A/N: Yes, I am updating on a Friday night. *Sigh* Unfortunately, I don't seem to be too skilled at walking and managed to sprain my ankle which means sitting around the house (booooo!) and codeine (YAY!). However, all the sitting around led me to me writing a longer than normal chapter and getting it out faaaaar sooner than I ever thought.

Just a word of warning however: If you don't like disgustingly fluffiness, do not proceed. The fluff-bunnies are attacking and I am too weak to fight them off. Oh well, at least you get some Seamus this story…

Okay, so if you like it review, if you don't, review anyway. But whatever you do, press the little sorta-purple button and tell me what you think…I will loff you forever.

Chapter Twelve

The next day passed by in a blur for Ginny. She drifted through her classes, barely noticing when her cauldron exploded in Potions, when she tripped over Professor Flitwick leaving the Charms classroom, when Professor Binns spent ten minutes trying to get her attention in History of Magic. She was in a daze. And it was all because of Draco.

She couldn't believe how much she had liked kissing him, however brief it had been. It scared her. And then there was the matter of the rose. The feelings of whomever had sent it had changed. It was red. She had stayed up perusing her Herbology text until she had found the section on rose meanings. Red meant love - pure, passionate love.

Ginny knew that Draco hadn't sent her the rose - the very thought of that made her snort with laughter. As much as she had liked his kiss, she seriously doubted he was in love with her. Even the idea was absurd. But now she didn't know what to do. Someone loved her, though she had no clue who. She ruminated over this as she sat at the dinner table that night, trying to look as though she was interested in the fascinating conversation that Ron, Harry, and Hermione were having about Hagrid's latest dilemma.

"You alright there?," a quiet voice suddenly hissed in her ear and she snapped to attention like she had been shot. She wasn't surprised in the least to see Seamus sitting next to her. His goofy, flirty smile was gone. It was, however, was replaced by a goofy, conspiring smile. "Ah, daydreaming about the devil incarnate, are we?"

"Seamus!," Ginny exclaimed, her cheeks blossoming a crimson color. She knew that he wasn't talking loudly enough for the Fabulous Three to hear him and that he was just joking, but she still felt a tiny flicker of panic. "They might hear you."

Seamus looked over past her at the three who were still so caught up in their conversation that they wouldn't notice if a Veela began to dance naked in the bread basket in front of them. "Hmm…somehow I doubt that." Ginny scowled and pushed her fork around on her plate. Seamus leaned forward, his head on his hands and he looked at Ginny thoughtfully. "Not trying to be nosey, gin," he said more quietly, "but you're not planning on actually starting anything up with Malfoy, are you?"

Ginny flushed red. "Of course not!," she said adamantly. "I mean, could you imagine a more terribly matched couple?" She tried to sound lighthearted. "Malfoy and Weasley. Slytherin and Gryffindor. Rich and poor-"

"Cold-hearted devil's spawn and gorgeous red-headed angel?," Seamus suggested, cutting her off.

She stared at him in amazement. "You really don't give up, do you?"

"Bah, quitting's for…well, for quitters," Seamus answered dismissively. "Me? I'm not a quitter. I'm an Irishman." He grinned proudly.

Ginny snickered, but then her face turned serious. "I can't believe you're not treating me like a leper after what you saw last night."

Seamus merely shrugged. "I want to be on your good side when you come to your senses. Besides," he said in a logical sort of voice as he eyed the Slytherin table, "it could be worse. You could have been snogging Baddock." Ginny followed his gaze to the paranoid fourth-year boy who was currently building some sort of barrier around him using silverware and rolls. "He's lost it."

Ginny laughed and took a bite of her dinner. "Thank you for keeping quiet, Seamus," she said softly.

Seamus shrugged again. "Well, it pays to be nice. Like I said, when you're done with Malfoy you'll think 'Ah, Seamus, that kind bloke. He kept my sordid secret. And boy is he handsome too! I reckon he'd make a bloody good boyfriend'".

Ginny couldn't help but laugh again as she stood up to go to the common room to get ready for her final flying lesson. "Later, Seamus," she said, turning, her robes fluttering behind her as she left the Great Hall.

