"How are we supposed to groom them if we can't even see them?"
Pansy Parkinson had her perfect brown curls pulled back harshly from her cute pug-like face. She sneered at the pile of raw meat left to attract thestrals at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Seamus ran a hand through his hair, exasperated with his detention partner. All she'd done was bitch since being led down there and told to wait for the thestrals to show up. Seamus was carrying a blue grooming box, containing a currycomb, hard brush, soft brush, and even a hoof pick. He supposed Pansy must have some experience with horses - he certainly did, spending the majority of his childhood summers on the ranch of his Uncle Nester.
However, he had always been able to see the horses before this.
Pansy was still bitching. "This is the stupidest detention ever! I bet you don't even know how to groom a horse…"
"I know how to groom a horse," Seamus replied through clenched teeth.
She gave him a scathing look that clearly said, "Whatever."
Suddenly, Seamus felt a…something bump into his shoulder. He practically jumped out of his skin as he reached up and felt the chilling hairy skeleton of a thestral. There was a clatter as the invisible beast nuzzled the grooming box. A few feet away, Pansy gasped as she too was accosted.
"Hey…F-F-Finnegan…h-hand over a currycomb…" Her voice was breathy and jumpy, catching on consonants. Seamus wordlessly handed her a currycomb and picked one up for himself.
It was an odd experience. Seamus kept one hand in contact with the thestral to have a frame of reference. At least the beast wasn't moving around, he thought. That would make things more difficult.
They were grooming for two hours when suddenly, the creatures were gone, as surely as if they’d slammed the door on their way out. Seamus and Pansy took that as the cue to leave.
"Oh, thank Merlin!" Pansy said, stalking off back to the school without him. Seamus groaned and collected her brushes in the box, trudging up the hill after her. Upon reflection, that wasn't so bad. Definitely worth the fight.
Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating her breakfast alone. She was ok with that, though - she had been spending a lot of time alone ever since the Masquerade Ball. She couldn't get Draco out of her head.
Just then, an unfamiliar midnight black owl landed in front of her. Puzzled, she looked at the name on the parchment. It was her own, perfectly lettered in a beautiful black script.
"What's this?" Ginny muttered to herself as she untied the letter from the owl's leg. Immediately, it flew off. She ignored it and pulled on the silk black ribbon wrapped around the letter. A white rose fell from the page, magically unharmed despite the journey. Ginny held her breath as she slowly read the letter:
Dear Ginny,
How is it you've managed to twist my heart so that all I see is you? I met you once upon a dream, it seems, and now I do believe I've fallen in love. I would keep it to myself and bear my burden silently, but I've come to realize this - it can't stay inside me any longer.
So here it is, in plain English, for I'm in no mood to be fancy. I love you. Seems a strange place to be, but here I am. Head over heels for someone I hardly know.
Do you remember me? We kissed in the rain, and later we danced. You're a great dancer. You don't know who I am. That's okay. I'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind. I have a feeling things would be different. If you knew. Yeah. I just think it's…
Oh shit. What am I trying to say, even? I'll go now.
Anon.
Ginny was completely flabbergasted. She knew it was Draco; who else had she kissed in the rain? Of course she would remember. She reverentially rolled the parchment back up and retied the black silk ribbon that it had arrived in. She couldn't think. She wanted to love Draco, but she thought he didn't know who she was… but this was proof that he did.
Suddenly, Ginny rose from her table and ran from the Great Hall.
Of all the people to have to spend detention with! Even Malfoy would have been…familiar. Ron was used to the Slytherin's particular form of evilness. He could have handled that. But Millicent Bulstrode!? Not only was she a Slytherin, but she was just so…UGLY!
"We have to do WHAT?!?!" Millicent screamed. Ron snapped back to reality, realizing that he missed what their actual punishment would be.
"It's quite simple, Miss Bulstrode," Dumbledore said. "Find Mrs. Norris. Turn her back form a wombat into a cat. I assume you're both well versed in Switching Spells?"
They nodded.
"Good! Well, I shall leave you to it. Ta!" He swept out of the Entrance Hall, leaving them to glare at each other.
"Ok…" Ron said. "Well, you'll start from one end of the school and I'll start from the other end and we'll-"
"I've got a better idea," Millicent interrupted.
"Ok…"
"A cunning plan, actually."
"So, what is it?"
"How much gold do you have on hand?"
Ron felt in his pockets. "A few knuts, maybe a sickle. Nothing more."
"Yea, I've got two sickles and ten knuts. You think that's a lot of money to a First Year?"
"No."
"Damn." Millicent gnawed on the edge of her thumbnail. Then she gave a dazzlingly evil grin that the Slytherins were so famous for. "How about a Muggle born first year?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Enough to bribe them into searching for Mrs. Norris?"
