Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Note: In my fan fiction, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy, quit school after their fifth year instead of their sixth. Everything else is the same, for example Sirius is dead, but Dumbledore is still alive, etc.

Chapter 1: Mixed Feelings

The darkest night of the summer was coming to a close. If one were staring down at the world, the only thing to be seen would be immobile black shadows. The world was at peace with itself as Ginny Weasley sighed contentedly at the night sky. She was alone for the night and the neighborhood was as silent as could be. As she was lying down on the grass beneath the starless night sky, a light came on behind her.

"Ginny? …Would you like to come inside?" asked a drawling voice.

"Later." she replied.

She was lying right in the middle of Draco Malfoy's front yard. The young man looked quite troubled as he listened to her response.

"Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"It's cold out tonight and… and I don't feel it safe for you to stay out here, especially by yourself."

"Then come join me Draco."

Ginny continued to lie there as Malfoy stepped out of his house and strode across the lawn toward her. When he reached her, he sat on the ground next to her and put her head on his lap and ran his fingers through her silky red hair. After a few minutes of this Malfoy began to talk.

"I assume you haven't told Potter about any of this, have you?"

"…No."

Silence fell between them once more and all was quiet except for the occasional passerby. Malfoy was deep in thought. He could feel Ginny's breathing slowing down. She had fallen asleep. After another hour or so, Draco stood up and carried Ginny's limp body into his house and closed the door behind them.

~The next morning~

"I had the strangest dream last night." Ginny said aloud to no one in particular.

"Really? …What was it about?" asked a voice next to her.

"Oh, nothing really," she started to say as she turned over, "Just…. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

" WHAT????" the voice asked.

Ginny had almost fallen out of the bed when she had seen who it was she had been talking to.

"DRACO? …What are you doing in my house?" she asked the blonde-haired boy.

"Your house?"

Ginny sat up and looked around at what she had thought was her bedroom. When her view came into focus, however, she realized that she was indeed inside the Malfoy's mansion. She recognized the room from her visit two weeks ago.

"How did I get here?" Ginny asked.

"Don't you remember?" he asked her as he too sat up. "You were lying in my front yard and fell asleep in my lap. I carried you into my room soon after that."

As she listened to Malfoy talk, she soon realized that what she had thought was a dream had been real and if that was the case she was going straight to HELL. This was the fifth time in two weeks something like this had happened and every incident had involved Malfoy. Ginny was dating Harry, yet here she was lying in bed with Draco Malfoy, the one person Harry loathed to no end.

"I've got to go." Ginny said hurriedly, as she got out of the bed. " Harry will be wondering where I am.

"Okay," Malfoy replied with a grim smile.

Ginny scurried out of the bedroom and down the stairs of the huge mansion. As she was striding out across the lawn towards the iron-wrought gate, she glimpsed back at Malfoy's bedroom window. He was sitting on the bench next to his window staring out at the grounds and quickly shut the curtains when he saw that she had spotted him.

~Later that afternoon~

"Ginny? …"

"Huh?" she had been pulled out of her trance by a soft, soothing voice.

" I wanted to know if you fancied a walk?" the soft voice said.

Ginny looked up into the vivid green eyes of her boyfriend. She looked surprised as though only just realizing that he was there.

"Oh, um… Sure, Harry. That sounds good. Where would you like to go?"

"Are you all right?" Harry asked looking inquisitively at her. "You've been acting a might strange lately."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Harry."

The truth was, before Harry had interrupted her, Ginny had been thinking about the previous night and what had taken her to the Malfoy's mansion. Again. More than that, though, she was contemplating what had just occurred a mere two hours before she met up with Harry. She was so confused. She was Harry's girlfriend, not Draco's, but yet there was just something about him, about his personality, about his almost brotherly concern for her safety.

"Hey, why don't… why don't we go see mum and dad at the Burrow? I just got an owl from them yesterday. They said that Ron and Hermione are up visiting with them this week and that they would love it if we could come for a visit as well, kind of like old times, you know? So, what do you say? I personally think a vacation would do me some good."