A/N: Immense apologies for not getting this out sooner!! I had a major blockage. Anyways, I made this chapter a bit longer than the last so I hope that kind of makes up for it. Anyways I'm leaving for Bermuda in like an hour but I REALLY wanted to get this up before I left so I'm sorry I don't have time to put in my thank yous for the reviews on the last chapter...

BUT THANK YOU!!! So much, I loved every review. And next chapter I will thank everyone more personally. I hope you like this, and please review again!

Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1.

Ginny and Draco stepped out of the cabin the next morning, looking as though they had gained twenty pounds in extra layers of clothing. The sometimes peaceful snowfall had become a raging blizzard overnight, and the air was so bitter Ginny could swear it was probably 30 degrees below.

When Draco had said that they would have to leave the cabin he meant it, but Ginny hadn't realized the reality of that statement until they were actually out of their shelter. "We have to walk in this?"

She looked back at the cabin until the sheets of snow were pouring down so heavily it was impossible to see anymore.

"No," Draco answered sarcastically. "We're flying."

"We're going to die," she said blandly.

He smirked at her taking the lead into the cold, allowing her to follow. "Guess the sun never came up for you this morning."

Ginny stared at her feet, following in the tracks Draco was making ahead of her. "There's never any sun in this place."

Draco didn't answer but merely continued on.

They trudged through the snow silently for a while, long enough that Ginny was frozen to the tip of her toes, before she finally asked, "Where are we going." But she was devoid of so much strength that the phrase came out sounding more like a comment than a question.

"I told you," he muttered. "We're trying to find a way out."

"But the snow is coming down so hard and fast I can't even see!"

"Hm," he said. "That sucks."

Ginny laughed hoarsely. "Tell me, exactly what makes you so sure we're even going in the right direction? Isn't it more likely that we aren't?"

"Well god Weasley, right now just because of you I suddenly think I'm not going in the correct direction."

Ginny turned her head surprised, "Why?" Was he really going to listen to her? Should she tell him she thought they should just go back to the cabin?

His eyes flickered to her for a moment, "Because I'm not walking away from you."

Ginny opened her mouth and, for what she felt was the millionth time since she had been here, closed it again. "Draco." Her voice sounded choked. Hoarse, as though when the word came halfway out of her mouth she had attempted to shove it back down again. This was supposed to be the same person who had been so humanely to her the day before.

He looked at her.

"Why..." she grinded her teeth. "Why are you like that?"

His expression didn't change. He just continued looking at her, daring her to turn away.

She wouldn't.

"Like what?" His tone was mocking.

"Cold. Cruel." Ginny sighed. "I don't know."

"Surprise, surprise."

"See!?" She cried out. "Whenever we get on the topic of you, you just... You turn into someone else!"

"I don't turn into someone else, Ginny. I turn into me." His voice was calm now, level and eerie. "This is who I am."

"It is not," she contradicted. "You're different sometimes..." She wanted to say, 'You even smiled at me yesterday' but it would have sounded ridiculous. "Why can't you be like that all the time?"

"Well, I don't come from a family that has picnics on the weekends and gives hugs every day."

Ginny shook her head. "We're not like that."

"Who ever said I was talking about you?" he snarled. "I'm just saying that maybe I'm the way I am because I have to be."

"Why!? Because you're scared?" Ginny called from behind him.

"No!" Draco shouted. "I'm not scared, Weasley. It's just how I deal."

"Deal with what?"

"People like you."

"That is such a lie."

"You wish."

"It's how you deal with life, isn't it Draco?" He said nothing, but walked on. "You've always been alone. And you've always been in pain--"

He kicked roughly at the snow. "Shut the fuck up, Weasley. The last thing I need is you as my counselor."

"But--"

"I said leave me alone."

Ginny licked her lips, determined. "Draco I--"

"GOD DAMMIT WEASLEY, CAN'T YOU TAKE A HINT?" He stopped and whirled around to face her.

Ginny's eyes widened. She hated the way he screamed at her, the way it brought a sensation through ribs, and the way it made her throat close up and her eyes water. And the last thing she felt like doing was giving in again.

