Things Change

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or anything, but I definitely own this piece of writing! J.K Rowling owns all the characters and stuff. I do, however, own her 'friends' and some more new characters that'll appear later on, and the plot is ALL MINE!

A/N Okay, sorry for the not so quick update, but I had a little hint of writers block with this, so please forgive me. Besides, I've had a hectic week. I went ice-skating for my birthday last Saturday – then I had the last three days of school – then I looked after my neighbour's dog. See. Hectic. Anyway, I left on a little cliffhanger last time, so, here is the continuation of that cliffhanger.

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Ginny paused, bewildered.

"…What?"

"Don't make me say it again Ginny," Draco said, his tone irritated. "It was hard enough saying it the first time"

"But...," Ginny said, her voice unsettled as she tried to grasp the situation. "But...what do you mean, 'you don't know how to hate me anymore'?"

Draco's scowl deepened.

"I mean what I said. Every time I see you, I find it increasingly difficult to hate you, to loathe you even. And that can't happen. If I don't hate you, then what?"

Ginny paused, looking at Draco with her eyebrows raised and her mouth forming a small 'o' of surprise.

"Oh..." she said, the shock evident in her voice. Her hands clasped the edge of the bench tightly, the knuckles beginning to go pale with the tension. "Oh..."

"Look," Draco said, turning to confront her, a frown adorning his pale face. "Firstly, stop going 'Oh' all the time, it's irritating. Secondly, that's not all"

He paused, taking a breath before carrying on.

"Ever since that first night on the train…you know which one I mean…well, I can't stop thinking about you"

He paused again, staring at the stone floor with a deep scowl. The fierce wind was blowing his hair in his eyes, and if Ginny hadn't have been in so much shock, she knew she would have smiled at the picture. He stayed silent for a second, and Ginny was almost worried that he wouldn't continue, but then he took a deep breath and carried on, leaning forwards and rubbing his temples with long pale fingers.

"Firstly I was just thinking the usual stuff…you know, about your family and all, but then...every time I saw you I thought less and less about your clothes and your house and your poverty, and more about you. Just…you. It got worse and worse until...until I didn't know what to think anymore. I'd have to tease you and make fun of you every time you were in the same space as me, and it didn't matter how much I enjoyed it; it always left me with this odd…feeling in my stomach, like I was going to be sick or something. The act was becoming too much to handle, because every time I saw you, I felt what little hatred I had left draining away. Therefore, I no longer know how to hate you"

He leaned back and crossed his arms, seemingly satisfied that he'd said his bit. Ginny stared at him in stunned silence; her knuckles were bleached white with strain as she gripped the bench for dear life. Her throat had stuck together with shock, and her breathing was shallow. Suddenly everything that she knew to be hard concrete truth had been turned upside down by the arrogant little boy in front of her. He had just told her that he, who had always hated her more than anything, no longer felt the same loathing for her that was shared by all Malfoys. And no matter how much the realization made her feel sick with loathing for her own skin, she knew that she…that she somehow felt the same. No matter that her world was now leaning dangerously on it's side; she was just going to turn it over another 180˚ until it was completely upside down.

Ginny's eyes were wide as she still stared at Draco, her mouth still in it's little 'o' of astonishment. He just looked back, all previous emotion now wiped of his face, his expression impassive. Finally, Ginny found her throat beginning to unstick, and before she really knew what she was doing, she opened her mouth to speak, her voice almost a whisper.

"Me to"

Had it been any other time she would have enjoyed the feeling of superiority in shocking Draco Malfoy. Indeed, he was definitely shocked, because his eyebrows shot up and he completely lost his calm composure, almost falling off his place on the bench. But she couldn't feel superior right now, because she was too filled with surprise to make room for anything else.

"…What?" Draco asked, his voice rough and unsettled.

'Looks like our roles have reversed', Ginny thought to herself. She watched for a moment as he looked at her, his fists clenching and unclenching with an unconscious mannerism.

