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Xx Thought I'd cry for you forever But I couldn't so I didn't People's children die and they don't even cry forever

Thought I'd see your face in my mind for all time But I don't even remember what your ears looked like

And the clock still strikes midnight and noon And the sun still rises and so does the moon Birds still migrate south and people move on Even though I'm no longer in your arms Thought the mountain would crumble And the rivers would bend But I thought all wrong and the world did not end Guess the maps will just have to stay the same for a while Didn't even need therapy to rehabilitate my smile Rehabilitate my smile

Thought I'd cry for you forever But I couldn't so I didn't... xX

Chapter 8

Rejazz

Ginny felt the tug at her eyelids as the pain dulled and the night took over. Once again she tumbled into the dream that plagued her every night. She was standing in her bedroom as the strips of sunlight slipped through the window and broke across the bridge of Harry's nose. She loved the way he looked when the sunlight hit the sparkle in his bright green eyes. For a moment she dared not waste this feeling. It was almost a shame that she knew it was a dream. At least with the false pretense that it was real she wouldn't feel so sad to see it go.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

She grinned. She had been here so many times before. She stepped closer to him, but this time he stepped away. She frowned slightly. Every night she always looked forward to these few blissful moments at night. There was a constant ache to feel Harry against her in that moment of fevered kisses. Why was he stepping away? He never had before.

"What are you ..." But the door was opening again like it always did, and Ron stood beaming on the other side.

"Hermione and I are serving detention tonight!"

Ginny quirked a brow, but looked back at Harry for some sort of comprehension. All he did was move across the room and slap him hard on the shoulder. This was not the normal way the dream unfolded. By now she should have been suffocating Harry with her lips. Who cared about Hermione and Ron. She moved forward to gesture them out of the door, but another figure had stepped into the doorway.

" Ginny hurry into your dress!" her mother was throwing a white taffeta dress in her direction, and when she looked around again Harry was dressed in crisp black dress robes.

"We've wanted this for so long" Harry was at her side again, but he was being followed by a dozen little house-elves throwing pieces of treacle tart.

The dream changed and they were standing in the backyard of the Burrow. For a moment she thought that she was about to witness Bill and Fleur marry again, but that was nixed when Neville pushed her up the aisle next to Harry.

"Harry do you take Ginny to be your wife? To bring you love always and steal for you the sword of Godric Gryffindor?"

"Of course."

Ginny glanced back over her shoulder at the formation of people. What in the world was going on? George was shooting fireworks out of his ear while a guffawing Fred and Lee Jordan stood watching. Her mother was busy chasing gnomes away from the cake, and Buckbeak the Hippogriff was wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch robe and a sign reading 'Just married'.

" Do you Ginny take the Boy-Who-Lived...The Chosen One...THE Harry Potter to be your husband?"

Her head was spinning. " I ... " she turned front again and screamed. Bellatrix Lestrange stood at the alter leering at her. No one moved. Her mother continued to degnome the garden, the twins blasted off fireworks. Hell even Harry looked oblivious. He was turned away from her speaking to Neville. She was so cold suddenly.

"Harry!"

When he turned around Harry's beautiful green eyes had been replaced by a pair of silvery blue ones.

"What?"

Ginny's mouth hung open as she stared into the face of Malfoy. How the hell had he worked his way into her dreams? She stammered and then shut her eyes hoping she'd wake up and it would all go away.

"Aunt Bellatrix...you haven't been scaring her have you ?" he paused, " I'd like to enjoy my wife tonight, and petrifying her like that won't do well for me." He smirked that cocky Malfoy grin.

"Of course Draco." She removed her wand, "but please don't spare me of fun on your wedding day."

Ginny ducked as the spell came at her face and passed over her head easily. Somewhere behind her there was a scream, and Mad Eye Moody lie upon the grass dead.

"Come on now, Weaselette. We have things to take care of."

And the thing that scared her most was that she willingly went with him.

