CHAPTER 1 - UNEXPECTED

She groaned out loud when as she flopped back on her bed, closing her eyes to try and attempt to get some peace and quiet, but that seemed impossible around these parts at the moment. Being a fifth year didn't look that hard, but it certainly was. All the exam preparations for O.W.L's was more pressurising than she had imagined.

She suddenly heard footsteps from outside the room, Ginny sat up quickly and waited for the person to enter. Instead of what she expected, there was a light knock at the door. She frowned in confusion, stood up and went to go open the door.

She was greeted by the happy face of Neville Longbottom. "Hey Ginny," He said, smiling now but the smile didn't touch his eyes, she couldn't help but smile back. Ginny always seemed a tad happier when he was around.

"Hey Neville! What are you doing up here?" She asked him, her grin widening as she remembered this was the girl half of the common room. "Ooo, Did you sneak up here?" Ginny said, smirking now.

He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Ha, Ha. I just wanted to ask you if you've seen Harry, I need to talk to him about some potions stuff," Neville asked, his cheeks suddenly flushing a bright red, probably due to his not hidden fear of Professor Snape. Ginny giggled quietly, then she nodded as seriously as she could manage, still not being fully able to hide the smirk which remained on her face.

"Yeah, I think he went somewhere with Ron and Hermione," She told him and was surprised when he rolled his eyes in response. Ginny frowned in confusion, something must have really been bothering him, she didn't want to ask unless it was something he didn't want her to know.

Neville sighed in what seemed like impatience. "I know that!" He told her hotly. His eyes widened slightly as he realised what he just said. Ginny's frown deepened, what was with him? "Sorry, Uhm, See you later." He said quickly in an apologetic tone before turning around and walking out of her room.

Ginny pondered on his behavoir for a minute, but decided to shrug it off, she wouldn't nose around in Neville's private life, he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"Where are you going?" Lavender asked Ginny as she was about to walk out of the portrait hole.

"For a walk." She replied in a mumble, without turning around to face her. She didn't know why but she had a lot of mixed emotions on her mind right now, they were more headed towards negative than positive. Without realising it till now, Ginny was running through the hallways, earning for the freedom of the outside air. Soon enough she found herself sprinting, pushing herself to go as fast as she possibly could. She just wanted to get away from all the hassal, just for a while.

She sighed in relief as the cool air hit her face, she strolled a little more casually now to the lake, Ginny sat down on one of the banks, smiling a little to herself.

Ginny lay back on the slightly damp grass and looked at the sky, at the bright stars. She let her eyes drift slowly to a close, purely relaxing, enjoying the moment.

She had no idea how long she had simply been laying there before she heard some distant rustle in the grass, someone walking her way. She groaned a little in annoyance and opened her eyes to see who had disturbed her peaceful facade.

What the hell is he doing here? Ginny thought, froazen in place as she saw Draco Malfoy strolling confidently her way. She had to use alot of strength to force her jaw shut. She decided to word her thoughts.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked in a dead tone, she really did not have the energy tonight to argue full on. He held his hands up in fake surrender.

"Free will. I come here alot, Its not my fault your here now, Is it?" Draco said to her, smirking at her confused expression. She stared at him for a while then her teeth clenched together. Ginny's eyes narrowed, he was not exactly the person she wanted to see right now.

"Go away." Her voice was quite but deadly, she hated this boy, he was nothing but cruel. He didn't deserve what he got. Didn't deserve it at all.

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her anyway. The cheek of him! The pure cheek! Who does he think he is? The voice in her head raged.

"Seriously, What are you doing?" She asked, her voice letting through some annoyance now, she couldn't be bothered to hold it in any longer. She was confused, Very confused indeed. Malfoy....Coming to this particular place just randomly? He must be plotting something.

Draco shrugged innocently. "Sitting down, Thinking." He murmured quietly, she could only just hear. Ginny frowned, Thinking? About what? Wasn't he the one who had the perfect, rich style life?

"Thinking about what?" She burst out after a couple of minutes silence, Curiosity did always get the best of her. She mentally hit herself.

He looked to her suddenly, his forehead creased. "And why would you care?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows now.

Now she shrugged. "I dunno. Curiosity getting the best of me I guess..." Ginny frowned a little at herself, she had just answered his question in complete truth....What was wrong with her? Being truthful to a Malfoy...Even sincere! What was happening?

He sighed, laying back now, she followed shortly after him, they both stared at the stars. "Just family issues." He murmured, his velvet voice quite but still smooth. Ginny turned her head as much as she could to glance at him and was a little shock when she recognised real sadness etched into his handsome features. Her frown deepened but this time she wasn't concerned for herself.

