Disclaimer: I only own the plot and any characters that aren't in the Harry Potter books written JK Rowling.

~ Encounters ~

Draco sucked in a shaky breath as he hurried back inside the castle. He couldn't believe he had actually kissed Ginny. True, he been wanting to do that for quite some time, but he had decided against it after realizing she had not yet accepted him. It had only been in the desperation of the moment that he had decided to use his kiss as a last attempt to persuade her. Draco gulped; he just hoped he hadn't made things worse. Entering the castle he glanced around the entrance glad to find it empty. He didn't feel like answering anyone's questions.

Sullenly he made his way down to the Slytherin common room and muttered the password. Entering in he was again relieved to find it empty. Walking up the stairs to his dormitory he prepared for a long night as he was sure he was going to be up thinking of Ginny for a while.

* * *

Ginny blinked as bright sunlight flooded over her. Damn! I forgot to shut my curtains. She closed her eyes and tried to return to the wonderful dream she had been having before the sun had rudely awoken her. She had been on the roof of the school with Draco Malfoy and he had kissed her. Her eyes snapped open as she realized it hadn't been a dream at all. She quickly rose from her bed but got tangled in the sheets and fell to the floor.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed rising from the floor and rubbing her backside.

"Wow, Gin," Chloe said mockingly, "You're so graceful."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her friend and bent over to pick up the sheets that were still tangled around her feet. "I'd like to see how graceful you'd be if you went through what I did last night." She gave a small cry as she yanked on a sheet not realizing her feet were still on it. She slipped and fell on her butt again.

"Might want to be careful," Amber laughed, "Those sheets can be mighty dangerous."

Ginny shook her head as she finally freed her feet of the offending linen. I am such a klutz.

"So how did last night go, Gin?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, you know," Ginny said quietly. She determined to not let her friends know he had kissed her. Ginny Weasley did not kiss and tell or, at least, not this time. "He told me what he wanted to do about the situation and I told him I'd think about it." Ginny felt her cheeks go red as she spoke. When neither of her friends replied she looked up to see that they had identical questioning expressions on their faces. "He wants to have a relationship," she said in answer to their unspoken question.

"And you told him you'd think about it?" Chloe asked incredulously, "Gin, what are you thinking?! You're practically in love with the guy. There's no thinking needed. It's a no-brainer! The answer is yes."

Ginny opened her mouth to protest about being in love but Amber cut her off. "Chloe! How many times do I have to tell you? He's a Malfoy and a Slytherin. Ginny does not want to date him. Or at least, she needs to think about it before jumping into a relationship with the king of prats." Amber turned to Ginny with an approving smile. "You did the right thing, Gin. Don't listen to Chloe. She reads too many romance novels."

Chloe was indignant. "I do not!" she protested, "What makes you think I've ever read even one romance novel?"

Grateful the conversation had been veered away from her feelings for Malfoy, Ginny jumped in to back up Amber. "You don't think we've noticed exactly what books you hid inside your transfiguration text?" she asked with a giggle. "Let's see . . . what was that last one? Lady Selma's Submission?"

Chloe scowled at them as they laughed. "For your information it was Lady Serena's Surrender," she corrected. This only made them laugh harder.

"Aha!" Amber exclaimed in triumph, "So you admit it."

Chloe closed her eyes obviously losing her patience, "Yes, alright, fine. I admit that I read romance novels. But that's got nothing to do Ginny and what she's going to do about Draco."

Ginny fleetingly remembered that she had been planning on killing Chloe as the two girls looked at her. "I-I told you," she said shrugging. "I don't know what I want. I mean, one side tells me that this is ridiculous. That he's a Malfoy and a spoiled, rich git and I'm a poor, muggle loving Weasley and there's no way it would ever work out. But something else tells me I should at least give it a try. That if I'm willing to at least try everything will turn out for the best." Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from saying more.

"He kissed you didn't he." Amber stated after a moment of silence.

Ginny bit her lip and smiled sheepishly at her two friends.

"I don't believe this!" Amber said at the same time Chloe exclaimed. "Oh! How sweet!"

Ginny was about to tell them what the kiss had been like when a thought occurred to her. What had been Draco's purpose in kissing her? "No, I don't think it was sweet, Chloe," she said feeling her blood begin to boil. "That git kissed me because he was trying to win me over. He was being his usual, slimy Slytherin self!" Without another word Ginny quickly dressed into her school robes and hurried down the stairs and out of Gryffindor tower. I can't believe that prat! She seethed. Trying to manipulate me with his kisses. He should realize that if I want to be with him I will decide that all on my own. No matter how enjoyable kissing him and being held by him is. It was a rather enjoyable kiss, though. Stop it Ginny! Focus! That prat only did it for himself. Typical Slytherin.

