Chapter 8: Hanging On

"I'm going to run you down you fucking bitch!" Ginny grinned and leaned down even further, almost parallel with her broomstick. In her left arm was the quaffle. She had just outmaneuvered Pucey, who was now recovering from a blow to the stomach. She had come in at him sideways, throwing her body weight into his chest. Her momentum had forced him back and she had used the move to snatch the quaffle away from him.

She felt a tug and she was forced to let go of the quaffle to grip her broom handle. He had gotten just close enough to grab her bristles and yank, causing her broom to go up into a 90 degree angle. Flattening out, she spotted him about 40 feet below her headed for the left most hoop. Throwing her body forward and down, she made a straight line for him.

Draco had been right about Pucey. Flying against him was the biggest challenge she'd ever experienced. She had tried to get Draco to fly against her, but he had begged off, saying he'd rather not subject himself to unnecessary bruising. Instead, he had told her to challenge Pucey to a one-on-one match up in front of others. That his ego wouldn't allow him to reject the proposal. He had been right. Pucey had been red with rage when she implied she could fly circles around him in front of their whole Charms class, and had quickly demanded they find out their next free period just who was the better chaser. They had both enjoyed the challenge of it, and had quickly scheduled the next round.

The castle bells chimed two, and both sixth years landed, Ginny grimacing as Pucey gloated. "And that takes the total up 5 to 3 I believe." She yanked her pads off, angry with herself more than anything. It had been so close today. Winning today's match would have tied it up. It was a simple score. Whoever was in possession of the quaffle when the bells chimed won.

"Yes well don't get too comfortable on that high horse of yours. We'll see who wins the real match tomorrow." It was the first time Gryffindor and Slytherin were playing each other since Draco had rejoined the team, but Ginny still felt confident. She might prefer being a chaser, but she was a decent seeker. Not to mention, Draco was still getting back into it. Granted, he had crushed the Hufflepuff seeker. But he still only had one game and four weeks of practice under his belt.

"Shove off. Malfoy ought to fuck you right into the ground tonight. Leave you too sore to do anything on a broom." Ginny flushed and went for her wand, hurling a hex at him that would have him sneezing out cockroaches. He dodged it, and grabbed his own wand. "Try that again and I'll report you to the Carrows!" Ginny stood there, frozen with rage. He sneered and levitated his stuff to stash it in the changing room.

The Carrows had not been satisfied with torturing her. It turned out Neville had been right about the detentions. A fifth year had been the latest victim, crucioed in the middle of dinner and left to sob as everyone else was forced to eat and pretend nothing was wrong. It was now apparently the go to punishment for any upper classman. Snape had done nothing except draw the line at not torturing students under fourth year. He had explained that the cruciatus curse was too likely to mess up the minds of the youngest students, so instead an alternative had been created.

The alternative was little better. Two third year boys who had been late coming back from Hogsmeade had been given a detention two weeks ago, and everyone had held their breath. Filch had come out with chains, grinning madly. Seamus and Ginny had to work to hold Neville down, not willing to let him get tortured again. He had just gone through it three days ago for ruining a crop of julbees. Neville had refused to let Professor Sprout take the blame, insisting he had done it while helping her after class. His torture had been the longest any of them had ever seen. It had made no sense until Ginny found out the julbees were an ingredient for a potion that forced people to babble. Draco had explained it to her, adding that many let out secrets when under its influence. No doubt the death eaters had been planning to use it.

The boys had been chained spread eagle, left there all night, only released at breakfast. Unchained, they had barely moved. Both boys had gone into a sort of fetal position and sobbed on the floor, screaming in pain when professors went to go help them up. It was horrible and completely inhumane.

Leaving her stuff in her locker, she grabbed her bag and headed back into the castle. She had one more class to get through before the weekend. Heading up the stairs, she was hit with a cold blast of water. Spinning, she stupefied her attacker, but she was outnumbered. As she went to hex another of the group, Astoria was able to disarm her and Ginny curled her fists up, ready to fight if she had to. "Oh calm down Weasel. We were just trying to help. Thought a cold shower might keep you from being such a complete slag." Ginny leapt for the girl, but one of her friends cast a shield charm before she could make contact. Astoria's fear was soon replaced by cool disgust.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Draco was climbing back to the top of his house, more so than ever before. And it seemed as their admiration for him increased, their jealously towards her flared. Her life would be much easier if she just let him go. But she couldn't. In an odd twist, their relationship was now what was protecting Millicent. If the school thought he had lost interest in her, that their sexual relations had stopped, it was unclear if Crabbe would still be as worried about Draco's reaction to him trying to force Ginny into sex. It was possible the blackmail would lose its effectiveness in Crabbe's view, and he would have free reign to terrorize the girls again.

