-A Very Good Excuse-

by

Shards of Normality

Got everyone but you

Tellin' me what to do -Jewel

"Draco..."

There went that incredibly sweet yet distracting voice

again. It was so tempting just to turn around, push the
chair back so roughly it tipped backwards so that if
you sat in it you'd be staring at the roof, then push the
owner of that voice back onto his bed and-no! It was
out of the question, this paper had to be done, tonight.
He had the class tomorrow, and his teacher didn't
favour anyone that much. Most normal males wouldn't
even consider doing their homework when a female
was boring her eyes into his back with her best come
hither look, and most males, apart from the ones of
Hogworts didn't have Professor Severus Snape as
their teacher.

"I'm lonely. Come comfort me."

Without turning around, Draco shook his head, then

he propped his head in his palm, resting his elbow on
the desk, turning his head to the side he spoke.
"It's not going to work, Gin. I have to finish this," with
that he turned his head back to the paper, digging his
fingers firmly into his blonde hair and scratching lightly
at his scalp, the roots of his aforementioned hair were
still damp from his earlier shower. A rustle of material
of the bedcovers and then a slight poof of air
escaping indicating Ginny had thrown herself onto her
back and was now staring up at the top of the canopy.
The first movement she had made perhaps ten
minutes when the bedcovers rustled again, making a
silent bet with himself Draco counted to three and
then turned in his chair, glancing over his shoulder.
Hah, he was right! she had rolled over onto her
stomach, the only problem was that her gaze
snapped around to meet his own, offering a curl of his
lips that passed for a half smirk and a half smile at the
same time. She returned it with a genuinely sweet
one, he paused to watch her face light up with the
smile before heaving a soundless sigh. This bloody
essay was killing him, and she was killing his
concentration. Not that he was complaining, but if any
of the other students of Hogworts could see him they
would all agree to what he was thinking, he was so
whipped.

"Ron and Harry tried to have one of those little

brotherly talks today," her voice came absently and he
smirked to himself.

"I hope you told them to get stuffed," Draco replied

amicably

"Well, I told them to get a life. Does that meet your

approval, monsieur?" A teasing lilt entered her voice
now and he chanced another glance over his
shoulder at her, this time luckily the flame-haired
Gryffindor wasn't looking at him again with her
mischievous blue eyes. All hope would be lost then.

"It'll do. What speech did they try today?" This would
no doubt amuse Draco to no end, those two were so
pathetic, and it had been about a month since the
dream team had found out about their relationship.
They had reacted like tiny little children, to him they
were tiny now, he was even taller than that gangly
brother of hers, a good intimidation tool it was if you
thought about it.

"It was a mixture actually, there was the we-only-

want-what's-best-for-you-Gin and then there was tiny
little bit of he'll-only-break-your-heart-in-the-end."
Ginny was relieving it, he could tell because her voice
had drifted into that faraway soft whisper of her
normal one.

"What about my personal favourite? The ever

amusing even-if-it's-serious-you've-only-been-
hanging-around-each-other-for-a-month." Draco
asked with a hidden smile playing at the edges of his
lips.
They both laughed at the irony.

"Yeah, there was a smidgen of that as well. I swear,

I'm beginning to believe their counting off the days
now."

"Sad."

"Indeed. Very sad," she agreed with a grin to herself,

sometimes Draco wondered where his mind had
gone. It seemed a lifetime since his exterior was a
mere memory that she kissed away, he'd always
thought of her as just another Weasley, that they were
everywhere, one and brave and pure as the other.
That was if you could find a pure angle to watch those
bloody twins whose pranks he had fallen victim to
more than a few times, but as it turned out she was
very different from the rest of her family. The rest of
her family, or the Weasley clan and enemies and
friends alike called them hadn't taken the news of
them too well. Ginny had wanted to wait but second
youngest brother had decided even though he 'only-
wanted-the-best-for-her' that he'd go against her
wishes and send an owl to The Burrow ten minutes
after he had agreed to let her tell them herself. Oh
yes, loving as hell. Although, they were in unspoken
agreement his family would not find out until they had
managed to find a counter curse for Avada Kedava.
Anyone with even half a brain knew the Weasley's
and the Malfoy's were like bloody Montague and
Capulet.
"What's this?" Ginny asked, twisting his head Draco
saw the top of her head, crouching by his bookcase,
his view slightly obscured by the bed.

"A bookcase." Had to crack a sarcastic quip complete

with a sarcasm-fuelled smirk to that one.

Her head lifted and she looked at him with

exasperation, a roll of her bright blue eyes and she
bent her head once more.

"I can see that, Draco." Ginny replied dryly "But these
books all look so old."

Placing his quill down with a growl of aggravation

Draco climbed from the chair and crossed over to
where she was now kneeling, dropping into a similar
position as her own and reached out, smoothing a
finger along the carved out hollows.

"They are old. Quite a few are dark magic, which is a

required due to my maniac father. Some are fantasy,
there might even be one you'd like, a sappy romance
my mother sent me," he lifted his hand and flicked at
her red hair affectionately, pretend biting at his fingers
Ginny then searched through and pulled out the
correct book. "Now, hush. If I don't finish this, you get
nothing." Draco stood, looking down at her ivory
skinned face.
Blinking innocently up at him she watched as he
headed back to his schoolwork, contemplating him,
he walked different from other people, her first five
years she had been relatively quiet and just watched
people. Draco Malfoy was indeed a Malfoy, just not
the kind his family wished his was. His walk in a way
was almost feline, it was like a sort of swagger, a
stride and a glide all in one, quite strange.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Is there anyway I can convince you to leave your

essay alone?"

"Perhaps."

"I'm all ears." Ginny replied, an eager smile

threatening to blossom into a grin as she got to her
feet and going to his side. Obviously she thought he
was taking too long to answer and prodded him in the
shoulder with her forefinger,

"If I leave this alone, you have to write a note to

Professor Snape, explaining why I haven't done my
homework."

Draco quite enjoyed the wheezy gasp that fell from

her open mouth, and the wide-eyed look of horror in
her gaze, her hand starting to contract around his
shoulder, he wasn't an entirely good person and
revelled in it.

"You want me to write you an excuse? To Professor

Snape?" she asked carefully,

"Did I stutter?" Earning himself a pinch through the

black turtleneck he had on, he then smiled up at her,
"It's your only option, Ms Weasley." Drawing out her
last name Draco sneered playfully at her

"Don't do that, you sound like Snape."

"Only I'm sexy."

"Don't flatter yourself." Ginny couldn't help but smile at

his comments.

"Why, Virginia. Are you going to leave me for...a

professor?" he asked with a snicker as the blush
spread rapidly on her cheeks, it was like a bloody
plague, a cute plague.

"Yes, we've been having an affair."

"Snape, no less. Oh my poor old heart,"

Ginny smothered a giggle, "I can see the gray hairs

already…alright. I'll do it."

Draco blinked, a mixture of suprise and mock-outrage

upon his face. "I do not have gray hair-you'll do it?"

She nodded.

"Bugger."

"What?"

"You've called my bluff." Draco sighed knowing there

was no way out of it now.

Ginny leant down and kissed him, her hand sliding

from his shoulder to lightly curl around his neck,
partially running through his hair. When she finally let
go, their foreheads touching gently, he looked at her
suspiciously,

"Really?"

"Really, really."

There was a pause and she snickered to herself. "Of

course, I'm going to have to be quite drunk,"

"That I can help you with." Draco smiled, as he lightly

took her hand, kissing the back of it before leading
her to the wall, tapping it with his wand and muttering
the word 'snakeskin' and ignored her sarky 'how
original.' He stepped back as the wall folded back on
itself, much like the one in Diagon Alley except
without the brick and noise.
"Wow." Ginny's eyes were almost as wide as saucers
at the range of alcohol in the cabinet that had just
been revealed. "This is all yours?"

"I'm a collector."

"All expensive brands?"

"Yes, so you won't be a cheap drunk anymore." He

dodged her carelessly aimed hit and they both
laughed at the thought. Hunting through the cupboard
he pulled out the most expensive bottle of whiskey,
handing it to her, catching her expression of mock-
outrage.

"You will be punished for that." Setting the bottle down

on the bedside table she grabbed the front of his shirt,
pulling him closer. As they fell onto the bed Draco
kissed her neck, having already expertly discarded
her jumper.

"Promise?" After that the room was only filled with the
rustle of bedcovers, the slight giggles from the
redhead, whispers from the blonde, both whispering
each others names as not to break the feeling of
magic in the air, and breathy moans. This young
woman loved getting her way, especially on this
occasion.

Ginny sat on the bed, her bare back pressing against

the headboard as she stared down at the clean sheet
of paper on her raised knees, and then at the quill in
her hand, if she was to do this she would need lots
and lots of alcohol. Ah. Remembering the whiskey
she leant over Draco's sleeping body and collected
the bottle, placing her bottle on the sheet, making a
dent inbetween her legs she looked once more at
Draco and smiled to herself. While he was asleep he
looked so peaceful, unlike his decidedly acid tongue
while he was awake, moving some blonde hair from
his faces she tilted her head, smiling once more, who
would've thought, the two of them? But, she had to
fulfil her end of the promise. He had more than done
so on his part.

"Right." Ginny said with a wicked grin, quietly

determined to get this right she set the quill down and
struggled to unscrew the cap, managing it with only
minor thrashing of the legs on her part she
contemplated the bottle. Who knew what she would
write after some of this, the percentage was very high.
"Bottoms up." Taking a deep swig from the bottle, she
swallowed and immediately beginning coughing,
spluttering and shaking her head violently.

Fuck! That burnt terribly. Pain was not her friend and
she didn't intend to befriend it anytime soon either.

"I forgot to tell you, caution is advised for first time

drinkers, it's very strong." Draco mumbled, glancing
down Ginny glared at him, still recovering but the
glare was lost on the Slytherin who still had his eyes
closed.

"Thank you very much, Mr Spock."

"You're welcome," came the mutter from beside her

and a wayward giggle escaped her mouth. After a few
more swigs from the bottle, each time swearing just a
little more quietly than the last, Ginny blinked rapidly.
Feeling light-headedness setting in she giggled once
more to herself although the latest sound a fair bit
more drunken than the first and then plucked the quill
up, time to get to work!

The sunlight pierced the thin haze of canopy drapes,

spilling a burning gaze onto Ginny's pale skin, this
caused her to turn a pale back to it and then she
yawned, the end of the noise punctuated with a
squeak. Opening sleepy eyes to gaze upon equally
pale features opposite her she smiled to herself and
then sat up, her limbs feeling wonderfully heavy,
stretching to feel the crunch in her back she relaxed
into a not so lady-like posture.

"Time to get up sleepy head." Ginny whispered softly

nudging Draco's side with her arm

"Really?"

"Really, really. Now up!"

"Slave driver."

"You know you love it."

Without any further comments they both left the bed,

changing quietly, with the unbashful yet admittedly
teenage act of changing clothes without any blushes
or usually characteristic giggles of the young flame
haired woman.

"I wrote you the letter."

"Good, we missed breakfast."

"Never mind."

"Alright."

"I'll walk you down to the dungeons." Ginny took up

the sealed envelope and rushed to his side once
more, threading her arm through his own; taking the
torch lit dungeon hall Draco attempted to find out what
the note said.

"Even if I could remember, I wouldn't tell you. That

drink is very strong."

The only problem with their route was that the pair,
when in each others space tended to forget about
each others house disproval of their respective
partners. Crossing her eyes and poking her tongue
out at Pansy Parkinson and her little female goons
Ginny giggled (which wasn't abnormal for her) and
turned back to Draco, completely poker faced. He
shared the same deadpan expression she wore and
they both knew that the other had probably managed
to insult each others house but not giving a damn
either way.

Professor Severus Snape sat at his desk while the

bulk of his class were scrambling to finish the essay,
one of his favourite students, if there was such a word
in his vocabulary, Draco Malfoy had handed in a note
but was still bent over his parchment. Curiously he slit
open the envelope, his handwritten name upon it,
which he didn't recognise as any teachers or ever Mr
Malfoy's, unfolded the letter and swept his black eyes
over the words, which seemed to be wobbly, strange.
A thin smile crept over his face, which he was
unaware of as he read the letter.

Dear Professor Snape;

Draco Malfoy could not complete his essay because

his evil girlfriend lured him to bed. This was the doing
of a very evil Gryffindor, which I'm sure you will be
delighted to hear of but hopefully you'll cut Draco a
break just this once, because he was dearly trying to
finish it but I distracted him. So punishment should be
directed at me.

Sincerely intoxicated
Virginia Weasley

P.S: Was absolutely smashed at time of this letter.

--

Au Paire

Chapter 1: It's What's Best for You

Draco Malfoy was pacing his first floor library. How

could he have let his mother make him do that? He
was twenty-three now! Doesn't that mean that he
shouldn't have to do her bidding?

He had moved out years ago after his father, Lucius,

got him on of the top jobs at the ministry. Now he was
living in his own mansion: three stories high, fifty
bedrooms, sixty bathrooms, five living rooms, a
drawing room, a coat room, three libraries, a ball
room, a pool, and his own personal quidditch field in
his backyard. A very big house…er mansion, but it
was only a smaller version of his parent's house, to
him at least.

Voldemort had been defeated three years ago by

Harry Potter (A/N: No big surprise, eh?). So there
were no more Death Eaters. Lucius never talked
about the Dark Lord but was still fairly active in the
Dark Arts.
Still, Draco wondered how he could have ever agreed
to such a preposterous idea…oh wait, he didn't. Him,
Draco Malfoy, being in charge of a four-year-old,
NEVER!

Just that morning Narcissa Malfoy Apparated to

Draco's breakfast table, "Hello dear," she had greeted
him, smiling suspiciously.

"Mother," Draco acknowledged nodding his head and

taking a sip of his black coffee. Mrs. Malfoy clasped
her hands together.

"I've just heard the most wonderful news!" Narcissa

said eagerly. What? Draco thought Father's finally
jumped off a bridge and killed himself? "You're
cousins, Nick and Jade, are going on a trip this
summer, on special ministry business, and they can't
bring their four-year-old daughter, Raven."

"What's so wonderful about that?" Draco asked silkily.

"Well, I being me," Mrs. Malfoy beamed, "I

volunteered you to watch little Raven for this
summer!" A sip of coffee that Draco had just taken
was now spurting out of his mouth.

"WHAT?" He raged. "Me? Take care of a four-year-

old? Mother, what were you thinking?" Draco was
now standing up muttering a spell to clean the coffee
from his robes.
"Well actually, I think I'm doing what's best for you."
Narcissa stated calmly.

"What's BEST for me?" Draco bellowed walking

towards his mother.

"Yes, you're twenty-three now, and still not married,"

Draco rolled his eyes. "So when you do finally get
married, I want you to have some experience with
children. I want you to be a better father than," she
heaved an impressive sigh, "Lucius."

"I'll never be like Lucius." Draco said quietly.

"Well then, I trust you'll do fine with Raven! She's

arriving here in two days!" Narcissa smiled and with a
faint 'pop' disappeared from the dining room.

Draco mumbled under his breath, "A four-year-old?"

He sat back down in his chair and just put his head in
his hands.

"Master Malfoy? Are you done with your breakfast,"

Inquired a spiffy looking house elf.

"Yes Hopkins, please take it away." Hopkins looked

startled, 'please'? "And prepare the bedroom two
doors away form mine for a four-year-old girl. Pink,
dolls, whatever, and I'm sure Miss Wells in the kitchen
will help you if you told her that I said she was to."
Hopkins was confused, but didn't ask any questions.
He took Draco's plate and coffee cup and started for
the kitchen. "Oh! And Hopkins, prepare the bedroom
in between mine and the other one that you'll be
preparing…across the hall. Prepare it for a guest…a
female guest." Draco added. Hopkins even more
confused just shook his head and walked into the
kitchen.

"Ooo, look at this honey! The perfect job for you,"

Molly Weasley said looking at the Daily Prophet.

"What is it?" Ginny Weasley asked putting her coffee

mug in the sink, she liked her coffee with lots of
cream and sugar.

"I'll read it," Mrs. Weasley said brightly. "Young

woman needed to au paire for a four-year-old girl.
Must be able to entertain her, will pay plenty. If you
are interested, arrive at 104 Windy Dr. tomorrow at
two in the afternoon. Interviews will take place
promptly at two, don't be late." Mrs. Weasley finished
grinning. "You'd be perfect for the job. You handle
Ron and Hermione's Robert very well, and we all
know he's a handful." Mrs. Weasley handed the paper
to Ginny. "And besides dear, you really need to get a
job."

Ginny bowed her head, "Yes mother, I'll go to the

interview tomorrow. I wonder how old the parents
are."

"It doesn't say, but that house is in a very wealthy

area, so I'm sure you'll be making lots of money."
Ginny snorted. "WHAT? You will! And then you can
move out and be on your own just like everyone else!"
Ginny rolled her eyes.

"But I like living at home with you guys," Ginny said

quietly.

"Ginny, you're twenty-two, and single, you aren't

going to get hitched if you stay home." Mrs. Weasley
said bluntly, and shooed Ginny from the kitchen.

Ginny stepped into the front hallway, 'pop'; Harry

Potter had just apparated inches from her. Harry
smiled down at her, "Hullo Gin." He leaned down and
gave her a peck on the cheek, Ginny blushed.

"Hullo Harry," she mumbled.

"Where's your mum? I really need to talk to her."

Ginny's mood fell a bit.

"In the kitchen," she sighed.

"Thanks Gin."

Harry was still not married. Right after he got out of

Hogwarts he became an auror, and after he defeated
Voldemort he went on to play professional quidditch,
with the Chudley Cannons; Ron was proud. Ron was
working at the Ministry of Magic and Hermione
worked during the day as a librarian at a muggle
library. Ginny didn't have a job, and she didn't really
want one. But her mother wanted her to have one…
so she was looking, resentfully.

Being an au paire didn't exactly appeal to her to

much, but it was a job, and it would get her mother off
her back. She just hoped this little girl would like her.
She walked up to her room. Ginny stood in front of
her floor length mirror to look at herself. Short, she
thought, I'm very short. And she was. It seemed that
she had stopped growing length-wise her fourth year,
she was only 5'1. Her long wavy red hair fell right to
the small of her back; her brown eyes were large and
doe-like. She stomped to her desk to write her
resume.

Now that she was thinking about it. She did need a
break from her family; she was tired of all her tall
brothers calling her 'little' Ginny. If it wasn't for her
breasts she'd look like a twelve year old! Or at least
that was what she heard Lavender Brown telling
Parvati Patil in her sixth year. Ginny was rather…well
endowed.

Why didn't the person hiring the au paire have their

name in the advertisement? Were they beastly
people?
When she finished her resume she walked over to her
mirror again. She pulled a silver chain out from under
her shirt. On it was a pendant in the shape of a heart,
and on the back it said passionem. She had bought it
a long time ago and wore it so much it was practically
part of her; without it she'd feel naked. Ginny tucked
the pendant back under her robes and started
downstairs, she walked into the kitchen and was
greeted by a very hard-set Mrs. Weasley. Who looked
like she was going to say something that she didn't
want to.

"Ginny, I need you to listen to me." Ginny nodded,"

You're twenty-two now and well, I just really think that
you should take that job, you love kids. And as much
as I hate to say it, I think that your getting to be a little
too old to still be living at home."

--

Chapter 2: Neener-Neener-Neener-You're a Big Fat

Weiner!

By: VirtualFaerie

OH yea! I forgot to dedicate this story to someone!

Okay, well this story is dedicated to my bb's Kelsey
and Carla!

"Drakey! Drakey! I want a purdy one!" Raven said as

she bounced around the dining room where Draco
had got Hopkins to set up a table for interviews. "A
purdy one!" She sang and jumped around Draco's
chair. Draco rolled his eyes, how was he going to
stand this kid all summer?

"Okay, okay, but you can only have a pretty one if you
sit in your chair and be a good girl." Draco said and
patted her head awkwardly. She scrunched up her
face at him.

"My mommy says that I'm always a good girl." Raven

stuck her tongue out at him. Draco smirked at her and
didn't say anything else. He glanced down at his
Rolex (A/N: hahahahaha, Drakey has a ROLEX!), it
was 1:55. He had to stay in the same room with her
for another excruciating FIVE minutes. Raven was
now currently playing leap-frog…by herself. Draco
winced each time she landed with a big thump on his
hardwood floors.

"Sit down! The pretty ones won't want to stay if you

keep hopping around like that." Draco said grinning,
Raven stopped in mid-jump and turned to scowl at
him. She stomped over to her chair and flopped into
it.

"Der, are you happy now, Mr. Drakey?" Raven said

sticking her tongue out at him again. Draco smirked at
her again, and glanced at his watch, two o'clock.
"HOPKINS! Send the first one in!" Draco yelled across
the room. Hopkins bowed and scurried out of the
room to go get an interviewee. A tall lanky woman
with a big nose walked in, Raven immediately
scrunched up her nose and shook her head. The lady
looked at Draco and her eyes widened instantly.

"Draco Malfoy?" Draco cocked an eyebrow and

nodded.

"Is there a problem?" He asked somehow being able

to look down at her even though she was the one
standing up. The woman looked familiar, vaguely.

"I-er-nothing's wrong, except I don't really think that I

want this job any more." She spun on her heel and
jogged out of the room. Draco frowned, how rude.

"Hopkins, what was her name?"

"Lavender Brown, Master Malfoy." Draco waved his

hand and Hopkins scurried off yet again to get
another victim er…I mean interviewee.

This time a very weathered looking old woman, who

had several chins and lots of extra skin, this time
Draco wrinkled his nose with Raven. She walked over
to them slowly and sat down in the chair in front of
them. Raven stood up in her chair and leaned over
across the table. She flicked the woman's chins and
sat back down. The woman looked absolutely
outraged. Raven grinned wickedly at Draco and then
said in a sing-song voice, "Neener-neener-neener-
you're-a-big-fat-weiner!" Draco snorted, but
straightened up immediately.

"Oh, Raven don't do that," He said in a non-

convincing tone. The woman didn't say anything; she
just stood up and left. "Grrmies," Draco said when she
left. "I didn't like her anyways."

"Me neither!" Raven said crossing her arms. "I hope

they all aren't that ugly." Draco chuckled; maybe this
little girl could be funny.

They sat there for another hour, and Raven was

fidgeting and becoming more annoying by the
second. Another lady had just walked out. "Hopkins,
how many more are there?" Draco asked wearily.

"One sir," came his squeaky reply.

"Well, then, send her in." Draco un-slouched and

rolled his neck as a very short woman with flaming
red hair stepped through the doors. She blinked when
she saw him, but nevertheless sat down anyways.
Draco knew her from somewhere…school? She
looked like a Weasley, he smirked. Raven was
bopping up and down at his side.

"OoOOoO, I like this one!" She screeched hitting

Draco on the arm, the red-haired girl laughed.
"Stop that!" Draco snapped. Raven stood up on her
chair and turned her backside to him and shook it in
his face. Draco shoved her and she almost fell off her
chair.

"That wasn't very nice, Drakey!" The red-haired girl

snorted, Raven hit Draco again. "And I do like this
one. She's purdy; the other ones were old and had big
noses."

"What's your name?" The red-haired girl asked

Raven.

"My name is Raven Ann Kiln, what's yours?" Raven

said stating her name proudly. The girl frowned.

"My name is Virginia Weasley, but you can you can

call me Ginny if you like." Ginny said sweetly.

Raven clapped her hands, "Dinny! I like Dinny!"

Raven giggled so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.
Draco rolled his eyes.

"What's a matter Weasley, did you have to get a job to

help support you family?" Draco asked nastily. Raven
frowned at him and hit him as hard as she could.
"STOP THAT!" Draco bellowed at her, causing Raven
to double over with giggles.

"Well, are you going to hire me or not?" Ginny

demanded. Draco rolled his eyes, and Raven stopped
giggling and looked pleadingly at Draco.

"Well, I guess that I'm going to have to, you are the
last person, and Raven's insulted everybody else."
Draco shrugged.

"Yay!" Raven climbed off her chair and started a cute

little boogie dance, Draco scoffed.

"Stop it," he said, "You look ridiculous."

"No, she doesn't," Ginny frowned at him, "It's cute."

"Well, can you start today, I have to go to work and I

can't bring this little bugger." Draco stated
nonchalantly. Ginny paused.

"Yes," she said and Raven ran over to her screaming,

"Dinny! Dinny!"

"I suppose you'll have to go home first to get your

things." Draco said prying Raven from Ginny's leg.

"My things?" Ginny asked confused.

"That is if you have any," Draco sneered. "You will

have to be staying here; I have absolutely no time to
look after this kid." Raven punched the back of his
knee; evidently she didn't like being called 'kid'. Ginny
scowled at the thought of living in the same house as
Malfoy.

"How much are you paying me?" She asked

brusquely.

"Thirty galleons a day," Draco responded

immediately.

"I'll be back in an hour," Ginny said before she

disaperated. Draco groaned, another HOUR with this
brat.

Chapter 3: "Let's Get to Know "f" Words"

Ginny apparated back to her kitchen at home, Molly

Weasley was at the stove cooking dinner. "How'd it go
honey?"

"Fine," Ginny sighed, "I got the job, I just came back
to get my stuff, they need me to start immediately."

"TODAY?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Yes, I need to get my stuff together I said I'd be back

in an hour." Ginny said starting up the stairs, and then
she noticed her mother sniffling. "Mum, don't worry I'll
come visit. It's not like they're keeping me prisoner."
Or at least I don't think that they will, she added
mentally.

"Okay honey, you go get ready," Mrs. Weasley waved

her off and turned back to the stove.

Ginny apparated to Draco's front door and knocked, a

bit nervously. Hopkins opened it. "Welcome Miss
Wheezy." He said a hopped off beckoning him to
follow her. "Master Malfoy and Misses Raven are in
his library." Ginny followed and he led her down a
dark hall, he knocked loudly on a door.

"Come in," came the reply. Hopkins opened to door.

"Master, Miss Wheezy is here," Hopkins said and

scurried off. Ginny stepped in the door.

"Dinny! Dinny! You're back! Yay!" Raven jumped off

the sofa that she was sitting on and ran to Ginny and
grabbed her leg. Ginny smiled and bent down to hug
her. Raven latched herself around Ginny's neck and
Ginny picked her up. "You're a lot more fun than
Drakey, all he does is read. And he doesn't even have
any good books." Raven scrunched up her nose and
pointed at Draco who was sitting in a high backed
chair reading a very old looking book.

"Well, guess what?" Ginny asked Raven who was

hugging Ginny rather tightly.

"WHAT?" Raven screeched, Ginny saw Draco wince

out of the corner of his eye.

"Stop screaming," he drawled lazily and went back to

his book. Ginny rolled her eyes at him.

Ginny looked back at Raven, "I brought you some

books." Raven's face lit up.

"Really? Can I see?" She squirmed out of Ginny's arm

and started through her bag, Ginny's face flushed.
Raven threw out some shirts and a bra, some panties,
and some robes before she finally found the books.
Draco looked at the lingerie that was on the floor with
mild interest; he looked up at Ginny and smirked. She
glared at him and he chuckled wryly. "Oh! Read me
this one!" Raven exclaimed jumping up and down
clutching a book with her small hands to her chest.

Ginny bent down and shoved her things back into her
bag, with Draco watching her. She finished and
walked over to the sofa that Raven was bouncing up
and down on. She read the title of the book, "Let's Get
to Know 'F' Words," Draco snorted.

Ginny read about different words that began with 'f'

and Raven listened contently. When Ginny finished
Draco said, "They seemed to have left out a very
commonly used 'f' word."

"What Drakey?" Raven asked innocently, of course

she didn't know it. Ginny glared at Draco, and he gave
her a 'WHAT?' look.

"He was just kidding Raven, don't listen to anything

that he says, he's not a very good boy." Raven
nodded knowledgably.

"I know, he's a very bad boy," Draco scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm a very bad boy, so you better watch out,"

he said sarcastically. Raven stuck her tongue out at
him. Draco glared at her and then checked his watch.
"Get your things Weasley; I need to show you where
your room is before dinner." Ginny glowered at him
but picked up her things and followed him out of the
library. They went up two flights of stairs and started
down a hall.

"Drakey can you give me a piggy-back ride?" Raven

asked letting her feet fall heavily on the floor.

"No," he said simply.

"DRAKEY! Please?" Raven tried again.

"No," Ginny scowled at him and threw her bag into his
arms forcing him to carry it.

"I'll give you a piggy-back ride," she said sweetly

picking Raven up and throwing her over her shoulder.
Raven giggled. Draco sneered at her, and shoved her
bag back so that she was carrying Raven and her
bag.

"Here it is," Draco said stiffly opening a door. "Dinner

will be ready in thirty minutes; Raven's room is across
the hall and one door to the left. Have her changed
and ready." Draco left them and turned down into
another hallway.

Ginny stepped into the richly decorated bedroom and

set her things, "Shoo," she said to Raven and shut the
door to the room walking over to Raven's. "We need
to get you ready for dinner."

"Oh-tay," Raven said bouncing into her room. It was

very…pink; Raven walked to the closet and pulled out
a frilly grey robe. "I want to wear this." She said.
Ginny took it from her and helped he get undressed
and pull the other robe on. She fixed Raven's jet black
hair, and studied her a bit. Raven was your average
cute little four-year-old. She had black hair, and the
Malfoy grey eyes, very cute. Ginny told Raven to play
in her room for a couple of minutes while she went to
change.

Ginny went into her room and unpacked quickly and

slipped on a clean black robe. She stepped in front of
the mirror and fixed her hair, when she was satisfied
she left to go get Raven for dinner.

Chapter 4: A Midnight Meeting

By: VirtualFaerie

Dedicated to: My bb's Kelsey and Carla

Ginny walked around the mansion for five minutes,
holding a bouncing Raven's hand before she actually
found the dining room. She never thought it was
possible to get lost in a house, but this house certainly
proved her wrong. It was very possible. Raven didn't
seem to have noticed that Ginny had no idea where
she was going. She was skipping and jumping,
humming the "My Little Unicorn" song. Once she told
Ginny that she was hungry and Ginny told her they
were going to dinner.

As soon as they stepped into the dining room, Raven

let go of Ginny's hand and raced over to Draco, who
was already seated at the head of the table, writing on
some parchment. "Drakey! Drakey! Look at my purdy
robe!" Raven said walking like she was on a catwalk
and swirling around so the robe would fly out.

"Hmmm," he said, not really paying attention. Ginny

noticed that he had very neat handwriting, and he was
writing rather quickly.

"DRAKEY!" Raven shouted then stomped her foot on

the floor so that it made a loud thud.

"What?" Draco said irritably looking up from his

parchment.

"Look at my purdy robe," she went through her little

catwalk, swirl routine and Ginny gave her a little
applause. Raven blushed, and did a cute little curtsy.
"Thank you."

"Very nice, like the color," Draco grunted before going

back to his parchment. Raven gave a small cry of
indignation and flounced to a chair next to Draco.
Ginny took the seat across from Raven. "Hopkins!"
Draco shouted; Hopkins scurried out of the kitchens
and bounced up to the table.

"Yes Master Malfoy, what can Hopkins do?" Hopkins

asked looking eagerly at the letter that Draco was
now holding.

"Give this to Artemis, she'll know who to take it to,"

Draco said quickly. "And before you do that, tell Miss
Wells that we're ready for dinner." Hopkins dashed
into the kitchen and darted out a few moments later
heading down the hall. A very tall woman who looked
to be in her late twenties stepped out of the kitchen
holding many pots and dishes, she looked like she
was going to topple over, any second now. Ginny got
up out of her chair.

"Here let me help you with those," Miss Wells gave

her a startled glance but handed over two of the five
dishes that she was holding.

"Thank you Miss," She breathed heading over to the

table where Draco was sending Ginny a death glare.
Miss Wells sat down her dishes and took the ones
that Ginny was holding and set them down on the
table. She gave a little bow to Draco and practically
skipped to the kitchen as Ginny took her seat.

"You aren't supposed to help my house servants,"

Draco snapped, lifting the lid off of a pot.

"Well she was going to drop all of them!" Ginny

snapped back at him. "What did you want me to do?
Just sit there and let her drop them so that there
would be a big mess for her to clean up on the floor?"
Draco nodded, Ginny snorted and served Raven
some food. Throughout the whole dinner Draco and
Ginny kept shooting glares at each other when they
thought Raven wasn't looking, or at least Ginny was,
Draco didn't care whether or not Raven saw him
glaring at Ginny.

Raven sat quietly in her seat, swinging her feet under

the table, sensing the tension in the dining room. She
snuck glances at Draco and Ginny when they weren't
looking, a little girl plan forming in her head, she
grinned and let out a little giggle. Both Ginny and
Draco's head snapped in her direction.

"What?" Draco snapped.

"Oh nothing," Raven answered taking a bite of her

steak, keeping her eyes on Ginny who was scowling
at Draco for snapping at her like that.
"Malfoy, you really shouldn't snap at Raven, she's just
a little girl." Ginny said looking at Draco cautiously.
"When you hired me for this job, the ad said that I
would be babysitting for one child, not two." Ginny
said, smiling at her clever insult. Raven looked
confused.

"I am not acting like a child," Draco said grumpily.

"Raven started everything." Ginny grinned, how
predictable.

"I did not!" Raven argued.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not times 1000." Ginny was now grinning with both

eyebrows raised, this was so easy.

"Okay, okay," Draco said frowning, "Point taken."

Ginny mouthed an ' I-told-you-so,' and Draco sneered
at her. When they were finished with dinner Draco left
to go to one of his libraries. Ginny took Raven up to
her room, which meant Ginny was wondering around
for five minutes until Hopkins found them and helped
them find the rooms.

Ginny convinced Raven to take a bath and get in the

bed, and left her room shutting the door quietly behind
her. Now she just had to remember was her room to
the right or the left. She tried a few doors and finally
found her room. She walked in and looked at it more
closely this time. It was decorated in dark purple, with
green and black. The room was very elegantly
furnished. She walked over to one of the other doors
in the room and it opened up into a large bathroom
with a shower and separate Jacuzzi Wiz bathtub. She
walked back into her room and grabbed her pajamas
and took a hot bath; and then went to bed. It was a
very soft bouncy bed, just perfect; the kind princesses
sleep on, she thought before falling asleep.

Ginny's eyes flew open; she was sweating heavily in

the bed. She crawled slowly out of from under her
covers and swung her feet to the floor, she bit her
tongue to keep from crying out; the floor was icy cold.
How does it get so cold in the summer? She asked
herself. She tried again slowly and ran to her slippers
and put them on. Her throat felt dry, she decided to try
finding the kitchens to get a drink.

She slipped out of her room quietly and went down

what she thought was the right hall. Wizards in
portraits that lined the walls watched her closely as
she was wandering the halls trying to find the kitchen.
She was walking for ten minutes before she thought
she heard footsteps behind her. She whipped her
head around; there wasn't anybody behind her. Ginny
shivered goose bumps appearing on her skin. She
started walking again, this time more quickly.

"Boo!" The voice whispered in her ear. She started to

scream when a cold hand covered her mouth. The
voice chuckled, "Relax Weasley, it's just me." Draco
said removing his hand from her mouth. "Are you
lost? Figures, this is probably the biggest house
you've ever been in, eh?"

"Yes I'm lost, I can't even find the freaking kitchen,"

Ginny snapped at him. "And don't sneak up on me
like that." She shivered; it felt like there was a cold
breeze blowing through the hall. She looked down at
what she was wearing, some of her brother's old
boxers and a thin grey spaghetti strap shirt. No
wonder she was cold. She glanced over at Draco; he
was wearing silk pajama bottoms and…nothing else.
Her eyes widened a bit at the sight of his muscled
chest, sure she had brothers…but he wasn't her
brother was he? No, of course not.

Draco started walking off; Ginny was still planted to

the floor, shivering. "Well? Aren't you coming, I'll show
you where the kitchen is." Draco said a bit impatiently.
Ginny widened her eyes and followed, crossing her
arms and shivering some more. "Cold?" Ginny
nodded. He stopped in front of a door and opened it;
Ginny recognized it as his room and stood outside the
door. He must have led her back to the hallway where
their bedrooms were. Draco came out and tossed a
black robe her way. She caught it and pulled it on
over her head. It smelled like him, like his cologne,
spicy and manly, a very good smell; she breathed it in
as deeply as she dared trying not to let him hear her.

A minute later they arrived at the kitchens. "What do

you want?" Draco asked getting a glass and filling it
up with water, then taking a sip of it.

"Water would be nice," He magicked a cup over to her

and she filled it up at the sink.

"So why did you really take this job?" Draco asked
eyeing her in his robe; he had to admit that she
looked good in it, even though it was too big for her.

"My mum, she wanted me to get a job, so I took the

first one that I could, and I like kids." She said taking a
sip of the water; it felt good on her dry throat. "Why
are you watching Raven? Is she yours?" Draco
snorted.

"Raven is NOT mine, she's my cousins'. They left to

go on a trip for the ministry this summer and my mom
volunteered me to watch her. I don't have time to
watch her, so I placed an ad for an au paire." Draco
said draining his glass and setting it in the sink.
"Oh," was all Ginny said. She finished her water and
set the glass in the sink. "So then I'm guessing you
aren't married." Draco gave her an amused look.

"No, I'm not." He said walking out of the kitchen.

Ginny followed him not wanting to get lost again.
"Shouldn't you be married to scar face or something?"

Ginny blanched, "Um, no, I think he's too busy to be

married."

"So in other words, you think he hasn't paid you

enough attention for him to like you and want to get
married to you?" Draco said as Ginny quickened her
step so that she could walk beside him. She blushed.

"That isn't what I said."

"But it's what you wanted to say."

"So," Ginny said bowing her head. How did he guess?

"Why do you care…and how did you…know?"

"I could tell by the way that you said it; it was really
obvious." Draco said quickly so that Ginny could tell
that he didn't really want to elaborate. They started up
a flight of steps, one that Ginny hadn't been on earlier.
She didn't know how she was ever going to learn her
way around here.

"Um, Malfoy, I don't think that I'm ever going to be

able to learn my way around here."

Draco snorted, "Too big?" Ginny nodded. "Well,

actually if you just pay attention to what colors the
walls are in different parts of the house it isn't that
easy to get lost. Near the libraries the walls are
grey…" and Draco went to explain to her about wall
colors helping her find out where she was and how to
get to where she was going, Ginny personally felt that
having different colored walls that like was pretty
peculiar. They stopped in front of doors, and Ginny
recognized the doors, after a few moments delay, as
the doors to their bedrooms.

Draco and Ginny just stood there not really saying

anything, but looking at each, other studying each
other. Draco didn't know if it was just the fact that
Ginny was in his robes or that he was increasingly
tired but he found her very alluring at that moment.
Ginny was…well Ginny was currently immersed in
staring at his chest, and sometimes alternating for his
eyes, either seemed very attractive to her. Without
saying anything Draco took a step closer to her, and
she took an involuntary step closer, while her mind
was screaming, what do you think that you're doing?

For a moment neither of them moved. Then, without

being able to control himself, Draco bent down to kiss
her, only he didn't quite make it, because that's when
Raven started screaming.
Ginny and Draco jumped apart quickly, and Ginny
rushed into Raven's room. Draco sauntered over to
the doorway slowly and watched Ginny kneeling
beside the bed murmuring comforting things into
Raven's ear. Apparently, she had a nightmare, and it
was about 'boogies' in the closet. Draco smiled when
he saw Raven motioning wildly to describe the
'boogie' for Ginny. And Ginny nodded quickly, and got
up to walk over to the closet. Once there, she
pretended to say some magic words that would get rid
of the 'boogie'. There was a faint, "Thank you," made
by Raven after Ginny had given her a night-night hug
and kiss.

Ginny came out of the room and shut the door behind
her. She leaned back against the door and sighed,
"The 'boogie' has been banished."

"That was one hell of a spell you mustered up there,

and without a wand too." Draco said sarcastically,
leaning against the wall.

"I would have waved my wand about too, if I'd had it

with me." Ginny said grinning up at him; Draco
returned a lazy grin.

"That little girl really has you whipped doesn't she?"

Draco said teasingly.

"I could say the same to you; your demands aren't

even at half-mast."
"Shut up, and good night," Draco said maneuvering
around her and walking into his room. Ginny slumped
against the door and slide to the ground, pulling
Draco's robes around her tighter, trying to lose herself
in the smell.

The next morning Ginny woke up with her neck

aching. She opened her eyes and realized that she
was still slumped against Raven's door. She let out a
little groan, why hadn't she gotten in bed?

"Ah!" Ginny screeched, as the door had just been

pulled open behind her. She fell down and hit her
head on the floor, hard.

"Oopsies," Raven said putting her little hand over her

mouth. Draco skidded out of his room with a tie
hanging limply around his neck. He gave Raven a
reprimanding look, "What?" Raven asked holding her
hands up. "All I did," she said slowly, "was open the
door, and BOOM! Dinny hit her head on the floor."
Raven glanced at the unconscious Ginny, and then
said knowledgably, "Maybe you should do that
muggle thing where one person puts their mouth over
the other person's and breathes in there for them."

Draco rolled his eyes, "That's only if she isn't

breathing, and I hardly think that hitting your head
would make you stop breathing."
"Drakey," Raven said pointedly. "I didn't hit my head,
Dinny did." Draco glared at her and she smiled
innocently at him. Draco knelt down beside her and
felt a neck for her pulse and established that fact that
there was indeed one; and of course she was
breathing.

Draco picked her up and carried her to her room. He

dropped her with a plop on her bed and went to get
his wand out of his room. Raven was standing by
Ginny's bed; she climbed up and knelt beside Ginny.
She put a little finger to her eyelid and tried to pull it
open, and Ginny's eye stared back at her dully. Raven
giggled and lay down next to her.

Draco came back in the room, "Get down Raven." He

said bleakly. Raven stuck her tongue out at him and
he cocked an eyebrow at her. He mumbled a reviving
spell and Ginny's eyes fluttered open slowly. She
groaned and reached up to touch the back of her
head.

"Yay! Dinny's alive!" Raven shouted into Draco's ear;

Draco winced and glared over at her.

"Mind turning down the volume, pipsqueak?" Draco

said frostily. Raven 'hmph'-ed at him and crossed her
arms turning her nose up at him. "Are you okay,
Weasley?" He asked looking as if he could care less.
Ginny nodded, Draco started doing up his tie, and
Ginny got out of her bed. She paced around and
started at Draco's tie.

"Your tie is crooked." She said walking over to him

and unknotting it. He looked down at her practically
on her tip-toes (A/N: I'm exaggerating!) trying to do up
his tie; his eyes widened at her boldness.

"I don't need your help," he scowled trying to push her

away.

"Don't be such a meany, let me do it," Ginny said

frowning up at him still working on his tie. "There! All
better," Ginny patted the tie and smiled at him good-
naturedly.

"Thanks," Draco hissed and stalked out of the room.

Chapter 5: A Surprise Ending

That night, Draco apparated back home after work,

and tossed his cloak on the sofa in his first floor
library. He was tired, just because his father had
gotten him a top job at the ministry didn't mean that
spared him any of the hard work that came with it.
Today he had to put up with two angry heads yelling
at him from his office fireplace. Flopping down into his
favorite high-backed chair, he shut his eyes and
enjoyed the silence.

The silence was broken by running and staggered

footsteps coming down the hall. Ginny's voice, though
slightly altered to sound more evil, rang out "I will get
you little princess! Your prince isn't here to save you
now!"

"My prince will come! Just you wait, Evil Queen!"

Their footsteps came closer to his door. "Oh what the
hell."He muttered and threw open the door just as
Raven was walking by.

"Ah," he said in mock braveness, "my fair princess,

your prince has arrived." Raven positively beamed at
him. Ginny a few feet behind stopped in her tracks,
eyes widening. Draco raised his eyebrows and
signaled for her to continue.

"You will not take her!" Ginny growled, limping

dramatically over to them. "She is my captive!" Raven
gave a little squeal and hid behind Draco, clutching
his trousers.

"You will not have her, she is my princess." Draco

said boldly stepping up to Ginny and pulling out his
wand. Ginny grinned and drew hers out. They stood
in a dueling position. Raven, grinning from ear to ear,
cowered behind Draco.

Draco brandished his wand and struck Ginny's like it

was a sword. Ginny smiled and began to duel Draco
with her wand. The duel raged on and Draco started
to smirk. In one graceful movement he maneuvered
himself behind Ginny and had one arm across her
shoulders and the other one pulling her free arm
behind her back. He had her tightly pinned against his
chest. She tried to wriggle out of his hold to no avail.

"A little something I learned in fencing Evil Queen,

now drop your sword; the princess is mine."

"Draco, let me go." Draco grazed Ginny's ear with his

lips. "Not until the Queen drops her sword." Her hand
relaxed and the wand rolled from her fingertips and
dropped to the floor. Draco started to snicker in her
ear. "Malfoy!" Ginny began to struggle and turned her
head only to have her lips brush against the soft flesh
of his. Jumping apart like scalded cats Draco and
Ginny started stuttering apologies.

Raven cooed, "Now that's a surprise ending! I've

never heard a story where the Evil Queen and the
Prince fall in love." Draco turned and gave Raven a
death glare while Ginny was blushing with her head
down.

Draco glared at Raven. "We are not in love." Raven,

looked at them sweetly and nodded acting like they
were the four year olds and had just told a big fib.

"You guys kissed!" She said in a singsong voice.

"Drakey and Dinny kissed!" Then she started jumping
around in the hallway. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Draco glared at her, "We did not kiss."

"Oh yes you did!" Raven said jumping around them.
"You kissed!"

"Raven honey, I think we should go get you ready for

dinner and drop this whole thing. It was a mistake,
and didn't mean anything. Okay? Just let it go, you
too Drakey." Ginny said calmly, yet still looking at
Draco a bit nervously.

"Okay," Raven said. No one noticed her little fingers

crossed behind her back…

"Dinny?" Raven asked a bit nervously. "Do you have

a boyfriend?" Twisting a lock of hair in between her
fingers, Raven eyed Ginny waiting for her response.

"Not right now," Ginny answered slowly. "Why?"

Ginny looked over at Raven who was sitting by a big
pink dollhouse; she was watching Ginny closely.

"I-I was just wondering," Raven said turning back to

her dollhouse and picking up her two favorite dolls, a
man with blonde hair and a woman with red hair.

"Is this about…some boy that you like?" Ginny asked

lying on her stomach on Raven's bed; grinning
girlishly at her.

Raven scrunched up her face, "Ew, no," she sat back

on her knees and looked at Ginny curiously. "Have
you ever had a boyfriend with blond hair?"

Ginny eyed Raven suspiciously, "No…"

"I think blond hair is nice, don't you?"

"I suppose. Why are you asking?"

"Would you marry a boy with blond hair?" Raven

asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Ginny sighed loudly. "Raven, what exactly are you

getting at?"

"Do you think that Draco is cute?" Raven smiled at

her wickedly, and giggled.

"RAVEN! This is not something that I really want to

talk about, okay?" Ginny's cheeks burned a bright
pink.

"Okay, okay," Raven said holding her hands up.

"Well then," Ginny said getting off her bed, "We need
to get you ready for dinner." Ginny walked over to
Raven's closet and pulled out a purple robe. "This is
pretty, do you want to wear it?"

Raven got up with her dolls still in her hands, "Okay."

Ginny helped her get dressed. "Dinny, can I help you
get ready?" Ginny looked at her quizzically.
"Sure," she answered slowly.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Raven grabbed Ginny's hand and

led the way to Ginny's room. Raven let go and then
flopped onto Ginny's bed. Ginny looked at her a bit
perturbed but shrugged, walking over to the closet.
She pulled out a simple black robe with silver clasps;
Raven wrinkled her nose.

"I don't think so Dinny." Raven walked over to the

closet and yanked down the dark green robe; it fell
and the hanger clattered on the floor. "Wear this one."
Ginny eyed the robe wearily. Hermione had given it to
her last Christmas, and it was rather low cut, Ginny
hadn't worn it yet.

Raven was trying to pull Ginny into the dining room.

"Dinny! You look purdy!" Draco who was already
sitting at the table was frowning in their direction.
Raven was now jerking and pulling on Ginny's hand.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into wearing this!"
Ginny exclaimed from the other side of the door. "Just
let me go back to my room and change." Draco
smirked and pushed back his chair and walked to the
door, Raven saw him and gave him a pleading look.
He nodded and she grinned up at him. Raven held on
to Ginny's hand long enough for Draco to reach over
and grab her hand. Ginny gasped and Draco pulled,
causing Ginny to fall into the dining room, straight into
Draco's chest. Ginny looked up at him and caught her
breath, he was grinning devilishly down at her bosom.

She shoved away from him, "You pervert!" Ginny

snarled.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "It's not my fault you're

wearing that."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "You don't have to look." Draco

smirked and shifted his gaze to her legs, which were
exposed due to the shortness of the robe.

"That better?" He asked complacently; Ginny

groaned.

"Could you just not look at me at all?" Ginny asked

shortly; Draco snickered.

"I could try." Ginny walked over to the table and sat
down, crossing her arms over her chest. Raven was
giggling behind her hand.

Ginny frowned over at Raven, "It's your fault that I'm

wearing this."

"You let a four-year-old decide what you wear?"

Draco asked faking genuine interest. Ginny went
slightly pink.

"Well I -." Draco cut her off.

"It doesn't matter." He called Hopkins who went to get
Miss Wells to bring in dinner.

The next few days were uneventful. Draco and Ginny

tried to ignore each other, while Raven tried to get
them together. On Friday night an hour before dinner
they were all sitting in one of Draco's libraries. Ginny
was reading Raven a book, and Draco was doing
some work.

"Malfoy?" Ginny asked softly. "Do I get a day off? You

can't really expect me to stay here all summer without
a break."

Draco looked at her brows furrowed, "A day off? What

am I going to do with Raven?"

"I don't know, aren't you supposed to be the one

watching her this summer anyways?"

"What day is it that you want off?" Draco said

changing the subject.

"Saturday, I'm going somewhere with some friends…

or at least I'm supposed to."

"I didn't say that I wanted to know your plans." Draco

said callously. Ginny glared at him, and Raven was
watching them raptly. "Saturday…" he murmured.
"Okay, I guess you can have Saturday off."
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Thanks boss."

Draco was getting ready to say something else, but

Hopkins came in the room. "Master Malfoy, a letter
has arrived." He handed Draco the letter and scurried
out of the room.

Draco scanned through the letter, "HOLY SHIT!

DAMMIT! I can't believe I forgot!" He bellowed.

Raven widened her eyes and her mouth made a

perfect 'o' shape. "Drakey has a potty mouth."

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

Chapter 6

"Shit!" Draco led on a string of curses, and Ginny had

her hands clapped over Raven's ears. Draco jumped
out of his seat and started pacing the room furiously,
and cursing quite colorfully. Raven with wide eyes
started humming her "My Little Unicorn" song again.

"What the hell is it?" Ginny shouted.

"This letter," he said flinging the letter up. "The head

of the department that I want to be transferred into is
coming to dinner in an hour.

"So?" Ginny asked; Draco let out a growl of

frustration.

Through clenched teeth he said, "I told him that I have

a fiancé; because he favors guys who are going to
start a family. I was going to get Pansy or Blaise to
pretend for me, but Pansy just got engaged to Goyle,
and Blaise is currently not on speaking terms with me.
I have no idea what to do! I need a fake fiancé for
tonight." Ginny had taken her hands off of Raven's
ears and Raven was lying down with her head in
Ginny's lap, looking up tiredly at Draco.

"What department is this that you want to work for?"

Ginny asked curiously while playing with Raven's hair.

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement,"

Draco said slumping back down into his chair.

"Who's the head of that department?"

"Jerald Murray, he's…old fashioned, he's all about

guys trying to make a living for their families." Draco
said bitterly. "And it just so happens that I want a job
in that department, but I don't want to get married."
Then Draco looked over at Ginny, and eyed her with a
devilish glint in his eye. "Oh Weasley…"

Ginny glanced at him warily, the tone of his voice

made her nervous. "What?"

"Well, you are a woman; a woman that I might add is

conveniently located under my roof," he stated,
smirking at her.

"No way, there is no way that I'm going to pose as

your fiancé!" Ginny said recognizing the
suggestiveness of his tone.

"Oh come on Weasley! What's it going to hurt? Next

week I can just tell him that I caught you cheating on
me and it'll all be over."

"Me? Cheat on you…wait! There is no way on earth

that I'm going to do it. What if my dad hears about
this? Or one of my brothers?" Ginny asked, jolting
Raven who gave her an angry look.

"How do you know that they will? You could have a

fake name," Draco said, beseechingly. Ginny eyed
him suspiciously.

"I have very distinctive Weasley features, how could

someone mistake me for coming from a different
family?" She asked sighing loudly. "Besides, what
have you ever done for me that would make me want
to help you?"

"Nothing, but if you do this for me…" he trailed off.

"Malfoy, I already told you that I wasn't going to do it."

Raven was watching with rapt attention, trying to
figure out what exactly was going on.
"Come on Weasley! I'll pay you 30 Galleons!" Draco
said exasperatedly.

"What do you think I am? Some cheap whore?"

Ginny's eyes widened and she looked down at Raven.
"Please excuse my language."

Raven grinned up at her, "Okay."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Don't you need the money?

What could it hurt? It's just for one night."

"What could it hurt? It could hurt my reputation!"

Ginny half shouted at him.

"Dinny?" Raven broached carefully.

Ginny's gaze softened as she looked back down at

Raven, "Yes?"

"Can I pretend to be the daughter?" Raven asked

smiling sweetly. Draco snorted, and started laughing.
Ginny looked over at him and glared.

"Raven…"Ginny started, not sure what to say to her.

"When people have a fiancé that means that they're
engaged, not married. So usually they don't have
children."

Raven gave her a sly smile, "Does that mean that

you're going to help Drakey?" Draco smiled at Raven,
and she blushed a little.

"No, I'm not going to help him, he doesn't deserve it."

Ginny said a little less firmly than she had intended.

Raven stuck out her lower lip, "But I want you to help
him."

Ginny heaved an exasperated sigh, and looked down

a Raven imploringly. "Why?"

"Because I like Drakey, and he's my prince." Raven

said glancing over at Draco pointedly. "Please Dinny."

Ginny looked over at Draco, and glared, as if to blame

him for Raven's behavior. He just smiled and
shrugged. "I'll do it on one condition". Raven beamed
at Ginny, and snuggled against her. Ginny brushed
her hair with her fingers absently.

"What condition?" Draco asked.

"Teach me how to fence?" Ginny said a bit nervously.

"Fencing lessons?" Draco asked, looking at Raven

who was grinning at him peevishly. Ginny nodded.
"Why do you want fencing lessons?" Draco asked.

Ginny shrugged, "It'll sound good at parties, 'Hi, my

name is Ginny and I can fence, what can you do?'"
Draco laughed, "Okay."

"You'll give me fencing lessons, and I'll pretend to be

your fiancé for tonight only." Ginny said firmly. Draco
looked at Raven again who was grinning at him…a bit
suspiciously.

Draco held out his hand, and they shook on it. "Deal.
I'll have Hopkins bring you up some nicer robes."
Ginny scowled at him.

"My robes are fine," she said scornfully.

"No they aren't, they're synthetic. Like a Malfoy would

ever even consider marrying a woman with indecent
robes. Or…" he said with a sly grin, "You could wear
that green robe again." Ginny stalked out of the room,
holding Raven's hand, and slammed the door. Draco
chuckled to himself.

Ginny was seated at the long dinning room table at

Draco's side, with Raven next to her. Mr. Murray was
sitting on Draco's other side. Ginny was fully clad in
one of the Malfoy's black silk robes with silver threads
randomly woven through it. Though she hadn't
wanted to wear it, she had to admit it was pretty.
Draco was wearing a similar robe, minus the silver
strands. Raven, against Ginny's advice, was wearing
bubble gum pink; everything was bubble gum pink,
her hair bow, her shoes, socks, robes, she had even
talked Ginny into charming her fingernails to be pink.

