Full Summary: A spell gone wrong sends Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy back to Hogwarts and into their sixteen year old bodies. While struggling to trust each other enough to find a way back, they must deal with their own moral issues. Can they stop the war before the people they love die or are they fated to watch their history repeat itself.
Pairing/s: Draco/Ginny, slight Ron/Hermione
A/N: don't own don't sue
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Crashed' by Daughtry
Just so you know, Ginny and Harry will not be getting together, even if it is canon. It's a terrible pairing, completely cliché beyond words and I like to pretend that bloody awful epilogue doesn't even exist.
Chapter Three
Well I was moving at the speed of sound
Head-spinning, couldn't find my way around, and
Didn't know that I was going down
Yeah, yeah
Where I've been, well it's all a blur
What I was looking for, I'm not sure
Too late and didn't see it coming
Yeah, yeah
And then I crashed into you
And I went up in flames
Could've been the death of me
But then you breathed your breath in me
And I crashed into you
Like a runaway train
You will consume me
But I can't walk away
Somehow, I couldn't stop myself
I just wanted to know how it felt
Too strong, I couldn't hold on
Yeah, yeah
Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense
Out of how and why this happened
Where we're heading, there's just no knowing
Yeah, yeah
And then I crashed into you
And I went up in flames
Could've been the death of me
But then you breathed your breath in me
And I crashed into you
Like a runaway train
You will consume me
But I can't walk away
From your face, your eyes
Are burning to me
You saved me, you gave me
Just what I need
Oh, just what I need
And then I crashed into you
And I went up in flames
Could've been the death of me
But then you breathed your breath in me
And I crashed into you
Like a runaway train
You will consume me
But I can't walk away
Voices. Noisy voices. Noisy voices pretending to be quiet.
Ginny groaned and rolled over, pulling aside a curtain so she could glare. She hadn't had a lie in on a Saturday for years. Aurora and Quinn were sitting at the window seat trying to perfect the spell that shaped your eyebrows without any plucking. Ginny heaved herself out of bed and stared around the rest of the room. Selina was scurrying back into the room in a towel, her long dark hair wrapped up in a matching pink towel.
Ginny dug her own rough towels out from her trunk and headed towards the door. There was an outburst of giggling from behind her when Quinn accidentally turned her eyebrows pink. Ginny had not missed communal showers. She hadn't had her own shower until a few years after she had graduated from Healer Academy and moved into her own flat. Twenty-two years was a long time to wait.
She also realised how much longer her hair was when it took twenty minutes to wash it. She would have to find out when the next Hogsmeade trip was and get it all cut off. She was contemplating what to do with it when she walked slap into someone in the middle of the corridor. Luckily she didn't let go of her towel. Typical.
"Watch where you're walking, Weasley."
She glowered at Draco, who had a damp patch on his blue shirt from her hair. He was flanked by Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson, both of whom eyed her as if she was something on the bottom of their expensive new shoes. Ginny fixed her gaze on Blaise, who was running his dark eyes over her bare legs. He could look at her however he liked, but he was still going to end up married to an appalling witch who kept his testicles in her purse. Pansy was leaning against Draco's shoulder with a superior look on her face. And she would end up married to a gold-digging wizard who was having an affair with her hair dresser. Her male hair dresser. Ginny drew herself up to her full height, gave the three Slytherins a sneer that could rival their own and sashayed past them.
The dorm room was empty when she got back but there was a note taped to her bedpost. She cast a drying charm on her hair and wrapped it up in a messy bun at the crown of her head out of her way. The array of second-hand clothes that met her when she saw her trunk made her want to both laugh and cry. She slipped into a pair of Charlie's old jeans, a Led Zeppelin t-shirt she'd saved up for for months and a chunky navy blue cardigan with a big collar and huge pockets. She had hated this cardigan when her Mum had knitted it for her. Now it smelt familiar and comforting.
When she reached the Common Room her roommates were standing by one of the windows flirting with Seamus and Dean, the trio were in a corner discussing something secret or other. Ginny hovered at the bottom of the stairs, trying to remember what she used to do on her Saturdays at Hogwarts.
"Ginny!"
