A/N- Ab fab reviewers: lipstickandbruises, (that was one of my fave parts to write too ^_^) SiamesePG007, (you shall soon find out!) MidnightMuse, (*sqee* THANK YOU!! XD) Serepidia, (doesn't she though? And thanks!!) and Star Dust (that's seriously one of the best compliments I could get. Thanks so much!).  You guys all made my days!! ^_^

The transfiguration from slipper to chair is a little snippet from Anna at the Société de Femmes Dangereuses again.  Read her stuff, it's fabulous!

BUT anyways! Enough of my ramblings, here's the next installment!

Chapter 4

As Ginny was falling asleep later that night, she wondered why that nightmare kept coming back… it was that dream that had made her sleep so poorly the night before she fell down the stairs, and she had had it twice since then as well.  She shrugged mentally as she yawned and drifted closer to oblivion…

* Ginny found herself wandering through a foggy field…*

*   *   *

Pansy Parkinson was absolutely beside herself with anger.  She had seen Draco holding that- that Weasley yesterday, sitting by the lake!  And she had heard him tell Blaise that he had "had that damn dream again" last night.  Why won't she stay away from him?? she thought furiously.  Drakie must not have seen all her embarrassing bad luck the other day… I'll have to think of something really drastic to get her to GO AWAY!

As she contemplated her revenge and plotted against Ginny, a slow, cruel smile crept across her face.

*   *   *

Draco was thoroughly annoyed with himself.  He had had that stupid dream again nearly every night since seeing Ginny by the lake.  Since this made his sleep restless and hard to come by, he had been growing steadily more irritable.  He tried to soothe his frustrations by taking them out on whoever was nearby- unfortunately, that someone was the youngest Weasley more times than he'd like to admit.  He knew, in the back of his mind, that this definitely wasn't helping his case with her- but he just couldn't help it!  Every time he saw the annoying redhead, his mind automatically flashed back to that dream-

**The woman on the back of the flame-colored alicorn was the most beautiful he had ever seen, with a tumble of scarlet curls reaching past her tiny waist, a body any man would drool over, and an oval face of absolutely heart-stopping loveliness.  As he sat behind her on the back of the flame-colored alicorn, she reached up and pulled his face down for a kiss of pure fire…**

Dammit!

*   *   *

Over the next week, Ginny grew more and more frustrated with herself.  Why in Merlin's name was she still dreaming about that arrogant Slytherin prick?

She had been trying as hard as she could to avoid him, for a number of reasons.  For one thing, every time she saw his stormy gray eyes she invariably remembered the passionate kiss in her dreams.  For another, ever since she had woken up on the rock in his arms, he had been crueler and snarkier than she had ever seen him- before, she had merely been a rather faceless Weasley to him, whereas now he went out of his way to taunt her and insult her. 

In the halls between Charms and Potions, she always saw him on his way out of McGonnagal's classroom across the hall

"What's the matter, Weasel?" he sneered one day when she tripped over someone's outstretched foot.  "Those old hand-me-down shoes of yours making you clumsier than usual?"  The surrounding Slytherins had cackled madly.  "Oh wait, I forgot- you're a common Mudblood-lover.  Grace doesn't come into play with your sort."  And he had stalked down the hall as she held back tears, fiercely biting her lip.  Pansy Parkinson had sent an extra-smug smirk her way as she passed by. 

The same kind of thing had gone on day after day, until she was ready to scream.  Add in the fact that she woke up two and three times a night from that damn dream, and took at least an hour to get back to sleep each time, and she was visibly on the edge of a breakdown by Thursday, September 22nd, one week after she had been released from hospital wing. 

Ginny had been having absolutely horrible luck all week.  When she woke up on Friday, panting and shaking from another nightmare, she looked over at her clock and groaned in misery.  The stupid thing was stopped!  She had no idea what time it might be, but she had a sinking feeling that she was already late to her first class, as her dorm-mates were already gone. 

She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears threatening to overflow from her long-lashed hazel eyes, but a traitorous droplet spilled down her cheek, and she gave up and sobbed into her pillow for a good half an hour before, exhausted, she fell into a light doze. 

She woke up a while later and decided that she needed a sanity day.  She wasn't behind at all in any of her classes- she was actually ahead in Transfiguration and Potions, for a wonder.  She briskly dried her eyes on the soft sheets and threw the covers and her bed drapes back.  Bright sunlight greeted her eyes, and she noticed how warm it was in the room.  Moving over to the window, she glanced out and saw a few people dashing to their next classes with their sleeves rolled up, sweating profusely. 

Ginny smiled.  If it was a true Indian Summer day, then she knew exactly the spot she wanted to be…

The tired Gryffindor gathered a few things, threw them into a bag, and set out for the lake.

