To Draco or Not to Draco...

Chapter One

Draco stretched his long legs out in front of him. He was sitting in the common’s room at Hogwarts. Pansy was prattling on about something and he was giving the required ‘oh’, ‘really?’ and ‘uh-huh’s whenever there was a moment of silence. Crabbe and Goyle were seemingly deeply enthralled by whatever she was saying. Draco sighed and glanced around the room. The Hufflepuffs were kind of off to one side. He saw several Ravenclaws with their heads bent together by the fireplace. Ah, and there was Potter and his merry band of Gryffindors lounging by the bay window. He noticed that Ginny Weasley turned her head quickly away from his direction as he scanned their group. Interesting, he thought. Usually her eyes were glued to Potter’s ugly mug. He took a few minutes to peruse Ginny. She was really growing up nicely- not that he’d ever admit that out loud. Her hair wasn’t the bright red that it used to be when she was a first year. It was actually a very pretty strawberry blond color now. It was also long and curly. It framed her blue eyes quite nicely -ah- he could see that because she was staring at him staring at her. Draco was the one to quickly turn his head now. What was wrong with him? Pansy must be melting his brain with her mindless chatter.

‘Oh my God! Had Draco Malfoy been checking her out?’ Ginny thought to herself. He was too damn cute lately. She knew she was in trouble but she thought about him all the time. She didn’t have any classes with him. Most classes at Hogwarts were segregated by grade level. They were on Christmas break soon and she hoped that she would have potions with him after that. Dumbledore had allowed her to jump a grade level in potions because she had a knack for it. She didn’t like Professor Snape but could tolerate him a lot better if Draco was in there with her.

She couldn’t pinpoint when her longtime crush on Harry had started to fade. All she knew now was that every time she saw Draco her knees almost buckled. One afternoon, right after this year’s term started, her fifth year at Hogwarts, she was walking to class. Someone bumped into her and made her drop her books and supplies. She was trying to pick them up and to find her potion ingredients when someone stopped to help her. She almost dropped dead from shock when she saw it was Draco. It wasn’t much, he picked up a few things and handed them to her, but it was so out of character for him that it seemed to have stuck in her mind as something significant. She’d been thinking of him ever since. She’d definitely lost her mind. She had even been going out of her way to see him. If he was with Crabbe and Goyle, he would usually snub her. There were several occasions though, when he was alone, that he would nod to her. Once, he even said ‘Hi’. She almost peed her pants. She didn’t dare tell anyone. Ron would kill her. Fred and George would torment her mercilessly. So, she was the same ol’ lovelorn Ginny. She had just attached herself to a different boy who didn’t know she was alive. She sighed and wondered why she did this to herself.

Draco looked at himself in the mirror. He was one good-looking wizard. His silver blond hair caught the light. His gray eyes shone brightly. No wonder all the Slytherin girls hung all over him. The other house’s girls were almost as bad. Ah, he was just irresistible. He grinned to himself. Good-looking and witty. The mirror laughed out loud and said, “Young Master Malfoy, nobody looks better than you.” Then it added in a quieter voice, “Of course you put a jinx on me that would make me shatter to say otherwise.” Malfoy ignored the mirror’s last comment but made a mental note to look for a new one next time he was in Diagon Alley. He put on his Slytherin robes and grabbed his wand. He nodded to the Bloody Baron ghost on his way out the portrait hole. As he climbed through, he glimpsed what looked like red hair dashing around a corner. He ran to the corner in his quiet way and saw Ginny Weasley stepping into a door down the hall. He grinned and silently moved to the door she had just entered. It wasn’t labeled and he had no idea what was inside. He tried the knob but she must have locked it. He flicked his wand at the door and whispered ‘alohamora’. The door then easily opened beneath his hand. He entered cautiously. The room was dark and musty smelling. There were big shapes that were evidently covered furniture of some type or another. He thought he heard a slight sound to his left and moved in that direction.

“Damn!” He said through clenched teeth as he bumped his shin on something. Draco had had enough of that. “Lumos!” He said with another flick of his wand and light filled the room. He looked around but didn’t see any sign of Ginny. There was, however, a door ajar ahead of him. He moved towards it with his wand out in front of him. He heard something crash inside as he started to enter the other room. It was dark, but light poured in from the doorway. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight before his eyes. There was a pair of very feminine legs sticking straight up in the air and a robe that was not where it was supposed to be. It was all bunched up around her chest and covered her face. There was no doubt that it was Ginny though, with that red hair fanned out on the floor around her.

Draco cleared his throat, “What brings you into Slytherin country, Ms. Weasley?”

“Ah, toad dung!” Ginny hissed and cringed when Malfoy laughed out loud. “I do hope you are enjoying the view, you slimy git!” Ginny added as she tried to untangle herself from her robe.

Draco strained his neck to get a better a look and told her that he was, thank you.

She sputtered and wiggled and tugged but was hopelessly caught up in the robe and table lamp that she had fallen over.

“Draco Malfoy, help me up this instant!” Ginny finally said with vehemence.

He laughed but leaned over and grabbed for her arms inside the twisted fabric - “Hey! Watch it!” Ginny exclaimed when he got a little close to something was not her arm.

“Sorry, sorry, just trying to help!” Draco said with a wicked grin showing up in his voice. He pulled on her upper torso and helped her up. Unfortunately, he overdid it and they sprawled backwards, with her landing on top of him through the door and into the first room.

“Uh, Ginny....” Draco started but she was too close to him. All her right spots were next to his right spots and for once he had nothing witty to say.

Ginny looked down into Draco’s smoky gray eyes and felt his heart beating against her chest. She couldn’t resist. She closed her eyes and lowered her mouth to his.

Chapter Two

“Ewww! Gross! Draco what’s that nasty Gryffindor doing to you?” Crabbe said from the doorway that led to the hall.

“Oh, I bet it’s that liplocking curse that Lockhart told us about! Run, man, run!” Goyle added looking truly startled.

Ginny sighed, threw a hand over her eyes and rolled off of Draco. Great. That’s just what she needed to make a humiliating experience even worse. Drab and Boil catching her about to snog with their oh-so-mighty leader. She had to think of someway to get out of this mess.

Draco got up, dusted off his robe and started walking toward his lackeys. He turned then towards Ginny and said, “I told you that I didn’t eat your Every Flavor Bean. The next time you make a mistake like that I will turn you into a blast-ended skrewt. "

Ginny’s mouth dropped open and her hand flew away from her face. She stared at Draco like he had just sprouted three heads. He just grinned and then turned from her, replacing the grin with his Malfoy sneer. She still had that dazed look on her face when he left the room. As soon as the door was closed she sat up and growled! That, that...ugh! She slammed her fists into the carpeted floor and then got up. She checked the hall before she left the room, then quickly made her way back to the Gryffindor Tower.

That evening, Ginny was having a very hard time eating. She kept trying to appear not to be looking at Malfoy while she was looking at Malfoy. She wanted just once to catch him looking at her. He was sitting way too close to Blaise though and she was keeping him occupied. Ginny stabbed at something on her plate and jumped when someone beside her howled in pain. She looked up to find Ron sucking on his thumb.

