Regaining her bearings, Ginny looked around. Draco had appeared with her, and seemed to be lost in thought. She turned towards him, "Draco, are you ok," she asked, for he still seemed to be a little pale.

He turned towards her. How could he have not noticed her before? She really was beautiful, but he had always noticed that. No, there was something different about her now. He knew it was foolish, after all, her brother did hate him. In fact, as far as he knew, he had four Weasley brothers that hated him. He decided not to worry about that and became interested in one thing, becoming Ginny Weasley's friend. Granted, it would be hard, and he'd have to hide it from not only her brothers but his father as well, but he got the feeling that it would be worth it in the end. She would be good for him, he knew. He took her hands in his and bent down to kiss her cheek, he heard her gasp of surprise, "Ginny," he whispered, "I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you have done for Kit. I know it's not what you expected from a Malfoy, and I am very glad that you decided to look past my name and the way I behave to help me. I know your brother has said that I'm evil incarnate and all sorts of bad things to drive you away from me, and I want to thank you for not believing him."

Ginny was beginning to wonder if her brother had been talking about someone else completely when he talked about Malfoy. The boy in front of her was not mean, or evil. He was sweet and simply worried about a friend. How could Ron and Harry believe him to be so cruel? She looked up into his eyes, knowing that she had now done it. She had befriended the enemy. It was wrong, she knew, but it felt so right. Their fathers hated each other, she knew, had known since her first year, and every brother who had met Malfoy had deemed him evil. Had they never seen this side of him? "Draco, there is no need to thank me," she said, and continued cautiously, wondering if he wanted to be her friend as much as she wanted to be his, "Besides, that's what friends are for, right?"

Draco smiled, a real smile for the first time in days. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached out and pulled her close, hugging her tightly. There was no turning back now he knew, "Thank you, Ginny, and you are right."

She pulled away and grinned up at him, "Good, and now, let's go see how Kit is doing," she said, and headed towards the door. He caught up with her and captured his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. He knew he would have to drop it as soon as they entered the hallways, but for now, he relished the feeling of her hand in his.

Ginny was a little disappointed, but not surprised when Draco dropped her hand once they had left Dumbledore's office. She knew, just as he did, that their friendship would have to remain private for a while. She sighed, probably a long while.

Draco heard her sigh, and looked down at her, "Something wrong, Gin?" he asked.

She looked at him, "This can't be public knowledge and we both know it, but I wish it could be," she said, looking at her feet.

He lifted her chin with his finger, "So do I, Gin, so do I," he said. She nodded, and walked down the hall, all the while keeping an eye out for her brother, Harry, or Hermione. She really didn't want to have to deal with having to explain why she was wandering the halls with Malfoy. Pretty soon, she led him to a Seventh floor corridor, and began pacing in front of a section of wall across from this particularly ugly tapestry. Draco was astounded when after she had walked in front of it a few times, a door suddenly appeared in the wall. He knew he was in a magical school and everything, but this was too much. Ginny didn't seem to surprised at all, she simply took his hand and led him into the room. It was as if he had walked into a hospital. He noticed that Dumbledore, Snape, and Adam had already arrived and Kit was lying on the bed motionless with Madam Pomfrey hovering over her.



Dumbledore looked up when they entered the room, "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, I see you have received my owl. Thank you very kindly for bringing Miss Weasley with you," he said, winking at them. Ginny and Draco nodded.

At mention of Ginny's name, Madam Pomfrey looked over at her, "Oh, good, Miss Weasley, see if you can't give me a hand here, will you."

"Sir, what happened here," Ginny asked, going over to Madam Pomfrey and playing dumb.

"Well, we have two new students joining our midst today, Miss Weasley. This is Adam Carson and Katherine Miller," he said, "Miss Miller had an accident when she fell off a broomstick near the whomping willow. It didn't agree to having her near it." He then turned to Draco, "Mr. Malfoy," he started, "Mr. Carson and Miss Miller have already been sorted, and Mr. Carson has been placed into Slytherin. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to show him around?"

Draco, also playing dumb, nodded, "Of course sir," he said, shaking Adam's hand, "I'm Draco Malfoy."

Adam had obviously been told what to do by Dumbledore, and shook Draco's hand, "My name's Adam Carson."

"Come with me, Adam, and I shall show you the school. Professor," he said, turning to Dumbledore, "would you have me bring him back here afterwards?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, thank you."

Draco led Adam out of the room, and Ginny busied herself helping Madam Pomfrey the best she could.

It was a few hours later that Draco and Adam returned. Madam Pomfrey looked at them all, "Well, I've done all that I can do for her. Time will tell," she said.

Ginny noticed that Malfoy, Snape, and Adam all visibly blanched. Madam Pomfrey, however did not seem to notice. Malfoy was about to say something but Ginny put her hand on his arm. After all, they weren't supposed to know about Kit, were they? Instead, they waited for Adam to pose the question they all had on their minds, "Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey, but time will tell what?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Madam Pomfrey looked grave. "Time will tell whether or not she will come through this ok," she said.

Malfoy started to tremble. Professor Dumbledore spoke up. "Now, now, I'm sure that Miss Miller will be just fine. Now, dinner is being served, let's get to it." He walked out the door. Snape slowly followed, Ginny and Malfoy soon after. Adam kissed Kit's forehead, then slowly left the room to join Ginny and Malfoy in the hallway. Ginny looked at him, "I'm sorry, Adam. I'm going to have to tell you something. From now on, we can't speak unless we are alone or its just people that know we know each other. No one else can know, ok," she said. He was confused, but nodded. She turned to Draco, "take good care of each other, ok," she said, as he pulled her into a tight hug, "I'll look in on Kit, ok." They let go of each other after a moment and she hurried down the hall without a backward glance.

Adam was confused, and turned to Malfoy, "Draco, what was that about? Ginny's a nice girl, why can't I talk to her," he asked.

Draco looked wistfully down the hallway that she had just run down, then turned to Adam, "let's just say that the Weasley's are not on the top of the Malfoy's favorite families list."

Adam nodded understandably, "your father doesn't like them," he stated.

"Nope, and the Weasley brothers aren't to fond of me, either," he said, "she has six."

Adam let out a low whistle, "Six, wow, I hope you know what you're getting into man," he said, and then smiled, "you two are just like Romeo and Juliet."

"Who?" Draco asked.