Disclaimer: I don't know how you can read all this and not know that I am not, nor will ever be as brilliant as to come up with anything half as long as the HP series. It just won't happen. Plus, I spent all my money on my hat. My black pimp hat. Yeah. Pimp hat. Smooooooooothness.

Chapter Four: A Wonderful Way to Wake

Ginny stomped into the library, arms full of text books up to her chin. How did she get stuck being the second Hermione again?

Oh right, she had the girl tutor her through the whole time she was at Hogwarts! No wonder Ginny kept up a good grade—not that it was a bad thing or anything, but sometimes it did get in the way when you were approached by strange people asking you to do their homework.

And you were a fifth year and they… were wearing seventh year robes.

With a sigh the youngest Weasley settled herself in a far back corner of the vaulted ceiling room and practically threw herself into one of the comfy chairs after placing her books in the table nearby.

"I can't believe what I've gotten myself into…" She trailed off with a shake of her head, a few rogue strands of bright red hair falling to her face. Another sigh left her pouting lips as she blew them away only to have them fall slowly back where they were not but two seconds ago. "Everything's against me isn't it?"

"Meaning what exactly?" A friendly voice came from behind her.

Turning in her place she smiled as Ron came around to sit beside her, Harry following not too far behind with a few books of his own.

Harry gave her a quick nod before dropping his books beside her previously discarded load and falling into a chair of his own.

His head immediately went down and Ginny shot his obviously exhausted body a small smile.

"Oh nothing…" Ginny trailed off with a sigh, knowing if she explained the situation to Ron he wouldn't understand.

It wasn't her fault that she and a few of her friends were put into a higher class with sixth years. "Just loads and loads of homework. It's a conspiracy." She added with another sigh as she eyed the stack of text before her.

How in the world was she going to finish it all?

She immediately was reminded of the shape Hermione, Ron, and Harry were in the year before and was sorry for them, now knowing their pain and now feeling sorry for herself in turn as well.

Ron laughed and patted her arm brotherly and shook his head, placing his hands behind his head and crossing his feet out in front of him. "Now you see what we went through last year," He trailed off with a satisfied smirk. "Torture, pure and unbreaking."

Ginny cocked a slender eyebrow and smirked herself. "As I recall, you and Harry were constantly looking to Hermione for a quick answer every three seconds."

Turning to Harry she patted his leg casually. "No offense that is Harry."

"Oi!" Ron let out, popping up to attention. "I am your brother you know. You could at least treat me like it!"

Ginny put on a feigned pout. "Oh but Ronald, I am." She said and smiled at him innocently. "Oh, and 'unbreaking' isn't a word." She added with a wink to her brother her stuck out his tongue and went back to his more relaxed position.

As Ginny shook her head she heard laughter from Harry's side of the circle and turned to look on as he snickered to himself at first but then broke out into hearty laughter.

At first she wasn't quite sure what she had done, and then she left it alone. Not wanting to confuse herself trying to come up with an excuse of any sort. "Er—Harry?" She asked, prodding him with her finger.

Laughing still he looked at her, his lips spread in a grin. "Ye—yes Gins?" He asked, raising a brown eyebrow.

"Um, what're you laughing at?"

Blinking a few times Harry thought for a moment and then gave her a somewhat satisfied look. Ginny blinked in return, awaiting his answer.

"Nothing." He said simply and stopped his laughing, and went back to how he was as if nothing had happened.

With a sigh signifying her giving up, Ginny shook her head and pulled up a book for Charms, having to record the list of charms that could be used to turn something a different color and the properties or something or other of the charm.

This was rather taxing as there were near thirty charms that would do such. Not thinking of how long this might take her, then Transfigurations she had to turn a crimson cup into a green envelope, then she had to do that ridiculous assignment for Potions? How was she to complete it all?

She spent a few more moments staring at the closed text in her lap before pulling open the ragged book and finding her place, beginning the onslaught of homework that would surely last her.

With a whimper, Ginny closed the last book she'd need and sent a tired glance to the clock above the fireplace.

She had been in the library for the past four hours, skipped dinner, and had fallen asleep nearly four times in the past half hour itself. Her neutral features turned into an evident frown as she realized that she still had that ridiculous potions experiment to do.

What if she just didn't do it? What if she walked into class tomorrow and just didn't have it at all? That would show Malfoy right? No, he would most likely come up with some excuse, like Ginny had dropped the vile and so on and so forth.

She looked about her. Ron and Harry had left… when? She hadn't been conscious to her outside world to notice them leaving.

What if they had given her important information she wasn't oblivious to? With another drawn out sigh she bowed her head, a headache beginning to set in on her.

This was all too complex for the poor girl to handle right now. And when she was about five minutes away from being out after hours, she had to rush to gather her things and get the heck out of dodge.

Making her way up the winding staircases until she came to the floor concerning the commons, she let her eyes wander off to the walls.

Good thing she had gotten so much homework done early, she had lost about half of her luggage too—most of the books having been checked out from the library.

Ginny was just wandering about the halls at this late hour, her mind set on the routine of going from one place back to Gryffindor commons, the echo of her footsteps in her mind when she heard hushed voices. She paused in her walking, eyes still on the floor.