She woke up in such a panicked start that she hadn't even noticed he was gone. Her forehead was drenched in beads of sweat, and the dull pain had returned across her body. Somewhere along the side of her face she felt a swelling and could only guess that it was the black eye she had received from her broken nose.

It was only after she shifted to the side that she noticed his departure. The sun had barely begun to climb along the ledge of the window. It had to be early. Why didn't he wake her? Furthermore why did she feel disappointed? It had to be the dream.

She felt heat rise in her cheeks at the thought of it. It was one thing to dream, and let it all go, but it was another to actually feel something fr the content. She had wanted to go with him. Why? There was only one thing she could pin point, and she placed all her worry on that. He had helped her. He had seen her so defeated and vulnerable that it was enevitable for him to sneak into her dream. That was the reason. Nothing more.

The tingle in her stomach suggested something else, but she quickly denied that before it had a chance to settle there. Suddenly compelled to see that truth, Ginny carefully pushed herself up from the floor, Malfoy's robe still draped around her. She gingerly moved around the mirror avoiding quick movements or bumps. Involuntarily she wrapped the robe tighter around her frame taking in the scent of mahogany and spices.

The mirror sat still in the same spot as she moved towards it, and she almost took off out the door afraid of what she may possibly see. So she stood there staring. A few feet away from the plain smooth surface she stood there waiting for something to show up. It was blank and she frowned slightly. What had she expected to see? She stepped closer and saw her small figure reflect in the glass. She was smiling again though the flowers this time had been replaced by a tiny tiara in her hair. Ginny laughed at this. She never fancied herself as one to wear Auntie Muriels tiara. Yet there she was with the glittering piece wrapped up in her long hair. She laughed as each member of her family stepped up to her side, and grinned even when Fleur stepped up beside Bill. They waved at her, and she waved back almost believing that they were literally standing directly on the other side of the mirror.

Where was Harry?

She looked behind Charlie who was kicking at something on the ground, but he wasn't there. Her eyes immediately moved towards Ron and Hermione who had positioned themselves off to the far corner, but he wasn't there either. She frowned slightly and stepped even closer to the mirror's surface. Arching back slightly she looked from the very top to the very bottom but found nothing more then her family reflected in the pane. It was when her mother turned towards an empty space that Ginny finally perked back up. Someone was approaching from behind them all, and she grinned knowing very well that she was going to be reunited with Harry again.

Sure enough an arm reached around her mother and began sliding their way through the gaggle of Weasley's. The face was blurry for a moment, but when the figure finally stepped to the front of the group Ginny smiled. Harry looked incredibly dashing in his dress robe though Ginny couldn't shake the feeling that before he had turned a strand of silvery blonde hair had peaked through the blur.

It could have been seconds, minutes or hours even that she stood there staring into Harry's handsome face. She reached out again and felt the smooth surface beneath her fingertips. Never had she been so close to something and not been able to attain it. It was killing her, and when she jerked her hand forward again to touch the mirror a piece of Draco's robe fell down onto her hand retching her out of the hypnotic fantasy. Her eyes fell down to the spot and she felt compelled to brush it with her other hand. What was wrong with her? How could she possibly be thinking of Malfoy when Harry was just beyond the thin pane of mirror? In an instant she turned back towards the mirror's surface and expected to see the same image flashing brightly at her like it had done twice already.

This time she was certain that there was a flash of blonde hair streaked within Harry's messy black mop. They were still standing there holding hands looking utterly happy, but she couldn't help but notice that his features were morphed slightly into someone else.

"Oh no." She stepped away, the robe wrapping tighter around her. " Oh no no no." It was because he had helped her the previous night. He had put himself on the line for her, and it was managing to stick in her brain as some sort of pleasant thing. "It's not pleasant!" She yelled back at the mirror. Pausing she scrunched her nose. "Great now I'm arguing with myself."

Her legs shifted beneath her, and she glanced out the window. The sun had risen a bit higher. People would be heading down to breakfast soon, and if she didn't want to be caught looking like hell had broken loose on her she needed to get to Gryffindor tower immediately. Gathering the rest of her things, which included her wand, Ginny took one last confused glance at the mirror before turning the knob and slipping back out into the corridor.

