Lucky?

Ginny took her seat just as Snape strode into the room, banging the door shut behind him.

He stalked to the front of the classroom and whipped around suddenly to face the class. "It has come to my attention," he said in a low voice, almost a purr, "that some of you do not know even the most basic defensive spells."

The class was silent, watching him carefully.

Snape started down the aisle to Ginny's left, making eye contact for just a moment with each student, "today we will learn" his lips curled into a slight sneer, "the Protego charm."

Ginny relaxed in her seat, she'd already done that spell loads of times in practice with Harry in DA meetings. Though she kept her eyes on Snape as he droned on about the history and particulars of the spell, her mind wandered.

Her first thought was that Snape looked lovely today. It struck her as a strange thought that almost - ALMOST - made her giggle aloud. She'd heard awful stories about Snape from her brothers, but once she'd started Hogwarts, and especially once the Order of the Phoenix had reformed, she had come to the conclusion that her brothers were grossly exaggerating.

Snape wasn't really so bad. He was an accomplished and impressive wizard, not to mention a true potions master. It was true he had a shit attitude at times, but frankly, Ginny couldn't blame him most of the time. She couldn't imagine all the crap the teachers had to put up with, or maintaining a positive attitude throughout. She'd found that as long as she did her work to the best of her ability, Snape was a tolerable, even likeable teacher that was more than worthy of her respect. This was all fine and dandy, but it was the chill that crept up her spine when she watched his mouth move that confused her.

"Ms. Weasley?" Snape said it loudly, in an annoyed tone.

Ginny started and sat up straight, "yes Professor?"

Snape swept closer to her, overwhelming her with a smell like cinnamon and cloves. His mouth curled into a sarcastic smile, "would you care to produce a shield charm for the class?"

She stumbled to her feet and took a deep breath, trying to focus. "P-protego..." Her want fizzled and shot a few green sparks. She gulped and tried again with a similar result.

Snape, with a face somewhere between disappointment and satisfaction, turned away from her, "detention Ms. Weasley, tonight at eight. I suggest you not be late."

Ginny slumped into her seat and squeezed the empty potion vial in her pocket. Some fucking luck this was turning out to be...