Chapter 13: The Water Relay
A/N: Here's a little Ginny/Draco action for all of you. I hope you like it!!
As the weekend progressed, the students saw various flyers posted around the school, informing everyone about the first event of The 10 Challenges. The first challenge was called Water Relay, but nothing else was given away. The students talked about what this could possibly mean and discussed possible plans to secure victory.
Teams could be seen huddled together around the school, talking about strategy; Ginny's team wasn't one of them. Lisa tried to talk to all of them as frequently as she could, but everyone ignored her.
The posters told the entire school that the Water Relay would already be next weekend! No one knew what to expect so they all just talked excitedly and counted down the days until the first challenge.
The week passed slowly for Ginny, partly because of anticipation and partly because of some sadness. She noticed immediately that Draco lost his sudden interest in her, and she was hurt by it. That's what you wanted, Ginny! She reminded herself, but it didn't matter; it still hurt. He never looked her way, and even when Lisa pulled them both aside, he completely ignored her.
It was hard for Draco to outright ignore Ginny, but he knew it was for the best. He was so determined to ignore her that in those instances where they were forced together, he overlooked the pain that flashed through Ginny's eyes.
On Friday, the sixth and seventh years were again allowed to miss morning classes and asked to meet in the Great Hall. Everyone talked eagerly, but Dumbledore and a couple other teachers were quick to move to the front.
McGonagall briefly repeated the information that was posted around the school. She told them that the Water Relay would be held tomorrow at noon, but beforehand, the teams would be introduced to the rest of the school. After the basics were covered, Dumbledore stepped up to add more.
"I wanted to let you know that this is how all the challenges will be. We will inform you beforehand of the challenge's name and maybe a fact or two about it; other than that, you and your team will be on your own to plan a strategy or simply wing it. We will be giving you a very short period of time tomorrow morning after all the details have been explained to make a plan, but it's up to you to wait until then or not. All the challenges are safe, but if you feel uncomfortable at any time, then you may drop out," Dumbledore informed them.
One student asked whether or not the competition would interfere with their school work and end of school exams. Professor Dumbledore assured the student and the rest of the room that the challenge would not interfere with school, and in fact, the teachers were hoping that this competition would actually help the students. It would force them to think on their toes and would require them to use all their knowledge in hopes of winning.
He also added that if any teacher felt as if a student's work was suffering because of the challenge, then that teacher could temporarily remove the student from the competition until their marks were high enough. With that, he let the teams get together to talk and strategize.
Ginny unwilling followed Lavender and Derek over to where Draco, Blaise, and Lisa were already sitting. Derek actually had to pull her along by the hand to get her to go by Draco. Eventually, the team grouped up to discuss possible plans for tomorrow.
"Does anyone have any ides?" Lavender asked eagerly.
"So all they've told us is that it's a water relay," Lisa explained, "but how could we use water? It's the middle of winter, and the water would either be frozen or extremely cold."
"Hmm…" Lavender pondered. "You have a good point."
"Maybe we should—" Lisa began but Draco cut her off.
"Maybe we should just wing it," he supplied, and Blaise heartily agreed.
"No way!" Lisa argued firmly. "We need to think about this. We need a plan!"
"Alright," Draco continued, "you can think about it all you want. Some of us have enough talent and skill to deal with whatever's thrown our way."
And with that, Blaise and Draco got up and left. Lisa stared after them in shock and wouldn't calm down until Derek assured her over and over again that everything would be okay. After Lisa left, Lavender turned to Derek to question him
"Do you really think we'll be okay?" she asked, and Ginny could detect worry in her voice.
"We'll be absolutely fine," Derek repeated while Ginny nodded along.
"After all," Ginny began, "it's like Malfoy said. If you've got the talent and skill, then there's nothing to worry about, and we're definitely qualified enough to handle this. I think that's the true point of this competition; we need to be able to think our way out of a situation when it's suddenly presented to us, and we need to use all our knowledge to overcome it."
With this bit of encouragement, Lavender left the Great Hall happy and confident.
It was late, and Ginny and Derek were just returning to the Gryffindor common room. Lisa Turpin had attacked them several times during the day, bombarding them with worries and fears, and they only recently calmed her down for what seemed like the twentieth time.
"Well, goodnight Ginny," Derek said slowly. He was standing around in front of the staircase expectantly.
"Yeah, goodnight," she said back, turning away to go upstairs.
"Wait!" Derek said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down. Ginny stood there a second, waiting for Derek to say something.
