Author's note: Yay! I'm happy... It let me upload my chapter! Well, this one will probably as long as the other one, well actually, probably a bit shorter, but that depends but I do know exactly what's going to happen! And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Colin... He actually plays a MAJOR role in this chapter and you get to see why he's so weird all of a sudden.

Chapter Twenty-Three

"See! I told you all! She is sleeping with that Malfoy!" She shouted, and was met with two wands in her face. Neither of them being Ginny's.

Ron and Malfoy were standing, arms out, wands drawn. Draco had to admit, he was a little surprised at him, but knew this would make Ginny ecstatic. "Well as you see, Weasley here an I happen to share a loathing for liars, and you most certainly are a liar." he said, and Ron looked at him appreciatively. It was then that someone had their wand at Draco's head.

"Drop your wand Malfoy!" Harry spoke out in an attempted commanding tone. Draco turned his head and locked eyes with him, daring Harry to do something, while keeping his wand locked on Kaitlyn.

Ron didn't know what to do, so he looked over to Ginny, and she was using her puppy dog eyes on him. He sighed, and Ginny burst on into a smile.

Ron pointed his and at Harry, and everyone gasped. "Harry, this isn't your business..." he tried explaining.

"What are you talking about! Of course this is my business! There's a fucking Malfoy in my common room!" he spat.

"Harry, he was defending my sister from being accused of sleeping with him!" he replied fed up.

Harry turned and glared at her. "Ron, it must be true, only whores stay with a Malfoy!" he yelled, and before he could say anything else, Ron had stunned him.

The room didn't move. Draco turned back to Ginny, having forgotten about Kaitlyn. He was sad to see her crest fallen face. He walked over to her, and put her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Ginny, he's just a fucking moron."

"I know... It just hurts a little more when someone you regarded as family says something like that..." She smiled sadly, but then it turned into a true smile. "Well done Ron." Ron turned to her with flaming red cheeks.

"Thanks..." he replied simply.

"Yeah Weasley, couldn't have stunned him better myself." Draco said with a smirk.

"Yeah... I wasn't going to let him get away with calling Ginny a... You know what..." he explained.

"Seems we're on the same wave length." He said openly.

"Yeah..." he answered, looking over to Ginny who was giving him an I-told-you-so look, and he smiled slightly.

"Ginny!" someone called out from the stairs. everyone's heads swerved, and saw Denis Creevy lugging a trunk down the boy's staircase. "I found your stuff, it was in the boy's first year dorm..." he said as he pulled the trunk over to her.

"Thank you very much!" she said appreciatively, and turned to Ron. "Could you help me carry this back to my dorm?"

"What about Malfoy?" he asked humorously.

"He's a big boy Ron, we'll only be gone for a few minutes." she smirked. Draco looked around the room, and noticed everyone's eyes were on him, and he thought it was funny that no one had moved to revive Harry. He took a place against the wall, and leaned on it with his arms crossed over his chest, and his wand in his hand and he surveyed everyone.

Ginny grabbed one end of the trunk, and her brother grabbed the other. They walked up the stairs, Ron being able to go up because he had permission, and the stopped at the fifth floor. Ginny pushed the door open, and laughed out loud when she saw that the colours hadn't been reversed, but there was evidence that they had tried. Such as singed hangings, and brighter/duller colouring.

Ron looked around oddly. 'You girls sure know how to decorate..."

They walked over to the bed at the end which had been newly found, and was the only one with normal hangings. Ginny smirked. "What can I say? I'm vindictive."

"I can see." he laughed.

"Thank you, by the way... Draco's not as bad as you think, he would defend me no matter what." she said softly.

"I know Gin... I saw it in his eyes. I can see it in your eyes too. I'm really sorry for Harry, that was unforgivable what he said, and he's lucky I didn't kick his arse." Ron said protectively.

"Thanks... Well, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know... Probably hide away in my room for a bit until things calm down..." he said with a faint smile.

"You should hang out with Draco and I." she offered.

"What do you two usually do?" he asked curiously.

"Not much actually... We usually just sit outside and talk about stuff... anything really..." she trailed off.

"Sounds better than what I had planned." he admitted. "I think we should go back down stairs though..." he suggested, and Ginny agreed with a knowing smile.

They walked down the stairs, and were met with the same scene as they left, Harry was still stunned on the ground. Draco n the other hand was looking extremely bored, and was throwing his wand up in the air, letting it spin, then he caught it by the handle again.

