Draco Malfoy took his seat at the Sytherian table for breakfast. He blocked out the noise and chatter of his fellow housemates. Pansy slinked over to him and sat down. At one point, they had gone out for a while, much to Draco's protest. He had broken up with her after the first week. Yet, she still had it in her head that they were going out.

"Draco, sweetie. What's the matter? You're awfully quiet," purred Pansy, in a sickening saccharine voice.

"Nothing's wrong," he snarled. Just hearing her voice made his stomach toss and turn.

After a few more failed attempts. Pansy groaned and stormed off to find her friends. Sighing to himself, Draco was glad that she was gone. He had thought long and hard about his plan to let it go now. Although he wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to do this.

Last night, after a rather bad dream, Draco spent some time thinking. Instantly, the youngest Weasely entered her mind. Her fiery red hair and sparking brown eyes burned in his mind. Ginny had grown a lot since her first year. Not that he could help it, but he often found himself staring at her from afar.

So, after much thought, Draco decided he didn't want to be enemies with Ginny anymore. In fact, he had seen something not many Hogwarts students saw. On more than one occasion he heard Ginny crying in a deserted hallway. He was always to chicken to go say anything to her. Maybe they could save each other.

Suddenly his eyes spotted her. Ginny walked in behind the Golden Trio as always. There was a forlorn look on her face. He wanted so much to erase that look.

"Ginny! Are you listening?" asked Ron, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"What?" Ginny faced her brother in irradiation. There was fire stirring behind her eyes.

"I said did you need help with your food or something?" asked Ron.

Ginny's eyes grew wide with anger.

Ron shrugged. "Just asking." Then he stuffed his face full of food.

Harry spoke up. "I hear you want to join Qudditch this year, Ginny."

Stifling a laugh, Ron glanced at his sister. Sure she had played with him and their other brothers, but seriously? Herminone glared at him as if to silence him. She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear before speaking. "Aren't you a little small for Qudditch?"

That was the final straw for Ginny. She slammed her fist on the table, earning her a lot of stares. Everything about her was ablaze. "I'm not a little girl anymore! Why can't you guys get it through your thick skulls?"

Most of the Great Hall stopped at the sudden outburst. They all stared at the youngest Weasely curiously. Ginny turned and marched out of the room with angry tears threatening to come. In the commotion, Draco slipped out to go follow her.

After much storming about, Ginny ran outside and towards the lake. She sat down by a tree and pulled her knees up to her chin, tears falling down her cheeks. A cold hand lightly touched her shoulder a few minutes later. Ginny turned her head and gasped.

"Malfoy! What the hell do you want?" snapped Ginny.

"For starters, I didn't come out here to call each other names," sneered Draco. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Ginny looked away from him. "Then why did you come?"

Running a hand through his blonde hair, which he had stopped slicking back and let it just shag, and took a deep breath. "I-I wanted to see if you were okay?

His words surprised her. He sounded so different. Almost gentle and soft compared to his normal hard and cold manner. No, they were enemies. "What are ya trying to pull, Malfoy?"

"Nothing." Draco sat down near her. "I've heard you crying before. "I-I just thought I should check on you."

"I'm not a baby!" snapped Ginny, angrily.

"I know you aren't," replied Draco.

Again, he surprised her. "Then why do you call me those names?" asked Ginny. She looked over at Draco. His voice was no longer harsh or stuck up. It sounded almost sad. Even his steel blue eyes didn't look cold or empty. There was pain and sorrow.

Draco shrugged. "It's just the way I was brought up. I was taught to hate mud…er non pure bloods differently."

"Is this some game you are playing? What do you want?" demanded Ginny.

His eyes looked up and met hers. She could see the pain he hid deep inside. There was even a hint of warmth in them. Draco cleared his throat and spoke, "One day, over the summer, I heard a noise late in the night."

Flashback

"Ahh!" screamed a voice from somewhere in the Malfoy manor. It was a warm summer night sometime in July. The manor was quite cool despite the warm weather outside.

Draco groaned and rolled out of bed. The noise disrupted his sleep from which he had been having a rather nice dream. A dream that he would like to get back to as soon as possible if at all likely. He put on a green silk robe before walking down the long winding hallway of the upper floor of the manor.

Another scream sounded out, echoing off the walls. It made Draco shiver in the uncomfortable silence. The screams came again from a room up ahead of him. It his parent's room! Quickly whipping out his wand, Draco opened the door a crack.

Inside was a sight that made his blood run cold. His mother, Narcissa, was huddled up in the corner, sobbing. She looked so helpless and scared. Before barging in, Draco heard the coldest voice he ever heard.

"Shut it, you stupid wench!" snapped the harsh voice of Lucifus Malfoy. In his left hand was a whip, which he struck it at his wife repeatedly and harshly. Standing at nearly six and a half inches, he was a menacing man.

Not wanting to be caught or even hurt himself, Draco ran back to his room for the safety of his covers. His mother's screams still reached his ears. They continued until well into the night.

Ginny stared wide-eyed in horror. There were silent, warm tears running down Draco's face. She reached over and wiped them away, gently. "Mal-Draco, I am soo sorry."

"It was my fault. I should have done something, anything to help her," frowned Draco, shaking his head.

"That might have made things worse. Has…Has he hit you?" asked Ginny. As much as she wanted to know the answer, it terrified her.

Draco broke his gaze with Ginny to look at the ground. "Sometimes."

Without thinking, Ginny wrapped her arms around him as if to comfort him. Draco got a whiff of her scent, which made a smile come to his face. It made it all more comforting to know that it was his enemy who care that much about and was willing to put aside everything to help him.

He gently pushed her back and put a mask back on his face. "Don't tell anyone about this. The only person that knows is Blaise."

"I won't, Draco. We can help each other," suggested Ginny.

Draco flashed her a rare smile. It was a real, sincere one. It made her heart flutter. "I think we can."