"What?"
He stepped in closer and closed his eyes. Ginny's heart started racing but not because she wanted to kiss him. She stepped back quickly, trying desperately to think of an excuse.
"Err," she began, "I really need to go get some sleep. See you in the morning!"
She immediately turned to dash upstairs, wondering why she ran away. They had been dating a while, and it was only natural to kiss the person you liked, but somehow, it didn't feel right to Ginny.
She tossed and turned all night, questioning her own feelings and motives but reached no conclusion. Unfortunately, this made her even more confused and tired in the morning.
Everyone ate breakfast quickly, and all the sixth and seventh years left early, following Dumbledore and the teachers out on the grounds. The students wrapped their cloaks around them tightly; they were only wearing their team uniforms, and Ginny was absolutely freezing. The girls on her team wore short red shorts and form fitting black t-shirts while the guys wore baggy black shorts and loose, red t-shirts. Both shirts had the team name on the front with the last name of the player on the back.
Ginny shivered so Derek wrapped an arm around her…but that just made her shiver again. They turned a corner, and all the students gasped and whispered; there was a huge dome that enveloped the entire Black Lake. Whatever covered the lake was transparent, and the students could see vegetation and green surrounding the water, which was a dramatic contrast to the blanket of white snow everywhere else.
They approached the dome and merely stepped through its bubble-like skin. The inside environment was incredibly different from what the students trudged through for the past few minutes! The students began shedding their cloaks and layers to cope with the strikingly warm weather.
Dumbledore stepped to the front of the crowd to address the students.
"Here's what's happening this morning," he began. The entire crowd fell silent. "Each team will be announced to the rest of the school, and then the competition will begin as all groups compete at the same time. For this challenge, every person on your team needs to compete. Half of your team will be on one side of the lake, and the other half will be on the other side; you all will then compete in a relay race across the lake using any of your knowledge and abilities to finish the fastest."
The students could see the rest of the school filing into the stands inside the dome, and the anticipation of the sixth and seventh years heightened. This was the real thing; this is what they'd been waiting for.
Dumbledore then explained that the team that finishes the relay with the fastest time would receive the most points though the judges may award extra points if the team uses really impressive magic. The judges for the entire competition would be Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick.
"Alright," Dumbledore finished. "You have five minutes to prepare. Good luck!"
The teams grouped up quickly as plans were made and the relay orders were decided.
"Alright," Lisa began, "what should we do?"
"What?" Blaise asked. "You don't already have a plan of your own?"
"Ha ha," she retorted. They sat there in silence for a bit, everyone thinking about a plan.
"Why don't we use illusions?" Ginny suggested. Even though Ginny hardly interacted with the group, she wasn't about to throw it all away because no one else could think of something.
"What are illusions?" Lavender asked. At this point, Lisa jumped in to explain to Derek, Lavender, and Blaise what illusions are.
"Illusions are when magic wraps around something to change its appearance," she explained. Derek, Lavender, and Blaise still looked confused so Ginny tried to help out.
"So in this case, we need to get across the lake some how, right?" she asked them, and they all nodded in agreement. "So, using an illusion, we can take a piece of grass or a flower and pull an illusion around it. The illusion will make it seem like we're sitting in a boat instead of on a piece of grass."
"Right," Lisa jumped in, "then we can magic the oars to paddle fast on their own."
Blaise nodded and said, "Sounds like a good plan."
They just had enough time to figure out their order when Dumbledore called them forward. He told them that the introductions were about to begin, and that all the teams need to do is step forward when their team name is called.
The procession began. Teams stepped forward in turn, and the crowd would go wild and applaud and scream.
"Team Vincitori!" the announcer shouted, and Ginny and her teammates stepped forward. The announcer continued over shouts and screams, introducing everyone. "With Draco Malfoy, a seventh year Slytherin, as the team captain and Derek Wydell, Lavender Brown, Lisa Turpin, Blaise Zabini, and Ginevra Weasley as teammates, this team will definitely be a force to be reckoned with."
The crowd cheered, and team Vincitori stepped to the side as the next team was announced. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's team was introduced as the Winning Wizards, a fact that made Draco and Blaise laugh hysterically, but they stopped quickly as the challenge was about to begin.
Everyone hustled to their stations. Ginny was with Lavender and Draco on the far side of the lake. The whole time the waited Lavender was questioning Ginny nervously.
"It's going to be okay, right?" Lavender asked.
