A Blank Verse Romance

Chapter Two: Marc Davies

The days passed slowly until it was September the first and the scramble to get to the station on time took place as usual. It wasn't so very hard as it had been years ago, as instead of seven children there were only four. Mr. Weasley, excitedly, unveiled a new car to claps and whistles from all except his wife, who glared daggers at him, her lips pursed. He had convinced her the car was a necessity but she still didn't like the idea. Death looks were also being thrown now and again at Ron, who flinched and colored at each look.

After all the trunks and cages were loaded, Ginny insisting that Ellipsis ride with her in the car, not that awful cage. However, the matter became settled that Ellipsis had to stay in her cage when she attacked Harry, jumping onto his head, hissing violently. They pulled the car over to the side of the road for a moment.

"What did I ever do to your bloody cat?" Harry grumbled, as Mrs. Weasley magically healed the scratches on his face. They looked fairly deep. Ellipsis purred in victory. Saucy little minx, thought Ginny spitefully. And to think she had bought her because she had eyes like Harry ... and now Harry must hate her. Ginny couldn't look at him for the rest of the ride to King's Cross.

They, for the first time in her memory, were early to the station. Ginny, slumped into the train and found an empty compartment. Banging the door shut, she opened Ellipsis' cage. The kitten sprang out like a ball of rubber on caffeine. Disgusted with her cheerfulness, Ginny roughly grabbed her kitten by the scruff of the neck. Ellipsis blinked lazily at her.

"Now listen here, you prissy little animal! If you go on slashing --" Just then the compartment door opened and Draco Malfoy stepped inside.

"Sorry to interrupt that lecture to your cat Weasley, but I was under the impression that this was my compartment." His drawling voice was sharp. Ginny stood up. Not this time, she thought. This year she was determined not to be bullied by Malfoy.

"Malfoy, I believe you're mistaken. I'm not simply going to move out of your way. May I remind you that your nasty little thugs are no longer here to protect you." She grinned at his sour expression. Crabbe and Goyle had been expelled the previous year. Although the circumstances were unknown to her, Harry and Ron had been gloating about it all summer.

Malfoy straightened up and shoved her back into her seat. Beat red in the face, Ginny scrambled ungracefully to her feet and shoved Malfoy into the compartment door. A satisfying crash met her ears, as Malfoy got to his feet with a black eye (Ellipsis' cage had fallen on him) and said, "Be warned, Weasley. No one messes with me and gets away with it." He turned abruptly to leave the compartment as the train gave a lurch. The two tumbled into the door in a tangle. Malfoy was on top of her.

"Get off me Draco Malfoy!" shrieked Ginny. Her grinned savagely down at her.

"If you want me that badly just say so. Though, I truly thought you were still after Potter." He straightened up and jiggled the handle. It wouldn't open. Infuriated, Ginny, sat down in her seat, brushing her robes off and glaring at Malfoy's disheveled hair. A lump was growing above his left eye.

"Alright Weasley, what did you do to the door?" he demanded, glaring at her with cold eyes. Confused, Ginny shoved past him and unsuccessfully attempted to open the door. Groaning, she slumped into her seat.

"It must have broken when you fell into it --"

"When you barreled me into it and then threw that cage at my eye --"

"I did not! The cage fell and it's your fault anyway.

"My fault? My fault?!? Sorry Weasley but you must be imagining thing. A Malfoy does not intentionally get trapped into a train compartment with a poor, second-hand girl of his own accord!" They both glared daggers at each other, Malfoy looking down at her with disdain when she began to giggle. He scowled. "What?" Ginny struggled for composure but couldn't reach it.

"Your eye! It's going blue and purple. Your comments aren't half so witty as you think but with a black eye that clashes with your clothes ..." Malfoy glared at her and sat down opposite from her in the compartment.

As the uneasy silence between them lengthened, Ginny pulled out a folder containing some scraps of writing she had begun over the summer and worked on them for a few hours. She glanced at Draco, who appeared to be sleeping, before beginning to write. The writing bug had bitten Ginny Weasley very hard and she could hardly help but scribble down any scene that came to mind. Her work was flowery, full of friendship, fields of daises and enchanted moments but it was honest and from the heart. The pieces she had completed were better than she imagined. Ginny had nothing much to compare with and refused to show it to anyone. Her writing was what she compared to her soul. And her soul was very tender since her dealings with Tom.

No movement from the Black Eyed Wonder. Quietly, Ginny slipped the papers back into her grey crocheted bag that she liked to carry around. Then out came -- a diary. It was new, white and silver, the first diary she had ever touched in four years.

While she was busy filling in her first entry, Ellipsis yawned and strolled over to Draco. The fuzz ball walked onto his chest and curled up there, purring warm vibrations.

-*-*-*-

Finally, the train slowed with a gentle jerk. Ginny woke up, her diary face down. She glanced swiftly at Malfoy, who amazingly had opened the compartment door without waking her, and strode out, throwing a last sneering look at her. Ron came bounding in and looked around suspiciously.

