Ginevra Weasley had changed over the summer between her fifth and sixth years. True, she now filled out her robes a little more nicely, but so did a lot of the girls in her year. The most noticeable change was not this however; it was her desire to be accepted. She longed to be known as something other than ‘Ron’s little sister’ or ‘that girl with the crush on Harry Potter.’ These were all titles to her, titles that she no longer wished to be known by. Ginevra simply wished to be herself; after all that is who she was, was she not?
Draco Malfoy was boarding the train as he saw her pass through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾. He smirked as she fell, face first into her family’s belongings. But at the same time, he also felt something else, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He looked her up and down, noticing that she, like many of the other girls had filled out over the summer break. While Draco was looking her up and down, Harry had also passed through the barrier and bumped right into her. Draco watched on and noticed that the Weasley girl’s face no longer turned the same colour of her hair when she looked at him. In fact, it seemed that she totally ignored him, and after she had dismissed him, she continued walking towards her mother to say her goodbyes.
Boarding the train, Draco didn’t give the situation a second thought until the Weaslette herself stormed into his carriage, followed closely by Weasley himself. It seemed that neither of them had noticed they had just barged into his carriage as they continued to argue.
“You are most definitely NOT wearing that!” screeched Weasley.
“And who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do? What, with the way you and Hermione have been acting all summer! Don’t look like you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s obvious to everyone that you two have a thing for each other-”
“As wonderful as it is to hear about your love life, or lack there of, Weasley, would you kindly depart? I’m sure your ravishing sister over here is capable of choosing her own wardrobe without your help. She has done an all right job so far,” Draco drawled lazily.
“How dare you talk about Ginny that way! After… after what yo-” Ron stuttered.
“After what? You leaving? I thought as much.”
With a final glare at Ginny, Ron left, but not before promising Ginny he would be owling their mother about her choice of friends.
“You know, you didn’t have to do that. I can look after myself. I’ve only been doing it for, oh, the last 16 years of my life!” Ginny shot at Draco after her brother left the carriage.
“I’m sure you can,” drawled Draco. “But it is just so fun to get to your brother all riled up like that.”
“I’m sure it was,” stated Ginny. There was a long silence before Ginny asked, “Did you really mean what you said back then?”
“What I said when?” asked Draco in return feigning innocence.
“About me being ravishing and what-not? Or did you just say that to get on Ron’s nerves?” Ginny added quickly, not daring a glance at him.
Draco got up and walked to the other side of the aisle were Ginny was sitting and looked her in the eyes. “Of course I meant what I said, you have grown up over the holidays, and gotten over that pathetic little crush on Potter. Thank God! The way you just stood up to your brother then was marvelous.”
“Really?” asked a curious and apprehensive Ginny. “A lot of the girls have ‘grown up’ as you put it, not just me.”
“Yes, but do you see any of those other girls barging into my compartment, yelling at their brother, who also happens to be one of my hated enemies. Plus, none of the other girls have the fire in their eyes that you have…”
Ginny looked shocked by the last statement but said nothing so Draco continued talking. “Are you sure you’re meant to be in Gryffindor? I mean you possess many Slytherin qualities. You’re cunning, resourceful, determined, you have a certain disregard for rules as well as being a pureblood.” Ginny said nothing about his last comment but Draco knew that he had gotten her thinking. “Admit it, you despise those mud-bloods, how they take from us, and our school. You have the heart of a Slytherin. Just think about it, you’ll know where to find me if you want to.” With that, Draco walked out of the compartment, leaving a very confused Ginny Weasley behind.
~~~~
Ginny spent the remained to the trip pondering the things that Draco had said to her. ‘It was true,’ she reckoned. Ever since her first year and the ‘incident with the diary’ as her family put it; she had changed. She no longer loved to listen to her father ramble on about Muggles and their inventions. She also had, lately, been leaning more towards the dark side of things. Maybe it had something to do with her desire to be noticed, but Ginny had definitely changed. It was while she was thinking about these latest developments that she remembered something she’d read in Hogwarts, A History, trying to prove Hermione wrong. ‘Bloody mud-blood b*tch,’ she thought to herself unconsciously. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, Malfoy himself had pointed out that she did posses a lot of Slytherin traits. ‘Maybe it’s time,’ she thought to herself with a smirk. With her new mindset she got up to find Malfoy. The only question now was where to find him….
~~~~
Malfoy had walked to the back of the train and was now standing on the little platform that jutted out from the carriage. This was his favorite place to think, and he had a lot to do and not much time to do it in if the Weasley girl was as smart as he thought. ‘I wonder how long it will take for her to come find me’ he mused. After all he was a Malfoy and Malfoys were totally irresistible. Draco smirked at this last thought and was about to enter the train again when he heard a sound and hid quickly into the shadows. After all, he wasn’t meant to be there and he couldn’t risk getting busted this early in the year. Draco watched hidden in the shadows as the object of his thoughts came along the train and took up the place were he was standing all but a minute ago. He watched as she shivered in the cool air and pulled her thin cloak closer to her.
“Here take this,” he said as he stepped out of the shadows and threw her his cloak. “I must admit I didn’t know if I’d be seeing you again so soon, but it’s a pleasure, as always”
“I didn’t see you there, you surprised me. Thanks,” she said, referring to his cloak, “but I’m fine all the same.”
Draco gave her a look that she couldn’t quite understand, something between confusion and admiration, but his face quickly returned to its normal mask.
“So to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Tell me what you know about the re-sorting rule,” said Ginny. She certainly wasn’t about to waste anytime, what if her brothers saw her out here? How could she explain that if he wouldn’t help her? She let none of this thoughts show through. Her face was emotionless, her eyes focused on an object that neither of them could see off the back of the train.
“Ah, the re-sorting rule. Pray tell, why do you ask?” Draco toyed with her, grinning inwardly.
He wasn’t expecting what happened next. Ginny spun around, her red hair fanning out around her. “Tell me what you know about the re-sorting rule,” she repeated, only this time, it was said with anger and an undeniable fire in her eyes. Draco gulped silently, but was determined not to let her see that.
“The re-sorting rule states that any student, over the age of fifteen and who has passed their Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or equivalent, under special circumstances, can decide to change his or her House upon request to their Head of House and Headmaster at the time. Students are to be cautioned that the House the Sorting Hat decides to put them into, even if it is their original House, is the House they are required to spend the remainder of their schooling career in. A re-sorting is final and there are no exceptions to this rule. Happy?” spat Draco.
“Very,” replied Ginny. “You know, you sounded a lot like Hermione with that book full just then?” Ginny gave Draco one of her very best Slytherin like smirks and turned to leave.
“Wait!” yelled Draco. “You -”
Ginny brushed right past him. “I’ll see you around sometime,” she said and disappeared in the fading light of the day as she walked down the train.
“Damn!” said Draco as she walked away from her. “That should be me walking away.”
link to where it is posted (one if the many sites - but this is m favourite) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2656559/1/