A/N- Again, very few reviewers.  ::pouts:: this is really discouraging, folks… Anyway, thanks to Keita again, eegurl, and Raven Cross!  BTW, people, if and when you do leave a review for anyone, it's really much more helpful if you at least say what you liked or disliked, like some of those lovely people I just mentioned. ^_^  So yeah.  Updating again- I have up to chapter 8 completely written, with the little things I didn't like re-written.  Chapter 8 is in the works, but it's really hard to get going again after a 5-month hiatus!

Okay then, on with your regularly scheduled story update!

Chapter 3

Draco yawned his way through breakfast the next morning; he hadn't gotten back to his room until about 3, so he was exhausted. 

"Late night?" Zabini drawled next to him.

Draco stifled another yawn and shrugged.  "Just the usual insomnia.  Went for a walk to see if I could tire myself out."  Zabini just nodded in answer and took another bite of toast.

"Oh, poor Draco," Pansy simpered, "I bet I could help you get to sleep…"

Draco shot her a look of disgust, then got up from the table and went to class. 

Pansy sighed in happiness.  He does love me, I knew it… he just doesn't like to show it in front of his friends.  But he will soon… oh yes, he will…

*   *   *  

Harry, Ron and Hermione visited Ginny right after a quick lunch.  "Hey, Gin!  How're you feeling?" Harry asked cheerfully.

"Much better, thanks," she answered, smiling.  She had spent half of the past summer at a friend's house; much to her surprise, when she came home and Harry came to visit for the final two weeks of vacation, she had discovered that she now only felt friendship for the kind, funny young man.  She found that she much preferred it this way; once Harry realized that she no longer had a crush on him, he felt free to become her friend- and they were very close friends now, indeed. 

Madame Pomfrey came bustling over to check on her just then.  She unwrapped the bandage from Ginny's head, scrutinized the now-closed wound carefully, probing with gentle fingers, and pronounced her free to go.  "You should probably take the rest of the day off, though, dear.  Can't have you over-working yourself, now can we?"  Ginny grinned widely and thanked her; she had been getting dreadfully bored sitting here by herself. 

"Wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed as they walked out of the infirmary.  "Now you have the rest of the afternoon to catch up on the schoolwork you missed!"  Harry and Ron groaned, laughing at the indignant expression on their friend's face.

Ginny giggled, then said, "It's a lovely day, I think I actually might grab my work and take it out to that big rock by the lake."

"That does sound nice," Hermione said wistfully.  "I wish we could have Potions outside instead of in those damp, dark dungeons."

"I wish we didn't have Potions at all!" Ron said ruefully.  Harry fervently agreed, then glanced down at his watch.

"Bloody hell!" he swore.  "We've only got five minutes 'til Potions starts!"  The three sixth years hurriedly said goodbye to Ginny, then tore off down the hallway, Ron cursing under his breath.  Ginny giggled again, then walked off to gather her assignments from her teachers.

*   *   *

As Ginny worked in the bright fall sunshine, she paused in the middle of her Charms homework.  Why in Merlin's name had Malfoy been in her dream?  And why had he been worried about her?  She frowned in thought, then shook it off and finished her assignment.  There, finished, she thought.  Looking at her watch, she saw that it was only 3:30- still two hours until dinner.  I really don't feel like going in now, it's still so lovely out here!  She decided that she could afford to sunbathe and dream a little; the sun wouldn't go down until about 6:15 or 6:30, she'd go in long before then.

She laid down on the sun-warmed rock, gazing up at a sky that was that clear, intense blue that only comes in the fall, watching the clouds go by.  Her eyes slowly drifted closed, and she fell asleep.

*   *   *

Ginny found herself wandering through a foggy field.  What now, she thought wearily; seeing nothing of interest around her, she walked forwards into the mist.  A forest loomed dark in front of her, so she shrugged and ambled in. 

As she wandered through the dark, misty forest, she started to hear murmuring voices, too soft to be understood.  She shivered slightly; something about them seemed so eerie all of a sudden…

Suddenly she heard a voice she had last heard, except in dreams, almost four years ago.

"Ginny..." the voice whispered softly, "Ginny, come to me…"

She gasped and, picking a direction at random, started to run.  She hadn't gone more than a hundred feet when she came to a tiny clearing in the trees.  Standing in the middle of it was a form she had hoped she would never see again.

