Disclaimer: Anything you recognise is not mine. It belongs to JK and possibly some other people.
A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it. Ooops. I'm sorry, but I now have an actual plot lined out for this. It should be about another 4 chapters and I just started my exam year, so be prepared for notoriously slow updates. Also, this chapter has a crappy ending, but I'm too tired to make it better.
Chapter 3Ginny slowly opened her eyes. She felt more than a little confused. The last thing she remembered was someone talking about knocking her out. She sat up, ramrod straight.
"Draco knocked me out!" she gasped.
"Since when has Malfoy been 'Draco'?" asked a curious voice from her side.
"Harry, that's not what's important right now. Ginny thinks that Malfoy knocked her out and we have to correct her assumption," a bossy voice quickly followed. It softened as Hermione went on. "Gin, that wasn't Malfoy that knocked you out, it was me. It was the only way I could think of to get you to stop thinking as I didn't know the counter-curse." She finished, somewhat apologetic.
"Yeah, well, lucky Pomfrey does know the counter-curse. Means the rest of the school doesn't get to hear all about your latest encounter with Malfoy," Ron growled. "If I find out he's the one who did this I'll… I'll… I dunno, but something bad."
Ginny's thoughts were in a whirl. Her memories had straightened themselves out since she had woken up and she now remembered that the whole saying-thoughts-aloud thing must have started near Zabini. He would have said something otherwise. That meant she had to talk to him. Another owl-arranged rendezvous would be a good idea, but look at what had happened last time. No, she would have to rely on luck to find Zabini.
"There aren't any lasting side-affects, are there 'Mione?" she asked cautiously, wanting to know how soon she could leave.
"No, no, you should be fine." Hermione replied, before turning back to Ron, who was flushed a brilliant red. Great, Ginny thought, I can go. So she hopped out of bed (luckily she was still in her robes, although they were a little crumpled) and went on her merry way. Only Harry saw her go.
Half an hour later, she still hadn't found hide or hair of Zabini. She hadn't been unconscious long, only a couple of minutes according to the clock, so he couldn't have gotten far. Unless he had gone to the Slytherin common room. She knew where it was, of course. Fred and George had shown her the Marauders Map before they gave it to Harry, making sure she had memorised every inch of it. They wanted the Weasley legacy to continue. Unfortunately they had chosen the wrong heir.
The only problem with Zabini being inside the common room was that she didn't know the password and hanging around outside was not something she wanted to do. There was only thing for it: Harry's invisibility cloak. By now the trio would be back the Gryffindor common room, so Ginny headed there.
She had hoped to approach Harry discreetly, but clearly that was going to be impossible. As soon as she entered the room all eyes were on her. Again. One of the first years even began to giggle, causing Ginny to groan inwardly, until Colin whacked her round the head. Ginny stomped through the crowd until she reached Harry, Ron and 'Mione, sat in their usual seats at the head of the room.
As she bent down to whisper into Harry's ear conversations began to resume, although Ron stared at the sight before him with a furrowed brow.
Ginny was down by the dungeons under the invisibility cloak. Harry had agreed immediately to lend it to her. Thank the lord for teenage hormones, she had thought as she walked through the corridors that led to Slytherin territory. All she needed to do now was wait until a Slytherin came past and said the password and she'd be set, although why talking to Zabini couldn't wait until morning she wasn't sure.
Suddenly her senses snapped to attention as the tapestry in front of her rolled up. Malfoy was coming out with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. It was all the opening she needed, though, and she rushed through the entrance. A little too hurriedly, perhaps, as she brushed Malfoy, but as he didn't seem to notice that was fine by her.
As she entered the common room proper, she couldn't help but gasp in amazement. The room was large and spacious and although she may have disagreed about the colour scheme, absolutely everything about it oozed elegance. She could barely tell she was underground, although that may have had something to do with the enchanted windows along one of the walls. She was very glad that she had the invisibility cloak on right then. She didn't think she could stand Parkinson telling her to stop gawking and get out. It was just too beautiful.
Ginny scanned the room for Zabini, although she couldn't find him until she heard someone land on the floor heavily. She instantly swivelled and saw Parkinson herself, the self-proclaimed princess of Slytherin to Malfoy's prince, on the floor.
"Just because Draco's gone doesn't mean you can move onto me. However you could try Vincent or Gregory. I'm sure they'd be delighted with your attentions." Zabini's cold tones echoed through the room as he gestured to the two teens who were leering in Parkinson's direction.
Just as Zabini was moving off towards the boy's corridor, a path being cleared for him, Ginny remembered what she was doing there and ran to catch up. Luckily the corridor was empty, so no one was there to see her astonishment when Zabini didn't react to her dramatic removal of the cloak.
"Hello? Zabini? Anyone home?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes. He blinked then stared down at her, amusement returned to his dark eyes.
"Do I detect a hint of annoyance, Weasley, or is this just for me?" he said, teasingly.
"Oh don't worry your pretty little head about it," here Ginny had to smother a giggle as he pouted at her. "I need to talk to you about earlier. When I was talking to you, there was a curse on me…" she trailed off, unsure of how to go on.
Zabini nodded sagely. "Yeah, I heard about that. Before you ask, it wasn't Draco. He may have the skill for this kind of thing, but not the heart." Again he nodded, this time at her unspoken question. "Draco's a lot worse at keeping secrets than you, even when you're cursed. Now put Potter's cloak back on and toddle off. I'm sure you have homework to do."
Draco had calmed down and was making his way back down to the Slytherin common room when he walked smack-bang into something he couldn't see. Something, or someone, he thought wryly to himself, as copper curls were revealed, followed by the rest of Ginny Weasley.
"Come to beg for more, Weaslette? Or were you looking for scraps from the Slytherins?" he said, not making much effort as he was too tired for this sort of thing. As the telltale blush spread up her cheeks she made to go around him. "Oh no you don't," he said, putting out an arm to stop her. "We've got to talk."
"Oh yeah. Says who?" she replied, slightly offbalanced by her talk with Zabini.
He was about to say me, who else? when he saw the expression on Ginny's face. He saw longing and confusion and read between the lines and so leaned in for another kiss.