Author's Note: Well…I finished reading OoTP this past Monday (or maybe it was Sunday?) and it changed things for me. First of all, it presented some really good plot twists that I could use. Second…it made it harder for me to make this a D/G. So, with that said, I'm going to have to take back what I said in the last chapter about this being a D/G. There MAY be some D/G action (I'll try to slip some in there), but I'm not promising some hardcore romance. Although this is true, the story is still focusing on those two so the genre is still the same because there is some Ginny romance in here. So please, don't give up hope for D/G action because there most likely will be D/G action, I'm just not so sure I'm going to make him as nice as I was before reading the book.

It was a good book, wasn't it?

Straight From the Witch's Eye

chapter two

Ginny planted her foot on the ground beside the other, giving her just mended ankle a twist. It was good as new. She had been apprehensive at first; last year, she had hurt the same ankle and Madame Pomfrey had mended it fine, but she couldn't help but remember seeing Harry's arm as a result of Nurse Gilderoy Lockhart's tender love and care in her first year and still was a little skeptical about bone mending ever since.

"How does it feel?" the Madame asked.

Rotating it in a circle once more, Ginny said, "Better, thanks. Good as new."

Madame Pomfrey nodded. With her wand, she conjured up a written note, adding her signature and handed it to Ginny. "If anybody happens to question you, show them that. Now, go straight to your dormitory." She yawned, walking away, mumbling to herself. "It's been a long day…"

Ginny too yawned, not noticing how tired she was until then. She tucked the note in her robe pocket, covering her mouth to stifle another yawn. Her steps seemed to get heavier and heavier with every few feet that she passed.

Finally, through a miracle, she made it to her dormitory and to her room. In a sleepy trance, she undressed in silence, pausing to yawn a few times. Around her, she heard the sleepy murmurings of a few of the girls.

"Oh, Neville…elope? Tonight? I'll finally be Mrs. Neville Longbottom…"

Gasping sharply, Ginny's eyes widened in wonder. Neville? Neville Longbottom? She looked around at the few girls whom she called her dorm mates. But, which one had unknowingly said it? Giggling, she shook her head and continued to undress.

A few thoughts ran through her head, like what she would tell Ron when he asked her where she had been late that night. She rolled the covers back and climbed into bed, which seemed even more welcoming than usual. "I got a detention," she would say. "You won't believe who I had to serve it with…Draco Malfoy!"

But then, the night's events uncovered themselves and she frowned, gazing into the darkness of the room. Would she tell Ron everything? And when she meant everything, she really meant everything. Also, if she told Ron, that meant telling Harry and Hermione as well. Did she really want to? "How was my detention? Well, while in the Forbidden Forest, we talked to a babbit and then found a Hythorium Blossom. Oh, yeah, and then Draco started glowing and had this really scary look in his eyes that made me want to run and hide. Other than that, it was pretty good."

That would go well with her brother, Harry, and Hermione. Very well.

They would bombard her with questions and then come to the same conclusion as they did every time: Draco Malfoy was beyond evil and not to be trusted, blah, blah, blah. But she did not know what they were talking about. Draco wasn't that bad, once you looked past his arrogance and his tendency to be a total obnoxious, insensitive jerk that disliked people of mixed wizard heritage—okay, so he was pretty bad.

But, they seemed to think that he was so evil, like he was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. Well, not quite, but close enough. She knew he was just like them; he had gotten scared in the Forbidden Forest just like she had, hadn't he? Sure he made fun of her family and such, but he wasn't the end of the world. There were other things to worry about other than Draco Malfoy. He got on her last nerve, but then again, he had been for the last four years and she had dealt with it, hadn't she?

All he was was a big bully.

And aside from all that, she knew that Harry and Ron (she was not too sure about Hermione yet) would not believe the bit about how she had seen him glowing. They would probably assume that the light was playing tricks on her eyes or something of the sort. She was nothing more than a little sister to the both of them and they wouldn't take her word seriously.

