It started the next day. It seemed as if everyone in the castle knew that Harry Potter had kissed Ginny Weasley after she oh-so-brilliantly won the Quidditch match against Slytherin. On one hand Ginny was glad, because that meant the news would reach a certain Slytherin very soon, but at the same time she was dreading his reaction. Not only that, but people were staring at her like they had when Harry had rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets.

After lunch, she was so fed up with her classmates asking about how well Harry kissed (and lying about that question) or what she had done with him already, that Ginny decided to hide in the library, at least for the time being. She gave Harry a quick peck on the cheek to annoy Ron, who was glaring at her from his chair by the fire, and let her eyes wander once more in search of Hermione.

For once she was not accompanying the Spectacled Spectacle, so Ginny left the common room and went on her way.

She was going over the mess she had gotten herself into, when two strong hands grabbed her from behind. Before she had time to scream or pull out her wand, one of her attacker’s hands encircled her waist, pinning her hands against her sides as the other firmly clasped her mouth shut. Even though she was on a verge of panicking, Ginny decided to keep a cool head. She was dragged through a small passageway, one that she had not known of before, but had heard about from both the Golden Trio and her older twin brothers. She pressed her feet down on the floor, creating friction as her captor was trying to drag her behind a curtain and bit down on his or her hand, until she head the husky, male voice muttering angrily.

“Damn it, Ginevra!”

Ginny recognized the velvety voice and relaxed. Now that she knew who the attacker was, there was no need for her to fight him. On the contrary, she was surprised it had taken him so long, since it was after lunch and she was sure he had heard already. He carried her a little bit further into the passage before putting her down, and moving further away himself. Ginny moved closer towards to him, as if to inspect his injured hand, but much to her surprise, he shoved her back, tending to his hand with his own wand.

“You sure you don’t want my help with that?” Ginny asked cautiously, knowing that healing spells were anything but his domain. Once he had tried to fix a simple broken nail and had ended up setting his bed on fire.

“I can take care of myself,” he blurted out, and victoriously hung his wand on his belt.

“That’s great to know,” Ginny replied dryly, seeing that he was in no mood to let her get away with this. She sighed and continued. “So… Was there a reason for this sudden abduction?”

“Sudden?” She could imagine him smirking, but she could not see it in the dark of the small passage. “I thought you were smart enough to expect something like this.”

“Word play, darling,” Ginny replied sweetly. “But you have not answered my question.”

“Which was?” he drawled.

“Why did you bring me here?” Ginny decided to go along
with his little game.

“It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon, it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“I have a Charms essay to finish,” Ginny said smoothly.

“I said better than this,” he growled back. Ginny leaned back against the wall, expecting this to take up much more time if he continued on at this pace, and decided to let him talk for awhile before answering. Obviously, her silence was not something he was expecting from her, and so in his attempt to give her a chance to answer, silence overpowered them.

“What is this that I hear about you and Potter?” he asked after some time had passed without either of them breaking the silence.

“Harry and I are going out.” Ginny enhanced Saint Potter’s first name and watched with a smile as his dark figure seemed to tense.

“Polygamy?” he scoffed.

“Not at all; he is my only boyfriend.” Ginny was deliberately pushing him farther and farther, wanting to see him snap before her.

“I beg to differ,” he murmured. She was barely able to hear him.

“What do you mean?” Ginny thought of how quickly the tables had turned. Now she was at his mercy and not vice versa.

“You know what I mean, Ginevra.”

She did know and she knew it well, but Ginny was not about to back down. He had slipped, and he was going to pay for it.

“Polygamy is technically your thing,” Ginny replied venomously.

“Most definitely, because Dean was my boyfriend.” Draco said, his voice soaked with sarcasm that made her shiver.

“Pansy.” She spat the words at him, “Padma. Lavender. Every other girl in this school.”

“Now don’t lie to yourself, sweetheart,” his voice took on a dangerous edge. “They were just bravado.”

“Just like Dean and Potter,” she said in a similar tone.

“Really?” The anticipated mood swing was visible in his voice.

“No, I definitely love Potter with all my heart and soul.” Ginny rolled her eyes, but her kidnapper’s lips were all over hers the second those words left her mouth. Unlike The Boy Who Had Anger Issues, Ginny’s kidnapper could kiss, and kiss very well. His lips were warm on hers, and his tongue was demanding an entrance to her mouth. But she denied- he had yet to compromise. She put her hands against his muscular chest and pushed him away.

“He did kiss me you know,” she said devilishly, being perfectly capable of imagining the look of horror on his face...

“What!” …and in his voice.

