A Friendship to Last a Lifetime

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.

A/N: A special thank you to my beta, Aliya.

Prologue

It was a bright, sunny day in Ottery St. Catchpole, perfect for playing outside. That was exactly what a certain five year old, flame-haired girl and her best friend, a pale-haired six year old, were doing. This particular girl's name was Ginevra Molly Weasley, called simply, Ginny. Her companion answered to the name of Draco Malfoy, and had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. Before she was old enough to play, Draco had played with her older brother, Ron, who was the same age as Draco. Once she had been old enough, Ginny had begun to play with them; Ron hadn't liked that idea so he'd begun to hang around with their other older twin brothers, Fred and George.
At the moment, Draco and Ginny were sitting in the middle of the Burrow's lawn, eating lunch. The Burrow was the name used for the Weasleys' house. Once they had finished their lunch, they started a game of tag. After a few minutes, all of Ginny's six brothers had joined in.

*~*~*~*

Hours later, when everyone else had gone inside, Draco and Ginny sat in the grass, watching the sunset. They were waiting for Draco's parents to arrive. They sat in silence for a while, not needing any words. That's when they heard the yelling. It was coming from inside the house. "That sounds like my dad," Draco commented after a moment.
Ginny nodded in agreement. "He sounds angry," she observed.
The yelling got louder, and all they make out was, "My son will no longer be associating with trash like you and your children." It had been Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father that was yelling.
Draco and Ginny looked at each other with wide eyes. There parents were best friends, they had been since they went to Hogwarts, they never yelled at each other.
"Draco," Ginny whispered worriedly. "What's going on? What's going to happen?"
"I don't know," Draco replied. "but if my daddy is serious, we might never see each other again."
"They can't do that! That's not fair!" Ginny yelled indignantly, she hadn't quite understood the meaning of Lucius's words until Draco had said that.
"I know, but, Ginny, no matter what happens, we'll be best friends forever," he told her solemnly.
Ginny smiled at his words and nodded sincerely. "I'd never stop being your friend, I promise," she agreed. Then she stood up and flung herself at him, giving him a big hug. At first, he was stiff with horror and surprise, but after a few seconds, he returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm.

*~*~*~*

They were outside a half an hour later when Mrs. Weasley came out to call them in. Draco and Ginny stood up and obediently followed Mrs. Weasley inside. They were then told to sit on the couch. Lucius stepped forward and commanded, "Come, Draco, we're leaving." With that he grabbed his son and his wife, and they Apparated away.
"Mommy, what's going on?" the small girl whimpered.
"You won't be playing with Draco anymore," her father, Arthur, informed her.
"Why not?" Ginny exclaimed.
"Draco's parents and Mommy and I had a fight," Arthur explained
"About what?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Fred and George played a trick on them, and they got mad. Then we got into a big fight," Molly, her mother, replied.
"Why can't I see Draco anymore?" Ginny asked in small voice.
"Because we are no longer going to associate with any Malfoys," her father answered. "Now, I'm going to cast a spell so you won't remember hanging out with Draco, you'll think it was Ron the whole time. Now, sit still." Then, before Ginny could move, Arthur whipped out his wand. He then cast the spell that wiped Draco Malfoy from his daughter's memory.

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, in another part of Britain, Draco was hearing similar things from his parents. Apparently, Fred and George, who were notorious pranksters, had placed a bucket of paint over the fireplace so it would fall onto the next person who came through it. That person had just happened to be Narcissa Malfoy, wearing brand new designer robes, which were now ruined. Draco didn't understand why his mother didn't just magic the paint away. It seemed so simple to him, but Narcissa had said it was permanent paint. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but figured it had to mean that using magic wouldn't work to get it off.
So, after much discussion and protests from Draco, his father took out his wand and cast the spell that would erase Ginny Weasley from his son's memory. Draco had not let that take place without a fight though. He had screamed and cried, kicked and hit, but nothing had deterred his father. In the end, he ended up with the same fate as Ginny. Whenever he thought of time passed, he remembered himself playing with Pansy Parkinson, the daughter of good friends of the Malfoys.