“A bit old for that, aren’t we, ikkle Ronnikins?” Ginny asked.

“Ya din’t have to stab me just cuz I was going to eat your lambchop! You haven’t even taken a bite of anything the whole meal. That wasn’t very bloody nice!” Ron said accusingly, still coddling his wounded hand.

Ginny gave him her lambchop for an apology then excused herself from dinner. She couldn’t eat with the disgusting floorshow going on across the room anyway. Ginny sighed a deep, unsatisfying sigh as she gave one last look toward the Slytherin table. Then she left the dining room and decided to take a walk in the gardens. The gardens were beautiful at Hogwarts. Unlike her mum’s garden back home, she had never seen a nasty gnome running around in it. Well until this moment when an unmistakable form entered the garden.

“What do you want?” Ginny asked.

Draco smiled. “What makes you think I want anything? I’m just enjoying a leisurely stroll through the garden before I retire for the night.”

“Humph,” Ginny scoffed, “I thought that taking candy from babies or pulling the legs off of lacewing flies would be more your idea of a relaxing pastime.”

“Well, while I do enjoy those two activities, tonight I was hoping for some real excitement.” He had gotten very close to her very quickly and the last few words were whispered so close to her ear that she got goosebumps.

“Uh...oh really? Like...uh...what?” Good God, she could kick herself. She might as well just go ahead and strip and throw herself down on the moss-covered ground to be ravished. What was wrong with her?

“I mean, do whatever nasty thing you have to do. I was just leaving anyway.” Ginny turned to go when Draco did exactly what she was telling herself she didn’t want him to do. He grabbed her arm and pleaded, yes to her ears it sounded like pleading, for her not to go. She turned back to look at him and it did her in. The moon was shining on his light blond hair. His eyes seemed to have gray lightning in them; they flashed and shone so brightly. His lips were parted and oh, damn, she was moving into his arms. He tipped her chin up and lightly brushed his lips against hers. She went up on tiptoes to deepen it like she knew what she was doing or something. If Draco was surprised by her bold move, he didn’t show it. He just wrapped his arms tighter around her and flicked his tongue over her lips.

Ginny felt like she was in a dream. She couldn’t really be standing in a garden, hanging on to Draco Malfoy like the world was coming to an end and he was her only hope for survival. She opened her mouth a little, maybe to say something -maybe not but she was hoping to convince herself of that anyway, and she let him deepen the kiss further.

When his hand strayed from her back to her backside she suddenly realized just what she was doing and with whom. She put her hands on his shoulders and softly but firmly pushed away from him. Now he did look surprised. His eyelids were heavy to match his breathing. She couldn’t make herself look at his face. She mumbled something and then took off like a bat out of hell, dropping something as she went but not daring to stop for it. Draco stood in the moonlight stunned by what had just happened. He had really only came out to tease her about this afternoon and the next he knew...hell, he didn’t know. That was the problem. He walked over to retrieve what she had dropped. It was her Gryffindor scarf. He held it up to his face and breathed in her scent. Roses, fresh air and vanilla. His Ginny rolled up into a mixture of sweet smells. ‘His Ginny?” He shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. Maybe he needed to see Snape about this. Somebody must have poisoned him.

Ginny was thinking along the same lines herself. When she left the garden, she rushed up to Gryffindor tower. Thoughts and images were swirling around in her head and she couldn’t remember the password to get by the Fat Lady's portrait. The Lady finally took pity on her and with a ‘tsk tsk, young love’ she swung open so Ginny could go in. She really didn’t want to have to explain her loss of appetite to Ron so was relieved when she found the common room empty. She went up to the girls' dormitory and flopped down on her bed. She was horribly confused by her emotions and it didn’t help that her stomach was still dancing around with butterflies. How could she let Malfoy kiss her? And, not just let him, but kiss him back like that? She must be mental, they were going to lock her away and throw away the key. She finally settled down and hugging her pillow fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming often of gray eyes and silvery blond hair.

Chapter Three

When Ginny woke up the next morning it was with a silly grin on her face. She had been having a heavenly dream. It involved rose petals, ice cream and....the smile was replaced by a grimace, Draco. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. When she swung her legs over the bed she noticed a note propped up on her bedside table. It was a plain piece of parchment folded over with her name written neatly in red ink. She grabbed it up thinking that nightmare-boy had left it. She unfolded it quickly and dropped it into her lap within a second. What was this? The letter simply said, “Stay away from D.M.! He is MINE!” It was all written in red ink. Ginny looked over the short note again. Well, guess they had an audience last night. ‘Wonder who it was?’ she wondered. Then she was startled by a thought. For it to be in her room, it was someone who knew the password. She looked anxiously around but all her fifth year roommates were still sleeping, supposedly. Well, that was a nasty thing for a fellow Gryffindor to do. And, she thought with some amusement, which one of them wanted the leader of the evil Slytherins?

Draco didn’t want to wake up. He was snuggled up under his niffler blanket dreaming about smashing Potter’s face in with a bludger. Something tickled his nose. He swiped at it but it continued. He opened one eye and groaned.

“Blaise, this is the boy’s dorm. Go back to your own kind.” Draco said as he rolled over.

“Ah, don’t be like that, Draco. Save your nasty attitude for the Quidditch match this afternoon.” Blaise sat down on the bed and ran a red-tipped finger down his back.

Then she added, “ I have something for you.”

This got his attention. “What is it? Money? Fame in a bottle? Potter’s head in a bottle?” Draco turned around and leaned back on his elbows. His hair was tousled and he looked good enough to eat. Blaise thought fleetingly that she knew where Veelas were coming from.

“Nothing that good, I’m afraid. It’s breakfast in bed. Oh, and this letter that I found on your floor as I came in.” Blaise said pointing to the red inked parchment.

She grinned evilly and asked “Who’s G.W. and what have you been doing with her that you have someone leaving you threatening letters?”

Draco raised one eyebrow as he read the note. It simply read “Stay away from G.W! She is MINE!” His first thoughts were almost identical to Ginny’s. They’d had an audience and it must be a Slytherin for the note to be in his dorm. Blaise was staring at him fixedly. Well, he better check a school roster and see how many G.W.s there were in school. He hoped at least there was more than just one. That wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Blaise to figure out, now would it?

Draco yawned, took the tray from her, told her thanks and asked her to leave him in peace. She looked affronted and started to protest. Then her glittery violet eyes rested on the note and she slowly got up from the bed. “Enjoy your breakfast, dear.” She sashayed out of the room in a way that left no doubt in her ability to hold a captive audience.

Draco ate his breakfast while pondering the note. He sure wasn’t one to back down from a threat though. On the contrary, he usually egged them on and then wiped the egg on their face. He grinned and could hardly wait to start ruffling some feathers. He’d find out who wrote it. Then there’d be hell to pay for threatening a Malfoy.

