A/N - Yeah, true Draco was slightly too nice in the last chapter but erm, he had a head injury and something else you won't find out about until the end of this story. Don't hate me. I couldn't bear it. Anywho, I have been waiting to write this chapter for a looooong time so if you don't love it, don't tell me. Or do. Whatever you want.

***** All rights are reserved for Avril Levine, James Taylor's 'Copper Line', Good Charlotte and Bobby Darin's 'Splish Splash'. You'll find out soon enough ...... cheers! *****

Chapter Nine: Complete and Perfect Confusion

"Finally, we are entering my favorite portion of this year's agenda," trilled Professor Dilliers excitedly. "Muggle media. If everyone could please have their muggle compact disc. There we are." Every table of two had a CD player on it.

"What did you bring?" Colin muttered to Ginny.

"Hermione lent me Good Charlotte. They sound like something nice and wholesome, don't you think?" Colin choked for a moment and Ginny couldn't tell if he was laughing at her or not. "What do you have?"

"I brought James Taylor."

"What?" Glancing at the cover, Ginny saw the name. "Oh." Behind her, Draco was sniggering.

"Ah, Mister Malfoy, thank you for volunteering," Professor Dilliers said sweetly. Holding out her hand expectantly for his CD, Draco gulped suddenly and began coughing.

"W-what Professor?" he managed to gasp.

"I have volunteered you to demonstrate how to use a muggle device to play these compact discs. Come to the front, please." Head bent, Draco obeyed, his hand clutching tightly at his CD.

"Pay careful attention everyone!" called Professor Dilliers, "This is important. You open the player by using this button. Then place the disc in with the silver side down. Close the lid, and push this green button here." As she demonstrated using Draco's CD, it began to play:

He was a boy.

She was a girl.

Can I make it any more obvious?

He was a punk.

She did ballet.

What more can I say?

He wanted her --

Pushing the stop button, Professor Dilliers faced Draco with surprised eyes. "Avril Lavigne, Mister Malfoy? Really, I didn't expect that of you." Light pink patches on his cheeks, Draco stared in defiance around the room at those who were silently caught up in laughter. Colin was actually pounding his fist on the table, crying with mirth.

Ginny, however, was quite keen on the song. She remembered Draco quoting some of the lyrics when he had been talking to her a while back. She wanted to hear the rest, but had her own work to do. The muggle player wasn't that difficult to operate, especially with Colin to help, being muggle born.

For a few minutes, the classroom was filled with all kinda of music, classical to punk to rockabilly. In the confusion, Ginny stole glances at Draco a few times. He seemed to be completely aware of how to use the player because he was laid back in his seat with small black earmuffs on, apparently listening to his music through them. He was shaking his head and humming, making Ginny giggle. Then she had to stop herself so Draco didn't think she was staring at him. Because she had no reason to stare at him. Even if he was quite cute.

"Here Ginny, listen to this one." The player began to play a song with a lot of guitar and a nice soft tune. "It's called Copper Line. I think you'd like it." As Ginny sat listening to the lyrics, a certain stanza caught her attention:

First kiss, ever I took

Like a page from a romance book.

The sky opened and the earth shook

Down on Copper Line!

Quickly, she copied then down, thinking she would use them as an inspiration in a poem she had been writing. It was a difficult poem and was in blank verse of all things. Shakespear had finally caught up with her in the world of poetry. It had to happen sooner or later.

Professor Dilliers commanded their attention and the room fell reluctantly quiet. "For this weeks homework, I want you to study the music of the muggles, find references to muggle devices in them. Essays will be due on Friday. Thank you." Everyone cleared out of the classroom and Draco handed her a note, pushing it into her hand without a glance at her. She felt slightly disappointed. It had one line:

Same place, same thing, 9 o'clock.

