"Hey Malfoy, I'm here!" Ginny cried, throwing open the door to the Room of Requirement. She whistled softly under her breath as she looked about the room that was made to reflect the occupant's preferences. For a Malfoy, he certainly had good taste, even if it was a bit, well…Malfoyish.

A long dark table with scrolled legs dominated the marble room and two throne-like chairs sat at either end. Large windows swathed in green velvet draperies looked out onto a grassy Quidditch field. Malfoy himself sat perched on a windowsill, dressed in a dressy green shirt lined with silver thread and black pants, both of which were made by famous designers and fit him like a second skin.

"About time you got here," Draco muttered, eyes on the Quidditch players outside.

"I thought I said to wear sturdy clothes, Malfoy," Ginny said, stepping into the room and letting the Invisibility cloak crumple on the ground. She leaned her battered Cleansweep 47 against the wall, only to have it fall to the floor with a clatter as soon as she let go of it.

"You did. And I wore them," Draco replied, turning around to face her. "Hey! What happened to my nice room!"

"I thought it needed redecorating," Ginny replied smugly. When she'd stepped inside, the room had compromised between what she and Draco wanted. As a result, everything was slightly changed. The marble had been turned into to a dark teak wood. The table had taken on an oval shape and its stain had faded several shades. The chairs had dropped their throne-like appearance, instead opting for something more comfortable. And the Quidditch game going on outside had changed from the Wasps verses the Leprechauns to the Hornets versus the Cannons.

"Figures. Leave it to a Weasley to take something perfect and ruin it."

"Ah, but perfection is in the mind of the beholder. Anyway, Malfoy, about those "sturdy" clothes of yours. You could get those dirty, ripped, and incinerated, and not be worried in the least?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes, because I can afford not to care. If I wanted to I could always buy new clothes. Unlike you, it seems," Malfoy said.

Ginny blushed, looking down at her outfit. It was true that she'd had her purple t-shirt since she was 12, three years ago now. Her jeans were only a year old, and pockmarked with grass stains that even the strongest of spell could not get out.

"And your face, Weasley…it's hideous! At the very least you could have worn some nice clothes in an attempt to disguise your ugliness," Malfoy said.

"Hey, my face looks just fine!" Ginny protested.

"Go ahead and tell yourself that if it makes you feel better. But you're not going to be wearing those rags if I'm going to have to see you in them. You know," said Malfoy, pausing for effect,"I think I ought to remedy that. Room of Requirement, get some new clothes for Weasley to wear." At once the requested clothes appeared at his feet.

"I'm not going to wear those clothes!" Ginny said indignantly.

"Fine. Then don't wear anything at all!"

"Oh…" Ginny said, listening to the nagging little voice in the back of her head telling her that she really did need new clothes. "All right. It's not that big of a deal, anyway. But, there are conditions, Malfoy. What I wear cannot be revealing, and it has to be relatively warm. Got it?" she asked.

"Are you sure you wouldn't be warm in this!" Draco asked mockingly, holding up the sparkly blue top with the swooping neckline and the extremely short silver skirt that the room had originally delivered. She just glared.

"All right, all right. Well, you heard her, room. Something warm, durable, and not revealing."

"And a place for me to change!" Ginny added quickly.

Red drapes emerged to cover a corner of the room, and she slipped behind them.

"So, where'd you get your invisibility cloak, Weasley?" Draco asked as Ginny changed clothes. "Since it would beggar your family to so much look at, much less buy an invisibility cloak, I know it can't be yours."

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying," she said, ignoring the barb about her family. "I just borrowed it from Harry."

"And by borrowed it, you mean took it without asking him, right?" Draco said, correctly reading between the lines.

"I left a note! Besides, Ron borrows it all the time…so why shouldn't I? It's for his own good, anyways," Ginny said, trying not to feel guilty.

"Oh, so Miss. Goody-two-shoes Gryffindor has some Slytherin in her after all!" Draco exclaimed, delighted.

"Did you know you're impossible!" she asked.

"So they tell me," he said smugly.

"You're notconceited or anything are you?" Ginny asked dryly.