*   *   *

Draco sat in Charms just after lunch and gazed out the window longingly.  It had to be at least 85 degrees out there, possibly 90… (A/N- I'm American, so I'm using our measuring system cuz I don't know the metric system well enough to use it without annoying myself in this story)

Ten more minutes, he thought as he looked at the clock, then back at the slipper he was supposed to be transfiguring into a stool.  He set to with renewed determination- he had next period free, and he was damned if he'd spend it inside when he could be at the lake!

*   *   *

Ginny sighed in satisfaction.  She had spent the past hour swimming at her special secluded spot by the lake.  It was a small cove with a white sandy beach; for some reason the waters were always warmer right there, and since the lake had had all summer to warm up, it was absolutely perfect- just cool enough to be refreshing instead of chilly. 

She sat on her towel, brushing her hair dreamily and staring out at the lake; after a minute she heard some quiet crackling of the underbrush by the path, and figured it to be a deer or something.

*   *   *

Draco stumbled on a branch that lay by the path to the little cove by the lake.  As he rounded a few trees and came out onto the beach, he stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the sight before him, his jaw feeling rather unhinged.

Ginny Weasley sat on a blanket on the beach, slowly brushing her long, long hair.  It was dripping wet, and as she was covered in little water droplets, he supposed vaguely that she had just gotten out of the water.  The water on her skin only served to draw his attention to its creamy flawlessness- and he certainly could see a lot of it.

She was wearing a Muggle-designed bikini that did more to accentuate her smooth curves than hide anything.  The shimmery, emerald fabric contrasted sharply with her pale skin, and the vibrant color brought out the green in her lovely, wide-spaced eyes.

Draco must've stood like that for a good three solid minutes, staring at the exquisite flame-haired girl in front of him.  He gulped convulsively as she shook her hair back (making some very interesting portions of her anatomy jiggle enticingly) and gracefully rose to her feet

Ginny gasped as she turned and saw Draco Malfoy standing stock-still on the edge of the beach.  "W-what are you doing here?" she demanded, cursing the traitorous crack in her voice.  She didn't think she could take his sneers and insults without breaking down in front of him.

Draco swallowed again, trying to moisten a suddenly dry throat, and walked slowly towards her.  She started to back away, but stopped, caught by the hypnotic intensity of his silvery-gray eyes.  He halted not six inches from her and reached out an oddly gentle hand to cradle her face, his thumb caressing her cheekbone.  He tipped her face up and brought his lips to hers in a tender kiss.

Ginny gasped, but found herself responding to his touch eagerly despite herself.  As he slipped one hand to her waist and the other into her hair, she slowly slid her hands up his arms and around his neck.  Groaning almost inaudibly, he deepened the kiss, flicking his tongue lightly along her lip.  She whimpered and opened her mouth just enough to admit his probing tongue.

After a moment, he drew back just enough to rest his forehead on hers.  He smiled as he noticed her ragged breathing, and brushed his lips on hers again briefly before murmuring absently, "Cherries…"

She giggled at him, then drew him close again for another kiss.  Suddenly her brain seemed to come out of the frozen shock he had placed it in.  This was Draco Malfoy who was snogging her so fervently- the same one who had been tormenting her for the past week.  She pulled back with a slight gasp.  "What… why…" she stuttered as she backed away slightly.

He stared at her hungrily for a moment, his eyes storm-gray with passion.  The brief interlude was abruptly interrupted by a loud crashing through the nearby underbrush, and the pair jumped apart, Draco instinctively moving slightly in front of Ginny to screen her from whatever was coming towards them. 

But when they saw what burst out of the trees, both stared in absolute shock for a long moment.

Ginny slowly stepped around Draco, towards the tall animal in front of her.  She approached it slowly, hardly believing her eyes, then, trembling, held out her hand for it to sniff.  The majestic creature stared at her, then nudged her hand and let out a low nicker.

Draco thought his eyes couldn't possibly get any rounder, but they managed to nearly pop out of his head when he saw Ginny throw her arms around the tall stallion's neck.

"Aestus…" she breathed.

A/N- BWAHAHAHA!!! Cliffhangers galore, folks, along with lots of G/D snogging goodness!! *stifles chortling* sorry.  Anyway, my apologies that this is so short, but it's quarter to two in the morning.  I need bed.

In any case!  Leetle question for my lovely readers.  What should Pansy do to Ginny next?  She's definitely a psycho stalker type in this fic, and since I'm- well, not, I don't have all that many good ideas for crazy creepy stuff for her to do. 

A/N 2- Chapter 8's finally all written!! Now for 9!!

Suggestions?  Comments?  Anything?? REVIEW AND TELL ME!!

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