effect on me.”
Draco grinned in a very un-Malfoyish way. He reached out and tugged on a strand of Ginny’s curled red hair and began twirling it around his finger, looking straight into her eyes. “Even if I do this?”
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him and blushed slightly. “No. That’s just creepy.”
Draco laughed and retracted his hand. “I think you’re a lost cause. I don’t do ‘Romantic’ only ‘Super Hot and Irresistible.’”
“The candles were a step in the right direction. And doing my Potions homework for me.” Ginny smiled at him, fluttering her eyelashes exaggeratedly.
“The candles were there purely for visibility purposes. Remember that.” He looked a little concerned.
“I’m only joking. Don’t worry. You’re a Malfoy. I would never be attracted to you. You’re like a whole different species.” Even as she said it, Ginny wondered if she was wholly telling the truth. She liked this Malfoy, when he wasn’t insulting her or killing people.
Draco laughed again. “Vice versa.” He stood up. “I’m going to bed.”
“Bye, Malfoy. And thanks.” Ginny smiled at him, wondering what on earth had just happened between them.
“No problem.” He turned to leave, but stopped for a moment. “Good luck with the Horcrux search. And I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at our Ministry party next weekend. You wouldn’t want to miss out.” With that, he walked out.
Once again, Ginny was left feeling thoroughly confused. His Ministry party? Why would she be going to his Ministry party? She took out the letter she’d got from her parents that morning, remembering that they’d mentioned it.
Holding out her wand over the parchment, she skimmed to the right part:
We’ve received an invitation to the annual Ministry party at the Malfoy Manor, again. On papyrus parchment, embossed in silver and green! Of course, we’ll decline. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.
Ginny’s mouth fell open. Had Malfoy just implicated that it could be helpful to go to the party, so that they could snoop around his house looking for Horcruxes?
She needed to owl her parents right now. They had to accept that invitation so that she could have a look around the house. It was the perfect opportunity. She grabbed her books and forced them into her bag, vanished the candles, and ran out of the library.
***
Draco lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
So much for trying to appease his guilt. He now felt ten bloody times worse than he did that morning. Congratulations, Draco, he thought to himself. He needed to make up his mind. Whose side was he really on? Here he was, trying to convince himself that he was a Death Eater, that he supported Voldemort, when really, he wanted nothing to do with them. Their whole ethos was shit in his opinion. He was just too cowardly to do anything about it. All his friends, friends, they’re not friends, his family, his support network, were all fighting for Voldemort. How could he just cut it all away? Besides, did he really want to lower himself to fighting with Muggles, Mudbloods and blood traitors? No. Perhaps he could just fight on his own side, fight for what he believed was right, or even, not fight at all.
Then there was that stupid Weasley bint to think about. I shouldn’t be thinking about her at all, she’s a Weasley. She can rot in hell for all I care. But he did care. That’s where the problem lay.
He punched his pillow in anger. This whole thing was just too messed up.
He heard someone shuffle in his bed and a tired voice spoke out, “Malfoy, just shut up. You never liked Pansy anyway.”
Pansy, that’s who he ought to be thinking about, not Weasley. He groaned. This was going to be a long night.
***
Ginny leaned forward slightly, angling her broomstick to the ground, before pulling to a stop and swinging her leg over the side to jump off.
“Nice one, Ginny.”
Ginny turned. It was Seamus, who had been running the Quidditch trials. She smiled at him. Frankly, she didn’t agree. She hadn’t been practicing nearly enough.
“I can safely say that you’ll be on the team. I just haven’t decided where to put you yet.”
“Good. As long as I’m not a Beater, I don’t mind.”
Seamus smiled widely. “No, I can’t really imagine you as a Beater. Mind you, I suppose any of us would like the opportunity to bash Bludgers at Crabbe and Goyle as hard as we could.”
“Yeah. I’m with you on that one.”
The walked back towards the castle, watching streams of red- and gold-coloured Gryffindors walking ahead of them, who’d come to watch or try out. She wondered if she’d be made Seeker, in which case she’d be playing against Draco. Now that would be interesting. She doubted he’d play nice just because she was a girl. She smiled slightly at the thought of getting to play against him.
“Hey, Ginny. I was wondering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me sometime? We could go for a drink in the Three Broomsticks or have a look round the shops before they close.”
