sincerest apologies for my abysmal updating. i've been having a pretty lame month. i'm hoping my writing improved somewhat...and i think this is gonna be a pretty informative chapter.

i've also decided to give up on chapter titles :D

Chapter 14

Draco stormed through the castle's front doors, continuing his rampage until he reached his Head Boy dormitory. He entered and sneered when he saw his bed, remembering how adorable Ginny had looked when she plopped herself onto his bed. Glancing quickly around his room, Draco grabbed a photo of his mother off of his desk and threw it at the wall, grimly satisfied when the frame shattered and the photo fluttered pathetically to the floor. He couldn't help cursing himself for his lapse in sanity. Why on earth would he ever compliment her, and then kiss her? Sure, he cared about her, but just as a friend, right? He didn't even know anymore. If there was one thing Draco Malfoy couldn't stand, it was being confused.

He shuffled his feet over to the broken picture frame and muttered a reparo to fix it. He carefully picked up the picture of his mother and smiled sadly. It was a picture of Narcissa and Draco when he was four years old. They were out on the Malfoy grounds, around the gardens. Because it was a wizarding photo, the same scene played over and over again. It showed a four year-old Draco running up to his mother with a small bouquet of daffodils and tulips and black-eyed susans and a rose or two. Draco watched as his toddler self mouthed the words 'for you, mommy' and handed the flowers to Narcissa. Then Narcissa would pick him up, swing him around in a circle and kiss him on the forehead.

After watching the tender scene twice, Draco became angry. He loved the woman in the picture; he wasn't so sure about the one that's sitting home right now. Not even a month after the flower-giving episode, Narcissa seemed to shut down. She was always shut up in her room, she never tucked Draco in at night, and sometimes, Draco could hear her wailing in the night, a desperate cry for help. He had no idea what had happened to his mother but it seemed as if she just stopped caring about everything. Draco was a very impressionable young child, so the lack of his mother's affection and attention led him to believe that love from a parent was not a necessity. After all, he had Lucius for a father, so he had never really expected much from him. Draco crumpled the photo and dropped it on the ground in front of him.

Draco grew up, bred with the knowledge that money and power were the keys to happiness. He spent most of his youth acting the perfect Malfoy heir to Lucius and all of his "business associates." He never once questioned his father's motives and his father never disclosed any information to him. It wasn't until his sixth year that Draco started to see things differently. After the disaster at the Department of Mysteries (his father did indeed go to jail, but was released after several bribes and manipulations), Draco realized that being a Death Eater wasn't as glamorous as his father made it out to be. His realizations became even more solid after the tragedy he was forced to witness that summer.

The one person who helped Draco get through all this strife was Blaise Zabini. Him and Blaise had been wary of each other since they first met at a dinner party at Malfoy Manor before they started school. Slytherins were natural skeptics, so they hardly ever talked about anything besides homework and never tried once to become friends. At the beginning of sixth year, Draco went up to his dormitory and found that Blaise was sitting on his bed, crying. Draco had no idea how to deal with someone crying, let alone anyone who shared their emotions so openly. When Blaise looked up at Draco's questioning yet contemptuous face, he held up a letter for Draco to take. The blonde approached him cautiously and lightly took to letter from Blaise's hands. The letter disclosed that Blaise's father was in Azkaban for killing his mother. Draco softened slightly and offered his sympathies to Blaise. He also empathized that his mother was as good as dead, seeing as she hardly lets anyone know that she exists. After that, a bond was sort of created between Blaise and Draco and they became each others confidants.

Draco remembered Blaise telling him about his mother, and he also remembered that she seemed a lot like Narcissa, until she shut herself off from the world. Draco had hardly seen his mother in the past dozen years; an occasional glimpse or two when he would walk past her room and the door would be open slightly.

The blonde-haired Slytherin sat on his bed and put his head in his hands. He sometimes felt that he thoroughly detested his existence, but deep down, a tiny, microscopical part of him believed that he was put on this earth to do something worthwile. Right now, he wasn't so sure. He had a loathesome creature for a father, he hadn't seen his mother in over a decade, he had unwanted, yet irrevocable feelings for a certain redhead, and he felt like his existence was a waste of time. The only thing he would probably say is good about his life would be his friendship with Blaise, though he would never tell the other Slytherin such a thing. The dark-haired boy was conceited enough.

Draco didn't know how Blaise did it. He went through a lot of tragedy in his life, but he was probably one of the most free-spirited, live-life-to-the-fullest people Draco has ever met. If Draco were to ever act like that, people would think that the world had suddenly fallen out of orbit and that Voldemort would become the new Santa Claus. No, Draco had to keep up his cold front.