Forcing herself to get up and walk away, Ginny made for her last class. She refused to think of herself as being bullied. Who cared what people called her? What they thought of her? The people that mattered knew she was still herself. Only two more weeks, and she'd be home for Christmas surrounded by family. She didn't know if she had ever been so eager for the holidays. She couldn't help but count down the days, wishing time would move faster, even knowing how much Draco was dreading it.

She knew he hated seeing his parents like they were now; powerless and terrified. She knew her own parents were likely to have developed worry lines as well. Where in the world were Harry, Ron and Hermione spending Christmas? While she knew no news was good news, it was still worrisome. It had all bottled up the other day, and she had practically drenched Draco's robe as he held her and let her sob onto his shoulder. He hadn't even asked what it was about. He had just pulled them into the nearest unused room, and silencioed the area.

They were still able to meet fleetingly whenever their free periods overlapped during the day. As long as the school only saw them snogging or heading to an empty room together, the pretense that they were not emotionally involved seemed to stick. They never had a conversation in front of others. There was no hand holding. There was no defending the other from friends' comments. There was no hint at all that they even thought about each other, other than to fuck, much less care about the other. Neither of their personalities changed. In fact, they seemed more like their usual selves than ever before. Malfoy was loud and obnoxious again, smirking and basking in the limelight. Ginny was fiery and independent, talking about and practicing Quidditch more than ever before.

The biggest change in Ginny recently, was something that she didn't allow anyone to see. Not even Draco. It had been a month now of being with him, and she was quite terrified that she was falling for him. While she found herself excitedly anticipating their short meetings during the day, she absolutely pined for Sunday nights. He had been in her room every Sunday night, always performing the glamour on his bed and making sure he brought his things for Monday morning. He had explained Sunday was the best night for it when she had asked if he could come more often. It was the night people spent frantically catching up on homework they had pushed off all weekend, and then collapsed into bed to get some sleep before Monday classes. His Monday schedule involved being the only Slytherin taking NEWT level Arthimacy at 8:40 am, and as such, his dorm mates were used to waking up and him already being gone. It was the only day he felt he could take the risk, and Ginny had to reluctantly agree.

Every Sunday night was different, but it was always special. The Sunday after the Hufflepuff match, it had been a complete surprise to see him. She had still been worried he was mad at her, having not gotten a chance to speak to him since she had told him she was going after Crabbe. She had said those nasty things, and he had left in anger. But as it turned out, she hadn't completely driven him away. On Sunday, Draco had finally spotted her bruised face during breakfast, but hadn't gotten a chance to ask about it. Ginny had been hauled off to do homework with the seventh year Gryffindors in the library, and he had been in high demand all day. People were eager to relive game highlights with him and there had been no opportunity to leave the Common Room naturally. Not unless he was prepared to yell at them to leave him alone, which would be much too suspicious. He had finally decided to tell them he had to get homework done after dinner, he would see them tomorrow, and had trailed after Ginny and Filch just as he had last time.

Ginny had jumped and grabbed for her wand when she first felt his hand on her shoulder, terrified Crabbe had somehow made it into her room. His disillusionment charm faded, and Ginny was left staring at his confused and worried expression. Her pulse was still racing from fear, and her hand was still tightly grasping her wand. They had stared at each other for what seemed countless minutes before Ginny's wand clattered to the ground and she was clinging to him. His arms immediately went around her and he listened carefully to her muffled apology being spoken against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, you were right. I didn't know what I was doing. I should have let you come up with a plan." Alarmed, he had pulled back and studied her face carefully. "Tell me what happened." Ginny had only shaken her head.

"Everything worked out alright. Crabbe will no longer hurt Millicent or Daphne, and that's all you need to know. I just, it turned out I needed help. That alone, maybe I wasn't ready to take on Crabbe. It could have gone badly but it didn't. Daphne, Millicent, and I were able to deal with it together, and the less you know the better." He went to ask another question, and Ginny leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips. "Honestly Draco. It only works if you don't know. You'll have to trust me. Or, trust the three of us. Do you really believe Daphne and Millicent would have come up with a flawed plan?" He had reluctantly let the issue go, and Ginny had found it very therapeutic to spend the night letting Draco slowly and gently caress her, erasing memories of Crabbe as he went.

