Chapter 14

'I am a million contradictions.

Sometimes I make no sense

Sometimes I am perfect

Sometimes I am a mess

Sometimes I am not sure who I am.'

Malfoy sat, staring at the sunset, making to attempt to address Ginny. He could feel her looking at him; still he stubbornly turned his head away so as not to face her. Thoughts were whirling through his mind. Was he to tell her or not?

Ginny did not know how long she sat there, beside Malfoy. She had wanted to leave so many times. However, her bottom stayed strangely stuck to the ground. She suspected that without her knowledge, he must have cast a spell on the ground or laid some very sticky glue on the ground for her to sit on and get stuck.

That notion helped to clear her confused thoughts as to why in the world was she not getting as far away as possible from Malfoy or at the very least, make up some excuses to get away from him.

Yes, she grudgingly had to admit. He had been surprising civil to her in the past few months. But he was a Malfoy, nothing more and nothing less. Sooner or later, he would revert back to his mean, old nasty ways. Why was he being so nice to her? Not calling her a 'Mudblood' lover just once was considered nice by his standards already. And Ginny could count, on one hand, the number of times he had said that to her this year.

Once? Maximum twice? Possibly even zero? Maybe he was just being nice to you because his best friend is dating yours? A voice at the back of her head answered.

Ginny hated to admit it, but that statement was like a hard slap in the face. The accuracy, speed and the amount of pain it produced were so alike. It was... painful that after so long of Malfoy's likeable behavior, she had found out the reason behind it. The bare facts of life were certainly painful.

Finally, she willed herself to prepare to stand up. It was apparent Malfoy did not want her here and she did not want to impose her presence on him.

"What would you do if someone forced you to do something against your will?" He asked, grey eyes staring at hers.

Ginny settled back down on the grass. So, he did want her here, after all. "I would do what I want to do, what I think feels right."

"But what if you can't say no; you have no choice but to join them." He countered.

That statement all at once confirmed Ginny's suspicions. She sighed heavily. "Let me guess, Lucius Malfoy wants you to join the ranks of the Death Eaters and serve Voldemort. Am I right?"

His eyes narrowed immediately and he did a quick three hundred sixty degree sweep around them, checking if anyone had heard Ginny. No one was around. Malfoy grabbed Ginny's wrist in a vicious grip and hissed, "What makes you think so?"

Ginny winced. She could actually feel her wrist turning white from the lack of blood. Malfoy had a really strong grip. However, she did not let her shock appear on her features, instead, hiding her emotions under a mask worthy of Malfoy. "The fact that Lucius Malfoy is an alleged Death Eater and that you are so upset kind of fits the puzzle."

"I am not upset over anything," he snarled angrily. What did she know about his feelings?

"Don't lie, Malfoy." Ginny said calmly. "I can see it all in your eyes."

"There is nothing in my eyes to see except for ice," he growled, full of malice.

She stared back, refusing to give in. "If I were you, I would not listen to the mindless drones urging me to do something I don't want to do. Listen to what's inside here, Malfoy-" Ginny hesitantly placed her free hand on the left side of his chest. Much to her relief, he did not yell at her or jump away. He did not even flinch or bat an eyelid. His face was impassive, blank. She saw something flicker in his grey eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Listen to your heart..."

Ginny yanked her hand away from his loosening grip in a sudden movement. She stood up quickly before Malfoy could get a hold on her again. Walking away from him, Ginny turned around for a moment and called back to him.

"There's a lot more than ice in your eyes, Malfoy. Believe me."

Without waiting for a reply, she swept around and headed back to the castle, leaving Malfoy beside the lonely lake, all by himself.

Days came and went. Ginny did not talk, or by any means communicate with Malfoy ever since the day she talked to him at the lake. If she were waiting for him to seek her out, she would be sorely disappointed, for he did not even give any indication that their 'discussion' ever happened. In fact, he ignored it completely, as if it were nothing but a daydream.

One could not say Ginevra Weasley was upset or angry. It is because she simply was not at all. She knew that after that little talk, they would probably never talk to each other again. She had considered telling Harry and the others that Malfoy was to become a Death Eater, but after much deliberation, she decided against it. It was no her place to tell anyone and frankly speaking, it was very well known amongst the members of the Order (including Harry, Ron and Hermione) that Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy was to become a Death Eater once he left school. So, the news was not a very big deal at all.

