"Ron!" Hermione called out as soon as she reached the portrait hole. "Ron, come quick, Harry's been hurt!"

Ron's head popped out of his dormitory door. "Say what, now?"

"Harry's got a broken nose or something! And I ran into Ginny holding hands with Malfoy!"

"What!!"

"I know! I don't know what's going on, but Harry has been acting weird lately."

"Yeah," Ron panted, having just flown down a flight of steps. "Where is he, hospital wing?"

"I think so. Let's go."

Hermione and Ron ran to the hospital wing, arriving red-faced and out of breath. They stepped tentatively inside; Madame Pomfrey wasn't there. In the corner of the room, they saw a bed with a curtain drawn all the way around it.

Ron rushed over and ripped open the curtain. "Heavens to Mercatroid!" he gasped, a favorite expression of his Mum's popping out of his mouth. Harry had a black eye, a bandage around his nose, and blood matted in his messy hair. He was in a deep sleep with his mouth open; his face looked a little lopsided. A small spit bubble glistened on the tip of his tongue.

"Who did this?" Ron hissed.

"I think Malfoy had some part in it," Hermione said softly, watching Ron out of the corner of her eye. "But I don't know," she said quickly, seeing Ron tense up. "Ginny wouldn't tell me anything. She was acting weird, too. I have absolutely no idea what's been going on the past few weeks." She sighed.

"I know, me either. What with Harry missing from the match and everything. I kept meaning to ask him why he kept looking so weird and, like, desperate but I guess I was too wrapped up in Quidditch," said Ron sadly. "We're not very good friends, are we?"

"On the contrary," said a kind voice from behind them, "not everyone would rush to Harry's bedside the moment they hear he's got a broken nose."

"Professor!" Hermione exclaimed. "Do you know what happened?"

Dumbledore took off his spectacles and cleaned them on his robes. "It's all very complicated. I'm not sure how much Harry or Ginny has told you two about, ah, recent events . . . " He raised his eyebrows.

"Next to nothing," Ron muttered, running a hand through his bright red hair.

"Ah. Well, perhaps I'd better break the news to you. Harry's been pining for Cho, under the impression that he had been put under a love spell, only it was fake. Do you see?"

Hermione frowned. "Cho? Fake love spell? . . . And that got him beaten up?"

"I'm getting there. He, ah, began to take advantage of Cho in this hospital wing earlier today, but Mr. Malfoy jumped in and stopped him." He put his spectacles back onto his face. "And you'll have to ask Ginny about the situation between her and Draco, as I'm not totally clear on how that came about."

"There's a - situation?" Ron choked, paling.

Harry stirred, and Dumbledore looked at him keenly. "Perhaps Harry can see you two later? I need to talk with him," he said.

"Okay," said Hermione obediently, leading Ron forcefully out of the hospital wing.

Meanwhile, Ginny and Draco were walking back through the castle. She leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked.

"That was fun," she said, smiling.

"We definitely need to do that more often," agreed Draco. "If I live to see another day. I'll be honest, the prospect of, uh, your brother quite terrifies me."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll butter him up. It's not any of his business anyway; it's what I want."

"Are you totally sure?" Draco asked.

"Stop sounding insecure," Ginny admonished. "Yes, I'm sure." She wasn't sure how exactly they both came about to be in each other's arms like this, but she wasn't about to ask questions. She figured it had something to do with the all the excitement in the hospital wing. Whatever it was, both she and Draco had realized that they wanted to be with each other. And so here they were.

"Just checking," Draco shrugged. He began to turn into a hallway on the left, but Ginny was turning right. This was brought to their attention because their hands were still clasped.

"Oof!" yelped Ginny, her shoulder nearly popping out of its socket.

"Oh, sorry," said Draco. "Um, I was going that way . . . " He pointed vaguely to the hallway.

"And Gryffindor's to the right," countered Ginny.

Draco smirked. "Is that an invitation?"

Ginny pushed him playfully. "You wish. But I really should get to bed. I'll bet that Hermione and Ron went and saw Harry in the hospital wing already, so . . . I've got some explaining to do."

He looked reluctant to part, but he touched her face gently. "Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"For sure," said Ginny, placing her hand over the one he had against her cheek. "In Potions, right?"