She sighed. No. She would not tell Harry and Ron everything. Maybe Hermione. Maybe. Sometime. But not tomorrow.

She would have to sometime. She didn't think that she could keep all of her thoughts inside forever. Draco Malfoy had gone through a change; she had seen it with her own eyes. His eyes had shown her, as did his demeanor.

He had been so cold, so very cold, like ice. She had almost not been able to take it. She remembered yelping as he wordlessly lifted her into his arms. And he had not responded to him as she called to him on their trek back to the school. Once, he had looked at her and his eyes were so…cold. It was strange, like the cold that she was feeling from his touch was being emanated from his eyes too. And they looked so empty.

She had looked away quickly, alarmed once again. There was something else. He had this feel about him, this, this…aura. There was power there, an evil power. She remembered wanting to be put down immediately but knew that was out of the question; how would she get on with her hurt ankle? Who was this stranger that had carried her back to school?

And suddenly, she remembered something. What had he put in his pocket, so eager for her not to see it? It had glimmered in the light, catching her attention. Ginny had not seen it, but she did not like it. She did not like it one bit.

"Morning, Ginny," greeted Harry and Ron in unison as they sat down at the breakfast table in the Great Hall. They had already seen Hermione that morning, who was sitting next to Ginny and across from the two of them.

"Morning," replied Ginny, trying to match their fervor. She had not slept well that night at all; thoughts of Draco and his…"thing" had plagued her.

Ron and Harry picked up on this. "You alright, Ginny?" asked Harry, helping himself to some bacon and eggs. "You look tired."

"Yeah," agreed Ron. "You've got major bags underneath your eyes."

Ginny, though not very hungry, helped herself to some applesauce as a way of distracting herself. She did not want anyone looking at her face. At least he hasn't asked about last night, she thought, wistfully.

"Hey," said Ron, lighting up as if he had remembered something. "Where were you last night? I thought you wanted me to help you with your Divination homework."

Just as he asked that, Dean Thomas came strolling by. He gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek and as he did this, she felt his hand make its way into her pocket and back. Then, he greeted the others with a quick "Good morning," then walked away just as leisurely as he came.

After she swiftly reached into her pocket to see what he had deposited, Ginny glanced at Ron, noticing how interested he looked in his food. She wanted to laugh, but decided against it. The others were a bit unsuccessful at holding back their laughter.

"Shut up," grumbled Ron. He still wasn't used to the fact that Dean Thomas was dating his baby sister. At least it's not serious, he thought. Hermione and Harry quickly choked on their laughs. "Well, Ginny? Where were you?"

There was no use hiding from the truth now. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ron. Were you waiting for me? I'd forgotten to tell you that I had a detention. Hagrid took us into the Forbidden Forest."

Hermione finally joined the conversation. "Us?"

Ginny nodded. "Malfoy and me."

The three of them gave her their full attention.

"Malfoy?"

"Git."

"Did he get scared like last time?"

"Well…" It wasn't too late to tell them what had happened; she still could if she wanted to… "I hurt my ankle and he carried me back to school," she said, quietly.

Harry's eyebrow furrowed, Ron frowned, and Hermione gave a great, "He didn't! Malfoy?"

"Hermione, please!" Ginny screeched in a loud whisper.

Ron leaned forward. "And how'd you hurt your ankle, then?"

"Did he push you?" came Harry's concerned and overprotective voice, just like Ron's.

She looked at him and sighed heavily. "No, he didn't push me. I tripped."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked in disbelief.

She knew it. She knew that they would do this. Ron and Harry were so predictable! "No, I'm not sure—I was there, Ron! What, do you think that he pushed me without me knowing? I've got brains too, you know!"

"Sorry, I just—"

"Just no, Ron…Harry…stop! I'm tired of being the little sister. I can think for myself and I can take care of myself. Leave me alone!" Ginny stood up, not caring about the number of stares that she was receiving for her little outburst.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked after her. "I didn't mean…Hermione, what did I do?" questioned Ron, truly confused.

