A/N: I have been piecing together every aspect of this story all summer, and it's really quite a relief to actually start writing it.

Another Note: Ginny seems VERY ooc, but it's all for a good reason. Just keep checking for an update because you'll find out why very soon.

Disclaimer is as was before. If you read it in the first chapter, it won't change throughout the entire fic. [surprise surprise]

Thanks to Loie for beta-ing! You're awesome! -*- Chapter Two: Confrontation on the Pitch

"Draco… Draco wake up!"

He was oddly aware of a hand pushing on his shoulder, trying to shake him awake. Clinging desperately to the last traces of sleep proved to be impossible, he glared up at the chipper face of Blaise Zabini.

"Wha-!" He toppled out of his bed in surprise. "How did you get in here, Blaise?"

Blaise smirked at his black boxers, and then at him as he stood and tried to regain his dignity. "Easy, Malfoy. What did I tell you about being the Queen of Persuasion?"

He frowned, glancing out the window. The gray clouds in the sky could barely be seen, promising rain, through the darkness. The sun wasn't up yet, and it looked as though it didn't plan on showing its face at all that day. Silver shadows were cast from the window into corners in his room, and bounced off Blaise's eerie face.

"Well, Your Majesty, what may I ask are you doing here so bloody early?" He made as though to hop back in bed, but Blaise gripped his arm. It was then that he noticed her broom in the other hand.

"Quidditch practice. Or did you forget?"

He had forgotten. "No," he lied, quickly pulling a black T-shirt over his head and hitching his jeans up around his waist.

Blaise rolled her eyes, obviously disbelieving him, and threw his cloak in his face. "And they made you captain. I will never understand that."

He shot her a hateful look.

Paying no notice, she continued rambling. "Hurry up. I can't be late if I want to impress Potter."

Retrieving his own broom from where it was locked in his trunk, he skidded after Blaise to catch up, and together they walked down to the pitch.

When they arrived at the edge of the Quidditch arena, various players from each team could be seen standing around, avoiding contact with other house members. Everyone was dressed in regular school robes, but it was obvious how to distinguish who was from each team nonetheless.

Instead of joining the few Slytherins who'd already pulled themselves out of bed, Blaise detoured and pulled Draco over to where Harry was sitting with Ginny and arguing about something. They were close enough to the couple to hear their raised voices, but not close enough for either to notice they were eavesdropping.

"I'm not trying to baby you, Ginny! I'm just saying, as I promised Ron, that I would make sure he doesn't bother you today!"

Ginny's eyes were alight with fury. "Harry, you know my brother and I don't get along about these things! I don't want you making promises to him, especially ones that I am going to break on my own!"

Harry frowned at her. "You know Ginny, it seems to me that you like having Malfoy bother you." His voice had dropped a reasonable amount of decibels, but Draco could still here what he said.

The redhead's eyes flashed. "This is what I am talking about, Harry. I never said he bothered me. You said that. All I was saying is that he's acting strangely like a-"

Her voice cut off jaggedly as she saw Draco standing beside her now, waiting intently for her to finish her sentence. "Oh, don't stop now, Ginny. It was just getting to the good part."

Harry jumped to his feet, as though afraid to hear how Ginny was actually planning on finishing the sentence. "Malfoy, leave her alone."

Draco almost chuckled at the warning in his voice. "Funny, Potter, how ready you always are to save the day."

"I'm not saving the day… You're just an annoying git."

Draco pretended he hadn't heard him. "Besides, she said it herself, I don't bother her."

Ginny had a smile on her face as she watched the two boys bickering, and barely noticed when Blaise sat down on the ground next to her.

"Draco fancies you, you know."

Ginny jumped; Blaise seemed to be surprising everyone today.

Blaise knew it appeared as though she was helping Draco win, but in fact this was part of her own plan as well. Saint Harry would never even glance at Blaise if he were still attached to Ginny… so she was just speeding up the process a bit. The sooner Ginny dumped him, the sooner Blaise could swoop in for herself. Assuming that her efforts were enough to make Ginny rethink her relationship with Potter… Blaise cackled mirthlessly, feeling very sure of herself.

"He- what?" Ginny said questioningly, not taking her eyes off of the boys.

"He fancies you. Weasley, look at me."

