The Soul Keeper

Chapter 2: The Jars

To say that Draco was having a bad day would be the understatement of the year. Even now, at almost seven o'clock, it had still not improved. Nor had his mood. Of course, this might have been in his favor since he was about to have detention with that Weasley girl. She would most likely need a few sharp remarks and insults, and he was in just the temperament to deliver them. With pleasure.

It had all began this morning when he had woken up with a pounding headache. He also found himself with a runny nose and a slight cough. A cold. He really shouldn't have been surprised. He was out in the rain for hours last night. Not very wise of him, he had the grace to admit. Even if only to himself. That wasn't what had made his morning so horrible though. A cold. Fine, he could deal with that. Madame Pomfrey's remedy? That was a bit worse. Okay, a lot worse.

It had to be the foulest tasting stuff on the planet, Draco was sure of it. After he had been forced to gag the potion down, he had discovered that it was already past nine o´clock, which led to the one bright spot of his day. He was being excused from his first class on account of his cold. That was a relief. He had gotten so caught up in flying last night that he hadn't had time to do his History of Magic essay. At least he had an extra day to finish that.

His momentary relief over his essay was soon squashed when a familiar, and not at all welcome figure entered the hospital wing. Draco had just finished pulling his clothes on and was snapping his boots into place when he heard Dumbledore's irritatingly cheerful voice. His nose curling up in disfavor, Draco silently hoped that the Headmaster was not there to see him. This hope was proved futile when a few minutes later the curtains that had been drawn around his bed were pulled back, revealing the smiling face of Hogwarts' most famous Headmaster.

"Good morning, Draco."

Draco's head came up warily, his eyes carefully observing Dumbledore´s cheery disposition.

"I don't think so," he replied, his voice even.

He met the Headmaster's eyes, as if daring him to disagree.

Instead, Dumbledore just smiled, his eyes twinkling, "No, not for you I suppose."

Draco´s attention had shifted back to his boots, but when Dumbledore didn't continue, he glanced back up.

"Is there a reason you're here, or are you just trying to make me uncomfortable?" Draco sneered.

Usually he wouldn't dare to be so direct with the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but here lately, it didn´t seem to matter very much. Nothing did really. Not now that he knew what the future had in store for him. He supposed that the thought of becoming a Death Eater after his last year of school should have held a deep sense of pride for him. Or at least gratification. He would be doing what he´d been brought up to do after all. Still, the thought brought him no pride, no eagerness, no nothing.

He shook himself mentally and returned to his boots, waiting to see what the old man would say.

"Actually, I came to talk to you about last night's rather interesting events."

Draco stood rigidly. He could have sworn the old man was dragging things out on purpose, just to annoy him.

"Miss Weasley came and apologized, I presume?"

"Yes, she did," Draco replied, choosing his words carefully. It wouldn´t do to betray any emotions Draco might have about a certain redhead to Dumbledore.

The Headmaster accepted his answer with a nod.

"I trust you realize that these recent events are to be kept strictly between you, Miss Weasley, and the teachers involved?"

" I- of course." Draco sank down onto the bed as realization hit.

So Ginny hadn´t told everyone that he had been blown off his broomstick. She hadn´t told anyone anything. That was certainly a relief. But she had lied to him. That red-haired devil! What else had she lied about? She had probably planned for just this moment. The thought of giving Draco Malfoy a shock would certainly entertain her. He shook his head as he silently digested this latest bit of information.

"Is there something wrong, Mister Malfoy?" Dumbledore´s calm voice interrupted his thoughts.

"No," Draco answered quickly, "everything's fine."

"Good." Dumbledore regarded Draco silently for a moment, as if he could read his thoughts.

Draco met his eyes and the feeling gave him a shiver that ran down his back like the icy finger of a ghost. He found himself guarding his expression even more carefully.

"In that case, I recommend that you get to your common room and prepare your things for your next lesson. You will not be excused from it."

Dumbledore´s words released Draco from his mental spell and he quickly tore his eyes away from the Headmaster´s imploring gaze. He got up from the bed and started towards the door, moving purposely slowly, as if to show Dumbledore that he was not intimidated in the least. He checked the pocket of his robe habitually for his wand, and was reassured by the familiar feel of it in his hand. He continued on and had just turned the door handle when Dumbledore´s next words stopped him.