Shoving the paper into her pocket, she waved goodbye to Colin and headed off for the statue of Roteelon the Rifter where she usually met Mona for Transfiguration. It was a difficult thing, keeping both Mona and Colin happy. Every other class, she would spend with one or the other. And the whole time, which ever she was with would moan on about the other. She was about ready to call it quits in their little game of war and love.

"I'm not going to take this anymore!" Ginny heard an angry voice shouting in the corridor ahead.

"Fine! See if I care. Go on then, piss off! I don't need you." Tom pushed roughly past Ginny in a mad sort of strut. Ginny quickly turned the corner to find Mona in angry shock. She was shaking, her face red and tear stained.

"I hate him," she said.

"If he doesn't see what a wonderful person you are, then he doesn't deserve you," Ginny said, pulling out her hanky and wiping Mona's cheeks. Mona laughed in a broken way.

"I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it really is better that he's gone now." Dejectedly, Mona slumped besides Ginny as they entered the classroom. As soon as they entered, Colin looked over and was startled to see Mona looking so unhappy. He mouthed something at Ginny and she shrugged. It was going to be a long day.

The entire class, Mona couldn't concentrate and lost thirty house points for her lack of focus. For the entire class, Colin was staring hard at Mona, who refused to notice. And it wasn't an evil glare of hatred either. It was concerned and studying.

At the end of class, to everyone's amazement, Colin walked right up to Mona and said, "You want to talk?" Mona, eyes still red, looked up at his expression. Liking what she saw, she nodded mutely and they went off together. They didn't show up for their next lesson either and Ginny only caught a glimpse of them at lunch, laughing and smiling together.

Glancing around the Ravenclaw table, Ginny looked for Marc. And to her rage and astonishment, he was talking to Josceline. And he looked quite pleased with himself. Josceline came back over to the Gryffindor table in a huff and began to eat ravenously. Sliding into the seat next to hers, Ginny glared at her.

"For someone who was so worried about me stealing her boyfriend, you sure are on friendly terms with Marc." Josceline dropped her fork with a clatter.

"At least my boyfriend was going after other girls in the dead of night and not during lunch," she snapped back. Ginny felt her face going red.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, your boyfriend is just what I told you he was. He has never been serious about any girl in his life."

Ginny glared at her. "He told me you two used to go out and he hasn't spoken to you since then. I highly doubt he's chasing you now after --"

"He lied," Josceline whispered dangerously. "He's been trying to get me back for those two years. And you can tell him, from me, that it is never going to happen! Especially after --" With that, she shoved her plate away and stormed out, her short brown hair bouncing with a sharp edge. Ginny was left in agitated shock. Josceline had no right to say anything like that, especially such lies. Because they were lies. Marc wouldn't lie to her; Josceline would.

-*-*-*-

"Alright, what is it!?" burst Draco suddenly into the tight silence.

"What's what?" asked a confused Ginny. Draco tossed his quill angrily aside.

"You've been upset the entire time you've been here. I need quality work and you don't get quality work from unhappy people. What's the problem?"

It was amazing how well he could read her. Or maybe it was the fact that she had been giving him sarcastic and shirty remarks all evening. Marc and Josceline had been on her mind since lunch and it wasn't changing anything. She didn't know who to believe. Marc had been talking to her, but could it be he was just finally over the break up now that he had her? Or was Josceline right that he was trying to get her back? In that case, it would mean he had been using her and she could not believe Marc would do that. Their relationship had trust; he trusted her and she trusted him to be completely truthful. Not that she had ever asked him about Josceline.

"You went out with Josceline right?" Draco nodded, looking completely unconcerned about his recent break up being mentioned. "You don't happen to know anything about her and Marc, when they were together I mean?"

Glancing around nervously she added, "She's been saying some things and I just don't know what to think. Has she ever said anything? Did she break it off or did Marc? I just think I'm going crazy."