---

Draco fumed as he made his way back to the common room. He had happened to glance over at the Gryffindor table during dinner (alright, he had been staring - as usual), and he noticed The Irish Louse very blatantly flirting with Ginny. As if that hadn't been bad enough, she hadn't seemed to have been fighting him off. She had been laughing at his pathetic jokes. Not that Draco knew what he was joking about - he had never really talked to the boy. Well, there was that one time in fifth year when The Irish Louse had told him to bugger off when Draco had been tormenting Longbottom and Draco had told him to go extract the shamrock from his arse, but that was the only occasion he could recall.

Draco glowered around the common room as he entered, causing two first-years to scramble for cover behind a table. He went into the seventh-year boy's dormitory and quickly changed into his practice robes. He had calmed down somewhat and sat down on the bed to lace up his Quidditch boots. He couldn't believe it was their last lesson.

What was he going to do after today? He couldn't deny the fact that he loved her - every little bit of her red-headed being - but he certainly couldn't admit it to her. He could just imagine what she would say. Yeah, she had kissed him back the night before, but Draco couldn't keep himself from feeling that she had been holding back - almost as they she had hesitations…as though she was thinking of someone else.

"Maybe you should tell her about the rose."

Draco looked up and saw Blaise standing in the doorway to the room, her arms crossed across her chest. They hadn't really spoke since he had found her about to spill out all of his secrets to Ginny. "What do you want, Zabini?," he growled as he dug in his trunk for his broomsticks.

"Draco…," she trailed off, the cold edge off of her voice for once. "I'm sorry."

He looked up in surprise. He had never heard her say that in sincerity before. "You're what?"

"Sorry," she repeated, looking a bit pained. "I was just…frustrated. And after what you said to me…I don't know. I guess I was just hurt."

Draco nodded. "Yeah. I guess…I apologize for what I said. I wasn't really thinking - I forgot all about you and-"

"It's okay," Blaise said, holding up her hand to stop him. "I know. So," she said, the conflict between them immediately resolved, "like I was saying. You need to tell her."

"Why?," Draco asked, glancing at his pocket watch. As much as he wanted to hear Blaise's advice, he didn't want to be late.

"She needs to know how you feel," Blaise shrugged. "If for no other reason than to drive that brother of hers up the wall." She paused. "If it was me, I would want to know someone loved me. Even if it was a 'loathed enemy'," she added under her breath.

Draco paused and looked at her strangely. "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered, getting up. She touched his arm lightly as she walked past and looked up at him, her green eyes boring into his gray ones. "Good luck."

---

Ginny sat stiffly on the frozen Quidditch pitch, waiting for Draco. For a few brief moments she thought that he many not show up. Perhaps he was so disgusted that he had kissed her the night before that he was planning on avoiding her for the rest of the term. This thought made her extremely sad.

She squinted in the dark towards the castle and was utterly relieved when she saw his tall silhouette striding towards her. She briefly recalled the night they had first begun their flying lessons…The moonlight hit his aristocratic face and he looked down at her, his expression showing that he'd rather be anywhere but where he was at present. "Well, let's get this over with," he grumbled, not even stopping to greet her.

"Hey," he said now, breaking Ginny out of her memories, looking slightly unnerved as he stopped next to her. "Well…," he said, and his voice sounded nothing like it had before. "Let's get this over with." He extended a hand and Ginny gingerly took it and he heaved her to her feet. They stood like that, a few inches away from each other, their eyes locked together for a brief second. Then she let go of his hand, noticing that he heart was pounding like a wild hippogriff in her chest. She took the Nimbus 2001 from Draco and quickly mounted it, flying off into the evening sky.

A moment later Draco had flown over in front of the Quidditch hoops, playing the role of Keeper as he tossed the Quaffle to her. Ginny spent the next hour trying to get the red ball past him into the hoops, doing a rather good job. They didn't speak, except for Draco pointing out things she could do better. Ginny tried to concentrate on what she was doing - after all, tryouts were in a mere four days and she wouldn't be able to practice before then - but her mind constantly kept drifting back to the kiss the previous night. All she wanted was to talk to Draco - and not about Quidditch.

At last Draco started to fly towards the ground, signaling that their practice was over. She reluctantly joined him and they both stood there awkwardly after Draco had replaced the Quaffle in the trunk of Quidditch equipment. "So…," he said uneasily, his voice trailing off. He looked at her solemnly in the eyes. "It wasn't so bad was it, Weasley?"