“You heard me,” Ginny replied smugly, and put her arms around him. “Don’t be silly though. I don’t love him, never had loved him nor will I ever love him. Now, with that clear, I don’t want you near that cow Pansy ever again.”

“You’re dating Potter.”

“Less disgusting than Pansy.”

“To an extent.”

“She doesn’t need more encouragement from your side.”

“Neither does Potter.”

“I told him I wasn’t ready for a physical relationship.” Ginny’s kidnapper erupted in laughter.

“And he actually bought it?”

“Yeah, he is Saint Potter after all.” She chuckled a little at her own words.

“You should be in Slytherin.” He put his arms around her, touching the small of her back.

“You would like that too much,” she said accusingly. “Now
what about Pansy?”

“I‘ll wear an Invisibility Cloak when I’m with her?” he suggested meekly.

“No, you’ll break up with her,” she said menacingly. “Today,” Ginny added as an afterthought.

“Potter?”

“I can’t just dump him,” Ginny said carefully. “Too many questions.”

“If I dump Pansy, there will be questions too…” He let it hang between them.

“Yes, but you’re known for dumping chicks at random. I‘m not,” Ginny replied, biting her lower lip.

“That’s because you don’t like girls,” he smirked.

“You know what I meant.”

“I do.” He kissed her again, now more slowly. Ginny moaned with pleasure, and he used it as an opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. She smiled under the kiss and kissed him back, letting her hands wander his muscular back. He leaned her against him, slipping his hands under her shirt and slowly moving up her sides. Ginny gasped and broke the kiss:

“Charms essay,” Ginny managed to mumble when they both resurfaced for air. “Must finish. Been here too long.”

She grabbed her books and parchment that were scattered on the floor and dashed out of the passage, leaving the blond wizard leaning alone against the wall. “Owl!” she called out before the curtain fell in place, obscuring the opening from prying eyes.

On Monday morning, she walked into the Great Hall alone. A small smile was playing across her lips when she spotted Harry and Ron. Ginny decided to join them. Ever since last night when Draco Malfoy had abducted her in the library, Ginny had been avoiding Harry. If she was going to act the part of girlfriend, she thought, spending some time with him would probably be appropriate. One quick glance to the other side of the Great Hall told her that the blond wizard had obeyed her orders. The dark-haired leech-girl was sulking at the other end of the table and throwing Draco dark, desperate looks. He returned them smugly.

“Hey.” The Boy Who Had Scrambled Eggs All Over His Chin flashed her an eggy grin and patted the seat next to him. Ginny took it gracefully, trying not to look at the Slytherin table to avoid a possible outburst of laughter. She nibbled on some toast as the owl post arrived. Presently a dark owl sat in front of her. He held up his leg. There was a letter attached to it along with a small jewellery box. Ginny relieved the owl of his load and offered him her half-eaten toast. The owl only gave her an incredulous, snobby look as if to say, ‘Do you seriously expect me to eat that?’ It reminded Ginny too much of his master.

She hid the note and the box in her robes, hoping that The Boy Who Still Had Scrambled Eggs All Over His Chin would not notice, but it was too late.

“Who was that from?” he asked her. Ginny immediately searched for any sign of suspicion in his face, but only saw bits of crumbs.

“Charlie,” she answered. Everyone knew that she and her second-eldest brother corresponded almost everyday. “He send me some, uh, things from Romania,” Ginny added, as if to explain the existence of the small box that was now securely hidden away.

“What things?” the Boy Wonder continued casually.

“Let me put it this way,” Ginny lied, “Fred and George’s inventions and this are like Wingardium Leviosa compared to Accio.”

“Ah, I see.” He grinned at her again. “So let’s not talk about it. I sure don’t want you to get expelled.” Ginny inwardly rolled her eyes at his sudden amiability. How could he expect to ignore her for five years and then get away with talking to her as if he had known her for forever?

“Yeah,” she answered. That was the end of their conversation. The Boy That Now Had Jam On His Chin As Well turned to Ginny’s brother and tried to comfort a sulking Ron, who was obviously not taking Hermione’s absence too well. That gave Ginny enough time to open the box under the table and see that it contained a pair of white-gold earrings. They were tear-shaped and delicate, embellished with small rubies on the side. Ginny immediately got the message from the simple present: Slytherin silver and Gryffindor red united. Boxes full of jewellery were Draco’s way of apologizing after a stupid fight, and the bottom of Ginny’s trunk was covered with bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings that were decreasing in value due to the sheer number of them.

Ginny’s thoughts were disturbed by Hermione, who rushed in and took a seat next to her. Ginny who noticed that her cheeks were flushed again and she looked happier than when she had gotten the famous 113 on a Charm tests. It seemed that Ron had noticed too.