Draco gave her a calculating look while retrieving his quill. Whatever he had expected her to ask, it wasn't about Marc and Josceline. "She's told me a lot of things. And yes, it was her that broke it off. However," he leaned back in his chair loftily, "I don't think I should tell you." When she opened her mouth to protest and he added, "Not that I don't want to tell you Ginny. I mean, I really, really want to tell you. It's just, not my place. Let me just say this. Marc is not all that he seems and you should be careful."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What kind of answer is that?" Shrugging his shoulders, he gave her a grin.

"Ginny, believe me. I would tell you every teensy, weensy disgusting detail of the whole affair," he said softly, emphasizing the word affair. Was he trying to tell her something? "Honestly and openly, I have wanted to. But I can't and it's not my place."

"What is wrong with people?" she burst out angrily, throwing her hands in the air and standing up. "You can't tell a person so much and so little. It's completely aggravating to the point of bamboozlement." Draco mouthed at her, "Bamboozlement?" with one eyebrow raised. In defeat, she laughed dispiritedly. The strain on her mind was getting to her and she just sort of sat down and began to sob. It didn't even matter that Draco was still there, feeling uncomfortable. She just needed to cry.

A hand rested on her shaking shoulders. Draco didn't say anything, just at there, rubbing her shoulder. She leaned onto him, letting him comfort her. His hands were stroking her hair and she could feel his breathe stirring it lightly. Only when he took her hand and began to rub it gently that she felt as though she was doing something wrong and pulled away.

Flicking tears off her cheeks, she scooted away from Draco on the small sofa. "Draco," she began but he stopped her with a hand on her lips.

"I know you can't understand why I've changed," he said, staring at her without blinking. "But don't spoil this moment." Looking into his eyes, she saw something that terrified her. He began to lean in when there was a sharp rap on the door.

"Oy! Draco! You asleep? I've got your papers back and I thought you might need them." He jumped away from her, his eyes slightly wild. He quickly shoved the papers at her and motioned towards the velvety curtain.

"Who is that?" Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes at him. It sounded like a girl. Not that she was jealous or anything like that, but he was supposed to be suffering from a tramatic break up. According to Josceline.

"Shh! Just go, go!"

"Draco? Open up, I know you aren't asleep." Scrambling, Ginny raced down the stone corridor and headed back to the tower, clutching stacks of paper. As she sorted them all out, she realized she had left her bag in Draco's room. She had a poem in there she had wanted to finish, the one in blank verse. If that girl was still in his room, she wouldn't be able to get it back tonight.

Who cares if he likes spending time with other girls anyway, she thought to herself angrily. It is none of my business whom he decides to associate with at night ,alone in his bedroom with some girl. Then she realized she had been alone with him at night as well and ordered herself to stop thinking about Draco.

Deciding to wait a half an hour before heading back to get her bag, she took a quick shower. If anyone was still in there with him, it would only be right to break it up. When she got out, toweling her hair, P.C. leapt up from his resting place on her pillow. Yawning and stretching, he said, "Freshening up before going back to see lover boy? Don't forget to brush your teeth. Bad breath is not exactly a turn on or a welcome for a goodnight kiss."

She threw her hairbrush at him. "Well, isn't that the point?"he went on annoyingly. "You really need to stop leaving your bag lying around. Isn't that what got you into this whole mess in the first place?" Ginny glared at him and opened her mouth when she realized something. Her eyes lit up and she took her cat by the scruff of his neck.

"Yes, I remember exactly what happened," she said, carefully enunciating every word. "If I recall, you had a sudden hissy fit and we were chasing you for a good twenty minutes. Just as the rain started. How convenient that we headed straight back to the castle, don't you think?" P.C. laid his ears flat on his head, a sour expression on his face.

"How convenient," she said again, "That I couldn't go and get my bag until it was too late and Draco had found it. You knew. You did this on purpose. You set me up!" P.C. slashed at her with a clawed paw, but missed.

"Maybe I did," he growled at her. "It's for your own good you know. You'll see. Marc is not a person to be trusted."