As Draco finished his breakfast he plotted what to do next. He decided to up the stakes. He wasn’t going to blatantly court Ginny, because he was a Malfoy and she was...well, for lack of a better word- poor. He was also a Slytherin, after all, and had a reputation to uphold. But, he could talk to her discreetly, and touch her any chance he got. He especially liked that part of the plan. Whoever her admirer was, would surely be watching anytime they were in close proximity to each other. He also had to find out who the traitorous Gryffindor-loving Slytherin was who wrote the note. Then, he had to punish them. All in all, it sounded like a great time to him. Snogging, spying, and squashing someone. ‘What a wonderful life,’ he thought as he got out of bed.

Draco started his plan into action on his way to his first class. It was his favorite, Potions. He saw Ginny in the hall as he descended into the dungeon floor. He casually walked by her and pinched her on the ass. She jumped and grabbed her bum. When she saw who it was, she turned bright red and looked a bit like a pickled beet. He had kept on walking but turned to wink at her. She mouthed something that looked a little naughty for a Gryffindor and he laughed. She wished he hadn’t though. She wasn’t sure that she had heard him laugh for real before and wow, it about brought her to her knees. She had an insane urge to juggle while standing on her nose to see if he would do it again. Then she smirked; she would more likely get a laugh from Malfoy for poking first years in the eye with a hot poker.

‘Was Adrian Pucey giving him a dirty look? And was Crabbe giving Ginny the once over when he walked by her?’ Draco thought as he glanced back in her direction when he entered his classroom. He might have to drop a rat’s spleen into their polyjuice potion today.

Ginny, on the other hand, was just wondering what the heck was going on. Draco pinching her arse blew her mind. That note that she found this morning was driving her nuts too. Who was spying on them in the garden? And, which one of her classmates wanted Draco for themselves? Which one was that stupid? Draco was pig-headed, mean, dead sexy...oh strike that last one, snotty, evil, really cute....well, anyway, nobody in their right mind would want him. She ignored the little voice in her head that said she would. She spent the rest of her Ancient Runes class doodling little hearts with Draco written in them. Then she scribbled them all out with a mad rush when she realized what she was doing.

Ginny moved through her whole day in a dazed state. It seemed she ran into Malfoy everywhere. If she was on the third floor, he was. If she was getting a drink from the Never-ending water fountain, he was. Once, she was excused from Herbology to use the bathroom and he was doing the same thing! By the end of the mind-boggling day, she was starting to expect him to be behind every corner. As she crawled into bed, she wouldn’t have been a bit surprised if he would have jumped out of her covers and yelled “Boo!”.

‘Well, that was a fun day,’ Draco thought to himself as he settled into the Slytherin’s common room that night. It was a little drafty and he was glad for the fire that burned in the fireplace before his feet. He ran down his day in his mind- he had shadowed Ginny all day, he was afraid that he would have gotten bored but it was quite amusing really; he spied on all his fellow Slythies throughout the day but really didn’t have a clue about who had left the note in his room; he caught the snitch this afternoon against his archrivals, which was quite a feather in his cap; and to top his day off, at dinner he raised his glass in a toast to Ginny across the room and she spit her mashed rutabagas all over Ron and Harry. Ah, life was good when you were bad. Later, he went up to bed and wondered what Ginny was doing. He wondered if she was in bed, and if she was, if she was wearing a see-through shimmery thing. He thought about sneaking up to the tower to find out but decided he wasn’t up to battling the Fat Lady tonight. So instead, he drifted off to sleep with pleasant dreams imminent.

A shadowy figure crept along the halls of Hogwarts. It’s stealth was an indication of how well it knew them. The school was a maze of secret corridors and moving staircases. Fred and George would have appreciated this figures ease with the school’s layout. First the cloaked one eased its way past the Fat Lady portrait. She was too sleepy to notice who was giving the password. It was the correct one, so she did her job and swung forward. The lone figure left a single rose on the young girl’s pillow. She was very pretty. Her black lashes swept down almost onto her freckled cheek. The intruder had to pull back its hand from an impulse to touch the girl. Soon after this, a solitary dark figure went into the pit of Hogwarts. The dungeon was its destination. With the right password the rough stone walls gave way to an entry. A bit further and it was in its target’s room. Draco was curled up with a piece of fabric that looked remarkably like a red and gold scarf, mumbling quietly in his sleep. The poor boy was quite smitten with Ms. Weasley. It was almost tragic, as this boy would never admit it, even to himself. The quiet figure did much the same thing as upstairs. It laid a flower on the boy’s pillow then crept silently off with no one the wiser.

,

Chapter four

Dawn brought the sun shining through the tower window and right into Ginny’s eyes. She blinked a few times, letting her mind catch up to the present time. She was going over all the things that had happened yesterday. She wondered if maybe she should just stay in bed. She was leery of seeing what crazy things would happen to her during the course of the day. In the end, her curiosity overcame her trepidations and she sat up. That’s when she saw the ruby red rose lying on her pillow. She picked it up and was surprised to see it start to change. There was sort of a swirling of sparkles and colored lights moving around the bud. Then it started to open. The bud began to spread out but as it did so, its colors were deepening. It turned from the bright ruby color to a dark maroon, then just as quick it darkened into a smoky gray. Ginny sat in amazement as the flower turned black in her hand. After it was the color of midnight, she heard herself gasp. The petals started falling off one by one. Soon there was only one left. As it too, fell into her lap, she yelped in pain. She had been poked by a thorn! She dropped the thorny stem onto the floor and put her finger into her mouth. Oh boy, she thought, the fun is already starting.

After the weird flower incident she really felt like staying in bed all day. It was the end of the term though and she had tests to take. The Yule Ball was only a couple of nights away. Nobody had asked her to go with them, not even her old standby, Neville. She thought that Ron was taking Hermoine. She didn’t know who Harry was taking, sure wasn’t her though. Well, sitting around pining and whining wasn’t going to do her any good. She got out of bed, careful to avoid the discarded stem with her bare feet. She continued to suck on her wounded finger as she got ready for her day.

Ginny had made it through her ancient runes class, but just barely. Her finger was really hurting. When she compared it to her other fingers, it appeared to be slightly swollen. She went ahead and went to her next class. It was Divinations up on the seventh floor. By the end of that period, she wasn’t sure which hurt more, her poor finger or her poor aching head from all of Trelawney’s dire predictions. The overpowering smelly fumes about did her in today as well. Her finger was definitely swelling now. She could barely bend it. She thought that if she could just make it through her last class before lunch she would be okay. That meant going out to the greenhouses for Prof. Sprout’s herbology class.

It was really hard to control the bouncing bulbs they were transplanting, when you had a finger that was swelling up to the size of a banana. Ginny was trying her best but they kept escaping her and smacking her partner, Colin Creevey in the head. It was very painful now too, and tears were welled up in her eyes. Prof. Sprout walked by right as a bulb was ricocheting off of Colin’s nose. She was a professional wizard gardener though and swiftly caught it before it could do any more damage.

“Ms. Weasley, do you have a problem that needs Mrs. Pomfrey’s attention?” The professor asked pointing to Ginny’s wounded hand. “That looks quite nasty. Did you get bit by a shiste spider perhaps?”

