(AN: Sorry this took so long to update! Hopefully the next one will be quicker! Enjoy, and thanks again for reading! Also, I've received some questions in the reviews. I'm not going to answer any of those questions until the story is done because hopefully by then they'll all be answered by the story. However, if you do have a question after the story is done, just message me or ask in a review and I'll make sure to answer! Thanks again!)

Ginny was distracted as she walked down the hallway, on her way to her Dark Arts class. She loathed that class, but thoughts of hatred were not distracting her. She did not want to see the Carrow dimwit, but that was not distracting her either. What distracted her now was a boy: Draco Malfoy.

Her lips twisted into an ironic smile. She had never thought in a million years that she would be distracted by thoughts of Draco Malfoy. She had never thought either that if she was distracted by him, it would be worry and not hatred that clouded her mind.

She was worried though. Ginny was very worried. Malfoy had not come the last time she had summoned him. While that may not mean much, and while Ginny knew it probably meant nothing in all likelihood, the knot in her stomach begged otherwise. Ginny was worried, and she had been for three days.

It was probably her fault, Ginny berated herself. She had sent another note merely two days after the last, unsettled by Zabini's sudden appearance. Meaning to speak to Draco about it, Ginny had sat in the library for hours that day, but he had never shown. Ginny had nearly run back to the Gryffindor tower, bolting straight over to Neville to demand if he had left her note. Neville's reassurances that he had left the note on Malfoy's desk did nothing to calm her. The poor boy swore up and down that Draco had read the note and then shoved it into his pocket, but he had stayed in class. Neville had assumed he would meet Ginny later, and he was horrified that the Slytherin had not. Seeing Neville's obvious alarm calmed Ginny down a bit. She soothed him by saying she did not think this meant he had turned his back on them. After all, Draco had not disappeared from class and the Carrows had done nothing to them. But Ginny had still been worried, and that worry had only increased with each passing day.

It annoyed her a bit that she was so worried about Draco. If he did not turn them in, and obviously he was not going to, then what should she care? She shouldn't, but she did care. So much so that Draco had even invaded her dreams last night. At least, she hoped that was the cause for Draco invading her dream last night. Otherwise…

Ginny banished that thought with such force that her eyesight went black. No, that did not bear thinking about, even if it was the reason she was darting towards her next class. Despite her worry about Draco, what Ginny was truly hurrying toward was Luna. She desperately wanted to talk to her best friend who would be standing in the hall outside of Dark Arts, as her class was just down the hall. She needed to tell Luna about the dream and about Draco; it was a pressure on her lungs to just expel the story in one long breath.

Ginny rounded the corner, and instant relief engulfed her. Luna was standing just down the hall. Raising her hand, Ginny opened her mouth to call out and froze with her hand extended in greeting. Not believing her eyes, Ginny blinked in quick succession, but the boy across from Luna was still the same. Luna was talking to Blaise Zabini.

The two were in such close conference their foreheads nearly touched, and Luna did not look the least bit bothered. In fact, Luna's blue eyes were blazing with that look she got when she received a particularly interesting problem. Luna was clearly giving and receiving information of some sort, information she was very invested in. Ginny sincerely doubted it was about the Crumple-horned whatever that Luna so loved.

Unknowing that she had consciously made the decision, Ginny lowered her hand and then fell silently into step behind a group of three giggling Hufflepuff girls. They gave her cover as Blaise and Luna came closer.

"…isn't himself Luna," Blaise was nearly whispering. "He's always valued his neck above everything else."

This sparked an anger in Luna, and the normally serene girl snapped, "Are you sure you aren't just projecting your own qualities onto him?"

That seemed to strike Zabini severely for he flushed and then lost all of his color rapidly. Taking a step closer, he grabbed Luna's elbow. "Don't say it like that. You know I-" Ginny had taken another step forward in anticipation of what Zabini was about to say, however that move had brought her to Zabini's attention. He released Luna's elbow and snapped to attention, eyes blazing as he looked at Ginny. "Weasley," his voice was back to the silky smooth cadence Ginny was used to hearing.

Luna turned around calmly, her expression benign. Honestly, Ginny was beginning to wonder at how great a liar Luna was. She certainly did not look the least bit guilty now, despite the fact that Ginny had just caught her explicitly. "Ginny."

Embarrassment at being caught spying was far from Ginny's mind as her head whipped back and forth between studying the two. "What are you two talking about?" she demanded immediately, having not the patience or the time to mince words. Her arms crossed tightly across her abdomen, and her heart raced. Luna would never betray her; Ginny knew that. She trusted the Ravenclaw girl completely, and trust was not something Ginny did easily anymore. Luna would never betray her, unless she thought it was for Ginny's own good.

