Ginny awoke with a start. She looked around her room, blinking her eyes rapidly to clear her mind of the horrific images. Terror still clutched at her throat and her nightgown clung to her body.

It was the same nightmare she'd been having for the past few years. Almost every night Ginny dreamt of Tom Riddle and his horrible diary. Biting back a small sob, Ginny lay back down and tried to quiet her racing mind.

Tom's gone, he can't hurt you anymore, she repeated over and over. Harry got rid of him and he'll never be back. He can't hurt you, he can't hurt you.

Ginny tossed and turned a bit, hugging her stuffed weasel tightly to her chest. Finally, she gave up and decided to go into Ron's room and crawl into bed with him, as that always helped her fall asleep when she was little. It wasn't until she was halfway up the stairs to her older brother's room that Ginny realized she couldn't go crawling into bed with her brother because Harry was sleeping in there as well.

Sighing lightly, Ginny headed back down to her room but deciding at the last second to journey to the kitchen and make a cup of tea. Surely, she thought, some hot tea would help her get back to sleep. Ginny emerged into the kitchen and set about making her tea. She was just getting a mug out of the cabinet when she noticed him. Ginny gasped loudly, almost dropping her mug.

"Malfoy," Ginny called out softly, "What in Merlin's name are you doing sitting in the shadows like that? You scared the life out of me!" She hissed.

Ginny could just make out Draco Malfoy's expression by the sliver of moonlight that shone in through the kitchen window. As always he was smirking. Ginny set her mug on the kitchen table with a clink and crossed her arms.

"Well?" She demanded. "Why aren't you sleeping? Why are you sitting down here in the dark?"

Draco took a sip out of the glass in front of him and grimaced slightly before answering. "Why is it any of your business what I'm doing awake, Virginia?" He drawled and by the moonlight Ginny could see that one delicate eyebrow was arched in amusement.

Setting her jaw, Ginny sat down opposite him and placed her hands, palm down, on the table. "First of all it's my business because Mum put me in charge of your recovery. You need to rest if you're going to heal anytime soon. Second of all, this is my house and I want to know why you're sitting here all alone in my kitchen." Ginny raised her eyebrows in anticipation of an answer. Then, a thought occurred to her and the irritated expression vanished.

"You had another nightmare didn't you?"

She sensed rather than saw Draco stiffen. He took another sip from his glass. "Why do you care, Virginia?"

Ginny sighed, exasperated. "Okay, as lovely as you make my given name sound, Malfoy please don't call me Virginia. If you want to use my first name use Ginny." She paused, thinking she saw him smile genuinely, but then continued as his countenance returned to his usual Malfoy smirk. "And I care because you need your rest. These nightmares are keeping you up and that's not good. You need to sleep, Malfoy."

Draco looked mutinous and his eyes flashed a bright silver-gray as he spoke. "You can't tell me what to do, Ginny. I don't answer to you or anyone else for that matter. So bugger off and leave me be."

"Listen, you…" Ginny sputtered her eyes slits of anger. "Ungrateful git! If it weren't for Mum and me, you would have died. You were quite bloodied up when you appeared in our fireplace; bleeding internally with quite a few broken bones I might add. So you can sod off with that pretentious Malfoy attitude of yours because if Mum hadn't dragged you away from Ron, you'd be floating face down in the pond outside."

Still huffing, she got up from the table and went over to the stove. She reappeared at the table, boiling kettle in hand. She glanced over at Draco, who seemed to still be absorbing her outburst.

He swallowed audibly, the defiant expression gone. Now he looked slightly affronted. "Did he really want to kill me?"

"Can you blame him? You're awful to my brother. I might want to kill you too if all you did was make fun of me."

Ginny glanced up from pouring her tea and almost spilled the piping hot liquid all over the table. The moonlight had caught Draco's eyes and hair, making them glow brilliant silver. His expression unsettled and excited Ginny all at once.

Draco was eyeing her, his head slightly cocked to the side, his lips pursed. What he said next caused Ginny to sit down heavily in her chair.

"I don't think you'd ever be capable of such hatred as to kill anyone, Ginny." A pause. "You're too sweet for that."

The two shared an uncomfortable silence, but their eyes never left one another. A barrage of emotions passed over Draco's face, which struck Ginny as usual considering how impossible to read the Slytherin was most of the time. Suddenly, Draco looked away and raised his glass to his lips.