"What's happened?" She asked gently, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Ginny added quickly, still looking at him.

Draco shrugged once more and closed his eyes. "My mother is suffering of course due to the fact that she has not seen or heard from my father in over three months....He didn't even visit for her birthday." She had just noticed that his hands were starting to ball up into fists and his jaw was tight. He must be very angry with his Dad right now.

"Oh...Does anyone know where he is?" Ginny asked quietly, laying back down to stop staring at him, the moonlight shining on his perfect pale skin.

Draco scoffed loudly. "No doubt wherever the Dark Lord is. Sooner or later someone will fall and he will come to his senses. Though....Theres no use in getting my hopes up, I don't see him changing his mind quickly." He explained, it seemed Draco did not feel the same way about Voldemort as his father, the way he spoke whilst talking about it made it sound like he disliked the what his father was doing.

She frowned. "Oh." Was all Ginny could say, What was she supposed to say? One of those terrible awkward silence followed their previous conversation and she had to break it before the tense feelings starting to feel too strong.

"My life is pretty bad too." Ginny admitted, What are you doing? Are you opening up to Draco Malfoy? The voice in her head practically screamed at her. She ignored it, not knowing fully herself why she was doing this.

He looked towards her, frowning just a little. "Why?" Ginny was still kind of shocked at his gentle voice, he had always seemed such a aggresive person so she presumed his voice would portray some of his emotions, It didn't.

She continued to look up at the sky whilst she told him. "My brother Percy is still being an idiot. My mother hasn't seen him in nearly a year, My father sees him at work but its not like they talk or anything. It's really upsetting my mother, I dont know what to do...She..." Ginny hesitated, biting her lip. Should she go on? "I...I hear her crying sometimes..Ofcourse she would never admit to it but we can all see how much she misses him. She acts strong but its breaking her. I feel useless, Like there's nothing I can do to help her..." The rest came out in a whisper, they both lay their silently, no one wanting to break the silence.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a long time, he turned his head to see her reaction.

Ginny nodded a little. "Yeah, Im okay. Hopefully soon he will see sense and come back to try and fix all the mess he's made." She murmured, not wanting to continue complaining to him.

He saw straight through me. "You can tell me you know." Where was all this coming from? It was weird, Ginny didn't even care about answering, Its like she trusted him. She must have. She was opening up and she didn't know why. The wierdest thing was thinking that he actually cared, Draco Malfoy, caring about her, Ginny Weasley. What was the world coming to? Seriously, this was starting to freak her out. Them two, completely opposite were just sitting here chatting, they talked like good friends.

Shock flitted through her when she felt herself smile. "Thanks Draco." She muttered, still utterly shocked with herself.

This wasn't the usual etiquette for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, And certainly not the etiquette for a Weasley and a Malfoy. They sat in a long silence, and it wasn't awkward. It was a comfortable silence. Ginny was quite thankful that he wasn't like others, others who constantly felt the need to fill the silence with never ending chit chat. She hated it when people would never leave her long enough to even sort her thoughts out, It was stupid to think that there could never be a moment silence, Of course there could. The wind was getting stronger, a involuntary shiver escaped her, she rubbed her arms to cause friction. That caught Draco's attention, he bit his lip and an apologetic look creeped onto his face, she resisted the urge to raise her eyebrows.

"Are you cold? Im sorry. Um. I dont have a jacket.." Apology was still written across his features as he frowned a little more awkwardly. He seemed to come up with an idea then shook his head a little, dismissing the thought. He peeked at her face through his unbelievably long eyelashes, she had too look down though she still felt his gaze on her freckly face. Surely her cheeks would be bright red by now.

"Don't worry about it." She stuttered, only now realising that she was shaking. Ginny rolled her eyes at herself, How embarrassing! She thought, blushing further.

He laughed a little then scooted up even more awkwardly. "I know this is going to sound utterly stupid, But do you want to hug? It might make you warmer." Draco cringed at how much of a prat he sounded like, A person like him probably wasn't used to embarrassment. She smiled warmly at his offer and wiggled slowly into his waiting arms.

It wasn't like she had expected, she had expected coldness, it just seemed to suit his characteristics. But it was completely different to what she imagined, she was warm in his arms, his skin felt like it was practically radiating heat. Ginny hesitated for a second then gave up, she relaxed completely onto him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Ginny was sure from far away this embrace would definatly make them look like a couple, though right now she didn't care, she was warm, comfortable. She let her eyes drift to a close, Unconsciousness taking over.