When Ginny reached the Fat Lady, she was so angry she screamed the password at the portrait.
"Temper, temper!" The Fat Lady said in a huff, swinging open harshly. Ginny rushed through the common room, and up to her dormitory. She slammed the door, and jumped to her bed, burying her tear-stained face in the pillow.
Weeks has past from the confrontation with Harry and the only time Ginny spoke was when she answered or asked a question to her proffesors. She was always moping these days. She felt so hollow inside, though she knew that Harry wasn't worth feeling depressed over, but this is how she felt. Her daily routine was: wake up, take a shower, get dressed, eat, classes, study, bed. Sometimes simpler than that.
One evening, she was staring blankly out her window, when she noticed something enter the Forbidden Forest. It was too small to be any of the creatures that lied within it, and definitely too small to be Hagrid. Could it be a person? Who was crazy enough to go in there?
Ginny got up from the window, and escaped from the bland dormitory. She saw Harry sitting next to the fire, and she gave him the evil eye. He had been acting as if nothing ever happened between them. She rolled her eyes and calmly walked out of the common room, through the portrait hole, and down toward the Entrance Hall.
When she looked to see that the coast was clear, she hurried outside. Ginny was walking for a bit when she came upon Hagrid's Hut. He didn't seem to be there. She quickly walked past and entered the Forbidden Forest. It was getting extremely dark, so she took out her wand.
"Lumos." she said. All she saw was trees, no sign of the thing that entered the forest. She was walking for quite a while when she noticed a heap of clothes next to a large murky pond. Which indicated someone must be in that pond. Who in their right mind would do that? Who knows what might be in there. She stuck her shoe in a little bit; nothing came and bit her. Maybe it would have been better if she got bitten; she wouldn't have to suffer through all this misery if she were dead.
Ginny shrugged. Whoever was in there, she didn't want it to be her problem. What made her this insane to go in the Forbidden Forest at night anyway? The sooner she got onto Hogwarts grounds the better. She turned around, and hesitated. Several paths went off in different directions and she was too scatter brained at the moment to remember which path she had came from. She sighed heavily, and sat on a nearby rock. She was startled when she heard some stirring in the water. She focused at the pond, and saw a person standing up at the bank-completely naked. She heard a gasp, and a splash back in the water, his head bobbing at the surface.
"What are you doing here?" A somehow famliar voice asked aggresively.
"I-I-I don't know..."she answered quietly.
"You better go before you get killed." he said flatly.
"I would but I don't know how to get back to Hogwarts..." She slowly stood up and signaled to the several paths.
"Well I guess you'll have to stay lost because I can't help you." he turned around and swam a little bit.
"Why can't you help me, sir?" she asked. A laugh came from the man, and Ginny raised a brow, "What is so funny?" she inquired.
"You just called me sir. I'm probably not much older than you." he said doing a backstroke.
"Well please show me the way back to Hogwarts!" she stomped a foot.
"Goodness gracious, have a temper why don't you." he paused swimming a little bit, and gazed in her direction. "Tell you what, if you beat me in a race across the pond, then I'll show you the way back to Hogwarts."
Ginny scoffed, and folded her arms, "All you have to do is point to one measley path and I'll be on my way."
"I want to make you work for your answer." he chuckled in a almost recognizable laugh, but she couldn't place him. Maybe he knew who she was?
"Well I am desperate, but I'm not that desperate. I will not go in that murky pond and beat you in a stupid race."
"Fine then, be on your way. I'm certain the centaurs and spiders and other creatures will appreciate you walking on their land."
Ginny thought for a moment, and walked to the bank of the pond. She looked at the man. He had facial hair, and muddy blonde hair, with a smug look on his face, among many scars. Where did she recongnize him from?
"Well I can't very well get in there with all these clothes on. I don't have a swimsuit."
"And you think I'm wearing swimtrunks? I'm pretty sure you saw me naked."
"Yet you're so calm about it." She rolled her eyes, "Can't I just beat you on a foot-race?" she ran away from her brothers loads of times to beat him.
"Nope. Race across the Pond. Take it or get lost." He raised a brow.
"Fine." she said, taking off her shirt, shoes, socks, and skirt. She crossed her arms and stepped in the pond.
"It's freezing!" she bit her lip.
"You were expecting a jacuzzi?" he laughed. She growled and hurried into the pond, and she swore that she could feel something slimy swim across her leg. She grimaced, and the man laughed at her again.
"Let's start from here, okay?" he said, floating on one side of the bank.
"Fine." Ginny said, shivering.
"Ready?" Ginyn nodded.
"Go!" he yelled. Ginny swam as fast as she could. She was very competitive, and she really wanted to go back to Hogwarts, and fall asleep in her nice warm bed. She glanced over at the man, and it looked like they were in the same distance across. She tried to speed up but it was no use, her leg cramped up and she couldn't move her leg.
She gasped, and started wavng her arms trying to stay afloat, but she couldn't regain her composure and she felt herself sinking. Down, she went. Water was all around her and she was screaming into nothingness.
She felt her arm being grabbed, and she was brought up to the surface. How fucking embarrasing. Trying to swim across a stupid pond and she almost drowns. She was pulled over to the bank, laying on her back and closing her eyes, coughing up water.
"Are you alright?" the man asked.
"Yes." she coughed. She opened up her eyes, and saw the man inches from her face. Her eyes grew wide. She knew who it was. It was Draco Malfoy "Oh well you win. I'll be off now." she scurried to her feet and started to hurry away.
"Not so fast, Weasley." he drawled. She turned around and he was pointing he own wand at her. She tried not to notice that he was naked. The person that was going to attack her was naked. It was almost funny, but she was scared out of her mind. Her eyes wavered to his left arm. The Dark Mark.
"I can't believe it took you this long to realize it was me."
"Yes, but I find it hard to believe you saved me, a Weasley, only minutes ago, and now you want to kill me."
"I don't want to kill you. I just don't want you to go blabbing that I'm here. I'll just erase your memory and-"
Ginny interrupted him, she thought of a plan, "You just saved my life. Of course I owe you something. There's no need to alter my memory..."
Draco raised a brow, "You owe me something now?"
"Yes, of course I do."
"Anything?" he smirked. Ginny gulped.
"Yes...er...anything." she nodded.
"Then I want you to stay here with me."
"What?"
"You heard me. I want you to stay with me."
"Living in the woods?" she asked.
"Yes, of course, I'm in hiding, where do you think I'd live?" he lowered his wand just a bit and took a few steps closer to her.
"What do you say, Ginny?" he asked darkly.
"Fine." she said sternly.
"If I might make a suggestion?" Ginny cleared her throat, "Can you put your clothes back on?"
Draco smirked, "Is it making your uncomfortable or something?" he crossed his arms.
"Y-y-yes..." Ginny said making sure her gaze stayed directly at his face. He went closer to her, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry about that." he chuckled, and snapped her bra strap, and walked over to his pile of clothes. He proceeded to put them on. Ginny sighed in relief. She may hate him, but she was still a girl and she noticed he had great attributes. She went over to her clothes and slipped them on. Draco strode over to her, and grabbed her arm, walking away from the pond.
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.
"To my secret hiding spot." Draco teased.