Ginny turned to look at him. It wasn’t that she was surprised he’d asked her out. She heard a few rumours flying around about it anyway. She also knew a lot of other girls would kill to be in her situation right now. Seamus was good looking in a rugged kind of way, with broad shoulders and a kind smile. She just didn’t find him that attractive. Well, I might as well give it a go; I might change my mind.
“I’d love to. Whenever we can find a break in our hectic schedules.”
Seamus grinned broadly. “I know, it’s mad this year. How about sometime next week?”
She looked at his bright blue eyes, almost wishing they’d change to grey. Oh Lord, did I just think that? She replied weakly, “Yeah that would be nice.”
“Good.” He paused for a second and looked at his feet. “And you’re sure Harry won’t mind? I have a lot of respect for him, and wouldn’t like to…well…”
“No, don’t worry about it. Harry and I are a thing of the past. He’d probably be glad if I moved on.”
They’d arrived at the castle and separated to go to their respective lockers.
“Have a good afternoon, Seamus.”
“Yeah, you too, Ginny.” He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek before going to his locker.
Ginny’s eyebrows rose. That was a little forward wasn’t it? It’s not like I’m going out with him yet. She sighed, and wondered if it had been a good idea to agree to go to Hogsmeade. Great, now my life is even more complicated.
***
“Mr. Malfoy? Can you come up here please?”
Draco looked up, registering that Professor McGonagall was staring sternly at him from the front. What have I done now?
He got up, pushing his chair back, and heard a few of the girls giggling slightly. He turned, and gave them a lazy smile and then pranced down the aisle to the front, doing the best male catwalk impression he could manage.
Professor McGonagall looked disapproving.
“I notice that you have not been paying attention in my class. I understand that you may have a lot on your mind at the moment Mr. Malfoy, but that is no excuse. It is your NEWTs at stake here…” He tuned out of the conversation and noticed a name written on a piece of parchment on McGonagall’s desk. Garth. It was a note of some sort, partially covered by a pile of papers. He snapped his eyes back to Professor McGonagall. “…you not writing down the list of objects that can be transfigured into a paperweight?”
“I’m sorry Professor, but I’ve run out of ink. I was going to write them down later once I could get my new pot from my room.”
McGonagall ‘tsked’. “I’ll give you a new lot for now, but in future I’d like you to come to my class prepared.” She turned and disappeared into the back room to get a pot.
Draco used this opportunity to pull the note out so that he could read it.
Minerva,
I’d be grateful if you could meet me in my classroom this afternoon once lessons are over. I would like to discuss my position here at Hogwarts with you.
I look forward to our meeting,
Garth.
He’d established by now that Garth was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dart. He was also a Death Eater.
There was definitely something strange about this meeting. Why meet in the far away classroom? Why not McGonagall’s office, or even one of the staff rooms? Draco quickly tucked the note back as McGonagall emerged from her room.
“Here you are, Draco,” she said, handing him the fresh inkpot. “Now, go back to your seat, and please pay attention from now on or I shall feel obliged to take house points."
She noticed the few remaining people were scraping their books off the tables to trudge out the door. Madam Pince would be round in exactly three minutes to chuck them all out, but Ginny was nowhere near finished. Not only did she need to do a three foot Charms essay, research the use of Dream Inflicting Potions and perfect transfiguring a toad into a hamster, she also still had to catch up on the work she never managed to finish yesterday because of her stupid detention. And she wanted to spend at least another hour looking up possible objects that had anything to do with dragons and snakes. Like looking for a bloody needle in a haystack. The Restricted Section was where she needed to look next.
Deciding on a plan of action, she looked furtively around, before pulling all her books off the table and onto the floor and crawling under her desk, which was partially blocked from view by the tall Care of Magical Creatures bookcase. She used her hand to drag in her chair so that it was neatly pushed up against the desk, and checked that none of her books were sticking out.
Leaning with her back against the wall, she crouched and held her breath as Madam Pince strode past, paused for a moment by the door, then switched off the lights and shut the library door firmly behind her, plunging Ginny into darkness.
She waited a couple of seconds, then began fumbling around in her robes for her wand. It was not an easy task, sitting down with her knees pressed up against her chest.
“Boo!” a voice whispered in her ear.
Ginny jumped a mile and screamed for a split second before being cut off by a hand clamping around her mouth.
“Idiot! Do you want to be caught?” It was Malfoy.
He removed his hand quickly, before wiping it on the front of his robes.
“I’m the idiot? What did you think I would do if you crept up on me in the pitch black and said ‘boo’? Never do that again!”
“Oh, it was worth it.”
