-Chapter Ten-

It was eleven thirty when Ginny Weasley finally managed to clamber into bed to sleep. For the past three hours or so, she had been cooped in the common room, listening to Ron bang on about the game.

Ginny loved quidditch, don't get me wrong, but a girl could only take so much quidditch talk! So whilst Ron was busy ranting, Ginny laid her head down on the arm of a squashy sofa and drifted into sleep. Too tired to dream.

It was only three hours later that Harry gently shook Ginny's shoulder to rouse her. Harry looked apologetic, but Ginny could only stare at him momentarily before going upstairs without a word.

Now that she was in bed, she had time to think. Since she already took a nap, she couldn't sleep. Ginny settled into a comfortable position and wondered about the quidditch match which was coming up the following weekend.

She only hoped that she wouldn't be too distracted by the fact Draco was seeker for the opposing team. Ginny found herself getting restless at thought of quidditch, so she let her mind switch to thinking about Draco instead. Ginny soon fell asleep with the corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a smile.

Draco awoke at six o'clock in the morning, shivering. The warm weather yesterday hadn't lasted, and now it was definite the weather had shifted into winter. Glancing at his watch, Draco cursed the fact his body woke him up early.

Grabbing his wand, Draco conjured up a doona and slipped in between them. Whilst Draco's shivers subsided, he let his mind wander to Ginny. It was Sunday, another free day ahead.

That's ignoring the piles of homework he had left sitting in his bag.

Draco tried, but sleep just wouldn't come. Deciding not to waste a morning in bed bored, Draco dressed warmly and exited the Slytherin perimeter, heading upwards towards the kitchens.

As he neared the portrait of fruit, he saw the silhouette of a figure jumping up and down trying to reach the pear on the painting. When he got closer, he realized it was Ginny.

"Sucks to be you," muttered Draco in amusement. Ginny twisted her back mid jump only to gasp at Draco. And to fall flat on her arse. Draco snickered. "You okay Ginger?"

"No," sulked Ginny. Draco said not a word as he quickly scooped up Ginny effortlessly in his arms. "Why couldn't you have done this before I hit the ground?" sulked Ginny some more.

"I guess it was comical to see your face, so I forgot to catch you. How's your bum?"

"In need of a massage."

"Let's see if I can do it for you standing up," snickered Draco. Ginny only whimpered and clung to Draco's chest in fear of falling again.

"Well anyway, what are you doing here?" asked Ginny after Draco put her down.

"I woke up because of the cold. It's finally winter. You?"

"I don't really know. Body just woke me up early."

"Isn't it coincidental that we'd come back to the same place? The first time I held you," contemplated Draco in a soft voice.

"Yes. Yes it is. I haven't had the dream since then and I never want to again."

Draco slid his arms possessively around Ginny. "And I'll never let him get to you."

The two teenagers gazed at each other for a moment, before Draco leaned down and captured Ginny's lips with his own. A moment lapsed and Draco then gained entry by tickling the pear with relative ease.

Inside, the ever cheerful house elves waited patiently for orders, staring at the couple with adoring and enthusiastic eyes.

"Double hot chocolate please," said both Ginny and Draco at the same time. Smiling goofily, the pair found an empty booth for two in the limited open-student area of the kitchens.

"Draco," murmured Ginny after a few moments silence. "I've been thinking."

"Yeah?" replied Draco, looking at Ginny with a calm expression.

"Should we be seeing each other?" Draco physically gagged.

"What?" asked Draco completely in shock, his heart beating at an incredible pace, fear settling into the air around him.

"Oh my goodness, no I don't mean break up! I'm so sorry, I need to rephrase," corrected Ginny in a rush, grabbing onto Draco's arm to reinforce her point.

"Ginerva Stephanie Weasley," scolded Draco still slightly breathless. What Draco had just said reminded Ginny of Ron, except this time, Ginny was attracted to the owner of the words just recently mentioned. "Don't ever say that ever, ever again. The only other time I've been that scared was when that Moody freak turned me into a ferret and bounced me around."

Ginny was a bit too self-shocked to find the humour in what Draco just said. "Um. Yeah. What I meant to say was, like… should we still see each other in public? I'd like to and stuff… but what would the rest of the school think?"