Ginny headed gratefully over to Neville, who was sweating over his Potions homework. Neville handed her a hand-written note and went back to his work. Ginny unravelled the parchment, casting a furtive glance around to make sure no one was watching. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to her. She sighed, feeling unutterably sorry for herself. The parchment was heavy and felt satiny smooth against her fingers, obviously very expensive. Malfoy had lovely writing, she noted absently, all sloping elegant characters and loopy swirls. He must have been taught by a professional calligrapher, one of those who wrote official letters and whatnot. It was a brief note and it simply told her that he was researching whenever he could but the only texts that mentioned time travel had nothing to do with their current condition and they mostly advised against experimenting because it was so very complicated to undo the results. Tell us something we don't know, he'd written underneath. She giggled.
Neville looked up from his work, distracted by her humour. He looked so vulnerable and so helpless that Ginny took pity on him and pulled his essay towards her. By the time they'd finished the Common Room had emptied and Ginny's stomach was rumbling. The Great Hall was practically deserted when she reached it, only a couple of first year boys were sitting at the Gryffindor table as she slid into a seat. She helped herself to some fruit and a couple of cereal bars. Draco was apparently deep in conversation with Pansy Parkinson by the door but when she glanced up mid-bite he caught her gaze. He flicked his silvery gaze towards the window then returned his attention back to Pansy before she could notice.
Ginny finished her breakfast and flipped through a discarded Daily Prophet before heading out to meet him, not wanting to draw too much attention to their meeting. The grounds were filled with activity, students rushing around throwing snowballs, a bunch of snowmen were being constructed and a couple of fifth year Slytherins were playing chicken with the sharp icicles dangling from the parapet, shooting snowballs at them and then dodging the falling ice.
Ginny circled around the main grounds and drifted towards the Forbidden Forest. As she waited for him to find her she pulled her sleeves over her cold hands and stamped her numb feet. The Forbidden Forest looked disturbingly pretty under its blanket of snow, branches coated in white and glittering in the cold sunlight. Something dark moved between two trees and she froze, one hand going to her wand as she squinted intently into the trees.
"What are you staring at?"
She gripped the hand on her shoulder, twisted the wrist round to a painful angle and brought him to his knees. Draco gaped at her when she realised who he was and let go of him. He glowered at her but she didn't apologize, returning her wand to her pocket and helping him up. There was a grudging sort of respect at the back of his eyes as he rubbed his sore wrist.
"Who did you think I was?" He finally asked her, brushing snow from his black trousers.
"I remember being trapped in a building with hundreds of hormonal teenage boys." She told him pointedly, waving a hand over her shoulder when a pair of flushed seventh year Hufflepuffs emerged from a shaded corner of the castle behind him.
A slow grin spread over his face and she swallowed, wondering why the lazy smile that lit up his strange eyes made her want to squirm. He reached out his uninjured arm and brushed a stray snowflake out of her hair. She recoiled backwards slightly and stumbled over a hidden root. Faster than lightening his hand whipped out and grabbed her wrist, steadying her. This meeting was not going the way she'd thought it would. The Draco Malfoy she'd known and despised for seven long years had been petty, spiteful, malicious and desperate for his father's approval. He had been selfish and cruel. But he'd been a boy then. Being sent backwards seemed to have lifted all his troubles and fears both then and now. He was happier and lighter, as if he'd gotten his innocence back.
"If you continue to stare at me for much longer, I may begin to develop an ego."
Ginny snorted and rolled her eyes, taking a few steps into the trees so they wouldn't be seen from a distance.
"What do you mean, 'begin to develop'?"
He gave her a wounded look which she ignored. She stamped her feet to keep the blood flowing, wishing she'd thought to bring her gloves out with her. She balled her hands up into the pockets of her cardigan. He didn't look the slightest bit cold.
"Have you found anything out?" She asked impatiently as the snow began to seep into her winter boots.
"Well I've discovered that a witch called Morella tried to go back in time to seduce Merlin, but she miscalculated some ingredients and ended up in St Mungos. A pair of wizards tried to go into the future in the 80's and splinched themselves, possibly creating the huge shoulder look in the process. A witch claims she sent her cat back to stop the Salem witch burnings but there's no way to prove that…"
"I get the point." Ginny interrupted since he looked perfectly capable of reeling off similar stories for quite a while yet.
"You'd be surprised how many cats were used in these experiments."
She glared at him but he just smiled back at her cheerfully, his cheeks rosy and his eyes bright. His complexion suited the snowy weather. The red sweater he wore was a flash of colour against the black and white background of the trees. He looked like a painting, as if the backdrop had been created entirely for this conversation.