“Where were you?” he snapped. Hermione’s eyebrows came together as she frowned at him, obviously not liking the tone of his voice.

“None of your business, Ronald,” she said icily. But her cheeks reddened more, and Ginny thought that she saw a glint of guilt flash in her brown eyes. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t doing anything… bad. I simply overslept.” Ginny watched as the older witch dug into the plate of pancakes that appeared in front of her. Ron, on the other hand, looked as if he had lost his appetite, an impossibility in itself. He left early with Harry, who threw Ginny apologetic looks.

“And when did you ‘oversleep’?” Ginny asked in whisper. Hermione’s fork froze halfway to her mouth.

“Ginny…” she growled warningly.

“Just wondering…” Ginny muttered back.

“There are other things to wonder about,” Hermione said, shooting a pointed look towards the Slytherin table.

“Yup,” Ginny agreed. She could feel certain silver eyes on her during the whole breakfast, but she was facing the other way and couldn’t return the gaze without obviously turning around.

“You’ll never tell me the details, will you?” Hermione asked, scooping the last of her pancakes and placing them in her mouth.

“It depends,” Ginny answered without really answering Hermione’s rhetorical question.

“Oh?” Hermione was looking at Ginny, who deliberately kept staring at her folded hands.

“Things…” Ginny did not desire to share her secret, but she simply could not help but bring up Hermione’s at any possible occasion. “Come on, we’re going to be late.” Ginny threw her bag over her shoulder, and finally turned around to catch Draco’s eye. He was getting up at the same time she was. She smiled at him longingly before turning away. It was a wonder people hadn’t noticed that there was something going on between the Slytherin seeker and the Gryffindor chaser. How could they be together? They were as incompatible as heaven and hell…

Ginny hurried out of the Great Hall before Hermione had the opportunity to ask another question. Her first class was Herbology, and she felt like anything but facing the cold, spring morning outside in the greenhouses. She stopped in the girls’ bathroom, knowing that she was late already, and slipped the jewellery box out of her robes. She admired the delicate earrings for a little bit, marvelling at how her blond Slytherin had perfectly symbolized them as a couple in a way that no one would be able to figure out. The only thing she had to do to accept his apology was to put them on.
And so she did.

It started raining just as Ginny walked out of the castle doors and made her way towards the greenhouses. It wasn’t a harsh rain, but it was bad enough to soak through the thin, hand-me-down robes she was wearing at the moment. So when she entered the greenhouses, every eye in the class naturally wandered over to her.

“Now that Miss Weasley has finally decided to join us, we can begin,” Professor Sprout stated as Colin motioned for Ginny to sit next to him. She nodded in acknowledgment of the Professor’s comment and moved over to the indicated spot.

“Now, seeing as your O.W.L exams will start in less than a month, I hope I don’t have to remind you of their importance. They won’t only affect your future, but…” Ginny stopped listening to the Professor. She had given the same lecture about the importance of O.W.Ls right before every class of the last semester. Instead, Ginny slowly took out the note from Draco and opened it in her lap. She checked that Colin and the Hufflepuff next to her were paying close attention to Sprout’s words, then quickly skimmed through the letter:

I will meet you at the usual place at eight o’clock. Hope you like the jewellery.
-D

The note was brief, but she was used to that. Ginny crumbled the note and hid it in her pocket, returning her attention to the Professor.

“… and so, today we will start reviewing first year. Who can tell me what this is?” Professor Sprout held up an ugly looking plant that Ginny correctly recognized as belladonna. The lesson dragged on and Ginny ended up working with Colin as usual. He was one of few people in her grade that she spent any time with, and along with Luna Lovegood, he was nearly a best friend.

“So how come you were late?” he asked her casually when they were divided into pairs to identify different plants that were spread out around the greenhouse.

“I forgot something, so I had to return and get it,” Ginny replied slowly, not taking her eyes off the plant in front of her.

“Eh. You’re lucky it’s Sprout. Any other professor would take points off,” Colin commented.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ginny nodded absently.

“So I heard about you and Harry…” The boy’s obsession with the Great Harry Potter had decreased over past five years, but it was definitely still there.

“Yeah, and no, I won’t get you an autograph,” Ginny teased the now-blushing Colin.

“I wasn’t going to ask you to get me one,” he tried to convince her.

“Keep telling yourself that, and you might believe it one day.” Ginny grinned and wrote another plant down on the list.

“Well, whatever. So do you like him?” Colin had a bad habit of getting right to the point when he wanted to know something.

