Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter 2 finally! I'm so sorry it took me over two and a half years to get my butt into gear. I was having extreme writers block for a while and then school just kept getting in the way. Thanks again to everybody that reviewed, favorited, and/or put this on story alert! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! And a special thank you goes out to rowan-greenleaf for helping to get myself motivated. You must read Rowan's stories. They are really good!

Oh, and by the way, I know that this story doesn't go along with the books at any point in the timeline, but I've just decided to look the other way and pretend that I didn't notice. :)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own anything. I'm not nearly as clever as J.K. Rowling!

Ginny blushed as she let go of Malfoy's arm. He looked at where her hand had just been, but from his expression, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. You touched him! He's definitely going to want to leave now!

For a second, it looked as though he would, but then to her surprise he sat back down next to her.

"What would you do without me?" he asked in his pompous manner.

"Do you really want me to answer that question Malfoy?" Even though she still needed his help, she wasn't going to put up with him being high on himself.

Malfoy ignored her and started speaking. "I wrote down all of the changes you need to make. Why don't you work on that for right now, if you can handle it?" He leaned back in his chair again and watched her to gauge her reaction.

Ginny just looked at him, let out a frustrated groan and set to work.

A little while later she felt someone gently shaking her shoulders. What's going on?

"Wake up, Weasley," someone said softly.

Oh that's just great! I fell asleep. Where am I again? She looked up and her eyes fell on her awakener. Oh yeah. I forgot. I'm still here in the library being tutored by Malfoy. She sat up straight.

Malfoy still had his hands on her shoulders and was helping her to stand up. "Now I think that you really ought to call it a day."

"Did I finish?" she asked yawning.

He looked over at her paper. "I think so. It looks like it anyhow. Come on. I'll help you get everything together. Madame Pince is about to close up the library for the day." He started putting things in her bag.

Wow. What's up with this sudden change? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Malfoy was going soft. Maybe I'm still asleep… She put the last item into her bag.

"I will expect you here tomorrow at the same time to resume your tutoring. Don't be late." He turned to leave.

"Wait," she said before she could stop herself.

He stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly in her direction, but didn't turn fully around.

"Thank you. You didn't have to help me but you did anyway. I wouldn't have been able to finish without you." She blushed slightly as she realized that this was Malfoy that she was talking to. You're going to make him not want to help you. You're just reminding him that he just helped a Weasley of all people. Why can't you keep your mouth shut? She waited on bated breath to hear his reaction to her stupidity.

He turned slightly, looking like he was about to say something scathing but then thought better of it and just nodded and walked away.

Draco was walking down the hall on his way to the Slytherin common room. The sound of his shoes hitting the stone was the only sound to be heard. He thought over what had just happened.

Why didn't I say anything mean or rude to her before I left? She is a Gryffindor and a Weasley no less! In fact, why did I agree to help her in the first place? She is probably one of the people in this world that I should hate the most!

But he found that he already knew the answer. He had been sitting there waiting for her to finish her essay when he noticed that she had fallen asleep. He had almost woken her back up, but something in him had stopped him from doing so. That had given him the chance to study her.

The first thing that he had noticed was that it was really hard for him to remember that she was a Weasley. She looked beautiful as much as I hate to admit it. Her hair is just such a unique color. Not at all like her brothers'. Theirs is just… irritating. Hers looks like it is on fire when the light hits it just right. It really is a sight to see…

Draco shook himself out of his reverie. I can't be thinking this about Weasel's sister! That is just wrong, in more ways than one… But still, she really is good looking… Okay, stop it! Don't think about her like that! You don't like her!

He proceeded down the hallway trying to reassure himself of that fact. By the time he got to the Slytherin common room he had almost completely erased Ginny from his mind. He was about to go up into his dormitory when he made the mistake of looking into the fire.

It's the color of her hair… Draco smacked himself on the forehead. Great. There I go again. This is going to be a long night…

Ginny woke up the next morning in a really good mood. Why do I feel so happy? What did I do yesterday? And then she remembered. Oh yeah, I was tutoring with Malfoy… and he was actually nice to me! Well, there is a first for everything… but still! Malfoy? Maybe he's just waiting until today to tell all his friends that the "Weasel's baby sister" came crawling to him for help. Yeah that's it… he couldn't have been nice on purpose…

But for some reason, this last thought made her really sad. She shook it off and started off to the Great Hall to get some breakfast.

When Draco arrived at the library for Ginny's next tutoring session, she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she forgot all about it... or maybe she is avoiding me… Well, I'll wait for her a little while at least.

Five minutes later Ginny came bursting through the door, her bag swinging out beside her. Madame Pince didn't look too happy with her choice of entrance, but Ginny paid no attention to her and walked over to the table at the back of the library at which Draco was sitting. "I'm so sorry that I'm late. I was held up in the hallway," she said.

Draco managed to subdue his strange relief at her appearance and nodded in acknowledgement. He tried to conjure up a scathing remark to prove that he hadn't completely lost it, but he found he couldn't come up with anything for once. Odd.

Sitting down next to him at the table, she dug her potions book out of her bag, laying it down in front of her. "So, where do we start?" She looked up at him almost cautiously, as if she thought that he might run away if she wasn't careful.

She needn't have worried. Since he had agreed to tutor her, he had found himself mysteriously captivated by her. Here was a Gryffindor who was not afraid to be seen talking to a Slytherin. Because he knew what the Dream Team would say if they saw them together, especially her brother. He wouldn't be able to understand why she would choose to sit at the same table as the "enemy", even if it was just for tutoring. Draco admired her for not caring what they thought. That's one thing we have in common at least.

He noticed that she was still looking at him expectantly and he focused on what she had asked him. "Show me what you learned about in class today."

Ginny flipped through the pages of her textbook, looking for the right page. "Oh, here it is." She moved the book over in front him so he could see what was on the page.

"Alright Weasley. Here we go; you may want to take notes. And do try to keep up."

She childishly stuck her tongue out at him, but reached into her bag to get her quill pen and a piece of parchment in spite of herself.

A/N: There you have it; the end of my second chapter. I updated the first chapter too, by the way. I promise it won't take me nearly as long to update this time. I've kind of been in writing mode lately. Reviews are loved and constructive criticism is appreciated. I would love to hear your opinions.