"Yes," Ginny assured her. "All you need to do is to step into the boat and put a little Quick Fix charm on the oars."
Lavender nodded but kept asking questions anyway.
Lord, Draco thought, Brown better not ruin this for us. Even though he didn't need a free trip to Italy, his competitive side had taken over; he wanted to win this thing, and he wouldn't settle for less than first place.
"Alright," Ginny began. "Here we go."
The announcer sounded an alarm, and Ginny could see people from the other side of the bank begin. Lisa had demanded being the one to start off the relay race so she could perform the illusion herself. Draco and Ginny, who were the only other people who knew how to do illusions, didn't mind.
Ginny watched as Harry, the captain of the Winning Wizards, sped towards their side of the bank. He called his broom with the Accio spell, and within seconds, he was already meeting Hermione, who was next in line.
"Crap," Draco muttered behind her, watching Harry dismount. He turned expectantly back to the lake, looking for Lisa. Lisa was already half way across the lake which was very impressive compared to everyone else's success.
"I wouldn't worry too much," Ginny said to him despite herself. "Look," she said, pointing to Hermione; Hermione was mounting the broom hesitantly, and when she took off, the broom shook and wavered.
Draco laughed as Hermione tried to control the broom, zig-zagging this way and that.
"Oh boy," Lavender squealed. Draco and Ginny turned to see Lisa speeding towards them. She pulled the boat onto shore, and hopped out; Lavender, all fear and anxiety out the window, jumped into the boat and went speeding off.
"Okay," Lisa said. "From what I saw coming across the Black Lake, we're in second so far. We're probably not going to beat the Winning Wizards, but let's just cross our fingers and hope that no other team passes us."
"Err," Ginny began. "I don't think that's going to work."
She pointed to the middle of the lake. It seemed like one team had bewitched the giant squid and was making it swim from bank to bank at lightening speed. Ginny could tell that the beast was moving faster than their little boat.
"Crap," Draco repeated.
"It's fine," Lisa said quickly. "It's fine."
Soon enough the boat was back at Ginny's shore, and she hopped right in while Derek hopped out, and sped off towards the other side. She could barely see Lavender and Blaise waiting for her on the other side of the lake, but half way across the lake Ginny knew something was wrong; the boat started shaking and flickering underneath her. One second she was zooming across the lake, the next moment she was underwater.
Draco watched Ginny as the boat disappeared underneath her. His breath caught suddenly, and he could barely control the urge to run to her to see if she was okay.
"Oh my," Lisa breathed. They watched nervously, waiting for Ginny to resurface. Draco couldn't breathe, and he had his fists balled up tight in anticipation and fear. When Draco couldn't wait one more second, when he just decided that he would jump in the lake to save her, a red mass of hair broke the surface.
Draco breathed out, relaxing.
Ginny spit out the water that plunged into her lungs, coughing and coughing as she tried to stay afloat. She paddled in the water for a few seconds, waiting to clear her head. As soon as she was ready, Ginny searched for something to illusion, and seeing a piece of seaweed a little bit ahead, she swam as fast as she could for it.
She put a strong illusion on it, cursing Lisa aloud for her weak one. Ginny jumped in the boat and performed another Quick Fix on the oars, feeling the boat surge forward again. She relaxed and laid down in the boat, trying to lay still and catch her breath.
Once she got to the shore, she dragged herself out and watched Blaise hop in.
"Oh my gosh!" Lavender screamed. "Are you alright, Ginny?"
Ginny only coughed up water as an answer, watching in disappointment as the team who roped the giant squid finished. They were jumping up and down in excitement, and Ginny could feel her heart sink.
The other teams finished the race sooner and later. Ginny's team ended up finishing second, which was pretty good since Lisa's illusion had gone wrong. Harry's team had difficulty flying a broom. Hermione, compared to the rest of the team did alright with the flying, but it was Hannah Abbot, a seventh year Hufflepuff who really screwed things up for them. About ten feet across, she fell off the broom and couldn't remount it while in the water. Instead, she decided to swim the length of the lake, which took a long time.
That was nothing compared to the team that finished last though. The Hogwarts Hotties, Rose's team, couldn't think of anything at all so they all swam across; their team finished a good thirty minutes after everyone else's.
Everyone grouped together, waiting for the judges to reveal the scores. Everything was rated out of ten points, and even though they knew who finished in what order, they didn't know if any extra points were given.
