Returned From Superstition

Chapter Two

Draco watched, as the fifth years passed him by in the corridor.

There she was, walking alone among all those girls, oblivious to anything around her.

Ginny Weasley was indeed very beautiful.

Not that Draco had noticed it before. He had heard the boys talk around the castle, and he had watched her closely, but that was because she was Potter's annoying pet and it bothered him that such an ugly guy as Harry could have a girl as a pet.

He had never noticed her enough to see what everybody else saw: she was growing up lovely.

And his indifference had changed into interest three days ago, thanks to her annoying brother, who had apparently seen Ginny and Draco kissing in the crystal ball. And to think Draco had only entered that tent to annoy that mudblood lover.

He still remembered the look in Weasley's face. It was... scary. He didn't doubt, not even for a minute, that the redhead was telling the truth about seeing something in the crystal ball. Especially because he hadn't told him, he had just burst, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" and accused him of snogging his innocent little sister.

But he'd never snogged anyone's little sister and he had insisted on that (although the doubt had crossed his mind: was Pansy an only child? What about Katie? And Blaise? Mildred, from Ravenclaw? Josie, from Hufflepuff? Oh and what about that girl that he believed was a seventh year? Laurie didn't count since she only had a younger brother, so technically she wasn't the little sister... But that wasn't getting him anywhere, and the boy in front of him seemed really stressed out, so Draco focused on the situation again,) especially because it wouldn't do his reputation any good to snog a Gryffindor.

"So you're going to..." Ron seemed terrified and disgusted with the idea. "So don't! Don't even think about it!" And his face was too funny to forget.

The problem, you see, was that now Draco couldn't think about anything else. He had thought it over, and it seemed a very good idea. His reputation wouldn't be ruined as he had thought; actually, he would probably improve it by dating his enemy's sister.

And let's not forget she was pretty. Very pretty.

He was very pretty too, so it would be a great match.

All he had to do was make her notice him. And he already had a great plan on his mind to achieve it.

He just had to try and see if it worked.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Ginny was absorbed in her book when Draco entered the library and didn't look up, not even when he sat in front of her at the table.

The library was almost full, but that wasn't a problem. Since the incident, the whole school knew about Ron's prediction, and they all wanted to know how it would turn out. Draco trusted their crowd would stay very quiet and would even pretend they weren't paying attention in order to tell everyone later. So far, they were acting accordingly.

Draco opened his Defence Against the Dark Arts book and pretended he was focused on it, but he felt it when Ginny's eyes rested on him. He waited some seconds before looking up and meeting her eyes.

"Hello," he smirked.

She looked down quickly, trying to take her mind off of him.

"Now, that's rude."

"What's rude?" she snapped, looking back to him with a defiant look. A look he faced in his own intense way, what made her shiver involuntarily.

"You, ignoring me." He smirked again. "It's rude."

"I'm not ignoring you; it's just that we have nothing to say to one another." she said quickly and rested her eyes on her books again.

"Nothing, you say? It's funny, because the entire school has so many things to say about us."

She blushed, and he knew that she had heard the comments as well.

"Some things are quite a compliment. I've heard from a second year that we would be a wonderful couple."

"Did you tell him to shove off?" She looked back at him.

"No, I told him I would think about it."

"Your arrogance knows no bounds!" she exclaimed and dropped her quill.

"Actually, it's not my arrogance, it's my modesty." Draco smiled, trying to look convincing. "I'm about to ask you for help." She looked at him like she couldn't believe her ears, so he continued. "There's this assignment for Defence Against the Dark Arts that counts for half our grade, and it's about the making of curses in the old tradition, and I decided to research about a nasty group of dark magicians who had a very prolific curse portfolio. The problem is that this group has written everything about their magic in runes..."

"Runes." It wasn't a question; she was just repeating his words - maybe because she was too startled with the fact that he was talking to her to think properly?

"Yes, runes. You know that some wizards thought that writing about magic with our alphabet would demise its power, so..."

"I know all about it, I'm the one taking Ancient Runes, remember?"

And to think that she, who was considered so gentle and lovely inside her circle of friends, would sound so harsh around this boy.

"Yes, I remember perfectly, and that's why I'm asking for your help."

"You want me to translate the texts for you?"

"No, I want you to teach me the basic things I need to know to translate it myself."

She chuckled, "And what makes you think I would help you, Malfoy?"

"Actually, it wasn't me who thought it." He smiled as innocently as a little boy. "I talked to your Ancient Runes teacher, and she assured me you were the best person to tutor me." It wasn't a lie - the teacher had said that. But let's be honest, he hadn't really given the woman many possibilities, not the way he had put it. "I tried to explain her we have some unresolved issues, but she said she was sure you wouldn't deny helping me with such a thing." he used the innocent smile again. "Would you?"

Ginny sighed heavily, her gentle side taking over her. Even still, she tried to resist it. "You know, you could have come to me with your problem three days ago, I was translating old textbooks back then. It was my task at the open day."