"We were just speaking about a mutual friend of ours," Zabini replied easily, his hands digging casually into his pockets. He looked relaxed, calm and collected like he always was. Ginny hated it.

"Oh ya?" Ginny snapped. "And who would that be?"

Zabini flashed her a glimmering smile. "Unfortunately I am about to be very late to my next class. Talk to you at another time, Weasley." He nodded to her and turned dark, unreadable eyes to Luna. The look he gave her was heated, but Luna did not return it. She looked back at him with the same serene mask with which she had looked at Ginny. Zabini seemed to almost deflate at that, but he strolled away nonetheless.

He was not even out of her sight before Ginny rounded on Luna. "What was that about?" she hissed, whispering only so she would not draw attention to them. She truly wanted to shout and demand answers. Until that moment, she had thought no secrets existed between herself and Luna. She was unsure that was the case now, and she hated that uncertainty.

"We were speaking about a mutual friend," Luna replied, face untroubled. "Truly Ginny, we are most worried about him, and the person whom he is involved with."

Ginny cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "And I suppose you won't tell me his name because it's none of my business?"

Luna smiled. "Ginny, you know I always keep others' secrets."

"And what exactly was that comment about? What did you mean when you said he was projecting himself onto someone else? What was he going to say?"

That finally made Luna's mask slip, even though it was just a small paling of her already pale skin. "You heard that?"

Ginny nodded angrily. "Of course I did. What did it mean though? What is going on?"

Luna merely shook her head again. "Nothing is going on now, Ginny. We truly are just worried about a mutual friend." Before Ginny could ask anything else, Luna looked over her shoulder. "I really have to go. I'll see you later." She was gone before Ginny so much as blinked.

Ginny stood there silently seething for a moment longer before heading into her own class. She slid into her desk and ruminated over what she had seen and heard. It had not escaped her attention that Luna had said nothing was going on now. That only made Ginny wonder what had happened before.

Clearly something had happened between Zabini and Luna before. Luna would hardly confer with someone she barely knew, someone who was most definitely not on their side. It was dangerous to speak to anyone in the halls, as the Carrows were paranoid. Why would Luna risk their notice for Zabini? And who was this mutual friend of theirs? Ginny's head spun and spun, but only questions came forward.

The class passed by in a blur and before Ginny could talk herself out of it, she was racing through the halls looking for Malfoy, all earlier anxieties – including those about her dream – forgotten in her new fears about Zabini and Luna. She knew where Malfoy was, by luck, because he had just been in class with Neville. She stood on her toes inspecting the stream of students leaving the classroom, examining the faces for Malfoy. Luckily, he was easy to spot, as he was fairly tall and had that blonde hair of his. It truly was a feat of genetics that his hair was so purely silver. Hermione had once tried to explain to Ginny how DNA worked, but Ginny had held no interest for the subject. Looking at Malfoy's hair, she found herself curious.

Shaking away that ridiculousness – and knowing it was a pale attempt at distraction – Ginny heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Malfoy was not walking with Zabini. She did not think she could handle another run in with him. Whatever his connection with Luna, Ginny did not trust the Slytherin.

Without worrying too much about ramifications, Ginny darted into the stream of students and grabbed Malfoy's sleeve as she whisked by him. Undoubtedly he was surprised by the urgent tugging and iron-grip on his clothing, but Malfoy did not make a noise. Ginny was even further surprised when he merely sighed and then followed her without resisting. Eyeing the other students hastily, she was relieved that none seemed to have noticed her. This idea was risky, stupid even, but she needed to talk to someone and if that was Malfoy, then so be it.

Ginny kept her head down and quickly pushed through the rest of the crowd and on down the emptier hallway. The alcove she had once spoken to Neville within stood down this hallway and that was her destination now. She made sure nobody was watching as she shoved Draco before her. If the Carrows heard…well Ginny was not sure what they would do to Draco, let alone what they would do to her. No one was watching though, the halls quickly emptying. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.

She rounded on Draco in the next instant. "What do Zabini and Luna have between them?"

Malfoy, quite literally, looked flummoxed at this question. "What?"

Ginny sighed, bouncing on her feet in anxiety. "Zabini, your best friend, and Luna, my best friend, were just chatting in the hall outside of my last class, as though it were completely normal! What is between them?"

