Chapter 2
Ginny stood behind Harry, listening as he tried, in vain, to control the students who had shown up for Quidditch trials. It was hard to believe that someone who had defeated the Dark Lord on numerous occasions could have so much trouble controlling a bunch of teenagers. They had been standing here for ten minutes as he tried to get their attention. It became too much to watch.
"Shut it!" Ginny shouted to the group of people. Silence fell immediately as they turned to look at the red head.
"Thanks." Harry murmurred to her. She blushed a little and nodded to him. Ginny stared at Harry as he spoke. He was so handsome and brave and funny. She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomache as she thought about him.
An hour later, Ginny was trudging, exhausted, from the pitch. She smiled. She was a chaser this year. Even Ron had made the team as keeper. It was wonderful. She, Ron and Harry would all be playing this year. The young Weasley began to hum as she thought of all the days to come that she would be spending practicing with Harry.
She thought about the day. It was amazing that things were going so well. She would get to play quidditch again this year with her brother and Harry, her grades were better than they had ever been, and she was even making better friends with people. Life was finally looking good.
When Ginny got back to the common room, she pulled out her text book for Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was nice to sit next to the fire and study. Colin desperately needed help studying and she had agreed to help, at least a little. She had already made up her mind not to be like Hermione and do his work for him. No way. She had her own work to worry about. But there was nothing wrong with helping him study.
"You ready Col? I've got plenty of other classes to study for besides this one, you know." The red-haired Gryffindor called over to her friend.
Colin Creevey rushed over to where she sat. "I'm here Gin. Don't go running off to Merlin knows where. I really need this."
Ginny laughed. "Alright, alright. I suppose I can spare you some time."
Colin grinned. "Thanks Gin. I owe you."
She laughed again and winked. "I know."
Draco wrung his hands together. This was it. He walked slowly to the bird cage and looked at the small bird inside. It was singing. Singing the same tune the mysterious red-haired witch so often sang with it. He had returned and stayed every time he found her there, to hear her sing. Each time, he told himself it would be the last.
But Draco knew, as he removed the bird from it's cage, that she would not come here to sing again. Never here. Not after what he was about to do. The young Malfoy carried the bird to the cabinet and placed it inside. He could still hear it singing as he closed the door. Then there was nothing. He opened the door and it was done. It had worked then.
Draco closed the door and waited. Five minutes. Wait five minutes and check again. Those were his orders.
Ginny was smiling as she made her way back through the piles of junk. Quidditch practice was cancelled today, which wasn't entirely a bad thing. She had another big exam coming up and she needed to study for it. Ginny was about to round the corner of a large pile of junk when she heard it. It was someone crying. A man.
She crept forward slowly and looked around. Ginny couldn't stop herself from gasping when she saw just who it was sitting on the floor. Draco Malfoy. What is he doing here? And why is he crying? Every part of her screamed to run. To just forget about him and leave. Pretend it never happened.
But she couldn't. "Malfoy?" She said hesitantly.
His head jerked up and he looked at her. Her fiery hair. "It's you..."
"I know who I am. What are you doing in here?"
He looked away for a moment, trying desperately to restore him Malfoy demeanor. She was sure that he was going to ignore her. Then he raised his hands slowly. It took her a moment to realize that the small thing in his hands was the tiny yellow bird she had come to love. "Oh..." She breathed. "Is it alright?" She asked moving closer.
"No," He shook his head, "He's dead."
She backed up. "Did you do it?"
Draco turned cold eyes to her. "Why would I be sitting here if I had done it? He was mine. He wasn't supposed to die."
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know. I'll just, I'll leave you alone then." She said backing up further.
"No, wait." He said, stopping her as she turned to leave.
Ginny hesitated. "Er, yes?"
"I just, uh, would you sing? Like you did when you came here before?" He asked her, not looking her in the eyes.
She looked at him, eyes wide. "How do you...?"
"I came across you one day. I heard you singing. Your voice is lovely. It reminds me of the music I used to hear as a child. Please, will you sing?"
"I..." She was about to tell him no. That she couldn't do it. That she wouldn't do it. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She nodded instead.
Her voice was shaky at first. She was nervous. She lowered herself to the floor across from Draco. Ginny could hardly believe that she was sitting here. Sitting with Draco Malfoy, enemy of her brother and Harry, the love of her life. It was all so unreal. But how could she leave him alone when he was so distraught. So she continued to sing, forgetting about everything else for the moment.
Draco stared at the red-haired witch as she continued to sing. So familiar. He knew that he had seen her before. But where? There were only so many red-heads in Hogwarts and from his experience most of them were... His train of thought died there.
"No..." Draco breathed. "What's your name?"
She stopped. He doesn't know who I am? I haven't changed that much, have I? "You- You don't know who I am?"
"I didn't. But now... You're the little Weasley, aren't you?" He asked, watching her nod slowly.
"That's right. I'm Ginny. Ginny Weasley."
Draco grimaced. "Ginny... What's that short for? Surely that isn't your full name."
She stared at him. What's going on here? She wondered. Then she heard herself speak. "Ginevra. It's short for Ginevra."
He nodded. "That's much better than Ginny." He stood slowly and held out his hand to help her up.
She stared at his outstretched hand. "What's this about?"
"You may be a Weasley, but I am a Malfoy. Malfoys are raised with manners. But if you would rather stand on your own, so be it." He made to move his hand but she placed her small hand into his at that moment.
"Thank you." She said, looking away.
"It's much more fitting, you know?"
"What is?" Ginny said, looking at him suddenly.