"I am so sick of you!" she screamed, stopping as well so they were face to face. "We aren't ever going to get out of this place if you keep arguing with me!"

"If you had kept your fat trap shut then we wouldn't have been arguing in the first place." He turned and started walking again but Ginny didn't move.

She heard a faint pounding in her ears. "If you weren't such an arse I wouldn't have had to say anything."

Draco stopped in his tracks, and again looked at her. "I'm a what, Weasley? Well what the hell are you still doing with an arse like me, because god knows I don't want to be here with you."

He was daring her to get into another row, but she held her head higher. "You're right, I don't know what I am doing with you."

He laughed lightly. "All right. So why don't you just go on your way without me."

Malfoy was being sarcastic, and at that moment Ginny wanted nothing more than to prove herself to him. "Okay, I will!"

"See how well you can do by yourself."

"Way better than landing myself stranded in a blizzard," she snapped. It wasn't the truth. She may have hated him, but she still wanted him there. She needed him with her.

"Weasley, you really want to go off on your own?" he smirked, sure of himself.

No! Her mind screamed. "Yes," Ginny answered bravely.

Draco laughed at her. "Where are you going to go?"

"Wherever you don't."

The smile fell from his face and was replaced with anger. He wasn't sure why. "Fine."

Draco turned left.

"Fine!" she shouted after him, wanting to cry.

Ginny turned right.

Draco took the opposite route from Ginny now feeling more pissed off than ever. He should have wanted her gone, but what the hell good could they do when they were separated? One of them was probably going to die...

It was going to be her. "Moron," he muttered to himself, but he couldn't help but throw his head over his shoulder to look for her. Had she been only two feet away, however he still wouldn't have known, the snow was falling in such thick icy sheets.

Draco kept his eyes on the path ahead, concentrating on taking longer strides to warm himself up. He was wearing an undershirt, long sleeve shirt, flannel shirt, hooded sweatshirt, and jacket but might as well have been walking naked. The cold seemed to have been coming from the inside, icing up his veins, and fogging up his senses.

Finally Draco knew it was time to turn back when he saw a mirage. "I'm going mad," he mumbled, squinting up ahead at what looked like black smoke. "Dreaming of warm fires...I...I...Aarrghh!" Draco had walked right forward onto a sloping hill, and started tumbling down, bringing practically an avalanche with him.

He clawed at the snow, grasping for a bit of earth underneath and finally about halfway down the small mountain, his hand came in contact with a large rock and he used it to pull the rest of him steady into a sitting position.

Draco looked up as he began to brush himself off. "Holy..." he muttered a foul curse word under his breath, and then a few more.

There were raging fires on the ground at the end of the mountain and two cabins; very similar to the one Ginny and Draco had just left. For a fleeting moment Draco would have thought he had reached another life form but what he saw around the fire were forms lower than life...

Death eaters, two of them, and Draco had no doubt that inside one of those cabins was probably the leader of them both....

He scrambled up, and jogged up the mountain, actually working up a sweat almost forgetting about the icy coldness. He slipped every so often but continued on, not letting the thick snow blur his one destination:

To find Ginny.

"You're such a moron," Ginny whispered to herself as she parted from Draco. What was she going to do without him? She would never find a way out on her own, and she'd never be able to get back to the cabin by herself. She was stuck, more stranded than she had been inside the cabin.

She walked on becoming more tired by the instant. Every time she tried to swallow it felt like icicles were closing in on her throat.

After what must have been almost an hour every part of her ached, as though her bones had frozen together, melded as one. Her arms sagged down on her like extra weights and the snow covering the ground was looking more and more to her like a cozy blanket.

"Don't be stupid," she muttered, but even with that she felt her legs buckling beneath her as she collapsed into the icy coldness, her last ounce of strength draining from her completely.

Shit, Draco thought. Where could she have gone? What if she was heading straight for them? Draco continued trudging through the snow, afraid to call out her name in fear of giving away his location to the death eaters.

"Shit, shit, shit..." he muttered. He had been searching for an hour, he was sure. She could be anywhere.