"I took the liberty of returning the Quidditch balls to their proper place, after it was known that you were out of commission."

Draco turned slowly around, horror dawning on him. The Quidditch balls; he had completely forgotten. Not even trying to force a 'thank you' from his lips, he nodded silently at the kindly silver bearded man who sat awaiting his response. Draco had never said those two words in his life, and he couldn't bring himself to do it now. He wasn't even sure he wanted to. When he received nothing but an understanding nod in return, Draco decided that the conversation was over. Pushing open the door, he made his way back to the Slytherin common room.

As he walked, he tried to confront another problem that was facing him: Pansy. She was going to be furious that he hadn´t followed up on his promise. Or what she thought of as a promise. Malfoys didn't make promises, at least, not ones they couldn't be certain of keeping. He bit his lip thoughtfully, trying to come up with something believable to tell her. He decided on telling her half of the truth- that he had caught a cold while looking for the Quidditch balls and had been forced to stay in the hospital wing. He would simply leave out the part about Ginny Weasley. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about that poor, freckled little witch-in both senses of the word.

Confident in his plan, he strode self-importantly into the Slytherin dormitories and gathered his books. He was about to leave the room when he caught sight of a small pendant that closely resembled his own family emblem. It was faded silver, with two snakes twined around each other, their emerald eyes brilliant in the darkness of the room. It was laying on his nightstand, where it was obvious that it had been carefully placed so that it remained facing upwards. It's equally old chain lay beside it, the clasp clearly broken. That's odd, Draco thought, reaching for his neck. I could have sworn that I had it on last night.

Sudden revelation dawned on him. It must have come off while I was flying in the storm last night. But how did it get here? The amulet itself revealed nothing, it's snake eyes staring up at him eerily out of the shadows. No one had bothered to draw the curtains back, which didn´t surprise him in the least. Slytherins liked the gloom. The figure was a sort of good luck charm for him. His father gave it to him when he was born. It supposedly carried protection and discernment spells, cast into it centuries before by someone his family considered the greatest wizard of all time. Greater even than Voldemort. Salazar Slytherin himself. So Lucius Malfoy had told him when he had asked about it on one occasion.

This revelation had awakened a newfound respect for the faded, worn trinket in Draco and he had always kept it with him after that. His father also said that the pendant had been used for darker purposes at one time, but they have been forgotten and remain unused now. Exactly how the Malfoys ever came across such an item was unknown to Draco, but it had been in the family for years.

For a second, Draco found himself lost in the snakes glowing eyes. They seemed to pull him into themselves, drowning out the rest of the world. As he sank deeper into their bottomless depths, he heard a deep, sinister voice calling him.

"Draco." It said only one word, but that one word echoed through the young Malfoy's head like the crashing rumble of a waterfall.

Draco dropped the figure in surprise, taking an involuntary step back. Released from the pull of its eyes, he stared down at the ancient pendant, lying tilted on its side. He shivered. He took a deep breath and reached down and picked it back up carefully, half expecting it to talk again. Gently, as if it were a fragile shell that could crumble in an instant, he laid it back on the stand. He didn´t really feel like having it with him at the moment. It´s mysterious appearance made him wary of handling it too much. Lost necklaces did not just pop up back in their owners room. Unless they had a returning spell on them. And Lucius Malfoy had never mentioned anything of the sort.

Draco found it hard to believe that his father would overlook something of that importance. Come to think of it, necklaces didn´t suddenly call your name either. Before he could shiver again, he forced himself to shrug it off. Somebody must have picked it up for him, that was all. Someone who knew who it belonged to. Maybe it had fallen off in the Slytherin changing room, and one of his housemates had picked it up for him. That could be it. Draco found himself laughing subconsciously at this. Somehow, he really doubted it. He couldn't remember ever showing it to anyone. He had even kept it hidden from Pansy. But what other explanation was there? And what about the voice? He had only one explanation for that. He was going mad. He was beginning to hear things.