Tom Riddle stood before her, holding his arms out imploringly.  Unlike her previous dreams, however, he was filmy and see-through, like a ghost.  This registered in a flash, and she immediately bolted through the trees in a different direction.  No matter which way she ran, though, a different horrible scene greeted her terrified eyes. 

Her parents stood, surrounded by robed and masked Death Eaters, brave until three or four voices shouted, "Crucio!" She ran on before she could see more than a few seconds of their terrible screams.

Her brothers, bound to trees in a row, cried out in agony as more Death Eaters tortured them with different spells- ones that left visible, horrible damage.  She thought she'd go mad if she had to see much more of this-

Harry, wounded and on his knees, guarded a fallen Hermione from an ever-closing circle of yet more black-robed figures.  An evil cackle sounded, and Voldemort's filmy shape materialized behind the pair as one Death Eater moved forward with a sacrificial knife as long as Ginny's arm.

Finally, after tearing her way through brambles and thorns, she burst into a small meadow, and into the arms of a tall, leanly muscular young man.  She didn't see his face right away, but she instinctively knew that he wouldn't hurt her- he was there to help, to protect her.  His strong arms encircled her,  one hand stroking her hair. 

"Shh, shh, it's alright love.  I'm here now."

She looked up into the handsome, gently smiling face of Draco Malfoy, his silver-gray eyes alight with- was that love?  She didn't know what else to call it, but somehow it didn't bother her.  She knew that he wasn't like his father- like the others…

He leaned down and kissed her gently, comfortingly, then straightened and looked in her eyes again.  "Ginny, you can't stay here. You have to go find him."

"Who?" she tried to say as he shook his head.

"You know," he answered softly, then kissed her again, stepped back, and vanished.

Ginny looked around her frantically, but he was nowhere to be found.  Trembling, she pushed her way through another stand of trees to a much larger, suddenly sunlit meadow where an astonishing sight greeted her eyes.

Alicorns.

She knew what they were without having to think about it, these lovely, rare creatures.  The most magnificent stallion of the herd walked up to her, shining coppery red, nearly glowing in the light of the sun.

"Aestus," she breathed.  Flame of passion, it meant- and it fit this amazing animal perfectly.  He was fiery, hot-tempered, and passionate- and he was hers, if any of these animals could be considered to belong to anyone.  As she stood there, gazing at him in wonder, she realized that her clothes had somehow changed when she walked into the clearing.  She now wore a simple sleeveless white robe, slit up the sides nearly to her hip.  As she wondered how that had happened, Ron, Hermione and Harry ran up to her.

"Ginny!" Ron gasped.  "Hurry, you have to find him!"

"Who?" she started to ask, but before the word was even finished, Hermione cut her off.

"Draco!  He's in danger, they know, you have to find him before they do!"

Harry butted in.  "Gin, you know as well as I do that if they get their hands on him, we're all done for.  Everything you saw in the woods-" she gasped and he nodded grimly.  "That forest showed what might happen if we don't get him back."

Ginny stared at him, eyes wide.  "What-"  She faltered, then tried again.  "What do I have to do?"

The trio parted in front of her, leaving her path to Aestus clear.

Before she knew what happened, she was mounted and flying up to the top of the cliff that loomed above them.  As Aestus climbed higher and higher, she saw a small figure far above her, and knew it was Draco.  Filled with determination, she urged her mount on until they flashed above the cliff and landed beside Draco. 

"Ginny Weasley!" he sputtered.  "But why- how-"

"There's no time to explain," she answered hurriedly.  "Get on, quickly!  They'll be here any minute!"

"Who will?  And why-" She gasped and pointed, interrupting him as she spotted a mob of angry Death Eaters racing toward them.  Draco whirled, cursing and backing up when he saw them- how could they move that fast?

"You'll pay for your treachery, boy!" his father shouted furiously.  Ginny shouted a spell that she didn't understand; she had no idea what she was saying, but still knew what it would do.  Draco suddenly appeared behind her, grabbing onto her waist for balance.  As soon as Aestus felt him settle slightly, he turned and dove off the cliff, spreading his wings to catch the air.