Ginny sat on an armchair beside the fireplace, idly stroking Pawsome's fur. So far, the kitten had not eaten or drunk anything besides milk, milk and more milk. This had resulted in numerous trips to the kitchens so much so a very pleasant house-elf had volunteered to bring the milk up to the Gryffindor common rooms whenever Pawsome wanted it. The house-elf, whose name was Twinkly, has taken such a liking to Pawsome, she even asked Ginny whether she could feed and play with Pawsome when Ginny was not around. Of course, Ginny agreed. Pawsome could get pretty lonely when she was not around.

Hermione showed her disapproval of Ginny's actions by clicking her tongue and making an annoying 'tsk' sound every time Pawsome or Ginny walked past her or even came close.

"Hey Ginny." Ron came through the portrait door and plopped himself on the armchair tiredly.

"Hey," said Ginny. "What's going on?" she gestured towards Hermione who had just came through the portrait door, levitating a few hundred of box-like things and carrying about twenty of them in her arms as well.

Ron rushed out of his seat to help Hermione and soon the box-like things were safely on the floor, piled up in stacks.

"Hello," Hermione said brightly, brushing some dust off her hands. Maybe the box-like things had helped in letting Hermione momentarily forget about the house-elf issue.

"What are those?" Ginny asked, pointing to the pile. From there, Ginny could make out the white, pink and red colours of the boxes. They also seemed to be in a weirdly contorted shape from where Ginny was sitting.

"Oh. Those?" Hermione answered, sitting on the armchair next to Ron's. "Those are for raising funds."

"Raising funds?" Ginny said. "Please do not tell me those are for SPEW, Hermione."

"It is not SPEW," she snapped, her bright demeanor suddenly vanishing. "It is S-P-E-W. It stands for-"

"Okay, okay," Ron cut in. "We know what it stands for."

"What then?" Hermione asked testily.

"Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare." Both Ginny and Ron replied at the same time.

"Good." Hermione said, her frown fading slightly. "We are raising funds for St. Mungos. Due to the upcoming Valentine's Day, we prefects have decided to hold a fund raising event by selling chocolates."

"Those are chocolates?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Looks more like deformed-" She paused. "-Things to me."

"Those are not deformed things," Hermione replied hotly, immediately coming to the defence of her own handiwork. "They are wrapped chocolate boxes."

"Okay..." Ginny went over and took a box in her hands. "Did you wrap these, Hermione?"

"Yes..." Hermione said, turning slightly pink at the cheeks.

"Erm..." Ginny looked at the mess in her hands again. "Do you need my help in wrapping?"

A few long hours later, Ginny sighed and leaned back into the chair, closing her eyes to relax. She had taught Hermione how to wrap the chocolate boxes properly and did a fair share of wrapping herself. Now, the boxes did not look so contorted anymore, on the contrary, they looked like expensive, nice, chocolate boxes that were usually sold in fancy and professional shops.

"So how does this thing work?" Ginny asked Hermione. Ron had gone up to bed a long time ago. Harry also came in and commented on how nice they were, before going up to bed too.

"Well, the red box is the smallest and costs one Galleon. The pink is medium and the red is large. They cost three and five Galleons respectively. Oh yes, there will be a small card included. The chocolates will be delivered during Breakfast on Valentine's Day."

"Cool." Ginny said. "You thought of it, I suppose?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, turning rather pink again. She seemed to be trying not to look to pleased with herself.

"It's a good idea." Ginny nodded.

Hermione was silent for a while. "You know... I was just wondering... Do you think I would receive any chocolates? Not that I am bothered or anything, but I am just thinking that-"

Ginny cut into Hermione's awkward rambling. "I am sure you will, Hermione." She said kindly. "One, I'm sure, at the very least."

"Come on, Ginny. You know I won't." Hermione stated matter-of-factly.

Ginny sighed. How could Hermione, the smartest witch of her year, be so blind to the people around her? It was so obvious to everyone except her Ron and her that they liked each other. Digging deep into her well of patience, Ginny replied, "You will, Hermione. Trust me, because I know who's going to give you one..." She dangled the bait in the air.

"Who?" Her eyes lit up.

"From a person who has liked you since your second year..." Ginny teased.

"Who is?" Hermione repeated, starting to get impatient.

"Now, now, Hermione. Patience is a virtue." Ginny said in a teacher-like voice, with apparent similarity to Professor McGonagall.

"Get on with it, Ginny!" Hermione said, her patience wearing thin.

