A/N: This chapter should focus more on Draco, and his POV of the past especially. "Memories of a Girl."

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Pairing: Ginny/Draco, Hermione/Severus

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Um… I don't own it?

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Draco sighed, leaning back in his chair. The three o'clock dead-line had passed. Speaking of which, Ginny still wasn't back. Where was she? He sat up straight, looking at Rovenwood. "Sir, where is Professor Weasley?"

"She went to the bathroom, Malfoy."

Hermione looked up, her hand still in her husband's. "That was more than fifteen minutes ago." She frowned. "Where is she?"

"Parkinson," Rovenwood snapped. Pansy looked up from where she was writing on a sheet of parchment, her gaze questioning. "Check the W.C., I want you to find out what's keeping Professor Weasley."

Pansy nodded and set her quill down, getting up to leave. Draco watched her head out the door, his gaze contemplating. Why had he never fallen for her? It would have been so much easier…

Draco walked down the corridor, eyeing the students around him with disdain. In his seventh year and in prime condition, he didn't find any of the girls… Arousing. Well, that wasn't completely true. There was one. But only one. For some reason, some reason he couldn't identify, he had begun to be interested in her.

Ginny Weasley.

She was supposed to be the bane of his existence… And yet she wasn't. He was…happy, for some reason, to see her in the halls, at lunch, between classes… Any glimpse of her would do.

Why couldn't he have fallen—and he knew he'd fallen, all of his actions screamed it—for someone else, someone he actually had a chance of being with? Like Pansy, for instance. Why couldn't he have fallen for her? She was the one his father wanted him to marry. Then again, maybe it was a good thing he hadn't, since she had fallen for someone else. Who that was, he didn't know yet. But he would eventually. She would tell him. It was the way their relationship was. They were best friends.

That was actually another thing. He didn't think of her romantically. He hadn't ever thought of her that way, really.

There was a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He turned toward it instinctively, his breath catching in his throat. There she was. Ginny.

With Potter. He scowled. As always.

The boy leaned down, whispering something into her ear. She giggled, looking up at him adoringly. Lovingly.

Draco turned around abruptly, catching a few startled students by surprise. Ginny loved Potter, there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't stand a chance against the Boy Who Lived.

He had never hated him more than at that moment.

But it certainly hadn't been the last time. Of course, if it had only taken one kiss to change her mind…

Ginny was dancing, looking like an angel. She was with Potter, of course, as always. But at least she wasn't staring lovingly at him. That sickened him even more than his sentimentalism as of late.

Pansy had noticed it, and commented on it. He had basically told her to shove it, but she hadn't been offended. She could tell that he was upset, mostly because the Boy Who Lived had gotten what he'd wanted, again… And yet this time, he had gotten it before Draco had even wanted it. So Draco couldn't even hate him properly.

Of course, she also wished for the two to break up, but this time for an entirely different reason—she was in love with Harry Potter. Harry bloody Potter. Draco Malfoy's best friend was in love with Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

Draco was jerked from his musings when Pansy jerked on his arm. "Draco," she whispered, her voice slightly whining, just to annoy him, he knew. "I need to talk to you."

Draco sighed and followed her out into the hall. They walked down a few corridors until Pansy was obviously happy that they wouldn't be heard before she started talking. He wasn't paying attention, still focusing on what Ginny had looked like, until heard three words, "talk to Harry."

"What?" he asked suddenly, urgently.

"I said I think I'm going to talk to Harry. I just, I want to…"

"Pansy, he won't understand," Draco interrupted, "he's with Weasley." How much it hurt to say that!

"But Draco…" Pansy said dejectedly.

"Pansy…" Draco trailed off, trying to comfort his friend. "You'll get your chance. It just isn't now. Maybe after… Maybe after he's gone. It's just not now." Pansy sniffled, and Draco put an arm around her. "Maybe you should go back to your dorm room. I'll make your excuses." He kissed her on the forehead and watched as she raced off towards the Slytherin Dungeons. He was about to turn and head back to the Ball when he heard a slight shuffle.

It wasn't something one would normally hear, seeing as how it was so quiet, but Draco had been training his ears over the summer to detect things like that, since his father (and his dorm mates, for that matter) was apt to try and sneak up on him. Well, not literally, but Lucius would often set traps for his son to see whether he could get out of them. He said it was part of his training to be a Death Eater. Not that Draco wanted to be a Death Eater… Not really, anyway. But he didn't see any way out of it.

Draco walked forward, and saw Ginny standing in an alcove, looking as though she were desperately trying to stay hidden. "Weasley," he said, flinching inwardly. He'd rather call her Ginny, but… "What did you hear?"

"N-nothing," she whispered, looking terrified. Oh, how he hated that. How she feared him, as though he were going to gobble her up… Not that he would object to that, but not the way she was thinking at least.

