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 guys, sorry that this has taken a little longer than usual to update – first I had writers block, and then, when I did write something, my computer lost it. Now wasn't that handy? Well anyways, I finally managed to get over my writers block and come up with a decent way to put this chapter out, so I hope you like it.

A/N2 Okay, if there are, like, loads of letters on the end of a word it's because the person saying it is whining really badly and elongating all their words. I hope that's not too confusing.

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It felt strange walking through such a deserted place as Hogwarts was today. Even the pictures on the wall seemed to be constantly snoozing; something Ginny hadn't seen in all her time at Hogwarts. But then, she'd never been inside the castle during a Hogsmeade trip on Valentine's Day. Hardly anybody had missed out on the opportunity to go out for the day – apart from the second and first years of course, and the unlucky few that, like Ginny, had to stay indoors.

"I won't have you collapsing again," Madam Pomfrey had said as Ginny sat on the hospital bed in her uniform, ready to return to school life. "And Hogsmeade won't do you any good, especially on a day like Valentine's Day"

So Ginny had been condemned to a day of skulking round the castle by herself, utterly bored. Thom had offered to spend the day with her, but she had managed to dissuade him from doing so, and he had reluctantly agreed to go in with friends instead.

'It was only because I wanted him to have fun', she had reasoned to herself afterwards, but she knew it was really because she wasn't sure if she wanted to spend the day with him or not. She knew what Thom wanted (A/N Make-out time!), but she didn't know if she wanted it too. So now she was wandering the halls alone, checking her watch every few minutes to see how much closer it was to five; how much longer it was until she was joined by the rest of civilisation.

She emerged at the top of the grand staircase (A/N Is it called that?) and was about half way down when she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She looked to her left and saw a painting she had never really noticed before hanging above the stone banister on the wall. It depicted a girl of about Ginny's own age, sitting in a library and surrounded by books. She was very pretty; petite like Ginny was, with fine blond hair to her chin and bright blue eyes. The picture had been painted quite close up so that the girl was clearly visible from the waist upwards, and the small, fine details of her robes were plainly discernable. They were school robes, much like the ones in Ginny's own wardrobe, but the symbol emblazoned on the chest was silver and green, with a little serpent coiled in the middle. Looking up, the girl noticed Ginny watching her and waved good-naturedly, her small mouth stretching into a pretty smile, before turning back to the book she was looking at and scribbling things down on the parchment in front of her. Ginny raised an eyebrow, thoroughly taken aback by the friendly disposition of the Slytherin in front of her.

'If only all of them were like that', she thought, shrugging to herself and carrying on down the stairs. She reached the bottom, jumping the last two stairs before crossing the entrance hall and heading down the corridor directly across from her, not really concentrating on where it would take her. She ambled casually down the corridor, vaguely aware that she must be heading downwards because the passages were beginning to slope ever so slightly. She wandered around for another five minutes, enjoying the rare freedom of walking in Slytherin territory without being slaughtered, before she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps and voices. Looking around, she darted behind a suit of armour just in time, because who should appear just then but Draco Malfoy, followed closely by a whining Pansy Parkinson.

"Dracooo!" Pansy wailed, and Ginny couldn't help but notice Draco wince as he stopped and turned round to face the whiny girl. "Take me outtt! It's Valentine's Dayyyy"

"I've already told you Pansy; I don't celebrate Valentine's Day"

His voice was strained, as if he was making a mild effort not to explode right there and then, and he stood with his arms crossed in a gesture of defiance.

"But Dracieeeeeeee!" she wailed, actually stamping her foot on the stone floor. Draco raised an eyebrow, shaking his head.

"Look, Pansy – get over it, okay? Get Blaise to take you or something"

"But Blaise went with Emily Sandeeerrrs" she cried, tears now beginning to stream down her cheeks. She had screwed up her face, making her look even more pug-like. Draco just shrugged indifferently before turning and heading for the entrance hall. Pansy, sensing that crying wasn't getting her anywhere, delicately wiped her nose on her sleeve (if anyone could ever call Pansy delicate) and followed him. Ginny waited a second or two for their footsteps to fade away, before letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and looking out from behind the suit of armour.