"All right. And don't deny it once I tell you. Starts with a R, ends with a N."Ginny grinned.

Hermione blushed. "What about you? I bet you'd receive at least one."

"As if."

"I know you will."

"How do you know?" Ginny retorted.

"I just do." Hermione said, sticking her nose in the air, with a fake snobbish accent.

"I won't get one. Guaranteed." Ginny laughed.

"Fine." Hermione smiled mischievously. "But we shall see when the time comes."

As it turned out, Ginny received not one, but two boxes of chocolates. Hermione received one from Ron, just as Ginny predicted. Luna, not surprisingly, received a box of chocolates from Blaise. When Ginny teased her, she blushed and insisted that she had bought him chocolates first and that was the reason why he had bought her one back in return.

Ron was being a little paranoid over Ginny's boxes of chocolates. What was there to be paranoid about? He had, after all, sent one to Hermione.

"Who's that from?" Ron asked, just as soon as the fourth-year prefect delivered a pink box to Ginny.

Ginny picked up the card and skimmed through it.

Dearest Ginny, it read. I hope you like the chocolates and the rose. Have a Happy Valentine's Day. Love, Colin Creevy.

"Colin Creevy?" Ron exclaimed, reading the card from over Ginny's shoulder. He glanced at Colin, who was currently snapping pictures of Lavender and Parvati. "Isn't that the midget-like first year who was, is obsessed with taking your picture?" He asked Harry.

"He's not in his first year anymore, Ron. And far bigger than a midget now, I'd think." Harry answered.

"Oh. Right." Ron then carried on talking to Harry about the latest Quidditch news.

Ginny rolled her eyes. When the prefect passed Ginny a red box this time, she made sure Ron was too busy talking to Harry to notice, which was good for her because if he found out exactly who had sent her the chocolates, he'd most probably go ballistic. Trying to ignore Hermione's I-told-you-so look, she unwrapped the transparent wrapper to take a look at the card inside. There were only three words written on it.

Thank you.

D.M.

As far as Ginny knew, there was only one person in Hogwarts who had that initials. She looked across the hall and spotted Malfoy talking to Blaise. Parkinson leaned over and tried to whisper something her minute brain obviously thought was seductive into Malfoy's ear. She even caressed his hair with her hands. Ginny's stomach lurched horribly and she lost all her appetite even though the breakfast served was her favourite. To her immense satisfaction, Malfoy irritably swatted her hand away as if it was nothing but a worthless fly. He snapped some rude remark at her and moved closer to Blaise, giving Parkinson a disdainful look.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped up from his plate and connected with hers. Ginny boldly stared back, trying to ignore the strange fluttering in her stomach that had replaced the nauseous feeling she had earlier on. Then to her dismay, Ron tapped her on her shoulder. She sighed, breaking eye contact with Malfoy and turning around to face her brother.

"Now who's that from?" Ron asked, visibly annoyed.

Immediately, Ginny snapped the card shut to prevent Ron from looking at it. "I don't know. It's anonymous."

Ron just grunted a reply and turned back to his food.

Ginny stared at the red box of chocolates in front of her. The chocolate box that Colin had given her was just lying on the other side of her bed. However, the red box was different, it was... special. Gently tugging on one end of the ribbon, she undid the knot and delicately placed the long lace ribbon on her bed covers, cushioning the exquisite ribbon from any harm.

She picked up the crimson heart-shaped box and opened the lid. Ten little pieces of milk chocolates greeted her. She was so absorbed on admiring these delicate pieces of art that she forgot about her Potion's assignment till Luna asked to see hers.

"Oh no..." Ginny gasped. "I think I left it in the library." She had been so excited about Valentine's Day, she forgot all about her assignment.

"Go get it now!" Luna urged. "Or face Snape tomorrow!"

Ginny had to admit; facing Snape was one of the most horrifying experiences that a student could go through, unless you were a Slytherin. Then the situation would be different. Nodding frantically, she threw on her cloak and ran out of the Gryffindors dormitories, only stopping to borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which he gladly agreed to lend her, and dashing towards the library.

All could be heard from one of the corridors near the library was a loud panting sound coming from an invisible source. Anyone who walked past could swear Peeves had invented a new trick to scare the wits out of them.

Ginny crept towards the last section of the library, where she left her assignment. Out of the blue, she became acutely aware of the hair on her neck prickling uneasily, as if... as if someone or something was creeping up on her.

