Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. Blah, blah, blah. Moving on.

Say hello to an update! I'd been working on this for a while but it wouldn't come out right. I finally got it though! I hope you all enjoy.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed. They really mean a lot to me and I enjoy reading every single one. I'd thank you all personally, but I have a feeling you'd rather just get to the chapter. So, thanks all! Now, onward ho!

Without further ado…

Chapter 11

Draco POV

It was through Blaise that I learned that I'd succeeded in successfully completed step three in my plans to seduce the youngest Weasley. He admitted to me, though begrudgingly, that she'd told him that she liked me. Though I would have preferred the words to come from her mouth, hearing it through Blaise was better than not at all.

How to Seduce a Weasley: Step 3 – Woo the Weasley. Complete.

Now that she'd admitted to herself and others that she did indeed have feelings more than friendship with me, things would go quickly, or so I hoped. Her pesky brother, bushy haired Granger and Saint Potter may cause problems at every turn though. I could only hope they didn't get to Ginny. If they were to leave her be, I'd win this bet of ours in no time at all.

Blaise was rather hopeless as ever on his front. That Ravenclaw girl was about a dense as a rock when it came to seeing what was right in front of her. She thought of Blaise as a very willing study partner, a slightly pesky boy who wanted to become better at his classes and sought her help. The most he'd gotten out of her was a smile.

"She's breaking down though," Blaise had informed me. "She smiles more often than she did to begin with. Next weekend, when we're not brewing that stupid potion you won't let me use, I'm going to invite her on a picnic. And if she brings that cursed book bag with her I will toss it in the lake!"

I almost felt sorry for the boy. Almost.

The nearly two weeks following brewing our first, and approved, batch of the Kissing Concoction flew bye. That Wednesday after the first round of it, we sat in Slughorn's office in front of his fire for nearly two hours talking to Ginny's twin brothers about the potion. By the time they finally withdrew from the fire, we were well on our way to knowing how to change it. That was the easy part though. Then came the research.

Ginny was willing to spend no less than an entire week working out the process of changing it. So, every night, we found ourselves tucked away in a dusty corner of the library with piles of books and parchment scattered about. Blaise, thinking it would be a brilliant plan to bring her closer, invited his conquest, Kim, to join us. While a good idea in theory, it didn't go near as planned. Instead of drawing her closer to him, she and Ginny talked animatedly about the whole process for hours, working out how to change the potion as if it were a fun puzzle. She hardly spared him a glance. He didn't invite her back.

Early the next week, one of Ginny's friends joined us. Another Ravenclaw, Loony Lovegood provided for a bit more entertainment than the last. From her radish earrings to her bare feet, she was an oddity. Blaise, who was sulking at the time, drew her attention when he complained that he had no idea what we were even doing as we discussed changing the number of mistletoe berries to add. Much to my delight, Lovegood took it upon herself to explain to him, in her airy voice, the properties of mistletoe. Amongst the reasons it was used in potions, it was evidently a wonderful hiding spot for Nargles.

By the end of the second week, Ginny was confident enough for us to try brewing the potion ourselves. She'd sent a copy of our new instructions to her brothers to approve and when we got a letter back from them that Friday morning, we had the all clear to give it a go. And thus we found ourselves once again back in that abandoned classroom for another long weekend. This time Blaise didn't even bother to ask before he wandered off an hour into it. I held out hope that he'd at least bring us food back.

"I'm half tempted to tell Professor Slughorn that Blaise didn't participate," Ginny said absentmindedly as she started the potion. "But that would be mean."

"Mean but true and probably funny," I said with a grin, leaning against the table at her side, my hip pressed against hers.

"You know, maybe my brother is right. I do believe you're evil," she teased, glancing over at me with mischief sparkling in her soft brown eyes.

I gave her a hurt look. "Why, how dare you say such a thing? It was your idea to rat him out in the first place," I pointed out. "Maybe you should have been in Slytherin and I should have been in Gryffindor. Scratch that, I'd rather swallow a toad. We could both be Slytherin."

"And that would have thrilled my family so much," she said with a laugh, stirring in some silverweed.

