A/N: Thank all of you for reading this, and I'm sorry for the wait. Lots going on, not so much time for writing. But I've gotten half of the next chapter written already. Wasn't planning on posting this one until I got all the rest finished, but I was hit by a sudden block, and thought you all would like at least one chapter, rather than none. I'm setting aside tomorrow and the rest of tonight to write. (No cable, no one home, no car, no work...)

Disclaimer: Not Mine. JK's. And other people's. But not mine. Don't even have a dime to my name. Oh, what's this? Finds shiny dime on floor. OH! I have a dime!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8:

Ginny was not the type to cry. She just didn't do it. She hated crying. Growing up with so many brothers had caused her to cry too many times when she was younger, and she learned quickly that it didn't solve anything. She abhorred crying.

Unfortunately for her, hating it didn't make it happen any less.

She walked into the common room sniffling. She was holding back as much as she could. She thought she was doing a good job of it, too.

"Ginny! What's wrong!" Ron jumped up from the couch to run to her side. Obviously she wasn't doing as good of a job as she thought.

Harry and Hermione followed him closely.

"Nothing, Ron; I'm just fine." Ginny laughed a little as if to prove it. At that moment, though, a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Ginny, you're crying. There's got to be something wrong," Hermione replied. "Don't you want to talk to us about it?"

Ginny mentally rolled her eyes. "No, Hermione, I'll be fine. I promise. I'm just a little overstressed."

"Oh, I understand that completely. Last year at this time, with everything going on, I was crying all the time," Hermione said, patting her on the shoulder. Ginny could see that she was about to pull her aside and rehash all the old stories of their fighting Voldemort and trying to get together with Ron.

"Uh, anyway, I really need to be finishing my homework. I'll be okay, and I'll see you all later!" Ginny said, rushing away as quickly as she could.

She loved Hermione, Harry, and her brother, but she was not about to pour her heart out to them about Draco Malfoy. It was not a possibility as long as she didn't want Draco dead.

--

That night was hard on both parties for sleep. They tossed and turned, but each, in turn, was thinking of the other. Ginny’s roommates were nearly about to kick her out of the room due to such incessant whimpering and tossing and turning. Draco just lay staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open all night.

The next day was Saturday. Which would've been great, once Ginny finally fell asleep, except Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided that she needed the day to unwind with them.

"Ginny. Ginny, wake up," Hermione said, shaking the redhead fiercely. It was impossible to wake her up, she thought to herself. "Ginny, we're going to Hogsmeade. And you're coming with us. We're not leaving you here all stressed." Hermione kept shaking her.

"G'way," Ginny mumbled, barely coming out of the unconscious void she was wallowing in. Hermione was about to take some drastic actions when an owl started pecking on Ginny's dorm window. She opened the window and allowed the owl in. It went straight for Ginny's head. And started pecking her shoulder.

She bolted upright, looking around. Ginny growled, before acknowledging it with a, "Ruddy owl. Waking me up. Stupid thing. If it couldn't fly, I'd throw it out the window." She took the letter, then said, "Mione? What are you doing in here?" with a drowsy yawn as the bird flew out the window.

"Well, I was trying, unsuccessfully, to wake you up. It would've saved me a lot of time and energy if I had known that poking your shoulder would work." Hermione stated as she had a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Isn't it Saturday?" Ginny asked. "Why on earth would you wake someone up on a Saturday?"

"Well, it's a Hogsmeade weekend. I was hoping that you'd spend the day with Harry, Ron, and I. We don't have enough time with you anymore, Ginny," Hermione said.

"That's not my fault, but give me half an hour to get ready and I'll be down." Ginny stared at the door as Hermione left, then attempted to stumble up. At least today, there were no strange and bizarre foreign items lying about on her floor or bed. She quickly showered and charmed her makeup and hair, then remembered the letter delivered earlier.

She found it on her bed, where she'd left it, and sat down to open it.

Ginevra;--it said--

Boggarts show our true fears. When someone sees their fears acted out, they spring into action to make those fears end, quickly. Do you remember what his fear was?

Truly Yours,
a Sly Friend

Ginny turned the small piece of parchment over and over, trying to figure out who could have sent it, and what it could possibly have meant. Of course, it was talking about Draco and his fear of her and Harry together, but she didn’t know anyone other than Colin and Blaise who had a clue what was going on. Well, she didn't know who had sent this letter, but she didn't care. It was a brilliant idea, and Ginny wasn't a Weasley for nothing.