Draco blinked slowly, clearly absorbing this information. "Zabini would never do that. It's idiotic. He values his skin far too much to dare talking to her in the open."

His evaluation of Zabini was oddly familiar, but Ginny brushed that aside. "They were talking in the hallway! I saw them! How do they even know each other?"

Draco looked just as troubled as Ginny had been, though his anxiety was far less apparent. Ginny could see his worry in the slight tightening around his eyes and lips. "I did not know they did. The only time I've ever heard Blaise mention her was when I was supposed to give her detention."

"Why did he mention her then?"

"He was concerned about her safety," Draco said slowly, as though evaluating his memory for something he had missed before. "He did not ask me to spare her though, so they can't be friends. Does he owe her for something?"

Though the question had been rhetorical, Ginny found herself answering. "It's Luna. What could he owe her for? Besides, they were speaking about someone, a guy. When I asked, they said something about a mutual friend they were worried about."

Draco quirked an eyebrow, and Ginny did not miss that it was the exact expression she had given Luna earlier. "A mutual friend? They have no mutual friends. Zabini has no friends."

"Other than you," Ginny tossed back errantly, folding her arms and leaning back against the wall behind her. "But Luna hardly counts you as a friend."

"What exactly did they say?" Draco demanded, clearly as intrigued as Ginny had been.

She shook her head though. "I can't remember. It was too disorienting seeing them together. They looked like it was something they did a lot, like it was familiar." She frowned at the memory of just how close they had been standing. It had indeed been a familiar position, almost an overly familiar one. Ginny gasped and raised wide eyes to Draco's face. "You don't think they were together before?"

Draco looked truly alarmed by this idea. "No," his voice was adamant. "There's no way. What would they have in common, Weasley?"

Ginny shrugged and then shook her head to dislodge the thought. He was right, of course. Luna would never have dated Zabini. It was just the closeness of their bodies that had thrown her off. "Fine, okay. Then what were they talking about? How do they even know each other?"

Draco shrugged, also leaning back against the wall behind him and opposite Ginny. "I have no idea. Zabini has never mentioned her, and I've never seen them together."

"This is the first time I've seen them together," Ginny threw in, staring absently back at Draco. Unbeknownst to them, their postures mirrored each other's perfectly. They both stood, slightly slouched, with their backs against the wall and arms folded across their chests. Their feet were splayed out in front of them, and by chance, they fell exactly intertwined with each other.

The alcove was rather small as they stood there thinking, and soon, Ginny noticed. Blushing slightly, she looked down, but that only made it worse. She saw their feet locked between each other's, one of his shoes firmly placed between her own two. It was a most disconcerting sight, and she immediately glanced up only to find that Draco was now staring at her with an uneasy expression on his face. It was oddly reminiscent of the expression a trapped animal would wear.

"What?" she demanded sharply, overly conscious now of their proximity. Thoughts of her dream were threatening to break into her mind, but Ginny battled them back.

"Nothing," he snapped back, his face quickly falling into an angry mask, but his cheeks were flushed slightly. "Did you seek me out only for this? It's the middle of the day in the middle of the hall Weasley!"

The abrupt change in topic blindsided Ginny, but she did not remain speechless for long. Her own temper reared its head. "Yes, well, if somebody had deigned to answer my last note, I wouldn't have had to! If I had known you would show up in the library again if I asked, I wouldn't've sought you out!"

Draco snorted. "So impatient, Weasley. And I am not some servant at your beck and call. Just because you leave me some ridiculous note does not mean I am going to rush to the library. I have a life."

"Ya, a shoddy one," she snapped back.

That seemed to spike his temper, for he leaned forward angrily, forcing Ginny to press her back even harder against the wall behind her. "You have no idea what my life is like," he hissed.

Ginny would not be cowed. "What the life of a Death Eater? I think I do. You see, I've met a few while they tried to kill me!"

"Only because you stupidly put yourself into their paths!" Draco retorted, not retreating. His hot breath blew a few of her hair strands back, and Ginny impatiently brushed them away.

"Oh, excuse me," she winged. "Let me just be like you and Zabini, bury my head so far up my own arse, I can pretend I have no idea what's going on!"

Looking slightly taken aback by her language, Draco leaned back. Ginny pressed her advantage, leaning forward as he had just done. "Or, better yet, how about I offer to give you some details about the Order, and then suddenly stop showing up to our meetings! Let's see how you fare, wondering if I've turned on you! Wondering if I'm about to turn you over to your enemies! Let's see what you do!"

Draco held up his hands, palms displayed in surrender, but his face was still flushed with anger. "I wouldn't do that. I gave you my word."