"Eavesdropping won't get you anywhere love…" it croaked gruffly before falling silent again. Ginny nodded slightly, not really paying attention. She was looking at the way Draco and Pansy had disappeared with a slight frown. Sighing, she at down on the floor beside the armour, one knee drawn up to her chest and the other stretched out on the floor as she sat and thought. All day she had been putting off thinking about the Thom/Draco situation, but now she saw she didn't really have any choice but to mull things over. It had been over a week since she'd gone to the astronomy tower and seen Draco, and she couldn't put off the impending situation any longer. Sooner or later she would have to talk to him again – she knew that. She just wasn't sure what she would say. Hell, she had no idea what she would say. She stared vaguely at the wall, lost in a world of her own and not concentrating on how many minutes were passing. She only heard the footsteps when a pair of black shoes came into view, along with ankles covered by equally dark trousers. Ginny knew who it was without looking up.

"Draco" she said quietly.

His reply was to hold out his hand to help her up. She took it without question, faintly registering the shiver that travelled down her spine as their fingers touched. He let go as soon as she was standing, but he didn't leave. Indeed, he didn't do anything; just stood there and looked at her. She looked back, neither knowing what to say. They were once again stuck in their strange limbo between enemies and friends. Thirty seconds passed, Forty-five, a minute…

"We need to talk" she said finally, breaking the spell as she looked at the floor.

"I know" he replied, and in the back of her mind Ginny realised that his usual malicious tone had been replaced by something that she'd never heard before.

"Well…," she said, putting her hands in her pockets and not looking up. "Um…"

"Ginny," he interrupted, his voice surprisingly gently. "Look at me"

She paused for a second, undecided, before reluctantly raising her head. Their gazes locked, and thankfully the world didn't spin too badly, although her stomach began to do somersaults. Then, to her complete surprise – and by the look on his face, Draco's as well – he reached out and touched her cheek.

~Do you love him?~ a voice in her head uttered, a whisper in her mind.

'I don't know,' she answered truthfully. 'But…'

~If you do, then show him~

And Ginny, a small, sad smile forming on her face, reached up and placed her hand over Draco's. Electricity seemed to sparkle where their hands touched, and Ginny knew she was trembling. But it wasn't these things that made her feel as if the whole world had caved in on itself – it was Draco's expression. For once in his life, there was no spite or cruelty in his face – a trace of contention, but that was all. No, the expression on his face was amazement more than anything else. And then, as if it was his body taking control from his mind, long unused muscles stretched into what could only be called a smile. Ginny had the distinct feeling that he didn't even realise he had just shoved aside a long-standing reputation in front of one of his longest enemies.

"This is some talk we're having…" Ginny murmured, her eyes fixed on his face.

"Mmm…" Draco replied, his voice fading into nothing as their lips touched.

///*///*///*///*///*///

They stayed standing for God-knows how long, just holding each other as if the world would end when they separated. Her face was pressed to his chest, her arms around his waist as she breathed in the cleanness of his shirt. She felt secure in his arms, knowing that he could smell the cinnamon in her shampoo. She felt completely drained, and not just because of the 'tiring' experience she had just had, but because of the emotions and inhibitions she had just let go of. Throwing her pride to the wind and acknowledging the fact that she cared for one of her deepest enemies was surprisingly exhausting.

She mumbled slightly in protest as Draco began to pull away, reluctantly letting him go and half-expecting everything to come crashing down as he did so. But no, the world stayed standing, even though she felt as though she might fall over.

"We still haven't really talked…" he murmured, and Ginny could hear the fatigue in his voice.

"Mmm…," She stretched, yawning slightly. "What are we going to do?"

He looked at her, tilting his head to the side as he grasped her hand. It felt strange to have him touching her so openly, but she would get used to it eventually. Still, she was mildly thankful that he wasn't quite ready to be completely intimate; holding hands and hugging all the time wasn't something she was ready for with him.

"We need to talk about a certain…someone," Draco replied. His face seemed unreadable, but Ginny could see the small hint of hesitation in his eyes, but she didn't need him to tell her who he meant.

"Thom"

"Yeah…Where does that stand?"

"I don't know," Ginny replied. "I don't even know where we stand; I need that first"

"Ginny…," he protested, but it wasn't very strong. "Well…where do you want us to stand?"

