Draco-

We were going home for the Easter holidays. I had no choice in the matter- I had received an owl from my mother demanding me to return home for the two week break. And so my trunk was packed, my eagle owl was shut in its cage, and I had my travelling cloak secured, ready for the carriages to take us down to the train.

Astoria was looking quite pale and withdrawn. She kept glancing at me from across the common room the night before, and accompanied me down to the Great Hall in the morning in near silence, biting her lip in a nervous and agitated manner. I did not concern myself with her behaviour; the silence was a lot better than having her babble on in my ear about nonsense.

I had not seen Ginny since our argument a couple of days previously. I knew she had been hurt by my outburst, and I was sorry for this. She had riled me so much though, and I had no intentions of trying to mend the rift between us, at least not this term. I tried to remain unconcerned when she failed, both days, to appear in the hall. I tried not to flinch whenever I passed her in the corridors. She was looking even more withdrawn than Astoria. She had dark bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot, and her long red hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail showing that she had clearly ceased to make and effort with her appearance. I wondered vaguely if it was my doing that had caused her to become like this, or if she was worried about Saint Potter.

Finally, after a strained breakfast in which Astoria gazed mournfully at me during the entire thing, we were informed that the carriages would be arriving shortly, and asked to make our way out to the front of the castle to await them. I headed outside with the other Slytherin seventh years, Astoria and her group of friends following closely behind. Although I have no recollection of it, we must have passed Ginny on our way out of the hall, for Astoria suddenly hissed in a delighted tone- "What's got the blood traitor so upset?"

"I heard her and your Draco had an argument!" said one of her friends sounding joyful.

"What?" said Astoria sharply, and I winced. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that some people would have seen us arguing in the court yard.

I continued to walk, not paying attention to Blaise, who was smirking broadly at me in a highly amused manner, nor to Crabbe and Goyle, who were staring at me dumbfounded, their mouths gaping open slightly; a pathetically unattractive sight.

"Draco? Draco!" Astoria kept hissing my name angrily whilst we waited for the carriages, and I continued to attempt to ignore her. It was only when she punched me in the arm that I decided to acknowledge her.

"Yes, Astoria, darling?" I asked, turning to face her and acting as though I'd only just realised she was there.

"What's going on with you and that Weasley girl? Why have you been arguing?" she demanded, glaring at me furiously.

"Astoria, my dear girl, it was nothing. She merely attempted to insult my father," I said, inventing wildly, "and did not like it in the slightest when I proceeded to insult the entirety of her family, as well as her pathetic boyfriend." The word seemed to sting- boyfriend…

Astoria's face immediately brightened up, as did her attitude.

"Oh," she smirked, looking satisfied. "I thought-"

"You thought what? Really, if you can't even trust your own boyfriend, I do not know what to do with you," I said in distain. Astoria failed to pick up on my tone however.

"I can think of a few things," she said, sidling up to me and looking up at me from under her eyelashes.

I stared at her, half amused, half exasperated. She had just had a go at me about getting into an argument with another girl, and now she was coming on to me? I merely smirked at her and returned my attention to the carriages, which had now stopped in front of the castle and collecting people to take them to Hogsmeade station.

"Come on," said Blaise, heading for the nearest carriage, shoving a couple of Hufflepuff second years out of the way as he did, causing them to give amusing squeaks of alarm. Astoria and her friends shrieked with laughter and attempted to pile into our carriage with us, something Pansy strongly disagreed with.

"Get your own carriage, kiddies," she snapped, shoving them back and closing the door in their surprised faces. I tried not to laugh as the carriage moved off and behind us we heard Astoria calling to me, her voice getting ever more distant, until we could no longer hear it at all.

We had a relatively peaceful ride down to the train. It was a relief to not have Astoria clinging to me, and for once I found myself grateful that Pansy was jealous of other girls trying to get close to me.

I was quick to get out of the carriage, heading straight for our own train compartment. I waited until the others were in, and then shut the door hastily behind me, as though I hoped that by doing so Astoria would leave me alone when she eventually boarded the train.

We had a further peaceful ten minutes, and then once more the whine of Astoria's voice reached my ears. I refrained from groaning- just. She peered into the compartment, saw me sitting next to the window, and barged straight in, opening the door with such force that the glass shook.

"What the hell is your problem, Parkinson?" snapped Astoria, rounding on Pansy the second she had entered the carriage.