"Tell me," she said dangerously. "Give me one good reason why I should not love Marc wildly and desperately with all of my heart." P.C. retorted calmly in her head, 'Because of what he did two years ago.' Dropping him on the bed, she put a pillow to her face and screamed into it. Bonnie stirred slightly at this but the sound was too muffled for anyone to wake up.

"Just stop it," she said, pulling on a sweatshirt and jogger bums in an agitated manner. "I don't want to hear about that anymore. I don't even know what it is I don't want to hear because no one will tell me! I'm leaving. Good night,' she added as she swept down the stairs.

The nerve of him, she thought, trying desperately to keep her footsteps quiet. If P.C. says one more thing about Marc I'm going to have him neutered! This reference to two years ago was really starting to get to her. Marc had been fourteen then; what could have happened? By the time Ginny arrived at the secret entrance to Draco's room, she had made up her mind to ask Marc about it first thing in the morning. Only, the idea was driven from her head as she got closer to Draco's room.

There was some very upbeat music playing in his room, growing louder as she approached. When she pulled away the curtain slowly, she almost burst out laughing and only just held her breath in. Draco had burst forth, singing along with the music and wrapped in a fluffy white towel.

"Rub-a-dub just relaxin' in the tub!" he was almost shouting in a very fake American accent, holding an invisible microphone and dancing around wildly. "Thinkin' everythin' was alright! Well, I stepped out of the tub, put my feet on the floor!" Now he was swiveling his hips and singing with his eyes closed. All the while, Ginny was watching intently from behind the green velvet curtain.

"I wrapped a towel around me and I opened the door and then a --" He shook his head insanely, spraying water from his still wet hair everywhere. "Splish splash! I forgot about the bath. Well, how was I to know there was a party goin' on?" It was more than she could take! For one moment, Ginny wished she had a camera. This sight was the funniest things she had ever seen coming from Draco, including the picture she had stolen from his bedroom.

Just then, Draco grabbed his wand and pointed it at a muggle CD that was spinning in the air. It stopped playing and he walked over to his wardrobe, still humming and walking jauntily. Only when he reached down for his towel did Ginny say quickly, "Stop right there." However amusing it was to see Draco dancing and singing like that, she didn't want to see anymore than that.

Draco spun around, wild eyed, and saw her. He was still damp, his hair was mussed and his fairly toned upper body was glistening. His mouth spread into an unmistakable cocky grin. Not a smirk, but a playful cocky grin. "Was there something you needed?" he asked casually, walking over to her. Blushing furiously, Ginny mumbled something about her bag.

"Alright then." Bending down, he scooped up the bag from where it still lay and handed it to her. When she reached for it, he held it away from her, grinning maliciously. "What if I just --" he began, reaching down for his towel again.

"No! Don't!" Ginny said, tensing and blushing worse than ever. Again, Draco was in the embarrassing situation and it was her who was cringing away from him. Not to mention blushing like a loon, she added to herself.

"Not here to see Draco junior I wager?" he said silkily. "I'll make you a deal Ginny. I won't drop my towel if you ..." He paused, enjoying the moment. "If you will kiss me."

"Do you not remember anything? When we got into this whole blackmailing business I said --

"You said," he interrupted, "that you'd prefer to kiss me than write a story for me. As you obviously have no problem writing for me now, I think I'll take you up on that metaphysical little kiss." Ginny bit her lip. The thought of kissing Draco had crossed her mind in the past few days. And kissing him couldn't be as bad as seeing what was lurking underneath his towel, right? Definitely not as embarrassing, that was for sure.

"Er," she said, shuffling her feet and glancing everywhere, but at his eyes. "I-I suppose I did say that, didn't I?" She began twisting a piece of her still wet hair around her finger. Daring to glance up, she met his eyes which were intense with the same fire she had seen when he had confessed being partial to her. Her stomach flopped over.

