DISCLAIMER: The song is My Immortal by Evanescence off the album, Fallen. The song is eerily-sad yet beautiful & the band is wonderful. The 2nd installment to my story, Ginny's POV.

i'm so tired of being here | suppressed by all my childish fears | and if you have to leave | i wish that you would just leave | cause your presence still lingers here | and it won't leave me alone

I'd been watching him since that day. May it be by chance or by fate, I happen to glance in his direction as an eagle-owl swooped into the Great Hall. The creature flew overhead & a letter came descending towards him. I just continued my perusal of him. His striking face remained emotionless but there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes. It's evident he wasn't expecting a letter of any sort. He opened it and skimmed through the content. Whatever was written in it MUST have been devastating for him. He suddenly looked up - right at me & in the split second his eyes, that were usually so hard & unfeeling, held an emotion common to us mere mortals: SORROW. The sight of it sent a blow directly to my heart. But I know he didn't really see me. He was too caught up in his grief & while his eyes reflect his emotions, his mind as I can tell had gone to a nether-world. Quickly, he stood up & left the Great Hall, clutching the letter to his heart. I watched him leave. I also watched the people around him. It seemed no one had noticed his departure or if they did, no one cared. Was I the only one?

these wounds won't seem to heal |this pain is just too real | there's just too much that time cannot erase

Silently, I followed him. He was moving at a very fast pace & though the halls were empty, I almost lost sight of him a few times. He was making his way down towards, what I presume, was the Slytherins' quarters. We ventured onto a place in Hogwarts I'd never been before. As you should know by now, the school is very huge & even after spending 4 years here, there are still rooms, concealed or not, that I haven't discovered. Suddenly he turned at the next corner & as I didn't want to lose him, I quickened my steps. I barely managed to stop just before the corner. Peering round it, I saw him, sitting at a landing on the hidden stairs. He was looking out of the window, at a view far away but what stunned me was the presence of tears, slipping down his pale cheeks. He didn't sob nor bawl, just weep in silence. Somehow that wretches at my heart even more. I had never seen him showing any emotion apart from scorn, malice & embitterment yet here, he was crying albeit softly. I couldn't stop my own tears from falling. I didn't know how to comfort him; I don't even know why he cries yet misery loves company. I know he won't readily accept any help from a stranger & especially not from a Weasley. So I left him there… alone.

when you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears | when you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears | i held your hand through all of these years | but you still have | all of me

I bid my time, finding out details of his life, his friends, what he likes. It wasn't easy. No one really knows him & he keeps to himself most of the time. It's obvious he wasn't a very likable person. Most hated him for the way he treats them while others loathe him just for being a Malfoy He was an enigma. Crabbe & Goyle knows zilch about him. I even stooped to asking Pansy & all it got me was an earache. The only person who seem to know much (quite surprisingly) turns out to be Blaise Zabini. He was a tall, quiet person, very good-looking with a strong persona, hardly in the limelight & I admit I had never really taken the time to become friendly with. Yet he was very helpful, providing information but never asking me why I wanted to know. There were things that were common in the three of us, seeking acceptance by our peers, hoping for some attention, hiding a past. I found out about Draco's relationship with his parents, how he has to live up to his family's name, defying his father on getting the Dark Mark till after his school years & the reason for his sudden breakdown, losing his mother. She isn't dead but her mind is gone. She had been his stability against his father's tyranny. Years of torture had finally taken its toll. As I stood listening to Blaise's recount, iciness filled me. I can't imagine a life filled with such horrors. More it appears that someone needs to be there for him.

you used to captivate me | by your resonating life | now i'm bound by the life you left behind | your face it haunts | my once pleasant dreams |  your voice it chased away | all the sanity in me

He was watching them, the Dream Team. As usual, he had his infamous smirk & the insults were rolling of his tongue, baiting them. Ron, of course, was the first to lose his temper. Harry would have a puzzled look while Hermione was the rational one. She ignores the flying insults, grabs Ron & drags Harry away. They never even gave him a second glance. That is how they are - secluded in their own world, they miss the look of pure despair that clouded his face. He no longer enjoys the sparring & if they stepped out of that world, they'd hear it in his voice. It resembled a familiar feeling, something of mine. I know now that three's company, four's a crowd. He was off to his next class when I felt it was time he knows there is someone for him.

these wounds won't seem to heal |this pain is just too real | there's just too much that time cannot erase

"My, my. What do we have here? Another Weasley I see?" his voice rang out filling my ears. I just stood, staring at him. No longer do I feel the need to cower or hide when faced with a challenge & especially not with this Slytherin. He doesn't know it but the months that I trailed after him, I came to be familiar with a side of him so different than what he presents to the world. Somehow along the way, he was no longer an irritable git or an empty-shell, cold & unreachable but he was a name to a face, someone with real feelings, which bleeds if pricked, who hurts & be wounded at the same time. To me, he was Draco, just Draco. Not a Malfoy neither was he all the names given to him by everyone else. "Well, what do you want?" he barked out the words. I could see he was hurting underneath that exterior. Slowly, I shook my head & said "I know how you feel Draco. You don't have to pretend." Without a second thought, I took hold of his right hand & kissed it. It was the only way I know of to ease his suffering. Releasing his hand, the feeling of loneliness & lost filled me but I flashed him a smile. Then I took to my heel & went on my way.

i've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone | but though you're still with me | i've been alone all along

Here I am again in the Great Hall for the morning meal. I've been sitting here for the last fifteen minutes, trying not to look over to the Slytherins' table but I could feel my willpower failing. Slowly I seek out for a pair of silvery-blue eyes. My intention was to see if he was around. Just at that moment, our eyes locked & the most amazing thing happened; he smiled. A simple, untainted smile. A smile of gratitude, the most sincere smile. Surprised as I was but I quickly fought the blush that was rising to my face. Ignoring him in a way, I started eating but inside, a song was bursting in my mind & my heart was beating madly. How cliché.  Then I sensed movement from the Slytherin table. Draco had gotten up & was making his way out of the Great Hall. Though his back was facing me, I smiled at him & I know he knows it. Taking a last glimpse of his platinum-blond head, I went back to my meal, grinning.

A/N: I HAD to add in Blaise LOL, something about that unknown person intrigues me.