"Ginevra. It's much more fitting. It suits you." He said, brushing back a strand of her fiery hair.
Ginny shuddered as he said her name. She stared into the gray eyes of the Slytherin before her. They were such a mystifying gray. Like a storm brewing in the sky. Then she realized three things. The first was that those beautiful gray eyes which had her so mesmerised belonged to Draco Malfoy. The second was that they were incredibly close. And the third made her freeze where she stood. Draco was moving closer still.
Draco lowered his head toward her. He didn't understand why he was doing this. But he couldn't make himsel stop either. His lips brushed hers and he felt a jolt run through him. His hands grasped her arms and he pulled her closer to him. He felt her respond to him for a moment before she froze again. Draco released her and stepped back. His eyes never left hers.
Ginny Weasley's eyes were round with shock. She stared at the blonde wizard before her, looking, for all she was, helpless. She could still feel his lips pressed lightly to her own. Her hand raised to her lips. Ginny couldn't believe it. She turned and ran from the room.
Ginny sat across from Harry at dinner. Harry was reading that old Potions book again. She couldn't see the problem with it but there must have been something because Hermione was arguing over it again.
"Come on Harry. It isn't right to use that anymore. You have to turn it in." Hermione pleaded.
"No." Harry said, not looking up.
"Yeah, come on Hermione. Lay off. Harry can do what he wants with the book. Besides, you're only jealous that Harry is doing better than you in Potions." Ron piped in.
Ginny stared as the three continued arguing. So what if Harry wants to study. Why should Hermione care? She's been lecturing them to do it for years now.
"Hey guys," Ginny heard Neville say from beside her. "Malfoy is staring this way."
They all looked up. Ginny's eyes met Draco's and she felt her breathe catch. He was staring at her but none of the others seemed to notice. She looked away, feeling her heart beat triple.
"The miserable twit," Ron said, "Probably can't wait to get home and tell old Voldy all about us."
"I still can't believe they made him a Death Eater." Harry mumbled. "What's this bloody world coming to?"
The red-haired witch looked at Harry. "Come on Harry. You don't know that he's really a Death Eater."
"Yes, I do, Gin. I saw the Mark on his arm."
"Really? When?" She asked anxiously.
"I'd rather not talk about it here. How about we talk later tonight though, in the common room?" Harry offered, smiling at her.
Ginny nodded. "That sounds good."
Draco stared across the Great Hall at the red-haired witch he had kissed just hours ago. A Weasley. Bloody hell, what was wrong with him? Kissing a Weasley as if he were a blood traitor. He just prayed she hadn't told anyone.
Panic rose in his chest but he squashed it quickly. Why would she tell anyone? If it got around to Saint Potter, why, he'd probably never speak to her again. Foolish Potter, imagining that he, a half-blood, was better than a Malfoy. It was utterly rediculous!
And Weasley. What was wrong with that git. Chasing after a mudblood like Granger. Why, he's worse than Potter. At least Potter aims for pureblood witches. Then again, no self-respecting pureblood witch would be caught dead with The Weasle King.
"Drake, dude" Draco lost his train of thought and looked over at Blaise Zabini, raising an eyebrow in response. "They won't burst into flames from the death glare you're giving off."
"Imagine how much easier it would be to win the war if they did." Pansy Parkinson shrieked with laughter.
"Thankfully, Pansy's comment led the surrounding Slytherins into a rather detailed and somewhat graphic discription of a series of deaths to befall the Gryffindors.
The platinum haired boy settled back into his train of thought and decidedly ignored his fellow housemates. Gray eyes once more found the red-haired witch. She was still talking to Potter, listening intently to whatever he was saying. He watched as big brown eyes raised suddenly to meet his. Draco could feel the fear in her gaze and wondered, not for the first time, just what Scarhead had been saying to her.
Ginny walked to the Quidditch Pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor team. They were playing Hufflepuff today, thank Merlin. Without Katie Bell, they hadn't been doing too well. Katie's replacement Joanne Crush, could barely run a successful play during practice. During a game, it was near impossible. The whole team was anxiously hoping Katie would get out of the hospital wing soon.
Once dressed in her Quidditch robes, Ginny joined the rest of the team as the awaited the start of the game. The announcer's voice boomed onto the field. Madame Hooch released the Snitch and Bludgers. Her whistle was blown and the two teams mounted their brooms, kicking off from the ground. The quaffle was thrown and Ginny caught it.
She spun upside down to avoid a grab from Justin, one of the Hufflepuff chasers. Ginny raced across the pitch as she regained her position, swirving and dodging bludgers. She tossed the quaffle to a nearby chaser and swirved backward. As the chaser moved upward towards the goal, Ginny got into position. The throw was faked and the quaffle fell into Ginny's waiting hands. She tossed it.
"Score." The announcer shouted. "Ten points to Gyffindor!" A Hufflepuff grabbed the quaffle and raced off towards the other side of the pitch.
"What an amazing block by Ron Weasley! The brother-sister duo is taking this team by storm!"
The game ended three hours later. Two hundred and ninety to one hundred and ten. Gyffindor.
Gryffindor tower was an uproar of partiese that night. They were tied for first place against Slytherin for the Quidditch cup. And the next time they played, they would win again.
Ginny, true to the reputation of her twin brothers, snuck in half a dozen cases of butterbeer. Harry asked Dobby to bring up some cookies and sandwhiches. Ron even managed to transfigure decorations for the common room, with Hermione's help of course.
The whole of Gryffindor house went to bed that night sufficiently smashed.