"Get your own compartment, Greengrass. Seventh years only in here," returned Pansy, all but spitting out her words.

"Draco is my boyfriend! I go where he does!" exclaimed Astoria passionately.

"Well, why don't you ask Draco whether or not he wants you here then?" challenged Pansy furiously. Oh dear.

"Certainly I will!" snapped Astoria, and she turned to face me expectantly.

"Of course you can stay here, Astoria," I said calmly, looking out of the window.

"Oh, Draco!" she exclaimed joyously.

"If," I continued quietly, and I felt the tension rise in the compartment, "if you agree to make your friends go elsewhere. They irritate us."

Silence rang through the compartment. Astoria was staring at me, mouth slightly agape, her friends stood as though frozen outside of the door, and my friends were watching with evident amusement on their faces. Finally, Astoria glanced back at her friends, shrugged apologetically, and settled herself down in the seat next to me, refusing to look at them as they glared at her furiously and stalked off without her.

"Excellent choice, darling," I smirked, kissing her quickly on the cheek. Pansy looked furious, but Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle guffawed loudly, amused by my antics.

Not long after this, the train gave a jerk and began to slowly move away from the station, gradually gathering speed until we were passing through countryside and away from the village of Hogsmeade. Crabbe and Goyle soon began a game of exploding snap, ignoring the disdainful glares shot their way from Blaise, who considered such a game to be childish and beneath them. Pansy stared absently out of the window, trailing her wand in one hand, leaving a trail of glittering silver sparks behind, which faded before one could look at them closely. Astoria continued to gaze at me mournfully, until eventually, annoyed, I decided to speak to her.

"Is there something wrong, Astoria?" I asked quietly, trying to keep the attention of the others away from us.

"Hmm?" said Astoria absently, and then, as though she was snapping out of a trance- "Oh! Oh, Draco! I am just going to miss you so much!" I refrained from raising an eyebrow, but only just.

"It is only two weeks," I said, trying to sound patient, "and I shall write to you."

"You shall?" she said, her face glowing with unsupressed joy.

"Yes," I said grudgingly, attempting to take interest in the countryside flashing past the window.

"Oh, Draco!" she sighed contentedly, resting her head on my shoulder and tracing patterns onto the back of my hand with her fingers. I fought the urge to pull away from her, knowing it would not go down at all well if I did so.

The remainder of the journey passed quietly after that, save for the occasional explosions and cries of either triumph or irritation from Crabbe and Goyle. These I ignored. I also refused to acknowledge the contented little sighs that Astoria gave every so often, reminding me of a particularly irksome cat.

Eventually, the train began to slow. We were nearing Kings Cross. Instantly, I felt my pulse quicken. I could practically hear my heart beat. Up until that point, I had not felt as though I was returning to the Manor. I had felt calm, collected. Now, however, I began to feel nauseous as I considered what was awaiting me at home. I hoped that He had vacated our family home, that he was elsewhere, doing who knew what- anything, just please, I found myself begging inside my head, please let him not be at the Manor. I did not like to think about what he would do when he found out Ginny and I were no longer on speaking terms. I hoped- prayed, even- that having slept with her would be enough to torment Potter with, and would therefore appease Him.

Astoria clutched at my arm, her face looking almost comically devastated. In other circumstances, I may have laughed, but as it was I was too worried about myself to think too much on my petty little girlfriend. I shook her off eventually, kissing her quickly on the mouth and telling her I would write soon, before heading off in the direction of my mother. I knew where she was- her pale blonde hair stood out a mile, but also a large circle had formed around her, as though no one wanted to go too near to her.

"Draco!" she exclaimed, pulling me into her arms and holding me tightly. I wrenched myself free.

"Mother," I replied quietly, straightening the collar of my coat, which she had rumpled in her careless embrace. "I trust you have been well?"

"As well as can be expected," she replied curtly, obviously hurt by my behaviour. "I am glad to see you returned to me in one piece, and without any obvious injuries. Are you well?"

"I am quite well, Mother," I said, taking her by the arm and escorting her towards the barrier.

We passed Ginny and her short, plump mother as we made our way out of the station, and although Ginny was looking resolutely the other way, her face turned red, her eyes brimmed with tears, and I watched as she gave a loud sniff and wiped her nose unattractively on the sleeve of her jumped. I thought once again about the prominence in her behaviour that shown she had been raised around males.

