Ginny would have never guessed just how much information teachers could cover in the first week of term until she missed it. The combination of summer break and missing a week of school left Ginny utterly lost.

"Hermione," she pleaded in distress on a particular hectic afternoon, "I don't understand this at all. It's as if I've never learned any of it. Please, please help me"

"It's simple Ginny," Hermione said. Ginny rolled her eyes. Hermione had the unfortunate habit of thinking difficult things easy. "Transfiguration is simple so long as you remember the wand techniques—" and Hermione went off into a particularly long explanation, that Ginny didn't think of having any real value to what she was learning. She already knew all that, but it felt as if Transfiguration had become a foreign language lately. It wouldn't have mattered if she had been excelling in Transfiguration though, because today she just wasn't in the mood to do homework. Instead, she was constantly looking up at the portrait hole, waiting for Harry and Ron to return from Quidditch practice, because Harry was going to teach her some stunt flying techniques. She wasn't particularly fond of flying but when she let this slip to Harry he insisted she allowed him to teach her and when Harry insisted, Ginny couldn't help but agree.

"Hey!" Hermione and Ginny heard Harry and Ron's unmistakable voices call as they entered the portrait hole. Ginny looked up and her mouth dropped open. Harry looked simply irresistible in his Quidditch robes, and judging by Hermione's open mouth, so did Ron.

"Still up for flying?" Harry asked after the other couple had stumbled out of the portrait hole mumbling some excuse about Ron needing a book.

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to it all day."

"Great, then you won't mind if I don't change so we can get as much flying as possible before night fall?"

"N-no," Ginny said in disbelief. She couldn't believe her luck at getting to spend a whole evening with Harry looking like that. "Just let me run up to my room and get my broom."

"You've a broom?" Harry called after her.

Ginny smiled to herself, oh yes, she had a broom. In fact, she had completely forgotten about it until after Harry had left for school so she couldn't tell him until she returned. Once she had gotten onto the Knight Bus, she had shrunken the Firebolt down and stuck it in her pocket. Three days later she had pulled it out when she was helping her mother launder the clothes. Ever since then, she had just been dying to casually bring it up in a conversation. Harry had offered her the perfect opportunity when he suggested teaching her stunt flying. She descended the staircase back into the common room.

"Is that..?" Harry said pointing at the Firebolt.

"Yup," Ginny smiled and turned the handle to show where Draco had embossed "Malfoy" on the handle. "It's what I escaped on," she said.

"Well I always knew that ferret was good for something." Harry said and lead her out of the portrait hole.

~

Draco Malfoy grabbed his Nimbus 2001 and fled through the dungeons. Pansy was being particularly obnoxious, exclaiming over her new boyfriend from Beauxbaton. Draco suspected it was because she now regretted dumping him and wanted to make him jealous, but Ginny's friendly and complacent nature had been a breath of fresh air compared to Pansy's nagging and he had little intention of getting back with her.

'No,' he reminded himself, 'Ginny was a lying little whore, only good for one thing. Pansy was always a good lay, maybe she's good for the same thing as Ginny,'

His father had promised to send him a new Firebolt once he got the time but he'd been at school for almost two weeks to no avail; he was considering sneaking off the grounds and getting one for himself if his father didn't come through soon.

"I missed you so much!" he heard a familiar voice waft down the staircase that led to the entrance hall.

"I missed you too Gin," he heard Potter's voice reply. Draco let out a miniscule groan and waited for the voices to pass. The last thing he needed was to see Ginny and Potter walking out to the grounds to have a pleasant, romantic, walk. As tempting as it was to go up and casually bump into them he wasn't much in the mood to get into a wizard's duel with Potter.

"I was so sick of pretending to like him. Yuck, the thought of his hands on me…" Draco clutched his wand harder.

"I'm sorry Ginny," Harry said, "I knew where you were for almost the whole time; I could have gotten you out."

"No you couldn't have. With that blasted charm that was on the door I needed him in the room."

"So we're not referring to him by name anymore?"

"Not because I'm still frightened of him, rather because I don't think he deserves a name."

Potter let out a laugh and Draco heard the front doors open and shut. He waited a few minutes until he was sure Potter and Ginny were far enough away from the front door and well into their walk. Students usually walked towards the lake where there were groves of pleasant trees that offered plenty of privacy. The Quidditch pitch, Draco assumed, would thus be empty.

~

"Right," Harry said once they had reached the pitch, "well, mount your broom. Now, for stunt flying you want to grip your broom differently than for racing," mounting his own Firebolt, he took the opportunity to place his hand over hers and place it on the broom. He turned his head and found himself two inches from her, "You've-er-you've got a Firebolt," he stuttered tearing his eyes and hands away, "so it should be pretty easy to handle. But watch out, if you try and stunt fly with another broom you won't be used to the handling.

"Alright" Ginny gulped.

"So uh, kick off and rise about five meters or so and we'll try some basics."

Ginny had never quite understood the allure of expensive brooms but as she rose with the Firebolt, it all made sense. It was like a wisp of air was carrying her up and miraculously supporting her.