*~*~*~*

During the next few days, there was much tension in the Weasley house. Arthur had modified the memories of all his children. He didn't feel right doing it, but knew it had to be done. Ginny would have been devastated if they had let her remember Draco for much longer. It saddened him that the Malfoys had reacted so strongly to the twin's prank, but knew that sometimes his sons did go a little far with their jokes. They didn't quite know where to stop.
During the past few days, Ginny noticed a difference in her parents. They looked unhappy, and whenever someone mentioned the name Malfoy, they got all jumpy. Being the five year old that she was, she hadn't pinpointed exactly what was causing them to get jumpy, but her older brothers had. She had heard them talking about it just yesterday. She didn't know what was going on. The Malfoys had always been a part of their lives. She had been learning to hate them ever since she could remember. What was making them jumpy now?

*~*~*~*

At Malfoy Manor, Draco went on with life as usual, or what he thought was usual. He played with Pansy Parkinson everyday. She seemed a little more annoying than usual, but he decided that it was just his imagination. Draco, being the astute six year old that he was, noticed that every time someone mentioned the name Weasley, his parents faces froze over. He knew that they hated the Weasleys. They always had, and they taught Draco to hate them also. Ever since he was little he had learned that they were Muggle-loving trash, and he was not supposed to associate with them. He agreed to this early. After all, he probably wouldn't meet a Weasley until he started school, and that wouldn't be for some time.
What Draco didn't understand was that whenever people came over lately, they always asked about the Weasleys. He didn't get it. Everyone knew that the Malfoys hated the Weasleys, they had for years, but they were always asking about them. Why would a Malfoy know anything about a Weasley?

A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of my story so far. Is it a good or is it a stupid idea? Tell me what you think. The rest of the chapters will be longer than this.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 1

Sixteen-year-old Ginny Weasley skipped through the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a bright smile on her face. It was nearing Christmas, her favorite time of year. It was also snowing outside. She loved the snow. It made everything look so sparkly and pure. Today was the first snowfall of the year, and she couldn't be happier.
As Ginny walked along, lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice a figure approaching her. She didn't notice it at all until it spoke. "Going somewhere, Weasley?" seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy drawled casually.
Ginny shook her head to clear her thoughts. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she snapped.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt a nice daydream? Were you thinking about Saint Potter again? Pathetic," he sneered.
Ginny narrowed her eyes into dungeons, chocolate-brown slits. Harry Potter was the hero of the wizarding world, defeating the evil Lord Voldemort when he was only a baby. Ginny had had a crush on him from when she was ten until when she was fourteen. He was also her brother's best friend along with Hermione Granger, Harry's current girlfriend. "You really need some new material, Malfoy. I've been over Harry for ages," she retorted as calmly as she could. "Besides, he has a girlfriend."
"Oh yes, him and the Mudblood are going out, aren't they? Must be terrible to know that even Mudblood like Granger can snag a guy, especially a guy that you want, easier than you," Draco taunted. He was trying to get a rise out of her, and she would do her best to prevent that.
"I've had plenty of boyfriends, Mal-ferret. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be. Besides, you wouldn't want to keep your sluts waiting," she snarled, and with that, she was gone.
Draco glared menacingly at her retreating form for a few moments. Then he turned around, stalking away, robes billowing out behind him.

*~*~*~*

After her encounter with Malfoy, Ginny's mood darkened considerably. She could feel him glaring at her as she walked towards the Entrance Hall. Although she had stayed calm, she realized that Malfoy had struck a nerve. She was a little bitter about the fact that Hermione had a boyfriend and she didn't. It wasn't as if she thought that Hermione didn't deserve a boyfriend or anything, it was just that Hermione didn't really care if she had a boyfriend or not. She was perfectly content with having Harry and Ron as friends.
Stepping out into the frigid December air, Ginny pushed thoughts of Malfoy and Hermione from her head. As she strolled around the lake, her mood brightened. Days like these were her favorite. The ones that were perfect for walking around in the snow and then going inside to have hot chocolate and snuggle up by the fire. That was exactly what Ginny was going to do when she got back inside the castle.