While Draco was lost in his musings, Blaise walked in with a smug grin on his face. When Draco looked up at him and shot him with a piercing glare, Blaise wiped the look off of his face and replaced it with one of concern.

"Draco, you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine and dandy, how about yourself?" he answered, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And what the bloody hell were you looking so satisfied about?"

Blaise laughed nervously. "Well, I saw you and a certain redhead a few moments ago--"

Draco stood up. "There's nothing to be looking happy about. She's a daft little girl and I wish she would get the hell out of my head!" He began to pace. Blaise noticed the balled up photo on the ground.

"Draco, what's that photo on the ground?"

Draco stopped to pick up the picture and hand it to Blaise before resuming his pacing. The dark haired boy smoothed it out and watched the familiar scene. He had seen this picture many times, and he saw the tender, longing look that unknowingly crossed Draco's face whenever he looked at it. Thinking about Draco's mother made Blaise miss his own mother. His throat became a little tight, so he cleared it and placed the picture on the desktop.

"So, Draco, what happened with Ginny?"

Draco stopped his pacing and glared at the other boy for a moment, before relating the story of what happened earlier, including his psychotic father's ploy. "She's bloody mental! One minute she's throwing herself at me and the next she's practically beating herself up for it because of our last names! Honestly!"

"Maybe she wouldn't be so hung up on your last names if you hadn't acted so hostile towards their family in particular in the last six years. And there's the whole thing with your...um...Lucius. She's bound to be confused. She just lost a family member and she's, as her brother would so eloquently put it, fraternizing with the enemy." Blaise shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Draco. Fate has really screwed you two over this time."

Draco exploded. "What the hell does fate have to do with this?! This was just a mistake. I can't believe I let myself get fooled by that little Weasley. This is why I don't trust emotions. They just end up hurting you and making you so bloody confused that you can't even think straight!"

Blaise smiled inwardly to himself. He was witnessing the damn near impossible. It appeared that Draco Malfoy was actually falling for Ginny Weasley. "Hey Draco?" Blaise cut into the other boy's rant.

"--annoying little--what?" Draco rounded on him. "And what the bloody hell are you grinning about now?"

Blaise's grin broadened. "Draco Malfoy. I think you're falling in love." He wiped an invisible tear from his eye. "It's a beautiful moment, really."

Draco gaped at him for a full minute, before bursting into laughter. He doubled over, holding his stomach. "Blaise, that's rich!" he managed to gasp out. "Me, a Malfoy, falling in love with a Weasley?! Wow, you really know how to make a guy laugh!" Draco shook his head as he began to sober up. "...in love...Weasley..." he chuckled.

Blaise persisted. "Think about it, Draco. She's obviously been plaguing your every thought, you're above the whole last name prejudices, you're all pissed because she practically rejected you, and you keep talking about emotions. Either you're in love, or you're just very crazy." Blaise paused. "Then again, they are practically the same thing."

Draco pondered this for a moment before groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose. "How quick can you get me to St. Mungo's? I think I'm going insane."

Blaise feigned irritation. "Come on, Draco. You're in love with her. Admit it already."

"No. This can't be happening. Malfoy's do not fall in love. Especially with Weasley's. No, no, no!" he spoke as if trying to reassure himself. He turned to Blaise. "You! This is all your fault!" he pointed his finger at him accusingly.

Blaise arched an eyebrow. "Oh? How so? Please, Draco. Enlighten me."

"That's it! You would've liked nothing more than getting your two best friends together so you...used a love potion! Or a nice strong, steady Imperio could have done it. Yes, that's it!"

Blaise blinked at him. "Anything else, Sherlock? No? Good. I'm sending an owl to St. Mungo's and checking you in right away."

The blonde boy sighed in defeat. "Blaise, how on earth did this happen?"

"Did what happen?" he purposefully played dumb to hear Draco say the words. He didn't get sorted into Slytherin for nothing.

"How in Merlin's name did I fall in love with Ginny?" he said a bit exasperatedly. When he saw Blaise's smug look, he realized what the other boy had done. "You little bastard! You knew what I was talking about, you just wanted to hear me say the actual words! Fine, have it your way, Zabini. I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, am in love with Ginevra-something-Weasley! Happy?"

"Molly."

"What? Molly? Are you mental?"

"Molly. Ginevra Molly Weasley." When Draco continued to stare at him, he said, "What? I thought it would help your little declaration of love if you knew her middle name." he rolled his eyes.