"Me to" she finally croaked again, her voice stronger this time. "Me to" she said once more, her voice clearer and louder again.

Draco blinked at her, pausing for a second before finally speaking.

"I guess this makes us even then"

Ginny nodded slightly, her curls bouncing a little as she looked at him from under her eyelashes. She could feel desperate tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and as soon as she blinked they spilled over, silently making their way down her cheeks. They both stayed silent for a second, before Draco slowly shifted along the bench towards her and moved forwards to touch her hand. Ginny flinched as his fingers met her aching knuckles and she reflexively leant back slightly, putting a little distance between herself and Draco. He didn't show any signs of hurt at this -- in fact he seemed relieved. All the same, more tenderly that she could have imagined, he gently prised her fingers from the bench and placed her hands together in her lap. Ginny looked up at him in quiet wonderment, silent tears still spilling from her eyes and down her face. Though his expression was as impassive as before, Ginny took some comfort from the fact that he, right at this moment in time, clearly felt as empty as she did. Neither knew what to do as rain began to fall from the dark sky, so they stayed silent, both thinking over what the other had just said.

All Ginny knew was that she felt utterly exhausted – but more than anything she felt…empty.

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Ginny couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as Thom slid his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek the next morning. Still, she gave a weak smile and hugged him back, albeit a little stiffly. Luckily, Thom didn't notice, just smiled back as he collapsed next to her on the bench in the library.

"Hey"

"Hey" Ginny replied, turning back to her homework and silently cursing as Thom began to get out his own things. He leant forwards and pulled a book across the table towards him, flicking towards the index. It was an arithmancy book, she noticed. The cover was nice for a school book, a flowing design spelling out the words 'A Guide to Advanced Arithmancy' by 'Nynig Moth'.

'Nice name' Ginny thought to herself as she turned back to her own homework. 'Not'.

"You're kind of quiet Gin," Thom said after a few minutes, making Ginny turn sharply and smudge her parchment with ink. "Is something wrong?"

'Yes, it bloody well is', she thought to herself. "No, not at all" she replied instead, giving him another smile.

"Oh," he replied, shrugging. "You just seem…irritated. But maybe not"

"I'm fine Thom, really" Ginny replied, patting his arm reassuringly and stretching her fake smile into a fake grin. "Just a little tired".

'Well, that part's true' she thought, breathing a silent sigh of relief as he shrugged and went back to looking up complicated equations. She shook her head slightly, and had just started to write again when Thom spoke.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you," he said, turning to face her and making her jump. Ginny nearly growled when she saw yet another ink splodge on her parchment, but didn't show it. "Seeing as it's Valentine's Day on Saturday, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Ginny almost visibly deflated. Great, this was just what she needed. She just couldn't go to Hogsmeade with Thom right now, especially not on Valentine's Day. The day before yesterday she knew she would have jumped at the chance to go, but now…now everything was really messed up, and until things stopped being messed up, she knew things like this were out of the question. Her head was beginning to ache with frustration.

'Oh bloody hell,' she thought to herself, all the while trying to look like she was thinking her schedule over. 'An excuse…an excuse…'

"Um…well…," she said, trying to think up a plausible reason for not going. "…I'll…I'll have to see…I think I'm busy," she said finally, and she felt guilt rise in her chest as Thom's face visibly fell. She grabbed his hand in consolation, intertwining their fingers like he usually did. Her heart swelled a little at this, and Ginny gave a genuine smile. She longed so badly just to be able to collapse into Thom's embrace and kiss him…but she couldn't, and she hated it.

'Damned confusing life' she thought, withdrawing her hand from Thom's and standing up.

"Look, I've got to go, but I'll make sure to see what I'm doing, okay?" she said, putting her things into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll see you around"

"Bye" Thom said dolefully, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer. He kissed her gently and Ginny leant her forehead against his for a moment, before pulling away and walking towards the library door. She turned round in the doorway to see Thom once again leaning back over his book, checking something and then writing it down on his parchment, and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

Once outside in the corridor, she wrapped her robes more tightly around her, crossing her arms.

