Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

Draco and Ginny were cold, tired, and hungry.

It had been almost five hours since their discovery that the quickly falling snow had obliterated the tracks of their fellow students. They had tried all sorts of spells and incantations, but Ginny, being a sixth year, was not so sure on all her spells. Draco, on the other hand, was not sure what spell could have helped them.

He had tried Point Me, but seeing as both of them had no idea where the wand was, as the snow covered their vision, the idea was abandoned very quickly.

Now Draco hurried ahead, looking for any sign of Hogwarts. He was freezing, and shivered every few steps. The snow was going up to his knees.

Behind him, Ginny wasn't faring much better. She hugged herself, trying desperately to keep behind Draco. She had thought he'd leave her first chance he'd get, but surprisingly, he had ordered her to walk in his footsteps.

Ginny bit down on her lip, trying more to keep it warm then to push away aggravating thoughts. Draco turned to check on her every few moments, and she forced up a smile each time. But as they stumbled along, she began to weaken.

She looked at the gloves, the snow-white gloves on her hand. They were thick, but failed to keep out the pelting ice. Her head was beginning to pound now, and she began to slow. Draco's shadow soon disappeared, but her lungs were too weak for her to shout.

Ginny looked up, and saw nothing but swirling, twirling white. She leaned forward, then back, and tried to face front again.

But everywhere she looked, it was white. The color was closing in on her, pressing against her body, until it fizzled to gray, and finally to peaceful, relaxing black.

Draco wiped more snow from his face, and cursed his stupidity. Why had he stopped her? She should have been safe, in her dormitory, chatting with her friends.

He knew the teachers would be looking, but no amount of magic could help them in this weather. Feeling terribly alone, he turned back to check on Ginny—

And found her gone.

Shocked, Draco stood still for a moment, before a blast of icy air hit him.

"Weasley!" He called, his voice cracking. He turned all the way and began to slush back. "Weasley! Are you there!" There was no answer, and panic clutched at his heart.

Pushing forward relentlessly, he searched to find her. A tuft of red hair, a freckle, a finger, anything! He pleaded mentally.

"Ginny!" His call was loud now, and he heard a rumbling overhead. Draco ignored it, and took another step. Something stopped him, however, and sent him sprawling.

He sat up, coughing, and wiped the snow off his face. Turning around, he saw what had tripped him.

A mound in the snow, with scraps of purple just barely visible.

Draco gasped loudly, and scrambled over. In his haste, he tripped many times, but he reached Ginny in a moment. Digging furiously, and muttering "Incendio!" under his breath a few times, he managed to get her out. He stopped, and stared.

Her face was blue, and she seemed to have lost her gloves and hat. Her eyes were frozen shut, and Draco couldn't detect any sign of breathing.

"You're not going to die on me, Ginevra Weasley!" he shouted, more to the blizzard than her. "Do you hear me? You stay alive, or—or—I'll kill you if you do die!" Silly as it seemed, Draco felt an instant strength coursing through him.

If I lose her…

Draco shook his head. First off, she wasn't going to die. Secondly, what did he care? She was just a girl, and a Weasley, and a Gryffindor at that. All these reasons to hate her…why should he care?

But as he took in a deep, shuddering breath against the cold, Draco's mental wall cracked slightly.

His father had torn him away from all his relationships, claiming emotions were weaknesses. His mother, too weak to do anything, had simply nodded along.

But Ginny Weasley had always had a spark. The first time they had met, just before Luscius Malfoy handed her the infamous diary, he had said a few biting words. And without fear in her eyes, she had snapped back.

He lived to see her eyes light up when she was angry, and how she would grin impishly through all his insults.

He would marvel at how she seemed to pass through his words like a knife slipping through butter, and how she would retort faster than lightning.

He was enamored by her laugh, melodic and tinkling. It was a sound he was longing for now, as she showed no signs of waking.

Draco, unable to sit still for much longer and watch Ginny's spirit fade away, lifted her into his arms. The snow instantly flew into his eyes, blinding him for a moment, but he was unable to reach his wand, and he wouldn't drop Ginny now for anything.