"Molly? But isn't that her cow of a mother's--" Blaise glared at him and Draco cleared his throat. "I mean, isn't that her lovely...erm...bodacious? Yes, isn't that her lovely, bodacious mother's name?" he asked, clearly uncomfortable.

Blaise, clearly amused at Draco's word choice, nodded. "Yes. But don't you love her first name? I mean, it's just so...powerful sounding. One would think her name is Virginia, but I think Ginevra suits her much better. Isn't it supposed to be some sort of derivation of the name Guinevere? As in King Arthur's queen?" he asked. Funny, he added to himself, Arthur is her father's name.

"How the hell am I supposed to know that, Blaise? And why the hell do you know that? Do you look up people's name's histories for kicks?" Draco looked at him with a slight look of bewilderment on his face.

Blaise blushed slightly. "Well, to be completely honest, I may have fancied Ginny myself once upon a time..." he looked away, hoping Draco wouldn't explode. Draco is notorious for having volcanic fits of jealousy.

"When?" Draco demanded, trying to keep his temper in check. Even though Ginny wasn't technically his and Blaise's liking of her was in the past, he still couldn't help but feeling a bout of envy.

Blaise thought for a moment. "Well, we had a bit of a run-in in our sixth year, her fifth. I knocked into her, accidentally of course, and she shot me with a Bat-Bogey hex so fierce, I thought I wouldn't be able to see for months. It was amazing," Blaise reminisced. "She absolutely fascinated me, so I just looked around a bit to find out more about her." Draco remembered the situation all too well. After Blaise had told him what the charming little Weasley had done, Draco became a tad bit fascinated himself. He started to watch her at meal times, and he learned to adore the red hair that he had snubbed for the past five years. If someone back then were to tell Draco that a little attraction to Ginny would lead to him falling in love with her less than a year later, he probably would have hexed them into the next century.

Draco looked at him with a calculating gaze. "And why, pray tell, didn't you pursue her?"

"Oh, come on, Draco, you know I'm the modest type," Blaise teased.

Draco looked at him with mock seriousness. "I didn't even think 'modest' was a word in your vocabulary. And, remind me to tell your little girlfriend how much of a creepy stalker you can be."

Blaise feigned hurt. "Draco, you wound me to no end."

"Remind me why I have a drama queen for a best friend?" Draco grinned.

"Because of my dashing good looks and irresistible charm?"

"I'm your friend, you idiot, not your boyfriend. Merlin's beard," Draco sighed exasperatedly.

"I know, Dray, but you love me all the same," Blaise smirked at the indignant look on Draco's face. "Oh, that's right. You love a cute little fox named Guinevere."

Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend's antics, but he still could not get the fact that he was in love with Ginny Weasley out of his head.

"So how are you going to do it?" Blaise asked.

"Do what?" Draco responded cautiously.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "How are you going to get her back? You're in love with her, for Merlin's sake. You can't just let that slide."

Draco crossed his arms stubbornly and put his nose in the air. "Just because I love the little weasel doesn't mean I have to be exactly happy with her at the moment."

Blaise sighed. "Fine, Draco. I'll talk to her." At Draco's horrified look, Blaise quickly added, "But don't worry, I won't tell her about the big L word just yet. You can do that yourself." Draco grimaced slightly as Blaise made his way towards to door.

"Hey Blaise!" Draco called after him.

"Yes?" Blaise said dramatically while poking his head back in the doorway.

"Thanks." Draco grinned weakly.

Blaise smiled back. "No problem, Draco." And with that, he left the Head Boy dormitory.

----

Usually, regret was not a word in Ginny Weasley's vocabulary. But lately, it seemed as if everything she did, she instantly regretted afterwards. She was bitterly reprimanding herself for ever going out with the Golden Boy, for isolating herself at the beginning of the year, for trusting not one, but two Slytherins, for standing out in the rain for Merlin knows how long, and for kissing Draco Malfoy.

It was obvious why she regretted dating Harry, seeing as how it ended in disaster. Because she isolated herself, she lost a lot of her good friends, like Colin and Luna. It wasn't as if she regretted her friendship with Blaise, but she wished that he wasn't a Slytherin. Also, because she had stayed out in the rain for so long, she had a horrible head cold to match how horrible she was feeling for kissing Malfoy. She had just learned that his father was behind some elaborate plot to destroy her family and what does she do? She goes and kisses him! Ginny was ashamed of herself.

