The Worst Detention

The Worst Detention

***

Ginny heaved a sigh. This was just what she needed. Detention with Professor McGonagall was, as she knew, high-level tormenting. The classroom held seven students. Ginny looked at them with distaste. To her left sat Millicent Bulstrode and Dex Flint. To her right sat Terry Boot (looking very pale), Crabbe and Goyle. In the front, near the lecturer's desk sat Padma Patil, looking as if she thought she didn't belong with this scum. Ginny wondered what Padma had done to get detention; she was normally really well behaved.

Ginny snorted, and turned to the pink, heavy book she had brought, 'The Never Kissing Prince' by Wendy Sugarplum. It was indeed a very great book, despite the lack of surprising events. She had just started to read when the door slammed open and none other than Draco Malfoy strode in. Ginny's eyes widened. Malfoy was absolutely the most loathsome, detestable, rotten and good-looking guy Ginny had ever met. He was glaring at the class with aversion, his grey eyes cold as steel. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Mister Malfoy, not only do you come late for a detention, you also disturb your classmates. Now sit down or I'll give you another week's detention, and then you will have to clean the Quidditch pitch." She glanced at him with an expression so cold, the only thing he could do was to sit down. Unfortunately, the only unoccupied chair in the little room was the chair next to Ginny Weasley.

Draco Malfoy sighed, rolled his eyes and sat down next to the fiery-red haired girl. Ginny could smell his cologne, lemon and snow. She wrinkled her forehead in disgust (although she thought it smelled lovely), and turned her back to him. Draco Malfoy, however, just leaned forward and whispered in her ear with a voice cool and sliced with malice,

"Why are you here, Weasley? Got yourself a detention for getting in Harry Potter's way, or trying to set the school on fire with your burning hair?"

She couldn't see it, but she knew he was grinning. Her cheeks turned bright red as she tried to swallow her anger. Malfoy was still so close that she could feel his cool breath in her ear and along her neck. Somehow it made her shiver.

"Can you not talk, Weasley? Are you afraid of me? I will not bite you; I might get some diseases or even worse, freckles."

Now she could actually hear his laughter. The way he said her name, like it was filthy, made her so angry she could hardly breathe. She spun around and hit him hard in the face with her clenched fist. It felt good. Malfoy's head flew to the side by the force of the punch. At first no one said anything. Everybody in the room just sat quietly and stared. McGonagall got up from her chair, furious, and turned to Malfoy and Ginny.

"What are you two doing? Fighting in detention? This is without any doubt the worse thing you could have done here. I will give you both two more weeks of detention, which you will serve together, and I will take fifty points from both houses. You will come to my room before dinner tomorrow, and I will give you instructions. That is all for now, leave please."

And at that, she walked down the room to the door that she had opened. All Ginny and Malfoy had to do was to walk out, and they did. Ginny felt her cheeks turn red. Their classmates stared after them with pity (Terry Boot and Padma Patil) and malicious pleasure (Dex Flint, Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode). Ginny, however, was way too shocked to care. She had just had her first detention ever, Draco Malfoy had just insulted her worse than any other time, she had just hit Draco Malfoy right in the face (he was already getting a nice black eye), and now she had gotten her second detention that she would serve together with Draco Malfoy. And above that, she had lost fifty points from Gryffindor. She felt like crying.

"Now, go to your dormitories and stay there," said professor McGonagall and shut the door firmly behind them.

"Great job, Weasley," Draco shouted at her. He was angry, but not as angry she would have thought him to be. Not that she had thought about him. Ginny exhaled the breath that she had been holding for a second.

"Well, you started. All I did was giving you what you deserved. I think I should get a prize instead of detention with you, you gruesome cockroach", she snapped.

Draco Malfoy's eyes narrowed. The corners of his mouth were turned down, and his gaze was sharp.

"I do not know where you have learned to answer like that, but it's definitely better than your usual whining." He gave her a dazzling smile.

Ginny shot him a look that dripped with venom, and hissed,

"Shut up now, or I'll feed you your own tongue." At this, Malfoy raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow.

"Fine, whatever," he said and walked away from her.

***

Ginny covered her face with her hands as she sat in the huge, comfortable sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Why, why, why? She thought and shook her head as if she couldn't believe what had just happened. Mixed feelings ran through her mind; the detention, Draco Malfoy, the detention that was to come and this time alone with Draco Malfoy. She did not now whether to cry or laugh. She had been seated in that sofa, in the same position for nearly an hour now. She couldn't feel her legs anymore, which was quite unpleasant. Hermione had tried to comfort her, but Ginny didn't want her pity. She and Hermione had never really liked each other. They were only nice to one another because of Ron and Harry.