Ginny finally spotted him near the entrance to the Great Hall with his two goons, as usual.

"Malfoy!" She yelled not caring who heard. He turned and gave her a small smile before turning back to his cronies and muttering something. A moment later he was at her side.

"Yes?"

Ginny glanced around and realized there were people staring at them. Grabbing his hand she led him out the doors and towards the lake. When they were safely hidden behind a cluster of trees she rounded on him.

"Really Ginny," Malfoy said leaning against a tree with his signature smirk, "if you wanted to snog all you had to do was say so."

"Who said anything about snogging?" Ginny asked trying to ignore the pleasure she felt at his calling her by her name. What was this git talking about? Didn't he realize she had dragged him out here to yell at him?

"Well, that's why you brought me to this secluded area, isn't it?" he asked; his smirk faltering.

"No!" Ginny said putting her hands on her hips, "that's not why I dragged you back here. Merlin! Draco, how could you?"

Draco looked genuinely confused. "I'm sorry, but how could I what?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she hissed. "Last night? When you kissed me?"

Understanding showed on Draco's face but he continued to play dumb. "Was I that bad?" he asked in a joking way.

Being caught off guard, Ginny found herself answering his question. "No, no, you weren't bad at all." Ginny smiled at the memory of his lips against hers. She shook her head to clear these thoughts from her mind. "But that's not what I brought you here to talk about. I know why you kissed me."

"Well I should hope so," Draco said shifting against the tree, "seeing as I usually kiss girls because I care for them."

Ginny was beginning to lose patience. She had known by the look Draco had given her a moment before that she was right in her assumption of what his reasoning had been. So why did he insist on acting innocent? It was infuriating. "That's not why you kissed me," Ginny said shaking her head emphatically, "You kissed me because you were trying to get me to agree to give you a chance."

Draco pushed himself off the tree with his leg and took a step towards Ginny. "That's not entirely true," he said raising a finger. "I admit that I chose that particular moment to kiss you because I was getting desperate, but . . . Ginny, I do care for you and that's why I kissed you. It's just that the timing was off. I'm sorry."

Ginny was getting more confused by the minute. Wasn't this about the time where the usual Malfoy was supposed to say something like, "You shouldn't be surprised, Weasel, of course that's why I kissed you. Don't tell me you actually thought I had feelings for you." But no, he was admitting to caring for her and apologizing.

* * *

Draco watched in slight amusement as Ginny stood there with a look of confusion on her face. No doubt she had been taken by surprise from his reaction to her accusation. But Draco hadn't seen a point in reacting any other way. He had feelings for this girl, dammit, and being a git wasn't going to help him win her. Besides, she had fallen for D. D was the Draco that no one saw. He was going to have to remain D when it came to Ginny, not that he minded. He wanted to treat her kindly and with love. She deserved it.

"You're sorry?" she asked hesitantly interrupting his thought.

"Completely penitent," he replied sincerely. He gave an inner smile of satisfaction when he saw a smile tugging at her lips.

"Good," she said suddenly scowling. Without another word she turned on her heel and left him in a state of confusion. What had just happened? Draco shook his head in disgust. "Women!" he muttered to himself as he trudged back up to the castle. When he entered he found Crabbe and Goyle right where he had left them. The stupid oafs. Don't they realize they are late for class? Rolling his eyes heavenward, Draco walked past his friends as they continued to remain still like two overly-large and ugly statues.

"Crabbe! Goyle!" Draco snapped as he continued to walk. He soon felt their large bodies behind him and smirked to himself. At least these two weren't complicated like some people; namely Ginny.

* * *

Ginny stood outside Hagrid's hut only half listening as the half giant taught her Care of Magical Creatures class all about the fascinating lives of Glow worms, which, according to Hagrid, were distant relatives to the flobberworm. She tried to stifle a yawn. Just thinking about the slightly fluorescent worms made her bored. Seeing no point in listening to Hagrid's lecture as she was sure Chloe and Amber would fill her in later. At the moment she had more pressing matters to think about.

After Draco had apologized and she had finally gotten over the shock, Ginny had quickly left him wanting to sort out her thoughts. However, she had returned to the castle just in time for her first class. This was the first chance she had gotten to really think about what she wanted to do. I really do want to be with him. I mean, ever since I found out who he was he has acted exactly as I expected D to. And, as Chloe said, I am practically in love with D, who is the good Draco and I really do like the good Draco . . . Oh this is getting confusing! I should write this all down. Looking around the class Ginny noticed a couple students were sitting and decided to do the same. Slowly and quietly she lowered herself to the ground. She was now hidden from view as she was at the back of the crowd. Silently she pulled a book, a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag. Situating the book on her lap she placed the parchment over it and began to write. To any onlookers it would look like she was simply taking notes. Ginny continued to write for the remainder of the class.

