She stayed and helped the twins the rest of the day, and after they had closed they went back to the Burrow together. They came back right in time for dinner.

She didn't say much during dinner, and as soon as she could, she left the table and went upstairs. A few minutes later someone knocked on her door.

"Come in." she said and Harry entered.

"Hey, Gin. Er... just wanted to ask you something. D'you mind if I sit down?"

"Be my guest."

"Well... you were kind of grumpy today. You're not still mad about... you know... yesterday?" Harry's face turned red once more and he avoided her eyes and instead looked to the floor.

"What...? Oooh, no I'm not still mad about that."

"Then, what's wrong with you? You're not usually that silent during mealtimes. Was it Malfoy? Did he do anything to you?" Harry sounded worried.

"No... no, I'm fine. But thanks for asking." She smiled at him. "I'm kind of tired now."

"Oh, okay then. I'll leave you alone. Good night." He left the room and closed the door behind him.

The day for the return to Hogwarts came closer, and in the morning of September first the Burrow was a chaos. Everybody were running around, looking for things they'd forgotten to pack, and in the same time trying to eat breakfast. Arthur had borrowed a car from the Ministry to take them to King's Cross. They said their goodbyes to the twins and left for London. When they arrived at platform nine and three quarters, Molly and Arthur had to hurry away for a special meeting with the Order. Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped onto the train in search for a compartment, but Ginny thought she saw Luna in the far end of the platform and started to make her way over there instead. But when Ginny got there, she couldn't find Luna, so she decided to find a compartment and wait there for her to turn up. She found an empty compartment in the middle of the train and settled there.

Half an hour later Luna still hadn't shown up, so Ginny decided to start looking for her. She left her compartment and began to walk down the corridor. Suddenly she tripped and fell right into somebody's arms. When she looked up she saw the same icy, grey eyes she'd seen in Diagon Alley.

"You... again. Don't you have eyes, Redhead?" he snapped.

Malfoy was still holding her tight in his arms, and although she didn't want to admit it, she found it rather nice. She took a deep breathe, and noticed that he had a very pleasant scent, very masculine but still natural.

"You can let go now," she growled.

He pushed her away and she straightened up, trying to lean on her right foot, because she'd hurt the other one in the fall. But her legs gave after under her and she fell once more, this time hitting the floor with a great thud.

"Quite the clumsy one, aren't we, Weasley?" he smirked.

"Shut up, Malfoy."

She tried to get up, but she felt a searing pain in her left ankle and gave out a small cry.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Malfoy said and reached out a helping hand.

She hesitated, but took it. It felt warm in her hand and she blushed slightly, but tried to hide it. He pulled her up to her feet and this time she stayed up.

"Thank you," she mumbled and then turned around and left. She hurried back to her compartment.

A few hours later the train slowed down and they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. Ginny catched one of the last carriages and she was the last one to enter the Entrance Hall. She was moving towards the Great Hall, when she heard a moan coming from one of the stairs nearby. As no one else seemed to notice she walked over to the stair to see what caused the noise. It was none other than Draco Malfoy, who had gotten stuck in the false step. Ginny couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him, and he looked up.

"What's so funny, Weasley? Gonna help me up or what?" he said shortly.

"I kind of like the idea of you stuck there, helpless," she laughed.

"Ha ha ha, very funny. Now give me a bloody hand."

Ginny took his hand for the second time that day and pulled him up.

"Thank you, that wasn't too hard now, was it?" Malfoy said.

Noticing that they still were holding hands, Ginny blushed and Malfoy cleared his throat while letting go of each other.

Malfoy walked ahead of Ginny towards the Great Hall, and they opened the door, interrupting Dumbledore's start-of-term speech. Dumbledore stopped talking when he saw the door open and all the eyes were pointed at Ginny and Malfoy. Ginny hurried over to the Gryffindor table and Malfoy made his way over to the Slytherin table. After a moment of complete silence Dumbledore cleared his throat and carried on with his speech.

All the Gryffindors watched Ginny with curiosity. Ron, Harry and Hermione couldn't believe what they just had seen. Ginny ignored their questioning looks and stared down at her plate.

Dumbledore announced that they were having a Yule ball this year, and it would take place at Christmas Day. He finished and the feast started.

"What the bloody hell were you doing with him?" said Ron with a surprised voice.

"Well, I...." Ginny started saying, but she was interrupted by Harry.

"Was he harassing you? Did he hurt you?" Harry was furious.

"No, no, no. He didn't do anything." Ginny answered.

"Then what on earth were you doing with him?" Hermione asked, looking worried.

"That's none of your bloody business!" Ginny knew what the three of them were going to think, but she really didn't care.

She finished her meal ignoring all of their questions and after the feast she hurried up to the Gryffindor Tower. When she got to the Fat Lady she suddenly realised she didn't know the new password, but luckily enough Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan came along after only a few seconds of waiting. They told her the password, but not without shooting curious glances at her.