Grudgingly, Ginny obeyed, and saw the sparkle of triumph in Blaise's eyes. Ginny wasn't sure why she trusted the girl, but she did. "Draco Malfoy is over there fighting with your boyfriend. Over you. Now, tell me honestly who you are rooting for."

Her answer seemed automatic. "Harry, of course."

The smile on her face didn't falter a bit; Blaise had expected this answer, at least right away. "Of course, how could I be so silly, right? He is your boyfriend, the most important person in the world to you, who you can talk to about anything, who is always there no matter what-"

"All right!" Ginny snapped. "I get it. You made your point."

Blaise raised her eyebrows in question. "I was making a point? I thought I was just referring to your perfect relationship with Potter."

Eyes clouded over, Ginny looked away. "Yeah, well… define perfect."

Aha, thought Blaise, staring at Ginny's hollow face. This, little Weasel, is turning out to be what I'd call perfect.

"All right. Perfect- exactly how you want something to be."

The pained look on Ginny's face was classic. She knew she'd hit a nerve. And all this time Blaise had thought their little relationship was perfect. Draco was right- this was going to be easy. Too easy.

"With Harry- well… our relationship is strange. I love him… but maybe more like a brother." Ginny suddenly looked horrified to be saying this out loud, but Blaise patted her on the hand.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Nodding trustfully, Ginny continued. "I guess Harry is just over-protective, but Draco has never done anything wrong to me. He seems to actually want to be civil to me this year, you know? Maybe Draco can knock some sense into Harry, anyway."

Blaise agreed with the nod of a head. "Draco may be sarcastic, cold-blooded, and a bit odd, but he's not a bad guy." It didn't occur once to Blaise how strange it was that Ginny just swallowed up her lies.

"Who knows." Ginny seemed genuinely stumped on the matter, relishing in the oddity of the situation; her confiding in Blaise Zabini while secretly wishing Draco Malfoy would beat her boyfriend in the argument.

"So who was it that you were rooting for again?"

The words struck a chord within Ginny. Her eyes widened as she whispered in surprise, "Draco."

-*-

"Well, if you would just bloody leave us alone, these things wouldn't happen!"

Harry was shouting at Draco; they were still carrying on in their argument.

Draco, however, was casual making comments while Harry was the frantic one, his face heating up in anger. Draco knew how to press his buttons, and the plan was to make Harry act like a fool in front of Ginny, while he himself stayed calm and composed. And this only seemed to anger Harry more, as Draco hadn't raised his voice or called him a foul name at all yet.

In fact, in the passed few years, Harry had seemed rather taken with yelling. Everyone assumed he was jumpy, having not heard a single thing from Voldemort since his fifth year, but Draco knew he just had a raging temper, one that was very easily set off.

"Exactly what things are happening, Potter? I was just coming by to say hi to Ginny and you nearly cursed my head off. What gives?"

"Just came by to say hi to Ginny, did you? Well say hi and leave then, you're not invited to stay for tea."

No one picked up on the humor of this statement, even though it was the crack of dawn and no one was exactly fancying tea.

Draco grinned, getting a good idea. He turned around, tipped his head to Ginny, and walked away, calling out "Hello!" over his shoulder.

"Draco, wait!"

Just as planned, Draco thought. He could hear her scrambling to her feet behind him.  It only took seconds before she had caught up with him, and grabbed his retreating arm. "You really don't have to listen to Harry, you know."

Draco mocked surprise. "Well, Ginny, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. He won't let me talk to you, that way."

She furrowed her brow. "Let me point out the many flaws in that statement. One- you are already on Harry's bad side; you always have been. Why do you care now? And two- He's not going to let me talk to you no matter what you do." She put on a haughty face. "But I think I am old enough to make these kinds of decisions on my own. So what did you really want?"

The question caught Draco off-guard. "What?"

"Draco, I know you. I've known you since I was eleven. You didn't just come by for a jolly hello." Her gaze penetrated strangely into his own. This was going a little differently than he'd planned.

"If you think I've come to insult you again…" He wasn't quite sure what the 'or else' of that sentence would be. It wasn't important, because Ginny took it as her cue to talk.

"I didn't think that." Her face was set as she looked at him blankly. "In fact, I assumed it was quite contrary. You've been- nice."

He internally flinched at the word. 'Nice' had never been used before in describing Draco Malfoy. Except, of course, in 'nice arse'.

