Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter sieres. I will one day however invent a machine to clone Draco however, of that I'm determined. Who would like a Draco clone?!

Alright, how's that for a fast update? One day! Am I awesome or what? Don't worry, there's more where that came from! I hope to have another up within at least a week, if not sooner.

Oh, and I apologize in advanced for any typos. Sometimes the words come out faster than my fingers can type and letters get jumbled. Sadly the program I write on doesn't have spell check to catch them. If you notice any I missed, PM me and I'll fix them.

Without further ado...

Chapter 8

Draco POV

Ginny jumped away from me at the sound of Blaise's voice, her face nearly as red as her hair and looking quite flustered. I scowled at my best friend as he stood in the doorway with two plates of food, an impish grin on his face as he realized what he'd just interupted.

"Who's hungry?" he asked, nearly boucing as he came to join us on the couch with the food, acting for all the world nothing had just happened.

Ginny look up from her lap and thanked him quietly, taking the plate that had a huge pile of ham on it. I scowled at him again for good measure as I took my plate, my thoughts not on the food. I'd been so close, so very close to kissing her. She would have let me too, of that I had no doubt. She had been leaning in, her eyes were closed. God I was so close!

I tried to pretend it didn't effect me, this thwarted moment. If it happend once it would happen again, but I found myself disappointed. I found that I had wanted to kiss her, not just becuase of that bet with Blaise, but a guenuine desire to kiss her. And it would have been perfect too, that kiss. Her first. And who better to give her her first kiss than me?

Since I had succeeded in earning her friendship, I had moved on in my plans to seduce her. My next step was to make her want me, realize she was attracted to me. I had to make her admit she desired me.

How to Seduce a Weasley: Step Three - Woo the Weasley.

I had been well on my way to it too before Blaise barged in. It was almost as if he knew and came at just the prefect moment to inturupt it. If he hadn't I coud have even accoplished step four at the same time. I was so close to it.

How to Seduce a Weasley: Step Four - Kiss the Weasley.

But just like that it was all thwarted. I would be lucky if Ginny even looked at me the rest of the weekend. She seemed utterly embarrassed at the moment, not even looking up from her food as she nibbled on a piece of ham. Her face was still pink, her ears nearly blending in with hear hair that was tucked behind them.

Blaise was settled on the other side of her, grinning at me. Not in the mood to deal with him, I excused myself to the bathroom that was just down the hall, leaning against the cool marble sink. Today hadn't been the best of days. Early this morning, earlier even than th sunrise, an owl had arrived with a letter from my Aunt Bellatrix.

She'd asked how classes were going, how my task that the Dark Lord had given me over the summer was going, and a thinly veiled threat of what would happen should I fail. I'd not forgotten about this task, the task of killing Dumbledor himself, but I was no closer to figuring out a way to do it. Her letter had brought it back to the forfont of my mind with a horrible jolt.

I didn't want to do it. I doubted I even could, but I had to try. The Dark Lord himself had threatend to kill Mother should I fail. I couldn't let that happen. I was the only one left to protect her now that Father was in Azkaban. Thought she had never been a warm or particularly loving mother, she was all I had left. I had to protect her.

So far though, I was failing. Though it had always been in the back of my mind, a nagging worry that kept me up some nights, I had to admit I'd been focusing more on Ginny Weasley than my task. It was easy to forget with her, easy to let myself beleive things would be okay. But how could they? How could they be okay when I was going to have to kill the most powerful wizard in the world aside from the Dark Lord himself? A wizard even He feared.

I'd spent the entier night in the room where everything is hidden working on the vanishing cabinent I'd been told about. I'd have to repair it, make it work, to let other Death Eaters into the casle. Not only did I have to kill the headmaster, I had to fix something that even at its best was an unreliable piece of junk. Nothing I'd put through it so far came back hole. There was no way anyone would survive going through.

Letting out a sigh, I tried to push these thoughts from my mind. It would do me no good to dwell on them right now. I couldn't do anything this weekend, so I may as well focus on GInny. I wished Blaise hadn't walked in when he did. He knew nothing about my task and didn't relize how much I wished to be able to lose myself in her. It wasn't just about the bet. I wanted her, truely wanted her. Maybe it was the desperation talking, but it was true.