*~*~*~*

Draco stalked through the corridors of Hogwarts, glowering at anyone who dared stand in his way. They would quickly scamper away. They all knew better than to bother a Malfoy when he was angry if they valued their lives. Draco's family had much power and influence in England and the surrounding wizarding communities. The Malfoys were the richest wizarding family in all of Britain, and they weren't afraid to show it. You would never catch a Malfoy wearing anything less than the best quality designer robes.
Glowering at another figure in his path, Draco continued his trek to the dungeons, or at least he tried to. The figure, he recognized as his childhood friend, Pansy Parkinson. They had been friends for as long as he could remember. He wasn't exactly sure why they ever became friends in the first place. When they first started playing, he had memories of having lots of fun together, but the memories since he was about six were less pleasant. They were almost always fighting, and when they weren't, they were bored, which led to more fighting. It was almost as if Pansy was a whole other person when she turned six.
"What do you want, Pansy?" Draco asked in a less than friendly tone.
"I want you tot take me to Hogsmeade this weekend so I can get Christmas presents for my family," Pansy answered.
"Well, what if I told you that I was busy?" Draco snapped. There was no way he was going to take her to Hogsmeade and spend the whole day with her, it would be torture.
"Busy with what?" Pansy grilled.
"Homework. It's N.E.W.T. year, you know, and there's a ton of homework. I need this weekend to catch up," Draco replied, starting to get irritated.
"You need all weekend to catch up?" Pansy said skeptically.
"Yes," Draco told her coldly before brushing past to enter the Slytherin dungeons.

*~*~*~*

By the time Ginny was ready to go back to the castle, it was time for dinner, which meant that she wouldn't have time for her hot chocolate. She decided that she would have some late if she felt like it. She made her way to the Great Hall. She sat down near one of her best friends, Colin Creevey. Colin was a wonderful photographer and almost always had his face behind a camera. Next to him sat his girlfriend, Mary Anne Phillips, a Gryffindor in the same year as both Ginny and Colin. Although Ginny and Mary Anne weren't very close, they would hang out together. She was a nice enough girl in Ginny's opinion, it's just that they didn't share many interests.
"Hey, Gin," Colin greeted as she sat down.
"Hello, Ginny," Mary Anne said cheerfully.
"Hi Colin, Mary Anne," Ginny returned with a smile. She could remember the old days when she and Ron had been the best of friends, back when they were little. Then one day, she could almost pinpoint the exact day he had changed. He'd no longer wanted to play with her, and when he had played with her, he'd persuade her to play games that she didn't like. It was as if he'd changed into a different person overnight. Now, it was still the same. Whenever she tried hanging out with Ron and his friends, he would shoo her away. He just didn't like hanging out with her.
"So, Ginny, what do you think of the History of Magic project?" Colin asked, breaking her from her thoughts.
"I think it's interesting, better than the usual assignments, at least," Ginny answered. That day in History of Magic class Professor Binns they had been assigned a project to do over Christmas holidays. They were supposed to research the history of their families, major accomplishments of family members and the like. Then they would present their findings in class so they could see the differences between the heritage of purebloods, half bloods, and muggleborns. They had a whole month to complete it so they could be thorough in their research.
"Yeah. Usually we just have dumb essays about goblin rebellions and rubbish like that," Colin agreed with a grimace. "It's so boring."
Both Ginny and Mary Anne nodded in consent. "It's by far the dullest class, and Professor Binns's monotonous voice doesn't help much either," Mary Anne commented.
"I'd have to say that I agree with you there," Ginny replied. "but I'm not sure if the monotony is better than Snape who takes off points from Gryffindor left and right."
"And never takes any off of Slytherin," Colin added. "It's not fair. I don't know why Dumbledore doesn't just fire him. There must be some rule against favoring one house over the rest, hasn't there?"
Mary Anne and Ginny nodded. Professor Snape was the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, and he was always taking points off of Gryffindor, but he never took points off of Slytherin. "Plus, he's a Death Eater, why should he be allowed to teach at Hogwarts?" Mary Anne pointed out. Death Eaters were followers of the most powerful evil wizard of the time, Lord Voldemort, often referred to as You Know Who or He Who Must Not Be Named.
"Harry says that he's not a Death Eater anymore, he's a double agent for the Order," Ginny said. The Order of the Phoenix was a secret organization that Dumbledore started as resistance to Voldemort.
"How are we to know if he's really a double agent for us? Suppose he's really a double agent for them," Colin said.
"Dumbledore trusts him so he can't be all bad," Ginny replied.
"I guess," Mary Anne said with a shrug, clearly not convinced.
After that the discussion was closed, and the conversation turned to other things like the upcoming Quidditch match that would determine who would be facing Gryffindor for the Quidditch Cup, Ravenclaw or Slytherin.
Dinner soon ended, and Ginny began to make her way back to her dormitory. She still had a little of homework to do before she could relax for the night.