“Yeah,” Ginny answered without thinking. “I mean…” She hesitated in her answer. Ginny did like Harry - as a brother and a friend- but she had seen too many of his ‘cracking under the pressure’ moments to still admire him. Besides, he didn’t hold that kind of attraction to her anymore.

“That’s great!” Colin exclaimed. “Harry deserves a great girl like you, Ginny.” He squished her in a big hug, right before the bell rang. Ginny had to hurry to get to her next lesson: Potions.

Gryffindors had Potions with Ravenclaws, right after the sixth years. It was something that Ginny has always looked forward to, partly because she knew she would get to see Draco in passing, and partly because Potions was her strong subject. But now, when she walked down the corridor towards the dungeons, she saw a black haired boy rushing towards her instead of a blond one. The latter was strolling towards them as well, and to Ginny he seemed to be walking deliberately. However, she had to turn her attention to the Trio before her.

“Hey, Gin,” The Boy Who Sucked At Potions said as he pulled her into a hug. Ginny threw a bewildered look at Draco, silently asking him for help. It was about time, because Harry decided to plant a soggy kiss on her cheek. He was going for her mouth, but she managed to get out of the way in time.

“Potter, stop eating the little weasel’s face off,” Draco ordered. The Boy Who Was Blushing At The Moment let go of Ginny, who mouthed ‘thank you’ to Draco before turning back to the Trio.

“What I do with my girlfriend is none of your business, Malfoy,” Harry growled.

“I believe it is,” Draco said coolly with a dangerous light in his eyes. “You almost made me lose my breakfast. The weasel girl and Potter making out? Is there a Dementor nearby or something?” Ginny almost smiled at his cheeky remarks. She knew he was jealous.

“Bugger off, Malfoy,” Hermione joined in weakly. Inside, Ginny suspected that she enjoyed their snapping just as much as she did.

“Make me, Granger,” Draco challenged as the bell rang.

“Maybe some other time,” Hermione said, tugging on Ron and Harry. “Come on guys, let’s go. We’re already late.” And they left the hallway empty.

“I really didn’t want to see that,” Draco remarked, taking Ginny’s books and walking her towards the dungeons. He had a free period, so he could afford to linger behind and spend at least some time with her.

“I’m sorry.” Ginny’s remorse was obvious from her voice. “He came out of nowhere and then he was all over me. Are you okay?” she asked worriedly. Draco was still glaring at the stone-paved floor as the walked.

“Yeah, I just wish we could tell everyone that we’re together, so Potter wouldn’t touch you. And then I wouldn’t have to hang out with Parkinson and the likes of her.” They had been over this so many times, but it always ended with the same resolution: there was no way they could tell.

“I wish we could, Draco, I wish we could.” Ginny sighed. “But if you don’t want to hang out with Parkinson, you could always become a priest,” she said with a grin.

“No, thanks,” Draco said dryly. “But you could tell Potter that you have someone else.”

“Yup, and when he asks, I shall tell him who so he can tell all my brothers and whoever else is protective of me so they can get together and go on a killing spree. Great idea, my dear ferret,” Ginny said, scooping her books into her arms. She stood on her tiptoes to reach Draco’s mouth and gave him a quick kiss. Sometimes she thought that he never stopped growing.

“…eight…” Draco breathed out as Ginny rushed towards her Potions classroom. He stood in the corridor and watched the door she disappeared behind for a long time before he went to the Room of Requirement. He needed to work on his ‘project’.

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“Late again, Ms. Weasley," Professor Slughorn said as Ginny entered the Potions classrooms. “Make sure it does not happen next time.” This was exactly what Ginny expected from the Potion master, and so she took her seat next to Luna without a word.

“Today we will brew Draught of Peace. It's not an easy potion, but I don't doubt your success.” Slughorn flicked his wand and the ingredients appeared on the board.

Ginny took out a new cauldron that Fred and George bought her when they started their joke store, because they knew about how much she enjoyed brewing potions. She carefully measured out the ingredients as the directions indicated, and tried not to think about Harry. She knew that what she was doing was wrong, and that she should not use him like that, but she made a mistake when she let him kiss her. If she broke up with him now, it would definitely hurt his feelings and it would arouse more questions than at the beginning, and she realized that she could only go on like this for so long before something snapped. Her attention was claimed by her potion again, when the liquid bubbled and turned an ugly shade of pink instead of bright green which it was supposed to turn.

She looked around to see Slughorn watching her with raised eyebrows - obviously he expected her to do better. Ginny quickly added a few ingredients that should, in theory, turn the potion the right colour, and forced her conscience to shut up about the Boy Who Was Obsessing About Her Now.


