Disclaimer: This is my first fic and I just redid it! I hope you all enjoy. All characters and setting belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling!
Chapter 1
Harry and Ron were being downright awful. She hated it when they ganged up on her, and Hermione was off studying today, so she had no defense. She couldn't believe she'd actually had a crush on Harry for so long. He thought he was the most amazing boy who had ever lived, but he certainly wasn't in her eyes...not anymore, at least. They had been in the Room of Requirement, lounging on big sofas and having a fairly fun time when Harry had told a dirty joke. Harry and Ron couldn't stop laughing, and she blushed nervously, not quite understanding. Harry stopped laughing long enough to tell her that her red face was clashing with her orange hair. Then Ron joined in and said she looked quite like a carrot. It showed just how mature they were. When Ron saw the anger growing in her face, he said, "Oh, bugger off, Ginny, we're only joking." Now she was running down the corridor, heading for the Gryffindor common room and-
SMACK.
She had collided with something, but she wasn't sure what. Ginny was sprawled out on the floor, her limbs aching, unable to comprehend what had happened. "Merlin's beard, watch where you're going," she heard a familiar male voice exclaim. He seemed to have gotten up, but Ginny remained on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "Let me help you, then," he said, and she saw a pale arm come into her view. She grabbed a hold of it and was gently pulled upward by her strong companion. He must play quidditch with such a good build, she thought. As Ginny regained her balance, she looked at the victim of her collision for the first time. The platinum blond hair registered first, then the gray, wistful eyes.
"Malfoy?" she asked timidly.
"Stop running in the corridors, Weasley. Really, as a fifth-year, I thought you'd know that by now," he said with a smirk-no, was that a smile? Ginny, in her five years of attending Hogwarts, had never seen Draco Malfoy genuinely smile.
"S-sorry."
"No worries." He smiled again. "See yah." He began to walk past her, in the direction she had just come from. Ginny was very confused. Malfoy had not called her poor or a weasel or from bad genes or the sister of a scab. He had always said something insulting every time they came into contact, and she felt surprisingly uneasy because he hadn't.
"Malfoy, wait," she said, turning to him and not quite knowing what she would say next. He turned to her, raising his eyebrows as if asking "yes?" She pulled a lock of her light red hair and took a few cautious steps toward him. "Is-is something wrong?"
"What? No. I mean you hit me, which would've been more painful if you weighed more than a twig, but otherwise I'm fine."
"Oh, I just-" She stopped. She could tell he wanted to know what she was going to say, but she decided against it. "Nothing. Sorry to bump into you then." He nodded, smiled, and continued on his way.
It was very strange.
/\\\
As Draco approached the dungeons that held the Slytherin dormitories, he wondered why he hadn't been harsh on Ginny Weasley for running into him. She had looked pretty upset, but he wasn't one to care about the feelings of others. He entered the common room and found his closest friend, Blaise, on the sofa with some girl. They were snogging, and he didn't want to interrupt, so he slipped into his sleeping quarters quietly. The room was empty, so he sat on his bed and finally gave a thought to Ginny.
Why did he keep calling her Ginny? She was a Weasley, practically a muggle, which his father found appalling. Of course, Draco didn't really care for his father anymore. He was in Azkaban now, where he belonged. Draco had been close to getting the Dark Mark, but his mother had convinced his father to let him finish his schooling first. Hopefully he would never have to join the horrible ranks of the Death Eaters.
But what did this have to do with Ginny? No, Weasley! He needed to remember that she was a younger, lowly Weasley. Granted, she wasn't that much younger...No, she was a Weasley, not a gorgeous redhead. Her eyes weren't the most spectacular blue he had ever seen. Her lips weren't the perfect shade and size, just begging to be kissed. Her body wasn't already beautifully developed and lovely. She was a Weasley!
This was something he'd never really understood about being a Slytherin, and particularly a Malfoy. Why did he have to hate the Weasleys? Ron was a prick and he couldn't really understand why anyone liked him, but the others weren't so bad. The twins were actually hilarious, and Percy had been a great prefect and head boy, even though he was annoying. And Ginny was…sweet.
Draco jumped from his bed and paced a couple of times across his bedroom floor until settling on the windowsill and staring out to the grounds. He couldn't wrap his head around these ideas he was having. His father would've beat him for saying anything of the sort, and Draco winced slightly thinking of all those times he'd seen the back of his father's hand approach his face before he felt the collision of a hard ring on his cheek. Why am I thinking about this? Dumb Weasley.
/\\\
She had never realized how extremely attractive his face was before. Ginny sat on a cushioned window seat in the Gryffindor common room, pretending to read a book while actually staring out at the grounds, thinking of Draco. It was long after dinner and she knew Harry and Ron would be returning soon, but she didn't want to hide from them. They were assholes, but they shouldn't get the satisfaction of banishing her to her room.
She should've told Draco they had been mean to her. She didn't know why, but she thought he would've understood. She had never particularly liked Malfoy before, but then she'd never really thought of him. His hair looked actually quite nice up close, like it would be soft to touch. His features looked soft as well, except for his well-defined jaw line. And his eyes. They were so...captivating. They were intimidating when he held a scowl, and intoxicating when he smiled.
