Draco-

Astoria followed me around like a little dog, at least until I told her she couldn't very well follow me absolutely everywhere- the toilet, for example. She looked slightly hurt, but soon got her smug air back when I kissed her carefully on the forehead before smiling in the way I knew would make her blush. She practically swaggered back to her friends, and I was left to my own devices. I found Blaise in the courtyard, eyeing up a pretty sixth year Slytherin girl, who was smirking and giggling because she knew he was watching her.

"How revolting," I said, coming up behind him.

"Shut it, Malfoy," he said, not even jumping at my sudden appearance. "How's Astoria?"

"Fine, I just managed to shake her off," I said, rolling my eyes in exasperation.

The sixth year girl was pouting now, annoyed that Blaise was no longer watching her every move. She strutted around a little bit more, moving in exaggerated motions to try and regain his attention, but he was focusing on our conversation now.

"Come on, Draco, why are you not more into this? She likes you, practically worships you and she's a pureblood, what more could you possible want in a girl?"

"It's nothing to do with that, she's just a little overbearing," I said, watching the sixth year girl with growing amusement as she tried to regain Blaise's attention. "She's going to hurt herself if you don't watch her again, stop being cruel to the poor child."

Blaise glanced around at her again, a small smile playing on his lips. She noticed his attention returning to her, and smiled demurely, acting as though she was a normal girl and not a weirdo who was just going out of her way to make a boy look at her. As I watched, Blaise winked at her, and she practically fainted.

"Stop it, Blaise, she's only a kid," I said, laughing.

"She's older than your girlfriend," Blaise smirked.

"She's not my girlfriend, not technically," I said, returning to watching the sixth year girl, who was once again competing for Blaise's attention- this was ridiculous.

"Whatever," he grinned, the expression on his face suggesting that he knew something he shouldn't.

"Right, whatever," I replied. "I have to go anyway; I need to talk to Ginny about tomorrow."

I started to walk away before he could reply, so he shouted at me- "Don't go wasting your time, Draco! It's pointless!"

I smirked to myself and changed course- I headed over towards the sixth year girl, who was so focused on Blaise that she didn't notice me until I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you like my friend Blaise?" I asked, and not giving her time to answer continued by saying "It's a damn shame he already has two girlfriends- I don't know how he'd cope with a third."

She looked at me scandalised, whilst Blaise glared at me angrily for ruining his shot. I smirked as the girl threw a disgusted look at Blaise and then flounced off, swinging her hips and tossing her hair about. She looked like there was something wrong with her. Blaise was still glaring at me.

"You can't win them all, Blaise," I called to him, shrugging my shoulders.

"You little-"

I wasn't stupid enough to hang around and see what he'd do. I knew he wasn't as large as Crabbe or Goyle, but I still didn't fancy getting into a fight with him- and it wouldn't go down at all well if I had a black eye for my first date with Ginny.

I returned to the common room that night to find Astoria waiting for me, pouting in what I suppose she thought was an attractive way.

"Where have you been, Draco?" she asked, looking sulky.

"Erm, in classes?" I said, looking at her with my eyebrow raised. "This is a school, isn't it?"

"Don't take that tone with me," she said, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I asked you not to follow me around, Astoria," I pointed out. "Besides, we've only been together a day- and actually, we're not technically even together!"

"Not technically, but we are," she said, putting her arms around my neck and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, we are, I suppose," I said, trying to placate her- and get her to remove herself from around my neck.

"Really?" she said ecstatically. "You're my boyfriend then?"

"Yes, Astoria, I'm your boyfriend," I said resignedly.

"Great! Where shall I meet you in Hogsmeade tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow in Hogsme- wait, what?" I asked, pulling away from her clutches slightly.

"Tomorrow in Hogsmeade, silly, it's Valentine's Day!" she said, smiling and rolling her eyes.

I almost stopped breathing. She wanted us to go out together on Valentine's Day- what was I going to say? Why was I stupid enough to kiss her so close to Valentine's Day when I had a date that would determine whether or not I was going to reach my twenties?

"Astoria, I can't go to Hogsmeade with you tomorrow… I…"

"What? Why not?" she asked, suddenly looking upset and pouty again.

"It's just, well, you know, I have a lot of homework to do, and I can't really let myself get behind again, I mean, you know-"

"If you don't want to go with me, just say so, Draco," she said, folding her arms now- at least they weren't around my neck anymore.

"Astoria, don't be so silly," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. "It's not that I don't want to go with you, I seriously do have homework. How about we make a date for the next time we go to Hogsmeade?"

