Ginny's and Draco's Run-in

Ginny sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, rocking back and forth.

"Gin?" Hermione asked uncertainly, peering into the room. "A-are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, burying her head in her hands.

"Umm..." Hermione was biting her lip and wringing her hands. "May I come in?"

Ginny shrugged in reply. Hermione came in and sat on the bed beside Ginny's.

"Here's your chocolate," Hermione said, handing Ginny a fairly large box. "Ron and I came back early from Hogsmeade. We weren't having very much fun."

"Thanks," Ginny said, taking the box and putting it down beside her bed. "Didn't Harry go with you guys?"

"No. He stayed here to practice Quidditch. That's another reason we came back early. Ron wanted to practice with Harry."

"Oh." Juliet flew in through the window and landed beside Ginny, softly hooting.

Ginny lifted her head, showing puffy, red eyes, and tear-stained, freckled cheeks.

"Hey, girl," she said, taking the letter and rose off of the owl's leg.

"Did you ever find out who it's from?" Hermione asked.

"Nope." She flung the rose onto the floor and carelessly opened the letter.

Ginny,

Told you so.

M.M.

P.S. Send the rose back December 8.

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Told me what?' she asked herself, irritated.

She was trying to make herself forget about the library incident, but no luck whatsoever.

"Umm... Gin, I know it's none of my business or anything," Hermione said, standing up. "But why did you throw that rose down?" She walked over to the rose and picked it up.

Ginny shrugged, and crumpled the letter. "Will you leave me alone for a bit, Hermione? I'm not in the best mood right now," she lied. Truthfully, she wanted to write 'M.M.' back.

"Of course. I'll be in the Common Room," Hermione said, leaving.

Ginny grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from her bedside table drawer.

She dipped the quill in the ink bottle already sitting on the table.

M.M.

You told me what, exactly? And are you who I think you are? Because I think I know who you are.... Are you?

Ginny

She rolled up the parchment and tied it to Juliet's leg.

"Give that to the boy who gave you to me," Ginny told the bird, stroking her. With a soft hoot, she flew out the window.

Barely 10 minutes later, Juliet was back with a reply.

Ginny took a deep breath as she untied the letter and opened it, praying that it was anyonebesides.....

Weasley,

You know it's me. Oh, and I told you that you wouldn't appreciate the gifts as much since you know who they came from. And guess what. I was right.

D.M.

Ginny read and reread it, her fears confirmed. Her Mystery Man was none other than the Ice Prince of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy.

Ginny threw the letter down, infuriated.

'I hate him! His pathetic excuse for a father killed my parents! If it weren't for his father, I'd still have a father! And a mother!'

Tears both of rage and grief flowed silently down her cheek. She jumped up from her bed; grabbed her cloak, and dashed quickly from her room.

"Gin!" Hermione said startled, when Ginny came running through.

"I'll be back!" Ginny called, exiting through the portrait.

As soon as she was outside the portrait, she slowed her pace to a walk, wiped her face, and put her cloak on.

She walked downstairs, all the way to the entrance doors. As soon as she threw the door open, she was met by a gust of wind and lightly falling rain.

Ginny wandered around the deserted grounds, with the exception of a straggler here and there, making the way back to the castle.

She sat down in front of a tree by the lake and pulled her knees into her chest, resting her chin on them.

Even though it was very chilly, and the wind and sprinkling rain was making her eyes water and her cheeks sting, Ginny was enjoying it out there.

The lake, for instance, was a breathtaking sight. The water was crystal clear, and the small part of the sun that was showing, reflected off the water.

Ginny sighed to herself and shivered.. 'It looks like a miniature ocean.'

After a few minutes, the wind died down and the rain stopped. Ginny sighed again. The smell of the fresh rain and the view of the lake calmed Ginny.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked in her ear.

She jumped up and turned around, breathing hard.

"Harry! You scared me to death!" she screamed, lightly punching his arm.

"Sorry, Gin! I didn't mean to scare you that bad!" he said, laughing, holding onto his broom for support. Ron came running up behind him, carrying his broom. They both had rosy cheeks.

"Hey Gin!" Ron said, breathing heavy.

"Hey Ron! Did you two have fun?"

"Tons!" Ron said, grinning. "I won the game we played against each other!"

"We played just for fun, though," Harry said, rubbing his neck. "I didn't try very hard."

