Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with Harry Potter.
A/N: I am so sorry you guys! I know that it is taking me WAY too long to update but you have no idea how busy I've been! It has been so crazy around my house with Final Exams and everything. (We do ours before Christmas Break unlike other schools) I am so sorry, but I promise that I will do better next time. Just keep encouraging me with your reviews, they are really helpful! Hope you like the new chapter!
When eight o'clock came around, Ginny had no idea what to tell Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were watching her very closely after the events of this morning. Ginny just decided to go with the discreet approach. She just got up and started walking towards the portrait hole.
Unfortunately Ron was watching her a bit closer than she anticipated.
"Ginny! Where are you going?" Ron asked trying to sound nonchalant.
Ginny walked over to Ron and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to see Draco Malfoy." Ron was so stunned with this answer that he just stood there with his mouth gaping as Ginny got up and walked out of the portrait hole. It was only as the portrait swung shut that Ron got up and yelled, "Ginny!"
He opened the portrait but found no one in sight.
"You guys!" Ron yelled so loud that the entire common room was looking in his direction. He looked around, embarrassed that all the attention was on him and went to his seat next to Hermione and Harry. "You guys," he hissed quietly this time, "Ginny just left to go meet Malfoy,"
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.
"She told me! We have to go find her, we have no idea what Malfoy could be doing to her!"
"Ron, I know that you love your sister and I know that you want to look out for her, but she is a big girl and she can look after herself."
"But what if he is, um, you know," Ron was beginning to turn red by the second, "trying to ahem…"
"Spit it out Ron," Harry finally said after a few more seconds of "aheming" on Ron's behalf.
"Well what if he's you know trying to seduce her," he said that all very quickly as if the words burned his mouth."
"You mean what if he tries to get her into bed," Harry surmised.
"Well, yeah," he muttered.
"She's only fifteen!" Harry said, shocked that Ron would even say something like that.
"But you never know what Malfoy's capable of. He might turn on the charm! We have to go find her NOW!"
Hermione stood up looking very indignant.
"I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Ginny is old enough to make her own decisions. She does not need some overbearing big brother keeping her from ever experiencing life! And so what if Malfoy wants to sleep with her, does that mean he gets to? Don't you trust her? You all need to grow up and realize that Ginny already has!"
"Has what?" Harry asked at a most inopportune moment.
"Has grown up!" Hermione exploded at him and stormed off to her room.
"She must be in her 'monthly cycles.'" Ron said with a grin.
"You know, if she heard you say that, I would no longer have a best friend. You, my dear friend, would be dead," Harry said with a smile a little bigger than Ron's.
"Alright, go get your cloak, it's time to spy on my little sister!" he said gleefully.
"So, how did you do on your History of Magic paper?" Ginny asked, a little too eager than she wanted to be. "I got top marks," Draco said as nonchalantly as he could but he actually felt ecstatic. He had never gotten that high of a grade on a History paper before.
Draco set the History paper aside and put his hand on Ginny's potions book.
"So what are we learning about today in Potions?" he asked.
"We're learning a potion that is supposed to make one act without thinking of the consequences."
"What? We never learned this potion, what the hell does, 'without thinking of the consequences' mean?" Draco asked fully surprised that Snape had changed the material.
"It means, that once you've taken the potion you'll probably end up doing something that you've always wanted to do but never did because you were afraid of what would happen after you did it. If you don't think of the consequences of your actions, you will do things that you never would do in your right mind. That is the potion we learned today it's called consequencerium, and I didn't get it make it right, and now we have to write a few pages on it, but I guess you can't help me since you've never learned this potion."
"I can still help you, I actually have heard of this potion before, my dad uses it sometimes," Draco paused hoping she didn't just catch his slip, he never talked of his father. He continued as though nothing had happened, yet another thing that he had picked up from his father, "Get out your quill and notes," he said to Ginny.
They didn't know it but in the very back of the Room of Requirement, Harry and Ron were watching their every move.
"It doesn't seem like he's going to try anything bad, they just look like they're studying," Harry whispered to Ron.