Knowing I had to go back, I splashed some cold water on my face and dried off, trying to regain my composure. I shouldn't have let msyelf think about my task. I was feeling unnerved now, not myself. I was scared, to be honest with myself. But I had and it was there, so I had to deal with it. Pushing the thoughts back as best I could, I put on my well practiced mask of control and wiped the emotions from my face. Nobody could see through this mask, as mask I grew up wearing.

Finally, I pushed myself off the sink and started back down the hall. It was a quarter until eight and we had a long night ahead of us. I needed to eat that food before it got too cold. It was never the same with just a warming charm compared to being fresh. Putting my usual smirk on my face, I walked back down the hall and into the room I'd spend the rest of the weekend in.

Ginny glanced up as the door opened, and I could see consern in her deep brown eyes. I gave her a genuine smile. It was a new feeling honestly, having someone worry about me. Father wans't the worrying type and if Mother ever did worry about me, she didn't show it. Even Blaise just brushed things off with a joke, his carefree demenor usually infectious to those around him.

Blaise gave me his usual grin, looking up from where he'd been picking some ham from what was left on Ginny's plate. I rolled my eyes at him. The boy never stopped eating if there was food in front of him. Settling back down beside Ginny, I picked my plate back up and picked at the food on it.

Ginny and Blaise picked back up on their conversation they'd been having when I'd walked in, something about which Wierd Sisters song was better. I listened in silence while I ate, grinning when Ginny insisted it was Magic Works, one of their sappiest love songs, while Blaise held the view that Do the Hippogriff was by far the best.

Finally the clock neared eight and Ginny stood, checking on the potion. "It looks good so far," she assured us, giving the light pink potion three stirs clockwise. "It's clockwise first, three stirs. The second time is counter clockwise, three stirs. It alternates, so on ever even number hour, it will be clockwise. On the odd hours, it will be counter clockwise. Never stir more than three times. It'll ruin the potion."

I nodded in understanding, already having know from reading the instructions left by her brothers, but glad she said it anyway. Blaise didn't know, and now he was frowning. Obviously he thought it was just going to be stirring it once an hour and calling it good, not a specific number of times and which way and so precise.

"Well, since we're done for the hour, mind if I go?" he asked, already grabbing his bag. "You guys can handle this right? Kim and I have a study date."

Ginny rolled her eyes with a smile and nodded to him. "Oh fine, go ahead and go," she sighed, gesturing to the door he was already heading to.

"Thanks love," he said, disappearing without a backwards glance.

"He's not coming back is he?" she asked with a small laugh after the door shut behind him.

"No, he's not," I said with absolut certaintly, letting out a chuckle of my own.

"Oh well," she said with a shrug, moving back to the couch. "He'd just whine all night anyway."

She'd settled onto the couch again, in the middle, and grabbed her bag. "Homework?" I asked, moving back over there too, settling once again on her right.

She groaned, pulling out a History of Magic book. "Professor Binns is fond of essays," she sighed.

I nodded in understanding, having already done one essay for him this year so far. Deciding now was as good as time as any to work on my own homework too, I grabbed my bag and pulled out my transfiguration homework and set to it while Ginny poured over her own papers. We passed several hours that way, stopping only long enough to stir the potion. Blaise, as expected, didn't show back up. But that was fine. Ginny had been right when she said he'd whine all night. Either that or he'd have been settled into that bed in the corner sleeping all night.

Finally, Ginnny slammed her book shut and tossed it to the other end of the couch in frustration. Closing her eyes, she let her head fall against the back of the couch. I smiled at her exasperation with her homework, knowing the feeling myself. I'd aready finished my Transfiguration homework and gotten my Charms done too. I'd been working on Defence Against the Dark Arts for the last hour.

"We have all weekend,"I pointed out, closing my own book much more gently, slipping it back into my bag. "We don't have to finish all of this tonight."

She nodded tiredly, not opening her eyes. "It was keeping me awake though," she pointed out. Looking at the clock on the wall, I noticed it was a little after one in the morning. We'd stirred the potion not fifteen minutes ago.