Once outside of the station, my mother held tightly onto my arm and, having sent my belongings on ahead of us, twisted on the spot. The familiar constriction wound itself around my body, threatening to crush the air out of my lungs. Just as it began to feel almost unbearable, it stopped, and I blinked, my eyes focusing on the ominous sight that was our Manor.

"Your father regrets that he will not be with us for a few days yet," said Mother, blanching as she beheld the handsome and yet desolate house before her. "He has been tied up with-ah-work."

"Of course," I replied, sounding unconcerned. "Shall we?" I gestured towards the Manor, and my mother nodded once, quickly, before taking the lead and walking, head held high, through the front grounds of the Manor, her long dress sweeping behind her. If I had not known better, I would have assumed that nothing out of the ordinary was happening in the world, let alone in the house before us.

The second I closed the door, I felt it burn. My Mark suddenly began to burn viciously, causing me to cry out and grasp my arm. My mother looked at me, shock and worry in place of the calm, collected features that had been there moments before. I shook my head at her, gritting my teeth, and she backed away obligingly, allowing me to adjust to the sudden burning on my arm. After a couple of minutes, the burning became bearable, and I glanced up at my mother, who was looking at me with large concerned eyes.

"Where is He?" I asked quietly, and she nodded towards the study. I nodded once and, taking a deep breath, headed towards the study door. I paused outside, waiting…

"Enter," came the cold, high voice from behind the door, and my breath hitched in my throat, nearly making me choke. I managed to stop myself and slowly pushed open the door, stepping into the study that, only a few months previously, had been the scene of my Christmas torture.

Ginny-

"I'll see you after the Easter holidays then?" asked Neville as he hauled his trunk off of the train, hardly even flinching when he accidentally let it slip and it hit his toe.

"Of course," I said regretfully. Never in my life had I wanted to return to Hogwarts less.

"I'll see you in a couple of weeks then," he said, smiling nervously at me. He paused for a second before pulling me into an awkward one armed hug. "Whatever's happened, I hope you feel better soon," he said before releasing me. Giving me one last smile, he pulled his trunk over to where his grandmother was waiting, an incredibly proud look on her face as she beheld the grandson who was giving the less favourable staff of Hogwarts such trouble.

I glanced around and spotted my mum waiting for me, apprehension clear on her worn face. She looked older than when I had last seen her, and she seemed to have lost more weight as well.

"Ginny, darling," she said, sighing in relief as she pulled me into a bone breaking hug. I hugged her back, relieved to be back in my mum's warm embrace.

"Hi, mum," I said softly, smiling at her weakly as she released me and held me at arm's length, looking at me critically.

"You look pale," she admonished, "and far too thin. Have you been eating enough? Have you been sleeping? You have bags under your eyes- are you looking after yourself properly?"

"Yes mum, I'm fine," I said, half-heartedly rolling my eyes.

I glimpsed a flash of pale blond hair out of the corner of my eye, and glanced towards it before I could stop myself. Malfoy and his mother were walking casually and purposefully towards the barrier. As I stared, my heart constricting, my breathing suddenly coming in sharp gasps, Malfoy turned towards me. I turned so quickly I hurt my neck, but I stared resolutely in the opposite direction, ignoring the blush I knew was stealing across my cheeks, refusing to dash away the angry tears that were threatening to fall. He won't get to me, he won't get to me, he won't get to me… I intoned this desperately as we left the platform minutes later, barely hearing a word Mum was saying to me, making noncommittal noises here and there when she paused for breath.

We got another Muggle taxi back to the Burrow, as we had done at Christmas. This time I did not cry though. I held in all of my tumultuous emotions, refusing to let them escape. My nails dug into the palms of my hands, but I ignored the biting sting and stared aimlessly out of the taxi window. We were just arriving home when it began to rain. I stepped out into the gentle downpour, not bothering that I was getting steadily more wet, allowing Mum to hurry me inside whilst Charlie, who was visiting for Easter, brought in my trunk.

Inside was much the same as ever- a little bit cluttered, but cosy. I was home. I sat down at the kitchen table as Mum instantly began fussing about getting me something to eat.

"Bacon? How about an omelette? You have obviously not been eating enough, you're skin and bones, look at you!" said Mum, rushing around the kitchen, waving her wand haphazardly and causing the cheese grater to begin grating a box of eggs.

"Mum-" said Charlie, rushing forwards and stopping the grater before it got to the eggs and made even more of a mess.

"Oh Charlie, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," said Mum absentmindedly.