"That can't be all they're doing, it's Malfoy isn't it? He must be doing something wrong, we just have to find it," he finished decisively.
"This really doesn't feel right to me…"
"Shut up," Ron hissed in return.
They finished writing her paper with no incidents. "So…" Ginny trailed off, a little uncomfortable now that there was nothing left to do.
"I guess we should be going,"
"I guess so," Draco said in return.
"Same time tomorrow?" Ginny asked as she reached the door.
"Yeah, I have a History test soon, so we can study for that."
"Sounds good," Ginny said as she closed the door and walked out into the corridors.
Luckily for Ron and Harry, they were able to reach the common room before Ginny. They didn't want her to even have an inkling that they were there tonight, she would for sure get extremely upset, 'She would have a right to be upset,' Harry thought to himself.
Unfortunately for Harry, Ron was planning on being there tomorrow and the next night and the next night and the next night…etc. He said that he was going to spy on his little sister for as long as it took to get some dirt on Malfoy. Harry was beginning to think that he was more spying on Malfoy than making sure his little sister was safe.
Ginny came in the common room door looking slightly perplexed.
"What's wrong Gin?" Ron asked trying to sound as though nothing had happened that night.
"Nothing," she said not even looking at him as she made her way to her dormitory.
**
"Ginny, wait up!" Someone said behind her. She stopped not knowing who was signaling her. She smiled as Dean Thomas approached. She kind of still had a little bit of a thing for him, but most of it was gone after not seeing him all summer.
"Hey Dean, what's up?"
"I was wondering Ginny, if you would," he started to blush, "maybe..um..go on a date with me?"
Ginny was very surprised, he must have overheard someone saying that she had a thing for him because prior to this little talk, they hadn't really said much of anything to one another. She decided to give him a shot, "Sure Dean, where should I meet you?"
"Out by the lake, seven o'clock tomorrow," he walked off looking very pleased with himself.
Ginny smiled to herself, wondering how this date, her first actually, was going to turn out.
**
At eight o'clock Ginny went to the Room of Requirement and Ron and Harry followed. For an hour and a half Ron and Harry watched Draco get tutored in History. It was all very boring for them. After an hour and a half of History, Malfoy was finally done.
"I actually don't need help in potions today," Ginny said.
"Alright, then tomorrow at eight?"
"Actually…" Ginny trailed of uneasily.
"What is it?" Draco asked putting his defenses up immediately at her tone of voice.
"I can't come tomorrow."
"Why?"
Ginny blushed a deep shade of red. "Ihaveadate."
"What? I can't understand you," Draco said.
"I have a date, with Dean Thomas." Ginny was now thoroughly embarrassed and Draco wasn't exactly having the time of his life either. For some odd reason, this news made Draco very uncomfortable.
In the back of the room under Harry's invisibility cloak, Harry was having a very hard time trying to contain Ron who hadn't known of this alleged date.
"She's fifteen years old, she is allowed to have a date, and Dean wouldn't do anything to hurt her," Harry hissed in Ron's ear as he had his hand clasped over Ron's mouth to keep him from giving them away. "And you can't say anything to her about her date since technically she hasn't told you. Will you behave so that I can take my hand off of your mouth?" Ron nodded, subdued by his best friend.
"You have a date with Dean Thomas!" Draco chuckled.
"What's so funny about that?" Ginny asked with her hands over her hips.
"I just never pictured Dean as your…type…that's all."
"You don't even know me! You have no idea what my type is, how can you say something like that, Dean is a very nice person, a better one than you'll ever be!"
Draco had learned by now that you can't take what Ginny says in the heat of her anger very seriously. "I've woken the beast," he said to himself.
"Ginny, I'm sorry, okay, I don't know you, I don't know your type, okay? Are you alright now?"
"I suppose,"
There was a long pause which Ginny chose to break.
"How about we meet again on Saturday? It's Thursday today and if we don't meet tomorrow then we'll have to meet before the weekend's over."
"Saturday sounds good to me, what time?"
"How about nine? We'll both be busy with other things so let's make it a little later than usual."
