Ginny hurried down the Great Hall, trying to make it to dinner before her detention with Snape. Oh well, she thought as she considered her entire night being occupied by scrubbing cauldrons. It really wasn't her fault that Malfoy was such a good hexing target. And it certainly wasn't her fault that he screamed like a little girl every time the bat boogies started attacking him.
She thought back to that afternoon and Malfoy's pasty white face as he realized that Ginny had hexed him with a pair of horns. This time he hadn't screamed; his eyes had widened and she took a step back as their normal grey had turned dark slate and he took a step toward her. She had continued to glare at him even as she backed herself into a wall. He advanced on her; she could soon feel his body heat and noticed for perhaps the first time that he was much larger than her. He stood nearly a head taller and she was forced to tilt her head to continue glaring.
"Accio Ginny's wand," Draco had grabbed her wand and slid it into her robes before she could blink. Her hands reached toward his robes to retrieve it but he intercepted them, grasping her wrist and moving them above her head. His body came in contact with hers and she felt a heat emanating from him right into the pit of her belly. She barely heard him speak low, dangerous, and almost husky. "We just have to stop meeting like this Ginevra," she sighed at the use of her given name. "Don't you think it's quite childish, this hexing nonsense? Wouldn't you much rather be playing puppy dog for your precious Potter?"
At the mention of Harry's name Ginny spurred back into action, twisting and writhing to get away from Malfoy. "You don't know what you're talking about Malfoy!" She hissed as she brought her foot down on his instep.
It was that moment when Draco grunted in pain and Ginny pulled away to run that Snape walked around the corner. "Miss Weasley! I've had quite enough of your antics. I want to see you in my classroom at eight o'clock. And Malfoy give her the wand back." Malfoy quickly complied and Snape watched as Ginny's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to refuse. . She instantly thought better of arguing and simply gave a nod as she turned on her heel and walked out of the hallway. She remembered Snape and Malfoy beginning to talk as she walked out of hearing range toward her next class.
Ginny snapped out of her reverie and noticed that she only had 10 minutes to get to the dungeon classroom. She quickly grabbed an apple and a biscuit and ran back down the hall skidding to a stop as she turned down the hall to the stairway nearly crashing into several Slyherins who ignored her.
She was nearly out of breath as she turned the handle on the door. Ginny looked around the room for Snape as she slid into a seat. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she realized she had beaten Snape to the classroom. She sat back to relax until Snape arrived, but the peace was broken as the door slammed open. Ginny's face shot up to watch Snape as he entered the room. He was muttering about some dunderhead or another when he spotted her.
"Miss Weasley, so good to see you here on time. I had Mr. Longbottom here earlier so the cauldrons are already clean; however Madame Pomfry is running low on sleeping draught. The ingredients are on the table, one batch will suffice. When you are done place them on my desk and leave!" With one more swirl of his cloak he was through the door to his office. Ginny stared at the closed door a moment, wondering what had crawled up Snape's arse. It wasn't that he was always a coarse jerk, she was one of the few who knew he wasn't but he did seem very distracted. She sighed and turned toward the ingredients on the table.
Some time later when Ginny started stirring the liquid for the last time, she felt herself being pulled into a vision. This was odd, the first time that a premonition had come to her during her sleep. She felt herself being pulled toward the solution. Her eyes processed images, blurry at first but fast becoming clear it was Snape and Dumbledore. They were arguing but it took her a moment to hear what they were saying.
"Mr. Malfoy needs her? I don't think he would ever accept her help, especially after this year. I don't know how you expect me to convince him." Snape looked pale.
Dumbledore responded calmly, but the smile on his face made Ginny a bit uneasy. "You only need tell the boy the truth. If he wishes to escape the fate his father has in store for him he will need her. She will be the most powerful seer of our time." They continued speaking but Ginny felt herself being pulled away as Snape's face got more and more angry.
"Weasley!" Ginny finally turned to the sound that had distracted her from the vision to begin with.
Draco Malfoy stood behind her with her hand still shaking her shoulder. She shrugged it off and stared at him, first today she had thought of him as attractive and now she was beginning to question her entire conception of him. Maybe he wasn't really just a clone of Lucius Malfoy.
He said her surname one more time and she finally met his eyes and raised her brows in question.
"Don't you look at me like that Weaslette; I've been trying to get your attention for two minutes now." She shrugged and he continued, "Fine. Do you know where Snape is? He flooed and asked me to come to see him."