Madness was not completely unheard of in the Malfoy family. In fact, Draco knew of several ancestors that had had to be locked away privately, so that the fact would not get out. So madness was unusual, yes, but not unheard of. Draco just wasn´t sure why it would suddenly strike now. Heaving a sigh, he pushed the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind. He could deal with them later, for now, he had to get to his next lesson. He was almost out the door when something yanked him back.

Draco stumbled, narrowly managing to avoid crashing to the floor. It hadn´t been a physical tug, but mental. It had the same effect that he would have expected had someone gripped him around the waste and jerked him back. Gasping in shock, he turned around, facing into the room. The amulet was gone, he noticed immediately. With the anxious feeling that you get when you know something that you don´t want to be true is, he let his gaze travel to his feet.

The glittering necklace was there, peering up at him. This time, the clasp was no longer broken, but whole again, as if had never been and could never imagine being any different. A sinking feeling in his stomach, Draco swallowed so hard that in anyone less dignified, it would have been called a gulp. Once again, he reached down to pick it up, hesitating right before he touched it. Would the snakes come alive and bite him?

Draco did not at all doubt now that they could, if it suited their purposes. Tossing the feeling aside, he clutched the necklace and dropped it around his neck, almost defiantly.

"Fine, I´ll wear it," he said darkly to the silence. "For now."

**********************

Things had gone downhill from there.

He couldn´t concentrate in class. Instead, he found his mind wondering back to the odd behavior of the pendant, and the voice in his head. When a teacher or a fellow student interrupted him from his daydreams, he discovered that he had unconsciously brought his hand up and was clutching his necklace. This earned him many odd looks and loud sniggers from the rest of the class. Except for the Slytherins. They just glared at him with faces that plainly hissed, Pay attention; Pansy's glare was the most terrible of all.

She was clearly upset about last night, and demanding an explanation. Professor McGonagall also took one point off Slytherin for "his refusal to pay attention". Lunch wasn´t any better. He couldn´t eat anything, and just pushed food around on his plate. At one time, he felt eyes on him and glanced up, only to see the youngest Weasley staring at him from across the Great Hall. He sneered and gave her the fiercest glare he could muster, causing her to flush and look away quickly. He grinned a little, but her reaction didn´t please him as much as it should have.

He had been forced to deal with Pansy as soon as Transfiguration was over, and had, amazingly, been able to convince her that he had been unable to return to the dormitories because of a cold. He had even kissed her, just in case. She had smiled then, and told him how she had known that only something like that would have kept him from her and how glad she was that he was better. It was all Draco could do to keep from rolling his eyes during this little speech. She was pathetic.

He wasn´t sure how he managed to get through the rest of the day, but somehow he did. His final class, Herbology, was even worse. He had to drag himself out to the greenhouses, and the ground was unattractively muddy. The storm had finally gone sometime early that morning, leaving behind dozens of puddles and mounds of slippery grass. Luckily, he managed not to fall, but he wasn´t so lucky once the lesson began.

He missed two questions that he should have gotten easily, but was to distracted to answer correctly, and was given an extra two inches to add to his essay on the African Flying Plant that was due in on Friday, just two days away. After this, he thought very seriously about breaking the stupid chain and throwing the necklace away, but decided against it because of the fact that he was fairly certain he couldn´t. With Herbology finally over, Draco thought that he would have some time to think. But it was not to be. No sooner had he gained the pathway that lead back to the castle than he was approached by Pansy.

"Draco," she called.

Draco kept walking, pretending that he didn´t hear her.

"Draco!" Her voice was louder, more demanding.

With a sigh, Draco stopped. "Pansy?"

She ignored his obvious displeasure at being stopped.

"I was wondering if you'd like to take a little visit to the tower with me. This is later, isn't it?" Her eyes narrowed, daring him to argue.

Draco knew what tower she meant. It was a secret room off the astronomy tower that he had stumbled across last year. He had been more foolish then, and had made the mistake of showing it to Pansy. It had instantly become their little hideaway, the place they went to participate in unsupervised activities. Not that they really did much besides kiss. Draco had never really wanted to go all the way with Pansy, and she was content with just kissing. Although at first she wanted more, she was quick to realize that she wasn´t going to get it, and had taken what she could get.

Besides, they both knew it wasn´t really him that she wanted. It was the reputation of being his girlfriend that went with it.

