A/N Happy New Year!

So I'm really sorry it's been so long since I lasted updated. Lots of stuff came up, but I'm re-dedicating myself to writing Birth Of A Star. Thank you for your support. x


The air had grown significantly colder in the past week, and so all the students had begun to layer up again in their respective house scarves and hats. The halls were now a sea of colour, instead of a dark cloud of grey, and Ginny in particular enjoyed this. She much preferred the colder seasons of the year as opposed to the warm seasons. She liked all the typical things associated with autumn and winter, and, like most people, was looking forward to Halloween.

It wasn't too long to go now until the holiday was upon them all; it was only ten days away, and the festive feeling was flooded throughout the school, even from the students who didn't ever care about celebrating the day. The atmosphere was strange, very different to the usual; it was a lot more cheerful. Ginny assumed that the school population had put on hold any rivalries or feuds they had going on and were just focusing on the goodness because she hadn't heard of there being any conflicts or fighting for about a week or so now, and it was definitely something she could get used to.

"Hey, Gin," Draco said, sneaking up behind the redhead.

Ginny must have been totally lost in thought because it took her several moments to realise that she was being spoken to. She turned her attention to the blond walking beside her and smiled. "Oh, good morning, Draco!" she replied.

"You seem a little out of it today," Draco teased.

"Just thinking," she replied, "all this Halloween stuff is getting me excited, but also thinky."

"I'll keep a note of that."

"Sure thing," Ginny laughed.

"So, speaking of Halloween. Do you have any plans for it? I mean, it's only a few days away now."

"I haven't got a clue. I'll probably find something to do. What are you and Blaise doing?"

"Probably just hanging out," Draco said, shrugging.

"I'll intrude your plans," Ginny said.

"I'd gladly have you intrude," Draco said, extending a smile to his companion.

"Good because you don't really have a choice, blondie."

"Blondie?"

"Blondie."

"Whatever," Draco laughed. "There's a few carriages heading down to Hogsmede today actually, Gin. Shall we go?"

"What about permission slips? Haven't heard of impromptu Hogsmede trips before."

"Today's a weird exception. I think even Dumbledore is high on holiday spirit. Won't last though. We have to grasp the opportunity as it's handed to us, Weasley."

"Let's go then," Ginny said.

The two of them walked in unison towards the edge of the castle grounds where the carriages were assembled in two straight lines. Students were piling into one, but Draco spotted one that had not yet been infiltrated with other students and he led Ginny towards it. He held out his hand to help Ginny climb on board, and then followed in suit, taking the seat beside her.

Draco decided that one of the perks of being a Malfoy who scared people away was that it meant that he got a bit of peace and quiet sometimes. But Draco was more than happy to share his peace and quiet with Ginny. There was agreement between the pair that having nobody else in the carriage with them was a good thing.

They filled the time with small talk and random chatter, and before long they reached the carriage parking in the middle of the town. Students had already crowded to cobbled streets which meant soon they would be found in every nook and cranny of the place. Draco sighed.

Ginny stepped off the carriage, with the support of Draco, and stared in awe at the decorations that were dressing the shops and light posts. The street lighting illuminated their respective areas orange and green, and cobwebs hung from the corners of every building. One of the things that the wizarding world did very well was festivities.

She looked down at the wrist and read the time off her watch. It was approaching noon Ginny could have probably told the time without looking at her clock because her stomach began to gargle, indicating that it was a meal time. She looked up at Draco and laughed.

"You sound hungry," he said, smirking.

"A bit. I've trained my body."

"You've trained it?"

"I eat at very specific points throughout the day."

"Yeah, Gin, we all do. It's what happens when you go to boarding school," Draco chuckled.

"Ah but that's where everybody else falls down! They don't carry snacks around with them all the time."

"I was wondering why your bag was always crunching."

"Well now you know," Ginny said, copying Draco's smirk.

"You're just full of enlightening information as usual," he laughed.

"You love it."

"I surely do. Do you want to get some food?"

"Only if you're paying," Ginny said, half-joking.

"Of course. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't pay for your meal?" he replied.

"Not a very gentle one," Ginny said.

"That's right."

Draco led the way down the streets, weaving in and out of gatherings of students in their year and in the year below them. They got themselves a few weird looks, but for the most part they seemed to disappear into the crowd. Well, as much as a girl with bright red hair and a boy with an ego the size of a continent can. Despite Ginny's persistent asking, Draco wouldn't tell her where he was taking her. So, Ginny just followed in helplessness, watching him with careful eyes.

Her feet began to ache after a while of walking. She was certain they had spent half a day walking to the restaurant, however when she checked her watch she realised only ten minutes had gone by. She groaned in displeasure.

"How much longer, Draco?" she whined.

"Calm down, Weasley. Just around the corner."

"I swear that better be accurate or I'll give you a hex and it won't be a delicate one like the one you gave Maria."

"Delicate?"

"Compared to me, anything is delicate."

"You could say that alright," Draco muttered, turning back momentarily to steal and swift glance at the red head.

"No but seriously, if we don't turn this corner and end up at the restaurant door I will be angry with you, Draco Malfoy," Ginny said, laughing. However, malice could be heard through the laughter and it somewhat excited Draco.

"A gentleman never lies," he replied. He grasped at Ginny's hand and pulled her closer to him, moving her forward so she was situated more at his side as opposed to her being behind him.

They turned the corner and Ginny looked at her surroundings in hope of seeing somewhere to eat. But before she could see a restaurant, the smell of food wafted into her nostrils and excitement filled her.

"What did I say, Weasley?" Draco grinned. "You ought to trust me."

"I do now," Ginny said.