"Staring." He pointed out with one of those smirks that made her want to slap it off his face.
"Why did you drag me out here if you haven't found anything?" She muttered grumpily, bobbing up and down on the spot.
"I didn't say I hadn't found anything." He told her cheerfully, brushing snow from his shoulders thoughtfully. "There's a witch in Fiji who sounds promising."
Ginny chose not to comment, her teeth were starting to chatter anyway. Draco told her that he'd sent a letter to the witch that morning. He gave her a funny look and peered closely at her.
"What's wrong with you?"
Ginny glared and pulled her cardigan even tighter around herself.
"I'm freezing that's what. Bloody cold-blooded reptile."
He took the insult amicably enough and Ginny squirmed uncomfortably, the Malfoy she knew would have whipped out his wand and tried to curse her by now. This new Draco Malfoy was a mystery and she wasn't quite sure how to take him. He looked like he was about to say something else but Aurora appeared near the castle shouting for Ginny. They looked at each other in awkward silence for a moment.
"I should…" Ginny trailed off uncertainly. Things were much easier when they were arguing.
"Off you trot, Weasley." Draco said calmly, looking for all the world as if he couldn't care less whether she went or not.
Ginny bristled, turning her back on him firmly and flouncing back to the castle.
"Maybe we're not actually here."
Draco's head appeared from behind the huge tome in his hands and he stared at her as if she'd announced her intention to marry Snape. He shot a glance at the study room door as if contemplating escape.
"I mean maybe we're in St Mungos right now."
Ginny's face was flushed with excitement as she leaned across the scratched battered old table.
They'd managed to slip into one of the study rooms at the back of the Library after dinner. It was a risky operation because people usually only used the rooms for illicit kissing sessions. There was a rickety old table with a chair squeezed in on either side and a tiny little window high up in the far wall.
"We could just be stuck in our heads or something."
Draco gave her a pitying look that made her want to reach across the table and slap him. He patted her hand.
"Oh yes I'm sure there's a pretty young Healer peering under my bedclothes and brandishing a thermometer right this second."
Ginny flapped away his sarcasm with her hand and continued to insist that it was entirely possible that they were in a coma or something.
"And we just happen to be having the exact same dream? And we're conscious of each other, are we?"
Ginny shot him the most poisonous look she could muster and held the book in her hands up between them again. It was no good. This book was all about how time was relevant to the strength of charms and potions. Useless. She got up.
"I'm going to look for some more books."
He didn't look up but she saw his eyebrows rising. He'd stopped slicking back his hair quite so severely and it tumbled over his forehead quite fetchingly now.
"By all means." He said serenely, flipping over the page and scanning the next chapter. "We could do with a few more."
Ginny contemplated cursing those bloody eyebrows off, but that wouldn't get them very far. She stomped around him, upsetting a wobbly pile of books perched on the edge of the table. They crashed to the floor, bouncing off her toes one after the other. She was still grumbling and swearing when she backed out of the room, rubbing her toe angrily.
"Ginny?" She froze, looking quite ridiculous with one leg in the air and a horrified slash surprised expression on her face.
Dean Thomas was peering at her curiously, a pile of books under his arm. Ginny was very glad she'd at least had the presence of mind to close the door behind her despite her swearing rant. Dean ran a hand through his dark hair as she slowly lowered her foot to the floor. Her mind was working furiously. Was Dean her boyfriend? She'd been so busy it had never even occurred to her that she'd done her fair share of dating in school.
A grin spread slowly over his face. He glanced over his shoulder but they were quite alone at this end of the library. He took a step towards her and she shrank back against the wall. Wasn't kissing a sixteen year old boy at her age slightly perverse? It certainly felt like it. Before she could protest he'd pressed his lips against hers, his free hand sliding around her waist.
For a brief moment she remembered what it was like to be Dean Thomas's girlfriend. He smelled of soap and pumpkin juice and his lips were gentle against hers. It had been a long time since she'd had an innocent, trusting kiss. Wizards her age were hasty and fumbling, impatient to get to the good part. Her mind reluctantly reminded her that she was probably breaking a few laws right now. Whether she was in her teenage body or not, mentally she was much too old for this. Much too old? I'm only twenty-seven! She thought indignantly.