Ginny paused and waited for Draco's reaction. He had his hand pressed to his forehead and was thinking hard.

"Do you want to?" asked Draco, throwing the question back at Ginny.

"Well… yeah I do. I want to be with you as much as I can. But I want to know your thoughts."

"I'd really like it, if we could see each other in public. But I'm putting you in danger."

Ginny suddenly pressed her lips into a thin line and slit her eyes. "What?" asked Draco immediately worried by her reaction.

"You're just like Potter," managed Ginny in a controlled voice. Suddenly, it was Draco's turn to look angry. He got up from his seat without warning and wrapped his arms around Ginny, hauling her up with force though not causing pain.

He pushed her against the wall roughly and immediately set his lips against hers. None to gently this time.

Despite Ginny's shock, she actually enjoyed the feeling over being controlled, and never once did she feel any fear of what Draco was doing. In fact… she was getting lost in Draco's desperate and rough kisses. His tongue was desperately curious, probing, exploring. Ginny's own tongue was beginning to loosen up and move around too.

Draco suddenly broke off, breathing hard. He opened his eyes and his vision was filled with a rosy cheeked Ginny. Her lips were swollen and red and her eyes were still closed. She didn't move for a while, just so she could regain her breath.

Only when she opened her eyes she realized her arms had automatically went around Draco's neck.

"Was Potter anything like that?" asked Draco in a controlled but obviously angry and jealous voice.

"No," came the meek voice of Ginny. The sound of Ginny's young, soft and sweet voice suddenly melted away all of Draco's anger. All that was left was love and the implications for loving the girl who he still held rigidly in his arms.

"Ginny. Please forgive me," murmured Draco suddenly in a soft voice. His forehead tipped forward to rest on Ginny's.

"No. You haven't done anything wrong," murmured Ginny back. She leaned her head forward, this time she was initiating the kiss. It was slow, soft… the kisses that she was used to. Whilst it lacked the passion of the previous pashing, it still held some special effect on Ginny's mind, body and soul.

Ginny was really getting into her kissing when there was a sudden tug on her robes. Ginny broke away and focused her eyes downwards to a young looking house elf carrying a tray of two mugs.

"Miss and Master, your double hot chocolate is served," squeaked the high pitched elf. Draco scowled darkly at it, unhappy his moment with Ginny was ruined. Ginny on the other hand smiled kindly and took the tray from the elf.

The poor elf was left contemplate how such a nice girl could be doing something called… 'kissing' with such a nasty looking male.

But soon the elf scurried away, helping the other elves prepare breakfast.

Draco wrapped a gentle arm around Ginny and lead her to the booth they both occupied before.

There was a silence as both of them sipped their hot chocolate. Both unsure of what to say. It was Draco who broke the silence first. "I'm sorry if what I said earlier offended you."

"It's okay," was all Ginny replied. Draco understood that Ginny still wanted an explanation.

"Look, Gin. I know I sound like… Potter. But this isn't petty, like Potter. Potter has a lot of people close to his heart. Voldemort could dispatch any one of them easily. Call me a selfish bastard, but you're that I've got Ginny. If you're hurt, if you die. You honestly won't know how dead I will become too," muttered Draco, his voice nearly cracking with emotion.

Nearly.

However this did not go unnoticed by Ginny. She averted her eyes from Draco's beautiful persuading ones so she could think without her stomach doing flip flops and her heart having a spaz.

Ginny felt so fed up with feeling like… she was some kid that had to be looked after. She wanted to be treated with maturity. She wanted to make her own decisions. However with Draco, she did feel in control. Ginny knew that if she wanted to, she could make Draco agree to date publicly. But Ginny also knew that it would hurt him, very badly. Also, Draco was hated by Voldemort even more because he had disappointed him.

And that included everyone else who supported Voldemort.

Ginny also realized that she put herself in a lot of danger. But as Ginny thought some more, she couldn't ignore the real reason why she didn't want to date secretly. She wanted to be with Draco at every waking moment.

Because life was simply too short.

"Ginny?" interrupted Draco's soft voice. His expression was patient but questioning.