Merlin, his smile. Ginny was confident that if he smiled more often, every girl at Hogwarts would be in love with him. Except for Hermione. She absolutely loathed Malfoy, which was understandable. He had called Hermione a "mudblood" so many times, Ginny couldn't even keep track. She scowled at her book and forgot why she was thinking about him. He had terrorized her best friend Hermione and her dumb brother for all these years. Why did she care if he was cute? It was so trivial.
But then she couldn't recall him saying anything mean to Hermione in recent history. Maybe he had changed. Maybe the new, smiling Draco Malfoy was permanent. But who cared! Not me, she told herself, sinking deeper into her seat.
/\\\
It was two days later, and as Ginny made her way to her fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, she heard a commotion in the next corridor. She didn't want to risk being late, but the situation sounded interesting, so she decided to go have a look. As she peered around the corner, she realized the dreadful noise she heard had been screaming. A Slytherin girl had run out of her class and was sliding down the wall, crying loudly. Ginny thought about going over to her. Sure, she's a Slytherin, but something bad had obviously happened, and she could probably try to help. As she braced herself to walk around the stonewall between them, the crying subsided into quiet sobs as the Slytherin girl in question, being calmed by a Slytherin boy, curled her legs up under her robe. He knelt down next to her and said something gently. It must've been nice because her crying stopped as she laughed softly at his words. He sat down next to her, smiling as well, and only then did Ginny notice that the nice boy was none other than Draco Malfoy.
"He didn't mean anything by it. He probably thought it would be hilarious to change your potion, but don't worry! I'm sure they can change your hair back," Draco told the girl. She laughed slightly but still looked upset as she cradled what must be newly pink hair. "And if not, hey, I think it suits you!" he laughed heartily, and she couldn't help but join in.
What the hell happened to him?, Ginny thought light-heartedly, chuckling aloud at the silent words in her mind. Her hand flew to her mouth and she jumped back so as not to be seen, but she wasn't quick enough. As she scurried to class, still clutching her mouth, Draco wondered if she'd been spying on him for long.
/\\\
"Whatcha looking for?"
Ginny dropped the book she had been holding and nearly screamed when he popped out of nowhere. "Where did you come from," she asked, trying to return her breathing to normal. Draco chuckled at her startled response and scooped her book up, examining it.
"Magical Creatures and Their Magical Uses," he read from the cover. "A bit redundant, eh?" He laughed again and handed the book to her. Ginny hadn't actually been looking for anything. She often came to this secluded wing of the library to think. People hardly ever wandered over here, so she was thinking about Draco, and whether they would run into each other again, when he had appeared.
"Thanks. And yes, it's really quite repetitive." She placed it back on the shelf where it belonged, then turned to him, smiling. "And redundant."
"And repetitive? And redundant?" They laughed together, and silence filled the space around them when the joke wore off. "So, I seem to keep running into you," he said, laughing at his own joke.
"What do you mean?" she asked nervously. "I ran into you in the corridor, now you scared me in the library."
He laughed again. Why did he have to keep laughing? "Right, that's all I meant." He paused, grabbing a random book from the shelf and flipping through the pages. "Unless you also want to count spying on me between classes." He peered up at her from the book, a mischievous look in his eyes.
Ginny's gaze fell to the floor and she became extremely interested in her shoes. "I, uh, I don't know what...what you're talking about and I..." He put the book back and pushed her chin up so she was forced to look him in the eyes.
"Hey, no worries," he said, smiling. His smile slowly melted away as he looked at her more closely. He began to move his face toward hers, while guiding her chin with his hand. Their noses were barely touching and Ginny could feel his breath on her lips. "You better get going," Draco barely whispered.
"What…?" Ginny searched his eyes, not knowing what was going on, but really wanting him to lean down and kiss her. He wouldn't even need to lean, really. They were so close to each other he could just tilt his head and their lips would meet. Instead, Draco dropped Ginny's chin lightly and stepped back. He stared at her intently for a few intense seconds, and then left without a word.
What just happened? Ginny thought, leaning against the bookshelf next to her. What have I done?
/\\\
What have I done?, he thought as he bolted out of the library. I nearly kissed Ginny Weasley, that's what I've done. I can't believe it. And had she...had she wanted it? No. NO. He pushed thoughts of her from his mind, though her lips looked soft and lovely to kiss, as he had been imagining recently. NO. He didn't know where he was walking, but he was definitely going. He ended up outside, in front of the castle in the moonlight.
Damn, how had he done that? He was just going to tease her for spying on him- it was going to be funny. And then he'd gone scared her! Merlin's beard, he was dumb sometimes. And what was worse, he couldn't stop thinking about that almost kiss. Kissing her would have been incredible. He began pacing from one tree to another as he thought. He had kissed many girls in his sixteen (nearly seventeen) years, but this had been better. And it wasn't even a real kiss! There had been Olive Hornby, Pansy Parkinson, Sally-Anne Perks, Adriana Pucey, both Astoria AND Daphne Greengrass, and too many others he couldn't remember.
Merlin, he needed to stop thinking about her and that moment they had shared. He stopped pacing and tried to control his anger. Why did he feel this was about her? Any respectable Slytherin girl would be willing and able to have sex with him right now if he wanted that! But he didn't. He wanted to see Ginny again...damnit! Why did she have this effect on him?
/\\\
Hey guys! I hope you like this :) If you've read it, please please PLEASE review! I want to know what you're thinking. Sorry to rewrite, but I think it's loads better!