"You really have homework?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Astoria, really- I wouldn't lie to you," I said, kissing her quickly.

"Well… ok then. I'll get you something nice from Hogsmeade, shall I?" she said, back to her normal self again; this girl's mood swings were going to give me whip lash if I wasn't careful

"Would you?" I said, smiling at her.

"Of course I will, baby," she said, kissing me on the cheek and holding me to her in a grip so strong I felt as though I was going to suffocate.

"Thanks, Astoria," I said, gently releasing myself from her python grip. "How about we go and sit by the fire with our friends for a bit?"

"Can I sit on your knee if there are no chairs free?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me.

I blinked, momentarily confused- if there were no chairs left, what was wrong with the floor? But I had to keep her happy, I reasoned, and so I agreed that she could sit on my knee if there were no chairs, and she grinned widely, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the fireplace where my friends were already situated. She beckoned to her friends to join us, and soon we were all sat together talking, a little awkwardly it has to be said, but Astoria was happy, and that meant I wasn't being berated or quizzed.

As it happens, there were chairs available, but Astoria threw herself down onto my lap anyway, snuggling into me. I placed a hand awkwardly around her, resting it on her waist and praying she didn't move, whilst Blaise sat just across from me, smirking and making occasional snide comments that only I could pick up on. I glared at him, recognising this was revenge for my earlier actions which had cost him the chance to get with that girl, and vowed to pay him back later.

It was getting late when I finally managed to get away from the crowd around the fire. Astoria insisted on accompanying me as far as the dorm door. I caught her glance back at her friends as we left, and saw her wink at them. Uh oh.

"Well, night then, Astoria," I said hastily as we got to the top of the stairs.

I kissed her quickly, once on the lips, and then turned to the door, trying to make a quick escape.

"Hey, wait a second, baby," she said, in what I imagine she thought to be a seductive tone. "How about I come in there with you for a little bit? Help you drift off to sleep?"

"Oh, er," I said, trying to think of how to escape this situation. "I don't really think you should, Astoria, it's a mess in there, you know how boys are."

"I don't mind the mess," she purred, suddenly very close to me.

"Well, ok, I don't really mind it either- but I'm, you know, tired," I said desperately.

"How about I give you a little energy boost?" she whispered, running her fingers through my hair; I automatically winced- I was not a fan of people touching my hair.

"Well, if you give me an energy boost, then how will I be able to sleep?" I asked, laughing nervously.

"Come on, Draco," she said, kissing me, "Don't you want to?"

"It is getting late…" I said, trying to reason with her.

"Have you never done this before, Draco?" she said mockingly.

"Er, what?" I asked, deliberately misunderstanding her.

"This is cute," she exclaimed, laughing delicately. "The gorgeous Draco Malfoy- a virgin?"

"Now, hang on," I said, annoyed. "I am not a virgin, thank you very much."

"Then why are you so scared?"

"I'm not scared. I don't get scared."

"Well, come on then!" she said, pushing against me, her hand moving slowly downwards.

I all but leapt backwards through the door, which had come loose with the both of us leaning on it. Unfortunately, this did not have the desired affect; I fell backwards, and Astoria, caught off balance, fell as well. She landed, not heavily, on top of me. As strong as I was, I couldn't push her off me. She was suddenly kissing me passionately, her tongue invading my mouth, whilst I automatically kissed her back.

It happened very quickly then. One minute we were kissing on the floor, the next I was pulling her school robes off and locking the door behind us as we fell, panting, onto my bed. I don't know how long it was, but I remember lying with her afterwards, her head resting on my chest as I stroked her long, dark hair. She smelt of something flowery- it was really very nice, quite intoxicating. I breathed in slowly and steadily, trying to think coherent thoughts. It was only when we heard footsteps on the stairs, heading up to my dorm, that I realised it really was late, and the others I shared a dorm with were coming up to bed.

"Quick, get up and get dressed!" I hissed to Astoria, practically pushing her off the bed.

"Which robes are mine?" she asked, trying to untangle the mess of black and green robes on the floor.

"I don't know, whichever ones are the smaller ones," I replied, pulling on some boxers.

"We're practically the same size," she said, smirking at me.

"Don't be stupid, I'm not as skinny as you are," I said, smirking back at her.

"Don't you like me being skinny?" she asked, stopping her search for her robes and putting her arms around my waist.

Being both still semi-naked, the feel of her warm skin on mine was perfection. I smiled at her and kissed her properly, not the quick kisses I had been bestowing on her.

"Skinny suits you," I said. "Now find your robes."

