Misconception

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I think I'd be doing better things…like…shopping instead of writing fanfics.

Author's Note: Yeah, well. Here you go. Quick update, semi-long chapter. Next one will be better, I promise. This has a fair amount of D/G interaction. Somewhat clichéd, but oh well. Enjoy. Or not. Sorry about grammatical mistakes or any other thing you don't like about my writing. (rambles on and on)

Chapter 6: The Beginning

Draco lowered his wand and pocketed it in his robes. The signature smirk on his face remained, as the tense young Weasley stepped out of the shadow. Her eyes were not filled with the tears he saw before, and her face was not welted with stains of sorrow. She looked composed, and a bit angry.

"What was that about?" inquired Ginny, crossing her arms.

Draco paused and studied her carefully again. Her robes were hand-me-downs, and they looked tattered. Despite her clothes, she did not look half as bad. Draco did not think she was pretty, for that would be just wrong. However, Draco knew she wasn't as bad as her brothers were, from the two encounters they had before. But she was a Weasley, and he was a Malfoy. They were intended to hate each other and everything about her was supposed to be wrong.

"I see you're done drowning in your tears," mocked Draco softly.

Ginny flushed and said nothing. Draco felt a slight burn from his forearm, but he ignored it.

"So what do you want, Weasley?" said Draco.

"I came here to thank you, if you must know." said Ginny heatedly. She turned a deeper shade of red, either from embarrassment or anger.

He smirked again, which made her face turn into the shade of her hair. Draco chuckled quietly and said in a mock of disbelief, "Thank me? What ever for?"

"I acted rashly," explained Ginny.

"You did." commented Draco.

"Blaise could have killed me if he really wanted to…"

"He could have."

"I mean, look what he did to Charlie…"

"Indeed."

Ginny glowered at him and sighed. A cold breeze blew past them. It played with several strands of Ginny's hair before slowly dying away. An awkward silence settled between them; Draco noticed that the silence with Luna was quite comfortable, even though he was annoyed by her as well. Ginny bit her lip, apparently noticing the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Are you done?" said Draco tonelessly.

Ginny looked at Draco, and he looked back with no emotion. She continued staring sadly at him, as if trying to find a flicker of understanding. However, Draco gave her nothing; indeed, he did understand what she was going through, but it was hard to say whether or not he pitied her. The mere existence of the Weasleys troubled him, annoyed him. Perhaps it was just too much time with his father, whom he still looked up to despite his evil ways.

She broke away from his gaze and muttered, "It was stupid to come here."

Ginny turned to leave, but Draco grabbed her wrist. An expression of bewilderment came upon her face.

"You're welcome," he said, "Just don't do anything stupid like that again."

He let go of her wrist, but she remained rooted to the spot. Her shocked expression stayed on her face, and she opened then closed her mouth. Hesitantly, she smiled, which unknowingly made Draco feel a bit uneasy.

Silence came over them again. Neither of them seemed to know what to say to each other. Draco kept wondering if she was going to go or not; why was she still standing there? She began staring at the lake, like he did before. There was some sort of indescribable beauty of the serene lake as the moon shined over it. It was calming to Draco, and it served as a nice place to think.

Ginny sighed, which snapped Draco out of his thoughts.

"Have you been standing here since the fight?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah," he answered in a monotone voice.

Ginny gave an expression of wide-eyed amazement.

"What have you been doing all this time?" she asked.

"Must you know, Weasley?" asked Draco irritably. "Besides, isn't it past your curfew hour?"

"I'm a Prefect," snapped Ginny.

"Right." muttered Draco. "Well, then…go watch the halls, Weasley."

"Just because you're Head Boy doesn't mean you can order me around," said Ginny angrily.

"Of course it does," he drawled with a smirk. "My duty is to order around Prefects," he added with a slight sneer, "When you become Head Girl, you'll enjoy it too, Weasley."

"I doubt that will ever happen." muttered Ginny, looking down at the ground.

"What?" said Draco "Ordering Prefects around?"

"No, becoming Head Girl." explained Ginny.