“No ma’am. I was poked by a thorn this morning.” Ginny answered as a tear spilled down her cheek.

The kind hearted teacher put an arm around Ginny’s shoulders for a second before she sent her on her way to the hospital wing. By the time Ginny got to Madam Pomfrey’s office, on the second floor of the castle, she was crying full-blown. She hadn’t seen Malfoy all day but knew that he would be showing up any time since she had a bright red nose and a cucumber for a finger.

As soon as she got inside the doors to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was beside her. She lead her to a bed, all the while saying soothing words and cradling Ginny’s deformed hand. Ginny’s tears continued to fall and she had to wipe her nose on her sleeve more than once. The nurse swung her wand over Ginny’s hand and said an incantation but nothing happened. She tried again, this time touching the wand directly to the reddest part of the wound. There was no sign of any change and Ginny didn’t feel any lessening of pain. Pomfrey got a cross look and mumbled something about the strangest cases she’d ever seen.

“Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?” Prof. McGonagall was standing in the doorway. “I’m afraid Prof. Snape needs you right away down in the potions class. It seems Neville Longbottom has been involved in some kind of mishap....again.”

“Oh dear, that poor boy.” Madam Pomfrey said shaking her head. “I don’t know how many times I’ve had to heal that child for one thing or another. I’m sorry, Ginny. I will back up just as soon as I can. You lay back and rest while I’m gone.” Then she stepped over to the bed next to Ginny‘s. The white curtains were drawn around it and whoever it was must have been asleep because the nurse didn’t say anything to them. She just motioned for Ginny to be quiet and left the room with Prof. McGonagall.

Ginny laid back with her eyes closed and tried to not think about the pain in her hand. She tried to keep her mind on her test coming up in Arithmancy, but it kept straying. She couldn’t help but think about the Yule Ball. This was only the third year that the school had had one. The first one was two years ago when they held the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It was supposed to be a one time thing for that special event. Everyone enjoyed it so much though, that they decided to continue having them in the coming years. She had attended with Neville both of the previous years, not because they liked each other particularly. More so because neither of them had anybody else to go with. Neville was going with Megan Jones this year. She was a very nice girl from the Hufflepuff house. She was happy for him, but a bit melancholy about not having anyone to attend with now. She wondered who Draco was taking.

“So, what did you do to yourself? Were you trying to do a spell to make Potter ask you to the Yule Ball? Did it backfire and you keep asking yourself to go over and over and over?” an all-too-familiar voice asked from the bed next to her.

“Speak of the devil.” Ginny said, trying to hide her hand in the folds of her blanket.

“Oh come now, don’t try to flatter me like that,” Draco said hopping off of his bed and moving to sit on hers.

Ginny opened her eyes wide as she felt his weight pushing down the bed. He was just sitting there, smiling at her, like he was in her bed everyday. She really didn’t want to explore the instant thought of how good that sounded.

“What are you doing here, Malfoy? You aren’t all bloody and bruised so I guess nobody gave you the beating you deserve.” Ginny said with an evil grin.

Draco really liked that look on her. He smiled and held up his hand. Ginny’s jaw dropped. It looked almost identical to her own red, lumpy hand. Slowly she raised up her hand from under the covers. This time his mouth dropped in surprise.

“Did you” they both started at once. “How did” they began again. Draco waited before speaking again so he could hear what she had to say.

“When I woke up this morning, there was a rose on my pillow...” Ginny began. At this point Draco continued, “When you picked it up it started to change colors and when it was completely black...” Ginny finished “the petals all fell off and then a thorn poked me.”

They both stared at each other for a moment. Finally Draco asked, “Did you get a letter the night before last warning you to stay away from me?”

Ginny looked startled, “Yes, did you get one, warning you to keep away from me?” she asked in a squeaky voice.

Draco nodded. He reached out and took her uninjured hand with his. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

If Ginny wasn’t already in emotional turmoil, she probably would have passed out from the ‘s’ word coming out of Draco’s mouth. The way it was though, nothing could shock her. Well, if Snape came dancing through the room wearing a pink tutu she might have been a little bit surprised. She laughed at that mental image. Draco brushed a stray curl away from her eyes. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

When his fingers skimmed her cheek, she felt flushed. She felt like several dozen red-hot butterflies were in her stomach. Her skin was tingly and her fingers ached to touch him. One hand ached already, she conceded, but the other one was just itching to run through his hair. Draco must have felt it too, because he leaned over then and lightly brushed his lips to hers. She leaned into him and her evil hand had its way with his soft hair. He slipped a hand behind her neck and brought her closer to him. Ginny had never kissed anyone like this. Her tongue darted out to taste him and was only too happy to concede to his experience when he took it farther. When the breathtaking kiss was over he continued to hold her head to his. They sat with their foreheads touching, sensing each other’s desire to do more. It was several seconds later when Ginny realized that her hand didn’t hurt anymore. She sat back and looked at the place that had been red and swollen just a little bit ago. You couldn’t tell where it had been. Her finger was perfectly normal. She looked over at Draco’s and it was the same. It looked just fine. Like the wound had never even existed.

“Draco, what’s going on?” Ginny whispered grabbing his hand to feel where the affected area should be.

“I don’t know.” Draco said, staring in amazement at their arms. He looked into Ginny’s clear blue eyes and added, “I have no idea.”

It was then that they heard voices coming down the hall. It sounded like Madam Pomfrey was returning with Neville.

Draco leaned close to Ginny, “Meet me in the library right after dinner tonight.” He brushed a kiss quickly behind her ear and then moved back to his bed. It took about a half an hour to convince the nurse that they were alright before she would let them return to class. They each went their separate ways in the hall with more than one backward glance at the others departing form as they walked away.

Chapter Five

Ginny could barely eat dinner. The food tasted like cardboard. Ron was starting to get very suspicious of Ginny’s behavior. She hadn’t eaten in days. She was moody and silent. The real clue he had, that something was wrong, was all the time she spent staring at the Slytherin’s table. Just like she was doing right now.

“Earth to Ginny,” Ron said waving his hand in front of her face.

“Huh?” Ginny asked, turning vacantly toward Ron’s voice.

“Ginny, what is going on?” Ron asked rather hotly. Hermione was looking over his shoulder with a concerned look. She glanced over at Harry and he was watching her with a furrowed brow.

“What? I just have a lot on my mind. You all don’t have to look at me like I‘ve grown an extra nose”, when they didn’t look convinced she continued, “I am not your ‘baby’ sister anymore, Ron. You and your friends just go back to your very important lives and leave me alone. You should be used to doing that anyway.” With that, she threw down her napkin and stormed out.

The Trio looked at each other in amazement. Who was that and what had she done with sweet little Virginia Weasley? They didn’t notice that Draco had been watching the whole exchange with a wry grin on his handsome features. Maybe Ginny should have been a Slytherin. Maybe she still could be. She was definitely showing potential. He watched as Ron started to get up but Hermione pulled him back down. Looked like the dinner theatre show was over, time to make his exit.

