A/N: Read and Review!
p.s. I don't own Harry Potter. (duh.)
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Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes drastically. Sometimes Harry and his friends could be so dramatic. She wasn't sure what they were fighting about; it had something to do with a book. She was itching to get up to the hospital wing to see Draco, but the fear of suspicion kept her rooted in her seat.
Finally she heard Hermione yell, "You got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve!"
Once again Ginny rolled her eyes. Hermione was just jealous that someone was actually doing better than she was. "Oh, give it a rest Hermione!" Ginny hissed. Harry glanced over at her, looking half grateful and half, what would you call that, lustful? "By the sound of it," she continued, "Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve."
Hermione stumbled around for words, looking stunned at Ginny's bluntness. There were a few muttered words about the spell Harry had used and then she added, "And I'd have thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match-,"
"Oh, don't start acting as though you understand Quidditch," Ginny snapped, "you'll only embarrass yourself."
Hermione, looking hurt, turned away from Ginny, folded her arms across her chest and pouted. Ginny sighed and excused herself, pacing her steps to the portrait. As soon as she had made her way out the Fat Lady's sight her calm steps sped up.
Ginny walked frantically down the hall, pushing past a large group of Hufflepuffs and scampering up a few flights of stairs. The whole day she had heard rumors that Draco was in the hospital wing, but when she heard Harry talking about it, she knew it was true. After restlessly waiting to go see him all day, she burst into the hospital wing, startling Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey.
"Can I help you with something?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"How is he?" Ginny asked, standing a few feet away from the bed and ignoring the looks of surprise from Snape.
"He should be fine," Snape said quietly, "He will stay here for a few days but then he should be back in classes."
"Oh," Ginny said, wringing her hands, "That's good."
"Yes," Madam Pomfrey said quietly. She rose from her chair and said, "You can get closer dear, he hasn't had many visitors," to herself she muttered, "Apart from that horrid Parkinson girl." A soft gesture indicated to Ginny to take the now empty chair. Ginny slowly stepped closer and sank into the chair. "Severus, were you going to show me that new skele-grow you've been working on?"
"What? Oh, yes," Snape stood up from a second chair and said, "I have a few vials in my office."
"I would love to see them," Madam Pomfrey touched Ginny's arm gently; "We'll give you a few minute alone with him."
Ginny nodded slowly and watched them leave the room. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind her, quickly giving Ginny a small smile. When the door shut Ginny looked back at Draco who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his head tilted towards her and his arms crossed across his stomach. Ginny reached out to touch him, but quickly drew her hand back, muttering, "Why did I even come?"
"To make sure I'm alive?" Draco croaked, making Ginny jump with surprise.
"You're awake," Ginny said quietly.
"Obviously," Draco finally opened his eyes and said, "I've been waiting for Snape and Pomfrey to leave for hours."
Ginny smiled and said, "I'm honored you decided to speak to me."
He shrugged, "You're better company then those two. They spent at least an hour talking about Potter. I almost threw up."
"What happened?" Ginny asked quietly.
"Potter," Draco said quietly, "I don't know what charm he used, but, fuck, it hurt."
"Oh," Ginny whispered.
"Yeah," Draco shrugged and said, "But I should probably be thanking him. He got me out of classes for a week."
She smiled and said, "Is that all you ever think about? Skipping classes and getting revenge on Harry?"
"No," Draco looked up at her, "I think about you." Ginny blushed, but said nothing. Draco took her hand gently and asked, "Why did you come to see me?"
"Because," Ginny smiled softly and said, "I think about you too."
Draco squeezed her hand and said, "I heard Potter got detention for the last match."
"Yeah," Ginny sighed, "He made me Seeker."
"Seriously?" Draco asked, surprised.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she muttered, sarcastically.
"No, I'm just surprised that he would actually let someone else take the spotlight for once," he murmured. Ginny smacked his shoulder gently and he jumped in surprise, "What?!"
"I know you can't stand Harry, but please keep in mind, he's one of my good friends," she said plainly, "I would appreciate it if you tried to keep at least a little of your hatred for him to yourself."
"Fine," Draco said, begrudgingly, "Can you play seeker?"
Ginny shrugged, "I guess so. Whenever we play Quidditch at my house, I always end up as the seeker, but I never considered myself good enough to play on the house team."
"Not to mention Potter always took the spot for himself," Draco grumbled. Seeing the look on Ginny's face he said, "Ok, ok, that was the last time."