It was almost too quiet. The eerie sensation she had received when first stepping down the deserted place came rushing back to her, and in a very painful frantic run she bolted for the stairs. The overwhelming thought of Zabini finding her again had taken over, and she felt pathetic. Nevertheless she dashed straight up three flights of stairs holding the aching gash in her right thigh and the robe with her left hand. She was so close to the tower and she silently prayed that no one had decided to make it an early morning and hang around in the common room. She slipped quickly around the corner, and had just caught a glimpse of the Fat Lady when a voice came from her left, and Ginny jumped nearly five feet into the air.

"Ms. Weasley!" The concerned elder voice filled her ears, and Ginny relaxed slightly.

"Professor." She turned towards the woman, and did her best to keep the robe of Malfoy's tucked behind her back.

"What on earth?" She closed the distance and observed Ginny's battered and disheveled state. "What have you been doing dear girl? You look like you've just went to war."

She would not cry. " I went out early this morning for a walk, and accidentally stumbled down one of the paths around by Hagrid's hut. A lot of thorn bushes have sprung up over there and I couldn't really avoid them." Wincing slightly as she bit down on her tongue, Ginny looked away from the woman's eyes. Somehow she felt less awful lying when she wasn't looking at McGonagall.

McGonagall seemed to believe this although Ginny felt as though she had been skeptical. "Hurry up to your dormitory and clean up. I'd send you to Madam Pomfrey but…" She trailed off and adjusted her black hat. " Be quick down to breakfast." She turned on her heel and hurried off down the corridor to stop Peeves from screaming obscenities from the rafters.

Ginny heaved a large sigh of relief and hurried towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. She didn't even register her own voice speaking the password, but somehow managed to get up into her dormitory before anyone else got a nice morning glimpse of her battered appearance. Without even bothering to shower or remove herself from the dirty clothes Ginny pulled back the curtains on her four poster and dropped into her bed like a dead weight. She didn't care much about attending classes that afternoon. If she received another detention from it she didn't care. The hot tears that had been plaguing her eyes for what seemed like ages finally came rushing down her face like a watery mess.

Burying her face into her pillow, Ginny stifled the noises as her dormmates began to rise for the morning. Someone, she was almost certain was Natalie McDonald, asked if she'd be coming down to breakfast. Ginny just groaned slightly and told her to tell the Professorts she has come down with a slight case of Wizards Flu. When the voice asked if she could see her behind the curtains Ginny immediately shouted out a very blunt 'no'. An awkward pause rose between the girls in the room, but after a moment they left her lying in her bed without so much as a peak.

She skipped lunch that afternoon even though her stomach ached for something warm and nutritious. Even when Lavender Brown stepped into the room to ask her if she was alright Ginny just moaned a yes.

"Neville has been worried about you all day, Ginny." Lavender's sing song voice cut through her like a knife. The girl had no idea how lucky she was to be so cheery during a time when Ginny felt nothing but black pressing pain.

"Tell him I'm fine…really I am. Just trying to keep myself from getting worse so I can finish off my detentions."

"You sure? I mean we were supposed to have another meeting tonight weren't we?" It sounded as though someone had arrived at Lavenders side, and Ginny pressed her eyes shut.

She wasn't much for dealing with anyone. " Tomorrow. Tell Neville I'll speak with him about it all tomorrow." They'd have to speak about the plan tomorrow if they were ever going to retrieve that sword the Carrows and Lestrange were so keen on getting.

"Ok then." She began to jingle the doorknob. " Get well Ginny." The door clicked behind her, and Ginny welcomed the silence again.

Dinner past soon afterwards, and the sweet smells from the Great Hall seemed to waft up towards her open window mocking her. She couldn't go down there. With Zabini sitting smugly in that room she couldn't do it. It was hard enough to face Malfoy that evening.