"Ginny, I just saw Malfoy walking out of here. Why was he in your compartment? He had a nasty black eye. If he was giving you any crap I'll --" and he made a swift punch in the air.

"To make a long story short, the compartment door got jammed, Ellipsis' cage fell on his eye and we only just got it open." Ron looked unconvinced. She sighed and looked slyly at Ron. "Okay we were in here making out, full frontal on that seat. Only he fell off and got his black eye. Happy?" Ron laughed and bent down to ruffle her hair. He hissed, "Ever joke about that again Ginny and I may have to kill you."

"You do realize that then Mum would kill you in return. Likely, a much more gruesome death involving sharp plastic utensils." They smiled sourly at each other and laughed.

"Just wait 'till I tell everyone about Malfoy! Bet you threw that cage at his eye, eh?" Ginny nodded mutely, not listening to what Ron was saying. Harry had passed her in the corridor and she had only eyes for him.

The trio took a coach for themselves up to the castle while Ginny rode with her friends Colin Creevy and Mona Flannery. Another boy with spiked black hair she didn't know climbed in with them as well.

"Hey there Ginny. How was your summer?" said Mona, ready to hear all the gossip. Ginny sighed as the coach lurched forward.

"Nothing really. I did have fun doing my summer reading for Muggle Studies though. You should have taken it with me Mona. Pride & Prejudice was brilliant!" Colin choked at this.

"Bullocks to that!" he griped. "I couldn't even finish it, it was so boring. I fell asleep reading it in the garden once and the gnomes had tried to pull me into their tunnels by my leg. Woke up and thought I was missing a leg. Dennis had to come out and uproot me. That was brilliant!"

"When did you get gnomes?" asked Ginny, surprised. "I thought your family were all muggles?" Colin grinned and pulled some photos out of his pocket. His family were all standing in front of their garden, which appeared to be infested by many magical plants, as well as some scurrying gnomes.

"Mum let me take care of the garden this year because I had top grades in Herbology. I still don't think she really understands what Herbology is but I think she really appreciated some of the Slumpher Hodge-Pods. See them? The ones wrapping around my dad's neck. You know, they're really useful. Almost better than anything in substitute for a lo--"

"Colin, shut up," said Mona, grinning.

When they had reached the castle, Ginny opened the carriage door to cheering and whoops. Their coach was surrounded by many Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. And they were calling her name in a chant of "Ginny! Ginny! Ginny!"

"What --" she began as people began shaking her hand vigorously and clapping her on the back.

"Brilliant piece of work!" shouted a boy with shaggy brown hair.

"If only it had been me! He's been asking for it for years I say," said a tall girl with rose-colored glasses. As it turned out, Ron had spread her story of Malfoy's eye around and it had spread and become very embroidered. A small girl asked is she had really knocked him out after she had thrown him against the wall.

"Ginny! Ginny! Gin --"

"Stop that, stop that all of you. Get inside the castle immediately!" came the stern voice of Professor McGonagall. The crowd reluctantly filed inside. Ginny and her friends were getting glances through out the rest of the evening.

"Why didn't you tell us about Malfoy?" Mona almost squealed. She beamed at Ginny, pushing her about the details of the story. Try as she might, Ginny's small attempts to un-fabricate the story were futile, as the school would believe nothing less than a full fledged battle. Ginny ate her meal quickly and made her escape from the crowd.

"I'm going to bed," she muttered to Hermione, who in turn gave her the new password (Waddiwasi). She wandered out of the Great Hall, in mind to take a walk when Draco Malfoy appeared, scowling.

"Get this straight Weasley,"he drawled, a fierce fire in his eye, of humiliation and pride. "This will not go without punishment. No one makes fun of a Malfoy, least of all a sniveling little weasel. You will get your comeuppance soon enough." He stalked off, the crowds beginning to emerge, the feast clearly over.

Tired and yawning, filled full of delicious food, Ginny, Mona and Colin traipsed up to Gryffindor Tower. Colin said a cheery goodnight as the girls left to go to their dormitory.

Ginny took the time to tack up a few things on her wall before changing into her nightgown. A large purple and black poster of The Weird Sisters (all in artfully torn black robes), a few pictures of her friends (including one of Harry, who was grinning sheepishly) and a banner that proclaimed "Support Your Local Artist!" in large, slightly glowing pink letters.

"That's new," sniffed Josceline Prewett, eyeing the pink banner with distaste. Her short, brown hair had a new sleek angle to it this year, emphasizing her thin, olive face. Ginny and Josceline had never seen eye to eye about much of anything.

"New hobby," muttered Ginny, grateful she hadn't put "Writer" on the banner instead. She had felt "Artist" was a more relative term and liked the sound of it better. Josceline muttered a snide remark under her breath as she pulled her robes off. After pulling on her pyjamas, she turned back to Ginny.

"I cannot believe what you did to Draco." Her face had tiny pink patches on the cheeks.