The library was huge at Hogwarts. Huge and quiet. Madam Pince would not have it any other way. At muggle libraries, you would get the little old lady shushing you with a finger to her lips if you got too loud. At wizard libraries you got a silentium spell put on you. It basically stitched your lips together, very unpleasant feeling. Draco entered the library and began a casual search for Ginny. He wandered around, looking at books here and there. He really didn’t think he’d see any of his housemates in the library at this hour. Someone might be trying to sneak into the restricted section for a dark arts spell but other than that he felt reasonably safe from detection. He had made it to the back corner with still no sign of Ginny when someone covered his eyes up from behind.

“Guess who?” a voice whispered in his ear. Draco felt foolish but answered, “Ginny.”

The hands fell from his face and a hostile voice said, “Who???”

Draco groaned and turned around to face Blaise.

“Uh...I was just...uh...joking.” Draco offered lamely.

“Hey Blaise. I’m surprised to see you here.” A voice said as an arm was wound through his. Draco looked down at the freckled face by his side and wondered what he had done to deserve this. Was it because he had turned Neville’s toad into a wallet? Could it be because he’d ‘borrowed’ Potter’s potions homework and made every answer say that Snape‘s Sourpuss was the main ingredient to every spell? Surely it wasn’t because he had Goyle slip some gillyweed juice into Ron’s drink earlier this week. Draco thought that Ron had looked really good green and with gills. Draco gave a mental shrug. Nope, he couldn’t think of anything that he had done to deserve this torture.

Ginny was feeling a rush of exhilaration. She wanted Blaise to say something snide. She wanted to poke out her big amethyst eyes. She also wanted to pull out Draco’s eyelashes, one at a time, to get back at him for pretending that he didn’t like her. But most of all, she wanted him to kiss her pants off right here in front of the Slytherin upperclassman.

Draco felt the tension in Ginny. Her eyes were flashing and she appeared to be waiting for the moment to strike. He knew that there were two paths he could take here. He could toss Ginny’s arm off of his and say something mean to crush her, then walk away with Blaise. There would be hell to pay later in this scenario. Or, he could wrap his arm around Ginny and kiss her right in front of Blaise and the whole library, reputation be damned. There of course would be hell to pay later for this scenario, too. So, what the hey, might as well get a snogging session out of the deal.

Blaise couldn’t believe her eyes when Draco bent down and kissed that dirt poor Weasley girl. It wasn’t just a peck on the cheek either. She saw his tongue probing her mouth. Ugh! Then it really hit her...G.W.; Ginny Weasley. Draco had been seeing Ginny all this time. She’d show him, the bastard. Letting that nasty girl taint the Malfoy name. Blaise turned on her heel and stomped out of the library.

Draco and Ginny didn’t even notice her departure. They were just a little bit preoccupied.

“Excuse me, did you mean to take a left turn and go to the Astronomy Tower?” Ginny quickly stepped away from Draco when she heard Madam Pince’s cold voice. She was glaring at them from over her horn-rimmed glasses, pointing a ratty feather duster at them.

“We were practicing a primitive technique called mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It is homework for our Muggle studies class.” Draco replied smoothly with his silver tongue. Ginny was impressed and gave him an appreciative look.

“Humph, if I had a knut for every time I’ve heard that lame excuse.” Madame Pince said with a grunt. “Go on, get out of here you two.”

She didn’t have to tell them twice. They hurried out the door, knocking their shoulders into each other the whole way and laughing. A livid pair of violet eyes watched them leave the library. No white trash was going to hurt her chances of becoming Mrs. Blaise Malfoy. Her mother had been grooming her for that role for 16 years and no Weasley was going to overthrow her.

Draco led Ginny into a dark corridor. Ginny couldn’t recall ever being down it before. It didn’t look very used if the cobwebs hanging all over were any indication. There were fewer floating candles lit up than in most of the halls too. There was a flash of green and then Peeves was in front of them.

“Ewww, little snakey-wakey is going to shag the gryffin-dor whor....” Peeves nasty comment was interrupted by Draco’s fist flying through its middle. Peeves just giggled and floated up higher.... “Oh, that really hurt!” The odious ghoul taunted.

“I think I am going to have to call in that favor that the Bloody Baron owes me.” Draco snarled with a steely glint in his gray eyes.

Peeves looked like he didn’t believe Draco but he wasn’t sure. “You are lying little boy....”

“Try me.” Draco said. Peeves looked peeved but didn’t have the nerve to test Draco’s word. As he started to float away down the hall, Draco added, “And don’t let anyone else down here.”

Then, he grabbed up Ginny’s hand and walked briskly to the end of the hallway. It appeared to be a dead end. There wasn’t even a painting that could hide a portrait hole. Ginny looked quizzically at Draco and he smirked. He reached in his pocket and took out a clear, crystal key. He felt around a bit on the unmarked wall and then slipped the key right through the solid stone. He turned the key and the stone’s rearranged themselves into what seemed to be a pitch-black stairway. Draco held out his hand and Ginny trustingly put hers into it. He grinned at her then and she felt like she had won an award or passed some test or something. They entered the stairway and the stones moved back together. Ginny shuddered and moved closer to the safety of Draco’s side. She heard him say “Lumasita” and a soft glow emanated from his wand. The stairway was still very dim and creepy. She was sure she could hear things moving in the darkness. They descended the stairs slowly. Suddenly, Draco stopped and reached out for something along the wall. It must have been a doorknob because a door opened up then. They entered a room that looked to be out of a dream. At least, for someone of her poverty stricken background.

The room was decorated with opulent luxury in mind. There were heavy drapes in dark emerald velvet covering one wall. There was a divan in the same fabric in the middle of the room. A soft looking, furry rug was laying in front of a fireplace. The rug was pitch black, along with everything else in the room that wasn’t dark green. There were dozens of silver candlesticks placed throughout the circular room as well. With another word from Draco the candles and fireplace lit up and gave the room a warm countenance.

“Draco, if you bring slytherin girls down her to snog I am going to kill you.” Ginny said looking at him with a mixture of surprise and rage.

Draco laughed, one of those real McCoys that drove her mad. “You are the only person that I’ve ever brought here. I come down here once in awhile to study or to get away from Pansy. My dad told me about it when I complained about my lack of privacy from sharing the dorm with the others. I don’t know who all knows about it but I’ve never seen any sign of anyone else using it.”

Ginny reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He had the audacity to blush. She smiled up at him and he cupped her face and looked into her eyes.

“How did we come to be here together?” He asked her in hushed tones.

“I don’t know, but I do know that there is no place that I’d rather be.” Ginny answered with her heart shining in her eyes.

“I think that I’m in deep trouble here, Weasley.” Draco continued running a thumb across her chin.

“Me too, and I think that I could get used to it,” Ginny said moving her arms up around his neck.