Yet, she couldn't get the pained look that crossed Draco's face when she told him that she shouldn't have kissed him out of her head. She felt extremely guilty for making him feel that way, but she didn't know why he was so hurt. Ginny always knew that Draco Malfoy was one to always shelter his feelings, and never let any kind of emotion so freely pass across his face. She felt like she had sort of led him on by kissing him, and then revoking it by talking about their bloody last names. Ginny groaned when she realized what she had done. She had made Draco feel like he was being incriminated just because of his name, his father's name. Stupid Ginny, she thought to herself. How bloody shallow can you get?

She decided that she might as well keep her friendship with Blaise, and she planned on owling him to talk to him about Draco, but not after she got a Pepper-Up potion from Madame Pomfrey.

Ginny shuffled her feet to the Hospital Wing, and when Madame Pomfrey saw her, she blew up. "What in Merlin's name were you doing outside? It's a bloody storm out there! You could be dying!"

Ginny rolled her eyes at Madame Pomfrey's antics and asked, stuffily, for a Pepper-Up potion, insisting that it was just a head cold. Madame Pomfrey looked at her sternly and gave her the potion. Ginny downed it quickly, feeling instantly better, and left the Hospital Wing.

Her next stop was the Owlery. On her way up, however, she met the Slytherin that she was wanting to write to. "Blaise, I'm so glad I found you! I was about to owl you to meet me somewhere." He looked at her curiously, silently encouraging her to continue. "Listen, I really need to talk to you. But not here...um...why don't we go down to the kitchens? I'm a bit famished." She smiled nervously and led him to the portrait of the bowl of fruit, tickled the pear, and opened the portrait.

They sat down at a table and Blaise asked her, "Is this about Draco?"

Ginny sighed. "Yes." She put her head on the table. "I'm a horrible person, you know that?"

"Why's that, Gin?"

Ginny lifted her head off of the table and she began to explain to Blaise what had happened earlier outside, how she had kissed Draco and then told him how she thought it was stupid of them to do it because of who his father was.

Blaise looked at her sadly. "Well, I'm going to be brutally honest here, Ginny. Let's just say that you said probably the worst thing you could possibly say after kissing Draco. You could have told him he was a horrible kisser and he would have been happier than what I saw earlier."

Ginny looked at him curiously. "You saw him earlier? How was he?"

Blaise looked a bit uncomfortable. He didn't want to tell her anything about Draco's mother, he felt as if it wasn't his place. "Well, he was a bit down, obviously, but then we just talked for a bit and I think he's actually in a bit of a better mood. With me, at least. Can't say he's exactly happy with you." Blaise smiled sympathetically.

Ginny groaned. "Okay, so should I apologize? Should I give him time? What should I do, Blaise?" she asked, desperation in her voice.

Blaise leaned back in his chair and put a finger on his chin. "Hmm...why don't you have him meet you at the Room of Requirement after dinner? I'll relay the message to him."

Ginny thought about it for a moment, then nodded her consent. "Perfect. Now I just have to figure out what to say to him. Should I apologize profusely and grovel at his feet?" she grinned.

Blaise laughed. "Not necessarily. You should definitely apologize, and give him some sort of explanation about your actions, and maybe you should throw in that he's a fabulous kisser. You know, for his ego." he smirked.

Ginny giggled. "What would I do without you, Blaise?" she stood up, getting ready to leave.

Blaise pondered this for a minute. "Well, I suppose you would be in a right fix if you didn't have me to get you out of it."

Ginny rolled her eyes and said, "I guess you're right."

They walked out of the kitchen arm in arm, while Ginny thought to herself what she should say to Draco later on.

----

After dinner, Ginny approached the area where the Room of Requirement was located. She saw that the door was already in place and that it was open a crack. Draco must already be here, she thought to herself.

Ginny wasn't even able to eat anything during dinner, despite her previous hunger. She nervously kept glancing at the Slytherin table, waiting for Draco to leave so she could follow. Everytime she looked up, Blaise would catch her eye and wink at her. She would smile back at him and resume to staring at her full plate.

Ginny took a deep breath and pushed the door open, cringing when it began to creak. Draco turned around at the noise and saw Ginny standing there in the doorway. She cleared her throat awkwardly before closing the door behind her. Without making eye contact, she walked to the sofa that was in the middle in the room and sat down. Draco stayed where he was standing. Steeling herself, Ginny looked up into Draco's eyes. She spoke directly, sincerely, to him. "Draco, I'm sorry, incredibly sorry. What I said was ignorant and foolish and I take it back. I know you're not your father; I was just scared. I-I don't know what to do about any of this," her voice cracked and Draco knew that she would probably start crying. Indeed, tears started to fall down her face and Draco sat beside her.

