Rating:: R
House:: Astronomy Tower
Characters:: Draco Malfoy Ginny Weasley
Genres:: Romance General
Era:: Multiple Eras
Spoilers:: Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Stats:: Published: 04/27/2003

Updated: 12/22/2004

Words: 79,803

Chapters: 25

Hits: 15,873

Trademark smirks and Temperamental redheads

Rea Yume

Story Summary:: Draco and Ginny have exchanged a few words of hostility over the years, but what happens when an unsteady friendship begins to form between the two? As realizations slowly dawn on the clueless pair, what hindrances will they have to overcome before they can be together? Read as obstacles appear in the form of Draco and his Death Eater training, and Ginny’s attempts to sort out her feelings for Harry, as well as a particularly hot-tempered Weasley, intent on breaking up the couple. Complete d/g bliss!

Chapter 03

Chapter Summary:: This chapter, Ginny receives an anonymous valentine! and it's not who you think! haha

Posted:: 05/04/2003

Hits:: 566

Chapter Three - Glittering Fairies (Third Year)

Hogsmeade weekend

Draco had been wandering around aimlessly for the last half hour, watching with disinterest as the third and fourth years threw snowballs at each other. Their naïve faces full of joy, contrasting with the eerie exterior of the Shrieking Shack behind them.

Crabbe and Goyle were down the street at Honeydukes, busy stuffing themselves silly with sweets. Draco had passed up the opportunity, as it was basically the only time that he could get away from their stupidity.

It was relaxing in the snow covered streets of Hogsmeade, with no Gryffindors casting him dirty looks, or the other Slytherins to shoot him silent glares when they thought he wasn't looking. He didn't need to put on a superior façade, and walk around with those two towering brutes who knew nothing but food, or have Pansy hanging off his arm demanding he buy her this and that. It was just him, Draco, and the soft snow in a nice quiet street, where everything he did was not concerned with earning respect for the Malfoy name.

He walked down the street past Honeydukes, past Zonko's, past the Three Broomsticks. All the way down the road, till he passed a tiny, dusty shop, specializing in charmed jewelry.

There, he stopped, and backtracked till he was standing outside the shop window. Something small and shimmering in the corner of the display window had caught his attention. A pendant in the shape of a small fairy, bearing wings tat shone a multitude of colors, fluttering slightly as Draco observed it.

He walked into the shop warily, a look of disgust on his face as he observed the grimy interior of the shop. A small man with a balding head, and large pudgy hands came scurrying out of a back room, looking as if Christmas had come early. Draco fought back the urge to frown, and instead spoke in a clear authoritative voice.

"I'd like to take a look at the fairy pendant on display please."

"Certainly Sir, I'll go collect it right away." The tiny man scampered away, returning seconds later with the pendant grasped tightly in his fist.

Draco examined it closely, as the man eagerly advertised its beauty.

"You've got a good eye Sir, crafted by goblins you know, the best of them goldsmiths, and containing a drop of dragon's blood to give its wearer courage and strength." When Draco seemed none too impressed, he pressed on urgently.

"You know, the wings are the most precious, powdered unicorn's hair Sir, you won't be able to find another piece of jewelry that shines like this one under the moonlight. Tell you a trick Sir, you take your girlfriend to the fairy gardens and give it to her there, the unicorn hair looks exquisite under fairy lights, and it'll temporarily give the pendant life so that the fairy flutters around her neck. No lady will be able to resist -"

"You've said quite enough," said Draco cutting the man short, his babbling was beginning to give him a headache. "How much?"

"Twenty five galleons sir!" said the man quickly, then shrinking a little when Draco turned his piercing gray eyes at him without replying.

Draco smiled inwardly. He loved causing fear in people; it gave him a certain satisfaction, knowing that he did not need the Malfoy name to command respect and power. He considered it, the pendant was beautiful, yes, but what use did he have of such feminine jewelry? An image of a girl with radiant red hair entered his mind; the pendant would suit her wonderfully. But, how would he give it to her?

Draco dropped a bag with fifty galleons on the counter, then turned and strode out of the store, conjuring a velvet pouch to place the pendant in. He'd have to find a chain to match, and he had just the thing in mind.

Valentine's

Ginny woke abruptly to her friends, Sara and Melissa's, shouts and excited pokes and jabs at her ribs.

"Ginny, Ginny! Wake up! Look what you got! This owl with silvery feathers delivered it just now!" cried Sara, eyeing a small box wrapped with a fiery metallic red material sitting on Ginny's bed.