Putting up his game face again, he acknowledged her comment. "Yes, well, many things have changed in the summer holiday. Including my resentment toward- well, you. I still don't care much for your family… but you seem nice enough."

It was a risky thing to say but she seemed to understand. "I accept your- was that an apology? For anything you might have done to offend me in the past? Because I am taking it as one."

He grinned, honestly admiring her wit. She seemed to have changed too, and not in all horrible ways. Then he remembered he was only acting, and brushed aside any momentary understanding shared between the two of them.

He held out his hand. He was implying a hand shake, a sort of truce to assure Ginny that they were on equal grounds, maybe even make her think they were 'friends'. She took his outstretched hand in hers, and then seemed to be getting ideas of her own. She pulled him roughly toward her and embraced him in an awkward yet very confident hug.

And for the second time, Ginny gave him a look with an unreadable expression, and darted away, back to Harry.

-*-

When Ginny returned, she saw Blaise still sitting on the ground where she'd left her. She was gazing intently at Harry, and Harry was pacing around with his broom, still letting off steam and muttering about 'jealous Malfoy'.

Blaise eyed Ginny's presence, and decided to leave. She'd seen the hug, seen that it was Ginny who'd initiated it, which didn't surprise her in the least. Her plan already seemed to be working well, and Draco thought he was way further than she was.

Blaise hopped up, and brushed traces of dirt off her sparkling new robes. She leaned in close to Harry, startling him. It was a gift, her essence of surprise. Whispering something softly in his ear, she smiled and left, zipping away quickly by jumping on her broom and flying gracefully over to the Slytherins.

Harry's face had turned an alarming shade of red, and Ginny flicked a piece of hair out of his face. He mistook it as an act of love, though she was merely moving it because it was unflattering.

"I bloody loathe Slytherins!" Harry mumbled, pushing the remainder of his hair out of his eyes, and waiting for her to agree.

She didn't agree. "That's a pretty largely prejudiced statement. I'm sure they're not all bad."

"Those two are," he said through gritted teeth.

When Ginny didn't respond, he took her hand in his.

"Ouch!" He said suddenly, dropping her hand as both of his flew up to massage his forehead fiercely. The look on his face was that of utter pain, and he closed his eyes tightly, while he waited for the pain to subside.

Ginny stared at her hand intently for a moment, and Harry realized what she was doing. "No, it wasn't you, love. Voldemort- my scar… it hurts when he's around."

Ginny frowned. "Don't be silly, Harry, I know that. I'm just trying to figure out why it would hurt you now. I mean… Voldemort isn't around, we haven't heard from him in… ages."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "A silent Voldemort doesn't mean no Voldemort. He's not exactly powerless, Ginny. I mean, I've met the guy."

Ginny thought of Tom. The sixteen-year-old boy who had charmed her all throughout her first year at Hogwarts. The only boy who had ever halted her undying crush on Harry, if only for a moment. The boy who still occupied her thoughts, as if a leech, unwilling to stop clinging to her mind. "In case you've forgotten, Harry, so have I."

His face softened for a second. "Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry. I knew that."

She didn't seem to really care all that much. Her eyes flickered though, as an afterthought. "You don't, think he's back, do you?" Something about her voice made Harry wonder why exactly she was questioning. It sounded almost- taunting.

She never heard his answer, however, because Madame Hooch chose that moment to blow her whistle, calling in everyone's attention. Ginny hadn't even noticed the arrival of the rest of the team. Hooch was standing in the middle of the field, in the center of the circle where the balls were usually released.

The four different house teams huddled in their respective groups around Madame Hooch, none too close to any of the other houses. Glares of competition darted between the students, ready to begin another grueling season of Quidditch.

This was the first year they had ever been called down all together, and they assumed Madame Hooch was going to give them a pep talk or something.

She blew her whistle one more time to quiet everyone down, and then began talking. "I am very sorry to have asked you all come down here so early, and even sorrier to inform you that I have some very bad news."

The hush that had fallen over the crowd roared back to life, as students chatted and yelped about what it could be.

Hooch talked over the din, raising her voice a little bit to be heard by all. "This year the Quidditch season is going to have to, regretfully, be cut short, as we've been instructed only within the week that the second half of the school year it be closed down to renovations." She paused to make room for the gasps that engulfed the students, and then went on to further explain the shocking news. "The Minister of Magic is administering this remodel as an act of safety;, you are not being punished for anything. Quidditch matches have been cut down to merely two this year- Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw in two months, and then Gryffindor versus Slytherin a few weeks before Christmas holidays. Whichever team has the most points at the end of these matches will be declared champion for this year. I'm really sorry, kids."

