The Secret Admirer

The Secret Admirer

Chapter 4

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Dumbledore stood up as the last song ended. "I would like to thank you all for coming to the dance this year." A round of polite applause followed. "But I know most of you are anxious to get to the gift giving part, so we shall proceed. Boys shall leave the room now." They looked up surprised but left anyways. He then clapped his hands and a mass of owls swarmed into the room. They proceeded to drop gifts into the receivers' hands. As Ginny was sitting at a table, deep in thought, she was bombarded with gifts. She jumped and then looked down curiously. Many of the gifts are for me, she thought uneasily when she saw the loathing looks the other girls were giving her. In all she had a total of 8 gifts of a variety of sizes. She pulled open the gifts slowly only to reveal the same types of gifts: jewelry. Although none of them were the same, they all had little hand made charms and carved stones that showed signs of very excellent craftsmanship. Ginny sighed and tugged at the second to last gift. It was a box full of candies that had all been handmade. How sweet, she thought. Then she opened the last gift, which was the largest. The plain paper fell off and revealed the thing she wanted most: a plain white dress with blue trimmings and matching ribbons for her hair. She gasped in surprise and held it up to see it better. It was hand made but not poorly made. Ginny looked around to see what the others had gotten and saw they had mostly gotten jewelry or poems or candy. Dumbledore then stood and told them to pick the gift that they desired most and the owner would appear before them. Ginny slowly looked at her things and tried to decide which one to pick. Yes, she thought, I think I will go with the dress. She stood up, clutching the dress to her. In front of her appeared the last person she would have ever thought of.

"Tom, did you make this?" she asked in a bewildered voice.

He snorted. "Yeah right. As if I would waste my time-" He stopped when he saw the look on her face. "Well maybe I did. Too late for you to go back and pick something else now."

"Of all the dirty tricks...." She shook her head. "Well, what do you want from me? Go ahead, I know there's something."

"I've told you Ginny. To kill the heir. There's nothing in it for me of course-" Ginny snorted - "Well maybe a little something but not significant," he relented.

"So right now I could be spending my time with someone who really loves me, but I'm stuck with a dead screwball that hopes I murder someone. This is great fun." Ginny rolled her eyes and plopped down on a table.

"How could you say that Ginny?" he asked with a hurt look on his face. He stepped towards her. "Only Voldemort knows how much I love you and that's only because that's me," he said with a proud look on his face. "And I am very much alive. I'll prove it." Tom yanked Ginny towards him and kissed her with all the passion he possessed. She fought against him but he felt her weaken against him. He broke the kiss abruptly and stepped away from her. "Sadly I must leave you now. After all, I'm not supposed to be here."

"What?" Ginny just stared at him, anger forming in her eyes. "You just- you- and- grrrrrr," she stuttered as she swung her fist out, looking the other way to make sure she didn't see any blood.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for? I haven't done anything to you." Ginny looked up in surprise only to find Tom and disappeared and Draco was standing in his place. He was cradling his left shoulder and had a menacing look on his face.

"Oops. Uh, sorry. Thought you were someone else," Ginny apologized.

"Well I'm not. So get it straight woman. You do pack a good punch though. Maybe I should get rid of Crabbe and Goyle and hire you as my bodyguard." Draco paused in a thoughtful manner. "Of course you would have to follow me around, watch me a night, shower with me... Yes I like that idea," he said happily, only to get punched on the other arm. "Or maybe not," said Draco hastily.

"Dracie- poos. Over here!" Ginny and Draco both turned to see Pansy waving her arms. "I know you were supposed to end up over here, not with that horrid Weasley girl." She sniggered.

"Pansy, I have only two things to say to you. 1- I do want to be with the horrid Weasley girl and 2- you smell like ass. I can smell you all the way over here. Please try to shower next time," he shouted back to her. Pansy turned bright red and hid behind the man who had appeared before her (who was Goyle). The rest of the people in the room were rolling in laughter.

Dumbledore stepped into the room and looked around at the students. "I trust you all are having a good time?" he asked.

"Yes, headmaster," a couple of the students were able to choke out as they clutched their sides.

"Well then, I believe that this was a good dance, considering the end results. I must ask for those men who were picked to meet me on the 27th at 8 a.m. sharp. No excuses or late stragglers will be allowed. I expect you all in bed in 30 minutes," he paused, "or should I be more specific. Your own beds please." Some of the students groaned but Dumbledore just smiled.

"Sir," a voice rang out and Ginny blushed, "I was hoping to show her my snake. It got released this morning." The students broke out in a fresh wave of laughter at Draco's new comment.

"Ah, yes Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "Well, things like that can easily be helped. I'm sure Professor Snape will be willing to help you catch him and return him to his home."

"Well, in that case I think I've got it covered," said Draco hastily.

"If there are no more questions, I think it is time for you all to get some sleep. Good night," Dumbledore said as the students started filing out of the room.

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny hissed as they were leaving the room. "I cannot believe you would say something like that."

He just shrugged. "Yeah well. You should believe in more things then." Ginny groaned and walked away. "Was it something I said?" Draco called after her. "Women, I'll never understand them," he muttered.

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