Professor Draco Malfoy

Professor Draco Malfoy:

Chapter Three: Detention

That night, Ginny, who was still exhausted from the aftermath of the curse that had been placed upon her during Defense Against the Dark Arts, stumbled through the corridors of the school until she arrived at the base of the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Only then did she realize that she had no idea what on earth the password was. Great, she thought, glaring at the stationary stone creature, what am I supposed to do now? She knew of course that the password would have something to do with food, preferably muggle candy, and that it would take her ages to guess it. She was saved from having to go through the names of every piece of candy that she knew of by the sight of the gargoyle opening.

Looking at the spiral staircase that suddenly appeared in front of her, Ginny's heart sank. The man stepping down those beautifully carved stares was not Dumbledore, or someone who could not have defeated the purpose of her coming there, but Malfoy himself. He smirked at her as he passed, but said nothing. Taking a deep breath, Ginny mounted the moving staircase and felt herself lifted upwards. The next thing she knew, she was standing outside of a great, oak door, and, biting her lip, she knocked.

"Come in," said the voice of Albus Dumbledore, and so Ginny slowly pushed the door open. "Ah... Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said, staring at her with his piercing eyes, "Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with the most interesting story about what happened in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Ginny looked nervously at him, and said, "Err, what exactly did he tell you Professor?"

Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down across from him before starting in on the Malfoy's story. "Professor Malfoy," he said, as though he were trying to remind her of the fact that as a professor she had to be careful what she said, "just informed me that during his class, where you were learning about curses, he put a small curse on you, one that would only hurt a mouse, but that it seemed to affect you more than it should, and he thought that perhaps you were faking it so as to get attention." He gazed at her steadily, waiting for her to reply.

Ginny's mouth opened and closed over and over again, trying to decide what would be the best way to try and persuade the headmaster that she was telling the truth, not Malfoy. "Err," she started, glancing up at him before looking away again, "That is not exactly true. You see, the curse he placed upon me was a very painful one. He said something about it being almost as painful as the Crucatius Curse, and the curse would kill a mouse, not just hurt it. I think that, translated from Latin, the spell meant something like "dead dormouse" or something.

Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at her. He knew that hiring Draco Malfoy as a teacher had been a risk, but he had not thought that it was a bad one. But now he was reconsidering, due to the fact that, if Ginny wasn't lying, that curse was way too painful to inflict on any one before any proper training at blocking curses. "Miss Weasley," he said, staring her hard in the face, "if that is indeed the curse that he inflicted on you than I will have to have another little chat with him. However, if you are not telling me the truth, or if he manages to convince me that you are lying, I will be forced to punish you."

Ginny nodded. "I assure you Professor, that what I have told you is the truth. I am also sure that Malfoy will probably convince you that it is not the truth, or at least there will be no evidence against him except for the word of a bunch of Gryffindor students, and for that I will be punished. But I want you to believe that he did do that to me, and to understand that I have no idea why on earth you would have him of all people, teach us."

"Miss Weasley, there are reasons for my bringing him here; reasons that I can not tell you, but I want you to understand that I knew that he would not play nice if he came."

Ginny accepted his response, and, saying goodbye, walked to the Owlry from where she would send a letter home telling everyone about the new addition to the staff. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, and began her letter, grinning at the thought of the looks on their faces when they heard the news.

Dear Mum, Dad, Harry, and boys,

I am here, and well, although a little tired from the sudden amount of homework being piled on me. However, I have a piece of news that will probably interest and annoy you very much. Guess who the new DADA professor is! Draco Malfoy. I had him in class today and he was a real ass. He started off the class by putting curses on us and telling us to fight them off. - She paused, not wanting to worry them, and decided that she wouldn't tell them about what had happened. - I can't say that today was a great day class-wise, as I not only had DADA, but potions, but it's great to be back in school and with my friends. I can't wait to see you over Christmas!

