I've been a bad, bad girl
I've been careless with a delicate man
And it's a sad, sad world
When a girl will break a boy
Just because she can

~Criminal, Fiona Apple


“I hate him,” Ginny seethed. She and Luna were storming down the corridor on the way to the combined Ravenclaw-Gryfffindor Muggle Studies class. Rather, Ginny was storming. Luna was simply trying to keep up with the rampaging redhead.

Currently, the fire-tempered sixth year was incensed over her brother’s enemy number one; Draco Malfoy. Luna hadn’t been paying attention to the exchange – she’d been busily immersed in the Quibbler’s latest issue, dealing with the intriguing similarities between Merlin and Elvis – but from Ginny’s rantings, it seemed that Malfoy had once again delivered a ridiculous insult about Ron’s (and by association, Ginny’s) pedigree. When Ron had replied, furious, Malfoy’d taken points away for ‘disrespecting a Prefect’.

Never mind that Ron, too, was a Prefect. Before he’d had a chance to react, however, Snape had miraculously appeared, ushering them all off to class.

And thus, Luna was rushing to Muggle Studies with the youngest of the Weasley brood, listening sympathetically to Ginny rant about ‘that git’ and fantasise over beating him, once and for all.

It wasn’t until about half way through Muggle Studies that Luna realised that Ginny, rather than being the lively participant she usually was, seemed to be rather entranced by the piece of parchment in front of her. In and of itself, it wasn’t exactly odd.

What was odd, however, even for the radish ear-ringed blonde, was that the parchment was blank. Ginny ignored the puzzled expression on her friends’ face and contemplated the absolute joy she’d feel if she ever did beat Malfoy – in a way that crushed his pride, ruined his spirit and forever broke the blonde into humility.

There had to be a way.

Ginny had spent years of watching her brother receive endless insults and conjectures that their parents were some form of animals. It’d certainly be amusing to turn the tables on him and turn his parents into a goat – but that idea was so quick, so painless, so easily fixed.

What was it that he was most proud of? Most protective of?

...His Malfoy pride.

The incident in her third year when Draco had been turned into a ferret had struck him hard and deep. But she couldn’t replicate that sort of magical attack; she’d be given a month’s worth of detention or worse.

No, it had to be subversive. She had to do something that she couldn’t get into trouble for, that wasn’t actually against the rules.

So what could she do to him that wasn’t going to land her in unnecessary trouble?

Relationships. There was no way that Dumbledore or anyone else could get angry with her for being in a relationship with Malfoy, for hurting him in that relationship.

It would put her in the position of being able to break him, humiliate him in front of the school, and get away with it. For once and all, Malfoy would leave her family alone.

Ginny grinned and Luna’s eyes widened in fear. The only reason Ginny ever looked like that was when she was planning a particularly wicked revenge on her brothers. She pitied Ron -- the only brother left at the school, and therefore the only target. Luna leant over to the other girl. “What are you going to do to the poor boy?”

Ginny’s expression immediately became innocent. “Why, nothing. I would never break the rules.” Luna looked – understandably – dubious, but said nothing.

The redhead grinned again. She was going to make Draco Malfoy fall in love with her, and then she would break his heart.