"I guess," began Ginny difficultly, "it would be best if we didn't see each other in public. But, how will we see each other? I can't… stand the thought of being without you. Not being able to touch you, even though you're in the same room."

"I know," replied Draco softly. He put down his ¾ empty mug and wrapped his arms around Ginny tightly. "But I'd rather be able to see you alive and trying to ignore me, rather than dead."

"It's mostly Ron that's on my back about the whole thing. He knows how I feel about you though, so if he starts pissing me off about it, he's going to have a pretty sore face," muttered Ginny angrily. Draco on cracked an uncharacteristic grin, which made Ginny smile herself.

"I love the fact you're breaking out of Ron's hold. I've noticed you in the past. You trailed after that golden trio for way too long." Draco dropped his voice and said "I used to scorn you then. Now I can't ever imagine thinking of you in a hateful way."

"I can say the same for you."

Draco smiled into Ginny's hair. A comfortable silence followed in which Ginny reveled being in Draco's embrace. She could have stayed, squashed up with Draco's arms around her forever. It was as Ginny finished the last few mouthfuls of her hot chocolate Draco said something.

"I miss my parents," whispered Draco as unemotionally as he could. Ginny squirmed around to look Draco in eyes. Whilst Draco's face was kept in his usual cold mask, his eyes could sometimes tell a completely different story.

And a different story it did tell. The silvery ice blue orbs were dimmed and dark. They were the type of eyes you could just see tears leaking out of.

"They're not coming back. I just know it," continued Draco. He now had his eyes closed, and he was shaking as he fought an internal battle to not cry. Ginny herself was very glad and relieved Draco was finally telling her how he felt about his family.

Ginny reached out for neck and snuggled her face in it. Just to remind Draco that she was there.

"I am still not sure whether they really cared about me. But just knowing, they're not there. Just knowing, my mother won't be sending me letters from home, cuts deeper than I thought it would."

Ginny straightened up again and murmured, "Draco. Lucius and Narcissa are your parents. As much as you may hate, loathe… resent them, you can never stop loving them. They are your family. Trust me, I have six brothers." Ginny stopped to smile encouragingly at Draco.

"All I need is time. And you," whispered Draco ever so softly in Ginny's ear.

"Time is abundant, and I seriously don't think I'm going anywhere," murmured Ginny back. After a long moment, Ginny asked "how are we going to keep in contact though? It will physically hurt not to be with you."

"How fond are you of sleep?" said Draco, quirking his eyebrow irresistibly.

"Hah, very fond. But for you, sleep can go screw itself."

"Damn straight it can. I have to warn you Ginny, this is my NEWT's year. I'm going to be fairly busy. You are too, preparing for NEWTs. Don't worry though, we can fill up our time trying to find secret ways to communicate."

"Hmm," hmmed Ginny. "Sounds interesting actually."

"Trust me Ginger, if I could, I'd spend every moment with you. But reality comes back to bite us in the arse. If you need me, just look for me. I'll always be right by you no matter what. But right now, we need to work out how we're going to make this work. Going public isn't the way to go."

"Okay," whispered Ginny non-commitedly, burying her head in Draco's shoulder.

"I'm yours Ginny. So don't fret, it will work out," murmured Draco reassuringly into Ginny's hair.

"You're still going to help me with my transfiguration though," said Ginny fiercely, jabbing an accusing finger in Draco's direction.

Draco merely laughed and answered Ginny's demand with a kiss of affirmation.

The weekdays passed slowly for our two lovers. Both would sit in their classes, jotting down notes automatically whilst staring out the windows with longing. They both noticed their lack of company each day and felt continuously disheartened.

Rain had began falling, but this time it was the bone chilling sort. Ginny stared at it, losing herself in the monotony of the ever falling water droplets. Of course the closest people to Ginny like Colin and Ron noticed. Colin didn't mention anything because he already knew why. He just tried his best to keep Ginny distracted and often it would work. Until they were separated again.

Ron however, was still a bit uninformed.

"Ginny, what's the matter? You look so… sad lately," questioned Ron on a ever rainy Wednesday evening when they were on their way to dinner.

"I miss Draco," said Ginny bluntly, not caring about Ron's distaste or anger. Ron got over his surprise quickly.