Ginny's attention was brought to the glass in his hand. She nodded towards it, happy for an excuse to break the silence. "What are you drinking, Malfoy?"

Draco peered over at her and smirked. "As lovely as you make my last name sound, Ginny, call me Draco." He drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm and something else Ginny couldn't quite place.

He held up his glass. "And I'm drinking a Châteaux Lafite."

"A what?"

"A Châteaux Lafitte. It's a very good and very expensive red wine."

Ginny looked curiously at the glass. "Lafitte? I've never heard of it. Who makes it?"

Draco looked suddenly embarrassed and Ginny was shocked almost out of her chair to see that his cheeks colored slightly as he spoke. "It's er, a Muggle wine from France."

Ginny raised her eyebrows, but couldn't keep a smile off her face. "A Muggle wine?" Draco nodded, taking another sip. "You're drinking a Muggle red wine?"

"It's good." Draco replied, rather defensively. A look of slight irritation was beginning to form at his brow.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day."

"What? Me drinking?"

Ginny snorted. "No, you drinking something Muggles drink. You hate Muggles. Why would you drink something they make?"

Draco's face tightened. "Do not presume," He began his voice harsh. "to know what I like and do not like. You know nothing about me, Ginny."

"Well, I...it's just," Ginny stopped and swallowed. "I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to assume anything. It's just that, well, you never seemed to like Muggles or Muggleborns. You make fun of Hermione for being a Muggleborn and-"

"My father hates Muggles." Draco cut Ginny off mid-sentence. He was staring at the glass in his hands with an expression Ginny had seen on him before. Pure hatred made his eyes glow an eerie gray. "I don't think anything bad of Muggleborns or Muggles in general. But when you grow up being taught that you're better than everyone else, especially Muggles, and when perfection is beaten into you….." He shuddered, visibly. "Let's just say you'll say and do anything to stop the pain."

Ginny swallowed and, despite her best efforts, let out a tiny sob. Draco looked over at her. He looked somewhat shocked, as if he'd forgotten she was even there. The horrible expression of hatred vanished and he got up.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked, hoping that he wasn't ready for bed. Without answering, Draco walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. He filled his cup with water and returned to the table. This time, however, he sat in the chair next to Ginny.

He set his glass down on the table and looked over at her. Ginny was barely visible in the near blackness of the kitchen, but Draco could tell she was wearing nothing more than a thin cotton nightdress. "Getting more wine,"

Ginny quirked her eyebrow and reached for the glass. When Draco made no move to stop her, she picked it up and brought it to her lips. She took a small sip from the glass, and then set it back down on the table. "But it's only water."

Draco grinned, but it wasn't his usual condescending grin. He reached over and tapped the glass with his wand (which Ginny hadn't noticed he'd taken out) and muttered something under his breath. Nothing happened. Draco held the glass out to Ginny and she took it. She brought it to her lips, but even before she tasted the contents, she smelled the unmistakable aroma of alcohol. She took a quick, big gulp, and swallowed. Immediately she began to sputter and choke. Draco reached out and put his hand lightly on her back.

"Ginny? Are you OK? I should have told you not to take a big sip. It's pretty powerful stuff if you're not used to the taste." Ginny continued to sputter. Draco's brow furrowed and he got up suddenly from his seat. He returned with another glass, this one filled with water.

"Here, take a drink of this." He brought the glass up to her lips. As Ginny drank she placed both her hands over his where they held the cup. He stiffened slightly from the contact, but did not remove his hands. Once she had drained the entire glass, Draco brought it away from her lips and sat back down.

When she hadn't coughed for a full minute, he leaned in closely and looked her over. "You all right, then?"

Ginny, whose head was bowed, more out of embarrassment than anything else, nodded. "Yes." She croaked, and then cleared her throat.

She raised her blue eyes to Draco's gray and smiled, sheepishly. "I like it. Where did you lean to do that?"

Draco looked down at the glass in his hands. "I watched my father do it so many times that it just sort of stuck with me. It's his favorite wine, though ironically it is a Muggle drink. He would transfigure glass after glass of the stuff at dinner and parties. So, one day, while he wasn't looking, I transfigured my glass of water into red wine. I was afraid my father would see what I'd done, so I got rid of the wine as quickly as possible by drinking it all in one, huge gulp. Not one of my brighter ideas, as I started to choke just like you. My father noticed and….." Draco trailed off, his eyes turning that chilling shade of steel once more.

