A/N: Oi, it's about time I got this up- I started it when I returned from my class trip last month, and then forgot about it until last Friday night. :P I know, sorry. XD But then my internet crashed just the night before I was leaving for a small holiday to Mackinac Island, and tonight, my wonderful dad got it working on one of our three computers only, so I have only limited time. ;; Sorry...XD Here we go, now that that's out of the way!

THIS WAS THE CHAPTER THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO UP ON JULY 15. must have misread the document, because the format was incredibly wonky. Please forgive me? ::hugs and glomps to all her reviewers:: I've gotten numerous reviews on it, which makes me think that perhaps it's my computer that's giving me odd setup on it? I have no idea how anyone could read the mess I am seeing. So here's my edit, and I hope all goes well! Special thanks to Bunny/Sailor Moon, Starry, Darcy16, Volly118, Adeebah, Flipsides, Depth of the Soul, Mo the Deatheater, k.s., kittybro, Daphne Enchanted, Mistigris, blackroses, Akarusa30991, and ayumi-dono! Thank you, guys (and double hugs if you were one of the firsties for C. 2 and told me 'bout it!) - And to anyone else I forgot to mention!

Also, I know Blaise Zabini has been confirmed as a boy, but we're going to keep her as a girl, because that is exactly what she is in Mori-universe. XD

kesh kesh!

--------------------

Draco awoke the next morning, knowing the day would be going downhill fast. What a lovely omen he had recieved the night before. Despite the little sleep that resulted from this horrific situation that had occurred, he managed to go about his normal morning routine in the knick of time, just leaving in time for breakfast.

As he threaded through the common room, he barely issued a glance across the room to the crying second year in the corner. Several other girls stood around her, looking slightly uncomfortable. A tall brunette stood beside the owner, patting her shoulder with a heavily ringed hand.

"It's no big deal," the tall one said soothingly. "You can get a new one. They sell them in Hogsmeade."

"It cost me all of my birthday money!" croaked the other in response.

Pieces of shattered glass lay spread over the stone-tiles near the fire, the remains of the Soul-Mate Seeker.

Draco clucked his tongue. What a shame. Apparently someone hadn't been completely thrilled with the device. The traces of a smirk were barely noticeable on his face as he swept out of the dungeons.

--------------------------------------

A violent shake startled Ginny out of sleep as two hazel eyes appeared above her. She blinked and slowly a face began to take shape around the eyes, followed by a voice.

"Ginny. Get up. Ginny? Wake up." More shaking.

Ginny's reply was a sound that sounded somewhere around that of, "Verughnn." But she managed to swat Mallory Vestley away and sit up. Mallory tossed Ginny's shoes into her lap, and proceeded to whip out other fragments of her uniform until the entire ensemble was laying in a heap on the edge of the bed.

"Breakfast is in ten minutes." Mallory pulled out a tube of lipstick and began applying it, all the while watching Ginny as she slowly began shaking out her clothes. "You might want to hurry." She turned around and began rummaging through her makeup bag.

Ginny took a glance at the clock that was propped up on the nightstand beside her bed. Of course, Mallory was right. Ginny was usually a late sleeper. If permitted, she could easily sleep until noon. Rarely was she allowed to do so, though, and she prided herself on being able to adapt well. Long naps in the summer were always a glorious treat, as were the few times she could sneak back up to the tower and fall back into slumber. It wasn't that she didn't get enough sleep, no- she just really liked sleeping.

Normally, Ginny was able to kick into consciousness really well, but today didn't seem to be that type of day. Ginny pulled her shirt on, running through a mental checklist of all the things she needed for the upcoming day. All of her homework was done- except for Transfiguration, which wouldn't be much of an issue since it was the last class of the day- and all of the books that she would need for the classes before lunch were already stuffed in her bag. Her hair was still damp from her shower the night before, and without bothering to cast a drying spell, she shoved a cloth headband over her head to keep it back. Mallory, in the meantime, was in the final stages of her cosmetics routine, and was layering thick black mascara onto her already dark lashes.