"So, all ya have ta do is make sure ya feed them three times a day and they'll live," Hagrid finished just as Ginny stood up.

"I've decided what I am going to do," Ginny said quietly to Amber, Chloe, and Jackson as they headed back to the castle for lunch.

"About what?" Jackson asked. Ginny grimaced in self-disappointment as she realized Jackson had no clue about D. Quickly she told him all that had happened since the last Hogsmeade trip. She finished just as they reached the castle.

"Oh," he said in his usual sullen fashion, "well, you've certainly had quite the quill pal experience."

"So, Gin," Chloe said excitedly, "what did you decide?"

"Well . . ." Ginny began but her voice died as she spotted Draco just about to enter the great hall. Realizing this may be the only chance she had to get him alone for a while she flashed Chloe an apologetic smile. "I'll tell you later," she said regretfully before hurrying over to Draco.

"Draco," she said grabbing him by the arm, for he had been about to open the door to the hall. "Can we talk?"

Draco shrugged. "Sure what about?"

"I mean privately"

* * *

Draco stared at Ginny for a moment before taking her hand and leading her to an empty classroom down the hall. What on earth did she have to say? No doubt she's going to tell me she never wants to see me again. Not that I'd blame her. Shutting the door, he turned to face her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked slowly. He was suddenly very nervous.

Ginny took a deep breath and remained silent for a moment. She seemed to be trying to gather up the courage to say what she had to say. Yup, definitely about to turn me down.

"Draco," she began, "I just wanted to let you know that I, well, I want the same thing you want." She finished the last part in a rush. Draco felt a smile creeping across his lips.

"Would you care to be more specific?" he asked sweetly. Ginny had kept him in suspense the last two days, the least she could do was tell him exactly how she felt. She sucked in a shaky breath and licked her lips.

"I care for you, a lot," she finally said, "and I want a relationship." She gave him a helpless glance. "That is, if that's what you still want," she added hurriedly.

Draco smirked. "Of course it's what I want," he said in his usual sardonic tone.

"No need to be rude," Ginny said and Draco saw a flash of anger in her eyes. Oops.

"Sorry," he said hurriedly walking towards her until their arms were almost touching. She looked up and into his eyes. "I just wasn't sure how to react. I was certain you were about to reject me." He ran a hand through her long red hair.

Ginny gave him a smirk that reminded him of his own. "Oh you mean that was an option?" she said, "Well, in that case . . ."

"You'd better not say what I think you are about to say," Draco laughed grabbing her by the waist and laughing harder when she squealed in surprise.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she murmured wrapping an arm behind his head and pulling his down to hers. Their lips were inches apart when they heard someone clearing his throat. They instantly jumped apart and stared at a rather amused looking Dumbledore.

"Mister Malfoy, Miss Weasley," he said his eyes twinkling behind half-moon glasses, "While I am sure whatever you are doing is much more interesting and entertaining. Lunch is over and you have classes to get to." Without another word the headmaster left.

"Well," Ginny said, "that was embarrassing."

Draco shrugged. "Ah well, could've been worse. Could've been McGonagall or Trelawney." Or your brother.

Ginny grinned. "Excellent point. Well, I guess we had better go to class."

"Yeah, I guess we better." Grabbing her hand, Draco led Ginny out of the room. "So, what class have you got?"

"Potions," Ginny said with a shudder. "Snape's going to kill me for being late."

"I'm sorry," Draco said, "If it'll help I'll walk you to class."

Ginny looked up at him and smiled. "I think that will be more of a hindrance than a help."

Draco smirked. "You have a point. I guess we had better say our farewells here then." Putting his hands on her hips he bent down and kissed her. "See you later Weasley."

"Whatever Malfoy," she shot back before turning and hurrying off to the dungeons. Draco sighed happily as he watched her red hair bounce with her step. At least one aspect of his life was going right. Now all he needed was to get rid of his father and everything would be perfect.

AN: Yay! They're together! They're together! *Bounces happily around the room* Lol, anyways, I was going to write individual reviews but, once again, I was dumb enough to wait until midnight to begin writing this chapter so it'll have to wait until next time. And I don't know when next time will be cuz my net is still down and my dad is returning tomorrow. *sigh* Anyways, I do have to say this concerning Angelena H. Granger's review. Yes, I L-O-V-E LOVE Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom *sighs happily* So anyways, yeah, it's a great movie and a great word, savvy? Lol, well anyways . . . REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!