Instead of hearing more hushed whispers she heard quite a rude voice call out to her, "Oi! What are you doing 'round here?" She turned on her heels to find Malfoy and… was that Pansy?

Ginny blinked a few time as if to awaken herself. She hadn't been caught doing anything wrong per-say. She was just about to be late getting in before curfew.

And if she was she wasn't going to take the blame if these two kept her. Ginny could hear Pansy snivel from far away and felt immediately out of place.

She was only about thirty feet from the Gryffindor commons and maybe if she dove for it she'd make it without being torn to shreds by the two.

"You heard the man, what're you doing around here?" She added to Dra--Malfoy's previous question. Ginny looked to the floor, as if that was where the answer was, then raised her head as Pansy approached, followed closely by Malfoy.

"I'm getting back from the library. It's not like I'm late or anything, I've still got a few minutes until curfew." Ginny said with a defiant nod, though it didn't make her feel much more confident.

"Well, nice to hear you speak without that stutter Weasel." Draco snuffed, looking down his nose at the fifth year. A smirk crossed his lips and he rolled his eyes, turning to Pansy. "It's not like it would be anything worth our time to stay here, what say you we head back?"

Pansy took on a look of confusion. "Oh but Draco, don't you think it would be entertaining to see her late? I would." And with that Pansy turned back to Ginny, the poor girl standing there as confused as anyone could've been in that situation.

Ginny took in a deep breath as if a bird preparing to puff out it's chest in defense. "I'm not being late because of you, Gryffindor is right there and that's where I am going." She stated rather clearly and turned, not looking back.

She could feel her heart beat inside her ears as if reminding her that she was in fact still alive.

She was surprised neither had pulled their wands out on her and cursed her for turning her back to them, the royalty of the school.

She approached the statue, looked back to make sure they weren't there, and finding them already down at the end of the hall, whispered the password and crept inside.

On the other side of the entrance she waited for it to close completely before letting out a deep sigh and leaning against the wooden door.

That was too close for comfort as the bell for curfew rang throughout the most likely not all hollowed halls of Hogwarts. What a day. Turning she saw a friendly face asleep on the couch, feet up on the table in front of her and head fallen back.

Ginny smiled.

Poor Diana.

Ginny stepped over to the girl's body and set her things down on the only available space of the table. With a sigh, a smile still on her lips she nudged her friend until she shook into awaking. After a few incoherent Russian mumbles and some nonsense about bones or something similar, Diana was awake and yawning, stretching like a cat.

"Mmmm, that was a nice nap." She smiled as she recalled the relaxed position she had been in. "Where were you? Hermione came in here looking for you earlier, like around seven. Said she never saw you at dinner? Not turning anorexic on us are you Weasley?" Diana asked with a raised thin eyebrow.

Ginny smiled. "I was only getting some—or a lot of homework done in the library. I didn't want to be stuck in the commons falling asleep like you!" She exclaimed and fell onto the couch beside her friend, marveling at the warmth coming from the fireplace.

"What all were you doing?" She asked, looking over the books.

Diana shrugged. "Whatever was easiest, then shortest… But now I've got that ridiculous assignment in Charms to do. I don't know why I didn't do it first, it's just writing down spells and all… but still, I didn't want to do it right off the bat."

Ginny nodded in understanding and turned her attention to the fireplace as Diana pulled up her long black hair.

From there the conversation went from daily events to plans for homework management until the clock told the two that it was about time to go to bed, and their eyelids certainly made the point loud and clear—Ginny almost falling asleep during a sentence.

Waking up the next day was most likely the hardest thing Ginny would've needed to do that week. Her mind was throbbing with headache from the late night study with Diana they had done once finding themselves still awake after around half an hour of laying in bed.

With a groan she rolled off her side, sitting up in the bed and ramming her forehead into the wooden frame from the curtains. "Mmmmmeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr—I don't like today." She mumbled and fell back onto her bed, closing her eyes.

Her comfy position didn't keep the chill of the room from attacking her poor bare feet, and by the time she looked down at them again, her toenails looked purple and her lightly tanned feet (from the summer) were already reddened. "Ugh!" She exclaimed unhappily and threw her fists against the bed.

"Ginny… violence—later." Diana muttered, in the same way from the bathroom where she was currently working on her make-up.

With a frown, Ginny complied and stood, walking over to her trunk where she had thrown her day's wear the night before. She searched through the highly organized pile searching for a pair of socks, at the moment suspicious if Hermione had come in the night before and over-organized her things.

Finding a suitable pair of knee-highs, she stumbled back to her bed and pulled them on, then made her way to the bathroom to her daily routine.

Half an hour later, she and Diana both arose in unison from the dorm-like room looking rather refreshed and ready for a new day, each in their uniforms and sweaters.

Ginny smiled at the site of Ron and Harry playing chess over beside the fireplace and walked over, waving a goodbye to Diana who was hitting the library for some last-minute homework completing.

The comfy red ottoman beside the two boys became Ginny's next seat as she whispered a good morning to the concentrating two.

