Author's Note: :::grins mischievously::: Well, I'm trying to tone down Ginny's trashiness which, to begin with, wasn't really that over the top; it was only intensified in like chapter 8 (or was it 7? jeez! I can't even remember which chapter! *lol*) 'coz she needed to catch someone's attention :::smiles:::

Disclaimer: I must've written this numerous times as it is and you know what? NOT MINE!!!

Summary: Ginny Weasley received the shocker of a lifetime when she entered her sixth year at Hogwarts. She fell in love with the last person on earth she thought she'd fall for. Now she has to do everything in her power to grab his attention and make him hers--even if she have to face the wrath of her six brothers and her parents, not to mention the wrath of Hermione and Harry when they find out what she was planning to do.

Setting: Ginny is in her 6th year; Draco is in his 7th year

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X. Across the Crowded Room

Ginny was surprised to receive an owl post Friday morning coming from a jet-black owl which zoomed in and dropped a small parchment on Ginny's lap. She quickly picked it up and unrolled the piece of parchment:

Red, meet me around lunch time. Need to discuss report with you.

Ginny didn't need to take a guess as to who sent her the note. From the favoured 'Red' scrawled on the top she knew it was from none other than her Potions partner, but something at the back of her head nagged her to check how Draco signed his name and a ghost of a smile appeared on her lovely face when she read Ferret Boy signed at the bottom.

He's slowly coming around, Gin. He's slowly coming around. she gave herself a mental pat on the back and folded the piece of parchment. She slipped it in the pocket of skirt and continued with breakfast, occasionally glancing over the Slytherin table and smiling whenever she caught sight of Draco either stuffing his mouth with his favoured cereal or talking to either one of his housemates.

Since Saturday morning--after their second near-kissing-experience--Ginny couldn't erase Draco from her mind. Honestly he has invaded her thoughts far more than any guys ever has. Well, except for Harry of course, but she soon grew out of her silly infatuation over her brother's best friend soon after she and Harry had a heart-to-heart talk the summer before he entered his sixth year and she her fifth year. He confessed to her that although he found her attractive, she could never be more than a kid sister to him; and he was scared-shitless of Ron if ever things don't work out between them and she ended up hurt and Ron would want to skin his hide.

Ginny chuckled as she recalled the look of horror on Harry's face as he tried to picture Ron running after him with a machete or some piece of pointy metal ready to skin him alive for hurting his sister's feelings. It was because of that sole conversation with Harry that she realized it would be pointless to pine for someone who could never see her as girlfriend-material. She and Harry just became close confidants who often make fun of Ron when he was being an idiot.

Now with Draco...she sighed and set her spoon down beside her bowl. She gazed across the crowded Great Hall and rested her gaze on the smirking platinum-blond haired Slytherin seventh year. Suddenly trying to capture his attention proved to be a task a tad bit too hard to accomplish. He was all suaveness and flirtiness and meanness all rolled into one that was making Ginny's mind go round and round. It was all those attributes of his that attracted her to him in the first place, those and of course his outward appearance.

~*~

Draco felt a certain pair of eyes on him and he didn't have to guess who those pair of eyes belonged to. As soon as he lifted his head and gazed across the crowded hall his gaze collided and locked with that of Ginny's. She was looking at him rather oddly, her eyes glazed and her facial expression a mixture of wonderment and something else. He knew she got his note. He saw Raven (a/n: yeah, yeah, very unique name for a jet-black owl! *lol* sorry, but my mind seem to cease to function right now and couldn't think of any other name for his owl) drop the note he scribbled the night before on her lap and he even watched her read it. He saw her smile at something she read--could it be his signature Ferret Boy that made her smile?--then put the note away.

Ginny Weasley has plagued his mind the entire weekend--or even before the weekend. It all started Friday morning when she ran after him from the Great Hall and he was close to tasting those succulent lips of hers. He didn't realize just how much he wanted to kiss Ginny until that moment, when he had her in his arms and their face inches away from each other--until her prat of a brother showed up and ruined the moment. He thought he had his chance Saturday of finally tasting the forbidden fruit that was Virginia Weasley, but like the day before it was foiled by the unruly wind that suddenly ruined the moment for the both of them.

But spending time with her Saturday morning wasn't as bad as he initially thought when Snape paired them together for their potions experiment. He found her rather intriguing and very intuitive. When they were brewing their potion, while his mind wandered, she kept a very strict and close watch on every ingredient they were chopping and putting into their cauldrons. She even slapped his hands twice for chopping a couple of ingredients either too thin or too thick. He merely growled at her and redid his mistake all the while that his mind was thinking of his red-haired partner.

Why didn't he notice her before? Why didn't he start thinking about Ginny Weasley as an attractive, alluring, witty young woman? Why did it have to take her to dress the way she did on Friday before he started paying attention to her?

That was because before you were busy tormenting her brother and his friends to actually look beyond the prat Weasel, scarhead Potty and brainy Mudblood. his brain sneered at him. Draco snorted. And I just missed how many years of watching the lovely Virginia Weasley grow? he questioned himself, his eyes watching her intently once again, like the way he did Saturday morning when she was busy concentrating on writing up the list of possible potion solution for their project.

~*~

Ginny couldn't tear her eyes from Draco's. When he looked up and met her gaze she knew she should've looked away, but something prevented her from doing so. From afar he looked pretty harmless. And he was harmless. For some insane reason she just had this gut-feeling that Draco's outward rudeness to people was just a visage; something he used to keep people away, but on rare occasion he wasn't such an ass.

Taking a deep breath she braved a smile and inclined her head in greeting. She saw shock register in his usually icy face before he slowly--like a robot--inclined his head in greeting then returned back to finishing his breakfast. Ginny let her gaze linger more on him before she too returned to finishing her breakfast. It was still a long ways away from lunch and her meeting with her Potions partner; she needed her energy to sustain herself until lunchtime.

~*~*~*~*~

to be continued...

A/N: I know this is a short chapter and...well, this just looks like a filler but I just want to have a chapter showcasing both our lead's inner turmoil (if you call what they're going through in this chapter turmoil :-/). Anyway, let me know what you think. I am working on the next chapter--or thinking of what's going to happen in the next chapter, hehehehe--so it might take me a while to upload chapter 11...

Andie: here's the next chapter, hope you like it :::smiles:::

Winter Moonglade: I think Draco deserves to be teased unmercifully sometimes since he's been doing quite a lot of that in most fics, hehehehe...and thanks for giving me the quote from "Miss Congeniality"--it'll probably appear in this fic some time in the futre :::winks:::

SeZzA: yep...well they both have to wait *lol* I believe that the more the inevitable is delayed, they more they'll enjoy it when it finally happens!

aZn BaBe: when I conceived the idea for this fic I wanted to make the lead female character to act so out of character...but I think I kinda went overboard with it *lol*

Crystal: thank you! :::evil grin::: I have been called evil, but hey, I gotta be sometimes :::winks:::

Darcel: thanks for clearing that up for me

MYSTIQUE: Uhm...well, hehehe, we're going to cut through the chase pretty soon...they'll just have to wait a while... :::winks:::

Winddance: thank you for liking the way I portrayed Ginny in this fic. I was concerned at first that people wouldn't like this new Ginny, but I think that in every "good girl" hides that "bad girl" that just needs a certain tweaking for it to come out :::laughs:::

[anonymous] thanks and...well, I am going to try and tone down Ginny's trashiness...hehehehe, it was just for the benefit of the one or two chapters that she has to act all slutty :::grins:::

Kitycat87: hehehehe, you'll just have to wait just like Draco & Ginny before they could finally kiss!