"That's fine," Draco got up and opened the door, "I'll see you then," and left.
**
Ginny walked with anticipation towards the lake. She hadn't really dressed up for the occasion, just put on a little more make-up then usual. She had told Harry, Ron, Hermione, and her best friend Christine who was a fifth year Hufflepuff, about the date. To her surprise Ron didn't flip out like she figured he would. He was actually quite calm. Maybe he is starting to realize that she isn't ten years old anymore.
"Hey Ginny, over here," Dean called from under a tree. There was a blanket and picnic basket situated nicely under the tree, the sun was just setting, making a beautiful scene. Ginny walked over, sat down, and said, "You did all this for me? It's beautiful!"
"Not as beautiful as you," came his clichéd but sweet response. He took out a few things from the basket; two glasses, a bottle of butterbeer, and a piece of cake.
"So, Ginny, I hear that you've had a thing for me for quite a while," Ginny blushed, she usually kept her romantic feelings to herself, rejection being a fear of hers.
"Well, during the summer…"
"It's okay, I had a 'thing' for you too, but you being Ron's sister and all…"
Ginny groaned to herself, 'not that again!' she thought to herself.
"So Dean," Ginny decided to change the subject, "I don't really know you very well, what kind of things do you like to do?"
"Well I like to play quidditch,"
"Anything else?"
"And muggle soccer,"
"Anything besides sports?"
"Not really, I eat, breathe, and sleep quidditch, it's the best game in the world! The way that golden snitch leaves a trail of golden fury and the players rushing around on their brooms! The best game ever is the 1992 quidditch world cup England versus Belgium! That game was the best, so many great players, there was Durst, Khaleel, Henley…" Ginny tuned him out as he droned on and on about quidditch for two hours. Every now and then she would say "a huh, of course." Finally at nine o'clock she turned toward him and said, "Dean,"
"Hold on, I was just getting to the best play of the game when Henley—"
"I don't care!"
"What?"
"Dean, I'm sorry, you're a great guy, but I just don't think we have enough in common to continue this…" she searched for a fitting word, not finding one she settled for, "this thing."
"I don't understand, I was having a great time!"
"I'm sorry Dean…I just don't seem to like quidditch as much as you do, I'm sure there's a wonderful girl out there for you but it's not me," she said hastily, wanting to get out of there. "Thank you for the butterbeer and the cake, it was lovely," there was a pause, "Well, I better be going…" He didn't look very disappointed so she didn't feel that bad as she made her trek back to the castle.
She didn't exactly feel like going back to the common room and explaining why she wasn't going to go out with Dean again, and then have to bear seeing Dean walk into the common room after her. No, she was going to The Room of Requirement. Somehow it felt weird knowing that Draco wasn't going to be there. She made her way towards the door anyway.
She was surprised to see someone else in the room, lying on the couch. They appeared to be asleep, she went over to surmise who it was. It turned out to be just the man she had been thinking of, Draco Malfoy. He was serenely sleeping on the couch she bent over and took a book out of his hands that he had evidently been reading. It was his History of Magic textbook. A wave of guilt swept over her as she realized that he had a test tomorrow and she hadn't been here to study with him. "Since when have I felt guilty about anything concerning Malfoy?" she asked herself. The sound of her voice had evidently woken Draco up. He sat up and elegantly arched one eyebrow.
"I thought you had a date?"
"I did,"
"What happened?"
For some reason she really wanted to tell him and she actually trusted him not to use the information against her.
"I got there, he was really nice and sweet…"
"And…" Draco prompted.
"And then he started talking, and it all went down from there. I couldn't get a word in edgewise! He just kept droning on and on about quidditch! My brothers may be really into quidditch but Dean is obsessive, I swear if he does that on every date he will NEVER get a girl!"
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him that our interests were too different and that it wouldn't work out, he didn't seem too disappointed."
"Why'd you come here instead of going back to your common room?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"Yes, but I asked you first,"
"I didn't want to deal with my brother and his friends. What about you, what are you doing in here?"
