Early morning was always a stunning time at Hogwarts. The students were still abed, leaving the grounds peacefully quiet. Sunrise could be seen over the Forest with each new dawn, and the lake glittered, its surface still. All this beauty was lost on the redhead pacing in front of her window.

Ginny felt as though she had had tops, two hours of sleep. There was so much to think about, she couldn't stay asleep long before waking up in a cold sweat. If Voldemort was coming back, then she would have to face Tom again… And Seamus, what if he was just toying with her because he was bored? Why had Draco been so nice to her? And what was going to happen with the golden trio? The questions had finally chased her from sleep, and she'd been thinking for hours. Unfortunately, she was no closer to a solution for any of her problems than she'd been yesterday evening.

Sitting on her bed, Ginny looked over at the sleeping forms of the other 6th year girls enviously. If only they knew there was a whole world beyond Witch Weekly and spelled makeup and the fabulous Harry Potter and the sexy, brooding Draco Malfoy… What?

With a low groan so as not to disturb her oblivious schoolmates, Ginny flopped back onto pillow, resigning herself to the remainder of her sleepless night.

In another part of the castle, a different student also prowled his room restlessly. Draco had spoken with his godfather for hours, and the "chat" lasted well into the night. However, it had been wildly informative, and Draco was disgusted with himself for not bothering to ask earlier. All this new information could be extremely useful in the future.

Draco snickered to himself as he thought of Dumbledore's reaction to the smoke sighting earlier. Instead of being productive and trying to ascertain the cause, he had predictably only reinforced his previous ban on the Forest itself. Barmy old codger. When, exactly, had that approach ever worked?

Well, it didn't matter to him, because he was already formulating a plan to rid himself of Dumbledore, Voldemort, and the crazy twins. And it involved a lot less risk to his person than what they proposed. He had already begun the steps, planning to convert and move his many Galleons into muggle accounts overseas, and instructing his house elves via owl to begin packing his belongings. All he had to wait for was the next Hogsmeade visit (providing it wasn't canceled, he thought grimly) and then he'd be gone.

When the rest of Hogwart's population joined Ginny and Draco in alertness, many were shocked by the interactions of Harry, Ron, and Hermione at breakfast. Ron had moved to sit by Seamus and Ginny at one end of the Griffindor table, while Harry and Hermione sat at the other end, unspeaking.

Ginny was still confused about all the situations she had to deal with, and now she was exhausted as well. She sat staring blankly at the jug of pumpkin juice as Seamus noisily discussed the upcoming qudditch match between Ravenclaw and Griffindor with Dean. Ron was also silent, eating mechanically.

"Ginny, are you sure you're alright?" Seamus asked, resting his hand on her shoulder in a way that was supposed to be comforting. She considered answering his question truthfully.

No. "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired."

"All right, if you say so," he replied worriedly, patting her shoulder gently before returning to his previous conversation with Dean.

Ginny sighed, feeling oddly disappointed that he wasn't going to press the issue. She needed answers about all these things, and she wasn't going to find them with Seamus. Letting her gaze wander around the room, she again felt a strange jealousy of the other carefree students. But then she noticed Draco, oddly sitting with Blaise instead of by himself. He had some idea of what was going on with the twins. He could help her with that, at least.

He could, a nasty voice said in the back of her mind, but will he?

Resolving to ask Draco despite her long track record with his insults, she began to pile eggs on her plate, suddenly ravenous.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Draco looked up, hiding his surprise. No one tried to speak to him lately, just ignored and avoided him. He still wasn't sure if he minded, but it would have been nice to have someone to talk to occasionally.

"I don't own the table," Draco said, suspicious of Blaise's sudden friendliness.

Blaise sat beside Draco, saying nothing for a moment. Then he turned to Draco, confusion evident on his face.

"Draco, we used to be best mates… You could have told me if you wanted to do something about your father-,"

Draco looked at Blaise emotionlessly. "And you would have listened? Or would you have run to him like all the rest of his cronies?"