Then, he smiled slightly and turned his gaze back to Ginny. "I'm surprised I still drink the stuff after what my father did to me. But what can I say? It grew on me and now I drink it to remind myself of the good 'ol days."

That said, Draco brought the glass to his lips and drank.

Ginny looked at him for a long moment, unsure of how to respond to his story. Finally, she decided not to say anything at all and reached out for the glass. "May I have some more?"

Draco chuckled and slid the wine filled glass toward her. "By all means, help yourself. But take it slow. I don't think it would look too good if your parents came downstairs to you and I passed out on the couch."

"You could always carry be back up to my room."

Draco nodded. "I could. Somehow, though, I think it would look even worse if your parents came into your room and found us snuggled under the covers." He eyed Ginny in such a way that made her blush. She took another, smaller sip from the glass and grimaced. She handed him the glass and he took another sip.

"I wonder how well the youngest Weasley holds her liquor." Draco wondered out loud. Ginny grinned impishly and took the cup from his hand.

"Watch and learn, Draco. Watch and learn."

The two sat like that for so long that Ginny didn't notice the pre-dawn state of the kitchen. By then, they were on their third glass and Ginny was feeling more than a bit tipsy. She began to giggle out of nowhere for the umpteenth time and Draco, finally noticing how early it was getting, took the glass of wine out of her hand. He was affected, but much less so than Ginny. It was all he could do to keep the tittering redhead on her chair.

"Okay Gin, you're officially cut off." Draco set the glass of wine on the table, but Ginny made a grab for it. Chuckling, he snatched it from her grasp and carried it over to the sink. He poured the rest of the wine down the drain and turned around just in time to dart forward and catch Ginny before she hit the kitchen floor.

Draco hoisted Ginny easily into his arms and headed for the stairs. Her face was pressed against his neck and her breathing was sending chills up his spine. She stirred in his arms and lifted her head to peer at him.

"Wherewegoin'?" Ginny slurred and it was all Draco could do not to smile outright.

"I'm putting you to bed, Miss Weasley. You are drunk and it's almost morning and you need rest."

"Oh." She replied and hugged herself to him more tightly.

Once they were in her room, Draco deposited his inebriated load onto her bed. He smiled slightly as she rolled over and immediately grabbed hold of her stuffed weasel. He pulled her rose embroidered blanket up to her chin and turned to leave, when her tiny hand shot out from beneath the covers and grasped his wrist. He looked at Ginny, whose eyes were wide open, and raised his eyebrows in question.

"Please stay." Her voice was soft, but even.

Draco started. That wasn't what he had expected. Judging by the way Ginny acted while drunk, he'd expected her to say something nonsensical, then giggle and roll over. But looking at her now, Draco could hardly believe she was drunk.

"Ginny," He began, unsure how to reply. "I can't. We can't. It's not right. I won't take advantage of you in this state."

She gazed at him a moment, stuffed weasel in hand, as if unclear as to what he was referring. Then suddenly her face went red with comprehension and humiliation. "Oh, oh," she stammered. "no, Draco. I-I didn't mean like that."

Draco raised an eyebrow and Ginny continued, somewhat shyly. "I just don't want to be left alone. My nightmares are getting worse and-"

"Nightmares?"

Ginny shuddered visibly. "I'd really rather not talk about them right now. I just don't want to fall asleep by myself. Please, Draco. Just stay until I fall asleep. Then you can go back to your room." Ginny took in a deep breath, then let it out.

"Please."

Draco closed his eyes briefly, but nodded. He knew all too well what it was like to not want to fall asleep alone. Draco sat down on the edge of Ginny's bed. "Okay, but only until you fall asleep. Merlin help us both if anybody finds me in here."

For a moment Ginny looked like she might cry. Instead, she reached out and grasped Draco's hand tightly. "Thank you." She replied, barely above a whisper.

To Draco's own surprise, he squeezed her hand back. Even more to his surprise his free hand went to her face, where he smoothed away her fiery tendrils. "You're welcome." He whispered. "Now close your eyes, Ginny. I'll be right here, I promise."