DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the story.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Written in response to the "48 Hours" challenge thrown out by Cheelalaucha in the forums. And yes, I still can't get "Three Bloody Years" finished. My muse has disappeared. And yes, I know my "Experiencing Love: 100 Themes" ain't finished yet. This story is quite AU, as I have omitted the fact that the Wizarding World is threatened by Lord Voldemort. The students are just leaving a quite ordinary life- well, as ordinary as magic can be. Thank you to my lovely reviewers.

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Chapter 3

Ginny, not really knowing what to do, sat herself on the armchair that Malfoy had earlier invited her to make use of. She drew her legs up and circled her arms around them. She put her head between her legs and proceeded to have herself a good sob. In her opinion, she felt that she had the right to sob her eyes out and make use of the fact that females use tears to let out pent-up frustration.

Or maybe she was just scared. Here she was, confined in a room that was in a blindingly hideous red colour with a person that would have been every girl's perfect knight had it not been because he had an absolutely horrible personality. She was probably going to die from dehydration or hunger or even from the winter chill. And she might have to use the loo soon and she did not see one in sight. Nobody would notice that she was gone because her roommates had all gone back for Christmas and by the time they searched for her on Christmas Day, Malfoy would probably had left only her bones for them. She had even left her wand in her room, thinking that she would not need it.

"What's wrong?" Malfoy asked, concerned. He was crouched down in front of her, peering at her. "Don't cry. Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm -hic- fucking stuck -hic- in a fucking -hic- Divination classroom -hic- with a fucking -hic- high Draco Malfoy -hic- with no fucking -hic- way of getting out -hic- or food or water or -hic- a bathroom!" Ginny wailed. "Nobody -hic- would notice that -hic- I'm missing 'till -hic- Christmas Day!"

"Is that all?" Malfoy said, chuckling. "You do cuss a lot when you're upset, don't you? There's a bathroom right there on your left- the door's hidden behind Trelawney's rubbish that she calls 'her source of Sight'. I've went through them before- utterly useless trash they are. And I'm not high so I don't think it's that bad being stuck with me."

"You would -hic- think that!"

"-And didn't you bring your wand with you?" Malfoy continued as if Ginny had never said a word.

"I -hic- left it in my -hic- bedroom!" Ginny sobbed pitifully.

"Rather stupid, don't you think? You really shouldn't have left your wand away from your person," Malfoy admonished.

"I -hic- know that!"

"Well, I brought mine with me. I can conjure food and water up. Shouldn't be a problem at all- quite comfortable, in fact," Malfoy stated, nodding as if he were giving the most logical and obvious answer to their current predicament.

"Can't you -hic- just conjure up -hic- the exit?!" Ginny said.

"Nope. That is part of the castle's magic," Malfoy said serenely. He took out a handkerchief from the pocket of his black coat and handed it to her. "Here, clean your face. You look like shit."

Even when he was being nice, he was a prick. It really boggled her mind that he could do a chilvarous thing and at the same time insult her without even thinking. Ginny calmed down somewhat when she inhaled the comforting scent of the cologne on the handkerchief. She took breathfuls of air with great big gulps. How she wished she had something warm to drink right now. She was absolutely chilled to the bone.

"Here, drink." Malfoy pushed a cup of hot chocolate into her hands, having conjured it.

Ginny watched him suspiciously to decipher if he was reading her mind or was he just being thoughtful. Ginny shook her head. Malfoy and thoughtful did not belong in the same sentence. She also noticed, somewhere in the back of her mind, that while her hands were cold and shaking, his were warm and steady.

'Okay, Ginevra Weasley, get these thoughts of Malfoy out of your head. What was the word Hermione used to erase things in the Muggles' machines? Dit? Deceit? Deplete? Delete! Yes, that was it!' She had to delete these thoughts of Malfoy from her memory space. 'Malfoy's a bad guy and you have to remember that!'

'Mm... Bad boys...' the sudden, unbidden thought made Ginny's heart skip a beat. She quickly quashed her imagination of Malfoy and her doing -er- certain things. Quickly, she hid her burning face into the mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She certainly did not want Malfoy to know what she had been thinking of! She sipped the hot beverage slowly and watched as Malfoy looked around the room, whistling a soft tune. She didn't even know that Malfoy knew how to whistle.

"Malfoy."

"Hm?"

"Do you understand that you're stuck here, in the Divination classroom, with me, Ginny Weasley, alone?"

"Of course."

"That you have no way out of here until someone realizes we're missing on Christmas Day?" Ginny stated slowly.

"Yes," Malfoy said, giving her a look. 'Doesn't sound that bad to me,' he thought.

"Why the hell are you being so nice to me? We're enemies, remember?"

"Were we?"

"We were, we are, we will be," Ginny said firmly.

"You sound so sure."

"I am."

"How come?"

"Because you are- can be a nasty git."

"I can?"

"Yes."

"When was I?"

Ginny retold the times he had mercilessly taunted everyone around her and herself.

"You called Hagrid a savage."

"I said I heard that he was one. It's his fault that he gained that kind of reputation if he goes around getting himself drunk and setting his bed on fire after."

"You think that only pure-bloods should be allowed in Hogwarts."

"Of course I do. Most of the Muggles that come in here think that they're so special, behaving condescendingly- when they haven't even heard of Hogwarts before they received their letter. They don't even understand our ways."

"You think you're special and you behave condescendingly!"

"I am special so I reserve the right to be condescending. I am the sole heir to the Malfoy line, after all." Malfoy made no excuses nor did he try to defend himself.

"You told Hermione she looked like a giant Easter bunny with her teeth sticking out," Ginny said, glaring at him.

"Well, she did."

"You commented how many times that the Weasleys make more babies than they do money."

"Well, your parents do. Never seen such fascinating reproduction rate in my life."

"You cursed Ron so that he spewed slugs for a week."

"Didn't do that. Your brother was over-eager to curse me with a broken wand."

"You said the sweater Mum made for me was hideous."

"It was. Clashed horribly with your hair, it did. Who in their sane minds would let you wear pink?!"

"You made life absolutely hell for Ron, Harry and Hermione."

"It's fun."

"There you go. You're an absolutely horrible ass-wipe."

"What did I say?" Malfoy asked, confused.

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To be continued...