Draco noticed Blaise had the decency to pause and think about his answer. "I don't know."

Draco watched Blaise's face carefully. "Why did you come here to talk to me?"

Blaise looked unsure. "I don't know."

Draco smirked at this, showing a bit of the old Draco. "You don't know a whole hell of a lot, it seems."

Chagrin was evident on Blaise's face. "I know it hasn't been easy for you lately. Hell, some of it was my fault. But while I may never understand you as a person, I understand why you did what you did."

Blaise looked Draco straight in the eyes, as if willing him to believe him. "I was too afraid to challenge everyone and stay loyal to you. But that won't happen anymore. I want my friend back."

Draco didn't know what to say. It was an oddly impassioned speech for a Slytherin, let alone a guy.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I'll prove it to you, any way I can."

Draco mulled things over. Maybe if he gave Blaise a second chance… The idea of once more being able to confide in someone overthrew his doubts.

"Merlin help you if you betray me."

Blaise hid a smile at this, turning his attention to his food. "No, Draco. I have no one to betray you to."

The two boys ate awkwardly for a few minutes, starting a tentative conversation. By the end of breakfast, they were discussing the latest antics of Pansy just as they used to before. The rest of Slytherin table looked scandalized at Blaise's speaking to Draco, confirming Blaise's innocence in Draco's eyes.

Snickering at something Blaise had said, Draco began to feel as if running away was losing its appeal quickly.

Ginny watched Draco and Blaise speak for the remainder of breakfast then saw Draco get up, stretching his arms over his head and saying one last thing to Blaise, who nodded and poured himself more pumpkin juice. Draco then turned to walk out of the room.

Quickly saying goodbye to a silent Ron and ever-confused Seamus, she moved quickly toward the doors.

"Draco?"

Draco paused, turning to see Ginny Weasley running after him. Two other students trying to speak with him in one day. Must be a record.

"Last time I checked."

Ginny stepped before him, panting lightly from her exertion. "I, uh, wanted to know what you planned on doing for that-,"

Here Ginny was cut off as Draco grabbed her and pulled her with him behind a tapestry in the hallway.

Too surprised to speak, Ginny gaped up at Draco who gestured for her to stay silent. Acutely aware of where their bodies were touching, from his hand still resting lightly on her waist to her chest pressed against his, Ginny felt light headed. Then, she heard voices outside their hiding place.

"Harry, I know what I saw. Ginny was chasing after Draco!"

"Hermione, maybe they were just leaving at the same time."

"Well, I am going to keep looking."

The voices became more and more faint until Ginny was sure Harry and Hermione had left. Loath to leave Draco's arms, she stood still, hesitant of whether to move or not.

Draco solved the problem for her, disengaging his arms and moving from behind the tapestry. Sighing, she followed back into the now-deserted hallway.

"It looked like you didn't want to deal with that right then." Draco said by way of an explanation, gesturing down the other hall where Harry and Hermione had gone.

"Thanks," Ginny said shyly, having never seen a considerate Draco before.

"I believe you were saying something," here Draco held up his hand when she tried to speak, "But we should probably continue this conversation somewhere more private."

Private. Just word made Ginny's hormones think of what else they could be doing in private.

"Follow me," Draco said when Ginny remained silent. Turning, he strode down a hallway. Ginny started at his suddenness, then half jogged to catch up.

What the hell was he doing? Draco thought as he led Ginny back to the Slytherin common room. He hoped there was no one in there, or else they might break their silence with him for very bad reasons.

Muttering the password (Scarhead) he entered, furtively looking around for other presences. Seeing no one, he headed toward the boys dormitories before turning and seeing Ginny still standing at the entrance, looking vaguely wary.

With an impatient noise, Draco stalked back to the entrance and grabbed her hand, ignoring the frisson of electricity he felt at the simple touch. He gently pulled her up the stairs and into his room. He'd been granted a separate room for "necessary reasons" after his switch in the war, specifically for his own safety. The room had been spelled so only he and whomever he granted express permission could open it.