"I bet it's a Valentine's present! Oooh our Ginny's got a secret admirer! I wonder who it is?" Melissa joined in.

Ginny was now wide-awake. Valentine present? Secret admirer? Ginny's mind immediately focused on a certain dark haired boy, frequently present in her dreams since she was ten. But no, it couldn't be, he didn't even notice her. Or did he?

"Ginny! Stop staring into space already! Open it, open it!" Sara and Melissa urged. So as the two waited impatiently, Ginny slowly undid the silk ribbon and unwrapped the material. A small silver box dropped out, Sara and Melissa both gasped. The box was exquisite, carved with beautiful designs of fairies dancing around the branches of a beautiful and majestic oak tree.

Ginny opened the lid, and now it was her turn to gasp. Inside was a beautiful fairy smiling up at her. It had shimmering wings attached to a very fine white gold chain carefully styled into small tendrils, and joined together by tiny, pink rose petals.

Sara and Melissa stared at the necklace in amazement, as Ginny held the box in her hands tenderly, as if the necklace would break if she dared to touch it.

"You know, that's a very precious piece of jewelry," said Melissa, suddenly taking on a very professional look. Melissa's father was a well-known antique jeweler, so naturally Melissa grew up surrounded by rare metals and precious gems. Melissa carefully lifted the necklace out of the box and studied it, feeling the texture of it with her fingertips.

"Hmm, this silver, I've only ever seen something so pure from the goblins' sacred vaults. My father bargained with them for years without success, the goblins mine this silver from a secret valley they've hidden from the wizarding world. They believe this silver is sacred and blessed, giving the wearer good fortune, so they store it in secret vaults and that's how the goblins prosper so. The pendant must've been crafted by goblins I'd say, and one of the elders too if I'm not mistaken. The wings are absolutely stunning, yes, powdered unicorn's hair, and taken from one whose just reached maturity, see the hints of gold here on the tips of the wings?" Melissa turned the pendant over in her hands a couple of times, before returning it to a rather stunned looking Ginny.

"Now the chain seems to be of completely different origin. See the petals? They're real rose petals, from a special type of black rose whose petals turn to a pale pink every fifty years. Someone must've charmed them, to shrink it down to that size and put a freezing spell on it so it'd stay that way forever. When you touch it, you can feel the soft texture of it, almost as if it's still living, it takes pretty complex magic to do something like that. The tendrils are shaped to match those on the fairy's dress, so it was probably specially made for this pendant. Whoever gave you this, put in a lot of effort for it to be perfect." Melissa finished off her evaluation of the necklace.

"Wow, Ginny, whoever gave this to you must really like you! Do you have any idea who it could be?" Sara urged, after finally closing her gaping mouth. Melissa, on the other hand, was carefully examining the remains of the wrapping, looking for a note or clue of some sort as to who the sender could be. So far, it had proved unsuccessful.

Ginny shook her head slowly; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with anyone who would like her, even notice her enough, to want to give her something this precious. And Harry, well, even if she were the last female on earth, she doubted he would even have noticed.

* * * * *

During breakfast that same morning, everyone in the Great Hall raised his or her heads at the sound of the owl post arriving. Draco took this opportunity to take a quick scan of the Gryffindor table. Finally he spotted the redhead he was looking for, her head was turned towards Potter further down the table, shooting nervous glances at him.

'So the little Weasley thinks that Wonder Boy is her secret valentine, just great,'

Draco couldn't help but wonder, what the hell had possessed him to give her the necklace in the first place? It had started out as a joke; he would send the necklace to her with a love note proclaiming it from Potter. She'd race off to confront him about it, effectively embarrassing both of them in front of the whole school.

But his hands just wouldn't cooperate with him, so that he had ended up tearing the note into pieces. Irritably tossing the pieces out the window, along with his eagle owl, Phemyr. The owl had screeched indignantly at him, before spreading its wings and flying off into the early morning breeze.

End of year

Ginny slowly walked the length of the Hogwarts Express; sticking her head into various compartments, looking for one to accommodate her. After fifteen minutes without success, she had reached the last carriage of the train. She knocked on the compartment door and opened it, only to see the scowl on Draco Malfoy's face. He was obviously annoyed at being interrupted from something. Ginny guessed he was reading, from the small leather bound book, which lay open in his lap.

"Oh, it's you Weasley," drawled Malfoy lazily, turning his attention back to his book. "The Trio too busy for you, are they? Planning their next heroic adventure, so they told you to scamper off? Well I'm sorry, Weasley, but my compartment isn't open to the poor and needy. Now, if you'd kindly go back the way you came, and close the door while you're at it."