Draco raised an eyebrow and said, "Honestly, Weasley, are you always this pessimistic? I understand you come from a worthless family and all--"

"It's called modesty, you should try it sometime," said Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"No, I'd rather be the arrogant bastard everyone hates," said Draco, "It suits me better."

The somewhat civilized conversation they held made Draco feel a bit out of his character. However, he felt that he could not be cynical towards this Weasley for reasons that were unknown to him. Perhaps it's because, deep down, he felt bad for Charlie Weasley, and he blamed himself for not providing information on the attack to the Order. But was it his fault? He was at school and there was no way he could have gone to a Death Eater meeting. Draco closed his eyes and tried to suppress his thoughts; he had too much on his mind.

Guilt, pain, doubt, stress—all this could make someone explode. Even he didn't know how he handled all these emotions at once. He almost forgot that Ginny was still standing there, who was staring at him in great puzzlement. It was somewhat normal for him to get lost in his thoughts and shunning away what was really going on…

"Malfoy?"

He was immediately shot back to reality and muttered, "Sorry, just thinking about the upcoming N.E.W.Ts."

"I would believe that if you were Hermione," said Ginny calmly.

"Granger?"

"No, the other one," said Ginny sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be on patrolling duty right now?" said Draco, giving her a look of annoyance.

"Aren't you?" retorted Ginny. "You've missed two, since the last meeting."

"What meeting?"

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "I honestly don't know why Dumbledore appointed you Head Boy."

"Because I'm better than your brother." said Draco.

"You wish." said Ginny, chuckling rather harshly.

"I don't need to because it's already reality, Weasley," he said. "I'm Head Boy, I'm rich, I don't associate myself with Mudbloods, I don't have red hair—."

Ginny glowered at him, and he returned with a glance of indifference. It was quite hard to keep civilized conversations with a family you've been sworn to hate.

"You're such an arrogant prick," said Ginny.

"Indeed, I am," replied Draco with a slight smirk. "And you are an annoyingly scrawny, red-headed Weasley."

She glared at him and made no attempt to reply. Ginny was much too angry to say anything, and she complied with a silent anger. He shrugged and reached in his pocket for another cigarette. It was merely out of habit now; usually, it was out of stress. Ginny eyed it with disgust, and Draco ignored her by lighting it up blatantly. She huffed in annoyance.

"No one is asking you to stay, Weasley," Draco pointed out.

"You know, you really shouldn't smoke," she said in voice that reminded Draco of Granger.

"Right, because tiny mites will melt my lungs." said Draco sarcstically.

"What?"

Draco wondered how many times people were going to tell him that. It was almost too bad that he didn't care about his health or his lungs, for that matter. Smoking was the only thing that calmed him down. The only flaw about it was that it gave symptoms of insomnia, which Draco was already used to. He shrugged indifferently, which made Ginny fume even more.

"Since when did you start, anyway?" asked Ginny impatiently.

"Since when did you care?" he snapped.

Ginny bit her lip and echoed what he said before, scathingly, "I don't care."

"Good," he replied curtly.

Ginny scrunched up her nose at the smell. She took the cigarette from his hand and flicked it into the lake. Draco, who had been unsuspecting of the action, stared in shock. Instead of being angry, he was slightly amused at her impulsive action and how much she really did care.

"I believe you've just acted rashly again," he drawled with an amused smirk. "How do you know I won't attack you like Blaise?"

"Over a cigarette?" she said, unconvinced.

"I believe Blaise would be crazy enough to do something like that," said Draco with a scornful tone. "Besides," he added scathingly, mocking what Ginny had said, "Look what he did to Charlie…"

Ginny was taken aback by what he had said. It made her absolutely furious, no doubt, and it made Draco feel a bit better. He knew it was an awful thing to say, but she was getting on his nerves. She looked like she would very much like to curse him, and she was almost trembling in anger.

"Don't you dare bring Charlie into this…" warned Ginny angrily.

"What are you going to do," said Draco carelessly, "Cry?"