Ginny could imagine his smirk. She felt his hand touch her side, “What do you think…”
“Relax, Weasley. Here’s your wand.” He put it in her hand.
Ginny was glad it was dark when she felt her face heat up.
“Lumos,” she muttered, watching the pale green light blossom out of her wand. He was kneeling next to her and the strong shadows showed up the sharp contours of his face in the half-light. “So, what do you want Malfoy? Come to kill me?” She was only half joking.
“Yes, of course, that’s why I gave you your wand,” he retorted.
“Hmmph. Well, whatever you want, get it over with quickly, as I have a billion and one things to do.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping we could start off with a lengthy game of chess, after which we could sit in the Defense against the Dark Arts section with a Gin and Tonic discussing the merits and …”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Shut up. You’re babbling.” She crawled out from under the desk and stood up, straightening her robes.
“I am not babbling! Malfoys do not babble.” He sounded affronted.
“And I really don’t care.”
“My, we are touchy today.”
“Yes, I am! And I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You’re like Malfoy-on-a-high and I am not in the mood to deal with that. It’s all your stupid girlfriend’s, sorry, ex-girlfriend’s, fault. I have about a hundred feet of essays to write, toads to blast into space and a never-ending number of books to sort through. If you’d just gone and done your stupid debt repayment bit right, then I wouldn’t need to be spending all my time holed up in this dingy, bloody, prison searching for a dumb object, which, probably, nobody even knows exists, so won’t be in a bloody book in the first place! So, if you’d like to g…”
“And I was babbling, was I?”
Ginny attempted to slow her breathing. “If you know what’s good for you, you should leave right now, unless you have something helpful to say.”
“Okay. I do. There’s no point in looking in the library, even the Restricted Section, for this…this dragon Horcrux. It could be anywhere. You need to actually look at possible objects in real life.”
Ginny gaped at him. “Sorry, but I though I said helpful? Not ridiculously vague and pointless. You’ve paid off your debt anyway, so go and find a new Slytherin slut to play with and stop wasting my time.”
Draco frowned. “You could clearly use my help. But of course, you’re too Gryffindor to accept help. Too proud and self absorbed.”
“Yeah, and you’re too Slytherin to offer help without something in return. I just haven’t figured it out yet. If you weren’t a Malfoy, I’d think you were guilty about something, but then Malfoys don’t feel guilt, do they? So what is it?”
Draco narrowed his eyes at her. She was bang on the mark. He was guilty. He knew about the Death Eater’s plot to kidnap her, but he was not going to tell her. That would be betraying everything he knew, everything he had ever known. So why was he guilty? Like she said, Malfoys don’t feel guilt. She was just a worthless Weasley Muggle-lover, so why would he care if she were kidnapped? That’s right, I don’t care, he told himself.
“Well, you’re never going to find out. See you tomorrow.”
Ginny watched his inner turmoil in fascination. He was guilty! She could see it in his expression. As much as he clearly tried to hide it, it was still written all over him. She had always prided herself on being able to read people; so perhaps it wouldn’t have been so obvious to most people. But that left her thinking. What was he guilty about? Had he done something terrible? No, if he had, he would have stayed away from her, to avoid the guilt. This was something he hadn’t done yet, or something he knew but wasn’t planning on telling her. That must be it. Well, she doubted he was going to tell her that now, if ever. But perhaps she could use his help in finding the Horcrux.
“Malfoy, wait!”
He turned, about to open the door to leave.
“Spit it out. What do you want to tell me?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Nothing, Weaslette. Nothing important.”
Ginny didn’t believe him; there was definitely something up. “Fine. Goodnight.” She decided she might as well give up on the Horcrux search for now and get on with her homework. Okay, Potions…
“Oh, wait!” She said again.
“What is it this time?”
“You’re good at Potions. What are the uses of the Dream Inflicting Draft?”
Draco rubbed his eyes. “Give someone sleepless nights for days, discover your inner desires, a form of torture for those in Azkaban, you can alter it to make it into a Nightmare-All-Night Draft…”
“Hang on, you’re going too fast. Let me write this down.” Ginny was furiously scribbling away on her parchment.
“Weasley, it’s ten-thirty at night. Don’t you think you ought to be in bed?”
“Not when I have Charms and Potions to finish by the morning. What was use number two again, and who would benefit from it?”
