Never run into the arms of ice

Ginny shot into the sky, rising at an alarming speed. He unexpectantly caught up with her. They were side by side.

"I have a Nimbus 2001. Did you really think you could out fly me on a Cleansweep?" Draco yelled to her against the wind.

Suddenly, she swept herself off the pitch and back towards Hogwarts without a backwards glance. Draco smirked to himself. She was gone now. Finally being able to relax, he rode around the pitch a couple of times, his foot just skimming the browning autumn grass, but Draco was a Malfoy and he got restless easily. He plummeted into the sky, adrenaline coursing around his body. He came to an abrupt stop when he noticed a mop of red hair sitting side saddle on her broom about 3 feet above him.

"What is she doing back here? I thought I got rid of her." He hissed through gritted teeth.

He slowly flew up to her, noting that she seemed to be crouched over something. A gust of wind threw Draco off balance slightly and a piece of paper hit him in the face. It had floated out of Ginny's sketchbook unnoticed. At closer inspection, he realized it was the one that he had seen yesterday. The one of him. Glancing at the red head, he swiftly pocketed it and flew towards her.

"I thought I had gotten rid of you." He spat at her.

"Well, you obviously thought wrong." She replied, without even looking at him.

"But you flew off!"

"True. I left. Didn't mean I wasn't going to be coming back. I only went to get my drawing stuff."

He glowered at her and moved cautiously round to the back of her, peering at what she had been drawing. She clutched it to her chest protectively.

"Since when did the Little Weasel become such an artist?" he whispered in her ear. She shivered and flicked her hair in his face as she soared into the sky. Draco gritted his teeth and followed her. It wasn't long before he caught up with her again. A phenomenal swipe of icy cold air tossed Ginny to the side and her book fell out of her hand. Draco quickly caught it. It was like catching a Snitch.

"Here" he said and held it out to her.

"Thank you." She said, snatching it back.

"Look, I saved your little book, so will you please get out of here?" Draco asked as civilly as he could.

"Fine." She sighed and floated to the ground. Draco sighed out of relief. "On one condition" she finished.

"WHAT!" Draco roared. Ginny looked at him with a pitiful look as she hopped off her broom.

"You may be better at me in the sky but how do you fare on the ground? I'll go if you beat me in a race to the other end of the pitch. If you don't, then I get to stay and finish my picture."

She raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Fine" he accepted and threw his broom down. Ginny secretly smirked. Just as she had planned. Draco's egotistical brain had obviously thought that as she was a Weasley and he was a Malfoy, he would obviously be better than her. However, Ginny had had16 years of experience from racing against a gaggle of brothers.

"O.K. Ready? On the count of three. 1…2…3!"

Both bodies shot forward. Just as Ginny had expected, Draco began to lag about half way. Ginny laughed as Draco disappeared from her side and ran through the Quidditch Pitch gates. She was concentrating so hard on winning that she didn't notice the grass had frozen under feet. She stopped.

"What the…?"

As she spoke, her breath formed an icy cloud.

Draco had stopped about three quarters of the way. How was that possible? Weasel had out run him. He had lost.
He stuck his hand into his pockets and jogged up to the gates. As soon as he was through, he saw Ginny. Only something wasn't right. She seemed frozen and was shaking. The air had turned bitterly cold and the ground had frozen over. He paled. Dementors!

Ginny thought she had gone insane when she heard his voice in her head. That wasn't possible. How could he be back? Harry had killed him in her first year.

"Ginny…"

No! There it was again. Tom Riddle's voice.

"No. No. Please. Go away. Not again. Not Tom." She murmured as she fell ground. She looked up desperately for any one to help her. Only, she looked up into the face of a Dementor. She felt her inside freeze and screamed as loud as she could manage just before she fainted, quivering in a ball. The last thing she heard was some one call out her name.

It was when Ginny screamed that Draco HAD to do something. More and more Dementors came, swarming round her.

He thought of something. Something happy. Perhaps flying around a nice country estate, no Mark on his arm and into the arms of a beautiful woman.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A glittering wisp flew out of the end of his wand. But dissolved almost instantly. It had failed. That was, until a large silver scorpion appeared in front of him and went scurrying towards the hooded figures. They backed off almost instantly and gave Draco access to Ginny. She was alive as she was mumbling under breath.

"Ginny!" he shook her.

"No! Please. Go away. Not Tom. Not Tom again."

He backed away. Tom? Who was Tom?

"Malfoy!"

Draco turned around to see who had called his name. Hagrid. He had never been more grateful to see the half-giant before.

"I saw whatjust happened. She has to go to the Hospital Wing." Hagrid said. Draco nodded in agreement weakly.

Hagrid scooped up the girl and carried her, Draco following in an almost dazed state, although his brain was working in what had just happened. Tom…. Who was Tom? And why was it him that brought Ginny, a confident and fiery girl, to a shaking ball, absolutely terrified. He looked at her limp body in Hagrid's arms, her arm swinging loosely. Something was nagging on his mind…