Her laugh drew a smile to my lips. It was such a pure, innocent sound. It lightened my heart to hear it, even though the trials I was facing tried to drag me down at every turn. Not letting myself dwell on my task though, I smirked down at the small redhead next to me. "Oh, but you must admit that green wouldn't clash with that red hair of yours like the Gryffindor colors do," I pointed out, drawing another chuckle from her lips.

"That at least you have it right," she agreed, shaking her head as she stirred the potion.

Silence fell as we worked on the potion. It was a bit more complicated this time around and no less time consuming than before. We'd gotten an earlier start this weekend however and with any luck, it would be done before noon on Sunday. That would give us plenty of time to test it afterwards. That was the only little hiccup in our plans.

In the two weeks since our encounter in the hallway with her brother and Potter, I hadn't gotten any farther with Ginny. She was more cautious around me in Potions with said boys and the know-it-all so close at hand. In the library she was more herself but there was a distance she put up that I could not seem to cross. I wondered if she even realized she'd done it. This weekend though, a whole two days trapped in this little classroom with her, I hoped for a breakthrough.

But then came the little hiccup. At the end of this weekend we'd be testing out this potion and we both knew that one way or another, Ginny would be a key part in testing in. Whether she was on the receiving end of it or simply being the one giving it hadn't been decided. But one thing was for sure, there was no way I'd be willing to snog, nor have any desire to do anything greater, with Blaise. I was rather sure he felt the same.

It was not how I imagined completing step four in my plans to seduce her. I would rather she kissed me of her own accord first. And, though it was not likely since we'd already brewed the antidote, if it got any further than kissing, which was kind of the whole point of the modified potion, Blaise and I had agreed that it wouldn't count as my winning the bet. I would not need this potion however. By the end of the term, she'd come to me on her own.

Ginny POV

Letting myself fall onto the sofa, I let out a sigh of relief. So far so good and the potion was at the halfway point. I smiled over at Draco as he sat down, much more gracefully, beside me. "Now we wait," I said, closing my eyes and leaning my head back.

"Now we wait," he agreed, sliding over beside me, so close I could feel the heat radiating from him.

I hadn't really had much chance to be alone with the boy since the last time we'd brewed this potion. Everywhere we went there were prying eyes. Though I knew I liked Draco and I believed there was more to him than everyone thought, I was at least trying to keep the peace with my brother and friends. I'd managed to keep them from going to Slughorn with their suspicions of Draco slipping me the kissing concoction we had brewed but they were still not very trusting of the whole thing.

Even in the library when we were researching I tried not to let myself get too comfortable with him. There were people everywhere and the last thing I needed was for someone to tell Harry and Ron that they'd seen me all cozy with Draco. Though I wanted nothing more than to be close to him, I didn't want to my brother and friends to go crazy. I'd been wait for this weekend though, to get to spend some time alone with him. I wanted to tell him all of this, but I didn't even know if he'd understand my predicament.

I let out a frustrated sigh at the situation and let my head fall against the back of the couch. Instead of the couch though, my head fell onto Draco's arm, which turns out he'd put behind me. "Sorry," I muttered, lifting my head back up.

"Don't be," he said softly, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer to him.

My breath hitched in my throat as I was pulled against his strong, warm side. Finally giving into myself, I relaxed into his embrace and closed my eyes. Laying my head on his shoulder, I felt content. Ron would kill me if he saw us now, or rather kill Draco. But at the moment, I couldn't bring myself to care.

"You like me," Draco said casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, or even if should. Sure, it was true. Was it that obvious? More likely Blaise had told him. But then again, I was lying ever so comfortably in his arms, so that was a dead giveaway. When he made no move to speak again, I realized he was waiting for me to agree or disagree. "Of course I do," I said, not denying it. "As crazy as it is, unlikely as it may seem, I do."

"They why have you avoided me?" he probed, one of his hands tilting my face up to meet his.

For a moment, I couldn't speak as his thumb made lazy circles on my jaw. "I'm not meaning to," I finally got out. "It's just my brother and Harry and Hermione. They overreact and I'm trying not to have everything blow up in my face. The last thing I want is for you to get in trouble because of me."

