Ginny Begins

Chapter Three – There's Something in a Shade of Gray

Disclaimer: Please don't sue! I own nothing. Period.

A/N: Just so you guys know, I know that there are some grammatical mistakes with these chapters. Currently, I haven't been proofreading my own stuff, and I haven't got a Beta Reader. So, you've been getting the rough copies. I hope they're not too difficult to read. Soon, I'll go back and make some changes. I'll let you know when I get that done. :)

Draco went through great pains to plan the next few weeks perfectly. Time was of the essence. He couldn't take any other girl to his bed for fear of word spreading to Ginny, and ruining the tentative peace that he had gained while laying out by the lake with her. He knew that it would be work to gain her trust, but Draco Malfoy wasn't one to be discouraged by a little bit of effort to gain what he wanted.

Three days after the first encounter in the library, Draco was walking out of the castle towards what he now knew to be Ginny's favorite place to read.

Draco shoved past two First Years, one of them falling to the ground, books flying everywhere. He merely kept walking, not even casting them a second glance, even when he heard them shout profanities at his back.

'Gryffindors,' he thought with disdain, 'Probably Mudbloods, too.'

The grounds were beautiful, between the orange and red hues of the leaves to the sunlight peeking through the clouds. It cast a magnificent glow on the castle, and Ginny was sketching furiously in her notebook, trying to catch exactly what she was seeing down on paper. During one of her more difficult portions, suddenly a dark shadow loomed over her. Glancing up, all she could see through the glare of the sun was the outline of someone very tall with long hair. Sighing, Ginny guessed who it was.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked, closing her notebook and placing it and her pencil into her bag.

Draco sat down next to her, a little too close for her to feel entirely comfortable.

"What were you drawing," he asked, leaning closer towards her, as if to somehow draw the image of her artwork from her brain through her eyes.

'He really does have the intense gaze thing down…'

"The castle," she answered, looking back toward the magnificent, looming structure, "I think it's beautiful. I don't care who wins this stupid war, so long as this castle remains. It seems to be one of the few things of worth left in the magical world. One of the few monumental original structures that has yet to be touched by major civilization."

Ginny looked towards Draco again, catching his eyes, "do you ever stop to think that Hogwarts never really changes? Sure, the students change, the professors change, the headmaster, maybe even the curriculum. But what we're all doing, it's been done before. We're merely extending the pages of history."

Draco scoffed, "I'd rather not think of it that way actually. I would rather think that perhaps I would like to write some history myself, not just continue on in someone's footsteps."

Ginny smiled slightly, "big words for someone who seems such an avid follower of the Dark Lord."

Draco was taken aback for a moment, before looking down to the ground. "I'm not such a major supporter of the Dark Lord. It's just that I'm just as much not a supporter of the Order of the Pheonix."

"Why is that?" Ginny asked interestedly. She plucked at a few pieces of grass, tying them together before repeating the action with a few more pieces of grass. She was intrigued by the logic of this young man, but it also made her pity him a little. She thought he seemed a little lost, and a lot alone. Throughout the various brief encounters she'd had with Draco, this was the first that he seemed to be saying what he thought. 'Perhaps there is more to this boy than I thought. Am I becoming to rash with judgements?'

"I don't think that Voldemort will be stopped by some silly little boy who barely listens in class, let alone practices very often, a red-head – no offense – who listens even less, and a know-it-all who really, knows more about theory than actually practice on the field. It just seems all a little ridiculous to me. Of course, the idea that the Dark Lord is only powerful because he kills people who are weaker than he is, and not because he truly is a powerful wizard seems a great deal ridiculous as well."

Draco couldn't quite understand why he felt the need to open up to this woman, but he let it happen. He figured that the more honest he was with her about certain things, the more open she would be to the idea that he was changing. He was more than happy to let her think that he was just a misunderstood roguish boy who was only trying to find out what he believed in. Nothing he was telling her was a lie, and it certainly changed his plans a bit, but the more he spoke to her and saw that it was working, the more the plan for how to woo her twisted ever so slightly in his mind.