Mr. Murray was grinning affectionately at Ginny,

sometimes alternating, and shifting his gaze towards
Draco. Mr. Jerald Murray was an older man of about
fifty-five; he was going bald and his remaining brown
hair was graying.

"So Mr. Malfoy, when, may I ask, is the wedding?" Mr.

Murray asked taking a bite of his food. Draco glanced
up from his plate to Ginny, who answered.

"Oh, Mr. Murray, we aren't sure when we're going to

have the wedding." Raven was watching them,
grinning.

"That's nice, it's good for young people not to get

married right away," Mr. Murray said in a fatherly
tone. Ginny saw Draco roll his eyes when Mr. Murray
wasn't looking and had to stifle a giggle.

Draco cleared his throat, "Yes sir, I quite agree, but

Virginia and I can't wait to get married." Draco
smirked at Ginny as he reached out and held her
hand. She smiled at him sweetly, hoping desperately
that Mr. Murray was falling for this.

"Oh I'm sure you can't, you two look very in love."
Ginny's eyes widened, and she almost jerked her
hand away from Draco's. Draco blinked, and looked
over at Raven who was giggling.
"What is it Raven?" asked Draco.

"They like to kiss," Raven said grinning wickedly,

eager to put in her two cents. Draco snorted and
Ginny let out a strangled cry.

Mr. Murray smiled, "Do they kiss a lot?" He asked

looking a Raven interested.

"Oh, yes," Raven said, shooting Draco a sweet smile.

"Yesterday, I found them kissing in a closet." Ginny
clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Erm, Raven…" she started. "Can we not talk about

that?"

"Why were you in the closet?" Mr. Murray asked,

taking a sip of his water. Ginny glanced over at Draco,
as if to say that he had to take this one.

"Well, Virginia and I were getting something out of the

closet," he paused, and smirked at Ginny, "and were
over come with a bout of passion."

Mr. Murray chuckled, "Always good to hear, always

good to hear. How many children do you plan on
having?"

Ginny spoke up, "Well, I'd really like to have five

children." She saw Draco pale.
"I didn't want to have quite that many," Draco said
shooting her a glare. Mr. Murray caught it and grinned
at them kindly.

"Many disagreements come in a marriage." He said,

glancing at Draco knowingly.

"I want them to have ten," Raven piped up. Ginny

smiled at Raven, and Draco sneered at her.

Mr. Murray laughed, "Ten? That sounds like fun."

Miss Wells came in and delivered their desserts, and
Mr. Murray started in on his immediately. Evidently,
he was fond of food.

Draco dropped his napkin on the floor, and said, "Silly

me, dropped my napkin. Virginia, can you see if you
can reach it?" Ginny eyed him suspiciously, but bent
over and looked under the table. She saw the napkin
right by the foot of Draco's chair. Draco's head
appeared next to hers. In a hushed whisper, he said,
"I don't like the way this conversation is going!"

"I don't like the way this night is going!" Ginny hissed
back at him. Then they heard Raven giggling madly
above them.

"They're kissing!" They heard her muffled voice say.

Ginny groaned and heaved herself back up, and saw
a very cheery looking Mr. Murray. She glanced over
at Draco, who had also resurfaced.

"Raven, we weren't kissing, we were just trying to

reach Mal-Draco's napkin." Ginny said sending Raven
a warning look.

"It's okay Virginia," Draco said looking at her smugly.

"Why hid our love for each other?" Ginny grimaced.
Mr. Murray was watching them with fascination,
smiling a smile that made Ginny somewhat nervous.

They had all finished their dinners and desserts, when

Draco brought up another topic. "Mr. Murray, about
the Director of Investigations position?" Mr. Murray
glanced at Ginny and Raven.

"Perhaps we could discuss this in your study? Over a

glass of brandy?" Mr. Murray suggested.

"You men go ahead, I'll go and get Raven ready for

bed;" Ginny said happily, ready to get away. They left,
and Ginny helped Raven out of her chair, and held
her hand, leading her back to her room.

Once inside Raven said, "Did you really kiss under

the table?"

"Of course not," Ginny said irritably.

"Why not?" Raven asked as Ginny helped her out of

her dress robes and shooed her into the bathroom.
"Because we don't like each other," Ginny said stiffly.

"Not even a little bit?"

"Not even a little bit," Ginny said, feeling her stomach

do an unfamiliar lurch. Ginny got Raven to take a
bath, and into bed. After reading her five bed time
stories she was finally able to leave the room an hour
later.

She stepped out of the room, and leaned against

Raven's door and sighed loudly. Bringing her hands
up she massaged her temples, hoping to rid herself of
the headache that she was getting.

Ginny pushed off of the door and headed towards her

bedroom, only to be stopped by Draco's voice. "Well
hello there Weasley."

Ginny whipped her head around and stared at Draco

as he approached with a mischievous grin on his
face. "So Malfoy, did you get the job?"

"Of course," he said smugly. "And Mr. Murray kept

telling me what a cute couple we are."

Ginny played dumb, "You and Mr. Murray? I'm not

sure his wife would like that."

Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Ha, ha, ha, very funny.
You know very well that I was talking about you and
me."

Ginny shrugged, "So?"

"So…. When do you want to start your fencing

lessons?" He asked leaning against the wall.

"I don't know, how about Sunday?"

"Then Sunday it is."

"What time is it?"

Draco looked down at his watch, "It's eight thirty".

"Do you have a chess set?" She asked looking up at

him.

He looked mildly surprised, "A few."

"Let's play."

"Okay, let's use the one in the library. But I warn you,
I'm very good, excellent in fact."

Ginny grinned at him, "I'm sure you are," and followed

him to the library.

***
They were ten minutes into the game, and both had
glasses of wine nearby. The game wasn't as serious
as Ginny thought it would be. In fact, they were doing
quite a lot of talking.

"Why did you want the Director of Investigations

position?" Ginny asked taking a sip of her wine and
looking down at the board.

Draco gave her a look, "I just did."

"Come on, it was more than a passing whim

otherwise you just wanted it, you wouldn't have
needed me to play your fiancé tonight."

He looked hesitant, "My father, I was given my current

position because of him. He made all the
arrangements without even asking me what I wanted
to do. I hate it when he does that, making me feel like
I owe him, that I'm dependant on him. I wanted to get
a job on my own."

"I always figured that you two were close, do you hate
him?"

"Hate isn't even a strong enough word," he said

moving his knight.

"What about your mother?" Ginny asked eyeing the

pieces that were sitting on the chessboard.
"I don't hate her. She is a good mother. She didn't
bake me cookies, or fix my boo-boos when I was
growing up though, but she loves me." Ginny smiled.

"You love your mom?"

Draco peered at her curiously, "Why all the questions

about my parents?"

"Curiosity. Why? Does it make you nervous to think

that somebody might want to get to know you?" Ginny
countered.

"No, not really. I do love my mother," then he grinned,

"most of the time."

Ginny looked surprised, "What's that supposed to

mean?"

"Well, I guess I always love her, but I do dislike her

sometimes. She has a tendency to spring things on
me without giving me any notice. Take Raven for
example, my mother just apparated into my dining
room one morning and announced that she had
volunteered me to baby-sit my cousins' daughter all
summer. I don't think she even thought about what I
might say about it…she's like that now, so
spontaneous."

"What do you mean she's like that now?"

"She didn't use to be. Back in the days when
Voldemort would come over for dinner," he smirked at
Ginny's surprised face.

"You're kidding right?" She asked taking a large swig

of her wine.

"Of course, but my father was around him quite a bit. I

think she was scared of him, my father. But now that
he doesn't have Voldemort around all the time, she's
more comfortable."

"Who'd blame her? I'd be scared if my husband was

cronies with the Dark Lord! How did she put up with
it?"

"She didn't have a choice, and neither did I." Draco

said in a tone that meant he didn't want to elaborate.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"What about your family?" Draco asked with a glint in

his eye.

"Well, my parents, I love them dearly, but…well,

they're always trying to get me to do stuff. Things that
I don't want to do. This job for example," she said
smiling at Draco, "it was my mother's idea. She said
that she thought I was too old to be living at home
without a job. I could tell she was really disappointed
in me, that's why I came."
"You still live at home?"

Ginny glared at him, "Yes. I wasn't sure what I wanted

to do with my life. I still don't. Maybe I should work at
a wizard daycare. It seems that I'm good with kids."

Draco nodded, "You're great with Raven."

"She's easy, you just have to…pay attention to her.

That's all she wants, she wants to know that people
love her, and she's happy. But she's also very
sneaky, definitely Slytherin material."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, and its cunning,

not sneaky."

"That's the same thing!"

"No, its not. So what did my cunning cousin do?"

"She's been asking me weird questions and I don't

like the looks she's been dishing out for the past few
days." Ginny said moving a pawn.

Draco looked at her amused, "Like what?"

Ginny blushed, "Just…questions."

Draco looked at her dubiously, "Just tell me."

"Well, it was when I was in her bedroom with her
yesterday. She was asking me questions about men."
Ginny said taking another sip of her wine.

"What kind?" Draco probed.

Ginny grinned, "About men with blond hair."

"Oh they were now?" Draco said putting a hand to his

hair, and preened it conceitedly. "About me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "I'm sure she was talking about
you. Doesn't everyone? I mean, you're just the best
thing in the world to talk about." Ginny said
sarcastically.

"Ouch Weasley, that hurts," Draco said while smiling.

"I'm sure it does. What do you think about Raven?"

"I-she's okay, I guess." Draco said swirling the wine

around in his glass.

"Okay? You didn't love her from the very moment you
laid your eyes on her?"

"Nope." Ginny leaned over the table and put her hand
to his forehead.

"No temperature, are you sure you're okay? How

could you not love Raven?" Ginny asked, frowning.
"She is your second cousin."

"She's annoying," he paused. "And so are you."

"Me? I'm annoying? How I'm annoying?" Ginny said

settling back in her chair, waiting for his answer.

"You ask too many questions," he said simply.

"Well I have to ask questions to get you to tell me

anything about yourself." Ginny said testily.

"Why do you want to know me? You'll probably never

even see me again after this summer."

Ginny blushed, "I don't know. I just-well, I thought

since we're living under the same roof I should at
least try to get to know you a little."

"Should I get to know you?"

"Only if you want to."

"And if I do?"

"Ask."

"Do you still love Potter?"

Ginny didn't respond for a moment, "Yes, and no."

"Meaning?"

"I love him, but I don't want to."

"If you don't want to love him, just don't." Draco said
looking at her, obviously confused.

"It's not that easy…I don't know why I'm talking to you
about this anyway. I've never talked to anyone about
this…" Ginny trailed off nervously.

"I asked."

"Yes, you did."

"Do you love anyone?"

"No, I don't, I never have. Not anyone besides my

mother." Draco said stonily.

"Why not?" Ginny asked looking into the unlit

fireplace.

"I don't think that love is something to be-wasted. I'm

saving any love that I have in me." He said frowning.

"For what?"

"Maybe someday, somebody will come along, and

then I'll get a real fiancé." He said smiling at her.
"Hah, you need a real fiancé." Ginny said smiling back
at him, then she added, "I never thought you were the
type of person to-."

"Want to love somebody or to be loved? " Draco

offered.

"Something like that."

"Everyone wants to be loved, Weasley," he said

taking a big swig of his wine.

"I just didn't think because-"

"I'm Draco Malfoy. That's why you didn't think that I

even thought about love." He said coldly.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said meekly, and the chess game

sat forgotten.

Draco sighed, "It's okay. I didn't expect anyone to

think that I would." He shrugged, "It's only natural that
the cold, heartless person that I'm supposed to be
wouldn't care."

"I don't think you're heartless," Ginny said looking at

him.

"Why not?"

"You believe in love. I don't think that anybody who

believes in love can be heartless."

Draco looked down at his watch. "Good God, it's one

o'clock. Do you think that we should call it a night?"

Ginny yawned, "Good idea." They trudged back to

their rooms, heavy footed and tired. The stopped in-
between their bedrooms and looked at each other
awkwardly. "You know Malfoy, I had a nice time
talking with you tonight," Ginny said breaking the
silence.

Draco cleared his throat, "I did too."

"Oh!" Ginny said remembering something. "I do have

Saturday off, right? Tomorrow?"

Draco scowled, "Yes, you do."

Ginny smiled at him, then stepped onto her tiptoes

uneasily and kissed his cheek. Then went into her
room and shut the door. Draco stared at the door, and
brought his hand up to his cheek, he felt his stomach
lurch, and shook his head. Then went to bed.

Chapter Seven

Ginny woke up a little earlier than usual that morning

despite having stayed up so late with Draco. When
she had gotten up the first thing she did, like every
morning, was run across the hall and check on
Raven.

She pushed Raven's door open quietly and peered in,

and was surprised at what she saw. Her mouth
literally dropped open. Was she dreaming? Draco
was sitting cross-legged, hair mussed; only wearing
his pajama bottoms, in front of Raven's dollhouse with
her. He was holding onto the same blond haired doll
that Raven had been playing with the night before.
Raven was on her haunches next to Draco clutching
the red haired doll. Ginny's stomach did a dive, she
felt nervous about the distinct features of the dolls that
were oh-so familiar.

She cleared her throat to make herself known. Draco

looked up at her sleepy-eyed; he clearly hadn't been
awake for too long. Raven looked up at her and
beamed, wide-awake. Ginny smiled at her, then
looked over at Draco and arched an eyebrow. Before
he could say anything in response Raven ran over to
Ginny and threw herself at her. Ginny picked Raven
up and gave her a warm hug, and kissed her
forehead.

"Morning Dinny!" Raven greeted, squirming out of

Ginny's arms. "Drakey is playing dolls with me." She
said happily, bouncing back to her seat next to the
dollhouse.

Ginny snorted and looked over to Draco who was

glaring at her. "I can't help it if this little twerp came
bouncing into my room this morning!" He said
grinning.

Raven wrinkled her face at him. "I did not! You came
in here and woke ME up." Draco smiled at her, "Did
I?"

"Yes," Raven insisted. "So you are a twerp."

Draco feigned being hurt, "Me? A twerp? Raven…I'm

so…upset that you would say that about me." He
looked over at the little girl with big, sad, grey eyes.

Even a four-year-old girl had to surrender to those

eyes. Raven smiled at him, and then hugged him
around his neck. "I'm sorry Drakey."

"Apology accepted," came Draco's muffled reply.

Ginny grinned at them, and sighed.

"I'm going to be leaving after breakfast," she said

moving from the doorway, towards them.

Raven looked at her woefully, "Leaving?" she

breathed. "You're leaving me and Drakey?" Her eyes
shined with unshed tears.

Ginny rushed to her side, and hugged her. "No silly,

not like that. Today is my day off. I'm going to go out
and do some other things. Draco is going to take care
of you today."
Raven glanced over at Draco uncertainly, and Draco
wiggled his eyebrows at her. Raven giggled and
buried her face into Ginny's neck, which caused her to
erupt with giggles.

When Ginny looked back at Draco his eyes were

gleaming, filled with mischief. "Oh looky here, it
seems as though Miss Weasley is extremely ticklish."
He smirked at her rakishly.

Ginny's eyes widened, "I-I'm not ticklish," she

stuttered out.

Draco grinned, "And you're such a bad liar."

Raven peered at Draco curiously, "Are you ticklish?"

Draco scoffed, "Me? Ticklish? Yeah, right." He folded

his arms over his chest.

The corner of Ginny's lip curled up, "Now who's the

bad liar?"

"What?" Draco said innocently. "I'm not lying."

Ginny glanced over at Raven, "Well…there's only one

way to find out…" and both girls pounced on him,
tickling him furiously. He was, without a doubt, very
ticklish. They had him begging for mercy, tears were
streaming down his cheeks before they stopped.
Raven hadn't been much help, she was laughing
more than Draco. Ginny had gotten him good though,
and now his sides ached.

He just lay there on the floor silently trying to calm

himself. He had never been tickled like that, ever. He
sat up slowly, and deliberately; then looked over at
Ginny, a devilish glint in his eyes. Ginny was giggling
with Raven and didn't notice as he stealthily made his
way toward them. When Ginny noticed, it was too
late. He grabbed her waist and threw her onto the bed
and attacked her sides, moving his fingers deftly,
causing her to shake with laughter.

Raven was sitting on the floor watching, her tongue

caught in-between her teeth, her eyes shining
gleefully.

"Ah! Draco! Stop!" She shrieked between giggles. "I'll

do ANYTHING!" She said between gasps of breath
and giggles. "Please!" Ginny wailed, trying to stop
laughing.

Draco looked down at her, stopping for a moment. He

quirked and eyebrow, "Anything?" Then proceeded to
continue tickling her.

"Anything!" She said through her squeals and giggles.

Then he stopped and caught her eye. She closed
hers', and when she opened them again; she was
staring straight into his vibrant grey eyes.
He smirked, and leaned down closer, putting his
mouth near her ear, "Would you…" he trailed off, and
Ginny gulped. "Cook us breakfast?" He pulled his
head up and looked at her.

She opened her mouth and had to stop herself from

glaring at him. "Cook breakfast?" She repeated
dubiously. Draco stepped back from the edge of the
bed where he had been leaning over Ginny.

He raked his fingers through his already, mussed hair.

"Well, yes. Miss Wells is off today also."

"I guess I could," Ginny said, eyeing him suspiciously.

Draco waggled his fingers at her threateningly; her
eyebrows shot up. "Actually, I could most definitely do
it."

Draco grinned, "That's more like it." Raven snuck up

behind Draco and pushed the back of his knees.
"What the-" and he fell forward into Ginny who was
still lying back on the bed.

Ginny groaned, "Ouch."

Draco winced, "Ouch is right." He opened his eyes

and looked down at Ginny's lips, which were only a
few centimeters away from his own. He licked his lips.
Her mouth parted slightly. He leaned forward and
hesitated then abruptly stood back up and cleared his
throat. "I guess we should let you go and make
breakfast." He glanced over at Raven who was
suddenly very pouty.

"What's a matter with you? If I recall correctly, you are

the one who did the pushing." Draco said a bit angrily.

Raven stuck out her tongue and flounced onto her

bed.

***

Ginny was standing at the stove cooking some bacon

and pancakes. Raven was bouncing around the
kitchen singing her "My Little Unicorn" song. Draco
walked into the kitchen sniffing with his eyes closed

"What are you cooking?" He asked standing behind

Ginny and peering over her shoulder.

"Bacon and pancakes," Ginny said moving away from

the stove to stir the batter. Draco looked at the
sizzling bacon, then to Ginny, and then to a plate of
steaming bacon. Ginny came back to the stove and
had poured some batter in a buttered pan.

Draco looked over her shoulder and pointed to the

plate of bacon, "Can I have some?"

Ginny looked back at him and smiled, "No way! I'm

not done yet.
Draco frowned, "Come on, just one piece."

"No, n-o." She said flipping a perfectly golden brown

pancake over.

"Do you cook at home?" He asked trying to distract

her so he could grab a piece of the bacon. Ginny
looked the other way and turned over the bacon so it
wouldn't burn.

"Yes, mom doesn't like to cook as much anymore,"

Draco reached out and grabbed a piece of bacon as
Ginny turned back around. She put her hands on her
hips and glared at him, "You put that bacon back right
now!" Draco widened his eyes and put the bacon
back on the plate.

"Geesh," he said going to talk to Raven. Ginny

grinned; that was way too easy.

Raven started telling Draco about an episode of "My

Little Unicorn" and started acting it out for him. He sat
at a small table, smiling as he watched her. Ginny
sighed happily and turned back to the stove to finish
cooking breakfast.

She finished and set a plate holding a stack of

pancakes, a plate with bacon and some butter and
syrup on the table; she poured a glass of milk for
everyone. Ginny fixed Raven's plate for her and
Draco grabbed three pancakes and four pieces of
bacon and put one in his mouth watching Ginny, who
was giggling. "What?" He asked with his mouth full.

Ginny shook her head, "nothing…nothing," and sat

down to fix her own plate.

"So…" Draco started, "What are you going to do

today?"

"Well," Ginny said after swallowing a bit of pancake. "I

think my friends and I are going to go see a muggle
movie and some other things like that." Draco
wrinkled his nose.

"Muggle movie?" He asked taking a big sip of his milk.

"They're fun," Ginny said giving him a look.

"Whatever," and said and proceeded to stuff himself.

"Mmm," Raven said licking her lips that were

smothered with syrup. "This is yummy Dinny. Better
than that eggs bedidick."

Draco snorted, "Eggs Benedict." He corrected.

Raven rolled her eyes, "Same thing."

Draco took another sip of his milk, "Miss Wells is an

okay cook."
"Yeah, but she makes stuff that I can't say." Raven
said getting syrup in her hair.

Ginny got up and went to the sink; she got a wet rag
and cleaned the syrup from Raven's hair. Raven
wrinkled her nose at her, "Dinny! Stop that."

"I'm done," Ginny said impassively putting the rag

back. She also put her plate in the sink. "I'm going to
go get ready now, so you guys are basically on your
own today."

Raven knitted her eyebrows together, "I have to

spend all day with him."

"Excuse me, I'm right here," Draco said annoyed.

Raven glanced at him, "So?"

"So don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

"Stop it you two," Ginny said grinning. "Yes Raven,

you will be spending all day with him."

Raven looked over at Draco mulling him over, "Ok."

"Bye. Have fun today." Ginny said leaving the room.

Then she poked her head back through, "Don't forget
to put your dishes in the sink."
"Yes, mother," Draco said mockingly.

*****

Ginny apparated into her living room at home and

saw her mother sitting in her rocking chair knitting.
She looked up at Ginny and beamed, "Oh Ginny,
you're home!" She dropped her knitting to the floor
and rushed to Ginny and wrapped her up in a big
bone-crushing mother hug.

"Mother," Ginny wheezed. "Let go." Molly let go of her

daughter and stepped back to look at her. "You act
like I've been gone for years."

"It seems like you have. It gets so lonely around

here." Her mother said hustling Ginny into the kitchen.
"Are you hungry? Do you need anything to eat? Some
tea?"

"No mum, I've just had breakfast." Ginny said sitting

down at their scrubbed table. "I don't know how long
I'll be here; I'm supposed to be going out with some
friends today."

Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny a bit sadly, "Will you

see me before you go back?"

"I don't think so, we'll probably be out late. I'll come
back a visit another day." Ginny said smiling.
"Whom are you going out with?"

"Colin, Maddie and Bryan," Ginny said popping her

knuckles.

"Don't do that honey. Those your school friends?"

Mrs. Weasley asked, sitting at the table too.

"Yes, Maddie and Bryan are going out now...and I

think they're trying to set me up with Colin. Or at least
Maddie is, she wants me to go with Colin…but he's
just my friend." Ginny said looking over at her mother
who was eyeing her suspiciously. "He IS just my
FRIEND! He is a boy who is my friend! There is a
definite SPACE between the words." She felt like a
teenager again.

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Her mother said putting

her hands up defensively.

Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother.

"How's your job been?"

Ginny sighed and smiled, "It's been great."

"Having fun with the little girl?"

"Oh, yes, she's cute, you just can't help but love her,"
Ginny said thinking of the tickling that went on earlier
that morning.
"That's good, I'm glad you're having fun."

Ginny looked over at the kitchen clock and saw that

all of her brother's hands were resting at 'home',
where they were probably spending the day with their
families. Even Harry had gotten a hand, but his said
traveling. Ginny looked back over to her mother, "I'm
going to go get ready to meet my friends, I'm
supposed to apparate over to Maddie's house in an
hour."

Her mom nodded, "Okay." Ginny got up from the table

and climbed the stairs to her room. The first thing she
did was to fling herself onto her bed, and smelled her
sheets. Her mother hadn't changed them; they were
still exactly the same way that she had left them. Her
whole room was exactly how she left it. Ginny smiled
and rummaged through her make-up drawer for some
that she hadn't taken to Draco's house. She applied
some then yawned tiredly, she drifted back over to
her bed and lay down...and before she knew it, she
had fallen asleep.

*****

"So Drakey, what are we going to do?" Raven asked

swinging her feet from her perch on the couch. Both
she and Draco were in one of Draco's libraries and he
was reading a book. Raven was starting to fidget.
Draco looked up at her and shrugged, "I don't know."

"I'm bored," she said getting up and skipping around

the room.

"Nice to meet you Bored, I'm Draco," he said looking

back down at his book.

"That wasn't very nice," Raven said slapping the book

from his hand.

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, "That wasn't either."

"Teach me to play quidditch," Raven said smiling

again.

Draco rolled his eyes, "After what you just did? I don't
think so."

"Please Drakey! I'm so bored!" Raven said sitting

down right in front of him, crossing her arms over her
chest. She stuck her lower lip out and lowered her
eyebrows. "Can you at least teach me how to fly?"

"I guess I could-," Draco was cut off by a woman with

pale hair like his apparating into the room.

She smiled at him and sat down on the couch. "Hello

Draco. Having fun with Raven?"

Draco scowled at her, "I guess you could say that."

Raven jumped off the floor and beamed, "Auntie
Narcissi! Auntie Narcissi!" She ran over to Narcissa,
jumped into her lap and hugged her tightly around her
middle.

Narcissa laughed and hugged Raven back, "Hey

beautiful, it's nice to see you again."

Raven released her and stepped back, "I'm having so

much fun! Especially with Dinny!"

"Dinny?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"Yeah, Dinny she's Drakey's girlfriend." Raven said

sticking her tongue out at Draco.

"Her name is Ginny and she's not my girlfriend." A

faint blush was appearing on his cheeks.

Narcissa grinned at her abashed son, "Are you sure

she isn't your girlfriend? Why haven't you told me
about her? I am your mother."

"I didn't tell you because she isn't my girlfriend. She's

Raven's governess." Draco said rolling his eyes and
picking his book back up.

"I'm sure," Narcissa stated mildly.

Draco glared at her, "I'm serious! That's all she is THE

GOVERNESS! THE NANNY!" He felt like a teenager
again.

*****

Ginny woke up and looked at the clock on her beside

table. She had three minutes to get to Maddie's
house. She jumped out of bed and pulled on her
shoes. She waved her wand and disapparated,
appearing in Maddie's living room seconds later.

Maddie, Bryan and Colin were all sitting on couches

waiting for her. She gave them all a sheepish grin.
"Sorry I'm late."

Colin glanced at a clock, "Actually you're right on time.

We were just early." He smiled at her.

Ginny smiled back and looked over at Maddie who

had her head resting on Bryan's shoulder. "So where
are we going?"

Maddie set her brown eyes on Ginny, "The carnival."

"The carnival? Isn't that a muggle thing?" Ginny asked

taking a seat in an armchair.

"Most things that we do are muggle things." Bryan

said looking at her curiously. Ginny blushed.
"Besides, it'll be fun...we always have fun."
Ginny nodded, "Of course we do."

Colin got out of his seat, "Come on then, let's go."

Maddie picked up the crushed soda can from the

table. "I got a portkey, it will transport us to Green
Hills...or something like that."

"Something like that?" Said Colin with raised

eyebrows.

"We're not going to be lost, we'll be near the carnival's

gate, I just can't remember the name of the place,
that's all."

"Everybody ready?" Said Maddie. They nodded their

heads and touched the portkey.

They all walked on the carnival grounds, Maddie

holding Bryan's hand and Ginny walking awkwardly
next to Colin. Maddie saw a roller coaster and pointed
to it excitedly, "I didn't know they had these at
carnivals! Let's go! Come on!" She said dropping
Bryan's hand and running towards it. Bryan followed
after her chuckling and Colin and Ginny gave each
other confused looks, but followed them just the
same.

They stood in line and when they finally got on the

rides Maddie was paired with Bryan, as usual, and
Ginny with Colin. Ginny looked over at Colin
nervously, "I don't really like roller coasters."

Colin raised his eyebrows, "You don't? Why not?

They're a good thrill." And with that the roller coaster
started up the steep rise, clicking forebodingly the
whole way up. Ginny gripped the lap bar, and stared
down at her feet. Colin laughed, "Come on Ginny, it'll
be loads of fun. I bet after we get off you're going to
be begging for another go."

Ginny looked over at him and smiled weakly,

"Maybe." Then the roller coaster plunged into a dive
and Ginny let out a blood-curdling scream

Colin reached over and grabbed one of her hands

and she stopped, some how his grasp was oddly
reassuring. He smiled at her and she didn't scream
again, she just shut her eyes tight and enjoyed the
excitement of the ride.

When they got off Ginny's hair was wind-blown, her

cheeks flushed, and she was grinning madly. "Oh my
gosh, that was the best ride that I've ever been on."
They all looked at her knowingly. "Can we do it
again?"

Colin put his hand on her shoulder, "Actually I'm

hungry. Do you mind if we grab a bit to eat before we
take another go?"

"Not at all," Ginny said jovially. "What about you

guys?" She said looking over at Maddie and Bryan.

Maddie looked over at Bryan, "I don't mind, I'm quite

hungry myself." Right on cue, her stomach growled.

Bryan grinned at her, "I don't mind either."

Colin took Ginny's hand, "Let's go then."

Ginny looked at him curiously, but didn't let go of his

hand. It had been a long time since she had had a
boyfriend. Colin had been one of her best friends at
Hogwarts and she knew that he was very sweet. She
just didn't know if she liked him that way.

*****

After Narcissa had left, Draco took Raven outside to

his private quidditch pitch and was trying to teach her
how to ride a broom.

"Like this?" Raven asked sitting on the broom

sideways.

"No, it's not a horse, put one leg on either side." He

said demonstrating.

"But I'll slide off."

"Not if you hold on." Raven climbed onto the broom

like she was supposed to. "Now push off the ground a
little."

Raven pushed and rocketed off, shouting gleefully as

she went, "Weee!"

"Oh gods," Draco muttered under his breath and took

off after her. Raven slid off her broom and started free
falling. With Draco's ex-seeker skills he dove after her
and caught her in mid air.

Raven looked at him wide eyed and clutched at his

robes, "My hero!" she cooed, causing Draco to smile.

*****

"So, I heard from your mum that you have a job,"

Maddie said pleasantly. They had all sat down in a
restaurant just outside of the carnival and had already
placed their orders.

Ginny looked over at her, "Yes I do."

"Well, what are you doing?" Bryan prompted.

"I'm an au paire…a governess for a little girl." Ginny

said smiling.

Maddie wrinkled her nose, "Taking care of a little kid

all day? That doesn't sound like fun. Who's your
boss?"
Ginny looked over at Maddie, slightly peeved. "Draco
Malfoy."

Colin's eyes almost popped out, "Malfoy has a

daughter?"

Ginny giggled, "No. Raven is his cousin; he has to

watch her this summer."

"Then why isn't he? Why are you doing it?" Maddie
asked.

"Because he has to work."

"How can you work for that slimy git?" Colin asked still
amazed.

"He's not a slimy git," Ginny said lowering her

eyebrows. "He's…nice, you just have to get to know
him."

"Ooo, Ickle-Ginny-Kins has a crushy-wushy," Maddie

said smirking at Ginny teasingly.

Ginny blushed, "I do not!"

"Then why are you defending him?" Bryan asked

slyly.

"I'm not defending him!" Ginny said angrily. "Excuse

me," and she got up and made her way towards the
women's bathrooms.

Maddie looked at her, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh my gosh, she really does like him."

Colin looked jealous. "She said she didn't."

"I'm going to go see her," Maddie said getting out of

her seat and following Ginny into the bathroom.

Once she was gone Bryan said, "That's what she

wants us to think."

"She doesn't! She can't like him!" Colin said staring

down at the table. "She can't."

"Oh Ginny!" Maddie called stepping into the

bathroom. She saw Ginny standing at the sinks with
her hands resting on the edge of the counter, staring
down at a faucet.

"I don't like him," she said, mostly sounding like she
was trying to reassure herself. "I don't." She looked up
into the mirror and stared at Maddie. "I don't."

Maddie looked at her a bit perturbed, "Okay. You

don't like him, I was just kidding you." However,
Maddie didn't look convinced one bit. Ginny looked so
determined in saying it, that there was no way that
she couldn't like him. No way. "Let's go back out to
the table; I'm sure our food is there."
Ginny sighed, "Okay." And she let Maddie lead her
back out to the table.

Colin and Bryan were sitting at the table having a

hushed conversation that stopped abruptly as soon as
they saw Maddie and Ginny. They took their seats
again, their food was already there, and they started
to eat. The conversation started up again, but no one
mentioned Ginny's job, or Draco Malfoy.

*****

They were back in Draco's library; Draco was too

scared to take Raven out flying again. He didn't want
anything to happen to her, not that he doubted his
abilities to protect her; he just didn't want to take any
chances. Raven was sitting on the couch again and
Draco in his chair behind his big polished oak desk.

"Drakey," Raven started. "Can you read me a book?"

"Like what?"

"Dinny brought a lot of books," Raven said jumping off

of the couch.

"Where are they?"

"In her room." Draco looked at her hesitantly.

"We can't go in there."

"Why not? We're just getting books," she said looking

at him oddly.

"It's her room," he stressed.

"It's your house," Raven said stubbornly. "And we can

pretend that we're spies!"

"What?"

"We can sneak in the hallways, and…ooo! It'll be fun!

Come on Drakey!" Raven pleaded, lying on the floor
and grabbing his trouser leg. "Puh-lees?" She
begged, clutching his leg as he stood up.

"Okay, we'll do it." He said taking a step, and Raven

with him. He took another, and another, and Raven
still held onto his leg, giggling madly. He drug her
across the floor to the door and peered down at her
menacingly. "Get off my leg."

Raven grinned at him, "You got to say please."

Draco looked down at her grudgingly, "Please?"

"Okay," Raven said bouncing off of the floor and

grabbing his hand. "Let's go."

Raven pushed the door open quietly and popped her

head out, scanning the halls for any sign of life. Draco
looked at her oddly. "Raven? What are you doing?"

Raven turned back to glare at him, she put her finger

to her lips, "We're spies," she hissed quietly. Draco
made an 'o' shape with his lips and followed her
silently through the door. Draco shut the door softly
behind him and had to use every ounce of self-control
not to burst out laughing. Raven had her back
pressed up against the wall, flattening herself to it.
She had her eyebrows lowered and was staring
intently at the opposite end of the hall. Then she
looked back over at Draco, "Get against the wall!" She
barked. Draco got up against the wall.

*****

Bryan sat back and patted his full stomach, and

grinned over at Maddie, "I'm stuffed; they sure do give
you huge servings here."

Maddie quirked and eyebrow at him, "If I remember

correctly you asked for a larger serving."

Bryan rolled his eyes, "It's not like I knew that it was
going to be that big."

"Um, guys? Do you think that we could go? Instead of

arguing?" Ginny asked gently, not wanting to hurt
their feelings. They both glanced at each other and
shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess," said Maddie, who slid out of her seat
and then offered a hand to Bryan. Colin was sitting on
the end of his and Ginny's booth slid out and then to
turned to offer a hand. Ginny smiled graciously and
took it, and he held on to it, not letting go as they left
the restaurant.

"Where to now?" Colin asked.

They all glanced around, "I think that another roller

coaster ride would be out of the question, as my
stomach won't hold its food if we do," Bryan remarked
looking over at the roller coaster that had just taken a
large dip. Maddie glanced over at it as well and
wrinkled her nose, obviously having the same
thoughts as Bryan.

"We could go to the fun house," Ginny suggested,

pointing out a purple tent.

"Sure," Colin said squeezing her hand as they all

started walking toward the fun house.

*****

v "Shh!" Raven hissed clapping her small hand over

Draco's mouth. "Don't talk," she whispered.

Draco raised his eyebrows at the audacity of this little

girl but complied. They were now in front of Draco's
door, almost to Ginny's. Draco had only been talking
because he was going to asked Raven how she
thought she could hide against the dark wooden walls
in a pale green robe. Raven of course, was oblivious
to the color of her robe; she was concentrated on
pressing herself against the wall as close as she
could.

They slunk slowly towards Ginny's door; Raven

reached out and gripped the knob carefully, and
turned it as slowly as possible to ensure that it
wouldn't make a sound. She pushed it open and
darted inside, Draco grinned and followed her. As
soon as he got inside Raven shut the door behind
them and locked the door.

Raven grinned and clapped her hands together,

"Yeah! We made it."

Draco looked over at her and smiled, he couldn't help

it, Raven just looked so proud of herself. "Yes, now do
you know where her books are?"

Raven's face dimmed a bit, "No…but we could look."

"Oh, I don't know about going through her things…"

Draco trailed off, hoping that Raven would get his
point. She didn't.

"Aw come on Drakey, don't be such a fraidy cat," she

jumped on Ginny's bed and rolled over to the other
side and looked underneath. "Nope," came her
muffled voice, "nothing under her bed… 'cept some
dust bunnies. Drakey, you look in the closet for her
bag."

Draco sighed loudly. "Do I have to?" He whined.

"Yes!" Raven demanded shrilly, opening some

drawers and sifting through them. Draco opened her
closet door reluctantly.

Then shut it after glancing in it, "Nope, no bag."

Raven looked up at him angrily, "You didn't even look!

Go look!" she demanded.

Draco opened the door again and looked through the

closet for Ginny's bag, he found it in the back, and in it
were five children's books. Draco let out a sigh and
turned to look back, but Raven wasn't there. Draco
dropped the bag and looked around, he whipped his
head through the door and it was open.

He raced out into the hall, and saw her standing at the
end of the hall, "Na-na-na-boo-boo, you can't catch
me!" She giggled and then took off running.

Draco's eyes flashed and he followed after her.

*****
Maddie sighed and looked up at the darkening sky;
Ginny too looked up with her and wished that her day
wasn't over. Besides the incident in the restaurant
she'd had a very good day. Obviously Maddie and
Bryan meant to set her up with Colin because they
kept encouraging them to go off and do things by
themselves.

"I'm hungry, isn't it dinner time?" Bryan asked.

Maddie rolled her eyes, "You're always hungry."

"So? I can't help it," Bryan protested.

"Let's go get something to eat then."

Ginny looked back at the Ferris Wheel lit up with

colorful lights. "You know what guys; I think I'd like to
ride that before dinner."

Maddie and Bryan exchanged a glance and then

looked to Colin. Colin took the hint, "Oh, uh, Maddie
you guys just go ahead, I'll go with Ginny on the Ferris
Wheel, and we'll just catch a bite later." He looked
over at Ginny, "Is that okay?"

Ginny nodded, smiling slightly, "It's fine."

"Alright then," said Maddie, "We'll see you soon! Have

fun!" Maddie gave Ginny a hug and Bryan shook her
hand awkwardly, causing everyone to laugh until he
gave in and just hugged her.

"Bye!" Ginny called, as they left. "Let's go to the Ferris

Wheel!" Ginny grabbed Colin's hand and drug him
over to the short line. "Oh this is going to be so much
fun; I've been on one of these before!"

Colin chuckled, "me too. They are kind of fun." Ginny

smiled at him as they sat down on the bench. They
slowly started going up, Ginny clutched his hand
tighter as they went up higher. "Do you like your job?"
Colin asked.

"Uh…" Ginny paused. "Most of the time."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, sometimes Malfoy can be a git, but most of the

time he's okay." Ginny said looking at him curiously.
"Why?"

"Just wondering. What about the little girl? It is a girl

right?" Colin asked, hoping to Merlin that it was a girl.

Ginny beamed at him, "She's just wonderful, so cute

and…well, she's very outgoing. We get along good,
and even Dr-Malfoy seems to love her, but he won't
admit it."

Colin made a face, "I don't think he's capable of loving

someone."
Ginny made sad eyes at him, "I wouldn't say that, he's
human too, even if a bit of a cold one." Colin didn't
say anything. "Really, he's a good guy; it just takes a
while for him to come out."

Colin's eyes almost shot out of their sockets, "He's

gay?"

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, "He is not gay, I

meant his good side, though it doesn't come out
often…" she mumbled something under her breath
about men.

"Oh," Colin seemed slightly disappointed. "Do you like

him or something?"

Ginny looked stricken, "No, no I don't."

Colin gave her a sly grin, "Right…."

"I don't!" Ginny persisted.

"Okay, okay," Colin said holding his hands up, but the
teasing look still in his eyes. "I believe you."

Ginny snorted, "I'm sure you do."

"Don't you want me to believe you?" Colin asked

confused.
Ginny gave him a look that he couldn't decipher,
"Yes."

"Alright…" and the Ferris Wheel stopped and they got

off. "Where do you want to eat dinner?"

"Uhm, maybe we should go somewhere else, the food

is more expensive here," Ginny suggested.

Colin perked up, "Sure, how about that Italian place

near the Leaky Cauldron?" Ginny nodded.

*****

"I'm going to get you!" Draco said running up behind

Raven, who squealed and started giggling when he
picked her up by the waist.

v "Oh no!" She wailed in-between giggles, "The EVIL

Drakey's got me!"

"BWAHAHAHAHA," Draco laughed evilly. Raven

started giggling again, and Draco held her on his hip.

"Drakey," she said lowering her eyebrows and putting

a hand on her stomach. "I'm hungry."

Draco glanced at his watch and saw that it was 5:30,

there was no way that he was going to cook dinner,
that was impossible. He sighed, "Do you know how to
cook?"
Raven frowned at him, "I'm only this many!" She said
holding up four fingers. "What do you think?"

"Have you ever had Chinese take out?" Draco asked

walking down the hall to the nearest library.

"No…I don't think so," said Raven.

"Well it's very good, let's go see if we can order from

the fireplace." Draco kicked open and door and set
Raven down on a couch and threw some powder into
a fire and said, "Lee's Wok," and a head appeared in
the fireplace.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?" Said a man with a

Cantonese accent.

"Could we order some fried rice, sweet and sour

chicken and some…" Draco paused to think for a
moment, "Beef and broccoli?"

The man bowed his head, "Yes sir, your total is fifteen
galleons and two sickles. It should be there shortly
sir."

"Thanks," Draco said taking Raven by the hand and

walked with her to the front door. Two seconds after
they got there the doorbell rang. Draco opened it, paid
the delivery boy and took the food. "Thanks," he said.
The boy bowed and rushed down the stairs, pulling a
portkey out of his pocket.

v Raven stuck her nose out into the air and sniffed,
"That smells good," she commented.

Draco nodded, "It's pretty good." And they went to the

dining room to eat.

*****

Colin and Ginny had just finished ordering and were

sitting at the table quietly. "So Colin how's work?"
Ginny asked, taking a bite of her breadstick.

Colin glanced up from where he had been staring at

his water glass and smiled, "Oh its fine, loads of fun."

"You take pictures for both the Daily Prophet and the
Quidditch Journal, right?" Ginny asked, raising an
eyebrow, and looking at him curiously.

Colin beamed at her, "And the Witch Weekly," he

added proudly.

Ginny looked amazed, "Wow, that's a lot of pictures to

shoot. Do you ever get tired of it?"

"No…it's a lot of fun. I love photography; I've been

doing it for as long as I can remember."

Ginny let out a quiet giggle, "I remember when you

were running around Hogwarts trying to get pictures
of Harry."

Colin blushed, "That was a long time ago," Ginny

grinned at his embarrassment.

"I used to chase after him too," she admitted shyly,

"Only not in the same way as you."

Colin chuckled, "I remember that."

"We've known each other for a long time haven't we?"

Said Ginny.

Colin nodded, "Since first year." Then the waiter

appeared with their orders. Ginny took one look at her
plate and felt her stomach tighten…it was huge. Colin
looked at his ravenously; he was hungry.

Ginny picked up her fork and twirled it in her pasta

carefully, not really sure how to go about eating from
such a big plate. Colin looked at her strangely, "Is it
alright?" he asked curiously.

Ginny nodded, "Its fine," and as if to prove herself she

took a big bite and smiled.

v Colin laughed, "You have sauce on your nose."

Ginny's eyes widened, "Oh my…I do?"

"Yeah…just here," Colin reached over the table and
wiped the sauce off of her nose, she looked up into
his eyes and their eyes locked. Ginny wondered if he
was going to kiss her.

The waiter came and asked them if everything was

alright, and Colin sat back in his seat nervously.
"No…" Ginny said softly, "Everything's fine."

They resumed their dinner and continued with small

talk, each trying to forget the awkward moment that
had just passed. Ginny couldn't help but wonder if
maybe she had wanted Colin to kiss her. It wasn't like
she already had a boyfriend or anything.

*****

Raven grinned up at Draco with all sorts of sauces

smeared on the edges of her mouth. "Drakey," she
said solemnly. "That was very good."

Draco gave her a lopsided grin, "I'm glad you liked it.
Want a fortune cookie?"

"Fortune cookie?" Raven asked, confused.

"Yeah, you break open the cookie and there's a little

piece of paper inside that has your fortune," he
explained taking one out of the wrapper for her and
handing it to her. "Go ahead, open it."
Raven cracked the cookie in half, getting crumbs all
over the table, and pulled out the piece of paper
anxiously. She peered at it and then handed it to
Draco, "I can't read," she said frustrated.

Draco smiled at her, and looked down at it, instantly

his eyebrows knitted together. Raven looked at him,
"What's it say Drakey?"

He glanced at her, "'Value your match box,'" he read

directly off the paper.

Raven looked at the paper he handed back to her

curiously, "What does that mean?"

Draco shrugged, "I'm not sure…is it talking about

muggle matches?"

Raven looked at him like he was crazy, "How am I

supposed to know?" She looked pointedly to the
unopened fortune cookie in front of him, "Open
yours."

Draco picked his up and raised an eyebrow at her,

and opened it; he broke it carefully and pulled out the
piece of paper. He blinked, "'Your mind deceives
you,'" he read quietly. "What's that supposed to
mean?"

"Dunno," Raven said through a mouthful of cookie.

Draco shrugged and shoved half of his fortune cookie
in his mouth. Raven giggled and crumbs flew out of
her mouth, which made her laugh even harder. When
she had calmed down she said, "I wanna play dollies."

Draco pulled a face, "Dolls?"

"YES!" Raven shouted, bouncing up and down in her

chair.

"Can't you play by yourself?"

Raven frowned at him and crossed her arms over her

chest, "No, you have to play with me."

"Are you sure you want me to?" Draco asked, trying to

get out of playing dolls.

She stuck her nose up in the air, "Yes."

"Do I even have a choice?" asked Draco, smiling.

Raven snorted, "Of course not." She jumped out of

her chair and pulled Draco out of his and she tugged
him by the hand up to her room. "Drakey's gonna play
dollies with me! Drakey's gonna play dollies with me!
Drakey's gonna play dollies with me!" She said in a
singsong voice, skipping down the hallways. A pale-
faced Draco followed.

*****
Colin paid for their dinner and they walked out of the
restaurant. "Do you want me to apparate home with
you?" he asked.

Ginny nodded slowly, "Sure that would be nice." They

both apparated to Draco's front door and stood there
awkwardly. Ginny felt so much like the muggle girl, in
muggle movies, who'd just come home from her first
date. Which was silly considering that she had been
friends with Colin for such a long time. She let her
arms hang limply at her sides, not really knowing what
to do, and looked over at Colin expectantly. But he
wasn't much help; he was staring at his shoes.

Colin wanted to kiss her, but he also didn't want to

ruin their friendship. What if she didn't want to kiss
him? What would he do then? What if he repulsed
her? So he looked to his shoes…maybe they would
have the answer.

Ginny getting a little frustrated, and not wanting to

seem rude by just going in side, stepped closer to
him, letting him know it was okay to kiss her. That
was all that Colin needed apparently, just a little
reassurance. He bent his head slightly, to
accommodate the space between their lips, and
pressed his to hers softly in a kiss that was a little
more than friendly. Ginny didn't feel any of the tingling
warmth that she had felt when her lips had barely
brushed Draco's, but still, Colin's kiss was a pleasant
one.
She broke apart slowly and looked at him, he smiled
at her slightly, and she returned it. "So…" she
breathed.

Colin bit the inside of his lip, "Do you want to go out
on a date? A real one?" he asked nervously.

Ginny grinned at him, "Sure."

"Great," he bent down to give her another quick kiss

and disapparated promptly.

Ginny stood on the front doorstep looking slightly

dazed. Did this mean that she had a boyfriend? Did
she really like Colin like that? She sighed heavily and
went inside.

"Raven! Draco!" she called out into the quiet house.

Nobody answered, she frowned and started up the
huge stairway and went to the library that they always
used. They weren't in there, so she checked all the
other libraries, and they weren't in those either.

She walked quietly up to Raven's room and pushed

the door open slowly. Inside Draco was half lying, half
sitting next to Raven who was sleeping. He had a pink
book open in his lap and he was slumped on his
elbow, fast asleep. Ginny grinned and wondered if
she should wake him up. He looked so angelic and
sweet when he was sleeping…so unlike when he was
awake. His pale blond hair fell over into his closed
eyes and his mouth was unmarred by his customary
smirk.

Raven was a totally different story. She had her arm

flung out and hanging over the side of the bed. Her
hair looked like it had mice living in it, and she had a
brown sauce all over her mouth. The corner of her
mouth was upturned in an unconscious smile, and
one of her hands was clenching and unclenching
slowly.

Ginny shut the door and started back towards her

room; she opened the door, walked in and took off her
shoes, set down her handbag and flopped onto her
bed.

There was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in."

Draco stepped into the doorway, his eyes droopy from

tiredness, "How do you manage her all day?"

Ginny smiled at him, "It's my special secret."

"Did you have fun?" he asked hesitantly.

Ginny blinked, "Yes…."

"Oh," he turned and started to leave.

"Wait!" Ginny called impulsively. He looked back at

her, "I didn't mean to say it that way. Please stay."

Draco smirked, "Stay? What for?"

"Uh…" Ginny paused and looked around her room,

then narrowed her eyes, "Why is my closet open?
And my bag on the floor?"

Draco's smirk faltered, "Well…you see…it's a long

story."

Ginny sat up and crossed her arms, "I have awhile."

Draco rolled his eyes, and Ginny patted the space

beside her on the bed for him to sit down. He walked
over to her slowly, and sat down. His weight caused
her to slide toward him; she put out her hand to stop
herself from going any further. "Tell me."

"Well…Raven and I were in the library, and I was

reading. Then she said that she wanted me to read
her a book, but she didn't want to read any of my
books. She wanted to come and get some of the
books that you brought." Ginny nodded, "But she
didn't want to just come up here and get them, she
wanted to pretend that we were spies. So we 'snuck'
up here and she made me look in the closet for your
bag." Ginny snorted. "And when I turned around to tell
her that I found them, she was gone. So I put the bag
down and went after her. She decided that she'd
rather play hide and seek than find books. While
chasing her around the house, I forgot about the bag."
Draco concluded, and then looked over at her.

Ginny was smiling, "Raven's a handful isn't she?"

Draco widened his eyes, "More like seven handfuls."

"You love her though, don't you?"

Draco paused, "I-yes, I do."

Ginny grinned, "That's good." Draco shrugged, and

Ginny turned worried. "What did you guys have for
dinner? Did you feed her? You didn't forget to eat did
you?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "We ate."

She narrowed her eyes, "What did you eat?"

"Chinese takeout, Raven liked it."

"Did you clean her up?"

Draco groaned, "A guy can only remember to do so

many things…and that was one that I forgot."

"It's okay. I was worried that you might have forgotten

to feed her," Ginny sighed. "I know how my brother's
are when they're babysitting for Ron's son Robert,
especially George and Fred. They'll go a whole day
without eating if their busy enough. When one of us
girls comes home, they suddenly realize that their
hungry and expect us to cook them something."

"I'm not that irresponsible," said Draco.

Ginny shrugged, "You never know with guys."

"I'm not a Weasley."

"That's obvious."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco asked

glaring slightly.

"You don't act like a Weasley, and you surely don't

look like a Weasley." She explained. Draco was quiet.
"What?"

"Nothing," he said in a voice that made her think there

was more than nothing.

"What is it?"

"I said nothing."

Ginny sighed and looked at him. His eyes were sort of

dazed and she would have given a galleon just to
know what he was thinking. "You can tell me," she
said softly, touching one of his hands.
He jerked and his eyes cleared, "No, I can't."

She frowned, "Why not?"

"Because."

"Because is not an answer, it's an excuse."

"So?"

"So, give me a better one," Ginny persisted.

"I don't have to," Draco said glaring at the door.

"It would be nice if you would," she said quietly.

"It doesn't matter," he said turning to look at her.

"I want to know!" Ginny almost shouted, "Why don't

you just tell-"

His mouth covered hers; cutting off 'me', for a split

second she was too stunned to react. Then she put
her hand to his chest and tried to push him away, but
he looped an arm around her back and cradled the
back of her head with his other hand to hold her still
for the kiss.

It was the boldest kiss that she had ever received,

and his lips fitted to hers perfectly. It took her breath
away, and Draco paused for air.
"Draco! What do you think-"

He resealed her lips, and this kiss was more

persuasive. He didn't want to hear her being angry
with him; he just wanted to taste the sweetness of her
lips on his. Draco's lips caressed hers softly, and the
rigidity of her body went away. She relaxed in his
arms, and stopped pushing against his chest; she
moved her hand to his shoulder and leaned into the
kiss.

He broke away one more time for a quick breath of

air, "Draco…"she said softly. "There's no point…don't
do-"

His third kiss was even more gentle and powerful all
at the same time. She melted completely, and
returned his kiss. Her mouth softened and her lips
parted slightly, Draco took full advantage of it and
slipped his tongue out and traced the opening of her
mouth. Ginny felt fire where his tongue had touched
her, what he was doing to her senses was addictive,
and she knew that she wanted more.

He pulled back slowly and looked at her lips, which

were moist and swollen. He took a few short ragged
breaths and lifted his eyes to meet her dazed and
confused ones. He got off of her bed, and walked out
the door, not wanting to answer any questions.
Ginny sat on her bed, and lifted her hands to her lips.
Two different men had kissed her that night. One she
had known forever and was entirely comfortable with,
his kiss had done nothing to her. The other man, her
family hated and she had once despised herself. Now
she realized that she didn't really know him, but his
kisses made the solid ground melt beneath her feet.

She sighed and lay back down…and thought that she

heard faint laughter.

Chapter 8

Draco stood at the window staring off into the foggy

morning sky, trying to figure out what exactly it was
that had come over him the night before. What ever
had possessed him to kiss Ginny like that? And why
did it have to bother him so much?

He hit the curtains and spun away from the window.

He was angry. He had no right to kiss her, but then
again it was her fault. How was he supposed to stop
when her lips fit so perfectly to his? He closed his
eyes tightly and massaged the bridge of his nose
tiredly. Why was this happening to him? Why did he
feel like there was a heavy weight sitting on his
chest?

There was no way that he was going down to

breakfast that morning. No way. It would be
impossible for him to face Ginny right now. What
would he say to her? Why was he feeling this way?
Did he have feelings for a…Weasley?

No. NO, definitely not.

Then why was he feeling so…different? No, it wasn't

that kind of different. He just…he shouldn't have
kissed her the night before, that's all. He didn't care
anything about her and wasn't going to let his
conscience get to him. He would just act like it didn't
even happen. Maybe she would even dismiss it as a
dream.

He rang the bell near his door and sat down in a

pouffy armchair. Hopkins opened the door minutes
later and bowed deeply at Draco. "Yes sir, what can
Hopkins do for you?"

"Breakfast. I want breakfast up here in my room this

morning." Draco said tiredly, slouching in the chair
and watching Hopkins' eyebrows shoot up.

"No breakfast with Missus Wheezy, sir?" He asked

bouncing anxiously on his feet.

"No. Please bring me my breakfast." He gave Hopkins

a look telling him to just let the subject alone. Hopkins
scurried out of the room and the door shut loudly
behind him, causing Draco to wince.

