A/N: I'm ba-a-a-ack! And so are Ginny and Draco! . . . No snoggage, but there will be soon, so keep your pants on, folks. It's a segue chapter. The End will be served up shortly, probably within in the next 5 or 6 chapters.

- - - - - - -

Draco was confused beyond all reason. As if reality hadn't already melted his brain into a puddle - here he was at the Quidditch match, staring at Ginny Weasley, who was playing Seeker. Against him. Of all things weird he'd ever seen, this one definitely took the cake. In fact, it took the whole dang pastry shop.

He opened his mouth to demand what was going on, but Madame Hooch's whistle blew shrilly and his legs automatically launched him high off the ground. But instead of looking for the Snitch, he began to look for bright red hair.

- - - - - - -

Ginny was flying very high in the air. It was sure a good thing she didn't have a fear of heights. She suddenly began to doubt herself - did she have a fear of heights? Don't look down, don't look down . . .

She had decided to concentrate on looking for the Snitch, but a certain blonde interrupted her search.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked flatly as he flew parallel to her.

Her grip tightened on her broom handle. "I'm filling in for Harry. Nobody can find him, so Angelina asked me to play Seeker today." All in all a very rational explanation, she thought.

"Is that allowed?"

"I assume so."

"This is very awkward."

"Yes, it is."

Draco said nothing, but began scanning the stadium below her. Ginny, not accustomed to scanning so quickly from so high up, felt lost. She cleared her throat. "Draco, why are you flying next to me?"

He tore his eyes from the ground and looked at her. "Why shouldn't I?"

"I don't know." This was an extremely awkward situation. She was sure they were both rehashing yesterday's events in their heads.

Draco shrugged. "Okay, I won't then." And with that, he did a hairpin U-turn and flew in the opposite direction, leaving her flying slowly by herself.

Ginny became aware of the announcer, a fourth-year who had replaced Lee Jordan. He was a rather glum-sounding boy.

"The Quaffle is passed to Slytherin's Daniel Phut. Ah, I see Slytherin is running the unbeatable Stadler play. Phut passes to Studdart, who puts it in. Ten points to Slytherin. The score now stands 40-30, Slytherin in the lead."

Angelina had told her to grab the Snitch as soon as possible. She wasn't going to pressure Ginny by telling her to catch it only when they were so many points up because, as she told Ginny, Draco had gotten considerably better as a Seeker. She shouldn't also try to perform any fakes or anything fancy because, as Angelina told her bluntly, it probably wouldn't work since Ginny was only the fill-in Seeker. It was best to get the Snitch before he saw it, which Ginny thought was the point of the game in the first place.

Ginny's eyes raked the stadium, but there was still no sign of it. Way up in the cold air, the roar of the stadium was drowned out and she could focus better. She saw some glittering things, but whenever she swooped down, she realized it was someone's watch or glasses and she had to swing back upwards.

She decided to fly lower, the better to see. As soon as she began flying toward the ground, the crowd began to scream louder than usual. Her heart sped up and she whipped her head around to see what everyone was staring at.

Draco was hurtling in the air toward her, his arm outstretched and his eyes glittering. He was about seventy yards away but fast approaching. Ginny saw the Snitch fluttering away from him, and her Seeker instinct kicked in. She leaned forward until she was parallel to her broom handle, and her Nimbus 2001 began to speed toward the Snitch at a speed that nearly peeled her lips away from her teeth.

She was flying head-on toward Draco. Her concern for her personal safety was overridden for her desire to acquire a win for Gryffindor; she imagined this was what Harry felt every game.

She was close now, only about twenty yards away. The Snitch paused in its flight, dead in the middle between them. Both Ginny and Draco tried to speed up.

All of a sudden, Ginny realized how very close she and Draco were getting to each other. His face seemed to loom larger by the millisecond. For a millisecond, their eyes met, but then they both switched their vision back to the Snitch.

As the hundreds of students in the stadium gasped collectively, both Ginny and Draco reached the Snitch at the same time. They both had their right hands outstretched, and the Snitch was caught between them as if in a sandwich for a fraction of a second. Ginny's last memory of the incident was Draco's shocked expression on his usually placid face.

The high impact of their collision immediately knocked them both out cold. It was obvious that the extent of their injuries would be very great. The crowd in the stadium began to roar in alarm when they saw the two Seekers crash together and go limp like rag dolls, tangled in each others' limbs. The tumult only worsened when their brooms fell out from under them, leaving Ginny and Draco to fall.