It was in her room on Sunday nights that they had the opportunity to do what they didn't dare do in classrooms during the day. They explored each other's bodies, curious to figure out how to pry reactions from each other. Ginny found kissing his inner wrists was an easy way to push him closer to the edge, making his thrusts become erratic. She found lightly scratching his stomach made his cock twitch, and grow just a little harder. And she found that biting his shoulder was immensely satisfying for both of them. He learned whispering in her ear made her writhe, and that her inner thighs were wonderfully sensitive.

But perhaps even more important than the sex was the feeling she got afterwards, cuddled into him and feeling completely at peace. For that one night a week, they were able to let go completely. They were able to be selfish, and only care about their own physical comfort. They both needed it, and neither was worried about being judged for it. For needing to be held; needing to cling to someone else. Around their friends, they both worked hard to be brave, cheerful, and confident. They were both role models for others, and they couldn't let others see the cracks.

At times, it felt like the whole school was looking at them. Supporters of one side looking to Draco, and supporters of the other side looking to Ginny. She didn't know how Draco did it. On her side, Neville was looked at as a leader just as much, if not more than her. And people like Luna, Seamus, Lavender, and Pavarti helped share the responsibility as well. They were all essentially of the same rank; veterans of the DA and on their way to becoming Order members. Draco didn't have the same type of comradery with anyone. He was alone amongst the students, singled out as the only deatheater and the only one to have met the Dark Lord in person. Not only that, but he had to hide that he didn't actually want to be a deatheater. She couldn't help but think that the pressure must be crushing.

At this point, even if the issue of Crabbe didn't exist, she didn't know if she would give Draco up. Even taking into account the harassment she endured for it, a part of her enjoyed the school knowing that there was something going on between her and Malfoy. That their relationship wasn't a complete secret. It made her feel a little more honest, and a little less guilty about lying to her friends.

"Ready to completely obliterate Slytherin?" Ginny looked across the table laden with breakfast food, and smirked. Jannice's eyes were alight with the competitiveness of any good Quidditch captain. Simply winning today's match wasn't going to be enough. They had won their last match against Ravenclaw by a measly 90 points, and were still trailing Slytherin for the House Cup. They would have to beat Slytherin by at least 160 to overtake them.

"That little gold ball is mine. Just score as fast as you can, and leave the rest to me." She refused to acknowledge the butterflies in her stomach. The butterflies that were there because deep down she knew Draco was a better seeker than her. She knew he wasn't going to go easy on her. Where Quidditch was involved, all bets were off. He would be just as ruthless as her. She only hoped she wouldn't look as ridiculous as the Hufflepuff seeker had. With a fierce determination, she forced another piece of toast down and continued talking smack.

The stands were bursting with screams, every student in Hogwarts out in the freezing cold determined to see the last game before Chirstmas break. It was hard to make out any particular student. It was a sea of cloaks, hats, mittens, and scarves. She knew older students had likely cast warming charms, vainly trying to combat the bite of Scottish winds. There were no warming charms down here. The teams stood in terse silence, ready to shoot up into the air as soon as the whistle went. Ginny watched Jannice's mouth tighten as Pucey shook her hand and felt a stab of sympathy. No doubt Pucey was crushing her hand. She felt a fierce pride at Jannice's determination to not give away any sign of pain.

And then quick as a wink, the handshake was over, the whistle had blown, and Ginny was high in the air. If she hadn't had goggles for protection, she was sure she would be flying blind. Her eyes would have squinted shut and teared up at how cold and windy it was. Looking down at the chasers, she knew that it was going to be tough for even the first step of their plan to work. Ideally, she wouldn't catch the snitch until her team was up by 10. Pucey was the best chaser down there though, and stopping him was going to be tough. "Gin!" Her eyes widened as Tiberius flew straight at her, his bat knocking away a bludger that had been on course to crush her shoulder. She had to get it together! Shouting thanks, she zoomed around the Pitch and watched desperately for a glimmer of gold.

