"Just let me in!" Draco shouted at a very put out looking Madam Pomfrey.

"I am losing my patience, Mr. Malfoy. I don't allow students in here to terrorize the ill, and I know that this is hardly a social call. And frankly after all of the work I put into repairing Mr. Zabini, I would like nothing better than to turn you away."

Draco growled loudly, and said, "Look, Pomfrey, I have something I need to tell her, then I will leave. Just give me five minutes." Draco stepped forward, but was stopped forcibly by Madam Pomfrey.

"Out! Even if you were allowed in here, she is asleep!"

"Fine! If you won't let me in, then I will just stand here until you do." Draco crossed his arms petulantly.

Across the room Ginny groaned and rolled over. She tried to sit up and find the cause of the commotion, but didn't seem to have the strength, so she fell back onto her pillow.

"That is it, Mr. Malfoy! Out, out, out!" Madam Pomfrey pushed him to the door and slammed it behind him before rushing to her patient's side.

"I'm so sorry dear, ever since he brought you up here he keeps demanding to see you. I can't imagine why. Frankly it was probably his fault you were out in the snow in the first place…" Madam Pomfrey tutted over Ginny's fever and forced a couple of potions down her throat before Ginny fell back into a dreamless sleep.

When Ginny awoke next, the moon dimly lit the hospital room, and eerie shadows stretched across the walls. She blinked furiously for a moment, before adjusting to the lighting, and rubbed her palm across her slightly damp forehead.

"It's about bloody time," said a voice from the shadows. "I thought you had gone and killed yourself and save me the trouble."

Ginny groaned and rolled to face the direction the voice had come from before replying hoarsely, "That is a highly inappropriate thing to say to someone on her deathbed. Besides, it is your fault I spent half of the night laying in the snow."

"What did I hold you down or something?"

"Actually-" Ginny began before he cut her off.

"Okay, yeah, whatever. Sorry about that."

"Considering I am the one who spent half of the day unconscious you are in a terrible mood," Ginny said as she rolled onto her back and grimaced as she pulled long, red threads of hair off of her cheeks.

"Well I spent half of the day trying to get in here to make sure you were still alive and the bloody witch wouldn't let me through the door," Draco said bitterly as he finally stepped into a beam of moonlight.

Ginny laughed hoarsely and replied, "I heard that. You should try being nice once in a while, it works you know."

As Draco pulled a chair up to Ginny's bedside he grimaced. "What and be like Potter?" Draco cleared his throat and raised his voice a few octaves before continuing. "Um, excuse me, Madam Pomfrey. I heard that Ginny was up here? Is she okay? Would it, that is, um, be okay if I sat with her for a few minutes?" Draco made another face and grumbled, "She ate it up. Poor sap…"

"Wait," Ginny asked suddenly, "Harry came up here?"

Draco raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "Harry? Since when is he Harry again? Do you love him?"

Ginny groaned and swatted the air in front of Draco. "You moron. I am just curious. But you," she added playfully, "sounded awfully jealous."

Draco looked highly affronted. "What? Jealous of Potter? He has nothing I want." Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, and his continued. "Even if you were still with Potter," he spit out the name like it was poisonous, "I wouldn't be jealous. It's not like I… want you… like that."

Ginny let out a muffled laugh and rolled her eyes.

After a few moments of awkward silence Draco cleared his throat and began, "So we need to come up with a game plan."

"For you little problem?" Ginny confirmed.

"Little? It is hardly a little problem. I don't think you understand what I am supposed to do! They have this initiation thing whenever you get marked, and as punishment mine is that I have to-" but he was cut off by the sick look on Ginny's face and her hand in the air motioning him to stop. "Er, right. Anyway, not a little problem."

"Yeah, okay. Your big, terrible, horrible problem," she said sarcastically. "Let's figure it out, because I'd really rather it not come to that."

"I figure there are only a couple of options, really, and none of them are too thrilling. One: I disappear. Two: I pretend to do it and you disappear. Three: we both disappear. Four: well, that was pretty much the extent of my ideas, and they all involve running away, which is just not something that purebloods should, blood traitors or not."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You left off get rid of Voldemort so we can live in peace."

Draco cringed at the sound of his master's name. "I left that off because it's impossible. He's a bloody lunatic, and we all know that you can't kill a lunatic."

"That's a load of tosh and you know it. Harry almost did it eighteen years ago as an infant!"

"Oh, it's all about Harry again is it?"

"You are so immature! I meant that if Harry's scrawny little baby form can do it without trying, surely two talented purebloods can work something out."

Draco looked at her incredulously. "What like me and you? I thought you were talking about sending Potty back out to die. No way I am going to risk my neck like that."

Ginny sat up weakly and looked him in the eye. "You are a coward! You would rather run away? You don't even have anything to lose here! My life is the one on the line."

Draco scowled at Ginny before replying, "I am not a coward, I am sensible. You have all of these wild ideas, but you are nothing more than a little girl. You can't do everything!"