Ginny snorted. "And what does the word of a Malfoy mean to me?"

"I thought you trusted me."

That one accusation cut through Ginny's tirade and temper with the swiftness of a knife. He had said it almost petulantly, as though he was hurt that she did not trust him completely. Looking at him, she could see that hurt just barely showing in his dark gray eyes. It made her feel irrationally guilty. The abrupt change in tone and emotion caused her head to start aching. Why it was always like this with Malfoy, Ginny had no idea, but it always was this way. She wondered if he even knew how worn out she was by their meetings, how confused she always felt afterward. Probably not, but he was certainly hurt now, and Ginny could not dismiss her guilt.

"I do trust you," Ginny bit her lip. "Or I mostly do."

"Mostly?" Now Draco snorted, though he did not quite pull off the blasé manner he was trying to show. He was hurt, and Ginny could tell. "Right, well while you mostly trust me, let me just place my life into your hands. But I mean, you're the good side right? You would never turn on me to save yourself, or someone else."

The sarcasm dripping off of his words increased Ginny's guilt exponentially. She had asked him to trust her completely, without ever having realized it. He was trusting her to not turn him over to the Order, to not tell the Carrows if they questioned her, to protect him. And she didn't trust him to do the same. The unjustness of that made her angry with herself.

But Ginny had trust issues. She was not egotistical enough to ignore that gaping flaw in her personality. Most people would never guess that Ginny trusted very few people because Ginny was and had always been very social. She had many friends, and never shied away from company. But she trusted almost no one. She trusted her family implicitly, and since that extended automatically to Harry and Hermione, she trusted them too. But in all her years at Hogwarts since her first year, Ginny had only extended her complete trust to Luna outside of her immediate family. Not even Neville was trusted with all of her thoughts and feelings. Ginny kept herself to herself, not trusting anyone ever since…

"Not trusting anyone since Tom," she whispered, mostly to herself forgetting how limited the space between Draco and herself was.

"Who's Tom?" Draco demanded crossly.

Ginny snapped her wide eyes up to him, trying to discern if he was mocking her. But he looked back at her with a mixture of continued anger and new curiosity. He had no idea who Tom was, which was baffling. He was in the inner circle, wasn't he? Did Draco have no information about the man he followed? Ginny began to question just how much he knew about her Chamber incident, but now was not the time to broach that subject or ask how much Draco even knew about Voldemort.

She sighed. "Look, Malfoy," she peeked up at him timidly. "I don't trust people quickly, especially when I don't know them well. And you're right. I've asked you to trust me completely without trusting you completely, and that is unfair. But I am trying to trust you, and I do already to some degree." It was all she could offer him right now. Ginny's trust was not something she could just give out on a whim. It was tantamount to giving out her love on a whim.

Malfoy looked down at her, down because she was so near and he was taller than her. His gray eyes were evaluating, but Ginny could still see something unsettled within their depths. "Fine," he said finally.

"Fine?" Ginny echoed in question. "Does that mean you will continue to meet me in the library?" Her voice was oddly hopeful at the request, but Ginny had not thought to make the inquiry merely polite.

A war commenced on Draco's features that Ginny could not have missed without looking away from him completely. Ginny could see indecision weighing heavily on his mind, but she could not fathom why. She had promised to try to trust him. Was he truly so worried that she would turn on him? Loyalty was foremost a Hufflepuff trait, but Gryffindors were known to be loyal as well. Where was this hesitation coming from?

Before Ginny could ask, the distinct sound of approaching footsteps made them both freeze. Voices were soon heard as well, and Ginny knew that the people were walking down this hallway, their hallway. Struck by the same knowledge, Malfoy looked stricken.

Without knowing, both attempted to move at the same time, backpedalling to press themselves more soundly against the walls and therefore into the shadows. But their feet were still intertwined, and the mirrored motion caused Ginny to step onto his foot and then stumble. With nowhere else to go, Ginny fell forward, hands automatically snapping up to catch her. Instead of hitting the coldness of the wall though, her hands hit the warmth of Draco's chest. She gasped, her hands automatically flexing to grip his shirt for balance. Looking up in mortification, Ginny saw only Draco's wide gray eyes fixed on her face. For a moment, neither one did anything, but Ginny recovered. Attempting to back away hastily, she was halted by the sound of people just outside their alcove. Freezing automatically, she hardly noticed that Draco was now gripping her shoulders as tightly as she gripped his shirt.

