SECRET GARDEN



She'll let you in her house
If you come knockin' late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
But there's a secret garden she hides

She'll let you in her car
To go drivin' round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice

You've gone a million miles
How far'd you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget

She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
She'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away

- Bruce Springsteen , The Boss.

That night, Ginny slipped on her invisibility cloak and made her way down to the lake.

This would be her second late night trip alone, this time due to sleeplessness and this time, just like the last, she had company.

Malfoy was sitting in her usual spot.

Instead of turning back, Ginny was drawn to him, like metal to a particularly powerful magnet. She stood silently right beside him.

He heard her breathing in the tranquil silence of the night, just before it began to rain. The trees too, were as still as death, just waiting for the rain to pour.

The hazy moonlight that surrounded them seemed unreal and outside of time.

In that silent moment of intimacy they could let down their defenses and indulge themselves.

There existed nothing else in the world save the two of them.

That must have been the reason why Draco did what he did next – since they were free from prying eyes.

"Sit," he murmured, his voice naturally commanding.

Ginny complied and slipped off her cloak to settle down beside him in the soft grass. Her knees brushed against his as she sat cross-legged.

"It's going to rain," she said.

"Yes it is."

"I love the air before it rains."

"I love it when it does."

"The thunder?"

"Yes," he smiled surprised by her uncanny ability to pick out what he liked the best about storms.

 "The power of small things," he explained, as Ginny nodded.

"I hope it'll be a storm."

"Not likely," Draco looked skyward, at the pink tinge in the night sky, "Spring showers, summer storms," he continued.

"I want to die during a storm," Ginny smiled, dreamily.

She did not notice at first when Draco grew solemn.

"My father died during a storm," he stated almost matter-of-factly.

Ginny grew as still as the air, as the fact that he was a Deatheater's son hit her in the face, like a splash of icy cold water on an indolently hot summer's day.

There was a silence then, as she pondered his infamous reputation and family name.

What should have been a decadence of the Malfoy family was turning out to be the beginning of Draco, as he molded into the man his father had never wanted him to be.

The first raindrop landed on Ginny's nose, trickling down onto her cheek and making him hide the incredible urge to wipe it off with his finger. 

She looked terribly sad, as if she was crying and he did not like seeing someone so innocent and so naturally ebullient, being sad.

They both stood up quickly, taking off for the castle with the raindrops falling hard on them and the leaves rustling all around them, whispering to each other.

As they stood in the Grand Entrance, soaking wet, Draco handed Ginny the invisibility cloak, which she had forgotten in her haste.

"Thank you," she smiled, her red hair plastered to her face.

Her mother always told her to never run in the rain, for it soaked her even more effectively than if she had walked.

Draco shook his head, water flying everywhere from his blond hair, which was sticking out in different directions.

He looked so unnaturally young and frivolously handsome that Ginny could not help grinning at him, her lips curved into a genuine smile.

A smile that seemed to light up the entire hallway, catching Draco by complete surprise to have her smile at him. 

He just stood there, staring in a stunned silence and was still standing there after she had walked off.

It was then that it dawned on him, he was done for, he had fallen flat on his head, for a Weasley, a Gryffindor – and his student, at that.

"Ginny…Gin, wake up," Luna shook her friend awake during History of Magic the next day.

By average standards, the subject itself was disdainfully mundane as indicated by Colin snoring away at the other end, but Ginny had been exceptionally sleepy the whole day.

Something that made Luna wonder where she had been wandering around last night, and with whom.

It seemed Malfoy had underestimated how helpful a tool the invisibility cloak would be in bringing Ginny to him.

For Luna knew he was not astutely discerning or conniving enough to have bought her such a thing for that sole purpose.

Ginny sat up looking around at the classroom, her surroundings suddenly registering in her mind.

"Lu-"

"Gin, are you okay?" Luna asked, her eyes replete with concern.

Lately, everyone had been asking that, from Jake to Colin, but Ginny had dismissed all of them.  But now, this was her best friend and someone she could trust with her life.

Besides, Ginny had to relieve herself of this burden to someone. So, she told Luna everything about those two midnight meetings and even the dream.

Luna did not seem in the least surprised - but knowing her, she probably would have suspected so already.

"I don't know what I feel, Luna.  I want to be his friend, but that's it. He is this ambiguous enigma who intrigues me," Ginny explained.

Luna nodded, understanding the gravity of her friend's feelings more than she did.

"And I have this heart attack feeling most of the time," Ginny continued, clutching her chest, and looking exceptionally pale.

 Luna frowned – this was something new.

Ginny could normally have a raging fever of a hundred and three before she complained.

Otherwise, it would mean stopping her work and having to slow down her fast paced life, which was something Ginny did not like doing.

She always believed that, 'when you moved, they could not get you'.