Ginny's finger and arm moved unconsciously pointing to Snape's chambers. She felt her cheeks redden as Draco turned and the same extended arm moved to stop him. "Be careful, he's in a bloody awful mood." She didn't add that she had a vision that explained why he was so angry.
Draco moved toward her again and she stepped back as he invaded her bubble for the second time that day, "Being civil now Ginevra, hat changed?"
She expelled a breath of air on which "Everything!" Hung, in a stronger voice she said, "Now let me finish my detention. Go see him before he gets even more upset." With that said she turned away from him to start bottling the potion. It was when she was pouring the last of the potion that she finally heard Draco walking toward Snape's door.
She washed out the cauldron and deposited the potion vials on the desk at the front of the classroom. Only when the door was closed behind her did Ginny allow herself to contemplate the vision. She had been having visions since her first year, but they had been solely a part of her dreams. Not that she had told anybody, even the professors would have been astounded by the sheer number of prophecies she had. She had never tried to see anything outside of her sleep though and this vision seemed to have occurred already. She stopped walking, it was her! The seer that the Headmaster had been talking about was her. She turned as another realization hit her; that meant that Snape was telling Malfoy about her gift right now.
She took off quickly, thanking the house prefects for the lack of activity in the halls and sprinted back the way she had come. The classroom door was slammed open and hadn't even shut as she started pounding on Snape's private door.
The door was opened by a weary looking Snape and Ginny saw a stunned Draco sitting further into the room. "No, no you can't tell him. Please," there were tears in Ginny's eyes, "Please say me you haven't told him yet."
Snape's eyebrows shot up, "Please come in Miss Weasley. We have much to discuss."
Ginny let the tears slide down her face, "No!" she fell to her knees as exhaustion and heart wrenching sobs wracked her body. "It was mine, just mine and you all ruined it!"
Draco moved to her side when it became apparent that Snape was just going to stand there staring at her. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her back letting her tears fall onto his shoulder. "Shhh, Ginevra it's okay. It's going to be okay." He tightened his grip on her and started stroking her long crimson hair. "Shhh…" He didn't react as her arms clutched at him.
Ginny's sobs finally subsided and she pulled back when she realized who she was holding onto. She still felt his hands on her back as she wiped the dampness from her cheeks. "I'm sorry," She wouldn't look him in eye. He removed one hand from her side to tilt her chin up.
"Don't be, it's been a rough day for both of us." His silver eyes held only sincerity as he offered her a small smile. "Now why don't you come in and have a glass of pumpkin juice." He helped her to stand and saw her to her seat before he himself sat. Snape finally seemed to snap out of his trance and moved to join them.
"Miss Weasley, how did you come to find out what Mr. Malfoy and myself were discussing? He told me that you were on your way out when he came in."
Ginny looked toward Draco, who kept his face neutral. "When I was finishing the calming draught I looked into the cauldron and I saw the discussion that you and Dumbledore had before you came down here. I guess Draco interrupted me, because I didn't see the whole thing. But it was only when I was walking back to my room that I realized it was walking back to my room that I realized it was me you had been talking about. I'm sorry about getting a bit hysterical, I was just…I don't know. I haven't told anyone about the dreams yet it's the only thing I have that's just mine." She looked down at her hands dejectedly.
As Draco's hand closed over hers she was slightly surprised that she didn't flinch, but his skin was warm and soft. "Ginevra, I do think that is the first time you've said my given name." He teased her. She sharply looked up and catching the mirthful twinkle in his eyes she smiled. "Now, since Snape says you are to be my savior, I think we need to have a cover story. I mean you were just hexing me this morning and now we're going to be spending more time together."
She nodded slowly, "You're good at potions aren't you?" At his affirmative she continued, "Then you can pretend to tutor me. I'm not too bad at them, but Hermione is always offering. I can just tell everyone that Snape assigned us to be together." Draco looked pleased with the idea. "Draco?" He raised his brows. "Why aren't you more upset about this? I already had my breakdown, but don't you hate me and my family?"
He let a familiar smirk grace his features, "That is for me to know and you not to." At her scowl his smirk deepened, "I can give you a hint though. Why do you think it is that I never retaliated against any of your hexes? Do you think I'm incapable? I think not. I know more dark hexes than you ever will and yet I never once raised my wand to you." With that he rose smoothly from the chair. "Shall I see you to your common room or would you rather walk up there alone?" He offered his pale hand to her and she placed her delicate fingers on his palm.
Snape watched all this with a strange look of relief on his face. He didn't even move to say farewell to the two students as they left. If they had forgotten that he was here he wasn't going to interrupt their peace with the situation.