Ginny was rushing through the hallways; she got so caught up in her research about Time-Turners that she almost forgot about her date with Draco. Almost. As if she could ever miss out on an opportunity to spend some time with him. Ginny took out a hand mirror to check herself in before entering the Room of Requirement, but the door opened, and smiling, Draco pulled her in.

“You don’t need that,” he said, looking down at the pocket mirror in her hands.

“Thank you.” Ginny blushed, not sure what to say.

“So how was your day?” He asked as they walked over to the sofa. Ginny seated herself in Draco’s lap, and he Accio’d two Butterbeers.

“Bad,” she answered, taking a sip from her bottle.

“Did Potter do something?” Draco’s eyes darkened, and so Ginny said quickly:

“Of course not, you know what I told him.” He tightened his grip around her waist protectively, and his eyes did not light up for a while. “I am sorry, Draco,” Ginny said. “I don’t want to hurt him, but I don’t know how to get out of it now.”

“You COULD just tell him that you don’t like him anymore…” He softened a little bit, but his voice was still rather harsh.

“You know that I can’t. We have been over this,” Ginny answered tiredly. “So how is your ‘project’ going?” His dark and secret mission had never failed to get his mind off the topic, and it seemed to work again.

“I don’t know if I can get it finished.” Draco sighed. “It’s so dangerous. I wish Dumbledore would agree with Snape on this… I always thought that he put the well being of his students first, and now I just don’t know.”

“In war, you have to take risks.” Dumbledore had said that to Draco at the beginning of the year, and he repeated it to Ginny, who reminded him of this very same quote every so often.

“I know, I know.” Draco shook his head impatiently. “But what if it does not work? What if he kills Mother? Or what if it does work and someone else gets hurt?” Ginny knew that the real Draco was not the evil spoiled brat everyone thought him to be. Well,spoiled - yes, brat - yes; but no, he definitely did not want to kill his classmates.

“Don’t worry, your mother will be alright once we fix that damned cabinet, and he promised to let her go right away, so Dumbledore can hide her. And once they are in school, there are going to be Order members around to capture them. There is no risk in it.” Ginny tried to soothe him. She knew that there was a risk, and a quite large one in her opinion, but Draco needed someone to tell him that it would be okay, and Moaning Myrtle simply was not reassuring enough.

“Yeah, well I don’t know how to fix it.” Draco said in reply and took a sip from the bottle.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, we will figure out something. I don’t see why Dumbledore doesn’t fix it himself if he thinks it’s so important…” Ginny cuddled closer to him, attempting to lighten up his gloomy mood.

“He has more important things to do.” Draco placed his Butterbeer on the floor and put his other arm around Ginny, pulling her even closer. “Besides, the Dark Lord would find out if I got help from someone.” Ginny could feel him shudder under her.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said and placed a kiss on his cheek. “For now, let’s worry about much more trivial things.”

“Like?” Draco asked her as he traced her collar bone with his lips and pulled her into a kiss.

“Harry,” Ginny answered, not missing the sinful tone of his voice.

“Easy. You dump him. And we tell everyone that we are together and that I am not a Death Eater and that I like to play ping pong,” Draco said, putting butterfly kisses all over her neck.

“You like to play ping pong?” Ginny asked, pulling away from him to take a closer look at his face.

“It’s a good game.” Ginny just rolled her eyes at his retort, as a ping pong table appeared in the room.

“Have you ever played?” Draco asked Ginny, motioning to the ping pong table.

“A couple times,” Ginny replied. She was rather familiar with the game due to her father’s obsession with Muggles, and so she expected to win easily. However, when they started to play, both exceeded each other’s expectations.
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Ginny climbed through the portrait hole after a nice and long snogging session with Draco. Surprisingly they had tied at ping pong, much to their annoyance, but as the clock showed larger and larger numbers, they decided to go to bed.

Hermione was sitting in an armchair near the fire alone, facing away from the portrait hole. She was mumbling to herself, and she seemed very distraught to Ginny, who crept behind her without making a sound and saw the older girl holding the Time-Turner and looking at it deliberately. Hermione obviously made her decision, for she turned the Time-Turner a couple times, and disappeared almost instantly. At that moment, Ginny seized her chance. She grabbed on the golden chain that held Hermione’s Time-Turner and disappeared along with Hermione.
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When the uncomfortable time travel stopped, Ginny found herself next to a very angry Hermione, who immediately pulled her into a broom closet.

“Ginevra Molly Weasley!” Hermione bellowed after placing silencing charms on the room, “What have you done?!”

And then someone opened the door.