"Clearly," muttered Charlie, not worrying about her hearing him- she was too busy putting a full pack of bacon on to cook. "So, Gin," said Charlie, sitting down opposite me. "How're you?"

I stared at him for a moment, thinking hard about how to answer him. Finally, I settled for a simple "fine thanks. How're you?" Charlie didn't look convinced, but he answered the question as though he couldn't tell something was wrong with me.

"I'm alright thanks, good to be back home," he said, smiling fondly at the kitchen. "'Course, it's been difficult out there, not going to lie. I miss just working with dragons- trying to get people on board with the Order… well, I think I prefer Norberta." He grinned, and I remembered Ron telling me about the time Hagrid had attempted to raise a baby dragon, Norbert, in his hut in the grounds. Turns out, Norbert was a girl, as Charlie discovered when they'd taken Norberta from Hagrid to live with her own kind.

"Charlie," scolded Mum. "You mustn't talk to Ginny about things like that, she's too young."

"I'm almost of age!" I said, glaring at Mum.

"Almost being the operative word," said Mum, turning her back on me and breaking a couple of eggs into a pan.

"I was in Dumbledore's Army, why can't I know about things in the Order?" I asked indignantly.

"Dumbledore's Army was a teenagers gang," she said calmly, although I could hear the strain under her calm demeanour.

"We fought against the Death Eaters-" I began angrily, but Charlie cut me off.

"Gin, drop it," he advised. "Mum's right, I shouldn't have said anything. How long till bacon's ready, Mum?"

We ate our bacon, eggs, fried bread, tomatoes and beans in silence. I was still angry that I was being kept out of the loop, just because I was only 16. Hadn't I proven I could handle things that the Order dealt with? When I was only 14, I'd fought against the Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic and escaped with only a broken ankle, for heaven's sake!

But you can't deal with situations, said a little voice at the back of my head. Look at what happened with Dra- with Malfoy, I correctly my thoughts quickly. Look at how badly I had handled that situation. I'd let myself be hoodwinked into a false sense of security- by a Death Eater, of all people. I cursed myself in my head, shovelling bacon into my mouth in an attempt to have something else to focus on. Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of me having tried to put too much bacon into my mouth at once, and I began to choke.

"Ginny!" said Mum, sounding both exasperated and concerned at the same time.

"I'm fine," I gasped, swallowing my mouthful and taking a long drink of juice.

"Honestly, please be more careful," said Mum, shaking her head. "Now, after you've eaten, I want you to head upstairs and get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"But Mum-"

"No, Ginny. You're to go upstairs and get some sleep."

"Yes, Mum," I said quietly.

Ten minutes later, as I lay on my bed, fully dressed and unable to feel even the littlest bit sleepy, I tried hard to keep my mind from wandering onto the subject of Harry. I had given him as little thought as possible these past couple of days, too terrified to consider what he would feel if he ever found out- no, not if, when he found out, because it was definite that he would eventually discover the truth. I shuddered. I'd allowed my mind to wander. Quickly, I refocused it on the poster of the Hollyhead Harpies, watching as they zoomed in and out of the poster on their brooms, sometimes executing perfect tricks. A little while later, I managed to doze off into a fitful sleep.

Somewhere deep in a forest, Harry Potter lay awake in his bunk, staring at the Marauder's Map, the tip of his borrowed wand flickering as he attempted to maintain the spell. It took him a moment to realise why Ginny Weasley was not showing on the map- it must be half term. She would be back at the Burrow. His heart gave a pang. He longed to be back at the Burrow, with Ginny. Yet, he thought suddenly, he had seen a very strange pairing on the map that involved Ginny in recent months. He had frequently seen her in the company of Draco Malfoy. He reflected on how, a week or so previously, he had been watching the map, and had seen Malfoy disappear on the seventh floor- he'd gone into the Room of Requirement, Harry was sure of it. A little later however, he was shocked to see Ginny's dot heading up to the Room and disappearing inside it as well. An hour and a half later, they had emerged, and had gone separate ways. What were they doing? Harry's heart gave another pang, but this time it was not because he was missing one of the only homes he had ever known. No, this time a cold stab of jealousy rent through his heart like an icy knife. He did not understand why- there was no evidence to suggest that Ginny was actually doing anything with Malfoy that would be a cause for him to feel jealous. He should be worried instead- why was Ginny spending so much time in the company of a known Death Eater? What was going on?

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed so far, it means so much to me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the little preview into Harry's world as well!

Love, Beccari x