Author's Note: I am all caught-up with my Christmas shopping now, but I don't think I am completely done! You never know what those last-minute Christmas shopping thing you have to do, but nevertheless I will try and post a few chapters before and after Christmas.

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

~*~*~*~*~*~

XIII. After the Kiss

Ginny's mind was a complete and utter mush. She remembered running back to Gryffindor Tower after that searing kiss she shared with Draco and stood in front of the Fat Lady's portrait with tears running down her cheeks. Of course the Fat Lady was genuinely intrigued for some tidbit of gossip to share with her friends hence why she decided to drill Ginny for more information behind her tears before she let the poor girl in. Once inside Ginny didn't want to speak to anybody, but seems like everybody was in the common room--including her overprotective brother and his friends.

Ron got up and walked towards her when he saw her crying. Hermione was by her side too putting a comforting arm over her shoulders and guided her back to the chairs where she, Ron, and Harry were chatting. Harry remained seated where he was on the other side of the coffee table where Wizards Chess rested and he was contemplating on his next move to beat Ron who was teaching Hermione how to play the game before Ginny walked in to the room. Ginny shot a quick glance at Harry before she sat down beside Hermione and noted that his hands balled into fists and his eyes were like tiny slits as he gazed at something above Ginny's head. He was controlling his temper, Ginny knew. She heard the warning he said to Draco before he left them at the staircases. She willed Harry to meet her gaze, she wanted to stop him from causing any bodily harm to Draco not because she knew Draco will be able to fight back and maybe beat the pulp out of Harry, but also she knew that Draco wasn't the one to blame--not entirely anyway--for her current state.

It was all her fault. She let her infatuation over the git get the best of her and now here she was crying while surrounded by her brother and his two bestest friends.

Hermione kept on asking her what happened, wanting to help her through whatever problem she might be having, but Ginny remained tight-lipped about what caused her to cry. Ron was soon losing his temper because according to him, she was covering up for the prat who obviously did something bad to her hence why she was crying.

"Shut up Ron and let me go to bed." she angrily snapped at her brother and without waiting for either one of the Dream Team to say anything, Ginny got up from the couch she was sharing with Hermione and stormed angrily into her room, plopping herself down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up the next day with her face smudged with dried-up tears and she found herself wearing the same clothes she wore the day before. She hadn't even had the time change into her pajamas last night and fell asleep after shedding probably bucket-loads of tears. She pushed herself off her bed and headed towards the girl's bathroom. She took a quick shower, went back inside her room and dug through her trunk for something comfortable and not-so-over-the-top outfit to wear today. She ended up wearing a worn-out pair of blue jeans topped with an old favourite T-shirt of hers that once fit her loosely and now it fit her quite snugly, hugging every small inch of her curvaceous body to her distaste, but the T-shirt was too damn comfortable to discard.

She put on very light make-up today and tried to hide the puffiness of her eyes with it. It seemed to have worked, but as soon as she stepped out of her room and walked down the circular staircase leading to the common room she was greeted by three worried faces belonging to her brother, Harry, and Hermione.

"Now are you ready to talk?" Ron demanded, his arms firmly crossed over his chest as he looked at his kid sister expectantly.

"Ron, give it a break, will ya?" Ginny frowned and shooed her brother away, but Harry and Hermione seemed to side with Ron this morning and helped her brother by simply blocking her way. "What is this? Gang up on Ginny day?" she rolled her eyes skyward at the two dark haired friends and looked over her shoulder to address her brother, "Tell them to move, Ronald. I'm starving and I want to eat."

"No can do, sis." Ron shook his head sternly and walked up to her.

"What?" Ginny questioned in disbelief.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave this room until you tell us exactly what happened to you last night." he insisted.

"Nothing happened last night, Ron. Now let me through." she denied vehemently, her green eyes shooting daggers at her brother.

"If nothing happened last night, Gin, then why were you crying when you came in here?" it was Hermione who voiced out that question, making Ginny turn her head to look at her closest female friend.

"Can't somebody cry for no apparent reason, Mione?" she replied flippantly. She really didn't want to discuss anything with anybody right now--nor will she ever want to discuss what happened last night between her and Draco with anybody at all, period!

"Not after you were left alone in Malfoy's company." Harry sneered.

"She was what?!" both Hermione and Ron's head whipped to look at Harry wildly. Ginny, on the other hand, just started the count-off to his execution time. Apparently Harry forgot to mention to neither Ron nor Hermione that he left Ginny with Draco en route back to the Gryffindor Tower the night before, and Ginny was so glad for that because she knew Ron would have her hide if ever he found out she was alone with Draco, but little did she know that Harry would use that very same ammunition to turn the tables around and infuriate more than just her damn brother!