Dean seemed to have realised that she wasn't kissing him back because he drew away, his brow furrowed in puzzlement. She gave him a weak grin. She made something up about having a cold and not wanting to pass it on to him. He squinted at her for a moment but Seamus Finnegan appeared at the end of a nearby aisle, waving a book at him. A shadow crossed Dean's eyes but he kissed Ginny sweetly on the cheek and belted down the aisle towards Seamus without comment.
Ginny lifted a slightly unsteady hand to her mouth, pressing the back of her hand against her pursed lips. This was far more complicated than she'd imagined.
Ginny couldn't sleep at all that night. She'd forgotten Selina's wheezy snores and how restless Quinn was at night. She could hear her rolling over again. She was starting to get uncomfortable. She could feel the hundreds of people around her weighing down on her chest. A band was tightening around her lungs.
She tossed back her covers and slid out of bed. She was burning hot and her breaths were quick and panicky. She needed air. There was no way she'd be able to get of the front doors in the middle of the night, not with all the new protections. She crept out of the portrait hole and headed for the Owlery.
The school was a whole different castle at night. The usually crowded noisy hallways were deserted and shrouded in darkness. Silence pressed down on her from all sides. Not even the portrait figures moved. She took the corridors least likely to be occupied. Moonlight flooded most of them as she took the outer hallways rather than the central ones. She didn't feel any of the fear she used to feel at being out of bed in the middle of the night. She felt almost exhilarated, as if she owned the whole castle.
She was light on her feet as she bounced up the stairs and raced down a corridor. The moonlight cast silvery shadows on the stone floor before her. She could feel the cold seeping up through her bare feet. Her heart was racing and her lungs were fit to burst. She was a Healer, she knew she was on the edge of a panic attack and the knowledge managed to calm her slightly.
The Owlery was deserted; all of the owls were out hunting or delivering letters. She bounded across the room, ignoring the unpleasant crunchy squelching under her feet, and threw her head out of the window. It was icy outside and she gasped in huge lungfuls of frigid air gratefully. Letting the frozen wind whip across her face and cool her burning cheeks.
It was all too much. She was surrounded by ghosts. Her friends. They sat opposite her in the Great Hall, they passed by her in the hallways, she saw them in class and she sat with them in the Common Room, none of them realising that they'd soon be gone. Their lives were ticking down. They laughed and gossiped about boys, complained about homework and argued over borrowed sweaters. It made her nauseous, guilt and fear clenching in her stomach and knotting up her insides. And Ginny couldn't say a word about it. It was worse than being haunted. She could already feel her mind beginning to fray, her heart and her sanity unravelling.
She didn't realise she'd thrown up until the smell stung her nose. She pointed her wand at the noxious puddle on the floor and it vanished. She tapped her mouth and the lingering taste vanished too. She wiped the tears from her face as footsteps sounded on the stairs.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded when Malfoy's silver head appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Waiting for a letter, of course." He gave her a puzzled look and she realised that she hadn't bothered to pull on a cloak. "What's your excuse?"
She shivered. Now her panic was dissipating, she was starting to feel the cold through the thin over-sized t-shirt she slept in.
"I was getting some air." She finally said, a little lamely as she watched Malfoy's grey eyes flicker over the ice crystals still scattered in her wild hair and her red cheeks.
"I see." He murmured, not sounding the least bit convinced.
She bristled at him. She knew she must look suspicious, creeping around the Owlery in the middle of the night in a flimsy night-shirt with her hair all windswept and tangling over her shoulders. It probably didn't help that her feverish appearance could be misinterpreted. She wondered briefly if he was planning on meeting somebody up here. It wasn't exactly romantic, what with the dropping-strewn floor and the overwhelming smell of owl. But you never knew.
"Why are you creeping around up here in the middle of the night?" She snapped, ignoring the fact that she was doing the exact same thing.
"Well personally I thought a bird native to Fiji swooping in at breakfast would attract a bit of attention." He shrugged his shoulders as if it couldn't matter to him less. "But then I'm just a Slytherin, not nearly as cunning as you, Gryffindors. Not quite got the brains of a Ravenclaw either. Although I have to say I am still a touch above those Hufflepuffs—"
"Stop twittering." Ginny interrupted, torn between amusement and annoyance.
She scowled at him but couldn't think of anything else to say. Draco finally mounted the final step and entered the room. He shivered and tugged his cloak around his shoulders. He peered at her for a moment and then moved to shrug out of his cloak. Before he could take it off, Ginny moved away from the window and further into the room. She shook her head and he frowned. He was staring at her intently through the gloom and she shifted slightly. He'd been giving her strange looks lately, piercing looks that skewered right through her.