She was about to slap him, but Draco caught her wrist just in time. It proved that the Death Eaters did teach you one thing: quick reflexes. However, that was the least of Draco's concerns at the moment. He could not figure out how one person could be so god damn temperamental and annoying at the same time.

"Quite the moody one, aren't we?" said Draco mockingly. Ginny tried to get out of his firm grasp, but he had no notion of letting her go.

"You're just like Blaise." she hissed.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm nothing like him."

"You enjoy gloating about the people you've hurt, and you're a Death—."she stopped, when she saw the look on Draco's face. Ginny averted her eyes away from his in an uncomfortable state.

"Go on," encouraged Draco, narrowing his eyes. "Why don't you say it? You and everyone else; got me all figured out, haven't you?"

She did not answer him right away.

Ginny shook her head and said, "I haven't got you figured out, and I don't plan on it."

Draco felt a slight déjà vu coming along. He would have found this a bit amusing if it weren't for the current situation. It was quite angering, and Draco didn't even know why.

"Really?"

"You're so childish." said Ginny, finally wrenching herself away from Draco's grasp.

"How so?" inquired Draco.

"By thinking you're the only person in the world that's dealing with this or that's inflicted by some sort of pain," she said, glaring angrily at him.

Draco had not been expecting her to say something like that, so it made him feel taken aback. What did the Weasley know?

"What the hell are you talking about, Weasley?" said Draco incredulously.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Malfoy," she said through gritted teeth. "It's the only reason you stood out here, brooding and wasting hours of your life away."

"Why are you even here, Weasley?" said Draco, ignoring her comment. "Seriously, I'm not making you stay. I haven't got you under the Imperius Curse--."

"Don't change the subject." interjected Ginny. "You think this war has only affected you? Well, I have news for you: it's affecting everyone, even your stupid Death Eater friends."

"Stop trying to be like your friend, Lovegood, by making a petty attempt to figure out what I'm going through."said Draco moodily.

"Stop trying to be so misunderstood," snapped Ginny. "and wallowing up in self-pity, thinking no one in the world can ever save you. Why don't you try saving yourself? You're more like Harry than you know!"

"Don't compare me him!" said Draco angrily.

"Why not?" retorted Ginny. "Both of you are so alike. Oh no, only I can save the wizarding world, but no one can save me. He doesn't even take into account how many people love him, how many people would die for him!"

"Weasley, I am in no mood to listen to your love life." Draco said, rolling his eyes.

For a moment, they both glared at each other. Draco had never been this annoyed by a Weasley. He wasn't even sure what annoyed him more: the fact that she was a Weasley or that she spoke the truth. Never in his life did he think that he would be put at wrong by a Weasley, and it tugged at his nerve.

"You're not worth my breath, Weasley."he said finally. He turned from her and started walking toward the castle. The nerve of that Weasley!

"Because I'm right?" she called after his retreating back.

He almost stopped in his tracks out of infuriation, but he forced himself to keep walking. Draco would have dearly loved to turn around and insult her one last time, but he realized that she did not take insults to heart—unless they were about her family in war. Firmly, he told himself that she really wasn't worth his time.

By the time he reached his room, he slowly forgot about all that happened—especially what Weasley had said. His mind began to shut down, giving in to the sudden drowsiness he was feeling. Collapsing on the bed, he instantly fell to sleep.

The clouds were graying overhead. There was a thick fog all over, and Draco found himself walking along a clear path. However, when he squinted his eyes to look at the side, he saw nothing but a white fog. He continued walking, and he started to see dark figures ahead. He rushed up to them and saw that they were Death Eaters.

They were in the middle of the path; when they saw Draco, they stepped to the side and let him walk through, slightly bowing their heads. He didn't stop, but he kept walking. Then he came to a fork in the road, and he stopped.

He looked down each path as far as his eyes would let him. Nothing. He sighed angrily.

Suddenly, a figure appeared next to him and he jumped slightly. Frowning, he looked at him and saw that it was another Death Eater. He was about the same height as Draco—other than that, Draco could not see anything else. The Death Eater was masked.