Suddenly, through the howling wind and storm, he saw a small, dark opening in front of him. It was filling up fast, though, with snow and would soon be invisible. Moving faster than he thought possible through the flurry, he darted towards the cave.

Draco fumbled for his wand, and grasped it with two fingers held under Ginny. "Incendio!" He cried, and the wall of snow building up in front of it melted away. He had just collapsed inside with Ginny before the wall began to build up again.

Draco leaned Ginny against the wall and found a pile of dead leaves and branches in the corner of the cave. The cave was dark, and the rapidly rising snow wasn't helping much. As it would provide insulation, Draco didn't bother removing it.

As soon as he thought he had enough dry things, Draco built a small circle of stone around the crackling pile.

"Incendio!" He said once more. Never had he been more thankful to learn that spell then when a fire burst up instantly.

But he wasn't done yet. Grunting, Draco moved Ginny to the side of the fire, then removed his own coat and draped it over her.

Now satisfied, the blond haired boy pondered on the creature before him. What was it Blaise had said?

"…A girl, and a Weasley and a Gryff nonetheless, has perplexed you…"

Draco groaned. For once, he admitted defeat. The girl was the most confusing enigma he had ever come by.

As Draco leaned against the wall, his exhausted body shutting down, a single, fleeting thought went by.

Puzzling indeed, but I will figure her out.

Poke.

Draco stirred slightly.

Poke.

He waved his hand at whatever was annoying him and turned over. "Leave, you damn house-elf." He mumbled.

PokePoke.

"You keep house-elves? Ashamed, Draco, I'm ashamed."

Draco shot up, his eyes opening wide. Ginny laughed and fell back, kicking her legs up in the air. Draco watched, stunned, until she sat up.

"You should have seen your face, Draco! Hilarious!" she wheezed. Then her face turned somber, and a soft smile appeared. "But thanks."

"For what?" Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Draco gazed at her. She rolled her eyes and scooted closer to the fire.

"For saving me, dummy! Geez! If you hadn't come back and apparently dragged my limp body—,"

"Carried." Draco interrupted. She looked at him queerly, but continued.

"Yes, well carried my limp body back, who knows what could have happened? And for lending me your coat—," she pointed to said object, which was lying next to him, "And for the fire. Basically, thanks for keeping me alive."

"You're welcome," Draco said. He looked at he snow wall, and realized it was melting slightly at the corners. "Hey! I think the storm's over!"

Ginny scrambled to her feet, removing her wand from her coat pocket. "How do I blast it down?" she mused. "If someone's out there, I want to come out with a bang."

"Incendio." Draco suggested. She looked at him as if he were crazy.

"I said a bang, Draco."

"Hey, that spell saved your life last night! The fire and the snow!" His eyebrows knitted together. "And since when was it Draco, not Malfoy?"

Ginny shrugged. "You're certainly not acting Malfoy-like. So it's Draco. Are you still gonna call me Weasley or Weaselette?"

"Maybe." He replied, with a mysterious waggle of the eyebrows. Ginny burst into giggles, and he frowned.

"You certainly seem bouncy for someone who's almost frozen to death."

"I have my ways." She said loftily. (Later, Draco found out she used a healing charm while he was sleeping)

Draco frowned, and she smiled. "You need to laugh more. Rictumsempra!" Draco fell to the floor, laughing and wheezing. He tried to glare up at Ginny, but she merely grinned at him.

"I'm not stopping until you're thoroughly happy!"

"But—oh, Gods—I am happy!" Draco gasped out, tears streaming down his face as he chuckled hopelessly.

"Really?" Ginny smirked. "And what could you be happy about?" She kept her wand trained on Draco, who was trying desperately to stop snickering long enough to grab his wand.

"I'm here—with you!" He panted. Ginny let her mouth hang open, and Draco reached his wand. He puffed out the counter-curse, and immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you really mean that?"

His eyes swung to Ginny, who had her wand hanging loosely in her hand. Draco couldn't bring himself to say anything. There was a glitter of emotion hidden in the depths of her eyes…hope, maybe? He grunted instead.

