CHAPTER 5 – STUNNED

Draco had been simply sitting on his bed for the last twenty minutes, trying to decide what to do about Ginny. Why did he care so much was the real question. What was it about her? Something about her just pulled him in. He couldn't resist her.

He was just remembering a conversation him and his father had before this year, it was a bit like a sex talk but less graphical. His father gave him some tips to understand woman, the main one he gave Draco was that ladies always mean the opposite of what they say.

He almost felt like smiling when he understood what he must do. He had to go to the lake, Ginny said don't bother but that's the whole point in this reverse psychology thing, right?

Draco ran a hand through his hair before walking over to the mirror and checking if he looked representable. He bit his lip, he had to admit it, he was nervous. Not of going to see her, of the fact that she was still annoyed with him for calling her brother a blood traitor. How was he going to fix this? Hopefully, she wasn't too hard to convince. She was quite the mystery to Draco, he could never quite figure out her intentions.

"Draco, where are you going?" Asked Pansy, her voice a little panicky as he pulled on his coat and walked toward the portrait hole. "Would you like me to come with you?" She asked, skipping up to him, sounding very hopeful.

"No thank you," He replied curtly, not looking at her reaction before walking quickly out the door. His walk was more agitated than normal, or was agitated not the word? Draco seemed much more tense than usual, he didn't understand why. Was it his nerves? Why was he so nervous to go and apologize to her? He was great at this sort of thing, Draco could easily admit to himself that he was a very convincing person, people usually did what he asked, it was a useful talent, though sometimes he did use it a little too much to his advantage. He continued pacing, heading towards the banks of the lake when he got outside.

He took a deep breath, looking to his shoes whilst he walked across the grass to the place where they were last night. Stay calm, be charming and she will forgive you like that, he kept repeating in his head though he was too nervous even to believe himself. He forced a nervous smile on his face, looking up to see Ginny.

He froze in his tracks, the smile dissapearing from his features. No matter how much he wanted too, he could not tear his gaze away from the couple. Harry Potter was all wrapped around Ginny, their lips locked, Draco's fury flared wildly as he wished he could walk over there and punch Potter right round the face. He tried to walk but it was like his feet were rooted to the ground, he was motionless, he knew he could move but his mind was telling him he would regret it.

Then Ginny caught his gaze and his anger seemed to increase incredibly, subconsciously, he clenched his fists. Then he looked over and Draco just felt like shouting at him. Harry started to look uncomfortable, as he fidgeted around and let go of Ginny, all but her hand. Draco's eyes couldn't leave her face.

Potter looked back to her. "I gotta go do Potions homework, I promised Neville. Sorry." Harry told her, before kissing her. Kissing her! It was like he was dangling her right in front of Draco's eyes! Draco kept his ice cold glare fixated on her, not being able to look away.

"I see how it is," He said loud enough for her to hear, breaking the silence between them. He could practically feel the tension in the air, but he didn't think about it, none of this was his fault. Then she was shaking her head, was she denying it?

Her face was a mask of pure innocence. "No, Draco. It's not like that," And now she was defending herself! Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. His eyes still could not look away from her, he was so angry his hands were starting to shake though he hoped she didn't notice. He could move now but he didn't want to be any closer to her. His intentions of coming here were to apologize, seems the tables have turned.

"Save your breath, Weasley!" Draco lashed out, his eyes narrowing naturally in the heat of their argument. He didn't regret what he said to her and he probably wouldn't. His hands stopped shaking as he calmed down by a fraction, the anger wasn't completely faded out yet. She looked upset for a second but he ignored it, he didn't honestly care right now, she could just go ahead and be upset. He noticed, with a little shock and guilt, that water filled her eyes but were not yet spilling over. Draco kept his face clear in spite of the fact that inside, one of his most dominant emotions except for anger was guilt.

She seemed to be putting on a brave face as well. "Why are you even here?" She asked, Draco detected a hint of venom in her voice, it was almost laughable. Draco simply stared at her, he didn't have to answer to her.

"I don't owe you explanations." He replied hotly, calming down more, but not yet feeling guilty for his actions.

She raised her eyebrows in what seemed like sarcasm. "Oh, that's right. You don't owe any explanations to blood traitors." Ginny spat, turning around swiftly to walk away. Draco's anger flared once more, she would not walk away and let him be the bad guy. He paced over to her and took her arm.

Ginny turned around as he grabbed her arm, Draco didn't notice her pulling her wand out of her pocket. "Stupefy!" She said a little louder than conversational tone. Next thing he knew, Draco was flying backwards from the force of her spell. He suddenly smacked into something hard, his head got thrown back and slammed hard against the tree. The school started to swirl in his eyes.