"Mornin'." Harry muttered in return, his hands folded neatly and holding up his chin as his elbows rested on his knees.

Ron in turn waved at her, almost slapping her in the face had she not moved, bringing his finger to his lips. Obviously it was his move.

With a smile, Ginny looked about the room and found that it suddenly got quite dull. Sighing, she stood and straightened out her skirt, replying to the goodbye's she received from them and then walking from the room down to the Great Hall, hopefully following last years suite in being the only one at the Gryffindor table.

Ginny was quite pleased with herself as she walked in and found herself the only one in the whole Great Hall besides the few house elves wandering about and situating things, correcting the placement of plates and that sort.

The teachers normally didn't come in until the commons were close to empty seeing as the Great Hall had a spell currently in tact, creating a field where no magic not coming from the teachers could be performed. This to the students was quite a relief.

Walking over to the Gryffindor table, Ginny took note of its decorations. Firstly, were the most noticeable centerpieces, assorted fall flowers gathered into a woven basket charmed with butterflies cast to float about it but not wander.

The plates were a gold tinted steel of some sort and the silverware wrapped in a bright red cloth tied with magic string, air charmed to look like string and tie around something.

It wasn't very appropriate for heavy cargo though. The long table runner was a broad red stripe lined with gold and then stamped with the Gryffindor seal. Ginny soon found her favorite part of the setup.

The chairs Hogwarts had recently ordered were high back and royal looking, but not cold and uncomfortable—she was sure the Slytherin house was throwing a fit over it still.

Smiling she walked up to one of the chairs around a quarter of the way from the entrance, falling into one of the chairs and bringing her CD player to surface from her bag. She loved her father for letting her play with this thing.

It was a less technological model that the muggles used.

She was currently listening to one of her favorite CD's, some popular group from right there in Britain, patiently waiting for her friends who were currently missing in action, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder which made her jump.

"Ack!" She squealed a little too audibly and sunk into the chair, removing the electronic device from her entirety and looking slowly up at the form beside her.

Why was Malfoy always… there? "Wha-What do you want?" She asked, still shaking from the sudden shock.

"Did you finish?" he asked, removing his hand from her appendage and replacing both in his pockets.

"What? What did I finish?" Ginny asked, her brain gone dead from the jerk of her body.

"The potion, did you get it done?" He asked snappier then previously.

Ginny swallowed and nodded meekly.

She blinked a few times and noticed that he hadn't gone yet. Blinking again she slid up and stood from her chair, backing away but staying in close hearing range, not trusting herself to hear everything he said.

"What?" She asked suspiciously as he eyed her in an awkward manner, as if trying to determine if she had stolen anything or was lying. "What are you looking at?" She asked again, turning to look behind her but seeing nothing of interest.

Turning back she cocked her head to a side, looking at him confusedly. "Dra-Malfoy?" She stopped herself from making the same mistake she had made a few times, sadly, before.

He was Malfoy! Never Draco! Again, that made him human! No human! Monster! Abominable monster!

Draco smirked and stepped closer, closing a great deal of space between them. "Silly Weasley." He laughed before tugging at one of her red curls. Ginny could feel her eyes widen. Why was he touching her?

Was there a reason for him touching her? There was no reason so why was he doing it? There was no reason, no reason at all.

The reason that popped into her mind or any other like it or unlike made him seem relatively human which—as she deducted was not possible.

Swallowing she let her gaze settle on his hand which was undeniably close to her face, which was exactly was where his hand went next. Cupping her cheek. This was when she felt unbelievably uncomfortable.

"Dr—Malfoy?" She started, stepping backwards from him, tripping and falling over the arm of a chair and onto the seat cushion.

She heard his laughter float over to her ears hypnotically she almost found herself closing her eyes tightly and balling up in slight fear.

But she wouldn't let herself, she didn't need to be scared of him anymore. That and balling up at this point would be a little painful.

"Weasley…" He trailed off, closing the gap and leaning over the chair, hands on either side of her knees, leaning close so his hair fell from its gelled spot to shadow his eyes in a quite attractive way. But NO she didn't need to think that!

"You know you've thought it too wee one." He added and for a second it looked like he was going to kiss her. This was interrupted as a loud voice rolled out over to them, calling for Malfoy to leave poor Ginny alone.

Ron and Harry rushed over followed closely by Hermione who had found her beloved, Seamus. Draco threw an awkward glance to Ginny and walked off, hands in pockets as if nothing had happened.

Ginny blinked, still startled, her heart racing in her chest as if it were about to fly out and beat it's way across the floor of the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, she had to admit to herself that the thought had crossed her mind a time or eight.

Watching as the four came over she smiled at them. "Did he push you down Ginny?" Ron asked, concern etched on his features.

Ginny felt her face grow hot and she smiled, clearing her throat. "No, I-uh, tripped into the chair." She said embarrassedly.

"Oh." Ron said, standing straighter and clearly feeling awkward.

With a sigh, Hermione pulled Seamus off to the other end of the table and soon the Great Hall started to see itself revealing files of students walking in. What an interesting way to start of a day, eh?