Ginny plopped back onto her cot and turned away from him. When she never replied he asked, "Are you mad at me for pointing out the truth? You are so naïve, someone has got to enlighten you."

Still the pair sat in silence.

Finally Draco stood and said, "Fine. You can do it! Is that what you want to hear? That I believe you can pull off some hair-brained scheme that you thought up when you were half-conscious and drugged up on potions? Fine. Let's do it. Let's run out an get ourselves murdered."

Ginny tried to reply, but her words got lost in the pillow, so she turned back over to him with narrowed eyes and said, "You are far too pessimistic, and you drive me crazy."

Draco cracked a broad grin. "I drive all the girl's crazy."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, but don't think too much of it. After all, I am half-conscious and drugged up on potions."

" Besides, you look dreadful. You're nothing to boast about."

"Again, I would like to point out that you are the reason I am here and look like I've just died!" she cried in offense.

"Whoa, down kitty!" Draco laughed. "I've seen worse. Besides you're kind of cute when you are a mess."

Ginny scrunched up her nose and replied, "Gross, do not try and compliment me ever again."

Draco shugged, "Fine, but you are going to miss out."

Ginny just rolled her eyes before saying, "So what did we decide about our predicament."

Draco got a sappy look on his face, "We're going to get rid of him, Ginevra. Just me and you!" He plopped onto her bed, put an arm around her, and motioned grandly in front of him. "We will save the world from tyranny!"

Ginny swatted him away with her hands, and he said, "Hey watch it! You're covered in germs!"

"I'm trying to be serious, Draco. You were right when you said we have a problem. We can't just brush this away and forget about it, or one of us is going to end up in serious trouble."

Draco frowned and spoke seriously. "The thing is, I don't really want to get rid of Voldemort. I think he's got the right idea, except when it comes to me."

"Yeah, we talked about this already- you are big, bad, and evil, but you are not a minion," Ginny replied sarcastically.

"Exactly, but now my options are get rid of him, get rid of you, or disappear."

"Well, it seems to me that the easiest solution is just to get rid of me, then you will have more time to figure a way out of the minion thing."

Draco rolled his eyes and said, "Well, obviously that is not a real option, because I couldn't do it."

"Why?"

Draco looked intently at Ginny without answering. Why? he thought. You epitomize everything I hate, but somehow I don't hate you. You have the fire and spunk to actually stand up to me when everyone else cowers. Draco frowned. You keep me on my toes in potion-making, and I actually enjoy your presence. That isn't right! I don't actually… Draco looked up at Ginny in alarm before standing abruptly and leaving the hospital wing.

Behind him he faintly heard Ginny call his name, but he ignored her and slouched onto the cold stone floor in the corridor outside.

Draco closed his eyes and tried to figure out what had just happened to him. I hate blood traitors. I hate Weasleys. I hate red hair and freckles. I hate the bloody Order of bloody what's-it-called. I like pureblood values. I like money. I like power. I like always being right. I like people with the fire to stand up to me. I like to argue. I… like her?

Draco put his head in his hand and muttered, "Bloody hell."

In his mind, he kept shouting, Why? Why? Why? In frustration he punched the stone floor, and growled loudly as his hand was immediately engulfed in pain. He clinched his teeth and jumped to his feet cradling his injured hand. After stomping up and down the hall trying to make sense of what was going on, Draco finally gave in.

This is so not right, he thought before re-entering the hospital wing hoping wildly that Ginny had already fallen back asleep.

"What were you doing?" Ginny asked from her position sitting up in bed.

"Thinking," he replied shortly. Surely I don't.

"It must have hurt, because you were being bloody loud. I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey slept through it all."

It did bloody hurt! Draco thought as he cradled his hand.

"Did you punch a wall?"

"No." The floor. Don't talk to me. You make my head hurt.

"Let me see it."

"No." I am not going anywhere near that bloody temptress.

"Oh, stop being such a baby, and I will fix it," Ginny said as she pulled out her wand.

"I'm not a baby," Draco said as he moved toward her. Don't do it! She's doing it again. Blood traitor! Walk away! He sat on the edge of her bed, and Ginny took his hand.

"Ouch!" he cried in indignation. Walk away! She's a Weasley! Make her stop touching you! That's how this whole thing began. Touching and kissing and…

"How did you manage this? I know you punched the wall."

"No, I didn't." I punched the floor. And it is all your fault. Weasley!

Ginny finished reciting spells on his hand, and the pain dulled into numbness. He looked down to see that he could wiggle his fingers. As he stared at his hand, Ginny took it in her own.

What is she doing? She's holding my hand! Blood traitor! Make her stop. She's looking at you. Don't you dare look up. Stare at the floor. Walk away. Don't-

Draco looked up and saw Ginny staring at him intently. Finally he shook his head and cleared his brain out enough to drop her hand. "You have germs."

Ginny raised her eyebrow, but did not drop her gaze. Draco cleared his throat and said, "Well, I am going to go so you can go back to sleep. Maybe you won't look so scary in the morning." And with that he got up and walked away.

Idiot.