Her first class of the day was Potions- something Gin was not looking forward to- and then Muggle Studies. Mallory had supplied her with her Muggle Studies homework, bless her, and she suspected that tonight's homework would be a breeze. Now, as she walked along, a fat, white hair dryer was bulging out of the bookbag.

"What do you use this for, again?" She had asked Mallory, studying the hair dryer with curiosity. The thing on the end of the wire seemed to be one of those things that you jammed into the sockets that her dad collected. She poked at it, now, musing at the strange things Muggles came up with.

The Great Hall was already partially full when the two Gryffindors entered, and they had to slink around a group of fourth year Slytherin boys who seemed to be flirting with the other fourth years at the Ravenclaw table. Ginny couldn't help but bite back a smile as one of the girls stuttered over her words as she talked to a tall boy. It really wasn't fun talking to boys when the farthest you can get into a sentence is, "We-well I wen-went to Hog-hog-smeade la-last week-week-weekend, too-oo."

Mallory had deposited herself next to Lavender Brown, introducing her presence with a "you will not believe what happened yesterday in Care of Magical Creatures!" Nothing did happen, by the way, but Mallory liked to tell of her completely stressful day, and usually with a lot of hand motions. Mallory had once mentioned that Lavender and her were cousins by their mothers, but rarely did they hang out together during the day or between classes. Meals were really the only times that they spent together, making it hard to actually see if they were related.

Hermione was discussing some Arithmancy technique with the boys when Ginny slid into the seat next to them. It was really a wasted effort, seeing that neither Harry or Ron took that class. But Ginny, too, gave her attention over to Hermione.

As clear as it was that Ron had his friends and Ginny had hers, Ginny still ate with the trio. They were nice, and usually one of them involved her. She felt out of the loop at times, sure, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Some things weren't really worth getting upset about.

"How are classes going, Gin?" asked Harry, once Ron and Hermione had erupted into a fight of some sort.

Shrugging, she replied, "Pretty well. I got some really good marks yesterday in Charms." She paused before adding, "And I got some really lousy ones in History thanks to a pointy faced prat who will remain nameless."

Harry smiled slightly, casting a pointed glance over the hall to the Slytherin table. Of course, the Prince of Slytherin sat at his table, ruling over his court with an arm around Pansy Parkinson. "How did the rodent mess everything up this time?"

"Dusted my homework," Ginny replied, sending a dark look in Malfoy's general direction. "I handled it nicely, though." She winked at Harry before grabbing a platter of rolls and proceeding to fill her own plate. "How's everything going for you?"

"Pretty well," Harry told her, helping himself to the pancakes on his plate. "Quidditch practice tonight and all of that, so I'm going to be cramming for homework."

Ginny had thought of joining the Gryffindor team again, but instead of playing replacement seeker, she was thinking of taking up the family tradition of beater. Well, okay, so it was only tradition for the twins, but she figured that was good enough. But this year, she had decided it really wasn't worth getting caught up in- she would save that for next year. That was when both Julie Knollers and Perla Garzman would have graduated, leaving both open. The both of them had taken the place of Fred and George's replacements from her fourth year, despite their graduation nearing.

Harry went on talking about Quidditch and even some great deal he had found in Hogsmeade until he said in a lower voice, "Hey, Ginny, what exactly did you do to Malfoy?"

"What?" She frowned, turning to Harry. "I stepped on his foot. Why?"

"Because he's looking over here."

"Who's to say it's because of me?" Ginny looked up, searching the faces at the Slytherin table until finding the blonde boy. "He's probably devising ten of the messiest ways he could kill you." She raised her eyebrows when seeing that he was in fact, looking at them. And at her, as it would seem.

"Now that we've got your bout of cheeriness out of the way," Harry went on, "I would say that he's looking at you."

--------------------------------------

Crabbe had reminded him to do his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, but at the moment there seemed to be a more pressing matter.