Grabbing her jacket, she thought of the best way to convince Harry to play this little game.

Draco never fell asleep, so when Blaise began knocking on his door at eight a.m., he just sighed before answering him.

"Hogsmeade today, Draco. Ready to go? The carriages will be leaving shortly." Blaise walked inside and had a seat on Draco's bed.

"Shower, then breakfast. Be back," was Draco's tired reply. Blaise laughed as he walked out.

Blaise, himself, had been up since around five, and was already knee deep in trouble. If Draco found out what he'd done this morning, he'd be killed. Hopefully, the Weaselette would take her friend's advice. He didn't take her as the Gryffindor type--the kind to submissively allow all good to take control and leave out the scheming. He, personally, thought the scheming was the best part. All he had to do today, though, was sit back and enjoy the show. Of course, he'd pull Draco off before he killed Potty. He didn't want his only real friend to go to Azkaban.

Blaise snickered as he laid back on the bed to wait for Draco's return.

Ginny was pleased. She had gotten Harry away from Hermione and Ron at breakfast, just long enough to explain the situation. She hadn't told him everything, like about spending the day in Draco's room, or the date they were set up on, but she mentioned the fact that it would infuriate Malfoy to all extremes to see them together. Harry had enjoyed that part of the plan.

So, as they walked to the carriages, Harry held his arm around Ginny's waist. Ron's face was redder than his hair, while he babbled and attempted questioning, and Hermione looked incredibly confused, which was not a look she held too often. Ginny felt it was the best plan that had ever been handed to her on a silver platter.

The only problem was that Draco had not yet seen them. It was awkward, acting so nonchalant around all the questioning glares. She wanted it over as soon as possible, no matter how much fun it was.

Blaise had just barely caught sight of them. He had seen everyone else staring and heard the whispering insults to both parties as he was leaving the castle. Draco, though, was not the type to listen or watch for gossip. Blaise was about to point it out, but the two, followed by the know it all, the redhaired git, the clutz, and Creevey, settled themselves into a carriage and were off.

He was disappointed, but they had all day to see the Gryffindors. They loaded into a carriage with Vincent, Gregory, Milicent, and Pansy, and they, too, were off.

The two groups managed to just miss each other for the next two hours. In Zonko's, Blaise and Draco walked in less than a minute after Ginny and Harry had left. At the Shrieking Shack, Blaise and Draco were there just before Ginny and Harry put in an appearance.

Finally, Blaise began to think that if they stayed outside of the shops, there could be a possibility of seeing the two walking out of one. So he conjured two chairs and made an excuse about how incredibly tired he was. They sat there for about twenty minutes, with Draco's incessant complaining about the losers around them, before Potter and Ginny walked out of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Draco, is that a new broom in the window of Quality Quidditch?" Blaise asked, knowing Draco would not care in a few moments.

"What? There are no new brooms..." he trailed off as he saw Potter's hand clutching Ginny's possessively. "Blaise. Tell me I am not seeing what I am seeing."

Blaise took the moment in. "Hmm. I see Ginevra and Potty. Is that a problem? You didn't claim her. She's free to be with who she wants."

"No. She's not. She should not be with him. Ever," Draco snarled at his friend. Blaise backed away, guessing that he'd be thrown to the lions if Draco got ahold of him. He wasn't sure where the lions were, exactly, but he was sure Draco could find some.

"Listen to me. This is the best advice I can give you. If you want her, fight for her. Make sure everyone knows she is yours. Make the biggest scene you possibly can, because the bigger the scene, the more she knows she's yours," Blaise said with a stone solid face. Which was hard, considering this was just as much for his amusement as it was to get Draco and Ginny to admit that they were both in love with each other.

Draco growled, which scared Blaise even more. Then he started forward. Blaise caught Ginny's eye, and mouthed, "Back away, little Gryff," all with the trademark Slytherin smirk on his face.

Ginny caught the message, and realized at that moment who the author of her letter was. Oh, no, she thought. "I'm really going to owe you for this, Harry. I'm so sorry." She let go of him and backed away just as...

Review? Do you all like it? What could I do better? I don't find any type of critisism offensive, unless it's meant to be mean. And thanks to everyone who reviewed last time, also. After the story is finished, I'll go through and list everyone, but I just don't have the patience for that at the moment! Sorry!