Chapter 3:

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"Diagon Alley," A fistful of Floo powder was flung into the blazing fireplace, and the man standing inside disappeared almost immediately. The quick spinning sensation made Draco nauseous, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut. He felt the spinning slow, and threw out his elbows before he could crash head first into the blackened embers of a fireplace. He opened his eyes and surveyed where he was. The room was empty, save for the jewels that sparkled behind gleaming glass. Draco clambered to his feet. He brushed off his robes and headed for the door. His mother's words rang in his ears. "Draco, the Weasley's are outing to Diagon Alley today. I want you to be there. And be CIVIL, for God's sake. Don't ruin this for us."

Stormy eyes narrowed as he contemplated how hard being civil to the Weaselette would be. The little spitfire had a temper and attitude to match her fiery hair. He yanked open the door of the jewelers, exiting with great haste. Striding down the streets of Diagon Alley, he peered into each window, looking for the unmistakable flame that meant a Weasley was present. And where one was, they all were. He stopped abruptly when he saw a flash of copper. Looking up at the store sign, he laughed sarcastically. Of course. He thought, and walked inside of Flourish and Blotts.

"Ginny! What do you think of this book?" A voice screeched. Draco watched with amusement as a bushy haired bundle of energy nearly bowled over the Weaselette.

"I don't know, 'Mione. I haven't read..." She trailed off to read the title of the book Hermione was shoving into his face. "Complete Works of NeedleBin, the Ghost who created the Art of Knitting?" She looked wide eyes at Hermione. "Are you bloody serious?"

Draco couldn't resist a throaty, sarcastic chuckle. Both heads whipped around, one bringing wavy brown hair and the other copper curls, around with them. While the brown-nosed, bushy haired beaver glared at him, the ginger raised an eyebrow at him, maintaining a level, keen look.

"Malfoy," Granger said curtly, and he returned the heart-felt greeting.

"Granger," his eyes shifted to the girl standing tall beside her. "And Weaselet...erm...Ginevra." her eyebrow rose even higher into her forehead.

"Malf...uh...Draco," She returned sarcastically. He smirked appreciatively.

"How have you been?" He asked, pointedly toward Weasley. She eyed him warily.

"Good, and yourself?" her reply was curt. He stared at her for a moment. A blush started to raise its head over the apples in her cheeks. "Oh, right," she fidgeted. Draco was surprised to see real emotion. "I'm, um, sorry about the death, Malf-, Draco. I can't imagine..." her voice trailed off. She did know what he felt like, he realized belatedly. Because of his family.

"It's all right," he said brusquely, mentally waving off the thought. "I have to go attend to prior engagements. It was...unexpected to see you..." he lied, but it flowed flawlessly off his tongue.

"Yes...goodbye now Malfoy," Hermione snapped, turning in a huff and disappearing. Ginny opened her mouth to say something to the needled friend. She closed it and shrugged. Draco stepped forward and caught the Weaslette's hand in his. He lowered his mouth to it, gently brushing his lips against the smoothness of her skin, trying not to gag all the while. Her hand was suddenly whisked away from his, and he looked up, his attempt not to smirk failing, at her wide, nutmeg eyes.

"Good bye, Ginevra." He murmured, turning around.

"Malfoy!" A chorus of voices rang through the air, and Draco watched the Boy-In-Desperate-Need-For-A-Shag and his sidekick stalked up. He resisted the urge to insult them, and almost turned red in the effort.

"Goodbye." He managed to say again, through gritted teeth, and turned and almost ran out of the shop, cloak billowing behind him. He heard them mutter behind him, but he didn't care enough to listen hard enough. He slowed once in the street, thinking hard. He hated to admit this, but the Weaselette looked good. Her hair was still the same fiery copper, but in loose, tousled waves. Her eyes shone brightly, like the jewels he had seen in the jewelry shop he had left. Her skin was pale, like porcelain, and those freckles that had once stood so prominently out were now faded, almost invisible to the naked eye. And speaking of naked...he shook those thoughts out of his mind. This was the Weaselette; these thoughts were not encouraged, nor permitted. But he couldn't help but let his mind drift back to the scent that lingered on her palm, the delicious combination of brown sugar and vanilla. As he walked away, he wondered how bad this pursuit was going to be.

"What the hell Ginny?" Harry asked, crossing his arms angrily. Ginny blinked, being once again rudely drawn back to reality by the boy that she'd been trying not to think about. Which was a little hard, considering that he lived at the burrow with them.

"What'd I do now, Harry?" She asked dully, turning around to look at the books surrounding her. She pulled one out, looking interestedly at the title. For Those with Problems- And No Way to Solve Them. She flipped open the book, skimming through the first few pages. It seemed like a self help book- and a bloody good one at that.

"You know exactly what you did." Harry growled, and Ginny looked up, surprised, at the jealousy in his voice. She shook her head.

"Sorry, I'm coming up with a blank." She put the book under her arm, and started to walk to buy it, but was stopped when Harry grabbed her shoulder and whirled her back to face him.

"Letting Malfoy touch you like that? Letting him kiss your hand? Hell, even talking to Malfoy was a bloody mistake Ginny!" Ginny glared at Harry, and then at the hand on her shoulder. Harry hastily retracted it, stuffing it in his pocket, knowing all too well how well versed Ginny was in curses. She shook her hair back, smiling dangerously at Harry.

"I see. Well, in case you've much forgotten, I am no longer under your jurisdiction, so you have no right telling me what is right or wrong. Nor, at this point, do I take what you have to say into account, because you've already shown what poor judgment you have. I will not be yelled at by you like that anymore, considering we're hardly even friends at this point." Harry's mouth opened and he made to protest that last statement.

'Shove it, Harry. It's by my choice. I couldn't bear to be friends with you. But, for future record, that is the last time you try and tell me what is right and wrong…do you understand?" Harry nodded slowly, green eyes on fire. Ginny nodded back. "Good. Now that we're all clear…" She stalked away, smirking slightly when she heard Ron talking to Harry.

"Now you've done it." Ron whispered to Harry, and Ginny heard the resounding shuffle which meant, like typical boys, they were shoving each other around. She shook her head. That felt nice… She reflected, smiling a little. And it was true. It felt like a little bit of the weight off her chest was gone, and she could breathe more freely. Her mind wandered back to the encounter with the ferret. Why'd he call me by my first name? She wondered, mystified. She couldn't ever recall Malfoy using her first name in any context, not even to make fun of her. It was always Weasley, or Weaselette, which she hated beyond all things. She hated to admit it…but the ferret looked good. His face was strong and defined, his chiseled cheekbones and gray eyes, such like a perfect storm, were still perfectly preserved in her memory. His white gold hair was a little bit shaggy, but it played perfectly for Draco, as it always had. She sighed, and hurried to the front to buy her book. She wondered if she would ever see him again. In some distant corner of her mind, she hoped the answer was yes.

So…I pretty much had this chapter written already, that's why it was so quick. You shouldn't expect chapters once a day…but you never know!

Disclaimer: None of the characters in the chapter above, nor any preceding it, are of my own creation. They were all born by the hand of the Great JK Rowling, and I try nothing but to attempt to carry on these complex characters.

Thanks for reading! Reviews welcome!

Love, Destiny