Thinking back on the coversation that she and Blaise had been having earlier, I counjured a radio siently. She liked music, maybe it would keep her awake. I found a station quickly, the static drawing Ginny's attention. Moments later, music filled the room, drawing a smile onto the small redhead's lips.

Ginny POV

As music filled the room, I opened my eyes to meet Draco's. A grin had settled across his features and he looked proud of himself for thinking of the radio. "You're full of unexpected surprises," I told him, shaking my head in wonder. Would he ever stop amazing me?

"I do try not to be predictable," he drawled, sprawling out beside me, throwing his arm across the back of the couch behind me. His knee touched mine but he seemed not to notice. I did though, I could feel the warmth radiating from him, his nearness unsettling. Suddenly, I wasn't that tired anymore, I felt alive.

Trying not to let him see that he effected me so much, I gave him another smile before pulling another book out of my bag. This one wasn't homework though, it was one Hermione had let me borrow, a muggle novel she said I would like. Pride and Prejudice. So far, despite having no magic in it, it was pretty good. "Well," I said as I flipped the book open to where I'd left off last night before bed. "Trust me, you're anything but predictable."

We lapsed into silence again as I read, getting enthrawled in the story as the world around me, even Draco, melted away. The book was just as good as any normal book I'd read before and I found myself caught up in the words, the world the described clear in my mind. I was so enthrawlled it in that I hardly noticed when Draco stood to stir the potion again, not even glancing up at him.

I was so caught up in the book I didn't even notice the tears falling from my eyes as Elizabeth realized she loved Mr. Darcy too, though at the same time she also realized they could never be together. I felt so bad for her, becuase I knew how painful it was to want someone and not be able to have them. I'd felt that for Harry for years. But I'd never experienced it on a scale that the character had. I'd never loved someone so much that I thought I would die without them only to not be able to have them. But I could feel her pain, written so clearly upon the page. Not even my tears dotting the pages pulled me from the words.

Suddenly though, I felt a light touch on my cheek, a tear I hadn't noticed being wiped away. Finally looking up, I met Draco's stormy grey eyes with my own tear filled ones. Without a word, he gently took the book from my hand, laying it down on the arm of the couch, and pulled me to my feet. The radio played softly in the background as he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me.

I decided not to question it as I wrapped my arms around him in return. He started to move, the deleberate steps to a dance I didn't know. I let him lead, slowly walzing around the room to the music drifting from the radio. We lost ourselves in that moment, my eyes locked with his as we moved slowly to the music.

Finally the song ended and he pulled me closer, flush against him. We stopped moving and he just held me, his strong arms wrapped tightly around me. I surrendered myself to him, laying my head on his chest and listening to the strong sound of his heartbeat and even breathing.

"Ginny," he breathed, hardly more than a whisper on his lips, his head going to rest atop my own, his breath in my hair.

My heart jumped, and I wished this moment never to end, and that in itself was a revelation. When had Draco Malfoy become more than a friend? Friends didn't dance like this, or hold each other so close they were practically one. A friend wouldn't make my stomach flutter just by a single look. But what did that mean?

After what seemed an eternity of just standing there in his embrace, I felt his head move and his lips touch my hair in a gentle kiss. "Come," he said, pulling away but grabbing my hand. He drew me back over to the couch and sat down, pulling me down beside him. He didn't allow the distance between us this time however, he pulled me close, practically on top of him, as he wrapped his arms around me once more.

I succumbed to his embrace, curling my legs under me on the couch and leaning into him. One of his hand still held mine, our fingers twined together. The other was rubbing slow circles along my lower back. Wordlessly, we lay there, entwined in each other with the soft music from the radio drifting around us. Finally my eyes slipped closed, and I fell asleep in his arms.

Well how was that? I thought it high time they had a little sappy romance. I hope you guys liked reading it as much as I like writing it. Let me know! Reviews are like air to me, remember that.

Oh, and if you want to hear the song I listened to the entire time I was writing this, look up Magic Works by the Weird Sisters, it's on the fourth movie's sound track. It really is cute and romantic. You'll like it!

And remember, a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!