From the ground, Hermione caught her breath at the sight. Madame Hooch had, earlier in the year, asked her to help supervise the Quidditch games. Having taken in interesting in Healing, Hermione agreed. Now, in an instant, she recognized her responsibility. The two students were completely unconscious and, she realized, obeying the law of gravity by falling through air toward the ground. Hermione could imagine that the second impact with the ground would be lethal.

"Lentuous!" Hermione cried, pointing her wand up at the falling couple. Immediately, they slowed down, allowing the audience to make out the two figures. They floated to the ground and landed gently next to their brooms, which they both had dropped the moment they'd crashed.

"Oh, my God!" Hermione shrieked, sprinting toward them and seeing bright red blood shining on Draco's pale face.

She arrived at the two Seekers a few moments before Dumbledore, Madame Hooch, and Madame Pomfrey arrived. Immediately, both students were placed on stretchers and whizzed to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey pumping oxygen into them by magic. Draco's now-crooked nose wouldn't stop bleeding, and the side of Ginny's face was beginning to turn a horrible shade of black.

- - - - - - -

"I've never seen such a sight in my entire life," declared Angelina.

"Nor I," agreed Giles McGiles. "That must have been the scariest thing I've ever witnessed."

Ron let out a small peep, the most he'd said since he'd seen his sister and the Ferret crash in the air. His eyes were still bugged out - the white showed all the way around his irises. Doug patted Ron's back in a manly yet comforting way.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was trooping down the halls of the castle on their way to the hospital wing, where they were now (finally) allowed to see Ginny. Madame Pomfrey issued a reluctant permissions notice to the team, who had plagued her with owls for the past day.

The fateful Quidditch match had occurred yesterday, and only now could anybody see the two Seekers, and then only with a permission slip. The match had been the only thing the entire school could talk about for the past twenty-four hours - Were Ginny and Malfoy okay? Would they live? More importantly, who caught the Snitch? Who won the game?

Dumbledore was, for once, stumped. He had held three meetings in total with the Quidditch Difficult Decision Deliberation Council (QDDDC), which hadn't met since a game in 1921 when the Snitch flew itself into the open mouth of the Keeper who, understandably very surprised, swallowed it.

That decision, however, had been decided in one meeting. (The Keeper's team had won then.) This time, though, once played back on one student's Omnioculars, it seemed as though both Seekers had caught the Snitch at the exact same time. The score, without the influence of the Snitch, stood at 40-40 when it was caught. Both teams had 3 fouls each. It was quite baffling, really. What to do, what to do.

- - - - - - -

Ginny woke up from a deep, drugged slumber to a loud, sudden creak when the hospital wing's double doors burst open. Her eyes snapped open and brought the ceiling tiles into focus. Angelina's face appeared.

"Ginny! I'm so glad you're awake, I was afraid we'd disturb you!" Angelina cried, gently hugging Ginny lest she injure the poor girl more. The rest of the team crowded around her hospital bed.

"How are you, Gin? Organs still in place? Man, your face looks nasty," Doug offered, peering at the horrible bruising on Ginny's cheek. He eyed the various bandages wrapped around different parts of her.

"Meep," Ron managed to eek out.

"Is Ron . . . okay?" Ginny asked slowly in a dull voice, still under the effects of the magical potions administered to her. Madame Pomfrey had repaired Ginny's broken bones and fractured skull as best she could, all the while asking Ginny if she felt any pain. The truth was, she didn't feel anything, thanks to the numbing potions she'd taken.

"He's, erm, well, he'll be fine once he sees you upright and walking," Giles McGiles said. Ginny smiled at him, waking up a little more. Even though they barely knew each other, he'd been very nice to her, really.

"Yeah, he'll be all right once he sees that rodent beaten to a pulp," said Doug lightly, causing Gin to wake up fully.

"What?"

"Rodent . . . Ferret . . . Malfoy," Doug said slowly, thinking Ginny didn't get it.

"But why?"

"Because he's responsible for you getting put in the Hospital Ward, I guess," Doug shrugged.

Suddenly, a small blur whizzed across the room and attached itself to Ginny, squealing.

"Mmph, ech - Isabelle?" Ginny managed to squeak out while her ribs were being crushed once more.

"They finally let me in!" said Isabelle into Ginny's pillow.