Hermione patted his hand from across the table. "You were being a boy. So were you, Harry."

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, how else are we supposed to be? We are boys, we can't change that."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione went on to say, "What I'm saying is that your boy instinct is kicking in; you're being overprotective when she doesn't need it. Ginny's fifteen now. She's fine and I do believe her when she says that she can take care of herself."

"But all she does is blow up at us now."

"Hormones," said Hermione, matter-of-factly. "You remember how Harry was last year."

"Hey—"

"I'm sorry, Harry, but it's true. Look, what happened last night wasn't a big deal so let it go. And don't go questioning Malfoy about it either."

"But—"

"Don't."

Ron sighed and Harry gave him a sideways glance. He knew that it would be hard for Ron to restrain himself from asking Malfoy what had happened.

"We'll listen to you, Hermione," said Harry, answering for both he and Ron.

"Good." She then stuck her nose into The Standard Book of Spells, Level 6.

"Lumos," whispered Ginny, stepping into the fifth floor supply closet. She watched her wand light up and pulled out the note that Dean had deposited in her pocket that morning. A smile graced her lips as she remembered how many times Dean had slipped her a note since school had started, all saying, 'fifth floor supply closet' and an allotted time.

A few moments later, the door creaked open, allowing Dean in. He smiled at her brilliantly, giving her a nice "Hullo."

Ginny tapped her foot, pretending to be annoyed. "Where've you been? I've been waiting forever."

Dean shook his head. "Oh, come off it. Don't pretend to be upset with me."

"I'm not pretending," she claimed, stomping her foot in protest.

"Then I guess you don't want to hear what I've come to tell you," said Dean, turning to leave. He smiled, knowing that this would get her.

Ginny grabbed his arm. "Dean, you know I'm never serious," she said. "Come on, what have you got to tell me?"

"You really want to know?" He grabbed her without warning, pulling her to him. "Nothing." Before she could protest, he kissed her softly, leaving her with a warm feeling in her gut when he pulled away.

Eyes still closed, Ginny muttered, "Why'd you stop?" As he leaned to kiss her again, Ginny sighed happily. She relished his kisses. After a while, Ginny became aware of the time. Although she did not know how long they had exactly been in the supply closet, she figured that if she could not remember, it must have been quite some time. "Dean," muttered Ginny as he playfully bit her bottom lip.

"Hmm?" He pulled her a bit closer, his hand snaking down to her bottom, which he gave a quick squeeze.

She squealed in surprise. No matter how many times he did that, she was always caught off guard. "You know I don't like it when you do that!" she chided, breaking away from him.

Dean only grinned at her and buried his face in her neck, planting small kisses while saying, "Yes you do."

How right he was. Ginny indeed did like it, but she would never tell him. "Dean," she said again, a bit louder.

Ignoring her, he said, "But not as much as you like this." He began sucking on her earlobe.

She loved it. And she hated him for it. "Dean," said Ginny, clearly. She moved a way from him slightly. "I need to go or else I'll be late for Quidditch practice."

Dean sighed. "But you never have time for me anymore."

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Sure I do." But it was true. What with the extra homework load in preparation for her O.W.L.s at the end of the year and Quidditch practice (Harry wanted to make sure that they were ten times as better than last year), they didn't have much time alone, not nearly as she would have liked.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Dean said, "I'm not being a baby. Don't think I don't understand, Ginny, because I do. I was a Fifth Year myself last year so I know how it goes. I'll just come by your practice; maybe we can squeeze in a walk from the fields to the castle."

It was times like these when Ginny was glad that she was as tall as she was. At five foot eleven, she and Ron were the tallest in her family. Now, she was using her height advantage to search Dean's eyes, trying to see whether he was upset or not.

"I'm not upset with you or anything," he said on cue. Dean smiled as a reassurance.

