Fifth Year

Chapter Two: Return to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Ginny lay asleep in bed as the sun began to rise. She was having the best dream about her and Draco. She was annoyed when she was rudely awakened by Ron shouting, "Ginny! Wake up, we have to leave in an hour!"

She groaned. She tossed and turned for a while until she finally pushed herself out of bed. She went into the bathroom to wash her face, and then got dressed.

When she finally got downstairs she barely had time to eat breakfast. "Ginny, you have to hurry and eat your breakfast, you know we can't be late!" Ron protested.

"Okay okay...sorry Ron," She replied, rather annoyed.

She ate her breakfast in a hurry and then went upstairs to make sure that everything was in her trunk before she brought it down. On her way up, she accidentally bumped into Harry. "Oh my God, sorry Harry!" She said really quickly.

Harry laughed.

"Don't worry about it. Be downstairs in five minutes, okay?" He told her.

"Sure," She smiled.

She turned and went into her room. She couldn't believe how stupid she had sounded. "I have to get over him!" She declared.

When she made sure that everything was in her trunk, she pushed it downstairs. Her father helped her load it into the car, and then she climbed in.

She sat in between Harry and Ron. It was very aggravating as they were talking to eachother over her, and she had to lean forward whenever they wanted to talk, which was about every two seconds. Ginny became annoyed and said boldly, "Ron, why don't you switch seats with me, because you two obviously just can't spend a few minutes without talking to eachother,"

"Okay, fine with me," He replied.

They stood up while the car was still moving and switched seats fastly. Ginny just gazed out the window for the rest of the trip, thinking about Draco.

When they arrived at King's Cross Station, they all got out of the car and each person took turns pulling their own trunk out. As they walked towards the barrier that lead to platform nine and three quarters, Ginny wondered if she would see Draco on the train at all. "I really don't see why I keep thinking about him, I mean it's probably going to end up being nothing," She thought.

Ron and Harry walked through first, and then Ginny followed. When she arrived on the platform, she looked around for Ron and Harry but once again, they were nowhere in sight. "Honestly, I think they do this to me on purpose," She thought angrily.

She looked around for them until she heard the conductor call, "all aboard!"

"Oh this is just perfect," She thought.

"Well, if they miss the train, it's their fault, not mine,"

She walked onto the train and walked around, trying to find an empty compartment. She found one all the way at the back of the train, and walked inside and sat down. She took out a book and began to read when the compartment door slid open. She looked up. 'Oh my God!' She thought. It was Draco!

"Mind if I come in? All of the others are full," He said.

"Umm...okay. Where's Crabbe and Goyle?" She asked, thoughtfully.

"They both went to Germany over the summer, so they're going to be arriving at Hogwarts late."

"Oh." She said.

Draco walked in and sat down next to her.

"What are you reading?" He asked.

"Oh, it's just Hogwarts, A History. I'm really bored," She laughed.

"That's neat,"

"Yeah,"

For a while they just sat there saying nothing, both a little self-conscious and not sure of what to say.

"Umm..so...how was your summer?" He asked hesitantly.

"It was okay. And yours?"

"Not bad."

Ginny smiled. She was so nervous! He was so good looking that she felt overwhelmed. She didn't know what to say at all, though she longed to just talk to him.

"Hey Ginny...about...umm...what happened in Knockturn Alley, I'm sorry I was so rude," He said.

Ginny felt slightly uncomfortable.

"That's okay. I was worse than you were, I'm sorry too," She replied nicely.

Draco smiled.

"Where's Ron and Harry?"

"I don't know. I lost them when I went through the barrier."

"You seem to lose those two a lot, don't you?" Draco chuckled, suddenly mesmerized by her beauty.

"Yeah," She answered, laughing a little bit too.

She looked up from her book to comment that they probably were doing it just to aggravate her when she once again was lost in his grey eyes. They stared at eachother before Draco began to move closer to her. 'Oh God..." Ginny thought, butterflies swimming around in her stomach. 'Is he going to kiss me?!'

Draco continued to move closer until they were only inches apart and bent down to kiss her. Ginny closed her eyes, waiting, and Draco was about to do it when the compartment door burst open.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Yelled Ron.

"Ginny, I've been looking all over for you, where have you been?!"

"After I walked through the barrier I couldn't find you two!" She shouted back.

Ron was about to say something until he remembered why he was really mad.

"Draco, what were you doing with my sister?!" He said sharply.

"Nothing, Weasley, we were just chatting."

"It didn't look like that to me from outside," Said Harry, clenching his fists.

He hated Malfoy with a passion.

"Yeah, well, maybe if you hadn't lost track of her, we wouldn't be in here together," Draco retorted.

Ginny didn't say anything. She secretly thanked Draco for defending her.

"Get the hell out of here!" Ron yelled.