Two girls walked by, laughing at something the one on the left had said. Ginny and Draco would be in easy view if either turned. Ginny tensed at the thought, and it was then that she felt Draco tense. More specifically, she felt all of him tense, for she was pressed up against the entire length of his body, save some small distance between their chests that was seriously challenged by each breath they took. As though that thought gave other sensations permission, Ginny was suddenly very aware that his leg was still between hers, his hands clasped around her shoulders almost protectively. The entirely of his leg pressed against her, and the cold of the wall on her bare knee contrasted sharply with the warmth of his abdomen. Staring wide-eyed at their chests, she could only watch as her shirt pressed against his with every breath. The feeling of Malfoy touching almost all of her was so deeply unsettling that Ginny was both frozen and aching to move. Of course, she could not, and as though realizing that, both her hands and Draco's convulsed at the same moment, gripping each other tighter.

Ginny looked up just as the girls passed, her mouth falling open into a gape as she met Draco's gaze. Or she would have, if he was looking at her. Malfoy was steadfastly watching the girls, his hands tensing every time the one on the left turned to address her friend. If that girl focused just past her friend, Ginny and Draco would be spotted. They passed in mere seconds, but it felt like an eternity to both Ginny and Draco for very different reasons.

Only once they had walked completely past, their voices fading as they rounded the corner, did Draco look down at Ginny. The relief on his face quickly turned into shock as he not only took in the nearness of her face, but the fact that she was literally on top of him. Ginny, for her part, was frozen in mortification by this point. Draco, frozen in shock, made no move.

For an undetermined amount of time, they stood like that, just breathing. It was the first time Ginny had ever stood so close to a boy without intending to kiss him. That thought only inflamed her already red face. As though the change in her coloring broke a spell, Draco's hands released her.

That was the push she needed. In seconds, her hands had released his shirt as well. What followed could only be described as an awkward scrambling to disentangle limbs. Ginny's skirt was ruffled, and Draco's shirt bore signs of her fists having clenched it so tightly. Their breathing was hard by the time they had once again distanced themselves to either side of the alcove, and the cacophony of their breathing echoed around the narrow space.

To any passersby, they undoubtedly appeared as though they had just drawn away from a snogging session, and a hot and heavy one at that. Neither one of them was unaware of that fact as they stared at each other in silence.

Later, Ginny could not recollect who left first. If pressed, she would say that Draco made the first move to leave, but she actually made it out of the alcove first. Without a word, they turned separate ways and she did not look back. She nearly ran in the opposite direction of him, fleeing the alcove. Her face still flamed, and her outfit was still quite rumpled, but Ginny was headless of those facts. She knew only that she needed to find Luna, immediately.

Draco refused to let himself think as he walked slowly back to his dorm. He took measured steps and measured breaths and determinedly thought of absolutely nothing. Entering the common room, he was glad to see that only person was about. He was, however, unhappy to see that it was Pansy.

She looked up from a letter, sitting on one of the many couches. Flashing Draco a quick smile, she opened her mouth no doubt to utter a greeting. However, Draco watched in confusion as her eyes darted away from his face to his shirt. "Draco!" Pansy sat up with the exclamation. "What the hell happened to your shirt?"

Draco looked down only to see two distinct places where his shirt was wrinkled. It did not take a Ravenclaw to surmise that the two places were locations someone's hands would grip. Indeed, the pattern was very distinct. Draco looked back up, fully intending on making something up, but he was too late.

Eyes narrowed, Pansy glared at him. "Who have you been snogging?"

"Snogging?" he echoed, alarmed that that was her immediate conclusion.

"Oh don't give me that, Draco," Pansy got up off the couch and advanced on him, one finger raised in anger. "I know what type of girl you like, how heated snogging you gets. Those are from some trollop!"

Surprised more at Pansy's use of the word trollop than her accusations, Draco raised an eyebrow. "It's none of your business, Pansy," he snapped. It only took an instant for him to realize that this was the last thing he should have said. Pansy's eyes widened and her mouth hardened. Draco knew that look immediately. It said both that Pansy was angry, and that she fully intended to find out everything about the situation that had made her angry.

Unable to find a way to curb Pansy's ire immediately, Draco did the cowardly thing. He briskly walked past her and found his way to his dormitory, where he promptly collapsed onto his bed. He hoped for sleep, but as soon as he closed his eyes, a pair of surprised brown eyes were staring at him. Bolting upright, with wide eyes of his own, Draco swore.

