Days passed, then weeks. Ginny kept busy and tried not to think about Draco, but it wasn't easy. The first time she passed him in the corridor, their eyes met for a moment, and the expression on his face wasn't gloating or indifferent. In fact, he almost looked…hurt. But the next second he was laughing and talking with his friends, and Ginny was sure he had imagined it.

During the day Ginny had plenty to occupy her mind, but at night she had trouble sleeping. She'd never been prone to insomnia, usually just falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but now it was different. She kept remembering the feel of Draco's warm hands on her back, the sound of his voice telling her she was beautiful. Sometimes she even caught herself daydreaming about him during lessons, and had to shake her head to make herself snap out of it.

One day after potions, she was slowly climbing the stairs to the dining hall. Margaret was in the hospital wing with a bad case of food poisoning, so Ginny was alone, dragging her feet and thinking about a certain blond-haired Slytherin once again. She was slightly startled upon looking up to see Michael coming down the stairs toward her, but not surprised. He had this annoying habit of meeting her after lessons.

"Hi," she said halfheartedly after he'd kissed her hello. She tried for a smile but by the expression on Michael's face she simply looked like she was about to be sick.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, grasping her shoulders and looking right into her eyes. Ginny wished he would stop touching her. She wished he wasn't so nice so she wouldn't feel like such a royal bitch. She wished a lot of things. It never did any good.

Michael was still looking at her expectantly. "Nothing," she replied, trying to sound cheerful. He didn't look convinced, so Ginny kissed him to stop him saying anything else. "I'm fine," she insisted when they broke apart. She even cracked a smile. Michael grinned. "There's my little ray of sunshine," he teased, wrapping his arms around her again. Ginny relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder. This wasn't so bad, really. Nothing like how she felt for Draco or even Harry for that matter, but you couldn't have everything…

Someone cleared their throat. Ginny opened her eyes and was horrified to see Draco standing there, holding a stack of textbooks and looking like he'd been forced to swallow cod-liver oil. "Excuse me," he said in a bored voice.

"Sorry," Ginny hissed, yanking Michael out of the way. Before she knew it, however, Draco tripped and went sprawling, textbooks flying everywhere. Michael laughed cruelly. Ginny could have slapped him, but restrained herself with some difficulty. "Catch you later, Michael," she called over her shoulder as she hurried over to help Draco.

"Whatever," he muttered, and turned away. Ginny sighed with relief as the last echo of his footsteps faded.

"I thought he'd never leave. Are you all right?" Ginny saw that Draco's cheek was bleeding. She touched it gingerly with her fingertips. He flinched, snatched the book she was holding away from her, and stood up.

"Fine, thanks," he said shortly, and started to walk away. But Ginny couldn't leave it like that. "That's it?" she called after him. "No apologies, no explanations?"

He paused, turned to face her. "What have I got to apologize for?" he asked bitterly. "Or did you forget who stood who up on Valentine's Day?"

Fury surged through Ginny's veins. How dare he act like he was the injured party? "After you told Pansy Parkinson I meant nothing to you, I thought it was okay to break the date. Or was that rude?" She walked toward him, the sound of her footsteps like gunshots on the stone floor. "Should I have waited until you explained that you didn't date 'blood traitors' to decide you weren't worth my time? You make me sick, you arrogant, lying son of a - "

She never got to finish her sentence because he swooped in and kissed her, dropping all of the textbooks again in the process. And the feel of his lips on hers was sweet oblivion, her eyes drifted shut as he gathered her up in his arms-

With an enormous effort, Ginny pulled away. "Don't," she said brokenly. "Don't think you can just kiss me and make everything all right again. I'm not going to just fall into your arms without any explanation. I'm not that kind of girl."

He gave a tired sort of smile. "I know that, Ginny. It's one of the many things I like about you. But you gotta give me a chance. It's complicated, and very secret."

She snorted. "What are you, some kind of spy?"

He didn't say a word, just looked at her. Ginny stared back. He sighed, then walked into an empty classroom and gestured for her to follow. She did so warily, keeping one hand near her wand at all times. Never trust a Slytherin, her brother's voices echoed in her ears. He shut the door behind her, but Ginny did not feel ill at ease. Draco wasn't just any Slytherin, after all. He sat on a desk, then got up and paced.

"This is incredibly important, okay? You can't tell anyone. God, I shouldn't even be telling you, but it can't really be helped, I don't know what else to do…"

Ginny was growing impatient with his rambling. At last he settled himself on the desk next to her and got to the point.

"My father was a Death Eater, Ginny. He worked for Voldemort. He wants me to follow in our family's glorious tradition of Dark wizards. But I don't want power, and I don't want to see people suffer. There's no happiness in that. Professor Snape taught me that, when I first came to Hogwarts. He showed me that I could choose another path. I could choose to be different from my father."

He paused, took a deep breath. Ginny didn't interrupt.

"I was…reluctant at first. Scared to step out of my family's shadow. But then I realized that I didn't want to be like them. I wanted to be one of the good guys."

Ginny was beginning to believe him. He was displaying such raw honesty, speaking with a sincerity that couldn't be faked, his eyes bright and hopeful as he glanced her way.

"This year, I was ready to ditch my old friends and make a fresh start. But the first day of term, Professor Snape took me aside. He told me that…funny things were starting to happen. He asked me to keep an eye on my friends…and my father. I agreed."

Draco hesitated again. When he next spoke, his words came slower and softer.

"Naturally, this meant I had to make certain sacrifices. I had to keep hanging out with the same old stupid people, had to keep acting like a jerk 24/7. But then you came around, and I let my guard down a little. I started to think that you could make it all worth it. Everything I've had to do. Was I wrong?"

He looked so sweet and earnest then, like a little boy who's made a mess and he knows it and he's sorry. And Ginny found that she couldn't stay mad at him. She kissed him lightly, sweetly, and that was the only answer he needed. He put his arms around her and pulled her close before kissing her long and deep, and she forgot everything. She forgot that he had hurt her, she forgot that this was insanity, she forgot that she had a boyfriend. She forgot everything except the feel of his lips and the softness of his hair, because he was the cure for her sleepless nights, and him alone.