Ginny was so enamored by the overview of the subject , despite her previous knowledge, she found that Dumbledore's voice reading over it was , if possible, making her more interested in Alchemy. The class passed quickly, too quickly for Ginny's liking, and she was in no rush to leave. To her surprise, it seemed that Malfoy was thinking similarly as they both approached the Professor.

Dumbledore smiled at his two intelligent pupils as they approached his desk,

"Well, how did my first class in over fifteen years go?"

Draco Malfoy rolled his eyes, despite his obvious interest in the subject. Dumbledore had watched as the young man read the few pages of the introduction, his eyes widening and shining when something particularly interesting was being mentioned. Yet, he knew about his reputation and the "image" he had to maintain and continued to smile despite it.

"It was wonderful Professor! And to think, Nicolas Flamel was once a great friend of yours!" Ginny's smile widened, "I can't wait to dig deeper into the subject and learn more."

"Yes, Weasley, we know you must be so excited to be able to attend Hogwart's and receive an actual education. Although you could still use for some home training on manners," Malfoy drawled out with a scowl.

Ginny didn't let him ruin her good mood but she bid Professor Dumbledore a good day and quickly made her way to the Common Room to enjoy her free period.

Ginny had changed, grabbed her broom, and practically ran to the Quidditch Pitch to enjoy her free period in the warm air. She hadn't spent much time outside over the summer, that's for sure, and her skin could use the Vitamin D. It was a lovely day- the sun was high in the sky, a slight breeze fluttered through the trees, and the flowers were in full bloom on the grounds. Her feet felt the familiar ground beneath them with each step. She took off on a sprint from the castle doors to the Quidditch Pitch only stopping slightly to put her broom beneath her and adjust for take off. Her feet pushed off the ground effortlessly, as it had done numerous times before, her hair whipped back, dancing in the wind. She had never even noticed the other student that had arrived.

She was practicing her dives and spins when a streak of black was seen through her peripherals. She turned quickly towards the sight but just missed it before she saw it on the other side and turned that way and then felt them fly above her, again, quick and nimbly, just staying out of her sight. She began to lower herself to the ground, feeling uneasy of the situation before a hand reached from behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Better watch yourself there, Weasley," Malfoy sneered at her.

"I have every right to the Pitch just as you do!" Ginny replied indignantly, ignoring her original fear of the situation at hand.

"Oh come on, Weasley, I was just having a bit of fun with you," a slight smirk appeared on his pale face. His hair was hanging just slightly in his eyes, and his cheeks were flush from the warm air and the breeze. His eyes were glistening mischievously, and despite Ginny's prior fear, she couldn't help but to feel as though he was teasing her without his usual maliciousness. And, Merlin, he looked good this year! She had always known that Malfoy was attractive, since she had first seen him, even if she didn't acknowledge so, her dorm mates would always gossip about this or that in his personal life and his physique. Draco Malfoy was the "forbidden fruit" of the Gryffindor women, for although each thought he was the definition of good looking, no one would tarnish their own reputation by pursuing him in any way.

Ginny realized that she had not replied and had spent a good bit of time instead admiring him.

A fierce blush covered her face before she decided to break the silence by swiftly hitting his arm, "You're It!" and taking off at full speed. A smile, a real smile, broke out across his face as he pursued her.

Draco Malfoy had never grown up with siblings, nor cousins near his age. He had hardly ever played games like "Tag" unless he could devise it behind his father's back with the House Elves. His first friend had been a Muggle girl he had met when wandering the edge of his mother's garden. She was loud and rambunctious and he had enjoyed keeping their friendship a secret for awhile, until she had lost her toy doll on their grounds. They had spent the entire day searching for the doll to no avail, and they had both been late for dinnertime and still had not found it. His father had found it the next morning, burnt it in the fireplace with a repugnant look on his face, and forbade him from playing with Elise ever again. He was banned from being outside for the rest of the Spring and come summertime, she had went on Holiday and he had never seen her again.

His next friend had been Blaise Zabini at the age of five. Blaire was fun to socialize with at the many functions they were expected to appear at, but he could never be trusted. Blaise Zabini was a survivalist and he would always turn his back on you. His loyalties were to himself only.

Draco found himself lost in the childish game of Tag as they raced around the Quidditch Pitch together. They had made subtle jokes and mocked one another, all in the name of the game and he found that he was smiling more than he had ever before. The simplistic banter between the two was carried on easily, and neither had taken anything offensively. He watched as she moved gracefully, obviously skilled in how to handle a broomstick. Shaking his head, he glanced at his watch, "Weasley!"

"Weasley!" he yelled again, as he chased after her.

"Don't think I'm falling for any of your tricks, Malfoy," she replied as she picked up speed.

"Weasley! Free period is over!" he yelled, trying to get her to focus on the important part of what he was saying.

She giggled, as she did small loops, avoiding his chase. "Malfoy, don't be a sore loser and admit you can't catch me!"