***
Ginny sat next to Raven at the big dining room table
wondering where Draco was. She stared at the
elegant lacy tablecloth and thought that maybe he
was regretting what he'd done the night before. Now
the friendship that she had been trying to build would
just be flushed down the toilet, never to be seen again
– except for maybe in sewer, but who would want it
then?

Ginny saw Hopkins dart in the room from the corner

of her eye and her head snapped up. "Hopkins?" she
called out.

He jumped, "Yes Missus Wheezy?" He was wringing

his hands and glancing around the room nervously.

"Where's Dr-Mr. Malfoy?" She inquired.

Hopkins looked as if he wasn't sure what to say.

Raven looked over at Ginny, frowning slightly. "Erm…
Mr. Malfoy is busy Missus."

"With what?" Ginny demanded.

"Well…err…you see Missus…" he looked down at the

small wrist watch he was wearing and jumped again.
"Oh sorry Missus, gots to be going now." He half ran
half hopped into the kitchen and reappeared seconds
later balancing a large tray on his head and walking
out of the room.
Ginny sat back in her seat, very confused. Draco
always came down to breakfast every single morning.
It must have been the kissing. It couldn't have been
anything else. He was probably repulsed with himself
for even touching her. She shivered.

"What's wrong Dinny?" Raven asked tilting her head

to the side.

"Nothing," Ginny said shaking her head. "Nothing."

"Wanna know what I did yesterday?" Raven peered

up at her eagerly.

"What?"

"Drakey took me flying! And I went up, and

WHOOSH! I felled off the broom! And Drakey—
Drakey is real fast he ZOOMED! And caught me in
the air. It was like I was flying…and…and…he's my
hero!" Raven said bouncing in her seat excitedly.

Ginny sat still for a moment. "He took you flying."

"Yup."

"And you fell off the broom."

"Yup."
"He caught you."

"Yup."

"You were on a broom all by yourself."

Raven sat up proudly. "Yup."

Ginny sighed loudly and pushed herself away from

the table, and pulled Raven out of her chair and took
her by the hand. She marched up the stairs to Draco's
room and knocked loudly on the door.

"Open up Malfoy! I know you're in there!" Ginny

shouted, tapping her foot impatiently.

The door swung open and a curious looking Draco

peeked out. "What?" he demanded looking from
Raven's playful face to Ginny's stern one. He pulled
the door open more and stepped back. "What did I do
now?"

"How could you take her flying? Do I have to remind

you that she's ONLY four years OLD! She could have
been seriously hurt or even worse. Did you even stop
to think of what would have happened if you hadn't
caught her? Huh? Mr. Hotshot, what if she had fallen
to the ground? What would you have done then?"

Draco opened his mouth to say something in his

defense but Ginny just kept on talking. "You're just as
irresponsible as I thought you would be! What where
you thinking? Did the DANGERS and possible
CONSEQUENCES even enter that thick skull of
yours? HUH? What would your cousins say if they
knew that you went flying with their daughter and she
FELL off the BROOM?"

Draco really couldn't think of anything to say. He

looked to Raven who was staring at Ginny with her
mouth open. "Well," he said, "Raven begged, and I
couldn't resist."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Draco, we're not talking about

a cookie before supper, we're talking about flying! It's
very easy to resist MISTER!" She poked his chest
with her forefinger. "All you have to do," poke, "Is
say," poke, "NO!" He brought his hand up to his chest
and started to rub it, scowling at her.

"It's not that EASY!" He growled. "It's hard to say no

to someone so cute," he looked over to Raven and his
eyes softened.

Ginny snorted, "Since when do you have a soft spot?"

He turned back to glare at her, rage boiling up inside

him. Why was she being so…so…mean? All he had
done was take Raven flying. It wasn't like he killed her
or anything. Was it because he kissed her last night?
Oh how he regretted that now.
"What do you mean by that?" he spat.

Ginny's lips tightened into a very thin line. "Well you're

supposed to play the part of the cold-hearted bastard
aren't you?" Raven gasped and put her hands over
her ears.

"And I guess you've adopted the role of the bitter

bitch?" Draco said sneering. Raven wriggled out of
Ginny's grasp and ran down the hall.

"What are you talking about? Why would I be bitter?"

Draco tapped his chin and acted like he was thinking.

"Oh I don't know…maybe it's because you've been
lusting over the same guy since you were NINE years
old and he still hasn't noticed you. Maybe that's why
you're so bitter."

Ginny let out a strangled cry, "Ah! How dare you talk
about Harry! This doesn't even have anything to do
with him! And I'm NOT still lusting over him!" Ginny
shouted, her face becoming as red as her hair.

"Right, and I'm supposed to believe that?"

"I don't care what you believe! The fact that you even
brought that up just proves my point. You're a cold-
hearted bastard! Only you would pull a cheap shot
like that to avoid the real issue. Which is the fact that
you made a mistake, you were irresponsible and
reckless and you can't even find it within yourself to
swallow that damn pride of yours and admit it."

"Oh, I'm proud? Take a look in the mirror Ginny.

You're too proud to admit what you really feel. I see
right through you. You're mad at me only because I
had the guts to tell you the truth. You're still in love
with Potter. You waste your time waiting for him and
refuse to get close to any other guy in the hopes that
one day he'll wake up and notice you. You're afraid
that you might start loving them instead of your
precious Potter, and that would mean that you're
betraying him. -Stop me if I'm wrong."

Ginny didn't say anything.

Draco sighed. "You even told me yourself that you

want to marry him. Well maybe you didn't exactly say
it, but you implied it. There are some things that you
just have to get over Weasley, and one of those
things is Potter."

Ginny stood with her head bowed, staring at the

carpet, her lower lip was quivering. Draco stared at
the quivering lip and remembered the night before. A
single tear rolled down her check and plummeted to
the floor.

"At least I'm trying," she whispered and fled down the
hall to her room and slammed the door. Draco sunk
against the frame of his door, wondering what had
happened to him. What had happened to the Draco
Malfoy that he knew and understood? Why did he feel
so chaotic? He shook his head violently and went
back into his room.

***

Ginny was sitting in a big armchair in the library,

resting her head in her hands staring out the window
at the pouring rain. Raven was playing with a muggle
Barbie.

"Oh Ken! I'm sorry I yelled at you, let's kiss and make
up." Ginny continued to stare forlornly out the window.

Tap, tap, she shook herself out of her daze and saw
an owl at the window. She opened it and the tawny
owl flew in dropping a letter into her lap and gracefully
perched itself at the top of her armchair.

Ginny picked it up and opened it:

Ginny,

It's Colin. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go

see Phantom of the Opera with me next Friday night. I
heard it is really good. I hope you'll come with me.
Owl me back and let me know.

Colin
Ginny smiled and folded it back up. Of course she
would go with him. It's exactly what she needed: a
nice, non-confusing date with Colin.

"Who is that from?" Raven asked looking at the letter

in Ginny's hand.

"A friend, he's asked me out on a date."

Raven frowned, "Boyfriend?"

Ginny sighed, "I guess so."

Raven's frown increased, "You can't go, you need to

stay and watch me." She got up and put her hands on
her hips, giving Ginny her sternest look. Ginny stifled
a giggle. "Well that's not for you to say, now is it?"

"You can't have a boyfriend."

"Why not?" Ginny asked, sitting back down in her

chair.

"Because…he isn't blond."

"Yes he is."

"He's not nice."

"Actually he's very nice, a perfect gentleman."

"He…doesn't have a big house," Raven said stoutly.

Ginny giggled, "No he doesn't. But that isn't what

matters."

"Well it should!"

"Why not too long ago you were pestering me about

not having a boyfriend. Now that I have one you think
that I shouldn't. Why shouldn't I have a boyfriend
Raven?" Ginny inquired curiously.

"Because he's not Drakey!" Raven stomped out of the

library, and lead Ginny on a wild goose chase.

***

This is ridiculous, Draco thought as he paced his

room. He hadn't left since the fight he'd had with
Ginny. What the hells wrong with me? Since when do
I hide from anyone? Especially a Weasley. He sighed
heavily and raked his fingers through his fine blond
hair. What is it about her that gets me so on edge?
Why am I pacing about my room thinking about her of
all people?

Raven burst into his room, panting, her hair flying

around her wildly. She looked around. "Drakey!" she
said excitedly. "Hide me!"

Draco hesitated then looked around his room for a

place to hide her. He pulled open a door on his
armoire and helped Raven in. Just as he closed the
door and turned around Ginny was at the door.

"Where's Raven?" she asked.

Draco shrugged, "I don't know. I thought I was paying

you to keep up with her."

Ginny scowled, "Well she ran off and I don't know

where she is!"

Draco heard Raven giggling in the armoire and

started coughing loudly to cover it up. Ginny frowned
and tried to look behind Draco. "Are you sure she isn't
in here?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Why would I hide her from

you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "But it seems like

something that you might do."

"I wouldn't."

Ginny looked intently at him for a moment. "Fine, I'm

going to go look for her." She walked out the door.
Draco sighed and turned to the armoire. "Draco,"
Ginny called walking back into the room. He jumped.

"God, Weasley don't sneak up on me like that."

"I wasn't sneaking up on you, why are you so jumpy?"

"I'm not jumpy, now what do you want?"

"I wanted to tell you that I am going to need next

Friday night off." Draco heard a muffled "NO" from the
armoire. "What was that noise Draco?"

"Nothing, just my stomach. I don't care if you take

Friday night off." A distinct thud emitted from the
armoire. Ginny looked toward it and the corners of her
mouth twitched.

"Well, I'm glad that you don't mind because Colin's

taking me to see Phantom of the Opera. I'm really
looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful
time."

"Creevy! That Potter-loving git with the camera? What

are you desperate?"

Ginny stepped toward him trembling with rage. "How

dare you. Colin is a wonderful guy. He's not the boy
you knew at Hogwarts, he's grown up, which is more
than I can say for you. You know, you have a lot of
nerve passing judgment on me when you yourself
don't have a girlfriend and put on that . . . that
ridiculous production to convince your boss that
you're engaged! I think you're the one who needs to
take a look in the mirror."
"Touché, Weasley. Did it take you all morning to come
up with that come back? Creevy is just a cheap
substitute for Potter. Did you really think that going
out with the President of his fan club would get you
over him?"

Ginny's eyes darkened. "My love life is none of your

business. If you say one more word, just one word,
just. . . one. . . tiny . . . smalll. . . word about it ever
again I will cut out your tongue with a dull, rusted
blade, flambé it and feed it to you."

Draco closed the space between them and brought

his face within inches of Ginny's. "Well that's a very
Slytherin-like threat Virginia. We'll just have to see
how good you are with a blade then, won't we? Your
fencing lesson will be in an hour."

Ginny stood dumfounded. Draco stepped back and

smirked. "Shouldn't you go find Raven?"

"Huh? Ginny snapped out of her daze. "Yes, I'm going

to find Raven." She walked toward the door.

"Ginny."

"Yes?"

"Don't be late. I hate to be kept waiting." Ginny left to

try and find Raven.
Draco let Raven out of the armoire after Ginny left
and shooed her out of the room. "You better run
before you get me into more trouble kid." Raven took
off giggling like mad, turned a corner and ran into
Ginny.

Ginny wasn't paying attention to Raven at all, she was

thinking. She was thinking of Draco, the one person
she didn't want to be thinking of. But she couldn't
stop, not after he had kissed her like that. What was
worse was the fact that he hadn't said anything about
it. He'd acted like it hadn't happened.

Maybe it was just a dream…no it wasn't, there was no

way that it could have be a dream.

Raven peered up at Ginny with little girl concern.

"Dinny? Dinny?" When Ginny didn't respond, Raven
put her small hot hand on Ginny's frigid one.

Ginny jerked back to reality and looked to Raven.

"There you are, don't run away from me like that, this
place is huge, I thought I'd never find you." She
clasped Raven's hand and they walked to the library.
Ginny sat by the window. Raven hopped up on the
white couch and started jumping up and down. After a
few minutes of jumping she got off the couch and
went to Ginny.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked.

Ginny shook her head and looked out the window
where she saw Draco flying around the wet quidditch
pitch outside. He was racing around the hoops, his
cloak billowing out behind him as he flew.

She sighed and looked back to Raven, "Nothing."

Raven sat on Ginny's lap and curled up against her.

Raven wasn't sure what exactly was going on. All she
knew was that she wanted Draco and Ginny together
and there had been a whole lot of yelling earlier that
morning. As young as she was, she knew that wasn't
good.

Ginny brought Raven to Mrs. Wells and then asked

Hopkins where Draco was, as he hadn't told her
where the lesson would be. "Why he would be in the
ballroom Miss Wheezy." Ginny stared at him
completely confused, "Malfoy has aballroom?"

Hopkins nodded earnestly, "Would Miss Wheezy like

Hopkins to show her where it is?" He looked excited
at the prospect of showing Ginny a part of the house
she hadn't been in before.

"Sure." Hopkins showed her to the ballroom and she

walked in. The ceiling was extraordinary; it reminded
her of the one in Beauty and the Beast – a muggle
movie she had watched while babysitting for Ron and
Hermione's son. While staring in awe, she heard a
loud crash. She whipped her head around the room
and saw nothing.

Then Draco came in through a side door holding a

white bag. Ginny looked at him and raised an
eyebrow, "What was that?"

He blinked, "What?"

"That…you know, the crashing noise?" Ginny asked

wondering how he could be rather dense about the
most painfully obvious things.

He smirked, "Oh that…. The cabinet wouldn't open."

Ginny's mouth fell open.

"The cabinet wouldn't open, so you broke it?"

"Why not, it's easily fixed."

Ginny shook her head and mumbled "Men" under her

breath. He moved to the center of the ballroom and
dropped the bag on the floor; it made clanging noises
that caused Ginny cringe.

She looked at him, waiting for what he would do next.

He bent down and pulled out two very pointy looking
types of swords. Each had an elaborate 'M' carved
onto the handle. "This," he said handing one to her,
"Is a foil. The foil is the most basic weapon in fencing.
There's also a saber and an épée . " He bent down
and pulled out white suits. "We have to put these on
for safety."

Ginny held one in her hand looking at it dubiously.

"Isn't there supposed to be a mask that goes with
this?"

"You're just beginning, it's not like we're going to spar

and you're going to be able to take my eye out."

"What about my eye?" Ginny asked glaring at him.

He shrugged, "I'll try not to aim too high."

Ginny let out a cry of indignation. "That isn't funny

Malfoy."

"Just shut up and let me teach. Now, as I was

saying…." Draco went on and explained to her, after
they had donned their suits, what defensive and
offensive stances looked like. He also showed her on-
guard, a position that you could use to start either a
defensive of offense move. He taught her the proper
way to lunge and thrust. She was a fast learner but
was still clumsy with her foil being that her hand
wasn't quite used to it yet. After an hour they stopped
and Hopkins brought them some water.

They sat on the floor silently, sipping the cool water

slowly. Draco set his cup on the floor. "Do you want to
try to spar?"
Ginny sighed and looked at the foil that was lying next
to her. "I guess I could try."

"Then get up and come on." He said standing up and

grabbing his foil. They stood on-guard. "Ready?" She
nodded and they started. She thrust her foil and he
parried her block, striking her torso, earning himself a
point. After that, Draco went a little easier on her;
blocking her blows and letting her block his. They
worked their way across the room until he had her
practically in a corner. He lunged forward causing her
to step back and her back hit the wall. Draco hit her
foil from her hand; it clattered to the floor and rolled
away. She watched it nervously, and then looked
back to Draco. She was going to just knee him and
run for her foil, but her brought up his arm and used it
to press her against the wall. She gulped and looked
daringly into his eyes; afraid that she might see the
same thing she had seen earlier that morning. Yes,
the look was there, and it was scaring her.

Draco saw her eyes flick to his lips, and her tongue
dart out of her mouth to lick her lips. He almost
laughed. Draco brought his lips down slowly toward
hers.

"Why?" She blurted out.

He moved his head back and looked at her, "What do

you mean 'why'?"
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Why did
you kiss me last night?"

His stomach flipped, he knew that she was going to

ask about it. She wasn't one of those women who he
could just snog and they wouldn't care why. She
needed to know. And this was the moment that he
had been dreading. What was he going to say? That
he felt a weird twinge in his chest every time that she
was around? One that he couldn't explain, and didn't
want explained for fear of what it might mean. What to
say…

Chapter 9
By: VirtualFaerie

Draco looked at her, still calculating, and it spilled out

of his throat and onto his tongue before he could stop
it. "Because I could."

Ginny's eyes widened, her jaw clenched, eyebrows

lowered. "You really are a cold-hearted bastard." She
brought up her knee, hit his groin, hard, and slapped
him as she stormed out of the ballroom. How
disappointing. But what did she think he was going to
say? Did she think he was going to profess his love
and start spouting flowery poetry? Heck no. That was
definitely something that he wouldn't do. She should
have known he probably only wanted a thrill; wanted
a quick kiss. Hey!-Why not get one from the bloody
nanny?

She stomped up the stairs, not even giving a thought

to Raven and slammed her door as she went into her
room. She peeled off the white suit and locked herself
in the bathroom. She sat on the floor and cried. Ginny
wasn't really sure what else to do. All he had done
was kiss her; she shouldn't have expected anything
from it. It was completely pointless. She should have
just let it alone.

Resting her head on her knees she sighed loudly.

There wasn't anything that she could do now. But life
was going to be hell living in the same house with
him. She would leave if it wasn't for Raven. She
couldn't just leave Raven here with him, with an old
nanny who wouldn't know how to let the little girl have
fun. She cried heavier, feeling the salty tears roll
down her cheeks and onto her knees. There was
nothing she could do now; there was definitely no way
that she could go back. But it wasn't her fault. If he
hadn't kissed her this would have never happened.
Never.

She got up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her

eyes and nose were red, and her hair was messed
up. She ran her fingers through her hair and slumped
against the counter. There was nothing she could do.
She was totally helpless in this whole situation and
she didn't like it. It was driving her crazy. She just
wanted to erase the whole thing from her memory.
Seeing Colin's letter sitting on the counter, she picked
it up and smiled. At least she had Colin to look
forward to; nice sensible Colin who would never do
anything like this to her. Colin was nervous about
kissing her, Colin asked her to musicals, Colin cared
about her, and Colin was a friend. She was so lucky
to have Colin; someone dependable, someone who
hadn't changed and was as predictable as the
seasons.

She turned on the faucet and let the cold-water fall

over her hands. She caught some in her palms and
splashed it on her face. She rubbed her eyes and
looked back at her reflection. Not her best, but it was
better than before. She brought her necklace out from
under her shirt and fingered the charm. For luck, she
told herself.

Merlin knew she needed it.

-_-

Because I could.

Those words were going to haunt him.

Draco groaned. Damn, it hurt. He was slumped

against the wall with his eyes shut. It hurt. She
couldn't believe that she did that. Or maybe he could,
he was just surprised. He wouldn't be surprised if she
left now. It wouldn't surprise him at all.

He couldn't believe he said that. What was wrong with

him? Why couldn't he have said something that
wouldn't have made her so mad? Why not something
like, "Because you're beautiful."

Wait. Did he just think that she was beautiful? He

shook his head violently. No, he didn't, it was just the
pain. The pain was making him delirious. He wasn't
thinking clearly. But still, he should have thought of
something gentler to say. Life was going to be hell
now. He was mad and he knew that she had to be
mad. You couldn't get away with saying something
like that to a woman and not have her be mad at you.
It just didn't work that way.

Hopkins poked his head into the room. "Master

Malfoy?" he called out carefully. Obviously he had
heard something.

"What?" Draco muttered ill temperedly. Why did

Hopkins have to bother him now?

"Would you be liking something sir?"

"Ice. Get me lots of ice," he said opening his eyes and

looking at the nervous house-elf. Hopkins darted back
and shut the door.

Maybe…he thought, just maybe I love her. No…yes…

no…. No I don't, he decided. He sighed loudly; there
really was no denying it. He wouldn't be feeling so
lousy for saying what he did if he didn't care for her at
least a little bit. There was no way.

Okay, he thought, there's a step in a new direction. I

have feelings for a Weasley. I'm an idiot. A big, big
idiot. What am I going to do?

Hopkins scurried across the room and set a tub of ice

in front of Draco and some hand towels. He bowed
and rushed out of the room. Draco rolled his eyes; let
the stupid house elf be scared of him. See if he cared.
He might as well make everyone else miserable since
he was. He wasn't going to let everyone else be
happy while he was upset. No, everyone was going to
suffer with him. And he wasn't going to have it any
other way.

He stood up and picked up the tub of ice and hand

towels. He walked with a slight limp out of the
ballroom and to the closest library. He took off his
white suit and slouched on a couch.

Everyone should be miserable if he was.

-_-

Ginny came out of the bathroom and paced her room.

What was she going to do now? She wasn't
comfortable in this house anymore. Ginny got her bag
out of her closet and began to pull her clothes off their
hangers to pack. She stopped and thought of Raven.
It wouldn't be fair to Raven to just leave her alone
there with Draco, especially if it was likely that he
would be in a sour mood. She sighed unhappily and
pulled on a clean robe. She got out her wand and
made up her mind.

She was going home. Even if it was only for the

evening she was going. She wasn't going to worry
about Raven, she would be fine with Ms. Wells and
Draco wouldn't do anything to her. She just needed to
go home and sort through some things in peace, or in
as much peace as she could have in her messed up
life.

Waving her wand she disappeared and reappeared in

her mother's homey kitchen. It was warm and the
smell of fresh baked cookies permeated the air. Her
mother was at the counter, wiping flour up with a
dishcloth. Mrs. Weasley turned around and saw her
daughter. She smiled happily and rushed over to her,
wrapping her up in a big bone-crushing motherly hug.

"Hi mom," Ginny said tiredly, smiling wanly at her

happy mother.

"Hey darling, I'm so glad you came. Guess who's

here?" She clasped her hands and nodded towards
the living room. Ginny turned around and walked
through the door.
Sprawled on the couch with his feet hanging over the
edge was Harry Potter; her famous Boy-Who-Lived.
He ran his hand through his hair and turned to look at
her. His bright green eyes sparkled from under his
glasses and a big grin spread across his face. He got
up off the couch and gave her a hug and peck on the
forehead. "Hey Gins, I was hoping that I would get to
see you."

Ginny faked a smile; there was something different

about Harry. She wasn't sure what it was. But she
knew that he was missing something. "Hi Harry," she
said looking up at him and kissing his cheek; nothing.
Why was she feeling nothing when she kissed him?
She was supposed to feel fireworks, her toes were
supposed to tingle. But they didn't. What was wrong?
"Glad to see you," she said half-heartedly.

He peered at her concerned, "What's wrong?" He

asked quietly, his eyes darting to the kitchen door to
see if Mrs. Weasley was listening. She wasn't.

Ginny shrugged and looked away, "Nothing."

"Bull."

She shut her eyes, refusing to look at him. What was

she supposed to say? Hey, Draco Malfoy kisses me
and I'm angry. No. "I said nothing. Please don't ask
me. I came home to get away."
He still didn't leave her alone. "It's Malfoy isn't it?"

Harry surprised her, "What?"

"I know you're working for him. I've known since I saw
the clipping your mother showed me. His address is
common knowledge to aurors." Harry said still looking
at the door.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and tried to push past him.

"Don't worry about it."

He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her

pensively. "What do you mean don't worry about it?
Ginny, I'm worried…."

"I can't take care of myself; it's none of your

business."

"Has he hurt you?" Harry asked.

"No," she said and ran up the stairs to her room,

locking the door behind her. She didn't want to talk to
Harry right now; especially since he was so set on
knowing her personal business, which had absolutely
nothing to do with him. Why the sudden curiosity?
She flopped over onto her bed and stared at the
ceiling.

Why haven't I ever had a canopy? She thought, totally

randomly. She remembered that whenever she was a
kid that she always wanted a canopy bed, just like the
princesses had. But she never got one. She wanted a
pink one with white ruffles. There wasn't one; all that
was there was a curiously brown stained ceiling.

She shook her head, no thinking about ceilings and

canopies, she told herself; wondering if she had finally
lost her mind. It certainly seemed so since she
actually let Draco Malfoy kiss her the night before,
and didn't say anything about it until a little while ago.
Her brain must have finally died; there was no
thinking. She didn't know what to think anymore. If he
hadn't said, because I could, would she still have
kissed him? Did she want him to kiss her? Yes, of
course she did. You couldn't get kisses like that just
anywhere. She hit her forehead with a flat palm. Why
was she thinking things like that? It was Malfoy for
Merlin's sake. She wasn't supposed to feel that way
when he kissed her. Why did she let herself even
think, or hope that he had actually meant something
by it?

Kicking her shoes off, she turned on her stomach and

buried her face in her pillow. She couldn't breathe, so
she turned her head only to see Colin's picture on her
corkboard. She hadn't remembered putting it up, but
she must have…her brain was definitely resting with
lilies.

It was a picture of her and Colin in their sixth year,

sitting but the lake with their arms around each other.
They both looked so happy in that picture that Ginny
wanted to be sick. Smiling and winking and jumping…
sixteen was such a ditzy age for her. She groaned
and turned her head the other way, deciding the she
preferred to look out the window at the rain, then at
the cheerful photo.

-_-

Sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, on a

couch in the library, Draco was staring out the window
at the rain as well. He was trying to decide on a wise
thing to say to Ginny; something that wouldn't give her
a reason to permanently handicap him. So far he had
could come up with absolutely nothing that would
insure that his appendages would remain intact. And
that wasn't very comforting.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Draco winced and covered his ears and

looked into the red face of Miss Wells. "What do you
want? Can't you see I'm busy?" he snarled.

"I can't find Miss Weasley." Raven was holding onto

Miss Wells' leg looking like she was having entirely
too much fun being dragged around to know what
was going on.

Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to the window,

"Surprise, surprise." He had been expecting this. It
was inevitable; she was going to leave. And it was all
because of his recently enlarge mouth, one that didn't
know the correct things to say..

Miss Wells was shocked. "What did you say sir?"

He gave her an annoyed glance, "Go away, you're

bothering me." She just looked at him. "Get out!" he
snapped. "And take the kid with you!" Raven wasn't
so happy anymore; her hero had just called her a kid,
and it wasn't in good context. Raven frowned; her
hopes for Ginny and Draco now seemed to be going
down the drain. A lone tear trekked down her face as
Miss Wells hurried out of the room, pulling Raven
behind her.

Sighing and looking back to the window, a place that

was very useful while thinking, Draco thought of what
he was going to do now. Getting a new nanny
sounded like it should be number one on his list. But
of course it wasn't. Number one was the incessant
nagging of the thought that he needed to make
amends with Ginny. Never before had he felt the need
to do this, but having already recognized the fact that
he did indeed have feelings for this certain female
Weasley, it was something that must be done. Sure
he was an idiot for the feelings, but it wasn't like he
could just tell them to go away and they would. Nope,
feelings don't work like that; they have a mind of their
own.

The door opened again. It was Miss Wells…again.

"What do you want?" Draco said so coldly it could
have frozen the sun. He was that angry and agitated.

"Miss Weasley is back."

"That's nice. Get me some coffee."

-_-

The following week was probably the grumpiest and

most dismal week in Malfoy/Weasley history. Not a
word passed between Ginny and Draco. They stayed
away from each other, and when they were in the
same room by chance, one left without a word. The
entire staff of the mansion was seriously considering
quitting, except for Hopkins because he loved being a
house elf as house elves do.

Being around Draco was like being in the fiery pits of

hell. You were yelled at constantly, and snapped at to
go bring him coffee. Something he thought would
calm his nerves but only served to make him more
restless.

Ginny and Raven stayed in the second floor library.

Draco didn't come in there for any reason at all. Not
even when he realized he had left the book that he
was currently reading in there. No way was he going
to go anywhere near Ginny. He couldn't, he wouldn't
know what was going to come out of his mouth and
he didn't know what her reaction to
On Thursday the doorbell rang and Hopkins ran to
answer it. Standing at the door was a very stressed
looking Harry Potter. Hopkins called Ginny down to
him.

Ginny wasn't happy to see him at all. "What?"

He blinked, "I was sent to come and check on you."

"By motherly forces I assume?" Ginny stepped

outside.

"Also by brotherly forces as well," Harry said looking

at his watch. Ginny noticed.

"You can go. I'm fine; I don't need you checking up on

me. So do us both a favor and don't bother." She said
callously.

Harry looked at her deeply alarmed. "What's gotten

into you?"

Ginny's face showed absolutely no emotion. "Since

when have you cared?" She walked back inside,
slamming the door with a satisfying bang in Harry's
face.

Draco appeared at her elbow, "Who was that?"

"You're best friend," Ginny said sarcastically. "Potter."

He nodded and left. There wasn't much to say
between them. That was the most civil conversation
that had been had in the past few days.

Then came time for the musical with non-confusing

Colin.

Raven was perched on Ginny's bed, watching as she

went through her closet looking for something to
wear. Raven had a look of distaste on her face; her
arms were crossed and her lips pouting. She
obviously didn't want Ginny to go on this date.

"Are you sure you really like this Golin guy?" she
asked, hope evident in her voice.

Ginny turned to face Raven and smiled, "It's Colin and

yes, I'm sure that I like him. Are you okay Raven? You
seem a bit…sad about something." Raven started
mumbling under her breath. "What was that?" Ginny
asked; her back now turned to the dark faced little girl.

"Nothing," Raven muttered flopping back on the bed.

She started up at the canopy with a thoughtful face.

"What do you think? Should I wear this one?" When

Raven looked to Ginny she saw that she had on the
green robe, probably the only appropriate thing she
had to wear. Raven's mouth fell open and she
clapped her hand over it.
Shaking her head she said, "No, no, no…." She slid
down the side of the bed, walked to the closet and
started yanking on a wooly gray robe. It came down,
hanger and all and Raven thrust it in Ginny's direction.
"That's better," she said approvingly, while Ginny
eyed the robe dubiously.

"Uh—Raven, I don't think so. Besides, this is a winter

robe." She said mildly.

Raven let out an exasperated sigh, "You'll probably

get cold in there!" she said, as if it was the most
obvious thing in the world.

The corners of Ginny's mouth quirked up in a smile,

"Well, I guess it could be okay." Raven nodded
enthusiastically. "It just needs a little work."

Raven frowned, "What do you mean?"

Ginny shrugged, "You'll see." Then she walked into

the bathroom with the frumpy robes and her wand.

Raven jumped back onto the bed again and made

herself comfortable. She knew how long her mother
took in the bathroom and prepared herself for a long
wait.

It was a good thing she did, because Ginny didn't

emerge from the bathroom for twenty minutes. When
she came out Raven was engrossed in a game of
imaginary hopscotch and was singing nursery rhymes
as she hopped all about the room in hopscotch
patterns.

Raven whirled around, tearing herself from her game

to look at Ginny. She gasped. Somehow Ginny had
managed to transfigure the ugly robes into a stunning
black dress. The dress was silky and hung to her,
emphasizing every curve to make her appear more
voluptuous.

Raven shook her head furiously, "Uh-uh, there's no

way you're leaving the house in that, Dinny!" she half
shouted. She stood steadfast at the door, shaking her
head again. "Nuh-uh."

Rolling her eyes, Ginny said, "It doesn't matter

because I'm not leaving yet anyways. I still have to do
my hair and makeup." She turned on her heel and
stalked into the bathroom, casting a playful grin in
Raven's direction.

Raven plopped herself down on he floor in front of the

door and crossed her arms. There was no way she
was going to let that Colin guy see her like that. He
might start to think that Ginny liked him.

Peering at her reflection in the mirror, Ginny gave her

curls a bounce. She had her hair down and curled;
her hair went down to the small of her back and
looked like locks of silk. She was wearing her gold
necklace with the heart pendant and gold hoop
earrings. Sighing, Ginny decided that what she saw
would have to do.

She stepped out of the bathroom and pulled some

black heels from her closet, conscious of the angry
looks she was getting from Raven. She pulled on the
shoes and stoop up, smoothing her dress and facing
Raven, who was still sitting in front of the door.

"Okay Raven, the game is over. I have to go now."

Raven just stared up at her defiantly. "I'm serious
Raven," Ginny said warningly. "Now please move."
No reaction from Raven. "Don't make me move you,"
a stone face. "I'll tell Draco," she tried with no luck.

Ginny put her hands under Raven's arms and lifted

her out of the way. She opened the door and started
out, then realized that one of her legs was noticeably
heavier than the other. Raven was sitting on Ginny's
foot, holding her leg tightly.

"Raven," she scolded, "Get off my leg."

"No."

"Now Raven."

Raven's reply was an insistent, "No."

"I'm not kidding."

"Me neither."

Just then, they both turned and saw Draco coming

their way. He stopped dead in his tracks, one
eyebrow shot up as he looked at Ginny. Just seeing
her all dressed up, or just seeing her at all made that
twinge that had been a dull throb in his heart, become
a searing pain. She looked like an angel, despite the
fact that she had a four-year-old clinging to her leg.
That's when he remembered that she was supposed
to be going somewhere with Creevey.

"So," he smirked, walking closer to them. "Planning to

go on that big date with her," he cast a pointed look in
Raven's direction, "Attached to your leg?"

"No," she scowled, "I was trying to get her off."

"Oh?" he asked peevishly. "Why do that? She adds to

that costume of yours."

She put her hands on her hips, "You could at least

help me get her off," she said crossly.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down

at Raven leisurely. "I could, but," he stifled a yawn
with his hand, "I just so tired."

"Fine then, I don't need your help." Ginny said starting

to tug at Raven's hands. Raven held on tightly,
refusing to move. Raven's cheeks were flushed and
her jaw was set in a frown as she watched Ginny try
to pull her off, just tightening her grip as she did so.
"Raven," she said anxiously, "If you don't get off now
then I'll be late, and extremely angry."

Raven didn't respond; she just stuck her nose up in

the air insolently. "Raven," Ginny pleaded, "Please
get off before I have to do something drastic," still
nothing from the stubborn four-year old.

"You asked for it," Ginny asked, walking into her

room, her left leg slowed down because of Raven.
Draco watched them with an amused smirk and
followed to the door of Ginny's room. She was riffling
through a drawer noisily, when she had finally found
the object of pursuit, her wand, she held it up in the
air with a triumphant, "Aha!"

Raven looked up at her doubtfully, "What are you

going to do with that?" she asked slowly.

One corner of Ginny's lip curled up, "That's for me to

know, and you to find out, the hard way." She held up
her wand and started whispering something softly.
Draco, standing at the door strained his ears to hear
the words that her lips were forming. When she was
done she grinned and lifted the tip of her wand up in
the air slightly, and with it Raven's bottom lifted
slightly off of her foot. She moved up higher and
higher until Raven's rear end was suspended in mid-
air.

Raven let out a squeal and looked over at Draco

frightened. He was to busy laughing to notice. Moving
her wand some more she guided Raven to the bed
and plopped her down smack-dab in the center of it.
Raven glared at her and said, "You're going to be
sorry you did that."

Ginny lifted an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

Raven pursed her lips and nodded, "Yes."

Draco was still doubled over laughing as Ginny

grabbed her purse and left the room. When he looked
up he saw that Raven's insolent demeanor had
vanished, her eyes were watery and her lower lip was
trembling. "Drakey," she said in a shaky voice, "I didn'
want Dinny to go."

He immediately sobered up and sat on the edge of

the bed. "I could tell, but you really shouldn't do things
like that," he said trying to hide a smile.

"But Drakey, she went out on a date with the Golin

guy," Raven said sadly. "I don't like the Golin guy."

Draco shook his head, "It doesn't matter if you like

him or not, Ginny does and that's what matters. If she
wants to date a poor obnoxious reporter, then that's
her business.

"But I didn't want her too!" She said as she crossed

her arms and stomped her foot. Draco reached out
and pulled Raven onto his lap and gave her a
reassuring hug.

"Raven," he said suavely. "If he's what Ginny wants

we have to let her have him."

"Nuh-uh," she said quietly, "Drakey, you could fix it."

"No I can't."

"Yes you can!" she argued, glaring up at him.

"I can't Raven," he said closing his eyes, then he

added softly, "It's too late, besides it would never
work."

"But I want you and Dinny to be together, I'll never

see her again if she marries Golin," Raven said
snuggling into Draco's chest.

"Raven, Ginny loves you, I'm sure that you'll see her
even if she does marry Golin."

She jerked back from him like he was fire; "No she
won't! You're going to let Golin take her away! You
won't even try to stop him!" she shouted and fled the
room. Draco watched her leave and heard the door to
her room slam.

He put his head in his hands and sighed, "What have

I gotten myself into?" he asked wearily.

-_-

Ginny apparated to her parent's house and waited for

Colin. Getting him to pick her up at Draco's house
meant there might be an unnecessary confrontation.
The last thing she wanted was for Draco to pick a
fight with Colin. It would probably be okay for him to
drop her off though, it would probably be late and
Draco would already be in bed.

She appeared in the kitchen were her mother was

cleaning up dishes. She glanced back at Ginny and
her face lit up. "Ginny dear!" she gushed wiping her
hands off on a hand towel. "Darling, I'm so glad that
you've come home! You know, you're father is home
tonight. We could all visit and…" she stopped as she
noticed what Ginny was wearing. She frowned and
said, "Why are you dressed like that?"

Ginny smiled, "I'm going on a date. You like?" She

twirled around and looked at her mother hopefully.

"Oh…" she breathed, "Honey, you just look so…

beautiful and grown up." She said thickly, tears in her
eyes.
"Mother…" Ginny said blushing.

Suddenly her mother's nostalgic manner disappeared

and was replaced with a curious one. "Who is it that
you're going out on this date with?"

"Colin."

Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands together, "I knew it! I

knew it! I just knew that you liked him as more that a
friend, even though you told me you didn't!" She
grinned at Ginny delightedly and wrapped her arms
around her for a hug. The doorbell rang and Ginny
pulled back from her mother's embrace.

"That's him mother," she said smiling, "I'll see you

sometime soon." She gave her mother a peck on the
cheek and went to answer the door.

Colin was standing there, as expected, wearing a suit

and holding a single red rose in his hand. Ginny
gasped-a rose? He looked up at her and smiled
warmly, "Hello Ginny," he held the rose up to her,
"this is for you."

"Oh thank you!" Ginny said taking the rose from him.
She looked at it hesitantly and then back toward him.
"Maybe you should step inside for a moment while I
go put this in water real quick," she held the door
open from him as he stepped in and guided him to the
living room, "I'll be just a second," she said walking
into the kitchen.

Her mother looked at her as she walked back in with

the rose. "Oh Ginny!" she said excitedly.

Ginny shot her a look, "Mother! He's right out there,"

she whispered.

Mrs. Weasley put her hand over her mouth and

mumbled, "Sorry." Then her eyes lit up, as if she
remembered something. "Ginny, there's something
that I've wanted to tell you."

"What?" she asked looking up from the vase that she

was filling up at the sink.

"The clock, the one in the living room-" she was cut off
by Ginny setting the vase on the counter loudly.

She gave her mother a pleading look and said, "I'm

sorry mom, I really am, could we can talk about this
later?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded and Ginny quickly left the

kitchen.

-_-

Colin took Ginny to a small, but fancy French

restaurant a few blocks from the Theater. At first Colin
was quiet, but then he began chatting about
seemingly everything he could think of. Ginny found
herself nodding politely and smiling in between
mouthfuls.

"This is a really nice place, we'll have to come her

again." Ginny smiled. "It's getting late Ginny, we
should probably get going, we can stop back
afterwards for dessert, would you like that?"

"I'm too full for dessert now anyway, besides, I'm

anxious to get to the Theater."

Colin opened the door for Ginny and they walked

toward the Theater. As they walked along Colin
tentatively reached out and held Ginny's hand. When
they arrived at the Theater Ginny was overwhelmed
by the ornate architecture and the elaborate paintings
that covered the ceilings. It was all so beautiful. They
showed their tickets to the usher and were lead up the
stairs and to seats in the first row of the Mezzanine.
"Are you glad you came?" Colin asked smiling at her.

Ginny nodded, "Yes, I can't wait for it to start." Ginny

opened up her Playbill and read about the show and
cast. Colin started drumming his fingers on the
armrest. Ginny glanced down at his fingers. "The
playbill's interesting, you should take a look at it."

"Sure." Colin opened his playbill and Ginny went back

to reading hers only to be distracted by the sound of
Colin wringing and tapping his Playbill. Ginny went
back to reading, but was becoming increasingly
annoyed. The Theater was becoming full and the
orchestra started tuning their instruments. The house
lights dimmed and the Theater became quiet.

The curtains opened and the prologue started with the

auction of items from the Paris Opera House. A large
chandelier was next on the auction block. The man lit
the chandelier and there was a small explosion, the
organ and orchestra blared and the chandelier rocked
and swayed as it was raised over the crowd to the
ceiling. It hung from the ceiling, burning brightly as the
curtain closed and opened to the first act. Ginny was
enthralled by it all.

Her reverie was broken during the middle of the first

act by the drumming of Colin's fingers against her
armrest. She leaned her head in his direction and
whispered, "Please stop".

He looked at her and then down to his fingers, "This?"

he asked holding them up and wiggling them. She
nodded shortly, "Oh, yes, sorry." He said meekly,
slouching in his seat a little.

The curtain came down and the intermission was

announced. Ginny watched as people around her got
up and went into the lobby. She sighed happily and
then became aware of the drumming of fingers. She
looked at Colin and he stopped. "I don't know about
you, but I'd like to get something to drink." She said.
"Yeah, that sounds good." He held out his hand and
helped her out of her seat. "I think I might get some
wine, what would you like?"

"Wine sounds great," Ginny said as they started down

the stairs towards the lobby. They went to the bar and
Colin asked for two glasses of red wine. The cute
bartender smiled at Ginny and winked. She quickly
looked the other way and took a sip of her wine.
Couldn't he tell that she was on a date? "Come on,"
Ginny said touching Colin's arm, "Let's go over to the
kiosk and see what they're selling."

They walked over to the crowded kiosk. She savored

her wine as she looked at the merchandise. Colin just
sort of hung around at her elbow like a bored child.
Ginny turned to Colin; he clearly wasn't enjoying
himself. She smiled, "I suppose we should make or
way back to our seats."

Colin smiled, "That sounds good, you finished with

your wine?"

"Ginny! Ginny!" someone said behind her. She turned

around and was met with the curious face of Mr.
Murphy. Oh Merlin, she thought.

Au Paire
Chapter 10—The Non-Believers
By VirtualFaerie
"Hello there, Ginny," Mr. Murray said coming to stand
besides her, smiling genially. Ginny's arm flew up to
clamp onto Colin's firmly, warning him not to say
anything.

"Hello," Ginny said, grinning, her grip on Colin's arm

so tight he thought it might fall off.

Mr. Murray looked at her, and then his eyes rested on

Colin. He gave him a curious look and asked,
"Where's Draco?"

Ginny blinked for a moment, "He's at home; he wasn't

feeling well tonight."

"Then who is this?"

"This is my cousin, Carl," she said, giving Colin both a

look, and tightening her grip even more. "He came in
Draco's place."

"Nice to meet you, Carl," Mr. Murray said holding out

a hand.

Colin took his hand and smiled, "Nice to meet you

too."

Mr. Murray smiled at Ginny, "Well, I'll be off. Enjoy the

show; see you soon, Ginny. –At the wedding?"
"Of course," Ginny said waving at him as he walked
away. She sighed loudly and put her face in her
hands. "That was so freaking close I don't even want
to think about it."

"Why was that close, Ginny?" Colin asked angrily.

"What was that all about? –Introducing me as your
cousin?" He raised both of his eyebrows and looked
at her expectantly. "And why did that man ask you
where Draco was? And whose wedding was he
talking about?"

"Well, Colin," Ginny started out, rubbing the bridge of

her nose. He was really starting to stress her out.
"That was Mr. Murray; he's Draco's new boss. He
thinks that I'm Draco's fiancé."

Before Ginny could finish explaining, Colin said, "Do

you want me to go over there right now and tell him
you aren't?"

"Colin, just be quiet. I pretended to be his fiancé to

help him get the job."

"Why would you help Malfoy? -Did he threaten you?"

Colin demanded hotly.

"No, he didn't."

Colin stepped closer and looked intently into Ginny's

eyes. "Did he put a spell on you?"
"Draco would never do anything like that!" Colin's
countenance darkened.

"Are you in love with him?" He asked warily.

"No, I'm not," she glared at him.

"Well then why else would you pose as his fiancé?"

"I did it because . . . because, well it doesn't even

matter why I did it. The point is that it's such a small
thing and I don't see why you're overreacting. – I
mean, I don't see what's so horrible about what we
did, it's not that big of a deal."

"But it is a big deal," Colin exclaimed. "Living with

Malfoy has changed you. You didn't used to act like
this—so deceiving and underhanded. —Like a
Slytherin. You even said I was your cousin! Like there
was something wrong with being seen with me." He
sighed. "You're not the Ginny I know; let me take you
home—to your mother, you don't have to keep living
like this."

Ginny pursed her lips, "Since when did you become

an expert on me? Being with Draco hasn't changed
me one bit. You're being an overbearing prat!" She
glared, "I don't need you to take me home."

"Fine, run home to your 'fiancé'." Colin said bitterly.

"He's not…" she trailed off turned on her heel and
walked out of the building. She didn't need to defend
herself to him.

***

"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!"

Raven clapped her hands more than necessary. "If
you're happy and you know it clap your hands! If
you're happy and you know it and you really wanna
show it! If you're happy and you know it clap your
hands!" Raven stood up and began bouncing around
the room, clapping her hands feverishly, grinning from
ear to ear.

"Stop it!" Draco called from his seat on the couch.

"You're giving me a headache."

Raven walked over to the couch, shaking her bottom.

"Eeeeexcussssse ME!" She said sticking her nose up
in the air. "But you are always having headaches,
Drakey."

"Gee, I wonder why," Draco said looking at her

pointedly.

Raven lifted her eyebrows and nodded, "Yeah, me

too." Draco rolled his eyes and flung his head back
dramatically causing Raven to start giggling. "Ha ha,
Drakey is dumb!" She pointed at him and kept
giggling.

Draco scowled at her, lifting his head back up. "What

did you say?"

Raven's mouth made a perfect 'o' shape. "Nothing…."

She mumbled putting her hands on her cheeks.

Draco's mouth curled up into a mischievous grin,

"Nope, you definitely didn't say 'nothing'." He got up
off of the couch slowly and made his way towards
Raven, who was backing up. "I think you said I was
dumb."

"No, Drakey, I never—"

"DRACO MALFOY!" Both Draco and Raven cringed.

"COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Ginny's voice
echoed through the house.

"Uh-oh," said Raven. "Drakey's in trouble." Draco shot

her a look and walked out of the room quickly. Raven
giggled and she rushed out of the room after him.

***

She had her finger pointed at him, and her scolding

voice on. "This is all your fault. You ruined my date,
my night, EVERYTHING!"

"Now really, I don't think I ruined anything," Draco

said rolling his eyes. The he frowned, "How did I ruin
your date? I wasn't even there."

"And you better be glad you weren't. I might have

killed you...with a plastic spoon."

Draco shuddered, a plastic spoon didn't sound so

pleasant. "What happened?"

"What happened? -What didn't happen!" Ginny sighed

and flopped down in a chair. "See, everything was
going wonderfully, well except Colin kept doing this
really annoying thing, but that's beside the point.
During the intermission, we were walking around and
I heard someone call my name. Guess who it was?
Yes, that's right folks, it was Mr. Murray."

"Mr. Murray was at a muggle theater? What did you

say to him? You didn't screw everything up did you?

"Me screw everything up?"

"Ginny, if he found out about you and Creevey I'll be

fired before you can say 'quidditch'. Now tell me
exactly what was said so I can figure out how to fix
this mess you made."

"Mess I made? If you would have gotten this job

without having to lie to anyone—if you had gotten in
on your own merit, then you wouldn't be in this sticky
situation now would you?"
"I did get that job on my own merit, I'm more than
qualified and I wasn't going to loose it because of
Murray's family man bias. I don't see what's so
horrible about what we did, it's not that big of a deal,
and you're making it sound like murder or something."

Ginny's head snapped back as if she had just been

slapped. "Oh my gods," she whispered, Draco gave
her a confused look. "Colin was right."

"What do you mean he was right?" Draco demanded.

"I said that exact same thing to him. 'I don't see what's
so horrible about what we did, it's not that big of a
deal.' He said it was a big deal and he was right when
he said it. He was right."

Draco rolled his eyes again, "He's not right. Gods, I'd
think you'd have more sense that to listen to him."

"Don't say that, Colin's a great guy and he didn't

deserve anything that happened to him tonight."

"What happened to Colin that was so horrible? -I'm

the one whose job is hanging in the balance."

"For goodness sakes Draco, we were on a date and I

introduced him as my cousin and then was told that I
was engaged. He wanted to tell Mr. Murray the truth
and when I wouldn't let him he broke up with me."
"Did Murray believe it?"

"Yes he did."

"So what are you so upset for?"

Ginny stood up and shook her head. "You just don't

get it Draco, he broke up with me because of you.
Well," she stopped herself, "I think he did."

"He's not the right person for you anyway, ever think
of that?" he snapped.

"Then who would be?" she asked quietly. Draco

looked at her and met her eyes, but didn't say
anything. There was an unreadable expression on his
face. "That's what I thought," she said mildly. "Why
are you doing this to me? Why are you making things
so hard for us?" she began. "Y-You kissed me," she
spluttered, "and you said it was just because you
could. Do you have any idea how much that hurt my
feelings? —Do you even consider my feelings? Do
you realize I have any?"

Draco looked at her, his face completely masked,

showing no emotion. Ginny lowered her eyebrows
and turned her face upwards towards the ceiling, her
lower lip trembling and her eyes shining with tears.
"Draco, I just can't do this anymore," she said in a
breathy whisper, lowering her eyes to look at him
before she fled the room, slamming the door behind
her.

"Damn," Draco cursed, hitting himself on the

forehead.

***

Ginny pushed the door of Raven's room slowly and

peered in. Raven was sitting on her bed, holding her
blond and redheaded dolls in her hands dejectedly.
Ginny heaved a sigh and made her way towards
Raven. Raven looked up at her and smiled.

"Hello, Dinny," she said.

"Hi…" Ginny said giving her a weak smile. She

couldn't hold the smile; it fell from her face. "Raven,
I'm not going to be here much longer. I think I'm going
to be leaving tonight." She stroked Raven's hair. "But I
want you to know that I'll always be there for you if
you need me."

"You're leaving me?" Raven asked in an unusually

small voice.

"Yes."

"Why?" she asked, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"I have to, but everything will be okay." Ginny got

Raven ready for bed in silence. She tucked her in and
kissed her forehead.

"I love you, D-Dinny," she said quietly.

"I love you too, Raven," Ginny said smoothing her

hair, tears falling to her cheeks.

***

Ginny yanked her bag out of her closet and began

throwing her things in it haphazardly, tears blurring
her vision. She looked at her clock and saw that it
was well past ten, hopefully her parents would still be
up when she got home or maybe it would be better if
they weren't, she didn't want to be bombarded by
questions.

After her bag was packed, she found her wand and
apparated home.

"Ginny dear," her mother greeted. "What are you

doing back here so soon?"

Ginny sniffed, "I really don't want to talk about it right

now." Her mother nodded. Ginny looked up
instinctively at the clock to see if anyone else was
there, but she saw the most curious thing... Her hand
was pointing to "at the Burrow" and not "at home".
She turned to her mother, immensely confused. The
Weasley kids didn't get that unless they were married.
"Mum," she said quietly. "Why has the clock
changed?"

Molly looked at Ginny carefully, "Well dear, are you in

love at the moment?" She took in Ginny's red eyes
and assumed she'd just had a fight with whoever it
was."

Blinking, Ginny answered very slowly, her face

reflecting her surprise. "I think…maybe I am."

Molly nodded again, "Alright then, why don't we get

you into bed? You must have had a long day." Ginny
allowed herself to be led to her bedroom.

"Thanks mum," she said giving her a hug.

Molly smiled, "Remember we always love you." Molly

left the room, with a feeling in the stomach that told
her that the person Ginny was in love with was not
Colin Creevey.

Ginny looked at the closed door and then went to curl

up on her bed, kicking her shoes off along the way.
She buried her face into her pillow and started to cry.

***

Drakey," Raven said when she walked into the

second floor library the next day, where she knew
Draco would be. She sniffled, "D-Dinny's gone."
Draco was standing by the window looking at the
backyard of his mansion. His hands were resting at
his sides, and his eyes were set in a sharp manner.
He turned to face Raven, his gaze softening as he set
eyes on her. "I know."

"Can you make her come back, Drakey?" Raven

asked earnestly.

"You know I can't."

"Yes, you can," Raven said, "You just don't want to

try. Don't you love her?"

"Love her?" Draco asked incredulously. "You have got

to be kidding me. There is no way that I love her."
Draco blinked and rolled the thought of being in love
with Ginny around in his head. "No, I'm not in love
with her."

"Yes you are," Raven said putting her little hands on

her hips. "I saw both of you kissing." Draco gave her
an astonished look. "You thought I was sleeping, but I
wasn't.

"Raven," Draco spluttered. He cleared his throat and

shook his head. "Just because we kissed doesn't
mean that we're in love. People kiss all the time and it
doesn't mean they're in love."
Raven shook her head, "You and Dinny love each
other, just like mommy and daddy do, I can tell."

"You don't know what you're saying." Draco said,

storming out of the room, calling Miss Wells to take
care of Raven.

***

Molly Weasley threw a handful of powder in the fiery

hearth and called out "Narcissa Malfoy".

Au Paire
Chapter 11
By VirtualFaerie

Draco was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling when

there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said
monotonously. He didn't even look as the door
creaked open.

Miss Wells stepped in. "Mr. Malfoy, I cannot take care

of Raven all of the time!" she said indignantly. "She…
she ruined my orange crème sauce!" Miss Wells
sniffed. "I think you need to find a new nanny, Mr.
Malfoy." She looked at him hesitantly, wondering
faintly if she had spoken her mind too much.

Draco turned his head slightly and looked at Miss

Wells. "Ah, I guess Raven's a bit much for you to
handle all day." Miss Wells nodded. Draco sighed,
"Alright, I'll find someone else to watch her."

Miss Wells blinked rapidly, "D-Did I hear you right, Mr.

Malfoy?"

Draco frowned. "Do you want me to get someone else

or not?" He snapped.

Miss Well's jumped. "Yes, thank you sir." She curtsied

and quickly fled the room.

Draco raked his fingers through his hair and got out of
bed and dressed for the day. He stepped out into the
hall and looked at the door to Ginny's room. He
pushed it open and stepped inside. It smelled of
vanilla, it hadn't smelled like that before she came. He
shook his head, shut the door and made his way to
the library.

He sat at his desk, shuffled through his paperwork

and found the file containing the report that was due
for Mr. Murray on Monday. He quickly became
engrossed in his work. Soon all that could be heard
was the ticking of the clock and the scratching of his
quill as he made changes to his report. The clock
chimed and his concentration was momentarily
broken. That's when he saw it, the chessboard that he
and Ginny had played chess with. He sat frozen, as if
in a trance, then dropped his quill on the blotter and
slowly made his way over to the chess set. He picked
up the knight and examined it closely as if it held
some secret or words of wisdom. He let out a
strangled cry and swung at the chess pieces,
scattering them onto the floor, he kicked the king that
had landed by his foot and threw the knight across the
room into the fireplace.

The door slowly creaked open and Raven hesitantly

walked in. "Drakey?" she said as she surveyed the
mess on the floor. "Will you read me a story?" she
asked.

Draco looked at her and said simply, "Read to you?"

Raven nodded, "A book? Please?" He didn't say

anything. "Or just a story," she said coaxingly. "You
can make it up." He just looked at her. Raven
frowned, "It can be about a mean, evil prince who
scared away the beautiful princess," she said angrily.