"Who are you?" asked Draco.

The man did not reply. Instead, he laughed. The laugh brought chills to Draco, but he held his composure.

"Who are you?" asked Draco again.

Again, the Death Eater did not reply. He pointed his wand to the clouds and shouted, "Morsmordre!"

Draco looked up at the sky, expecting to see the Dark Mark. Much to his surprise, it wasn't the Dark Mark—it was something else. There was a snake, but there was no skull. The snake seemed to be around a dagger…or was it a sword? It was also on fire. Confused, Draco looked at the Death Eater again, who began laughing in madness again.

"What—" Draco began.

The Death Eater did not answer. He pointed his wand at Draco chest, and put down his hood, revealing his face. Draco recognized his face, but it couldn't be---he wouldn't…

"Avada Kedavra!"

Draco awoke with a start. For a split second, he was beginning to believe that the dream was real. Breathing heavily, he looked around and felt relieved to find that he was still in his room. Draco calmed himself down and wiped the sweat from his brow. He pressed his hands on his eyes and tried to remember what the dream had been about. He remember seeing someone he knew in that dream, but he couldn't remember the face.

He searched his mind, but it proved to be useless. The only thing he could remember was the strange symbol in the sky. It was not a Dark Mark, but he remembered someone saying the incantation for it….

It was a snake around a dagger with fire all around. Draco had never seen anything like it, and it made no sense to him. Why did it appear in his dream? Did it mean something?

Draco shook his head; he was being stupid. Dreams were dreams, and they didn't mean anything. He didn't like the idea of becoming philosophical or thinking along the lines of Divination. Everyone knew that Trelawney was a mad woman, and that centaur wasn't any better; Draco did not think that Uranus should be shining brightly anyway…

He looked at his clock, which read five o'clock. Sighing, he got out of his comfortable bed and got dressed. Pulling his book bag over his shoulder, he went out to the quiet Slytherin common room. No one was up, and breakfast was probably still being cooked. After much contemplation, he finally decided where he would go to, as stupid as it probably was.

The library was quiet, as Draco expected it to be. Madam Pince was nowhere to be seen, so Draco did not have to worry about being too early in the library or something. He looked at the many rows of shelves and wondered where to start. Where would he find a book about interpreting dreams anyway?

Draco decided to go to his usual spot in the library, which was a really far back row, where no one ever looked. He walked to the far back and came to his table. Much to his surpise, it was already occupied.

"Are you following me?" said Ginny Weasley, peering over her book.

Draco rolled his eyes and said coldly, "Don't flatter yourself, Weasley."

She looked at her watch and said, "You do realize it's five in the morning?"

"Yeah, so?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

Ginny shrugged and went back to her book. Draco tilted his head slighted and read the cover, Quidditch Through the Ages. Furrowing his brows, he set down his bag on the table, causing Ginny to jump slightly. He smirked when she looked up to see what it was, and she glared at him moodily.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked sharply.

"A book," he answered curtly.

"What book?" she asked curiously.

"Mind your own business and keep reading," he snapped. "Maybe they'll have something in there about making you a better chaser."

Ginny slammed the book shut and set it loudly on the table. Glowering, she stood up and said defensively, "I am a good chaser, better than any of the Slytherins!"

"Really?" he said tonelessly.

"I don't recall seeing you get the snitch before Harry!" said Ginny.

"I'm a better seeker than you." said Draco, shrugging indifferently. "That's all that matters."

"I'd like to see you prove that," she said.

There was a pause and what she said slowly registered into Draco's mind. He looked at her coldly and said, "I don't take challenges from Weasleys."

"Are you afraid you won't win?" mocked Ginny.

"I'm too old to be nettled by stupid comments like that, Weasley." said Draco, rolling his eyes.

"So you are afraid you won't win." she said with a final tone.

"Stop acting like a child."

"Look who's talking."

Draco did not answer and walked away to find the book he was looking for. After searching for half an hour, Draco decided that he was being thick. The dream probably meant nothing, and the symbol meant nothing either. No matter how many times he told himself that, a nagging voice at the back of his wanted to find out.