"Reducto!" He pointed his wand to the wall, and it split apart. Ginny's features instantly hardened, and she pouted.

"Oi! I was gonna do that!"

Draco shrugged. "First come, first serve." She held up her wand with a menacing gleam in her eye, and Draco raised his hands. "Orchideous!" A bouquet of flowers appeared, and Ginny stopped as Draco handed them to her.

"Here, to stop you killing me. You can signal them, if you like." Ginny was watching him closely, but a mask seemed to have been slipped over his face. She nodded, and stepped outside, Draco on her heels.

The snow had landed in thickly, covering the trees. It went up to Ginny's knees, which was just below Draco's knees. Apparently, it was midday, as most of the snow had melted.

Ginny grinned. "I have an idea! Do you think any animals could be out yet?"

"No!" Draco snorted. "It's still much too cold outside, and it seems like it might start up again. I'd expect them to be holed up."

"Good!" Ginny cried brightly. Ignoring the look Draco gave her, she pointed her wand to the sky. "Avis!"

A flock of birds appeared, squawking madly. They barely stopped to look around; instead, they flew upwards, to check out their surroundings. All were brightly colored, and decidedly normal looking, which meant they didn't belong in the Forbidden Forest.

"Brilliant," breathed Draco.

"Thank you!" Ginny startled him as she leaned closer. Automatically, he wrapped an arm around her. He looked down at the top of her head, trying anxiously not to breathe in the scent of intoxicating strawberries.

"Getting a bit close now, aren't we Weasley?"

She didn't move. Instead, she stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut your mouth, Malfoy." He adopted a hurt expression.

"Malfoy?"

"You're acting like a jerk, thus, Malfoy."

Draco shook his head. The girl would never cease to surprise him! "Let me get my coat." He murmured, and took his arm back. He sensed a fleeting frown, but it was gone as she nodded.

He trudged back inside the cave, and had just grabbed the garment and plodded out when voices startled him. Ginny waved her arms.

"Over here! Over here!"

Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Hagrid emerged, all looking very worried. In a moment, Hagrid had rushed to Ginny and embraced her in hug.

"Thought we'd lost yer fer sure, Gin! Yer brother wanted ter come out, and so did 'Arry, but I told 'em you'd be found. And look at that, you are!" His beetle-black eyes were watering slightly, and Ginny patted his hand fondly.

"It's ok, Hagrid. I'm fine now, thanks to Draco!"

There was a moment when every teacher did a double take, and it was there that Draco realized how evil everyone thought him to be.

"Mr. Malfoy? I expected to find you in a different cave…" McGonagall trailed off, and Snape looked as if he had just been Stupefied.

Dumbledore, however, was looking rather happy. "Yes, Ginevra, may I ask what happened?"

Ginny told them about getting lost, and passing out, and about waking up in the cave. Draco added his own two cents at the parts where Ginny was unconscious, and by the time the two were finished, the teachers were now definitely immobile.

Draco glanced at Ginny, who winked. She had tweaked the story slightly, making it seem as if she had left something behind, and Draco had just been rather slow.

"I believe," Dumbledore said, eyes still twinkling, "That these two young ones should be released immediately to the Great Hall. They seem to be fine and have no need of Poppy, so there is no need to send them to the Hospital Wing."

Snape looked back and forth between the two, doubtless wondering why they hadn't blasted each other to bits. "But Headmaster, there will be no one in there until dinner."

"Which is in a half hour, Severus. Doubtless by the time we get back, we will only have twenty minutes' wait. In the meantime, these two will be perfectly fine together."

Hagrid, McGonagall, and Snape both looked at Ginny and Draco as if expecting them to object. The two each picked a random snowflake and watched it fall.

"Very well." McGonagall sounded resigned. "In the meantime, Professor Snape and I will be contacting the parents of the two and informing them they are safe, as well as any relatives or friends."

And so the two were led back to the castle, with several befuddled teachers and one very happy Dumbledore.

I really liked this chapter, for some odd reason. Oh, and all spells here are real, all have been used in the book at some time.