Ginny remembered earlier that day, it had started great. She had woken up early, taken a nice shower, and eaten a lovely breakfast. The classes had gone brilliant. She had gotten an A on her essay about Alberic Grunnion and she had gained ten points for Gryffindor in Transfiguration class. But later, in Potions, Snape had forced her to make a potion she had never heard of, just because she had whispered to Neville while Snape was talking. She had just wanted to help Neville, since he always got himself into trouble. When she was standing in front of the class, desperately trying to remember what happened if you mixed Bat eyes with rose petals, the brew had exploded and everybody in the room turned turquoise blue. Snape had been furious with her and had shouted and given her a detention. Draco Malfoy had grinned his attractive, evil grin at her.

Now, back in the safe Gryffindor Tower, Ginny felt very alone and miserable. Suddenly she felt an arm around her. She dropped her hands and looked right into the soft, blue eyes of Lavender Brown. Surprisingly, Ginny felt disappointed, but also a little relived.

"What's up, Gin? Are you in trouble again?" she asked gently. But Ginny knew what she was after; something to gossip about with Parvati and the other girls. She didn't care at the moment.

"Yeah, sort of...." she said and looked into the fireplace. There was a fire burning, but it was quite cool, as it was summer and really warm in Gryffindor Tower.

"Tell me everything!" Lavender said, and patted Ginny's shoulder. Her face radiated with expectation.

"I'm having two weeks detention with Draco Malfoy," Ginny said with a dejected smile.

Lavenders eyes widened, and she covered her open mouth with one hand.

"No way!" she burst out.

"Yeah, I know. It's a disaster!" Ginny wailed. But Lavender wrinkled her forehead.

"No. It's totally cool. Every girl wants detention with Draco Malfoy. He's the hottest guy in school. Plus, I heard he's broken up with that girlfriend of his." Lavender smiled and Ginny could see the envy in her eyes. Maybe he was handsome, but he was also horrible.

"But he...he's awful. He hates everybody and loves no one but himself. And I can't stand him! He hates me, and I him." She couldn't speak to Lavender anymore; it only made her feel worse.

"I'm going to bed," she sighed and left the room. Lavender stayed where she was until Ginny had gone out of sight, then she raced away to find Parvati.

***

Draco watched himself in front of the big, expensive-looking mirror. He did indeed look gorgeous, and he knew it. He tensed his muscles and let a hand run through his baby soft, almost white hair. The light in the room made his hair shine like silver. And yet he was not satisfied. What was missing, he didn't even know himself, but he was going to get it, no matter what. He let his slender fingers run along his right cheekbone, and winced from pain. The big bruise he had got from that Weasleygirl really bothered him. But he didn't get rid of it with a spell, as he knew no spells of healing effect. Going to the infirmary was out of the question, because then he would have to explain where he got it from, and that would be utterly humiliating. Besides, it looked pretty cool.

It's all that Weasley's fault, that little filthy, poor, cocky redhead, he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair again. He'd been standing in front of the mirror for a long time, but as it was his favourite thing to do, he was not yet tired of it. He thought about the detention earlier that day. He was quite satisfied with it. Ginny Weasley had been very angry with him, in fact, she had looked like she was about to cry. Draco smiled to himself at the memory. Suddenly, with an alarming noise, the door swung open and Crabbe stood in the doorway. The huge and ugly boy stopped in a mid-move and stared at Draco, who had forgotten he was still naked. With a howl of anger and humiliation, he threw the very sweaty and stunned Crabbe out of the room.

"You stupid git! You knew I was in the shower thirty minutes ago, and you could therefore have guessed that I would be standing here not dressed yet! You complete moron," Draco screamed at the top of his lunges. Outside the door he could hear Crabbe sob. He locked the door and got back to the mirror, but the pleasure was ruined. With an irritated toss of his head he opened the closet and started to search for his black robes with the grey collar, they gave his eyes that little extra sparkle, he thought with satisfaction.

***

The Great Hall was filled with noisy and giggling students. Draco was very annoyed with them. In particular, he was annoyed with Harry Potter, who was sitting across the hall with his stupid friends. They were chatting, laughing and having a great time. Draco toyed irritably with his fork. Beside him sat the grey-looking Pansy Parkinson who tried to have a conversation with him, which he ignored. He looked at all the stupid girls who gathered around Potter, staring at his stupid scar, and his stupid glasses.

Draco loathed Harry Potter, and would do almost anything to get rid of him. Of course he would pay a good price to win against him in Quidditch, too. Draco muttered to himself and left the hall without answering Pansy about what colour her Graduation Ball dress should be.

He went down to the library, where he hoped to get some homework done. Draco strolled smoothly down the school corridors. He passed some First-Years and snarled at them. They stared back at him in fright and ran away as fast as they could. Draco smirked, satisfied. As he wandered along the corridors, he thought about Quidditch and their new tactics. He was going to beat Scar-head somehow. He was deep in thought when he got into the library, and didn't see where he was heading. He walked absent-mindedly along the bookshelves, until he heard something very interesting.

"I told you! He's totally going out with her; I heard them talk about it earlier today." The voice was bright and squeaking, definitely a girl's voice.

"But that can't be true...I mean, I was supposed to go with him to the Graduation Ball," said the other voice, also a girl's voice.