"I still don't understand why you're interested in him," replied Ron gently, pausing. Surprisingly Ginny paused with his as well.

"If you couldn't talk to Hermione face to face, any time of the day you wanted, would you miss her?" asked Ginny flatly, looking directly into Ron's eyes.

"Well, yeah…" replied Ron tentatively. "That goes without saying. I love her."

"Yeah? Well that's me and Draco. C'mon Ron, you should have the bloody empathy." Ginny leant against the wall with a heavy sigh. Ron followed in suit.

Ron actually paused to think about what he was saying next. Since he had gotten over the initial shock of his lil' sis going out with the Ferret, he had some time to think and let it sink in. Now he understood arguing with Ginny wouldn't solve anything.

"What did you guys decide?" asked Ron gently. Trying to pry an answer out of Ginny without offending her.

Ginny sighed again and her eyes misted over slightly. "We decided not to see each other publicly. It's too risky." Ginny said the last part without too much enthusiasm.

"You even being connected with him is risky," pointed Ron out. Ginny glared at him and began to walk away. "No Ginny! Wait, come back," persuaded Ron. Ginny sighed tiredly and turned back to her brother.

"What?"

"So… how are you guys going to make this work?" asked Ron carefully. He knew he was skating on thin ice. Ginny simply glared at him.

"How do I know you're not going to blow your top off at me?"

"Um, quidditch captain's honour?" tried Ron goofily, saluting Ginny… but some how managing to jab himself in the eye. Try as she might, Ginny couldn't stifle a giggle. This made Ron more happy than he imagined.

"Bullshit," managed Ginny. "You won't like what I'm going to tell you though."

"I'm all ears," said Ron seriously.

"Fine. We're going to sneak out together at night. And don't you dare yell otherwise mother will have your arse for having sex with Hermione in The Burrow!."

Ron gasped. "How did you know that? I thought we were discrete?"

"Hah! As discrete as two horny elephants! I saved your arse by distracting mum every time you two decided to get kinky. It's disgusting. But that's what lengths I go to for blackmail."

"Ginny…" pleaded Ron pathetically. Ginny made a sympathetic expression and reached up to pat Ron on the head.

Wearily, Ron asked "forbidding you to go won't do anything will it?"

"No," whispered Ginny whilst shaking her head softly.

"Gin… I don't want you doing this. But I can see how deeply you seem to care for that rodent. It's so dangerous, but… you are so happy. I don't want to lose you, you're my favourite sister," muttered Ron softly. His voice, expression and words rang with sincerity.

"Ron…" began Ginny extremely surprised. "Are you approving?"

"No." Ginny's heart plummeted.

"But I am not going to you, because I just can't stand seeing you moping around. If he lifts one finger to hurt you, in any way, I will kill him. This is no clichéd threat."

"Oh my gosh, Ron! I love you soooo much! My lips are sealed about you and Hermy." Ginny then proceeded to jump up and hug Ron tightly. Whilst Ron returned the embrace, the words going through his mind were 'what have I done?'

Ginny and Ron then both proceeded to dinner together. Ron looked around and was surprised to see Draco standing a few meters back. Draco must have seen everything. Suddenly, Draco didn't look menacing, or antagonizing. He looked tired, worn out and broken. There was still some life in him though. Like some glue was still holding the vital parts together.

'That glue must be Ginny,' thought Ron involuntarily.

Draco seated alone on the Slytherin table as per usual, facing the Gryffindor table. He had passed Ginny and Ron and had saw the embrace they shared. Ginny looked absolutely ecstatic, and Draco couldn't help but feel quite elated himself, even though he hadn't talked to Ginny directly for a few days.

Draco missed Ginny terribly. Without her bright presence around, and no plans to look forward to, loneliness hit Draco hard. He gazed slightly jealousy at Ginny. She had a family who cared about her, she had friends, she had warmth. She had love.

And even with all of Draco's money, he didn't have love. His soul ached for the love Ginny provided for him. His mind yearned for Ginny's outspoken opinions and his body lusted for her touch. Lusted for the way she seemed to fit him.

It was really at that moment it dawned on Draco how important that little Weasley had suddenly become. A strong surge of love shot through Draco, making him freeze. Watching Ginny laugh with Colin were like powerful punches to Draco internally, reminding how much he needed her.