*~*~*~*

After escaping Pansy, Draco had retreated to his dormitory to work on some homework. It seemed that was all he was doing lately, homework. Being Head Boy, it wouldn't do for him to have late work. Besides, if he didn't do his homework, he wouldn't be able to pass his N.E.W.T.s, and he would never get a good job. It wasn't as if he needed one, no, he would have plenty of inheritance money, but it was that he wanted one. He took more advanced classes than most of his classmates because, as not many people knew, he wanted to be a Potions professor. That required N.E.W.T.s in a variety of subjects because they needed to know about the potions themselves, the history of them, the plants used to make them, and the right time to pick the plants.
After Draco's father had been put in Azkaban, the wizarding prison, there had been many changes in his son. He had become more subdued, not insulting as many people as usual. He still would jeer at Potter and his crew every chance he got, but didn't bother many others. He had also stopped being followed around by his "bodyguards", Crabbe and Goyle. He had also lost any interest he had ever had in becoming a Death Eater. After seeing what had happened to his father and his friends' fathers, he decided that it wasn't worth it. He had never fancied killing anyone anyway.
Sighing, Draco turned back to the essay he was writing for History of Magic about the goblin rebellions of 1694 that was due the next day.

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ginny woke up feeling more cheerful than usual. That was probably due to the fact that it was Friday. That was her favorite day of the school week, and no only because the weekend was after it. It was also because she had the best schedule. She had Potions first thing. She didn't particularly enjoy this class, but needed it for her chosen profession. She wanted to be a Magical Healer. After Potions, she had Double Charms. Then was lunch and Transfiguration. She then had a short Healing class with Madame Pomfrey, and then the rest of the afternoon was a free period. This time she used to finish her homework, and then she had the weekend pretty much free.
When Ginny had finished getting ready for class, she made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she arrived, she scanned the Gryffindor table for Colin. She spotted him sitting with is brother, Dennis, and Neville Longbottom, a notoriously clumsy and forgetful Gryffindor seventh year.
"Hey, guys," Ginny greeted
"Morning," they returned.
"What class do you have first, Ginny?" Dennis asked.
"Potions," she replied with a grimace. She guessed that the class itself wasn't' that bad, it was the professor that she disliked.
Colin grimaced with her; he didn't like Professor Snape either. "What do you have, Neville?" he enquired of the older boy.
"I have Herbology," Neville answered happily. Herbology was his favorite subject, and he was quite good at it. "What about you, Dennis?"
"Divination," the younger boy replied sheepishly. Dennis was a shy Gryffindor fourth year. Although his brother never excluded him from his conversations, he was rarely addressed directly. Dennis got along pretty well despite the differences in personality. Colin was very out going, whereas Dennis was terribly shy and didn't have many friends.
The rest of breakfast passed quickly as the conversation turned to the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. When breakfast had ended, the group split up to go to their various classes.
Colin and Ginny arrived in the Potions classroom just in time. They took their seats, and Professor Snape began teaching them how to brew a very basic Truth Potion. "Alright, now split up into groups of two and brew the potion on your own. When the potion is brewed, you will test it on your partner and vice versa," Snape commanded. "You will have to save a sample to give to me at the end of the lesson."
Colin and Ginny paired and began brewing their potions. They added ingredients and stirred them together according to the instructions that Snape had written on the chalkboard. When they had finished brewing their potions, their potions were both a pale blue color. That was the color it was supposed to be, so that, at least, was promising. Snape came over to them to see if they were ready to test their potions, and they said that they were. Colin agreed to be tested on first. Ginny handed him the right amount of potion and handed it to him. "Ask him three questions, Miss Weasley," Snape commanded.
Ginny nodded and thought for a minute. "I'm going to ask easy questions, but try to lie," she said and Colin nodded his assent. "What's your name?"
"Colin Christopher Creevey."
"What's your favorite color?"
"Yellow."
"Who's your least favorite teacher?"
"Snape."
Colin blushed slightly at the last answer, and Snape sneered self-appreciately. "Yours seems to have worked, Miss Weasley," he commented. "Your turn, Creevey."
Colin measured the right amount of potion nervously. He handed it to Ginny, and she took it. "What's your name?"
"Ginevra Molly Weasley."
"How many brothers do you have?"
"Six."
"Who's your best friend ever?" this was asked mostly in jest. He knew that it would be him. Ginny hadn't had any close friends before him.
"Draco Malfoy," Ginny replied calmly through her potion-induced state.
Colin visibly blanched, and Professor Snape's eyes widened the slightest bit in surprise. Instead of showing his surprise, however, he sneered at Colin. "Well, Creevey, it appears that another one of your potions has failed," he snarled coldly. "That will be one more failing grade."
Colin sighed in resignation as he looked at Ginny. Her eyes were wide and confused. "You could have at least said something a little more believable than Draco Malfoy," he snapped waspishly. He was already failing Potions, he didn't need anymore failing grades he had been sure Ginny would at least try to help him out.
"I didn't mean to say that. I tried to say you, but my tongue wouldn't form the words," Ginny whispered dejectedly. That was when Colin realized he was overreacting. The way she explained what had happened in that dejected voice made him realize that she wasn't lying. "What do you think it means?"
"Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you before. It wasn't your fault," Colin apologized contritely. "I don't know what this means, it's probably nothing. I probably did mess up the potion."
"But you did everything exactly right. I watched you to make sure," Ginny answered, confused.
"It's probably nothing," Colin repeated weakly.
Ginny merely shook her head. She didn't believe that one moment, but there was no other explanation. Unless you considered the fact that Draco Malfoy being her best friend was true as an explanation. That could never be. She hated Draco Malfoy. She had for all of her life, so had everyone in her family. The Malfoys and Weasleys had been sworn enemies forever, hadn't they? Of course, Class was dismissed, and she and Colin exited the classroom in silence, heading towards the Charms classroom.