“For goodness sake. Just give me the parchment.” Draco pulled out the chair opposite Ginny and sat down at the desk. Using his wand he conjured up three candles, which stood in the middle of the desk separating them both. “Get on with your Charms essay and I’ll do this. I’ll get it done in about a third of the time it would take you anyway.”
Ginny watched as his hair flopped over his face as he bent over the parchment, his quill scratching, and a look of concentration replacing his usual sneer or frown. There was definitely something going on. She shrugged and began on her Charms.
After ten minutes or so went by, Draco looked up. “I’m done. You’ll just need to use Eclypsia to change it to your handwriting.” Ginny didn’t look up for a moment, clearly stuck in a train of thought. Her hair had amazing gold colours flickering in the candlelight, and her brows were slightly furrowed. In this light, her eyes looked an almost golden brown, like a tiger’s, and her skin seemed flawless. Draco could see why so many of the boys in school had tried to ask her out. Only a select few had ever succeeded. Draco blinked. What am I thinking? She’s a Weasley for goodness sake! He cleared his throat. “I said, ‘I’m done’. I hope you’re grateful.”
Ginny looked up, startled for a moment, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Oh, thank you. Yes I am. You’re like the ‘Fountain of Potions Knowledge.’”
Draco smiled. “The Fountain of Potions Knowledge? I like it.”
Ginny laughed lightly, thinking how odd it was to see Malfoy smile. He never smiled. “Frankly, if I were you, I’d prefer the ‘Slytherin Sex God’ title. But, whatever floats your boat…”
“Hmm, yes. Being the Slytherin Sex God does have its advantages.”
“If you want a crowd of Slytherin whores drooling all over you, then yes. I’ll have you know that you have no similar effect on me.”
Draco grinned in a very un-Malfoyish way. He reached out and tugged on a strand of Ginny’s curled red hair and began twirling it around his finger, looking straight into her eyes. “Even if I do this?”
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him and blushed slightly. “No. That’s just creepy.”
Draco laughed and retracted his hand. “I think you’re a lost cause. I don’t do ‘Romantic’ only ‘Super Hot and Irresistible.’”
“The candles were a step in the right direction. And doing my Potions homework for me.” Ginny smiled at him, fluttering her eyelashes exaggeratedly.
“The candles were there purely for visibility purposes. Remember that.” He looked a little concerned.
“I’m only joking. Don’t worry. You’re a Malfoy. I would never be attracted to you. You’re like a whole different species.” Even as she said it, Ginny wondered if she was wholly telling the truth. She liked this Malfoy, when he wasn’t insulting her or killing people.
Draco laughed again. “Vice versa.” He stood up. “I’m going to bed.”
“Bye, Malfoy. And thanks.” Ginny smiled at him, wondering what on earth had just happened between them.
“No problem.” He turned to leave, but stopped for a moment. “Good luck with the Horcrux search. And I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at our Ministry party next weekend. You wouldn’t want to miss out.” With that, he walked out.
Once again, Ginny was left feeling thoroughly confused. His Ministry party? Why would she be going to his Ministry party? She took out the letter she’d got from her parents that morning, remembering that they’d mentioned it.
Holding out her wand over the parchment, she skimmed to the right part:
We’ve received an invitation to the annual Ministry party at the Malfoy Manor, again. On papyrus parchment, embossed in silver and green! Of course, we’ll decline. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.
Ginny’s mouth fell open. Had Malfoy just implicated that it could be helpful to go to the party, so that they could snoop around his house looking for Horcruxes?
She needed to owl her parents right now. They had to accept that invitation so that she could have a look around the house. It was the perfect opportunity. She grabbed her books and forced them into her bag, vanished the candles, and ran out of the library.
***
Draco lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
So much for trying to appease his guilt. He now felt ten bloody times worse than he did that morning. Congratulations, Draco, he thought to himself. He needed to make up his mind. Whose side was he really on? Here he was, trying to convince himself that he was a Death Eater, that he supported Voldemort, when really, he wanted nothing to do with them. Their whole ethos was shit in his opinion. He was just too cowardly to do anything about it. All his friends, friends, they’re not friends, his family, his support network, were all fighting for Voldemort. How could he just cut it all away? Besides, did he really want to lower himself to fighting with Muggles, Mudbloods and blood traitors? No. Perhaps he could just fight on his own side, fight for what he believed was right, or even, not fight at all.
Then there was that stupid Weasley bint to think about. I shouldn’t be thinking about her at all, she’s a Weasley. She can rot in hell for all I care. But he did care. That’s where the problem lay.
He punched his pillow in anger. This whole thing was just too messed up.