"The scores," Dumbledore said, his voice loud and booming, "for the Water Relay challenge are as follows. Brains and Beauty finishes first with a score of fifteen points, receiving the full ten points for finishing first and earning an extra five for impressive magic."
The team that roped the giant squid burst out in excitement, and the rest of the school screamed and cheered in approval.
"The second place team," Dumbledore continued, "is Vincitori with thirteen points. They received nine for finishing second and an extra four points for the illusions used."
Lavender grabbed Ginny, jumping up and down with excitement.
"We did awesome!" she squealed, the cheering of the crowd drowning her out. Lavender, Ginny, and Derek all celebrated together, while Lisa stood awkwardly to the side, and Draco and Blaise looked on in disgust.
Dumbledore read the rest of the teams off; Harry's team placed fourth, Dani's team placed sixth after conjuring up a flock of birds with the Avis charm and trying to fly them across, and Rose's team came in last.
The crowd was exiting the stands as teams relaxed and calmed down.
"Good job team," Lisa said excitedly. "If we keep this up, then we have a good chance of winning!"
Everyone nodded and smiled except Draco.
"Actually," he said, "we'd have a good chance of winning if we had placed first."
As he said this he glared at Ginny in accusation.
"Wait," she began, "you're not blaming this on me, are you?"
"Well, you were the one on the boat when it just disappeared!"
She looked at him incredulously.
"That's just ridiculous!" Ginny argued.
"Yeah, dude," Blaise interrupted. "It wasn't even her fault."
Lisa looked away in embarrassment, but luckily, no one turned and blamed it on her. She knew it was her fault, and she felt bad enough already.
"She fixed the situation quickly," Blaise continued, "even when she almost drowned!"
Ginny looked at Blaise thankfully; she never knew he was this kind. She had always thought that he was just another snobby Slytherin.
"Yeah!" Ginny continued. "Why are you even blaming me?"
Draco opened his mouth to retort, but Dumbledore walked up to their group and stopped him.
"Enough," he said sternly. He looked at Ginny and Draco, and Ginny felt ashamed by the look her headmaster was giving her.
"I am extremely disappointed in the two of you," Dumbledore continued. Ginny shrank back, dropping her eyes to the floor. "This entire competition is solely about inter-house relationships, and on the very first challenge, you two find the need to bicker and argue even though you placed second."
He paused for a moment, and Ginny saw Draco was just as uncomfortable as she was. Their professor sighed dramatically with a pained expression on his face.
"I'm sorry," he began, "but I'm going to have to give you both detention. A message will be sent to the both of you informing you about the specifics of your detention."
Ginny and Draco both groaned. Dumbledore hardly ever gave out detentions!
Detention? Ginny thought, again?
"And that's not all," Dumbledore continued gravely. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to dock your team some of the points they've just earned."
Ginny's mouth dropped in shock.
"But professor—" Draco began.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore interrupted him, "but you should've thought about that beforehand. I'm taking five points from your score."
"Professor!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Miss Weasley," the headmaster said evenly. "You should be glad that it's not more."
With that, he walked away, leaving an uncomfortable silence over their group.
"I'm sorry," Lisa squeaked. They all turned to look at her.
"Oh, it's okay," Lavender said trying to comfort her.
"But if it weren't for me then none of this would've happened!" she screamed. Lisa jumped away from Lavender and ran back to the school, sobbing the whole entire way.
"Way to go, jerk," Derek said to Draco.
"Oh, shut up," Draco spat back. The whole team looked accusingly at Draco; he tried to glare back, but oddly, a new sensation of guilt was flooding through his system.
"Thanks a lot," Lavender said evilly. This was a surprise considering Lavender was like the cheerleader of their team, always positive and optimistic. Blaise just shook his head at Draco and followed Lavender back to the school.
Ginny looked at Draco the longest, her eyes betraying her own feelings of anger and sadness. Finally, Derek pulled Ginny away, taking her hand and walking her up to the castle.
Draco watched the rest of his team gradually turn their backs on him. He felt kind of bad, but he refused to acknowledge any sort of guilt. However, he couldn't forget the look on Ginny's face…
It was Monday night, the night of Ginny and Draco's detention. Ginny set out to meet Argus Filch for her detention, worrying that he might try to hang her from her ankles like they did in the older days. Walking to the entrance of the Great Hall, Ginny saw that Draco was already waiting for her with Filch.