The team helpfully - if a bit forcefully - pulled Isabelle away from Ginny, who was grateful to be able to breathe again

"They finally let me see you, I'd been worrying about you all day long and last night too, you wouldn't believe the rumors I've heard flying around - is it true that you and Malfoy sneaked out of the Hospital Ward last night for butterbeer?"

Ron gave another small noise. Angelina turned to him and, seeing that he was turning blue, surmised that he was choking. She gave him a hearty slap on the back before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Um, no," Ginny replied, feeling very confused.

"Well, what about the double hospital bed you two requested?" Isabelle demanded.

"No!"

"How about the stroll you guys took through the Forbidden Forest this morning, then?"

"Isabelle," said Ginny firmly, trying desperately to ignore the snickers of her teammates, "none of those rumors are true. Unless they say that I've been sleeping through all yesterday and most of today. Could someone please give Ron the Heimlich? He looks like he's having a spot of trouble over there."

Doug turned and gave Ron another slap on the back. Ron had been making strangled noises for the past few moments, the result of choking on himself again in the horror of Isabelle's words.

Isabelle breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, then. If you say that none of the above rumors are true, then I believe you."

Ginny suddenly felt very weary. Her nerves had been worn thin, what with the Draco crisis and the Quidditch match. "Look, guys, it's been great visiting and I'm very glad you all came to see me and I'm sure I'll be out soon and I really appreciate your coming to the hospital wing - "

Isabelle gave a very obvious yawn, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. I just wanted to thank you guys for coming over here, but I'm super tired." She smiled gratefully at them, but no one moved. She sighed and attempted to make her intentions clearer. "So I'd be really thankful for a few quiet moments, so I can get my rest." The team beamed at her, but was still standing at her bedside. Ginny couldn't take it anymore. "So you guys have to leave! Now! Because I'm really, really, really, really tired! Good night! Out! All of you!"

The team and Isabelle finally got the point and trudged out of the hospital wing, leaving Ginny to heave a sigh.

"Jeez, Ginny," said a voice on the other side of the room from behind a blue privacy curtain. "You're really nice to your friends, you know that?"

"Shut up. I'm really tired."

"And why shouldn't you be? You've only slept for oh, twenty hours in the past day or so."

"It's the sleeping potion."

"Why are they giving you sleeping potion and not me?"

"Fine, I lied. I don't know why I'm tired, maybe because I look like I've been beat up by fifty Crabbes and Goyles?"

On the other side of the curtain, Draco had taken on a surprised expression, even though she couldn't see it. "You, a liar?" He grinned to himself, feeling uncommonly good-natured after a nice, long nap (which was sadly interrupted by the arrival of the team). Then he realized that grinning hurt his broken nose, so he stopped. His face was wrapped in bandages; his nose had been instantly broken when he crashed into Ginny, and a fragment of bone had pierced some capillaries in his face, causing the massive bleeding. Madame Pomfrey had told him that had the bone fragment gone any further, it would have gone into his brain and he'd've been a goner for sure. Draco had dismissed this near-death experience with a wave of his hand and had asked her worriedly if his nose would ever be straight again.

Ginny clicked her tongue. "You know, you've been sleeping a lot too. You've got no right to critique my sleeping habits when you're over there drooling and laughing in your sleep." She began to feel a little better, though still tired and achy. She wasn't sure if she liked talking with Draco like this. They'd had a few short conversations, all the while talking as if they were merely acquaintances who happened to be in a hospital wing together.

" . . . I laugh in my sleep?"

"Giggle, more like. Kind of like - eeee-hee-hee-hee!" Ginny demonstrated in a high-pitched voice.

" . . . You are a liar after all."

"Good, we agree on that point. I'm going to sleep." Ginny shut her eyes pointedly, although he couldn't see.

"Do I really laugh in my sleep?"

"Good night. I am going to sleep whether you like it or not." Ginny said firmly.

"Seriously though, how can you sleep any more?"

No answer. Draco sighed and gazed at the ceiling.

They'd been having little spats like this whenever they were both awake. Well, they weren't always spats, but they were conversations. The slightly sadistic side of him came out when he provoked her like that; he found it kind of invigorating, making her angry, or at least irked. With the privacy curtain between them, it didn't really feel like Draco was talking to the girl that he'd vowed to stay away from. He guessed it was because he couldn't see her.