"Possibly," Ron said, a smile beginning to creep onto his face. "A Hufflepuff. They're too bloody nice to refuse."
"Retiling the roof?!"
"On top of the Astronomy Tower?!"
Blaise and Hermione glanced shakily at each other, and then the roof of the highest tower in the school.
Blaise cleared his throat and stuffed Dumbledore's note back into his pocket. "Oookay…let's just get this over with." He mounted his broom and glided upwards a few feet. Then, suddenly he stopped, realizing that Hermione wasn't with him. He glided back down to the Head Girl. "What?" he asked sharply.
Hermione shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "I…I'm afraid of heights."
Blaise sighed in frustration. "Look, just get on the back of my broom and hold on."
Hermione took a step back. "No way! I have a boyfriend."
"Granger, do you want to get this detention over with or not?"
She nodded slowly.
"Then get your prissy butt on the back of my broomstick. You don't even have to do anything, just close your eyes."
Hermione shakily shut her eyes tightly. "You better not try anything funny, Zabini."
"Don't worry, I won't."
Slowly, the two Seventh years rose to the roof of the Astronomy Tower. It was shaped like a cone, sloping downwards steeply.
"There's a steeple up there at the top," Blaise said. "Do you want to grab on to that?"
"YES!" Hermione practically shouted. "Just put me down already. I know what to do."
Blaise flew close enough to the steeple so that Hermione could grab onto it. She wasted no time, practically jumping off the back of his broom. She took a deep breath.
"You said you know how to retile a roof?" Blaise asked. Hermione nodded back. "Ok, just tell me what to do. You don't have to do anything."
Hermione looked at the roof. A good third of the tiles were missing, and the rest were chipped and eroding away. Hermione looked out at the sun already starting to set over the Forbidden Forest. She took another deep breath. Looking out wasn't as bad as looking down.
"Ok, first strip off all the old tiles."
Blaise obliged. He didn't seem to mind that she wasn't really doing work except bossing him around. Hermione frowned, a little annoyed that he was being so submissive.
"No offense or anything," Hermione said, "but why is it that you're actually listening to me? You called me a mudblood."
"Look.” Blaise sighed. “I have a 10 year old sister who's afraid of heights. One summer I… levitated her on to the roof while she was sleeping. She woke up screaming." Blaise pulled away a few more tiles before he spoke again. "So from now on I sympathize towards anyone who's afraid of heights. Including you." He tossed aside the remaining tiles. "Ok, what next?"
Hermione and Blaise spent the rest of the evening fixing up the rooftop. They were fairly civil to each other, actually. Hermione actually mellowed out a bit. Now that she was actually up there, it wasn't so bad. She even let go of the steeple for a few minutes so that Blaise could retile it. And when the wind picked up, Hermione was very proud to say that she didn't scream.
"It's amazing from up this high," Hermione said randomly as she looked out at the setting sun.
Blaise looked up for a second, flicking a lock of black hair out of his eyes. "Hey, you're right. There are no trees to get in the way."
An hour later (due to an incident with the grout), they were finally finished. Hermione couldn't get back on the ground fast enough. When Blaise's broom finally touched down, Hermione jumped off and collapsed to the grass, kissing the ground.
"Damn it, Granger, can you be any more…odd?"
"Yes I can, thank you very much." Her stomach grumbled. "What time is it?"
Blaise pulled out a gold pocket watch. "It's after eight. We missed dinner." Blaise scratched his head while he thought. "Let's go down to the kitchens. The House Elves will give us something."
"No way! That’s slavery, those house-elves don’t - "
Blaise gave her a funny look. "Slavery? Haven't you read your history books, Granger?"
Hermione nodded as they made their way back to the castle. "Of course I have. Who do you take me for?"
"Well, you obviously did a lousy job."
"Excuse me?"
Blaise sighed. "Let's just get some dinner and take it back to the Slytherin Common Room. I'll explain when we get there."
"You’re kidding, right? The Slytherins’ll kill me."
"You're Head Girl, remember? You can go wherever you please. And besides, if I set foot in Gryffindor Common Room we'll be in for another batch of detentions because I'll probably sucker punch your boyfriend again. Mm, no. Definitely."
* * *
"Mister Weasley, shouldn't you be in detention?"
Ron froze. Professor McGonagall had stopped him on his way into Gryffindor Tower.
"Uh…I'm looking for Mrs. Norris in Gryffindor Tower, Professor."
"I see." Her lips were pressed together very thin. "And what would Mrs. Norris be doing in Gryffindor Tower?"
"Um…taking a nap?"
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. "I highly doubt it."