Draco groaned and moved his hands to her waist. He looked into her eyes with a million questions dancing in his. Then he gave up looking for answers and lowered his mouth to hers. They stood there kissing in the firelight, sharing their feelings in a way that neither one could say aloud. They both knew that there’d be consequences but neither wanted to think about them right now. All they wanted was to touch each other, minds and flesh melding into one. They dropped to their knees onto the rug. Draco slid his hand into the neckline of her robe and groaned into her mouth. She was feeling drugged. Her skin was on fire. She wanted....hell, she didn’t even know what she wanted but she wanted it bad. They lay on the rug, kissing and touching and sharing. Soon, though, Ginny realized that Draco was not trying to....well...move the action to a more southern part of her body. She could feel him pressing against her and knew that his body wanted to.

He seemed to know what she was thinking. He gave her a bittersweet smile, “I’m a real nasty person sometimes, but I do have a conscience. I don’t want you to hate me later.”

Ginny started to protest, but he put a finger on her lips. “I know. I’m on fire and a cold shower isn’t going to put a dent into my problem.” Then he lowered his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “I just don’t want to blow it with you.”

A tear escaped one of her eyes; she was in love with Draco Malfoy. A son of a Death Eater, a nasty hateful person in his own right, and a saint rolled up into one. Damn. Her mum and dad were going to skin her. She smiled and kissed him on the nose. She didn’t care if they gave her to the giants to be ground into their bread. He was hers and she was going to keep him.

They lay together for a long time. They talked about who it was that could have left the things in their rooms. They thought it could be Blaise, but she had seemed genuinely surprised to find out it was Ginny. Maybe Pansy? No, she didn’t have the brains to hex the rose. In the end, they weren’t closer to solving the mystery, but they were closer to each other.

Chapter Six

The next morning an owl dropped a package to Ginny during the morning Owl Post. It was wrapped in shiny green paper and didn’t have a note. Everyone at the table around her was gawking and she was a lovely shade of pink. She didn’t dare look over at Draco. Ron had gotten tired of the suspense of what it was and told her to either open it or he would. She gave him a look that clearly warned him against such an action but she slowly began to unwrap the package. Inside, was a velvet box of deep green. Her heart was beating so hard that she expected it to burst right through her chest and land in Neville’s oatmeal. She opened the small box and put a hand up to her mouth in surprise. It was a silver ring with two teardrop stones set together to make a heart shape. One stone was a dark green emerald and the other was a red ruby. She lifted it out of the box and slid it onto her finger. She chanced a quick glance over to the Slytherin’s table but Draco wasn’t there. She knew that everyone was dying to know who sent her the gorgeous ring. She wasn’t going to tell though so she quickly left the dining hall before they drove her nuts.

She was breathless as she rushed out. She almost yelled when someone grabbed her from behind. The strong arms pulled her behind the big door.

“Do you like it?” Draco whispered in her ear, giving her goosebumps.

Ginny turned in his arms and pressed her soft lips to his. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed against his mouth.

He smiled and told her to read the inscription on the inside then he left. Ginny waited a few seconds and then peeked out from behind the door. She had been acting strange enough lately without someone catching her coming out. Nobody was around so she hurried off to the girls’ bathroom. She took the ring off and held it up to the light. She could just make out three words, ‘I like you.” Ginny looked up and stared at herself in the mirror. What are we, still in grammar school? She looked at the ring again and it read “Ok, ok, I really like you.” Ginny laughed and watched as it changed again before her eyes. The letters just started rearranging themselves and when they stopped it was finally the words she wanted to see, ‘I love you...Draco’.

“Oh, that’s so sweet....” and then sobbing filled the air.

Ginny turned around to see Moaning Myrtle floating behind her. She was crying her poor dead eyes out. Ginny tried to pat her on the back but, of course, her hand went right through the ghostly girl.

“Th...thanks. I wish somebody would give me a ...hiccup...ring like that...sniff.” Myrtle said as she faded into vapor and then was completely gone. Ginny could hear sniffling coming from the ghost’s favorite stall. She slipped the ring back onto her finger and offered a goodbye as she left the room. She floated on a cloud for the rest of the day.

A couple of days passed with much the same routine. They would pass in the hallways and accidentally collide or brush up against each other. They would make eyes at each other in the dining hall from across the room. She sent him an owl with a note that made the impenetrable Draco Malfoy blush. Pansy tried her best to see what it said. He finally ate the damn thing so everyone would stop trying to take it from him. Ron spent every meal glowering at her. She thought he probably knew what was going on but she didn’t really care. She left the dinner table, three nights after their hospital stay, at the same time as him and casually went through the double doors by his side.

“I love you too, even if you are the spawn of the devil.” Then she grinned at his shocked expression and slipped a note into his hand. She thought she was discreet but eyes were watching their every move.

Later, two people were arguing down in the dungeon.

“I am warning you to stay away from that trashy snit!” Blaise was hissing in Draco’s face. She had caught him leaving the dorms and it was really late.

“Are you threatening me?” He countered with anger flashing in his eyes and his fists clenched by his side.

She decided that this conversation was not going the way she had hoped and switched tactics.

“No, Draco darling. I just, you know,” She said in a sultry voice as she moved to wrap her arms around his neck, “care about you.”

He flung her arms off of his shoulders. The look he gave her could have cut through a steel wall. She was through playing games now.

“You are taking me to the Yule Ball tomorrow night. I already told Pansy that you were. She thinks you asked me a long time ago, and I’m tired of waiting for you to ask. If you don’t, I will tell everyone about your nasty little girlfriend.” She said with a smirk, which was quickly erased by his chilling rebuttal.

“I don’t care if you tell all of our friends. I don’t care if you tattoo it onto Snape’s ass the next time you’re kissing it to get a better grade.” At this her face twisted into a mask of hate, “And I could care less if you write to the Minister of Magic himself and he uses a muggle airplane to write it in the air over Malfoy Mansion. I am not going to the Yule Ball with you.” He stomped off then but during his speech he had realized something. He had never asked Ginny to the ball.

Ginny had realized this too. She was hoping that he would ask her tonight. Her note had asked him to meet her at the end of the dark corridor they had taken before, at midnight. She was anxiously awaiting his arrival. She yawned sleepily and wondered what time it was. It seemed like she had been waiting a long time. She sat down on the floor and thought that she’d wait just a little longer for him.

Draco looked down at the beautiful girl sleeping in the corner of the hall. He thought she resembled every picture of an angel he had ever seen. ‘Why was she with him?’ he asked himself. She was kind and he was mean. She was good and he was bad. She made him feel good though and it was a new feeling for him to experience. He bent down on his haunches and reached out to caress her face. She blinked her eyes for a minute and then his heart melted as recognition lit up her face. She smiled at him and held out her hand. He pulled her off the floor and into his arms.

“Hey stranger,” she said as she hugged him tight, “What took you so long?”

He pulled out the key and with one arm still holding her to him, he opened the door behind her back. They eased into the dark stairway and the wall closed back up. It was dark but she wasn’t afraid. He would protect her from anything and anyone. He lifted her light form up into his arms and carried her to the secret room. After they entered their hide-away, he sat down on the divan with her in his lap. He lit up the room with a word and a fire sprung up in the grate. She snuggled up close to him and he stroked her hair. They sat like that for a long time in companionable silence.