The commentary became background noise as she made herself concentrate and eventually she had to ignore the movements of the chasers and the quaffle. It was too distracting. She had already almost missed Draco flying towards the right hoop. He had spotted the snitch without her notice, and had been making his way over to grab it without alarming anyone to its presence. Unable to get to him in time to stop him, she had yelled at Rhydian who managed to smash a bludger that way, enough of a disruption for the snitch to speed off again. At that, Draco had looked over at her and yelled, his first acknowledgement of her the entire game. She knew he had cursed her out. Although the wind hadn't carried his words, his expression was more than enough to figure out the gist. She smiled at him, and then turned her broom to fly off.

She didn't know exactly how long the game had gone on for. It had been long enough for her feet and fingers to freeze though, and her muscles were sore from tensing against the cold. She had come to the realization that they weren't going to win by 160 points. The score was 90-50, with Slytherin in the lead. It didn't look likely that Gryffindor was going to leap ahead anytime soon. Maybe the best thing was to just grab the Snitch and end the game early. Try and minimize damage. Even having come to this conclusion though, she found there was the small issue of finding the snitch. It was nowhere.

Then suddenly she saw it. A glint off by the stands. Draco was already racing towards it, but she was closer. Adrenaline pumping through her, she lay flat and willed her broom to go faster. Sensing the chase, the snitch took off, plunging down to the ground. Fuck. Chasers never had to dive all the way down like this. The ground was coming closer, and her heart jumped into her throat. She needed to pull up. At this angle, she was going to crash. Just as she was contemplating jumping off of her broom to try and grab the snitch as she rolled onto the ground, the snitch suddenly switched directions, flying straight up. Both of them went to flip their broom's angles. Ginny switched her angle as fast as possible while staying on her broom. Draco did it faster. So fast that his broom was nearly vertical. The abrupt switch in direction and extreme angle had forced his body off the broom.

Ginny could only look on in horror as he flew straight up into the wind, his body connected to his broom only by one, clutching hand. Even as his other hand reached out to snatch the snitch out of the air, she found herself unable to move.

That had been dangerous, reckless, and not bloody fair! He had flattened his broom out and slowed it down in order to collapse onto it. He looked exhausted, breathless, and proud. She wanted to scream. In the calmest conditions, flying vertically was tough. Flipping your broom so quickly that your legs flew off and you could only clutch the broom with your hands? Dangerous and beyond difficult. Flying like that in windy conditions and with only one hand on the broom? She knew she wouldn't have been able to do it. She would have lost her grip and fallen to the ground. That Draco had just done that, he had only managed to do it because of his arm strength. The arm strength that no matter what, boys just naturally seemed to have more of. How dare he! He had used his gender against her. Won with a move that she couldn't do. Not because she lacked talent as a flyer. Because she lacked arm strength as a girl.

She didn't have her wand up here. Players weren't allowed to have them during games. Too much risk of cheating that way. So with no option to hex or curse him, she did the only thing she could. Flying down to grab the quaffle out of Jannice's hands, she flew right at him and chucked it with all of her strength. "You fucking twat! How dare you!" Completely taken by surprise, he wasn't able to dodge it. The quaffle slammed into chest, and the impact sent him and his broom spinning backwards. She continued to fly towards him, ranting and raving, uncaring of the fact that he was still trying to regain control of his broom. "Bloody pillock! Cheating bastard! That wasn't bloody fair!"

She felt herself being restrained, and looking back realized it was Tiberius who had his arm around her chest, trying to pull her back. He was strong enough that it was working, and he was only a fourth year. Bloody boys. More infuriated than before, Ginny screamed at him to let her go, but by that time Madame Hooch had made her way up.

"Miss Weasley! Desist immediately! While I know loosing is distressing, there was no foul play." She wanted to cry. That was the worst part of all of this. There hadn't been foul play. What Draco had done was completely legal. Madame Hooch flew next to her as she made her way back down to the ground. As if she was some insane creature that had to be watched. With the professor's attention on her, she had no choice but to stomp to the changing rooms quietly. She tore off her Quidditch gear and tried to get a hold if herself. Now that the moment had passed, she realized what she had done was not particularly sporting. She knew there were hardly any women in Professional Quidditch for a reason. If she was serious about pursuing it, she was going to have to develop a thicker skin. She couldn't just blow up like that.

Not in the mood to speak to anyone, much less the two other girls in there, she showered, changed, and left the changing room alone. That had possibly been a mistake. Two of the Slytherin players had been exiting the boys' changing room and stopped at the sight of her. "Oi Malfoy! Get out here!" She should have continued to walk, try to avoid the situation. There was no way for this to go well.

