August 31st, 1997


Ginny hastily caught up with Malfoy and Snape as they walked into King's Cross. She played with her now washed hair as they slipped through the throngs of people towards the barrier. She noticed Hermione enter in front of them and grimaced. She didn't want to encounter her family at the current moment.

After passing through the barrier and finding an empty compartment on the train, she winced. Her nose still hurt where Malfoy had hit it. She lay on the seat and stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out why she'd made the rash decision to tell Snape how long she'd been gone. The compartment door was knocked on and she glanced over. Thinking no one was in there, the person knocking entered. Harry Potter.

"Ginny!" he said in surprise. She winced as her headache made a comeback.

"Are you all right?" he then asked. She stayed silent.

"Ginny?" he questioned, waving his hand in front of her face. She grabbed his hand weakly and brushed it away.

"Where have you been for the past three days?" Harry asked, concern showing on his face. Ginny couldn't tell if it was real. She went back to staring at the ceiling. He stopped trying to talk to her and sat on the other seat.

'Why did he have to come? He's making me feel guiltier than I have felt…" she thought, trying to hide that fact. She started humming a song she'd heard sometime during the long summer. Harry just stared, puzzled.

Ginny didn't notice that she began to sing it softly as she was to busy thinking of other things.

"Thought that I could fall, fall into the sky, thought that I could fly, fly with broken wings…" she sang as Harry was charmed by the sound of her voice and the lyrics of the song.

"I just wanna fly away… I wanna get away from here… I wanna leave this place... Leave this all behind... and my broken wings are flying me nowhere that I wanna go.." She continued, staring at her hand before realizing she'd been singing. She blushed red and left the compartment.

The only other empty compartment was next to the Heads compartment, where Hermione and Malfoy were arguing. She sighed at plopped down on the seat, the color finally leaving her face. It was then she realized the robes she'd gotten last year were no longer tight, but big on her. She sighed inwardly and moved her legs up and placed her chin on her knees and hugged her self.

She sat there until the train stopped, at which time she got off and headed to where the threstrals were waiting. Malfoy motioned to her, and she went towards him.

"Potter sat with you, didn't he?" he asked, seeing the look on her face. She cast an obviously fake smile at him.

"Granger told me to bring someone in so she wouldn't bother me when she brought in Padma Patil…" he told her, taking her arm.

"Why me?" she asked, confused.

"I still owe you since I broke your nose and all." Malfoy told her, opening a carriage door. Hermione and Padma were talking animatedly about something and hadn't noticed their entrance.

"Thanks." Ginny managed to say as she sat down. Hermione and Padma jerked their heads up at the sound of her voice.

"Ginny? Malfoy brought you?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"He owed me… seeing as how he broke my nose with a door yesterday and all…" Ginny answered, smiling slightly.

"Where were you?" Hermione asked.

"Walking around…" Ginny rasped, her headache becoming worse.

"For over two months?" Hermione asked, as Padma and Malfoy looked on in confusion.

"I'm surprised you even noticed. No one else did until three days ago." Ginny retorted, tears threatening to fall. The carriage stopped after the long silence that followed. The four got out and entered Hogwarts, not mentioning a word about the incident.

They sat at their respective tables, stealing glances at each other as they waited for everyone to enter.

After everyone was seated the sorting began, and Hermione started kept Ron and Harry from bothering Ginny, Ginny watched bored.

"Allexs, Kiren." McGonagall called. The boy was sorted into Ravenclaw. After fifteen were sorted, the real surprise came.

"Sirius, Giles." McGonagall called. The entire hall was silent, looking at the tiny replica of Draco Malfoy and even said Malfoy looked surprised.

"Gryffindor!" the hat called. The platinum blond boy went towards the Gryffindor table with a quizzical look on his face. Ginny allowed him to sit next to her.

"Why is everyone staring?" he asked as McGonagall continued the sorting.

"You look like another student here." Ginny told him.

"Is that my brother then?" he asked, looking at Ginny, scared.

"Why would you think that?" Ginny asked him as Dumbledore stood up.

"I would like to welcome you to another year of Hogwarts. You are to remember that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all. Filch has an ever-growing list of forbidden objects, posted on his door which you must not possess. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher shall be Selene-Maria Sirius." Dumbledore announced. A black haired woman with brown eyes sat next to Snape. She looked familiar in an unfamiliar way.

"My mommy told me there would be…" Giles said softly. Ginny smiled as they began to eat.

After the Welcoming Feast was over, Ginny lead Giles to the Gryffindor Common Room. He took in his surroundings with glee and thanked Ginny for helping him out. After all the others left for bed, including Giles, Ginny left the Common Room, and began to wander the corridors. She knew she could be caught, so she tread lightly and aimlessly. She didn't grow tired after her hour long wander, and snuck out of the castle, and headed for the lake. A figure already sat by it, but she went and sat next to the person anyway.

"Weasley.." Malfoy said as she sat down.

"What?" Ginny asked softly.

"Why did you run away?" he asked, staring at the lake.

"I was tired. Of being ignored… misused… I wanted to be noticed. But they took seventy-four days to notice I was gone, much less searched. I hadn't intended to stay away. Just like I hadn't intended to come to Hogwarts. I wanted to be something more the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets, more than the Weaslette… more than a stupid little girl with dreams of becoming important. I wanted to do more than dream. I thought that if I could get them to notice me… I just wanted…" she trailed off, teary eyed, still looking at the lake with Malfoy.

"To be able to make the nightmares stop?" he asked quietly.

"Ye…yes…" she stammered, wiping tears from her face.

"Running away never solves anything.." he whispered.


"I know… I…why…" she couldn't form a sentence.

Draco Malfoy then did something he'd never expected to do. He touched her face gently with his hand and turned his head to face him. Ginny looked in his eyes, and he in hers, and they got closer to each other.

"It's wrong…" Ginny rasped, as they drew even closer.

"I know…" he answered as their lips touched. They sat there for minutes, still locked in a kiss, before a breaking branch interrupted them. Then the two ran to the school, hand in hand, trying desperately to avoid the person who ran after them.

To avoid Lucius Malfoy.