"No, this is not later," he corrected, "This is now, and I have something else to do." He turned on his heel and started walking away.

For a second, he really thought he might get away with that.

Then he felt Pansy´s fingernails digging into his arm and knew that he wasn´t going to escape that easily.

"Draco Malfoy, you stop this instant," Pansy demanded, hands on her hips like a spoilt child, "I want to talk to you. Now," she emphasized.

Several passing students glanced their way and had to smother giggles as they went by. Draco flushed, not able to completely conceal his embarrassment, and quickly stepped closer to Pansy so that they could talk quietly.

"Shut up," he hissed at her, "I told you, not now."

"And I told you, yes now. What´s wrong with you today? You've been acting strange and now your turning down a perfectly good snogging session? It's almost enough to make a girl think that something else happened last night besides you catching a cold." She smirked when she said the last part.

This was really not going well. There was only one thing he could do if he didn´t want her questioning his story.

"Come on then," he said impatiently.

*********************

By the time he had satisfied Pansy and then rushed down for a late supper, most of the students had already left the Great Hall. Pansy had decided to skip supper. She had told him that she was on a diet, to which Draco asked, "Why?" causing her to glare furiously at him and stomp off muttering, "Men," underneath her breath.

Draco could honestly say that he didn´t get it. Pansy was fine as she was. She was already quite slim, and had an excellent figure. One that had not gone unnoted, least of all by him. What was she on about? He didn´t let himself dwell on it. It was her problem, not his. Instead, he went to dinner.

He was halfway through his meal when he saw Professor Snape enter the Hall.

"There you are, Malfoy," the Potions Professor called to him, "I was looking for you." He strode briskly over to the table. "Detention, tonight, my classroom, seven o´clock. I expect you to be on time."

"I have detention with you?" Draco asked.

He couldn´t believe his luck. Snape was his favorite teacher, and the feeling had always been mutual. Snape tended to favor Draco above the others.

"Yes," Snape replied promptly.

He seemed to be in a hurry. Seeing Draco´s grin, he warned,

"Don´t expect this to be an easy week. That Weasley girl will be there, so I have to give you the same amount of work." Snape disliked the Weasleys as much as the Draco did.

Draco´s grin disappeared and he frowned as he nodded. Ginny Weasley had unconsciously messed things up again. By the time Draco had finished fuming- however irrationally- at her, Snape had left, and his food was cold. Not feeling hungry anymore, Draco left the table.

His thoughts reassessed the day as he walked down the corridors towards the dungeons, going over-once again- the entire necklace episode. Now that he was done with Pansy and dinner, he found his thoughts wondering back towards it. He stopped before the door that lead to the Potions classroom and checked his pocket watch. Tucking it safely away again in the inside pocket of his robes, he pulled open the door just as the clock struck seven.

*****************

Ginny glanced up as the door swung open. Though she knew who it was, for a second she could not tear her eyes away from the sight of him. He stood in the doorway, his tall, fair figure silhouetted by the light from the hallway behind him. He smirked at her, and she realized she was staring. She wanted to turn away guiltily, and try her best to hide the fiery blush that had crept into her cheeks. Instead, she lifted her head defiantly and met his eyes. That seemed to surprise him a little bit. Good.

Allowing herself to turn away from him then, she wondered what had gotten into her. Suddenly it seemed a great game to surprise or annoy Malfoy as much as possible. One that she found herself enjoying immensely. Remembering the grieved and preoccupied look on his face before he had caught her staring, she got the feeling that he had not had a very good day. This suited her perfectly, for she hadn´t had the best time either. She had overslept, completely missed breakfast, and had been late for her first class, which had gained her several odd looks. Ginny was never late. As if that was not enough, she was also feeling immensely guilty about lying to her friends about last night.

Harry and Hermione had obviously guessed that something was up, but it was Ron who had nagged her about it. She had had to firmly assure him several times that nothing was wrong and that she had just overslept, feeling more badly about it each time. She didn´t like to lie to Ron; he had become the closest to her out of all her brothers after Percy left school. It couldn´t be helped though. She did not feel like telling anyone about what had happened just yet. She still felt foolish about going outside in the first place. She was forced to drag her mind to the present when she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching.