Draco came out with wet hair and no shirt, a look of annoyance on his face. "What!" The Slytherins just smirked, and Draco turned his head to stare at her. Shit. It didn't matter that deep down she knew that he liked her. She had attacked him, yelled at him, and he was annoyed at best. Furious at worst. Not only that, but they were in public and their audience was getting bigger every minute. The other players were coming out to see what was happening, and Ginny knew even her teammates wanted to know what he would say.

His eyes narrowed and Ginny squashed the impulse to apologize. She'd do it later. When they were alone. For now, she puffed up her chest and clutched her wand. "You stupid bint. Attacking me over a hundred feet in the air? How dare you. Learn your place Weasely." And then she felt it. She gasped as her muscles burned. Her wand dropped before she could cast any counter curse, not that she knew one. She cried out as she fought it, but it was in vain. Her body collapsed, until she was on her hands and knees. He lifted whatever spell he had been using, and the pressure left her body. Yet her body was so sore and exhausted, she simply knelt there as he walked over and yanked on her hair. She shrieked at the sharp pain, and tried to tilt her head to relieve the pressure. "Don't forget who has the power here. If I wanted, that spell could have left you flat on the ground, feeling completely crushed. Do you understand?"

She knew what he was getting at; to be more careful. That there were nasty spells out there and she ought to make sure she didn't piss off the wrong people. But Merlin help her, she was not going to just let him win a public fight. Besides, she really needed him to let go of her hair. It was more painful than she thought he realized. Her wand out of reach, she set her jaw and then punched him right in the crotch.

A loud chorus of sympathetic winces came from all around them as Draco cursed. She barely noticed. He had let go of her hair and retreated to clutch himself, giving her just enough time to lunge for her wand and run. "Weasley!" She only ran faster. If he hadn't been angry at her before, he certainly would be now. Her eyes widened as she saw a flash of red go past her, missing her by inches. He was shooting jinxes.

Crashing through the doors to the castle, she looked around wildly. Large groups of students were still in the entrance hall, still bundled up from watching the Quidditch match. Bugger. The last thing she needed right now was another public confrontation with him. She needed to escape. "Get out of the way!" The second years that had been sitting on the steps only stared at her. Hearing Draco burst into the castle behind her, she whipped out her wand and sent them flying. Not far or anything. Just a foot or so, enough to clear space for her to race up the stairwell. She heard the commotion as the students watched the chase, and she had the brief thought of how ridiculous it must look. Draco was running after her with no shirt on, looking as if he wanted to kill her.

She was sure they would once again be the topic of conversation come dinner. Turning, she ran down the empty corridor to one of the rooms they had used many times in the past month. No one was up here. She began warding the room for silence and privacy, even as she heard Draco come in. He stood there waiting for her to finish warding, and Ginny felt her anxiety lower slightly. She knew he was angry, but she could handle it if they were alone.

It was time to apologize. "Don't say it. I know I lost my temper on the Pitch. It was just so bloody aggravating! You could only do that move because you're stronger. You only won because of your muscles!" She was shouting again, all of her anger rising up again.

His voice remained normal. "If you want to go that route, you only caught up to me because you weigh less, letting you go faster. If my muscles are an unfair advantage, so is your body weight. So stop whinging." That brought her up short. She stared at him, processing what he said. And then a giggle escaped. She couldn't help but laugh, even as Draco furrowed his brow and looked at her in irritation. He was right in what he had said. It was just the sheer irony of the situation. Never could she have ever imagined this. Being told by Malfoy of all people, to stop whinging. The boy who had spent his adolescence turning whinging into an art form. The boy who had practically invented grievances against himself for the express purpose of being able to whinge about them.

Once she managed to regain control of herself and tell him why she was laughing, his irritation dissipated. Instead of being offended or angry, his eyes glinted, and he reached out to grab her hand. "While I see your point, I should mention that my whinging was always strategic. It got me what I wanted, most of the time at least. As for what you did, what was your tantrum supposed to achieve exactly?" Ginny couldn't figure out what he was getting at, although she did let him yank her into his arms. "It didn't achieve anything. I was just mad."

He smirked and she was caught by just how attractive he was. Who cared what he was talking about? He was here, holding her, and obviously no longer angry. Any feelings of anger or disappointment about Quidditch felt long ago and far away. "I think you just wanted my attention." And then he kissed her. Ginny didn't bother arguing the point. She kissed back and decided that even if it hadn't been her intention, getting his attention had been a wonderful effect.