"Sure," Ginny said, unconvinced. She carefully played with Draco's hand, which still held her own tightly.
"Ginny," Draco said, making her look up at him, "Don't worry, you're going to do great."
"Will you be there to see the match?"
"Of course I will," he assured her, "I'll start a private cheering section for you in the Slytherin stands." Her smile made him smile and he added, "I'll tell you what. I'll meet you after the match in the Astronomy tower."
Slowly nodding, Ginny said, "Ok."
Draco nodded and said, "I'll see you then."
"I hope you feel better soon," Ginny said, standing up.
"Thanks," Draco said.
Ginny mumbled a soft, "Bye," before pushing open the door to the hospital wing. She made it about two yards before she turned into a secluded corner and sunk against the wall to the floor. Smiling to herself she leaned her head back against the wall, taking in deep breaths of air. She had an unofficial date with Draco Malfoy.
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Electricity seemed to run through Ginny's veins. She couldn't believe they had actually won. After doubting herself she had actually done it. From the moment she had mounted her broom that morning she felt self confidence burst through her body and she had captured the snitch.
A few mingling students looked her way as she bustled up a few floors towards the Astronomy tower. However, once she reached the third floor, all signs of students had vanished and she practically sprinted up the last few floors to the tower. She burst into the room, surprising Draco, who was leaning against one of the windowsills. Speech immediately flowed from her mouth. She wasn't quite sure what she was blabbing about, but the soft smile on Draco's face permitted her to keep going. After a few minutes she took a deep breath and collapsed against the wall, "I can't believe I actually did it."
"I knew you could," Draco said calmly.
"I know," Ginny softly smiled up at him.
He kept his eyes locked on hers, not making her feel uncomfortable, making her feel excited.
"Ginny, I-," Draco started, but at the exact moment Ginny said, "Draco, I-," they both stopped, surprised. Finally Draco grumbled, "Oh, fuck it." He cupped Ginny's face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She leaned into his body, kissing him back. His lips on hers made her stomach jump and her knees go weak. But the moment they pulled away she was jerked back to reality.
"I-I," she paused, "I-I was." She stumbled over a few more sentences before finally giving up and falling silent.
"Ginny, I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry," Draco groaned and leaned against the windowsill again, "Shit, I'm sorry."
"No," Ginny finally managed to get her mouth to work, "No, its ok."
"Really?" he asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Ginny smiled, "but I'd better get back to the common room. They're planning a huge party to celebrate winning the house cup."
"Oh, sure," Draco muttered, "Congratulations," smirking he said, "Again."
Ginny nodded and said, "Thanks." She turned to walk out, but changed her mind and approached him once more. He gave her a puzzled look, but she ignored it and kissed him gently. She felt him smile into the kiss. When she pulled away she asked, "I'll see you later?" Draco nodded and Ginny finally walked out.
She practically floated back to the common room where she was greeted with cheers of excitement and a bottle of butterbeer was thrust into her hand. She had time to greet her friends before Harry walked in and Ron started screaming, "We won! We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!"
Harry looked pleased, looking around the room, but his face lit up when he saw Ginny. Pushing her way towards him, her excitement over winning returning to her body and when she reached him she attempted to hug him. To her great surprise he kissed her full on the mouth. When they finally broke apart, Ginny looked up to Harry for some sort of explanation, but found he was glancing around the room which had fallen silent.
The room slowly burst into conversation again and soon Ginny was being tugged out of the common room by Harry. He silently led her down to the grounds where they started walking towards the forbidden forest.
"Harry," Ginny said quietly, she wasn't sure where to start, "Harry, how long have you felt this way towards me?"
"Months," Harry said quietly, "I was just too scared to say something to you; not to mention I thought Ron would kill me."
"Harry," Ginny started again. She was going to tell him that she was already in a relationship, that she liked someone else, that he was too late, but then she glanced something out of the corner of her eye. There were two people standing at the edge of the forest. The first she immediately recognized as Draco, the second was smaller than the first, and obviously female, and they were very obviously snogging.
"Are you ok Ginny?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes," Ginny took his hand in hers, "I'm fine."
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Over the next few weeks Ginny was living a life she had imagined since before her first year at Hogwarts. She was Harry Potter's girlfriend. They could walk down the hallway holding hands or snog for a few minutes between classes. Yes, she was happy, but she was also confused. The day of the Quidditch match seemed so long ago, and yet, that night she had spent in her bed, crying.