"Finally! Dear God, this has been the most awkward silence ever experienced..." He said, waving his arms dramatically.

"Pfft, and you care?" Ginny asked with a role of her eyes.

"No, not really... But let's leave, I'm bored." he finished, then walked ahead, Ginny followed after, but Draco stopped. "Your brother coming?"

Ginny turned back around and saw Ron staring at them. "Ron, come on!" With that, he swallowed his uncertainties and followed them out of the Gryffindor common room.

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They were lying on the grass once again by the lake, talking about the upcoming Quidditch match. Ginny and Ron were poking fun at Draco because they had won the cup last year, having gotten past the awkwardness between them, and Ginny felt it was her duty to keep the conversation on something they both liked, because she was so delighted to have them being civil, not to mention actually laughing with each other.

But soon started feeling uneasy. She sort of stopped talking, and she felt tired and uptight for absolutely no reason, because she was happy and carefree moments ago, she felt jumpy and shaky. Then it clicked.

"Stupid calming potions!" she said aloud without meaning to, and the two boys stopped talking and looked at her funny, but Draco picked up on what she was talking about.

"Ah, yeah, they only last for about an hour Gin... But you're feeling fine, you don't need another one do you?" he asked concerned, giving Ron a jolt of realization at how close friends they were, and he finally realized he truly accepted it, because he saw how well his sister was treated, and how protective they were. He smiled lightly, then voiced the question in his head.

"Why did you need a claming draught Gin?" he asked her, but she just rubbed her temples, so Draco answered instead.

"Well she was having a nightmare, and it was pretty vivid, and she thought she was still in it when she woke up." he said in a distraught tone that Ron couldn't place, but he figured it had to do with the content of the dream. "And she was pretty shaken, so I brought her to the infirmary to get some..." he explained.

He wanted dearly to know what the nightmare was about, but he knew she would most likely not want to bring it up again. "Yeah, once they wear off you usually feel some of the shaky and nervous feelings that you had before... It should pass in a few minutes." he informed.

"He's right Gin, you should be up and perky in no time." Draco smirked.

Ginny lay down and put her head on his lap, as he was sitting with his legs out in front of him, and his arms behind him supporting his body. "He better be, and I will break your nose!" she said to Draco, hinting at something.

He laughed at her, but figured out what she was hinting. "Yeah... Sorry about that Weasley... You know, the whole beating the shit out of you thing... I wasn't really myself when that happened..." he said sincerely.

"Don't worry, Ginny sort of explained it... She said you weren't in your own sense of mind, but it had to do with some larger secret..." he explained, from what he understood of Ginny at breakfast.

"It's very true. We wouldn't even tell Potter if it would help him come closer to winning the war." he stated.

Ron's eyes widened for a moment. "It wouldn't help him though, would it?"

"Not directly... Or in anyway that related to him needing to know... Not that everyone wont know when it should be known..." Ginny said, causing him more confusion. Ginny noticed that, and added, "but let's not talk about that, it's far too complicated to talk about it, yet not say anything about it." everyone agreed, and they were left in silence. They were left like that for a good few minutes, because no one could figure out anything to say.

"You're both stupid." Ginny stated out of thin air.

"What?" they both asked in unison.

"I don't know... The silence was bugging me." she said off-handedly and they looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

Draco just shook his head, and Ron smiled like he was hiding something. "What!"

"Nothing Gin, nothing." Ron replied, and they went silent again.

"GAH! Someone say something!" Ginny said impatiently from Draco's lap.

"Ginny... Why don't you say something..." Draco suggested as if he were talking to a three year old.

"I did, I called you both stupid... And I stand by what I said." She said, crossing her arms over her chest, then sat up abruptly. "Draco, I need to talk to you. It's important." she said suddenly, very seriously. "Sorry Ron, can you stay here a moment?" He nodded, and Ginny stood up with a very concerned Draco, who followed her over by the edge of the lake.

"Draco... I know you wont like this, but it's something that must be done." she said in a mysterious tone, and before he could react, she had pushed him into the water, and was laughing so hard she had to double over.

At the edge, the water was already about eight feet deep, so Draco was treading water, glaring at her, but stopped when he saw what was about to happen.