"Alright, what's going on?"  Draco shouted into the wind.  "Why the hell-"

His question was again cut short as Ginny turned, grabbed his head, and pulled his lips to hers in a kiss that burned through them both like a wildfire.  His arms closed around her and he kissed her back, hungrily.

Draco pulled away, cradling her face in his hand, then jerked in pain and was pulled off Aestus's back by some kind of spell.  Ginny felt her stomach plummet as she reached for him, and screamed "NO!!"

*   *   *

Draco paced moodily along the lake shore just before dinner; why couldn't he get that damned Weasley girl out of his head?  She was just a damned Mudblood-lover…

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.  He knew Father's lies were complete and utter rubbish by now; how could he not?  It was obvious to anyone who cared to look that muggle-borns like Granger could be just as brilliant- or not- as purebloods.  After all, he thought wryly, anyone can see that idiots like Goyle and Longbottom could have just as well been born Muggles- or Squibs, for that matter

He rounded a small grove of willows to see the cause of his sleepless nights curled up on a large flat boulder that jutted out from the shore of the lake.  He noticed, sourly, that she seemed to be asleep.  She, of course, sleeps like a bloody baby, was his annoyed thought, deliberately overlooking the nightmare she'd had in the hospital wing.

As he drew nearer to her, she started whimpering slightly, and he frowned.  Those were the same sounds she'd made the night before, when he'd watched her…

Draco decided to ask her again about the nightmare when she woke up (which she undoubtedly would soon) and walked over and sat next to her on the big rock.  After a few minutes of restlessness and distressed noises, she quieted again, and Draco rolled his eyes.  Dammit, he thought, maybe she won't wake up after all

He had decided to wait a few more minutes before leaving when she moaned pitifully again.  A moment later, he felt a distant twinge in his back- almost like it wasn't his pain, or it had happened a long time ago, and Ginny shrieked "NO!!" and sat up so fast he barely got out of the way in time.  She looked at him, wild-eyed with the fear of the dream still raging through her, and buckled in on herself, sobbing and shaking like a leaf.  His arms automatically reached out to gather her in, and she didn't resist as he cradled her gently, stroking her hair to soothe her. Just like Mother's nightmare's, he thought as her shudders slowly calmed; she just needs someone to hold her afterwards.  They sat together like that for several minutes; even after her tears slowed to a trickle, then nothing, she showed no inclination to move. 

Draco looked down at Ginny's head leaning against his chest.  He had thought she was at least 5'7", which should have put her head at his chin, as he was 6'2".  He realized, when he thought about it, that she was all legs; this made her torso proportionately a lot shorter than his.  Her hair, which was usually in a long, loose braid, was left down today.  It flowed down her back in large, soft waves and curls, gleaming in the last light of the setting sun and ending just above her hips.  Like in my dream, he thought absently. 

When Draco looked at her face, he noticed wryly that she had fallen asleep again.  He gave a soft half-laugh, half-sigh and gathered her in his arms to take inside, when around the corner came Harry and Hermione, clearly looking for Ginny.

"Malfoy!" Harry barked, "What are you doing with her?"

In Draco's arms, Ginny stirred; apparently Harry's shouting had woken her.  She muttered something incoherently as he laid her back down on the rock, gave Potter and Granger a glare, and stalked off.

As Ginny sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning, Harry and Hermione ran over.  "Gin, are you okay?" Harry asked worriedly.  "Malfoy didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Ginny stared at him for a moment.  Malfoy… that's right, he was there when I woke up the first time.  What's his deal?  "I'm fine, Harry, don't worry."

"What was Malfoy doing, anyway?  He looked like he was picking you up or something."

She flushed slightly and answered, "I fell asleep on the rock, and I had a bad dream.  I guess Malfoy came along right when I woke up… It was a really bad dream, so when I started crying-" she reddened in embarrassment again- "he just- held me, I guess."  She frowned thoughtfully.  "I think it was almost an automatic reaction for him- he just… knew what to do to calm me down, I guess." She smiled slightly.  "I fell asleep again."

Harry looked baffled.  "But- it's- it's Malfoy!" he sputtered.  "Why was he being… nice?"

Hermione kept silent, a sharp, thoughtful expression on her face.  Again, Malfoy surprises us… what is going on with him?

~*~ Hehe, wouldn't YOU like to know!  Review please, it makes me want to write more!! ~*~