Draco chuckled softly at that. "And how would you liking me get me into trouble? Your brother tries to hex me, he's in trouble. Potter tries to threaten me, he's in trouble. I've done nothing wrong other than liking you," he pointed out.

I smiled at his words, already having known he like me too but enjoying hearing him say so. Who would have thought this conversation possible a few months ago? Certainly not me. "They almost had you expelled," I said, though that may have been a bit drastic. "Well, maybe not quiet expelled but at least in serious trouble. They were convinced you'd slipped me some of the potion we brewed two weeks ago when they came upon us in the hall. I managed to talk them out of going to Slughorn, but I could tell they didn't believe me really. Or rather, they didn't want to believe I'd been doing that of my own accord."

Draco's eyes turned hard at my words for the briefest of seconds, the annoyance flashing across his face. But just as quickly it was gone. "Did you set them straight?" he asked quietly, his eyes holding mine.

"I tried to," I said honesty. "But they didn't believe me. They only didn't do anything because I begged them not to."

We lapsed back into silence and I lay my head back on his shoulder. The soft bubbling of the cauldron and out even breathing was all that could be heard. Shifting a bit, I lay my head against his chest, smiling at the sound of his strong heartbeat. Just as I could feel myself drifting to sleep, Draco shifted.

He pulled out from under me, letting me settled back onto the couch. "Potion," he explained when my eyes fluttered open to meet his. "It needs stirred."

I nodded, pulling my legs up under me and watching as he stirred the potion three times clockwise. "Sorry I drifted asleep a little bit," I said, having not even realized the time before.

He just shrugged and settled back down beside me. "Next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend," Draco said as he pulled me back into his arms. "How about I show you what a proper date would be?"

I sat there for a moment unable to comprehend what I was hearing. Sure, it was one thing for me to have feelings for him and for him to return those feelings but the fact still remained he was a Malfoy and I a Weasley. Was he really asking me on a date?

Seeing the expression on my face, he let out a chuckle. "Don't seem so shocked. We'd already gotten the formalities out of the way. I like you. You like me. That's what people do when the like each other," he pointed out as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"But my brother-" I started to say, knowing that it wouldn't be pretty.

"Can bugger off," Draco finished for me. "And Saint Potter and the know it all too."

I knew I'd face backlash for this, but he was right. That is what people do when the like each other and, as unlikely as it seemed, I did like Draco Malfoy. "Alright," I agreed with a smile. "But when everything hits the fan, you better be there for me."

"Always," he agreed, one hand sliding down to my lower back and the other moving to cup my cheek. My breath caught in my throat when I realized what was happening. Though I was already into my fifth year, I'd never been kissed. I was one of the only girls in my year able to say that. But now, as I looked into Draco's stormy grey eyes, I knew that was about to change.

For the longest of moments, he held my gaze. His eyes were like pools of liquid silver. There was a whole other world behind those eyes that I was barely able to glimpse. Emotions deeper than I thought possible swirled in his eyes. There was passion and desire. Alongside those though, there were even uncertainty, fear and desperation. And then his eyes closed and I could feel him move closer. My own fluttered closed in response.

Then his lips were on mine and all thought melted away. The world shrank down to the two of us and time held no meaning. Soft at first, his lips barely brushed mine. I melted against him, loosing myself in the moment. Before long pulled back. I could feel his gaze and opened my eyes to meet his. On his lips played a soft smile.

I smiled back, unable to make myself stop if I'd wanted to. "Draco," I sighed softly, unable to form a full thought. Before I could come up with anything, his lips were back on mine. This kiss was firmer than before, and I could feel him pull me onto his lap as he leaned back against the arm on the couch. Bracing myself with my hands on his chest, I kissed him back, feeling the passion between us building.

Before it could get too far, he broke off the kiss again. Softly, he pulled me down onto his chest, moving his legs up to rest across the couch. Content, I let myself be pulled against him. Though he wasn't breathing as hard as I was, I could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Smiling to myself, I melted into his embrace and closed my eyes.

Well, there you have it! What did you think of their first kiss? Does anybody else here wish they could switch places with Ginny? Oh to kiss that man!

Anyway! Moving along. Thanks again for everyone that reviewed before and please, keep them coming! They mean the world to me!

And as always, remember, a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!