Pulling back from him, Ginny felt incredibly peaceful. If she could just be with him all the time, she thought she'd be the least stressed witch on Earth. She didn't know why it worked or what it meant, but she knew she didn't want to lose the feeling. "Sorry for punching you." She wouldn't have done it if her reputation hadn't been at stake. It was important to her that people still saw her as a fighter. His hands began to roam her body slowly while he pretended to think. She kept herself from rolling her eyes and waited. He had forgiven her, she could tell. This was all just an act now. "Well, I suppose I should be mad about that. Anyone else, they'd be hexed to bits. As it's you though, I suppose I'll just let you make it up to me tomorrow night."

She looked at him coyly, and lightly brushed her hand against the area she had punched not ten minutes ago. "Hmm, I don't know if I approve of that. That sounds suspiciously like favouritism." She had expected him to smirk, take it as a joke, banter back. Instead, he pinned her under a rather serious look and she felt her smile disappear. "It is very much favouritism. In fact, you Virginia Weasley have become my favourite person in this entire castle." Ginny's heart beat faster, and a huge smile overtook her face. She had known he liked her well enough. But that sounded very much as if he really liked her. Possibly as much as she liked him.

And at the same time, it showed they still had a ways to go. She managed not to laugh as she spoke, but couldn't help but feel amused. "Draco, that was very sweet but my name isn't Virginia." His easy smile changed into a look of alarm, but he needn't have been worried. She realized that she wasn't offended. There was really no way for him to have known. No one ever called her anything but Ginny or Gin, after all. "My full name is Ginevra Molly Weasely. Am I right in assuming yours is Draco Lucius Malfoy?" He nodded of course, his family having followed naming tradition just as hers had.

"Ginevra. Hm. I can see why you go by Ginny, but it's a good name. It sounds strong, powerful. I think it suits you." She could only stare at him. Outside of her parents, no one had ever told her that they thought her name suited her. Was he out of his mind? "It does not. It makes me sound old and fussy." He laughed and she huffed indignantly, even though she really didn't mind. In fact, she was rather happy. She loved seeing him laugh.

"Ginny! Are you here?" The ease and laughter disappeared in an instant. While the room was warded to deflect attention and keep out sound, it didn't make the room undetectable. From the banging noises, it seemed they were opening doors and they would soon get to this one.

Ginny and Draco looked at each other with wide eyes, and the same thought passed between them. Draco not getting revenge on her would hurt his reputation far more than it would help hers. Ginny braced herself. "Just do it." Draco seemed frozen until the sound of another door banging open snapped him out of it. Grabbing the back of her head, he gave her a crushing kiss before pointing his wand at her and muttering 'vento tempestas malum'. Ginny was whisked into the air by what seemed a small wind storm. She winced as the wind stung her. It was as if she was being beaten by a hundred small lashes. It lasted less than a minute, but it left her sprawled on the floor, her hair and clothes a complete mess. Any part of her that was touching the ground was stinging uncomfortably, and tears welled up into her eyes.

She went to look up at Draco, and found he had already slammed the door open. "Over here Longbottom. She's all yours. I got what I wanted out of her." Unable to see what was happening, Ginny strained her ears for any noise. She heard Neville shout a hex, and then a long string of bangs, crashes, and incantations. Eventually she heard Seamus cut through the noise. He had been hexed with something painful enough to make him yell, but not horrible enough to keep him from cursing up a storm. She heard running feet as the hexes stopped. Faintly, she heard Draco walking away, threatening them to stay out of his way or he'd do something worse next time. It probably should have made her indignant on her friends' behalf, but she only felt relieved. Draco had managed to keep his reputation without her friends getting seriously hurt. How did she know they weren't hurt? They were already up and coming in through the door. And they came in fighting.

"I'll be fine. Stop touching it!"

"You need neddlewart. It'll combat the swelling."

"Who are yeh? Me mum?"

"I'm just trying to help! Go to the Hospital Wing; there's plenty there."

"I'm not going round with this am I? Have half the school laughing their arses off?"

"So that's it? You're going to suffer for your ego?"

Seamus ignored the last comment in favour of finally looking over towards her. Red raced up his neck and he groaned. "I could've gone my whole life not seeing this. Couldn't he just hex you? Cover you with boils or turn your hair into snakes or something?" Ginny tried to keep her confusion from showing. Neville didn't. "What are you talking about? He did hex her. Don't you see the red marks on her?"