"Shouldn't you be asleep? You have a Potions test tomorrow, don't you?" He said eventually, brushing his hair away from his face as a sweep of wind gusted through the archways.
She stared at him suspiciously but he was looking over her shoulder now, out of the window at the distant horizon. A sliver of pink was visible in the distance.
"How did you know that?"
He gave a shout of laughter and looked back at her. She could hardly see him in the shadowy room but his eyes were glittering brightly with amusement.
"Don't worry, I've no special interest. I saw Snape's lesson plan for tomorrow morning on his desk."
She sniffed haughtily, now thoroughly cold. Her bare feet had gone numb. She brushed past him, briefly aware of his body heat in her cold state.
"Watch your magic, Weasley."
She paused, one foot dangling above the stone steps. She turned to look at him.
"Was that some sort of perverted euphemism, Malfoy?"
He blinked and then a wicked grin curled his lips. She realised how plump his lower lip was.
"Unfortunately not. You're supposed to be in your fifth year. You shouldn't know ninety percent of the things you know. Try and remember how dumb you were at this age." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "That idiotic half-dense, half-afraid look you get on your face when you're thinking of an excuse not to kiss Thomas. Use that look a lot."
"How dare—" Ginny sputtered, her face flushing bright red in anger.
She nearly tripped back up the stairs in her fury and it only annoyed her further when he reached out and steadied her. She wrenched her elbow out of his firm grasp and nearly tumbled down the staircase. She gave him a last nasty look and flounced away with all the dignity she could muster.
Ginny was pretty sure she'd failed her Potions test. After she'd dragged herself through her lessons, she'd tried to crawl into bed and block everything out but there was a constant stream of traffic. The Common Room was packed so there was no relaxing in there either. She contemplated fleeing to the Hospital Wing but then she'd have to have an excuse to give Madam Pomfrey. She could always say she had cramps.
She trudged wearily around the castle, wondering where she could ever be alone. She looked as bad as she felt too. Her hair was lifeless, pulled back in a long ponytail and her face was deathly white. She had black marks like bruises under her shadowed eyes and she could barely bring herself to eat. At first she'd been worried about getting back but now she was sickened by the very thought of what was coming. It loomed on the horizon like a dark cloud of death. It was affecting her badly. She'd finally broken up with Dean, tired of dodging into empty classrooms and bathrooms and thinking of excuses to avoid him. Luckily most of her friends assumed her declining health and sullen mood were because of their break up.
She wandered aimlessly around the castle. Most people were in the Great Hall for dinner. A group of giggling Ravenclaw girls were hovering near the boy's bathroom on the third floor. Two Hufflepuff boys emerged from the bathroom, looking momentarily surprised to see the girls now staring resolutely in a different direction, and then very smug and impressed with themselves. Ginny found herself grinning for the first time in days. The Hufflepuff boys had paused in the hallway. One of them bent down to tie his lace and the other one leaned casually against the wall.
The gaggle of girls moved closer, still gossiping and surreptitiously eyeing the two boys. Ginny left them to it and was about to escape through a secret door that liked to move around the hallway when it opened before her. Draco and Blaise emerged, laughing uproariously. Ginny took a step back until she was hidden by the open door.
"A Hufflepuff girl, Blaise. Sometimes I think you have no standards whatsoever."
Blaise swore at Draco but there was no malice in his voice. Ginny had never heard any Slytherins talking alone, their snarky spiteful voices vanished and they were just like any other people. Blaise's footsteps echoed down the hall as they left. The conversation amongst the younger students down the hall ceased abruptly as they passed.
"Standing behind a door listening to personal conversations is considered the height of bad manners, you know."
Ginny wasn't the least bit surprised that he knew she was there. She pushed the door, half of her hoping that she hit him with it. It clicked closed and zoomed off along the wall.
"What's wrong with Hufflepuffs?" She demanded, deciding that he was just the right person to take her mood out on.
He lifted his eyebrows in that expressive way she was starting to hate.
"I was under the impression we were supposed to be acting like our teenage selves."
She couldn't think of anything to say to that. He was staring at her intently, taking in her pallor and her dull hair and eyes. Her robes were second-hand so they were loose anyway, but he had the feeling she'd lost some weight.