Draco finally broke the spell, “Ginny, will you go to the ball with me tomorrow?” He spoke almost hesitantly, he was afraid she would turn him down. Having a romance in secret with your archenemy was one thing. Having all of your friends and family know was a whole other quidditch game.

She looked up at him, “I thought maybe you had already asked somebody else before we...um...well, got together. I didn’t think you were ever going to ask me, so I asked Goyle to go with me.”

She almost died laughing at the look on his face. Then she pulled his head down to hers and pressed her lips to his. When they came up for air she said that she’d love to go with him. As long as he wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with a Weasley. He didn’t realize how tense he was until she said yes. It felt like an intense weight had been lifted from his chest. He smiled and it transformed his face into beauty that can’t be described. Ginny couldn’t breathe from the sheer happiness she felt.

Draco sighed into her hair. “I have a secret to tell you.”

Ginny leaned back to look up at him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know about the skeletons in the Malfoy closet. She didn’t want to know if he still peed the bed that’s for sure. Then she had a horrible thought, if he says this was all some joke that him and his pals conjured up, she was going to kill him. Draco watched her face and the emotions that flashed across it. He thought he better spit it out quick because she looked like she was going to explode.

“You probably don’t remember, but not too long after school started this year, I ah...helped you pick up some books in the hallway that you dropped. Well, um...I pushed Crabbe into you that day just so you would drop them and I could help you.” He wasn’t looking at her as he spoke. He was looking at her hair that he was winding around his finger over and over. “I ...uh well...had been watching you ever since I saw you at Kingscross when we boarded the Express. You just looked so tall and beautiful. It was like I’d never seen you before. You changed so much over the summer. I always thought you were pretty, but you just took my breath away. I started thinking about you all the time. Every time I would look at you though, you‘d be looking at Potter.” He grinned then and looked up at her. “I haven’t seen you looking at him lately though. You’ve been too busy ravishing me with your eyes.”

She laughed and wiped away a tear or two. They were just from laughing so hard though, she wouldn’t cry from a Malfoy speech. “I’ve got a secret too. I’ve been watching you ever since that day in the hallway. I knew I shouldn’t be. Ron hates you. Harry hates you. Hermione hates you....”

He stopped her then, “I get the point.”

Ginny smiled, “But I couldn’t make myself hate you anymore. Harry has always been my hero.” She laid a silky hand against his cheek then when he looked sad. “But you are better than twenty Harry Potters. You are Draco Malfoy, and you are mine.”

They kissed then and it was like the first time. It was fresh and exciting and felt just right. It was almost dawn when Draco woke her up to go back to their dorms. They had lain in each other’s arms all night. He knew that today would mark a change in their relationship. Today he was coming out of the closet. He had a feeling that people wouldn’t be more shocked if he was coming out with Neville as they would be to see Ginny on his arm.

He grinned a wicked grin as he returned to his dorm. He did like to make a grand entrance. Tonight should prove interesting if nothing else. He found himself whistling to himself as he walked down the hall.

Chapter Seven

The Yule Ball

“Ginny! Ginny, Wake up!” An irritating voice was penetrating Ginny’s dream. She tried to ignore it but then someone started shaking her.

“What? What is so important that you are waking me up at the butt crack of dawn?” Ginny asked holding a pillow over her head.

“It’s almost lunchtime, you twit. Wake up.” It was Hermione. Ginny didn’t want to, but she sat up. Her hair was going every which way and still she looked terrific. Hermione beat down a pang of envy over Ginny’s beautiful hair. She had nice hair too, with the right spells, anyway.

“This came for you this morning at breakfast.” She was holding out a long box that was wrapped in the same green paper as the ring had been. “And, this came for you by special Owl Delivery later.” This time the wrapped box was smaller but still in the same shiny giftwrap.

Ginny smiled and Hermione couldn’t help but feel a little bit of her joy.

“Thanks, Herm.” Ginny said and then patted her bed for her to sit down.

“Who are these from?” Hermione asked the question that everyone had been dying to know all morning.

Ginny grinned and she had a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You’ll find out tonight. They are from my date to the Yule Ball.”

Hermione gasped, “Really? You know that there are bets going around on who sent you the gifts. You wouldn’t believe some of their picks. Let’s see, Lavender thinks its Oliver Wood. Seamus Finnigan has been telling everyone that they are from him and that’s why the wrapping is green because he is Irish. Pansy says Snape is your admirer. Blaise is betting that it’s Filch.” They were both laughing hysterically by now. “But, the funniest one of all is Ron. He swears that Draco is making moves on you.” Hermione didn’t seem to notice that she was the only one laughing now.

“Do you want to stay and see what they are?” Ginny asked, itching to rip into them.

“Thanks,” Hermione said, “ I know that Harry, Ron and I sometimes leave you out of things. But, I really do consider you a good friend. And, my only real girl friend.” She blushed then. It must be really hard for her to talk about emotions. She was just such an analytical person. If she had a problem, she went to a book for the answer instead of a person.

Ginny grinned at her and with shaky hands began to unwrap the smaller present first. It was another velvet box, only bigger than the one the ring came in. She opened up the hinged lid and tears welled up into her eyes.

Hermione gasped, “Oh my God, it’s beautiful.”

And so it was. It was a necklace of delicate silver links. In the middle of the necklace was a pendant that was the same as her ring, only much larger. It had the two teardrop stones, placed in a heart shape. One half was a red gem, the other a green one. Ginny noticed that the clasp was a little snake’s head, with the other end being it’s tail, grasped in its mouth. She covered that tell-tell sign with her hand, as she held it over for Hermione to get a better look at.

Her friend appeared to be in shock, “Wow. Who would give you such an extravagant present?” Her eyes were wide and she was looking quite bewildered.

Ginny thought that it was a good time to go ahead and open the other present before Hermione figured out who it most likely was.

She started to unwrap the package; inside was a note card lying on some velvety fabric. She picked up the note and tilted it so that Herm couldn’t see what it said, just in case he had signed it.

To Virginia

Your Beauty will outshine these gifts.

I only hope they can begin to do you justice.

I will meet you in front of the Gryffindor

Tower Portrait at 8:10.

Love, Me

Ginny laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. The little note was so un-Dracoish that she thought it must be a ploy to confuse nosey-nellies. The time sounded like Draco though. He would want to be fashionably late since how the ball started at eight. She picked up the fabric and this time she gasped out loud while Hermione just stared with her mouth hanging open. It was a dress. More precisely, a stunning, dark green velvet ball gown. It was floor length, with a slit that appeared to go up way too high on the thigh. The neckline almost met it, Ginny thought with a worried look. She wasn’t sure that she, well, had what it would take to fill this smashing dress out. She got off of the bed and held it up to her. Hermione was still trying to catch flies with her gaping jaw. The dress was lovely. She thought Draco must have been being sarcastic in his note. She was going to look awful in that beautiful dress. She’d have to try it on and see how it looked. She bit her lip nervously and looked at Hermione.