"I'm afraid I don't know any stories about a mean, evil

prince," Draco said coolly. "Why don't you go play
with your dolls?"

"You do to!" Raven said and stomped out of the room,

slamming the door behind her.

Draco picked up a paperweight full of powder and

threw in the fireplace, causing flame to flare. He
called out his mother's name.

Narcissa Malfoy's face appeared in the fireplace.

"Yes, dear?" she asked pleasantly.

"Mother," he ground out. "Can you watch Raven for

the rest of the summer?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "Weren't you

supposed to watch her?"

He glared at her, "Yes, but only because you

volunteered me to do it without asking me."

"What happened to that lovely girl that was helping

you?"

"She can't do it anymore, and I'm way too busy to do

it. It's your fault I'm in this mess; the least you can do
is watch her for the rest of the summer."

Narcissa glared at him. "Draco Edward Malfoy. How

dare you take that tone with me. I don't care how old
you are, you are not to order me around."

Draco swallowed, "I'm sorry, mother, I didn't mean to,

it's just that without Ginny here Raven is too much for
me or any of the other staff to handle."

"Why has Virginia left? I was under the impression

that she would be there the whole summer."

"I don't know why she left, who can understand half
the things that women do?"
Narcissa smiled. "Funny, most women say that about
men. However, that is beside the point. I find it difficult
to believe that she would leave without giving you a
reason why. Virginia is a sweet, responsible girl,
surely she must have told you why she had to leave,
and on such short notice at that."

"I said I don't know. Besides, it doesn't matter, all that

matters is that I need help with Raven now."

"You wouldn't be lying to your mother now would you

Draco?" His shoulder's tensed. "I would be very
distraught to find out that my only son has been lying
to me."

Draco looked at Narcissa pleadingly. "Mom, please. I

really need your help; I have a very busy week
coming up at work. I won't be able to get all my work
done unless you watch Raven."

Narcissa smiled. "Of course I'll help you sweetheart.

Just bring her over here tomorrow morning alright?"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. You're the best."

Draco said with a smile.

"You're welcome, dear." She looked at him worriedly.

"Draco, you look tired, maybe you should go take a
nap."
"Yes, mom," he said.

"Good, now go on, I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled

and her face disappeared from the fireplace with a
pop.

Draco sighed and put his head in his hands. He

looked up to see the chessboard staring at him
accusingly. He snapped his hands off his face and let
his forehead fall on his desk with a 'thunk'.

~*~

Ginny was standing in the kitchen, amid piles of all

kinds of baked goods: cookies, cakes, muffins,
brownies, rolls, breads, pies, tarts, almost everything,
you name it. Her hair was streaked with flour, and she
had a spot of it on her nose and cheek. She was
wearing a worn out apron covered with sticky stuff.
There were dishes piled up in the sink, and she had
used up all the flour, baking powder and sugar; there
wasn't even an egg or a smidge of butter left in the
house.

Ron walked in the kitchen and his eyes boggled. "Gi-

Gins! What have you been doing?"

She looked at him, "Baking. What does it look like?"

Ron shook his head as he surveyed the goods. He

nabbed a chocolate chip cookie and munched on it
thoughtfully before saying, "You know, you only bake
when you're upset. And judging the amount of stuff
you've baked, you're really upset."

"Nah, ya think Ron?" She glared and him and blew a

piece of hair out of her face.

"Sheesh, no need to get all angry Gins. What's gotten

into you?" Ron asked, shoving another cookie in his
mouth.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him and found them resting

on the clock. It still had her hand pointing at "at the
Burrow" and not "at home". "Ron," she said, and then
her voice started to quake. "Ron," she sobbed. Ron
blinked and looked at her curiously before pulling her
into a hug. "Oh, Ron," she said. "It's been so
horrible…" She cried into his shoulder and he patted
her back a bit awkwardly, reassuring her that it would
all be okay, even though he didn't know what was
wrong.

"Uhm, sorry, but am I intruding on anything?" Harry

asked from the doorway, looking at them inquisitively.

"Yes," Ginny said, lowering her eyebrows at him.

Ron frowned at her, "Not at all," he said to Harry.

"Come in, have something to eat," Ron motioned
vaguely to all the food. Ginny huffed and stalked out
of the kitchen, wiping her eyes with bottom of her shirt
muttering something that sounded like "git" under her
breath.

She slammed the door of her room open and looked

at her bag that was lying by her desk, still packed.
She picked it up and flopped it onto her bed; she
unzipped it and began dumping all the contents out
onto her bed. The black robe with woven silver
threads lay on top of everything else, glaring at her.
She bit her lip and felt her eyes watering. She picked
it up and shoved it back into her bag. "No," she
whispered. "I won't think of him, I won't. Slimy git…"
she murmured.

A black owl flew up to her window and began tapping

on it impatiently. "Just a moment," she grumbled as
she walked over to it and pushed the window open.
The owl flew in and hooted happily. It landed on her
shoulder and she took the parchment from its grasp.
The owl flew off her shoulder and settled on her
bedpost. She pulled the parchment open and read.

Virginia,
I'd be extremely flattered if you would join me for tea
on Monday at 4 o'clock. Raven has been missing you
terribly and doesn't find me to be a suitable
replacement for you. She's staying at my home now
and is very anxious to see you.
Sincerely,
Narcissa Malfoy
Ginny scrawled back a reply saying that she would
come to tea and was looking forward to seeing
Raven.

The thought of seeing Raven made Ginny smile. She

took the rest of her clothes off of her bed and put
them away in her drawers before starting back down
the stairs.

Harry and Ron were sitting at the scrubbed wooden

table in the kitchen, munching on various things,
talking about something in hushed voices. They
noticed her come in and stopped. She scowled at
them, "Talking about me?"

Harry shook his head, "No, of course not."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Whatever," and started

washing the dishes in the sink.

~*~

Ginny apparated to the Malfoy Manor and used the

large, gold, serpent knocker that was on the door.
Within seconds a doorman answered. Only it wasn't
really a man, it was a ghost.

"Good afternoon," the ghost greeted Ginny, as if he

had been suspecting her all along.

Ginny raised her eyebrows at him, "Hello, I'm here to

have tea with—"

"Yes, Mrs. Malfoy. Right this way, if you'll follow me,"

the ghost butler led her down a hallway and pushed
open a door. "Mrs. Malfoy, Virginia has arrived." The
ghost butler held the door open. Ginny started at him,
"Well, go on," he said amusedly.

"Oh," Ginny said and walked into the room. Narcissa

was sitting on an elegant couch with a teacup in her
hand. There was a pot of tea and another cup on the
coffee table, along with some cupcakes. Ginny
grinned, cupcakes in the Malfoy Manor, who would've
thought.

"Hello," Ginny said, taking a seat in an armchair.

Narcissa smiled at her, "Hello, Virginia. I'm so glad

you could make it. Tea?"

"Yes, please," Ginny said. Narcissa poured her a cup

of tea and handed it to her.

"So," Narcissa said conversationally. "How have you

been doing?"

"Fine, than you."

"I must admit I was surprised to hear that you had quit
your position. You were doing so wonderfully and I
know that Raven has become quite attached to you.
Did you decide that being an au paire wasn't to your
liking?"

Ginny put down her teacup. "Oh, no Mrs. Malfoy,

that's not it at all, I loved taking care of Raven."

"Please, call me Narcissa. If you were so happy, then

why did you leave?"

Ginny stirred her tea nervously. "Well, I just had to, it's
kind of complicated."

"So this is my son's doing. I thought as much. What

did he do?"

"I…. err, well…"

Narcissa reached out and rested her hand on Ginny's

arm. "Virginia, I might be his mother, but I know very
well what he can be like. He can be as mean and
nasty as any dragon."

"-I wouldn't say he's that bad, after all even dragon's
can be quit docile at times, and they have a soft spot."

Narcissa raised her eyebrow and the corner of her

mouth tugged up. "Very true, and so he does,
perhaps that's why he's so miserable. So please, tell
me what happened because he won't."

Ginny looked up at Narcissa and sighed. "I don't even

know where to start."

Narcissa smiled. "Then start at the beginning, we

have plenty of tea."

"We were getting along so well and he had to go and

ruin it."

"What do you mean, he ruined it?"

"Well I suppose it started when Mr. Murray came to

dinner. Draco was being interviewed for the Director
of Investigations position. He was concerned that he
wasn't going to get the job because he wasn't a
"family man" so he had told Mr. Murray that he was
engaged. Draco had asked me to pose as his fiancé
for the evening, well I refused."

"Of course you did."

Ginny looked abashed. "Well somehow the next thing

I knew he had talked me into doing it."

"I see. Well he can be very persuasive when he wants

to, like his father."

"Yes well… so he got the job and that was that. At

least I thought, he was supposed to tell Mr. Murray
that we broke off the engagement, except he didn't."

"Really?"
"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

"Well one night I had gone out with my friends, when I

came home I talked with Draco."

"Yes?"

Ginny blushed and started to fiddle with her napkin.

"Well he kissed me. I was kind of surprised that he did
that, well I had kind of thought that maybe…I just
didn't think he thought about me…" She covered her
face with her hands. "This is so embarrassing, I can't
believe I'm telling you this."

"Don't be embarrassed, I was your age once and I'm

not that old."

A small smile lit Ginny's face. "Well after he kissed me

he just left."

"What do you mean he just left?"

"Just that, he walked away and he skipped breakfast

the next morning."

"I can't believe he did that! Why did he kiss you?"

"Well that's exactly what I wanted to know. –It was so

confusing, here I had just started to date Colin and
there Draco goes and gives me this big passionate
kiss and then avoids me and acts like it never
happened."

"Did he know you were going out with Colin? -What

happened next?"

"No, I don't think so, but he found out the next day.
That was when Raven told me that while I was out he
had taken her flying. –He let her fly on a broom all by
herself."

Narcissa gasped. "He did what?"

"I know; I was livid. So I went up to his room where he

was hiding and got into a huge row with him over how
stupid that was."

"More tea Virginia?"

"Yes, please. Well later on Draco was giving me

fencing lessons."

"Fencing lessons? -Why was he doing that?"

"It was payment for my posing as his fiancé."

"Really?"

"Yes, well he had me backed into a corner and was

leaning in like he was going to kiss me again. I
stopped him and asked him why he kissed me the
night before."

"What did he say?"

"Because he could."

Narcissa set her teacup down with a clatter. "He said

what? -I can't believe it, why I raised him better than
that. –So what happened after that?"

Ginny shrugged, "Well, I was mad and we just sort of

avoided each other after that. Then I went to Phantom
of the Opera with Colin and had a run in with Mr.
Murray. Well Draco hadn't told him that we had
broken up and there I was on a date with Colin
introducing him as my cousin. Then I had to explain to
Colin what was going on, he got upset and broke up
with me. I went back home; to Draco's I mean and
told him what happened. Draco wanted to know what
I had said in order to determine if I had messed
anything up for him, which was just rich if you ask me.
My whole night was ruined; I didn't even see the
second half. We got into a big argument; he said
some things about Colin and I left."

"Hmm, what did he say about Colin?"

"Oh Draco always makes fun of Colin, he said

something about Colin not being the right person for
me."

"Oh, I see. What do you think?"

Ginny looked at her hands. "I know Colin's not the

right person for me."

There was a slight knock on the door. "Come in,"

Narcissa said.

The door opened and Raven stuck her head in. She
saw Ginny and her eyes widened, "Dinny!" she
screamed and launched herself at Ginny. Ginny
grinned and put her arms around Raven. "I missed
you so much! Drakey's been such a meany since you
left! I missed you!"

"I missed you too. A meany? —He was being mean to

my Raven? We'll have to do something about that
won't we?" Ginny said, smiling at Raven.

Raven sighed, "And he doesn't read me any stories or

play with me anymore like he used to."

Ginny looked at Raven sadly, "I'm sorry Raven,

honey. It was my fault…if I hadn't…"

"Oh hush," Narcissa rolled her eyes. "It's Draco's fault

and he full well knows it. That's why he's being such a
miserable prat to everyone. Don't worry ladies; I'm
sure he'll come to his senses."
Raven nodded, "Then the evil queen and prince can
live happily ever after."

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing, it's another long story," said Ginny.

"Another thing that I wanted to ask you, would you like

to be Raven's nanny here? I'm awful busy trying to
run the house with Lucius sulking in his library all day
about the good old days. It really gets a bit tiring if you
know what I mean."

Ginny smiled, "I think I might like that."

~*~

Draco apparated to his mother's house, he had come

to pay a visit to Raven and tell her that he was sorry
for being so mean to her for the past few days. He
greeted Riley, their ghost butler, who showed him to
the sitting room that he mother was in. As they neared
the doorway he could hear his mother laugh, along
with the tinkling laughter of Raven...and Ginny. He
pressed his ear to the door.

Riley looked at him distastefully, "You know Master

Malfoy," he said. "It isn't very nice of you to listen in
on conversations like that."
Draco sneered at him, "I don't recall asking your
opinion. You're dismissed." Riley floated off in a huff.

He pushed the door open to find his mother and

Ginny sitting on the same couch with Raven squished
in-between them. They all looked up at him, suddenly
silent. He felt a weird tingle in his stomach. "Hello," he
said, stepping into the room.

"Draco," Narcissa said. "It's nice to see you. What are

you doing here?"

"I came to see Raven," Draco said, looking at Ginny,

who was staring raptly at her hands.

"Oh, well I was just going to take Raven up to get

ready for Dinner." Narcissa said getting up and taking
Raven's hand. "Why don't you be a good son and stay
here with my guest while I take care of Raven."

As she walked by Draco she gave him a look that

would make a giant whither and dragged Raven out of
the room and shut the door behind them.

The silence was palpable. Draco stood rooted to his

spot staring at Ginny.

Finally he said, "Raven misses you."

Ginny looked up at him coolly, "I miss her too."

He ran his hand through his hair and looked at her.
She looked at him expectantly. "I, uh, nice day today."

"Yes."

Draco looked around the room. "I see you had the
strawberry cupcakes, they're my favorite, did you like
them?"

"Yes, they were good."

Draco put his hands in his pockets and looked at his

feet. The clock chimed, it was half passed five. The
silence continued.

Ginny looked at the clock, it read 5:45. She took at

deep steadying breath and stood up and started to
walk toward Draco. She stopped in front of him.
"Thank your mother for me and give her my apologies
for not staying, but I really can't wait any longer." With
that she made her way toward the door and turned
the knob. "Please."

Ginny turned. "Did you say something?"

Draco walked over to her, "I said please, don't go."

Ginny's eyes grew wide and started to water. Draco's

hand reached up and caught the first tear as it fell.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. I just wasn't sure… I never felt…
I wasn't supposed to…"
"Draco, I don't understand, what are you saying?"

"All the love that I have, it's for you. I'll never be able
to love anyone else."

"Ginny Weasley, I have no idea what you think you're

doing-but it most certainly is not planning a wedding!
Do you have any idea how much effort is going into
this and how much of it is not yours? You do want to
get married don't you?-Because if you do, I don't think
you should spend your time like this. It isn't
productive."

"Oh hush, Hermione," Ginny called over her shoulder.

Taking advantage of her opponent's momentary lapse
in attention from Hermione's lecturing, Ginny lunged
forward with her foil, tearing a small rip in the white
fabric of her opponent's jumper. "I'm multi-tasking."

Hermione snorted. "This is what you call multi-

tasking? Fighting and planning a wedding do not go
together."

"I'm not fighting, I'm practicing." Ginny said, parrying a

blow aimed at her hip. "And I'm practicing because I'll
be damned if Malfoy is going to beat me every time
we spar."
"I can't believe you two are getting married and you
still call him Malfoy."

"Only when I'm feeling affectionate." Ginny grinned

behind her mask.

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "You know, this

whole thing really baffles me."

"Anything that you can't piece together with logic

baffles you, Hermione," Ginny said.

"Exactly, I can't think of a logical reason why you and

Malfoy would be together-of all people!" Hermione set
her clipboard and quill down on the hardwood floor
and placed her hands on her hips, waiting for Ginny to
finish.

"Maybe," Ginny lunged again, but this time her

opponent was ready and blocked. "It's just because
we love each other. Ever think of that?" She circled
her opponent slowly. "I mean, come on, you and Ron
have been married for ages, and you guys used to
always fight in school. Why is that any different from
me and Draco?"

"I don't know," Hermione pretended to think. "Maybe

it's because his family has always hated your family."

"He doesn't hate me."

"Obviously." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyway, did
you want the green or blue bridesmaid dresses?" She
picked her clipboard back up from the floor.

"Can I have rainbow?"

"I swear you are the most infuriating-"

"Are you sure you want to do this, Ginny?" Draco

asked, walking into the ballroom, carrying the foils
and equipment.

Ginny nodded firmly as she stepped into the ballroom

behind him. "We're getting married tomorrow. I'm
going to beat you before we get married if it's the last
thing I do."

Draco shook his head. "I don't understand why you're

so set on beating me."

"There's nothing to understand, Draco my dear. Now

put on your suit and let's get cracking." Ginny said,
pulling on her own aforementioned suit and fastening
her mask on. She picked up and foil and tested its
weight in her hand.

"Ready?" Draco asked, rolling his neck.

"Yes, the Evil Queen shall prevail today."

"We'll see about that." Draco said. "On guard." Ginny

took position and they circled each other slowly. For a
few moments, neither of them struck, then Draco
swung his foil in Ginny's direction. She brought her's
down harshly, the clanging of metal hitting metal
echoed throughout the ballroom. Draco arched an
eyebrow, "Good one, Weasley."

Ginny rolled her eyes and brought her foil down to his
thigh, he quickly parried it. She arched an eyebrow as
he did, "Good one, Malfoy."

"As if I would do any less." Draco said, grinning at her.

They carried on, blocking blow for blow. Ginny moved

forward with every hit she aimed, slowly working
Draco closer to the wall. He noticed and tried to sidle
away, but Ginny brought her foil down in any direction
the tried to go.

He frowned at her. "What's this, Weasley?"

"What's what?" Ginny asked innocently. She swung

her foil, making him back up into a corner.

He raised an eyebrow. "Planning on decapitating me?

Really, and I thought you-Whoa, okay, that's a little
too close for comfort."

Ginny grinned. She had her foil horizontal across his

neck, not touching him, but close just the same. She
pressed herself closer to him. "Don't worry, dear," she
said lightly. She leaned in closer to him, and knocked
his foil from his hand.

"Hey, no fair. Distraction," Draco called.

"It's fair." She was ready to place a soft kiss on his

lips when she pulled back quickly. She furrowed her
eyebrows and looked at him. "Why do you want to
marry me?" she asked.

Draco blinked and gave her a distressed sort of look.

"What? First you take my dignity and now you refuse
to repent with a kiss? Good gods, woman."

Ginny's face hardened. "Just answer the question,

Draco."

Draco smirked at her. "Let's would I want to marry

you?" He pretended to think about it for a moment,
before he knocked Ginny's foil down, and it rolled
away loudly. He placed a firm kiss on her mouth and
said, "Because I love you."

-1A/N: This book was written pre-OOTP, so it's

definitely not completely canon anymore. Yes, I'm
aware that Blaise Zabini is not a girl. Please stop
telling me. As this was written over four years ago,
there are a lot of inaccuracies. Please try to enjoy it
for what it is and happy reading…

"And Ron Weasley blocks another shot for the

Gryffindor team! Wow, he's really on a roll today!"

"Go Ron!", Ginny Weasley jumped up and screamed,

cheering for her big brother. Hermione Granger, who
was next to her cheered as well, but went quickly
back to a thick book in front of her - she had an
Arithmancy test in two days. "Hermione, how can you
read a book at a time like this?"

Hermione glanced up at the redhead and shrugged. "I

guess I just know how it's going to end," she replied
with a wicked smile on her face. "After all, we haven't
lost to Slytherin in the seven years I've been here."

Ginny had to admit that she had a point. The

Gryffindor team was awesome - surprisingly they had
recovered from the graduation of almost all of their
players two years before. The Slytherin team on the
other hand…well, it was really no contest, even with
the every Slytherin riding speedy Accelerina
Maximas, the fastest brooms in the world. But still -
Ginny loved watching them soar through the air on
their broomsticks. It was like they were doing some
wild, intensively choreographed dance, one she
realized wistfully that she would never be able to do.

It wasn't for lack of trying…it was just that she was

scared. She had never really got the hang of turning
and swerving - or landing for that matter - all of which
made for a less than desirable set of skills for a
wannabe Quidditch star.
Suddenly excited squeals pierced the air even more
loudly than before and Ginny looked up to see a
crimson blur, followed closely by an emerald wisp go
flying by. Harry had obviously seen the Snitch and
was after it, Draco Malfoy hot on his trail. A moment
later it was all over as Harry sailed up, the golden
snitch grasped in his hand.

His teammates and many Gryffindors stormed the

field, including Hermione, but Ginny stayed put,
watching in fascination as Madam Hooch collected
the Bludgers (which put up quite a good fight) and the
Quaffle, doing all this as she rode easily on a
broomstick.

Ginny closed her eyes and imagined being able to fly

so fast she'd be jus a blur, to be able to throw a ball
past a Keeper and to hear the crowd roar, to feel the
cool Golden Snitch in her palm…She was so wrapped
up in her little fantasies that she didn't even realize
that the stands had completely cleared out.

Startled, she jumped to her feet and started down

towards the exit. Suddenly she stopped, sniffing the
air. Something smelled…odd.

Out of curiosity, she kept walking until the smell was

so powerful that she coughed, trying to clear her
windpipe. A sudden scrambling was heard to her right
and she turned just in time to see a tall, blonde figure,
half hidden in the shadows under the stands, clad in
green remove something from his mouth and crush it
under the heel of his dragon-hide Quidditch boot. Her
eyes traveled up and suddenly she felt as if someone
had plunged an icicle into her heart as her eyes met
an icy, gray gaze.

"Malfoy," she stammered, trying to sound vindictive,

but only succeeding in sounding shaky and
intimidated. It wasn't that she was scared of Malfoy -
not Draco Malfoy - but his eyes were so cold that she
felt as if she had no right to be there whatsoever.

"Weasley," he replied, crossing his sinewy, muscled

arms over his chest. "What did you see?"

Ginny stared at him, wondering what on Earth he was

talking about and then remembered his sudden surge
of activity. "What did you have in your mouth, Malfoy?
And what was that smell?"

Malfoy sneered. "I wouldn't expect you to know,

Weasley," he said in a cold, drawling voice.

Ginny stared back at him, hoping she didn't look too

scared. "I know exactly what that was, Malfoy," she
finally replied. "Cigarettes are illegal at Hogwarts,
Malfoy."

Malfoy looked startled, then quickly recovered, a

small smirk playing at the edge of his lips.
"Cigarettes? Right. Well, what do I have to do to keep
you from telling anyone about this, Weasley?" She
didn't reply and Malfoy sighed impatiently. "Look, I
know you're just going to run back to the castle and
tell Dumbledore, but I really can't afford to get kicked
out of Hogwarts six months before graduation, so
what do you want? You want money?"

Ginny stared back at him, her mind racing. This was

all happening too fast. She had information to
blackmail Malfoy? This was good stuff! What could
she get from him? She didn't want his dirty money -
Merlin knew where that came from. She looked
around and her eyes landed on Malfoy's broomstick.
He followed her gaze and his eyebrows shot up in
surprise.

"No way, Weasley, you can't have my broom," he

said, shaking his head adamantly. "I can't afford to go
buy another one and people would suspect
something."

"I don't want your stupid broom, Malfoy," Ginny

snapped, an idea forming in her head. "I want you
to…teach me to fly."

Malfoy's eyebrows shot up again. "Teach you to fly?

Haven't your three million older brothers done that?"

Ginny shook her head and Malfoy sighed deeply,

contemplating the situation. "I guess I have no
choice," he murmured. He truly looked pained. "How
many lessons?"
"Enough that I can make the house team in March,"
Ginny replied, thinking of the upcoming tryouts.

"Do you have any experience?," Malfoy asked,

looking wary.

"Some," Ginny replied indignantly. "I took basic

classes first year, just like everyone else."

Draco groaned and looked impatiently at her. "Okay,

fine," he finally snapped. "Meet me here - tomorrow,
after dinner. You have to swear you won't tell anyone
though. Not even about these lessons."

"I won't tell anyone," Ginny said quietly. Her exterior

was meek and calm, but inside she was doing
jumping jacks. Sure, Malfoy was no prince, but he
was a good flyer. And with this secret to hold over
him, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her intentionally.
She would make the Gryffindor Quidditch team in
March - and Harry Potter would finally notice her.

The next day seemed to drag on forever for Ginny

Weasley. She jumped out of bed as soon as her
alarm sounded and hurried down to breakfast. Her
classes that day - Transfiguration, Potions, and Care
Of Magical Creatures seemed to be twice as long as
usual - and she found herself staring longingly at the
Quidditch Pitch while Hagrid was giving his lecture on
Fire-Crabs.

The only negative thing about this was that she was
going to have to get the lessons from Malfoy, who
would undoubtedly spend the majority of the lesson
making fun of her flying skills and cracks about her
being a Weasley. She decided early on that she
would just ignore him. As much as she could while he
was teacher her, anyway.

Dinner came after what seemed to be the longest day

of Ginny's life. She gulped down a glass of pumpkin
juice and pocketed a couple of rolls, then excused
herself from the table.

"Ginny, where are you going?," Ron mumbled, his

mouth full of kidney pie.

"Need to finish an assignment," she replied, hoping

that he wouldn't catch her in her lie. "See you later."

She hurried up to the dormitory and changed into

some of her older robes and grabbed her broom -
Ron's old Shooting Star, which he had given her after
Harry had given him a Nimbus 2002 for Christmas the
year before.

Walking onto the Quidditch Pitch, she looked around,

suddenly worried that Malfoy wouldn't show. It was
still early though, she realized, and sat down on the
cold ground and waited.
Fifteen minutes later she heard the crunch of grass
under foot and saw a dark shape coming towards her,
walking with a slow, sauntering gait. Definitely Malfoy.
The moonlight hit his aristocratic face and he looked
down at her, his expression showing that he'd rather
be anywhere but where he was at present.

"Well, let's get this over with," he grumbled, not even

stopping to greet her. "You have a broom?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and stood up, holding

out her Shooting Star. Draco sneered at it and let out
a snobby laugh. "It's the best I have, Malfoy," she said
through gritted teeth, suddenly annoyed. Yeah, she
was poor. But who was this git to insult her, especially
when she could get him thrown out of school.

"Yeah, but you're never going to learn to play

Quidditch on that thing," he retorted with a sigh. "I
figured as much. Here." He dropped something at her
feet and Ginny looked down to see a slightly battered,
but still very new Nimbus 2001. "You can use it while
we're here."

"Thank you, Malfoy," Ginny said, staring down at it.

"Well, let's start," Malfoy growled under his breath.

"Up!," he shouted. His Accelerina Maxima flew into his
hand and he looked over at Ginny.
"Up!," she mimicked. The Nimbus flipped over and
bounced a few feet away.

"Do you want the broom to come up or not, Weasley?

Say it with some power."

Ginny took a deep breath. "UP!," she repeated. The

broom shot into her hand like a rocket and she looked
down at it, a surprised expression on her face.

"Okay, now get on," Malfoy instructed, mounting his

own broom and kicking off, gliding a few feet above
her. Ginny stood over her broom and shakily rose a
few feet into the air.

"Oh!," she exclaimed as the nose dove sharply and

she nearly fell off.

"You have to let the broom know who's in charge!,"

Draco called, gliding easily around her. "It can tell that
you're scared." He flew up again. Now he was nearly
thirty feet in the air. "Bring it up here, Weasley!"

Ginny, trying very hard not to shake, guided the nose

of the broom up and felt a sudden sense of elation as
it began to steadily rise. Not very quickly or very
smoothly, but she was rising just the same. After a
moment, she came face to face with Malfoy, who was
sitting upon his broom, not even holding on,
examining his cuticles. "Oh, up here finally, are you?"
"Shut up, Malfoy," she murmured. "Now what?"
"How fast can you fly?," he asked.

"Um…well, I've never really rode anything quicker

than the Shooting Star," she admitted. "So, I don't
know. I went to the maximum speed on that one."

"Which is about the maximum speed of a tortoise,"

Malfoy muttered, rolling his gray eyes. "Fly to the end
zone and back, as quickly as you can."
Ginny nodded and leaned forward. She squealed as
the broom took off. She had never flown so quickly in
her life. She saw the Quidditch hoops coming up and
tried to turn, but jerked too hard and suddenly saw the
large Slytherin banners lining that corner of the pitch
growing larger and larger. With a sharp pain she hit
them and lost grip of the broom, falling down towards
the ground, which by now was only about ten feet
down. She hit the cold pitch on her back, feeling a
sharp engage her hold body. The broom landed on
top of her with a thump. A moment later, Malfoy
landed beside her and looked down at her leisurely.

"You don't know how to turn, I take it?"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she said sarcastically,

struggling to sit up. "I didn't expect it to go so fast."

Malfoy laughed. "You think that was fast?" He

seemed to be contemplating something. "Get on," he
finally said.
"What?," Ginny questioned. There was still a dull pain
thudding through her whole body and now Draco
Malfoy wanted her to get on his broom? Maybe she
had hit her head…

"I want you to see how quickly you can go," he

replied. "If you want to play Quidditch and impress
Potter, I suggest you do this."

Ginny's face turned scarlet red. "I'm not doing this to

impress Harry," she lied.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Sure. And I'm doing this out of
the kindness of my own heart," he said. "Get on."

Reluctantly, Ginny climbed to her feet and got behind

Draco on his broom. "What do I do?"

"Just hold on," Draco replied and then without

warning, he shot straight into the air. Letting out a
petrified scream, Ginny grabbed him around his waist
and held on as tightly as she could.

If she had thought that she had been going fast

before on the Nimbus, it was nothing to the speed she
was traveling at now. Everything around her was a
blur and she wondered vaguely how people could
possibly play Quidditch going this speed. Malfoy shot
off the Quidditch pitch, over the canopy of the
Forbidden Forest and then back around the perimeter
of the stands. It must have been ten minutes, but it
felt like only a few seconds before he gently guided
his broom back to the ground.

"I think that's enough for today, Weasley," he said as

their feet hit the ground. "I'm busy tomorrow. After
dinner the day after that."

Ginny realized that she was still gripping her arms

around him and dropped them in mortification. "Okay,"
she squeaked, jumping off the broom. Malfoy quickly
glided off to collect his Nimbus and then got off of his
Accelerina and strode towards the castle without
another word.

Ginny picked up the Shooting Star, lying abandoned

in the middle of the pitch. She shook her head and
started up towards Hogwarts, following Malfoy's
receding form.

Chapter Two

The next day dawned bright and clear. Ginny yawned

as she headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
She was still sore from the night before. Landing on
the cold, icy ground had not felt good, but if she went
to the infirmary Madam Pomfrey would want to know
what she had done to hurt herself, then she'd have to
admit to the flying lessons, which would rat out
Malfoy, which would mean he wouldn't give her
lessons anymore. It was overall a terrible situation
"What happened to you last night?," Hermione asked
as Ginny settled down at the Gryffindor table next to
her. "I tried to find you after dinner to go over that
Potion you were having trouble with, but you weren't
in the common room or the library."

"Oh…," Ginny murmured, remembering suddenly that

Hermione had promised to help her with her
homework. "I got…erm…frustrated with it and went
for a walk."
Hermione looked at her carefully, as if trying to figure
out if she were telling the truth. "Well, okay. Do you
want to go over it now?"
Ginny nodded and pulled her Potions notes out of her
bag and tried to pay attention as Hermione attempted
to explain to her how to make a potion to heal dragon
bites. Unfortunately, her thoughts started to drift and
by the time the mail came, she was totally off in her
own little world.

She noticed a huge, hulking eagle owl and followed

its progress as it dropped an envelope onto the
Slytherin table. Ginny watched as Draco Malfoy, who
had been laughing with his goons, Crabbe and Goyle,
picked it up and ripped it open. His eyes scanned the
parchment and the look of merriment on his face
seemed to die. A moment later he pushed away from
the table and hurried out of the Great Hall.

Ginny's brow wrinkled as she stared at the empty

doorway through which he had just disappeared.
Maybe someone else had found out! Maybe she
wasn't going to be able to finish her flying lessons!

"Ginny? Ginny, are you okay?," Hermione asked,

startled, looking at the expression on her friend's face.

Ginny however was oblivious as she hurriedly shoved

her books into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"I'm fine, Hermione. Thanks for the help!," she called
as she hurried down the length of the table towards
the exit.

She walked into the main lobby and looked around,

wondering where Malfoy had gone. She didn't care
why he was upset - she just wanted to make sure
their lessons weren't off. Biting her lip, she started
down the stone stairs towards the dungeons, where
she knew the Slytherin common room to be. She was
halfway down the first long corridor when the familiar,
disgusting smell infiltrated her nostrils again. It got
more pungent as she closed in on a door, left slightly
ajar.

She hesitantly pushed it open and found that it was

an old, abandoned class room. There didn't appear to
be anyone else in the room, save Ginny, but she
peered around anxiously. She was certain that the
smell was coming from this room…

"Great Wizards," Malfoy exclaimed in frustration,

suddenly stepping out from behind a dusty tapestry.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack! Are you stalking
me or something?"
"NO!," Ginny exclaimed, feeling disgusted. Her stalk
Malfoy…honestly! The nerve of the little wanker. "I
just…wanted to make sure that our lessons were still
on for tomorrow."

"Well, I'll let you know if they aren't," Malfoy said,

rolling his eyes. "What made you think I'd changed my
mind already?"
"I…erm…saw you in the Great Hall reading a letter. I
thought you were in trouble," she muttered.

"You ARE stalking me," Malfoy said, staring at her in

amazement. "Honestly Weasley, I know I'm
handsome, but that's a bit extreme. Save your
stalking for Potter!"

"I'm NOT bloody stalking you," Ginny spat back at

him, her cheeks going red. "And I don't stalk Harry."
And you're not handsome, she thought to herself.
Okay, that one was a lie. Malfoy was quite handsome.
Gorgeous really. But his personality…yech.

"Okay, okay," Malfoy muttered, waving his hand as if

to dismiss her.

"What are you doing in here anyway?," Ginny asked,

suddenly feeling quite uncomfortable and not knowing
how to make a very graceful exit.
"What does it smell like," Malfoy replied with a smirk.
"Look, those lessons, they don't extend past the
Quidditch pitch. Besides, what would your little
bodyguards say if they saw you in an abandoned
classroom with Draco Malfoy?" He stopped to
consider this. "Actually, that would be quite funny. I do
hope they walk in."

"You didn't answer my question," Ginny said.

"And I don't have to," Malfoy replied. "Don't you have

a class to go to?"

"Yes, Potions," Ginny answered. She still made no

move to leave the room.

Malfoy glanced back over at her. "Well? Why aren't

you going there?"

"They're not regular muggle cigarettes, are they?,"

she asked quietly.

Malfoy smirked again. "Nope."

"They aren't even cigarettes at all. Am I right?"

"Look Weasley, why do you care?"

"I don't!," she cried. "I just…wow."

"Go to Potions," Malfoy said, reminding her.

"Oh!," she exclaimed, readjusting her bag. "Well,

tomorrow then."

Malfoy grunted in reply and Ginny walked out of the

room, careful to shut the door behind her. That boy…
he really wasn't the nicest.

"Ginny, what is that scratch?"

Ginny snapped out of the daydream she had been

having at the dinner table that evening in the great
hall. She had been imagining how shocked everyone
was going to look when she flew out onto the
Quidditch pitch in March. Ron was gaping at her and
staring very hard at her neck.

"What scratch?," she asked self-consciously, reaching

up to where he was staring. Sure enough, her fingers
touched upon a raising in her skin. She hadn't even
noticed it before. It didn't help that the rest of her
body, the part that was covered in robes, was starting
to bruise. Stupid, hard ground.

"That one," Ron replied, rolling his eyes. "You haven't

been letting Pig sleep in your bed again, have you?"
"No," Ginny mumbled. "I guess it happened when I
went for my walk yesterday." Ginny noticed Hermione
looking at her suspiciously and quickly busied herself
talking to another Gryffindor sixth-year on her other
side.

Dinner was almost over when Ginny happened to

glance across the Great Hall at the Slytherin table.
She wondered vaguely what Malfoy had to do that
was so important that he couldn't teach her that night.
She got her answer almost immediately.

Blaise Zabini, a very pretty Slytherin in Malfoy's year

came up behind him and placed her hands on his
shoulders, before leaning over and whispering
something in his ear. He grinned and said something
back to her, than tossed his napkin onto the table and
followed Blaise out of the hall.

"What are you staring at? Don't tell me you've

suddenly developed a crush on Goyle," Ron said,
snapping his fingers in front of Ginny's face. He had
sat down across from her without her even realizing it.

"Goyle?," Ginny asked in shock. "Ron! That is

disgusting!" He and Harry burst into laughter.

Hermione was also stifling a laugh. "You want to go

work on that potion?"

Ginny nodded and the two of them gathered up their

books and left behind Ron and Harry who were still
sputtering with laughter.

"Where are you going tonight, Ginny?," Ron asked the

next night as Ginny, clad in her thick winter robes,
slipped out of the portrait hole just as he was coming
in from dinner.

"Um…to the library," Ginny replied, hurrying away.

She hated being such a bad liar. Surely Ron knew
that something was up. Hermione certainly did. She
had spent much of the time during their little tutoring
session trying to find out where Ginny really had been
the night before. Her 'going for a walk' excuse just
didn't seem to be holding up.

Ginny pushed open the front doors of the Entrance

Hall and strode quickly across the Quidditch pitch.
Before she even got there she saw a small flicker of
light and heard laughing. She considered turning
back, but realized that if she stood him up, Malfoy
wouldn't hesitate to cut off the lessons all together,
even if he might get in trouble.

As she got closer she realized that one of the laughs

was coming from Draco Malfoy himself, the other from
Blaise Zabini, who was standing next to him on the
Quidditch Pitch, and the flicker of light was coming
from something, which Malfoy stamped out as soon
as he saw Ginny approaching.

"Hello," Ginny said meekly, approaching the two.

Blaise raised her eyebrows at Ginny, but didn't say
anything to her.
"See you later, Draco," Blaise said airily, ambling
away towards the castle. "Eleven O'clock, okay?"

"Okay," Malfoy mumbled. His attention was already

focused on his broom, which he was inspecting for
bent twigs. He looked up at Ginny. "Let's get this done
with."
"I love how you always sound so enthusiastic," Ginny
said sarcastically. "What was she doing here? I
thought you wanted this all hush-hush."

"Blaise won't tell anyone," Malfoy said with a

dismissive wave of his hand. "Not if I tell her not to."

"That's a terrible thing to say about your girlfriend,"

Ginny said, thinking that Malfoy sounded like a
caveman.

Malfoy just chortled. "Girlfriend? Please, Weasley,

don't make me laugh. Blaise isn't my girlfriend."

"But-," Ginny said confused, but broke off again. She

didn't want Malfoy to know she had been watching
him during dinner too. His head might blow up so big
he'd just float away. Not that it would be a bad thing,
per se.

"Here," Malfoy said, thrusting the Nimbus towards her.

He mounted his own broom and quickly shot off into
the night's sky, apparently waiting for Ginny to catch
up.
She got onto the broom and kicked off, surprised at
how quickly she was rising, but how slowly it felt. After
riding on the Accelerina the other night, the Nimbus
felt slower than her Shooting Star. Only a few
seconds later, she was level with Malfoy. "How's
that?"

"Better," he replied with a shrug. "I'm going to teach

you how to turn today though."

Ginny nodded and for the next hour listened to

Malfoy's instruction. He was impatient and haughty
and insulted her flying skills every chance that he got,
but by the end of the lesson, she was doing loops
around the Quidditch pitch. She wasn't nearly good
enough to play for the Gryffindor team yet, but the
improvement was stunning.

"Okay, that's enough," Malfoy finally said and plunged

out of Ginny's view to the cold Quidditch pitch below.
She pointed the nose of her broom down and slowly
descended until her feet hit the grass in a sort of
rough landing.

Malfoy walked over and took the Nimbus from her and
started up towards the castle, not even saying good-
bye. Ginny hurried to catch up. She was still so elated
from being able to turn without crashing into things
that she even forgot to hate Malfoy for a moment.
"Hey! Malfoy, wait up!"
Malfoy didn't stop, but did slow down, and threw a
curious glance over his shoulder, which he tried
quickly to hide. Ginny fell into stride beside him.
"Thank you," she said sincerely.

He looked at her again, the surprise more evident on

his place. "Did you just thank me?"

"I believe so," she said, trying not to laugh at his

expression.

He shrugged. "Well, you're welcome." He started

walking faster again.

"Malfoy!," Ginny exclaimed again, hurrying to stay

with his footing.

"What?," he asked impatiently, though the malicious

edge of his voice had definitely softened.

Ginny for some reason, maybe the cold air whipping

through her air, suddenly felt very brave. "How come
you're always with Blaise if she's not your girlfriend?"

Malfoy looked at her oddly. "That's really none of your

business, nor do I see why you should care."

"I just…I just don't understand," she stammered.

"She's really pretty and you're both in Slytherin, so
you must have loads in common."
"Loads in common? Talking about You-Know-Who?
Sharing Death Eater anecdotes from our fathers?," he
asked, looking quite peeved.

"No!," Ginny exclaimed. "I mean-"

"I know what you mean," Malfoy retorted edgily. "If

you must know, and honestly I don't know why I'm
bloody telling you this, Blaise is not my girlfriend,
because she's a complete airhead. She's fun to hang
around sometimes, takes my mind off of serious stuff,
because all she talks about is meaningless drivel. But
she's definitely not worth hanging around all the time.
Does that answer your question?"

Ginny shrugged. "More or less." They had reached

the castle now and she didn't say another word to
Draco as he turned to go down to the dungeons and
she climbed the marble staircase to go to her dorm.

Chapter Three

And he has his minions

With no real opinions

Cause they all walk on glass

And your lies become the truth

And give me the proof

That you really care

Draco sat in the corner of the Slytherin common

room, his eyes focused on the huge Potions text in
front of him as he prepared for Snape's test the next
day. He had been trying without success to remember
the ingredients for an advanced healing potion, but
the components all seemed to run together in his
head.

He looked up and around the room. Crabbe and

Goyle were on one of the sofas, appearing to study,
but closer examination revealed Crabbe's book to be
upside down and Goyle to be staring into space.
Neither of them spoke. They really weren't bad guys,
Draco thought, almost warmly, just a bit slow on the
uptake.

He slapped his book closed with a clap, drawing

apprehensive stares from several nearby first years. It
was no use - he knew why he wasn't able to focus. It
was that damn Weasley girl!

He had been meeting up with her for two weeks now.

To his shock though, the lessons were becoming less
and less bothersome and more and more enjoyable
with every day. They never really spoke, other than
his instructions, but every now and then she would
surprise him with a random question: why he was
always with Blaise, why he bothered Potter, why he
was a Slytherin. He usually rolled his eyes and
changed the subject back to Quidditch. But a few
times she had caught him off guard and he found
himself wondering what exactly she wanted to know
about him.

Another thing bothered him too: she didn't really

annoy him. If it hadn't been for her fiery red hair, he
wouldn't even remember that she was a Weasley. He
almost found himself thinking of her fondly sometimes
when he looked down at her determined expressions.
He started to think that the girl really would have
made a good Slytherin: she was cunning enough, that
was certain, considering that she was using him. And
she definitely was sly, sneaking in all those little
personal questions. It was times like those that he
had to remind himself that she was, indeed, a
Weasley and a Weasley who was blackmailing him at
that.

"Hey Draco," two voices said, suddenly wrenching

him out of his thoughts. Blaise Zabini plopped down in
the chair next to him, while Pansy Parkinson slid into
the chair across. "Are you ready for this Potion's
exam?"

"Yeah, I think so," Draco lied.

"Of course you are," Pansy said in frustration, opening

her Potions book. "I'm still trying to learn that stupid
Confusing Concoction from last week."

Draco smirked. "Are you sure it didn't work?"

Pansy looked up at him questioningly, then realization

dawned in her eyes. "Oh," she grumbled, throwing her
quill at him. "Just because you're Potions Genius Boy
doesn't mean you have to get on me about my lack of
skills. I'm way better in Care of Magical Creatures."

"That's because I don't care," Draco said smugly.

"That's because you're terrified of Magical Creatures."

"Shut up, Blaise," Draco mumbled, his cheeks going a

bit pink. Ever since that incident with the Hippogriff in
his third year, he had been a bit reluctant to get near
anything bigger than a Flobberworm.

Blaise just smirked. "I need to talk to you about

something, Draco," she said, standing up. "Let's go
for a walk."

"I really need to finish studying," Draco replied, not

wanting to listen to Blaise's idle chatter.

"Liar. You don't even have your book open."

"I was about to open it," he lied again.

"No, because I just saw you close it like five minutes

ago."

"Why is everyone always bloody watching me?,"

Draco cried in frustration.

Pansy mumbled something that included the words

"damn" and "sexy", before turning her attention back
to her book.

"Come walk with me," Blaise repeated and stood up.

Reluctantly Draco stood up and followed her out the
gap in the stone wall.

"What do you want?," Draco asked as they wandered

through the dark hallways.

"Just wanted to talk, really," Blaise replied. "How are

your little flying lessons going?"

Draco shrugged. "Fine, I guess." Blaise looked at him

carefully and Draco felt her scrutinizing him. "Why do
you ask?"

"No reason, really," she replied. "I just haven't heard

you whine about having to go in a while."

"Well, it's something I've got to do," Draco replied.

"My father would skin me alive if he knew some of the
things that I've been up to."

They walked in silence together, finally climbing the

steps and emerging into the main entrance, where
magical light cast eerie shadows around them.
"You're starting to like her, aren't you?," Blaise said
quietly.

Draco looked at her in shock, sputtering indignantly.

"Like who? Weasley?"

"I don't mean you're in love with her," Blaise retorted,

looking scandalized at the very idea. "But you don't
hate her, do you?"
"What's it to you?," Draco mumbled, not meeting her
eyes.

"It's nothing," Blaise shrugged.

"Okay then," Draco said impatiently. "I'm going back

to the common room." He turned and walked away,
not bothering to wait for her.

"It's just-," Blaise began. She hurried after him. "It's

just that you're changing, Draco."

He looked over at her questioningly, his gray eyes

revealing nothing. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you haven't been disappearing and coming
back reeking of smoke in almost a week," she began.
"You don't pick on Potter and Weasley, the older one,
nearly as much anymore. You don't complain about
having to teach a Gryffindor to fly…You're just acting
very un-Slytherin."
Draco shrugged again. "Maybe I'm growing up," he
finally said.

Draco skipped dinner the next day. His Potions test

had gone surprisingly well and the rest of his classes
that day hadn't been too stressful, but all he wanted at
that moment was to go out to the Quidditch pitch and
fly around for a while before Weasley arrived.

He entered the pitch and dropped the Nimbus on the

ground, then kicked off and soared off. He had only
risen about thirty feet when he looked down to see a
body sprawled in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.
With a start, he realized it was Weasley. She looked
so serene there, her red hair fanned out around his
face, that he almost hesitated before flying back down
and landing beside her. She didn't move.

"Hey, Weasley! You dead?," he shouted, looking

down at her.

Her brown eyes burst open and she sat up. "Malfoy!
What are you doing here already?"

"Skipped dinner. Wanted to fly a bit," he muttered.

"What are you doing here?"
"Skipped dinner. Wanted to get away from everyone a
bit," she replied. "Well, you can go fly if you want. I
won't bother you."
Draco was about to kick off again when he decided,
much to his own surprise, to sit down next to
Weasley. She looked at him in surprise. He didn't say
anything, only stared straight ahead. "Well?," he
finally asked, looking over at her. She was still staring
at him in confusion.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me a million questions about

my life?"

"You would just tell me to mind my own business,"

she replied truthfully.

"Good point," Draco agreed. He felt as confused as

she had looked. Why was he even bothering to talk to
her? It was quite mystifying.

"Well…erm…," Weasley began. "Okay, I have a

question."

"What's that?"
"Can I call you Draco?"

He looked at her, startled. "You want to?"

"Yeah…well, if you'll call me Ginny," she replied. "I

just hate when you call me Weasley. I'm not my
brother and you call him Weasley too."
"Well…okay, Ginny," Draco replied.

"Okay, Draco," Ginny replied, the name sounding very

odd indeed coming out of her mouth. "You don't hate
me, do you?" It came out as a statement, not a
question, and Draco looked at her in surprise. He and
Blaise had just been having this same conversation
the day before.

"What?"
"You don't hate me," she said again. "I mean, I
thought you did, but you don't."

Draco just shrugged. "Come on. Let's fly."

Their flying lesson that night lasted much longer than

usual. Draco was trying to teach Ginny how to fly
steadily with one hand. He had found out from her
that she wanted to become a Chaser, having much
admired the three girls who had played Chasers when
her older twin brothers had played on the Gryffindor
team. He hadn't even realized that it was so late until
he noticed that many of the lights in the castle had
started to flicker out, signifying that many people were
going to bed.

"Quintaped," Draco muttered and waited for the stone

wall to slide open. He stepped into the common room
and tossed his two brooms onto the sofa and then
collapsed in an armchair.
"You're back late," a voice said quietly. Draco was
startled, but didn't show it, and looked over towards
the corner where the voice had come from.

"What's up, Blaise?"

"Nothing," she said innocently, sitting on the couch

across from him, next to his brooms. "I was just
waiting up to see if you wanted any…erm…
cigarettes," she finished with a small scoff.

Draco stared back over at her, a platinum eyebrow

arched. "Nope," he replied airily.

Blaise looked back at him as if he had just grown

another head. "No?"

"No."

"Why not?," she asked, as if he had insulted her.

Draco stood up and picked up his broomsticks. "I

don't need any." He started walking towards the
corridor that led to his dorm room, then turned back to
look at Blaise. "And don't bother offering again."

"Boys," Blaise muttered moodily, sneering at his

retreating back.

A/N: Wow! I am soooooo flattered by the amount of

reviews I've received for the last two chapters. I'm
actually only ten reviews below what I got for my
ENTIRE last story. How is that for crazy? I love it!

Anyway, just wanted to thank the following wonderful,

fantastic, awesome reviewers:

Chapter Four

With your gorgeous grin

You have the world sucked in

Believing in everything you say

Watch out

He'll charm you

-Leona Naess

Ginny awoke Saturday, February 14th, opened her

eyes, and immediately let them fall back closed. Saint
Valentines Day was most definitely her least favorite
day of the year.

"Ginny! Wake up!," Parvati Patil cried, running into

Ginny's room, shrieking excitedly. Ginny wasn't very
close to Parvati, but the two did talk on occasion and
Ginny knew that Parvati placed Valentine's Day at the
top of her list of holidays, even above Christmas.
"I'd rather wallow in my misery by myself, thanks,"
Ginny groaned, rolling over and swaddling herself in
her thick crimson quilt.

"No misery!," Parvati exclaimed far too cheerfully.

"Come look at what I did to the common room!"

Ginny reluctantly allowed Parvati, who was clad in

bunny pink robes, to take her by the wrist and drag
her out of the sixth-year girl's dorm and down the
winding staircase to the common room.

At first Ginny thought that her eyes were just too

blurry with sleep. Then she thought maybe it was just
a scary nightmare of some sorts. But nope, she was
awake, and yes Parvati had outdone Gilderoy
Lockhart in the Valentine's tackiness department.

The circular room was covered from floor to ceiling

with giant, grotesquely pink hearts and flowers.
Parvati had enchanted some of them to float around
after people. When they caught up with one, they
would attach themselves and lay on a huge kiss.
Ginny was just wrestling off a particularly feisty paper
daffodil when she heard a stifled laugh behind her.
She turned, expecting to see Parvati, but apparently
the girl had run off to wake up and torture other
Gryffindors, because she was nowhere in sight.

Harry, Ron, and Seamus Finnigan stood at the foot of

the stairs. It was Ron's snicker that she had heard a
moment earlier and he was now practically
asphyxiated from laughing so hard. Harry was just
staring around as if he wasn't sure if it was some
terrible dream or not. Seamus on the other hand
seemed quite excited.

"I reckon this is Parvati's work, eh?," Seamus asked,

a huge grin never leaving his face.

"What ever made you guess?," Ginny cracked

sarcastically. She just shook her head and brushed
past her brother and Harry. "I'm going back to bed."

She was so tired she didn't even notice a pair of

sapphire blue eyes following her every move.

"I can't believe what Parvati did," Hermione laughed

as Ginny joined her at the lunch table later that day.
She had slept until almost noon and had only gotten
back out of bed because of the deep growling in her
stomach. Now she was busily spooning mouthfuls of
potatoes and chicken into her mouth, eager to get
back to the common room and be lazy again before
dinner.

There was the sudden flapping of wings and

everyone, as was custom, looked up as several
dozen owls swooped into the room. Ginny glanced
up, but quickly turned her attention back to her food.
She didn't really feel like seeing all of the other girls
get their little valentines. It was simply depressing.
She had just taken a sip of pumpkin juice when
something landed in front of her. She stared at it in
amazement, not certain if it was for her. A single
orange rose, still closed in a bud, lay on her plate.

Hermione gaped at her too. "Ginny! Somebody sent

you a rose!," she exclaimed, clapping her hands
excitedly, eyeing the bud. "Open the card!"

It was only then when Ginny realized that there was a

small note attached. The outside had her name
scrawled on it in long, spidery handwriting. She
opened in a rush, eager to know who it was from.

She was however, very disappointed, when it only

read: "Happy Valentine's Day".

"Who's it from? What does it say?," Hermione

inquired, trying inconspicuously to look over Ginny's
shoulder.

"It doesn't say," Ginny murmured, setting the note

back down on the table and picking up the rose. "I
wonder why someone would send me a closed rose,"
she pondered out loud. "And an orange one at that."

Hermione suddenly got one of her intellectual looks

on her face. "Ginny, this is actually really good, you
know that?"
"How so?"
"Well, did you know that all roses have different
meanings?"
"No, do enlighten me, oh smart one," Ginny replied,
knowing she really had no other choice. When
Hermione got on a roll like that, it was best to sit still
and avoid showing fear. It was quite similar to having
a wasp land on your arm.

"Well," Hermione began, "In the harems of the Middle

East, there was a special rose language invented as a
secret way for lovers to communicate their love for
one another. Each different kind of rose had a
different meaning. Don't you realize what this
means?," she intoned, pointing at the rose.

"Erm…no," Ginny admitted.

Hermione sighed, swooned almost. "A rose bud, that

means budding desire, Gin!"

Ginny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? How

come it's orange then? Because of my hair, maybe?"

"No, colors have meaning too," Hermione said matter-

of-factly. "Orange signifies…erm…," she seemed to
be thinking hard, then her face brightened. "Now I
remember! Orange means fascination. Somebody is
fascinated with you!"

Ginny stared at the rose with a growing fondness.

"Wow…," was all she could mutter.

"Now you've just got to figure out who would have put
that much thought into a gift," Hermione said, wiggling
her eyebrows. "Who do you think it was?"

"No clue," Ginny replied truthfully. "I only wish I knew."

On the other side of the Great Hall, Draco was having

an equally odd Valentine's Day. He hadn't woke to
find his common room covered in grotesque
decoration, nor had he received any anonymous gifts.
No, this Valentine's Day was odd, because for the first
time, he actually had sent someone a Valentine.

Draco didn't usually attend lunch, preferring to eat in

the common room with his friends, but he had come
down here to see her reaction.

