Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, don't you think this would be happening for real? I'm not JK Rowling and if I were I would probably kill off Harry Potter and make it the "Draco Malfoy" series. Hence the reason I am not ever going to be allowed to write it, even if JKR dies somehow before it's finished (NOOO!!!).

And no I'm not Shakespeare, either. He's dead. Or at least, that's what the CIA wants you to think. He's really on Mars with Elvis. But they don't have computers there, so...

Butterfly kisses3: Heheh. I knew that. Madame Pomfrey, HA! I went back and fixed in. Thanks for telling me!

Enough of my rambling. Read on!

Ginny Weasley looked up at the boy standing over her and mentally cursed Professor Sinclair. Five years of completely avoiding Draco Malfoy, all wasted in a single, sodding day.

'Please go away.' She prayed silently, squeezing her eyes shut. 'Please, please go away.'

"Awww." She heard him sneer. "Did the ickle Weasley fall down?"

'Just ignore him, Ginny. Just ignore him and he'll go away.'

Opening her eyes, she took in the crowd of Slytherins gathering behind Malfoy. Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini stood beside him. Theodore Nott and several of the Slytherin Quidditch teams members, whose names she didn't know, were close behind. They were all wearing the exact same smirk. It had to have been some kind of Slytherin requirement.

"You know, I kind of like submission on you Weasleys. It's fitting."

Ginny bit her bottom lip, concentrating on collecting her books and most definitely not looking at the Sixth Year Slytherin who stood over her.

This obviously wasn't working. Just as she reached for her Potions book those stupid boots of his shot out, sending it flying across the hallway.

"Hey!" Slipped out before she could stop it. She instantly knew it was a mistake.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Ginny scrambled to retrieve her book only to have him step into her path.

'Please, just leave me alone.'

Draco Malfoy looked down at the top of Ginny Weasley's head. Lifting her head slightly, she tried to go around him. Draco quickly sidestepped, once again blocking her way.

"Do you have something to say to me Weasley?" He asked, in his nastiest voice.

Shaking her head, she continued trying to reach around him.

"I can't hear you."

Her eyes darted up at him then back at the floor, shaking her head harder this time.

"What? Did you say something?" He continued, mockingly.

He moved out of her way slightly allowing her to reach behind him. As soon as her fingers closed around the book he roughly grabbed the book bag she held in her other hand.

"No?" He sneered cruelly as he yanked it off her arm, sending the bags contents flying.

An inkwell rolled in between them. Trembling, she reached out to grab it. Just as her hand was an inch from the small, glass bottle, he brought his foot down on it with a Crunch.

She made a soft little sound and the tears finally came. Shaking uncontrollably she whispered something very quietly.

"Please go away."

Draco was suddenly overwhelmed again with that strange emotion. Was it guilt? Surely not. Trying to swallow the lump that had gathered in his throat, Draco gestured to the other Slytherins gathered around him.

"Come on, then. Let's go." Looking over his shoulder, he grinned mockingly. "See you around Weasley."

As he neared the hall door, he glanced back at the tiny redhead. She was still on the ground, trying to pick up the pieces of her inkwell. She was sobbing pitifully and her fingers were cut and bleeding from the broken glass.

Letting the rest of the Slytherins pass by him, he walked back slowly.

He stopped in front of her and she looked up at him, startled. Her brown eyes were swimming and her nose was red. She had a black smear across her cheek where she had tried to wipe her tears away.

Wondering distantly what exactly he was doing, he gently tapped her bloody hand with his wand. She gaped up at him as the cuts heeled and the blood disappeared.

"Stop being so pathetic, Weasel." He said, in not quite as mean of a tone as before. "It's not that bad."

And with that Draco turned and strode stiffly out of the hall. He didn't look back, but as he walked out of the double doors he could still feel her confused stare on his back.

Pansy was waiting for him, leaning against one of the walls. He nodded to her and without a word she pushed herself off of the wall and walked beside him as he passed. In a baffled haze, he barely heard her question.

"What was that all about?"

'Yes,' He thought to himself. 'What was that all about?'