Of all the ridiculous things to happen to her she had to go and get involved with Draco Malfoy. But she wasn't involved with him. It was more like a mutual civil thing they had going. Still it didn't make up for the things he had done for her last night. If this had been any other time in any other year would Malfoy have stepped in and helped her? Would he have risked his own neck in order to hide her behind that blasted mirror? She bit down on her lower lip and stuffed her face into her pillow again.

She wasn't a stupid blind girl. Regardless of how awful Malfoy was towards her family she couldn't deny him his charm and good looks. He had that refined sort of demeanor about him that sent chills down the spine. Most girls in her year and those above her swooned madly over the pompous git. In fact she had overheard quite a few of them speak first hand about his slick moves and cunning appeal. He was known for having any girl he wanted in Hogwarts, and Ginny often found herself disgusted by that. Now she suddenly seemed fascinated. How could one blood thirsty bastard get the attention of so many witches? Why was he suddenly so keen on helping her out? It was evident that Malfoy had lost some of his fouler qualities, but the fact was he was still a manipulating Slytherin git, and Ginny couldn't put her finger on it.

The day had seemed to slip by so fast that before she had a chance to analyze the blonde boy any further she noticed the time. Detention was waiting for her, and so was the bloke who had saved her arse more then twice this term.

Sliding back the curtains to her four poster, Ginny leaned over and snapped open the latches on her trunk. Something about Malfoy pressed this desire to keep Harry close to her, and she quickly removed a photo of him and shoved it in her pocket. She slammed the trunk shut again and rummaged through a pile of clean robes on her chair. She looked like hell, but who was she trying to impress. Certainly not Malfoy. Though she noticed that she had looked into the mirror in her room almost three times before deciding to remove her clothes and shower quickly.

Five minutes past six Ginny was on her way down to the Storeroom. She was wearing fresh clean clothes, and had used a charm to place a slight curl in her hair. The gashes and bruises on her body were more prominent now that she showered, and a nice bluish yellow circle had risen right beneath her right eye extending down to her jaw. A battle wound to say the very least. Her back ached with a pain that was going to haunt her for the next few weeks, and she half wondered if she could write home to her mother and have some sort of potion sent to her. Of course it would probably be confiscated by the Carrows but it was worth a shot.

Her feet carried her so quickly to the Storeroom that she hadn't noticed she had arrived until she past by the door. She paused, looked back over her shoulder, and then stared at the wood barrier between her and Malfoy.

What was she supposed to say to him? Even if she did thank him for what he did he wouldn't appreciate it. She could almost imagine the smirk of superiority that would probably show up on his face, but then wondered if that expression would be different because of the nice black and blue she was sporting. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and reached into her pocket.

The photo of Harry smiled up at her with that usual boyish grin she adored. An eerie chill came over her as though Harry was actually there, but she cast it aside. Harry was a million miles away, and he was not going to be there to help her get through her battles. But Merlin did it feel like he was watching her at that very moment.

Shoving the photo back into her pocket, Ginny stepped up to the door and turned the brass knob. She was almost too afraid to enter, but she stuck her head in first allowing her hair to cross her face and cover the bruise.

Malfoy was still on his side of the Storeroom stacking what looked like a box of newt liver. He paused mid movement and stared down at her. Ginny felt his eyes bore into her skin, and instantly a blush crept to her cheeks. Suddenly she felt incredibly guilty for bringing the photo of Harry with her. Here she was blushing over Harry's enemy with the photo of Harry in her pocket. She was an awful person.

When the silence became far too much for her she brought up her gaze and forced a weak smile. "Hey."

Malfoy placed the box down on the shelf and made his way down the ladder towards her. "I knew it would bruise." He was looking at the side of her face, and Ginny noticed that he was doing his best to avoid her eyes.

"Yeah well it's less painful then my other battle wounds." She tried to press a short laugh, but he looked at her sternly. "What?"

"Nothing." He removed his wand from his pocket, " let me see that gash on your stomach."

Ginny felt her eyes go a bit wide. "What? Why? You healed it last night. It's fine…just sore."

