Author's Note: First and foremost I would like to apologize to all you avid readers of mine for the slight delay of this chapter. I admit I have been busy lately and for the last few days I have been battling a nasty cold & cough that has been draining me off my strength, but amidst feeling a bit down & out I am going to update this fic of mine and hope ya'll enjoy this chapter...

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

~*~*~*~*~*~

XIX. Something's Changed

Monday morning Ginny woke up bright and early, her adrenalin rushing, flowing through her veins like wild fire. She couldn't wait to get her day started and see Draco. After admitting the night before that she has fallen in love with the last person on earth she expected to fall for, everything seemed to turn out alright.

She was the first to hit the showers, taking her time under the lukewarm spray of the water. Somehow patching things up with Harry and talking to him again made life seem easier for her. At least now she have someone to confide to once again. And he seemed to have taken her news about her feelings for Draco quite well although there was a part of her that told her Harry wasn't at all at ease with her constantly talking about Draco, still, her best friend was back and ready to give out as much good, big brotherly advice as he can.

Last night, after Harry's surprise confession, they ended up walking to the lake and started talking. Harry began questioning her about her feelings for Draco; when it started; how it started; and what have they been doing together all this time. She told him, without hesitation, about how it all began and why.

She must've been humming under her breath when she gaily walked down the stone spiral staircase towards the common room because as soon as she got to the bottom of the steps she was greeted by Harry's cheery:

"Somebody woke up on the right side of the bed this morning." he teased as he glanced up from the Transfiguration notes he was reading to study for one of their quizzes today.

Ginny turned towards where he sat and put on her megawatt smile, "Of course I am! It's Monday morning, start of a whole new week." she crossed the room and stopped behind the armchair he was using to peer over his head at the notes he was reading, "Hmm...no wonder you're up early too. That looks like a tough subject to tackle." she frowned after she read what he was studying for.

Harry put down the notes in his hands and glared up at her, "Shut-up, Gin. What are you doing hanging around here for anyway? Shouldn't you be meeting somewhere private with your wonder boy, hm?" he continued teasing her.

Ginny smacked him at the back of his head and walked around the armchair to stand before him, "Draco and I didn't plan on meeting today. And besides, you know Draco and I never plan to meet--it just happens." she pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Hmm...true. Anyway, it's still a few minutes before the breakfast bell rings. Want to go study with me out in the courtyard for a bit? I sure could use some help remembering all this." he pointed at the piece of parchment he was reading for McGonagall's class.

"Okay. I think I could do with some fresh air. Better soak up enough sun and smell the fresh autumn air before it turns chilly to make way for winter."

"Alright." Harry grinned and pushed himself from the armchair. He stooped down and grabbed his book bag resting beside the chair and gestured for Ginny to precede him out through the portrait hole.

They talked along the way, mainly it was Harry teasing Ginny because of her chirpy mood this morning. Ginny tried to tease him back, but she couldn't think of anyone else to tease Harry to. She couldn't possibly tease him to Cho Chang anymore since the girl already left Hogwarts, and as far as she could tell Harry hasn't told her anybody else he fancied. They were walking down the corridor leading to the courtyard when from a distance Harry saw Draco with his goons walking towards them. He gave Ginny's side a nudge and pointed his unruly dark head at the direction Draco and company were at.

Ginny couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat at the sight of the charming blond haired boy flanked by his bodyguards following closely behind him. He towered over Crabbe and Goyle now, all the more better to be noticed by everybody else. As usual he was wearing his trademark smirk as they neared them. Ginny tried her best to cover the smile that somehow plastered itself to her face when she saw him and walked straight with her chin held high and managed to continue her friendly banter with Harry. When Draco and his goons were within hearing range from them Ginny decided to say something to him as he walked past by.

"Looking smug today, Ferret Boy." she teased, a shadow of a grin hovering from the corners of her mouth as she looked at him.

Instead of a verbal reply, Draco merely grunted at her and walked by as though he didn't see her. His arm connecting against her shoulder and gave her a slight, albeit powerful, nudge sending Ginny to stagger back against Harry a bit who braced the impact grabbing her by the shoulders as she swayed towards him, but Draco never uttered a single word which Ginny found very odd. He did, however, gave her a slicing glare, his cold, steel gray eyes looking at her then to Harry who was standing behind her before it returned to look back at her, conveying a secret message; a threatening message she couldn't quite decipher. He was in a foul mood this morning.

