Chapter Four

A New Friend

(A/N: We all know what happened in book two. Just pretend that Lysandra and Harry kept writing each other and that Lockhart was an idiot... oh wait, he is in the books too.)

Ginny Weasley woke from the nightmare, clutching the blankets to her chest. Another one. Again the blood. Again the words.

She lay back on the bed and tried not to think of it. But she knew it wouldn't work. She pushed back the covers. Two days home and she was already missing the quiet halls of Hogwarts. Some how those serene halls managed to hide her from even her nightmares.

She let her thoughts turn to Harry as she quietly made her way down stairs. He was nice, a sweet heart, but he didn't like her like that. He would have saved anyone from the chamber. Even Malfoy.

Ginny put a hand over her mouth to stiffle the giggle that that thought brought up. Draco Malfoy, being saved by Harry Potter. She shook her head, sending her red hair free from the bright blue ribbon that bound it. She sighed and silently looked for the ribbon.

Ginny didn't like Malfoy, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She wasn't sure why it was. He was good looking of course, and she felt certain he could be pleasant if the desire took him. Maybe, it was that he had noticed.

Oh they all had noticed, even Harry after a fashion. Hermione had made polite inquiries then believed her when she said it was just nerves. Ron had announced it with slightly less elegance then let it go when she said she was tired. Harry had thrown looks her way which she avoided by doing school work. After he tried once, he stopped. The twins had tried pepper up potions that left her hair smoking.

But Malfoy... he had taken ever oppurtunity to irritate her. When ever she wasn't around a squad of Gryffindor's or the Hero trio, he seemed to go out of his way to find and corner her. After a few such confrontations, which left her blushing, but not scared, Ginny had taken to bringing Colin with her. Colin wasn't much better, but by that time Ginny was having trouble remembering who she was, so it got harder and harder to walk away when she just wanted to curl up and die.

Malfoy seemed to know that she stood on an edge. Any one else might have quit, being afraid to push her over. But not Malfoy. He kept right at it. Finally, the day after Harry saved her, Malfoy cornered her again. As Ginny retied her hair and started once more down stairs, she brought the memory back up.

"Well, well. Little Weasel, how fares it?"

Ginny looked up at him through her bangs. "Leave me alone." She muttered.

"Not well, apparently. But let's see, you do look more hale than normal. Could it have something to do with that escapade alst night?"

Ginny, who had been pushing past him, stopped.

"Ah! So it did, did it? Just who was down there little one? To have you so recovered? Your boyfriend perhaps?"

Ginny didn't hesitate. She spun and jabbed Malfoy in the chest. "Listen here! I haven't had a good year and you're not making it any better. Now, I'm leaving and I suggest you don't bother me."

Malfoy chuckled. "There you are."

Ginny, having started away, turned back to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He grinned and walked up to her. "All year I've been looking for that firefly I saw in Diagon Alley."

He reached out and swept her into an impressive dip. "Now I think I found her."

He leaned forward, as though to kiss her. Then he dropped her on to her back. "Nice try, Firefly. See you next year."

Ginny pulled herself back into the present with an effort as she reached the kitchen. She sighed. Malfoy was an enigma to her. She put a kettle of water on to boil, taking off the whistle first. A moment later a grey owl perched itself on the open window and looked at her.

Ginny looked back.

The owl waved a wing, indicating the letter in his beak. Ginny reached out and took it, surprised to see it was to her.

Dear Ginevra Weasley,

My name is Lysandra Snape. A friend of mine thought you could use some cheering up so, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not a very good pen pal, but my adress is #7 Pivot Drive, or you can just send back a reply with Archimedes. I should get to bed now, but Archi will wait for your reply, even if it's just to bugger off.

Thanks

Lysandra Snape.

Ginny looked at the bird then back at the letter.

Finally she got a peice of parchment and a quill and wrote a reply. It couldn't hurt.

She never thought to ask who asked Lysandra to write the letter.

(A/N: So that's where I'll leave you for now. As you can see, I've set up for a good Ginny Draco romance later. Yeah me! I ws gonna have Ginny date a girl, but I changed my mind. Lysandra probably will end up with on though so don't worry.