"I want to be sure that it's not going to be infected. Plus…" He removed a small vial from his pocket. "I found this on the last shelf. It's a type of pain absorbing paste. I've seen Pomfrey use it on Goyle before" he waved the vial in front of her face, but still refused to look at her.

Ginny chomped down on her lower lip. Getting rid of the pain sounded completely inviting, but the thought of unbuttoning her shirt to let Malfoy look at her gash just seemed like overstepping so many boundaries. It was one thing when he had walked in on her last night, but to relive that sort of embarrassment again might as well kill her.

"I can't." She squeaked out.

"You can't what?" He arched an eyebrow as he uncorked the vial.

"I don't want you to look at the wound. It's fine. Just give me the vial and I'll d it myself in my dormitory." She held out her hand for the green slimy paste.

"Are you mad? It needs to be checked." There was an eagerness in his voice that startled Ginny, and she turned away from him.

"Look it was bad enough last night that you saw me like that. I'm not much in the mood for round number two of pathetic little red head. Get it?" Her tone had risen slightly towards the end, and she closed her eyes to fight off the slight pounding that was beginning to rise in her head.

Malfoy scowled and shoved the vial into her hand. "You are being an arrogant stupid Gryffindor." He turned, and began to move up the ladder again.

Ginny felt the weight of the vial in her hand and placed it securely in her pocket. There was a tidal wave of emotions crashing madly against her skull, and without thinking she turned towards him and spoke. "Why did you do it? Why did you help me out when you could have easily disposed of me? You never liked me Malfoy. You have very openly stated that you despised my family. Why go to the trouble to help me when you could have finally kicked me when I was down?"

Malfoy paused on the step and then after a moment returned to the floor again. " I don't know how many times I need to spell this out for you, but I'm not going to repeat myself. So you think about it for a moment, Weasley, and then get back to me." He finally moved his eyes to greet her own and caught a glimpse of small pearly tears sliding out beneath her closed eyelids.

There it was again. The damn unnerving emotion that seemed to capture him every time he saw her like this. Vulnerable. Alone. It took strength not to reach out and brush the tears from her face. He didn't know what it was about her that made him do it. For a very brief instant he had wanted to utilize the opportunity to hurt her. He could have touched Potter in a way that no one else could have. Get the heart. It's the weakest point of the body. But he couldn't hurt her. Not when she was so damaged and defeated. He had wanted to kneel beside her and cradle her until the pain ceased to exist. What did it mean to him? Surely it could mean a lot of different things, but why suddenly of all people did he feel this unbelievable attachment to her. Like he needed to save her. Like for once he needed to be the hero of some damn fairy tale and ride in on his horse to her rescue. Why?

"It just makes you human, and that is not such an awful trait."

Her voice cut through his head like a hot steal blade. The things she had said to him that night poured into his veins. She saw things in him that no one else had ever given him credit for, and maybe that was the biggest reason of all. He needed her approval because she saw something decent in him. Something he had never before been.

"I did it because I had to." He sighed, "I did it because despite what everyone thinks I'm not a womanizer. I'm not heartless…and I couldn't bare seeing you lie there the way you were." It was truthful. More truthful then he had ever been with anyone. He could have gone on to tell her that he did it because of the stabbing feeling in his chest when he saw her, but he kept that to himself. Something in the back of his head was still refusing to let him admit what he thought was trying to escape.

Ginny brought her head up and stared into the silver blue eyes. They were so cold, so vacant, and yet there was a small flicker of truth she could make out. She wiped at her tears, "This is so hard." She choked, and managed to avoid hiccupping.

Malfoy didn't know what to do. He wasn't used to comforting anyone, but something in his gut was compelling him to do so. He reached out rather rigidly and patted her arm with an awkward stiffness. "Its war…it's supposed to be hard."

His fingers on her skin made her shudder, and she stifled the small chuckle at his feeble attempt to make her feel better. "How did you know?"

Malfoy glanced down at her puzzled. "How did I know what?"

She swallowed hard almost to afraid to speak the name. "How did you know where Blaise was? What he was doing? How did you find me, and why were you in that abandoned corridor?"