Dropping her hand after he entered, he turned to look at her blank face expectantly.

"Well? You can talk here safely."

Ginny licked her lips dryly, causing Draco's gaze to drift lower. There was seriously something wrong with him, if he was ogling Ginny.

"Weasley…" Draco said, allowing a hint of impatience to seep into his voice to hide his sudden awareness of her as a female. He really wished she would stop looking so vulnerable. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring her here.

Maybe it was a mistake to come here, Ginny thought. She was trying so hard to not let her desire for Draco show, she was sure she looked insane. Taking a deep breath, she failed to notice Draco's intense gaze drop to her chest, which rose with her breathing.

I can do this, Ginny told herself. I can do this.

"I wanted to know," Ginny began, marveling at how steady her voice sounded, "what you planned to do about what we found out yesterday in Dumbledore's office."

Draco moved to his bed, and then lay down on his back. "I thought I knew, but I'm not sure anymore."

Ginny nodded sympathetically, sitting beside Draco as he continued. "I don't want to get myself involved in this too much, but it seems to be all or nothing."

Ginny also lay back, feeling more at ease at his openness. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?" she agreed, sneaking a glance to see his expression. He seemed troubled, and stared straight at the ceiling.

"I noticed you were sitting with that Irish kid." Draco said without emotion, never meeting Ginny's eyes.

"Yeah," Ginny said, clearing her throat. "I guess we're sort of together."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither speaking. Both were deep in thought.

"What do they want us to do?" Ginny asked suddenly, sitting up. "It's not like we can control this!"

Draco sat up as well, looking at her face, which was flushed in sudden, righteous anger. She looked-

No! No, he couldn't think about that. It didn't matter how she looked. It didn't matter if her eyes were the warmest brown he'd ever seen. He wasn't going to think about how she had felt under his hands before. He couldn't. She had innocence about her that he wasn't about to ruin. It took a lot to admit it, even to himself, but she was truly too good for him.

Ginny watched Draco's eyes begin to cloud over with desire, and her lips parted unconsciously as his head began to lower to hers.

Draco's lips had almost touched Ginny's before a sound was heard from the common room below.

With a swear, Draco jumped backward, nearly falling off the bed. Ginny stood, flustered at their near kiss. Both avoided the other's eyes carefully.

"Maybe I should go," Ginny said hastily, edging toward the door.

"Yeah," Draco said distractedly. "Come on."

Ginny noticed he didn't take her hand this time. The two of them crept toward the common room door, and had almost reached it when it swung half open.

Draco was furious with himself. He had better control than this! His top priority was now getting Ginny out of here, where she never should have been in the first place.

His hand was outstretched toward the door, when it opened, and he met Blaise's surprised eyes.

Blaise's eyes widened, and then widened further when he saw Ginny. He opened his mouth and Draco winced as he realized there were other people behind Blaise. How was he going to explain this?

"Guys, weren't we supposed to have a Hogsmeade weekend?" Blaise said, giving Draco a wink. "Why don't we go get that old bat Dumbledore to deliver?"

Draco felt relief wash over him, but it was short lived.

"Blaise, you dunce. Next week is the Hogsmeade week."

"Yeah, stop blocking the door!"

Blaise looked at Draco in alarm, but Draco had already turned, grabbed Ginny, and ran up the stairs again. Blaise watched the very edge of Ginny's Griffindor scarlet robes snap around the corner before allowing the door to swing open completely. What was he up to?

"Sorry, guys," Blaise said with a sheepish grin. "Must have gotten confused."

Ginny was back in Draco's room, breathing heavily at their near detection. "I'll guess we'll have to wait until everyone goes off to class."

Draco looked at Ginny as if she were crazy. "It's Saturday."

Ginny groaned, falling backwards onto the bed as a knock sounded at the door.