"You mean you want to go with him to the G. Ball. That's like, totally different."

"I know. But if they're like dating, then Draco Malfoy totally will go with her!"

At this Draco stepped forward, out of the shadows where he'd been standing. The two girls (Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil) jumped with surprise. Draco cleared his throat, and smiled a superior smile. The girls stared at him, and when it seemed like they had nothing to add to their conversation Draco calmly said,

"Who am I going to the Graduation Ball with? Please enlighten me, because I actually have no idea."

The girls still didn't say anything. They looked like little ghosts or like they had just seen one, Draco thought.

"I, er..." Lavender started.

"Yes?" Draco pushed. He was leaning against the bookshelf with his arms crossed over his chest (it was his favourite position). Lavender swallowed loudly and turned to Parvati.

"I heard Padma say that you probably will go with, er, Pansy Parkinson."

Draco understood that this was a lie, but he decided to let them go. They looked at him with mixed emotions.

"Oh, is that so? I haven't heard that. But I have, unfortunately, heard that you are going with Ernie McMillan. That is a rather odd choice, if you ask me, as he is gay." Parvati gaped at him and slowly shook her head. Draco nodded and gave her a pitying look. Lavender, wide-eyed, watched the drama.

"Well," he continued" if I were you, who I fortunately am not, I'd dump him immediately. No offence, but he's a real loser." Just like you, he thought and nodded approvingly to his own lie about Ernie. Draco turned and walked out of the library with a smug satisfaction (and without any homework done).

***

It was windy and cloudy outside, and Ginny felt nothing but discomfort in going out in this weather. Perhaps it was not only by the weather she felt like that, it could also be about the detention. She stood by the huge window in the hallway and gazed out over the landscape. Despite that it was in the middle of June, it was rather chilly outside. The grey clouds covered the now not very bright blue sky. Ginny buttoned her cotton cardigan, and went out through the very large front door. It was, as she had thought, colder than usual. The previous day it had been sunny and the huge, green lawn outside the school building had been crowded with sunbathing students. She began walking down to the Quidditch pitch, thinking of nothing in particular, when she heard someone call her name. She turned around and when she saw whom it was, she wished she had ignored it. Draco Malfoy was running down the hill and waving at her. Ginny rolled her eyes. What's he up to now? She wondered. He caught up with her and stopped to catch his breath. She watched him with raised eyebrows.

"What the hell do you want, Malfoy?" she asked sharply. Draco caught her eyes and locked them for a second.

"I just wanted to be sure that it was the Quidditch pitch that we're supposed to clean today." Ginny's eyes narrowed and she glared at him with deep suspicion.

"Oh, yeah? You ran all the way after me just to ask me that, even if I know you knew the answer? I don't think so."

Draco shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yes, that was what I came for, and if you don't want to believe it, then that would be your problem, not mine. And anyway, we better hurry. We're supposed to be there in two minutes." He walked past her and went on down to the pitch. Ginny stared after him in confusion, before she went after the very blond boy.

***

Madam Hooch was waiting for them by the changing rooms. She was holding two rakes. Ginny felt exhausted when she realized what they were forced to do. She grabbed a rake and didn't pay attention to Madam Hooch, who was clearly satisfied with having them clean the pitch. Draco smiled charmingly, and began to discuss something with the teacher. Ginny felt tired and slowly began to walk onto the pitch.

There was a lot of junk and rubbish all over it. The last game (between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw) had lasted what felt like forever, and the students had brought a lot of candy, food, banderols and stuff. She had played excellently and Harry had been very pleased with her. Ginny smiled at the memory. Gryffindor had of course won, 250 over 140. As Ginny had been wounded all winter, this had been her first match this term. Blaise Zabini had cheated last term in a match against Slytherin, and he had made Ginny fall off her broom. Ginny could still feel the pain in her left leg when she flexed it.

She was lost in thought and didn't notice the sun that now shone brightly above her. The wind had eased, and the sky looked almost baby blue again. She realized that she was sweating. It was, after all, June. Ginny let go of her rake, and dried the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, and started unbuttoning her cardigan.

"That's a rather ugly cardigan you've got there," Malfoy said, suddenly from somewhere behind. She spun around to find him smiling nasty at her.

"I don't see why you care." She felt her cheeks turn red, and she turned away from him again. He seemed to want to talk more with her, and went to stand by her side. She felt confused and annoyed.

"I don't see why they do not fix this with magic," he continued and glanced over the pitch.

"It is probably for detentions, don't you think?" she replied sourly and dropped the (apparently ugly) cardigan to the ground. Beneath it she wore a cute, tight t-shirt with fluffy, pink bunnies on it. Draco stared at it. A bunny was definitely not his favourite animal. But then he thought of who wore it and, to his surprise, decided not to say anything about it. Ginny let a hand run through her curly, fiery-red hair and put it up in a messy pigtail. She sighed and grabbed her rake again.

"We should get on with this," she said to Draco without looking at him. He nodded to himself and they got back to work without another word.

***