“That dress was made just for you. The color is perfect with your hair and skin tone.” She was looking at Ginny like she had never seen her before. Just then Ginny’s dorm mates came bouncing in. They “oh’ed” and “ah’ed” over her dress and necklace for a bit and then Hermione slipped out. Ginny made small talk for awhile and then left for the bathroom. It was going to take some work to get ready for tonight. She might have to find a potion to make certain body parts get temporarily larger.

Draco was a nervous wreck. Sure, his stupid mirror told him that he looked like a million galleons, but he knew that thing lied. He was wearing a black dress robe with dark green trim on the sleeves and collar. The Slytherin crest was embroidered on the left-hand side of his chest. Beneath it, he wore a soft black shirt, open at the collar. He also was wearing a pair of black suede pants. They were as soft as buckskin and clung to him like a second skin. His black boots shone with a soft gleam. Oh, hell, his palms were sweaty and his silvery hair was sticking up all over. It was time though. The other students should all be entering the ball now. He began the walk up from the dungeon to the high Gryffindor tower. He wasn’t this nervous since he had to go into the Forbidden Forest for detention when he was a first year.

He turned into the hallway where Ginny was supposed to be waiting and stopped dead in his tracks. He blinked, but couldn’t quite get his mind to accept what he was seeing. The most beautiful woman that he was ever seen was wearing the dress that he bought for Ginny.

“Draco, are you okay?” The vision rushed down the hall to meet him now with a worried expression clouding her features.

“Gi...Ginny?” Draco gulped.

A slow smile appeared on her face, “Yes, Draco? Do I look okay? I don’t have a boogie hanging out my nose do I?” She had thought that she looked pretty good in the dress, but when she saw his shocked face she wasn’t sure. Now, though, since he had a bit of drool hanging out his mouth, she decided that she did, indeed, look fetching.

“Oh my God. Ginny, you’re so beautiful...I mean, I knew you were beautiful, I didn’t think you were butt ugly or anything before, you know you just look so much prettier now...not that well, I mean you were always nice to look at and I didn’t mean that the way...” Draco stammered running a slim hand through his hair.

She put a finger on his lips and leaned up to whisper in his ear, “Thank you, Draco Malfoy. I think I understand.” She flicked her tongue at his ear and he actually swayed on his feet. God, she could get used to this power, she thought to herself.

He stepped away from her then with his hands on her shoulders. She was just wicked. Her hair was pulled up, but it tumbled all around her face at the same time. Her long black lashes framed her bright blue eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her face was perfection. Her body was beyond that. The necklace glittered at her throat. The low neckline showed so much cleavage that he thought about throwing his robe over her head. What had made him get it so low? The material clung to every curve she had. It was a formfitting dress and it fitted the form quite nicely. She shifted feet then and he saw the curve of her milky thigh glide out of the slit of her dress. Oh shit. He was in trouble. His damn pants were a little too tight in a certain area. Why did those idiotic muggles wear these things all the time?

“Are you nervous about being seen with me in front of your friends?” Ginny asked, getting a little worried under his scrutiny.

“No,” he said with his voice cracking, “I’m just worried that I am going to have some very bloody and battered knuckles before the night is through. Every guy in there is going to be ogling you all night and I’m going to beat the hell out of every one of them.” He smiled then. Obviously the prospect of violence appealed to him, she thought. Damn, he was cute.

They interlocked arms then and headed down the stairs. When they reached the top of the main staircase he pulled her to him and kissed her hard. She returned it with equal feeling. They broke apart and descended the stairs.

Ron was dancing with Hermione. He was trying not to step on her toes. Harry and Cho were dancing beside them and he seemed to be having the same trouble. The two guys kept making faces at each other every time they got too close and the girls just rolled their eyes. Couldn’t they be serious for just one night? Hermione was about to ask Ron to stop and get some punch when a murmur passed through the crowd. She looked up and was startled by the look on Ron’s face. He looked like he just saw Voldemort walk in the room. She turned in the direction he was staring at and her jaw hit the floor.

Draco and Ginny entered the room, side by side. She was clinching his arm in a vise-like grip. If she didn’t, she would most likely collapse. Everyone, and that was no exaggeration, was looking at them. There was whispering voices filling the room. Some of them were non-too-quiet.

“How could she be seen with that nasty git?”

“Lucius Malfoy is going to raise hell....literally.”

“How could she afford that dress? And look at those jewels. I bet she stole them....dirt poor Weasle.”

“She’s always been so sweet and he’s such a little ferret.”

Draco gave her hand a squeeze and gazed into her eyes.

“It’s going to be okay. I love you.” She could have sworn she actually heard his voice in her head. Then, of course she realized that he had spoken out loud. She beamed up at him and they moved onto the dance floor. The crowd parted for them and they moved to the center of the room. Fairies were flying everywhere, lighting up the dim ballroom. The stars were shining on the ceiling. She felt like she was in heaven. He slid his arms around her waist and his fingers just skimmed her curvy backside. She wove her hands behind his neck and moved closer to him. They stared into each other’s eyes and twirled around the floor. As far as they were concerned, they were the only ones in the room. Eventually the whispers died down and the other students began dancing again. They danced all night together. The only time they broke apart was when Ron tapped Draco on the shoulder. He turned his head lazily around and when he saw it was Ron he removed one arm from Ginny’s waist and held it out to him. Ron looked like he wanted to rip it off at the socket but something made him take it and give it a firm shake instead. He asked if he could dance with Ginny. Draco bowed to him and asked Hermione if she wanted to dance. Blaise was dancing close by and as soon as Draco released Ginny she hurried over and almost died when he snubbed her and asked that mudblood to dance. She turned and rushed out of the room and didn’t return for the rest of the night.

Ron started to ask Ginny what the hell she thought she was doing but she shook her head at him when he started to speak. “I like him. A lot. We are going to be seeing each other. You are going to have to get used to it. If you can’t, I’m going to have to put a pucker spell on you. It’ll make you pucker up and kiss his arse every time you get within ten feet of him.” Something in her eyes made him think she was serious. That damn Malfoy’s evil ways were already rubbing off on her. Ron, quite maturely, decided to save the battle for another time. Besides, Malfoy had his hands on Hermione now and he didn’t want him to poison her mind too. He kissed Ginny’s cheek and then took her back to Draco. They nodded coolly to each other and then resumed dancing with their girls.

Up at the teacher’s table two people were watching the proceedings with much interest. They glanced over at each other discreetly and the corners of their mouths lifted.

Under the table their hands met and clasped together. One rough long fingered hand wore a ring with a Slytherin crest. The other dainty hand wore a ring with a red stone that bore the Gyffindor seal. They held on to each other under the table and watched the pair dance out on the floor. Dumbledore watched them with a twinkle in his eye. They thought they were so sneaky. He rolled his eyes. He knew they had been matchmaking, then he grinned when he remembered that he had had to help their love along too. From what he had heard, they even used some of the same tricks that he had used on them. He smiled and drank a toast to the lovers, young and old. It was going to be an interesting rest of the year at Hogwarts. He could hardly wait.

The End.....for now >;o)