"More like in the nearest broom closet," said Draco suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

She laughed and hit his arm playfully. "Oh, if you insist. Bye, Draco." She stood on tiptoe and kissed him once more. "And thanks for . . . well, you know."

He kissed her once more, gently. "Thank you," he said huskily, then went down the hall toward the Slytherin common room.

She touched her lips, heart fluttering. Everything seemed to come upon her so quickly and magically. She somehow managed to find her common room, thankful that no one stopped her on the way. She made it through the portrait hole right on time; she would lose no house points this time.

As soon as her foot hit the carpet of the common room, two freckly arms took hold of her shoulders. "What. Happened. Tonight." A few other people who were quietly doing their homework turned to look at him, slightly concerned for Ginny.

"Ron!" Ginny squealed, her thoughts about Draco broken rudely. "Let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me what happened tonight!"

She wrenched herself out of his grasp. He stood fuming at her, his face an ugly shade of red. "Fine," she said. "Harry went bonkers." She turned to go up to her dormitory, but he stopped her again.

"Ginny," he said in a much nicer tone in an attempt to coax her into telling him what went on. "Please."

She sighed and indulged him, though skipping the more private details of her classroom snogfest with Draco. She was careful to speak in a low voice, lest anyone else hear. "And so that's what happened. Am I excused, Mum?"

Ron sank into the couch before the fireplace, rubbing his eyes furiously. "I can't believe Harry would just - attack Cho of his own free will. I mean . . . this is Harry we're talking about." He looked up at her, a glimmer of hope on his face. "Suppose he really was under a love spell? Or the Imperious curse? Maybe Cho has something You-Know-Who needs! I know he's been having bad dreams lately and stuff - "

"Ron, knock it off," came a voice from upstairs. "Let Gin go to bed. Nobody needs your crackpot theories. She's been through rather a lot, wouldn't you say?" Hermione was looking down upon them sternly.

Ron shrugged. "Fine. But, Ginny - are you sure you know what you're doing with Malfoy? I mean, come on. It's Malfoy we're talking about here . . . You know, evil pureblood Nazi Malfoy?"

She nodded, yawning obviously. "Yes, Ron, I know what I'm getting myself into. Good night." She dragged her feet up the stairs, knowing she was in for another cross-examination from Isabelle.

"Iz?" she asked wearily as she opened the door.

Isabelle hopped off her bed and hugged her tightly. "Oh, you poor, poor girl."

"What?" Ginny asked incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

Isabelle held her at arm's length with a pitying look on her face. "I heard everything you told Ron." She drew an Extendable Ear from her pocket.

"Hey!" cried Ginny. "That's mine!"

"I know it is, and it came in handy. I just . . . oh, you poor girl. You need some sleep after all that excitement."

Ginny docilely let Isabelle tuck her in. "Thanks, Izzy. You're my BFF."

"I know," said Isabelle. "When the other girls come in I'll tell them to leave you alone. Rumors are spreading like wildfire, you know. I'd say about half of them are true, but I'll have you know, not everyone believes you're, you know, with Malfoy."

"Call him Draco."

"Yeah, yeah . . . " They drifted off into a comfortable silence.

Ginny's eyelids grew altogether too heavy for her, and she fell into a deep, deep sleep. By the goofy smile on Ginny's face, Isabelle could guess whom Ginny was dreaming about.

Draco slipped into the Slytherin common room after a lengthy shower in the Prefects' bathroom. The events of the day had caught up to him and he felt extraordinarily exhausted. He let out a long, slow breath.

"Malfoy?" came a grunt from one of the green couches. It was Goyle.

"What," Draco bit out, eager to relax in his bed in the dormitory. He began to climb the stairs, but Goyle grunted again.

"Wait, you got an owl."

"A what?"

"Ow-wul. This came for you, I've been keeping it safe for about half an hour now." Goyle heaved himself off the couch and extended his grubby hand towards Draco. An envelope was clutched in it.

Draco wrinkled his nose as he took the crumpled envelope from Goyle. It was moist with sweat and smelled . . . questionable. "Fine, thanks, good night," he muttered, practically running away from his minion into his dormitory.

Safe on his bed, the curtains drawn, he ripped it open. It was a letter from his father.

