Draco was sitting up in bed, thinking about Ginny. Did he love her . . . or didn't he? He kept changing his mind all the time about her. She could be really sexy one minute then totally annoying the next, or was it just him? Either way, he didn't know what to do about it. "Oh, bloody hell," he grumbled as he crawled out of bed. He knew what he had to do. He had to tell her about the time when he was expelled.

He was late for Potions class so he quickly changed, grabbed his books and left the dormitory. He had completely forgotten that he had Potions with the Gryffindors . . . and that meant Ginny. He didn't exactly feel like facing her today, not first thing in the morning anyway. He hadn't even had any breakfast so he was hungry as well as grumpy.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry I'm late," he said as he walked into Potions and took a seat near the Slytherins.

"Tut tut, Draco, we've already started," said Professor Snape, sneering at him.

Draco didn't pay much attention during class, he couldn't keep his eyes off Ginny, all he could think about was 5th grade.

******

"Ginny, wait," yelled Draco, after class.

Ginny spun around to see who it was who'd called her. When she saw who it was she rolled her eyes, turned around and kept walking.

"Ginny!" he caught up to her and grabbed her arm.

"Get your hands off me!" she cried while trying to pull her arm away. But as she pulled her hand away it made Draco to stumble closer towards her, causing their books to fall on the ground. Ginny bent to pick up her books, pushing Draco's books away as she did so.

"Ginny . . . we have . . . to talk," panted Draco, out of breath after trying to catch up with her through the crowd. He bent to pick up his books as well.

Ginny stood up and crossed her arms, "Oh yeah? So you can explain why you've been acting like a dickhead towards me when I haven't done a thing?!" she burst into tears and screamed. "Not a bloody thing, Draco! I HATE BEING TREATED THE WAY YOU BLOODY TREAT ME!" by now everyone in the corridor was staring at her and Draco.

"Hey, calm down would you," he said, putting his arms on her shoulders.

She pushed his arms off and sat down on a nearby bench, cuddling her books while sobbing.

"Gin, look," he started. "I didn't mean to upset you; I just wanted to talk to you." She didn't reply so he continued to talk. "I have to tell you about 5th year, you know, how I was expelled . . . "

She looked up at him again.

"But I don't think now would be a good time to tell you," he looked around at everyone staring. "Meet me just outside the Great Hall after dinner and we can go for a walk." With that he walked away, while Ginny stared after him, her face blotchy from crying.

"Ginny!" cried her friends, Jenny and Laura. They had been in the crowd watching as well.

"Oh, Ginny," said Jenny, as her and Laura took a seat beside their friend.

"Don't worry about it . . . I'll be fine . . . " she said. "I have to go." With that she left her friends sitting there and walked towards her dorm.

******

After dinner that night, Ginny walked out of the Great Hall and waited for Draco to arrive. She waited and waited, and was about to leave when she spotted him. "You like to take your time don't you? I've been waiting here for ages," she sneered.

"Hey, I was hungry," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Stop being a prick and tell me whatever it was you're supposed to be telling me."

"Oh . . . right."

They started walking away from the Great Hall and Draco tried to hold her hand, but Ginny simply crossed her arms and looked straight ahead.

When they were outside, Draco whispered "Lumos," so they could see where they were walking. "Would you rather sit or walk?"

"It's up to you," snapped Ginny.

"Look, if you're going to be like this then there's no point explaining this to you."

"Fine, we'll sit," said Ginny, uncrossing her arms that had been crossed the whole time and sitting on the ground.

Draco sat down opposite her and said, "Okay, well look, this isn't easy for me . . . you'll probably hate me afterwards as well . . . "

"I'm listening," said Ginny, starting to feel like a bitch after the day she'd had.

"Oh God, how am I supposed to tell her?!" thought Draco.

"Three years ago, in fifth grade, I was expelled because . . . "

"Draco, you don't have to tell me . . . " began Ginny.

"No, I have to. But it's just really hard."

Ginny was starting to feel nervous as well.

"Do you know what happened to our female Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher three years ago? You know, Professor Knucklebones?" asked Draco.

"Ohh! She was so . . . slutty! I just assumed that Dumbledore sacked her because of her attitude and all."

"I guess that's what everyone thought. Anyway, after dinner one night she pulled me into an empty classroom," he paused as Ginny started to frown, but after she didn't say anything he continued. "She started talking about my grades, how good they were."

He bowed his head and Ginny whispered, "What happened next?"

"She started playing with my hair . . . and I kissed her. I remember thinking how wrong it was to kiss a teacher, but it was like she had me under some kind of spell. I wouldn't be surprised if I was. Then took off her clothes, and mine, then she . . . we . . . had sex."

At these last words, Ginny had tears in her eyes. "I'm not that surprised actually. God, a bitch like her . . ."

"I'm pretty sure it was some sort of Love Potion," said Draco, sounding very sure of himself. "Do you hate me?"

Ginny looked at him very hard, then replied, "No."

They sat in silence for a while, then Ginny said, "I'm off to bed then."

"Yeah, me too. Goodnight," Draco said, before standing up and walking away.

But Ginny stopped him. "Draco . . ." she said, standing up.

Draco turned around and looked at her.

"I know it's not your fault," she said. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny," said Draco, looking into her eyes. "I know you'll never forgive me but . . ."

"Shhh," hushed Ginny, before giving him a long, passionate kiss. They shared a long hug before going up to their Dorms.

"Ginny!" her friends squealed when she entered the Gryffindor common room.

She just smiled at them and continued her way up to her Dormitory.

"She's made up with him," remarked Laura.

"Maybe even made out!" giggled Jenny, giving Laura a high-five.

Ginny could hear them even though she was halfway up the stairs and let out a laugh. The first laugh she'd had for what seemed like weeks.

Jenny and Laura made their way upstairs and found Ginny lying on her bed, smiling at the ceiling. "So, what did you two get up to?" asked Laura, raising her eyebrow and smiling at Ginny.

Ginny looked over at her and grinned. "Nothing."

"Oh come on!" laughed Jenny.

Ginny explained to them about what had happened between Draco and Professor Knucklebones while Jenny and Laura sat with surprised expressions on their faces.

"What a dickhead!" exclaimed Laura, when she'd heard the whole story.

"And you . . . don't care?!" asked Jenny, a confused look on her face.

"Nope, it was in the past, and it wasn't his fault," replied Ginny, grinning at her friends' reactions.

"Well, if you did what you think was best, then that's alright I suppose," said Laura, giving Ginny a hug.

******

The next couple of days were full of happiness and romance between Ginny and Draco. And the time finally came when she had to leave for two weeks to go to her brother's birthday party.

"Just think of it this way, I'll see you again in two weeks and we'll have lots of fun then," said Draco, hugging Ginny for about the billionth time that day.

They shared a passionate kiss, and then Ginny got onto the train and got ready to see her family again. She hadn't been away from anyone in her family for this long before. And she was glad that everything was great between her and Draco.