A/N: This was written for Mori's "Hogwarts: A Hot, Hot, Hot Summer" challenge at The DG Forum.
The prompt was: Hogwarts is having a particularly hot summer, and students and teachers deal with the heat. Must have Draco/Ginny as the main pairing, and AT LEAST one other Slytherin/Gryffindor side pairing. I didn't do any of the bonus points, because I interpreted the prompt a little, ah … loosely. As I am so wont to do.
Of course, Ginny mused, my first term on staff at Hogwarts would be the hottest on record. It was September, for goodness sake, but it felt like July. July in the tropics.
"Miss Weasley! Miss Weasley" whined a small voice near her left elbow. She glanced around to find one of the first years just behind her, swaying slightly in the mid-afternoon sunlight. Damp strands of the eleven-year-old's blonde hair stuck to her forehead, and her cheeks were ruddy. The child was wearing her full uniform, complete with thick woollen robes.
"Sweet Merlin," Ginny swore under her breath. "Miss Creevey, why on earth are you wearing your robes in a heat waves like this?"
The girl panted. "My brother told me I had to," she whined. "Can you please do a cooling charm on me?"
Ginny sighed and performed the spell. "Now go back to your tower and change," she ordered. "And a word of advice? Take what older brothers say with a grain of salt."
She sighed as she watched the small girl skip back into the castle, then pulled her own damp locks off her neck and into a messy bun as she turned back to the lake. There were a few students splashing in the shallow water, thanks to a relaxed rule that allowed them the treat so long as a teacher was there to observe.
So far her experience as the flight instructor and Quidditch program director had consisted of casting cooling charms and playing lifeguard. She wondered for the millionth time that week if accepting this position had been a mistake; playing for the Harpies had been a good job, even though the travel had kept her away from the people she loved.
It's just this heat making me irritable, she chided herself. I'm going to be a good instructor. Make a difference and all that.
"Hot enough for you?" a voice drawled from behind her. Ginny turned to see that, unlike little Miss Creevey, Draco Malfoy had left his robes off, something his predecessor would never have done - but of course, Professor Snape would have never rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned half his shirt, either.
"Mhmm," she muttered noncommittally, then followed up with a healthy eye roll.
He chuckled. "You poor thing, stuck out here in this sun. It's still downright cool in the dungeons, you know."
"I'm not in the mood to hear you gloat about it."
"Maybe I'm in the mood to gloat," he drawled, shading his eyes from the harsh sunlight as he looked out over the lake. "I'm here looking for Nott. Have you seen him? His father's sent me an owl about his 'dalliances' - with one of your nieces, actually -"
Ginny looked at him sharply. "Rose and Robert?"
Draco grimaced. "I know. Not even a week into the term and I'm already getting angry owls."
Ginny shaded her eyes too and looked over the water. Sunlight glinted on the splashing waves and shone off the students' wet hair, but she couldn't make out the shocking red of her niece's head anywhere.
"Ron is going to kill me," she muttered.
Draco smirked. "He's more likely to kill you if Gryffindor doesn't win the Quidditch cup. Which they won't, because my Slytherin team is top notch this year - and because you're not going to be biased, right?" he asked, arching an eyebrow to make his point.
But Ginny had other things on her mind, like how her brother had specifically asked her to keep an eye on Rosie, because "She's a lot like you, and after everything that happened with, um, you know..."
She glanced sideways at Draco. "You don't think they're-"
He smirked. "If you were a fourth year Gryffindor sneaking off to snog a fifth year Slytherin, where would you go?"
She was halfway to the castle before she heard him exasperatedly order everyone out of the lake. She paused to watch as the students practically tripped over themselves to get out of the water and frowned ruefully as she compared this with yesterday - it had taken her a quarter hour to get all the students out. Minerva had told her that earning respect as a new teacher was hard, but Ginny somehow doubted that students would ever trip over themselves to obey her. Being the Head of Slytherin house had advantages.
"Merlin's arse, you can't just leave them there to drown," he hissed, catching up with her.
"Like I can't leave my fourteen-year-old niece in a broom cupboard with a Slytherin," she said, and ignoring his smirk, she stalked through the nearest courtyard, down a hall, and finally paused before a small, plain door set back in an out-of-the-way alcove.
"Ready?" Draco whispered, grasping the handle, and Ginny nodded. He flung the door open so violently that it banged against the stone of the alcove. A mop clattered out of the dim cupboard, and the noise echoed down the empty hall.
Two pairs of guilty eyes stared up at them. "Bloody hell," said Rose, sounding uncannily like her father.
"I'll say," said Draco, folding his arms as his eyes flashed with a steely gray. "Twenty points from both of your houses - yes, Master Nott, twenty. And I'll see you this evening in my office so we can compose a letter to your father. Eight o'clock, sharp. Now go. I need to see you cleaned up and in Potions in twenty minutes."
Robert Nott sighed, gave Rose a sly smile, and obediently fled the scene.
"Aunt Ginny, I-" Rose began, but Ginny cut her off.
"Do you want me to write the letter to your parents, or should I?" Ginny said, trying on her best stern teacher expression and folding her arms to match Draco. However, unlike Rob's quiet, sullen acceptance of his discipline, Rose burst into tears.
"N-no! You know m-my d-d-dad! Aunt G-Ginny, you know what it's l-like to have a f-forbidden love!" She glanced up through teary eyes to look meaningfully at both adults. "I-I-my dad won't understand me like y-you c-can!"
Draco's jaw shifted, and Ginny realized that it wasn't out of stern disapproval - the man was trying to hold back laughter.
"We'll decide tonight. My office, eight o'clock," she sad quickly.
Rose gulped and shoved her bushy red curls out of her face. "Th-thank you," she said, smiling through her tears. "Should I go get cleaned up now?"
Ginny nodded, and her niece went scampering off in the opposite direction.
Draco finally broke out into a full laugh. "Sweet Salazar. 'Aunt Ginny, y-you know what it's l-like,'" he parroted in a remarkably sound impression of a teen-aged girl. "The things that Ron must say about me at home …" he sagged against the doorframe. "I haven't laughed so hard since-probably since you told Ron we were engaged and he tried to have you exorcised."
Ginny ran her thumb over the heirloom ring on her left hand and batted him gently with her right. "Shut up, you. I happen to sympathize a bit with the poor girl."
"Well, I happen to know exactly what's going through young Nott's brain, and let me tell you, there's nothing there to be sympathetic about. Nothing at all," he said, straightening up and grabbing her hand. "But don't worry. I'll make sure his intentions are … honorable. Unlike mine."
She considered the darker glint in his eyes, then allowed him to pull her close and kiss her gently. "Not a bad job with the discipline, either," he murmured. "Though one day I trust you won't copy my every move."
She kissed him again and tugged toward the broom cupboard. "I happen to like your moves, Mr. Malfoy. Now, how long until that class of yours starts?"
He grinned and slipped his free hand around her waist. "Long enough, love. Gods, I'm happy you agreed to come work here. It's going to be a wonderful year - once this hellish weather ends."
And with that, he closed the cupboard door behind them.
A/N: Not my finest work, but hey, it's something. :)
One day I'll have to count how many "Surprise! They're actually together!" drabbles I've written. I'm sure it's more than I'd care to admit. I need another 'twist' to keep in my back pocket … but the only thing that comes to mind is "Surprise! They're actually dead!" and well, that's just depressing.
Reviews make me grin like a loon. And since I get emails on my phone and check them compulsively all day and night, you could be just SECONDS away from making me smile. And how often do you get to make a writer smile? Just sayin'. ;)