Speak of the Weasel, he thought with amusement as he spotted the ginger-red hair. There was the girl, sitting right there with Potter. Chatting away, the two of them. They were certainly cozy, weren't they? As far as he knew, she wasn't going out with Scarface, but that didn't help the twist of annoyance in his gut.

Potter seemed to notice his glare first, but Weaslette soon looked up. There she was, just glowering at him. And talking to Potter. Damn him!

Certainly she knew about that stupid device. Had she looked into it, too? If so, why wasn't she saying something? Was she mad? Well, if she had half a brain, she would be! It was expected- he wasn't exactly happy with the results, either. Maybe he could cut her a deal. They could agree to never speak of their supposed bond ever again.

Bond? Who said anything about a bond? They'd never shared a kind word between each other ever before in their existences. So what right did she have to be his soulmate? If there was such a thing, even.

Ginevra Weasley- his. He could hear some sort of ring in it, but that was beside the point.

What was his point, anyway? His eyes narrowed angrily as his thoughts kept running together in a jumbled and endless clutter.

"Draco?"

"Draco," Blaise snapped her fingers in front of his face. "I wouldn't be worried, except he hasn't blinked for about five minutes now."

--------------------------------------

"Well, at least he isn't staring at us anymore," Ginny said reasonably to Harry. "That's an improvement, isn't it?"

Ron, after ten minutes of arguing with Hermione and not paying attention in the least to his best friend and sister, looked over, suddenly alert. "Someone's staring? At Ginny? Or at Harry?"

"Both," Harry replied, keeping his usual unworried attitude. "Just being stupid."

"Besides," Ginny threw in lightly, "we've scared him off with our burning glares in return." She grinned at her brother.

At least, she hoped he was.

The rest of the day flew by, for the most part. Despite some confusion in Divination and a rather misled declaration of broken ribs and a sprained elbow (she didn't get it either, it had stayed a pretty nice day. Her and Luna had helped each other with their DADA and Divination homework- even though Professor Trelawny gave Ginny an excuse permit seeing as how sprained elbows are very painful.

"I hope you don't get one," Luna had said thoughtfully, staring at Ginny's arm. "It must be awfully limiting. And probably stings, too."

"I'd imagine it does," Ginny responded absently, but bended her elbow for effect. "But not half as bad as cracked ribs." Her nose wrinkled. "And it prolly doesn't smell as bad as Colin's hair once it catches fire from a Darked Haired Bucknot." It was said mainly as a joke, especially when one had the sense to derive Trelawny's crack-pot predictions from a real Seer's visions. Harry had sworn that she was a real Seer, but Ginny still found herself doubting when the woman predicted things like a mythical creature burning the hair off a 16 year old student.

Luna nodded, however, solemnly. "It will smell twice as bad, I bet. Dark Haired Bucknots are ten times worse than their cousins, the Blonde Haired Bucknots."

Ginny stared blankly before finally dismissing the answer with much confusion and raised eyebrows.

The Weasley girl was even humming to herself on the way back from the library that night. Detention before dinner hadn't been bad, and Binns hadn't hounded her with questions or drilled her with lectures as she shelved all the books in his room. In her arms, behind the two textbooks, were the two novels she had been waiting to get from Madame Pince. One having been a brand new book out of the "Strictly for Witches" series- a so- called dirty smut book series, she had needed to have it ordered from Beauxbatons' library. Lately Madame Pince and the library there had started a sort of exchange system between each other, making books from both school libraries available to students. You had to go through Madame Pince first, though. Madame Pince had given her a scrutinizing squint, but finally wrote down both the book and recipient's name on her exchange list.

"You'll have to wait for the Patil twin to return it," Pince had told her, pointing to Padma's name on the list. "It has to be sent back for check-over before it can be sent back."