Malfoy froze, his hand sitting limp upon her shoulder. "I saw Blaise earlier." He mumbled out, unsure of where to go with the story. The truth would surely place another gapping hole between them. "And I saw him heading down the stairs towards the corridor…"

Ginny looked up at him quizzically. "But how did you know to follow him? Or if you didn't know what brought you to that corridor? It doesn't make sense. I've been trying to replay everything in my head again, but it all happened so quickly."

Malfoy stepped away from her, the bruise on her face becoming to painful to look at. "I spoke with Blaise earlier in the week."

"This has nothing to do with last-"

"It was about you." He ran his hands through his hair, his back now turned fully towards her.

"What?" The tremble in her voice caused him to curse.

"Blaise overheard us a few weeks ago in here. Heard us laughing and thought we were…well….shagging." He made a noise almost to sound repulsed at the idea though it was forced. "He confronted me about it. Said that he always thought you were a dirty Bloodtraitor, but still wanted to try and have a go. I - I told him not to be stupid, but Blaise never really thinks things through rationally."

"So you knew about this?" Her voice was low, the tone venomous.

He still refused to look at her. He could make out every disgusted emotion hanging on her words. "I didn't think he'd do it, but I kept close tabs on him anyway. Nothing happened for a few weeks, and I thought he forgot about it."

She was across the room in a flash, her hand jetting out and forcing him to face her. "And then what? You just decided not to let me in on any of this? Thought it was a laugh did you? And here I thought-"

"No!" His voice had risen so much that she stepped away startled. "No…I just didn't think he was going to do anything, and I wasn't going to tell you just so you'd be on edge every waking second."

Ginny folded her arms across her chest, wincing slightly at the pressure from her bruises. "You son of a -"

"You never showed up for detention last night." He lowered his tone, "And I knew Blaise had skipped on dinner so I went out looking for you. I was going to tell you."

Ginny felt as though she was looking into the face of a man she had never truly known. Every hate filled word, rude gesture, and biting belittlement seemed to melt away with his confession. Could this truly be the same wizard that had been keen on her dying in the Chamber of Secrets? Could it be the same wizard who had let in groups of DeathEaters last term? Could it be the wizard who had told her that she was a useless waste of life that didn't deserve to be a witch? Ginny stared at him in silence, her tears finding their eay to her cheeks again.

"But he had found me already." She choked out.

"I was going to tell you, but couldn't find you. God I even asked that Lovegood girl where you were." He sneered. "But I saw Blaise come up a staircase not too long after that, I saw him bound by rope and bloody messed up. ..and I knew. I knew right then what had happened, and I-" He shook his head. He thought of all the witches he had seen tortured and killed in his home. The way it made him sick to see their innocent eyes drained of dignity and life.

Ginny moved so quickly that when her arms wrapped around his midsection she gave a startled gasp. Yet there she was hugging Draco Malfoy as though they had been friends for many years. Malfoy on the other hand stood so rigid that Ginny though he may crack straight down the middle. Her face pushed into his chest and she fought back the urge to cry hopelessly into his robe. She felt his arms move slowly, and soon enough she felt them press against her back practically pushing her even further into him.

"Thank you." She breathed into his clothes, the smell of his cologne drifting to her nose.

Malfoy merely grunted. He was doing his best to keep suppressing the gnawing feeling in his stomach.

"You baffle me…you know that?" She pulled away slightly, her eyes shining with traces of tears.

His arms went limp again, and he stepped away from her quickly. "Why?"

"You are a complete head case, Malfoy. I can't figure you out for the life of me. One minute you're a git, and the next…well…" She trailed off. "I just think you sell yourself short is all. You've got some good in there…somewhere…" She tapped against his chest. "I know you do. You just need to let yourself acknowledge it sometimes."

Malfoy lowered his eyes again and nodded. In the dim light of the Storeroom she looked very pretty. Even with the yellow bruise on her face she still gave off such a strong beautiful presence that he forced himself to look away from her.