"Of course not!" Draco said, acting hurt. "Conceit is a fault, and I have no faults. Therefore, I am not conceited."

"But saying that you have no faults means that you are conceited," she replied, perplexed.

"Ah, but I could just be telling the truth," Draco corrected.

"Okay, then I'll name a fault. You're mean as a snake."

"Why, thank you. I am in Slytherin for a reason, after all. But I'm afraid that proving I'm conceited is a bit more difficult than that. You just might be reflecting one of your own faults, like lying or bias. Either way."

A stunned silence fell as Ginny struggled to find a way to prove Draco's conceit.

"It's all right, Ginny. I wouldn't want you to hurt your brain, now would I?" Draco said mockingly.

"Oh, shut up! You know, you're almost as bad as Hermione."

"Correction, my dear. I'm worse."

"Did you just call me, 'my dear'?" Ginny asked. "Of all the things I never thought a Malfoy would say, that ranks pretty high on the list!"

"I shouldn't have expected you to understand. It added to the dialog! No, no, that's not what I meant. Ugh…it's hard to explain. Just trust me, I did not mean it the way that your little mind interpreted it. I guess that says something about your mind, though," Draco said smoothly, trying to divert her mind away from his blunder. The best defense is always a good offense, as his father had so often drilled into his mind.

Ginny chose to ignore his last jibe, and stepped out of the make-shift dressing room wearing a burgundy turtleneck and brown corduroy pants. She had also exchanged her sneakers for brown sturdy boots and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail.

"There now, Weasley. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Draco asked. Personally, he thought she looked quite nice, even though he still would have preferred the first outfit. "I fail to see how that's durable, though."

"They're stain resistant, wrinkle resistant, and won't tear," Ginny said, holding up a label that apparently came with the clothing. "If that doesn't qualify as sturdy, I don't know what does."

"Ah, but is it fire resistant? You did mention that it could be incinerated."

Ginny just glared, something that she would probably become quite good at if she had to spend much more time with Malfoy.

"Okay, Weasley. Tell me, already. Where are we going?" Malfoy asked, abruptly changing the subject. "You asked me to wear sturdy clothing, and you don't need that if you're just going to wander about the castle."

"I'll tell you later…I'm notquite sure myself yet. Almost, but not quite."

"Yeah, right." said Malfoy. "Well, if you won't tell me where we're going, at least tell me how long we will be gone."

"That depends on how you did raiding Snape's potions ingredients," Ginny replied.

"You couldn't just give me a straight answer, could you?" Malfoy said, slightly aggravated. "Actually the raid itself went flawlessly. I just told Snape that I had a project I needed some potions ingredients for, and he agreed to let me get some. But, I only found the burping berries in his ingredients."

"Great," Ginny said dejectedly. "Well, I hadn't really expected you to find anything else, but it definitely makes life more difficult."

"So, now will you tell me?" Malfoy asked impatiently.

"Okay. We'll be gone probably, oh… three to five days."

"What!" Draco demanded. "Where are we going, anyways! And no more sidestepping the question, Weasley. You tell me right now, or I'm not going one step outside this castle with you!"

"Fine, Malfoy," Ginny said wearily. "But you're not gonna like it. The only place I can think of to go is the Forbidden Forest."

"The Forbidden Forest! What! Of all the hare-brained stupid ideas I've ever heard, that is the worst. Anyone in their right mind knows that going to the forest is suicidal!"

"Well, unless you happen to know of some other place nearby that we could get giant drool, unicorn hair, snare tree leaves, and phoenix ashes, that's where we're gonna have to go!"

When her statement was greeted with nothing but silence (although Draco was still furiously searching his brain for an alternative), Ginny knew that she had won this round.

"I take it that you can't find any, either. Unless you want to wind up embarrassing yourself and ruining your reputation in front of the entire school, I suggest you accompany me."

Ginny's line struck home, as she had intended. Draco still searched desperately for a way out of it, though.

"Why me of all people! Why not Potter or some other stupid Gryffindor?"

"Because (a) Cupid chose you, (b) Harry couldn't brew a decent potion to save his life, and (c) he would also blab about where we were going and what we were doing to the entire rest of the Gryffindor tower. He's nice, but he has his weaknesses just like everyone else does."