*~*~*~*

A few hours later, Ginny sat in the Library during her free period, trying to do her homework. Trying being the key word. Her mind kept wandering back to the incident in Potions class. She couldn't think of any rational explanation. She knew Colin hadn't messed up the potion. She had made sure of it. She knew that her friend was failing Potions, and she wanted to help him. She had subtly rearranged things so he would put the right ingredients when they were supposed to go in, and she had distracted him when he was reaching for the wrong thing. It just didn't make any sense.
Vowing to ask her parents about it when she went home for Christmas, Ginny went back to her homework, without much luck. She just couldn't concentrate. Shaking her head, she decided to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room. The rest of her housemates would be done with their classes by now, and she figured that there would be something to distract her there.

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, Severus Snape, unbeknownst of him, was having thoughts similar to Ginny's. He had also been watching Colin, and knew for a fact also that Colin hadn't made any mistakes. He was deeply intrigued by what had happened. It just didn't make any sense. He'd tested the Potion over and over trying to find something wrong, just in case, but to now avail. It was baffling. The only explanation was that he had told the truth, but it couldn't be true. He decided that he had ought to have a short talk with Narcissa Malfoy. She had taken over all of the Malfoy affairs after Lucius was thrown in Azkaban.
Stepping into the fireplace in his office, Snape threw some Floo Powder in and yelled, "Malfoy Manor."

*~*~*~*

Narcissa Malfoy was in her study when Snape arrived. "Severus," she greeted with a nod of her head.
"Narcissa," Snape replied, inclining his head.
"Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?" Narcissa asked, almost coldly. Narcissa and Severus had never gotten along very well, and it showed.
"Classes are over for the day," Snape answered evasively.
Narcissa nodded curtly. "Now, to what do I owe this pleasure of your company?" she asked.
"Something rather, uh, interesting happened during my sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin Potions class this morning," Snape began. "A certain Ginevra Weasley was given a Truth Potion, and when she was asked who her best friend ever was, she responded Draco Malfoy."
Narcissa's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but that was the only reaction. "The potion must have been brewed wrong," she replied nonchalantly.
"I assure you, Narcissa, it was brewed correctly," Snape protested.
"Well then the girl must be so wrapped up in fantasies of it being true that she's convinced herself it is," Narcissa sneered coldly. She was so like her husband sometimes, it was scary.
Snape opened his mouth to argue that the potion would have made her tell the truth no matter what she was convinced, but knew he wouldn't win so he decided against it. "Perhaps you're right. Well, I just thought you might be interested, but since you're not, I won't bother you any longer," Snape said. "Good day, Narcissa."
Narcissa nodded in reply, and then Snape Flooed back to Hogwarts.

