Chapter 1

It was easier to run away from her problems than to face them head on. So that's what she did, running out of the common room and heading towards the classrooms that were filled by day and desolate at night. Why these rooms were never locked was beyond her. The offices were sealed, but the classrooms themselves stood wide open. Except for Snape's. He was always sure to lock out mean spirited trouble makers from finding just the right ingredients to finish their hair growth potions. Though that had never stopped Fred and George from getting what they needed.

Ginny was nothing like her brothers and went instead to McGonagall's classroom. It was a calm room even when filled with students and it seemed like just the place to escape from her nagging brother.

It was quiet with a single candle burning on the large desk at the front. Ginny closed the door behind her with a thud and sighed, happy to be somewhere quiet. No older brother or worrying roommates or rattling pipes or crackling fires. Silence: sweet and golden silence. She closed her eyes and enjoyed its engulfing powers.

She jumped suddenly when she heard a scrape at the front of the room. At first, she thought it was McGonagall coming out of her office after some late night grading or having run back to get something. But it was not. It was a student, a blonde student with green accents to his black robes. Ginny had always thought of Malfoy as pale, but his face and eyes were red.

"Get out."

For a moment, she wanted to. She wanted to get away from this person who bore almost no resemblance to the boy she knew and hated. He was so different from the face she had hardened herself against that she forgot how she'd conditioned herself to fight back against him. After all, his father had tried to kill her. She shrank back against the door, hand searching for the handle.

He grabbed the candle and moved toward her, light bouncing off his face and casting strange shadows that intensified the coloring that unnerved Ginny. "I said, get out of here."

His tone was familiar now. Ginny straightened her spine, standing straight and fixing her gaze on his face. She wasn't going to let another member of the Malfoy family boss her around or manipulate her. She had learned the first time.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" He was almost upon her, his oddly red face becoming clearer in the dancing candlelight. She could make out his steel eyes and the wand he was clutching beneath his cloak. "Do you really think you're going to hex me here?"

He didn't slow as he approached her and Ginny didn't back down. He came to a stop so suddenly that his robes brushed her shins but he didn't touch her.

"I said," he repeated, "get out."

His jaw was set and his eyes were red. There were bags beneath his eyes, bruised and dark. He looked older than a sixth year; much older than her nagging brother. She stared into his eyes, not blinking and wondering what he would do when she didn't leave. She felt her wand which was secured in her left pocket but did not draw it. Not yet.

They stayed this way for several seconds; Ginny ready to pounce, Malfoy stopped mid-pounce, hoping he had scared her enough to leave him alone. Whoever moved first lost. They stared.

Draco raised his left hand to wipe at his nose, leaving his wand hand leveled at her. As he drew his hand away, Ginny noticed that his cheeks were red and though his eyes looked dark with exhaustion, they were puffy. The red eyes were not those of an angry enemy. Her brow furrowed in confusion and concern.

Malfoy must have noticed the change on her face because he took it as an opportunity to reach for the door handle and push her aside. "Get out," he said again, pushing her toward the now open door. "If you come back here again, I won't warn you."

Her resistance had faltered and she was pushed ungracefully out of the classroom. Malfoy shut the door quickly, keeping his tear-stained face locked on hers until the wood came between them. Ginny was speechless.