"'Bout time," Filch growled at her. He started off down the hall, apparently expecting the both of them to follow. Ginny sighed but followed anyway, wondering how long she'd have to be there. With a pang of guilt and sadness she noticed the huge bulletin posted next to the entrance of the Great Hall. It had all the teams for The 10 Challenges listed, and once in second place, Ginny's team now sat uncomfortably in fourth place. Brains and Beauty was still in first, We're Better Than You (another random team) was in second, and the Winning Wizards were in third but were only ahead of Vincitori by one point.
The night was pretty uneventful. Filch dragged them across the school, looking for troublemakers and people out at night. The whole time Draco and Ginny were deathly quiet, following Filch's orders when he told them to be quiet or to run ahead.
Compared to Ginny's only other detention, Filch's wasn't so bad. She didn't have to clean out any disgusting jars or have unknown contents splash all over her. With a pang of sadness, Ginny suddenly thought of her first detention with Draco…oh, how things had changed.
"So this is a complete waste of my time," Draco muttered angrily. They were following a couple feet behind Filch as he peeked in classrooms and talked to his cat, Mrs. Norris.
"And we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," Ginny retorted. He didn't say anything to that so Ginny just continued. "You know, it's funny; the both times I've been in detention it's been because of you."
"Oh shut up," Draco turned on her. "Stop pretending you're so innocent!"
"I'm not pretending," she replied indignantly. "I don't get detentions, and I never get in trouble!"
"Shh," Filch said. "We'll never catch the little trouble makers if you keep squabbling." He was getting pretty sick of those stupid kids.
Draco and Ginny stopped arguing for a moment but only for a moment. A few minutes later they were practically shouting at each other; they hardly noticed that Filch was leading them back and forth down a certain corridor.
I need somewhere to stash these kids where they'll be stuck until I retrieve them.
I need somewhere to stash these kids where they'll be stuck until I retrieve them.
I need somewhere to stash these kids where they'll be stuck until I retrieve them.
Before either Draco or Ginny could realize it, Filch was grabbing them by their collars and throwing them into an appearing door.
"You two are the biggest pain ever!" he growled at them. "Stay here and I'll get you at the end of the night."
The door closed, and Draco and Ginny found themselves in a very small closet that barely fit the two of them. It was complete darkness with their bodies pressed together in the cramped space. Ginny's breathing became heavy, but she calmed herself down before Draco noticed.
Draco tried the handle of the door, but it didn't open.
"This," Ginny began, "is just great."
"Like I want to be here either," Draco added. He tried to move a little farther from Ginny's body, but there was literally no space.
"You're stepping on my foot," Ginny said gruffly.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed Weasley," Draco argued, "there's absolutely no room in here."
Ginny just sighed; she was starting to worry. She was way too close to Draco, too close for comfort.
Minutes went by, and Ginny was having difficulty. When she thought about how pressed together their bodies were, she would have the urge to throw her arms around Draco and kiss him.
Draco would try the door knob every couple of minutes because the closeness of Ginny's body was driving him crazy. Her hips were pressed against his, and her chest was pushed against him. He tried to restrain his hands from wrapping around her tiny waist; they shook from his effort to restrain any impulse that would get him in trouble.
"This is incredibly uncomfortable," Ginny muttered after several awkward minutes.
"Really?" Draco asked sarcastically. "I had no idea."
"Let me see if—" Ginny said gruffly as she started to move around.
"If what?" he asked her. Her movement was only pressing their bodies closer together.
"If I can get more comfortable," she said.
Ginny's hands moved over her head as she tried to move around in a circle to find a more comfortable position…a position farther from Draco's body.
As Ginny moved around, Draco's hands unwilling moved to her waist. He heard her suddenly gasp but didn't take his hands away. She stopped squirming, and now her back was pressed against his body.
"Malfoy?" she stammered. Ginny's mind was screaming 'no,' but her body betrayed her. She moved back into his chest, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Uh huh?" he asked quietly, tightening his grip around her waist.
"We can't," she murmured, feeling his lips press against her neck.
"Sure," he muttered, feeling her pulse quicken as he kissed her ear.
He honestly didn't know what he was doing, but he didn't want to think about it. If he thought about it, then he would stop himself, and why would he want to stop when it felt so right?
Ginny turned her neck around so her lips would meet his. They kissed lightly and sweetly, and Ginny started to move around again, turning so she could face him.
Ugh, she thought. I just need a little more room.
All of sudden the closet expanded a few more feet in each direction.
"What the—" Draco stammered.