"Oh…all right, Weasley. You win," Draco said grudgingly.

"Good!" Ginny exclaimed happily. "Now, as soon as I get a snack, we'll be out of here."

"Wait a second," said Malfoy, finding a way that he could get the littlest Weasley back. "You know, you were right all along. I really do need some more durable clothes. I'll be right back." He mumbled something under his breath, presumably a request for clothing, and ducked into the changing room that had reappeared.

"Why is it that I don't quite believe him?" Ginny said to herself. Louder, she called, "What are you up to now, Malfoy?"

"None of your business, Weasley. You'll see soon enough, anyway. Now go and get your snack."

Shaking her head at Malfoy's attitude, but knowing there was absolutely nothing she could do about it, Ginny seated herself at the head of the table.

"Room of Requirement, I would like some chocolate."

A crystal platter piled high with chocolates appeared in front of her. The platter contained every chocolate imaginable – white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with nuts, chocolate covered cherries…it had them all. Each gave off a mouth-watering aroma. Smiling happily, she plucked a random chocolate from the dazzling array and plopped it into her mouth.

Draco, hearing her contented sigh, poked his head out from the curtains.

"A bit of a chocoholic, aren't we Weasley," he said dryly. "How do you stay so thin if you eat like this, anyway?"

"Genetics," Ginny said happily while choosing another chocolate.

Malfoy pulled his head back behind the curtains again and pulled on his shirt. He looked at his reflection in a mirror on the wall and smirked. He couldn't wait to see the look on Weasley's face when she saw this outfit. No girl could resist his charms, and he was quite certain that this one would be no different. Unable to wait any longer, he stepped out from behind the curtains.

"So, what do you think, Weasley? You asked for something durable, and if this isn't durable, I don't know what is." Malfoy said, showing off his black leather outfit and matching black boots.

Ginny took one look at Draco and started laughing. Her laughter swiftly turned into stifled giggles due to a fierce glare from Draco.

"What?" he demanded irritably. Laughter was certainly not the reaction he had been looking for. "What's so funny!"

"Well…it certainly is durable! It's just…" here she dissolved into giggles again, "it's just that you look like a character from a muggle movie named Matrix. Hermione brought it over to our house for us to watch once. The resemblance is just too funny!"

"I, for one, fail to see the humor in this," Draco said huffily.

"Trust me," she explained," If you saw the movie, you'd know what I was talking about. All you need is some dark glasses and a gun, and you would fit right into that movie!" She started giggling again.

Malfoy saw a way that he could take advantage of Ginny's distraction. He snuck over to the table, and had just grabbed a chocolate when his hand was swatted away. Ginny crossed her arms across her chest, standing between him and the rest of the chocolates.

"No one gets between me and my chocolates," she said. "Now, hand over the chocolate, and nobody gets hurt."

Malfoy licked it, and then released the chocolate into Ginny's outstretched hand. She dropped it as if it were on fire.

"Ewww!" she squealed. "Malfoy! Yuck!"

"So, Weasley, are you willing to share them now?" Draco asked pointedly.

"If I must," Ginny replied, with the air of a martyred saint.

"So," Malfoy said casually, gathering a handful of chocolates from the platter. "What's your brilliant plan for getting out of the castle?"

"This," Ginny said, pulling a piece of crumpled parchment out of her pocket and holding it up.

"But…it's blank!"

"Great observation skills, Malfoy," Ginny said dryly. "It is blank. For now." She bent over it and muttered something, tapping her wand three times in the middle. Immediately writing began to appear on the page. Draco leaned over Ginny's shoulder to read the flowery script.

Mister Padfoot would like to request that the blindingly blonde intruder keep his prying eyes where they belong.

Mister Prongs would concur with Mister Padfoot, and would also like to suggest that the interloper get a real tan…the fake one he currently has is a mockery.

Mister Moony seeks to inquire as to whether this is Ginevra's choice for a boyfriend. He hopes that she has better choice in men than this juvenile.

"Oh, you guys!" Ginny said, giggling both at the Marauders and at the horror-struck look on Draco's face. "Don't worry, he's anything but a boyfriend. Now could you please show me the map?"

