Disclaimer: Sorry, still don't own the HP universe, which is why I have to go to work tomorrow and sell packets of m&m's for outrageously inflated prices to circus goers. Honest.

Chapter Eight

Finally the night of their first flight had arrived. Malfoy had been carefully watching the weather and this one, a crisp, misty one in late November was deemed suitable. There was a gentle breeze that would help them with lift but which wasn't strong enough to knock them around.

They had decided to practice behind the Quidditch pitch, thinking that any eyes looking out from Hogwarts wouldn't be able to see them because the stands were in the way.

'Overall,' reflected Ginny after the practice was over, 'it was an exhausting experience.'

Both had succeeded in getting off the ground and skimming a couple of feet off of it for about ten seconds, only to lose concentration and crash unceremoniously into the turf. It happened over and over again. Ginny had stopped a quarter of an hour ago, her body unable to take the abuse any longer, but Malfoy refused to quit so quickly. And so, Ginny lay in the grass half reclining with her upper body propped up by her elbows so she could watch him work.

His Animagus was brilliant, more so now then when she had first seen it in that dank dungeon all those months ago. She watched as the majestic golden eagle, nicknamed Talon, swooped slowly above the ground, and cringed as he once again tumbled into the grass. He would hardly be able to get up tomorrow morning she as sure of it. She had tried to get him to stop and rest but he wouldn't, he'd just snapped at her and kept going, his determination fierce.

A half an hour later, however, Ginny was in no mood to be bullied, she couldn't take watching him anymore. 'Was he trying to kill himself?'

"Gods Malfoy, that's enough! Quit it, if you don't stop this instant, you'll kill yourself, let alone not be able to practice more any time soon. Ever think about that, hm? It'll be your fault if we fall behind and fail the tests!"

Her temper was getting the better of her, but if that's what it took to stop him from torturing himself, so be it.

He fell for the last time beside her, collapsed in the grass, mumbling curses under his breath, unaware of Ginny's presence and frustrated at his inability to stay in the air. Ginny sat up and shifted, turning to look at him, making sure he was still in one piece.

Her movement brought his mind back into focus and he slowly pulled himself up into sitting position, he unconsciously ran a hand through his hair trying to rid himself of that wind tossed look he had acquired from the flights and the falls. His face, as always was schooled into it's cool façade as he stared out into the night.

"Harder then it looks eh Weasley?" he admitted quietly.

"Sweet Proserpina, Malfoy, that's the understatement of the century. By the way, what did you think you were doing, why didn't you stop sooner." She admonished, and grimaced as she watched a purple bruise start to form along his jaw. "Holy Hades, you look like you just battled a dozen mountain trolls." She reached for his cheek to assess the damage but he pushed her away, afraid of what that touch might mean.

"Why?" she asked softly as he continued to stare into the night. "Why do you need this? Why do you want this so badly?" In all these months she had never asked for an explanation, she had just trusted and accepted and told herself that it wasn't any of her business. Somehow, though, tonight, she felt like she could ask the question that had always been at the back of her mind.

She watched as the muscles in his bruised jaw tensed, his head turned and his icy gaze met hers. 'She never asked for explanations before,' thought Draco, who had been glad about that, but now, now it seemed right to say something at the very least. They had worked so hard together, they had struggled and triumphed.

"Because I want to have the choice." He replied evenly, his expression never wavering. 'I doubt she'd ever understand that' he thought to himself.

Ginny narrowed her eyes, confused by his answer, wishing for the first time, that he was more like her brother who wore his emotions so clearly on his face, one never had to ask him the whys and wherefores. But Malfoy was different, she had this feeling in the back of her mind the he was always planning, always calculating how to turn every situation to his advantage. 'The distinction of a true Slytherin,' she supposed.

"I don't understand Malfoy, make me understand." She sighed, hoping somehow, that her new friend could be less complicated. Ginny rose from the cold ground and began to walk back to the castle, not bothering to wait for an answer she thought would never come.