Ginny almost smacked herself from her own stupidity. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? She knew that tapestry they walked passed in the corridor looked familiar.
"This is the Room of Requirement," Ginny muttered. She put her hand to her head as she felt a rush of light-headedness.
I need somewhere to sit down, she thought.
A moment later, a squishy, red love seat appeared before them, and Ginny sat down eagerly. She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to comprehend what just happened. Touching her lips unconsciously, Ginny remembered the feel of Draco's lips and groaned in agony. What had she done?
Draco sat down on the other side of the loveseat far from Ginny without saying a word.
Awkward silence passed over them for a long time, and Draco fought with his own feelings. Half of him wanted to grab Ginny and kiss her like he would never have another chance to do so, but the other half of him wanted to deny what happened, explaining it to her as merely a cruel joke.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
Right when they both felt like they couldn't control themselves any longer, they heard a click at the door and saw Filch in the doorway.
"Alright," he growled at them. "We're done now, so you all can get back to bed."
He stalked away, leaving Draco and Ginny to awkwardly deal with what happened. Before Draco could say anything, Ginny was walking in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower, trying to forget about their kiss.
Draco walked into his Head Boy room only to see Blaise sitting in a chair in his common room.
"What?" Draco asked exhausted. He was too tired and confused to deal with whatever Zabini wanted to talk about. Blaise only looked at him critically.
"Look," Draco continued, "if this is about today, then I'm sorry. You know me; I just get mad when I don't place first."
Blaise only waved it off with his hand.
"No," he said seriously, "that's not why I'm here."
He didn't say any more so Draco questioned him.
"Alright, then why are you here?"
"What's with you, Draco?" Blaise asked seriously. "This entire year you've been completely different, going through mood swings faster than my mother does when she's PMS-ing."
Draco turned away, not letting Blaise's words affect him.
"It's nothing," Draco muttered.
"Be reasonable, Draco," Blaise argued. "I'm not as thick as Crabbe and Goyle so that kind of crap isn't going to cut it with me." He glared at Draco, waiting for him to reveal what was really bugging him.
"It's complicated," was all Draco muttered.
"Alright," Blaise stepped in. "Let me guess. There's something between you and that Weasley girl, something that's been going on this entire year. Sometimes you're overly happy—happier than I've ever seen you—and sometimes you're utterly depressed, and Draco Malfoy is never depressed."
Draco only sat down in another chair not daring to look at one of his only true friends.
"Okay," Blaise said, continuing. "You guys like each other and then don't like each other, but that's not the real problem. The real problem is that you're a Malfoy and she's a Weasley, so you two don't know what to do." He looked at Draco for any reaction. "Stop me when I get close."
"You hit it right on the head," Draco stated.
Blaise Zabini waited patiently for him to continue.
"It's not as simple as you make it out to be though," Draco said lamely. "There are a lot of complications."
"What complications, Draco?" Blaise questioned him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think you should stop caring about her because she's a Weasley."
Draco rolled his eyes, but Blaise continued.
"When you were with her, you were blissfully happy; I've never seen another girl make you as happy as she did, and you've been with a lot of girls."
"It's not only that she's a Weasley," Draco interjected. "Everything about her drives me crazy! Even though I care about her, she can get me so incredibly pissed."
Blaise laughed.
"That's what women do, mate," he assured his friend. This made Draco smile a little…but only a little.
"So what do you propose I do?" Draco asked.
"I think," Blaise began, "that you should go for it. Forget whatever went wrong between the two of you and try to make things work again."
Draco gave a curt nod and started to walk to his room.
"Don't come in my room anymore," Draco stated evenly. "Got it, Zabini?"
Blaise gave him a funny look but only nodded. The other Slytherin walked to the entrance but stopped when Draco called out to him.
"And by the way," Draco said, "thanks."
Blaise smiled.
"No problem," he replied.
Once Draco was safe in his room, he pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment. You could tell just by looking at it that it had been folded and refolded many times before. Draco opened it slowly, reading over the words Ginny had written what felt like forever ago.
'I guess, once it was all over with Christian I thought we could be together. I learned how important it was to be with the person you love, and I wasn't about to let my brother, family, or any other person stand in my way of being with you.'
'I love you more than anything else in this whole entire world.'
She wrote those words only a few months ago, and Draco hoped she still meant them because he was about to act against his better judgement. Instead of making Ginny's life a living hell, he would set out to earn back her heart...if she would let him.
A/N: Do you like it? Let me know in a review, and keep reading please!