Ginny gulped, her stomach twisting in disappointment. "Oh…I'm Weasley again?," she asked, hoping she didn't sound completely crushed.

Draco looked surprised. "Well, our lessons are over. I assumed-"

"What? That I was just going to pretend you didn't exist," Ginny exclaimed, her frustration boiling over. "That nothing changed? That I still thought you were a stupid little arse and you still think that I'm-"

But she never did get to finish her sentence. Draco chose that exact moment to lean forward and silence her with his lips. She struggled against him for second, trying to ask him what was going on, trying to get him to tell her how he felt about her, but she realized he was. She hesitated and then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, pressing her lips harder against his. Everything flew out of her head. The rose. The Quidditch tryouts in a few days. The fact that under no circumstances were a Weasley and Malfoy supposed to be standing in the middle of a Quidditch pitch - or anywhere, really, for that matter - snogging like mad. None of those thoughts even crossed her mind.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Draco finally and quite reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers and Ginny sucked in a large breath, gasping for air. She looked up at him, her chocolate-brown eyes wide in astonishment. His eyes were calm and serious, but filled with an odd sort of sparkle that she had never seen there before. He rested his forehead gently against hers.

"Does that answer your questions, Ginny?," he whispered.

"Erm…yes…," she stammered, still not believing what was happening. "I think."

Draco sighed and straightened up, biting his lip thoughtfully. He took her hand and then led her over to where the trunk of Quidditch equipment still sat. He sat down on it and pulled Ginny down next to him. "Then let me break it down for you," he said. Ginny stared at him, too stunned to say anything. He looked positively terrified, though he was trying hard to hide it. "I…erm…," he drifted off, as though he wasn't exactly sure what to say.

Ginny looked at him in concern, then something - a crazy thought, really - dawned on her. "Are..are you scared of me?"

Draco seemed to consider this for a second and then shrugged. "I-I like you."

Ginny's heart started to thump violently in her chest again. She didn't know what to say. Yes, it was just three simple words, but she knew how he had meant them - and the impact they had on her was enormous. "I like you too," she finally managed to squeak out.

All at once, Draco seemed to relax enormously. She could actually see the fall of his shoulders as the stiffness left them. His lip curled into his customary smirk. "Yeah, I know," he finally muttered cockily. Ginny looked at him in surprise and then saw the smirk fade away to a real, genuine smile. She let out a small, nervous giggle and Draco once again hushed her by engulfing her lips with his.

They were so wrapped up in their kiss that neither of them noticed the footsteps coming towards them, the heavy footfalls crunching in the frozen grass. They only broke apart when they heard someone clearing their throat loudly.

They jumped apart like someone had lit a Filibuster Firework between them and looked towards the source of the voice. Ginny felt an sheer sense of relief when she saw who it was.

"Seamus," she breathed in relief. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"And you nearly made me vomit," he said, shooting Draco a sick glance. "Anyway, I came to warn you. Your brother's looking for you."

Ginny stared at him, wide-eyed. "How come?"

"Well, erm…Ginny, did Harry kiss you recently?," Seamus asked, his brow furrowed. Ginny nodded, but didn't say anything. "Well, Ron found out somehow and he's going on about his baby sister breaking his best friend's heart." He glanced over at Draco. "You wipe that stupid smirk off your ugly face, Malfoy." Ginny looked over at Draco, who did indeed, look triumphant. He started to walk angrily towards Seamus, but Ginny grabbed the sleeve of his robe.

"Draco…don't," she pleaded. To her surprise, he listened and stopped in his tracks, but continued to shoot daggers at Seamus with his eyes.

Seamus just shook his head. "Listen, I really hate to break up your little romantic moment, but I wanted to warn you before your brother found you. Are you coming with me or not?"

Ginny sighed. "Yeah, I guess I better." She turned to Draco. "Good night," she said quietly. "And thank you for the lessons."

Draco just nodded, his annoyed gaze still on the disgusted Irish boy standing a few feet away. "Good night," he muttered. She started to walk away from him, another pang of disappointment shooting through her, when she felt his hand on her sleeve and he pulled her back. She turned to look at him and he bent down, quick as a flash, and laid one more small kiss on her lips.

Ginny wanted to stay there with him, but heard Seamus give off a snort of repulsion, so she reluctantly detached herself from the blonde Slytherin and followed Seamus off the Quidditch Pitch, leaving Draco alone.