'They', referred to her inner demons of which Ginny had several, Luna knew. One of them now being her newfound feelings for Malfoy.

The bell rang, interrupting their conversation.

They spend a good five minutes waking Colin up and rushing over for Transfiguration, getting there barely in time much to McGonagall's disappointment (This was according to Colin, who insisted she had something against the students from her own house, because she was always sending him to detention and taking points off.)

Jake later joined the trio in the library after lunch.

He leaned over to kiss Ginny, only getting a distracted smile in return.

Jake attempted to exchange a pointed look with Luna, who avoided his gaze by staring into her book.

He tried to make conversation with Ginny – but realizing that she was too absorbed in her transfiguration homework, he gave up and left.

-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Jake!" He had been walking towards the Great Hall for dinner, when a flurry of red landed on him. Jake smiled, pulling Ginny into his arms.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Nothing," she murmured, guiltily.

The sight of Malfoy striding past her as she ate her dinner with Luna and Colin, had left her pulse racing; well, that and the fact that he had smiled at her, and her only, made her want something more than just a friendship with her professor. Did she just say Professor? He was her Professor.

That just made things even worse, Ginny groaned inwardly.

Feeling extremely choked, with what could only be her  pervasive desire, she walked out of the hall, only to catch sight of the perfect outlet for all this lust and confusion.

Tall, broad shouldered, strapping and handsome Jake – the boyfriend whom she had neglected the past week.

Ginny kissed him again, with an almost indecent hunger that took him by delightful surprise.

Jake lifted her up into his arms, her hands looped around his neck.

He had finally gotten Ginny back.

They skipped dinner, instead spending their time pleasuring each other under the very oak tree she and Malfoy had sat under a night ago.

What was happening? Her cleverly planned and controlled life was careening quickly out of control. How could this happen?

Ever since her experience in her first year, Ginny had lived her life like a dictator, controlling her life in every aspect especially her loneliness and her emotions, not allowing them to get the better of her.

This year, about to leave Hogwarts, she had planned everything right down to her writing career.

She had not planned for the unwelcome diversion of Malfoy.  Even her poems had become too angsty for her liking.

"What?" Jake asked as they broke away, she was on his lap.

The moonlight caught a wild distracted look in her eyes, one that he had never seen before but had caught a glimpse of that afternoon out in the field.

"What?" She echoed, leaning in to kiss him, silencing his questions that would make her heart wander off to where it actually wanted to be.

Jake did not protest – well his stomach did in the form of a growl.

Upon realizing that he had skipped dinner because of her, she dragged him to the kitchens.

He began tickling her on the way.

"A punishment for starving me," he teased.

"It's not my fault that I'm irresistible," she pouted, as they stepped into the kitchen.

Ginny froze, Jake bumping into her from behind as he stepped in after her.

Malfoy was leaning against the counter, his arms crossed across his chest, exuding casual elegance that was uniquely his.

"Professor," Jake greeted, a tad sheepishly, before telling the house elf what he wanted.

He had his arm draped around Ginny's waist as they waited. Ginny was looking everywhere except at Malfoy, whom she could feel was studying them intently.

She yawned and Jake smiled down at her affectionately, ruffling her hair. She just smiled up at him, very much aware of Malfoy's insistent stare.

 Her heart, she realized was going into an overdrive.

She was sure that she was going to collapse and someone would have to cardio pulmonary resuscitation on her, preferably Malfoy.

Had she just thought that?

She wanted to slap herself.

Jake finally got his food and they left.  Ginny was temporarily relieved.

A/n: I got my first flame..the worst part is that I totally agree with it..my previous chapter was pretty blah..no zest in it..hope this one one has more zest..

i am sorry I am moving at such a meandering pace but that is usually how love proceeds at first..then its get faster and then slower and then faster..that's how real love is..never dying out..slow in the beginning and forever till the end..if it's all fast and quick in the beginning then that is also how it is going to end..

Thanks about your concern about my family but that's just life..i guess… ups and downs all in one

Thank you all soo much for your overwhelming response..

I am not going to nag you all to review cos nowadays I really write for myself..and if guys get happy from my writing as well, then that's good..I will keep writing and making up stories since that is what I have been doing since I was six (I used to use my barbie dolls and create a whole drama).

I am trying to earn some cash on the side..so if you guys have any ideas let me know..any publishing companies or maagzines you know of that would publish  poems or stories for money?

I love all your reviews..and love the way they inspire me..just want you all to know that..

Hope you liked this chapter..

Here's a preview of next chapter:

Ginny did not say anything, making her feel even guiltier; plucking at the grass around her feet.

"What happened?" she asked, her question taking him by surprise, as the answer was so vast.

"What do you mean?"

"Why have you changed?"

SO STAY TUNED