"We can't stop this now," she replied, taking his other hand so that now he had both of her hers. "We've…something is happening between us; you know that. We can't ignore it, but at the same time…,"

She paused to think. "This is too big for the world to handle – hell, we can hardly handle it ourselves. I think that maybe…"

"We should keep this secret," he finished for her, nodding. "That was going to be my plan-of-action too. So now you know where we stand"

"Yes," Ginny said, her gaze flicking to the floor for a moment before it went back to Draco. "I…I think that perhaps, me and Thom should…finish"

Draco nodded slightly, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "Okay"

Ginny smiled tearily, putting a hand to Draco's face and kissing him chastely on the lips. He pressed his forehead to hers, the tips of their noses touching.

"This will be alright" he said, and Ginny could tell it was as much to calm himself as it was her. "It'll be alright"

///*///*///*///*///*///

Ginny found Thom after dinner that night in the entrance hall. His face lit up at seeing her, and Ginny felt a huge pang of guilt as he practically bounded towards her, smiling.

"Hey Gin," he said, sliding his arms around her and kissing the end of her nose. Ginny closed her eyes momentarily, before opening them and gently sliding from his grip.

"Hi Thom," she said, and she was surprised at how raspy and tired her voice sounded. Thom's face immediately became concerned, and he said, "Are you alright Gin? You haven't been ill again have you?"

His voice was anxious, adding to Ginny's intense feeling of guilt, but she pushed it aside, thinking to herself that it was for the best. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Thom started before she could.

"I knew it was a bad idea to leave you here on your own all day," he said, looking angry with himself. "I should have stayed here – I knew it!"

"Please Thom, don't beat yourself up about it" Ginny protested, laying a hand on his arm. He looked up at her frowning.

"Sorry Gin, I'm just…It's Valentine's Day, and I should never have let you convince me to leave you here on your own all day"

"Thom…," Ginny said, her tone slightly reproving. "Don't worry about it. It's not like we had anything special…"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Thom interrupted suddenly, fishing in the pockets of his robes. "There!" he cried triumphantly, holding up a small brown package in his palm. "Your present!"

"Present?" Ginny repeated weakly, disbelievingly. 'This could not happen at a worst time', she thought miserably, trying to look happy as Thom presented her with the small parcel.

"Uh…thanks," she said, taking the small thing and tearing off the paper. Inside was a small muggle jewellery box.

'Oh God…' she thought, opening the box. Inside were a tiny pair of silver Udjat earrings, pretty much identical to her necklace; there were even two tiny diamonds set into the pupils.

"Oh my…" she breathed, her gaze fixed on the beautiful studs in front of her. "These are…these are beautiful". She looked up at Thom in wonderment. "Thank you"

"Anything for my favourite girl" he replied, smiling again as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. It was only a chaste little kiss like the one she had given Draco, and yet it still felt wrong; but she couldn't pull away. Thom hugged her to him, smiling. He was talking – she was faintly aware of that – but she wasn't really listening. She was too busy trying to hold back unwanted tears.

She couldn't finish with Thom now, not after he had given her such a wonderful gift and seemed so…happy. She just couldn't do it – she wasn't the sort of person who could do that to someone.

///*///*///*///*///*///

"Ginny?"

Draco looked surprised when he emerged out onto the top of the astronomy tower – he had good reason. Ginny was sat on the bench, her head in her hands as tears streamed down her cheeks. Walking over, Draco sat next to her on the bench and then he hesitantly took hold of one of her hands. Gratefully she clasped onto it, great racking cries making her petite form shudder.

"I couldn't do it" she sobbed. "I tried but I just couldn't. He…I …"

"Gin…" Draco murmured, holding onto her hand with both of his. "Don't cry…This…don't worry…"

She leant against him, seeking comfort in his warm embrace. He paused for a moment, as if undecided, before tentatively putting his arm around her. She pressed her face into his chest, her cries muffled by the fabric of his cloak and the raging wind as he held her, all her thoughts on seeking comfort from the young man who was uncertainly holding onto her. She needed him to be there, to hold her and tell her things would be okay. Right now she needed him, because she loved him.

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A/N So…what did you guys think?! They finally got it together! Are you all happy now? I hope so, because I'm pretty happy with this myself. It's okay – which for me is definitely good! Anyways, hope you all liked this chapter. Oh and sorry that I haven't done the shout-outs in this chapter, but I haven't checked out my reviews yet. But they'll be here next chapter, don't worry!