Haven't updated in a while... school is getting the best of me. I want to thank you again for all of your kind updates. Please keep them coming- they are so wonderful.

Love,

Becca

Chapter 6

Luna had gathered her books and left the library, smiling and saying "goodbye." Draco's feeling of warmth returned, and he smiled softly to himself. Luna has faith in me. I should have faith in myself.

The rest of the day went by somewhat fast to Draco, and after dinner, he headed back up to the Slytherin Common Room to rest. He wasn't in the mood to see Pansy and hoped she wouldn't be there to bother him. Or Milicent.

To Draco's luck neither Pansy nor Milicent were present in the Common Room. Adrian Pucey, Blaise Zabini and Malcolm Baddock were all sitting around a round table studying. He decided to join them.

"Hey, mate," said Blaise, sliding over and allowing room for Draco to sit. "What's with the long face?"

"Rough day for Malfoy, didn't ya here?" said Malcom. "Broke up with little Pansy."

"It's about time, too," said Adrian, smiling. "She certainly did pull you around."

"Shut up, Adrian," said Draco, furrowing his brow.

"Aw, we were only kiddin' ya. Don't take it so hard, Malfoy. You're certainly being a sissy today."

Draco shot a dirty look at the three boys. Irritated by their lack of support, he decided to return to his comfortable bed for a nap. No one seemed to want to help him out of his state of depression. "I guess that's because no one knows. But they wouldn't care. If I told them I had a crush on a Gryffindor, they'd all laugh. Even though Ginny is a pure blood." He sank down on his mattress and stared upwards. "Why does everything have to be so hard? No one understands how I feel right now. No one." Fumbling with his class ring, he sat and thought for a few minutes. "I have to talk to her. I have to talk to her right now."

He prayed that he could find Ginny. He just had to. He had to stare into her deep, green eyes and feel the warmth of her body near him. Even though she couldn't care a less about him, Draco knew that her presence made him feel better. Kind of like Luna. He would check the Great Hall, the hallways, and the library.

Meanwhile, Ginny Weasley sat in the school library, completing her Muggle Studies homework. She had to write a paper on hair dryers and how they operated. But she couldn't quite keep her mind on her essay. Her mind kept drifting off onto another thought: a boy. A dreamy boy who had dark black hair, bright green eyes, and pale, milky skin. The boy who had risked his own life to save her own. But Harry hadn't seemed to care about her anymore. He still looked sheepishly down when Cho entered the Great Hall, or when he passed her in the hallways between classes. When Ginny ever brought her up in a conversation, he would look deeply at her and say how much he missed her so, and that he knew she needed more time because of Cedric. But oh, how he missed her.

"Why do I always have to be the one left behind," she whispered softly to herself. The twins always had each other, and Ron was friends with Harry and Hermione. Her older brothers were moved away with busy jobs, and she certainly didn't care about Percy. Mum and Dad kept in touch less now that all of their children were near graduation at Hogwarts. Luna was one of her few friends who she could confide in. And now, Luna was trying to persuade her to go out with a snobby, conceited bastard who only thought about himself. "I don't know how strong I am. I don't know how much I can take of people turning on me." She fumbled with her quill and stared blankly ahead. Can someone please just take me away from here?

The large library door was heaved opened, and in walked in the last person Ginny wanted to see. It was a blank looking Draco. Fine he's in here, she thought. As long as he doesn't bother me.

But of course, he did. He approached her, nodded in greeting, and sat down across from her in another one of the comfortable chairs. "I need to talk to you."

"Listen, Draco. I don't want to hear you right now. I'm in a bad mood, and this is a really emotional time for me. I'm being a self-pitying bitch, and I don't need you to help me feel worse."

"No," said Draco softly. He moved his hand on the table, placing it on Ginny's. She didn't seem to notice it was there, of if she did, she didn't make any sign of disapproval. "I know you don't like me like that. And I'm going to have to talk myself out of liking you like that. But can't we be friends, Ginny? Right now, things are getting pretty rough for me. I don't know if I can quite handle it."

Ginny slowly slid her hand out from underneath Draco's, but not in an unfriendly way. She slanted her brows worriedly and looked into his icy grey eyes. "They're getting hard for me sometimes. Sometimes, it's hard to wake up the next morning...knowing things aren't going to get a bit better. Sometimes I just want to not wake up at all."

Draco looked sadly at Ginny. "But think of all the people who would miss you."

"You'd be surprise how little people that would be."

"You know that's not true, Ginny. Look at me in the eyes at say it's not true."

She looked away and shook her head.

"Can we just talk for a while? I promise, that's all I need. Just to talk. I need to vent."

She smiled at him. "I'd love to, Draco Malfoy. That sounds like it's exactly what I need. A good talking session. Come with me." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the library and down several flights of stairs.

"Where on earth are we going?" cried Draco, panting to keep up with the fiery little redhead.

"Oh, you'll see, you'll see," she said happily. She stopped on the second floor, and entered the long hallway designated for Charms. She entered a classroom right next to Professor Flitwick's room. "Lumos!" No one was in the deserted classroom as usual. She turned to the right, her hand still clenching Draco's, and opened up a closet.

"Holy shit," whispered Draco. "You come in here a lot, don't you?" Inside the musty old closet, there were candles, posters of Ginny's favorite Quidditch teams, and other sorts of things that belong to her.

"No one ever comes to this classroom anymore. I started spending a lot of the time in this closet when I didn't want anyone to find me or bother me. No one knows about my hiding place. Not even Luna. Only you."

They sat down on the cold, wooden floor. Ginny stared blankly ahead for a while, and then looked at Draco. "So, what's up?" he said softly.

"Lately, I've been stuck. I can't make up my mind about a single thing. Everyone seems to be changing and making plans for the future and after graduation from Hogwarts, and I'm left clueless. Mum and Dad have become colder for some reason, Fred and George don't write back to my letters, and Ron spends more and more time with Harry and Hermione and less with me. Luna is always out there, you know, she thinks I'm crazy to find a problem in any of this. And I just don't think I can take much anymore." Tears began rolling down her cheeks, and she looked sadly at the ground. "What a bitch I am, breaking down in tears like this. You must think awful things about me, you really must."

"Of course I don't, Ginny." Draco slid closer to her on the floor, and leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. "I think you're remarkably strong and courageous. And if I was you, I probably would've broken down by now."

Ginny smiled softly. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not," he murmured. Ginny leaned her head over on top of Draco's and closed her eyes. She felt him next to her and got a sense of security and completeness: a feeling she hadn't felt in the longest amount of time. Slowly, she drifted off into a deep and luxurious sleep.