"Luna!" Ginny yelled her friend's name, headless of everything still. It had taken a few minutes to locate Luna in the halls, as it was by now the end of the day. She had not been aware that she had been in the alcove with Draco for that long, but those two girls had only been the first people to leave their last class. As Ginny had searched for Luna, she had passed student after student after student, receiving more than a few askance looks. She ignored them.

Luna turned, clearly surprised at hearing her name yelled. Her shock only increased when she took in Ginny as the redheaded girl came to a stop in front of her. "Ginny," her eyes traced Ginny's form once and then again. "You look, well, you look like you've been…"

"Snogged," Ginny supplied, glaring at everyone who looked at her.

"I was going to say shagged actually," Luna replied calmly. "Have you even looked at yourself?"

Ginny did, then, and was horrified. Her skirt was not only askew, but alarmingly high. Her blouse was untucked in places and her hair was a mess of strands around her face. She truly did look like she had been shagged and thoroughly. "Oh, Merlin," she whispered, mortified.

"You haven't been shagged, have you?" Luna tilted her head curiously.

"No!" Ginny blushed. "I-" The sound of giggles interrupted her, and Ginny turned a furious gaze on a group of other Ravenclaws who were clearly gaping at her. "Can I help you?" she demanded. They quieted immediately and left, but Ginny was now very aware of every person that lingered, all gaping at her. Not to mention the fact that all students were supposed to return immediately to their dorms after their last class. She could not speak to Luna in an open hallway. "Can we go somewhere else?" she whispered.

Luna nodded easily and then led the way. They arrived at a classroom door and Ginny was not surprised that once they entered, they found it empty. Luna had catalogued every empty room in Hogwarts as potential meeting places for the DA now that the Room of Requirement was under the other side's watch. This room would be safe for the quick conversation Ginny needed, the only tricky part would be returning to their rooms afterward, but they could worry about that after.

Seating herself on the top of a nearby desk, Ginny sighed.

Luna smiled at her and sat down more demurely in a chair, facing Ginny. "So you were not shagged?"

Ginny flinched. "I wish you would stop saying that word."

"Why?" Luna was merely quizzical. "I've been shagged, and I know you have been too. Why, when you and Harry finally shagged, it was all you could talk about that night."

Ginny flinched again, deeply uncomfortable with the clash of memories. "I was not shagged," she ground out. That was met by silence and Ginny knew this was the point where she had to continue. Steeling herself, she blurted, "I was with Malfoy."

That did finally get a reaction other than amusement out of Luna. "What happened with Malfoy?" Her blue eyes were scanning her, and Ginny realized that Luna was looking for injuries.

"Oh, no!" she gasped. "We didn't fight. I mean we fought, but only verbally. He didn't touch me!" She winced when she realized that that was not, strictly speaking, true. But it was true in the respect she meant it.

"If he didn't touch you, why do you look like this?"

Ginny glared at her best friend. Luna's abilities to poke holes in everything she said usually amused Ginny, but not right now.

"Did you snog him?" Luna's voice was carefully curious only, but Ginny could detect the unease underneath that. She wondered suddenly what Luna would do if she had snogged Malfoy. Would her best friend be angry with her? Then, realizing what exactly she had been thinking about, Ginny quickly dislodged those thoughts.

Sighing, Ginny raked a hand through her hair. "No, I did not snog Malfoy. Don't be ridiculous. We were in an alcove, arguing because he didn't answer my last note. Two girls walked by, and I sort of… well I tripped into him." Ginny tried not to feel guilty over omitting that she had only sought out Malfoy because of Zabini and Luna. She had learned nothing, and there was no point in telling Luna that. In fact, Ginny was prepared to forget about Zabini and Luna entirely. She had more pressing concerns right now.

"You…fell…into Malfoy?"

Wincing yet again, Ginny glared at the blonde girl. "Yes. I know how that sounds, but yes I tripped into him, and then y'know we couldn't move because that might draw their attention. So I was trapped against him, and he didn't notice, but then he did notice and it was mortifying."

"Wait," Luna held up an imperious hand. "How does this explain the state of your clothing?"

Ginny frowned. "Well, I'm not really sure how that happened. When I fell into him, I tried to pull away immediately but he stopped me, so that could've done part of it. But then, oh Merlin, once he realized how close we were, we both leapt apart. It was an awkward shuffle and I'm sure that's why I look this mussed." Ginny was quite aware she was rambling, but she could not help it. Every sentence she uttered sounded embarrassing, only compounding the embarrassment she already felt.