Draco looked out the muggle contraption Dumbledore had insisted was useful, the "peephole". "It's Blaise."

"I didn't know you two were close," Ginny said, rolling to her stomach.

"Neither did I," Draco muttered. He opened the door to admit Blaise who walked in and turned to Draco expectantly.

"I suppose you want an explanation," Draco began, but was cut off by Blaise.

"Not necessarily. Do you trust me now?"

Draco was more than a little surprised. "Yeah, I guess."

Blaise smiled. "Good." Blaise then looked at Ginny. "Now then, who might you be, beautiful?"

Ginny flushed with his praise, and Draco scowled. "She's a friend."

Ginny had bite back a grin at Draco, who was glowering at Blaise as he stepped forward placing a kiss on the back of her palm.

"I'm Ginny."

Blaise grinned. "A Weasley, eh? Well, if you're okay by Draco, you're okay by me."

Draco frowned. "You're not the slightest bit curious why a Griffindor is in my room?"

Blaise winked conspiratorially. "Naw, mate, and I'd appreciate if you kept the sordid details to yourself."

Ginny laughed aloud as Draco immediately threw the nearest thing (1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi) at an amused Blaise.

"Anywho," Blaise sniffed as he dodged Draco's book, "it looks like you are going to be here for awhile. You might want to consider getting food sent up."

Draco groaned, dropping his face to his hands. "Oh, shit!"

Blaise looped an arm around Draco and Ginny's shoulders. "Aw, it won't be that bad! The three of us can have some great fun with a good amount of Firewhisky!"

"The three of us?" Draco said suspiciously, raising his head.

"Unless you two wanted to be alone…"

Ginny chuckled as Blaise again dodged Draco's strike.

Draco was actually happy, a feeling he didn't remember having often. The three of them had guzzled the contents of three bottles of Firewhisky, with Ginny at first sticking to Butterbeer but ending up as bad as Draco and Blaise eventually. They had told crazy stories about Potter and other things for hours, and now it was late enough for Ginny to safely depart from Slytherin, but he didn't want her to leave.

Blaise, having drank more than Draco and Ginny combined, was conked out on a chair, snoring noisily, which was an endless source of amusement for Draco and Ginny, who laughed maniacally at any particularly vociferous snore.

Draco collapsed onto his bed, a giggling Ginny beside him. Turning to face her, he noticed he was close enough to count the freckles dusted on the bridge of her nose and cheeks. His hand came up of its own accord to brush her hair back from her face.

"We can't do this…" Draco muttered, unable to stop touching her.

"Kiss me, Draco" Ginny breathed.

Draco's lips lowered to Ginny's, and suddenly she couldn't think about how funny Blaise sounded, or how late it was, or how wrong considering Seamus. She only slipped her arms around Draco as he deepened the kiss, sliding one of his hands behind her head to angle it properly. She heard a moan, not realizing it was her own, as Draco moved over her, never lifting his lips from hers.

She was unable to stop, unable to think, unable to do anything but return his kiss, which was slowly becoming less languid and more urgent. Her world was slipping into darkness, and she clung to Draco as everything spun around her.

AN: Alrighty then. Finally, some DG! I realize this chapter took a while to get up, but I figured seeing as it was the longest thus far, I would be forgiven, right? Right?

I'll be starting a joint fic soon with Pia OLeary, and it will be at the account Ebony Secrets, if anyone wants to read it when it's up : D

Embellished- Lol yes there are quite a few complications!

Pia- It's ok, I hate Harry too! Thanks for your extra long review, and Ron will most definitely get his revenge. Great suggestion, and I plan on involving something to that effect.

Padfoot in Purple- I'm glad you liked that part! I was giggling like mad the entire time I wrote this chapter, so I'm glad someone else thought it was funny too! Any suggestions are useful, but I know sometimes it's hard to think of anything, so no worries!

Thanks a bunch to all my loyal reviewers! Huggles to all of you!