"Draco, you busy?" came the joking and infuriatingly smug voice of Blaise on the other side of the door.

"Hang on a minute, Blaise," I said, refusing to sound irritated with him, despite the fact that I was furious with him for disrupting our peaceful post-coitus moments. "Hurry up, Astoria; he'll break the door down if you don't."

"I am hurrying," she said, finally finding her robes and throwing them on without putting her bra on. She slid her tiny pants back on under her robes, then grabbed her other clothes and motioned for me to unlock the door.

As soon as the lock clicked open, Blaise tumbled into the room.

"You shouldn't lean on doors, Blaise, you'll hurt yourself," said Astoria, raising an eyebrow at him in amusement.

"Come on, Astoria, get your arse into your own dorm, I'm knackered and you two have had plenty of time to get better… acquainted, so to speak," said Blaise, grinning.

"Shut up, Blaise," I said, motioning him to come into the room so Astoria could get out.

I kissed her again, and she eventually made her way to her own dorm. I hoped for both our sakes that the common room was empty now- it wouldn't do any good if she had to walk back through it with half her clothes off and only her robe to cover her modesty.

"Have fun, Draco?" smirked Blaise, looking at the mess of clothes still strewn across the floor.

"I said shut up," I said, getting into my four poster and drawing the heavy curtains so that I was out of view.

"You can't hide in there forever!" he said, mock tauntingly.

"No, but I can until you go away again," I mumbled.

"I heard that," he said, laughing.

"Where're Crabbe and Goyle anyway?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Last I saw them they were sneaking out for some food from the kitchens," said Blaise. "Where else would those fat gits be? Besides, don't try and change the subject."

"I'm not," I denied. "I'm trying to find out where half our room mates are. Now, I am going to go to sleep. Shut up and leave me alone."

"Sure thing, mate," said Blaise, and he began to whistle to himself as he got ready for bed.

I heard Crabbe and Goyle creep back in at about 2am, but they fell asleep relatively quickly. Blaise was snoring slightly in his bed, so I was the only one awake. I sat in my bed, thinking over the night's events. I felt a great weight off my shoulders, and my thoughts were focused only on Astoria- her pale, beautiful body, naked and writhing against mine, her little moans of satisfaction; it was enough to nearly make me creep out of my bed and join her in hers.

It was only as I was dozing off that I remembered that it was the morning of February 14th, and I had a date with Ginny Weasley in only a few hours. With that thought, I was wide awake again, my thoughts changing from the bliss of Astoria, and the confusion of Ginny, and I realised I wasn't nearly as contented as I had thought myself to be when Astoria and I had sat in quiet happiness together a couple of hours earlier. I still had to focus on Ginny. I had to somehow build up a relationship with her, whilst keeping it a secret from everyone but the Dark Lord, my parents and other such people, whilst keeping my relationship with Astoria a secret from Ginny.

I had no idea what I'd let myself in for, but I didn't think it could be in any way good. I only hoped that my date with Ginny would go without a hitch, and that Astoria would never find out.

Ginny-

I was woken up at around half midnight, after such a disturbing and confusing dream that my head was reeling. I had dreamt about that skinny little Slytherin slut, the one who was only 15 but had already slept with more of the Hogwarts male population than I had laid eyes on. I didn't know why I'd dreamt about her, or what I'd actually dreamt about her- she was just kind of there, not doing anything, whilst I stood laughing and talking with Draco.

I remembered that I was supposed to have a date with him, but try as I might I couldn't remember agreeing to this date, and no matter how much I tried to I couldn't think of any way to get out of it. If I came close to thinking of a way, it slipped from my mind before I had a chance to build on the initial idea, and I was left back at square one again.

Neville and I were hardly talking nowadays. This was nothing to do with us not being friends, because we were- it was more to do with the fact that I was desperately avoiding contact with anyone who, if I was being possessed, would end up getting hurt because of me. As a result, I remained, for a majority of lunch and break times, in the girl's bathroom where Myrtle lived. She didn't bother me, she just remained in her cubicle, moaning and moping away to herself about nothing in particular.

Whenever I did see Neville, he looked about to fight someone, and the most recent time I'd seen him he'd got a large slash down one cheek, which was bleeding slightly and looked incredibly sore. When I'd asked him about it, he'd said something about cheeking one of the Carrows, although I didn't catch what his exact words were, due to the fact that a that precise moment, my mind went curiously blank again, only for a few seconds, but when I returned to the conversation he had almost finished his story. I commented on how unfair and disgusting the Carrows were, and suggested he go to McGonagall.