She had to admit, his smiles were contagious. He had a beautiful smile that illuminated his dark face so that even his eyes were smiling. "You're beautiful, Dean," she whispered.

Dean laughed, throwing his head back.

Scowling, Ginny said, "Well, if you're going to laugh at me—"

"I'm not laughing at you, Ginny. C'mere." She obeyed and he gave her a quick kiss. "You'd better get going; you don't want to be late." He ushered her towards the door.

Ginny knew the routine. They had done this several times before: Whenever they were leaving the supply closet after their time together, Ginny would leave first and Dean, minutes after her, as to not look suspicious. Well, it would be suspicious enough if either of them were seen coming out of the supply closet at all, but in a lesser degree. It would be one thing to be caught together and be punished, but Ginny knew that the embarrassment would be great and she did not want to go through that.

So, she opened the door a crack, peering out to make sure that the coast was clear. When she saw that all was clear, she stepped out of the closet and closed the door firmly after her, straightening the skirt of her uniform as she went.

Ginny took a step—that's how far she got, a single step—when she heard chuckling behind her. She had been caught. Turning around, she found Draco watching her with a glimmer of amusement in his eye. Her blood began to boil, not because she had been caught, but because it had been he who had caught her.

"Been in there quite some time, Weasel," he stated. The glimmer did not go away, but seemed to shine more brightly as he waited for Ginny to answer.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear your moans of pleasure."

She refused to look abashed, though she knew that she was blushing. Instead she racked her brains to remember if she had let out such a moan, which she was almost positive that she did not. She would have to ask Dean later.

Dean!

He would be coming out any moment—she had to think of something—Draco would report them—

"Thomas, no doubt?" remarked Draco, nodding towards the supply closet door.

If Ginny was not mistaken, she could see the door handle turning— "Come with me!" she commanded, reaching to grab his arm. And she dragged him down the length of the hallway, where he finally wriggled loose.

"Where did you get the idea that you could touch me, Weasel?" sneered Draco, wiping his sleeve on his pant leg dramatically.

His back was to the supply closet and Ginny saw Dean sneak out. "Uh…well, I wanted to talk to you about…" Think, think, she willed herself. And then, she remembered. "What did you find in the Forbidden Forest?"

Draco blinked at her a few times. He thought that she had not seen him put the eye pendant in his pocket. "What are you talking about?"

"You know…we were by the Hythorium Blossom and I saw you…I think I saw you…" Ginny sighed. She was beginning to sound a little off. "You put something in your pocket and I just wanted to know what it was because—" "Because you're different now, somehow," was what she wanted to say, but she stopped herself.

Leering, Draco watched the little weasel squirm uncomfortably. "Because you felt like wasting my time," he finished for her. "Well, at least you're good at something." He turned on his heel and sauntered away, hands in his pockets, whistling.

Ginny stared after him, torn between chasing him and staying where she was. She decided on the latter, but felt like, for some reason, that she would regret it.

Review Corner

Laiannon-fae-elf: I remembered your comment throughout the time I was reading the book… "seems that she had a child as her gost writter. like a kid trying 2 use big words." …I didn't really see it that way. I thought it was pretty good, though a little boring at the beginning. But, anyway, thank you for the review.

fairywings88107: I haven't seen your story but I will read it and leave a review. Thanks for yours.

totally_2bular_girl: Freaky-Deaky…niiiiiiice. Yeah, I have half of the new chapter of Only in Your Wildest Neverdreams written, so I'll get that posted soon. And yeah, I'll check out your story. Most def. I just haven't had time to yet. Sorry. Thanks for the review.

End Note: Okay, I'm going away on Saturday or Sunday for a few weeks so I'll TRY and squeeze in another chapter before then. I'm just letting you know in case it's August and you're wondering why I haven't posted. If you've made it this far, then I'm guessing you've read the chapter. Thanks and all feedback is welcome.

July 3, 2003