Draco came to a halt beside her.

"Has Professor Snape been here yet?" he asked coolly.

"No," she replied, with equal enthusiasm.

Neither of them so much as glanced at the other as they spoke.

Seemingly satisfied, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Draco took a seat halfway across the room from her. Obviously, he wasn´t too keen on being there with her either. Silence ensued as they waited for Snape. Ginny bit her fingernails nervously. The Potion's Master was probably making them wait on purpose. Several more minutes passed, until Ginny couldn´t stand the oppressive silence.

"I'm assuming that since you´re here as well that I didn´t get the time wrong. He did say seven, didn´t he?" she glanced questioningly over at Draco.

The silver-haired boy, unlike her, seemed perfectly at ease in the dungeons.

"He'll be here," he paused, then favored her with a half-smirk, half-sneer. "He just likes to make students wait. They have more time to get nervous that way." His grin was mocking, and he looked pointedly at her chewed off fingernails, "It seems to be working, at least on one of us."

Ginny fumed silently, refusing to look at him.

He was right.

She was more nervous now then when she had come in. She had a deep dislike for the Professor already, and having him for detention this week was absolutely nerve racking. Refusing to betray her nervousness in front of him now, she forced herself to keep her hands in her lap and not fidget. It was extremely hard. Before she could be tested to her limits too much though, a door opened at the back of the classroom and Severus Snape walked in. His face belied his ill humor, and Ginny wondered what kind of torture she was going to be subjected to. Since Snape undeniably favored Draco, it wasn´t hard to figure out who would get the worst of the work, whatever it proved to be.

From the corner of her eye, she watched as Draco visibly straightened in his chair. Unbelievably, he actually seemed to respect the Potion´s Professor. Ginny shook her head; it was her turn to be surprised. She didn´t think Draco was capable of respecting anyone. Obviously, she was wrong.

Snape peered at them over the huge box full of papers that he was carrying. Still watching them closely, he set the box down on the floor in front of his desk and went back out the door. Just a few moments later he returned carrying another box. This one was also full of papers.

Ginny bit her lip.

What could they possibly have to do with that many papers? Surely he didn´t mean for them to read them all?

Snape made two more trips out the door, coming back with a box in hand each time. It did not take long to discover that these boxes didn´t contain paper like the first two. They held what seemed to be bottles and jars of potion ingredients. They must have come from his own storeroom, Ginny decided. The regular supply room that the students used did not contain nearly the amount or kinds of ingredients he placed before them. When Snape bent to set the last box down, Ginny and Draco shared a curious glance.

What were they expected to do with all that?

The answer was soon revealed when Snape spoke. Straightening up, he glared piercingly at both of them.

"Inventory," he stated flatly. "You are to go through these papers and match them with the potions ingredients. I want a recording of how much of each ingredient we have written on the papers as well. After you have sorted them all, you can label the jars using this tape," he indicated a roll of green Muggle tape lying inside one of the boxes, " and these pens." Snape pointed to his desk where two black permanent markers lay unnoticed until then.

Ginny's mouth fell open in surprise and she quickly glanced at Draco to see his reaction.

"Can't we just use magic?" he asked.

He was as surprised as she was, she could tell by his voice, even though he did his best to conceal it.

"No," came the stern reply. "Neither one of you is to so much as touch your wands. I will know if you have used magic when I return, and if I find you have your wands will be taken away from you for the remainder of your detentions. Understood?"

For once he didn´t seem to be favoring Draco at all. That made Ginny feel a little better, at least she wouldn´t have to do all the work. Then she realized what the Professor had said.

"You´re not going to be here while we do this?" Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears.

"Certainly not, Miss Weasley. I have other matters to attend to, and can not afford to waste my time babysitting." He sent her a nasty glare.

Ginny felt the heat rise to her checks as she blushed in humiliation. It was obvious that Snape was referring to her. But the red tinge of her cheeks was not all from embarrassment, the thought also made her angry. That he should suggest she was a baby was infuriating. There was nothing to be done about it though, as he was a teacher. Her anger, however, was only increased when Draco spoke up.

"At least you´re doing better than her, Professor. Little Weasley can't afford anything, " he taunted nastily.