Draco saw something up ahead. A large rock, or a pile of wood or something. He would just sit down, and calmly try to collect himself.

But as he got closer he noticed the pile was looking less and less like a rock. It was...flaming red...

"Ginny." Draco sprinted towards her body sprawled out onto the snow. "Ginny," he whispered again. He bent down, as she opened her eyes very slowly. Little flakes of snow had frozen on her eyelashes. Her lips were ghostly blue.

She swallowed a few times, and when she opened her mouth all she could manage was a few hoarse coughs before her teeth chattered out of control.

Without thinking, Draco tore off his jacket and sweatshirt leaving only his flannel shirt on. He draped them over her, before pulling her up into a sitting position.

"What happened?" he tried to sound very calm but he could feel a muscle in his jaw ticking. "Ginny."

She shook her head, clinging to the new clothes. "C-c-abin, D-Draco."

"You want to go back?"

She nodded fiercely.

How was he supposed to tell her? She looked on the brink of death. If they went back to the cabin then they risked passing a death eater. But if they stayed where they were...

Slowly Draco wrapped his arms around Ginny before heaving her up and cradling her in his arms. He stood up, and tried unclogging his memory to remember how to get back to where they had begun.

Ginny's legs swung back and forth lifelessly with each movement they took, and when Draco took care to look down at her he noticed her head curled into the crook of his arm and her eyes closing.

He trudged on, looking out for both the cabin, and any sign of life, but barely ever being able to take his eyes off her face. Because, Christ, he thought, she was beautiful.

"Home sweet home," Draco mumbled barely being able to kick the door open, being completely drained of any strength. "Ginny you...you lie..." he gently laid her on his bed, and put the covers over her, tucking her in gently. "Here, I'm going to get some firewood..." he took one last look at her, and her eyes flew open.

For just a second her eyes met him but she said nothing before closing them again.

She was inside now, lying in Draco's bed; breathing the distinct scent of him on the pillow. What was this feeling inside of her? Coldness. Yes, she was very cold. But she didn't feel it at all when he was outside holding her. She shivered at the gust of wind that met her before the sound of a slamming door. Then Draco stood before her again; an orange glow shone from the other room.

"Do you want to lie closer to the fire?"

She shook her head.

"Are you warm here?"

"No."

"Then you'll lay by the fire."

"No."

"Weasley, then what do you want?"

If she had had the strength she would have bitterly pointed out that even when she threatened death, he was still annoyed with her. "Stay."

"Ginny."

"Please." She must have been delirious. He sat down on the edge of the bed. She took his hand.

He stared at it for a moment. "You're freezing." She squeezed his hand tighter, gently pulling him down on the bed next to her.

"Get under the covers with me."

It was the first full sentence she had said to him. He opened his mouth at the statement, trying to tell her no way in hell, but before he could protest he found himself reluctantly maneuvering himself under the sheets, and Ginny had immediately clung to him. Her body was curled towards him, her left hand still grabbing his. Her other hand lie under the head that was resting on his chest.

Draco stayed stiff, even the hand she was holding he barely grasped back. But her body shook, and her teeth chattered. She was going to die if he didn't find a way to warm her up.

He wrapped his arms around her, still clasping her hand. He buried his head into her wild array of hair.

"I'm s-sorry."

It took him a second to find a way to reply. "For what?"

She maneuvered herself enough to look up at him. "Leaving before. I'm sorry I s-said what I d-did."

A feeling suddenly came over Draco that made him sick. She was apologizing; when she could barely speak she was so cold, for something that was his fault. And it was an immense feeling flowing through him. She still hadn't turned away.

"No," he whispered hoarsely, he let one of his hands play with the ends of her hair, before bringing it up to her neck. Draco pulled her down to him, and his eyes locked with hers for a second before he tenderly tasted her lips. They were cold at first, but sweet and slightly warming up to him. He started demanding more of the kiss, wanting to taste every bit of her mouth that already was allowing him entry. Ginny moved over him a little her fingers playing with his in the hand she was holding. And then gently, Ginny broke away.

"Yes," she said lightly.