A single sigh was all she could offer to express the pain caused by months of agony, all because of him. Apparently, her rogue heart enjoyed watching her suffer. Ginny knew all about unrequited love, most memorably from her previous crush on the untouchable Harry Potter. But this was entirely different. This went against her house, her family (especially her 6 overprotective elder brothers), and everything she had been taught to abhor. This boy absolutely screamed trouble. But this boy was also quite possibly the sexiest creature she had ever laid eyes on.

There were very few places at Hogwarts where Ginny could study (or, more accurately, daydream) for hours at a time without fear of interruption. The stands above the Quidditch pitch happened to be one of these rare places, and, as an added bonus, some afternoons she could watch the various house teams practice without drawing attention to herself.

One of these lazy afternoons, Ginny was watching a particularly interesting Slytherin scrimmage. She had to be extremely cautious while watching Slytherin practices for two reasons: one of their Beaters, Millicent Bulstrode liked to fly high, and if that cow spotted her, she was as good as dead. Also, all Slytherins hated all Gryffindors, as a general rule, and a lot of Slytherins had Death Eater parents who would love to know that their offspring caused injury to a blood traitor.

Flint, the Slytherin captain, had a special way of challenging his star Seeker, Draco Malfoy. He released 10 Snitches simultaneously, and timed Malfoy as he chased down all 10 of the elusive golden spheres. After the first two minutes, Malfoy was punished with 25 laps around the pitch for every 10 seconds. As much as Ginny loathed the lanky blonde, she'd never seen him fly a single penalty lap, and even she had to admit that he held an impressive record.

As Flint opened today's box, Malfoy was nothing more than a blur. He had caught the first 5 almost before she could comprehend it, and was now pursuing 2 snitches that seemed to have adopted the buddy system. His broom was a part of his body, carrying his fluid motions effortlessly. He barreled into a steep dive, stopping mere inches above the ground with both of his current quarry in his right hand. Turning around, he scanned for the remaining 3 elusive spheres. Malfoy took off toward the announcer's box, and, without stopping, shot skyward, slowing only when he held another snitch in his in hand. But where was the final snitch?

Malfoy made a circuit high around the pitch as Ginny crouched down out of sight in the Gryffindor box. As soon as she had decided that he might get his first round of penalty laps, he made an about face and started hurling directly towards her! Before she hit the floor, she had just enough time to catch a glimpse of a golden snitch followed by a silver bullet.

She barely had time to duck as Malfoy made a crash landing in the box almost on top of her. For one split second, their eyes met. Ginny knew her jaw was probably on the floor, but she couldn't help but stare, openmouthed, at the angel of masculine beauty lying on the floor staring back at her. His perfectly combed platinum hair hung loose around his face, and his training trousers clung to certain places that made Ginny blush. His well toned torso was bare and shone with sweat, and his usual sneer was missing, allowing Ginny to admire his strong, angular jaw and his deep, mercury eyes. All too soon, though, the illusion was broken as his lip upturned and his scowl returned.

"What are you doing up here, Weasel? Spying, so you can run back to your precious Potter?"

"No, I, er… see?" She pushed her homework forward.

She looked so innocent that Draco's sneer faltered for one moment. Then it was back to business.

"Look, I just come up here to be alone. I see all the practices occasionally, not just Slytherin. I know I'm not supposed to be here, but its usually so quiet. But if they see me here" she glanced toward the pitch. "Well lets just say that everything is quiet when you're dead. And what makes you think I would tell Harry anything?"

"MALFOY! YOU'RE WORKING ON 75 LAPS NOW! AS LONG AS YOU'VE BEEN UP THERE, YOU HAD BETTER BE DEAD!"

"Shit. If I don't go now, he'll come up here. Not that I care if they beat you to a pulp, but people will talk, and I don't want anyone thinking I was in your company, Weaslette. Now hand me that snitch so I can go."

Ginny did not remember catching the snitch, but now she wanted to throw it at Malfoy's face. But, since he was all that was standing between her and a handful of angry, older Slytherins, she decided to play nice. As she handed over the snitch, their hands brushed. Her skin tingled where his hand had touched hers, and she was afraid that Malfoy would see the blush that rose to her face.

"Alright Weasel. As soon as practice is over, you get out of here. Potty better not be able to block my new strategy next week, and I had better not catch you here next practice. If I do, I'll make sure I'm not the one who finds you."

And with that, he kicked off with one fluid motion and was gone. She could halfway hear him making some excuse to Flint about hitting his head. She didn't care. She decided to wait out the rest of practice asleep on the floor. She had just been saved by one nasty, beautiful Slytherin, and no matter what his reason, she was grateful.