" Why you-" Ginny started.

But what he was, Draco didn´t get to hear. Professor Snape suddenly interrupted them.

"That is quite enough," he ground out chillingly, though Ginny had the sneaking suspicion that he was amused by Malfoys comment.

"You two are going to have to work together, and whether you get along or not is none of my affair. However, while I am present, I expect you to retain from bickering."

Neither Draco nor Ginny gave any answer to this, but he didn´t seem to have expected one. Giving them one last warning glance, he strode out of the classroom, calling threateningly over his shoulder,

"And you had better not break anything either, or I will be most displeased."

It was several minutes more before Draco or Ginny even moved.

In fact, she had almost forgotten Draco was even there, she was still so furious. It was the hushed whispering of Draco´s robes over the floor that reminded her of his presence. Graceful as a cat, he strode up the aisle to the boxes sitting on the floor. From her position behind him, she could see that he had both perfect posture and impeccable taste in clothing. Those robes alone must have cost a fortune. She looked enviously at the fine material. She had always wanted a pair of robes like that. From there, her gaze traveled to the white-blonde hair that glimmered in the dim lighting like moonlight. He has beautiful hair. The unusual thought made her look away and she instantly chided herself. What was she doing, she was starting to sound like Lavender or Parvati, God forbid.

Shaking her head, she tried to remember the insult he had just thrown at her family, but it seemed all the anger had gone out of her. She was tired of being mad. Maybe she would just try to be civil with him after all. That would probably be a lot easier for both of them.

As if sensing her change of mood, Draco cast her a glance over his shoulder.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked imperiously, before turning back to inspect the boxes, knowing full well that she was not just going to sit there.

Ginny sighed and raised herself from the seat.

"Might as well get this over with," she muttered to herself.

She approached the boxes, making sure to give Draco a wide berth. She didn´t want to get anywhere near him. She reached the boxes and gently lowered herself down beside the nearest one.

"Okay," she began, hating to have to be the one to talk first, but knowing by the smug look on his face that Draco was not going to say anything.

He had made the first move by coming over here, now it was her turn. "I´ll take this box of papers, and you can have the other one." She indicated the box closest to him. "We can keep the boxes with the ingredients between us. Okay?"

"Why do you get that box?"

What had she expected? Of course Draco was going to be difficult.

"Fine, I´ll take that stack and you can have this one," she snapped.

She reached for the box, but Draco had other plans.

"No, I´ve changed my mind, I´ll take this one after all." Seeing her trying furiously to keep her composure, he gave her a self-satisfied grin and began shifting through the papers in the box he had claimed.

Detention was turning out to be more fun than he had expected. In fact, bickering with Ginny had even managed to push the necklace out of his mind.

"Stop being so...so...childish!" she spat at him.

He feigned innocence, " Me? Childish?" he paused, " Never."

With that he went back to work, pointedly ignoring her sharp intake of breath as she tried to still her worked up temper. His face remained a mask of pure composure, never once wavering in it´s intended look of innocence. Ginny decided that ignoring him as well would be the best tactic. She turned to her own box of papers and began methodically going through them.

After about ten minutes of working in complete silence, she was getting frustrated. She blew her breath out in a sigh, forcing it upwards so that it blew the tendrils of red hair out of her eyes. Biting her lip, she surveyed what little bit of work she had done.

"This is hopeless," she felt the need to point out, even if Malfoy did ignore her.

"Really?" he asked, casually raising an eyebrow, "I never pictured you as Ginny-the-Quitter, but then again, the only way I've ever known you is from your family history. You know, the penniless one."

Ginny felt the blood rush to her face and she had to bite the inside of her cheek and clench her hands tightly into fists by her side to keep herself from doing anything irrational. Though Malfoy would most certainly have deserved it, she didn´t think Professor Snape would have appreciated having Malfoy returned to him in a million pieces. Instead of sparring physically, she would have to resort to words.

Unfortunately, the only thing she could think of at that moment to say was,

"I am not quitting."

She heard Draco´s mocking laugh, and had to admit that that hadn´t been the wittiest comeback.

"I was simply stating a fact."

All this time that she had been talking, Draco had been steadily working, not even pausing to speak.

