Disclaimer: It's posted at the beginning of the first chapter.

Chapter Two
The First Hour

A good half-hour passed, and neither Draco nor Ginny spoke. They didn't really have anything to say to each other after all, considering the fact that they had been enemies almost since Ginny's first year at Hogwarts, and especially since both of them were there against their will: Ginny would have given almost anything to be safe in bed, and she suspected that Draco would rather not be trapped in a supply closet with a Gryffindor girl. All the same, it was largely his fault that they were stuck there (if you excluded the fact that it was Ginny who had snuck in to steal a potion ingredient, and who also was responsible for locking the door).

Now, however, barricading the both of them into a small, dark room with little legroom and uncomfortable stone floors, seemed quite a poor idea, especially since they'd be out by morning, one way or another.

It was really, deliciously ironic, Ginny thought miserably. The very person that she had intended to give the Love Potion happened to want to ruin her life, was the very reason that she couldn't concoct the potion, and, indeed, contributed to the reason that she was locked in this stupid cupboard in the first place.

Of course, she did not intend to tell Draco this. The thought of what he might do or say was appalling: short of making her life as hellish as he could before his seventh year, Ginny was sure that he would not return his feelings.

All the same, spending five and a half hours sitting in a closet, completely silent, did not appeal to her in the slightest. So she cleared her throat and asked a question that had been nagging persistently at the back of her mind for some time.

"How did you know I would be here?" Ginny asked, hoping to sound offhand. Draco looked slightly surprised that she had spoken, but answered in his usual drawl.

"It's not that difficult to eavesdrop on your conversations, Weasley. One only would have to stand closer than ten feet."

"You needn't be rude, it was just a question," Ginny snapped.

"And yet you're the reason I'm sitting in some closet at the dead of night instead of asleep in bed," he countered, eyes glinting malevolently. Ginny ignored this.

"Well, if you had wanted to be in bed, then you shouldn't have been lying in wait for me here," she replied.

"How silly of me not to suspect you'd lock us in the supply closet all night," Draco said sardonically.

Suddenly something he had said only seconds before began to fully register.

"Wait," Ginny said, frowning. "Did you say earlier you've been eavesdropping on me?"

Draco met her gaze briefly before blinking distractedly and replying.

"I simply commented on how loudly you plan your midnight escapades," he said. "Is it my fault I happened to overhear?"

"Yes," Ginny interjected. "Because then you're obviously paying too much attention to what I have to say to other people."

Draco was silent for a moment, allowing Ginny time for another remark.

"And so it intrigues me, Malfoy, as to what all you've been listening to me talk about." It then occurred to Ginny never to discuss her crushes aloud ever again, whether she was within earshot of anybody or not. She bit her lip slightly as she waited for Draco's response.

"As if I'd be interested in anything you've got to say" was all he came out with, but Ginny wasn't finished with him yet.

"Well, apparently you are," she said, a little louder than she meant to. "If you've taken to listening in on my private conversations." Ginny looked at him hard, and Draco met her gaze, glaring right back at her.

"Look, Weasley," he spat. "I don't care what you and your stupid little friends talk about, so don't even fool yourself for a moment thinking that I do. I only came here tonight to catch a stupid little girl and keep her from stealing ingredients for whatever potion that you're trying to make –"

"Who said I wanted to make a potion," Ginny asked sharply, and Draco stared at her for a moment before speaking.

"If you're stealing things from the Potions supply closet, one would assume you are trying to concoct a potion of some sort. That is common sense, Weasley."

They sat in silence for another fifteen minutes or so. Ginny wished she knew what time it was, and that she hadn't been so foolish as to forget her wristwatch on her bedside table. She fidgeted where she sat, her back knocking up against the solid wooden shelves. A few bottles clanked and shuddered noisily behind her head.

"Do be careful, Weasley," Draco said, watching her shift. "I'd hate for you to get into even more trouble than you will be."

"I doubt you would be," Ginny sniffed, crossing her arms and looking at him disdainfully. Draco's features shone pale and alien-like in the blue light that emanated from the little fire in the jar, but Ginny's heart leapt slightly as she looked at him. His eyes shone pale blue in the firelight as he looked back at her, his emotions masked at first, then suddenly revealing annoyance.

"God, quite staring at me, Weasley," he muttered, agitated, and Ginny pulled herself hastily from her reverie.

"Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy," she said contemptuously. "I don't fancy you any more than I fancy the giant squid."

Draco looked as though he were about to make a nasty comment, but for some reason seemed to think better of it. Perhaps he thought that Ginny would jinx him into next week if he got her too angry, but then again, it was Draco Malfoy, and he wasn't completely unable to defend himself either.

It was therefore cause for Ginny to brood on another thought that had been nagging at her for some time: she did, indeed, know the spell that would unlock the door, but what confused her was the fact that Draco had done nothing about it. Why not disarm her, curse her until she revealed the spell, and then drag her to Snape, rather than waiting until morning? Surely Draco was not above picking on younger girls. So what was keeping him from doing so?

Maybe it hasn't occurred to him to try that yet, Ginny thought, though she wasn't convinced. She was sure, somehow, that there was some other, deeper meaning behind Draco's actions… or rather, the lack thereof.

AN: Here's the second chapter, up and running. Now for some previews )

Our next chapter starts maybe an hour after the end of the first chapter, and is told from Draco's point-of-view. It's quite a bit shorter than these first two chapters, but I felt it needed to be written to help readers understand what was going on.

Thanks to anyone who has left me a comment!

Love,
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