It's all just a figment of my imagination, she tried to convince herself, as she looked around helplessly under the cloak only to see no one or monster of any sort. Maybe it was better risk Snape's unfair punishment and to go back, in one piece to her dormitories. Curse Snape and his prejudice, or she would be lying in her bed now, perhaps eating some of her chocolates, with no need to worry about anything.

No. She had come to far to give up now.

Ginny moved closer to the tables. And the strange sensation of not being alone in the library flooded her again. Pushing aside those feelings, she looked around in the semi-darkness. In her haste, she forgot to bring a lamp. Now, she had to rely upon the faint moonlight shining in from the windows to see. Where was her assignment? She was sure she had left it there. Scanning the tabletops, Ginny found that her assignment was nowhere to be seen. She circled around and looked again but she still could not find it.

A clang echoed loudly somewhere off in the darkness. Ginny froze. Her instincts had been right all along; she was not alone.

She backed away from the tables slowly. She needed to get out of there now. Her heart palpitating wildly, she turned around and prepared to run off; only to find herself hitting some invisible rock in the air and falling on her back.

Mid-air, a silvery cloak slipped off and revealed Ginny's 'invisible rock'. She felt her cloak slide off her. She was going to hit the floor on her back, with the unknown force pushing her from the front. It happened so quickly, there was not even enough time for her to be shocked. They fell to the ground with a thud and before any of them knew it, Draco Malfoy's lips were on hers.

Merlin, she thought. So this is what it felt like, to be kissing Draco Malfoy. Her eyes widened at the realisation of her wild thoughts. Blinking back the crazy thoughts form her head, Ginny tried to focus on what to do next. All right. Stay calm, she reasoned. But how was she supposed to stay calm with her brother's blonde nemesis lying on top of her? Not only that, but kissing her as well. What would it look like if someone entered the room now? This certainly did not bode well.

Ginny felt like she was underwater, with the difficulty of moving her limbs. Malfoy, apparently, was just as shocked as her. Unlike her, who had a hard time trying to move her limbs, he could move his pretty well; judging from the way his arms were flailing now in an attempt to get off her.

After what seemed to be an eternity (a perfectly heavenly eternity, in Ginny's opinion), Malfoy managed to get himself off her. He clambered off and sat leaning against one of the bookshelves with considerable grace. Why he did not run off, Ginny had to idea. Ginny sat up shakily, crossed her legs Red Indian style and faced him. Seeing Malfoy sitting on the floor, leaning on the dusty shelves, he seemed different than the usual Malfoy who strutted around the school.

"You all right?" Ginny asked, at a loss to say anything else.

Malfoy stared at her for a moment, grey eyes glinting in the faint moonlight that was streaming through the glass. "What do you think?" He scowled at her. "Your lips broke my fall."

"Well, at least it wasn't the dusty floor you had to lay your precious lips on," said Ginny, offended. "Would you rather my lips or the floor?"

"Frankly," he said. "The floor."

"Suit yourself then." Ginny said frostily. They were silent for a while. "What were you doing here, anyway?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"What were you doing here?"

"I asked you first," Ginny retorted, even though she knew he would not answer her till she told him her reason first. She sighed, droning on. "I'm here to retrieve my assignment, or I'll be in trouble tomorrow."

"Not very popular among the teachers, are you?" He drawled, smirking his usual smirk at her.

"Unlike you, Snape's pet hamster."

"Excuse me?" Malfoy replied, affronted at her comment.

"You are excused."

"I'm far from being a hamster," He said supremely. "Especially Snape's pet hamster. I'd-"

"Pardon me for my mistake," Ginny cut in. "I think you would more likely be Snape's pet ferret than a cute, innocent hamster."

"Better than Flitwick's pet weasel."

"Weasels are cute. Not like mean, nasty ferrets."

"Ferrets are cuter. Not like mean, nasty weasels." The ends of his mouth curved upwards as he mimicked her.

"Weasels are still cuter."

"Ferrets are cuter."

"Weasels are cuter."

"Ferrets are cuter."

The childish squabbling carried on for a few minutes till Malfoy gave in. "Either ways, both have a head, four legs and a tail."

"Do I sense someone giving in?" Ginny grinned evilly.

"Never."

"All right. I suppose they are quite similar after all..." She conceded. She could not believe she had a debate with Malfoy on whether ferrets or weasels are cuter. That was utterly ridiculous, particularly with him involved. Just a few minutes ago, she had the strangest sensation that she knew him. It was just the way he spoke just now that reminded her of someone she knew...