"It's not what you think," Ginny said, annoyed, "and anyway, he deserves everything he gets, that little git." Josceline's eyes narrowed dangerously but she said nothing more and slipped into bed.

Mona and Bonnie Evans were both already sound asleep, Bonnie with a clothes pin on her nose to keep it straight. Remembering back to her first year, when Bonnie had explained that it was something out of a book called Little Women, Ginny smiled, plopping into bed.

She was soon out again to the demanding mews of Ellipsis, whom she let out of her cage and onto her bed, snuggling comfortably on the pillow. The tiny kitten purred with delight and yawned a little squeak, making Ginny laugh as she too crawled into bed.

Bonnie was known around the school as Mary Poppins by many of the muggle born students. Straight, shimmering blonde hair, blue eyes, light freckles on her nose, curving delicate smile; her beauty seemed to come effortlessly. Bonnie was smart and worked hard for her grades. She was popular, especially with the boys, and had been offered an artist deal in both the muggle and wizarding world; her voice and talent with the guitar were legend around Hogwarts. She even had a collection of songs she had written herself. It was impossible not to like Bonnie. More than a few times had Ginny found herself jealous of this seemingly perfect girl.

And who could blame me, she thought. Little Ginny Weasley. Mussy red hair, freckles galore, clumsy and poor. Second-hand robes and no talents to speak of, except perhaps her writing, though she had no idea if it was any good.

Mona began to snore slightly. It was late and Ginny could feel her thoughts dulling hopelessly in her brain. She turned over and pulled the lush curtains closed around her bed, trying to focus her dreams on a certain somebody.

-*-*-*-

The Great Hall was full of shrieking laughter and fast chatter as everyone had a summer's worth of news and gossip to catch up on. Still receiving points and stares, Ginny was tipping sausages into her mouth and downing them with orange juice. When she began to chow down on toast and eggs as well, Mona muttered, "That is really disgusting you know. This isn't going to help you change your reputation this year." Flushing, Ginny swallowed and began to eat more slowly, mouth firmly clamped shut.

Professor McGonagall began handing out schedules to her students. Ginny perked up as she saw her schedule; first thing on Mondays was Double Muggle Studies -- with the Slytherins. Her face fell. Her favorite class was going to be dampened by having that lot with her.

"Double Muggle Studies with the Slytherins?!" Colin burst out angrily, having read his schedule as well. "Why'd that have to go and change from the Hufflepuffs? Can that class get any worse?"

"Why don't you drop it, if you hate it so much," said Mona, not looking up from her schedule. "I couldn't understand why you took it in the first place, being a muggle born." Colin banged his fist on the table.

"Because I thought it was going to be easier than anything. But obviously it was just plain stupid of me to think I'd get off easy, it's the most annoying class I've ever been in!" Ginny ignored them, reading the rest of her schedule over. Her other favorite class, Astronomy with Professor Sinistra, was on Thursday nights with Ravenclaw. Just then, Harry called her name.

"Nice one with Malfoy," he said, making her blush to the roots of her hair. She muttered something, getting up from the table. Her bag and foot became entangled, knocking her off-balance and she fell backwards, her bag flying away.

"Ginny, are you alright?" said Mona, kneeling next to her. Ginny's head swam and stars winked in front of her eyes. Blinking to clear her blurred vision, she saw a face above hers, black haired and grinning. For a wild moment she thought it was Harry. She flushed slightly before realizing that the figure worse no glasses, the hair was styled with gel.

"Alright there, Ginny?" said the boy. Ginny sat up, realizing her head had been in his lap. The three were on the floor together.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," she added hastily, picking up her scattered books. He helped her load them into her bag. He looked familiar ...

"Not a problem," he said, in an alluring cockney accent. He held out his hand quickly when they had gotten to their feet. "Marc Davies." Ginny took his hand, shaking it quickly. He smiled widely at her. It hit her.

"You were in our coach up to the castle," she said, to a nod of agreement.

"See you around school," he said with a wink, walking out of the hall. Mona and Ginny left the hall together, whispering excitedly.

"He's bloody gorgeous!" Ginny said flatly, stunned.

"He's Roger Davies younger brother, he's in our year. Haven't you seen him before?" Whether she had or not, Ginny only knew she wished she had noticed him sooner. All the way to Muggle Studies she walked in a dazed and dream-like state, wondering how soon she would see him again.

"What's the matter Weasley? Loosen some gears after the fall?" came a sneering voice. Ginny turned to see Draco Malfoy. She blinked.

"Oh sorry," he continued, smirking, "didn't mean to remind you. I should have remembered you haven't got any brains to scramble in the first place." He shoved past her into the class room.

"Oi, Ginny!"came Colin's voice, out of breath. He caught up with her and handed her a grey crocheted bag. "You left this after breakfast. Are you okay?" he added, seeing the look on her face.

"Fine," she said, entering the classroom. However, she felt very very far from fine. It was hard to decide whether or not she was the happiest she had ever been in her entire life. And for once, Harry was not the happy thought.