Luna was carefully evaluating what Ginny had said, her head titled at a slight angle and her lips slightly pursed. "But Ginny, if you immediately pulled away after realizing, and Malfoy did too, why are you this embarrassed? It sounds like an accident. I'm sure Malfoy knows that."

At this point, Ginny closed her eyes. Because she knew. She knew that Malfoy knew it was an accident, and if an awkward moment was all it had been, she would not be freaking out about it. But it had been more. She had been unsettled so close to him. She had thought of kissing, of kissing him even. She had liked being that close to him.

Keeping her eyes closed, Ginny blurted out the thing she had been meaning to tell Luna earlier, before she had been distracted by Blaise. "IhadadreamaboutMalfoylastnight."

"What?"

Ginny peeked an eye open to make sure Luna was not grinning at her admission. She was not. Clearly, Luna had not understood. Sighing, but opening her eyes, Ginny said more clearly, "I had a dream about Malfoy last night." She realized that she had inadvertently reverted to calling him Malfoy, as though his last name would make it better.

"Okay," Luna said slowly, her eyes wide in alarm that she was desperately trying to control by Ginny's judgment. "Do you mean Malfoy was in your dream last night, or do you mean that the dream was about him?"

"Exactly what I said," Ginny snapped, flushing uncomfortably. "It was about him. It was definitely about Malfoy." She tried to quash any memories of the dream, but scraps came back. She groaned.

Again Luna spoke carefully, clearly aware that this was going somewhere weird. "I still don't see the concern. I have dreams about many people, Ginny. You have been spending time with him lately, and any change in your life, especially a drastic one, is usually caught in your subconscious and then put into dream form-"

"It was not a normal dream," Ginny cut her off, refusing to look at her best friend as she admitted the truth.

"Oh."

Luna lapsed into silence and Ginny let the room fill with it. She wanted to say nothing more, unwilling to delve into the details. The details she could not keep from her mind. It had been quite a dream, not the first of that sort that Ginny had had, but different in more ways than just who the other person had been. Ginny's dreams of this sort were usually short and to the point. This dream had started out normally and then evolved. And it had been more… intimate than her other dreams.

Shutting her eyes against the memories, one fragment kept replaying in her mind's eye. It was the image of Draco leaning over the library table she was perched on (much like she was currently perched on this desk). She had expected action from him, but not the one he took. In her dream, Draco had taken her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm, all the while staring at her with dark gray eyes churning with emotion she could not comprehend. That one simple action had changed everything about the dream, somehow heightening it. Ginny had awoken quite out of shape, and despite the other, more mature, pieces of the dream, that one moment kept replaying in her mind.

"Ginny," Luna called, to get her attention. Ginny's eyes snapped open and she glanced at her friend. Luna was observing her with care. "I don't mean to belittle this, because clearly it bothers you, but it really isn't that dire."

Ginny spluttered, "Not that dire? Luna I had a wet dream about Draco Malfoy!"

Luna had to fight a smile at that particular exclamation, and Ginny could not blame her. She had to fight her own smile at realizing what exactly she had said. Merlin, she had never thought she would say that sentence in this lifetime. Luna coughed to clear her expression, but her eyes still twinkled with mirth. "Oh, Ginny, it's normal. Draco Malfoy is a handsome boy, perhaps the most attractive boy here. After spending time with him, most any girl would dream about him."

"Most any girl likes him," Ginny muttered darkly. "I don't like him, Luna. I hardly trust him, and I most certainly do not like him."

Luna rose and sat beside Ginny on the desk, swinging her feet benignly as she thought. "Well, perhaps that's the point. Nothing appeals to a girl more than a boy who makes her angry. Isn't there some idea that angry sex is the most passionate?"

Ginny balked quite visibly at Luna's insinuation, and then flushed at the ideas it nearly incited. "No," she deadpanned, knowing full well that many girls did say that. "No, and I have no desire to find out. It was one dream. That's all. Whether or not Draco Malfoy is actually attractive will not matter from this day on. I will never think of it again."

Luna merely looked at Ginny with a blank expression, but Ginny could feel her friend's skepticism. In fact, Ginny herself was skeptical. But she was firm. If Draco happened to be attractive, then that was that. She was nearly a grown woman; she could handle being around an attractive man without having illicit dreams about him. It was Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake. She wanted nothing to do with him of that sort. But the image of him kissing her palm still snaked its way around the back of her mind.

Draco had his head buried in his bed, unaware that as he tried to suffocate himself Ginny Weasley was admitting an interesting secret to Luna Lovegood. Even if he had been aware, Draco would have been far too preoccupied with keeping his mind off of what had happened in the alcove.