Ginny had forgotten momentarily about Ron, so he took his advantage and snuck up behind her and pushed her, unfortunately, she had grabbed onto his shirt, and he fell in with her.

Once she and he surfaced, Draco was laughing at them both. "Well done Weasley, absolutely masterful!"

"Why thank you Malfoy, it backfired, but the overall goal was completed." They both laughed at Ginny who was treading water. She wasn't really paying attention to what they said, because she was to busy thinking of when she learned how to swim?

She decided to forget about it, because it probably came with the whole savior-of-the-world package. She decided to bring her thoughts to present conversations. "Why don't you call each other by your first names?" she asked.

"Habit." they both replied again at the same time.

"It just bugs me, when I hear the last name, I associate the rest of the family with that name... And I don't think that's right." she said seriously, looking kindly at Draco.

"I agree." he said, not ever wanting to be associated with his father.

"Same." Ron concluded, and was soon assaulted by the spray of water coming from Ginny's direction. Ron's reflexes reacted, and he slashed her back, then she splashed Draco, and he splashed her back. not long after, the two boys had ganged up on Ginny, and she finally gave up. They decided they should head in and get changed... Then Ginny said she was starved, so they were going to go to lunch after. After Ron and Draco climbed out, Ginny followed. They both looked at her strangely, and a slow smile grew on his face, while Ron's face grew a little paler.

"What?" neither of them answered and Ginny groaned. Without looking down, she answered her own question. "Yup... I'm wearing a white shirt!"

"Well spotted Ginny!" Draco couldn't help saying, but proceeded to take his black button up shirt off and he gave it to her. "Come on, I'm not letting you walk through the castle with that one. Ginny complied, and didn't bother protesting.

Ron looked thoroughly relieved, and Ginny laughed. "What Ron? I was wearing a bra!" she teased. He rolled his eyes and walked ahead of them.

Draco snickered when he heard him mutter, "Whatever happened to modesty?"

they walked back to the castle in quiet, but Ginny didn't mind it this time because she wasn't edgy anymore. They were walking through the halls, and they were attracting many strange looks from the other students, and the female half of the school population seemed to stop dead in their tracks and drool when they saw shirtless Draco. Ginny got bugged by that and she once again became protective of him. So to show them all to lay off, she laced her fingers between his for everyone to see. Some girls glared at her, but she didn't mind, as long as they kept their eyes diverted.

Ginny and Draco split up with Ron because Ginny's clothes and wand were in his room, and she had to give him his clothes back.

They walked to his room, and Draco told Ginny that he had a washroom if she wanted to use it. It was beside his bookcase, but it was angles so you couldn't see the door unless you walked over there. Ginny walked into it, and brought her clothes with her, which were cleaned and folded by who she assumed were the house-elves. She stripped down to her bra and underwear, then dried them with a quick charm. Once fully clothed again, she walked out and met the equally fully clothed Draco.

"Time to go?" he asked.

"Yup. I left your clothes to dry on the towel rack." she informed.

"Okay, thanks." he answered, and they walked with each other up to the Great Hall for some lunch.

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Ginny told Draco that she was going to sit at the Gryffindor table, and she asked if he wanted to as well. He politely declined, so the two of them split up.

Ginny looked up and down the table to see where she should sit, and she spotted Colin. She felt and immense weight of guilt as she realized how badly she had mistreated him. She sat down beside him, and he looked up from his food.

"Hi Col!" she said apologetically. "Hey... I'm really sorry about kind of ditching you for the past week..." she explained, trailing off.

He gave her and odd look, before standing up and walking away leaving her there, completely taken aback. She looked over to the Slytherin table, and she could clearly see Draco looking over at her with sympathy. He smiled reassuringly and Ginny turned back to the table, just as Ron walked in with Harry and Hermione following behind.

Ginny's face fell, because she thought they had made up or something, but then she noticed Ron's annoyed face, and the fact that he was walking much faster then they were, suggested that he was trying to get away from them.

He walked up to Ginny, and took a seat beside her. "Hey." he greeted, and Harry and Hermione took up the seats across from them. Ron rolled his eyes, but Ginny remained to look indifferent.

"Ron, I know you don't want to hear this..." he started, as if he were picking up from their previous conversation, "... But your sister is inexplicably close to him, then she spends the night in his room, comes out wearing his clothes. Not to mention that she just, out of the blue, stopped liking me, I mean..." he would have continued had Ginny not thrown an orange at his face, and hit him in the eye.