He didn't know what exactly had possessed him to

send that rose to her. After they had agreed to use
each other's first names, it was almost as if they had
met each other all over again, but for the very first
time. He no longer thought of her as "Weasley", but
as Ginny. And he was sure that she felt the same
way. They weren't exactly friends. He still didn't
acknowledge her off of the Quidditch pitch, nor did
she acknowledge him, but there was no more of the
hostile atmosphere that had initially tainted their
lessons.
He thought vaguely of the night before. They had
been flying around, passing the Quaffle back and
forth, talking about Quidditch and a few other things,
when he had suddenly realized that they were having
a conversation. Not an argument, not an insult fest-
but a full-fledged, human to human conversation. He
was listening to her, she was laughing at his stories…
it was weird.

"You going to eat that?," Crabbed growled from

Draco's left, breaking him out of his memory. Draco
looked down at the untouched food on his plate and
impatiently shook his head. When was the damn mail
going to come?

As if the owls had read his thoughts, there was the

sudden flutter of wings. Draco picked up a huge,
gaudy red envelope, no doubt from his mother, and
opened it, pretending to read the magical card in front
of him, but in actuality staring over the top of it, all the
way across the hall to the Gryffindor table. He saw the
school owl he had borrowed that morning swoop over
and drop the flower onto Ginny's plate.

A small smile, for once not a smirk, crossed his face

as he watched her expression turn from shock to
amazement to happiness as Granger animatedly
talked about something. The entire time, Ginny never
took her eyes off of the rose. It was indeed an
achievement.
But now what was this? That Irish bloke, Seamus
Something-or-the-other, was sliding down onto the
long stool next to Ginny and smiling at her. She was
smiling back at him and suddenly she looked down at
the rose and then back up at The Irish Louse (which
Draco had already decided to call him) and nodded in
reply to something he said. Even from all the way
across the Great Hall, he could see Ginny's cheeks
flame a burning pink as The Irish Louse got up and
walked away to join Weasley (the elder and more
annoying) and Potter at the end of the table.

Malfoy stood up quickly, nearly knocking over a

startled first-year seated to his right. He had every
desire to go over and curse the daylights out of The
Irish Louse. He just knew that The Irish Louse had
claimed that the rose from him. Just knew it.
Clenching his fists tightly, knowing that he would give
himself away, he quickly turned on his heel and
strode out of the Great Hall.

Reaching the highly arched entrance hall, he leaned

back against the cold stone wall. He didn't need to get
so upset, really. He didn't like Ginny. Not like that. He
was just doing something nice for someone. And
really, what was wrong with that?

Ginny walked back to the common room after lunch,

hoping that her cheeks weren't glowing too much. She
couldn't believe her day had gone from terrible to
absolutely fabulous in the course of one meal. After
Hermione had finished talking about the rose,
Seamus had walked over and sat down next to her.
She had been so absorbed in the rose that she hadn't
even noticed him at first, not until Hermione had
elbowed her in the side.

"Ginny," Seamus had said, his blue eyes focused on

her brown ones. "How are you?"

"Great," she had replied, starting to wonder if maybe

he had been the one to send it to the rose.

"You seem to like that rose," he had remarked,

looking down at it. He had an odd expression in his
eyes. Ginny had just nodded eagerly, too petrified to
say anything. "Look…erm…I was just wondering,
Gin…we have a Hogsmeade day tomorrow. ?," he
had finished in a rush.

"Pardon?," Ginny had questioned in confusion. What

on Earth…?

Seamus had taken a deep breath. "Do you want to

get a butter beer or something with me? Tomorrow, I
mean. Kind of like…a date, I guess."

Of course she had said yes, Ginny reflected with a

grin. She had always thought that Seamus was cute.
She couldn't believe it. An actual date. Now what was
she going to wear?
Ginny had just closed the door to her dormitory later
that evening and was walking down the circular
stairway, off to meet Draco, when she felt a hand
fasten securely around her elbow.

She turned around, startled. "Hermione! You gave me

a fright!," she exclaimed, holding a hand over her
heart. Hermione didn't answer and seemed to be on
the edge of words. "What's wrong?"

"Where are you going?," Hermione finally said.

Ginny gulped nervously. She had hoped that

Hermione had forgotten about the fact that she wasn't
around for an hour or so three or four days a week.
Apparently not. "Oh, just for a walk, 'Mione," she
replied, hoping she sounded cheerful.

"Ginny," Hermione said warningly, "tell me the truth."

Ginny sighed. "I'm going to practice my flying," she

finally said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It was
supposed to be a surprise."

Hermione's face flashed with some relief. "Flying?

You're not out…cavorting with gypsies or anything?"
"Gypsies? Honestly, Hermione, where do you come
up with this rubbish?," Ginny exclaimed, staring at her
friend. "I just want to make the house team."

Hermione nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I'm acting so

weird. It's just that it's been over a month and you
keep disappearing and not telling anyone where
you're going and I think that your brother is starting to
suspect that something is going on. He thinks that you
have some secret Hufflepuff boyfriend or something."

At that, Ginny had to laugh. Ron would wish that it

was some Hufflepuff boyfriend when and if he found
out who she had really been with - and the fact that
she really didn't dislike the person she was with at all.
"I'm fine," she said reassuringly. "I'm just really
determined to surprise everyone. Please don't tell,
Hermione."

Hermione nodded and started back up the stairs

towards her dorm room. "I won't," she replied. "But
Gin…if there's anything else you need to tell me, don't
hesitate."

"I won't," Ginny answered, for the first time wishing

that there was someone who she could talk to. Then
she turned on her heel and rushed down the stairs,
eager to get the practice done with, and back upstairs
to get her beauty rest for her date the next day with
Seamus.

Chapter Five

Smoother than the LA weather

That's how he holds himself together

He is colder than the winter

- Leona Naess

Ginny hummed to herself as she made her way

across the school grounds toward the Quidditch pitch
that night. What a great Valentine's Day, she
surmised. She had gotten a beautiful rose and a date.
Even if it wasn't with Harry (as it usually was in her
fantasies) it was still with a perfectly nice, not to
mention nice-looking seventh year.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she was

even more surprised as she normally would have
been when a hand closed over her wrist and with a
sharp tug, someone pulled her into the shelter of a
clump of topiary trimmed to resemble dragons. She
opened her mouth to scream, but cut herself off at just
a whimper when she met Draco's gray eyes.

He dropped her wrist and she immediately put her

hands on her hips and glared at him in indignation.
"What was that all about?," she asked, annoyed.

Draco just rolled his eyes. "I was trying to stop you
before you got to the pitch. Ravenclaw is practicing
today." Well, that cleared part of it up, Ginny thought.
Since Draco was captain of the Slytherin team, he
was given access to the practice booking log, where
teams signed up to use the Quidditch pitch.
Whenever a team had it booked, he had told her the
day before and they took the next night off. But that
still didn't explain to Ginny why he had bloody
grabbed her wrist like that.

"Why didn't you just tell me?," she grumbled, taking

her hand off of her hip to inspect her wrist, which was
slowly turning red. "That hurt."

Draco rolled his eyes again. "What did you expect?

For me to run across the grounds yelling 'Ginny!
Ginny! We can't secretly meet tonight!'." He threw his
arms up in a silly little sort of dance. She snickered
and he quickly crossed his arms over his chest.
"Anyway…"

"You say it like it's something sordid," Ginny

remarked. "It's just Quidditch practice."

"You think that your brother would see it that way?,"

Draco asked, raising his silvery eyebrows. She didn't
reply. "That's what I thought."

"Stop acting like you know everything," Ginny

mumbled. She hated when he got that superior tone
with her. Just when she was starting to think that he
was maybe not that bad of a person, he always had to
get that stupid, smug, self-satisfied look on his face. It
was extremely irritating. "Because you don't," she
finally added when he didn't say anything. He still
didn't say anything and Ginny finally looked up from
the ground, which she had been staring at since he
had got that expression on his face. He was still
standing there, looking calm and obnoxiously relaxed.
"Well, aren't you going to say something?," she finally
exploded, feeling as though she was talking to
herself. She didn't know why he was acting like this.
They had been getting on quite well the past few
weeks - he was acting like stupid old Malfoy now.

Draco just smirked, seemingly quite content with

being irritating. "Something," he finally replied, raising
his chin defiantly.

She let out a disgusted snort and threw her hands up

in exasperation. "Forget it! I'm going back to the
castle. Day after tomorrow?"

At this, his composure seemed to crack a bit. "Why

not tomorrow?"

"I have a date, if you must know," she snapped.

Something flashed over Draco's eyes, something that

looked oddly enough like disappointment, but it was
so momentary that Ginny thought she must have
imagined it. "Ah. Did speccy little Potter finally ask you
out?," he asked snidely.
"No, as a matter of fact, it wasn't Harry," she replied.
"Not that it's any of your business."

"I think we should practice tomorrow," Draco said

insistently.

Ginny looked at him in surprise, shocked to see

almost a vulnerable expression in his eyes. It quickly
faded as he realized that her eyes were on his. "I'm
not going to back out of a date with Seamus Finnigan.
Besides, missing one practice isn't going to hurt," she
said.

"Tryouts are in two weeks, Ginny," Draco pointed out.

"I thought making this team was really important to
you. You shouldn't be skipping practice for some
stupid little date."

"If I recall correctly," Ginny spat out, her eyes shooting

daggers, "you skipped practice for a 'stupid little date'
with Blaise. So don't even start with me!"

"You need to show some control," Draco muttered.

"Your acting like all those other stupid little girls.
Letting guys take over your life."

Ginny's brown eyes narrowed as she turned to face

him. "You're one to talk about control, Draco Malfoy.
Do you even remember why we started this? Because
you couldn't 'control' yourself and were doing
something completely stupid. So don't you even sit
here and preach to me about controlling myself. I
won't take it from a complete hypocrite. I won't!," she
shouted, stomping her foot like a little child and
instantly regretting it, though she tried to hide it.
Draco stared back at her in surprise. He hadn't
thought that she had it in her. Had he been less of a
man (and he considered himself quite a man, Draco
did), he would have been frightened senseless by her
diatribe. He shook his head slowly. "Fine, Ginny, fine,"
he murmured. "Do whatever you want."

He turned on his heel and started back towards the

castle. Ginny stood there, watching him retreat and
instantly felt another twinge of regret. She had quite
possibly just ruined her whole blossoming friendship
with Draco, all because of her stupid Weasley temper.
And it was all over, what Draco had pointed out with
annoying accuracy, a stupid little date. Her anger
having subsided, she hurried after him.

"Draco, wait," she said, grabbing his elbow. She had

an eerie flashback of almost a month earlier when she
had done the same thing to thank him. His response
then had been cool distance. Now it was burning
anger underneath a cool façade. Ginny could tell that
he was trying hard not to explode, and vaguely
wondered why he was so hacked off.

"What?," he finally snapped.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking up at him, trying to make

his eyes meet hers. "Draco, I am really so grateful for
all you've done for me - even if I have had to force it
out of you," she added in an undertone. "And," she
continued, "if you want me to stay and practice
tomorrow, I will. I…value your opinion."

Draco finally looked back down at her. He seemed to

be debating something in his head and finally took a
deep breath. "No," he finally said. "Have fun. I'll see
you the day after tomorrow."

Ginny looked at him carefully. "Are you sure?" Draco

only nodded. Ginny squealed happily - happy
because she could go on her date with Seamus, and
happy because Draco wasn't angry with her anymore
- and leapt up and wrapped her arms around his
neck, pecking him quickly on the cheek. "Thank you
Draco!," she called, her cheeks already tingeing red
as she turned and hurried into the castle, leaving a
stunned Draco staring after her.

Draco chided himself as he made his way down to the

dark dungeons, dragging his two broomsticks with
him. Stupid, stupid, stupid he muttered repeating this
over and over again in his mind.

He had lost control and if there was one thing Draco

prided himself on, it was his ability to keep calm in
any situation. He had spent a long time cultivating it -
ever since his first year when he had cowered and ran
away like a baby while in the Forbidden Forest with
Potter. That calm, cool exterior was truly the only
thing he had ever had to work to achieve and he was
damn proud of it.
But tonight when she had said she was going to skip
their practice because of The Irish Louse he had felt
oddly deflated and slighted. He had sent her a rose,
for Merlin's sake! But then, he had to remind himself,
he hadn't exactly signed the note. She had no clue it
was from him - she probably thought it was from The
Irish Louse, as if that scoundrel would go to the
trouble of hunting down an exceptionally rare
Mystique Rose. As if that Louse could afford it, Draco
thought with scorn.

And then there was the matter of that kiss. Granted -

it had been just a peck on the cheek, just her being
happy. He wasn't sure if he should run to the loo and
scrub his cheek with scalding water. It had thrown him
completely off guard and he didn't like that - but he
couldn't even convince himself that he hadn't liked the
feel of her soft lips on his cheek - even if it had just
been fleeting.

Overall, the situation upset him greatly.

Draco strode into the common room, pushing all

thoughts aside and hoping he looked as cold and
unaffected as ever.

"What's wrong, Draco?," was the first thing he heard.

He glanced over and saw Blaise peering at him over
the top of her Transfiguration text. She had been
oddly distant since their quarrel.
Draco just shrugged in reply and simply out of lack for
a better plan, walked over and sat at the other end of
the sofa she had been studying on. "Nothing."

"Liar," Blaise stated bluntly.

Draco looked at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"I know you better than anyone else, Draco," she said
and Draco knew that this was the truth. "You're upset
over the little Weasley girl." Draco didn't reply, only
stared intently into the fireplace. "Just admit it. You're
starting to fall for her, aren't you?"

"Please, Blaise," Draco said quietly, his voice eerily

sedate. "Don't insult me."

"You're hopeless! You know that, right?"

Draco just sighed and buried his face in his hand. He

hated everything just then: hated that Blaise could
read him so well, hated Ginny for being someone
totally different than he had expected, hated himself
for what he was feeling.

"I am not falling for her," Draco said snidely. "She's no

one to me, just another runt in that litter of redheads.
I'm only tolerating her so that she doesn't get me
thrown out of school."
"Oh, so that's why you're constantly sneaking peeks
at her at meals. And why you sent her that rose this
morning," Blaise said sarcastically. Draco looked over
at her, startled. How did she know about that? "As
much as you want everyone, including yourself, to
believe that you're a cold-hearted bastard, you're not.
I can see right through you, Draco Malfoy." Blaise
finished her speech with a flourish, tossing a lock of
glossy brown hair over her shoulder. "Either get over
it or stop moping."

Draco leaned back into the couch, looking over at his

friend. "How did you know about the rose?"

A small smile crossed Blaise's lips. "Only you, Draco,

would give a girl a rose that changes with your
emotions."

Draco couldn't help a tiny smile from creasing his

features. "Only me," he agreed, staring into the
embers of the fire.

Chapter Six

Ginny walked up the final set of stairs towards

Gryffindor tower, willing her cheeks to cool down. She
couldn't believe that she had kissed Draco. Draco
Malfoy. It hadn't been on purpose. She had just been
so pleased that he gave in that she had totally
forgotten where she was and what she was doing.
"What a mess," she thought miserably.
Ginny turned the final corner and opened her mouth
to say the password, when someone behind her
cleared their throat. Startled, Ginny turned to see
Hermione looking at her, a somber look in her eyes.

"Hermione!," Ginny exclaimed. "You startled me!"

"Sorry," Hermione muttered quietly. Ginny looked at

her more closely. Hermione seemed pale and
confused, her freckles standing out brightly against
her white skin.

"What's wrong? Why were you standing in the

corner?," Ginny asked, approaching her friend.

Hermione cleared her throat again and Ginny realized

that she seemed…nervous almost. "Where did you
go, Ginny?"

Ginny looked at her, more confused than ever. "To

practice flying," she replied. "But Ravenclaw was
practicing, so I couldn't use the pitch." Hermione's
expression did not change and she continued to stare
at the younger girl. "Why?"

"Because I saw you," Hermione stammered.

"Saw me?," Ginny questioned, confused. Than it hit

her and she let out a great gasp, covering her mouth
with her hand. "No! It wasn't what it looked like,
Hermione!," she exclaimed. "We were just…"

"Just what?," Hermione said stonily. "Just traipsing off

into the topiary?"

"Why were you following me anyway?," Ginny asked,

suddenly angry. She had told Hermione where she
was going. Why was checking up on her?

"You said that you were going to practice flying and

then when you left I noticed that you didn't bother to
take a broomstick," Hermione said icily. "So I decided
to see what was so important that you would lie about
it. Apparently, that important thing is only your
brother's worst enemy."

Ginny didn't know what to say. It was very stupid of

her, really, to leave the dorm without a broom. She
had just gotten so used to using Draco's that taking
her own never occurred to her anymore. "Hermione,
let me explain," Ginny sighed.

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, looking

stern, but at the same time hurt. "Than explain it to
me. Please."

Ginny ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think

where to begin. She took a deep breath. If she told
Hermione everything, that would be the equivalent of
going straight to Dumbledore. As Head Girl, Hermione
wouldn't hesitate to snitch on Draco. She hesitated
before beginning to speak. "It all started back at our
last match against Slytherin. Afterwards, I kind of lost
track of time and when I left the stands, they were
mostly deserted. Anyway, I ran into Malfoy and he
was doing something he shouldn't have been doing."
Hermione opened her mouth, as though to question
the younger girl, but shut it quickly as Ginny continued
to talk. "We agreed that if I didn't tell, he would teach
me how to fly well enough to make the house team.
We've been meeting up a few times a week,
whenever he didn't have practice himself or we
weren't too busy with other stuff. We were supposed
to practice tonight, but Ravenclaw was practicing and
Draco was just letting me know. Honest."

Hermione looked at her questioningly. "What did he

do that was so bad that he'd agree to teach you?,"
she asked, feigning innocent curiosity.

"I'm not telling you, Hermione," Ginny replied quietly.

"I can't."

Hermione was silent for another moment. "Ginny, why

are you protecting him?
"I'm not protecting him," Ginny exclaimed. "I'm
protecting me! I wanted to learn how to fly and he's
teaching me! End of story!"

"Why did you kiss him?," Hermione asked abruptly.

At this, Ginny's cheeks grew very red. "I don't know,"

she admitted. "We were arguing about practicing
tomorrow. He wanted me to practice, but the
Hogsmeade trip is tomorrow and since we're allowed
to stay there for dinner, I said that I couldn't practice.
But he finally agreed with me and I don't know…I was
just so excited, cause of my date with Seamus and
all, that I hopped up and kissed him. I'd take it back
now, if I could."

Hermione nodded but still looked very confused.

"Ginny…you do realize that you're hanging out with
Draco Malfoy, don't you? The same guy who has
made fun of your family since he knew how to talk?
The one whose father almost got your father fired
from his job? The one who's practically a Death Eater
already?"

"He is not!," Ginny exploded. She took a step back,

surprised by her own outburst. Hermione was staring
at her in shock.

"I'd rethink where your loyalties lie," Hermione said in

a very serious voice, turning and walking towards the
portrait hole. "Nothing good can ever come from a
Malfoy." She muttered the password and the portrait
opened, the Fat Lady pretending that she hadn't been
listening to the whole conversation. Ginny walked in
behind Hermione and hurried up to her dorm room.

Ginny barely made it to the Great Hall in time to get a

bit of toast for breakfast. Most of her fellow students
had already come down and than hurried back up to
their dorms to get ready for the trip to Hogsmeade.
She sat at the table, her head propped up on her
hand as she thought about her conversation with
Hermione the night before. She was terrified that
Hermione would tell Ron and Harry about what she
had seen. Ron especially. He would flip out. Possibly
murder Draco. She didn't want that to happen. As big
of a spoiled brat Draco was, she didn't want him
murdered.

"You all right there, Ginny?"

She jumped, startled, and her elbow slid, causing her

to drop her toast and nearly knock her head on the
table. She looked up and saw Seamus staring down
at her, an amused expression on his face. "Hi," she
said meekly, looking forlornly at her bit of toast. "How
are you?"

He sat down next to her and gave her a grin.

"Wonderful," he replied. "And you?"

"Super," she muttered, picking up another piece of

toast. He looked a bit abashed at her unenthusiastic
reaction, but just brightened his grin and continued
on.

"Look Ginny, I know I asked you to go out for that

butterbeer and all…," he began. "But I totally forgot
that it was Dean's birthday today and I'd feel kind of
bad if I didn't hang out with him. Can I take a rain
check?"

Ginny looked at him, slightly stunned. As if the day

wasn't horrible enough already, she had been
dumped by her date before the date had even begun.
She forced a smile to her face. "Sure," she replied
brightly. "Next time."

"Right," Seamus said, standing up. "Thanks for

understanding, Ginny. Definitely next time."

Ginny kept the stupid smile on her face as Seamus

walked down the length of the table and out of the
Great Hall. As soon as he was gone she tossed her
piece of toast onto the table in annoyance, a scowl
crossing her face. She stood up and walked out of the
Great Hall, careful to go in the opposite direction of
Gryffindor Tower. She wasn't in the mood to see
Hermione or Seamus right at the moment. She didn't
feel like going to Hogsmeade anymore and decided to
avoid the Common Room until she was sure they
were gone.

She wandered around the castle for nearly an hour

and it was only when she could hear Filch's screechy
voice reverberating through the corridors that she
climbed the stairs back up to Gryffindor tower. But
once up there, surrounded by the annoying
underclassmen, she quickly grabbed her winter cloak
and walked back out. She didn't feel like being around
people right at that moment.

A few moments later she was walking along one of

the huge stone archways that ran around the
courtyard. The cold air ruffled her hair and stung her
cheeks, but Ginny didn't notice any of this as a stray
tear suddenly found its way down her cheek.

Ginny wasn't one to cry for no reason and she didn't

know why she was crying now. It wasn't because
Seamus had broke off their date- sure she was
disappointed, but he had seemed sincerely sorry, so it
wasn't that big of a deal. She realized that it probably
had more to do with the situation with Hermione and
Draco than anything else.

She reached up with a gloved hand and wiped away

the tear as she leaned back against a pillar. The sky
was a brilliant, sterling blue and the sun was shining
against the freshly fallen snowfall. Suddenly there
was a crunching noise and Ginny turned to see
someone approaching her through the snow, their
figure silhouetted by the sun behind them.

"What's wrong, Gin?," a voice asked gently.

Ginny's eyes widened a bit. "Harry?," she asked

uncertainly. Sure enough as he got closer Ginny
realized it was the dark-haired boy…and he was
looking at her in a way that she didn't recognize. She
wondered vaguely if Hermione had told him about
Draco, but decided that she must not have, for Harry
would be yelling at her. "Why aren't you in
Hogsmeade?"

He came to a stop in front of her and shrugged.

"Novelty's worn off, I suppose," he answered. He
seemed to be studying her face. "Were you crying?"
She quickly shook her head. "No! I had something in
my eye," she lied.

"Oh…," Harry said quietly and moved a bit closer to

her. Ginny sucked in a bit of breath and realized with
a start that he was standing much closer than she
deemed normal. "Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade?"

"Not in the mood," Ginny replied stiffly. She didn't

know what to say. She had thought that her crush on
Harry was pretty much gone. Sure, she had been as
infatuated as ever at the beginning of the term, but
over the last few weeks she hadn't really thought
about him much at all. But now, with him standing that
close to her, so close that she could smell his soap
and see the tiny flecks of gold in his emerald eyes,
she started to feel that funny, faint feeling all over
again.

"You look really nice today," Harry said, not taking his
eyes off of hers. She gulped nervously. What the heck
was going on? Why was Harry Bloody Potter
suddenly…hitting on her?
"Erm…thank you," Ginny replied, ever aware that with
every second Harry was inching his way closer and
closer to her. "I'm going to erm…go now," she said
suddenly.

"No!," Harry exclaimed, grabbing her arm as she

started to walk away. Ginny looked back at him, a
questioning look in her brown eyes.

"Why not?," she asked, looking up at him. The faint

feeling started to come over her once more. "Damn
childhood crushes," she thought to herself.

"I just…," he stammered and Ginny couldn't move as

Harry unexpectedly cupped her face in his gloved
hands. "I just wanted to do something that I should
have done a long time ago."

Ginny couldn't believe it as Harry slowly lowered his

face and pressed his soft lips against hers. For a
moment Ginny lost herself in his kiss. Her heart was
beating so rapidly that she could barely stand up, but
suddenly an image flashed in her head that was
entirely unexpected and at the same time somehow
right. A vision of Draco. And then she knew why Harry
was kissing her.

She wrenched herself away from him and stared up at

him, the faint feeling gone, only to be replaced by
anger. "Why are you kissing me?"
"Because I want to!," Harry exclaimed. He was a
terrible liar. You could see on his face that he was as
uncomfortable as she suddenly felt.

"No! Because Hermione told you to," Ginny spat out.

"You're just doing it to keep me away from Draco."
Harry sputtered something in response, but Ginny
ignored him and carried on. "Well, it's not going to
work! And you wasted your time! There is nothing
going on and there never will be anything going on
between Draco Malfoy and myself!"

She turned on her heel and stomped away, unaware

that across the courtyard, Draco Malfoy had seen and
heard everything.

Chapter Seven

Draco stalked back into the castle, his shadow casting

a long shape over the cobbled floor. He didn't know
why he was so upset. It was just Potter kissing Ginny
Weasley. That was the ultimate goal of this whole
flying lesson thing anyway. So she could get that four-
eyed mongrel. Great Wizards knew why she wanted
him in the first place. Geeky, skinny little brat. Not that
he cared, Draco told himself, just as he emitted a
short, low-throated growl and kicked a nearby suit of
armor hard in the knee.

Unfortunately, as Draco had forgotten, the suits of

armor at Hogwarts didn't take kindly to being kicked.
With a tremendous screech, the suit raised it's ax and
brought it down, narrowly missing Draco's left ear.
Draco gulped nervously and took off at a full run,
fumbling for his wand in his pockets as the armor
clanked after him down the hall, still brandishing the
ax.

Draco turned a corner and found himself near the

abandoned classroom Ginny had found him in a few
weeks earlier. Hoping he had lost the armor, he
ducked into the room and shut the door behind him.
He heard the armor clank past and sighed in relief.

He crossed the room and pulled aside a tapestry to

reveal the wide window seat where he always hid -
and jumped as he realized someone was already
there.

She looked up, her brown eyes red-rimmed, but

unmarred by tears. Draco felt a stab of admiration
and…something else, though he couldn't place it.

"What are you doing here?," he asked in a cool tone,

still holding the tapestry in his hand, unsure whether
he should leave her alone or chase her off.

"What does it look like?," she replied, her voice flat

and husky from the tears she must have shed earlier.

"Looks like you're in my place," Draco said, letting go

of the tapestry so that they were hidden and slapping
the padded seat with his palm. "How'd you find it
anyway?"

"I saw you come out from behind here that one time,"
she replied with a shrug. "I just kind of stumbled into
the room." Draco nodded and Ginny moved back into
one corner of the window seat and gestured for him to
sit down. He hesitated, remembering her harsh words
about him out in the courtyard, and then sat down on
the other side, his back pressed into the corner
between the cold wall and the icy stained glass
window. There was a short silence and then Draco
cleared his throat. Ginny looked up at him, her
eyebrows raised.

"I heard what just happened outside," he finally said.

"What? How?," Ginny gasped, her face growing a bit

pale.

"I was passing through the courtyard. Couldn't help

but overhear," he mumbled, trying to say it as if he
couldn't care less. Which he didn't, he told himself.
"I'm sorry," she said suddenly in a tiny voice.

"For what?," he asked stiffly.

"For what I said."

"Why be sorry? It's true, isn't it?," he questioned. "I
mean, there's nothing going on with us. I'm just your
flying teacher. Right?"
"Mostly," she finally replied, her brown eyes now
staring at the stained glass that rose to the ceiling.

Draco hesitated again. "Only mostly true?"

"I'd say ninety-nine point nine percent true," she said,
looking up at him, a slight and surprising smile on her
face.

"What about the rest?"

"Well, that's the bit that's not true," she answered

promptly.

Draco scowled. "Sarcasm will get you-"

"Everywhere?," she broke in.

"Damn straight," he grumbled. There was another

silence between the two of them, but somehow,
Draco realized with surprise, it wasn't awkward.

"Anyway, like I said, I'm sorry," Ginny broke in after a

moment.

"No hard feelings," Draco shrugged.

"I'm glad," she replied and sounded as if she meant it.

"So…erm…why aren't you with The Iri-Finnigan?,"

Draco asked, trying to sound as if he were just trying
to make conversation.
Ginny's face, which had been temporarily brightened,
darkened again. "He dumped me," she finally said
bluntly.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Before your date?

Wow…I've got to commend you, Ginny. That is truly
pathetic."

"Gee…thanks," she said dryly.

"Much obliged," Draco replied. There was another

short silence. "So, if I may ask, why are you so upset?
Potter was all over you."

Ginny shrugged and started to twist a strand of her

hair around her fingers, a look of frustration on her
face. "I'm not happy…," she began, but trailed off. Her
eyes rolled up and she slumped in her seat, staring
miserably at the ceiling. "I'm not happy because the
wanker only did it because he thought that there was
something going on with you." She avoided his eyes
and continued to stare upwards, her cheeks growing
slightly pink.

"Where would he get an absurd idea like that?," Draco

asked, hoping he sounded disinterested. "You haven't
told anyone about our lessons, have you?"

"No!," Ginny exclaimed, finally looking over at him.

"But…erm…I guess you should know that yesterday
bloody Hermione followed me outside and saw you
grab my arm and erm…me…when I uh-," her voice
faltered.

"Kissed me?," Draco said, dragging up some courage.

"On the cheek?"

"Erm…yes," Ginny replied. She was looking down at

the floor now. "Sorry about that also, by the way. I'm
sure you spent a good hour scrubbing your face with
scalding hot water."

Draco couldn't keep a small smirk at playing on his

lips. Did this girl honestly think that he still hated her?
He couldn't help it - he let out a small guffaw, which
was followed by a full on burst of laughter. Ginny
looked up at him, alarmed. She had never seen him
really laugh before. Not like that.

"What? What's wrong?," she exclaimed. "You did

didn't you? Scrub your face? It was for more than an
hour, wasn't it?"

This tirade only caused Draco to laugh even more

heartily. Her face was a now a flaming red and she
had a hurt and somewhat angry look in her eyes.
"No…no, Ginny," Draco choked, finally stopping his
laughter. "It's just…you got so worked up. Of course I
didn't go and scrub my face for an hour with scalding
water."
"Really?," she asked in an almost timid voice.

"Fairly tepid water, but only for about fifteen minutes,"

Draco said with a straight face. Ginny looked unsure
of whether or not he was joking and he had to let out
another small laugh at that. Damn, it felt good. To just
laugh openly. After a moment he heard her own
laughter join his and, though neither of them knew
what they were really laughing at, the next five
minutes were filled with their chuckles.

"Thank you, Draco," Ginny finally said.

Draco looked at her, surprised. "Thank you? For

what?"

"For taking my mind off of stuff. Because now," she

said with a great sigh, "I have to go back to the
common room and face them."

"Are they going to be back from Hogsmeade yet?,"

Draco asked.

"Hermione wasn't going to go. She told me the other

day. And Harry is here too, obviously. But Ron went.
So hopefully I can get this all resolved before he gets
back," she said. "Merlin knows what would happen if
he found out."

She rose from the window seat and started to push

the tapestry away, but hesitated and Draco saw her
slowly turn back to look at him. She bit her lip as
though she was deciding on something and then,
quick as a flash, bent down and placed yet another
kiss on his cheek. By the time he realized what had
happened, she was gone. He rose one palm up to his
cheek. He could still feel his skin tingling pleasantly
from where her lips had touched it.

"Pull yourself together, stupid," a teeny voice in the

back of his head ordered. "She's a Weasley." But to
Draco's surprise and utter horrification, he realized
that he didn't really care at all.

The walk back to Gryffindor Tower was much shorter

than Ginny had ever remembered it being. She really
didn't want to confront Hermione or Harry, but realized
that if she didn't do it now, she probably never would.
The Fat Lady looked down at her and Ginny muttered
the password before she could ask any questions.
The portrait guard was notoriously nosey.

Ginny held her chin up and walked into the common

room. If she could kiss Draco Malfoy on the cheek,
she could surely do this. She glanced over towards
the corner where her brother and his friends always
sat and, sure enough, saw Harry and Hermione sitting
there, both of them looking rather glum. They looked
up as she walked in, the two of them wearing
extremely guilty expressions.

"Ginny!," Harry exclaimed, drawing the stares of a few

first and second years scattered about the room. "I'm
so sorry."

He got out of his chair and walked over to her. Ginny

avoided his face. Just looking at those green eyes…
those lips…it would all just drive her crazy. "As you
should be," she finally muttered.

"I'm sorry also," Hermione said, coming up beside

Harry. "I didn't mean to tell him. It just sort of slipped
out. And what happened outside with Harry and
yourself is my fault. I just…ugh…Ginny, I'm so sorry,
but Malfoy is bad news. I thought maybe if you and
Harry finally got together-"

"Finally got together?," Ginny asked snidely, breaking

into the conversation. She couldn't stand this.
Hermione standing there and feigning innocence.
Damn Hermione and her self-righteous, do-gooder
self. "Hermione, you say it like Harry and I ever had a
chance! Harry has never seen me as anything other
than his best friend's little sister and I've been stupid
for six years pretending it's anything else. So, please
don't act like this was just a little push towards a
happy ending! Harry doesn't care about me! He never
has! And that's fine, it's just that I don't appreciate
being made a fool of!" Ginny finished her rant and
looked at the two seventh-years, both of whom were
staring at her with shocked expressions.

"Ginny, I never intended-," Harry sputtered, seeming

to search for words.

Ginny's voice softened, but she still had an angry look

in her eyes. "I know you didn't intend to, Harry. But
what you did was really messed up. I mean…you
know how I felt about you. It's not fair to take
advantage of people's emotions like that."

"I…I know…I'm sorry," Harry said again, sounding as

though he genuinely meant it that time. "I think I'm
going to go lie down." He wandered off towards his
dorm room, looking quite despondent, leaving Ginny
alone with Hermione and an audience of eleven and
twelve-year-olds.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment.

"Ginny, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to tell Harry.
And I swear that I won't tell Ron. I really do swear."

Ginny studied the older girl's face and realized that

she was telling the truth. "Okay," she muttered. "But
please, Hermione. Never do anything like that again."

"I…I won't," Hermione replied earnestly, looking as

though she was on the verge of tears. There was
another long silence and then Hermione finally broke
it: "So, did you ever find out where that rose came
from?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, but I was going to look at

the card again. See if maybe I recognized the
handwriting."

She started up towards her dorm and looked over at

Hermione who was still standing alone in the middle
of the room. She looked forlorn and lost, and as angry
as Ginny was, she didn't want to make anyone feel
like that. "I could use your expert opinion on the note,"
she said. "That is, if you don't mind."

A hesitant smile broke out on Hermione's face.

"Really?" Ginny nodded and Hermione's face broke
into a full smile and she followed Ginny up the stairs
to her dorm.

Ginny opened the door to her room and suddenly let

out a huge gasp and stopped dead, causing
Hermione to crash into her.

"What's wrong?," Hermione exclaimed, looking over

Ginny's shoulder. Her eyes centered on what Ginny
was looking at and she let out her own gasp. "Ginny…
your rose!"

The rose, a small, orange bud the day before, had

now blossomed and turned a golden-yellow the tips
edged with scarlet. "That…that's not normal is it?
Flowers changing like that? I mean…it was orange
and tiny yesterday, wasn't it?"

"I think that's a Mystique Rose," Hermione breathed,

walking over and looking at it more closely. "They
change form and color with how the giver feels
towards the recipient."

"What does yellow mean? And why is it red on the

tips?," Ginny asked, suddenly very glad that she and
Hermione had made up.

"Well…yellow is traditionally for friendship, so it's

obviously someone that you must know pretty well,"
she trailed off. Ginny looked at her, trying to absorb
what Hermione was telling her, at the same time
looking very disappointed with the fact that it had
gone from 'budding desire' to 'friendship' in one day.
"But the red edges…Ginny, red tips on a yellow flower
means that someone is falling in love." Hermione
looked up at her and shook her head slowly. "You
really have an admirer. Those roses cost a bundle."
Ginny had picked up the vase where she was keeping
the rose and out of curiosity, unfolded the note. It still
had the same message and there was nothing
distinctive about the handwriting. Disappointed, she
set it back down and just stared at it. She truly had no
idea who it was from.

Hermione was still staring at the flower and Ginny

noticed her move closer to examine it again. "Do you
notice how the yellow is very light at the bottom and
darker at the top?" Ginny nodded. "Well," Hermione
said, "It's wavering. It's almost like the person who
sent this isn't sure about what they're feeling for you. I
don't know if they even realize how they feel. Are you
sure you don't know who it's from?"

Ginny nodded. "No clue," she murmured. "But I have

to find out."

Chapter 8

Ginny awoke the next morning with one thing on her

mind: finding out who had sent her that rose. Oh, and
avoiding Harry Potter at all costs. So two things, she
amended.

After she got dressed, she made her way down to the
common room, her ears perked for any mention of her
name. The circular room was nearly empty though,
most of the students already down at breakfast.
Slinging her book bag over her shoulder, Ginny
crossed the room and made her way out the portrait
hole.

"Ginny! Hey, wait up!," a voice called just as the door

began to close. She turned to see Seamus running
towards her. He barely made it out before the door
closed completely. He stopped in front of her, trying to
catch his breath. "I just wanted to apologize again
about canceling our date."

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "it's all right," she

replied. "I understand. Dean's your best friend."

A relieved expression crossed his face. "Oh, good.

So…can I walk you down to breakfast?"

Ginny grinned at him and nodded. Seamus's face lit

up in a huge smile and he interlocked his arm in hers.
They made their way down towards eh Great Hall and
had just reached the entrance when Ginny spoke
again.

"Hey, you remember that rose I got on Valentine's

Day?"

Seamus nodded. "Yeah, an orange bud or

something."

"Did you…erm…send it to me?," she questioned,

honestly expecting him to say yes.

Seamus hesitated. "Well…no," he finally said. "But if

it's roses you want I can give you a million."

Ginny just laughed and shook her head, but inside

she felt extremely confused. Who else could it be?

"Draco, can I borrow your Defense Against the Dark

Arts homework?"

Draco looked over and saw Pansy staring at him

miserably. She really was an awful student. He tossed
the parchment toward her and resumed his watch on
the great double doors. Next to him, Blaise smirked.
"You know, just because you stare at the doors
doesn't mean she'll come in and kiss you again," she
drawled.

Draco looked over at her, his eyes shooting arrows.

"Shut up, Blaise," he growled.

"You shouldn't have told me if you didn't want me to

tease you," she replied, matter-of-factly. "I told you to
stop moping and you didn't take my advice, so I'm
going to make fun of you."

"I shouldn't have told you, period," Draco said

grouchily.

Blaise just snickered and lowered her voice. "Aww,

but then you'd have to keep your little crush all to
yourself."

"I do not have a crush," Draco said loudly and

indignantly , drawing the stares of several of his fellow
Slytherins.

"Oh, are you in love then?," Blaise questioned, on the

verge of laughter.

Draco looked scandalized. "In love? Are you mad?

That's not even funny! And I'm not watching the doors
for her. I'm just looking at the doors."

Blaise snorted. "Right. And I'm the heiress of

Hufflepuff."

Draco rolled his eyes and took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Just be quiet."

"Such harsh words for a man with such a torrid

secret," Blaise murmured.

Draco slammed his goblet on the table and looked at

her, his gray eyes stormy. "SHUT UP, ZABINI!"

The Slytherin table grew silent. Blaise's face grew an

unbelievable shade of scarlet before she replied:
"Don't you ever talk to me like that, Draco Malfoy. You
know I'll slap you straight across your smirking, pointy
little face." She hissed this so low that only Draco
could hear it. The other Slytherins returned to their
food.

Draco didn't even look at her. "My face is not pointy."

"Yes it is…it's-," she broke off as she realized he

wasn't paying a bit of attention to her. His eyes were
on the red-head who had just entered the room. And
she wasn't alone. Blaise recognized the guy with her
as Seamus Finnigan, who she had often thought was
far too good-looking to be a Gryffindor. But he did
have all those lame Gryffindor qualities, which
brought him down a great deal in Blaise's eyes. Their
arms were intertwined and if the grin on Finnigan's
face was any indication, they weren't exactly
quarreling. "Well, would you look at that? A Weasel
and the Celtic Casanova."

"That's not funny," Draco mumbled again. "Not funny

at all."

Blaise dropped her fork onto the table with a clatter.

"That's it," she exclaimed, grabbing her book bag. "I'm
sick of this rubbish!"

Draco watched with astonished eyes as Blaise stood

up and slid off of the bench and very quickly made her
way towards Ginny. "Blaise!," Draco yelped, trying to
get her attention, but not wanting to draw too much
attention to himself. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him
curiously. He ignored them and buried his face in his
hands just as Blaise reached the red-head.

"Blimey, watch out," Seamus suddenly said, stopping

in mid-sentence and pulling Ginny over a few feet.

Ginny looked up at him, startled, and then followed

his gaze to Blaise Zabini, who was striding past them,
walking directly where Ginny had just been standing.
She was walking very quickly and gave Ginny a
snotty smirk as she passed and then grinned, in what
Ginny thought could almost be a flirtatious gesture, at
Seamus. Then she turned her head with a snap and
sauntered out the doors.

"What was that all about?," Seamus asked, shaking

his head in incredulity. "Those Slytherin girls…real
mental cases, they are." He glanced over at the
Slytherin table. "Not that the guys are much better."

Ginny followed Seamus to the Gryffindor table, but

peeked over at the far table. She could kind of see
what Seamus was on about with the Slytherin boys.
Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be building a snowman
from their breakfast food. Malcolm Baddock wasn't
eating at all, but was glaring around the Great Hall,
looking very suspiciously at a pair of Ravenclaw first
years who seemed to be doing nothing more than
eating their breakfasts. Graham Pritchard was
viciously stabbing his toast with a very sharp knife, an
angry scowl on his face. Yep, a right bunch of nutters,
Ginny had to agree.

But then her gaze rested on Draco. He had his face

buried in his hands and as she looked at him, he
happened to glance up and meet her eyes. He
opened his mouth and then looked past her at the
Entrance Hall doors and seemed to breathe a sigh of
relief. Then, to her utter and complete shock, he
offered her a small smile before leaning back in his
chair, his arms crossed over his chest, and started
talking to a sixth-year that Ginny didn't know.

"I saved you a seat, Ginny," a voice said. Ginny

looked down and realized that she was already
halfway along the Gryffindor table. Hermione was
staring up at her, as if expecting Ginny to forget that
they had made up and kick her or something. Ginny
just smiled gratefully and plopped down next to her,
her back to the Slytherin table. Seamus sat down on
her other side, shot her one last grin, and then started
talking to Dean about what they had gotten up to the
day before.

"Thanks, Hermione," Ginny said, picking up her goblet

of pumpkin juice and pushing all thoughts of Draco
out of her head. She reached into her bag and pulled
out a long, slender box.

"What's that?," Hermione asked, wrinkling her brow.

"The box my wand came in," Ginny answered, taking

a bite of toast.

"But why are you carrying it around?," Hermione

questioned, looking confused.
"Oh! I'm keeping the rose in it," Ginny replied. "So I
can see if it changes color again."
Hermione nodded. "Good idea. I never did get a
chance to look at that note. Do you have it with you?"

Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out the small
piece of paper and then handed it to Hermione. "And
by the way, it's not Seamus. I asked him," she added
quietly.

Hermione nodded. "I figured as much. Seamus's idea

of romantic would be tickets to a Kenmare Kestrels
match." Ginny laughed and was about to ask
Hermione what she thought about the note when she
felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ron
looking down at her, his face, for once very serious.

"Yes, Ron?," she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I…erm…would like to talk to you for a moment,

please," he said, sounding as though he was trying
very hard to stay calm. "It's important."

Ginny looked over at Hermione, a panicked

expression on her face. She wouldn't have…couldn't
have! She had sworn not to. But Hermione looked as
puzzled as Ginny and when she caught her eye, she
only shook her head and shrugged. Ginny reluctantly
stood and followed Ron out of the room towards the
Entrance Hall.

"What's wrong, Ron?," she asked, in what she hoped

was an innocent tone.

"You know what's wrong," Ron said, looking very

peeved.

"No…not really," Ginny admitted. She felt a stab of

fear. Ron would kill Draco. Ginny had no doubt of
that. "I mean…what…do you mean?," she finally
stammered.

"I mean that you need to be careful with him! He's not
the kind to settle down with a girlfriend," Ron
exclaimed, his cheeks flaming. "Look, Gin, I know you
don't want to hear advice on your love life from your
older brother, but I just feel like I have to warn you."

"But…," Ginny stuttered. How did Ron know that she

was starting to have feelings for Draco? Was it that
obvious? "How did you find out?," she gasped.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Ginny, come on! I'm a bit dense,
but not that much! You bloody walked into the Great
Hall with him, looking all chummy!"

Ginny nearly fainted from relief. "Seamus? You mean

Seamus!," she exclaimed.

Ron looked at her, bewildered. "Of course I meant

Seamus! Who else would I mean?"

Ginny just shook her head. "I have no clue. Just a bit
tired still," she lied, grinning broadly. "Well, I had
better go finish breakfast." She turned and left her
brother staring after her, muttering something about
'mad girls'.

She sat back down next to Hermione and looked over

at the older girl to tell her what had happened out in
the hall, but paused just as she was about to open her
mouth. Hermione's face was a bit pale and drawn and
her brown eyes were widened in what could only be
described as shocked. Ginny followed her gaze and
saw that she was staring at the note that had come
with the Mystique Rose. "Hermione? What's wrong?
Do you know who the rose is from?"

Hermione seemed to snap out of it as if she just

realized Ginny was there. "No!," she exclaimed. "I
don't. I was just thinking about something else. But I
need to go to the…erm…library," she stammered.
She handed Ginny back the note and Ginny stared
after her as she practically ran out of the Great Hall.

Draco left his last class of the day and yawned loudly
as he made his way back to the Common Room to
drop off his books before dinner. He had just rounded
the last corner when someone stepped out of the
shadows created by a looming pillar. He sneered.

"What do you want, Granger?," he snarled. The

bushy-haired girl was standing in front of him, her lips
pursed in a manner very reminiscent of Professor
McGonagall. She didn't answer him and Draco just
rolled his steely gray eyes and started past her. "If
you're not going to say anything, why don't you go
back into that dark little corner? That's the best I've
ever seen you."

"I know, Malfoy," she finally said as he was about to

say the password to open the wall and he turned to
look at her, one eyebrow raised.

"You know that you look better in a dark corner?

Wow, maybe you are clever after all!," he exclaimed,
trying to sound like he was proud of her.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Granger hissed. "I know that you

sent that rose to Ginny."

Draco tried to look as though he had no clue what she

was talking about, but for one of the first times in his
life, he failed miserably at controlling himself. He was
in too much shock. "Very brainy of you, Granger. May
I ask how you know?"

"I…I…," Granger stuttered and Draco realized with a

smirk that she hadn't expected him to admit to it. "I
help Professor McGonagall grade papers sometimes
and I know your handwriting," she shrugged.

"You tell anyone and I'll make sure that you regret it.
It's none of your business anyway," Draco said,
hoping he sounded threatening. Apparently it worked,
because Granger shuddered and took a step back
from him. "I mean that, Granger." He turned to say the
password, but Granger spoke up again.

"That rose…it said you were falling in love with her,"

she said feebly. Draco turned to see her looking at
him questioningly.

He said the password quietly and the wall slid open.

He smirked at her. "Well, what do you know?," he
muttered. "I guess those roses really do work." Taking
delight in Granger's horrified expression, Draco
stepped into the Common Room, trying to forget what
he had just admitted.

Chapter Nine

Ginny walked out onto the Quidditch pitch that night,

still in her robes from class. She hadn't had time to go
back to the Common Room before dinner and she
was so tired that just the thought of climbing seven
flights of stairs to change and then coming right down
again had exhausted her so much that she had just
decided to go out onto the pitch a bit early. She
tossed her bag to the ground and sat next to it, a
sheet of crimson parchment clutched in her hand. She
focused on it and read it again:

Come and Try Out!

Gryffindor Quidditch Team

Looking for new seeker, chasers, and keeper

Sunday, 1 March 1998

3:00 P.M.

Contact Harry Potter for more information

Her stomach started to twist up into a tiny ball of

nervousness. In all the excitement in the last few
days, the thoughts of the Quidditch tryouts had been
completely voided from her consciousness. Setting
the paper aside, she flipped open the top of her bag
and pulled out the long, slender box where she had
been keeping her rose and placed it in her lap. She
had looked at it earlier that morning, but it was still the
same color. She started to pull the lid off, just to check
it out, when she heard footsteps behind her. She
looked over her shoulder to see Draco approaching,
his face contorted in a wide yawn. "Wow," Ginny
thought, bemused. "He even looks cute when his face
is all screwed up." She quickly forced this unusual
observation from her head and started to stand to
greet him.

"Don't bother," Draco mumbled, collapsing next to

her, tossing his broomsticks to the side. "What's
that?" She followed his gaze to her lap where the box
still sat. "A flobberworm farm?"

She looked at him, mystified. "Why would I want one

flobberworm, let alone a whole farm of them?"

Draco just shrugged. "Different strokes," he mumbled.

"So, what is it really?"

"A gift I got for Valentine's day," she replied, a slight

smile coming to her face even as she inwardly
pondered why she was even telling Draco this. She
was sure he'd find a way to make a joke out of it. But
to her amazement, he only looked mildly surprised.
"What kind of gift?," he asked in a quiet voice.

"A Mystique Rose," she replied. She waited for his

response. What would he say? Draco wasn't nearly
as snotty as he used to be, but he could still insult
with the best of them. Although, she realized, a bit
startled, he hadn't really insulted her in a couple of
weeks.

"Really? What color is it?," he finally said, surprising

Ginny. That was the absolute last thing she had
expected.

"Oh!," she exclaimed. "Well, this morning it was

yellow with a red tip. That means-".

"Falling in love," Draco said in a low voice.

Ginny looked at him in astonishment. "How do you

know so much about rose colors?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm a decent Herbology

student," he answered with a shrug. "So...can I see
it?"

Ginny hesitated. What if it had changed color? What if

it was suddenly dying and black? Then he'd think she
was a liar. "Erm...I don't know...," she finally said.

Draco looked confused. "Why not?"

"I just...well, if it's not yellow with a red tip, don't blame
me," she said, biting her lip.

Draco snickered quietly and took the box from her

and pulled the lid off of it. Ginny couldn't see the rose
from where she sat, only Draco's face. He stared into
the box for a long moment and then looked back at
her then back at the box again. He continued this
process for nearly a minute before Ginny finally lost
her patience.

"Is there something wrong with it?," she finally

exclaimed, straining to get a look.

He held the box away so that she couldn't see. "Nope.

But it's not yellow with a red tip."

"It changed color?," Ginny squealed, fighting even

harder for the box. Draco laughed at the little red-
head's attempts. "It's not funny!," she grumbled,
settling down as she realized that he wasn't going to
give the box up. "What color is it?"

"Here you go," he finally said, handing it to her. "I just

wanted to see you fight for it."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and then eagerly

looked down into the box. She gasped slightly. The
rose, as Draco had said, was no longer the yellow
and red of that morning. It was now a pale pink color,
so soft and velvety that it hardly looked real. "Well,
Mr. Herbology. What does this mean?"

Draco looked down at the rose again and then back

up at Ginny and she gasped at the look in his eyes.
His gray eyes, which she had always thought were
cold and steely, seemed to be endless pools of silver
gossamer. She felt as though she was falling into
them and suddenly had the enormous urge to kiss
him on more than the cheek. She sucked in a deep
breath and tried to focus on what Draco was saying.

"Light pink. Hmm...admiration, grace, joy,

sweetness...the beginnings of true love," Draco said,
his eyes never leaving hers. "It's a very good color."

"Yes...yes, I agree," Ginny stammered, gulping

nervously. "Think of the person who gave you this
rose, Ginny," the teeny voice in her head
commanded. "Don't ruin what could be the beginning
of true love by falling for Draco Malfoy." She sucked in
a deep breath and then smiled pertly. "Shall we get
started? Lots to learn before the first."

"The first?," Draco slurred, looking as though he had

just been awoken. "What's the first?"

Ginny laughed nervously, his endless eyes still the

focus of her thoughts. "The Quidditch trials. Imagine,
you only have to deal with me for two more weeks."
Draco stood up reluctantly and looked around for his
brooms. "Yeah," he finally said. "Lucky me."

It had been one week since the day that Draco had
slipped and let Granger know how he felt about
Ginny. One long, agonizing week. He spent most of
his meals trying to inconspicuously watch the
Gryffindor table and attempting to scare Granger into
silence by looking at her. She would sometimes catch
his gaze and roll her eyes, but that was the extent of
her reaction. He was much more satisfied when Ginny
would look over at him. She would always give him a
shy smile, granted nobody was looking at her. Which
they usually weren't, Draco thought somewhat
sorrowfully.

Most of Ginny's friends, it seemed, were her older

brother's friends. She seemed to be rather close to
Granger. The two were always next to each other at
meals and he would occasionally catch glimpses of
them between classes. She didn't really talk to Harry,
which Draco supposed was the result of Potter's little
attempt at seduction. He intermittently saw her
walking with a couple of girls who looked like they
were in her year, but their conversations seemed to
consist of much giggling and such. The only other
people she talked to, that he knew of, were the boys
in Potter and the elder Weasley's year - Longbottom,
Thomas, and of course, The Irish Louse.

"Damn The Irish Louse," Draco thought. It was bad

enough that he had found out that Blaise fancied him,
but the fact that he was always hanging all over Ginny
was enough to make him ill. He could understand that
she was friends with so many guys, after all she had
grown up that way. But did she really always have to
be followed around by The Irish Louse? That smiley
little wanker. Draco despised him nearly as much as
he despised Potter.

He suddenly felt a slight prickling on the back of his

neck, as though someone was watching him. He
wearily turned his head and saw Blaise staring at him,
her chin resting on her palm.

"What?," he mumbled, preparing himself for her

chastising words.

"Nothing," she replied, breaking away her gaze. She

picked up her fork and began to eat her dinner. "I was
just wondering how long I could stare at you before
you realized it."

Draco cocked his brow. "Why would you want to do

that?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. Just bored, I guess."

There was a moment of quiet before she spoke again.
"Actually, Draco, I was wondering something."

"What's that?," Draco asked, yawning, as though he

couldn't care less.
"How come," Blaise began, "almost as soon as you
started giving Weasley those lessons, you stopped
hiding out in corners and coming back smelling like
smoke."

Draco stared at her as though she were a complete

idiot. "I think the answer to that is quite obvious,
Blaise. It's the same reason your income has gone
down recently."

Blaise looked a bit annoyed at this statement. "You

know what I mean, Draco," she muttered. "I mean,
you've had plenty of girlfriends before. None of them
made you stop smoking."

Draco shrugged. "None of the girlfriends I've had did

anything to calm my nerves."

"And she does?," Blaise questioned.

"I never said that," Draco replied. "I simply said that
none of my girlfriends-"

"So, is she your girlfriend?," Blaise interrupted.

Draco let out a slight, aggravated laugh. "Do you

realize what an asinine question that was, Blaise?
You just asked me if Ginny Weasley was my
girlfriend."
"So?"

"So? So that's a stupid question. Even if I…I wanted

her to be my girlfriend, it would never happen," Draco
replied.

"Why not?"

"Because," Draco answered in an exasperated voice.

"That's not a reason," Blaise countered, shaking her

head.

Draco narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice

enough so that he was sure that only Blaise could
hear him. "It's enough of a reason for me."

"That's stupid," Blaise said in frustration. "You're

stupid, Draco! You love her!"