"Don't be stupid, Gin," he'd said, not unkindly. "I can't go to McGonagall, what's she going to do about it? She's as scared as we are, and they're more likely to kill her than any of us. She's got no family who'll try and go after them if they kill her, see. So she's not going to kick up a fuss."

He had a good point. None of the professors dared to stand up to the Carrows. They wouldn't kill us, but they would have no problem killing one of the professors if they got out of line.

I managed to get back to sleep at around half 1, and then woke up again in a sudden panic around half an hour later, although I didn't know why. It took me ages to calm myself back down enough to slip back into sleep, and when I did it was restless and I woke every so often with dreadful feelings of sickness and worry building up inside me.

The sickness and worry was at such a level that when I finally woke up properly, I declined joining the others for breakfast, and instead sat alone in the dorm, trying to get myself ready for Hogsmeade without running to the toilets to be violently sick everywhere. I tried to discourage myself from getting ready to go, telling myself that if I just never showed then I wouldn't have to go on the stupid date with Draco, but whenever I tried to stop myself my mind turned blank again. When I returned to myself, I was getting ready again, without any conscious thought as to how I got there. I decided instead that I would just stay in my dorm. I couldn't very well get all the way to Hogsmeade without knowing it- I'd have to come back into my own mind eventually, and when I did I could just come back to the dorm. So I sat on my bed and decided I wouldn't move. I picked up a book and began to read.

I was sitting in a secluded corner of a small teashop, opposite Draco, who was chatting to me about something that I didn't understand. I blinked, confused, and tried to remember how I'd gotten to the teashop in the first place. I had a cup of untouched, pinkish coloured tea in front of me, which I looked at with slight trepidation, although I didn't understand why. Draco didn't seem to notice my discomfort and confusion until I spoke.

"What?" I whispered, staring into the cup of tea in front of me.

"Hmm?" said Draco, breaking off from whatever he'd been saying.

"I don't understand," I whispered, shocked to find my vision going blurry- I was tearing up, something I never, ever did.

"What don't you understand?" asked Draco, sounding slightly concerned but mostly uninterested.

"What's going on?" I asked, sounding choked.

"We're on a date," he said, talking slowly as though I had something wrong with me.

"I don't remember how I got here," I said, the first tears beginning to fall. "I was sitting in my dorm, reading a book about Quidditch. And then I was here. I don't understand."

"Ginny?" he asked, sounding more concerned now as he watched me cry.

"How did I get here?"

"In the coaches, remember?"

"I just said, I don't remember!" I said, crying more now.

"Stop crying, Ginny, please," he said, reaching out and putting a hand on mine.

"Don't!" I said, pulling my hand away. "Don't!"

"Alright," he said, pulling his own hand away. "Just stop crying."

"I can't," I sobbed, trying hard to keep quiet; I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

"Well, can you please try?"

"You try to stop crying when for the past who knows how long you've had massive gaps in your memory appear! I don't understand!" I sobbed.

"Oh, Ginny, please, just stop!" he said, taking hold of my hand again and not letting me take it away. "Alright, I'll tell you what's happened."

"You… you know what's going on with my head?" I asked, staring at him.

"Yes, I know. I put you under the Imperius Curse so that you'd date me."

I sat staring at him, suddenly realising why I was so confused and scared.

"You cursed me?" I whispered, my tears still flowing but my voice no longer catching.

"Yes. And I'm sorry. I didn't think it would affect you this way."

"But you still did it!" I accused, snatching my hand away. "Why?"

"I can't tell you why, but I had a good reason, a really good one, honest," he said, looking me straight in the eyes and pleading with me.

"A really good reason to play havoc with someone's head?" I snapped, rubbing my cheeks to get rid of the embarrassing tears still falling down them.

"I didn't play havoc with your head, not really," he said.

"Oh, not really? I snapped. "I've been dreaming about some horrible manor house for ages, with dark corridors and screams, and then I dreamt about that weedy Slytherin whore who's so obsessed with you, that disgusting Greengrass girl-"

"Leave Astoria out of this," he said, suddenly sharp.

"Why the hell should I?"

"She's nothing to do with this discussion."

"Oh, I see, you like the Slytherin Snake. Then why are you here with me, torturing me into believing I've gone bloody insane, or I'm being possessed or something, when you could be with her? She is a pureblood, after all!"

"You sound like Blaise now. Just stop it for a moment, Ginny. Let me explain."

"Why should I?"

"Because I might be able to help you to understand!"

