Chapter XII

Being next to him in class was torture. Whenever he came closer to the cauldron, and subsequently closer to her, Ginny would catch herself looking deep into his focused expression, mesmerized, and forgetting how to breathe. And starting to breathe again wasn't something funny, so she feared he thought she was crazy when she jumped after he looked at her.

And even when they were alone studying, she felt uneasy. He would sometimes touch her fingers while waiting for the potion to brew, but he would rarely kissed her, even when they were alone. "I'm always afraid someone will catch us," he said, shaking his head with his eyes half closed.

But she knew he also missed being with her when he asked her to sneak into the Divination Tower on a weekend night. She ran up the stairs, always waiting for someone to jump in front of her, but there was no one around. She knocked on the old wood door, and two seconds later Draco opened it and let her in.

"Are you sure no one will find us here?", she asked, turning to him while he closed the door again.

"Yes, I am," he answered, the dim light of the candles making his platinum hair look golden. "My father... he told me this is where the Death Eaters have been reuniting once a month. He always sends me a letter on that day so I won't show up by accident."

Ginny didn't say anything back. It was a touchy subject between the two, rarely spoken of.

"Hey-" He approached her and touched her face. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like talking about this."

"It's okay," she managed to give him a little smile and shrank her shoulders. "It's not like you are one of them, right."

Draco leaned towards her and kissed her gently on the lips, one hand on her back and the other on her cheek. When they parted, he said, "You don't know how much I missed doing this."

"Have you ever thought that if we didn't have this stupid Weasley-Malfoy feud, we could be like a normal couple?" she asked, pensively. "Holding hands in the hallways, kissing in public..."

"One day we will do all of that without the need for disguises, I promise," Draco smiled and hugged her.

Ginny bit her lip. She never really thought about their future. She just lived in the moment. Her family and friends finding out about their relationship was too stressful to even consider. Her mother would cry for weeks, her father would be possessed in anger. Her brothers would want to beat Draco to death – and he would never manage to escape all six of them. Hermione would remind her of that muggle story about the two lovers that belonged to rival families – she thought they died in the end. Luna and Neville would be so disappointed. And Harry... she wouldn't stand to see the betrayal in Harry's green eyes.

But they didn't know him like she did, she reassured herself has she looked up into his grey eyes. They never saw his kind and gentle side. But deep down, she didn't know if she was strong enough to fight against all this.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing her troubled expression.

"Nothing, just something stupid," she said, putting back a smile on her lips. "I really like you a lot, you know?"

Draco laughed, closing his eyes. When he opened Ginny was looking at him with a little pout. He cleaned his throat, and smiled while answering, "I really like you a lot as well."

"I know you didn't meant it!" she said, rolling her eyes. He grabbed her face and stared straight into her eyes.

"Don't be silly, Ginevra. I wouldn't be here, in danger of being caught and being tortured or even murdered by my family for seeing a Weasley if I didn't like you at least a lot."

"You are such a melodramatic, Malfoy!" she laughed, and pushed his hands away from her face. "And I already told you I hate it when people call me Ginevra."

"I know," he sat on the teacher's chair as she leaned on a windowsill nearby. "But you know it's kind of true. We can't afford anyone finding out. We would probably never see each other again."

"My parents would probably lock me in the basement 'til I'm forty," she guessed, while he jumped from the chair and walked towards her.

"And none of us really want that to happen, right?" he asked, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"I don't know," she said in a playful voice, crossing her arms. "I think captivity is way better than dealing with you all the time!"

"You didn't just say that!" he laughed, starting to tickle her. Ginny tried to fight back but she wasn't strong enough to push him away. While trying to run, she tripped on her own feet and fell over the cushions where student sat during Divination classes. Draco kneeled in front of her, laughing as she sat up. "Are you okay?"

"Luckily I didn't crack my head on a table. Not thanks to you," she grumbled.

"I'm sorry," he said, still smiling, leaning forward and kissing her cheek as his hand touched the back of her head. "I'll be more careful next time."

"Maybe there won't be a next time," she played angry, but couldn't help but smile when he started kissing the bottom of her neck. "Draco, stop it. Someone could walk in on us!"

"Nobody will walk in, trust me," he said, pushing her to lay down on the cushions, and laying on his side next to her, kissing her and fondling her hair. When she felt the intensity of the kiss rise, her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him to lay on his back, sitting and looking down at him.

"Something's wrong?", he asked, his grey eyes showing worry.

"Nothing's wrong," she answered. "Could we just lay down for a while?"

He nodded and she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged his chest, as he embraced her. She calmed down to the beat his heart and his calm breathing, hoping he didn't notice her awkwardness. It's not like she hadn't done anything before, but Harry was a true gentleman and never forced her to do anything she didn't want. And now she felt horrible, because thinking that made it look like Draco would not respect her, when she knew that wasn't true.

"You're awfully quiet," he noticed, and she looked up.

"I was just thinking I wish we could be like this forever."

"Forever? That's a really long time," he looked down to face her and smiled. "But I guess it wouldn't be so hard staying here forever with you."