He heard someone shuffle in his bed and a tired voice spoke out, “Malfoy, just shut up. You never liked Pansy anyway.”
Pansy, that’s who he ought to be thinking about, not Weasley. He groaned. This was going to be a long night.
***
Ginny leaned forward slightly, angling her broomstick to the ground, before pulling to a stop and swinging her leg over the side to jump off.
“Nice one, Ginny.”
Ginny turned. It was Seamus, who had been running the Quidditch trials. She smiled at him. Frankly, she didn’t agree. She hadn’t been practicing nearly enough.
“I can safely say that you’ll be on the team. I just haven’t decided where to put you yet.”
“Good. As long as I’m not a Beater, I don’t mind.”
Seamus smiled widely. “No, I can’t really imagine you as a Beater. Mind you, I suppose any of us would like the opportunity to bash Bludgers at Crabbe and Goyle as hard as we could.”
“Yeah. I’m with you on that one.”
The walked back towards the castle, watching streams of red- and gold-coloured Gryffindors walking ahead of them, who’d come to watch or try out. She wondered if she’d be made Seeker, in which case she’d be playing against Draco. Now that would be interesting. She doubted he’d play nice just because she was a girl. She smiled slightly at the thought of getting to play against him.
“Hey, Ginny. I was wondering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me sometime? We could go for a drink in the Three Broomsticks or have a look round the shops before they close.”
Ginny turned to look at him. It wasn’t that she was surprised he’d asked her out. She heard a few rumours flying around about it anyway. She also knew a lot of other girls would kill to be in her situation right now. Seamus was good looking in a rugged kind of way, with broad shoulders and a kind smile. She just didn’t find him that attractive. Well, I might as well give it a go; I might change my mind.
“I’d love to. Whenever we can find a break in our hectic schedules.”
Seamus grinned broadly. “I know, it’s mad this year. How about sometime next week?”
She looked at his bright blue eyes, almost wishing they’d change to grey. Oh Lord, did I just think that? She replied weakly, “Yeah that would be nice.”
“Good.” He paused for a second and looked at his feet. “And you’re sure Harry won’t mind? I have a lot of respect for him, and wouldn’t like to…well…”
“No, don’t worry about it. Harry and I are a thing of the past. He’d probably be glad if I moved on.”
They’d arrived at the castle and separated to go to their respective lockers.
“Have a good afternoon, Seamus.”
“Yeah, you too, Ginny.” He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek before going to his locker.
Ginny’s eyebrows rose. That was a little forward wasn’t it? It’s not like I’m going out with him yet. She sighed, and wondered if it had been a good idea to agree to go to Hogsmeade. Great, now my life is even more complicated.
***
“Mr. Malfoy? Can you come up here please?”
Draco looked up, registering that Professor McGonagall was staring sternly at him from the front. What have I done now?
He got up, pushing his chair back, and heard a few of the girls giggling slightly. He turned, and gave them a lazy smile and then pranced down the aisle to the front, doing the best male catwalk impression he could manage.
Professor McGonagall looked disapproving.
“I notice that you have not been paying attention in my class. I understand that you may have a lot on your mind at the moment Mr. Malfoy, but that is no excuse. It is your NEWTs at stake here…” He tuned out of the conversation and noticed a name written on a piece of parchment on McGonagall’s desk. Garth. It was a note of some sort, partially covered by a pile of papers. He snapped his eyes back to Professor McGonagall. “…you not writing down the list of objects that can be transfigured into a paperweight?”
“I’m sorry Professor, but I’ve run out of ink. I was going to write them down later once I could get my new pot from my room.”
McGonagall ‘tsked’. “I’ll give you a new lot for now, but in future I’d like you to come to my class prepared.” She turned and disappeared into the back room to get a pot.
Draco used this opportunity to pull the note out so that he could read it.
Minerva,
I’d be grateful if you could meet me in my classroom this afternoon once lessons are over. I would like to discuss my position here at Hogwarts with you.
I look forward to our meeting,
Garth.
He’d established by now that Garth was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dart. He was also a Death Eater.
There was definitely something strange about this meeting. Why meet in the far away classroom? Why not McGonagall’s office, or even one of the staff rooms? Draco quickly tucked the note back as McGonagall emerged from her room.
“Here you are, Draco,” she said, handing him the fresh inkpot. “Now, go back to your seat, and please pay attention from now on or I shall feel obliged to take house points."
To Be Continued.
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