Chapter 1: Letters and Loves

Draco Malfoy sat on the window sill in his room at Malfoy Manor. It was the night before he was to return to Hogwarts and he was dreading it. All summer he was haunted by a crush that had fallen on him a month before the end of term last year. He would have to face her, and Potter who had thrown his father in jail. He would have to hear talk about it after he'd worked so hard to hide from it all summer long.

He didn't like to admit it, but he was happy he was away from his father, or his father was away from him. That's why he'd always loved going back to Hogwarts. This year was a complete flip. He'd been secluded from his mother and didn't let any owls in his window all summer, scared of what would happen if anyone knew the truth.

He stared out the window at the sunset. The orange colour of the sun reminded him of her hair and then the blue colour of the sky, just like her eyes. He quickly turned away from the window, willing her image to disappear. Yet it stayed. It hung on the back of his eyelids so that every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. She was not a punishment, but it felt that way. He wanted to forget all about her. To forget the beautiful shape of her body, her flowing movements. The shining in her eyes and the way the sun reflected off her hair. The way she lit up a room whenever she entered. She wasn't a punishment, yet he felt punished.

He walked over to his trunk, open at the bottom of his bed and started to pack it again. This would be the fifth time he'd try to pack and wound up ripping everything back out.

I really don't want to go back, he thought to himself as he tried as hard as he could to not pull everything back out. He walked over to the side of his bed and dropped himself onto it, back first. Being a teenager is the worst thing in the world. Too many damn hormones. Why do I have to love someone who doesn't even know I exist? Why do I have to make her hate me for her to notice me?

At that moment, there was on knock on his door that broke Draco out of his thoughts. He stared at his ceiling, not moving.

"Draco, darling," it was his mother, "You should really come out. I don't like it that you're in there all alone. You need to socially interact with people." She paused, waiting for a response that never came. "Draco, you haven't been taking any letters all summer. The least you could do is read them if you don't feel like answering them. I'll leave them outside the door for you. See you in the morning."

Draco listened to her footsteps echoing down the hall way. Once they had disappeared, he sighed and got up off his bed. He dragged himself over to the door, but before opening it, he heard scratching on his window.

He spun around to see a tiny owl with a letter attached to his leg. He'd never seen this owl before, but since he was going to read all of his letters, he might as well start with this one.

When he opened the window, the little owl jumped inside and sat on the window sill, holding out its leg. Draco sat down and untied the letter. He looked at the front. The handwriting was unknown to him, and he was very good at recognizing people by their writing. "Malfoy" was all it said.

He turned it over and ripped it open, his brow furrowed. When it was open, his eyes immediately jumped to the bottom of the letter, where the name would be signed. His eyes flew open in shock. There was no name, but it was signed. He went back to the beginning of the letter and started from there.

Draco,

Don't even think about asking me who I am because I'll never tell you. If I did tell you, you'd tell the school and my heart would crumble in my chest. I don't know how to tell you this, but I suppose it's easier considering you have no idea who I am. I have loved you for longer than you can imagine, but have had to hide it all these years. Tomorrow will be the four year anniversary. I can't wait until I see you on the train tomorrow, on the way to Hogwarts. You can try to look for me, but I promise you'll never find me.

I will always love you,

One you hate.

Draco folded the letter and stared out the window. If he were still cocky and ignorant, he would have smiled to himself and felt nothing at all thinking: Of course. Everyone loves me, but he sat and thought about the letter for a long time.

Would he ever find her? Would she come out and show herself to him? Should he go looking for her? But then, he had an idea. There was a girl somewhere out there who had the courage to send a letter to the one she loved, even if she didn't identify herself.

Draco jumped up and walked quickly over to his desk in the corner of the room. He pulled open his drawer and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. He sat down, chewing on the tip of his quill before slipping it in the ink bottle and starting to write.

-

Ginny Weasley marched up the wooden steps at the Burrow to her room on the second floor. It was getting really late and she'd been up, waiting for her brother's owl, Pigwidgeon to return.

She entered her bedroom and saw the little owl sitting on her desk, fast asleep. He wasn't the only one in the room, though. Sitting right beside him, ruffling his feathers, was a beautiful, chocolate brown owl. Sitting at its feet was a letter.

She walked up to the desk and picked up the letter. She brought it over to her bed and sat down before looking at the front. On the front was written "Miss Weasley" in the most beautiful handwriting she'd ever seen. She flipped it over and carefully opened the envelope. There were two pieces of parchment on the inside. She took both of them out at the same time and noticed that one of them was blank. So she took the other one and read it.

Ginny,

I love you. I might as well come out and say it right at the beginning because I don't want to hide it any longer. I love you. I've known you for a long time, but only really noticed your beauty and elegance recently. I kick myself everyday for not truly seeing you when we first met. I can be open now. I feel free to say what I want to say and I don't have to be ashamed of it. You have no idea what kind of burden has been lifted off me recently. Just always remember that I love you and that you are beautiful. No one has the right to tell you otherwise. I've been dreading tomorrow and seeing you on the Hogwarts Express because I know what you think of me and I know it's true. You hate me and have reason to, but I love you all the same. You give me reason to live when I wish I were never born.

You are the love of my life,

One who loves you

PS. The empty parchment is for you to write back to me with the owl I have sent. I long to see your handwriting.

Ginny dropped the parchment in her lap. She stared blankly at the owl that was still sitting on her desk. She picked up the empty piece of parchment and stared at it. After rereading the letter several more times, she got up and fetched an ink bottle and a quill from her desk.

She sat on the wooden floor, in the light of the moon coming through her window and placed her three items on the floor in front of her. She flattened the blank piece of parchment before picking up the quill and sticking it in the ink.

She held the quill over the parchment and let it drip a few times on different parts of the parchment. She signed her name: Virginia Weasley, in the center of the parchment and dipped her quill back in the ink bottle. More drops fell all over the page, encircling her name. When she was satisfied with the amount of drops there were, she let it dry for a few minutes.

While waiting, she looked over the letter again. She had never seen that writing before, so elegant and perfect. When she had decided that it was impossible to figure out who the writing belonged to by just staring at it, she went back to the parchment and folded it. She took some string out of her desk drawer and tied the letter onto the owl's leg.

When it was tied firmly, the owl jumped up and flew out the window. Ginny walked over and watched it fly away until it was just a dot in the sky. She sat there, on the couch beside her window, thinking what a weird night it had been.

First, she sends out a letter to the person she loves, and the same night she gets a letter from someone who loves her. A letter from someone who didn't sign his name, just as she didn't sign hers. A letter that said they'd be seeing each other on the train the next day, but they both had to hide what they actually felt.

Ginny realized that the letters were so much alike, it was as if someone had read her letter and decided to write one back. She gasped almost fell off her couch. What if Draco was the one who had sent her the letter? Did he recognize her writing and was he just tormenting her? What if he actually did love her, though? What if he didn't realize he was sending a letter to the same person that had sent a letter to him?

Ginny's mind buzzed with unanswerable questions as she changed and climbed into bed. Every night before she went to bed, she would telepathically send messages to the one she loved. This night, she was much to busy thinking of other things, but fortunately for her, she still fell asleep with the image of Draco in front of her eyes.