Draco -

I've just found out from the prison guard who heard it from his supervisor who is friends with a potions vendor whose cousin is Severus Snape and apparently Harry Potter has gone entirely mad! Insane! I thought I'd let you know; you enjoy this kind of thing. Have fun torturing that Weasley boy and girl about it, along with the Mudblood.

Sincerely

Lucius

PS) I've been talking with Goyle's father about a possible summer job at his brother's music store. How does that sound, son?

Draco sighed. His father was writing from Azkaban, where he was to be kept until his trial in May. Since he'd been imprisoned, he'd tried to get out on good behavior. One of his tactics was writing friendly little father-son notes to Draco, who saw through his father's plan like it was a pane of glass.

He rolled his eyes. Tossing it aside, he lay back on his bed and stared up at the top of his bed canopy. He closed his eyes and fell asleep smiling, thinking about Ginny and the special moments they'd shared. Even if they disagreed about some things - even if people didn't approve of their being a couple - he knew she would always be The One for him. He could feel it in the marrow of his bones.

The next day when Ginny woke up, she frowned. Something wasn't quite right . . . She sat up in bed, listening carefully. She heard some sort of buzzing sound.

"Isabelle?" she asked, peering out of her bed curtains. The room was empty. She bit her lip, feeling a sense of foreboding. Where was everyone? It was only six thirty in the morning on Monday. Usually everyone was fast asleep right now.

She hopped out of bed and cautiously opened the door of her dormitory. The buzzing immediately resolved itself - it was merely the entire house of Gryffindor packed in the Common Room. It seemed as though everyone was talking.

"Ginny!" someone called out. It was Isabelle. She was motioning for Ginny to come down.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at her as she made her way down the staircase in her pajamas, still frowning. "What's going on?"

"Harry's been sent to St. Mungo's!"

"He's gone insane!"

"What happened last night?"

All sorts of questions were thrown her way. She yelped and looked to Isabelle for help. Isabelle leaned over and whispered in her ear -

"Professor McGonagoll told us that Harry was taken to St. Mungo's. I guess when Dumbledore talked to him last night he felt concerned for Harry's mental health or something, so he's gone. And, um . . . McGonagoll wouldn't tell us anything else. And everyone here assumes you know everything." She stepped back apologetically. "I tried to calm them down but no such luck."

Ginny looked around the common room at the dozens of faces looking her way. They waited with baited breath for her to speak.

"Look," she said finally. "Harry's business is Harry's business. It's not fair to him for me to divulge the events of yesterday. I can only hope that the other people who were involved offer Harry the same courtesy."

Everyone groaned. Doug huffed, "That's what Ron and Hermione said, too."

"Where is Ron?" Ginny asked, suddenly remembering she had a brother.

"Great Hall," Doug replied. "Breakfast time." He yawned. "Blimey, I'm feeling peckish as well. Care to join me, Ginny?"

She paused. Was he flirting with her or just being a good friend? She was suddenly unsure of his intentions. She'd never been in this sort of situation when she was with Harry . . . But now that she was with Draco, she felt a keen sense of being "taken". What do I say? "Um, yeah, Iz and I will come down after we get dressed," she answered. She knew Isabelle wouldn't mind.

"Mmkay." Doug plopped himself into a squashy armchair, eyeing Crookshanks, who meowed at his feet.

Ginny hooked arms with Isabelle and dragged her upstairs. Once safe and alone inside their dormitory, Ginny turned to her best friend worriedly. "Do you think Doug was flirting with me?"

Isabelle blinked. "What?"

"When he asked me to breakfast. Was he flirting with me?"

"No, he was being a friendly guy. Why are you so paranoid, Gin? Or is it that you have secret feelings for Doug?" she teased.

"No!" Ginny laughed, bapping the back of Isabelle's head in retaliation. "Fine, fine, let's go to breakfast with the platonic Doug then."

"That's more like it. So, Gin, what's the deal with Draco?"

"What deal?"

"I mean, are you two going to eat breakfast together or just stare at each other across the Great Hall? And is he going to take you to your classes? And when are you going to reveal to the rest of Hogwarts that you're dating Hogwarts' resident bully?" She looked expectantly at Ginny, whose eyes had doubled in size.

"Gee, I never . . . I never thought about any of that until just now," she said. "You're right. How am I going to tell everyone? Without getting Draco beaten up?"

Isabelle took on an expression of wisdom. "You have to think about these things before you indulge yourself in a relationship with a Slytherin, Ginevra dear."