Harry's eyes locked with Ginny's before he answered both his best friend's query calmly, "I left her with Malfoy last night after the git cornered us going up the stairs to here."

"What the hell does Malfoy want with you?" Ron's red head whipped to look at his sister accusingly, "Or should I ask did Malfoy get what he wanted from you?" he rephrased his question sneeringly.

That does it for Ginny. Automatically her hand shot up and slapped her brother, the imprint of her hand remained visible on Ron's cheek.

"I can't believe you could think that damn low of me, Ronald Gregory Weasley!" she replied indignantly, jutting her chin high into the air before adding, "You're lucky I love you so damn much or else I would've done more than slap you!" she turned and faced Harry and Hermione once again, but after seeing Ginny lose her temper on her brother Hermione decided to back off from the annoyed redhead. Harry, however, braved the angry bull and stood his guard. He waited for Ginny to slap him too when she walked up to him, but she surprised him by merely snarling at him and angrily said, "Next time you open that big, fat mouth of yours you're toast!"

Satisfied that she has bitched at two people this morning, she stormed out of the Gryffindor Tower and headed down for breakfast.

~*~

Draco sat sandwiched between Crabbe and Goyle as always inside the Great Hall. His cereal was soon turning into mushy flakes in his bowl but this morning he found himself not wanting to eat what was served before him. His mind was pretty much preoccupied by what happened last night and Ginny's rejection of him.

Everything was going so well last night. She had him exactly where he wanted him: aroused and willing in his arms far away from Potter, Granger, Weasley, and the rest of the damn school's population! What went wrong last night?

Draco was still dwelling on this when a lone figure made an appearance at the doorway of the Great Hall. His attention was momentarily riveted to the late comer and what he saw he couldn't almost believe.

Ginny Weasley looked like she was ready to murder anyone that crosses her path!

It didn't take Draco long to figure out what could have possibly incensed this early in the morning. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the Great Hall the Dream Team made an appearance, led by a red-faced Ron who was intent on following his sister until she was seated at the Gryffindor table.

Draco watched from his vantage distance how Ginny interacted with her brother and his two friends. Seems like the air between Potter and Ginny were tinged with so much static electricity it was almost too damn dangerous to get anywhere near them! But he could tell Ginny was mighty peeved at the moment, and Weasley wasn't letting her be.

~*~

"Virginia, I will ask you again, what the hell did Malfoy do to you last night?" Ron asked through gritted teeth as he sat beside his sister.

"Will you just give it a damn rest, Ronald? I came down here for some peace, quiet and some food!" Ginny hissed irately at her brother.

"I won't give it a damn rest until you tell me, word-for-word, what exactly happened last night that made you cry."

Ginny knew Ron wouldn't give it a rest until she give him at least an explanation. But the hell she'll tell him exactly what transpired between her and Draco the night before!

"Alright, you want to know exactly what happened last night?" she raised an eyebrow and waited for her brother to nod before continuing, "Very well. Malfoy and I talked. He started insulting me and I did my damnedest to insult him back, but in the end his words cut deep and upset me. There, satisfied now?" she raised an eyebrow challenging her brother to contest her excuse, but when Ron remained seated where he was, his eyes watching her intently, Ginny has had enough and without bothering to grab something to bite she walked out of the Great Hall and headed towards God knows where!

Unbeknownst to the feisty redhead, a certain blond-haired boy saw what happened over at their table and after giving her a couple of minutes head start, he grabbed two pieces of toast and an apple from the basket in front of him.

~*~

"Toasts and apple for the pretty lady?" Draco offered when he caught up with Ginny outside the school premises.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ginny demanded without bothering to look over her shoulder.

"Nothing." he gave a careless shrug, his outstretched hands holding the toasts and apple slowly falling to his side when Ginny showed no sign of looking at him. "I saw you walk out of the Great Hall without eating."

"So?"

"So I grabbed you some toasts and an apple because I know you'll be hungry." he answered matter-of-factly.

Ginny stopped walking towards the lake then and looked over her shoulder at him, an eyebrow raised as she studied him carefully.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?"

"Nothing." Draco replied innocently, lifting his hands again and showing her that he was indeed telling her the truth, that he brought her some toasts and apple. "I'm just merely worried about you missing breakfast, that's all."