With a huff, Malfoy landed gracefully on the ground. Ginny continued flying through the air until she realized that he was no longer gaining on her. She spotted him standing in the middle of the Pitch, arms crossed across his chest and his broom resting against his body. His face looked mischievous again with a twinkle in his eyes, despite the lack of expression in his face.

"Free period ended 15 minutes ago," he said blandly.

"Malfoy! Why didn't you tell me?" she stomped up to him and pushed him.

He threw his hands in the air, "I did tell you! You hardheaded woman! I yelled your name 10 times and said that free period was ending another 6 times! What did you think I was saying?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "Something to help you cheat!" Her face broke into a frown as she contemplated the situation at hand. Free period ended 15 minutes ago. That made her 10 minutes late to class already, but she would have to go to her room and change first, which would make her about 25 minutes late, and then the trip down to the Green Houses would add another 15 minutes from the Common Room. Shrugging her shoulders again, she shook her head and was about to hop on her broom and take off when Malfoy reached a hand out to the top of her broom.

His eyes were wide and filled with questions, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, if I leave now, I will be almost an hour late! And that's if I don't take a shower before heading down to Herbology. Therefore, I have decided that I am going to skip that class, fly for a couple more minutes, and then go to my Common Room and change for Lunch." She smiled and flicked her hair over her shoulder before kicking off.

She looked back at him with a carefree smile, "Coming or not?"

He instinctively took the bait, kicked off the ground, and chased after her, quickly touching her shoulder her said, "You're It!" before racing away again.

At Lunch, she was approached by Demelza Robins, a fellow Quidditch teammate that was in her year. She was much taller than Ginny but she was much skinnier. Her hair was a pretty reddish-brown and her eyes were bright blue. Demelza and her had never really been close, but they had shared plenty of time and laughs together being in the same dormitory year after year.

"You missed Herbology, Gin. Is everything okay?" She asked concerned.

"Oh… yeah I'm fine. I went to take a nap after my first class of the day and I didn't wake up in time for Herbology," Ginny answered with a slight glance at the Slytherin table. Her mind wandered back to the enjoyable time she had that m4orning with Malfoy. A slight smile popped on her face as her mind slipped away in reverie.

"Ginny?" Demelza waved a hand in front of her face. "Helloo?"

"Oh, sorry! I am in such a weird mood today," Ginny explained and shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Demelza shifted closer, "I know we aren't

the greatest of friends, Gin, but you can tell me." Ginny gave her a confused look and she continued, "who is it that struck your fancy already?"

Demelza scanned around the Great Hall, stopping and suggesting names, "Anthony Goldstein maybe? No, oka.., how about Ernie Macmillan? He's really a nice guy.. Oh, I guess not. Hmm, Terry Boot? He has a similar personality to Harry..."

"I do not fancy anyone Demelza," she giggled lightly, "I am happy to be back at Hogwarts, especially after the boring summer I had. But I can't help but be reminded of all the bad- the War, my family and friends being safe, and then all the memories this castle holds on top of that. It would be much easier if I had some school girl crush!"

"If you say so Gin, but I know that look!"

"Well, what about you? Anyone caught your fancy?"

Demelza gave a coy smile, "You promise not to cast any judgement?"

Ginny held out her pinky, a childish notion that she chose not to let go. Their fingers hooked tightly together and Demelza leaned in, "It's Neville!"

"Ne-?" her hand clamped over her own mouth as she realized how loud she was.

"Shhh!! Don't let the whole bloody school know. But yes. We actually met over the summer in Diagon Alley and got ice cream together." She took her elbow and nudged Ginny, "And if you didn't notice, he has grown into quite the man," her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Ginny's face scrunched up, while she tried to hold her lunch down. "No I did not notice!"

Her friend laughed, "Well you're the only one. He's got quite the little fan club already."

Ginny leaned close and whispered, "Neville? Longbotton? Are you sure that we are talking about the same person here? Neville, who can't hardly hold a full conversation without sputtering? Neville, who is deathly afraid of both Snape and his grandmother? There must be some kind of mistake.

As if on cue, Neville walked into the Great Hall.

"Watch," Demelza whispered back.

And so she did. Ginny watched as the Patil twins frantically whispered between themselves, their eyes following Neville down the aisle. Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, waved and smiled at him, but he didn't notice, as his head was down staring at his hand. A short Second Year girl, turned to her friend and pretended to faint from his looks. Similar reactions were seen in a multitude of the female population, even including, some Slytherins.

"Merlin, I didn't even know it," Ginny gasped.

"Don't know what, Gin?" Neville asked, as he sat opposite of the two girls.

"Oh, nothing, just some Quidditch stuff," she quickly replied.

The girls exchanged a glance and broke out into soft giggles. Ginny had decided that this year would be solely about her happiness. With the Golden Trio gone, Ginny could do whatever she wanted without interference and maybe a friend like Demelza was just what she needed to help her enjoy it even more.