"Great. After you," he said, opening the door for Ginny to allow her to walk in first. He followed.

Ginny looked around her. It was a lot fancier than she had been expecting. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling sporadically. The tables were covered with simple, white table cloths that had been ironed to perfection and draped beautifully over the edge of the surface like water rippling over the edge of a waterfall in perfect symmetry. A small tealight candle was lit and placed in a glass container in the middle of each of the tables, and the cutlery and chinaware was most stunning to Ginny.

"Like it?"

"If the food is anything like the décor, I think I'm going to love this place," Ginny said, taking in her surroundings in great detail, creating a mental picture of every inch of the room to look back on later in the day.

Ginny followed Draco as he led her to a table in a secluded corner in the back of the restaurant.

"I find it's always best to stay out of the way of others in places like this," he revealed as he pulled out a chair for Ginny to sit on.

Ginny smiled courteously at him and sat down. "Why's that?"

"You never know who's there listening."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"For somebody like me it is," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"Somebody like you?"

"That's a story for another time," he said, pouring them both a glass of water from the jug on the table.

A waitress came to take their orders, and soon enough they were indulging themselves in a meal fit for royalty. Ginny didn't know whether to rush it down because it was that delicious or to savour every bite as if it was her last, because it more than likely would be her last time eating there. She sighed.

After an hour or so, Ginny and Draco had finished their meal and had partaken in more small talk. Ginny felt herself becoming exhausted with the amount of times Draco had asked how she was that day, but part of her was happy that he was showing an interest in her and cared enough to ask her, even if the amount of times he'd asked was quite excessive.

Draco insisted on paying for both of them and pushed Ginny's purse aside when she was being stubborn.

"Thanks for that," Ginny said, smiling at Draco when they left the restaurant.

"Don't worry about it. You look like you enjoyed it."

"Oh, I did!" she exclaimed, and then Ginny went off on a tangent of vivid descriptions of the smell and taste of the food she had just eaten, while Draco chuckled by her side as they walked back down towards where the rest of the students were hovering.

"Where would you like to go?" Ginny asked.

"I'm here quite a lot, so it's really up to you. We can go to Honeydukes?" he suggested in reply.

"Sure!" she said with enthusiasm. She was having a good day, and Draco was in a good mood so she was going to try and take advantage of it as much as she could. "And then maybe we can go and look at clothes after?"

"Don't push it, Weasley."

"Fine."

Ginny pushed open the small door leading to the sweet shop and kept it held open so Draco could walk through too. This Honeydukes was a lot different to the Honeydukes she was used to. Her Honeydukes was brightly coloured with an uncountable amount of sweets lined up neatly on all sides of the shop in dazzling golden jars. This Honeydukes was slightly dark inside, but the sweets popped out on the shelves because of this. She was in awe despite the difference. Sweets always made her feel good.

"You going to look around or buy something? Or are you just going to daydream forevermore?" Draco said, teasing the girl. He poked her arm and laughed.

"Sorry. Thinky."

"I know."

"Hey, what's that?" Ginny said, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him over to a strange box.

"You haven't seen these before?" he asked.

"I haven't. What is it?"

"It's just a collection of all the best sellers. It's what I always go for if I'm buying because I can never make up my mind."

Ginny shrugged. "That's what I'll do then."

She picked up a box and brought it over to the cashier to buy it.

"Allow me," Draco said, handing over some change to the lady behind the till.

Ginny glared.

"Your boyfriend is quite the gentleman, Miss," the cashier said, obviously doting over Draco.

Ginny and Draco both laughed awkwardly and, without saying a word, turned and walked away.

"Your boyfriend is quite a gentleman, Weasley," Draco said.

"Shush it, you," Ginny replied.

"You only wish you could get on this."

"Cocky."

"You bet."

Ginny smirked at him.

Several hours past and soon they found themselves back at Hogwarts.

The pair made their way to the door of the Slytherin common room, and an awkward silence fell between them Neither of them seemed sure of what to do, and both knew that they were reading way too much into it all. A few shy chuckles and smiles were shared until Ginny broke the silence.

"I had a really nice time with you today, Draco," she said.

"I did with you also," he replied. Draco wasn't sure what proper protocol was for this situation, and so he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, I suppose."

"Okay, good night, Ginny," Draco said.

He turned on his heels and walked to his dormitory and saw Blaise sprawled out on his bed with a smirk on his face. Upon hearing the creaking of the door, he immediately jumped up from his bed and stood at the foot of it.

"There's the very person I've been waiting to talk to all day but he blew me off for some ginger," Blaise teased, his head cocked to one side as he laughed.

Draco only glared at him in return as he made his way over.

"Ah now, there's no need for your grumpy face."

"Shove off, Zabini. I was in a great mood til I saw you."

"Have a nice date then I take it?"

"It wasn't a date."

"It was definitely a date," Blaise insisted.

"How would you know, you weren't even there," Draco said, tired of the back and forth between himself and his companion.

"I can just tell. You have a glow about you."

"Oh, do I now?" Draco said, giving a small chuckle.

"See, that girl's even got you laughing! Man, I hate to break the news to you, but I think you like her."

"Excuse me?"

"Little Drake has a crush on our dear Ginny Weasley, doesn't he?"

Draco shrugged and continued chuckling. "Night, Zabini."

"See you in the morning, lover boy."

Draco got changed into his nightwear and climbed into bed. He wrapped the duvet around him and laid on his side so he was facing a wall instead of his companion. He knew he'd never get to have a good think if he had to face his friend. All that he would think of if that was the case were the many ways he wanted to kill him.

But instead of his mind being filled with thoughts of the harming of his friend, it was instead plagued with the face of Ginny, and that was what he fell asleep to.