Professor Clair Sinclair made her way to the Hogwarts Teachers Lounge pondering the scene she had just witnessed, from the cruel tormenting of the little Fifth Year she had chosen to be Juliet to the very odd plot twist that had taken place afterwards. She didn't quite know what to think of this Draco Malfoy character. His comments in class had been most irking and his behavior toward Miss Weasley had done nothing to redeem him, but she couldn't help wondering if he was really all he pretended to be. After all, he had healed her hand. Not very nicely, but he hadn't had to do it.

She reached the door and flipping through her notebook franticly she found the password, 'Polygonalius'.

The Staff Room in Hogwarts was very different from a muggle teachers lounge. This year, it was a spacious, circular room with soft, white tile. There were several leather bound couches and chairs here and there and whoever had designed the room had obviously made an extra attempt to exclude any house colors in the layout. After a few days in Hogwarts, Professor Sinclair was beginning to see why.

In the middle of the room there was a large glass table, which had no legs but hovered a few feet from the ground. There were several chairs gathered around it, making a sitting area. A couple of teachers sat at it, some eating and some grading papers.

Professor Sinclair plopped down into a seat next to a miserable- looking man, who was reading while he waited for the potion he was brewing in the enormous cauldron next to him boiled.

"Hi!" She grinned widely. His eyes flicked up at her and then back to his book. "I'm Professor Sinclair, the new Muggle Arts teacher." She said. He regarded her outstretched hand scornfully. Sneering, he turned his attention back to the book.

"Don't mind Professor Snape, Miss Sinclair. He's always like that." A middle aged women on her other side cut in. "I'm Minerva McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts."

Professor Sinclair smiled, while scooting her chair further away from the scowling professor next to her.

"You had your first upper-house class today, didn't you?" The women continued. "How was it?"

"Interesting enough." Professor Sinclair answered. "Everyone is enjoying Romeo and Juliet. I knew they would! Except for that Malfoy character. I don't know what crawled up his...."

"I wouldn't worry about Mister Malfoy if I were you." Professor McGonagall broke her off. "He's always been a disdainful human being."

"I wouldn't say disdainful." Professor Snape cut in, finally putting down the book. "A bit high-strung maybe, but he really isn't that bad...."

"If you're a Slytherin, you mean." A teacher said from across the table.

"Maybe if you're a Slytherin." Another professor volunteered. "I doubt he likes anyone, really."

"Except his father, that is." Chirped another.

"I'm sure he's nice at times." Professor Sinclair offered favorably, a childish idea forming in the back of her brain.

"Please. That boy couldn't be nice if he tried!"

"You felt sorry for her, so you decided to mock her until she was a quivering mass of a human being?" Pansy asked, incredulously.

"You have some sort of complex, you know that?" Blaise offered from her seat on the couch.

Draco didn't know why he had told Pansy any of this. Maybe he had forgotten for a moment that, unlike Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy had opinions and she wasn't afraid to share them. Unfortunately, Crabbe and Goyle were in the Hospital Wing recuperating from a horrible accident involving a chicken bone and a pair of hedge clippers.

"You know Draye," Theodore Nott spoke form his perch on the back of the sofa, mouth full of chocolate frog. "You should see a psychologist."

Draco rolled his eyes in irritation.

"You have serious mental issues." Blaise stated.

"Don't call me Draye, Nott, or I'll have your heart for a bludger." Draco glowered at one of his chasers before turning his attention to the other, Blaise. "And I do not have mental issues. I just hate Weasleys."

"Uhhuh, sure." Theodore replied under his breath. "Psy-co."

"Look, if I want your opinion I'll ask for it." Draco turned on him. "I don't know what in Merlin's name possessed me to tell you anything, but you know... whatever. I've got homework."

Turning, he stormed up the stairs.

"Touch-y." He heard Nott state as he left.

"Shut up, Nott." Pansy snapped.

Draco glared a nearby candleholder into submission.

'What is wrong with me lately.' He wondered angrily.

