Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. I do, however, own an awesome purple rock that's shaped like an egg that my little cousin loves so much she wants to steal it from me!

Well, now that I finally figured out why my Internet wasn't working, I can give you my latest chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Without further ado:

Chapter 16

Draco POV

Pain. That was the first thing that I became aware of. My mind felt fuzzy and a dull throbbing pain ran all over my chest. I groaned inwardly, still trying to get my bearings. Where was I? Slowly it all started to come back to me. Bell being awake, Potter following me to the bathroom, our duel, the pain of my chest being slashed open, Snape, and finally falling into the welcome arms of unconsciousness.

I felt now not only the pain, but the softness of a bed. I must be in the hospital wing. I could hear and feel someone slow even breathing. Their breath tickled my ear. I slowly opened my eyes to the dark interior and the stone ceiling of the hospital room. I glanced down at my shoulder and was stunned to see Ginny's red hair sprawled across my shoulder and chest, her head resting on my shoulder as she slept.

I let a smile cross my lips as I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt the urge to get up or just move slightly to lessen the pain in my chest but I didn't want to wake Ginny. So I let my thoughts wander away from the pain in my chest, turning them onto the girl sleeping on my shoulder. Madam Pomfrey had to know she was here, but then wouldn't that raise suspicion as to why a Weasley was at my bedside.

On one of those sleepless nights under the tree by the lake I had explained to her why we could not tell people about us. It was for her safety as well as mine. He could not know about her. If he did, he might use her to get to me if I ever did something to displease him. If I failed to complete the task he had given me, he would kill Ginny just to make me suffer. It was for the better that we not risk him finding out.

I didn't tell Ginny about my task yet. She would hate me for even thinking about doing it. Dumbledore was a family friend of the Weasleys and I knew his death would devastate her maybe more than most of the wizarding world. She would try to talk me out of it, convincing me I that I don't have to. But she would never understand. I had no choice. If I said no, I would be killed. It is impossible to hid from him forever. He would get me eventually.

If it is one think I learned by growing up around Voldemort and his Death Eaters is that he always gets what he wants. There is never any stopping him. I knew that Potter was supposed to be the one to kill him, that is why he always wanted Potter dead so bad. But I doubted Potter would be able to kill him. I would be stuck in this lie for the rest of my life. Pretending to be a good Death Eater, while hating it the entire time.

My thoughts were cut off by a soft sigh that escaped Ginny's mouth. I glanced down at her sleeping face. She's beautiful, I thought to myself. The moonlight from one of the windows reflected off her hair, making it shine lightly. A small smile graced her lightly freckled face. I don't deserve her. What's going to happen to her if she stays with me? I will never be able to give her everything she wants. I won't be able to give her the family she would want. She would never let on that it bothered her, hiding her relationship from her family and friends and never having the family she wanted. But I knew she would be unhappy.

I knew that I should end my hidden relationship with her, if only for her good. She would be able to move on and have a family when she got older. But for some reason I couldn't do it. Every time I thought of that, Potter's smug face popped into my mind. Him holding my Ginny, kissing her, loving her. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle that. I put the thought out of my mind, I couldn't just let her go, and I knew that.

I closed my eyes again, trying to go back to sleep. At least when I was asleep I wasn't plagued by pain and worries. I resisted the urge to move again as I tried to go back to sleep. My mind was fuzzy and I was slipping into sleep when Ginny stirred. I looked down to see her eyes flutter open. A smile flitted across her face as she slowly sat up, sitting up in her chair. "Draco, you're awake," she said happily. "How do you feel?" She glanced down at my chest.

"Like a troll sat on my chest with spiked trousers," I said with a weak laugh. The laughing hurt and my smile turned to a grimace of pain. I closed my eyes and shook my head slightly.

I heard Ginny whimper in sympathy, her small hand stroking my cheek softly. "I wish I could help," she said softly. I leaned into her touch and sighed softly, ignoring the pain in my chest it caused. "Do you want me to go get Madam Pomfrey?" she asked tentatively.

I shook my head, opening my eyes to stare into her beautiful blue eyes. "I'll be fine," I said, tying to keep the pain from showing in my voice. I was good with handling pain. It was only around Ginny when my guard was down that the pain showed so easily. I covered it quickly to ease Ginny's worries. I smiled softly and put my hand over hers that was still stroking my cheek. I brought it to my lips and kissed it softly, my eyes closing again.

I heard her soft sigh and reveled in it. I never thought I could feel so strongly about anyone or anything. It had been bred into my brain that emotions would kill you but here I was, very much alive, with the most wonderful girl on the planet sitting next to me. I let myself drift slowly towards sleep, Ginny's hand in mine.
"I need to go soon," she said softly after a while. "I can't let the others know I was gone. They might wonder where I was and we all know Ron will throw a fit to find me out of my bed. Plus, Hermione is a morning person so…" she trailed off.