Ginny grunted in response, thinking over what he had just said. He had practically mirrored her entire view on the whole situation. Perhaps, just maybe, she could find a companion in this boy. She hoped that he would prove himself as trustworthy as he was coming off to be.

After a while of sitting in silence, Draco looked over at Ginny and nudged her a bit. Looking up, Ginny smiled and cocked her head to the side.

"Meet me in Hogsmeade on Saturday," Draco said. Somehow, he managed to say it as a request and a demand at the same time, and Ginny wasn't sure whether to be offended that he was demanding things, or flattered that he asked. After a moment, she nodded before grabbed her bag and heading back to the castle.

Ginny made her way down the staircase from the girl's dormitory Saturday morning, dressed in a pair of black pants and a pink tank top, her hair thrown up into a messy bun on the back of her head. Ron looked up from where he was talking to Harry and Hermione, and almost instantly his face gained a confused expression.

"Ginny," he said when she got close enough to hear him, "what are you doing? You never go to Hogsmeade with everyone."

She smiled mysteriously, walking past the Golden Trio, "I don't know. Figured that I'd go this weekend. See what has you guys always rushing off. I need to pick up some ink anyway. See you there, maybe?" As she finished saying this, she disappeared through the portrait hole, giggling as she made her way toward the Great Hall.

As she made her way toward the Great Hall, she spotted Colin chatting animatedly with Luna. Smiling, she made her way over to her best friends. As she came close, Luna turned and spotted her.

"Ginny! You're coming to Hogsmeade?" Luna said dreamily, and Ginny wasn't certain if she was being asked a question or not.

"Yeah, I have a couple of things I need to pick up, and I think I'm going to meet up with a friend of mine for a bit," Ginny explained, linking arms with both of them as Professor McGonagall announced that they were free to make their way to Hogsmeade. The Trio started out of the castle.

"Oooh. A friend. Is it the certain friend you've been telling me about?" Colin said, nudging her slightly with their linked arms.

Ginny blushed, nodding. "It's just as friends, though, I've decided. He's too unpredictable to put any faith in anything else."

"That sounds like a good idea, Ginny. Although, I would keep my eyes open. You never know when Wrackspurts are around. They might climb in through your ears and make you do things you might regret," Luna said dreamily.

"How long are we going to be in Hogsmeade," Ginny asked curiously as she took the offered arm.

Draco laughed, "why must everything be so planned out with you? Can I not just surprise you on this lovely date?"

Ginny scoffed, "this is not a date. We're merely going as friends."

Draco's face fell slightly before he regained his look of bored haughtiness.

"Well then however will I excuse my plans to take you to lunch? Oh me, my plans are ruined," Draco sighed dramatically, putting his hand on his cheek in mock dazed wonderment. Ginny laughed, lightly hitting him in the arm with her free hand.

"Well, I mean, if your plans are going to be that drastically ruined, then perhaps we should call it a date. For the sake of your plans, of course." Ginny said sarcastically.

The blonde young man's face lifted into his own version of exuberance. "Oh thank you, Ginny! However shall I thank you for saving my plans for the day? It would have taken me oh so long to come up with new ones," he replied, keeping the sarcasm bouncing back and forth. Ginny laughed before regaining her composure.

"I guess you'll just have to figure that one out on your own."

Draco smiled at the teasing he was recieving before he caught himself. This girl had barely been in his life a week, and she was already having an effect on him. Ginny smiled brightly, seeing Draco's brief slip up in his image. 'He does have a lovely smile.'

"Oh, you're changing," she teased, pointing her finger at him as they walked down the path to Hogsmeade. Letting go of his arm, she twirled around with her arms wide, looking toward the sky.

"We're always changing," Draco said quietly, following the woman whom he was starting to believe might have been a pixie in a past life.

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