Draco had had a very confusing summer. One full of wondering and infuriating doubts about his father and "The Cause". Somehow, everything had made much more sense before Lucius had been committed to Azkaban. Draco had always wanted to be a Deatheater, but now... it just seemed so completely futile.

'I'm loosing it.' Draco thought. 'I'm going soft.'

Even confiding in Pansy and the others had shown how badly he was slipping. It wasn't like they were his friends, not really. After all, Malfoys didn't need friends.

And that Weasley...

Draco didn't really regret being cruel to her. He was cruel to everyone. It was an everyday occurrence.

What worried him though was the strange swell of pity towards her. The one that had caused him to turn around, to heal her hand, and even to pick on her in the first place.

It wasn't Draco.

But maybe it was. Maybe he wasn't the same Draco that he had been before. But that sounded corny and stupid, like something Potter would say.

Malfoy's didn't think things like that.

And Draco was always a perfect Malfoy.

Ginny sat at her favorite table in the library, rereading Romeo and Juliet. Understanding it was easy, but memorizing it would prove much more difficult.

Especially with thoughts of Draco Malfoy bouncing around her brain.

Torturing innocent underclassmen wasn't a surprising action for Malfoy to take. But being even a tiny bit civil, not to mention nice, to them... that was very, very surprising.

Once again, Ginny inspected her hand to make sure it wasn't going to fall off or blow up.

She almost wished it would. Then she could concentrate on learning the play. What was different about Malfoy lately?

She had noticed a decrease in the time he spent torturing "the Dream Team", however not significantly enough for them to notice. And he hadn't been spending as much time with Crabbe and Goyle. But he still had the Malfoy sarcasm, still had that cruel smirk and hateful, glittering, ferret eyes of his.

Shrugging, she gathered her things as Madame Pince began to extinguish the chandeliers in the library.

Probably just having an off day, she decided. It didn't mean anything.

Back in the Slytherin dorms, Draco had come to the same conclusion. A little rest, and he'd be back to his old self. No big deal.

Just as he reached over to extinguish the candle on his bedside table, a school owl came bursting through his doorway. It dropped a small parcel on his lap and, without waiting for his reaction, flew out of his room and continued down the hall.

Draco read over the sheet of parchment, feeling, as he so often did, very, very bored.

Hello Students!

Just wanted to let you all know that the parts for Romeo and Juliet have been assigned. They are as follows:

Prince Escalus- Justin Flinch-Fletchley

Paris- Michael Corner

Capulet- Ron Weasley

Lady Capulet- Pansy Parkinson

Tibalt- Terence Higgs

Nurse- Luna Lovegood

Gregory- Dean Thomas

Sampson- Seamus Finnegan

Benvolio- Harry Potter

Mercutio- Geoffrey Hooper

Balthasar- Terry Boot

Friar Laurence- Neville Longbottom

Montague- Theodore Nott

Lady Montague- Blaise Zabini

Juliet- Ginny Weasley

Blah, blah, blah...

Everything so far had been typical but the next line Draco read was the one that made him give a cry of shock and go tumbling off of his bed.

Okay, yeah. I guess that was kind of a pathetic attempt at a cliffhanger even though you all know what surprised him.

If I forgot any names on the cast list, just pretend that were after "what Draco read". I have currently misplaced my copy of Romeo and Juliet. I foresee problems.

By the way, did anyone notice Michael Corners name on the cast list. PLOT BUNNIE ATTACK!!!

About Ginny's extreme OOC-ness... Here ya go:

takes deep breath

As I have mentioned before, at the time of this plot's conception, I HAD NOT READ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Once I did (and even before that, thanks to rampant spoilers), I discovered that Ginny Weasley was not the shy little girl that many of us thought her to be. This fic is BASICALLY AU, meaning it takes a different turn from canon, starting at GoF. So, STOP TELLING ME Ginny is out of character! I know already (Thaelia!).

Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Everyone was very kind about it and it WAS constructive critism. I just thought I'd get that out of the way. Awww... now everybody thinks I'm mean. I'm really not, it's just late at night and I had to do spring cleaning today. FORGIVE ME!!!