"How did you know where I was?," Ginny asked as they entered the castle.

"Hermione," Seamus said stiffly. Apparently, he wasn't a happy camper. "She was trying to convince Ron to go look in the Owlery when I left. She's a good friend, you know."

"I know," Ginny murmured, following the tall sandy-haired boy up to the dormitories. "She is."
---

A/N: So, what did you all think? Too fluffy? So sweet it gave you a toothache and I'm going to be stuck with all of your dental bills? Or overall just completely terrible?

A ba-zillion thanks to my fantabulous reviewers:

Baby (Yeah, she's dense, but if she figured it out already there wouldn't be much story left, would there?), DreamofTF (I loff Filch - "God, I miss the screaming!" was my favorite line from SS movie…hehe.), Jen (Sweetness! Hurrah!), Sayo (Swooning is gooooood…especially over Draco), Crazyme89 (Glad you like it), Brianna Darknight The Angel of Darkness (Ginny/Draco is the best - just look in my favorites section and you'll find more stories that will turn you into one of us…bwahahaha), Karly (Yep….truuuuuue loff), Excillian (Seamus is just as cute as Draco, but he doesn't have that bad-boy charm…*grrrrrowl*. Oh, and I meant to go read your story, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. But I swear I WILL!), Hpangel (More d/g smoochies just for you…haha), Red Magic Marker (Fluff forever! Yay!), Isadora (Glad you liked it…), Charismatic (Yet again, I am EVIL…I'm starting to like being called evil…is that bad?), Frananddragon (most boys are babies…even everyone's favorite Slytherin…), Miss. Charlet (Thanks for the suggestion…however I like being evil and dragging everything out as long as humanly possible *wink*), Kylie (Yes, I can see how those two opposing desires can create a bit of a dilemma.), Lonley tenshi (Good little pun…hehehe), Bunny (Yay…I made it cute…), Chimerical (Quickest update I've ever done…is that good?), Tuilindo (I want one of those roses too…maybe I'll invent one…hmmm), Pebble of Insanity (Yes, accents are definitely goooood. I could sit around and listen to Sean Biggerstaff talk all day long…yum), Edainme (hehe…my Draco was mushy…that's funny for some reason), Anya (Isn't there like an author alert thing that tells you when a story is updated? Or something like that…hmmm…), Riana (Wonder no longer!), Lady Godiva (Oh, thanks for the idea of her asking him who sent it…I hadn't thought of that.), Shyanne (Ginny's a bit…dense…hehe), Ace of Spades (muchos gracias….hehe), Rainbow Dreamer (hehe…I'm on a sweet kick…must be the codeine), Tigerlily Loamsdown (The clichés have not only caught me, but have taken over me and beaten me to a pulp…oh well), Wind and Ashes (glad you like it), Rebuky (yay for sweetness), Missy (Red roses…hurrah!), Chocolat Elf (I'm sure Ron will have a very…erm…strong reaction), Crystal (Isn't cuteDraco! great?), doublekiss (is it still getting better? Or too fluffy?), Missfizz (Sadly, I agree - no Harry is sometimes a good thing), Jade Stellar (Sooooo….I take it you like fluff?), Angel (yay, I get my own rose!), Schem (I'm sorry…if there was a way to let you know when I updated, I would…let me know), Sakura1287 (*takes a bow* I'm glad you liked Seamus last chapter. He sure is moody though. I've read the first couple of chapters of Water and Ashes, but I'm not up to date. I will be soon though..hehe), Llewellyne 89 (Glad you liked it), KeeperOfTheMoon (Don't worry, I'll find Seamus…someone), Laura (Suspense is the best), Cassandra Sisenta or Krey-Zey (Wizardjuana is bad for you! *slaps hand*), Izzy (Oh, good. I'm not the only one who stays up till the wee hours of the morning reading fan fic…that's a relief…hehe), SeZzA (unfortunately, Ginny will one day be voted "world's most dense person," to be closely followed by Ron), Silver Essence (Yay…gummi bears…you don't want those back, do you?), & Simply Bewitching 1 (C'mon…if Ginny found out by herself, it wouldn't be half as fun as when Draco tell her…) If I missed anyone, I am really dreadfully sorry…e-mail me and yell at me for it if you wish.

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