They worked through the rest of their detention time in mild light conversation. Every now and then Draco saying something that caused Ginny to laugh. She boasted about her Quidditch skills, and he gloated that he was always a better player. The mention of the previous night had run dry from conversation, and neither acknowledged the fact that both were stealing glances at each other randomly.

It was nearly nine when they finished for the evening, and Ginny began placing her things away to prepare herself for tomorrow. She stood, brushed the dust off her clothes, and turned to bid Malfoy a goodnight. He was standing so close to her that she could feel his breath hit her cheek.

"Are you ready?" He was fixing the clasp on his robe.

"For?" She felt extremely uncomfortable with him so close to her face. Perhaps it was the invasion of her space, or maybe it was the odd jump her stomach gave when she noticed the way his bottom lip pouted out just a bit further then his upper lip.

"I'm going to walk you back to your common room, or at least half way. I don't fancy myself getting caught by one of your lot."

Ginny gawked. "You don't need to. I'm capable of getting there myself."

Draco scoffed again. "Oh yeah? Which injury should we examine first?" He pressed lightly on her shoulder and she cursed at him.

"Fine, but you are only walking me to the staircase. I can walk a flight and get to the portrait." She spun on her heel and opened the door.

Behind her Malfoy chuckled hoarsely. Together they slipped silently through the corridors on their way up to Gryffindor tower. Every now and then Ginny let her eyes slip slightly to the side to see what he was doing. Only once did she catch him staring at her, and she turned away blushing furiously. The eerie candle light on the corridor wall sent a shiver down her spine, and she quickly looked behind her to see if anyone was following them.

"Are you going?"

His voice popped up beside her so suddenly that she jumped in place.

"What?" Ginny turned her eyes towards him and saw that he was gesturing up the staircase that led to Gryffindor Tower. How had they arrived there so quickly? "Oh right." She began up the steps, but paused on the third. "You ought to keep quiet about walking me back, ya know. We wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

He snorted back a laugh. "I reckon they wouldn't dare think it in the first place. Us together is a bleeding joke, Weaselette. Don't flatter yourself."

Ginny shot him a look, but softened her features when she caught a sincere look upon his own face. "Night Malfoy." She didn't bother waiting to hear him reply. She moved up the staircase without looking back.

Draco stood there for a long while after she left. He was waiting for her to call for him. Waiting for something horrible to happen so he could jump in and do something good again. The stillness in the air finally convinced him that she had made it to the common room, and with another though he imagined her getting herself ready for bed. Running a hand across his brow he groaned at the swelling that was beginning to move from his chest down to his stomach. He wasn't going to admit it.

Ginny slipped out of her robes and hung them loosely on the back of her trunk. A year ago she would have liked to strangle the blonde headed pompous git. Now there seemed to be this feeling that kept drawing her to him. She moved her fingers down to the loop of her jeans and drew back when something pointed brushed her thumb. Curious she reached inside and pulled out the photo of Harry she had placed in there earlier. The photo had always been a source of comfort and familiarity to her. The way he smiled up at her in the photo made it feel like she was standing right beside him again.

Now when she looked down at it she wondered what he truly looked like. Was he cold and worn away from being on the run? Had the cold nights been kind to him, or was he somewhere huddled beneath a tree shivering for warmth. Was his smile the same? Did his hair still stick up in the usual places or was it matted down by rain? She studied the picture almost wishing herself to feel something. The only thing she felt was the burned memory of Malfoy hugging her in the Storeroom. The way he gently rested his fingers on her to see if she was alright. Perhaps she felt like this because they were tangible things. She could reach out and touch Malfoy, but the photo of Harry was as lifeless and ordinary as a normal piece of parchment.

She placed the photo down on her night table and continued changing into her nightclothes. Each night before she fell asleep she often thought of Harry, and on many occasions tears had managed to take her off to some sort of dream land. It was the first night that no tear graced her features. Instead she placed her head on the pillow and found herself longing for the scent of mahogany and spice.

Poor Ginny is so confused. She'll start to figure things out in the next few chapters.

This chapter features lyrics from Rejazz byRegina Spektor

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