Ginny's eyes suddenly flicked upwards to Draco's and the two of them forgot to breathe.

'Saturday,' thought Draco firmly, not taking his eyes off Ginny until she took her eyes off him. 'I will see her at the game. I will make time to talk to her.'

It was Saturday morning and Ginny could be found sleeping in bed soundly at 7 o'clock. Hermione could be found walking to Ginny's four post bed, shaking Ginny softly.

Ginny squirmed around, rubbing her eyes groggily. "S'matter Hermy?" muttered Ginny with a slightly raspy voice.

"I have a message from your dearest brother. It reads "wake up Ginny! We're vsing Slytherin morning! I want my best chaser up and ready, because she knows if Slytherin are in possession of the quaffle, we're all screwed!""

Ginny scowled as her fingers went through her messy bedhead hair. "Punch him for me."

"Sure. Have another hour's rest. Game doesn't start till ten," murmured Hermione kindly. Ginny gave her a groggy thumbs up and then she buried her head under her sheets again.

Then, without knowing how it happened, Ginny was striding out of the girl's change rooms towards the middle of the pitch where Ron stood. It was a cloudy blustery day, and rain was imminent. She inconspicuously straightened up her hair-matching quidditch robes and waited impatiently for Draco to show.

…And there he was. In all his Slytherin finery. Deep forest green robes streaked with brilliant silver.

Ron suddenly ruined Ginny's staring by tapping her on the shoulder. "Get ready to mount your broom," he muttered, eying Franko with distaste.

"Right," muttered Ginny distractedly, swinging her leg over her broom. Ron's eyes followed Ginny's previous line of sight, and his eyes and mood darkened once they landed on Draco Malfoy.

Ginny's eyes flicked up to Madam Hooch when she ordered the two captains to shake hands. Her brother and Franko held each other's right hand in the most briefest vice grips before turning back to their teams. Ginny internally scoffed at the two captain's stupidity before focusing on the air above her. Focusing on the game plan that Ron had drilled into her brain.

Leg muscles tense, fingers gripped tightly on his broom, Draco reacted quickly to the shrill shriek of Hooch's whistle. His Nimbus rose into the air swiftly, not yielding to the now stronger wind.

Draco's sharp eyes scanned the field, ignoring the other players and only searching for a glint of gold. Slytherin desperately needed to win if Draco were to get Franko off his back. Suddenly, Harry crossed him off, causing Draco to halt suddenly. Draco knew Harry was trying to rile him up, so instead, he ignored him and continued, just imagining the dumbstruck look that would be on his face.

After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, Draco decided to take a break. He glanced over at Potter and noted he too couldn't see the snitch. So now, Draco simply let his eyes drift over to his girlfriend.

Ginny seemed to be everywhere at once. Most of the time she had the quaffle under her arm. She sped from Ron at one end of the pitch to the middle where she darted away from one of the Slytherin chasers and quickly hurled the ball to Mari, another chaser. A Second elapsed when the Slytherin chaser slammed into Ginny uncontrollably.

Panic shot through Draco as he witnessed this and was beginning to move towards Ginny but Harry got there faster. Relief spread over Draco like a hot shower when Ginny stretched a bit and sped away from Harry towards her fellow chasers.

"Not as delicate as I thought," said Draco softly to himself as he began his search for the ever elusive snitch again.

'Boy he stank,' thought Ginny as she caught the quaffle from Mari deftly and raced the last ten metres to the goal scoring semi-circle around the hoops. With careful and quick aim, Ginny threw the quaffle into middle hoop and whooped when it skimmed past their keeper.

High fiving Mari and Leo, the other Gryffindor keeper, Ginny took position again and watched as Slytherin took possession of the quaffle. Ginny quickly glanced at the over head scoreboard. It was twenty minutes into the game and Gryffindor was winning, 40-10. Ginny had scored thirty of the forty points.

A resounding smack rang in Ginny's ears and she quickly pressed her whole body against the flat of her broom, hearing a harsh whistle of a bludger scream past her. Looking up, she saw the offending ball rush back at her so she took off with as much speed as possible.