That had just doubled her waiting time for the book. Her optimism two weeks ago had been up on the fact that Padma was a Ravenclaw- thus, she must read quicker than most- but when Ginny had spotted Padma walking through the second floor corridor, books clutched tightly against her chest, the sixth year had seen that, whatever Padma Patil's reading rate might be, she had at least six books with her. Leaving some time before she could finish up just one of her books.

But here it was, in her arms, waiting for her to crack it open. She turned it over.

Lady Wanda Gervais is eighteen years old, and still hungry for the adventure denied to her by her father. But now, leaving her home in northern Germany for her betrothed in France- the notorius womanizer Marcquis Duvald, she's finally experiencing exactly what the world is like. But can she really sample the world for what it is when the cold, leering Marcquis is waiting for her in her new home- and prison? Soon she'll find that the biggest adventure of her young life is trying not to fall for the handsome count, and the natural magic he's casting on her.



Ginny couldn't help but smile at the summary on the back. How classic- girly-book this was. Despite her love for these sorts of books, she couldn't figure out how these summarizers got work. This sounded like half the others on the shelf. But it was highly recommended by Witch Weekley], and what WW said was rule. She turned the book over, inspecting the cover. As was customary, there was a half naked wizard on the front, who seemed to be in the process of peeling down his female cover partner's gown from her shoulder. The words 'Adventurous Temptation' curled around each other, the script charmed to sparkle silver and gold repeatedly. Beneath the title was the author's name- Bella Imbrook- in smaller letters, highlighted itself every so often.

Now, Ginny Weasley wasn't normally clumsy. She managed to keep herself up at most times, excluding those rare moments when she tripped due to her footwear. And that was the honest-to-Goodness truth. It was all in the shoes. No matter what all the other girls teased.

But as she suddenly collided with someone, she found herself stammering an apology while scrambling to pick up her fallen books. She only gave one nano second of a glimpse to the person above her, not bothering with the details of appearance, just taking in the immediate, looming figure, whose shape and height automatically made him male.

"Clumsy, too."

Sometimes Ginny wondered if fate hated her.

"You know, Weaslette, it might be just me, but you don't seem to have the top list qualities." Draco Malfoy was standing above her, not bothering to bend over and help her with her things.

"Gee, thanks Malfoy," Ginny muttered. "But it is just you, you're right." She skimmed over the spines of the books in her arms. Tranfiguration Advanced, Potions Year 6, Pick of the Litter: A Werewolf's Touching Biography, and--

Adventurous Temptation wasn't there. Her eyes trailed across the floor to the paperback, inch thick novel trapped under Malfoy's boot. Her jaw dropped slightly, and her hand shot out to snatch it back. But Malfoy beat her to it, sliding his foot and the book crammed beneath it out of her reach. He dropped down, grabbed it, and stood once more above her, his eyes flicking across the front page.

A smirk curled over his face, and he leered down, "Well, well. Little Weasley reads trash books, does she? Didn't know the rest of the bunch would allow that..."

Ginny's cheeks turned bright red. What, was she expected to report all her books to her brothers or something? "It's about as much of their business as it is yours, Ferretface."

Draco's smirk hadn't shifted as he leafed through the book. "Rather lewd, isn't it? Rather surprising you know half of what they're talking about in here."

"I'm not an eleven year old," she snapped in response. "I'm sixteen if you haven't noticed, Malfoy, and I have a pretty good idea over what is being described."

Draco's eyes moved from the book to Ginny. Grey eyes studied her momentarily, perhaps considering. She stared back at him, wondering what he'd say next, and how much longer it would take to get the bloody book back. His face remained expressionless as he gazed at her, which made her all the more uncomfortable. And besides- what happened to her plan of revenge? Oh, right. She had been too tired to think of one.

You would think that as the only sister of two wizards who were making a bang in the lives and pockets of all those who related to the word 'mischief', she'd be able to come up with something. But her good ideas didn't come at command, they popped up when it wasn't convenient or necessary to be tricky. And the ones she had up her sleeve didn't seem good enough as payback.