Draco's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "I most

certainly do not!," he exclaimed, his mind reeling. He
had only told Granger because she had figured out
the rose thing already. Plus, he knew that the last
thing she would ever do would be tell Ginny. Granger
wanted him to seem like an evil bastard, no matter
what.

"You most certainly do," Blaise spat back, drawing a

few curious stares from those around them. She shot
them all a death glare and they returned to their
meals. She dropped her voice. "I see the way you
look at her. I hear the way your voice changes when
you talk about her, even though you try damn hard to
hide it. Dammit, Draco, she's definitely not my first
choice for you. Definitely not. But I know love when I
see it and you are bloody in love with her."

"Oh, like you would know anything about love, Blaise,"

Draco sneered, suddenly very angry. Who was she to
call him out like that? How dare she presume to think
that she could possibly know what was going on in his
head? It was ridiculous. Absolutely preposterous.
"You've never loved anyone."

Blaise's smirk faded from her face. She looked utterly

and completely shaken. "That, Draco Malfoy," she
said quietly, as she rose from the table, "is just one of
the many things that you're wrong about."

"Ginny, can I talk to you?"

"What about?," Ginny asked vaguely, tearing her eyes

away from the conflict across the room and towards
her friend. Hermione looked worried. "Is something
wrong?"

Hermione hesitated. "No…well…yes. In a way." She

sighed. "Can we go somewhere quiet to talk?"
Ginny was famished, but realized Hermione was dead
set on having this conversation, so she nodded and
grabbed a roll, following the older girl from the room.
"So, what's wrong?," Ginny asked as they aimlessly
wandered the first floor.

"I just wanted to tell you something," Hermione said.

"This is none of my business and I hope you don't
hate me for interfering, but-"

"Miss Granger, there you are!," a voice suddenly

boomed, breaking off Hermione in mid-sentence.
McGonagall cam striding down the hall towards them.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I really must speak to you.
Head Girl business."

Hermione looked between her teacher and her friend

in dismay. "It's okay, Hermione," Ginny quickly said.
"We can talk later."

Hermione looked slightly appeased, but still worried

as she nodded than followed McGonagall down the
hall, leaving Ginny alone.

Ginny decided just to head up to Gryffindor Tower.

The Slytherin Quidditch team was practicing that
evening for their match that coming Saturday, so she
didn't have her lessons. In fact, she only had one
lesson left with Draco before Sunday.

Ginny rounded the corner just about to go up the

steps, when she heard a quiet sobbing from behind a
wide column in the corner. She hesitated, then
followed the hushed weeping. A girl sat hunched over
on the floor, her brown tresses spilling over her face.
Despite her facial features being obscured, Ginny
recognized her: Blaise Zabini.

The red-head hesitated. What should she do? Go get

a professor? Try and comfort the Slytherin girl? For a
fleeting second she even considered going to get
Draco, but decided against it. Taking a deep breath,
she stepped closer to the crying brunette.

"Erm…Blaise? Do you need some help?"

Blaise looked up and fixed Ginny with her red-rimmed

green eyes. "Not from you of all people."

Ginny bristled slightly. She was only trying to be

polite. "Well…fine," she said in a huff. She turned and
started to walk away.

"Wait," Blaise suddenly croaked and Ginny was so

surprised that she stopped and turned around. "I'm…I
apologize for being rude. Come…talk to me…
please?"

Ginny bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. She

finally walked over and slid down onto the floor next to
Blaise.

Chapter Ten
Ginny could hardly conceive an odder predicament.
She was wedged in a corner, sitting on the dirty
ground, next to quite possibly the most sinister of all
the Slytherin seventh years.

What an odd sight they must have made. Ginny

slumped uneasily against the wall, her long red-gold
hair falling down her back over her worn second-hand
robes. Next to her, Blaise lounged almost
comfortably, as though she were used to hanging out
in dank corridors, which Ginny surmised, she very
well may have been.

Five minutes had passed and Blaise had not uttered a

word since she had requested that Ginny stay. Ginny
felt her stomach contract in hunger and she thought
wistfully of the meal just ending in the Great Hall. She
wondered idly what she had done with the roll she
had snagged from the table, but realized she hadn't a
clue. To her horror her bully suddenly lurched again
and growled loudly. She stared head, hoping Blaise
hadn't heard, but she the brunette suddenly snickered
and Ginny glanced over to see an amused smirk on
her face. Blaise pulled a box from the pocket of her
perfectly tailored robe.

"Bean?," she asked simply. Ginny looked at the box of

Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans and hesitated
before grabbing a few.

"Thanks," she murmured. She examined a red and

white on and finally popped it into her mouth. "Yum…
spaghetti," she said happily, temporarily forgetting
where she was.

Blaise laughed. "That's Draco's favorite. He-" She

broke off in mid-sentence. "Her…erm…likes them."

Ginny was surprised. She thought that Blaise and

Draco were very close. Not close enough for Blaise to
fell odd talking about him though, apparently. "So…,"
Ginny said slowly," do you want to talk about what's
bothering you?"
Blaise shrugged, her normal scowl back on her face.
"Not particularly."

Ginny sighed ruefully. "Then can I go?"

"No," Blaise replied shortly, as though the idea was

out of the question.

"Why not?," Ginny asked, exasperated. "You don't

want to talk and I'm sorry, but sitting in silence with a
Slytherin is a bit unnerving."

Blaise rolled her eyes. "Oh, get over it already," she

exclaimed.

"Over what?," Ginny asked in surprise.

"The whole 'Slytherins are evil' thing! We're sly. We're

cunning. We're ambitious. But evil? Not really. Not all
of us, anyway."

"I never said-," Ginny began to protest, but Blaise cut

her off.

"You don't have to say it. I can tell. You should know
that by now, anyway," she said in a know-it-all sort of
voice that reminded Ginny vaguely of Hermione. Well,
of Hermione with a vicious attitude.

"What do you mean?," Ginny finally asked uncertainly.

"How would I know that all Slytherins aren't bad."
"Well, you certainly don't think that Draco is evil,"
Blaise said, cocking her eyebrows. Ginny's stomach
twisted a bit. How much did Blaise know? "I mean,
you kissed him."

Ginny felt her cheeks blaze bright bed. "How do

you-?"

"He's my best friend," Blaise said, interrupting her

again. "He tells me things." Ginny's eyes widened
even further and she knew that she must have looked
like a deer caught in wand lights. "Don't worry. Good
things."

Ginny felt a twinge of surprise. "Good things?"

"Yeah, good things," Blaise said smugly.

"Like…like what?," Ginny stammered.

Blaise's lips curled into an entertained smirk. "I can't
tell you! That's wouldn't be a very good friend, would
it?"

Ginny frowned. "I supposed not," she reluctantly

agreed.

"Although…," she drawled.

Ginny couldn't help herself. The curiosity was getting

the best of her. "What?"

"If you must know…," Blaise continued.

"If she must know, I'll tell her myself," an icy-cold

voice drawled suddenly, causing both girl's heads to
snap up in shock.

Draco couldn't believe it. He had left dinner a few

minutes early in order to go back to the common room
and change before Slytherin Quidditch practice, but
had suddenly heard whispered voices coming from
behind a pillar in a corner and to his shock, his own
name among the whisperings.

He had gone around the corner and felt a double-

shock when he saw who was talking. Blaise sat on
the floor and next to her, Ginny Weasley. He couldn't
have imagined it- not even in his worst nightmares.
The girl who knew all of his secrets sitting next to the
girl who a lot of his secrets were about.

Now they were both staring up at him as though he

were He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or something,
identical expressions of horror on their faces. Blaise
stood up and dusted off the bottoms of her robes. She
looked at Draco with mild indignation. "Then why don't
you?," she muttered and without another word, strode
away.

He considered going after her, perhaps to apologize

for being a terrible ass earlier, or at the very least to
find out what she had told Ginny, but found that he
couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot and little
Ginny Weasley was staring up at him, her brown eyes
slightly frightened and unsure.

He cleared his throat nervously and stood over her.

He hadn't been able to get the previous night out of
his head. The way that she had looked at him when
they had been discussing her rose. Dammit, if she
only knew that it was from him. But she had no idea,
he realized. And if she did, it would ruin it for her.
Nope, Draco decided, it was better for her to think that
it was from some Prince Charming than from the
Prince of Slytherin.

He extended a hand towards her to help her up and

she looked at it a bit suspiciously before taking it. He
wrapped his long fingers around her palm and pulled
her to her feet. But when she was securely balanced,
he couldn't make himself let go of her hand. "What did
Blaise tell you?," he finally asked, staring down at her.

Ginny looked up at him and Draco could see the

nervousness etched in her facial expressions. It was
funny, he realized: Out on the Quidditch pitch, it was
like another world. Another world where their families
and obligations didn't exist. They could just be
themselves…admit through actions that they didn't
hate each other. But here inside the castle walls, it felt
as though they were cursed.

"Nothing," she replied finally, her voice a bit shaky.

She swallowed nervously and looked down at her
hand, which was still enclosed in Draco's. He gently
squeezed her palm and she seemed to visibly relax.
"All she told me," she began, her voice now much
smoother and less shaky, "was that you said good
things about me. I just wanted to know what those
things were."

"Then why didn't you just ask?," Draco asked, as

though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "One, she just told me like five
minutes ago. Two, wouldn't it be a bit odd for me to
walk up to you and ask you what nice things you said
about me?"

Draco just shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose."

"You don't just suppose," Ginny sighed. "You know
that it would be weird." A small, wicked smile crossed
her face. "So…did you say good things about me?"

Draco felt himself smiling back at her. He was

helpless to control it. When she looked at him like
that…he couldn't help himself…She was so beautiful.
"Maybe," he replied.

"I hope you're not expecting me to beg, Draco," she

said quietly, only half joking. Draco realized with a
start that her face was only a few centimeters away
from his. When had that happened?

He sucked in a deep breath, trying to look completely

calm. He reluctantly dropped her hand and tried to
ignore, but at the same time store in his mind, the
disappointed look that crossed her face. "You're just
going to have to," he replied, trying to sound snide,
but only coming off as amusing.

Ginny just smiled at him. "I'm a Weasley. Weasley's

don't beg."

"They do if they're talking to a Malfoy," he said,

forcing himself to take a step away from her. It was
just too tempting, standing that close to her. "Listen,"
he finally said, running his fingers through his loose
hair. "I know we don't have your lessons tonight, but
can you meet me on the pitch anyway? A little later.
Around ten?"
"What for?," she asked, looking at him inquisitively.

"Well, you want to know the good things that I said

about you, don't you?," he asked. She nodded. Draco
turned and started to walk away. "See you at ten."

"See you…," she murmured.

Ginny sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, trying to

concentrate on the Herbology book in front of her, but
finding it very difficult. She was extremely curious to
know what Draco was going to tell her.

"Ew, Herbology. I never really liked that class," a lilting

voice said suddenly, breaking Ginny out of her
thoughts. She looked up to see Seamus sitting across
the table from her, a grin, as always, on his
handsome face. "Doesn't he ever stop smiling?,"
Ginny found herself wondering idly. It seemed no
matter what, the boy had a grin on his face. It was
rather frightening.

"Yeah, I'm not really a fan either," Ginny replied

conversationally, trying to be polite.

"So, Gin," Seamus murmured, leaning across the

table towards her, presumably having gotten the
'casual hello' out of the way, "Do you want to sneak
down to the kitchens and get something to eat a little
later?"
Ginny bit her lip, trying to think of a good excuse. She
realized that "No, afraid I can't. I'm going to sneak out
by myself and meet Draco Malfoy on the Quidditch
pitch," would not exactly hold up. Even if Seamus
believed her, he'd tell Ron, who would try to forbid her
from leaving the castle until she was sixty years old.
That would be a definite hindrance on her plans.
"Actually, Seamus…," she began, "I've got a load of
homework and stuff to do. Maybe some other time
though."

Seamus leaned back in his chair, looking visibly

disappointed. "Oh…well, that's all right. Next time
then?"

"Of course," Ginny said brightly. Seamus and his

damn next times. Seamus sat there for a few more
moments, babbling incessantly about something that
had happened in Snape's class that morning. Ginny
tried to look interested, but she spent most of her time
sneaking glances over his shoulder at the clock over
the mantle, waiting for it to near ten o'clock. It was
only eight-thirty now, she realized with a small pang of
discontent.

Finally Seamus got up and left to join Dean on the

other side of the room. Ginny reabsorbed herself in
her homework, barely noticing as someone else sat
across from her. She glanced up when she heard a
small cough and saw Harry staring at her, his green
eyes unusually somber.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Ginny?," he asked,

almost shyly.

Ginny shrugged. "I suppose so. As long as you don't

try to snog me again."

Harry looked shocked for a second and then saw the

small grin crossing her face and laughed. "Oh, I
promise I won't. I just wanted to make sure everything
was all right between us." Ginny opened her mouth to
reply, but Harry continued before she could say
anything. "Look, I know I was a complete prick, but I
only did it to protect you, Ginny. Malfoy is trouble and
I was…just scared. I thought that he had sucked you
into his little web of deceit."

"Little web of deceit?," Ginny repeated vaguely,

raising her eyebrows. What was wrong with Harry.
Sure, Draco didn't like him. But that was no reason to
make him out to be a Junior You-Know-Who.

Harry's cheeks reddened a bit as he realized that his

words must have seemed a bit over dramatized.
"Well, you know what I mean. I just don't want you to
do something stupid."

Ginny closed her eyes tightly and tried to concentrate

on something other than the dark-haired boy across
from him. She had to ignore him, because to her very
great surprise, he was making her extremely angry.
Who was he to judge Malfoy? It wasn't like Draco had
done anything that Harry hadn't.

"Ginny, what are you thinking?," that annoying little

voice pleaded. "Sure, Draco isn't as bad as you
thought he was. But that's no reason to get all…
sappy. He's still a Malfoy."

She finally opened her eyes again and looked across

the table at Harry. "Thanks for the concern," she said
in what she hoped was a calm and reasonable voice.
"But everyone has to be a bit stupid sometimes."

She looked at the clock again. She could not wait until
ten o'clock.

Chapter Eleven

Draco stood on the Quidditch pitch, watching as his

teammates gathered up their things and carried them
back to the castle. Trying to look as though he were
doing something important, Draco busied himself with
the box of Quidditch equipment.

"You coming, Malfoy?," Malcolm Baddock called over

his shoulder, surveying the older boy with his
customary suspicious gaze.

"Yeah, just wanted to make sure I have everything in

order," Draco said. "I'll be up in a little while."
Malcolm nodded and gave a grunt in reply as he
turned and resumed his walk towards the castle.
Draco waited until he was a mere silhouette on the far
end of the pitch before he took out his pocket watch
and glanced at it. It was five after ten.

"I thought they were never going to leave," a voice

said from behind him and Draco turned, startled to
see Ginny walking out of the dark entranceway to the
changing rooms.

"Yeah, well…," he trailed off, suddenly not able to say

anything. He hated this. What had happened to him?
He used to be able to think of mean, sly comments,
but lately…it just hadn't been working out. He would
take one look at the little red-head and all of a sudden
all of his vindictive thoughts would suddenly be driven
from his head. Like the other day, for example. Her
and that damn rose. They had been sitting there and
when he had first looked at the rose it had indeed
been yellow with a red tip. But he had glanced over at
her and felt something inside him twinge…something
had changed.

She had merely been sitting there, surveying him with

curious eyes. Her red hair had been down, fanning
out around her shoulders a few spare strands floating
behind her in the light breeze. Her brown eyes had
glinted in the bright moonlight and Draco had
completely fallen. He never would have recognized it,
never would have known it if it hadn't been for the
rose. Right there, in his hands, it had turned pink.

"So…," she trailed off, walking closer to him and

sitting on top of the now closed box of Quidditch
equipment. "What were you going to tell me?"

Draco looked around. He could still see the bulky

forms of his fellow Slytherins up by the castle. "Let's
go for a ride," he said out-of-the-blue.

Ginny looked hesitant but then nodded and stood up.

"I don't have a broom," she pointed out.

Draco just rolled his eyes. "Don't be daft," he

muttered. "You can ride on mine. You trust me
enough, don't you?"
She looked surprised at this question. "Of course I
trust you, Draco."

He turned to keep her from seeing the small smile

that crossed his face. He picked up his Accelerina
Maxima and looked over at her. A second later, she
was behind him, her arms wrapped tightly around his
abdominal. He quickly kicked off and flew up, but only
around for a few seconds before coming down to rest
in one of the top boxes where the teachers and
announcers usually sat.

"I thought that we were going for a ride," Ginny said,

looking at him curiously.
Draco shrugged. "Well, we did, didn't we?"

"Technically, I suppose," Ginny replied, a small laugh

escaping her lips. She sat down on one of the
wooden benches. "So…," she began. Draco's
stomach twisted up. He had hoped that she would
somehow, in the course of the last few minutes, forget
what she had come there for. "What are these
wonderful things that you said about me?"

"Hey, I never said they were wonderful things," Draco

drawled, smugly pointing out her error. "I said good
things."

Ginny just rolled her eyes. "Draco…," she whined,

looking dolefully up with him with her dark eyes. "It's
late and I'm cold. As much as I'd love to stay out here
debating grammar, it'll just have to wait until another
time if you're going to be difficult."

Draco sighed realizing that he really had no way of

getting out of it, short of her leaving, and he definitely
didn't want that. "You just wanted to know what I said
about you that was so good, right?"

Ginny shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. "It

never hurts to hear affirmation of my greatness."

"You Gryffindors," Draco grumbled. "So needy."

"You Slytherins," Ginny returned. "So terrible at
changing the subject. On with it now."

Draco sighed again. "All I told Blaise was that you

weren't a bad flyer. That you were actually quite good,
with a little training. Much better than that sorry
excuse of a Keeper your team has."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him, not for the first
time. "That 'sorry excuse of a keeper' is my brother,
Draco."

"Hence my inclusion of him in comparing your flying

skills," Draco said smugly.

"So that's it?," Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You made me meet you out here at ten o'clock at
night so you could tell me that you told your friend that
I was a better flyer than my brother? I mean, it's a
compliment and all, but still…"

Draco didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly tell

her right then and there that he loved her. She'd slap
him. Or kick him. Or perhaps even hex him. That
wouldn't be fun. He still hadn't gotten over being
covered in fungus back in fourth year. Damn
Weasley's.

"I said that you were pretty smart for a Gryffindor," he

continued. Ginny smiled slightly, but didn't look over
at him and Draco noticed her shiver. He started to pull
off his cloak, but paused. He didn't want to do the
chivalrous thing. She might think that he liked her.
"Stupid Malfoy," he thought to himself. "Of course you
don't like her…you love her."

He yanked off his cloak and draped it over her

shoulders. She looked up at him in surprise and then
her face brightened in a larger smile. "Thank you,"
she whispered. "That was very sweet of you."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Draco mumbled.

Ginny clapped her hands shortly. "So? More good

things about me! Back to it."

Draco couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "You're a

trip, you know that?"
"Better than the Wizardjuana?"

"Yeah, even better than the Wizar-," he began,

laughing, but broke off when he realized what she had
said. "Oh, so I guess you figured that out?"

"Obviously," she muttered. He didn't say anything and

moment later he felt her hand wrap around his
forearm in an almost comforting gesture. "Draco, don't
worry about it."

"I don't do it anymore, you know," he said suddenly.

Why was he bloody telling her this? She didn't look
surprised though.
"I figured," she replied with a small shrug. "Not that it's
any of my business." He fell silent once again. Ginny
sighed and started to tap her fingers on his arm. "You
know, you're not the total scoundrel you think you
are."

Draco shrugged and glanced over at her. "Well, don't

tell anyone, ok? I've got my rep to worry about."

Ginny just started laughing and a moment later, Draco

joined her. It reminded him of a few days ago when
they had been in the window seat behind the tapestry.
He hated how she could always do that to him. But at
the same time he absolutely adored it.

There was a long silence between them after they

had finished laughing. Ginny let out a lengthy yawn
and stood up. She shrugged Draco's cloak off of her
shoulders and dropped it into his lap. "I better go to
bed," she finally said.

Draco nodded. "I'll fly you back down to the ground."

He beckoned his broom and it flew into his hand.
They both mounted it and a moment later were
standing on the cold, hard ground. Draco flicked his
wand at the box of Quidditch equipment and it floated
lazily behind them as they made their way back up to
the castle.

"So, tomorrow's our last lesson," Draco said, trying to

break the silence that surrounded them.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. Bet you're happy to be rid of

me," she replied.

Draco just shrugged. "Well, I must admit. It wasn't

nearly as bad as I expected."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm glad to know that I'm not
that much of a pariah."

They reached the castle and walked inside, their

footsteps echoing quietly in the dark, barren room.
Draco started towards the dungeon stairs, but
stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder.
Ginny was almost at the foot of the stairs leading up
to the second floor. "What? No kiss on the cheek?,"
he asked in a loud whisper.

Ginny turned to look at him, her face reddening

slightly. "Erm…did you want one?," she asked
hesitantly.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Draco shrugged

absently. He saw her eyes widen slowly in what he
could only suppose could be complete surprise. She
bit her lip and then walked over towards him. He
stood completely still. He couldn't believe that she
was actually going to do it. For the first time, Draco
was grateful for her Gryffindor bravery.
He felt her hand on his shoulder and she stood on
tiptoes, angling her head towards his cheek. At the
very last second, just as her lips were about to graze
his jawbone, he reached out, and in one deft moment
cradled her jaw in his hand. He stared down at her
and her brown eyes seemed to swim with uncertainty.
"I think that this would be better," Draco said in an
unnaturally husky voice and then, sucking up every bit
of courage that he could, pressed his lips against hers
in a soft, sweet, short kiss.

He straightened up and opened his eyes, looking

down at her. She was staring back at him and for a
moment he was afraid that she was going to smack
him. But she didn't. She simply smiled and removed
her hand from his shoulder.

"Goodnight Draco," she whispered. The flush in her

cheeks was starting to grow, but Draco realized with
increasing bliss that she didn't look at all displeased.

"'Night, Ginny." He watched her climb the stairs and

then turn the corner, then turned and started down the
dungeon steps, suddenly feeling as though everything
in the world was right.

Ginny turned the corner from the stairs blindly. She

wanted to get back up to the tower, wanted to hide
away in her room and pour all that she was feeling
into her (non-evil) diary, but her legs were so weak
that she could barely move. Not to mention that her
head was spinning so quickly that she couldn't quite
remember exactly where Gryffindor tower was at that
moment.

All that mattered, Ginny thought, was that Draco had

kissed her. She had known that her feelings for him
had changed, that she was starting to like him, but
she hadn't realized just how much until just then. She
sighed deeply and leaned up against the wall, closing
her eyes as she remembered the brief, but electrifying
kiss. It had been like heaven. Never had she ever
considered that kissing someone could be like that.

She had been kissed before, of course. There was

that disastrous kiss out in the courtyard with Harry
and the shy ones from Neville back in her third year.
She had kissed Colin on numerous occasions, even
thought that he was maybe the one to get her mind off
of Harry - but she realized now how wrong she had
been. Despite it's brevity, that had been the kiss to
end all kisses.

She was so caught up in these thoughts that when

someone hidden in the shadows across the hall
cleared their throat to get her attention, she didn't
notice. However, when they walked into the light
coming from a wall sconce and threw a shadow over
her body, she looked up startled, hoping that it wasn't
Filch.

"Seamus!," she gasped. She scrambled to her feet,

looking at the sandy-haired boy. He was giving her an
odd look, his sapphire blue eyes stony and somewhat
unreadable. He wasn't smiling, for once. "What are
you doing here?"

He held up his hands, showing her the bottle of

butterbeer and candy that he was carrying. "Just
came back from the kitchens. Remember? I asked
you earlier if you wanted to come? You said you had
homework." He was staring at her, his face a display
of hurt. "You could have just said that you'd rather go
make out with Malfoy."

Ginny felt as though someone had just kicked her in

the gut. "Um…what do you mean?," she asked
dumbly, hoping that "make out with Malfoy" was just a
term some of the Gryffindor boys had come up with.
Something like "jump in a pool of grindlow", or
perhaps "have a cup of tea with You-Know-Who."
Seamus merely rolled his eyes. Apparently not.
"Ginny, I'm a bit dense sometimes, but I'm not blind,"
he said, a small, sad smile playing at the edges of his
mouth. "I just wish that you had told me that you were
with Malfoy before."

"I'm not with Malfoy!," she exclaimed adamantly. "I'm

not! That was the first time-"

"Shhh," Seamus suddenly said, looking around wildly.

He grabbed her by her shoulder and dragged her
behind a wall-hanging into a tiny nook. Ginny looked
at him in confusion. In the slight light she could see
him lips move to form the most dreaded word at
Hogwarts. Filch.

They sat with bated breath, waiting for the miserly old
caretaker to amble past. "I know I heard something…
hang them up by their toenails…," he intoned in his
gravelly voice. Ginny's heart was pounding so hard
that she was sure that Filch would be able to hear it,
but to her utter and complete relief he didn't even
seem to slow down. He simply passed by them. A
moment later Seamus peeked out from behind the
wall-hanging and gestured for her to follow him.

"All clear," he whispered. "We better get back to the

Common Room though."

Ginny nodded. "Seamus, please don't-"

He interrupted her again. "Ginny, don't worry about it.

This will stay between us." His face turned very
serious, more serious than she had ever seen it. "Just
know that Malfoy's a prat and he's not good enough
for you. But I'm not your brother, nor am I your dad. I
can't make your choices for you. Just be careful."

She stared at the Irish boy with a new level of respect.

"Thank you, Seamus." It was all that she could
manage. He just shrugged and led her back up to
Gryffindor tower.
They crept into the Common Room. As it was getting
late and they had classes the next day, the room was
nearly cleaned out and Ginny noticed with relief that
her brother, Hermione, and Harry were nowhere in
sight. The only students still in the room glanced up,
but seemed not at all surprised to see Seamus
sneaking in with food and a girl.

Ginny bid Seamus goodnight and slowly made her

way up the stairs to her dorm room. She opened the
door and quietly made her way to her bed. Her fellow
sixth-years were in bed and from the light snores and
breaths she guessed that they were already asleep.
She quickly changed into her pajamas and got into
bed.

She lay there, thinking about all that had happened

that night. She couldn't help but have a stupid grin on
her face. But it immediately faded when she
remembered something. The rose. What about the
person who had sent that?

"Lumos," she whispered. The tip of her wand

suddenly glowed and she grabbed the box on her
night stand and pulled the lid off, suddenly wanting to
look at it again. She gasped at the image illuminated
by her wand light.

The rose was red.

Chapter Twelve
The next day passed by in a blur for Ginny. She
drifted through her classes, barely noticing when her
cauldron exploded in Potions, when she tripped over
Professor Flitwick leaving the Charms classroom,
when Professor Binns spent ten minutes trying to get
her attention in History of Magic. She was in a daze.
And it was all because of Draco.

She couldn't believe how much she had liked kissing

him, however brief it had been. It scared her. And
then there was the matter of the rose. The feelings of
whomever had sent it had changed. It was red. She
had stayed up perusing her Herbology text until she
had found the section on rose meanings. Red meant
love - pure, passionate love.

Ginny knew that Draco hadn't sent her the rose - the
very thought of that made her snort with laughter. As
much as she had liked his kiss, she seriously doubted
he was in love with her. Even the idea was absurd.
But now she didn't know what to do. Someone loved
her, though she had no clue who. She ruminated over
this as she sat at the dinner table that night, trying to
look as though she was interested in the fascinating
conversation that Ron, Harry, and Hermione were
having about Hagrid's latest dilemma.

"You alright there?," a quiet voice suddenly hissed in

her ear and she snapped to attention like she had
been shot. She wasn't surprised in the least to see
Seamus sitting next to her. His goofy, flirty smile was
gone. It was, however, was replaced by a goofy,
conspiring smile. "Ah, daydreaming about the devil
incarnate, are we?"

"Seamus!," Ginny exclaimed, her cheeks blossoming

a crimson color. She knew that he wasn't talking
loudly enough for the Fabulous Three to hear him and
that he was just joking, but she still felt a tiny flicker of
panic. "They might hear you."

Seamus looked over past her at the three who were

still so caught up in their conversation that they
wouldn't notice if a Veela began to dance naked in the
bread basket in front of them. "Hmm…somehow I
doubt that." Ginny scowled and pushed her fork
around on her plate. Seamus leaned forward, his
head on his hands and he looked at Ginny
thoughtfully. "Not trying to be nosey, gin," he said
more quietly, "but you're not planning on actually
starting anything up with Malfoy, are you?"

Ginny flushed red. "Of course not!," she said

adamantly. "I mean, could you imagine a more terribly
matched couple?" She tried to sound lighthearted.
"Malfoy and Weasley. Slytherin and Gryffindor. Rich
and poor-"

"Cold-hearted devil's spawn and gorgeous red-

headed angel?," Seamus suggested, cutting her off.
She stared at him in amazement. "You really don't
give up, do you?"

"Bah, quitting's for…well, for quitters," Seamus

answered dismissively. "Me? I'm not a quitter. I'm an
Irishman." He grinned proudly.

Ginny snickered, but then her face turned serious. "I

can't believe you're not treating me like a leper after
what you saw last night."

Seamus merely shrugged. "I want to be on your good

side when you come to your senses. Besides," he
said in a logical sort of voice as he eyed the Slytherin
table, "it could be worse. You could have been
snogging Baddock." Ginny followed his gaze to the
paranoid fourth-year boy who was currently building
some sort of barrier around him using silverware and
rolls. "He's lost it."

Ginny laughed and took a bite of her dinner. "Thank

you for keeping quiet, Seamus," she said softly.

Seamus shrugged again. "Well, it pays to be nice.

Like I said, when you're done with Malfoy you'll think
'Ah, Seamus, that kind bloke. He kept my sordid
secret. And boy is he handsome too! I reckon he'd
make a bloody good boyfriend'".

Ginny couldn't help but laugh again as she stood up

to go to the common room to get ready for her final
flying lesson. "Later, Seamus," she said, turning, her
robes fluttering behind her as she left the Great Hall.

Draco fumed as he made his way back to the

common room. He had happened to glance over at
the Gryffindor table during dinner (alright, he had
been staring - as usual), and he noticed The Irish
Louse very blatantly flirting with Ginny. As if that
hadn't been bad enough, she hadn't seemed to have
been fighting him off. She had been laughing at his
pathetic jokes. Not that Draco knew what he was
joking about - he had never really talked to the boy.
Well, there was that one time in fifth year when The
Irish Louse had told him to bugger off when Draco
had been tormenting Longbottom and Draco had told
him to go extract the shamrock from his arse, but that
was the only occasion he could recall.

Draco glowered around the common room as he

entered, causing two first-years to scramble for cover
behind a table. He went into the seventh-year boy's
dormitory and quickly changed into his practice robes.
He had calmed down somewhat and sat down on the
bed to lace up his Quidditch boots. He couldn't
believe it was their last lesson.

What was he going to do after today? He couldn't

deny the fact that he loved her - every little bit of her
red-headed being - but he certainly couldn't admit it to
her. He could just imagine what she would say. Yeah,
she had kissed him back the night before, but Draco
couldn't keep himself from feeling that she had been
holding back - almost as they she had hesitations…as
though she was thinking of someone else.

"Maybe you should tell her about the rose."

Draco looked up and saw Blaise standing in the

doorway to the room, her arms crossed across her
chest. They hadn't really spoke since he had found
her about to spill out all of his secrets to Ginny. "What
do you want, Zabini?," he growled as he dug in his
trunk for his broomsticks.

"Draco…," she trailed off, the cold edge off of her

voice for once. "I'm sorry."

He looked up in surprise. He had never heard her say

that in sincerity before. "You're what?"

"Sorry," she repeated, looking a bit pained. "I was

just…frustrated. And after what you said to me…I
don't know. I guess I was just hurt."

Draco nodded. "Yeah. I guess…I apologize for what I

said. I wasn't really thinking - I forgot all about you
and-"

"It's okay," Blaise said, holding up her hand to stop

him. "I know. So," she said, the conflict between them
immediately resolved, "like I was saying. You need to
tell her."
"Why?," Draco asked, glancing at his pocket watch.
As much as he wanted to hear Blaise's advice, he
didn't want to be late.

"She needs to know how you feel," Blaise shrugged.

"If for no other reason than to drive that brother of
hers up the wall." She paused. "If it was me, I would
want to know someone loved me. Even if it was a
'loathed enemy'," she added under her breath.

Draco paused and looked at her strangely. "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered, getting up. She touched his

arm lightly as she walked past and looked up at him,
her green eyes boring into his gray ones. "Good luck."

Ginny sat stiffly on the frozen Quidditch pitch, waiting

for Draco. For a few brief moments she thought that
he many not show up. Perhaps he was so disgusted
that he had kissed her the night before that he was
planning on avoiding her for the rest of the term. This
thought made her extremely sad.

She squinted in the dark towards the castle and was

utterly relieved when she saw his tall silhouette
striding towards her. She briefly recalled the night
they had first begun their flying lessons…The
moonlight hit his aristocratic face and he looked down
at her, his expression showing that he'd rather be
anywhere but where he was at present. "Well, let's get
this over with," he grumbled, not even stopping to
greet her.

"Hey," he said now, breaking Ginny out of her

memories, looking slightly unnerved as he stopped
next to her. "Well…," he said, and his voice sounded
nothing like it had before. "Let's get this over with." He
extended a hand and Ginny gingerly took it and he
heaved her to her feet. They stood like that, a few
inches away from each other, their eyes locked
together for a brief second. Then she let go of his
hand, noticing that he heart was pounding like a wild
hippogriff in her chest. She took the Nimbus 2001
from Draco and quickly mounted it, flying off into the
evening sky.

A moment later Draco had flown over in front of the

Quidditch hoops, playing the role of Keeper as he
tossed the Quaffle to her. Ginny spent the next hour
trying to get the red ball past him into the hoops,
doing a rather good job. They didn't speak, except for
Draco pointing out things she could do better. Ginny
tried to concentrate on what she was doing - after all,
tryouts were in a mere four days and she wouldn't be
able to practice before then - but her mind constantly
kept drifting back to the kiss the previous night. All
she wanted was to talk to Draco - and not about
Quidditch.

At last Draco started to fly towards the ground,

signaling that their practice was over. She reluctantly
joined him and they both stood there awkwardly after
Draco had replaced the Quaffle in the trunk of
Quidditch equipment. "So…," he said uneasily, his
voice trailing off. He looked at her solemnly in the
eyes. "It wasn't so bad was it, Weasley?"

Ginny gulped, her stomach twisting in disappointment.

"Oh…I'm Weasley again?," she asked, hoping she
didn't sound completely crushed.

Draco looked surprised. "Well, our lessons are over. I

assumed-"

"What? That I was just going to pretend you didn't

exist," Ginny exclaimed, her frustration boiling over.
"That nothing changed? That I still thought you were a
stupid little arse and you still think that I'm-"

But she never did get to finish her sentence. Draco

chose that exact moment to lean forward and silence
her with his lips. She struggled against him for
second, trying to ask him what was going on, trying to
get him to tell her how he felt about her, but she
realized he was. She hesitated and then wrapped her
arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her,
pressing her lips harder against his. Everything flew
out of her head. The rose. The Quidditch tryouts in a
few days. The fact that under no circumstances were
a Weasley and Malfoy supposed to be standing in the
middle of a Quidditch pitch - or anywhere, really, for
that matter - snogging like mad. None of those
thoughts even crossed her mind.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Draco

finally and quite reluctantly pulled his lips away from
hers and Ginny sucked in a large breath, gasping for
air. She looked up at him, her chocolate-brown eyes
wide in astonishment. His eyes were calm and
serious, but filled with an odd sort of sparkle that she
had never seen there before. He rested his forehead
gently against hers.

"Does that answer your questions, Ginny?," he

whispered.

"Erm…yes…," she stammered, still not believing what

was happening. "I think."

Draco sighed and straightened up, biting his lip

thoughtfully. He took her hand and then led her over
to where the trunk of Quidditch equipment still sat. He
sat down on it and pulled Ginny down next to him.
"Then let me break it down for you," he said. Ginny
stared at him, too stunned to say anything. He looked
positively terrified, though he was trying hard to hide
it. "I…erm…," he drifted off, as though he wasn't
exactly sure what to say.

Ginny looked at him in concern, then something - a

crazy thought, really - dawned on her. "Are..are you
scared of me?"
Draco seemed to consider this for a second and then
shrugged. "I-I like you."

Ginny's heart started to thump violently in her chest

again. She didn't know what to say. Yes, it was just
three simple words, but she knew how he had meant
them - and the impact they had on her was enormous.
"I like you too," she finally managed to squeak out.

All at once, Draco seemed to relax enormously. She

could actually see the fall of his shoulders as the
stiffness left them. His lip curled into his customary
smirk. "Yeah, I know," he finally muttered cockily.
Ginny looked at him in surprise and then saw the
smirk fade away to a real, genuine smile. She let out
a small, nervous giggle and Draco once again hushed
her by engulfing her lips with his.

They were so wrapped up in their kiss that neither of

them noticed the footsteps coming towards them, the
heavy footfalls crunching in the frozen grass. They
only broke apart when they heard someone clearing
their throat loudly.

They jumped apart like someone had lit a Filibuster

Firework between them and looked towards the
source of the voice. Ginny felt an sheer sense of relief
when she saw who it was.

"Seamus," she breathed in relief. "You nearly gave

me a heart attack."
"And you nearly made me vomit," he said, shooting
Draco a sick glance. "Anyway, I came to warn you.
Your brother's looking for you."

Ginny stared at him, wide-eyed. "How come?"

"Well, erm…Ginny, did Harry kiss you recently?,"

Seamus asked, his brow furrowed. Ginny nodded, but
didn't say anything. "Well, Ron found out somehow
and he's going on about his baby sister breaking his
best friend's heart." He glanced over at Draco. "You
wipe that stupid smirk off your ugly face, Malfoy."
Ginny looked over at Draco, who did indeed, look
triumphant. He started to walk angrily towards
Seamus, but Ginny grabbed the sleeve of his robe.

"Draco…don't," she pleaded. To her surprise, he

listened and stopped in his tracks, but continued to
shoot daggers at Seamus with his eyes.

Seamus just shook his head. "Listen, I really hate to

break up your little romantic moment, but I wanted to
warn you before your brother found you. Are you
coming with me or not?"

Ginny sighed. "Yeah, I guess I better." She turned to

Draco. "Good night," she said quietly. "And thank you
for the lessons."

Draco just nodded, his annoyed gaze still on the

disgusted Irish boy standing a few feet away. "Good
night," he muttered. She started to walk away from
him, another pang of disappointment shooting through
her, when she felt his hand on her sleeve and he
pulled her back. She turned to look at him and he
bent down, quick as a flash, and laid one more small
kiss on her lips.

Ginny wanted to stay there with him, but heard

Seamus give off a snort of repulsion, so she
reluctantly detached herself from the blonde Slytherin
and followed Seamus off the Quidditch Pitch, leaving
Draco alone.

"How did you know where I was?," Ginny asked as

they entered the castle.

"Hermione," Seamus said stiffly. Apparently, he

wasn't a happy camper. "She was trying to convince
Ron to go look in the Owlery when I left. She's a good
friend, you know."

"I know," Ginny murmured, following the tall sandy-

haired boy up to the dormitories. "She is."
-

Chapter Thirteen

The scene in the Gryffindor common room was not a

pleasant one. Ron was pacing back and forth, his
face extremely red. Hermione was following him back
and forth, looking rather irritated, but worried at the
same time as she tried to calm him down. Harry sat in
one of the over-stuffed red chairs, his face buried in
his hands.

Ginny had just entered the room and was thankful

that her brother hadn't noticed her yet as she tried to
gauge his mood. "Harry, if you're upset, just admit it!,"
he was practically shrieking, looking at his best friend.
Ginny sighed. Apparently his mood sucked.

"What's going on, Ron?," she asked in what she

hoped was a calm tone.

Ron spun around on his heel and stalked towards her,

looking very frightening indeed. "What is going on?
What is going on?" He lowered his voice and looked
at her very seriously. "Ginny, did you really kiss
Harry?"

Ginny felt her cheeks turning slightly red. Out of the

corner of her eyes she could see Harry looking at her,
an embarrassed expression on his already crimson
face. She squared her shoulders and tried to look
defiant. "Well…sort of. Why?"

Ron looked at his younger sister as if she had

suddenly sprouted another ear in the middle of her
forehead. "Why? Why?"

Ginny sighed, feeling a bit annoyed. "Yes, Ron, why?

Why do you care? Why does it matter?"

Ron glanced around, noticing the eyes of most of

Gryffindor house on him. "Can we go out in the
hallway to talk about this?"

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and shook her
head. "No, Ron. I just woke the Fat Lady up to come
in here. I'm not going to wake her up again so that
you can yell at me. If you have something to say, say
it now." Everyone in the common room was watching
now. Ginny could see Seamus across the room, a
look of concern on his face.

Ron looked a bit flabbergasted. While Ginny

possessed the same Weasley stubbornness as he
did, she rarely used it against him. He wasn't sure
what to say. "Well…well, I never-," he choked.

"Never what?," Ginny asked, exasperated. "Ron, just

what exactly is your bloody problem?"
Ron's cheeks grew even darker. "My problem? You're
the one who mooned after Harry for years and years
and then when he finally kisses you, you run away
from him."

Ginny just shook her head in disbelief. "How do you

even know about that?"

Ron tried to look smug, but only succeeded in looking

like a dolt. "I have my sources." He exchanged looks
with a little fourth-year girl. "She saw you kissing
Harry and then running away from him."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Note to self, she thought,

remember to put a rather large snake in that girl's
bed. "Ron, I don't have a problem with what
happened and neither does Harry. I very much doubt I
broke his heart or whatever you were blabbing about
before I got here." She lowered her voice so that only
he could hear her. "So. Just. Bugger. Off."

"But…but…," Ron sputtered, apparently at a loss for

words. Hermione walked over and grabbed Ron's
arm, dragging him away from his annoyed sister and
out the portrait hole, presumably to calm him down.
Ginny shot her a look of gratitude and wondered, not
for the first time, whether or not her brother was
completely mad.

"…And the puffapods are required in order to…do

what? Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco was vaguely aware of someone calling his

name, though he couldn't quite place it. He was sitting
at his table in the Potion's dungeon the next day, his
chin resting in the palm of his hand in what he hoped
appeared to be a thoughtful position, his quill poised
on his parchment as though he was copying down
notes. He was the utter picture of studious perfection.
Mudblood Granger herself would have been proud,
Draco mused to himself. But Draco wasn't listening to
his greasy-haired (even the Slytherins admitted the
man's hair was greasy, though they respected him a
great deal) Potions professor drone on and on about
Levitation elixirs. No, Draco was thinking very
distinctly about a certain red-haired Gryffindor - and it
certainly wasn't the one seated two rows behind him
who was snickering with Potter over Draco's obvious
lack of attention.

He wondered if what The Irish Louse had said the

night before was true; was Weasley really angry at his
sister for "breaking his best friend's heart"? Draco
knew that he shouldn't have allowed the triumphant
smile to cross his face the night before - hadn't
realized until afterwards how it may have been
perceived. But he couldn't help it. He loved Ginny -
that much was very true - but having Potter all soppy
and heartbroken over it was a definite bonus.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't

realize that Snape had been addressing him until the
tall, gangly professor was standing right over him,
staring down at his prize pupil with a look of confusion
and slight annoyance on his sallow face. His shadow
fell over the blonde boy and Draco looked up, staring
into his teacher's coal black eyes.

"Erm…what?"

Snape looked utterly shocked. Draco just continued to

stare up at him, realizing that the teacher must have
asked him something. "I'm sorry," Draco continued,
feeling a bit foolish, despite himself, "I didn't hear the
question."

Snape nodded curtly. "What are the puffapods for in

the Levitation potion, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco quickly rattled off the answer and felt a tiny

sense of satisfaction as Snape moved on and he
heard the Gryffindors behind him hiss in annoyance
about how Snape would have surely taken loads of
points off if they had stopped paying attention in
class.

Draco tore his thoughts away from the red-haired girl

and tried to focus on his Potion, all the while sending
smug looks at Potter, who was having trouble with his
Potion, it seemed. The salamander he fed it to wasn't
floating, but rather hopping around quite spastically.
Draco watched in contentment as his own
salamander floated lazily to the ceiling.

"Very good, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, passing him on

his way to yell at Potter. "Ten points to Slytherin."
Draco smiled smugly and sat down in his seat. Blaise,
who had successfully floated her salamander as well,
turned in her seat and looked at him questioningly.

"So…did you tell her?," she whispered.

Draco glanced over to make sure that Snape wasn't

watching. He wouldn't take any points off, but Draco
didn't want to be on his bad side. "Sort of," he replied.
"I told her I liked her."

Blaise snorted and rolled her eyes. "Like her? Like

her! Cold hearted Draco! Oh! Worse than cold
hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those
words again and I will leave the room this moment*."

Draco stared at her blankly. "What?"

Blaise sighed and lowered her voice even more.

"Never mind," she hissed under her breath. "You
really need to read more."

Draco just shook his head and glanced at the magical

clock on the wall. Only three more minutes. He
wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He
really needed to do something.

"Class dismissed except for Potter and Weasley,"

Snape said a couple of moments later as the bells
chimed. Draco shot the two Gryffindor boys a self-
satisfied look and walked out of the room. He usually
waited for Blaise after Potions, but that day he had
something else in mind.

He reached the door to the Transfiguration class just

as the fourth-year students started to pour out of it,
chatting with each other about how they had gotten to
turn baguettes into badgers that day. Draco saw the
dark-haired boy he was looking for and stepped in
front of him, staring down his nose in an intimidating
manner.

They boy's dark eyes shot backwards and forwards

nervously. "What do you want, Draco?," he asked,
looking as though he expected to be hexed at any
moment.

Draco smiled lazily. "Not much, Malcolm, little buddy,"

he said in an overly friendly manner. "Just need you
to do a little favor for me."

Malcolm Baddock took a step backwards and looked

as though he was seriously considering bolting off,
but the good foot of height that Draco had on him
seemed to keep him rooted to the spot. "Oh yeah?
What?"

"The sixth-year Gryffindors have Transfiguration here

in about ten minutes. I want you to give this-," he said,
holding out a scroll of parchment, "- to Ginny
Weasley. Don't say who it's from. Just give it to her."

Malcolm, as it was his nature, looked suspicious.

"Why don't you just give it to her yourself?"

Draco rolled his gray eyes. "I have other things to do,"
he muttered. He glared down at the younger boy.
"See that she gets this letter or you'll regret the day
you were sorted into Slytherin house."
Malcolm nodded numbly, looking as though all of his
worst nightmares were suddenly coming true as he
took the bit of parchment from the older blonde. Draco
turned on his heel and walked down the hallway,
anticipating (and slightly nervous about) the events he
had just set in motion.

Ginny rounded the corner to Transfiguration, scanning

the hallway ahead of her for signs of her brother. He
was the last person she wanted to see at that
moment.

After Hermione had led Ron off to calm him down,

Harry had spent a great deal of time apologizing - for
what, Ginny wasn't quite sure - and by the time she
was done being screamed at and apologized to, she
had collapsed in bed and slept deeply.

"Excuse me," a unpleasant little voice said. Ginny

turned around and was startled to see Hogwart's
resident metal case, Malcolm Baddock, staring at her.

"Erm…yes?"

"This is for you!" He dropped a sheet of parchment on

the floor and stared at it as though expecting it to
explode. Then, without another word, he turned and
ambled away.

Ginny rolled her eyes and picked up the sheet of

parchment. She unfolded it and scanned the contents.
It was a brief and direct message:

G. -

Meet me after the Quidditch match tomorrow, behind

the tapestry. Don't be late.

- D.

She had no doubt who the note was from - Draco, of

course. She felt a tiny twinge of excitement; he had
never sent her a note before. She looked down at the
parchment again…something about it was vaguely
familiar…

"Miss Weasley, are you planning on kindly joining us

for class or were you perhaps going to absorb the
lecture through the wall?"

Ginny jumped in surprise. "Professor McGonagall! I'm

sorry!," she exclaimed, rushing into the class. She sat
down at the first desk she came to and as
McGonagall began to lecture, unfolding the sheet of
paper in her hand to look at it again. Where had she
seen that handwriting before?

The sun was shining brightly the next day as Ginny

followed Hermione out onto the Quidditch pitch for the
Slytherin - Ravenclaw game. The Gryffindors rarely
went to the Quidditch matches unless they were the
ones playing, but with the points going into the
Quidditch cup finals so close, the entire school had
turned up. Nearly everyone, save the Slytherins
themselves, were waving the bronze and blue
banners of Ravenclaw house. If Ravenclaw won,
Slytherin would have no chance of winning the cup.

Ginny and Hermione both filed up the steps into a

section filled predominantly with Ravenclaws. Parvati
was there however, sitting with her sister, along with a
couple of the girls in Ginny's year. They moved over
to allow room for Ginny and Hermione and started
talking excitedly about the match.

Ginny tried to listen to their conversation, but her

thoughts kept distracting her from the excited giggles
around her. She could see across the Quidditch pitch
to the opening towards the Slytherin locker rooms.
Draco was standing in the entranceway, his arms
flailing around wildly. He seemed to be giving some
sort of pep talk.

Ginny snorted at the thought of Draco giving an

encouraging speech. She could just imagine it. "You
better win or I will send my father and his evil
dementor friends after you. Now, play well!" She
laughed out loud, causing the girls around her to look
at her curiously.

To her luck, loud male voices broke through the

crowd before they could ask any questions. They all
looked over to see Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and
Neville squeezing towards the crowd as they came up
the bleachers to join them. Ginny scowled at her
brother and shifted her gaze to Harry, who was
behind him and gave her a small shrug.

Harry sat down next to Ginny and smiled before

turning his attention to the pitch before them. Ginny
could feel Ron's eyes burning into the back of her
head - surely he was wondering why she was sitting
next to Harry. How could she possibly sit next to him
without trying to snog him? Stupid brothers. A
moment later the voice of Mayes Jordan, the younger
brother of the Weasley twin's friend Lee, echoed
through the stadium.

"Welcome, boys and girls, professors and slimy

Potions Masters - ouch! - to this pivotal Quidditch
match. Today we have Ravenclaw-," a loud cheer
went up as the bleachers erupted in raucous cheers,
"-and Slytherin!" There was a rush of boos from the
crowd, except for the contingent of Slytherins across
the field.

"I give you the Ravenclaw team," Jordan cried, "Boot,

Brocklehurst, Turpin, Cornfoot, Entwhistle, Li, and
McDougal!" The crowd cheered once again and the
Ravenclaws soared into the air and did a lap before
landing back on the ground in front of Madam Hooch.

"And I also, quite regrettably - sorry, Professor - give

you the Slytherin team." Jordan's voice lowered in a
revolted tone as he announced the members of the
Slytherin team who also rose into the air to do a lap
before settling down.

Ginny's eyes were only on Draco however. He had a

look of utter concentration on his face that she had
never seen before as he shook hand with Mandy
Brocklehurst, the captain of the Ravenclaw team.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the teams were
off. Ginny tuned out Jordan's rambunctious,
sometimes demeaning, commentary and simply
watched Draco fly around. He was high above the
rest of the players, scanning the sky for the snitch, all
the while shouting out directions to the players below
him. The wind was whipping through his blonde
tresses and he had a look of intense focus about him.

"You really like him, don't you?," a voice whispered in

her ear and Ginny broke out of her trance, looking
over at Hermione.

"What?," she asked, feeling a bit scared. What exactly

did Hermione know?

"You like him," Hermione repeated. Ginny looked

around, hoping nobody else could hear the brown-
haired girl. "Malfoy."

Ginny felt her cheeks tinge a dull red. "I do not," she
muttered. "That's insane. I just think he's…not half
bad. Not nearly as bad as you three make him out to
be."

Hermione, to Ginny's surprise, didn't argue. She

simply focused her eyes back on the game ahead of
her. "Just be careful, Gin," she said quietly. "Just be
careful."

Ginny was shocked. What was this? No words of

protest, no yelling or screaming about how Malfoy
was the worst thing in the world. She started to feel a
bit worried. Had Hermione suddenly gone mad? She
pondered this for a moment, staring at her friend, but
Hermione seemed to be of quite a clear mind.
Apparently not.

Ginny turned her attention back to the Quidditch

match. She couldn't wait until it was over.

Chapter Fourteen

"Dammit Pritchard, pay attention!"

The fourth-year Keeper looked up at Draco, his face

extremely apologetic. He had just missed his third
consecutive Quaffle. The game had only been going
on for ten minutes and the score was already thirty to
zero in favor of the Ravenclaw team. Draco was
starting to feel a bit panicked.

The Quidditch Cup race was extremely close.

Gryffindor, of course, was in the lead. Ravenclaw was
only ten points ahead of Slytherin, who were holding
up third place. Hufflepuff, the bunch of duffers, were
obviously in fourth.

Draco saw a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye

and whipped around, looking down. His heartbeat fell
back down from his excited state when he realized
that it was only the glint off of someone's prefect
badge. Draco squinted and realized that it was
coming from Mudblood Granger and her bloody
enormous Head Girl brooch. He allowed himself to
sneak a short glance around her and to his elation
saw Ginny sitting by her. Potter was next to her, but
she wasn't paying any attention to him. To Draco's
satisfaction, she was staring up at him, though she
didn't realize that he was staring right back.

He suddenly realized that he wasn't paying any

attention to the game around him and forced himself
to turn his Accelerina Maxima around and focus on
the match. He watched in satisfaction as his chasers
finally scored a goal past the Ravenclaw Keeper. He
could hear the Ravenclaw supporters boo wildly, but
he just zoned them out.

The game seemed to go on and on. The mid-morning

sun that had been slanting onto the cold pitch was
now a full-blast shock of light. Even in the coldness
that was customary to the last day of February, such
as today was, Draco was starting to feel extremely
warm with the sun beating on him. He wanted this
game over with as soon as possible. Draco hated to
sweat. Another boo came from the crowd. The
Slytherin chasers scored four more goals in quick
succession, making the score fifty to twenty, in favor
of Slytherin. If he were to catch the Snitch now,
Slytherin would be in the finals. He started to fly
around more swiftly, his eagle eyes scanning the
pitch. He could feel the gaze of Cornfoot, the
Ravenclaw seeker, on him, shadowing his every
movement.

A few moments later he saw it! Glimmering near the

center hoop on the other end of the pitch was the
elusive Golden Snitch. He thought for such a second
about trying to divert Cornfoot, but decided against it.
He knew that against his broom and flying skills,
Cornfoot had no chance in a race.

He leaned forward on his broom and zoomed forward,

keeping the winged-ball in his line of vision. The
cheers of the crowd started to ring in his ears as he
neared the snitch, which suddenly shot away, causing
Draco to turn sharply. Cornfoot, to Draco's complete
surprise was directly behind him. In the course of all
of his lessons with Ginny, he had failed to check out
the other teams as thoroughly as he had in previous
years. Cornfoot had obvious gotten much better

Draco urged his broom forward. The snitch was

drawing closer and closer and Draco stretched his
arm out…further…and further until - finally - it closed
around the tiny gold ball. He could hear the cries of
disappointment from the stands, but they were nearly
overshadowed by the ecstatic screams of victory from
the green and silver clad Slytherin supporters. Draco
held the Snitch above him triumphantly and looked
down as he soared around the stadium.

He could see Pansy and Blaise jumping up and down,

nearly beside themselves with ecstasy. Malcolm
Baddock, for once, didn't look scared or paranoid as
landed on the ground and jumped around excitedly.
Draco's eyes drifted back over to where Ginny had
been sitting. He grinned. She wasn't moping about
like the rest of the students around her. She was
standing up on the bleacher, clapping her hands
admiringly and staring up at him. He met her eyes
and dropped one eyelid in a wink, sure that she
couldn't even see him. To his surprise, her grin grew
even wider and she winked back at him.