"Malfoy?" Ginny did not think that the name 'Malfoy' really suited him now. He was not like his usual 'Malfoy-ish' self, instead being a rather nice person and not a bad conversationalist at all.

A gruff 'who's there' interrupted their conversation. Jumping up, Malfoy grabbed his cloak and pulled it around himself, covering Ginny as well. A familiar scent enveloped her. "Is this your cloak?"

"Yes, now be quiet." He muttered back in response.

Ginny now knew how Blaise had managed to lend them an Invisibility Cloak during the party.

"Who's there?" A bright light shone unexpectedly right in front of the invisible Malfoy and Ginny, illuminating Flich's nervous face. He was so close to them that Ginny could make out the several white strands of hair on his head. Backing away slowly, they waited till Flich had gone away muttering to himself about Peeves, before Ginny quickly ducked under the cloak and came back having retrieved her assignment. She had spotted it hiding under one of the chairs when Flich was snooping around.

"We've to go," said Ginny, making for the exit.

Nodding, Malfoy pulled her away from the direction in which she was heading to. "I know a shortcut."

Shortcut? There was a shortcut to the library? If this happened to her years before, she would have thought it was a ploy to kidnap her or something. But now, everything was different, somehow or another. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she let him lead her to whatever shortcut he had in mind.

Sure enough, after a few twists and turns along the passageways, Ginny found herself standing at the fork where her dormitories lay on the left and his dormitories lying on the right, all under five minutes.

Malfoy pulled his cloak off them. "Well, I guess this is the end of our midnight rendezvous." He smirked at Ginny. "Bye then." He turned around. Just as he was about to go in the way of his dormitories, a voice made him stop in his tracks and turned around.

"Draco..."

Ginny did not know what in the world possessed her to call him by his first name; but she liked the way his name rolled off her tongue. Draco. It felt nice... right... He stilled and faced her, his face now an impassive blank; poles apart from the person she had been talking, having so much fun with just now. She could see the walls in his eyes rising up again, all because of one word.

It was like she had no control over her body's movements at all, as if she was put under the Imperius Curse. Ginny walked toward him, coming closer with each step. Standing right up close to Draco, she raised her head and gently brushed her lips against his surprisingly warm cheek.

Draco blinked in shock, which was a vast improvement if you asked Ginny because he rarely, no, never showed his emotions to anyone before, always keeping his face hidden behind a mask of indifference.

"Goodnight then. It was nice meeting you." Ginny turned and walked away in the direction of her dormitories. "By the way, thanks for the chocolates." She smiled shyly at him and hurried away, before he could see the heat burning her cheeks, the reddish tinge that was to remain there for days.

A/N: All right. How do I go about telling this? Okay...

I am truly sorry for the very very long wait. I know! But I had exams and I didn't have the time to write. You know how exams can be. Oh and thank you to ajma for that personal message encouraging me to write another chapter. So, here it is! And I hope you like it.

I spent a long time re-reading this chapter over and over again because I thought that maybe things are happening much to fast between them. But after hours of editing, I think this chapter fits. Anyways, how did you find it?

That reminds me. Cookies to all who reviewed: I'm Blond. James Blond., Kibaku, Melly Bean88, licoricesnap, ambulancechas3r, Persephone33, SenatorSolo, candycoated, hidden smile, thechosenMay, x3 Alice Liddell x3, Zoe, werecool, Resentment, BetterDeadThanAlone, Racetrack's Goil, EVERY.TiME.WE.TOUCH, Tattered.Broken.Angel, MorganisM-Lve, Raiast, Flipinpenname, VaguelyInnocent, dobbyfan18, FanFicFanatick, FireFantasma, Victoria, QueenThayet, seeker17, ailiramlove.

The answer to the question (And what movie was that specific scene from?), is... Pirates' of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest! It's a really nice movie, and I would recommend everyone to watch it! Haha. And I quote a fellow reviewer (Tattered.Broken.Angel), "All hail Jack Sparrow!"

In response to Tattered.Broken.Angel, Luna did not set them up in the garden, it was Blaise. And as to why he did it, he was just being 'Blaise-like'.

All right. Tell me what you think of this chapter. I want to write more in this A/N, but I, quite unbelievingly, want to get this chapter posted as soon as possible, just like you! So, until next time then. See you!

Remember to review please. :)