"What the hell was that?" Harry asked once Draco and his sidekicks were out of earshot.

"I--I don't know." she stammered, staring wide-eyed at Draco's departing back. "He--he must be in some kind of a mood this morning." casting the worry off her face, she turned and smiled up at Harry, "Must've woken on the wrong side of the bed." she excused his odd behaviour from her best friend.

~*~

Draco remained remote as he walked down the hallway heading towards the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle decided they wanted to take the corridors overlooking the courtyard on their way there to buy them some time to reach their destination. It was still too early for breakfast and since neither one of them have anything else to do, they decided to loiter around school before heading for breakfast.

Draco was all for the idea of a walk to keep his mind off thinking of what he witnessed the night before between Harry and Ginny. He couldn't believe he would feel such hurt after seeing Ginny wrapped in Potter's arms, her lips sealed with his in a kiss that was far from being friendly nor brotherly! His hands balled into tight fists as he replayed the scene in his mind, his gray eyes piercing right through the skulls of those unfortunate enough to come within range of his gaze; even Crabbe and Goyle couldn't understand why he was in such a foul mood.

When he saw Ginny and Potter walking down the corridor he wanted to turn on his heel and go back the opposite direction, but he knew doing such thing would raise his lackeys' curiosities and questions were bound to arise, questions he'd rather not answer nor wanted to dwell on.

Seeing Ginny smile up at Potter, her green eyes casting a loving gaze on his mortal nemesis' face, tightened something around his heart that made it almost impossible for him to breathe. They were carrying on an air of easy camaraderie as they nudge each other every now and then, laughing at whatever the other was saying until all the mushiness and sweetness began to make his tooth ache!

They reached the Great Hall without him realizing that they were there already. His mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Ginny and Potter to pay attention to his surrounding. If it hadn't been for Crabbe snapping his fingers in front of him he wouldn't have snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he snarled at his sidekick who took an involuntary step backwards once his steel gray eyes glared at him.

"Uh...are you coming?" Crabbe asked.

Draco's forehead creased into a frown. He knew what Crabbe was asking, taking an quick cursory glance over his lackey's shoulder to see who else has entered the Great Hall, he shook his blond head no and made up an excuse he wasn't hungry yet. He headed towards the direction of the Entrance Hall doors; he needed some fresh air to clear his mind and give him some sort of perspective to face the rest of the day. He was still mad at Ginny for playing him for a fool, but if he didn't do anything to alleviate his irritation, he might just inflict some bodily harm to someone he'd rather not mess with. Not that rearranging Harry Potter's face wasn't something he wouldn't enjoy doing, he just doesn't want to be given detention for doing it.

~*~

"I'm gonna go for a walk." Ginny told Harry on their way to the Great Hall, "I'll just see you later, okay?"

"Is everything okay, Gin?" Harry asked worriedly when he noticed that since their run-in with Malfoy earlier Ginny's never been the same.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Harry." she smiled encouragingly, "Just sneak me out some toasts in case I don't make it in time before my first class." she grinned and walked away from the direction Harry was taking towards the Great Hall.

"Okay." he nodded reluctantly, watching Ginny's departing back. He had a gut feeling whatever was bothering Ginny had something to do with what happened between her and Malfoy earlier, but she was just putting on a brave face that all was right in her world.

~*~*~*~*~

to be continued...

A/N: finally I'm done with this chapter! I am so terribly sorry it took so long before I updated. and I think this chappie kinda...uh...lacks something...I dunno what it is, but you tell me if it does lack in something or if the tone's just fine. damn blasted writer's block making me start to write crappy! *lol* I've been meaning to upload this chappie sooner, but I was hit with a minor case of writer's block so it took me a while before I continued typing this chapter. hopefully for my next chapter I won't suffer from the same fate (",)

Dannie7: run for it???

Arella Hallo: to find out the answer to where Ginny went, you gotta read the next chapter *grins*

tigereyes320: *lol* the way I described Draco...hmm...yeah, I am not particularly into blondes, but after seeing Tom Felton play Draco in the second movie that changed my opinion about blondes! *lol* did that even make sense?! :-/

Anh D-ao: hmm...yeah, a typical road to take for Draco to hurt Ginny now...don't wanna go there though, but if worse comes to worse I might just make Draco hurt Ginny back in order to get back at her for making a fool outta him!