Draco could see Harry next to her, shooting her a

confused glance and then glaring up at him, but
Draco didn't care. He simply soared around the
stadium again, doing a prolonged victory lap before
landing on the ground.

Ginny sighed impatiently and glanced down at her

wristwatch, a plain silver faceplate attached to a thin
string of brown leather tied around her wrist. The
Quidditch match had ended nearly an hour ago. For
someone who had made it a point to include 'Don't be
late' in his note, Draco was certainly not punctual, at
least not today.

She grinned as she remembered Draco winking at her

during the Quidditch match. The look on his face had
been classic; he had been so shocked that she had
winked back. The thought made her giggle.

To occupy herself, Ginny pulled out the note Draco

had sent her. It still hadn't occurred to her why the
handwriting and parchment looked so familiar. She
knew it shouldn't be a big deal - but for some reason
she felt it was important.

She suddenly heard the soft sound of footsteps in the

room and she listened closely, hoping that it was
Draco and not just some random first-year lost in the
confusing maze of hallways. A moment later though,
the tapestry was pushed aside to reveal Draco. He
was still dressed in his Quidditch uniform. His broom
was clutched in his hands and he slid onto the seat,
leaning his back against the wall opposite her and just
stared at her for a moment as he set the broom down
next to him.

Ginny didn't know what to say to him, since he was

staring at her so intently, so she just stared back. She
had never really paid attention to him when he was in
full Quidditch gear and she couldn't believe how
utterly sexy he looked. The green robes, lined in
silvery-gray, complemented his fair coloring and the
dragon hide boots and gloves added the impression
of toughness. She could see the familiar smirk he
customarily wore pulling at the edges of his cheeks as
she stared at him and she quickly moved her gaze
away from him to the ceiling.

"So…," she began, starting to feel a bit awkward since

he wasn't saying anything, "what did you want to see
me about?"

She glanced over at him and was not at all surprised

to find that he still had his gaze set on her. He didn't
say anything for a moment, merely ran his tongue
over his lips in a very subtle manner and laughed as
Ginny's eyes widened. "Don't go having wicked
thoughts now, Weasley," he drawled in typical Malfoy-
manner.

She bit her lip, a bit hurt. "I thought you weren't going
to call me that," she said quietly.

Draco looked a bit disappointed, than shrugged.

"Well, in all honesty, I wanted you to blow up so I
could kiss you again to get you quiet."

Ginny felt her cheeks growing a bit red at this

admission. "You…what I mean is…erm…well, you
know-," she began, but quickly fell silent when she
realized she couldn't string together a coherent
sentence. She took a deep breath and finally forced
the words out. "I don't have to be yelling for you to
kiss me," she finally said.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "You don't?" Ginny rolled

her eyes. He knew that, the little wanker. He was
toying with her.

"Of course not, stupid," she mumbled. She glared at

him. "You're trying to get me mad again aren't you?"
He didn't answer, only stared at her some more, a
lazy grin on his face. She knew exactly what he was
doing - but she couldn't help it as her temper took
over. She tried very hard to keep her face blank, to
keep the flush from rushing to her cheeks, to keep the
angry sparks from flying from her eyes. She wanted
him to bloody kiss her without pretense; she wanted
him to kiss her simply because he wanted to.

"It's hard, isn't it, Weasley?," Draco said indolently,

leaning forward on his knees until his face was only a
few centimeters away from hers. One of his hands
was on the wall behind her, the other was on the side
of her face, his leather-bound fingers gently stroking
her hairline.

Ginny knew that she shouldn't give in to him, but this

was pure torture. He seemed so different from one
night to the next. Last night he had been all sweet,
proclaiming that he liked her and tonight…well,
tonight he was practically killing her with his sexy
aloofness. Damn Malfoys and their bloody charm.
"Stop it!," she roared. "If you're going to-," she was cut
off as he lightly brushed his lips against hers. He
pulled back and leaned back against the wall again,
his eyes heavy-lidded as he stared at her. She pouted
and leaned back. "You suck," she finally mumbled
under her breath.

Draco shrugged. "I have a present for you," he said.

"A present? For what?," she asked, quite surprised,

immediately forgetting about his cocky behavior.

He just shook his head. "Do I have to have a reason?

"Hmm…a reason for Draco Malfoy to give Ginny
Weasley a present? Yeah, I think that just may
warrant an explanation," she said sarcastically.

"I already told you I liked you," Draco said

dismissively.

"Yeah, so?"
"So, isn't that reason enough? Can't I give people
presents to people simply because I like them?"

Ginny was silenced for a moment by this bit of logic. "I

suppose."

"I suppose," Draco mimicked in a squeaky voice. He

picked up the broomstick beside him and held it out
towards her. "Here."
Ginny stared from the broomstick jutting out in front of
her face back towards the blonde boy holding it out to
her and back again. "Excuse me?"

Draco sighed impatiently. "Here! This is for you."

Ginny looked at it more closely and realized that it

was the Nimbus 2001 that she had been practicing on
for the last few weeks. "Draco…I can't take this!"

Draco looked perplexed. "Why not?"

"I just…can't! I mean…this is yours!," she tried to

explain.

Draco shook his head. "No, it's yours. I didn't spend

all that time turning you into an incredible Quidditch
player just so you can waste it using that damn
Shooting Star. Besides, I have three other
broomsticks at home. And I'll probably get another
one when I graduate."

Ginny didn't know what to say. He was giving her a

bloody broomstick. And not just any broomstick, one
that cost more Galleons than she had probably ever
seen in her life.

"I don't know what to say," she murmured

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Thank you is customary,"

he said airily.

Ginny felt extremely foolish. "Oh…yes…thank you,

Draco," she muttered. "Thank you so much."

"Well," Draco said, stretching out and sliding his feet

to the floor. "I need to get back to the common room.
We have a bit of a celebration going on and I don't
want to miss all the praise I'm going to get."

Ginny smiled slightly. "That was a great catch you

made, you know. Good job."
Draco just shrugged as though it was nothing. "Yeah,
well, maybe if Potter doesn't cheat as always I'll be
able to edge him out in the Quidditch finals."

Ginny wanted to argue that Harry didn't cheat and that

there was no way that Slytherin, no matter how
gorgeous their captain was, could beat Gryffindor, but
she couldn't. She was too mesmerized by Draco, who
was slowly leaning down towards her.

His lips grazed hers again, just barely and then he

straightened again and, giving her one last, devilish
grin, pushed the tapestry aside and strode out of the
room.

Ginny just sat there for a moment, trying to absorb

what had just happened. Draco was back to his old
tricks, it seemed. He was being sly and cunning and
aloof - but at the same time, he was being unnervingly
nice. He must be a Gemini, Ginny though, smiling
slightly.

A few minutes later she made her way back up to

Gryffindor tower. She had the broomstick with her and
was trying to think of the best way to smuggle it into
the common room, when the portrait hole opened and
Parvati and Lavender Brown came spilling out, acting
silly as always.

"Hey Ginny," Parvati said, waving at the younger girl.

"What are you doing in the hallway with a
broomstick?"
Ginny just shrugged and started towards the portrait
hole, which had already closed back up while Parvati
had been talking. "Hey, I heard you got a Mystique
Rose," Lavender said suddenly, a note of innocent
envy in her voice.

Ginny turned around and looked at her. "Where'd you

hear that from?"

"Oh, Hermione," Lavender said with a shrug. "She just

mentioned that you got one."

"Yeah, it's so romantic," Parvati said with a starry-

eyed look in her eyes.

Lavender suddenly erupted into giggles again. "Hey,

Parvati, remember when we were in Hogsmeade right
before Valentine's Day and we saw Malfoy buying a
Mystique Rose?" Parvati nodded and she burst into
sniggers along with her friend.

Ginny turned around to stare at the girls, opened

mouthed. Draco had bought a Mystique Rose?

The girls continued to laugh and looked at Ginny's

face. Parvati tried to explain: "We just thought it was
funny, you know. Malfoy buying a rose for someone.
I'd imagine the thing's gone black and turned to ash
by now. I feel sorry for whatever poor girl got it."

Lavender smiled sheepishly. "Not completely sorry.

Malfoy is rather hot."

Parvati sneered. "Yeah, but he's still a stinking

Slytherin." The two girls shared yet another loud
laugh. "Well, anyway," Parvati said. "See you later,
Ginny."

"Later," Lavender echoed as the two girls made their

way down the hall, oblivious to the look of shock on
the petite red-head's face.

It was all coming together now in Ginny's head - the

rose, the handwriting, Draco's feelings…Draco had
sent her the Mystique Rose…Draco was in love with
her.

Chapter Fifteen
"Draco, I know that the rose is from you," Ginny said,
staring at the blonde boy in front of her. He looked at
her blankly.

"What rose?"

She blinked, a bit confused. "The Mystique Rose! The

one you sent me!"

He smirked. "Why would I ever send you a rose, little

Weasel?"

"B-but…," she stammered at a loss for words. "You

bought one! And you like me!"
His smirk deepened. "Yeah, I like you. Like to torment
you. I bought the rose for my girlfriend."

Ginny felt as though she were about to faint from

shock and dejection. "Girlfriend?"
"Yes. Millicent, my love, come over here for a
second!"

Ginny shot up in her bed, sweat dripping down her

face, eyes wide, trying to catch her breath. The
sunlight poured through the windows making her eyes
ache and she groaned and closed them again, pulling
a pillow over her face as she laid back down in her
bed. Needless to say, she hadn't gotten much sleep
the night before.

The enormity of it was beginning to set in. Draco had

sent the rose to her. How had she not realized it
before? It wasn't that she hadn't considered it before;
on many occasions she had wished it true. But the
very idea of Draco Malfoy sending her a rose was
absurd. Ginny would have been less shocked to find
out the rose was from You-Know-Who. She felt stupid
just thinking about the time she had giggled and
fawned over the rose in front of him. She remembered
kissing him and holding back because she had felt
like it wasn't fair to whoever it was who loved her -
and all along it had been him. All along it had been
Draco.

She reluctantly took the pillow off of her face and

looked around the circular room, realizing for the first
time that all of her roommates were gone. She
squinted at her watch, trying to decipher what time it
was. She gasped. It was nearly two-thirty! The
Quidditch Tryouts began in just half an hour. She
scrambled out of her four-poster bed and hurriedly
changed and twisted her hair back into a ponytail and
sat down on her bed, breathless, to lace up her boots.
There was something else irking her about today
too…What was it? March first…March first.

"Bugger!," she exclaimed, her eyes widening. Not only

were the trials that day, but it was bloody Ron's
birthday too. She had been so distracted lately that
she had completely forgotten. "What a day," she
whimpered, collapsing on her bed once more.
A moment later she reluctantly sat up and glanced at
her watch again. She only had fifteen minutes now to
get down to the Quidditch pitch before the tryouts
started. She grabbed the Nimbus 2001, not even
stopping to think of a viable excuse for where she had
gotten it, before she raced out of her dorm room,
through the common room, and through the vast,
endless halls of the school.

She reached the pitch just as Harry was starting to

explain how the try outs would be run. She stopped at
the end of the line of Gryffindors who were all eagerly
listening to the older boy.

"So, we're going to have all of those trying out for

Chaser up against-," Harry was saying, but broke off
when he saw Ginny standing there, her broom
clutched in her hand. "Gin? Is there something
wrong?"

She just smiled brightly at him, a bit pleased at his

shocked expression. "Nothing at all Harry," she
replied with shrug. "Just trying out like everyone else."

She could see her brother, who was standing next to

Harry, gape at her. Even Madam Hooch, who was
there to make sure that there was no cheating or
such, gawked at her in surprise. "You don't know how
to fly!," Ron exclaimed, looking at his baby sister as
though she were insane. "You're terrified of flying!"
"No, Ronald, I'm not," Ginny said calmly. She smiled
winningly. "Oh, by the way. Happy birthday."

"Thanks," he mumbled, looking distracted. "But Gin-"

She help up her hand to stop him. "Ron, I'm trying out
whether you like it or not."

Ron looked around him and then walked over to her

leaning his head in close to hers. "Ginny," he hissed
in a serious tone, "I'm not trying to say that you can't
try out, but I just don't want you embarrassing
yourself."

Ginny raised her eyebrows calmly. "Who says that I'm

going to embarrass myself?"
Ron looked a bit confused. "I don't understand."

She patted his arm comfortingly. "I know. You don't

understand a lot of things. That's okay. We can't all be
geniuses."

Ron wrinkled his brow as if he were trying to decipher

whether or not he had just been insulted. "Well…
okay," he finally said. Ginny just rolled her eyes
discreetly. He was acting like she had needed his
permission to bloody try out for a Quidditch team. "But
I don't want you saying that I didn't warn you," he
added in a paternal sort of tone.

Ginny nodded. "Ron…it's okay. I'm fine."

Ron looked worried, but after a moment he just
shrugged his shoulders helplessly and returned to his
post beside Harry. Harry went back to his explanation.
Each of the Gryffindors trying out for Chaser would go
against Ron, the current Keeper. They would be
judged on how well they executed their shots and also
how accurate they were. Ginny glanced around at all
of the nervous students around her. It was a cinch,
she knew. Half of them looked too jumpy to even stay
on a broomstick, much less ride one and make goals.

One-by-one Harry began calling forward the other

people trying out. Being at the end of the long line,
Ginny had a long time before she would be called, so
she collapsed down onto the ground and lost herself
in her thoughts as she stared around the Quidditch
pitch, bored.

She squinted as she thought she saw a glint of silver

over near the broom sheds. It was only momentary
and Ginny realized that it was probably just a
reflection of something from the lake, but she found
herself thinking almost immediately of Draco. She
sighed warily. She didn't know what she was going to
say to him when she next saw him.

Yes, she liked him - a lot. She thought he was

gorgeous, charming, and undeniably sexy. But on the
other hand, he was a Malfoy. He was a Slytherin. He
could be cold and cruel and cunning and downright
mean. He was everything that her mother had told her
to stay away from. He was only bound to hurt her.
Even if he did love her as the rose proclaimed.

"Ginny?," a voice suddenly said, breaking her daze.

"Hmmm?," she murmured, looking up to see Harry

looking down at her, his face a bit skeptical.

"You're up," he said quietly, gesturing up towards the

hoops. She could see Ron looking down at her, his
face a mixture of worry and plain confusion

"Oh, great," she said, flashing Harry what she hoped

looked like a confident smile. In reality, her stomach
had just begun trashing around violently. She realized
with a start that she hadn't even paid any attention to
any of the other people trying out - she had no clue
whether or not she was terrible in comparison to
them. She smiled one more time at Harry and then
mounted her broom and then began the ascent up
towards the golden goal posts.

"You sure about this, Ginny?," Ron said worriedly.

Ginny didn't say anything, just nodded. Ron shrugged

and then tossed her the Quaffle that was clutched in
his hands.

If Ginny had thought that her nerves would hinder her,

she was wrong. As soon as she felt the soft leather of
the red ball, all of Draco's instructions suddenly came
back to her. She looped around the pitch a couple of
times to get her bearings and then raced towards
Ron, faked to one side and easily tossed the Quaffle
into one of the hoops. Ron looked up at her as he
swooped down to collect the ball, an expression of
utter astonishment on his face. He didn't say anything
though, only resumed his place and tossed the
Quaffle back to her.

This time he was prepared; Ginny shot back and

forth, waiting for him to be distracted. Ron seemed
determined not to let her get the better of him. Ginny
was glad for this - she would have hated making it on
the team if she thought that her brother had gone
easy on her. She suddenly pointed the nose of her
broom down and dived towards the ground. Ron
stayed in place and, quick as a flash, Ginny lunged
back up and swerved past, hurling the Quaffle into the
center hoop and missing Ron's ear by a centimeter.

The trial seemed to go on forever, but in the end,

Ginny couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She had
attempted a dozen shots towards the hoop and her
brother had been able to block only two of them. After
the last one went through the hoop, Ron grabbed the
Quaffle again and nodded towards he ground.

"I don't know how you did it, Gin," he began, a bit out
of breath at the effort he had just exerted, "but
whoever has to play against you next year is bloody
unlucky."
Ginny grinned even more brightly and flew down
towards the ground, looking over at a very astonished
Harry and a very impressed looking Madam Hooch.

"That was brilliant, Ginny," Emma Dobbs, a fourth

year said adamantly, nodding his head.

"Yeah, where'd you learn that?," asked second-year

boy who Ginny didn't know.

Ginny smiled slightly. "I just had a very good teacher,"

she said with a shrug. She settled back down on the
ground again, watching Harry and Ron carefully as
they conferred with Madam Hooch. They turned back
to the crowd, Harry suddenly looking very official.

"Okay, I just wanted to thank you all for showing up,"

he said. "Unfortunately, though you all did brilliantly,
we only have room for two new Chasers. So, erm…
the new Chasers are Dobbs, Burke, and Weasley. If
you're here to try out for Keeper, please line up over
here and-."

But Ginny didn't hear any of the rest of what Harry

was saying as she felt a sudden rush of excitement
tear through her. Did he just say Weasley? She had…
she had made the team? She gave out a great squeal
and launched herself on the startled raven-haired boy,
who was still talking to the next batch of Gryffindors
trying out. He held her awkwardly, patting her back as
though he were unsure what to do. "Congratulations,
Ginny. You were great."

She pulled away from him and grinned and then

hurled herself at Ron, who looked supremely
surprised. "So…I take it you're not mad at me
anymore?," he asked hesitantly.

She raised her head and looked at her brother. "You

didn't go easy on me so that I'd make the team and
forgive you, did you?," she whispered worriedly.

Ron looked a bit shocked. "No! Ginny, you were

brilliant! I'm just wondering," he said, lowering his
voice, "Where did you learn all of that?"

Ginny bit her lip, wondering what to say. She had kept
it from Ron all this time that she had been getting
flying lessons from Draco - why bother telling him
now?

She shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. "I don't

know. Practice makes perfect, I suppose."

He looked at her carefully. "Okay," he said after a

moment. He glanced over at Harry. "Well, we have to
go try out the people for Keeper. See you later."

Ginny nodded and slung her broom over her shoulder

as she started back up the hill towards the school.
She smiled at the person coming through the
entrance to the Quidditch pitch: Seamus.

"How'd it go?," he asked, stopping in front of her.

She grinned. "I made it!," she exclaimed.

Seamus let out a great whoop and swept her into a

huge hug and swinging her around. "I'm proud of you!
Even with that dirty little-," he paused and seemed to
reconsider his words. "Well, even with Malfoy for a
teacher you made it."

Ginny chose to ignore this comment - she didn't really

want to think about Draco at that moment. "Well, I'm
going to tell Hermione the good news," she said,
pulling herself out of Seamus's embrace. "See you
later."

He nodded and gave her one last smile before

jogging over to where Harry and Ron were standing.

Ginny started back up towards the castle. She had

just walked out of the stadium, a smile playing on her
lips, when she felt someone grab the back of her
robes and pull her into the shadowy cranny between
the broom shed and the entrance to the Hufflepuff
locker rooms.

"Let me go!," she exclaimed, struggling wildly. The

person clapped a hand over her mouth and spun her
around. She stared up into the eyes of the very
person she had been trying to avoid thinking about all
day - Draco Malfoy.

Chapter Sixteen

Ginny stared up at Draco, who was looking down at

her, his eyes glinting with a bit of amusement. They
were in a narrow, muddy alleyway. The sunlight was
blocked out completely except for a small beam that
was glinting off of Draco's platinum hair.

"Damn, Weasley, you need to chill out," Draco said

sternly, taking his hand off of her mouth.

"Well, excuse me," she said huffily, hoping that her

voice gave away none of the nervousness that was
surging in her. "Next time someone grabs me from
behind I'll be sure to try and remember my manners."
Draco snickered and she uncrossed her arms from
across her chest where she had placed them in a
defensive stance. "What were you doing anyway? Do
you just hide out waiting to grab unsuspecting girls?"

Ginny thought that she might have been mistaken, but

she could have sworn that she saw something that
passed for hurt and confusion flicker in Draco's silvery
eyes. "No, Weasley, actually I was waiting for you."

"Stop calling me Weasley," she hissed. "My name is-"

"Ginny," he said quickly, his smooth edge dropping.

He furrowed his brow and stared at her, looking a bit
concerned. "Ginny, I'm sorry. Is everything okay?"

She considered telling him right then and there that

she knew that the Mystique Rose from him. But how
was she supposed to bring it up? She couldn't very
well pop out with, "Hey, by the way, thanks for the
rose!" She knew that wouldn't go over very well - for
his ego nor for her, especially if she were wrong,
though she doubted that she was.

"Ginny?," she heard him ask again, this time trying to

disguise the concern in his voice.

She looked up, toying with the twigs of the Nimbus

2001 that he had given her the day before. "Look,"
she began, "there are things that need to be said." He
opened his mouth and started to say something, but
she quickly cut him off. "But not here. Not in some
muddy alleyway between buildings."

Draco looked a bit confused and unless Ginny was

imagining it, a bit worried. "What's so important that it
can't be said here and now?"

"Draco, will you please just trust me on this?," she

asked in a pleading tone. "Please?"

He sighed a bit mournfully. "Okay, okay. I don't know

why I'm letting you get away with manipulating me like
this little girl," he said in a teasing tone, gently flicking
her ear with his gloved finger, "but I am. Meet me
later. Same place as last night. Same time."

Ginny smiled, feeling as though a bit of weight being

lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you."

Draco just shrugged. "Yeah. Well, I better go. I have a

Potions exam tomorrow." He reached forward and in
a very un Draco-like move, simply wrapped her into a
warm hug. She buried her face in the crook of his
neck and sighed deeply. She kept wondering if it was
worth it to put it all out there and risk his rejection, if
by some odd chance he hadn't sent the rose, but
every time she was close to him like this, she know
that it was. It was definitely worth it.

"See you later," she mumbled, reluctantly pulling

away. "I'll see you later."

Draco returned to the Slytherin common room, his

mind a whirlwind of thoughts. He was extremely
desperate to know what it was that Ginny wanted to
talk to him about. He had never seen her look so
serious before and he had a bad feeling about the
way that their conversation was going to turn out.

He collapsed on one of the green velvet sofas and

stared up at the beamed ceiling, trying to figure out
what was so important that she wasn't able to tell him
straight off.
There was only one thing that he thought it could be -
and he hoped to Merlin that it wasn't. He feared Ginny
had realized that the rose was from him.

It wasn't that he didn't want her to know how he felt

about her, but he wanted to be the one to tell her. And
besides that, she hadn't seemed completely
overjoyed at whatever it was she was upset about.
She had looked frightened and more than a bit
nervous; fear wasn't exactly what he was aiming for
when he had sent her the rose.

"Knut for your thoughts?"

Draco snapped out of his thoughts and looked around

for the source of the voice. Blaise was standing in the
doorway leading towards the girl's dorms. Her green
eyes were concentrated on him in a look of deep
concern. She crossed the room and sat down across
from him in an overstuffed armchair. She slung her
legs over one arm and rested her head in her palm
and stared at him. "Care to tell an old friend what's
bothering you?"

Draco just shrugged. Even though Blaise was one of

his best friends - hell, she was probably one of the
only real friends he had ever had - he still wasn't
accustomed to opening up to her. It was understood
that Slytherins liked to keep things to themselves;
they only talked about things if times got really
desperate. "I'm fine, Blaise," he finally mumbled.
"You sure?," she asked, raising her thin, dark
eyebrows. "Because you don't look like you're fine.
You look like you're completely miserable."

"What else is new?," he muttered. "It's the Slytherin

way."

"I'm not miserable," Blaise pointed out. "But we're not

talking about me."

"Indeed."

"We're talking about you," she continued as though

she hadn't heard his sarcastic comment. "What's
wrong?"

"I think she knows," he finally said.

Blaise stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out

just what he meant before gasping slightly. "Weasley?
About the rose?" Draco nodded somberly. "Why do
you think that she knows?"

"I went down to the pitch to see her try out and
afterwards I grabbed her and sort of dragged her
between the broom shed and the stadium-"

"You dragged her somewhere?," Blaise questioned,

looking at him as though he were insane. "What are
you, a bloody caveman?"
"Only when it's necessary," Draco shrugged in the
most innocent manner he could manage. "Anyway, I
could tell something was wrong and she said she
couldn't talk to me about it there."

"Why not?"

"It was too muddy or something," Draco said, trying to

remember if she had said anything else. Nope…too
muddy had been about the extent of it.

"Too muddy?," Blaise repeated, starting to laugh.

"Those bloody Gryffindors are so pathetic. Muddy my
arse." She continued to laugh uncontrollably, her
normally pallid cheeks growing an unusual pink.

"As amusing as your little fit of hysteria is, Blaise,"

Draco drawled, growing impatient, "you asked me
what was wrong and I told you. Now what do you
suggest I do about it?"

Blaise took a deep breath, trying to regain her

composure. "I think you should beat her to the chase.
Tell her it's from you before she tells you that she
knows. At least then you'll have the upper hand." She
slid out of her chair and stood up and pointed a
manicured finger at him. "And what is the Slytherin
motto?"

"Lie, cheat, steal and always have the upper hand,"

Draco replied automatically. "I guess as long as I
avoid the first three during our conversation I should
be alright."

"I would hope so," Blaise agreed. She stretched her

arms and then glanced at her watch. "I really have to
go now, though. I'm studying with Pansy in the library.
You want to come? I heard this Potions exam is going
to be a killer."

"Nah," Draco retorted. "I think I'm going to study by

myself."

Blaise nodded. "Okay, well see you later. And

Draco?" He looked up at the brown-haired girl
curiously. "Good luck."

She picked up her books which were lying on a

nearby table and made her way out of the common
room. Draco stared after her for a moment and then
reabsorbed himself in his thoughts of what was to
come.

Ginny sat in her own common room later that

evening, pretending to be reading her Transfiguration
text. Of course, she hadn't turned a page in the last
hour, so the illusion wasn't really holding up, but
Ginny wasn't think of this. She could only think of how
she was going to tell Draco that she knew that the
rose was from him.
She had considered many options. There was the
direct one, consisting of her marching straight up to
him and saying that she knew he sent the rose. Then
there was the one where she got him to admit that he
had sent it to her - she hadn't quite worked that one
out completely, though she felt it would be the
easiest. And of course, her favorite option: She could
hide under the covers of her bed until the end of the
semester in the hopes that she wouldn't have to ever
confront Draco about it. Yes, plan three was sounding
better with every rotation of the clock's minute hand.

She glanced up at the aforementioned clock and her

stomach convulsed in nervousness. Only half an hour
and she would be in the tiny alcove behind the
tapestry, telling Draco that she knew he had sent her
the rose.

"Is this seat taken?"

Ginny looked up and was not at all surprised to see

Seamus staring down at her, his own Transfiguration
book clasped in his hand.

"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?," she asked in

surprise. Most of the other seventh-year Gryffindors
had crept out of the castle earlier to celebrate Ron's
birthday in the wizarding village.

"I got caught sneaking out last week. If I get caught

again I'll be in detention until I'm as old as
Dumbledore," he replied. He sat down at the opposite
end of the sofa. "Your book is upside down," he said
quietly, his lips curling up in an amused smile.

Ginny glanced down and realized that indeed the

pages were inverted. No wonder she hadn't been
absorbing anything. She sheepishly turned the book
right-side-up. "Oops," she mumbled.

Seamus laughed lightly. "I would have thought you'd

be over there celebrating with them," he said,
gesturing towards the group of students in one corner
who were toasting each other with butterbeer,
rejoicing at their new places on the Gryffindor team.
They had invited her to join them, but she had politely
declined, choosing to sit alone with her upside-down
book and her thoughts.

"Well, you know…important test coming up," she

shrugged.

"Yeah," Seamus said, nodding. "Now, what are you

really thinking about?"

"You don't want to hear it," she assured him. "I can
assure you of that."

"You're probably right," he agreed nodding. There

was a pause. "But try me anyway."

She stared over at him and he looked back at her,

eyebrows raised, his book lying in his lap, forgotten.
"It's about Draco," she warned him.

"I figured as much," he admitted. "But I'm your friend,

aren't I? I want to be here for you, even if it does
involve Mal-Ferret."

"Well…okay," Ginny finally said, not believing she was

about to confide in Seamus about her feelings for
Draco. "I think that Draco sent me the rose." Seamus
just nodded, not looking in the least bit surprised.
"And I'm going to talk to him later on tonight. I'm…I'm
going to tell him that I know."

Seamus was silent for a moment. "You should," he

said. "I don't want you to and I still think that Malfoy
will never be good enough for you, but if you don't find
out if it's from him, you're always going to wonder."

"That's what I've been thinking," Ginny agreed, sitting

up a bit straighter. "I mean, I like Draco - I like him a
lot." She tried to ignore the pained expression that
crossed Seamus's face. "But I don't know if it's worth
it. Can you imagine how my brother would react if I
were to start anything up with Draco? He would never
forgive me! I keep thinking I should talk to him about
it. Maybe I should find out if he'd have a real problem
with it." Seamus just snorted. Ginny sighed. "Yeah, I
know. Stupid idea. I would just feel better if I had, you
know…like, permission or something."
Seamus looked thoughtful. "You know, my mum has a
saying. She always says it is easier to get forgiveness
than permission." He grinned and leaned back. "Live
by that one, I do."

"Your mum says that?," Ginny asked, sniggering. "No

wonder you get in so much trouble."

Seamus shrugged and grinned slightly. "It's in my

blood."

"So, that's your advice? Just to go for it and worry

about the consequences later?," she asked.

He looked thoughtful. "Well, yes I suppose so. Ginny,"

he started, leaning forward and looking serious, "it's
just life. Don't take it so seriously."

She nodded and sat back, her eyes drifting once

again to the clock. "You're right, Seamus."
"Don't worry so much," he said, nudging her. "My
mum has another saying: If you worry you die and if
you don't worry you die, so why worry?"

It was now a quarter until ten and Ginny realized if

she didn't get moving, she would be late. She stood
up and looked down at Seamus, smiling gratefully.
"Thank you for listening, Seamus. And thank you for
you advice." She looked thoughtful. "Or should I say
thank you for your mum's advice? Anyway, thank
you."
"You're welcome," he said quietly. She smiled once
more and glancing once more around the room to
make sure nobody was watching her, slipped out the
portrait hole. "There's one more quote my mum
always says," he murmured as the door closed. "You
never miss the water till the well has run dry."

A/N:

Chapter Seventeen

Ginny walked down the empty stone corridors,

wrapping her coat more securely around her. The box
holding the rose was in her pocket, slapping lightly
against her leg as she walked. She felt more nervous
than she ever had before in her life. Who knew that
she could get this wrapped up in one guy - especially
a Malfoy.

"Get a grip, Weasley," she instructed herself. She was

not going to let some boy shake her up like this.

Her footsteps echoed faintly against the walls, but

Ginny was so caught up in her musings that she
wasn't even aware of the noise she was making. If
fact, she wasn't aware of much of anything until she
rounded the last corner before she reached the
classroom where she was supposed to meet Draco. It
was only then that she snapped back to reality, due to
the wall to her left suddenly sliding open. A hunched
figure, engulfed in the shadows, lumbered towards
her. She couldn't see his face, but there was no
mistaking that walk: It was Filch.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to run,

but knew that it was already too late as she heard
Filch begin to cackle in a mad sort of matter.

For a moment, she just stared at the old, withered up

man. His yellowish eyes were narrowed in an
expression of utter contempt and his lip was curled up
into a vindictive smirk. If she hadn't known that he
was a squib, she would have insisted he had been a
Slytherin. In Ginny's opinion, only Slytherins could
smirk like that.

"Well, well, well…," Filch said, his lips stretching into a

malicious grin. His yellowed, crooked teeth gleamed
nastily in the fire-light. Ginny stared up at him
fearfully. "To my office," he snarled.

Ginny wanted to argue, but from her experience with

the old care-taker, knew that it was no use
whatsoever. She reluctantly followed him down the
hallway towards his office. He pushed the door open
and sat down in the rickety old chair he gestured
towards. She stared down at her shoes, wondering
how badly he was going to punish her. He was rifling
through the file cabinets on the other side of the room
and she briefly considered making a break for it - but
it would be no use. She'd most likely get in even more
trouble.

"Please, Mr. Filch," she said in a pleading voice. "It

won't ever happen again!"

He turned and looked at her down his long, crooked

nose. "You think I don't know who you are?," he
grumbled. "You and your older brothers have been
the bane of my existence ever since I started working
here." He turned back to the file cabinet and
continued to search through it.

Ginny sighed and sank down on the chair. Draco was

going to think she was standing him up. She knew
that his pride was something he valued above most
anything else. What was he going to think when she
didn't show up?

She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, though

she knew it was probably only a quarter of an hour,
maximum. Filch had finally retrieved the sought after
forms and was now loading up his quill with ink.

SLAM!

Ginny jumped as she heard the sound of a nearby

door being thrown closed. Filch was startled as well
and Ginny noticed with a dull sense of satisfaction
that his quill had shaken so violently that flecks of
midnight blue ink dotted his sallow face.
He didn't see her expression, however. His eyes were
fixed on the door to the hallway.

"You stay here," he snapped, getting up and hurrying

out of the room, no doubt to find another unfortunate
student out of bed.

Ginny sighed and glanced around the small, dark

room. Her gaze rested on a pair of manacles hanging
on the wall and she shuddered, very thankful that
Dumbledore didn't allow Filch to use them.

"That's two tonight, my love," Filch's oily voice

exclaimed and Ginny heard a loud mewl. She
wrinkled her nose in distaste. Mrs. Norris, that blasted
cat - Ginny was definitely a cat person, but that
particular feline gave her a particular case of the
creeps.

"Just imagine," Filch was saying, " the amount of

points you'll get taken off." He sounded ecstatic.

"You really are a miserable old loon, aren't you?," a

familiar, drawling voice snapped. Ginny gasped and
she immediately twisted around in her chair to stare
into the hallway.

Filch walked back in, accompanied by a sauntering

Mrs. Norris and a pissed off looking Draco Malfoy. He
glanced over at her and his eyes widened in surprise.
Some of the anger that was obvious on his face
seemed to fade away at the sight of her, Ginny was
relieved to see. He collapsed onto the only other chair
in the room - which just happened to be Filch's.

Filch looked quite surprised. "What do you think

you're doing, you stupid little boy? Get out of my
chair!"

Draco simply smirked. "Where are your manners? I

believe I'm a guest. You did invite me to your office,
after all."

Filch's nostrils flared. "Move!"

"Make me," Draco said icily, his gaze fixed on Filch.

Filch seemed to sputter for words for a moment

before finally turning and stomping over to his file
cabinets. Draco glanced towards Ginny, who was
gawking at his behavior. He smiled slightly and
winked at her than resumed his glare at Filch's back.

Filch had retrieved his forms and had set them down
on the table. He looked a bit uncomfortable, but
leaned over with his quill and began to fill out the
remainder of the form, nonetheless.

There was along silence as he did this. Draco

continued to glare at Filch so that every time he
looked up he was met by cold gray eyes. Filch finally
signed his name to the paper with a flourish, putting
one copy in his outbox and handing the other to
Ginny, who glanced at it in curiosity.

Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "You're

recommending expulsion and disembowelment?," she
stuttered. "Disembowelment?"

"It means you're bowels are taken out," Draco offered

helpfully, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I know that," she exclaimed. She scowled at Filch.

"You're mad, you know that?"

"Get out of my sight," Filch growled, already hard at

work on Draco's forms. Ginny rolled her eyes and
started towards the doors. She heard a slight cough
and looked back to see Draco staring at her.

"Wait for me," he mouthed.

She glanced towards Filch to make sure he hadn't

seen Draco's message and nodded curtly. She
walked out of the room and ducked behind a thick
pillar, hoping Filch wouldn't find her again.

Draco waited in annoyed apprehension as Filch

slowly filled out his report in his untidy scrawl. "Are
you almost done?," he asked irritably. "I have things
to attend to." Filch only glared at him, his face twisted
into an agitated scowl. He didn't reply, however.
Draco sighed impatiently and leaned back in the
chair. This whole being-captured-by-a-maniacal-
caretaker thing was really throwing off his plans. He
had taken Blaise's advice to heart. While he wasn't
going to lie, cheat, or steal anything from Ginny, he
was certainly going to have the upper hand. He
simply had to get her to admit she loved him before
he would tell her how he felt. How hard could that be?

Filch finally signed Draco's paper and handed the

form to him. "You can get out of my chair now," he
said grouchily. Draco snatched the paper from his
hand and glanced down at it. Filch had gone a step
further with his recommendation than with Ginny's -
he thought that Draco deserved a nice, painful
beheading.

He walked into the hallway and looked around,

searching for any sign of the red-head, but couldn't
see her anywhere. He jumped, startled, as he felt a
hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Ginny behind
him, a wicked smile on her face.

"You were scared," she stated.

"No, I wasn't," he lied, resisting the urge to stick his

tongue out at her in an infantile manner. "I was just…
surprised." She only smirked. He grabbed her hand
and started to drag her down the hall. "It doesn't
matter. Let's get out of here before that crazy bastard
comes looking for us again."

Ginny nodded and ran to keep up with him. He jerked

her around corners and up staircases until she was so
disoriented that she had no idea where they were in
the castle. He finally stopped in front of a painting of a
two-headed goblin, who was leering at them
unpleasantly.

"Pollywog," he muttered and the painting swung open,

revealing a passageway. Ginny glanced at Draco,
wondering where on Earth they could be, but he
simply pulled her through the passageway and the
portrait swung closed behind them.

"Where are we?," she asked, staring around the

room. The room was circular, signifying that they were
in one of the towers, though they were near the
bottom of it. There was a long, rectangular table at
one end with about two dozen chairs around it. The
other half of the room was filled with gray and white
sofas and armchairs and several smaller tables. The
walls were adorned with shelves to the ceiling filled
with books. There was a huge fireplace at one end, in
which an huge fire was blazing.

"Prefect lounge," he said with a shrug. He collapsed

onto one of the sofas and gestured for her to join
them. Time to put Plan Get-Ginny-To-Admit-How-
She-Felt into action. "So, what did you want to tell
me?"
She was staring down at her hands, which she was
wringing together in a somewhat nervous manner. A
second later she looked up at him, biting her lip a bit
apprehensively. "Actually, I wanted to ask you
something."

"Bugger," Draco muttered under his voice. He was

hoping she would have forgotten about that. "Are you
sure?"

"Sure of what?," she asked, looking a little confused.

"Sure that you had to ask me something. I thought

you said you had to tell me something," he said
insistently.

She shook her head fervently. "No, I'm sure I have to

ask you something."

"Oh," he mumbled. "Well, what was it?," he finally

complied. He could always turn the question around
on her, after all.

"Well, you erm…know that rose that I got for

Valentine's Day?," she asked.

"Yes, I know all about it," Draco replied, nodding. "Is

that all you needed to ask me? Good then!" He stood
up and stretched languidly, hoping he could slip out of
the room and avoid this topic for another day.
Ginny reached up and frustration and yanked at the
hem of his shirt, pulling him back down onto the sofa.
"That wasn't the question, Draco."

"It wasn't?," he asked, dumbly.

"No!," she exclaimed. "I wanted to know if that rose

was from you!"
There was a long pause as he weighed his options.
He could lie and say that it wasn't from him and that
she was completely mad for even considering that it
could be from him. Or he could tell the truth. "Do you
think I sent you that rose?," he asked carefully.

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously, I wouldn't be asking

you if you did if I didn't think you may have." There
was another long pause. "Would you just answer my
question?"

"Which question was that?," he asked, making one

last-ditch-effort to get out of this potentially
embarrassing situation.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the infamous

Weasley temper. In less than a second, Ginny was on
her feet and stomping towards the door, her cheeks
blazing red. "Fine!," she exclaimed. "Just…bloody…
play games with me, Draco! I'm trying to be serious
for once and you won't even answer me. So fine!"
Draco stared at her in surprise and immediately felt a
twinge of guilt. He hadn't meant to make her angry - it
was just that she was usually so passive, so calm. He
wasn't counting on her flying off the handle like this.

"Ginny, wait!," he said, getting up and rushing towards

her. She had stopped in front of the small passage,
her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot in
an agitated manner. "I'm sorry. I'm being an ass. Will
you please come sit down?"

"Why should I?," she said and turned around, fixing

Draco with her angry, liquid brown eyes. "So you can
avoid my questions some more?" She shook her head
and started to turn around.

"Ginny, I sent you the bloody rose, okay?," he finally

blurted out, grabbing hold of her arm. She stared back
at him, her eyes widening.

"You did?"

He took hold of her other arm in his hand and pulled

her level to him so that she was forced to look at him.
"Yes, I did."

She blinked hard, as if trying to clear her mind.

"Why?," she finally asked.

Draco shrugged. "I was in Hogsmeade one day and I

saw them in the flower store and I don't know…I just
felt like it."
She hesitated for a second. "It's red, you know."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know." There was a long silence.

He could tell that she wanted desperately to ask him if
he was really in love with her, but as bold as she
could be, he knew that she never would. "I guess," he
started slowly, "that it's good to know that I didn't
waste my money one something that wouldn't work."

"Wouldn't work?," she asked vaguely and Draco could

almost see the wheels turning in her head. "You
mean…"

He took one of her hands in hers and lifted it up to his

lips, his gaze never leaving hers as he gently brushed
her fingers with gentle kiss. "I mean, I love you,
Ginny."

If Draco had thought that Ginny looked shocked by

him admitting that he had sent the rose, it was nothing
to the expression on her face now. Her face had gone
extremely pale, except for two circles of red at the tips
of her cheekbones. Her mouth was slightly parted as
if her jaw had literally fallen. "Are you sure?," she
finally asked.

He started laughing at that and slid his arms around

her comfortingly. "Yes, I'm sure," he said.

"But…but you're Malfoy! You're not supposed to love

me! You're not supposed to love anyone!"

"But I do," he said.

"It doesn't make sense."

Draco simply shrugged. "It doesn't have to make
sense. I love you."
She smiled slightly and tilted her head to the side to
survey him. "Its not right, you know. Half the time I
want to kill you."
"Right. What about the other half?," he asked in a
joking tone, though he sounded a bit concerned.
Ginny smirked. "I want to kill myself for feeling what I
feel."
"Really," Draco asked, raising his eyebrows. "What is
it that you feel?"
Ginny bit her lip, looking thoughtful. "I really can't
say."
Draco raised his hand up to the side of her face and
gently smoothed away a few strands of hair falling
into her face. "Well then don't say. Show me."

Ginny's lips blossomed into a grin as she reached up

and pulled Draco's face down towards hers in a kiss.
This time, Draco could tell she wasn't holding back.
He pulled her closer to him until there was absolutely
no space in between them.

Draco had never felt like he was feeling at that

moment. He could think of nothing but the feel of
Ginny's lips against his, her small hands running
along his back, his own hands running through her
silky red hair. He finally pulled away from her,
breathless, and rested his forehead against hers.

"It's going to be hard, you know," he whispered.

"So hard," she agreed, nodding slightly.

"Is it worth it for you?," he asked sincerely.

Even if she hadn't answered him he would have

known from the look in her eyes. "Absolutely," she
replied, before pressing her lips against his again.

~*~ FIN ~*~

I Lost My Heart To Sin

Summary: Ginny Weasley will do anything to catch

Harry's attention, and that means anything. Even if it
means sleeping with Draco Malfoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own HP, just own the plot.

A/N: In this story, everyone is more or less OOC, so

please do not flame, this is FANFICTION. If you don't
like character's changing ways, you shouldn't have
come to this website.

"Pathetic, it is," Hermione Granger's snarling voice

snapped. Ginny merely shrugged, she was used to
her best friend's accusing ways. Hermione ran her
hand through Ginny's hair, and did the last braid.
Sighing, Hermione plopped down on the floor next to
Ginny, eyeing her.

"You know I am only joking Gin," Hermione defended

herself in a steadying way. "But you have to admit,
Harry is really going over heels over Cho," said
Hermione.

Ginny snapped that time. "Look Herm, this is not

making me feel better at all. All I wanted you do is fix
up my hair so I could be a little different for my 5th
year alright? Don't make it into something big."

Hermione backed off, silent for a second.

"You know this is all for Harry," she finally pleaded.

Ginny looked down at her knees. "So what if it is?"

she challenged her.

Hermione didn't say anything for a second.

"Your hair won't change anything, you know that. It's

flaming red, did you notice? If Harry can't even notice
that, I doubt he'll notice some hairstyle we picked off
of a magazine," she stated.

Ginny sighed and looked at herself in the mirror for a

moment. She looked quite ridiculous actually; it would
be humiliating if she even thought of going to classes
tomorrow like that. Two huge humble braids
seperated her fluffy red hair, and some hair was left
wisping on her eyes, sort of like faraway bangs.

The hairstyle didn't match her precious brown eyes

either; nor did it make her little freckles that spread
out across her nose seem at all flattering.

"Fine!" Ginny yelled.

"I give up! If that fucking little twit can't notice me,
what's the freaking point?" she yelled, throwing her
hands up in the air in mere frustration.

"Ginny!" Hermione scowled at Ginny's obvious use of

language.

"I am sorry okay? I am sorry for even bothering,"

Ginny said, and clamped her braids out regretfully
and very quickly.

"I going to take a bath. If I am not back in at least two

hours; you'll know that I have drowned myself," Ginny
said, each word coming out spitefully.

She slammed the door behind her.

Hermione flinched thoughtfully.

Poor girl; she doesn't even know what love means.
Hermione sighed again, shrugging in invisible
sympathy.

***

Ginny looked at the steamed mirror as she walked out

of the bathtub; naked.

Examining herself in the glass, she groaned.

How could God mold her into something so hideous?

Her stomach wasn't even flat; it was chubby, and her

belly button didn't add any treasures either. Her chest
was also flat, and her backside too. The only thing
she was proud of was her skinny ankles. That's all.
Everything else, especially her face was a complete
disgrace.

Pulling on her pink colored robe quickly, she started

to leave the bathroom and stopped. She realized she
had been crying.

Oh God, she thought to herself as she looked into the

mirror again. How dreadful she felt right now. Why
didn't Harry even notice how much she loved him?
His emerald shining eyes, his messy load of hair, and
his round glasses and sweet personality. The kind of
person who has so much innocence that you want to
scream?
It had been only weeks since they had arrived at
Hogwarts. Hermione, Ron and Harry were very keen
to start their 6th year, yet tried to ignore the fact that
at the end of 7th year, they would be leaving. Ginny
felt a small ache in her heart again. What if she didn't
get Harry to love her and he left, and they never saw
each other again? It would be so depressing.

Her throat tightened. She had decided something.

She was not going to give up. Nothing was going to
stop her; she was going to get Harry to fall head over
heels in her; and forget about that slut Cho Chang
once and for all.

No matter what it took. Opening a bag of cosmetics

and various products that Ginny kept in the back of
the bathroom, she searched through them until she
found a purple brush and a pair of silver muggle
scissors that were used to cut things.

Long things, like hair, Ginny thought grimly.

Taking the silver pointy things up to loose fluffy red

hair, she let wisps of the firey red drop to the floor.

A/N: In this story, everyone is more or less OOC, so

please do not flame, this is FANFICTION. If you don't
like character's changing ways, you shouldn't have
come to this website.
"How come I never get my way?" Ginny Weasley
muttered as she spread perfume across her robes.
She had told Hermione she wanted something that
smelled girlish and Hermione had given her
something that smelled in the cross of soap and
cherries. It didn't smell that bad, but it wasn't what she
wanted.

She opened her robes again, and examined herself.

Underneath her robes was not her usual Hogwarts
Uniform. Her body consisted of a thin fabriced pink
shirt that hung loosely around her shoulders, leaving
her bra strap to show faintly against her skin,
(Lavander had taught her this), and was wearing a
skirt that was only slightly below her waist so that her
stomach could show, but not too much. Ginny
scowled at her reflection; she looked alright, but not
perfect.

Sighing, she closed up her robes again and widened

her eyes in terror. She knew Ron and her other
brothers would kill her if she went downstairs like this.
Buttoning her robes up again, she tried to think of
what to do. She bit her lip; she was going to leave her
robes unbuttoned. So what if Ron her gayass
overprotective brother saw? She was fifteen for God's
sakes, and deserved to be treated like an adult.

Right? Ginny sighed again; Ron wasn't the most of

her troubles. She wondered if Harry would even
glance her way.
***

Emerging from her dorm, she entered the common

room which consisted of Fred and George chatting
about Qudditch; Ginny didn't find this unusual at all,
they were always late for classes and hardly bothered
with breakfast. She took a deep breath; she needed
to test them. Opening her robes so they were
seperated enough so anyone could see her attire, she
tapped Fred on the shoulder and said a meek hello.

Fred and George turned around and nodded at her,

and turned around again for a second take.

"Ginny?" they both exclaimed.

She smiled at them. "Good. So you finally learned my

name," she said stammering. And then, swinging her
robes quickly, she turned in the other direction before
either of them could say another word.

***

Entering the Great Hall made Ginny nervous than she

could ever be in her life; she was utterly terrified of the
wrong things that could happen. Reaching up a hand
to feel her short but smooth sleek red hair, she
sighed. She did have to admit that her hair looked
much better, but maybe others may not think so.
And what if she tripped? She always seemed to be
doing the most immature things when she was around
Harry, or any boy for that matter. She took a deep
breath; Ginny you fool, get your ass in there. You did
this all to get noticed, and you are going to go in
there!

Grinding her teeth in misery, she stepped onto the

Great Hall. The reaction quite surprised her. Everyone
was eating and chattering and hardly gave her a
notice but as she started walking around; she saw
shocked and impressed stares of her fellow
Gryffindors.

"Ginny!" most of them exclaimed; and they were so

loud everyone turned to look at her.

She knew she was blushing; she often blushed when

a human even glanced her way. Her eyes wandered
around and she saw that Harry wasn't even looking at
her.

He was looking dreamily at Cho Chang, who was

eating a pancake.

Flooding in fury, Ginny trudged up her robes and

proceeded to run out of the Great Hall. That is, of
course, until she ran into Draco Malfoy.

***
Draco Malfoy was a handsome sixteen year old boy;
also known as Hogwart's fine Sex God. He was
known to make girls faint and to make boys envy with
his pale expressionless face, his sexy smirk that
made his lips mold up to his cheeks, and his artistic
figure that consisted of his toned chest, his
experianced thighs, and his fingers that traveled well
around.

He was going down the hall, as he always did.

Whenever he was late to breakfast; he would always
make some kind of an appearance.

He searched his mind for what girls he should date

tonight. His eyebrow furrowed. Maybe Cassandra
Danes in Hufflepuff? Nah, he thought. It be too easy
to get her. Lord knows how bad she kisses anyway.

While he was thinking, he was unaware that a small

figure was coming his way. They crossed paths and
the small squeak of a girl sounded as something soft
and warm fell against him.

He blinked once or twice to make his vision clear. He

had caught the little thing in his arms, and it felt so
soft against his body.

"Hmmm..." he muttered, trying to see who had fallen

down on him.

"Malfoy, let me go!" a voice called from above him.

He looked up and found himself in a trance in the
precious brown eyes of the little Weasley girl that was
well known to be infatuated with Potter. He sneered at
her, cursing her for being so warm and little. It made
his body react too much.

And he realized that his arms were around her waist,

which made him catch her, and she was on top of
him; squirming. Naughty thoughts crossed his
demented mind as he thought of the uses for her little
pink shining lips.

"Weasley," he grunted, and let her go. She fell

backwards, and her lip was trembiling.

"I know I am beautiful, but you don't have to cry about

my heavenly charms," Draco smirked as he saw her
eyes shine with tears.

"Shut up." she muttered under her breath, getting up

with the help of his hand.

As soon as her flesh touched his,she felt tingles

surround her body; but only ignored them as a sign of
depression.

She let go quickly and looked down at her worn out

shoes.

"So..." Draco drawled in a sexy whisper and let his

finger trail the skin of her trembiling chin.

Her face was lifted up and she looked at him with

terror in her eyes.

"What would our little Weasley be wearing these

clothes? Tsk, tsk," he sneered, eyeing her rather tiny
attire.

She looked away, blushing furiously.

"Not that I am complaining," he said.

A heat flash went through her body as the words hit

her.

"Trying to get Potter's attention, eh?"

Ginny bolted out of her foolish trance and looked up

at him.

"What are you, a mind reader?" she said sulkingly,

sitting down on the floor clutching her knees.

He plopped down next to her.

"Ah, Weasley...he's so sucked into that Chang's

charms that he won't notice that anybody else ever
exisisted," Draco's voice trailed off.

Ginny tried to ignore the heat that she felt when he

moved foward so that his hip brushed against her leg.

"I could help you on that," Draco said.

Ginny looked up, biting her lip.

"How?"

Draco looked at her blankly and finally answered,

"Is that a yes?"

Ginny couldn't think anymore; Draco leaned foward

into her face, and she gulped loudly.

"What do you have in mind?"

***

"Are you sure you'll be able to seduce Cho?" Ginny

asked stupidly. Draco's smirk deafened as she said
this uncanny question. His once smirk had turned his
lips into a slightly overused scowl.

"Of course," he said, raising his eyebrows as if he'd

seen Ginny for the first time in his life. "I'll make her
into the Hogwarts Whore. She'll get the title before
Pansy Parkinson can say 'I had sex with everything
that moves today'" he sneered.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"What I mean is; how is it going to help me you know,
get Harry?" stuttered Ginny, blushing slightly.

It was Draco's turn for the roll of the eyes.

"Oh please; your prince charming will fall into your

arms in no time when he finds out his little infatuation
is a fucking slut," Draco spat in mere misery of the
memory of Potter.

Ginny winced at the hearing of his harsh words and

she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Draco?" she finally said. He looked up, his blue eyes

connecting with her brown ones. She frowned, her
freckles bouncing off in the light. He examined her
lazily with his pale eyes.

Her red flaming hair had shades of orange and red in

them; Draco noticed with amusement that she had
attempted to cut it, and he had to admit that it looked
pretty good. Rather than being it's usual fluffy mess,
her hair was now a sleek and shiny bundle of red that
shined against her shoulders.

Curls were revealed in the back, and straight wisps of

hair in the front gave her a fresh looking style. Her
face was cute with the little freckles that spread
across her nose and made her cheeks blush so
easily.
His eyes lowered and feasted on the sight of her
chest. It was small and humble, which matched with
her small figure. Her stomach was chubby, but it only
gave the impression that she was a person that would
feel good to cuddle.

The fresh flesh of her freckled thighs peeked out of

her bottom attire, revealing her sweet peach colored
skin.

She had small feet, but nicely shaped hips that

swayed when she walked.

To Draco Malfoy; she was utterly perfect.

To Ginny Weasley; she was a complete waste of the

world.

"Why are you doing this for me?" she asked softly,
avoiding his eyes and trying to ignore the fact that
they seemed to be undressing her.

"Doing what?" asked Draco, leaning over. She had

nice thin lips too, the right amount of saliva on her
little tongue (which Draco found very entertaining to
find the uses of) and a small little smile. He
absentmindedly ran a finger through her silk feeling
hair.

"This; a favor to get me and Harry together," Ginny

answered with all her might, trying to keep her
breathing still as their knees touched.

"I know you want something in return. Now tell me,

what is it?" she finally said, gaining some control of
herself as Draco backed his knees away.

He laughed coldly, and with a sneering smile he took

his finger and ran it through the warm skin of her right
leg.

She shivered; unaware of the fact of what he was

suggesting, she was too busy noticing that he had
leaned over, and their lips were inches apart.