He went back to the table and found it empty with the exception of his book bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked out of the back shelves and out of the library. The corridor was empty, and from a distance, he could hear the chattering in the Great Hall. Deciding to forget about the dream, he went to the Great Hall.

Crabbe and Goyle were already there, stuffing their faces. When Draco approached the table, they both greeted him, and he muttered a greeting. Later, Blaise and Pansy came in, arms linked together. Pansy tried to catch Draco's eye. Somehow, this was supposed to make him jealous. Draco rolled his eyes and got up, right when Blaise and Pansy sat down. The company of Crabbe and Goyle, he could stand; with those two, however….

Blaise followed him out, much to Draco's annoyance. He decided that it must be National Annoy-Draco-Malfoy-Week. Besides, Blaise was probably going to bring up what happened yesterday…

"What do you want, Zabini?" he said, turning to face him.

"Quidditch season starts in a month," said Blaise with a glare.

"And?" said Draco, wondering where this was going.

Blaise looked at him as if the answer should be rather obvious. It wasn't obvious. For a minute, Draco thought Blaise wanted him to plot something in the Quidditch stadium that would result in the ultimate demise of Hogwarts—which wouldn't be a bad idea if he was a full time Death Eater…His mind wandered to this thought…

"You're captain." said Blaise loudly, which snapped Draco away from his thoughts.

Draco had forgotten about that in his Hogwarts letter, stating that he was captain of the Quidditch team.

Damn it.

"Right," muttered Draco. "I'll book the field for Slytherin today, then."

"Are you sure Potter hasn't already booked it for Gryffindor?" said Blaise.

Draco ignored him and walked away. He did not want to play Quidditch. As much as he liked the sport, he was in no mood to play Quidditch. With everything on his mind, he wouldn't play well anyway. And he had to admit, he was never going to catch the snitch before Potter…

Luckily, Snape informed him that the field wasn't booked for Gryffindor, and he got his permission to use it at four in the afternoon. Draco informed the rest of the team to meet at four, and the training would begin.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Charlie Weasley got out of the hospital, completely cured. His injuries were all gone, and there was no harm that would last him a lifetime. Draco noticed that after this news was given out, the Weasleys were a lot more cheerful, especially Ginny. Ginny annoyed Draco because they always managed to bump into each other. She would always glare at him, and he would look back with indifference. Occasionally there were the usual exchange of insults that no one took notice of because of the usual tension between houses around Quidditch season.

Indeed, House rivalry was starting to run high because of Quidditch. The first game of the year, which took place in October, was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor had won the game, of course. The next game, which took place in November, was between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. It was a tight game, and it took place for an hour and a half. Fortunately, Draco caught the snitch just in time for a win.

Now, it was nearing December and their next game would not be until January. Draco was relieved that he would not have to train for now because he was getting a bit uneasy that Christmas was drawing so near. He would have to go back home and meet all the Death Eaters again.

Within the two months, things were getting back to normal. He had stopped smoking. But now, with the spying that would take place in just a few weeks, he became more irritable and stressed out as before.

He started having the same dream again…with the same symbol…same person. Who was that person? The Death Eater was so familiar to Draco, but once he woke up, the face disappeared in his mind. There were times when Draco was tempted to go to Trelawney and ask if she had a book of dream interpretation. However, the stronger side of his voice would tell him how stupid he was being…

To relieve stress (because he was out of cigarettes), Draco began flying at night. Usually, he would let the snitch out and he would take his time in finding in. In a way, he felt quite clever that he was doing something productive.

I don't always brood. he thought, bitterly remembering what Ginny had said two months before.

Ginny Weasley annoyed him. A lot. He didn't even know why, but she did. He decided that he didn't need a reason to be annoyed with her because she's a Weasley. All Weasleys are annoying. Therefore, she was annoying.

No, it didn't make sense. But the things he thought about when he was flying at night usually didn't make sense because half of his mind was concentrating on the snitch…