Ginny sighed and pulled on jeans and a Weird Sisters T-shirt. Shrugging on her robe, she grinned. "I think we'll just wing it," she informed Isabelle, who was holding open the door. "I mean it can't be that hard, can it? I don't really care what random people think about Draco and me. Besides people like you and Ron and Doug and stuff."

"What about me, now?" Doug's voice called from downstairs. "I hear you talking about me!"

"Oh, nothing," said Ginny, smiling.

"Are you - gasp - gossiping, Ginny and Isabelle?" Doug joked, heaving himself out of the chair and holding open the portrait hole for the girls.

"Of course not. Girls? Gossip? The very thought," said Isabelle, mock-haughtily.

Ginny laughed and relaxed. She knew she'd be bombarded with questions and snide comments from the student population all day today, but for now, she'd just eat waffles with two of her good friends.

A mere five minutes later, all thoughts of relaxation had fled her mind. Random first-years she'd never noticed before came up to her asking, "Is it true Harry's gone insane?" Professor Flitwick even approached her, inquiring if she thought his condition was "life-threatening".

"Merlin, Gin, maybe you ought to wear a sign around your head or something," Doug suggested after he shooed off the fiftieth person. Who knew so many people were up so early in the morning? The sun had barely risen, for crying out loud.

"Yeah, like . . . 'We broke up weeks ago, don't even think about it'," Isabelle offered. "Or maybe, 'Yes! Harry's insane! That's why I'm dating Malfoy!' "

"Ha, ha, that's a good one," Doug snorted.

Isabelle opened her mouth to correct him, but Ginny elbowed her in the side. She would do this herself. "It's not a joke, you know," she said, trying to sound casual. "I really am with him."

Doug stopped outside the Great Hall's doors, shock written all over his face. "You're not serious, are you?"

Ginny nodded, feeling a little apologetic. "Yeah, I am."

He looked away slowly. "But . . . I mean you don't really hang out with him . . . you guys have always been kind of, you know, enemies, right?"

She smiled. "We got past that. Look, don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing and Isabelle's already lectured me about every possible thing. I'm, um, sorry it's such a shock to you, but it's true." She hoped she wasn't breaking Doug's heart if he had some secret crush on her, or something.

"Mmm, smell them waffles!" Isabelle interjected forcefully, taking both Ginny and Doug by their wrists and dragging them into the nearly-empty Great Hall. "Yummy!"

Doug frowned as Isabelle forced him to sit down. "That's so weird, though. I didn't even know you knew him. You know, you have a very complicated love life." He smirked. "Is that why Harry's gone mad? Because he found out about Malfoy?"

Ginny cut him a look. "No, he's just - it's just the pressure of being, you know, Harry Potter. Look, can I just eat breakfast please? Without being interrogated by my friends? Random strangers are bad enough."

He shrugged. "Okay, fine. Pass the waffle plate, please. Ooh, Mickey-shaped pancakes, my favorite!"

Isabelle squealed. "Me too! I love those. Especially when they've got chocolate chips in them."

"Do you ever put chocolate chips on the face for eyes and a nose?" Doug asked, grinning.

"I definitely do!" Isabelle laughed. "And like, syrup lines for the whiskers!"

"Oh, my gosh, I thought I was the only one who did that!" Doug exclaimed, adding said syrup whiskers to his mouse pancake.

"Wait, no, you have to make them straight, you dork. Mice don't have curly whiskers," Isabelle admonished.

"They so do. Jeez, Isabelle, what kind of mice do you hang out with? They totally have curly whiskers." He made his point by adding a curly flourish to the last whisker on his mouse pancake.

Ginny observed the pancake mayhem with interest, sitting across the table from Isabelle and Doug. They look cute together, she thought to herself, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Hey, when you two are done with your, um, mouse whiskers, could you pass the syrup please?" Ginny asked.

They both looked up from their pancake creations as if they'd forgotten Ginny was there. "Oh, sure," said Isabelle. She looked at Ginny's plate. "No Mickey Mouse pancake? What is this? You have to have one."

"No, I really don't," said Ginny. "A waffle's fine for me."

"Waffles are boring," Doug declared. He nevertheless surrendered the syrup. "But you are what you eat, I guess." He winked.