"Professor!" A voice yelled from the end of the corridor. Professor McGonagall turned towards Professor Snape, who was practically dragging a First Year Hufflepuff by the shirt collar.
"Now, tell Professor McGonagall what you told me, Mister Johnson."
"Well," the timid boy said, talking to the floor. "They - they asked me if I wanted make some extra money. So I said yes. Then they…they told me to look for Mrs. Norris for them and they left." The boy was shaking all over by now.
"Thank you. You may go." Professor Snape turned to glare at Ron. "Mister Weasley, the next time you want to bribe someone into doing your detention for you, make sure you are not standing right next to the staff room!"
Ron turned beet red. Oops.
"You and Miss Bulstrode will serve yet another detention, having failed to complete your first one. And an extra fifty points will be taken!"
Ron tried to think of something to say, but no adequate words came to mind.
"I also suggest," Professor McGonagall said, "That next time, you at least look for Mrs. Norris in the most obvious of all places - Filch's Office."
"I'll try to remember that, Professor."
Why did they always make him clean? Probably because he hated it so very much. Adding that it was in the dungeons with Professor Snape, dirty vials probably didn't help. If it wasn’t already Ron's second detention, he would have broken something.
Suddenly, he heard someone come into the room. Ron picked up a new vial and a sponge, and then turned around to see who the visitor was.
Draco was handing a roll of parchment to Snape, who unrolled it carefully. Ron turned away to wash his vial.
"You wrote her again?"
"Sent already. This is the facsimile."
Snape sighed. "Why are you showing me this?"
"I thought you would want to know."
"I suppose the more proper question would be, why are you doing this in general?"
There was a silence for a few seconds.
"Because I can't not write to her." Ron was surprised to hear a depth of feeling in Malfoy's voice that he would not have thought possible. "I love her, Professor."
Ron dropped a vial. It shattered loudly on the cold, stone floor, making everyone in the room jump. Suddenly, Snape remembered that Ron was serving a detention with him, which meant that he was in the room, listening to every word that him and Draco had said.
"Out, Weasley, OUT! I never want to see your miserable face again!"
Ron scurried out faster than a golden snidget. Draco sighed and quickly repaired the vial with a wave of his wand. Snape collapsed in the chair behind his desk, winded from his sudden outburst. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "At least we didn't say her name."
"Yea, lovely." Draco's voice was as chilly as mountain air.
"…Draco, how can you love her when you've only just met her?"
Draco grinned mirthlessly. "Because I want to."
I would write you a sonnet, but I’m no good at poetry. I’d rather tell you what I think of you than what you are. Love is fair strange, and I know you could never love me, for all your acceptance on Halloween. You and I are too different. No, I will not write you poetry – and why should, I when a plethora of perfect poems are just waiting to be stolen? Of course, I will give credit to their original author – William Shakespeare, written for his beloved (name unknown).
Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine, before thou hadst this more.
Then if for my love thou my love receivest,
I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest;
But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest
By willful taste of what thyself refusest.
I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief,
Although thou steal thee all my property;
And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief
To bear love’s wrong, than hate’s known injury,
Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows,
Kill me with spites; yet we must not be foes.
So there, stolen from Willy – but spoken in complete truth from me to you.
Anon.
Another letter. Ginny sat down, folding it back up and placing the pink rose in her pocket. She still wasn't sure how to react to Draco's odd proclamations of love. Not that she didn't love him back… He said he loved her but refused to talk to her. He said he loved her but he assumed she would never want him. He said he loved her.
She really didn't know anything about him. At all. And he knew nothing about her…but she wanted to tell him. She wanted to find out everything about him.
Harry was playing Wizard Chess with Ron when Ginny burst into the Common Room. "Harry!" she yelled.
He looked up. "Oh, hey, Ginny. What's up?"
"Could I borrow Hedwig?"
"What's wrong with Pig?" Ron asked, miffed.
"Shut up, Ron!" Ginny and Harry said together.
Harry laughed. "I'm really sorry, Ginny, Hedwig's out right now…but you're welcome to her whenever you want."
"Ginny, just use a school owl." Ron captured one of Harry’s pawns.
"Shut up, Ron!"
"Um… no, never mind." She had lost her momentum - the confidence that had propelled her before.
Ron glanced up, confused. "What just happened?"
"Just…shut up, Ron."
After a quick trip down the kitchens, Blaise was giving the password and they were entering the Slytherin Common Room. They had barely sat down when Draco stormed in, beautiful in his anger. To Draco's surprise, Zabini was eating dinner with The Mudblood, Granger. "Zabini…" Draco fingered the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "What is she doing here?"
Blaise glared daggers at Draco. "None of your business, asswipe."