In truth, Madame Hooch was probably more disappointed than most the students, and it was evident on her face. "But, this doesn't mean it's a slack off year for Quidditch, oh no. This just means you will have to work more, train harder, and get yourselves in gear, because you'll only have one chance to prove yourselves!"

Before chatter could ring out again, Hooch said the last bit of news she had. "Er… there is one more thing you'll all need to know. Because of the crunch for time, we cannot permit individual practices on the Pitch, so that everyone has time enough to practice. We will administer some practices like this, with everyone, and others will be two houses at a time, so you won't be so cramped. And we'll mix it around, so there won't be too much stealing of plans and moves."

Now that she was finished talking, voices rang out angrily. She cringed as she heard their comments, ones she herself had to restrain herself from yelling at the Minister.

"Inter-house practices? Are you mad?"

"That gives us only four months! Four bloody months for Quidditch!"

"It's my last year here! This is rubbish!"

Ginny wasn't sure who had shouted the last comment, Harry or Draco. Harry was standing near her, face livid, and Draco was about six feet away, face twisted up into a grimace.

And even though it should have been the last thing on her mind, she stopped to admire them and wonder who looked sexier in a wild rage.

Draco won, hands down. Another brief thought on the matter made Ginny wonder what her new fascination with the Malfoy boy was. It was actually quite obvious, but Ginny could hardly believe so many huge changes could happen to her in such a very short period of time.

Could Blaise be right? Could Draco Malfoy actually… fancy her?

"You're so lucky you have another year here, Ginny. Can you believe they want us to cram a whole Quidditch Season into four bloody little months?" Harry had turned to the redhead who was lost deep in thought, and luckily she caught the gist of what he was saying.

"Oh yes, dreadfully terrible, couldn't have been a more horrid year."

Harry stared at her blankly. "You know, Ginny, you've seemed rather… distant with me lately. Is there something going on?"

More than I could ever tell you.

"No… well actually, I thought it was you who seemed distant with me. You know? Sure, everything is perfect when it's just you and me, but the second Ron and Hermione come around, it's like I don't exist anymore. You do know what I mean, right?" The words seemed to pour out before Ginny could think them over or try to hold them back.

Harry's eyes widened. "What? Ginny, you know you're just as much a part of our group as the others."

She frowned, despising how Harry was semi-right. "Sure, you accept me. But you don't go out of your way to include me. I'm your girlfriend, Harry, not a novelty item to drag around."

He seemed shocked to be hearing this, but Ginny wasn't going to back down. She felt like she had some invisible force pushing her onward, and the force was evidently stronger than she.

"I- I'm not sure what to say. I didn't know you felt like this." Harry had never been the best in dealing with situations like these, with irate females. He thought back to his fifth year, awkwardly patting the crying Cho on their date. Somehow this felt much the same; he didn't know how to fix Ginny's hurt feelings, just as he hadn't known how to bring Cedric back for Cho.

"Well, I just think it is very hypocritical of you to get mad at Draco for paying attention to me. I mean, why can't he? You don't." Her words were a blow to Harry's ego and she knew it.

The worst part for Harry was not the intention of Ginny's words; no it was definitely something else. The worst part was how his name, Draco, rolled so smoothly off her tongue, like she'd been saying it casually for ages, and it made something in his stomach clench.

-*-

Practice was miserable. There were too many bodies flying around on brooms, and no one wanted to actually begin planning strategies, in fear of another team overhearing. Many people were just zooming around, dodging people, while others were throwing the Quaffle around from thirty meters up in the air.

Luckily, there were only thirty more minutes until breakfast, and then they could all rant about the unfairness properly, without being harangued about improper language.

Draco and Blaise were engaged in a rather morbid game with a few other Slytherins, which involved letting a Bludger go at a target of choice, and if that target were you, seeing if you could avoid getting ambushed.

No one dared to try and hit Draco, team captain, so he was actually enjoying himself, watching the younger team members running for their lives. Blaise was quick on her feet, and had managed to dodge every one sent her way.

It was only the first practice of the year; no one really needed to take it seriously.