Ginny smirked, pouring the syrup into little puddles in the valleys of her waffle. "So that means you two are mice with syrup all over your faces?"

"You got a problem with that?" Isabelle said in a serious voice.

"You wanna take it outside, girl?" Ginny said, trying to sound tough.

"What, are we from the ghetto now?" Doug snorted. "The Hogwarts ghetto?"

"Hells y - " Ginny began, but the words stopped suddenly in her throat. She was immediately transported out of Breakfast Foods World at the sight of Draco walking through the double doors. He was alone and looked exhausted. He made a beeline for the Slytherin table, where he partook of the Mickey Mouse pancakes.

"Oh, my Lord," Isabelle breathed. "He does the whiskers thing too!"

"No way," Doug gasped. "I never thought I'd say this, but . . . He must be an okay guy."

"Of course he's okay," Ginny interjected. "I'm gonna go sit by him."

"Are you allowed to?" asked Isabelle, a small bulge in her cheek where she'd temporarily stored a bite of pancake.

"We'll find out," Ginny said bravely. She picked up her plate and briskly walked toward the Slytherin table, trying to balance her fork and knife on the edge of her plate.

"Hi, Draco," she said brightly, sitting across the table from him.

He jumped slightly. "Mern'n!" he said through a mouthful of pancake. He swallowed. "I mean, good morning. You're up early."

Ginny giggled and poured herself an orange juice. "So are you. Juice?" She offered him the pitcher.

"Nah, I can't stand pulp. Gawd, I'm tired." He rubbed his bloodshot eyes furiously.

"Why? Up all night worrying about Harry?" she teased.

His face brightened. "I've thought up a new nickname for him - the Mad Potter. You know, like the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Very clever, Draco Malfoy. You going to make a theme song now? Hand out badges?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know if you've noticed, but I'm rather fond of badges."

"I've noticed. But look . . . let's try to not draw attention to Harry, or to ourselves. I had to bring down my bodyguards to fend off all the first-years."

"Bodyguards? What, your girlfriend and - and the guy who's like, decorating his pancakes?" Draco frowned, staring at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, him. You know, I think I'm the only person at Hogwarts who doesn't decorate their Mickey Mouse pancakes," Ginny observed, staring at Draco's plate.

He blushed a bit. "Old habits die hard."

"Right. So, am I allowed to sit here at your table?" She looked around for a teacher, but it was empty this early in the morning.

Draco shrugged. "Dunno. Seems like if you weren't, the bench would like, bite you or something." He slouched over his plate, methodically cutting his pancake into small, perfect squares.

Ginny nodded thoughtfully, staring at Draco's face. She couldn't help it. She thought he was beautiful. Even with messy bed-head hair and a bit of syrup on his bottom lip. Ginny licked her own lips unconsciously.

"So, we've got detention tonight. Did you get the owl this morning?" Draco asked, looking up at her through his ruffled hair.

Ginny shook her head. "No. This morning I was practically forced to do a Q and A with the entire Gryffindor house. McGonagoll told everyone Harry was at St. Mungo's, and chaos ensued. I'm contemplating not going to class today."

Draco paused in his pancake-eating reverie. "You know . . . " He grinned at her. "That could actually be quite fun." He cocked an eyebrow.

Ginny giggled. "Are we on, then?"

Draco spontaneously did a small victory dance in his seat. "Whoo! We're playin' hooky today!"

Ginny laughed loudly. "Shh! They'll hear you!"

He waved a hand carelessly. "I don't care. Hey, we can sneak around in my invisibility cloak!"

"You have one of those?"

"They're not that rare. Potter's isn't the only one, you know." His eyes flashed mischievously. "This could be very, very fun."

Ginny smiled back. "And we get to escape people's questions and stuff."

"That's the general idea," said Draco, shoving the last of his pancake into his mouth. "Vamanos!" He stood up.

"Since when were you a Spanish speaker?" Ginny asked, standing up as well. "If that is indeed Spanish?"

Draco took on a wise look. "I have a facility for languages. Well, that's actually the only Spanish word I know besides, like, 'amigo'. Hey, you wanna tell your friends to tell everyone you're sick?"

"Good idea." She approached the Gryffindor table once more, raising her eyebrows. No less than seven plates were lined up, each with a differently decorated Mickey Mouse pancake on it. Isabelle and Doug were crouched over an eighth plate, giggling and arranging chocolate chips, syrup, and, to Ginny's dismay, whipped cream. Whipped cream was never good news. "Guys?"