"I got tired of the noise of the common room." This was only a half truth, the full truth was that he was actually kind of hoping to see Ginny, although he didn't really know why.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Draco pulled a piece of paper out of his robe, "I found this on the floor, you must have dropped it." He held out an envelope which turned out to be the letter her mother had written her a few days ago, she had never gotten around to reading it and then it disappeared.
"Thanks, I've been looking for this," She sat down on the couch next to him and opened her letter. She giggled as she read what her parents had been up to since she and Ron had left them over the summer. There was even an update on Fred and George's shop which was still being designed.
"Is everything well with your family?" Draco asked shocked as the words came out of his mouth. Why was he wishing well on the Weasleys? He hated the Weasleys. And then, it hit him…He didn't hate them anymore. When did this happen? I didn't like Ron, Harry, or Hermione anymore than he used to and he certainly didn't like the Mr. or Mrs. Weasley or any of their offspring, but he didn't hate them anymore. He was raised to hate them, he was told to hate them! How could he not hate them? Now it was just dislike, now he didn't particularly wish any harm upon them. This revelation caused him to get up and walk around the room.
"My family's fine, Fred and George's joke shop is coming along, they all seem to be pleased with the way things are going."
"Tell me more,"
"Why?"
"I need to take my mind off of something," Ginny chose not to pry into what that "something" was and just decided to acquiesce.
"Fred and George have decided to open a joke shop, we kind of knew all along that they would do something along those lines, they had always been trying to blow things up and turn things unnatural colors…"
The conversation kept going like this. Draco would ask a question or comment on what Ginny had said and Ginny would reply with an anecdote about her family. About two hours had passed in this manner but it only felt like five minutes to both of them since Ginny loved talking about her family and Draco found that he enjoyed listening. After a while Ginny paused and said, "Now you know so much about my family but I know nothing of yours."
"I don't know if you want to know about my family."
"Of course I do, friends should know about each other's family," the last part slipped out of Ginny's mouth accidentally. She blushed slightly.
"So we're friends now?"
"Yes, we are," Ginny said decisively.
"Okay, then I guess I better tell you my childhood memories."
"I guess you better," Ginny said with a smile now that she had won.
The next hour and a half was spent with Ginny learning of Draco's dark past. No, his parents never beat him or anything like that. It was mostly just like he was an annoyance to them. He grew up without ever really knowing love and devotion. He had a few good memories. It sounded like his uncle was a wonderful man but since he's not a follower of the dark side, Lucius didn't allow him in the house very often.
Once Draco had finished his anthology, Ginny was chilled to the bone, it was getting colder in the room as the night was moving on but it was something more than that, something that she couldn't describe.
Draco used to worship his father, but that's always how it starts out. You want to be your father and then as you grow older you want to be nothing like your father.
Ginny had curled up in a blanket on the couch as Draco told his stories on the other side of the couch, as if they were afraid to touch. Draco had finished and Ginny now realized what time it was.
"Oh no! It's already past midnight, that means we have to sneak past Filch in order to get back to our common rooms!"
"Don't worry about Filch, I'll walk you back and no one will see us."
True to his word Draco got up and slowly cracked the door open, making sure it was safe. He motioned for Ginny to follow him. They slowly crept towards the base of Gryffindor tower. Pretty soon they were standing in front of the massive staircase.
"Thanks for walking me back," she said, suddenly shy.
"No problem."
She looked down and then looked up at him. He felt like he was in some sort of trance as he raised his hand and tucked a piece of her now dark hair behind her delicate ear. Ginny took a step towards Draco and then finally realizing what she was about to do, said hastily, "I better go," She took a few steps up the stairs and then said, "Thanks again for walking me back. I guess I'll see you Saturday," She bit her lip as if she wanted to say more but then decided not to. She quickly walked the steps up to the common room and whispered the password.
Draco walked back in a bit of a shock. He had almost kissed her. It's a good thing that Ginny had stopped it. That would have been horrible! Or would it have been? He kept musing about what could have happened until he finally came to the Slytherin common room and laid down to have a troubled sleep.
A/N: What do you think? Tell me in your reviews!