"You worrying about little ol' me?" she asked mockingly, "I don't believe it!"

"Well you better believe it, Weasley." Draco hissed, his temper soon flaring as the redhead continued to show defiance at his act of kindness. "Are you going to eat these or not?"

Ginny's eyes traveled down to the food he was holding in his hands and were offering her. The toasts and apple were too tempting to resist. Against her will she found her hands reaching out and grabbing the toasts and apple Draco was offering her. Even though she told herself she would distance herself from Draco Malfoy, still, the temptation of food was too hard to resist.

Draco stood back and watched Ginny wolf down the toasts he brought with him and now she was munching on the apple. She looked mighty famished and he wished he took some more toasts with him, but he didn't wait to raise suspicion from his housemates hence he decided to grab just two.

"You don't happen to have anything to push these down with, do you?" she asked while chewing carefully on her apple.

"No. Sorry Gin, didn't think that far ahead." he replied, letting her nickname slip from his lips like he often said it naturally.

Ginny stopped munching on her apple and stared wide-eyed at the blond-haired Slytherin boy standing before her. Did he just call her what she thought she just heard him call her?

"What did you just call me?"

"Huh?" Draco frowned.

"What did you just call me." she repeated.

"I called you Red." he lied, mentally cursing himself for being so careless. Since when did he become fond of calling her 'Gin' in the first place?

"No." Ginny shook her mop of red hair and put the apple she was eating down, "You didn't call me 'Red', Ferret Boy. You just called me Gin!" her green eyes were wide open as she looked at him, she was still reeling from hearing him call her by the nickname most of her family and friends address her.

Draco looked unruffled on the outside, but inside he was feeling quite restless. He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have said that! Now Ginny would be pounding him for answers, and he wouldn't know what kinda answer to give her!

"You're dreaming, Red." he snorted, "Anyway, you done eating?"

"Don't be changing the subject, Ferret Boy." she glared at him and put the apple close to her mouth once again. She took a big bite off it and chewed vigorously before adding, "You just called me Gin and I can't believe I'd see the day you actually call me something else other than the usual list of insulting names you hurtle my way!"

"I am not changing the subject, Red. And I did call you Red a while ago." he insisted heatedly.

Ginny raised an eyebrow and gave him a mocking once-over, "Yeah, right." she snorted and finished eating her apple. Once she was done she tossed it up in the air and took out her wand, whispering some enchantment under her breath Draco watched as she magically transformed the core into a pretty colourful butterfly (a/n: yeah, yeah, kinda too out there, right? but hey, I don't want her to be littering around school property so she have to change the apple core to something else since a wastebasket wasn't anywhere nearby!). Draco stared, awestruck, as the apple core was perfectly transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

"How'd you do that?" he couldn't help himself from asking.

"A little advance magic I learned from reading." she gave a careless shrug and put her wand away. She dusted her hands and looked back at Draco who was staring at him with great admiration seen in his usuall cold gray eyes. "Thanks for bringing me breakfast. You know you really didn't have to, but thanks nevertheless."

"No problem, Red. I only felt sorry for you walking out of the Great Hall like that. Tell me, what did the Awesome Threesome do to you that made you leave the hall in such a hurry?"

"It's none of your bloody business." she answered irately, "Now if you have nothing else to say--"

"Actually I do have one question for you, Red." he cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

"Yes." he nodded, closing the space between them until he stood just a few inches away from her, making Ginny pull her head all the way to the back just so she could look Draco right in the eyes. God she was really pretty, why hadn't he noticed this before? He have always known that a certain red-haired Gryffindor female often caught his attention whenever he was dining in the Great Hall or walking down the long, often busy corridors of Hogwarts castle, but never has he paid much attention to that certain red-haired girl until now. She bewitched him, and right now more than ever he wanted to taste her again--and maybe even more. Lifting his hand, he traced his index finger along the side of her face, watching her flinch at the touch of his finger on her face. Baring his teeth in a mocking grin, he continued talking, "Why'd you run off like that last night, Red? We had something good going on back there and you left me...oh, let's just say you left somewhat unsatisfied."

Ginny knew she should move, get away from him and his lulling charm, but she found that her body doesn't want to do what her brain was telling it to do. She remained frozen where she was, her face being caressed by Draco's finger as his breath fanned her skin. By Merlin! Why does he have to crank up the charm to the max now when I am trying my damnedest to ignore him?! she asked herself miserably as she closed her eyes and took a couple of deep, calming breaths. You can do it, Gin. You can do it. You can move away from him and slap some sense into this annoying git. her conscience coached her, and with all her might she tried to bring herself to move away from Draco Malfoy and his insufferable charm. Alas, her will power wasn't strong enough for her to ignore the pull of Draco's charm.