They turned around quickly. Doug had a stripe of syrup down his nose, and Isabelle had a smudge of whipped cream across her cheek and chin. "Hi, Ginny. And Malf - uh, Draco."

Draco gave them a curt smile and nodded in greeting.

"Um, Draco and I have decided to play hooky today," Ginny said. "You know, to avoid being attacked by people who want to know about Harry. We're going to wait until it dies down a little."

Doug raised an eyebrow. "Just to escape peoples' questions? I find your motives a tad suspicious."

Isabelle punched him in the shoulder. "Doug! You perv." She turned back to Ginny and Draco, who looked like deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car. "Of course we'll cover for you. And yes, you're quite welcome. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a Mickey to finish." She turned back to the plate.

Doug waggled his eyebrows. "Have fun!" he offered, before returning to the pancake.

Ginny huffed a good-natured sigh as they exited the Great Hall. "Those two," she muttered, shaking her head.

Draco led her toward the Slytherin common room. "Are they, like, together?" he asked curiously. "Certainly seemed like it."

Ginny paused. "I don't think they're officially together, but don't they make a cute couple?"

"Uhh, sure, I guess. Guys don't really have the eye for 'cute couples', you know. Here's the common room, coming up." He had led leading her through a musty-smelling stone tunnel. They emerged from behind a tapestry to a long, stone hallway. He stepped up to a large door.

"Oh, it's not very far away from the Great Hall, is it?" said Ginny. "That's a bit unfair. It's practically a kilometer from our common room."

"You should probably wait out here," said Draco after he'd given the password. "Don't want to be found by Snape in there. I'll be right back, don't worry." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before entering the common room.

Ginny stood there uncomfortably. What if another Slytherin came by and asked what she was doing there? She looked both ways down the hallway, but it was empty. She leaned against the wall, letting out a long breath. She grinned to herself - I can't believe I'm skipping class! With Draco Malfoy, nonetheless! She'd never felt so excited and content in months. Not since she'd been with Harry.

She was just about to ruminate on that point, but footsteps interrupted her thoughts. Someone was coming down the hallway! Without thinking, Ginny flashed across the hall and shot into the stone tunnel behind the tapestry. She went a little ways down the dark tunnel, listening intently. It was actually two people.

"That was weird," one voice said. "Well, someone's in a hurry, eh?"

"Yeah. Anyway, go on, what were you saying?" It was a high-pitched but still a male voice.

The first person cleared his throat. He had a deep, gravelly voice. "As I was saying, Potter's in St. Mungo's, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"And they're saying it's just the pressure of being a celebrity, right? Regular celebrity nervy breakdown. But what I think is that it's because of that Weasley girl."

Ginny started in the tunnel at the mention of her name.

"Which, the little redhead? What is she, third year?" the high-pitched one asked. Ginny frowned in the tunnel. Did she really look that young?

"No, you moron, she's a fifth year. Really quite a looker, if you ask me, but that's beside the point. But I've heard rumors that she cheated on Potter," the first voice said in a superior tone of voice, as if he'd just put forth an amazing scientific theory. Ginny's mouth fell agape.

"No way! The Weasley girl?" The voices sounded closer now. Ginny hoped they weren't going into the tunnel. She thought she could probably run down to the other end if they entered it, but what good would that do? The first person would probably spread rumors that she eavesdropped on a regular basis.

"Yes! And you know what else I think?"

"What?" The second person sounded as though he were awed by the first guy's extraordinary intelligence.

"I don't think it was a Gryffindor. I think it was with - oh, hi, Draco," he said in a suddenly friendly sort of voice. "Taking the invisibility cloak out for a walk?"

"Yeah, well, you know. Actually, Professor Snape asked me to bring it into Potions," Draco lied easily.

"Reeally?" the first person said. "That's so interesting."

"Is it really? Look, I've got to go. Nice chatting with you. Yeah. Later." He slipped under the tapestry and paused, looking around.

Ginny stepped out from where she was leaning against the wall in a little niche in the stone. "Hi," she whispered.

He grinned and held up the cloak. "Let's put it on."

