A/N: HBP: Obviously, it seems as though Ginny/Draco would never happen, but regardless, I'm going to carry on with this story. Just try to ignore everything that happened in HBP and, of course, the person who dies, isn't dead but he doesn't really play a very big part in this story.

I'm getting rid of my other story that's H/Hr. Instead, I'm going to re-write it as a story after HBP, but still H/Hr. Even though R/Hr looks likely to happen, I still love the idea of H/Hr, so I'm gonna keep going.

Anyway, enough explanations, here's the next chapter. I'm sorry it took so long; I kinda forgot about it.

Apologies and Formations

Ginny's sense's flooded out of her in one big wave as her brain processed the new information. No way! That couldn't be possible. How…why did Draco save her?

She tried to move her feet but she felt frozen to the floor.

"Ginny?" Hermione called out to her. "Ginny, are you alright?"

Ginny didn't reply. Instead, she raised a foot slowly and pelted it down the corridor. She could here Hermione shouting after her, but she didn't reply, just kept running. She had to find him.

She found him sitting by his own in the most popular courtyard, although it was deserted. Everyone must have been at dinner. She watched him sigh and leave through the entrance less than a couple of feet away from her. He didn't see her hiding in the shadows.

"Draco…" she called out softly.

He stopped in his tracks and turned wearily around slowly. His face displayed shock when Ginny revealed herself and walked towards him.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly. "And since when did you call me Draco?"

"Since I found out the truth." She replied simply.

"What do you want?" he asked again but less coldly.

"I… I… I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. I'm sorry about having a go at you a couple of minutes ago. I didn't know."

"You're sorry? You do realize that you just apologized to me, Draco Malfoy."

He said haughtily and smirked. Ginny glared at him.

"Look, I'm trying to say sorry but if your too 'pure-blood' to accept then you can just shove it up your ass. Jeez…" Ginny snapped and flicked some of her long red hair out of her eyes.

He only smirked which infuriated her further. She growled in frustration and turned on her heel to leave but a hand grabbed tightly onto her arm.

"I accept." He said, bringing his face in closer to hers and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of amusement pass in his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitch into a smile.

"But if I were you, I wouldn't go running into the arms of any Dementors any time soon."

"I didn't run into them on purpose, you know. I only did that so that you would leave me alone. And to show that I'm a better runner than you." Ginny said and smiled at him teasingly. Draco's stomach jerked but he ignored it. He was probably just hungry. He began to walk round the corner with Ginny.

"Whatever. I'm still a better flyer than you."

"Harry's better than you."

"Don't bring Potter into this."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"No. It's funny. Did you know that your nose flares when you say Potter?"

"My nose does not flare!"

"It does. And it looks bloody hilarious! I bet you snore too."

"I don't snore. Trust me on that."

"That's what everyone says."

"Urgh! You are so annoying!"

"Thanks! So are you"

Draco glared at her but she smiled in return. She had just been playing around, he told himself.

"Anyway, I'm going to my common room. See you around… Draco."

She grinned somewhat evilly and walked up the stairs.

Draco rolled his eyes and walked on. He was at the foot of the stairs when she called out for him again. She was standing at the top of the stairs. A window was directly behind her and the sunset light shone through, highlighting her hair.

"Er…" She stammered and fiddled with a lock of hair nervously. "Thank you."

He raised an eyebrow at her but she continued.

"Thank you for everything. I owe you my life… Thank you."

She smiled kindly at him from at the top of the stairs.

Draco stared at her. He felt stupid standing there, letting Ginny smile down at him. If one of the Slytherins had been around, he would have a lot of explaining to do. But at that precise moment when she smiled at him, he didn't care. He heart jumped unwantedly but he could only think of how lovely she looked. And despite the warm September breeze blowing around him, he never felt colder in his life…

Ginny snuggled in against her warm cover until she couldn't deny anymore that she was awake. She stretched and glanced at the clock. 5:46 am. Enough time to take her broom and sketchbook out. Picking up her broom, she rummaged inside her trunk for her sketchbook. It wasn't there. She frowned and tried under her bed. Nope.