"Wait." Malfoy said sharply, also rising. Not knowing that by speaking this single word it would change the world for these two young adults. It could bridge the void that had once been so immense between them.

Ginny turned to face him. He stared at her, torn as he watched the breeze whipping her fiery red hair into the air as the wind picked up. Her golden eyes questioned his, eyebrow quirking up as she watched his internal struggle. She waited patiently for him.

"Damn you, Weasley!" Malfoy spat, as he broke eye contact with her.

And then it happened, his cool façade, his icy shell, cracked.

Ginny watched in amazement as emotion took over his face, confusion, hope, understanding, trust, determination and others raced across his face as he began to shout .

"Of course you don't understand, how could you, you with the torturous pressures of a loving family that doesn't give a shit about power and prestige. These are the pressures I've been born with, had to live with, and watched people kill for. I've had fucking enough of it. I don't want to kill or grovel for power like my father did. I want to create my own and I can, did you see me Ginny, I can fly! We can do anything, this is just the first of many. We will be our own fucking masters!" His anger diffusing in heavy exhalation, taking in a sobering breath he shook his head, clearing it.

"I respect Dumbledore, Gin, you know why? Because he understands the fluidity of power. Power can be used and bandied about by wizards like insults on the Quidditch pitch. It's useless that way, fleeting and uncontrollable. Real power, the kind you can create and possess solely by yourself, the kind of power that has the potential to crush others and yet to be able to choose not to wield it, makes one all the more powerful. What I create is mine, call me selfish if you must but I refuse to share it with those sniveling Death Eaters, or that goody goody Potter. I'm keeping it to myself, for myself." He turned and strode towards the castle, looking regal and defiant, despite his bruises and the grass stains that soiled trousers, as he left his robes swirled and billowed in the wind.

Ginny was shocked by his sudden outburst, yet relieved that he could trust her with such information only managed to whisper as his form retreated into the night, "But Draco, you shared it with me..."

'So he is human.' Ginny pondered to herself from her comfy chair in the Gryffindor common room. Ginny had climbed up there not long after Malfoy had strode away from their practice session. Ginny was, or so it appeared to everyone else in the room, reviewing her Astronomy charts, but in reality, Ginny found herself staring into the fire and dismantling Malfoy's shouted explanation. It had been a lot to take in.

Strangely, no matter how many times she went over it, she found that it made perfect sense for someone in Malfoy's position to believe as he did. In all honesty she had never really considered his life and the different pressures he had had to deal with. Malfoy longed for control of his own destiny. Ginny may have considered herself overprotected by her family, but at least she was free to make her own mistakes and learn from them, make her own friends, choose her own husband etc., without fear of retribution. Malfoy's life had been dictated by his powerful father and to overcome his fate, Malfoy had to create his own power, build his own system of respect within the wizarding world. And he chose to do it through skill not fear, as his father had done.

Malfoy did like control. 'Merlin' she thought, remembering back to that day in the library when he had sent her crashing through emotions though she had been the one who was doing the blackmail. She giggled at the memory. 'We've come a long way from there, that's for certain.'

'He trusted me enough tonight to let me glimpse what the real Malfoy is like, the person he is and more importantly to him, the person he wants to be.' The warmth of the fire and the squashiness of the chair were beginning to have an effect on the exhausted young woman. Her Astronomy charts fell to the floor as she began to drift, but right before her eyes drooped shut a disconcerting thought entered her mind.

'He called me Ginny...hmm...that's funny, I wonder why..,' and with that she winked off to sleep. It never occurred to her, that in the honesty of Malfoy's speech, she too, had called him Draco.

A/n: You lucky readers you! Two chapters today! Sorry for the relative shortness of this one! But I am warning you, you'll have to wait for a few days til the next chapter is ready to go, it's written but it has to be typed and edited a little. Thank you for all the great reviews. Chocolate cake with sprinkles to each and every one of you! -sweetproserp