Draco was about to say something when he looked at Ginny and saw her shake her head. 'It's no use,' Her eyes read.

He sighed and got up, walking roughly past Ron and Harry.

Ginny sighed too and leaned back against the wall.

"What did you think you were doing, sharing a compartment with him?!" Ron asked angrily.

"Just as Draco said, it probably wouldn't have happened if you two had been kind enough to wait for me after I arrived!" She snapped back.

"Ginny, I don't care what the hell he said. You have to use common sense! You know what he's like, and you know the tricky and dirty things he's been known to do!"

"You know what Ron? Maybe he has done some dirty things to you guys in the past but he's sure been nice to me. He even showed me the way out of Knockturn Al..."

Ginny knew she shouldn't have said that.

"Knockturn Alley?!?! Ginny, are you crazy?? You know how dangerous that place is, and you know that mum would kill us if she found out that one of us was there! I can't believe you!"

"Well I got lost when I was looking for you!"

"I don't care! You should've been paying attention!"

"I'm sorry okay!!!!"

"Urgh!" Ron yelled.

Ginny ripped out her book and pretended to start reading. She didn't want to argue anymore, but she was still furious.

Ron sat down and shook his head.

Harry quickly tried to change the subject.

"So who do you think is going to be the new quidditch captain?" He asked.

Ron was immediately drawn into the subject. As they began conversing deeply about quidditch, Ginny smiled behind her book. 'If they hadn't walked in...'

The compartment door opened again.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.

"We were wondering where you were!"

"I'm sorry, I got on the train at the last minute and couldn't find you guys. Hi Harry! Hi Ginny!"

"Hi!" They said together.

Hermione gave each of them hugs and then sat down next to Ginny.

"You look angry," She commented.

Ginny chuckled.

"I'll explain once we get to Hogwarts. We're almost there,"

"Alright," Said Hermione.

She too took out a book and began to read, as Harry and Ron once again began to ramble on about quidditch.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful. When the train finally started to slow down, Ginny and Hermione put away their books and got their bags ready. The train stopped. They had arrived at Hogwarts.

As the students piled off of the train, they all spotted Hagrid and waved.

"'Lo!" He shouted.

"Hi Hagrid!" They said together.

They started walking towards the horseless carriages. Harry and Ron decided to go together, so Hermione and Ginny found a carriage and climbed in.

The carriage took off, and as it started to move, Hermione asked, "Umm...so why were you so distraught on the train, Ginny?"

"Oh...well, after I went through the barrier at King's Cross, I couldn't find Harry and Ron. I looked for them but couldn't find them, and soon it was time to get on the train so I just went ahead and got on. I found an empty compartment and a few minutes later Draco came and joined me. We were talking and then Ron and Harry came in and...well, Ron was pretty mad," She told her.

"Oh. I'm sorry, but you know that Draco's not the nicest person," Hermione said.

"I'm sure Ron was just protecting you,"

"I know he was...but he's just been annoying me lately,"

"I understand,"

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When they entered the Great Hall, Ginny was immediately approached by her best friend, Collin Creevey.

"Hey Gin!" He said excitedly.

Ginny grinned widely.

"Hi Collin! How was your summer?"

"Great. And yours?"

"Not bad,"

Collin smiled and led her to a seat next to his. Hermione sat next to Ginny, and Harry and Ron sat across from them. As Ginny ate her dinner, she looked over at the slytherins. It took her a while before she finally spotted Draco, and when she did, he noticed that he too was looking at her. Ginny began to blush, but she smiled and he returned it.

Draco could not stop thinking about Ginny. He was mad that Ron and Harry had to barge into their compartment and disturb them. Afterall, he was about to snog her. He wasn't quite sure if he was just lusting after her anymore. She was very sweet on the train, and he enjoyed talking to her. He didn't know if it was her smile or her genuine personality that sparked his interest, but he couldn't wait to talk to her again.

Ron and Harry were eating their dinner while talking about quidditch yet again. Suddenly, Ron asked, "Harry, what do you think of Ginny?"

Harry was surprised by the question. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Umm...well...she's a very sweet person. She's very easygoing and...I guess she's understanding," He answered.

Ron nodded his head. He had been thinking about what he had seen before barging in on Ginny and Draco. They seemed to be sitting pretty close together, and it appeared that Draco was about to kiss Ginny but he wasn't quite sure...but he was going to do whatever it took to keep them away from eachother. Or maybe he didn't have to worry about anything and they simply were just chatting. Ron shook his head and continued to eat his dinner.

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Ginny walked upstairs to her dorm. She immediately flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes, thinking of Draco. 'Was he actually going to kiss me?" She wondered. She really hoped...because she could see that she was taking a liking to him. She drifted off to sleep, again thinking about Draco.

End of Chapter Two