"What was that all about? Who were those people? And how did that "Mister Prongs" know that this tan was fake! I spend a lot of time and money on this tan…and that spell is top-quality, too!"

"It sure doesn't look like it," Ginny said, cracking a smile. "If you must know, this is another one of Harry's possessions. It's a map that shows a bunch of secret exits from the castle. But, there's a spell on it, so that if you try to blab about this to anyone, to steal it, or use one the exits without one of Harry's friends, you'll start spouting nursery rhymes and be rooted to the ground."

Malfoy studied her carefully, trying to figure out if she was lying or not.

"I don't believe you," he said, testing her.

"Try me," she said, looking straight into his eyes.

Draco reached to take it, and then stopped. Was that a quiver of a smile playing about her lips? He pulled his hand back slowly.

"I believe you."

"Then believe me on this, too," Ginny said. "If we don't get going soon, we're not gonna get a camp set up before dark. Room of Requirement, I need supplies for a five-day trip."

"And make them light!" Draco added. A thump on the table signaled their arrival.

"Light?" Ginny asked, mildly surprised. "Why not use Wigardium Leviosa?"

"Because, Weasley, the creatures in the forest are attracted to spells. Unless you want a werewolf biting you, I'd suggest you not use any of them."

"Good point."

"I know…it was mine after all. Now, which exit would you suggest taking? Ogden the Obese, or Barnabas the Barmy?" Draco asked.

"Definitely Barnabas the Barmy," Ginny said, tracing the jagged line on the map. "Even though the passageway is a bit barmy itself, it's worth it because it comes out by the Whomping Willow, where no one will see us leave."

"All right, let's go. I'll take the map and my broom, and you can take the packs and your broom."

"Uh, I don't think so!" Ginny cried indignantly. "Ever heard of something called sharing?"

"No. Now grab the packs, and let's go." Draco said.

"Well, you're gonna have to learn fast," she said, tossing him a bag of supplies. "Now get under the cloak."

Draco, grumbling about Weasleys who didn't know their place, obeyed. Ginny kicked open the door, looking down the hallway.

"Coast is clear," she whispered. They walked swiftly and silently, Ginny leading the way. It seemed that someone had to catch them, and they couldn't possibly get away with this…but no one came. When they'd safely reached the statue, she reached up on her tiptoes to scratch its right armpit.

"Yuck," Malfoy said. "What're you doing that for?"

"You'll see," Ginny said, as the back of the statue opened with a clang revealing a tunnel inside.

"Hurry up Malfoy!" she hissed urgently, climbing into the tunnel and gesturing for him to follow. Draco pushed his bag of supplies and broom in first and then pulled himself inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Lumos," he muttered, looking around for Ginny.

"Weasley?" he called. "Where are you?"

There was no reply.

Draco crawled around a little, hunting for his guide out of this dark, dank tunnel. Suddenly his head hit the ceiling.

"Ouch," Draco said inaudibly, clasping his hand to his aching head. He pointed his wand at the tunnel, illuminating it. It appeared to suddenly get a lot smaller, with only room for one person…one person a heck of a lot smaller than he was. Frustrated now, he pushed his things ahead, hearing them slide.

Draco got down on his belly and wedged his body through the tunnel, wriggling to move himself forward.

Suddenly he felt the tunnel open up, and then he was sliding down the tunnel at breakneck speeds, wind whipping by! Draco couldn't help himself. He screamed like a baby.

A speck of light in the distance got bigger and bigger and bigger until it revealed itself to be a tiny room. He slid into it, bowling Ginny over and only stopping when she hit the wall.

"Jesus, Malfoy!" Ginny yelled. "Didn't you ever hear of not murdering your guide!"

"Didn't you ever hear of warning someone?" Malfoy retorted.

"Well, I did say it was a barmy passageway," she said, smirking slightly.

"Very funny. In the future, a warning would be nice."

"Sure, Malfoy. Now could you get off me? This isn't the world's most comfortable position."

Draco climbed off of her quickly, blushing slightly. Ginny just remained sitting on the ground, waiting for something.

"Well? Aren't you going to offer me a hand up!" she demanded.