"Sure, Harry. Keep telling yourself that," Ginny said, rubbing his arm, giggling.

"We're going to play another game in a minute. Want to play with us if we can find another person?"

"No thanks. Why are you going to play another game?"

"We only played to 50 points last time," Ron said, chuckling.

"Didn't even bother to get the snitch out, but we're going to play a 'real' fake game this time."

"We wanted to Hermione to watch us. Want to watch us, too?"

"I might for a couple of minutes. I want to sit out here for a little while longer though."

"Alright, Gin. We'll come get you before we start the game," Harry said.

"Okay. Bye guys!" she yelled after Ron and Harry. Since she was already standing up, she decided to walk around the grounds for a little while. When she got near the front doors, she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking out of the castle.

"Hey Gin!" Hermione said. "We're going to the pitch, now! Are you coming?"

"Not right now. Maybe in a little bit."

"Oh, okay. I'll save you a seat!" she said, chuckling.

"Okay," Ginny replied, cocking an eyebrow at her friend.

"I know, I know. Pitiful excuse for a joke!"

"Well, see you!" Harry said, walking to the Quidditch pitch.

"Bye!"

The trio walked off and Ginny stared after them.

"I thought you said you all were friends," a voice whispered maliciously into her ear.

She jumped and turned around, her hand on her chest. "What," she hissed, "are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"What? I don't have the same privilege as you to walk around the grounds if I want to?" he asked innocently.

Ginny glared into his cold, silver eyes. "You shouldn't have." She turned around to leave, but a hand caught her shoulder, and forcefully turned her around.

"Why?" he hissed.

"Your excuse for a father killed my parents! He killed them!" she screamed shrilly at him, her eyes slowly filling with tears. 'Don't cry in front of him, Ginerva!' she scolded herself.

"That," he said in a deadly whisper, "has nothing to do with me. Yes he did kill them, but he also got what he deserved."

"And what's that?" she asked, crossing her arms, trying to keep her voice steady. Her eyes were welled up and her throat became incredibly dry.

"The kiss," he whispered lightly. Ginny had to strain her ears to hear, though they were face to face.

"Really?" she gasped. To tell the truth, she was dead happy about it.

"Don't act like you feel guilty, or even surprised. He did deserve it. I know he did," he said coldly. "But I'm nothing like my father, much to your disbelief." Draco turned around to leave, but Ginny had the sudden urge to stop him.

"I-Malfoy!"

"What?" he asked, his back still turned to her.

"Th... um, er.... thank you."

"What are you talking about Weasley?" he asked, turning around, staring suspiciously at her.

"For Juliet. A-and the rose."

"It wasn't a problem, Weasley." He turned around to leave again, but Ginny, again, had the urge to stop him.

"Why, though?"

"Why what?"

"Why the presents?"

"Your parents died."

"Surely that's not the only reason. You didn't get Ron anything."

Draco turned around, part amusement and part irritation written on his face. "I didn't think a rose or an elegant owl fit him very well."

"True."

Draco stayed turned to Ginny this time. "Anymore questions?"

"No."

"Then I have one for you. Why did you help me earlier in the library?"

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. I just help people, I guess."

"Oh." With that he was off.

Ginny sighed. 'What in merlin's name was that about?'

Author's Note: Hmm.. I thought this chapter was fairly interesting. How bout you? Reviews are much appreciated, thanks! Thanks a lot to the following:

beckysue2- LoL, none of us are getting any younger! Anywayz, we're getting closer!

Cinnamon Angel- LoL, I hope this chapter is more to your liking! About the beta reader thing, thank you though, but I've decided I don't need one. I don't care how bad my stories suck, as long as I've got reviews! Hehehe! And here's the update!

restless-soul63- Thanks! And here's the update!

MerlinHalliwell- Thanks, and I'm pretty sure she found out, alright! Hehehe! Here's the update!

Morena Evensong- LoL, I love the Mummy! I wish I would have thought of that at the time... we're not exactly sure how he made an entire bookshelf topple over.... Hm... And it was Ginny's owl he had. Thanks and here's the update!

I hope this chapter was as good as you thought the others were. I'm trying to keep up my writing skills. I'm not in English this semester (we do 4 classes each semester instead of 8 classes every day), and I'm also in AC English, so I have to keep my writing skills well.... Anywayz, once again, please review!