He put his arm around her shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's okay, Ginny. I probably would have done the same thing if I found out that your father wanted to kill my family," he joked mirthlessly.

"Draco my father isn't even capable of hurting a fly," she said exasperatedly, before laughing lightly. "I'm really, really sorry Draco."

"I know, Gin," he kissed the top of her head lightly. "I know. And listen, I'm going to try to do whatever I can to stop my father."

"No, Draco, you don't have to--"

"Yes, I do, Ginny. All my life, I've felt that my existence was worth nothing, and that I was only put on this earth to please my father. Now, I want to do something worthwile, something that I'm meant to do, and I feel that stopping my father is what I have to do," he said seriously.

Ginny sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt. I really care about you."

Tell her now, his conscience commanded. Tell her that you love her now. "I-I really care about you too, Gin." Damn it all.

Ginny turned in his embrace to smile at him, before kissing him on the lips. They kissed softly for a few moments when the door, oddly, burst open. Harry stood there, with a mixed look of fury and betrayal on his face.

"Ginny, what the bloody hell are you doing?!"

Ginny sighed exasperatedly and muttered to Draco, "Honestly, it's like I'm friends with him or something." Draco chuckled lightly before Ginny stood up. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"You can explain to me why the hell you were snogging ferret boy over there!"

"I resent that!" Draco called out. Both Ginny and Harry shushed him.

"Potter, I don't see how this is any of your business. You're not my friend, you're not my brother. You have no place in my life, so I suggest you leave before I make you," she pointed her wand at him threateningly.

Ginny and Harry glared daggers at each other before Harry smirked wickedly, a look that's really very unbecoming of him. "Well, I happen to know a certain brother of yours who would most likely erupt when I disclose this nice little bit of information to him." He turned and walked out of the Room of Requirement, and in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"Bloody prat," she muttered.

Draco looked at her confused. "Ginny? Aren't you going to stop him? You know how apopleptic your brother can get."

Ginny laughed. "Well, considering how my brother and Potter are in a pretty tentative friendship at the moment, I'm pretty sure I can get away with telling Ron that Harry made it up in hopes that Ron would probably kill you, making me all sad and distressed and running into the arms of the bloody Golden Boy." She laughed to herself for a moment before sobering quickly. "Actually, you should probably get out of here. Gryffindor is on this floor so it's only a matter of time before my brother comes storming in here like the tactless dunderhead that he is."

Draco stood up to leave. He kissed Ginny and said, "See you around." They smiled at each other a last time before he left for the dungeons.

Ginny exited the room and made her way to Gryffindor. On the way, she met up with Ron and Harry who were running towards her as if the devil was on their heels. Ginny feigned concern. "Ron, what's the matter?"

"Where is he?!" he shouted.

Ginny looked at him curiously. "Where's who?"

"Malfoy!"

She continued to stare at him. "Am I missing something here?"

Ron glared at her. "Harry just told me that he caught you two snogging in the Room of Requirement!"

Ginny laughed, boisterously. "Me? Snogging ferret boy? That's rich, Ron. Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Harry told me he saw you!"

Ginny rounded on Harry, her laughter ceasing. "Oh he did, did he? Well I've got news for you. No such thing happened and if Harry thinks that he can make things up in some twisted scheme he has to make me go back to him, then I don't think you should believe him Ron."

Ron turned to Harry. "You made it up?"

Harry looked at him incredulously. "No, I didn't! She's totally trying to turn you against me! I never did anything to her!"

Ginny scoffed. "That's the greatest load of dragon dung I've ever heard. Never did anything to me? Does the name 'Mallory Sinclair' ring a bell, you brainless fool?" She huffed in annoyance. "Whatever, you two. I'm off, lots of studying to do." With that, she left the two boys and made her way to Gryffindor.

Ron looked at Harry seriously. "Harry, I have no idea what's going on here, but I think it's best if we didn't associate too much with each other from now on." When Harry didn't respond, Ron walked away after his sister.

Harry punched the stone wall in frustration before sinking to the ground. He bowed his head, vowing to never let anyone see the tears that fell from his eyes.

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

A/N: well, this is a lot longer than expected. poor harry, eh? yeah. this chapter is nothing like the way i outlined it to be. the part with draco and blaise was way longer than i intended.

i honestly have no idea where i come up with any of this stuff.

reviews are nice :D