She stepped over to him, standing close. Taking advantage of their closeness, she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. He chuckled and draped the cloak around them both, leaving his own arms around her. He could barely see her in the darkness, but he could see her eyes shining. He lowered his head to kiss her tenderly, fumbling slightly until he found her lips. She grinned against his mouth and stood on tiptoe.

"You ready to go sneak around?" he breathed into her neck after a bit, nuzzling her.

"You bet," she whispered into his chest. "Vamanos!"

A/N: Sorry, it took me a while to update. Well, seeing as you're enjoying this story and I like writing it, I figured I'd extend the story a little further. Just a few more chapters until I wrap it up, though. Probably put in a little controversy over Harry going to St. Mungo's and stuff. More on that later. Meanwhile, Ginny and Draco are out to have some fun. I honestly have no idea what they're out to do.

As for the pancake scene, well . . . Let's just say my friends and I enjoy decorating our food as much as eating it. ;)

Thanks to all my beeeeautiful reviewers! I heart you all!

Replies:

TarynMalfoy88: Yeah, Harry's got probs. It's okay, though; they'll be taken care of at St. Mungo's. Go Healers! Whoo.

Miss rix: They're definitely out of denial now. Finally. It's about time, wouldn't you say? Seriously, who takes thirteen chapters to figure out that they love Draco? Maybe Ginny needs to go to St. Mungo's as well.

Lucy Saints: The end is near, my friend. Thanks for reviewing!

Hoppers: I'm contemplating writing a sequel, but I dunno. I mean, what's to sequelize? But just in case, I stuck in that tidbit in Lucius' letter about a summer job at a music store. Maybe both Ginny and Draco could work in Diagon Alley. That could offer some fun times for them both. Ooh! And maybe Ginny could be tempted to cheat on Draco because another hot guy comes into the picture! The passion! The drama! Hey, this may actually be a happening thing. Hmm. Sequels, sequels . . . What do you think?

Storymind: Yeah, I'll probably end with a kiss. Or maybe a kiss and a witty remark. You know those witty remarks. They rock my socks. Aww yeah. ;) I'll probably spend about a week thinking of the perfect witty remark, though. I mean the end of one's story has to be super good! It has to leave the reader thinking, Wow, that toastsnatcher is GENIUS. Which is really hard for me to leave the reader thinking. :P I'll come up with something, somehow.

Krystal1989: I like it, too.

Fickleficklemuse: There totally is something sexy about guys fighting angrily!! Maybe we're both sadistic, but there's just something about that. And of course it doubles when it's Draco doing the angry fighting. Whoo yeah. I kind of like writing fight scenes.

Lady Alionae: Thank you thank you thank yoooooou for pointing out that Dobby used to be the Malfoys'. Seriously, how dumb am I? And I call myself an HP fan! Anyway, you rock, and I changed it so that it's Winky instead. I bow to your superior Harry Potter wisdom. ;) Way to be observant!

FemmeDraconis: Yeah, I have to give a shout-out to Miss Winters, my evil sixth grade PE coach. She taught us some basic self-defense stuff. You know, the knee-into-groin type thing. And I learned about the solar plexus from this song, Don Gato. It's a great song, if you ever come across it. It's probably out there on the 'Net somewhere. Oh, Senorrrr Don Gato was a cat! On a hiiiigh red roof Don Gato sat! Good times at kids' theater camp. Aaanyway, thanks for the compliment on the fight scene!

Delirious Dreams: I think everyone's very creeped out by Harry. Hey, if you catch any more spelling errors, please point them out! I strive for perfection. I absolutely hate typos, especially with apostrophes and homonyms. Your/you're is an especially horrible one. So if you ever catch anything, tell me! All of you! Anyway, DD, I'm glad you think it's funny. Laughter is the best medicine. Not that any of us were sick in the first place, but still. It's the principle of the thing.

Dakota Reynolds: Thanks.

Thank you all for reading this! Please review, if only just a couple words to let me know how I'm doing. This was a fluffy filler chapter, true, but the end is in sight. Suggestions are welcome for fun things Ginny and Draco could do with their invisibility cloak!

P.S. 'Vamanos' means something like, 'Let's go'. The funniest ever saying of the word in a movie is in Signs - "Move, children! Vamanos!" Ahahaha, funny stuff. Joaquin Phoenix is my hero.

Love,

La Snatcha de Toasted Bread