Seamus was now beet red. "Aye. I'm not blind! But you don't think she looks so disheveled from hexes, do ya?" Realization struck Ginny. She didn't know if he had done it on purpose, but she wouldn't be surprised if he had. With her clothes and hair wrinkled and tangled, it must look like she had just been very physically used.

She glared up at Seamus. "Well close your eyes then! Who asked you to come find me anyhow?" She didn't know if Neville still hadn't grasped what it looked like. If he did, he seemed to have decided to ignore it. "We were coming to help! We thought he was attacking you!"

She just raised her eyebrow and looked at Seamus. He avoided her eyes, giving up any responsibility for explaining any of it. She sighed, and turned back to Neville in anger. She did appreciate the sentiment, but it would be horribly inconvenient and stupid to let Neville think he needed to save her from Malfoy. "Neville, the way he attacks me is nothing I need or want help with." Neville looked ready to counter, and this was apparently too much for Seamus. Overcoming his embarrassment, he spun around and nearly shouted at Neville.

"Just leave it! Unless she's about to tell us he raped her, I don't need to know anything else. Did he?" Ginny forced herself to not suddenly go shy, and stared back at Seamus. "It was revenge. Make of that what you will. But no, I don't need either of you worrying about what he does to me." Neville frowned. "I don't think what you're doing is healthy. He's manipulating you somehow."

Ginny knew he was being a good friend. A better friend than she deserved honestly. A part of her just wanted to tell him the truth. Tell him Draco was actually very nice to her. That they talked and possibly knew each other better than anyone else in the castle knew either of them. That he would hold her when she was upset. That he worried and cared about her. Instead, she told them the most important part. "I'm better because of him, and you know it. Do you remember October? When I was barely speaking, sad, depressed, and constantly worried? And now, now I can be happy. Excited about life."

Seamus grinned. "You mean you're back to being loud and obnoxious. Figures Malfoy would be to blame. Lavender's still in a snit about you throwing those snowballs." Ginny smirked slightly, remembering. Last Tuesday had brought the first big snowfall to Hogwarts. Ginny had coerced people into a snowball fight, and had pelted Lavender mercilessly when she had called it childish.

Deprived of an ally, Neville seemed to give in. He sighed and began to instead talk about nettlewart again, causing Seamus to bluster. Ginny couldn't help but giggle. His arms were puffed up so that they resembled fat sausages, and she completely understood why he didn't want anyone else to see him.

In the end, they covered Seamus up with a bulky winter cloak, and then snuck down to Greenhouse 4. Seamus had refused to go into the Hospital Wing on the chance that there were patients in there that would see him. It was after a heated debate, that Neville had finally admitted to knowing where Professor Sprout grew the plant. And with the help of unlocking and anti-detection spells, it proved to be easy to procure. Yet it still felt a bit like a secret mission, and Ginny felt a thrill run through her during the escapade.

The weekend passed in a blur of conversation, homework, and games. The Carrows having banned her from the Common Room, she didn't often have a chance to play games this year. Likely because of this, the game of exploding snap she did get to play on Sunday, seemed the best game she had ever experienced. The DA, determined to do something fun together, had planned it, deciding it was worth the risk. There would be no talk of war, politics, or even defensive magic. If they did get in trouble, the worst it would be was for noise and disruption.

They had all congregated in the middle of the sixth floor corridor, pillows and cushions having been dragged from beds and common rooms to make the stone floor comfier. With a dozen players, the games had been long and action packed. Peeves came by at one point and made the game twice as dangerous by throwing things, but it only seemed to make it more fun. The effect it had on everyone seemed incredibly strong. Many of them hadn't joked and played like this in months, always worried about one thing or another. Sitting next to Luna, Ginny wondered if they could pull this off every weekend. Probably not. With Christmas coming up, most of them had less homework than normal, and it was for this reason that they could afford to spend a day with friends. Still, it would be nice.

There were a couple of people who had initially looked askance at her, likely because of her connection with Draco, but no one had actually brought it up. And as she bantered loudly, laughed, and smiled, their hesitance about her disappeared. She wasn't bothered by their reactions. Still, she wondered how they would act if they knew she actually liked Draco. It was a pointless thought. She was never going to tell anyone. Especially since he had a reputation to maintain. A reputation that was working to help protect him and his family. She didn't want to mess with that. Their relationship might be important to both of them, but it certainly wasn't worth dying over.