Ginny gasped and stood up as well, snatching her cloak from the ground. Her ears were ringing as she tried to sort out what had just happened.
"Lumos," said the other person, who, as Ginny reasoned correctly, was not Harry Potter. A blinding light hit her full in the face. He swore.
Ginny blinked and gazed in confusion and horror at none other than Draco Malfoy. His face held the same expression that hers did.
"No," she breathed. "You mean - all the time, you were - I was - "
Both of their faces took on a completely sickened look and two voices retched, "Oh, that's disgusting!"
Ginny felt her stomach churn, and an angry flush crept up into her face. "What, did you follow me, Malfoy?" she spat. "Couldn't get enough of me in Potions, could you?"
"Don't be stupid," Malfoy growled. "If I'd have known that I was snogging a Weasley I'd have Avada Kedavra'd myself right then. You followed me, Weasel, didn't you? Don't lie, Weasel, that's a sin." He glared at her, his gray eyes glinting maliciously. Ginny thought she saw a small spark of fear behind his anger.
"Carry on if you want to kill yourself, see if I mind," she hissed, narrowing her eyes in fury. "I didn't follow you. Like I would want to. What are you doing in here, anyway? Shouldn't you be locked up in a cage somewhere?"
Malfoy's lip curled and he broke his glare to grab his cloak and push angrily out the door. Ginny followed, wand out, smoothing her hair in case it was messed up, which would have been extremely embarrassing. "I asked you, what are you - "
Outside the door, in front of Malfoy, stood Harry and Cho Chang, both looking extremely confused and embarrassed. No one said anything until Malfoy offered his usual scathing comments.
"Well, well, well," Malfoy sneered as he observed the situation. "It seems we've had a little mix-up, didn't we."
Ginny's eyes met Harry's, and he took her hand.
"But - how?" Cho asked, looking confused and annoyed. She stood beside Malfoy so the two couples faced each other. "Draco, weren't you supposed to meet me in the fifth classroom from Boris?"
"Hmm," said Malfoy, "seems Scarhead and I can't count, can we?"
Four pairs of eyes counted the doors down from the statue. Harry cursed under his breath and gave Cho a very dark look. Ever since their dating fiasco - or fiascos, really, there were more than one - they'd had pretty hard feelings toward each other. Harry turned his glare on Malfoy. "You apologize to Ginny, right now." Ginny felt a warm rush of gratitude toward her boyfriend.
"It's not my fault she went and snogged me," Malfoy growled, his voice raising in anger.
"Need I remind you that you snogged right back, Ferret?" Ginny exclaimed, practically spitting out her last word.
"What," said a strict, shocked voice from Ginny's left, "is the meaning of this? Four students out of bed in one night! It is half past one, need I remind you what time you were to be in bed?" Professor McGonagoll stared wide-eyed at them. "Potter, Malfoy, I would have expected you to have learned this in your first year! I trust you remember what an unpleasant experience it was?"
Angry silence met her words. They knew that if they explained what they'd been doing they'd be in even deeper trouble.
"Detention!" the Professor nearly yelled at them. "All of you! Follow me to my office right this minute." She indeed led them furiously to her office, where they stood guiltily and slightly disgusted, and also apprehensive.
"Right. Your detention will be tomorrow night with Argus Filch. Why don't we take a trip down memory lane," McGonagoll said, her lips narrowing, "and do detention in the Forbidden Forest?"
All four students tried to mask their fright. Ginny cursed Malfoy in her mind, and tried not to blame Harry for counting wrong. Well, she thought, trying to find a bright spot, at least we haven't gotten any house points taken away.
"A hundred house points apiece you've cost your houses," McGonagoll informed them. "And be glad it's not worse." Ginny's stomach dropped. A hundred? Being out of bed couldn't be worth that much. She tried desperately not to imagine her fellow Gryffindor's faces when they noticed how much had disappeared from their hourglass. Two hundred from Gryffindor! That would take away almost everything they had won in the last Quidditch match against Hufflepuff.
Harry left McGonagoll's office in a hurry, flashing everyone an extremely angry look. Ginny almost ran out after him, but figured he'd lash out at her, too. She'd never been the victim of one of his anger fits and didn't intend to be one right now. Malfoy pushed past her and walked quickly out the door of the office, his black cloak billowing behind him. Cho and Ginny narrowed their eyes at each other, then went separate directions from the door of McGonagoll's office.
When Ginny entered the common room, she didn't find Harry. She suspected he had taken his Invisibility Cloak and gone somewhere private to sort out his thoughts. Ginny trudged up the stairs to her dormitory, and, careful not to wake anyone, collapsed on her bed. Something sharp stabbed into her back, and she bit back a scream before realizing it was just the corner of her Transfiguration book. Sighing, she set her bookbag on the ground and lay on her bed without even taking off her shoes.
Ginny couldn't sleep. She had kissed Malfoy! The Ferret! If she ever hated anyone, it was him. Swaggering around the castle like he owned it, like he owned everyone, the arrogant jerk. But then she remembered the feel of his kisses, how she could sense his loneliness and his misery. She knew about his home life; Bill had told her once. About his negligent father and how cruelly Malfoy was constantly treated. His kisses had been gentle, tender, and Ginny suddenly chastised herself for replaying them in her mind. He's the Ferret! He could never compare to Harry, never compare to The Boy Who Lived. She finally fell asleep feeling slightly guilty.
Harry couldn't sleep. He'd certainly stopped liking Cho after their dating disasters last year - he shuddered at the thought of them - but he still couldn't erase the memory her rough, passionate kisses in the quiet classroom. Ginny was always so gentle and timid. But how could he have not noticed that this was not Ginny? For one thing, their hair had completely different textures, and Harry was sure he'd run his hands through Cho's thick, straight tresses. Could it be that he still had feelings for Cho? No, he told himself sternly. I love Ginny, not Cho. Ginny's my girlfriend, not Cho. Any feelings I felt for Cho an hour ago were completely physical. He finally fell asleep feeling guilty and confused, and angry at Malfoy for snogging his girlfriend.
Draco couldn't sleep. He had finally opened up an hour ago, showing Cho his true feelings, admitting his love for her. And his secret girlfriend had not been there - it was the Weasel instead! He cringed. He'd shown her his vulnerable side, his gentle side, the side he tried to hide [rhymes!]. And he'd felt acceptance, love, security from her kisses . . . and it was the Weasel all along! He made himself wince, but he couldn't hide from the emotions he felt. Cho had never kissed him like that before; she'd always been a bit rebellious, but never truly passionate. Maybe she was only snogging him just to spite Harry. He knew about their dating adventures last year - who didn't? But the Weasel . . . He finally fell asleep feeling guilty for feeling jealous of Scarhead.
Cho fell asleep right away. She was exhausted after all that kissing.