* * * * *

"Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap, crap! Draco? Are you okay?" Her panicky voice was all he could hear, his head was spinning from the hit. "Draco?! Can you hear me? Crap, crap, crap!"

He let out a groan, forcing his eyes open to see Ginny's worried face only inches away from his own. She let out a relieved sigh and placed her hand on her chest, closing her eyes. Draco was too dizzy to be angry yet, he pushed up on his elbows and sat up, his hand flying to his head in natural reaction to his pain.

"You, you stunned me!" Draco accused quietly when he was sure he would keep his voice straight.

Ginny bit her lip, she couldn't deny it, what would be her defence now?

"You.. You..." She tried to think of a reason but she seemed to come up blank. Draco raised his eyebrows, still accusing. She let out a defeated sigh. "Sorry." Ginny muttered quietly, Draco could tell she didn't like to apologize, to loose a fight.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes, only now noticing the strange moisture at the back of his head. He frowned in confusion as he dropped his hand, only now seeing the blood smeared across his fingers. "What the hell did you do?!" He asked in astonishment, looking at her with wide eyes.

"You hit your head on a tree when I stunned you," She admitted, standing up and holding out a shaking hand. "Hospital wing?" Ginny murmured, Draco could notice the guilt traced obviously across her features.

He took her hand and pulled himself up with more effort than usually needed, he was starting to feel faint.

They were just about to walk away when Draco heard a gasp behind them.

"Miss Weasley! Mr Malfoy! What have you done?" He easily recognised the voice of Minerva McGonagall, he spun around to look at her, causing a new rush of nausea to overcome him. He fell to his knees, due to his loss of balance and saw Professor McGonagall rushing over to him.

"What happened to him?" She asked Ginny quickly, he could feel her moving his hair out of the way so she could see the damage Ginny had inflicted on him. He heard Ginny stutter, he tried to concentrate on sitting upright once again.

He saw her bite her lip before answering, clearly avoiding Professor's gaze. "We got into a fight.. And I... Stunned him." She admitted sheepishly, looking to her feet. Draco heard Professor McGonagall intake of breath.

"Miss Weasley! We do not use harmful spells on other students! I am ashamed in your behaviour, thirty points from Gryffindor and detention with me tomorrow evening." She scorned Ginny, shaking her head, having to regretfully take points from her own house. Draco stayed silent, trying not to think about the pulsing pain at the back of his head.

Professor McGonagall helped him up. "Let's get to the hospital wing, Mr Malfoy." She led him on, noticing Ginny following the two of them. "You can go back to your dormitory, Miss Weasley. I will see you in detention." Draco almost felt sorry for her, McGonagall's voice seemed unnecessarily harsh.

"Okay," She murmured in response, barely a whisper before walking towards the other end of the castle. Draco stared after her before turning his attention on walking without tripping.

As he stumbled across the grounds towards the hospital wing, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like tomorrow, where would him and Ginny stand? Would she talk to him? Should he talk to her?

Another gasp as he entered the hospital wing. "Oh dear! What has happened to you, Mr Malfoy?" Madame Pompfrey asked, her voice a little higher than usual. She showed him to a bed, as he sat down, she started to check over the back of his head.

"Hmm, This should be taken care of easily. How did you do this, boy?" She asked, seeming a little impatient as she took her wand out her pocket. "This may sting a little." Draco felt the stitches being put into place and he winced a little before answering her.

"Someone stunned me," He answered simply, not feeling the need to tattle on Ginny, she had gotten what she deserved, no more punishment was needed.

McGonagall ruined that plan. "Ginny Weasley, Can you believe it?" She said, still sounding negatively astonished.

Madame Pompfrey tutted and shook her head, dabbing ointment on his sewed up wound, his head no longer hurt, he didn't feel dizzy either. "She used to be such a lovely girl, shame really." This annoyed Draco and for some strange reason, he wanted to defend her.

"I don't know, maybe something in the Department of Mysteries affected her last year." McGonagall contemplated, her face a mask of concentration. Draco couldn't help but speak up now.

He looked at the two of them with accusing eyes. "It wasn't her fault, It was mine. I was the one who started the argument." Draco said, dropping his gaze. Why was he defending her? Most of all, why did he feel bad about her being punished to the extent that she was?

They stayed silent for a moment. "You can go back to the Slytherin common room now, Mr Malfoy. Any concussion or nausea, please return as soon as possible." Madame Pompfrey said, Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement.

He stood up, avoiding their gaze, and strolled out of the hospital wing. He couldn't get Ginny out of his head. What would she be like tomorrow? Draco walked through the portrait hole, falling into a comfy armchair by the fire, ignoring the stares from curious first and second years. He put his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He would just have to wait and see what tomorrow held for him.