'That's weird,' she thought as she climbed up the stairs towards the common room. 'I swear it wasn't this cold when I went to the library'.

Shrugging it away, she carried on up the stairs, still feeling tired and noticing vaguely that her headache was getting worse. 'In fact', she thought, her pace slowing, 'It's getting pretty bad'.

She put a hand to her forehead, wincing as the pounding in her head got louder and louder. It seemed as though the sun had passed behind a cloud, making the corridor seem much darker, so much so that it was almost pitch black.

'That can't be right,' Ginny thought, blinking to clear her vision. And blinking again. And again. Panic began to set in on Ginny as she realised that her vision, instead of clearing, was clouding over. The sun hadn't gone in – her vision was becoming…non-existent. Everything was going black as the pounding in her head became louder and louder and louder. She put out a hand to feel for the wall, her bag sliding off her shoulder as she heard her things clatter to the floor. She felt weak, the tiredness in her limbs becoming completely out of control. She felt her knees buckling as everything went totally dark, the throbbing in her head completely taking over all thoughts. She felt a vague pain in her legs, dimly noting that she must have collapsed, before the world sank into complete darkness and a voice echoing in her head became the only world she knew.

Ginny…

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A/N So, how was that? An okay continuation? Please tell me what you think, as I would very much like to know! Also, I once again apologise for this chapter being updated so late, but as I said, I've had a long week, so. Anyways, next chapter will hopefully be up sooner, so cross your fingers for a quick update!

cashew – The guys who sing 'Ignition' in my ear would always throw paper at me and Okeanos, so we just threw it back. That was how we got our revenge, he he he. And yes, we have lots of trouble making up good short codenames. Although our long ones are excellent of course! And thanks for the hangover writing compliment – as I said, I've never had a hangover myself but everyone says I'm pretty empathic, so. And btw, did I keep you in suspense long enough with the 'quick' update? He he, I'm evil. Really I am *cough* not * cough*. Your name is Amy? Wow, how freaky is that? I must be psychic. And I feel hers and your pain too! I look younger than everyone I know and it sucks! Especially as I'm not younger! Btw, I feel really sorry for all the sk8er kids in your American high schools! Here you can't get more popular than a cute sk8er guy who plays guitar or the pretty sk8er girl who can sing and has long, toned legs. Being bitchy is also a big part of course. Of course, all the other sk8ers are popular too, which is a plus. Or at least they're more popular than other people. Oh, and that's another thing – the guy who plays the most sport in our whole year is a nerd, so basically it doesn't matter what group you're from if you play sport. Oh yeah, and another plus – most of the sporty people are clever! Shock, horror! A lot of the other sk8ers I know play sport too, but I'll tell you one thing – the guys in the band are the most popular. They are like, wow, because loads of people think they're great. The guys from the band in our year are okay, as most of them are in my class. And now I'm sure your day has been made by learning a little about our school politics, lol! Anyways, I'll leave you here and stop giving you reason to run away screaming. Laters.

HiddenintheAbyss – Well, even though this chapter was probably pretty confusing, I hope you find your question partially answered. A lot of development on the Thom/Ginny/Draco/Whatever thing will probably be happening in the next few chapters, and you'll see where the plot is going. And the muderingness is very much forgiven, lol! Hope you don't mind on the long update, I'm very sorry! Thanx for the review.

ennui – Yep, the dream is intriguing – I hoped it would be! I have to say that I am pretty proud of my hangover chapter, and I'm glad that lots of people liked it. Thanks for reviewing my story, as it's much appreciated.

Okeanos – Oui oui, tis mucho strange! Anyway, yeah, I liked that chapter too, and here is chapter 15. The wait is over, lol! See ya.

Thank you my wonderful reviewers! You have made me a happy reviewee, lol!