"No, that was more of an opinion." He pointed to his own accomplishments, "It´s really not as hard as your making it out to be."

" Oh, really, well how do you suggest I do it?" Ginny couldn´t deny that he seemed to have gotten a lot more done than her, but she hated his smug attitude about it.

"Instead of sorting the papers and then matching them up with the right ingredient, just take one paper at a time, and match it. Then put it in a certain place so that every time you find more of it, you can just add it to that pile."

Ginny blinked in surprise. She hadn´t expected Draco to tell her anything, and when he did, his answer actually sounded logical. He hadn´t even had a superior look plastered across his face.

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

They continued working in silence for a few minutes, Ginny doing as he had instructed.

"Thanks."

Her voice was almost a whisper, and at first she didn´t even think that Draco had heard her. Then she heard his own hushed reply, so quite she wasn´t even sure she had heard it at all.

"You´re welcome."

Ginny glanced up quickly.

Would he ever stop surprising her? Why had he gone from being completely infuriating to amazingly tolerable in an instant? Was he sick? Ginny thought back to that preoccupied look Draco had had when he had first entered the classroom, before he saw her. Something must be on his mind.

Now as she looked at him, she thought she detected the same faint trace of preoccupation about him. That look that said he wasn´t quite there. She jumped upon the time to look him over carefully, as she had never done before. All her earlier anger had evaporated. Instead, she was left with this intense feeling of curiosity.

Just who was Draco Malfoy?

She had known him for six years, of course, but she had never really known him. Not that she wanted to, she hastily reminded herself, even as she dropped her gaze. There could be no possible reason to ever want to know Draco better, and yet-

She was interrupted in her musings by a gratified sigh.

"Finished," her partner-in-detention proclaimed. He looked over at her questioningly.

"You?"

"Not quite." Ginny cringed inwardly; she still had about ten jars and papers to go.

She thought for a second that Draco might offer to help her, in light of his sudden mood swing, but no such luck. He sat there casually, legs crossed and hands resting on his knees as he waited for her to finish. Though she didn´t look up, Ginny could feel his eyes on her. Unwavering, they burned twin holes into her as she felt their relentless gaze. What happened to the thoughts that took him a million miles away?

Ginny decided that he must have been trying to irritate her, or make her uncomfortable. Both were working perfectly so far, with the latter making her blush profusely, though she tried her best to hide it. Malfoy saw right through her guise, and laughed haughtily.

"Something wrong, Weasley?" he teased.

"Yes," Ginny snapped back, putting the last piece of tape on her share of the sorted ingredients. "You´ve been staring at me for the past ten minutes. Do I have something in my hair?"

Draco sniggered.

"No, but my make-Weasley-mad plan seems to have gone off without a hitch."

Ginny could think of nothing to say to that, and for a few minutes, they just sat silently, her glowering and him smiling smugly. And to think, just minutes before she had wondered about getting to know the real Draco.

Just at that moment, when the silence was stretched taut and thin, very close to breaking, the classroom door opened and Snape strode in. He took in the scene before him in a matter of seconds and gave a curt nod.

"I see that you have finished," he gestured towards the sorted jars, "Good. You may go. And remember, the same time tomorrow." Without another word he strode past them and disappeared into his office.

Refusing to look at Draco, Ginny stood quickly, brushing the dust from her robe.

"That won't do any good, you know." Draco´s voice had taken on that sneering tone again, the one that clearly stated: here comes an insult. "Those old hand-me-down robes are brown anyway." He paused for emphasis, "No wait, they were black, but they're just so stained that they look brown now." He laughed coldly, seeing Ginny´s face burning red from the insult.

"What's the matter, Weasley, mummy and daddy couldn't afford to buy you a new pair?"

Ginny sucked in a deep breath, absolutely furious. Before she could stop herself, she instinctively reached out and punched him, hard, feeling a slight pain as her fist met his jaw. A loud "pop" echoed across the room, the sound of bone striking bone, and Ginny´s eyes widened for a second in horror.

She had hit him! Before he could do anything more than simply stare at her in shock, she regained her composure and swept out of the room, head held high. He deserved it, she assured herself, trying to erase the nagging feeling of guilt that followed her.