"Ummm…no. Hadn't planned on it," Malfoy said, walking away.

Ginny growled under her breath and then pulled herself off the ground – wincing, Draco noted slightly guiltily. But he pushed that thought from his mind, and instead asked a question that he'd been wondering about for quite some time now.

"How are we going to get to the forest anyway?" he asked. "It's too far to walk…not easily at least."

Ginny looked at him strangely. "What did you think the broom was for?"

"Ummm…" Draco said sheepishly, eyeing his broom.

"Never mind. It's getting late, and we'd better get going. Come on."

She climbed up a rickety wooden ladder, and Draco followed at her heels. When they came out they were about fifteen feet away from the Whomping Willow…a safe distance, but far too close for Draco's liking. Ginny kicked a rock back in place to cover the secret passageway.

"All right," she said. "Rope the supplies to your back, and we'll fly to the center of the forest. We could get all the materials by just going to different parts of the forest, but the center is where we're likeliest to find everything at once. This lessens the time we're in the forest, and, therefore, the likelihood of us getting killed. Try to stick close to me, okay?"

Draco complied (something he seemed to be doing an awful lot of these days) and mounted up.

"Ready?" Ginny asked. Draco nodded. They pushed off the ground simultaneously.

Ginny smiled. Flying was the most natural thing to her, almost like breathing. It made her feel relaxed and happy…something she needed after dealing with an arrogant Slytherin like Malfoy. Although, he hadn't been that bad so far. In fact, for Malfoy this was almost cordial. Her thoughts were shattered when Mafoy himself pulled alongside her.

"Race!" he yelled over the wind.

"You're on!" she shouted, speeding up. Malfoy easily caught up and passed her.

"No fair!" Ginny called plaintively. "You have a better broom!"

Draco smirked. She was right. He owned the broom that every Quidditch player would love to own – the Swiftmover 3000. Even Potter's broom couldn't come close to matching the Swiftmover for speed.

"Why don't we switch brooms?" Malfoy offered. "Then I'll still beat you, and you'll see how superior my flying skills are."

Ginny pondered on this. She didn't want to admit it, but she certainly couldn't beat Malfoy while he was on the Swiftmover. And she would love to try out that broom. She eyed it enviously, and then made up her mind.

"I'll take you up on that, Malfoy."

"Good," Draco said, slthrilled at the chance to beat Weasley. "Get closer to my broom, and we'll switch in the air."

"What!" Ginny cried, astonished. "Are you crazy?"

"I do it all the time, but if you're scared, Weasley, you don't have to go through with it."

Ginny shrugged. She'd grown up with brothers and taken bigger risks before.

"All right," she said, moving closer.

"Now on the count of three I want you to jump across."

Ginny crouched on her broom, balancing carefully.

"One…two….THREE! Jump, Weasley!"

She jumped and covered the gap, hands grabbing on to the broom like they would never let go. Draco stood up on his broom, and Ginny moved to the back of the broom to make room for him.

"All right, now I'll switch brooms. One…two…" But before he could make it to three he lost his balance and fell, plummeting towards the forest far below

"Malfoy!" Ginny shrieked, looking for him frantically. She found him, a pinprick above the vast forest. Ginny went into a steep dive, relying on her Seeker instincts to guide her (remnant from when she had substituted for Harry).

She drew closer and closer, taking the Swiftmover's speed to its very limit. Malfoy was just above the crowns of the trees now…if she was going to save him it'd have to be now. Ginny swooped down beside him and scooped him out of the air. She tried desperately to pull out of the dive, but they were far too close to the trees to do so. The two crashed into the forest at a break-neck speed.

The last thing she remembered thinking was that Draco would kill her for breaking his broom.

The chapter is done! FINALLY! I have had that last scene in my head for a FOREVER now, and it feels soooooooo good to get it on paper! I'm not really thrilled with this chapter, as it still feels off, but less so than the other chapters. The last part was kind of forced, so if it seems off, that's the reason why. I've got the vague idea for the next chapter, and know roughly the scenes I'll use, but I don't have any order or anything in between, so it might take a while to write. Thanks for reviewing – it's nice to know that someone's actually reading this.