Finally he whispered in her ear, his lips catching on

the flesh of her ear, and said,

"I think you know what I want,"

-----
"Huh?" Ginny asked dumbfoundly, staring back
blankly at him. Draco bit his bottom lip in the
ignorance of the little girl. Of course, she was just
newly fresh packed meat that was the object of
innocence, the example of purity, and (Draco sneered
with pleasure) the intention of a sexual challenge.

Nothing hateful could escape the little Weasley's lips,

nothing naughty could fill her well nourished mind;
and she didn't think of anything to do with those small
little seemingly well skilled fingers.

If he didn't know better, he'd think she was a

prostitute.

Of course, her precious small brown eyes filled with

wisdom of innocence gave her away.

"Your a fool, Weasley," he breathed, their lips finally

meeting.

Ginny tried to think of a natural way to respond, but

her lips were a little too occupied with his.

She had never had a real kiss before; not like this
anyway. Sure, a peck from Harry on the cheek on
Christmas after they had hit mistletoe last year, and a
sloppy kiss on the nose from Neville when he
pathetically took her to the Yule Ball in her 3rd year,
but not a real kiss.

His lips were warm, but harsh. Ginny didn't expect

Draco Malfoy, to be tender and loving anyways.

His hands brushed against her hips, sending her mind

spinning. Ginny couldn't even breathe; this was an
experiance that was none to forgetful, that left her
breathless at all risks.

Their bodies weren't touching yet, but Ginny took a

chance and pressed up slightly against him. His
tongue sprang from his lips, and pushed against hers,
leaving another zang to explore her body.

Draco felt scandilized as the little Weasley pushed up

against him, and he actually liked it. All he wanted
was a little amusement, and the filthy thing was
actually getting him HOT, for merlin's sakes.

Finally taking his lips off hers, he smirked at her;

trying to hide the compassion of how much
disappointed he felt when he took himself away from
her. Ginny Weasley was like a drug, something to be
addicted to.

Ginny moaned in frustration, and Draco found himself

gaping in shock. Ginny Weasley moaning? Well, if he
ever saw the day...

"Lay off, Malfoy!" a voice shouted distractingly.

Draco found himself whipping his head around, not

long before a well hunched fist him straight on the
chest, and he slammed against the wall in misery of
the pain. His chest felt hard and stiff, and the wind
was nearly knocked out of him, and his eyes had to
blink several times until a blurry vision found itself way
into his brain.

Harry Potter was standing above him, his fists

clenched up in anger, his face red with fury, and his
eyes over to Ginny, into a concerned expression.
"Harry!" Ginny gasped, staring at the unusual state
the trio was in.

"Meant to get him in the eye," Harry said,

embarrassed.

He helped Ginny up, and let grabbed her arm, as if he

wasn't letting her get away.

"You fucking bastard!" Draco shouted through the

pain.

Harry smirked at him meekly.

"Don't you ever lay one finger off her, Malfoy, ever
again!" Harry shouted back.

"Sorry, thats not going to be possible," Draco

muttered. Harry gave him a warning look.

"C'mon Gin," Harry said, and started walking away,

expecting her to follow him.

She looked traumatized for a moment, then blinked,

leaning over Malfoy, her lips in his ear as she spoke.

"Well, looks like getting Cho from Harry is more easier

than we thought," she said smiling.

"Don't forget what I want back, Weasley," he spat out.

She nodded innocently, but as she turned around to
follow Harry, she had another devious plan in mind.

And Draco watched after them, seeing Ginny wrap an

arm around Potter's shoulder.

He ignored the ache in his chest and stomach; that

had nothing to do with Harry's fist.

Nothing at all.

----------

"Malfoy! What the hell are you doing?" Ginny

screamed in a most disruptive way. Draco looked up
from the book he was looking at and looked slightly
startled; but overcame this expression with a smug
smirk.

"What's wrong, Weasel? Afraid I might find something

'personal'?" he sneered. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"And anyways, you were the one that told me to meet

in this filthy old place; what is it anyway? Nearly got
attacked by elves while I was going through it," Draco
complained.

Ginny giggled at the thought of small midgets

attacking him.

"Never mind that,Malfoy, why are you going through

my album?" she said, her hands on her hips; although
she felt rather pleased that Malfoy wanted to know
anything about her at all.

"Who's this?" he demanded, showing her a picture

without any intention of answering her question.
Ginny leaned over; her hair touched his face slightly
and he backed away as a tingle ran through his skin.

Ginny looked at the picture of a grinning brown haired

boy wrapping an arm around her. In the backround
was the feirce picture of the burrow, and the boy's
sweet blue eyes were looking at her as if she was
some kind of princess. They were both on swings,
their arms in a tight one armed embrace. A pain
stabbed through her stomach; it was as if she was
reliving every painful experiance she had ever felt.

Flashback

The tendrils sweeped across her face with his gentle

fingers.

"Why are you doing this?" she said softly.

"Because, if you won't give me what I want, I'll just

have to get it myself, won't I?" his harsh voice
exclaimed.

She backed away; she had never seen him without

that gentle sparkle in his eye and his tender words.
"Bitch." he said the curse sinfully and grinned.

And then he threw his hand around her neck,

clutching it hard.

End

Ginny forced a laugh. A fake laugh. It sounded as if

she was choking.

"That's my cousin," she lied quickly.

Draco eyed her suspiciously.

"So, I think we need to change the plan a bit- after

all,last night, Harry seemed really jealous so I
thought- what?" Ginny stopped in midsentence as
Draco ignored her ruefully, staring at the picture in a
slight trance.

"He's not really your cousin, is he?" he said, with a

tinge of jealousy that sprang into his voice.

Ginny gulped.

"Look, Malfoy, can we get back to the plan here?"

Ginny said, trying to regain the tears that tried to leap
out of her eyes.

"Look, Weasel, I know what your little plan is alright?

Get Potty jealous by using me? Forget it alright;
Malfoy's aren't used. And unless you give me what I
want, I won't even consider it," Draco said, trying to
steady his voice.

"Alright! What the fuck do you want!" Ginny screamed.

The words came out pitifully; she couldn't take it
anymore. She was laying out her anger for him on
Draco. That wasn't fair. She knew it wasn't fair.

But she didn't want to be fair. All she felt like was
murdering somebody so she could hurt someone; to
make them feel what she felt only one year ago.

"No need for language,Weasley. You know what I

want," he hinted.

Ginny blankly stared at him.

"God, Weasley! How innocent are you! SEX!" he

screamed.

Ginny gaped at his outrageous statement and she

backed away slightly. A huge relish of familiar feeling
raged over her. His voice was...so...familiar.

Draco noticed that Ginny's cheeks were marked with

tear stains. He felt his knees weaken; he didn't like
girls crying around him.

She mumbled something in disbelief.

"What was that?" he asked curiously.

"I said- I said-" Ginny stuttered, as if she never

learned how to finish a proper sentence.

"Your...your..Charles!" she shouted the last word

aloud, her fists clenched.

"Excuse me, but I think my name is Draco, if you have

forgotten." said Draco sarcastically. How stupid could
this girl get?

"Fuck you! Fuck you Charles! Fuck you!" she

screamed loudly.

"What?" Draco said, fighting the urge not to laugh.

Charles? What the hell?

"You want sex, Malfoy? Go fuck yourself!" Ginny

screamed loudly. Her mind was full of anger, the
anger that was still set from that time at night...

Before Malfoy could answer, he found himself pushed

out of the dusty room; and pushed onto the floor.

He couldn't even look back as the loud noise of the

door slamming abrupted his thoughts.

And he heard the room explode into faint sobs.

The faint sobs of Ginny Weasley.

***

It had only been three days.

Three days!

And Draco Malfoy was going utterly insane. In three

days. Even fucking didn't make him feel better. Ginny
had obviously been avoiding him lately.

At the Great Hall, he always tried to meet her eyes,

but she looked closely at her food or either talked to
her precious Potter.

Bratty Weasel, Draco found himself thinking.

Sometimes even jealousy rised through him. Why

would Weasley grow fond of Potter? Sure, he did
have good Qudditch skills; but Draco could not find
anything really 'magical' around him. He had grown
up to know his own name; not Potter's.

Harry had gotten fame without working for it.

But Draco worked hard for his fame. His usual sneer,
his speaking charms and his own history.

And yet, Draco Malfoy, School God couldn't even lay

a finger on the youngest Weasley.
I loathe myself, he thought bitterly, putting his hands
behind his neck. He needed a way to get to sleep.

*** *** *** ***

It wasn't until later that Ginny found herself a bit

lonely. Her progress with Harry had grown at an
extreme rate, they found themselves talking more.
One day at Hogesmade, he had invited her for a ride
on his broomstick.

Blushingly, Ginny reluctantly agreed.

Ginny supposed that Harry's arm wrapped tightly

around her waist would make her really happy, but
she found herself wandering into the thoughts of how
dangerous Draco's kiss had been until they had been
discovered in the hallway.

It's really a shame, she thought to herself. If Harry had

another personality, he would give Malfoy a run for his
money. But of course, Harry Potter was a rather
innocent amateur, that had his mind on more things
than romance.

The air passed by them as they rode, Harry was

going awfully slow, carefully holding her tightly so she
wouldn't fall.

She leaned her head back and found her hair stuck to
the fabric of his robes and she gave a small sigh
under her breath.

Nothing.

There was nothing to feel at all. The only tingles she

felt was at the back of her bare knees, where cold
wind was caressing her skin.

"Harry? Can't you go a bit faster?" Ginny asked

tiredly, her eyelashes about to close.

"Oh, sorry. Thought you'd like it slow," Harry said,

pulling his hands foward so that his broomstick
steered another direction, much more faster this time.

The wind was getting stronger it seemed, the pictures

of the Qudditch feild got flashed, and her vision was
getting blurry.

"It's going to rain," Harry announced in a troubled

voice.

"Oh." Ginny said. She expected herself to be upset,

but she found herself rather content at the moment.

*** *** *** ***

A late night stroll. Yawning frustratingly, he looked

around the Qudditch feild, which was vacant, or so he
supposed. Walking about, he caught a glance of
something flying beside him, but as soon as his eyes
were about to capture it, it vanished into thin air.

Shrugging it off without a thought, he sat onto the

grass, his legs crossed. Why couldn't he get to sleep?
Was there something wrong with him? Acidly putting
aside a silver wisp of his hair, he sighed.

What was it about that girl? The girl that made him
take showers in the morning, have dreams in the
night, and just think about her in the evening?
Everytime he saw a peice of her red flaming hair, he
felt his chest heave with pleasure.

Something about her catched his interest. And yet,

she was a damned Weasley.

Looking up at the sky, he happend to see two people

riding a broomstick in midair. Squinting his eyes to get
a better look, he saw that they were about to dive.

The clouds were getting steep and black, he thought

to himself shrewdly. Perhaps he should get back.
Turning around, he began to walk slowly until there
was a lurch behind him. Stopping, he paused for a
moment hearing parts of what seemed to be a frantic
conversation.

"- You sure we won't get caught -"

"- No, we have to go back-"

"-Alright then, come along, Ginny-"

The last sentence hit him like a brick. He dared

himself to turn around swiftly and gulped down his
pride.

Ginny was kissing Harry Potter.

It seemed like a short peck on the mouth, but

somehow it seemed to last for eternity.

"Goodnight then," Harry's embarrassed whisper

came.

"Goodnight," Ginny replied. They started to return to

the castle, not knowing that a death glare was pouring
into the back of their necks; a death glare only
belonging to the one and only, Draco Malfoy.

*** *** *** ***

Colors flashed through her closed eyelids. Her

stomach was hurting into the seer truth of pain. Her
legs were frail and numb and her fingers rolled upon
her hair absentmindedly.

"Shhh," a voice creeped into her ear.

She jumped up weakly and blinked to get the vision

into her pupils.
The figure of a silver haired dragon.

She didn't say anything. She laid back on the bed,

trying to get to sleep.

Until she realized Draco Malfoy was beside her, on

her bed.

"Don't worry," his whisper came again. She felt an

arm swifty pass her breasts and was holding onto her
waist.

She shivered; perhaps because of the cold, Draco

thought.

"What did he do to you?" his panicked whisper rose

once again. She realized that his fingers were now
rolling up her shirt.

Lurching up, she stopped him.

"Are those- scars?" he asked meekly.

She blinked again, water running from her eyes at

last.

She pulled up her shirt, the cloth sending sparks

against her skin, and lifted it up so he could see.

Sideway marks were gleaming across the skin of her

stomach. They looked dreadful, crossing her veins in
every whichway.

"I can't get rid of them; in the daytime I hide them with
makeup," she explained as if she was continuing a
story.

"Sometimes at night I can feel some pain, and it

always lasts all night, how did you make the pain go
away?" Ginny asked. She realized she was
blabbering on and on, but she couldn't feel the pain
anymore.

Malfoy merely shrugged, and pushed her lightly on

the bed. Her head fell back in the soft pillows, her
eyes nearly closing.

"G'night," he hissed, and started walking toward the

exit of the room.

Ginny didn't ask how he had gotten in here.

"He tried to rape me, you know." she found herself

muttering. Draco didn't ask her who she was talking
about.

She watched as Draco stopped, his foot in midair.

Finally putting it down, he turned the knob and
creaked the door open.

She heard the door slam swiftly, and closed her

eyelids. For some odd reason, the pain had gone
away. And now, that Draco had gone, it was slowly
returning.

*** *** *** ***

She wasn't expecting this.

Little droplets of water thrown onto the nape of her

neck; relishing every peice of flesh she had. It felt soft
on her skin, and the owner was rather gentle.

"Shh, Gin." the familiar voice sounded. She lurched

up a little and smiled at the person next to her.

"Draco? Mmm...Draco..." she sighed sleepily, her

vision blurred.

The figure spoke again, this time rasp went with the
spoken words.

"You don't know what your saying Ginny. I am Harry,"

the voice corrected. Ginny bolted up, knocking over a
bucket of water that spread liquid through the floor.

"Harry!" she gasped, blushing at the sight of the

concerned emerald gems of his eyes.

"Why did you call me Draco?" he demanded

suspiciously. She breathed in and out, covering her
wet neck with the drapes of her nightgown.
She didn't answer.

"Your sick, Ginny. A muggle fever, Madame

Pomphrey said. It'll take a while since we don't have
any muggle products to cure you yet," Harry spoke
quickly, his words rushed into each other.

"What were you doing with that?" Ginny said, holding

back a laugh as she saw Harry clutching a peice of
towel cloth in his fingers.

He scowled teasingly.

"I was trying to cover up the rash in your neck with

some Wizard medicine," he explained professionally.
She smiled at him,feeling her neck. Two little bumps
were the only things she felt.

"It's been cleared; Madame Pomphrey made you fly

over to the hospital wing to do the procedures."

Ginny looked around at the vacant bed next to her,

and around the odd smelling room, and yawned
slowly.

"How did she know about the fever?" she asked

finally.

Harry shrugged. "Some guy came and told her."

"Who?"

Harry looked uneasily around the room and finally

said, "You should get some sleep."

And there, avoiding her question, he slammed the

door behind him.

*** *** ***

Snowflakes covered Hogwarts, creating a large

canvas of white. Kids went outside in the chilling cold,
mittens placed on their hands and big coats that
comfied their bodies.

Ginny was one of the kids; trying to ignore Harry, who

was giving her a lecture about freezing to death when
you overcame a fever.

As he was occupied by an interesting conversation

with Hermione, she slowly moved out of the way,
wandering around, her feet crunching against the
snow. Christmas would be here soon; and she rubbed
her hands in anticipation.

She knew her parents wouldn't be able to afford the

large Christmas dinner they had last time, but Bill and
Charlie would be there; it would be fun.

Pondering the thoughts of what gift Charlie might give

her this year, she was suddenly aware that a chilling
freeze was going down her back.

Shrieking in cold, she turned around and saw Draco

Malfoy, grinning from ear to ear, a chunk of snow in
his hands.

"Malfoy!" she scolded. He merely smiled back.

"Kind of a thin coat, isn't it?" he asked, looking at the

thin pullover she was wearing. It was pink with little
holes in it, premitting him to see the flesh of her small
cleavage.

"Not that I am complaining," he whispered, a finger

trailing the front of her neck, stopping in midaction just
above her breasts.

She took an intact of her breath.

"You are too cruel," she hissed, biting her lip as she
waited.

Finally something happend. His hands went over to

clutch her sides, and brung her close, their upper
bodies brushing against each other teasingly.

"You know, Ginny Malfoy...," he said playfully, "If I

didn't know any better, I'd say you were enjoying
this...Ginny Malfoy." he repeated the name, smirking.

"Stop calling me that," she complained whiningly,

although the name sent chills to her spine, she was
enjoying this careless flirting immensely.

"Ginny Malfoy." he repeated.

"Bastard," she replied as his hands wandered over to

her bottom, squeezing it tightly.

"If there weren't so many people here, I would take

you down right here," he whispered, his lips catching
the nip of her ear.

Ginny shivered slightly; she didn't want to take this

torture anymore. But she didn't want Malfoy to think
that she had no self control whatsoever.

Walking around him, she went behind him and placed

a hand over his-

"Woah, aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves

here?" he breathed, trying to make his voice sound
steady. She smiled evilly, knowing this was killing
him.

"Oh I am sorry," she said sweetly, and reluctantly took

the hand away. He groaned.

"You bitch!" he scowled menancingly.

"Don't talk about your mother like that," she retorted

innocently. Her breathing went thicker, anger ran
through her veins, and she found herself wanting
everything about that little evil bastard.

He didn't come up with a smartass remark. Instead,

he placed a hand on her right breast, and left it there.

She gasped, choking on her air.

"Something wrong, Ginny Malfoy?" his voice drawled.

She grinded her teeth together. This was war.

"No nothing, Draco Longbottom," she said, grinning.

Draco scrunched his nose up in disgust.

She placed her hand on his territory once again,

feeling that it was stiffer than before, she noted with
amusement.

Trancing in each other's eyes, a bell rang.

"Oh shit, I am gonna be late for class!" Ginny said,

picking up her bag that had been waiting patiently
against a tree.

"This isn't over, Weasley!" Draco called behind her.

Ginny's red hair went flapping away into a distance.

*** *** ***

***

"Ginny, are you sure you don't want me to contact the

nurse? You're coughing a lot. And your lip has a cold
sore," Hermione tried to reason with her stubborn
friend.

Ginny shook her head, trying to restrain herself from

sneezing.

"Gods, Gin, you really need to see a docter when you

get home."

The soft voice belonged to Harry, and Ginny forced a

weak smile, avoiding his searching green eyes.

"Why'd you go out in the snow? You knew the fever

was still there..."

She shrugged in reply, not wanting to have any

questions right now. Her headache was increasing
highly.

Snow dumped against the window of her seat, and

she was pulled backwards by the train lurching.

They had decided to go home for Christmas, and

invited Harry to go along. If this were any other time,
Ginny would be jumping in excitement at the thought
of Harry spending Christmas at their house, but now
she found him very annoying and too curious about
her personal life. Not that she had much of one.

The compartment door swung open, and a figure

swaggered in. Ginny yawned boredly, expecting to
see Neville or Fred and George coming in to say
hello.

Instead, the person had silver hair that was placed on

top of his forehead, and matching eyes that darted
foward every so often.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Ron said, getting

up, and Ginny noticed with a small smile that his
fingers were clenched into fists.

"Ah, everywhere is full. You don't mind if I join in the

fun, do you, Ginny luv?" he said smirkingly, directing
his question to the shivering redhead.

Two red spots displayed against the skin of Ginny's

cheeks and before she could answer, her brother was
ready to lung at Draco.

"Ron, no!" Hermione had gotten up from the seat, and

pulled back a tempered- stricken Ron.

"How dare you! First you try to rape her in the

hallway, and you came back for more?" Harry had
joined in on the commotion.
Luckily, Ron hadn't heard what Harry had said, and
was led to his seat by Hermione.

Draco chuckled, and plopped down next to Ginny.

Hermione had to restrain Ron from attacking again by

sitting on him.

"'Mione, gerrof- I am fine," he said, blushing.

Draco snorted.

Ginny turned to him, grinning.

"So, came crawling back, did you?"

"Oh shut up, Weasel."

Ginny bit her lip from laughing as she saw Hermione

finally getting of off Ron and proceeding to take
another seat.

"No, it's okay 'Mione, sit here," Ginny offered, getting

of off her seat.

Draco scowled.

"But, then where will you sit?" Hermione asked.

Ginny shrugged, and promptly positioned herself on

Draco's lap.
His scowl had vanished.

Ron was yet again, restrained by Hermione before

they all took their seats again, a silence among the
air.

Finally, Ron turned to Harry and spoke.

"Reckon Mum will crush you when she sees you, she
always loves guests in our house, your the favorite."

"You're going to go to the Weasley house, are you?"

Draco sneered softly.

Harry glared at him.

"Yeah, I am."

Ginny noticed that Draco's adamapple grew bigger as

he took a gulp of fury.

"What's wrong, Malfoy? Afraid I am going to take

Ginny away from you?" Harry said in a undertone so
Ron could not hear.

"Harry," Ginny said his name in a warning tone.

Draco grinded his teeth in anger.

But Harry didn't stop.

"Afraid I am going to, oh I don't know, maybe sneak
into her bedroom late at night-"

The sentence was not finished. Draco Malfoy had

gotten up, which left Ginny to fall on her rear end as
she hit the floor with a thump. He took his wand out
from his pocket and pointed inches away from Harry's
nose. Before Harry could react, Malfoy had already
spoke the word.

"Tresmellsio!"

A beam of silver lightning striked through the air, and

there was a blast of gray smoke as the transition was
finished.

Ginny blinked, and saw that Ron, Harry and Hermione

were asleep amongst themselves, snoring.

Without thinking, she burst into laughter.

"I meant to curse them," Draco said sulkily.

Her laughter broke down, and she grinned at him.

"So, now that we're alone-"

Ginny stopped grinning, her arms folded across her

chest.
"Don't even think about it, Malfoy," her voice coming
out crisp and clear.

"Aw, but why?" he whined.

Ginny smiled at his pouting face, but the upturn of the

corners of her mouth had vanished when Draco came
closer. She stood up in her seat, backing away into
the wall.

"Scared, little Weasel?" he said softly, wrapping his

arms around her waist, and his head placed on her
thighs.

Her head lowered, and her lips brushed against his

forehead, and onto his nose, and now touched his
lips.

The kiss was harsh, the crisps of her lips was

hurriedly running through his, and his arms now
placed on her backside.

"Mmm, like it rough, do you?" Draco managed to

murmer through his occupied lips, brushing agains
the flesh of her neck.

"Malfoy," Ginny said scoldingly, but her fingertips

unwillingly massaged the nape of his neck.

His chest rised up, heaving across the top of her

thighs, and he stood up, and placed himself on the
half of her lower body.

He sighed softly, the heat of his breath grazing her

chest; which was now repeatedly rythmning against
the beat of her heart. Draco parted his lips slightly, his
chapped areas exploring her skin.

Ginny felt heat rush through her; she didn't want him
to stop, but another part of her mind sent her a
warning and she furiously resisted her urges.

She pushed him away lightly, and he scowled angirly

at her.

"What'd you do that for?" asked Draco, his frown

glaring.

Ginny shrugged, knowing it was better to not reply.

Gathering up the buttons of her shirt again, she
looked down at her feet and muttered, "Put the
countercurse," before she sat herself on his lap again;
this time a little uneasily.

Draco bit his lip in stubborness, but finally obeyed.

"Trescurié."

In the next few moments, Hermione had awakened,

yawning tiredly.

"What's going on? Did I doze off already?" she asked

suspiciously. Before Draco or Ginny could answer,
Ron and Harry opened their eyes, imitating the same
huge yawn Hermione had given off.

Shrugging off the fact that they had been sleeping,

Ron and Harry went into a rather boring conversation
about last year's Qudditch defeats in Hogwarts and
Chudley Cannons.

Ginny sat back reluctantly against the soft felt of

Draco's shirt, and closed her eyes. She didn't want
him to speak to her again, lure her into his seductive
ways.

Then he heard a faint chuckle in her eardrums.

Opening her eyes, she saw Draco smirking at her
from behind.

"I won this round, Weasel," he said.

Ginny's heart sank a little, and anger flushed up her

cheeks. It was just a game to him, wasn't it?

"You-little-bitch," she spat resentingly.

Draco's smirk grew even wider.

"Why Weasel, that's a compliment to me..."

***

***
"Well, bye then, Malfoy," Ginny said bitterly as the
train lurched to a stop near Lovely Wizarding Uses,
where many small towns were located, and it was
near the Burrow too.

"Goodbye Weasley." he merely replied. Ginny got off

of his lap, and said a cheerful goodbye to Hermione
before following Harry and Ron outside with large
suitcases containing clothes, makeup products,
books, and homework.

"Merry Christmas!" Hermione called. Ginny grinned

and waved once more, and the compartment door
closed. Sighing, Ginny looked longingly at the train as
a few people got off and went happily toward their
houses. The train lurched once more, and started to
move. Somehow, there was something missing.

And that something missing as much as Ginny hated

to admit it, was Draco Malfoy.

***

"Well, looks like its just you and me, Granger," Draco
said smirking.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You and I," she corrected

in a murmer. Draco fought the urge to laugh.

There was an arkward pause as the train moved,

hitting some small bumps in the middle.

"So," said Hermione, trying to start a civil

conversation, "What's with you and Ginny?"

Draco snorted. "That's none of your buisness, bitch."

he replied with rather foolish dislike.

Hermione bit her lip from cursing back. "It is my

buisness. Ginny is my friend. First thing I know, she
comes crying to me, trying to get Harry's attention.
And the next thing I know, Ron comes crying to
ME,telling me you were groping her in the hallway."

A huge breath she had been holding escaped her lips

at last.

Draco smirked. Oh, how Hermione hated his smirk.

He was such a raving bastard.

"I did nothing she didn't want..." he merely said.

Hermione grinded her teeth. "You-you-little bitch. I

know Ginny wouldn't ask for things like that."

Draco's head snapped up. "Sounds like you don't

know your little 'innocent' friend at all, huh?" he lied.

"I've known her for half of my life, thank you very

much. And she is innocent, you better not ruin her
Malfoy. I know it's hard to admit, but she has a lot of
brothers that could kick your ass in one second. Don't
try to deny it," Hermione retorted with anger.

Draco shrugged, and Hermione could see faint color

rising up to his cheeks. She smiled in satisfaction.

"Well, well, where were her brothers when others tried

to hurt her?" he said, his fists clenched. He of course,
was talking about Charles.

Hermione however, looked puzzled. "What are you

talking about Malfoy? Is this one of your pranks that I
don't get or something?"

Draco took a moment to pause and look at the

situation. "You don't know what happend to Ginny,"
he muttered in disbelief.

"What happend to her?" Hermione demanded

curiously.

"If she didn't tell you, obviously she doesn't want you
to know."

"Know what? What the hell are you going about?" she
pleaded.

"Nothing. Never mind. Listen, I have to go," Draco

said, getting up.

"Wait! Malfoy! This isn't your stop!" Hermione cried

after him, but he didn't listen. Picking up his things, he
walked out the door. It shut automatically, with
Granger pounding her fist against the window.

He watched with amusement as the train started

again, leaving Hermione's yells forgotten.

When he turned around however, his smile failed.

Hundreds of people were walking around; they didn't
speak english.

Draco gasped. A girl (who was obviously asian) came

up to him and said words that sounded merely like
rubbish. She was wearing a red shredded dress, that
was covered with a dirty apron.

"What?" he asked, confused. The girl gasped,

jumping up and down.

"Mommy! Mommy! I found-I found gay!" said the girl,

and that was probably the only english she knew.

"What? I am not gay!" Draco said, reddening.

"Yes, yes, you gay! Yes, yes, you gay!" the girl
shrieked.

Draco moved back, and went into a run.

Where the hell was he? All the houses looked small,
and the windows were broken. People he didn't
regonize swarmed across, milking cows. What the
hell? This was a Wizarding territory?

The girl's screams still reached his eardrums. "Yes,

yes Gay, come back!"

Oh, fuck.

***

"Sweetie, light the candles?" 's voice rang out. Ginny

smiled at her. Using one of her dad's muggle
products, she lighted the candles slowly, each dim
light waving.

"Can't we sit down, and eat?" asked Ginny stubbornly.

She was wearing a spagetti strap dress that reached
above her ankles. It was emerald green, and made
her red hair (which had been turned into small petite
curls) much more visible.

Her mother had allowed her to wear some blush, and

lip gloss, but that was all.

"Hold on, hon, we have a surprise for you..." said .

Fred and George grinned.

"Charlie! Bill! Downstairs! Dinner!" called fondly.

In two minutes, two tall redheaded boys had

appeared. Ginny's heart leaped. A surprise, for her?
She smiled, feeling rather special.

"Okay, now that everyone's here..." said , smiling at

Harry. Harry blushed and backed away a little.

"Ginny, I know you've been lonely lately. So I thought

a certain person could help you brighten up..." her
mother's voice said in sing-song voice.

Ginny grinned, nodding.

Her mother sighed, and smiled again. Clapping her

hands, at once, all the Weasleys and Harry parted
into two halves of one, leaving one space for one
more person.

Ginny raised her eyebrows? Draco?

No, it wasn't. She gasped, looking into the blue eyes.

The blue eyes of Charles.

Oh, fuck.

***

_ Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies

closer. _

The straps on her emerald dress faltered slightly as

she innocently dropped a hand over her dried lips.
"I am- sick," she managed to croak before running
upstairs so fast that some of the silk in her new dress
got stuck in the base of the stairway. Coughing loudly,
Ginny felt her breath leave her lungs as she ran into
her room and slammed the door as softly as possible
behind her.

Meanwhile back in the dining room...

"What's gotten into her? I thought she'd be thrilled to

see you, my dear Charles." 's voice rang, her eyes
softened with concern and a load of curiosity.

"Oh , we had a fight the last time I was here. I better

go check on her and apologize. If you would excuse
me, all," Charles said, smiling charmfully.

"Of course Charles," obeyed with much delight.

Charles turned around, muttering curses under his

breath, as he walked up the stairway; trying to
remember the way to Ginny's room.

"Draco! You gave us a fright!" Narcissa Malfoy

exclaimed as her son suddenly appeared with a POP!

"Caught in traffic, Mother," he said, his eyebrows

furrowing at the huge lie he had just told. Well, it had
been some sort of traffic, yes traffic of fifty boys and
girls calling after him in their asian accents yelling
another word for homosexual was indeed much traffic
to him.

"Merry Christmas, Father," Draco said coldly to a

blonde haired man who seemed unaffected by the
presence of his own son.

"Draco," Lucius Malfoy nodded, not meeting his eyes,

and going back to the newspaper he was reading.

"Dinner will be an hour late, Draco. The house elves

are completely horrid, I tell you. They shall be beaten
tonight. Go up to your room, until you are called," his
mother ordered timidly.

Draco did what he was told, there was no use to

argue. Where else to go? Perhaps he could beat
some of the house elves later, yes, he thought with an
evil smirk, that was a very delightful hobby.

However, he couldn't deny his thoughts as he

wondered what kind of a Christmas Ginny was
having.

Her mind was simply dizzy, she didn't know what was
happening, it was all blur. She vaguely remember
thanking herself for not unpacking yet, and then
another hideous thought aroused from the edge of her
mind.

Where would she go? Ginny certainly was not ready

to prowl onto the streets late alone at night; and she
wasn't and couldn't apparate yet. Oh God, she
thought, her heart pounding against the flesh of her
chest.

The lump in her throat increased highly, and within a

moment, her eyes were blinded by the liquid of her
tears.

"Ginny?" a voice wavered. Ginny felt the need to

scream. Someone was knocking on her door,
ordering her to come out quickly. And she knew that
voice belonged to Charles.

"Ginny, I am going to hex the door off, you little ratted

bitch." His harsh tone made Ginny clench her hands
into fists, her eyes pouring with tears.

She had to do something. Anything.

"Just a moment, Charles. I am getting undressed for

you," she said loudly so her voice could be heard.
What the fuck was she doing?

"Stop playing games Ginny, come out here, right

now."
Without even responding, Ginny sweeped over a tiny
parchment and a half broken quill and dipped it into
some nearby ink.

Draco- Charles is here. Help.

That's all she could write. She sighed in deeply, and

looked out the window. Errol was sleepily wandering
the trees.

She made a whistiling sound, which got it's attention.

"Tsk, Errol, here sweetie, come on, please? For

Ginny?" she pleaded. Hesitant to end his late night
stroll, Errol reluctantly obeyed and came to the
window.

"Take this to Draco Lucifer Malfoy. Make it as fast as

you can! Don't wait for a reply, just go and try to
inform Mione that I am in trouble, alright?" Ginny said,
her words tumbiling. Errol nodded, and picked up the
parchment with it's hallow beak.

"Be fast, Errol. I need you."

The owl nipped her finger reassuringly, and sweeped

into the air, fluttering it's wings furiously.

The parchment felt stiff under his fingers, the horrid

handwriting complete with stains of tears, he felt
vaguely uncomfortable that they belonged to Ginny.
The obviously cheaply bought owl that looked very
aged indeed, soared out his window before waiting for
a reply.

The parchment flew from his hand, and he felt his

nails dig into the corners of his palms. Charles was
there; the same man that had pretended to love Ginny
and hurt her to get what he wanted. Feeling a
panickingly flutter of fresh worry, he bit his lip
thoughtfully.

Without much more hesitance, he unlocked one of the

cabinet closets near his dressing table, and opened it,
his eyes wandering maddeingly.

Finally, underneath large amounts of paper and quills

and books, he took out his old Nimbus 2001.

Mounting on the broom, he took his wand and yelled

"Diffindo!" before the glass of the small windows
broke, each crystal making a striking sound as it hit
the floor.

Pocketing his wand carefully beneath his robes, he

tightened the grip on his broom and proceeded to fly
out to the darkened sky.

*
- Courage is not the act of fear. It is acting in spite of
it. *Mark Twain -

- Love is a game where two can play; and both can

win. -

"C'mon, you fucking bastard!" Draco cursed loudly as

his Nimbus 2001 swept slowly in the air. Pushing
foward with all his might, he realized something.

Stupidity and all, dignity gone, he groaned, a string of

swearing followed.

He had no fucking idea where Ginny Weasley lived.

"Bitch, open this door. Now! I am hexing it off, Ginny, I

swear to God!" Charles bellowed. Ginny felt her heart
pounding against her chest, fear ringing through her
own body.

What was she to do? No way Draco would get to the

Burrow fast enough. In fact, he probably didn't even
know where the hell it was. In fact, Ginny thought with
much dismay, he probably didn't want to come.

She was just a fling, anyway. She meant absolutely

nothing to him; in fact, he had no obligation to even
care. She couldn't force him to come. And nobody
knew. Tears welled up again, but she blinked them
away at hearing Charles bang against the door with
his body.

Ginny wiped her tears away, gaining up her bravery. If

she had any, anyway. Her chest heaved with emotion.
They couldn't have put her in Gryffindor for nothing,
could they?

No, they couldn't have.

She knew there was only one thing left to do.

She opened the window.

"Diffindo!" cried Charles.

She heard the bang of the door open.

She didn't look back. She stepped out, and found

herself outside of her house, her feet clinging to the
window sill. Looking down, she saw platters of ground
and the faint dark color of grass. Gulping slightly, she
also saw bits of rock hanging by trees. Her feet
tingled underneath her; she hated heights.

"Oh please, Ginny, don't do stupid things, you little

slut."

Breathe.

*
"Lacoata!" he whispered, clearing his mind of all
things except Ginny. Her precious flaming hair, her
brown eyes.

He felt himself falling and rising. Blinding his eyes

carefully, he opened them again to see a large house,
surrounded by trees, it towered against the sky, and
he noted with disgust that several rooms had been
built among it.

Sighing in relief that he had found the house, he dived

to go closer.

And that's when he noticed a small frail figure, hinging

against the outside a window, ready to jump.

"Little Ginny, come out, now." Charles voice was so

enticing that she found it hard to breathe.

Her lungs were repeating against the small blood in

her veins left. Her hair was hanging loosely at the side
of her cheeks, and her eyes closed and opened
furiously.

She felt a hand wrap around her ankle. She gulped,

feeling repulsed by being touched by such a horrid
man.
Kicking him, he finally let go.

And then she did the only thing she could do.

Placing her energy high and her stupidity high also,

and swung her legs across the windowsill and in the
air.

And then she dived.

Swallowed so much love, my hair turns red. Come

over to my house, to see my brother instead. You
didn't get my valentine, didn't know what it meant.
Every page about you, my diary's read...

Do you know, that your the one that I adore? Next

year at Hogwarts, you'll see I've transformed. I will
hold my head up high, I am a Gryffindor... and you
won't need to save me anymore...

I love you, but it seems that you don't love me, And I
know you'll see we were meant to be... When you
miss me, it'll be too late.

~Switchblade Kittens 'Ode To Harry Potter'

Draco stared, gaping at the sight before him. Ginny

had, dived. Coming to his sense quickly, he ignored
the whooshing of the wind and turned an angle.
Within seconds, a body was falling toward him. He let
go of his tight grip and his arms stretched out, ready.

Something heavy collapsed in his arms; but he didn't

think at all as he saw her copper hair floating into the
surface of her face.

He shook her a little, then saw that her eyes were

tightly closed. Holding back a chuckle, he tightened
his grip around his waist, and left one of his hands to
lead them back to the Malfoy Manor.

"Did you just see that!" cried , flabbergasted; the

family had been staring out the window in mere
shock.

Little Ginny was falling, and as Ron proceeded to do

the Wingardium Leviosa spell, a certain silver haired
boy had caught her in his arms while on a Nimbus
2001.

"I am going to kill him!" Harry said spitefully, and tried

to charge out of the Burrow. Rumbles of arms
stopped him; few of whom who wanted to join him,
and only one that wanted to stop him.

"Harry, let me come with you..."

"No Harry, it's better if we see what Charles did to her
to make her behave in such a..."

"Harry, stop, no!"

"Let her go," warned them.

Then, her eyes wandered over to the stairway.

"I think it's time for someone else to learn a little

lesson..."

The pillows were so soft. She never wanted to open

her eyes, ever again. She imagined a Qudditch feild,
with Harry gripping her waist tightly. She was leaning
against his chest, and they were flying wistfully six
inches off the ground, laughing.

But as she turned to face Harry,she saw silver hair.

Gasping for breath at the sudden change, Ginny
immediatley opened her eyes, fluttering her eyelids.

In a moment, a horrible aching pain furrowed through

her forehead.

"What happend?" she said to no-one in paticular, as

she smelled blood.

"Shhh..." a voice whispered in her , she looked up and

her eyes widened. Was she inside another dream?

Draco Malfoy was holding a small washcloth in his

hand,drying off the blood which led from her hair,
which trickled down to the side of her cheek.

"Dra- Malfoy!" she hollered, promptly sitting up.

Grinning widely, she pulled him into a tight embrace.

Surprised, he reluctantly returned the hug, her

copper-colored hair on his face, which spelled of
cinnammon and ginger.

Finally they let go. There was a long arkward pause,

in which Draco would whistle every so often.

"You-you saved me," Ginny finally managed to

stumble out. Quickly, her face flushed red.

"Well, you know- had nothing better to do," he joked.

Ginny managed a nervous giggle in response.

Ginny's eyes pondered over the room. It was big, with

a mahogony dressing table, and a bed to match.
There were black satin sheets, which covered the
pillows as well. There were small futons in various
corners, and a pack of clothes had been neatly folded
in the base of the closet, little peices of felt and cloth
sticking out from the half-closed door of the closet.

It was beautiful. It was big, a little deserted, but

beautiful. Everything nearly matched, it was either
mahogony and black. There was a large picture frame
in the opposite wall of the bed, which consisted of a
rather smug picture of Malfoy in the age of nine years,
his arms folded across stubbornly, his lips pouted into
a small smirk, and his small hair in bangs that spread
out. He was wearing a leather jacket, which was open
to let anyone see that underneath was a emerald
green-shirt.

Ginny giggled. "Aw, you look so cute. And look at your

mini-Malfoy smirk!" she cried out, grinning from ear to
ear.

Draco rolled his eyes, but felt an unfamiliar pang at

his chest due to these words.

"Is this your room?" asked Ginny, sounding a bit

flustered. Draco flashed a evil smile.

"Yes. And your sleeping on my bed."

"Yeah. Oh, yeah, sorry," she said, blushing.

He shrugged. "I don't mind," he teased playfully.

"So, it's getting late, I better go - you know - home?"

Ginny suggested nervously.

"Well, you can spend the night - here - if you want-"

"No I don't - want to be any - you know, - trouble..."

"No- you know, trouble - at all."

"You sure? - I mean, I could tell everyone - about you

know, - Charles - and thanks for saving my - well you
know, life - I, well you know, thank you."

"Oh no problem - don't mention, you know, just stay -

you've had a like - a rough night," Draco protested,
stuttering.

Ginny giggled. They were acting terribly stupid all of a

sudden. It was humorous hearing their voices
stuttering nervously.

There was another silence.

Draco whistled a bit, and took out something from

under his bed.

"What's that?" said Ginny curiously, trying to make

conversation, as he took out a box of six bottles, each
of which where filled with white and brown foam.

"Oh, some butterbeer," he answered casually.

"Oh, I could use one. May I?" she asked politely, and
took a bottle swiftly out, and opened the cap easily.

"Er- Ginny, you better not, it has some hard liquor in

it, I got it made mixed special by my house elves..."

But it was too late. Ginny drank the bottle slowly,

white foam creasing across the thin lines of her
mouth.

"Mmm, damn, that tastes good," she said, washing

down the rest. It tasted like melted chocolate and ice,
but it burned her throat as it went down, so she went
into a coughing fit right after. She gave the bottle to
Draco, for it smelled badly of rotton eggs, no matter
how good it tasted. Her head felt dizzy, but the pain
had weakened, and she felt a sudden urge to jump
up.

"Ginny, it's really strong," said Draco gently.

"It doesn't seem strong to me, see I am still sitting up?

Hehe," Ginny giggled giddily.

Draco raised his eyebrows in mild amusement. Not

strong eh?

"Uh, Ginny? Do you want the guestroom, or this

room?" he asked.

"Why can't I sleep with you?" Ginny asked, giggiling

madly.

Draco smirked a little, but then shook his head. She

really had no idea what exactly she was intending, did
she? Especially since a strap of her green gown was
falling over one shoulder...

"Well, I am flattered, but that's hardly an option. Your

brothers would eat me alive," he commented lazily.

"Nah, you're too big too eat."

Draco bit his lip, his shoulders shaking madly of

restrained laughter.

"God, you are so screwed," Draco exclaimed, smiling

as Ginny fell over onto his lap, still laughing insanely.

Her hair toppled over his legs, tickiling the sides of his
hands as he touched the little curls softly.

"Ginny?"

"Mmm? Hehe."

"Do you still like Harry?"

There was a long pause, and no giggles followed.

"No."

"You don't?"

"I love him."

"Oh," said Draco, and felt another unfamiliar pang in
his chest again. Shaking it off, he looked up at the
ceiling without commenting.

"It's not like I want to love him, though..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I don't feel anything when I am around him

anymore, but I still love him, I can feel it."

"Oh."

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I call you Draco?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good hehe."

There was another small sigh, and Draco felt Ginny's

tiny sleeping snores against his lap, still flattening
Ginny's hair with his hands.

***

They said,
'I'll bet they'll never make it'

but just look at us going on...

We're still together,

still going strong.

Your still the one that I run to,

the one that I belong to,

your still the one that I want for life...

Your still the one that I love...

the one that I breathe love...

your still the one that I kiss goodnight.

~Shania Twain

"Arghh," Ginny groaned, groping for more pillows. Her

hands flew to her hair, which had been tangled from
many turns in the night, and her head was hurting like
hell, as if her whole body was numb with pain.

"G'morning, sleepyhead," someone said, chuckiling.

"Mmm..Harry?" Ginny noted, and blinked open her

eyes, to see the outraged face of Draco Malfoy.
"Don't insult me," he said in mock bitterness. Ginny
managed a weak laugh, trying to remember what
happend yesterday night. She groaned more at the
thought. Charles had been invited for Christmas, and
she had done something nearly suicidal, and Draco
had caught her...her mind was still placed in disbelief
at the dramatic events.

She looked down, and realized that a black satin

nightgown had been placed over her emerald dress,
and she tightened the belt around the waist, blushing.

"It's mine," Draco said, avoiding her eyes.

"Oh, thanks. It was awfully cold in here last night,

thanks, it kept me warm," Ginny said, rambiling about
nonsense.

Draco nodded. "Well I thought, you were shivering

and all, you'd like it."

"I do. Here," said Ginny, opening the belt and parting
the robes, feeling rather vurnable at Draco's hungry
gaze as she opened it and gave it to him.

He looked as if he was trying really hard to look Ginny

above the neck. She was fixing up the green straps
on her short dress, looking down at her bare feet.

"Oh no...you keep the nightgown. I don't need it

anyway. Too girlish for me," he murmered.

Ginny grinned, and accepted the gown reluctantly.

"Happy Christmas," Draco croaked.

Ginny laughed, and said "Yeah, you too...Oh my God,

Christmas! I forgot! I need to spend it with my family!"

"Oh okay. Well you can use my broom, it's right over
there, by the dressing table..." he said warily.

"Thanks, Mal-Draco. For everything," Ginny

whispered, clutching the broom with a hand.

"Sure. Your sandals are by the window," he

answered.

She nodded, and put one of her sandals on, strapping

their handles in place.

She turned foward and watched the small muggle

clock that Draco kept hidden near a photo album, and
saw that it was nearly eleven o'clock.

"Oh no! I have to go! They've opened their presents

by now!" she cried, and looked at the broken window
anxiously.

"Up!" she ordered her broom, and it obeyed. Placing

her legs firmly in order, she called a quick goodbye at
Draco and soared out the window, one of her bare
feet clinging to the edge, and the other one placed
sternly in a sandal.

Draco laughed, noting that she had forgotten the

other sandal, which was still in place by the window,
looking lonely.

***

"Oh, Ginny!" promptly got to her feet at the sudden

appearance of her small girl, who was clutching a
broomstick in one hand, wearing a black satin robe,
which was barely covering the emerald peak of her
small dress underneath her robes.

She was wearing only one sandal, but she seemed

oblivious to the fact, and was curiously eyeing
everyone that was sitting there, shocked that she had
come back. After their welcoming gestures and
questions and threatnings from Ron about Draco
Malfoy laying a hand on her, she sat down and found
herself telling them the whole story, from the sexual
harrassment from Charles which the brothers looked
greedily to kill, and looked relieved to see that she
had fought and declined to the part where she had
stupidly thrown herself from the window and how
Draco had come to the rescue. She smartly left out
the part about when she got drunk and slept on Draco
Malfoy's bed, of course.
"Couldn't you have at least owled us?" said a familiar
voice from the Weasley clan and Harry.

"'Mione! Oh your here! Errol came to you?" Ginny

said, nodding at her.

"Yes," Hermione said, still clutched in Ginny's tight

embrace.

When they finally pulled away, Hermione cleared her

throat and said, "So where did you sleep?"

She said it casually, but it made Ginny numb with fear

anyways, because every head turned her way,
waiting for her to answer. Ron glared at her as if to
say that if she slept anywhere where Draco was
present, he would murder both of them.

"Well now, lets Ginny have some sleep. She's had a

tough night. Wait, where did you get this?" her mother
asked, her fingers tugging at the material of her black
robes.

"Draco," she said softly.

"So it's Draco now?" Ron said, glaring more.

"Give me those robes, I'll send them to him," Fred

eagerly offered.

"No! I mean," she said, as her loud voice startled

them all, "I mean, he gave them to me," she said in a
small squeak.

"Ginny, can I talk to you alone for a moment,

outside?" Harry spoke out, nodding her way.

Ginny forced a weak smile and said, "Sure."

They went outside, recieving curious glances from the

Weasleys. Closing the door behind her, she folded
her arms across her chest, walking around the grass,
waiting for Harry to speak.

"Did you sleep with him?" he said bluntly, getting

straight to the point.

"Yes. I mean, NO! No!" Ginny said, biting her lip.

"What?" Harry said, raising his eyebrows in a cross

between puzzlement and outraged disgust.

"I mean, I slept with him, but not really," she

answered.

"Huh?"

"I slept in his bed, with him, but nothing happend,"

Ginny said.

"Why would you sleep in his bed? Did- he didn't force

you or anything, did he?" asked Harry, his voice
rising.

"No- of course not. Anyways, what happend to

Charles?" she asked, aruptly changing the subject.

" and him went to the Ministry to sort things out. I

guess he confessed to your father what happend in
the past. And don't change the subject," Harry said
sternly.

"Listen Harry- nothing happend. I think you would be

at least be grateful that he saved my life!" Ginny
snapped.

Harry looked crestfallen. "I am, but you and I know

he's only after your body."

"Why you- that's not true!" Ginny shrieked in outrage.

Harry stepped back, widening his eyes, but not

speaking.

"Just because you took so damn long to notice me, to

love me, to like me, or to even acknowledge to know
that I even exist as a girl, doesn't mean nobody else
hasn't, Harry Potter! I am really tired of you bitching
after me after all these years! For your information, I
do love you, but I am not IN love you anymore! Yeah,
do you want to know who I am in love with? Fine!
Draco Malfoy! I am in love with him, and if I can't even
change that, then you can't!" Ginny took a deep
breath, and Harry looked flabbergasted, and started
to speak but she held up a hand to interuppt.

"No! I am not going to let you speak, dumbass bitch! If

you imply that I don't know what love is, I think you
should speak for yourself. Famous Harry Potter,
who's always getting attacked can't stand a second
for love! You don't even know what it is! Do you know
how that makes me feel? And now I am in love with
Draco, and no matter how hard I try, I can't ever
change that! Did I ever change loving you? No..." she
breathed in and out, tears pouring down her cheeks at
all the things she had been holding in all her life.

"Ginny..." Harry said, sighing, warily pointing a finger

behind her.

Ginny turned around, and saw herself looking at

Draco Malfoy, who was clutching a wand in one hand,
and a sandal in the other.

***

Everybody believed we would never be,

look at us above,

we are so in love.

Everyday, in your arms,

baby, can't go wrong,

we are strong, look at us now.

For everyday

that I should have you by my side,

we'll make it baby,

look at us now.

For every night I pray,

I knew that you'd stay.

Look at us baby,

look at us now.

Remembering the times,

our love was meant to find,

we'll make it baby,

Baby look at us, baby look at us, baby look at us.

We'll make it baby,

look at us now.
~Serina Paris

"Oh no," Ginny whispered, her mouth half open, her

eyes darting from Harry to Draco back and forth.
Draco's expressionless face swifted a sudden pang in
her chest, and she nearly melted under his stare.

Harry backed away without saying anything, and

sitting on the porch, looking at his knees.

Obviously, Harry's presance meant nothing to Draco,

for he pretended Harry wasn't there and handed her
the sandal slowly.

She took it, but was so confused and surprised that

she dropped it without even flinching.

"Hi," Ginny croaked shyly.

"Hello." Draco answered, his voice as expressionless

and hard as his stare.

"How much of that did you exactly, hear, Malfoy?"

Harry spoke up from behind them.

Draco ignored Harry and looked into Ginny's eyes and

answered, "Can we talk, Ginny? Alone? Without Potty
here?" he spat vividly.

Harry glared at him, but obeyed and opened the door

and stepped onto the Burrow, leaving Ginny and
Draco alone.

"Ginny."

"Uh-huh?"

There was a long pause after their "conversation" and

nobody spoke for a moment, and blinked only in
movement.

"So I hear you love me," Draco stuttered. He mentally

smacked himself. What a dumbass thing to say!

Ginny didn't look amused however. Her eyes were

moving nervously around the scenery, and she was
biting her lip, looking down at the grass as if it was an
amazing discovery.

She couldn't take anymore. Going on complete

inscinct and stupidity, she ran over the two feet
seperating them and closed the gap, wrapping her
arms around his neck.

Startled, he made no protest as she brushed her lips

against his once more.

This time, it was intense. Their lips collided clumsily,

as if they wanted to savor every single moment they
had left, as if they hadn't seen each other in over a
century, as if nothing would ever feel this good every
again. His hands squeezed her hips encouragingly,
their foreheads beaming with heat as their flesh
connected. She didn't want to let go, for fear of the
lack of words. Their lips parted slightly, and she
sighed breathlessly, their position still there, their
foreheads slammed against each other, waiting for
anything, an interuption, something that would make
the intense vibe go away, the fears, the pain and the
embarrassment to just vanish.

But nothing came. They stood there, feeling as if the

world was invisible, as if they were the only two left
living. They were wrapped around each other, molded
into each other's body, and yet had nothing to say.

Minutes passed by slowly,each one as more painful

as the other. They needed something to say,
something to do, an action, some words, anything.

"Ginny?" Draco spoke, her name coming out of his

lips in a soft drawl that it made Ginny wince.

"Yes?"

"I am sorry," he murmered. Ginny didn't ask any

questions. Tears were bunching up onto her eyelids,
a sudden sting forming through her eyelashes. It was
disbelief, pain, embarassment, all into a small pile.
She felt a crack in her chest, and her breath was
disolving into nothingness.
She had heard about unrequieted love, but always
thought she wouldn't have to suffer through it.
Besides Harry, she really didn't have anything to spice
in her love life, not that she had ever had much of
one. But this thing was much more painful than loving
the Boy-Who-Lived. If it had taken nearly five years to
get over Harry, how long would -

She didn't finish the thought. Why was this so hard?

Just to stop thinking for a moment, to just freeze up
eternity right then and there, and leave it the way it
was now? Hunched up in Draco Malfoy's arms, never
wanting to leave them ever again.

***

"Oh my God," Hermione broke the silence that

followed as the Weasley clan and Harry looked out
the nearby window, watching a certain couple outside.

"I know," said, her voice croaking.

"Why the hell is there a sandal in the grass?" Ron

interupted their sappiness.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

Ron shrugged sheepishly, turning away from the

scene that followed outside. It was the first time he
wasn't ready to kill Draco Malfoy, who was wrapped in
the arms of his baby sister, almost silently screaming
undying love for each other.

"I can't believe this."

It was Harry who had spoken, and Ron couldn't even

find the words to argue or agree. He just looked out
the window, his chin placed across the window sill,
seeing one of his sister's fingers rush through Draco's
hair.

He couldn't see her face, but it made him wince to

even see Draco's, who's eyes were closed tightly, and
his hands clenched, as if he found the event oddly
repulsive and too painful to take.

***

"It's okay, Draco. It's okay," Ginny repeated over and

over again, looking up at him. He flinched at the sight,
Ginny, his Ginny, was red in the face, with tears
stains flooded all over her face. She sniffed, and
promptly exploded into sobs.

She was surprised by the sudden intake of his lips

brushing timidly against her forehead.

"I can't love you, Ginny."

She didn't question him, or argue, or do anything.

Ginny let go of him, backing away, looking as if she
might tear every inch of herself any second.
"Apparate!" He merely said, and with a pop, he was
gone.

He was gone.

"Ginny?" another voice arupted.

She didn't turn around. She was frozen at the spot,

and after a few moments or so, she was wrapped in
Harry Potter's arms from behind, placing her cheek
against his chest, disgraced in tears.

*** 2:54 P/M

That's it folks. That was the last chapter. I know what

you guys are thinking... "WTF! How dare you!"
Relax...

There's a ...

Sequel. Yup. I'll post a notice on this when I've posted

the sequel. I am not going to say anymore though.

Thanks for all your support and reviews, I can't

believe it, I've never got so many. Last chapter I got
over 33!

Thanks for reading, I'll let everyone know on the

sequel, and if you are a silent reader, please come
foward and give me your email for notification!
Much, much, much, much, love, ~Court (yeah, im a
girl)