We fell silent for a few minutes as I contemplated this. I did want to understand, but I was completely unsure as to whether or not he would tell me the truth- although after this most recent revelation, I suspected he wouldn't. Even so, I decided it would be amusing to hear whatever pathetic excuse he could come up with.

"Fine," I said shortly, leaning back in my chair and folding my arms.

"Ok," he said, and taking a deep breath he began to talk. "I placed you under the Imperius Curse because, since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to… to win you, for want of a better phrase. And I was doing this because I have to, ok, Ginny? I have to. I was forced to try and get with you from the beginning of the year for reasons I can't tell you. But then I realised I wasn't being forced anymore, not really- I actually wanted to be with you. But you wouldn't give me the time of day, and I really needed to be with you, both for myself and for other reasons. So I did the only thing I could think of. I put you under the Imperius Curse. Not totally under it though- I let you keep your mind a lot of the time. The curse only came into effect if you tried to back out of our date, or tried to think too much into the situation. That's why you ended up here today without knowing it, because you tried to stay in the dorm and stand me up. I don't think I removed enough of the curse though, as it seems that you've been… feeling my emotions and dreaming about what I'm doing or am dreaming about when I've been particularly… particularly emotional, shall we say. Please understand this, Ginny. I want to be with you, but it's more than that. I need to be with you. It's a matter of great urgency that I win you. Please."

Here he finished speaking and sat looking at me with great, grey eyes boring almost into my very soul.

"Take the whole curse off me," I demanded quietly.

He did so without comment, quickly and quietly, and then returned to watching me, his eyes pleading even though he wasn't speaking.

I considered what he had said. Now I had my own mind completely back, I felt freer, easier. I could think properly, and I did. I thought about everything that had transpired between the two of us since the beginning of the school year, and even before it, at my brother's wedding. He'd saved my life twice, and saved me from getting seriously hurt up in the Owlery as well. That had to be taken into account. But he had also placed me under the Imperius Curse, and illegal curse which had caused me to think I was going insane over the past few weeks. I had seriously thought something was wrong with me, was convinced I was being possessed by some Dark Magic outside of my control or my knowledge. This also had to be taken into account. But what I had to think about most of all was the fact that, now my brain was completely my own, I had to admit that I did have some feelings there for him which I didn't completely understand. Looking into his eyes as he sat looking at me, I knew I felt something for him which I hadn't felt since Harry.

"Alright," I said quietly after a further 10 or so minutes.

Draco sat up straight, looking at me with quiet desperation.

"Alright," I repeated. "I don't really fully understand why you did what you did. But I do understand that even you wouldn't have done it if you didn't have a solid reason for doing so. I think you must have been feeling pretty desperate to do that. So, although I don't forgive you, I will give you one chance."

Draco beamed at me, ecstatic.

"Really? Thank you, Ginny, really, thank you-"

"Wait. I have conditions."

Draco stopped smiling and looked worried again.

"I don't want anyone to know about this. If word of this reached Harry, I hate to think what could happen. And I'm not doing things with you that your Slytherin whore does. I'm not that kind of girl. The only reason I'm even agreeing to do this is because you seem to really need me to, and because I'm not that much of a complete bitch that I would say no to someone who was in such desperate need- even if that someone is you."

"Ok. We'll keep this all secret then. And I won't make you do anything. But please stop calling Astoria a whore," he said, looking both amused and annoyed.

"I'm only telling the truth, Draco," I said.

"I don't think you are, but thank you anyway. Thank you so much for this, Ginny, I don't know how I can ever repay you," he said, moving his chair next to mind and putting his arm around me.

I ignored the butterflies in my stomach when he touched me, and instead moved his arm off of my shoulders.

"No, thank you, Draco. I don't think that's needed," I said, smirking slightly at his crestfallen face.

"Right," he said, moving away again and smiling sheepishly. "So, are you technically my girlfriend then? Albeit a secret one."

"I suppose I am," I said, feeling both upset and excited by this prospect- it was a very confusing feeling.

"Brilliant," grinned Draco. "Would you like more tea? I think that one's probably gone cold by now."

"Yeah, go on then. Or we can go to the Three Broomsticks? I think I might need something stronger than tea."

"You said this had to be kept secret- we're staying put here and having another tea," said Draco, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"Right you are," I mumbled, looking back down at the pinkish coloured tea, watching as a small bubble on the surface of the liquid burst.

A/N: There you go, the special Valentine's Day chapter, posted on (or at least near, as it's still only the 13th here in the UK) Valentine's Day. I hope you all enjoy it, and happy Valentine's to the lot of you

Love, Beccari x