Title: Bittersweet

Author: CassieHill

Category: Romance, Mystery

Ships: Draco/Hermione or Ginny (It'll give away the story if I say it :D)

Rating: PG-13, this will probably change as the story progresses

Spoilers: All four books

Summary: Something strange is happening at Hogwarts and for once, Harry Potter won't be there to stop it. Who will be? Draco's getting the blame, but is he the one at fault? and what will he discover on the way to clearing his name?

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling and various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This is a work of pure fiction, all ideas have come from the author's mind unless otherwise stated.

A/N: The plot begins, sort of. I'm taking my time setting up characters and ships first. Bear with me :D


(Chapter 1)

Ginny and Adrienne walked down the corridors of Hogwarts giggling and blushing. Adrienne was a 6th year Gryffindor along with Ginny and the two girls had bonded over, surprisingly, potions class. Ginny had always wondered why Adrienne hadn't been sorted into Slytherin because she was an expert on potions and really, well ambitious and devious, but apparently her bravery had won out. Snape had been giving assignments like mad one week and Ginny was ready to give up on the class, Adrienne had offered to help her finish up the work. They weren't the closest of friends, but they enjoyed each other's company. This morning's discussion was on who the hottest Quidditch player was. It had all started with Ginny's simple observation that the majority of Quidditch players were guys, Adrienne had jumped on that, turning the conversation to how each one looked in Quidditch robes and there was no chance of saving the conversation.

"Ew Ron? Adrienne, he's my brother. I don't think he's anything."

Adrienne grinned at Ginny's disgusted look, "Oh come on, your brother's a cute chaser."

Ginny shuddered before replying, "I refuse to comment," causing Adrienne to go into another fit of giggles.

"Fine, fine, how about Draco?"

Ginny paused for a second and noted that she should really keep her answers neutral when referring to Draco.

"Malfoy? How did he get in this?" she asked Adrienne.

Grinning, Adrienne answered, "He's hot."

"How can you say that? It's Malfoy, Prince of Slytherin house, slimy git," Ginny said and then mentally cursed her tongue, 'That was not neutral'

Adrienne shrugged, "So, that doesn't change the fact that he's hot, besides I don't really dislike Slytherins."

Ginny nodded, "Right, I forgot that. You're the Gryffindor exception." The two girls walked in silence for a bit, Ginny could feel Adrienne watching her.

"What?" she finally asked not able to contain it.

"So…"

"So what?"

"What do you think of Malfoy?" Adrienne asked a smile tugging at her lips.

How was she supposed to answer this, words, images raced through Ginny's mind. Draco's father and her father fighting in Flourish and Blotts, Draco at the Yule ball staring after Hermione, Draco with a smirk and spitting out "Weasley" as if it disgusted him just to say it and Draco last night watching her and Hermione walk away.

"Looks I'll give him, everything else though…he's Malfoy," Ginny responded and congratulated herself, 'Nice neutral comment.'

"You say that like it's a bad thing. He is 'Head Boy' and captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team," Adrienne pointed out as the two girls turned the corner.

They were on their way to Care of Magical Creatures but neither of them were looking forward to it. Hagrid had talked Dumbledore into letting him take his students down by the lake to 'interview' the giant squid. They were all supposed to watch the creature splash around and avoid getting hit by its tentacles.

"Really Adrienne, I still don't understand how he was appointed 'Head Boy' and Quidditch team captain."

"It was so obviously going to be him for both cases. Who else were they going to appoint? Neville?"

"There's Harry, Justin, Seamus. And what's wrong with Neville?"

Adrienne rolled her eyes and grabbed Ginny's arm, "Nothing's wrong with Neville, he's just not 'Head Boy' material. And the others…come on, we both know grades is the top requirement and Draco's got them beat at that. Gin, just give it up, you'll see eventually that Malfoy isn't as bad as you, Harry, Ron and Hermione make him out to be. Slytherin's are human too."

Ginny's eyes widened in mock surprise, "Really?" receiving another roll of the eyes from Adrienne.

"Come on," the girl said pulling Ginny along, "I'm sure the squid'll be disappointed if we're late."

***

Ginny sat huddled under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She was shivering slightly and her hair dripped water onto the floor of Hagrid's hut.

"Gee, Gin. I really didn't think the squid would mind us shouting to it, it's a shame you happened to be there when it, er, struck. Are you sure you're warm enough?" Hagrid reached to throw another giant blanket over her.

"It's ok Hagrid, I'm fine now. The water in the lake wasn't that cold," she took a sip from the mug and grimaced. 'Never, ever, eat or drink anything from Hagrid,' she reminded herself again.

"We was awfully lucky those merpeople were nice enough to fish you out for us," Hagrid kept wringing his hands and feeling Ginny's forehead. Of course, with the size of his hands, she felt like he was smothering her every time.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it Hagrid, I'm fine," she stood up and shrugged of the blanket. Ginny carefully placed the mug of…something, because it was not hot chocolate, on Hagrid's desk. She didn't want to spill it because she wasn't sure whether or not it would burn through the wooden floor.

"I think I'll go back the castle now Hagrid, and I really am fine," she assured Hagrid again when he began to rise.

"I'll walk you back."

Ginny slowly began to back towards the door, "No, no, I'm fine. You've already helped me enough today, I was able to stay here and miss potions. I'm sure you have enough things to do and classes to prepare for, I don't want to be a bother or anything."

"Of course, you're not. Are you sure you can walk back by yourself?" he asked beginning to rise again.