He turned to Ginny and looked at her skeptically. "What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded.

"Boredom I s'pose. Now leave because if I get bored again, I might start throwing utensils... And I'm currently using my fork and my spoon." she said menacingly.

Harry glared, and left the table, followed wordlessly by Hermione. Then Ginny and Ron looked at the Slytherin table and saw Draco laughing his ass off. They both turned back to their table and they both started piling food on their plates. Ginny was surprised by how hungry she was, so she figured it had to be the potion Madam Pomfrey had given her.

Once the two of them had finished, they split up. Ginny going to the library, and Ron back to the Gryffindor tower. Draco met up with her down the hall, and they went to finish up their homework, which they had been neglecting for many reasons.

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Four days passed quickly and nothing all to exiting happened. Ginny and Draco spent practically all of their time together, and had given up sleeping in her common room, so she spent the past nights in his room. Ron would occasionally hang out with them, but he would usually be seen avoiding Harry, or just hanging around with Neville in the common room, teaching him how to play chess.

Ginny had few run ins with Harry, and she would always manage to outwit him, much to his dismay.

She tried a few more times to talk to Colin, but he would either snap back at her, or walk away giving her the cold shoulder.

Today was the big day, the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Ginny was actually late, so she ran to the change room and quickly pulled on her uniform. She was about to run out onto the pitch for the before game practice, but was stopped by someone calling her name. She turned to see Colin behind her smiling.

"Hey Gin, they finally let me out! So I came down here to say good luck before the game." he said cheerfully.

Ginny tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Madam Pomfrey let me out of the hospital wing this morning... So I came to wish you good luck." he repeated slowly.

Ginny looked at him blankly. "You were in the hospital wing?"

"Um...yeah... For the last week and a half Gin... You didn't know?"

"But I talked to you, and you were in class... And... That makes no sense..." she protested.

"You mean... I was there... But I wasn't!..." he stammered... Then his face paled. "Ginny! Oh my God, the article in the newspaper!" he said, then looked in the nearest rash can, and pulled out a copy of the days Daily Prophet. He handed it to Ginny, and she read the front page.

Another Malfoy Spotting

A man was found 10 days ago, unconscious in Hogsmede, the small wizarding village situated no more than 3 kilometers from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

St. Mungos authorities were called when no one could revive him. He has been given a bed at the hospital, and he finally woke up form his slumber just last night. When Ministry authorities questioned him to what happened, he replied as following.

"I was walking home from the pub, and a man approached me from the shadows. He asked me whether I could arrange transportation to take him North of the village, and I told him that I couldn't get any transportation unless I arranged it with Albus Dumbledore, seeing as how his school is up North as well. When I mentioned Dumbledore, I heard him growl practically, and before I knew it, he had pulled out his wand and cursed me. Lucky for me, just as he sent the curse, it lit up his entire face, and I saw the prominent Malfoy Blond hair and grey eyes and pointed features. I woke up here 10 days later." he concluded.

Aurors are at this moment investigating the clues and any one with further information please contact the Ministry as soon as possible.

Ginny dropped the paper, and ran out of the change room, and when she saw that the Slytherins hadn't gotten out of theirs, that's where she went. She barged into their change room, and saw them all fully dressed, and waiting in their seats with their broom. Ginny didn't waste anytime. "Where's Draco?" she asked loudly.

"We don't know. We saw him at breakfast, but no else has seen him since." one of them replied, but Ginny didn't wait t see who. She ran out of the change room and out of the stands, then she made her way to the castle. she ran as fast as she could, and she rounded a corner, knocking into Filch. He stopped her and started yelling at her for being inside when she was supposed to be on the pitch, but she shoved him roughly out of her way, and continued running until she reached the Slytherin common room. She bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and when she got to his door, she threw it open. His room was empty, and Ginny almost turned around and ran back out, but something on the bed caught her eye.

she walked over and saw a folded piece of parchment with a black rose sitting on it. She pulled the parchment out from underneath it, and unfolded it.

I'm sorry

I couldn't let him get you

I'll come back for you

That was all it said. Ginny looked at the words in disbelief. She picked up the rose, and twirled it in her fingers. She was in such a state of emotional shock, that the full weight and impact came down on her five minutes later. She lay on his bed, taking in his scent.