Draco shook himself inwardly, trying to get back to the task at hand. He snorted. "Yeah, right." He took a threatening step forward. "Well, you're not going to tell anyone what you heard."

Ginny shook her head quickly, backing up a few steps. "Of course not."

Draco let a slow smile make its way onto his face. "Good." His gaze traveled over her face and came, inevitably, to her lips. Gods, how he wanted to kiss her! Oh, he'd wanted to before, contemplated it plenty of times… But the need and the want had never been this strong. He saw her face turn red. She probably wasn't used to boys drooling over her.

Draco suddenly moved forward, too fast for her to back up again, and leaned down, brushing his lips over hers. He spent long moments in that kiss, even though in reality it only lasted three seconds at best. It was only the shadow of a kiss, but it was sensual in its own way… And it left him wanting more. Oh, so much more... Which was why it was so difficult to pull away walk back to the Slytherin Dungeons. There was no way he could go back to the Ball now. Not when he was so aroused.

He shook his head. That kiss would haunt his memory for a long time to come…

Draco shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. Well, why wouldn't he be? He'd just relived a particularly arousing memory of a girl he'd loved for a good five years. Who wouldn't be uncomfortable in that position? At least they were at a table… Thank the Gods for small favors.

That kiss… Gods, but it had never left his memory. He remembered it down to the very last detail, including that she'd brushed a hand against his cheek near the end of it. It was that soft touch that had given him the slightest bit of hope, that touch which had kept him going in the darkest of times… That hope that maybe she didn't believe he was a complete utter bastard, that maybe he was actually okay.

He sighed. At least Pansy had gotten Potter. At least one of them was happy.

"Sir!" Pansy burst into the room. Draco's head shot up, and he looked at his friend anxiously. "Professor Weasley's not there, and I checked with security." She glanced at Draco. "There was an Apparation out of the W.C. just minutes after she left here. Security didn't make much of it since Donovan's been having those problems—you know, sir." Rovenwood nodded. Richard Donovan's Apparation problems were well known. He was as likely to end up in the girls' lavatory as he was to end up where he was actually aiming… Which was usually his office. "Well, they didn't think much of it, so they didn't notify anyone, and, well, here we are. Weasley's gone, and I very much doubt that she just left to get a cup of coffee," Pansy finished wryly.

Hermione stood up. "We have to do something, we have to find her!"

"She's not here. She's probably left to exchange herself for the hostages," Draco said coldly, his voice betraying no emotion. Inside, he was ready to puke.

"What would you know about her?" Hermione snapped at him.

Draco just stared at her, his gaze unflinching. "I've watched her for longer than you know, and I would happily have gone in her place if I could. But I couldn't. She made her decision. There's nothing we can do about it. We need to concentrate on finding the children. I imagine the Death Eaters will retain at least a bit of their agreement, even if it is only because the students are becoming hard to handle. I'm sure you know how rowdy they all can get."

Hermione glared at him, but didn't say anything. She was probably still processing everything he had just said. After all, he'd practically said he loved Ginny. Well, perhaps not quite. But he had said that he would have died in her place if he could… Of course, she could think he meant something else… What that was, he didn't know, but anything was possible.

How could she do that to him?! How could Ginny deliberately put her life in danger? Again?

But he already knew the answer.

Children.

It was always the children.

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A/N: Oh yeah! Cliffhanger. *grin*

Sokorra Lewis: I liked my little Gin-Lioness too. ^^ And as you can see, Draco's interpretation of the past is right here… Funny that you asked; I wrote this about a month ago.

Piperkeen: Thanks, but I'm not into Harry-Potter-role-playing.

LadyRhiyana: Yup. I'm back. :D *giggles* Of course everyone knows the Malfoy. And the Weasleys are proud of their Gryffindoric status. Although… Well, in another of my fics (which just happens to be Ginny/Draco), I'm going to smash that concept to bits. *giggles* Poor Ron is so shocked… (That fic is called The Forgotten Ones, in case you were wondering.)

Gia: Brilliant? *grin* Thanks! I'm so flattered. I rather like HG/SS, mostly because I can't really see Hermione with a boy her age… They aren't really up to her mental level. If you'd really like to see why I like HG/SS, check out Crimson and Gold by Witch Lisa. It's one of the best out there.

*-* Courtney *-*: Glad you like all the strange pairings. For some reason I really go for those. Most of my other stories have Harry/Pansy pairings in them, and I'm planning on doing a spin-off of Last Will and Testament for their romance. Have you read anything by Davesmom? She writes really good Ginny/Draco stories.

innocent rambler: Thanks!

SAngel: Hehe, glad you like it.

blurry: Yup, I love my little Ginny lioness. And yes, that evil, evil Lucius is up to something… I was really proud of the last chapter. Glad you agree with me in that assessment. :)