He was not thinking about the way Ginny Weasley had looked, staring up at him with wide eyes and blushing cheeks. He was not thinking about the way Ginny Weasley had smelled, her hair a cloud around them. And he was most certainly not thinking about the way Ginny Weasley had felt, pressed up completely against him.

No. Draco was not thinking about any of that.

Of course, he knew the opposite to be true.

It was all her fault, really, he thought peevishly. If Ginny had not tripped over her own two feet, he would not have to deal with this right now. If Ginny had not tripped he would not have to force his mind away from her. If Ginny had not tripped he would have no idea what she felt like.

With a groan, Draco flipped himself over so he could stare moodily at his ceiling. That was the crux of the problem. He had liked the way Ginny had felt pressed against him. It had taken him completely unawares when he had turned back only to find her quite literally atop him. Then, all of the sensations had come flooding in at once. The fact that she nearly straddled one of his legs had not been of any help.

It was of no surprise to Draco that he had liked the way Ginny had felt against him. He was not only a hot blooded male, but he had already admitted two years ago that he was attracted to Ginny Weasley. You would be hard pressed to find a male who was not at least attracted to her.

The problem was that Draco could master simple attraction. This had gone beyond that. He had wanted her closer, he had wanted her so tightly against him that he could not breathe, he had wanted all of her. Hell, he still wanted that.

And there was the big problem.

Draco knew he was already walking a very thin line. He was not only attracted to Weasley, but he respected her; he liked her. Knowing what it felt like with her that close to him, it only increased everything he was already struggling with. The desire to go seek Ginny out was a pressure at his back, even now urging him to leave his room.

And he had thought he was in control of himself.

Draco snorted at his idiocy. He had ignored that note from Ginny three days ago, unwilling to see her so soon after he had just admitted to Blaise that he liked her. It would change how he interacted with her, he knew, and he had not wanted to deal with the questions that would no doubt bring forward. Ginny Weasley was ridiculously curious and observant enough to notice a change in his behavior.

So he had crumpled up the note and shoved it into his pocket. Honestly, he had been unsure if he would even continue helping her at that point. The only problem was that he had given his word, and despite what Blaise thought, that meant something to Draco. He owed her and he had given his word, and Malfoy's did not back out of situations like that.

Still, Draco had been hoping for a few more days at least before he would have to face Ginny, but then she had just appeared. It was still shocking to Draco that she had managed to get so close to him without him spotting her red hair. He was so very good at spotting her. Nonetheless when he had turned to see that the insistent tugging on his sleeve was from her, he had followed without hesitation. It had been thoughtless, but Draco had still felt dread curling in his stomach.

He had all but prepared an excuse when she bombarded him with news about Blaise and her ridiculous friend. Now that was something to ponder. Draco wondered how exactly Blaise knew Lovegood, and why he was keeping up that connection. It was surprising that both Blaise and Lovegood had kept it secret from himself and Ginny. The idea of a relationship having been there unsettled Draco greatly, though he wasn't sure why. It was a ludicrous idea though. Zabini would never get mixed up with someone who was declared on the good side. His sense of self-preservation was far too developed for that.

Draco shook those thoughts away. It did not matter what Blaise and Luna were doing. The surprise had unhinged him, and then Ginny had bombarded him with her anger. It had been annoying at first, but then, when he had realized that she truly did not trust him, he had been struck with hurt. He knew that was foolish of him, but he had been unable to quiet the emotion. And then she had blurted that thing about Tom. Who in the bloody hell Tom was, Draco had no idea. That irritated him in a way that felt suspiciously like jealousy, but Draco refused to go down that path.

Besides, he had much more pressing things to concern himself with. Things like his burning desire to press Weasley into an alcove again, but one where, this time, they would not be interrupted. Those thoughts only led to others and soon Draco was struggling to keep himself composed.

This was worse than liking her, he decided. When he had liked her, he decided that distance was the way to go. He had attempted to keep distance, and when that had not been an option, he had attempted to distance himself verbally by calling her Weasley again. But if Ginny had noticed, she had said nothing.

He snorted. "Calling her Weasley, right that's going to solve everything," Draco muttered to himself. The only thing calling her Weasley accomplished now was bringing to mind the image of her dolt brother, Ron. While that certainly cooled his more wild thoughts, it did nothing about the whole problem.

He respected Ginny, he liked Ginny, and now he deeply desired Ginny.

Draco was on the fast track to destroying any and all sanity he had managed to cling to, and yet he could not talk himself off of his path.