In a burst of movement, Draco had his hands clamped onto her wet hair and his mouth pressed desperately against hers. Her body was shoved roughly against the wall, an act on Draco's part to keep her as close to him as possible. It was something he had desperately wanted for some time. Letting herself go, Ginny melted into the kiss.

It was a moment of realization for Ginny. This kiss, this moment which should have made her feel disgust and revulsion within the fibers of her being, was filling her with emotions. Emotions she had only felt for Marc.

Her hands had somehow found their way to his bare and glistening chest in this time. Shoving him away quickly she gasped in a ragged breath, "Marc."

Draco frowned and narrowed his grey eyes. "What about him?"

"He's my boyfriend Draco."

"And what am I? Chopped liver? Ginny, something just happened here. Between us. Are you just going to let that go?" His eyes were pleading now, begging her to give in. It wasn't that she didn't want to; it was the principle of the thing.

"I can't go around doing ... doing anything like this with you. We're friends and I think we should leave it at that." He opened his mouth to protest. Ignoring the desire to kiss that mouth, she hugged him tightly, not caring that her sweatshirt was wet or that her damp red hair was sticking to his body.

"If it takes this for us to be friends, what will it take to make you feel more?"

"I don't know," she whispered, breaking their embrace. She moved away from him quickly, picking up her bag. Tears were brimming in her eyes for heaven knows why. Her hand flung the green curtain aside to the passageway.

"Ginny." She kept walking, crouched int he tunnel. And she heard him call her name again, more desperately. As she walked away from the stone wall, leading back to the rest of the school, she listened for the stone to roll back. It didn't. Instead she heard a scrambling noise and yet another call of, "Ginny!"

Wide eyed that he had the nerve to follow her, she walked on quickly. It was torture to force herself not to look back. She couldn't. The wet feeling of tears was beginning to blurr her vision. He caught her arm.

"Leave me alone Draco," she said, the tears starting to creep into her voice. He now had his pyjamas on, the buttons mismatched by a few holes.

"You cannot, cannot just walk away from this because you're scared."

"Don't you dare say I'm scared," she hissed, feeling her temper rising at his taunt.

"Yes you are. You want to be with me too. And even if you're scared and too afraid to try, I am."

She tried to laugh. "Wha-what makes you think that I would want to be with you?"

"You kissed me back," he said quietly. Confusion was melting Ginny's sense of reason. Her emotions were raw and true: she loved Marc and she had very strong feelings for Draco. Having no idea how to process what this meant, let alone communicate it to Draco, she did the only thing she could think of to make him shut up. She slapped him. And not lightly. This was one of those slaps that makes a heavy smack and leaves a red mark on the cheek.

Draco just stood there, gaping at her in astonishment. "What was that for?" he muttered, angrily.

"Stop it. Just stop it," she retorted in a deadly serious voice. Her vision was blurred by tears, yet she would not let them overflow. She would not cry. "I do feel something for you," she confessed, bringing hope to his face. "But I am not going to let it take over me. We can just forget about what has happened and --"

"Forget about it?" he exploded. "Ginny, I have been waiting for this all year and you want me to forget about it?! I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you are one impossibly hard girl to forget!" He was practically shouting in her face.

A sudden meow at their feet brought them back to reality. Mrs. Norris was whisking around the corner for Filch. With a silent agreement to drop the issue, Draco went back to his room and Ginny scrambled across the castle for her dormitory, desperate to get away from Filch.

In the back of her mind a tiny ray of happiness shone. She now had an answer for Mona's question. Draco Malfoy did indeed have soft lips. Soft lips that were quite illegal and forever forbidden. No matter the temptation.

A/N - You all hate me now I'm quite sure. Sorry. So, how does Ginny really feel after this confusing scene? Is she going to get together with Draco? What has Marc been up to and what will he have to say about this? I think you are all going to be surprised at the next chapter. A knut for your thoughts: leave a review. Cheers!

P.S. - The next chapter will most likely not be up for 2 weeks or more because I am going to camp next week. Enjoy!