23

Malfoy broods...

Draco looked at Ginny from across the table. He no longer sat himself directly beside her, but he still liked to be in her prescence. Ginny had that effect on people.

SHe seemed very enegetic since Quidditch had started. She was an excellent Beater, even if she tended to wait til the last second to rescue him from the Bludger. He would dive for the Snitch, watching the Bludger slowly approach. Then at the second before impact, she would flit in between him and the blunt object, sending it to high hell. Then she'd grin cheekily at him and fly off.

The main problem, Draco reflected, was that she and Brooklyn got bored. Without another team to play against, it was child's play for her and GInny to manipulate the balls. The two girls had formed a temporary alliance. If it could be called that. The deal was, Brooklyn would pick a target, usually Draco. Then she'd send a Bludger his way. Ginny would ward off the Bludger and send it toward whoever she felt like. Brooklyn would bravely defend that person before sending it toward another. Even with two balls in play, Ginny and Brooklyn never let a player get hurt.

Ginny laughed at something and Draco lost himself in her laughter. She was beautiful, he reflected. Her hazel eyes crinkled merrily and the slightest of dimples creased her cheeks. She turned her head toward him. The smile faltered slightly but then was back, if somewhat forced. Draco sighed inwardly. If only she could look at him that way.

He excused himself, leaving his food untouched. He missed the upset look on Ginny's face as he headed down stairs to the library.

He entered the library and sat in a chair with a sigh. This was all going wrong. When did he start falling in love with her? He knew the answer. The moment he met her. At first she was a shy little girl in Florish and Blotts (sp?). Even then, she'd been cute enough to turn his head. It hurt him that a beautiful little girl like this was so enamored of an idiot. He had lashed out, as he always had. It caused him no pride to see her face flush.

But as she grew older, she became something else. His father once told him that time in the Chamber of Secrets could change a person. Some people it reduced to quivering lumps of flesh that feared anything and everything. Others it turned cruel and bitter. (Somedays Draco thought his father had spent sometime down there and had turned into the second.) But Ginny was not either of these. Oh, that second year he picked on her a great deal. At the time he'd been trying to get over his silly obsession with her. And for a while it worked. Her whole first year, she cowered.

And Draco continued to obsess. Some how he was drawn to this shy little thing and even as he tormented her, he longed to cradle her in his arms and wipe away those easy tears and make her laugh. He managed to keep this up for three years. Then one day during his fifth year, she snaped.

He brought the memory to surface and contemplated it.

He had been strutting around the school, proud of his prefects badge,. when he saw her. Never one to give up easy prey, he waved off his goons and sidled up. SHe was leaning against a pillar and reading something. A smile was on her cherry lips.

"Well, well, Weasel. What have we here?" He reached out to grab her paper. Instead he grabbed thin air.

"Malfoy, I'm in a good mood." SHe was still smiling, but her eyes were cold. "Walk away and I'll forget this happened."

Draco walked away, stunned. When had The little Weasley grown a back bone. He spent the subsequent two years trying to see just how far he could push her. She was relatively easy going and it took a lot to push her to her edge. But once there, she was quite the tigeress. As he was finding out. This was truly the first time she'd ever come after him with a set goal in mind.

He looked up from his brooding to see Granger sitting across from him.

"Hello, Draco."

Draco was stunned. Only for a second. But Granger had just called him by his first name. "Hello, Hermione." he replied, after spending a second to think of her first name. "To what do I owe this dubious pleasure."

Granger leaned forward and gestured him to do so as well. "I know you're after Ginny. And I know your pride won't let you back down from this challenge. But know this, if you hurt her in any way, I will rip off all your apendages one by one, starting with your shortest." SHe glanced down at the table as though she could see through it.

Malfoy barely blinked. "I understand."

Granger smiled. "Good." she got up and started out of the room. Half way out the door, she turned to him. "Draco, Ginny's still very fragile. She's been hurt before. I know it might not seem that way, but she's still just a scared little girl on the inside."

"Why are you telling me this? I could hurt her."

Granger smiled again. "I'm telling you because you won't."

"Are you and Krum going to try and stop me?"

"No. You'll stop yourself."

(A/N: I'm sure you figured it out but the threat Hermione uses is from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.)