"You look terrible."
A flash of her usual boldness briefly illuminated her face. She drew herself up and gave him the haughtiest look she could muster.
"Why thank you, Malfoy." She said icily, giving his usual perfect appearance a contemptuous once over. "Just what a girl wants to hear."
He frowned. The sudden noise behind him told her the group of Ravenclaw girls were heading their way. He grabbed her wrist and hustled her into a stone alcove behind a nearby statue. It was freezing in the small space, surrounded by cold stone walls and Ginny shivered.
"That witch finally replied."
Ginny blinked at him blankly for a moment and then her brain caught up. Fiji. Draco pulled a roll of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to her. It didn't say very much, she asked for more information about their predicament mainly.
"Look Weasley, you need to get yourself together." She opened her mouth angrily but he continued to talk right over her. "We are in trouble. This is difficult for you, I won't say I understand because I can't."
Ginny was horrified to feel her lip beginning to tremble. Her hands were shaking in her pockets.
"Things are going to get very complicated very soon." His face was dark and she wondered what horrible things he was remembering. "We need to get back as quickly as we can. We can't mess around with what's coming. The repercussions of meddling with time…" He shook his head, looking momentarily lost for words. "I can't get a grasp on how painful this must be for you, but once we know how to get back—"
She knew why he'd paused. He meant they would get back before she saw her family and her friends murdered all over again. He hadn't lost anyone, he didn't know how it felt. They looked at each other in tense silence for a while. Until the hallways were beginning to fill with noise again and they knew dinner was over. Ginny made a gargantuan effort and gathered her fragile self together. She was strong. She would manage. She gave him a small nod and relief danced in his eyes.
"And Weasley." She looked up at him, his face was very close in the small alcove though she couldn't read his expression. "Take a shower, will you."
She glared at him. He stared back quite calmly. Her lips tweaked and she slipped out of the alcove.
They went their separate ways, blending into the crowds jostling and laughing in the corridors. Ginny headed straight for the bathroom, planning on standing under the hot shower until her fears had receded somewhat.
"Hey, Ginny!"
Ginny turned but there were so many people crowding into the corridor she couldn't see who was calling her. Eventually Colin Creevey staggered to her side with a beaming smile.
"Harry wanted me to remind you about practice tonight."
Colin had the same sort of proud cheery expression on his face that Pigwidgeon got when he successfully delivered a letter. He was bobbing on the spot waiting for her to reply.
"Practice?" Ginny repeated stupidly, still trying to clear the fuzz from her dozy brain.
"Quidditch practice." Colin burst out excitedly, not noticing the strange expression on Ginny's face.
"Oh. Right. Quidditch." Ginny nodded and thanked Colin and he melted back into the crowd, no doubt to tell Harry he'd passed on the message for him.
Ginny had forgotten all about Quidditch. Ginny searched her distant memories, trying to remember who was on the team in her fifth year. The twins had already left. Oliver Wood had graduated. Angelina and Alicia too. Ginny got more and more nervous as she scrubbed and rinsed her hair, letting the familiar routine act as a therapy to her muddled thoughts. Nowadays she only played Quidditch with her brothers and Harry in the backyard. She only played for fun, it had been years since she'd actually competed.
Still, if she flew terribly, she could always blame it on the long summer weeks without any real training she decided as she climbed out of the shower and wrapped herself in a big towel. She was actually quite cheerful at the prospect of playing Quidditch again and she hurried back to the Common Room to get changed.
"Hey, Gin."
She waved to Demelza and Jimmy, a few yards ahead of her on the path down to the Quidditch pitch. They were animatedly dissected the new plays Harry had created. Ginny felt better than she had in days at the prospect of a good training session ahead. It had gone quite dark but the pitch was well lit and the cold air was invigorating. Harry and Ron were far behind her, still inside the castle, and the rest of the team were scattered ahead on the long path through the frosty grass. She could hear voices though.
Before she could move away from the path, something moved from behind one of the windows and a bright yellow square of light illuminated the two figures arguing by the castle wall. Ginny would recognise that head of silver hair anywhere.
"Malfoy." She blurted automatically, stopping in the middle of the path and dropping her broomstick in surprise.
The two figures turned towards her. Blaise Zabini sneered. His face was red with anger and he appeared to be a little out of breath. Ginny recoiled slightly at the look on his face and he took a predatory step towards her.