"I know, but as I've said, I don't want you to translate it for me, I want you to help me understand it. And besides, that day I was too busy in the Potions section."

Now that was a lie and Ginny knew it. He wasn't busy at all, simply because no one was brave enough to ask Draco anything, especially about a potion. "What if I ask for something for my cold," wisely pondered a second year with a running nose, "and Draco poisons me? He could do that."

Ginny smiled at the memory of the worried group of second years, and shook her head. "Let me see the texts before giving you an answer."

Draco promptly handed her the book he had placed beside him in the table. It was a large ancient book, and it was all written in runes. "Are you kidding?" she exclaimed after a moment. "Do you really want me to help you through this entire book?"

"No, there are only a few relevant parts. I have already checked it."

"Oh, you have?" she mocked "And how do you know what the relevant parts are, since it's all written in runes?"

"Because I do understand runes a little." He made his best puppy face. There was a lot at stake. Well, maybe not a lot, but you got the idea. "My problem is that I have to fully comprehend the curses and the explanation of how it was made, and I can't do that with only my knowledge. What if I think they're talking about sacrificing a deer, and I understand it as 'sacrificing a tree'?"

"Depending on what the curse is about, the Forbidden Forest could be devastated."

He stared at her, wondering if she had just made a joke. She sensed he hadn't thought it was funny, - who could blame him? - so she asked, "How much time do we have?"

Was it just his imagination or she had just agreed on doing it? "Well, we're a little short on time."

"How short?"

"I have less than a month to finish it." Again, the innocent smile.

"Less than a month?" she exclaimed, angry. The puppy face hadn't worked this time. "But how will we do it?"

"We could meet everyday after our classes and then after dinner. Besides, I'm a fast learner."

"Explain me why I'll go through all this trouble to help you, Malfoy." Ginny sighed, not believing she was actually agreeing on that.

"Take a good look at this book, Ginny." He tried to say her name to see her reaction to it. He noticed a small amazement, but it seemed good. "Have you ever seen anything as interesting?"

She did as was told. Indeed, the book was very good. Not only the curses were fascinating, there was a unique pattern of using the runes that seemed to be challenging.

She took a deep breath and met his eyes. He was looking at her so intensely she thought she would faint, and she had to take a deep breath not to succumb.

What was she getting herself into?

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

'What was she getting herself into?' was still the question popping up in her head while she waited for Malfoy to show up at their meeting place. There she was, freezing to death in the top of the North tower, waiting for a boy her brother hated and she should hate too.

The problem was that she didn't hate him, not really. Sure, he was arrogant; sure, he always gave her brother a hard time; sure, his father almost got her killed in her first year, but somehow she didn't blame Draco for any of that.

And there we go again. She was actually thinking of him as Draco. That's what she was thinking when remembering him talking to her in the library. She would think, "Draco looked so innocent," when she should have been thinking "Malfoy was being manipulative." And she would think, "Oh my God, I have a date with Draco," when what should have crossed her mind was, "Oh my God, I'm meeting that bastard all by myself." What was happening to her?

It was that damn prediction, and she knew it. She had never thought about Draco that way - oh, come on, who was she trying to deceive? He is blond, he's good-looking, he's rich and he has a reputation of being a great kisser (since he has apparently kissed Hogwarts entire female population.) She would always think of Malfoy that way.

But since Ron had screamed and shouted and punched and kicked, she had actually considered it as a possibility, not only a fantasy. And Ron didn't seem to be kidding about it; first, that wasn't an idea that Ron would joke about, second, he had made her swear seven times that she would never let Malfoy lay a finger on her. And she swore it solemnly, repeating seven times that she would never let Malfoy lay a finger on her while crossing her fingers behind her back and imagining those beautiful hands all over her body.

Bad Ginny.

She heard a noise coming from the door, and she looked up, startled, afraid that it would be Filch and she would get detention. But it was Draco, and he was looking astonishingly gorgeous with his black robes.

Wrong, she corrected herself, it's Malfoy, and he's looking like the arrogant prat he is.

"Good evening, sorry I'm late." He smiled and watched her watch him with a curious look. She was shivering, and his smile got wider. "It was a good thing I decided to be prepared." And took a blanket out of his robes and placed a basket Ginny hadn't realized he was carrying beside her in the floor.

She watched him place the blanket on her back like she was in a trance, but as soon as she recovered, she asked, "What's that all about?"

"You're doing me a favour, so the least I can do is look out for your comfort." He smiled his first spontaneous smile. It startled Draco for a second, but he didn't show it.

She continued to look suspicious, but at least she relaxed a little, enough to let him sit down beside her and offer her an apple from the basket.

"Alright, since we're settled," she smiled, holding the apple he had handed her in one hand, and taking her runes dictionary with the other, her eye's never leaving his, "Let's begin."

Draco smiled back, watching her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Oh, yes, let's begin, he thought, I'm all ready.