*karly*: thanks for liking the previous chappie...and sorry for keeping you in suspense for a while. I meant to update as often as I can, but with writer's block getting in the way it's kinda hard to update on a daily basis.

Sharlene: I think Draco's way too sophisticated to show that he's mad...hmm...he's mad, yeah, that's understandable, but he'll have to show some class first...

MelissaAdams: I haven't checked out ff.net in a while mainly because I've been busy with work, but tonite for sure I'll sit in front of my comp & update myself on some of my fave ff.net stories! *lol*

MYSTIQUE: awww...Harry ain't a prat! he's just a guy in love with the girl who has fallen MADLY IN LOVE with the blonde! *lol*

Kitty: thanks for liking the way I made Draco & Ginny interact. sometimes I get too darn tired seeing them act all mushy together. I like it a lot when they flirt hence why I made 'em flirt so much! btw, Draco will be alright, I can safely guarantee you that.

Eriol's bear: oh Malfoy is starting to get jealous 'coz he has feelings for Ginny, but of course he's too proud to admit that he's slowly falling for our feisty redhead! *lol*

SeZzA: I am not going to make Draco suffer...well, maybe I will, but I'm sure he'll be very inventive in ways to get back at Ginny for what she did...hehehehe *winks*

Rebuky: hehehe, yeah, I thought that will be the end too, but then an idea popped into my head and decided to throw in the previous chappie before this

kellyanne: *lol* yep, that's what Draco gets for eavesdropping then leaving so soon without listening to rest of the conversation!

Bynkee: ugh! calculus?! damn, I hated calculus! and I'm sorry for ending the previous chappie the way I did, but I just felt like I have to end it that way instead of ruining it by dragging it on

hasapi: fear not, my friend, it won't get way too confusing. Draco will extract his revenge, but how? You just have to find out *winks* Who knows, he might get some help from the least likely person he'd be asking help from! *grins*

KeeperOfTheMoon: :::cackles evilly::: thanks for the compliment! *winks* I like it when I'm being called evil, that means I got to your nerves with what I did to the previous chappie...hehehe, well, here's the long awaited update--I'll try and get the next chappie out by the end of this weekend

Evil Slytherin Child: I totally agree with you! Draco is such a hottie and...well, he'll soon get the girl *grins*

Nobodysbitch: are you sure they will do the deed, hm? hehehe, well, maybe they will, maybe they won't--you'll just have to wait and read...hehehehe

Nissy: well, how was their encounter in this chappie? *smiles*

Loves-Kiss: did you get in before your curfew when you went out on that date? I hope you did *smiles*

evil*fairy: Ginny's thinking of a way to fix whatever's the problem with Draco and Harry's...well, he'll try to make amends

Baby: If Draco's heart turns cold again, Ginny will sure find a way to thaw it, hehehehe

SkoolGurl911: thank you so much for your review, and don't worry, Draco won't stay mad at Ginny for long...

Carla: yeah, Draco's cute indeed, eh? hehehe, he's especially MORE CUTER when he's pissed! *lol*

Caffine: I like Draco/Ginny fics too, as well as Hermione/Draco fics...and yeah, Draco's a real hottie! *lol*

PoisonIvyII: Harry nasty?! nasty how? I think he's just being a sweetie...uhm...well, a guy acting on unrequited love anyway *lol*

Blu Misterie: when are you gonna update soon?

Sabra: I think everybody loves Draco for some unknown reason! *lol* anyways, the update took a while but here's the next chappie

Joynspirit: thanks for reviewing this one...and I'm working on updating Life Goes On but as of present time I'm stuck with the next chappie and I can't seem to move on from it that's why I'm working on this one for now *smiles*

vanns: I dunno if you missed it but I explained why Ginny's with Draco & Hermione in Potions. Snape moved her a year ahead in Potions because she was one of his excellent students in his fifth year class the previous year, well, at least that's what I wrote down there *grins*

OpalKoboi: please don't get violent with me! here's the next chappie & I'll try to get the next one after this hopefully before the end of the weekend!