"Get lost, Weasley." He snarled acidly, looking quite ready to strike her.
Ginny stood her ground. Draco was paler than ever and his eyes were darting from Blaise to Ginny.
"Hey I have every right to walk around here. Why don't you two take your lover's spat somewhere else." She sneered, summoning her bratty younger sister persona.
Blaise strode over to her before she could move and his long fingers bit into her arm. He gave her a shake.
"I said get lost."
Ginny tried to yank her arm back but he held on. Ginny was starting to feel uncomfortable. She didn't have much experience of Blaise, but his dark eyes were snapping with malice and she could feel his strength. She was sure she'd have bruises later. She glared at him icily.
"Take your hands off me, Zabini." She ordered coolly, sounding a lot more commanding than she felt.
"Come on, Blaise. We've got better things to do." Draco interjected. "Let the little Gryffindor alone before she starts blubbing."
Blaise was peering at her as if he'd never seen her before. Something wicked was flickering at the back of his eyes. Ginny swallowed. She was suddenly aware of herself in a way she'd never been at sixteen. As a teenager she'd worried about never developing like the witches in magazines, now she realised that she was quite developed enough for a sixteen year old boy to appreciate. She spent most of her time in clothes that were too big for her, hand-me-downs from her brothers. In her breeches and the slightly too-small sweater she'd thrown on for practice, she'd exposed to Blaise something he hadn't considered before. He drew her closer to him until there was barely a centimetre between them.
"What are you doing, Zabini?" Ginny demanded, fear beginning to churn in her stomach. "I said let go of me."
He shoved her backwards so hard she fell down. She didn't even have time to brace herself and she felt pain shooting through her back and legs. Blaise pulled out his wand and pointed it at her.
"Take a hike, Weasley. Before I test out some new hexes on you."
Ginny glared at him and got to her feet. Her own wand was by her bed inside. She gripped her broomstick tightly, quite willing to wallop him with it if his wand moved a millimetre. She did not like the idea of turning her back on him to walk away. She saw his hand grip his wand tighter and she lashed out with her broom, catching him smartly in the solar plexus. He grunted in surprise and doubled over. When he straightened up his face had gone from red to white.
"You little-"
He waved his wand and opened his mouth. Ginny took a few rapid steps to the side and he circled with her. She could feel Draco behind her now but Blaise's dark eyes never shifted from her face. Before Blaise could curse her, Ginny felt a flash of heat shoot past her, ruffling her hair and leaving a sharp pain on her neck. Blaise crumpled without a word, falling towards her. She gave a yelp of surprise and felt an arm around her waist, yanking her out of the way of the Slytherin's falling figure.
Blaise fell face first into the grass and didn't move. Ginny nudged him with her broom. Then again with her foot, none-too-gently. Just to be sure.
"What'd you do to him?"
"Stunned him." Draco shrugged. "He'll be fine, I'll make sure he doesn't remember a thing."
Ginny touched her gloved hand to her neck. It was sore. His spell had caught her because of their close proximity.
"Won't he figure out you cursed him after the argument you two were having?"
Draco ignored her question, examining the mark on her neck in the weak light.
"Just a scratch." She said a little hoarsely, terrified of moving when he was so close to her.
There was a loud clatter in the distance and laughing voices shattered the silence. Harry and Ron had finally emerged from the castle. Ginny was distinctly aware that Draco still had his hand on her chin. He let go and she took a step back. They looked at each other in silence and then Ginny hurried to cut off Harry and her brother. She should probably have been concerned that the two of them were thinking so alike nowadays, but she was still trembling from her encounter with Blaise.
"Hey, Ron!" Ron came to a halt and squinted into the darkness until he recognised Ginny. "I can't find my wand, did you see it on your way out here?"
"Ginny you shouldn't be wandering around in the dark on your own without a wand." He chastised immediately with an exasperated look at Harry.
"I had my wand, Ronald. I just seem to have misplaced it." Ginny lied coolly, wondering how long it would take Draco to move Blaise.
She kept them there for a good while longer than they really had to be, crawling in the grass searching for her wand, until Ron got to his feet and flatly refused to keep looking. Arguing took up another ten minutes. Eventually Harry cut in and suggested she check her pockets.
"Oh there it is." Ginny said breezily, her hand buried in the pocket of the robes slung over her arm.
She could still hear Ron cursing behind her all the way down to the changing rooms.