Draco had asked for a privacy curtain, uncertain that he could look at Ginny in a bed, across the room from him at that, without being drawn to her again. Ginny appreciated this and it indeed kept them from anything except talking.

- - - - - - -

Ginny was just beginning to fall asleep when the hospital wing's double doors creaked open mercilessly once more.

"What now!" she huffed, refusing to open her eyes.

"Oh - ah, perhaps another time then," said Dumbledore's amused voice.

Her eyes flew open. "Professor! I'm sorry, I thought you were one of my annoying friends - "

"It's quite all right, Ginny, try to calm down or else Madame Pomfrey will be after my throat, or at least the beard anyway. So, how are the two Seekers? Is Draco awake?"

Draco reluctantly pulled back the privacy curtain to see Dumbledore sitting in one of the visitor chairs at the foot of Ginny's bed. Draco sighed. "We're fine, Professor."

"Good, good . . . All right, I know you're both anxious to hear about the match's outcome. I've just met with the QDDDC again, and we've decided that both teams won the match."

"Both?" Draco and Ginny spluttered in unison.

"Both," Dumbledore confirmed. "You both caught the Snitch at the same exact same time with the same exact number of points and fouls for each team. There's really no way around this . . . Unless you wish to discount the match entirely and remain on the same footing with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?"

"No, no," Ginny said hurriedly. "That's fine, we both win, whatever. But more importantly - when I can I go to class?"

Draco snickered at the sight of Ginny sucking up.

Dumbledore offered them a phony smile. "Once you're both healed completely, which should be around dinnertime. I trust Madame Pomfrey completely to take care of you." He stood up. "Well, it seems as though Miss Weasley wants to rest, so I'll be leaving you two to enjoy each other's company."

"Both teams won?" Draco muttered dubiously.

"Enjoy each others' company?" Ginny said doubtfully.

Draco's eyes left Dumbledore's retreating back and settled on Ginny's. He willed himself to stay put in his bed. It was difficult, though. He felt a definite pain in his chest when he looked at her; she was so injured and broken. It was all he could do to stay where he was and not envelop her in a gentle embrace. "So, Ginny."

Ginny sighed. "Can we just not talk for a while? Things have been a little weird lately where you're concerned."

Draco shrugged. "Look, let's just let it go, 'kay? I myself took it as a life lesson and moved on." He cracked a small grin, trying to pass himself off as casual (without re-breaking his nose). He had sworn to himself not to obsess over her. It worked sometimes. Mabel's advice was still in the back of his head, and he decided to relax about life in general.

Ginny's face contorted like she was crying, but no tears slid out of her eyes. "Draco, why are we pretending like it never happened?" she said in a whisper, finally reaching the edge of her emotional plateau.

Surprised slightly by her sudden drama, his smile faded and he dropped his eyes to his bedspread. "Because it's easier this way," he said honestly in a low voice.

"Sometimes the easiest thing . . . is the worst thing," Ginny said brokenly. "I can't stand lying here bickering with you when we both know we're just pretending. I don't care that we're stuck together right now in here. The least you can do is be quiet or take me seriously or - "

"Ginny, just relax, okay?" said Draco in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "You take life so damn seriously. Just loosen up, okay? I was trying to be nice, you know? Joke around a little or whatever. Sorry if I hurt you . . . I mean I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry for that, but I don't know how you want me to act. I mean we're just talking . . . "

Ginny looked at her feet, processing Draco's words.

Draco continued on. "And I'm not 'pretending like it never happened', I'm just - not referring to it. C'mon, Ginny, I know I'm not being horrible to you. I'm being civil, I know it." He didn't know why he was suddenly on the defensive. He switched tactics. "And anyway, like I said, just learn to relax. Look at where it got us when we tried taking life seriously." He gestured vaguely around the hospital wing.

Ginny gave a tiny smile. "It is kind of funny when you think about it," she said. "Us colliding like that." She blinked, then after a moment's pause, asked, "Hey, where's Harry, anyway? This whole situation is entirely his fault. I haven't seen him in - "

The double doors had no time to creak because they flew open so quickly. It took a second to recognize who had run into the room, panicked - Cho Chang!

She was sweating and gasping for breath. She skidded to a stop, looking around wildly. "Hide me!" she hissed when she saw Ginny and Malfoy.

"Cho, what are you - "

"Just hide me, quick!" Cho said in a terrified voice. She glanced over her shoulder down the hall as if she were being chased.