"Go away, Malfoy." she said under her breath when she still found herself glued to the spot that she was, feeling Draco's presence so close to her.

"I can't, Weasley. Not until you give me an answer."

"Answer to what?" she asked coyly, vying for some time until her body decided to take heed to what her brain was telling it to do.

"You know what I mean. Why did you run off on me like that last night?"

"Surely you don't want me to answer that question, Ferret Boy."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, his finger sliding down to her chin, tilting her head back some more until his gray eyes traveled from looking into her fiery green ones to rest on her lips; her small, soft, delicate and deliciously red lips that he wanted to taste so badly once again.

"Oh surely I do want you to answer that question, Red." he leaned his face closer, his lips lightly brushing her cheek, his breath tickling the side of her face as Ginny tried her best to move away from his tempting nearness.

"No, I don't think you'd like my answer. Guys like you have an ego the side of a cathedral--it won't do it much good to hear that I simply ran away from you last night because the thought of kissing you, let alone doing more than kissing you, repulsed me so damn much I had to wash my mouth with arsenal just to get rid of--" she didn't get to finish the rest of her insulting reply when Draco angrily covered her mouth with his, crushing the soft velvety feel of her succulent lips as he shut her up from her further ranting.

Ginny froze in his arms, her brain malfunctioned for a mere fraction of a second before it kicked-in to overdrive and she got her arms to to move up, bracing her hands against his chest intending to push him away, but she found the task a tad bit too much to do; the next thing she knew she had her arms snaking up and around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss.

You are so totally out of your freaking mind, Virginia Weasley! she mentally scolded herself as her mouth parted at the cajoling of Draco's tongue, welcoming the feel of Draco's tongue slithering inside the moist crevice of her mouth. Her supple body moved closer until her body was plastered against his, moaning and cooing at his mouth's soon gentling caress at her surrender.

Draco's mouth soon trailed away from her lips, trailing kisses on the side of her mouth then down her throat, blowing gently at the base of it which made Ginny shiver from delight. He couldn't help himself form grinning victoriously as he held the feisty, stubborn redheaded girl in his arms. She was repulsed by him, eh? Looks like she wasn't repulsed by his actions towards her. He slowly, but deliberately, pulled away from a very limp and satiated Ginny, his gray eyes gazing down her lovely face all flushed from their kiss and he couldn't help himself from grinning some more.

"So, Virginia, will you be washing your mouth with arsenal once again?" he drawled it lazily, his arms still loosely wrapped around her small waist as he held her close to him, "Or do you want us to continue this?"

At Draco's mocking remark Ginny was rudely shaken back to reality. She blinked her eyes rapidly and tried to make sense of what just happened. She gave herself a mental shake and let her gaze travel down to where Draco's arms wound around her tiny waist, their bodies pressed close together and her arms loosely hung over his wide-spread shoulders.

Draco expected her to jump out of his arms any second now, but what she did next surprised him.

Ginny tilted her head to the side, her soft lips curling into a come-hither smile as she slowly let her eyes move up and down his face seductively, her arms still hanging loosely over his shoulders. She let most of her weight be supported by Draco's arms wrapped around her waist and she said, "Come to think of it, Malfoy, I didn't know what drug was I on last night for leaving you out cold like that." she made a slight movement against him, making sure that her hips brushed against his groin and earned her an animalistic growl from the man she was somewhat seducing. She knew what she was doing was mad, but somehow Draco maneuvered himself into this potion; sometimes payback's such a bitch, ain't it?

"Red, you better stop gyrating yourself like that against me." he said through clenched teeth.

"Oh?" Ginny raised an eyebrow and gave him her most innocent look, "Stop it or what, Ferret Boy?"

Draco's hand balled into fists and was puncturing the small of Ginny's back where he had them laced together seconds before. Just what the hell kind of game she was playing at? He was suppose to be doing the seduction here and yet...and yet the tables seemed to have turned around and now he was being seduced! She was wriggling in his arms, tempting him to do what he had been wanting to do every since he ran into her, but every time he got too close to her she just jumped away; she distances herself from him. Either that or she turn the tables around and now the ball was in her court while he puttered around figuring out what to do next!