"Nice isn't it?" Harry asked appearing beside her.

"Yeah. I never knew flying could be so easy."

Harry laughed. "We'll start with something exceedingly simple. Just fly around in a circle." Ginny did just that and the marvelous feeling of the wind in her hair brought back the memory from just two weeks ago when she escaped from the Malfoys'.

"Good good!" Harry praised. "Now why don't we try some dives?"

~

Draco ran up to the Qudditch pitch, relieved to get some of his frustrations out. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how horrid his life was going. Ginny, his Ginny, his present was lazily scrolling the ground with Scarface, bad mouthing him, the little whore. He had just committed his first act as a Death Eater and now it was up in the air whether or not his father would propose his initiation to the Dark Lord, and he was stuck at school, with an old broom, watching the Whore and Scarface together, having absolutely no control over his own future. All he wanted now was to soar through the air, diving and twisting on his broom until the adrenaline ran so thick in his system that he could forget about his worries completely. He spotted them, up a good twenty feet in the air with Potter in the lead and Ginny flying behind him, her red hair flowing out behind him. Draco had an instantaneous flash of Ginny laying her head on his chest, her long locks spread playfully across his body, but he shook his head and it was gone. In its place were Harry and Ginny chasing one another. As much as he wanted to move, he couldn't, he was routed to his place watching the pair of them.

~

What had started out to be a flying lesson was quickly changing into a fun filled game of tag. First Harry had simply suggested she tried to follow him to learn some dives, but as Ginny came closer and closer to catching up with him, he began to fly faster and faster. Soon they were laughing and instead of diving, Harry was flying faster and higher trying to outrun Ginny, constantly looking back to see how close he was to being 'caught'. Ginny, however, was holding her own. Harry went into a sharp dive and she attempted to follow, but Ginny still wasn't quite used to flying yet, so the dive caused her grip to slip and she began to tumble through the air.

~

Draco watched Ginny fall and smiled. Yes she'd get what she deserved.

~

Harry glanced behind him to see where Ginny was just in time to see her fall off her broom. Immediately he stopped smiling and, face set in grim determination, dove to save her. He dove going into an almost perfect imitation of the Wronski Feint in order to get to her in time.

~

It was funny, Ginny thought, how much time seemed to slow down when one thought they were going to die. She guessed she had only had been falling for a split second but in that time she had had the time to process the fact that she was probably going to die a rather messy death, never having kissed Harry Potter, had kids, or been in love all before cold hard dread and fear set in. Yet before she did actually hit the ground she felt herself collide with something soft and warm before she was swooped casually to the ground, still in Harry's arms.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, not bothering to set her down.

"I'm-I'm fine," she stuttered. At least if she was dead, this was certainly heaven. "Thank you for uh, saving my life Harry. I owe you a Wizard's debt."

"I would never dream of claiming it," he said. He swallowed looking down at Ginny in his arms, she was so small and tempting, and oh that red hair was simply irresistible. Without thinking he leaned down and kissed her. Ginny was stunned. She had kissed Draco countless of times and almost every time was just as pleasurable as the last but there was something completely different about kissing Harry, and it wasn't just that it was new, there was actually emotion behind that kiss. Ginny hardly had time to process all this before Harry had pulled his mouth away from hers and set her down.

"Gin I'm sorry," Harry said, "I mean you were just saying how much you hated him for touching you all the time and here I went and kissed you. I'm sorry, I-I'll go now." Ginny stood there open mouthed, shocked by what Harry was saying while Harry retrieved his broom and walked of the pitch. She shook herself out of her stupor.

"Harry!" she called running after him, "Harry wait!" He turned and Ginny couldn't help but a catch a small glimmer of hope in those lovely eyes. "I hated how he demanded me to touch him but, but kissing you was completely different. I want you to kiss me, I actually enjoyed that, not, not just my body. When Draco kissed me, I couldn't think about the fact that it was he, but with you it's so different. Please, please don't walk away," she pleaded.

~

Draco watched the entire, rather sickening, scene from where he was standing, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Once Ginny pleaded for Potter not to walk away he decided he'd seen enough, so he turned and walked the other way, dragging the handle of his Nimbus 2001 behind him.

~

"Are you sure Gin?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Harry I-I really want this, I mean a relationship—" she snapped her jaw shut. 'Nice move,' she thought, 'Perhaps he doesn't want a relationship."

"Oh Ginny, I want a relationship too. I just wasn't sure if you're ready."

"I'm ready I just, well kissing's fine but let's just take things nice and slow."

Harry gulped; he could do slow. "Alright, just one more thing."

"What's that?"

"You tell Ron. He's protective of you, possibly over protective since the whole Malfoy ordeal. I don't think he wants anyone near you, not even me."

Ginny laughed, "I'll tell him."

"Great!" Harry gathered both their brooms up, swung them over his shoulders and grabbing Ginny's hand, the couple walked towards the castle together.

A/N: Review and put your e-mail in the review if you'd like to be added to the update notice list. Again, stick with me. You'll see how Draco will become a more prominent part of the story next chapter.