Hey guys! Fresh out of the oven here for ya! Oh man, now I'm hungry…no, honestly, I am. Anyway, here you go! I hope you all like it, it's full of…well, that's for you to find out. Oh, and by the way, you're in for a huge plot twist…don't say I didn't warn you! Oh yeah, and thank you to Madison, who solved my puzzle and set my mind at ease, the magic word was alliteration. And if you guys all figured that out too, well, you're all a hell of a lot smarter than me! So that special extra chapter will be coming out later today, seeing as how it's 1:30 in the morning here…

Lauren

Disclaimer: Haha, yeah, this is a great plot line, thank you, (HAHAHAHA!!!! As if) but unfortunately, that's the only part of this story I own. Nope, don't own the characters. Ah poo, then I could have been *super* cool! Oh well…

Chapter thirty-three

Misleading Mistake

During breakfast, Ginny kept watching Malfoy, like she expected him to just look up and smile at her, even though she knew he wouldn't. Still, she had that little childish hope inside of her, and it kept her wishing and waiting. Actually, she didn't know why she cared that much. After all, it was Malfoy, not like he mattered to them anyway. He never had and he never would. Or maybe they were wrong. Maybe he would matter. A lot.

Ginny felt a little unnerved at his odd behavior…so unnerved that she found she couldn't eat her breakfast any more. She politely excused herself, much to the other three's confusion, and headed out of the great hall. At that moment, Malfoy noticed her exit, but more than that, he noticed the look on her face. She looked upset, and utterly disappointed. He couldn't help what he did next.

He suddenly stood up, almost knocking into his orange juice, and ran as best he could without attracting attention to follow her. Why am I following her? He asked himself as he passed through the doorway. There she was, climbing the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Something unreal made him do it…

"Ginny!"

She turned around slowly, recognizing that voice as not one she was too familiar with. Something told her it was…yes, it was Malfoy! What is he doing calling my name? She wondered.

She looked at him, expecting him to say something. But he didn't. He just stood there, staring blankly at her. Soon she grew impatient and began to turn around when he felt him grab her arm. Boy, he's fast… she thought to herself as he spun her around.

"Ginny, I need to talk to you…" he whispered secretively. Before she could answer, she felt herself being led away somewhere.

After a few minutes she saw that they were outside, nearing the Quidditch field. He led her over to the locker room and sat her down on the bench in the back. He would have sat down next to her, but he was too busy pacing back and forth nervously. Ginny watched him curiously, wondering what this was all about.

Finally…

"I need to— to tell you something," he said hesitantly.

Ginny just nodded, afraid to break his train of thought that it had taken so long for him to establish.

A few more minutes, then…

"Ginny, I- well, I've been thinking a lot, and—"

But before he could finish, there was a loud crash somewhere near the entrance of the locker room. Malfoy snapped his neck around, his nerves jolted. Ginny looked over as well, but she was more frustrated than shaken. He was trying to tell her something important, who was making all that noise?

Ron and Harry walked in, looking embarrassed and smiling sheepishly.

"Oh uh, hello there…we were just uh, you know, making sure the brooms and everything were locked up and stuff…yeah. We um, we didn't know you guys were in here…" Ron said with the most unconvincing red tint all over his face while Harry nodded supportively. Ginny growled at him and turned around to face Malfoy again, but he was gone. He had run off again. Now Ginny was really upset.

"God, you guys! You two are such prats, you know that??" she said as she stormed past them, knocking them aside.

"What? We told you, we came to check on the brooms!" Ron said defensively as they followed her. Harry nudged him in the ribs. He obviously didn't get that she had seen right through that excuse.

"You guys were spying on me! God, I'm not a little kid, I don't need a babysitter!" she growled.

Now Harry was getting angry.

"Spying on you? Well, maybe we wouldn't have to spy on you if you weren't going around with Malfoy!! What were you two doing in the locker room, for crying out loud???"

Ginny turned around sharply.

"Are you implying, Mr. Potter, that I was going around, behind your back, and cheating on you with Malfoy? Because that's what it sounds like to me…" she said, with the most annunciated tone in her voice that shook Ron's bones. Harry, meanwhile, wasn't scared at all. He had dealt with much worse.

"I don't know, you tell me, Weasley…"

Ron looked back and forth between them nervously. But he dared not say anything.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Draco was trying to tell me something, and he would have had you two creeps come and ruined it! You scared him away! God you guys are such pricks!" With that she stomped off toward the castle, leaving a fuming Harry and a frightened Ron.

Ginny's mind was racing. She didn't know what she was doing or where she was going. But her heart was pounding faster than she ever imagined a heart could beat. She finally reached the steps up to the entrance hall and walked inside. She didn't even pause as she felt her legs take her in the direction of the dungeons. The closer she got, the more it all seemed clear: she had to get away from Harry. As far away as she could. She reached the portrait hole to the Slytherin common room and paused for the first time since she left the field. This could be a bit of a problem… But lucky for her, Malfoy happened to be leaving the common room for the library at that very moment. As soon as he stepped out she saw the look on his face and sighed, which caught his attention and spun him around.

"Ginny," he whispered.

She smiled softly. All he needs is a friend…

"Malfoy, what were you going to—"

But she was cut off. Malfoy put his finger up to her lips and, after a moment of looking into her eyes, slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. She was shocked, of course, but the thing was, she didn't stop him from doing it. She just sort of, gave in, you could say. Her mind was reeling even more. What am I doing? I'm still Harry's girlfriend! If he found out about this… But then a different thought entered her head. Good! Let the little bastard know that he's not the boss of you! Who cares what he thinks! Even if Ginny had been given a choice, she would have picked the second one. She wasn't giving in to Harry that easily.

And with that, she began to kiss him back.

She had no idea how much she would regret that.

After a moment she pulled away, feeling a bit vindicated. But the look on Malfoy's face made her realize that it hadn't been the same for him as it had for her.

His eyes were the only part of his face that she could read. He looked at her confusedly, as if he were trying very hard to hold back all emotion until she revealed hers first. But his eyes, they were shining…filled with pain and sorrow…but when she looked deeper than that, she saw something else, something glinting…she had reached something. Opened something up, and she could see it there, in his eyes. And she knew that she didn't feel the same way about him. She just wanted to help him, to be his friend…now what could she do? She merely smiled feebly and sighed. She was in quite the predicament.