Escaping the wraith of the bludger, Ginny took possession of the quaffle yet again and sped off in the direction she just came from. Hurling the red flying ball at Leo, Ginny quickly slid off her broom and gripped it tightly with only two hands and angled just below one of the Slytherin beaters who had a painful looking bat at the ready to smack a bludger at Ginny.

Once out of the way of the open-mouthed beater, Ginny tensed her muscles and used sheer will power and momentum to swing herself back on her broom. It was terrifyingly frightening and exhilarating to be flying thirty metres in the air by only hanging on her broom with her arms.

Ginny was closer to the hoops than the Slytherin keeper and realized, and now Leo had thrown the quaffle to Mari, and then Mari to Ginny. Ginny tossed the quaffle into the hoops without much effort. The surprised cheering was deafening.

The youngest Weasley had done a brilliantly spectacular move that no one else dared to try.

Draco couldn't help but smile disbelievingly. His admiration and respect for Ginny soared even though he didn't think it were possible to rise. Who knew the gentle (well sometimes gentle, ignoring the Harry ordeal) and sensible Ginny Weasley would pull off a stunt like that?

Game resumed play and soon the attention was taken off Ginny as people became absorbed with whatever else was happening. Ginny decided to take a breather and whilst she was resting her eyes scanned the field. Her eyes suddenly locked onto Draco's. Draco simply rolled his eyes upwards to the clouds.

It took a moment, but Ginny understood Draco's meaning. As fast as she could, she sped up into the dark looming clouds. Through the corner of her eye, she saw Draco was doing the same thing.

Through the corner of Franko Harley's eye, he witnessed the exact same thing too.

Ginny had never flown so high before, and she found she seemed to be choking a bit. Ginny was soaked because of the tiny droplets of water in the clouds plus there was the fact it was beginning to rain. Heavily.

Within moments, Draco joined her. Shielded by the privacy of clouds, Draco flew right next to Ginny, let go of his broom and hugged Ginny with force. He shoved his soaking wet hair away that was plastered onto his face kissed Ginny with fevour, warming Ginny's cold lips. Since Draco had started kissing, he found it very difficult to stop. Some how, he managed to break away, leaving Ginny flushing with warmth.

"Why do you always stop?" mumbled Ginny dazedly, rivulets of water streaming down her rosy cheeks.

"I have a quidditch match to win," muttered Draco with his now cold lips. But before Ginny could make a reply Draco leant in and pressed his cold lips against Ginny's again.

"Meet me tonight, 11:59. The room of requirement," was the words Draco uttered into Ginny's ear before flying away. Ginny let out a cry of frustration and flew downwards sharply.

As Ginny shot into vision again, she slipped back into play as quickly as she could. Eluding a bludger, Ginny shot in front of Mari with her ready arms outstretched. Ginny caught the quaffle surely, but there was a sudden weak spot in Ginny's play.

She didn't have a proper grip on her broom. Just as Ginny was tucking the quaffle underneath her arm something hard and heavy slammed into her midriff, knocking her clean off her broom.

Ginny didn't even get the chance to scream because suddenly a pair of lips that didn't belong to Draco pressed onto hers, stifling the proposed scream.

Ginny was revolted but she couldn't move and quickly she realized she couldn't breathe. Someone was assaulting her with kisses whilst holding her in a headlock. Ginny's legs kicked nothing.

She was being hung in thin air.

Ginny's throat felt so constricted she wanted to die. Unconsciousness threatened. The horrible metallic taste of that person's mouth kept making Ginny feel like regurgitating. Just before Ginny thought she was going to die, a familiar arm snaked around her waste and she heard a sickening crack before her airways opened up again.

'I will be okay,' thought Ginny before she fell unconscious in Draco's arms.

Hi guys! I really must apologize if this chapter is too long :S But then again I do love having a chapter with real sustenance. Anyways, I know like, the school or Ministry probably would have done something to the room of requirement, but… but it's just such a handy midnight meet up spot for our two lovers!

But…. dun dun dun will the lovers be able to meet up? I don't know either. I'll let my fingers decide next time I update.

Review, I really appreciate it when you do:D

luv,

Jessica/yourbeautifulnightmare