"Mum!" Ginny's cry traveled up the stairs as the stood, pulling on a light coat, waiting by the fireplace in the Burrow. A dancing red flame sat waiting for her to throw in a handful of Floo-Powder, to take her to wherever she desired.

"What, Gin?" Her father cried down the stairs, sounding very tired. There was a big thing going on at the Ministry, ever since Fudge realized that Dumbledore had been telling the truth, but no one would tell Ginny about it. 'Too young,' they told her, even though she'd be turning fifteen in September. Ginny pulled her coat tighter around her.

"Where's Mum?" Ginny called back.

"She's not here, baby doll. She's at an Order meeting."

"Oh. Why aren't you there too?"

"Serious Ministry business. What do you need, honey?"

"I'm going to Diagon Alley, okay Daddy?"

"Oh, alright. Be back before dark." Ginny sighed and put her hand into the flowerpot. She pulled up a handful of shimmering powder that sifted through her fingers, pouring back into the pot and onto the worn wooden floor. Tossing it into the fire, it hissed and puffed into emerald flames. Ginny stepped in, being careful at the threshold so not to trip, said her destination, and immediately began spinning.

She closed her eyes and tucked her elbows in almost as an afterthought. She'd done this so many times before. 'I need parchment, quills, ink... let's see... robes...' Ginny though boredly as she landed lightly on her feet on the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley, right out in front of Gringotts. Straightening her hair as she walked, she wasn't looking where she was going. Now she was bound to bump into somebody, wasn't she?

Suddenly, Ginny felt a thud as ran straight into a man's chest, and found herself on the ground, on her back. She groaned, reaching a hand up to touch her head. It was very sore, the culprit being a loose cobblestone that stuck up further from the others.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you..." The voice trailed off as Ginny opened her eyes, and found herself staring directly into Draco Malfoy's eyes. He looked back at her, but not with the usual kind of coldness that he often reserved for Harry Potter and the Weasley family. As Ginny looked deep into his eyes, past the steel gray, she saw loneliness, sadness, and the thing that surprised her most: Fear. Draco Malfoy, deep in his heart, was scared of something unmentioned.

Ginny slowly stood up, rubbing her behind where it first came into contact with the ground. She moved her neck from side to side, then stopped to look at Draco. He took a small step back. Ginny, confused, simply said, "No, it was my fault. Sorry." Draco opened his mouth as if to say something, then turned to walk away. Ginny's arm shot out and she grabbed his hand. She watched his body stiffen as he turned to face her.

"What do you want?" Draco said quietly, almost sadly. Ginny felt like crying. He seemed so lost. And then she remembered about his father, how he was in Azkaban.

"To talk." She looked up at him and gave a slight smile. Draco looked around quickly.

"Follow me." He said, still holding her hand, and began pulling her through the crowd.

"So why are you here?" Ginny sat in a cushy chair, in a room on the second story of the Leaky Cauldron. The whole room was rather dark. The curtains were pulled, and the place had a sort of depressed air about it. 'Is this how Draco's feeling?' Ginny wondered. Normally she hated Draco Malfoy. But Ginny had thought about how terrible it might be to lose your father, and almost everything you knew. That thought alone had almost made her cry. She knew how upset she was to almost lose her father. Draco had suffered a step further. And it had changed him.

"It's bad at home." He said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Voldemort has been there constantly." Ginny cringed inwardly, trying not to change her face. She met his gaze, he gave a shuddering sigh, and continued.

"I know what you're thinking. That I'm a Death Eater. I'll never... be like them. Before Voldemort came around, my Father was a good man. He was kind to me. But after he became a follower, he changed. I still have to be on their side. But I don't have to be one of them."

Ginny, in a sudden burst of compassion, moved to the bed and sat next to him, hugging him softly. 'What are you doing, Ginny Weasley? This is a Malfoy. He's probably thinking the same about you.' But she couldn't let go. He felt... good. Draco pulled back slowly from the hug, gazing at her. Ginny felt her stomach flutter nervously as Draco slowly moved closer. She looked fleetingly into his eyes, at his lips, then closed her eyes, waiting. The sun was fading behind the hills now.

His lips were soft and comforting. It was brief. Both pulled back, shocked, and looked at each other. Ginny pulled him in for another longer kiss. Their sweet, innocent kisses soon turned to passion. Draco pushed Ginny's soft red hair behind her ear and kissed her neck, loving her taste, her smell.

"Draco..." Ginny breathed. He moved up and looked into her hazel eyes and gulped, trying to force away these new feelings for and old enemy.

"Ginny, our families..." Quietly, Draco almost wished that the rest of his family would just drop dead. This new feeling, passion or love, was unfamiliar, but he didn't want to let it go. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and take her away from the war, the fighting, the pain.

"Draco, I couldn't care less..." Those were words that Ginny would have normally not said. The feeling, it was different than she felt about Harry. This was something new, foriegn, and like all other unfamiliar things, she wanted to learn more. She reached up and tucked a stray lock of silver blonde hair behind his ear, running her fingers down his pale skin. He, in turn reached up and touched the almost faded freckles across the bridge of her nose. Moving his hand behind her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her slowly closer and kissed her.

The sun had set. Ginny did not care. They lay together on the bed as darkness closed around the room.