I opened my eyes and nodded understandingly. "Wouldn't want Potter and his precious sidekicks worrying," I said with a soft laugh.

"Hey, one of those 'precious sidekicks' happens to be my brother so watch it," she said, a smiled stretching across her freckled face. Then she sighed and looked towards the door reluctantly.

"Go on Ginny," I said softly. I didn't need to be told to know that Pansy would be here first thing in the morning. And it wouldn't be a pretty situation if she came, only to find Ginny asleep at my bedside. Plus, Ginny would be missed if she was discovered not in her bed. The sun was just beginning to lighten the horizon when she stood and hurried out and up to her dormitory.

Ginny POV

I hurried back up Gryffindor Tower, stopping at the Fat Lady, catching my breath. "What are you doing out of bed this late?" the large woman in the picture asked in a sleepy voice as she stared down at me sternly.

"Early actually," I said when I caught my breath. "It's just before five in the morning." She merely glared down at me. "Pigweed." She mumbled something about being woken up by smart-alecky kids.

I dashed into common room, glancing around to see if anyone was up at this ungodly hour. Thankfully the room was dark and empty. I quickly made my way up the stairs and grabbed a change of clothes for that day, making sure not to wake my roommates. I headed strait to the shower and stripped off my clothes and stepped into the warm spray.

The heat of the water relaxed some of the tension out of my shoulders. I sighed and closed my eyes, letting the water cascade over me in warm streamlets. Draco was going to be ok. I relaxed more and finally started washing, quickly working the shampoo into my long red hair. As I finished my shower I could hear the door of the bathroom open as one of the girls from the dormitory got up to go to the bathroom.

I turned the water off and started to dry myself. I could hear the shower in the stall next to mine start and I stepped out, wrapping the towel around myself. I grabbed my clothes off the counter and stepped back into the privacy of the shower stall to change.

When I was done I hopped up onto one of the many counters by a long mirror and started brushing my hair, my feet dangling lazily. I was full of mixed emotions. First there was relief that Draco was going to be ok. But there was also anger towards Harry for hurting Draco. There was guilt for the simple fact it is nearly impossible to hid my anger so Harry would probably figure out that I'm mad at him but I won't be able to explain to him why I'm mad. But mostly it was relief.

"Hey what are you doing up so early?" I heard Jenna Williams ask as she came into the bathroom.

I looked up from my dangling feet, having been lost in though as I brushed though my hair. I was about to answer when Alexis popped her head out of the shower stall. "Better yet, where were you last night? You weren't in bed when I came up at one in the morning. Dumb potions essay kept me up. But you weren't even in the common room last night. Well not after Harry came running it babbling about something or another," she said as she walked over to the mirror, still wrapped in her towel, to brush her hair.

"I was out because I wasn't really tired last night. I was wandering around by the lake till really late. I think I might have drifted asleep against a tree or something because when I came back up you guys were all asleep," I said, using the excuse I had thought up a while back for if and when one of them noticed I was gone one night that Draco and I were out by the lake.

"Don't you even care about curfew?" asked a horrified Emily, who seemed to be molding herself after Hermione.

I just shrugged, "I can't help that I fell asleep. It was before curfew when I fell asleep out there though," I said, hopping down off the counter and picking up my toothbrush. I hopped they would just drop it.

"Well, if you do it again I'll have to tell Hermione," Emily continued in a stern voice. She was defiantly become too much like Hermione for her own good. Hogwarts was barely big enough for one know-it-all like Hermione; gods know we don't need another one.

I simply shrugged and quickly brushed my teeth, trying to hurry away from the curious girls that I was forced to share a bathroom with. I wondered idly what happened to the good old days when the bathroom was one of the only places you could find privacy.

Luckily Lucy walked in at that moment, eyes barely open as she struggled to stay awake. I slipped quickly out the door and tossed my shoes on. I jogged down the stairs and into the common room. The pitch was just visible in the distance and I had a sudden urge to fly.

I dashed out the door, eager to get on the field and fly. I stopped only to grab a few pieces of toast from the Great Hall to eat on my way before I headed out to the grounds. I put the last bit of toast into my mouth as I grabbed my broom from the shed and walked out the empty pitch.

As I kicked off from the ground, air whooshing around me, I felt the last of my stress leave me. In the air, I was free. As I glided around the field, one though kept running through my mind, Draco would be ok.

Ya… Well, tell me what you think. I wasn't really sure how to end this chapter so that it leads into what I have planed for the next chapter but I hope you liked it! Please, if you did, or merely have something to say, review and tell me. They make me happy!

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