'He's gone. He's gone. He's gone.' she repeated in her mind. And it hurt the same each time she said it. She was so lost in her thoughts that she couldn't shed a single tear. She didn't move at all for an hour, she barely even blinked. Not even when someone walked in the room and sat on the bed beside her.

"Virginia." they said, and Ginny recognized it as the voice of Severus Snape. She didn't respond. He picked up the discarded note, and read it over. "He'll come back... He'll come back." he repeated, as if trying to reassure himself. He knew that she probably wasn't even hearing him, so he got up about fifteen minutes later, and left her alone.

Twenty minutes later, her brother appeared in the doorway. He saw her and went to sit beside her, much as Snape had. "Hey Gin." he said, and noticed her glazed eyes, and lack of movement. He started stroking her hair, and decided to just talk and just let her listen, if she was even doing that. But he went on and told her some of the great memories they had when they were little, the pranks they would pull to get back at Fred and George... The games they would invent with their brothers... A lot of funny family moments.

He knew she wouldn't respond, because even though she had never told him... let alone anyone... He knew that she loved him, and he knew she was feeling unbearable emotional pain right now. He stayed for at least an hour talking to her, but even he knew he should go. So once again, she was left alone.

It was then that finally moved. She grabbed the rose and hugged it gently to her chest, then went back to her routine. No one visited her for the rest of the night, and not once did she fall asleep.

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Then next day Ginny was still lying on his bed in much the same position, with bloodshot eyes. Ron visited her again, and tired to get her to come to the Great Hall and eat. But he left again after a while.

Ginny almost had a heart attack though, when she hear a loud squawking in her ear. she jumped, and looked over at the black owl beside her. It dropped a piece of parchment and a black rose beside her, then flew out the door, since there are no windows that far down in the school.

She opened the letter frantically, and read the words again. 'I'm sorry. I'll come back for you." This time, Ginny let a tear fall from her face onto the note, and she placed the second black rose on the night table beside the first one. She walked up slowly and went to his dresser. She opened the top drawer and pulled out one of his shirts. She put it over hers and walked back to the bed. She hugged the shirt close to her and breathed in its scent. She closed her eyes and replayed all her memories they had together this year. She was happier as she remembered everything, and she stayed in her memory for the rest of the day, not wanting to go back to the present.

Ron visited her at lunch and at dinner, and he was happy to see she had at least moved around a bit. But she still remained silent.

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Two more nights passed, and Ginny hadn't slept, left the room, or broke her silence. She received a visit each meal time form Ron, who was now begging her to leave, and she actually got a visit from Blaise Zabini, who stayed and told her some embarrassing stories about Draco. Those actually merited a little smile from her.

Each morning though, she would receive the note with a black rose. It would say the same thing each time, and now she had four roses on the night table.

From staying in the room for so long, Ginny's eyes were bright red and had a serious sickly look to them. She had deep purple bags under them and from not eating, they looked sunken and her face looked transparently pale. Her hair fell around her face, limp and dirty from not being washed.

Severus Snape walked in and looked at her. he shook his head, then spoke slightly louder than a normal voice. "Virginia... You need to get up."

Ginny looked at him, and blinked several times in confusion. Then for the first time in days she said something. "I-I'm just resting for a bit... Just a bit." she said it in a feeble voice, and she seemed a bit out of it as well.

Severus shook his head and went over to her, and picked her up, one arm under her knees, the other under her upper back.

She weakly protested, and tried to squirm vainly out of his grasp, but he brought her to Draco's washroom, opened the shower and put her down, then turned the cold water tap on.

Her mind cleared a bit from the frigid water, but she started making noises of protest.

He turned the taps off, and looked down at her soaking form. "Ginny," he started, using her nickname, "Draco left to keep you safe, and you are not going to stay in this room and slowly kill yourself. You are going to go to class and you are going to eat your meals. You are alive Ginny. Start living again." He said forcefully, and Ginny sat soaking wet, biting her lip to stop a sob from coming out.

She opened her mouth and choked out, "I don't feel alive! I don't feel anything!" now she let her sobs come out.

TBC

Author's note: Well, there you go! Chapter 23 baby! I hoped you liked that one, and don't worry, Draco isn't going to die or anything... Well, this was another fairly long one, but I could have made it longer... I decided to leave it there though, because it seemed appropriate... my next chapter should be up soon, so until then!

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