Love, Ginny

Tying her letter to the leg of one of the school owls, Ginny slowly left the Owlry and headed back towards Gryffindor tower. Lost in thoughts of how to get back at Malfoy for what he had done to her, she bumped into someone. Ah, she thought, speak of the devil. I wonder what curse he's going to put on me now.

"Watch it Weasley," he snarled, glaring at her.

"You watch it Malfoy!" she yelled, furious at him for getting away with what he did to her. "Why the hell did you tell Dumbledore that I made it up? And why did you do it in the first place? You are supposed to be on the good side now god damn it!"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," Malfoy said, having regained his composure, "and a detention tomorrow night. You have, once again, forgotten your place. I am the teacher, and as such I will not tolerate being yelled at." He stared at her, his cold eyes boring into hers, before she turned away and stalked back to her dormitory.

The next morning at breakfast, when the mail came, Ginny was none too surprised to see a school owl soaring towards her and drop a note onto her plate. Reading it, Ginny groaned.

Ginny Weasley, you are to serve your detention tonight. Go to Professor Malfoy's classroom at eight o'clock sharp, where you will be helping him organize the room.

"What's up Gin?" Colin asked her, noticing the slip of paper she had received, "Detention already?"

"Yeah, and with our new favorite teacher at that!" Ginny exclaimed in mock happiness. "This should be fun!"

"What should be fun Ginny?" Meg asked her as her other year mates turned away from their own respective conversations to join this one.

"Oh," Ginny said, grimacing slightly, "I was just commenting on how extremely fun it will be to serve out a detention tonight with Professor Malfoy."

"Oh Gin. That sucks!" Debby said, groaning at the prospect.

"Yeah, it certainty does," Ginny muttered, glaring at the toast on her plate, "It sure does."

Ginny went through the entire day dreading her detention that night. McGonagall practically blew up at her when she couldn't perform a simple spell that turned a pigeon into a hawk. She got so angry at Ginny that she took away five points from Gryffindor, her own house. Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, in divination Professor Trelawney decided to start out the year by predicting that Ginny would betray her friends. Of course, as everyone was used to her ridiculous predictions, they ignored her.

At seven forty-five she left Gryffindor Tower with an unenthusiastic wave to her friends, and set out for the DADA classroom. When she got there, on the dot of eight, she knocked on the door, and the door was opened immediately by Malfoy. "Weasley," he acknowledged, before turning his back to her and heading towards the front of the room, Ginny right behind him. "Weasley, you are going to stay here until ten thirty exactly, and help me organize my classroom." He looked at her as though challenging her to argue with him. When she said nothing, he proceeded to instruct her in what she was to do.

For nearly an hour she worked in silence, every once in a while sneaking a glance at Malfoy as he graded essays that had been assigned over the summer. She hated him more than anyone else in the world, but he also fascinated her. He had lived through so much evil, whereas the one time she had faced danger she had almost died, and would have, if it had not been for Harry saving her. The memory of what had occurred in the chamber still brought shame to her, and she tried to avoid thinking about it if at all possible.

The way the candlelight hits his face almost makes him look HOT, Ginny thought. Oh my god! Did I just mention Malfoy and hot in the same sentence? Oh god. What was I thinking?

She was obviously turning bright red, because Malfoy had turned to look at her and he had a strange expression on his face. Turning away, Ginny quickly got back to work rearranging his bookshelves. Tugging at a book on the top shelf, trying to move it to the shelf it belonged on; she found that it was stuck. She sighed and tugged harder, but it wouldn't come off of the shelf. Then she saw a pair of hands on the top of the book, helping her pull it out. She turned just slightly and saw Malfoy standing next to her. Oh god, she thought, why is my stomach turning summersaults? This is not happening! Malfoy just looked at her before they both tugged hard on the book. This time it came out, but since they had been pulling so hard, the force of it coming off of the shelf knocked them both off of their feet. Ginny landed hard on the floor with a small "Oof!" And Malfoy landed on top of her.