Draco took the insult nonchalantly. "Actually, dung brain, it is my business. The whole damn school is my business. Now, give me a good reason or I'll hex your face off."
"I invited her here. Now, move along before I really give you a reason to hex me."
Draco sauntered to a large black door in one wall and opened it. Before he entered the Head Boy's dormitory, he turned around and said, "Be glad I don't feel like handing out detentions today, Zabini. You have no power. You are nothing but a speck of mud on my shoe." And with that, he slammed the door.
Hermione blinked. "Such a loving family."
"Stick around, Granger, it gets better."
They both smirked.
"Anyway, what were you saying?"
"Oh, right. The house elves. Well, they went to Helga Hufflepuff…"
"DRACO IGNATIUS MALFOY!!!" Pansy Parkinson came flying through the entrance to the Common Room. "Where is he?" she asked Blaise angrily. Blaise pointed to the door without a word. She stalked to his door and flung it opened, ready to storm inside. Draco was waiting, standing in the doorframe.
His sudden appearance did nothing to assuage her anger. She began berating him at the top of her voice while Draco looked around the room with a bored expression on his face.
Blaise sighed heavily. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy! Do you mind taking your lover's spat elsewhere? You're ruining my appetite."
Draco rolled his eyes, shoved Pansy into the room, and slammed the door behind him. The screaming immediately commenced after that.
"That'll be a lasting marriage." Hermione said sarcastically.
"You said it. Anyway, the House Elves asked Helga for mercy and forgiveness. She replied that she could not take away their punishment, but she could give them a loophole. She could give them happiness - "
The door to Draco's room opened again, and Pansy stepped out. She slammed the door behind her, collapsing in an armchair near the fireplace. Suddenly, she realized that Hermione was in the room.
"Blaise," she said, mock sweetly. "Why is a Gryffindor here?"
Before Blaise could respond, Hermione spoke up.
"I'm Head Girl, Parkinson. I can go wherever I please." She mimicked Pansy tone for tone.
"I wasn't talking to you, bitch!" Pansy snapped.
"I asked her here, pug face! You don't like it then go cry to Dear Draco. Or are you two not getting along?" The last sentence was said in a sappy, sarcastic tone of voice.
"Shut it, Zabini."
"So, Hermione - "
Suddenly, Draco's door was flung opened. Draco threw a crumpled up piece of parchment towards the fire. Without waiting to see if it has hit its mark, he slammed the door shut once again.
Pansy stood and picked up the letter, just two inches from the grate. She unfolded it carefully and began to read it. Her eyes widened as she neared the end, and absentmindedly walked towards the girl's dormitory.
How very interesting…
If only we weren’t as different as day and night! You, full of shine and sparkle; and myself, full of shadow. And as there must always be adversity between light and dark, like so our battle, dangerous in its intensity. But... what’s in a name, I ask you? A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, so they say. But you do not know me, and that will make it easier... to forget you.
For I must forget you. No matter what it takes, I can’t live like this any longer. Something has to change – either our Houses stop fighting, or I stop loving you. Perhaps Master Shakespeare was wrong – he told the truth, yes; a rose would still smell sweet;... but he neglected to mention this: a rose by any other name would still have thorns.
Anon.
Ginny walked as if in a daze from her dorm and through the Common Room. Ron and Hermione were collapsed on a couch, and looked up as she floated by. They thought she hadn't noticed them at all, but Ginny remarked, "Ron, tell Mum I'm staying here for Christmas…"
"Gin, we're all staying here for Christmas." Ron gave her a strange look.
But Ginny was already walking out of the Common Room and outside, towards the lake.
It was the last day of the term. Tomorrow morning, the rest of the school would head home, including Draco. That evening would be Christmas Eve.
Ginny pulled out the third letter and read it once again. She smelled the sweet smell of the dark red rose it had arrived with. Slowly and carefully, she folded it back up and but it away. She decided that she needed to formulate a plan. A good plan, at that. Practically cunning.
She wasn't going to let Draco Malfoy go that easily.
A/N: SORRY that this chapter took so long. Myself and Transcendancer had many problems, some of which include loosing the chapter outline, summer vacation, loosing the beta'ed copy, the release of Half Blood Prince, the final copy getting locked on a computer, the release of Goblet of Fire, the final copy being on the wrong computer, plus others that are just too stupid to mention. Chapter five will NOT take as long, I promise.
And now for the credits, all of which are by William Shakespeare:
1.) The chapter title and sonnet mentioned in Draco's second letter both come from Sonnet 40.
2.) "A rose by any other name" mentioned in Draco's third letter comes from Romeo and Juliet
3.) I deeply appologize if I forgot anything, but if I did, it's by Shakespeare.