"What do you say we ditch this and head to lunch early?" Blaise gave Draco a look of contempt, clearly stating that she'd rather eat a Ton-Tongue Toffee than endure a few more minutes of this. It's not that the practice was bad- it was great to be out on the Quidditch Pitch again. But Slytherins were used to privacy and quiet, and were not inclined to Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws breathing down their backs.

"I'd love to, babe," said Draco, flashing a grin, "but you know we can't leave without permission. School rules."

"Well, good thing I've got you around to grant me permission, eh Captain?" Her words were dry.

Draco had the dignity to blush. "Right. Forgot about those new privileges. Right then, off you go. If you're not off this Pitch in two minutes it'll be ten points from Slytherin."

"That's the spirit, Malfoy."

They packed up their brooms in the cases, and left them in the broom shed, putting a locking spell over the both of them. Didn't want to risk anyone tampering with them, or worse, stealing them.

Then, quick as a flash, they left the Pitch, exiting through the doors that would get them to the Great Hall the quickest.

Blaise was walking with an extra amount of briskness in her step; Draco almost had to jog to keep up.

"Hungry?"

She shook her head in irritation. "Aren't you ever quiet?" she invoked, still not slowing down.

"Well, I was the one who bestowed this escape upon you, I reckon I have a right to know why we are jogging along at this alarming rate."

"Nice usage of the big words, Draco."

"Sod off, Zabini," he shot back. Never-ceasing comebacks, that was Draco Malfoy for you.

They had arrived at the door to the Great Hall, and Blaise gave the handle a mighty tug. It was locked.

"Blast," she mumbled.

Draco decided not to speak this time, and just questioned her with his eyes.

"That's just as annoying, you know. And yes, you were right, I'm just excruciatingly hungry."

"I ate enough last night to last me all week. I think I'm still full, actually," said Draco, patting his stomach.

Her mouth twitched. "Well, I had to leave early, and didn't get much food."

"Oh?"

"Nothing, Draco. Just had to- talk to Snape about all of my extra training in Potions this year."

"I thought you hated Potions. And thought Snape was a slimy git."

"He has his moments."

Silence fell between them, and Draco sat against the wall. They had a bit of a wait in front of them, now. Blaise followed suit, sighing on her way down.

Draco scratched his chin, thinking about something suddenly. Something he'd been wondering about for a week now. "Blaise?"

"Hm?" She seemed highly occupied in redoing each of her fingernails in a dark shade of blue, but was still paying a bit of attention.

"How did your parents convince you to join the Death Eaters? Did they use bribery as well?"

Her head turned toward him in surprise, breaking her concentration. This resulted in her left-hand pinky nail turning a grotesque color of pink and flashing green every few seconds.

"Bribery? Of course not."

"How then?"

Blaise cast him a stern frown. "Not everyone needs to be begged to join the Dark Lord you know. Some people actually are willing, without all the messy arguments and fighting about it."

He had to admit, he was surprised. Impressed, even. The life of a Death Eater had never really appealed to him, seeing his father come home white-faced and scared, and clutching his arm in agony on occasion. To look forward to a life like that… well, you'd have to be a strong person.

When he was a young boy, Draco had deeply wanted to become an Auror; he'd thought the job looked like loads of fun. His mother secretly wished the best for him, but when Lucius had found out his son's wishes…

Draco didn't like to remember the memory. But, with his family background, he would have never gotten a job as an Auror anyway. He had no other happy future waiting for him, so he had just voted to stay were he belonged, where he was accepted.

"Not everyone looks to their future as a five-year-old and envisions themselves killing muggles and mudbloods either. I had higher expectations for myself when I was young."

"And now?" Blaise urged him to go on.

"And now… I've given in." It was a simple statement but it meant the outcome of the boy's future.

Grinning with a certain air as a piece of metal glinted in the sunlight, Blaise commented, "took you long enough."

-*-

A/N:

We've reached the end of chapter two, and hopefully I still have everyone's attention. ^_^

Many things are still left unanswered, and will continue to be until the very end, but that's how all great stories go, right?

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I appreciate your comments more than you all realize, I think. Even if you are one of those people who likes to read without leaving their mark, at least leave a review saying 'hi' or something?

Ok, I'm rather done begging. Cheers to another completed chapter, there's more where that came from.

Until next time,

Sakura