Disclaimer: This is the first Harry Potter fanfic I've written in a good long while... so chances are, I'm not trying to steal Ginny, Draco, or Hogwarts from J. K. Rowling. (i.e. I'm not. Keep your hair on and read the first chapter.)

Chapter One
Initial Intentions

A chill wind curled gently through the corridor, and Ginny clutched at her sweater, the only thing providing protection to a thin pajama top and her bare skin. She shivered as the cold air hugged at her exposed ankles, thankful that she was wearing a particularly fluffy pair of slippers.

A lot of people wouldn't have expected Ginny Weasley to be prowling the dungeon corridors at two in the morning, making her way toward the Potions room, and the one girl who did expect it wasn't going to report her. True, Luna had advised against such an escapade in the first place, but when Ginny explained to her her mission, Luna had accepted it as the best course of action. After all, where else was she going to find the last ingredient for her Love Potion? Surely not in the students' supply cabinet, and most people were so unaware of how to actually concoct a Love Potion that it was unlikely for the aforementioned ingredient to be greatly missed.

The fact that Love Potions had been banned at Hogwarts for the past decade had not daunted Ginny in the slightest. They were quite harmless in small doses, and they didn't require any extraordinary ingredients (save for the one she was forced to borrow), and it really was tempting to make it since Dumbledore had banned it in the first place.

Ginny hurried along down the corridor, trying to ignore the way the temperature dropped progressively lower for every door she passed. Indeed, when she finally reached the Potions room, she was so cold that she could barely feel her toes as she lowered her lit wand and pointed it at the door.

"Alohomora," Ginny whispered, and pulled the door open carefully. Once inside, she wasted no time at all in hurrying to the back of the classroom, muttering the same incantation for the storage door, and pulling it open as well.

It was quite dark inside the closet, and she squinted up at the labels of bottles and packets whose names she could barely read in the gloom. Ginny took several steps into the closet, and, holding her wand slighter lower, began to inspect some of the bottommost shelves.

"Ah-hah," she breathed, and, crouching down, she retrieved a small bottle marked Extract of Ginger Root. Her task completed, she stowed the bottle safely in her pocket and turned to go…

"And what are you doing here, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny's stomach turned over and she whipped around just as a shadowy figure emerged from behind a small bookcase crammed with outdated Potions textbooks. A moment later the figure stepped into the light, and Ginny gasped.

"You!" she said angrily, and Draco Malfoy laughed softly.

"Yes, me," he said in a strangely calm voice. "Now why don't you return that bottle to its rightful place, and I might not report you to Professor Snape."

"We'll see about that," Ginny snapped, and pointed her wand at the door. "Collioportus!" The door swung shut instantly, and a small click told Ginny that it was locked. She looked back at Draco, who glared at her.

"Alohomora!" The spell hit the door, but bounced off the handle as though reflected by a mirror.

"A self-altered spell?" Draco asked, annoyed but unable to keep himself from being slightly impressed.

"Yes," Ginny replied sweetly, holding her wand slightly above the both of them so as to see Draco's face; he looked extremely disgruntled.

"You realize, of course," Draco said, and Ginny was slightly surprised to see him smirk. "That the only way out for you is if you let me out as well."

"As if I couldn't just hex you and run off," Ginny shot back. "Remember, I'm the only one who can open the door, and if you happen to be unconscious when I do so, that's not my problem."

"Like I'd lose to you in a duel," Draco spat, sneering at her, and Ginny had to admit that he had a point. Much as she'd like to deny it, Draco wasn't stupid when it came to dueling, and neither was he fair. They glared at each other for a moment, and finally Ginny said, "Well, then, what do you propose we do, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I propose that you stop acting childish and let us out," said Draco, narrowing his eyes. "Seeing as that's the only choice you've got."

"It is not," Ginny retorted. "I could sit here all night if I had to."

"So what?" Draco snickered. "So Snape can find you here in the morning and save me the trouble of turning you in?" Again, Ginny was stumped and beginning to feel quite frustrated. This was not going at all to plan, and she was backed into a corner now: it was either wait for Snape to find them in the morning, or let Draco go and report her anyway. It seemed that Draco knew what she was thinking, for he chuckled and sat down, his back propped up against the shelves, smirking up at her.

"Didn't think of that, did you?" he jeered. "So what will it be?"

What will it be? Ginny thought. Give up now or hold on until sunrise?

A moment later, she was sitting opposite Draco, and had grabbed an empty jar off one of the shelves. She muttered a useful spell that she had learned from Hermione, and a playful blue flame spiraled suddenly from the tip of her wand into the bottom of the jar. She placed it between them and extinguished her wand, and in the dim blue firelight she could just see Draco's face, an expression of surprise now fixed on it.

"I'll wait," Ginny replied.

AN: Thank you for reading this chapter. I'd really appreciate reviews for this one, seeing as it's the first bit of fanfiction I've done in a long while... also, if you notice any grammatical mistakes of any sort, please be sure to let me know! (I'm sure I took care of all of them when I went over it three times, but you never know.)

Thank you again for reading, and I'll try to have chapter two ready soon.

Love,
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