Draco frowned. "There's nowhere to - "

Cho cut him off by jumping onto his bed, then yanking around the privacy curtains until they were hidden completely. "Ginny, cover for me," Cho begged as she heard rapid footsteps approaching the Ward.

Draco looked up at Cho in astonishment. Sensing her panic, he whispered calmly, "What is going on?"

She shook her head at him and put a hand over his mouth. Draco tasted sweat and wrinkled his nose (ouch). He was just about to shove open the privacy curtains until he heard a creepy-sounding voice -

"Cho? Come out, come out, wherever you are . . . Ha, ha . . . "

It was Harry.

- - - - - - -

A/N: Scary Harry!! I realized I'd quite forgotten about him, so he's back in the picture now. This story is quite confusing to me; is it to you? Oh, well, as long as Ginny and Draco get together in the end.

Yes, I know the crashing thing may have been what you expected. At first I was going to have them both catch the Snitch but become unable to pull their Snitch-catching hands apart, but . . . that was weird, even if I'd worked in some really funny events, if I say so myself. So, collision it is. And it puts them both very neatly in the same hospital room - alone together! ("Alone together" = oxymoron, but whatever.)

Wow!! When I came home from Hawaii I had 147 e-mails in my inbox . . . OK, mostly spam, but a lot of FanFiction review alerts! I was sooo happy.

Attention all who reviewed me: You all are now officially my best friends. Group hug!

Replies to Reviwers:

Luna Gypsy: Yeah, I didn't want Ginny to win either. But if Draco won, it would be kind of a lame match. So I thought, hey - why don't they BOTH win? ;) And they did. (In more ways than one! Bwahahaha . . . oh. Sorry.)

Daphne-Enchanted: Hah, I do the "dun dun dunnnn" thing too. Life is just so much better with theme music, don't you think?

Rednight-Rider: . . . What? Who's going to kill and kill and kill no more? You've got me a little confuzzled . . . But this story is supposed to be a Romance/Humor story, so it's fine if you think it's funny. In fact it's great.

Storymind: Actually, McGonagoll's name is Minerva. And I heard it through the grapevine that JKR mentions Ginny's full name on her website ), so I checked it out and she does - it's Ginevra. (Not GineRVA, but GineVRA.) I think that, long ago, somebody at FanFiction decided Ginny would be called Virginia, and it just caught on and suddenly all Ginny stories call her that. So, let's spread the truth! Hoo yeah! Amen brothah! . . . Ahem. But thanks for keeping me on my toes! And for keeping up with my story! You rock.

katie: Ha, ha, you kind of scared me into cranking this one out ASAP. ;) Just don't come after me when I end this story for good, mmkay? Thanks bunches for making me feel needed! :P

Toby Keith Fanatic: Thanks for your review! This may or may not be a stupid question, but who is Toby Keith? He sounds like a country singer. I suppose I could look it up myself but I'll leave it to you to tell me.

Jeeths: I like your username. Thank you for reviewing me and bolstering my ego! ;)

Professor D. S. Silvers: I'm so happy that I'm on your faves list! Hey, when I decide to get off my lazy butt and update Blizzard, I'll probably be taking up your beta offer, 'kay? I've never been beta'd before, so I'm excited!

Creatiewritter: I'm assuming you're the same as Creativewritter. (You know it's writer not writter, right? OK good, just checking.) Aww, thanks for the compliments! I love it when people are specific in their reviews. Yeah, I decided Draco was being a fairly flat character, so I puffed him up a little in this chapter and also in the previous ones, which I went back through and slightly edited. Aaaanyway, thanks!

FemmeDraconis: OK, I admit it, the "Merry Christmas!" thing keeps me laughing too! Is it bad etiquette to laugh at your own jokes? Oh, well. Thanks for your review!!

kittybro: If I keep going where I'm going with Harry, you might be hating him even more. Or feeling sorry for poor, misled Harry. (Hint, hint.) But yes, Ginny and Draco have lots of problems in their lives, mostly caused by themselves (perhaps the author [yours truly] is responsible for some, too . . . hmm). Well, hopefully some of those problems will be resolved by the time the story ends! Wah, I have to think of a good ending chapter that ties up all the knots. I'm horrible at resolutions, so everybuddy wish me luck!

Thank you everyone! You made my month. ;) Please continue to review - your input makes a difference! Lots of love the Snatcher of Toast.