A glance at her wristwatch showed her exactly how little time she had before night curfew would go into effect.

"Malfoy, give me my book." She stood, tossing back her fiery hair.

"Is that any way to talk to me?" he asked smoothly. "After all, I'm the one who has what you want."

Ginny's lip curled back. "Fine. Malfoy, can I please have my book?" She had at most five minutes to run back to the common room without breaking the curfew rules.

Draco grinned maliciously, as if happy that his orders were being obeyed. "Let's see. You really want your book back, right?"

With the feeling that she was once more a seven year old talking to an older, bigger kid who was being mean, she told him flatly, "Yes."

"So, what will we exchange for your book?" His serpant's form of a smile found its way back onto his face. "What can you do for me?"

"What do--it's my book! I don't need a payment, Malfoy!" she bit out angrily.

"Well, I can keep it if that's how you're going to be," Draco told her in a silky voice. "I just don't think it in my best interest to keep the book when I have Weaselette- namely, you- offering something in payment."

"Best interest?" She couldn't believe she was doing it, but she felt herself already shifting into the part. This was as best of revenge as she was going to get, she told herself, and began to step toward the guy she loathed. "Well, Malfoy, I think I might be able to," she paused, and licked her lips, standing right close to him, "offer something."

His reaction was better than she could have ever hoped for. His arms dropped to his sides. It was splendid, watching him freeze, seeing his eyes follow her unblinkingly. Frozen to the spot, watching for the enemy's next move- it was tactful when the other had the upper hand. And Ginny most certainly did. She was practically cackling inside as she leaned closer, and, despite her height, whispering close to his ear, "And it's something I'm sure you'd want."

She watched out of heavily lidded eyes as Draco cleared his throat slightly, turning his head slightly to look directly at her. "What would that be?"

Magnificent. She couldn't have a better reaction to her roleplaying had she written it out on paper. She stepped back slightly, reaching for him. Her laughter could hardly be contained as his grey eyes widened. But instead of whatever gutter his mind might be lurking in, she merely grabbed hold of her book, firmly and slowly pulling it out of his now loose grasp. She smirked at him, tucking the book under her arm. "The guarantee that, when you can possibly find a girl desperate enough to shag you, you'll have hopes of passing on the Malfoy name." Throwing an emphasized look at his- ahem, trousers, she stepped around him. "Well, toodles." She winked, and positively drowning in her triumphant joy, began to stroll away.

But before she was even five feet away, the definite chimes of the school clock tower drifted through the air. Nine o'clock, and curfew was now. Her eyes widened and horror fell over her face as she stared at her watch. She was late. If any prefects- or worse, professors- saw her, luck was against her.

And, as she had wondered only several minutes before, it appeared fate hated her.

"Weasley!" Malfoy's bark was hard and angry. "Detention, tomorrow, after dinner. Meet here."

Her shoulders dropped, and she muttered, "Fate does hate me." Well, at least it had granted her several moments of getting the better of her enemy. Unfortunately, said-enemy also happened to be Head Boy.

To her embarrassment, Malfoy appeared to have heard her statement. "It does, Weasley. It hates both of us. You just don't know how much."

Her brow furrowed with puzzlement, and she turned around to ask what exactly he meant- but he was already gone. She stood alone in the corridor, all alone, already feeling the loneliness of the dark falling over everything. The torches went out just as she thought this, and she had to bring her own light from her wand.

In the darkness, only a small knob of light to guide her, she went back to Gryffindor Tower, the promise of yet another detention- this time with Malfoy, the world's worst- weighing on her mind. And already, as funny as her revenge was- she could not believe she'd done it.

--------------------

A/N: Wow...I really have to be off, after revising my notes on here...I did very little editing in the story, I'm hoping it's all fine and dandy...MUST GO! Thanks for reading you guys! - Hope you all have a good week! The next chapter will be out sometime soon, and until then, review your little hearts out! XD . I'll post stats and such in my profile.

Ta ta!