She had passed Draco in the halls, but they hadn't bothered to talk to each other. Only glares passed between them, but his usual taunting of her and her friends did not start up again. He seemed to stay away from her as much as he could.
However one cool evening Ginny excused herself from Harry, Ron and Hermione and made her way towards the library to study for her O.W.L.s. She situated herself at a lone table towards the back of the Library and had surrounded herself with books when one of the other chairs was pulled back and Draco Malfoy sat across from her, staring at her blankly.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ginny asked harshly.
"What do I want?" Draco sneered, "I want to know why you go around teasing men. Why you gave me the idea that you want to be with me, but then you decided to be with Harry."
"Excuse me?" Ginny snapped, her voice getting louder, "You're the one who was out snogging some girl barely a half an hour after you snogged me! I'm not the one to blame, it's you."
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, confused.
"I saw you, out on the grounds by the forest with that little-," Ginny searched for words, "that little slut. I was out walking with Harry, and I was about to tell him I didn't want to be with him when I saw you two." She grabbed her books and stood up, "You make me want to vomit."
She stormed out of the library, but soon after she had left he grabbed her shoulder and said, "You don't understand Ginny."
"I don't understand what?" she snapped. A few passing students glanced at them, interested.
Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and said, "Come on, we can't talk about this here."
He pulled her up to the room of requirement where he paced back and forth before a door appeared. Pulling it open he let her in. They were in a simple sitting room, bookshelves lined the walls and a soft fire cracked in the fireplace.
"What is this place?" Ginny asked, looking around.
"Somewhere secluded, just like I wanted," Draco said. He looked around and said, "It looks a lot like the small sitting room at Malfoy Manor."
"Your small sitting room?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah," Draco said, off-handedly, "We have another at least twice this size and a third we use to entertain guests. Why?"
Ginny rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to mutter 'spoiled', opting to ask, "Why did you bring me here?"
"I have to explain to you what you saw," he said, sitting down on one of the lavish couches. Ginny begrudgingly sat down next to him, giving him an impatient look. He sighed and said, "I was with Pansy that evening. She's been after me for years and I figured that night was a good night to tell her it was never going to happen. I couldn't believe that things were actually working out for you and me. But when I met Pansy out by the forest she told me about a letter her father had written her. In the letter he told her things about the Dark Lord and my family. I was, I am, worried for my mother. I was also devastated. Before I knew what she was doing she was kissing me, trying to pull me closer to her, but I pulled away. I don't want to be with Pansy, I want to be with you."
"What did she say about the You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked quietly.
"I-I can't tell you," Draco said, looking away from her, "You would be in too much danger."
"That's the problem Draco," Ginny took his hand gently, "Even if we could be together, we'd be doomed."
"I know," he said quietly, "If there was anything I could do to be with you Ginny, you know I would do it, don't you?"
"Yes," Ginny said quietly, "I know."
"You're probably safer with Potter," Draco said, "I don't know how to explain to you just how dangerous it would be for you if we were together."
"Draco," she touched his thigh gently, catching his attention. He looked back at her and she repeated, "I know."
He leaned in and captured her lips with his own. She returned the kiss, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around him. He eagerly pulled her closer to him. A minute later he surprised Ginny by pulling away and jumping around the classroom whooping. Ginny laughed and said, "What are you doing?"
Draco kept cheering excitedly and said, "I have a gorgeous girl with me, do I need a better reason?"
Ginny laughed even harder and stood up to kiss him. He kissed her back, and then a soft voice said quietly, "Who's there?" Draco jerked away from Ginny and a loud bang echoed throughout the room.
"What was that?" Ginny asked, surprised.
"Someone was in here," Draco said quietly.
"Who?"
"I don't know," Draco said, near whisper, "But I think they're gone. I cursed them." Turning to Ginny he said, "You should go, it isn't safe here."
"I know," Ginny kissed him again gently. After pulling away she said, "Draco, please, remember, you don't have to be like them."
"Ok," Draco said quietly. He kissed her quickly and then opened the portrait, "It looks safe," he turned to Ginny, "I'll see you around?"
"Yeah," she said quietly, "You'll see me around."
"Good," he smiled softly at her, "Be careful."
"You be careful," Ginny said. She gave him one last smile before turning and walking away from him.
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