Ginny could feel the anger rising inside of her, his words echoing inside her mind. How dare he say that to her? She tried to still her anger, and just managed to calm herself. She looked up at Malfoy, who had returned to his reading, clearly ignoring her presence.

With a 'Humph', she sat down heavily on the seat opposite him. She busied herself with getting comfortable, all the while, head turned toward the window. She wouldn't allow Malfoy to get to her, after all, that's what he wanted, wasn't it? Well she'd show him, she wasn't going to let a few words upset her.

She could feel Malfoy's eyes on her.

"I thought I told you to go away Weasley, or hadn't I made that clear enough? Well what I meant was, get out of my compartment now," Malfoy said this rather calmly, as if he were conducting a conversation about the weather, never once taking his eyes off his book.

Ginny wondered briefly what book he could be reading that was so interesting. 'Probably all about the Dark Arts,' Ginny thought to herself, and took a short intake of breath when she read the words on the spine. It read: Hogwarts, A History.

Now the only other person Ginny had ever heard of reading this book, was Hermione, but she was a Gryffindor, and top of her grade. This was Draco Malfoy, a, well, a Malfoy!

Malfoy, had by now, looked up from his reading. When he noticed Ginny's curious glances at the book in his hand, he gave an impatient sigh, and set the book down on his lap.

"What now, Weasley? First you won't leave my compartment, and now you have a problem with my choice of reading matter?" He lifted a corner of the book in his lap for emphasis, raising an eyebrow as he did this.

"But you're a Malfoy!" Ginny blurted out without thinking. "I mean, what I meant was, why are you reading that book?"

"What you mean is, why aren't I spending my time conjuring up evil plans. Which involve frightened first years and Mudbloods, and stuff I've learned about the Dark Arts," Malfoy stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, it just seems strange, that you would be interested in a book about Hogwarts," Ginny explained lamely. "If you'd wanted to know about Hogwarts, wouldn't you have read it in First Year?"

Malfoy just looked at her with those penetrating gray eyes for a few moments, before opening his mouth.

"Look Weasley, I don't plan to spend my journey to London in pointless conversation with a Weasley. Now, if I tell you why I'm reading this book, will you leave me alone?" Malfoy asked with an impatient twitch at the corner of his mouth.

At Ginny's slight nod, he continued.

"It's part of my holiday assignment for Professor Binns class, I'm writing a report on the three wizarding schools in Europe. Part of the assignment requires I study the structures of the schools, such as why they're unplottable and the security measures they've had integrated into its walls," Malfoy finished with a nod of his head.

Ginny stared at Malfoy, unable to decide whether he was joking or not. Malfoy just didn't seem to be the type to care about a holiday assignment, let alone take such trouble to do research for it.

"You're telling me you're actually serious about completing your holiday assignment?"

"Is there something wrong with taking school work seriously?"

"Well from what Ron tells me, you don't seem to take anything very seriously. And you love disrupting all the Professors' classes except for Snape's, but that's only because you don't need to, since you can get away with anything in his class." Ginny looked up to see Malfoy's expression.

"You may believe everything that big, nosy git, of a brother of yours tells you, but you better get your facts straight before you start mouthing off like that Weasley. I'd be first in the grade by now if it wasn't for the bushy-haired know-it-all," Malfoy said calmly, although his eyes spoke volumes of his hatred for Ron and Hermione.

"Are you telling me that you're second in the grade? That's impossible!" Ginny exclaimed disbelievingly, "You're a Slytherin! And a Malfoy, why would you care about your grades? You don't need -" But she was cut off by Malfoy.

"I don't need what, Weasley? I don't need to have a brain, is that it? You think I just use my father's influence to get what I want, and that I'll just grow up, join the Death Eaters, and become another evil entity for your beloved Harry Potter to rid the world of? You know nothing about me Weasley, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Now get out. I'm sick of seeing your face."

Ginny could tell he was furious; he sat there perfectly still except for a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, his eyes focused on the book, as if he was trying to bore a hole right through it. She opened her mouth to reply but thought better of it. Closing her mouth, she turned and stepped out of the compartment, closing the door gently behind her.

'He's right, I know nothing about him, and here I am, babbling in front of him thoughtlessly,' Ginny thought, slightly guilty at having been told off like that. Why was he always right? And why did he always have to make her feel so stupid?

Hi peoples! i'm trying to get out my chapters as quick as possible because my fic is set mainly in fifth year and when OotP comes out it won't make sense anymore! >,