Then she remembered yesterday. She had it with her on the Quidditch pitch yesterday morning before the ordeal with the Dementors. She sighed. Great. She'd lost her sketchbook. She opened the dormitory window and flew out anyway. It might still be there….

Draco Malfoy did not snore. No matter what Ginny Weasley thought. He turned over so that he was flat on his back. And now he had Ginny imprinted in his mind when she smiled at him. That particular had been ironed into his memory since last night and he had a particularly disturbing dream with her in it… with him… naked.

He face burned slightly at the thought and groaned with fatigue and annoyance.

There was only one thing left to do to get her off his mind. Go for a fly. He had nothing else to do and it was 3 hours until classes started.

After tugging on a t-shirt and school trousers, he snatched up his broom and promptly left the building on it, revelling in the early morning freshness. He saw a figure circling the pitch, close to the ground.

"No way…" he whispered and flew closer.

Damn. It wasn't there. Now she had well and truly lost all of the artwork that she had worked so hard on. Bitter tears stung the back of her eyes. Everything was gone…

"Is it me, or is this slightly de ja vu?" a voiced called out to her from behind.

Ginny moved her broom around so that she was facing Malfoy, who was smirking at her in his broom.

"Yeah. I guess it is…" she said quietly. "The only difference is that there are no Dementors around."

Before she could help it, a silent tear slid down her cheek.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Draco asked as he came closer after seeing the tear.

"I've lost it!" she sobbed, tears now falling heavily.

"Lost what?"

"My sketchbook. Everything I have worked on. It's all gone..."

Draco stared at her for a while as she cried, then burst out laughing.

"WHAT!" she shouted angrily at him. "It's not funny! You have no idea!"

"It's not the fact that you're so upset over a sketchbook. I'm laughing because your sketchbook is in my room."

"What?" Ginny asked, barely believing what she heard, the tears instantly stopping.

"I came back after the attack. I needed to sort my head out so I came back. There wasn't one Dementor there. I think a teacher returned your broom to you after they checked out where it happened. I went for a wander and found you sketchbook. It's in my room."

"Did you look in it?" she asked accusingly.

"No." Draco lied as convincingly as possible. Ginny narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Can I have it back, then?" she asked hopefully.

"I think your forgetting the magic word." Draco teased and watched in amusement as Ginny glowered at him.

"Please?"

"Follow me."

Draco swung his broom around and flew out of the Quidditch pitch. Ginny trailing him closely.

"Here." Draco said as he handed the black sketchbook over. Ginny instantly snatched the sketchbook out of his hands and flickered through the contents to check whether any were missing or damaged. She sighed with relief when none were.

"You're good." Draco said from the sofa where he had settled a couple of seconds ago.

"Um… thanks" Ginny blushed and walked around the Slytherin common room, looking at all the rich furnishings and colours, dragging her broom around with her as she wandered.

After a couple of silent seconds, Draco began to shift restlessly on the sofa, uncomfortably with the level of sound coming from Ginny. He turned around to see her staring at the on of the walls that had a painting on it.

"Do you know who that is?" he asked, coming up behind her.

"Yes." She whispered. "Tom Marvlo Riddle."

Touching her arm briefly, he noticed she was cold and her eyes with either wide with shock or fear.

"Voldemort…" she murmured so quietly he hardly heard.

"What!"

"Nothing." She said quickly, snapping out of her trance-like state. "nothing. I need to go."

Before Draco could say anything, she rushed out of the room with a flowery scented swish. Her heart was pounding and her feet ached but she just ran on until she collapsed against a wall near the Gryffindor common room. A slip of paper fell out of the back of her sketchbook.

Gently falling to her knees to pick it up, she flipped it over and took a sharp intake of breath.

It was a beautifully drawn picture of her. Sketched and shaded to the finest detail. She was smiling and looking straight ahead. This was not one of her drawings. Turning it over to the other blank side, she saw a large cursive D written on the paper.

Her blood ran cold…

A/N: not literally obviously. R&R. I'm not updating until I get at least 5 reviews.