Ginny sensed Draco's moment of confusion and seized that chance to spring away from his embrace. She watched his face contort to an angry scowl and merely smiled sweetly at him.

"Thanks for bringing me breakfast, Ferret Boy. See you around!" with a casual wave she turned her back to him and sashayed away from him. She was headed for the lake to think, but now even more so than a while ago she had so many things to think about. She patted her back mentally because she managed to walk away from Draco Malfoy without having her knees buckle underneath her.

Damn but she's got it bad for that boy! And double damn for making him get the upper hand. She needed to break the boy, make him see that there was more to a relationship than just sex and snogging. But all she seemed to muster was getting him all horny and wanting him to sleep with her.

"Oh no, Mr. Draco I'm-too-hot-to-handle Malfoy, if you want to get me in between the sheets with you, you gotta be willing to love not just my body but the rest of me as well." she said out loud when she finally reached the lakeshore.

~*~*~*~*~

to be continued...

A/N: OMG!!! Finally I'm done this chapter! I'm sorry it took me a while to update, but here's the update now. As always read, review & enjoy!

Miss Marauder: Well Christmas is over and although I haven't updated between the last time I posted and now, I have been working on this chapter and here it is. Hope it's worth the read, hehehehe

Brookie: Nope, he has no idea what just happened--and of course he wanted to find out why Ginny pushed him away :::laughs:::

Isadora: I made her run away for a more 'dramatic' effect, hehehehe

DaRkShAdOwS: Well sometimes my mind slowly empties out of fresh ideas hence why it takes me a few days to update, but I do start getting fresh ideas after a while, hehehehe

Sharlene: Hmm...it does look like Harry is overprotective of Ginny, huh? Hehehe, well maybe he's secretly in love with her or something :::winks:::

Kitycat87: Hmm...fixing it is the problem right now! :::laughs::: Well I'm slowly working on fixing the problem from the previous chapter

mini me: OK, I read your ranting and yeah, sometimes it's too damn good to be true that by 16 Ginny would magically transform into a sexy siren, but you know what? Ever heard of the story of the ugly duckling? I think that's what some authors are going for, transforming a once ugly duck into a beautiful, elegant swan. And that's what I'm gunning for here in Ginny's case. I'm sorry if my Ginny isn't up to your liking, but she's already 16 years old in this story, I think it's high time she grows up and grow in some other places! Some teens are late bloomers and some are early, in my Ginny's case...hmm...hehehe, well, she's a somewhat middle-of-the-mill bloomer.

Crystal: Yeah, they are both whacked for hearing their parent's voices in their heads! :::laughs:::

Christmas Angel: Of course they will get together! It's just a matter of when they'll be getting together :::grins:::

Ari, the Felton Lover: :::sighs::: a too good to be true Draco is always a nice Draco :::laughs::: and sorry for the delayed update, here's the next chapter now

Rebuky: Well blame the voices inside her head for ruining it for her! :::laughs:::

Winddance: Thank you! Now for this one did I make more than one mess-up or quite a lot?! hehehehe

hasapi: I guess you'll just have to find out what Draco thinks about Ginny's reaction

Loves-Kiss: Is this interesting enough? I didn't think it's that much interesting, hehehehe

kellyanne: :::evil laugh::: I'm evil? Why thank you! And sorry for a somewhat delayed update. Been busy with Christmas and all, but I did manage to type up a somewhat long chapter for you to read :::grins:::

Risquer: I hope you had a brilliant Christmas yourself! And look, two chapters in a row they snogged!!! :::laughs:::

Lady Godiva: Ginny ain't gonna be opening her big mouth to either Ron or Harry--or even to Hermione! :::laughs::: As you probably read in this chapter, Ginny and Harry are somehow 'enemies' at the moment because Harry couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut! :::winks::: And hearing her mum's voice in her head represents her conscience manifesting into a voice of someone very close and very dear to her--did that just make any sense?!

katelyn: Hmmm...nice idea, I'll mull over that and see what I come up with :::grins::: and you're writing a story at the HP website? Kewl! What handle are you using there? And uhm...hehehe, I'm not at all that familiar with the HP website so you might want to walk me through it...email me then and we'll swap ideas via email :::smiles:::

fyrechild: Hope you had a merry Christmas yourself! And yeah, I just couldn't leave the previous chapter very short. I think I already made you wonderful readers sit at the edge of your computer chairs waiting for them to snog so as a pre-Christmas gift to you readers & reviewers alike, I made them snog! hehehehe

cOLLZ: thank you so much! and thanks for leaving your mark!