"Yes," Ginny motioned for him to sit down, "yes I'm sure. I'll see you later Hagrid."

Turning around, she quickly grabbed her coat and opened the door. When she was outside the fresh air swept around her and she took a deep breath. For some reason Ginny felt a little smothered in Hagrid's hut.

It was a slightly chilly November day, but luckily it wasn't snowing at the moment. White flakes had already covered the ground and castle from yesterday's storm. Ginny smiled at the scene and began to walk, her clothes were still damp and her hair was practically still drenched. The wind blew and she shivered, maybe she should've stayed at Hagrid's for a bit longer. Ginny pulled her cloak tighter around her began to quicken her steps when a voice stopped her.

"Weasley, why aren't you in class?"

Ginny muttered under her breath but didn't bother to turn around, "Malfoy, I should be asking you the same thing."

"Now, now, watch your tongue. Or else I'll have to take points from Gryffindor for your little attitude," he walked around to face her, "Dripping wet, not in class, what have you been up to Weasley?"

Ginny shivered, she reassured herself that it because of the cold and not because of him.

"It's none of your business Malfoy. Why don't you run along to whatever it is you're supposed to be doing."

Draco smirked, "Ah, but that's the irony of it, I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing." He opened his heavy cloak and his prefect-head boy badge flickered in the light.

"I'm patrolling the grounds during my free class. It's part of the duties that come with being a prefect, along with the many privileges," Draco began to pace around her, "I could take 20 points from Gryffindor right now for your little excursion. Add another 5 points for your state of appearance. I think I may even be required to take you to see Snape since," he drawled out and smirked, "aren't you supposed to be in potions? It's all part of the duties of being a prefect and I really should perform them to the fullest of my abilities."

"I know what the duties of being a prefect is Malfoy, I am one too. So I also know that I don't need to explain myself to you," Ginny replied softly and began to walk again. 'Arrogant little bastard,' she thought to herself.

"When did you become a prefect? I thought they announced these things before the school year started."

Ignoring Draco's comment, Ginny continued to walk but he wasn't about to be ignored, not by a Weasley.

"Oh, right. I remember now," he shouted to her, "didn't that girl, Hannah Abbott transfer to Beauxbatons, and they needed a replacement for her. They choose you? Well I see they've obviously lowered the standards from when they asked me in 6th year."

Ginny continued to walk, 'Ignore Malfoy, he's a prat, ignore Malfoy,' she chanted under her breath.

"I guess they didn't have any other choices after Potter the boy wonder and Miss Granger-Know-It-All turned them down," Draco shouted after her, "how does it feel to always be second choice? We all know you never would've been asked to be a prefect if that girl hadn't transferred in the middle of the year and if your 'friend's' hadn't turned down the job. How does it feel to know that everyone only looks at you after they've looked at the famous trio, your friends and brother, or should it be your brother's friends."

Ginny kept walking, but she couldn't ignore him. It was true, if either Hermione or Harry had accepted to be a prefect, she would never even have had the chance of being asked. They were still her friends though. Ginny began to run towards the castle. She wouldn't allow Draco to get to her, she thought running up the steps and into the warmth.

'He's wrong,' she stated to herself as she ran towards the Gryffindor dormitories, "He's wrong," she repeated it, even as her eyes began to water.

***

Ron walked into the common room and dropped onto the couch beside Ginny followed by Harry and Hermione.

"You ok Gin?" Harry asked, "We heard about your accident in the lake."

"I'm fine," Ginny replied smiling and set down the book she had been reading, "It was just a little dip in the water."

An explosion from across the room caused everyone to jump. Green smoke began to float through the air and a dishevelled Neville sat in the middle of the mess.

"I…I was doing my, trying to do my…my transfiguration homework and…and" Neville continued to stutter out an explanation as Hermione and Harry helped him up and onto a chair.

"It was supposed to become a bunny. A bunny."

"It's ok Neville. Here," Harry took out his wand and pointed towards the boys dormitories, "Accio Towel," but nothing happened.

Harry frowned, he tapped his wand on the side of his leg a few times and tried again, "Accio Towel." This time, a bright yellow towel flew through the air and landed in his hands.

"Here you go Neville," he said handing the towel to the boy. All the Gryffindors began to help clean up the mess from the mini explosion except for Hermione. She was busy examining Harry's wand.

She turned the wand in her hands and whispered a spell, "Accio book." Ginny's book flew from the table and into her hands.

"Why wasn't it working for him before?" she muttered to herself.

Harry looked up from sweeping and shrugged, "Maybe it's out of batteries," causing Hermione to smile.

"Right, Harry."

Confused, Ron stopped cleaning and shot Hermione a lost look, "What are batteries?"

Giggling, Hermione answered, "They're muggle sources of energy, Harry was just…"

She was cut off by Ron, who shaking his head stated, "No, it couldn't have been that then, wands don't work on battery things."

Stifling a laugh, Harry reassured Hermione that he probably just messed up the spell as he often did and that she shouldn't worry about it. Of course, Hermione being Hermione, just nodded and didn't listen to a word he said.

After the common room had been brought back to it's original state, Hermione bid her friends good night and headed to her room. 'Harry's never messed up an Accio spell since the Triwizard tournament. He even got it then when he was a nervous wreck. How could he mess it up summoning a towel for Neville?' Hermione thought to herself. She walked into her room and sat down at her desk. Something wasn't right, or maybe she was just reading into it too much. 'However,' Hermione thought as she opened a large book, 'with Harry, you can never read into things too much. There's always someone or something trying to hurt him.'