*~*~*~*

Once Snape had left, Narcissa promptly Apparated to the Weasleys' home. She knew they were too incompetent to perform the spell right. Now the secret had almost been revealed. She knew her son, if he found out, would be murderous. So would her husband. She couldn't imagine that the Weasley girl would be any happier.
Narcissa stepped out of the fireplace and brushed herself off. In front of her stood a surprised looking Molly Weasley. "Molly," Narcissa greeted curtly, nodding in acknowledgment.
"Narcissa," Molly answered.
"Who cast the memory altering charm on your daughter all those years ago?" Narcissa asked, getting straight to the point. She was not one to beat about the bush.
"Arthur, why?" Molly replied.
"Because it evidently wasn't done properly," Narcissa snapped.
"What ARE you talking about?" Molly inquired waspishly.
"Your daughter was asked who her best friend was, and she answered, Draco. She was under the influence of a Truth Potion," Narcissa answered briskly.
"Well that explains it. The Truth Potion made her say it. She doesn't really remember," Molly quipped. "Now, get out of my house."
Narcissa obeyed the command and Flooed back to the Manor.

*~*~*~*

Although Molly had brushed off the situation with Ginny, she was secretly a little concerned. Ginny would be rather upset if she found out she'd been lied to all of her life.
Shaking her head, Molly continued with the task she's been working on before Narcissa arrived.

*~*~*~*

Back at Hogwarts, Snape called his prize Potions student to his office. He wanted to try something. "Draco, take this potion," Snape commanded.
Draco took the vial without question and drank the potion. He'd done this enough times to know that the potion was nothing dangerous. After a few minutes, Snape spoke again. "Who was your best friend ever?" he asked.
"Ginny Weasley," Draco answered mechanically.
Snape nodded. Draco was thoroughly confused. It was like Snape had suspected that to happen. "What kind of potion was that?" Draco inquired.
"A truth potion," Snape answered.
Draco's eyes widened in shock. "You're kidding me, right?" he exclaimed.
"No joke," Snape replied seriously.
"Then there must be something wrong with the potion or the ingredients or something," Draco said frantically. The hysterical note in Draco's voice was what made Snape's argument die on his lips.
"Probably," Snape agreed. "You can go now. Thank you."
Draco wasn't very reassured. He walked out of the Potions classroom, very confused. He knew something was up, he just didn't know what. He decided that he would find out eventually and pushed the thoughts to the back of his head. It didn't quite work, and a questioning air hung around his mind for the rest of the evening.

A/N: Don't forget to review! Next chapter will be up soon.

-->

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR so therefore I don't own any of this!

A/N: Thank you to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 2

The next day was the last day to do last minute Christmas shopping in Hogsmeade. Ginny was up at eight o'clock, much earlier than usual, but she hadn't slept very well the night before. Besides, she still had to get presents for a few people.
Dragging herself out of bed, Ginny stretched and rubbed her eyes. She began getting ready. She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and brushed her hair. She put a little make-up on, and she was ready to go. She grabbed her purse and made her way down to the Common Room. Colin was already down there and looked surprised to see her.
"What are you doing up so early?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I didn't sleep very well last night," she answered.
"Why not?" Colin inquired further.
"I guess the whole situation in Potions bothered me more than I originally thought," Ginny replied nonchalantly.
"I'm sure it was nothing," Colin tried to reassure.
"Yeah," Ginny said unconvincingly, even to her own ears.
Colin, sensing that she didn't really want to talk about it, changed the subject. "So, are you ready to go to Hogsmeade?" he asked.
"Let me stop in the Great Hall first. Then we can go," Ginny suggested.
"Alright," Colin agreed.
They soon arrived in the Great Hall, and Ginny ate breakfast. Colin had already eaten, as he was an early riser. When she had finished, they both stood up, and exited the Great Hall. They went outside to where the carriages were waiting to take them to Hogsmeade.

*~*~*~*

When their carriage arrived in Hogsmeade, Colin and Ginny disembarked. "Where do you want to go first?" Colin asked.
"Quality Quidditch Supplies. I need to get Ron a Christmas present still," Ginny answered.
Colin nodded. "That works for me," he said agreeably. Then they made their way toward the store.

*~*~*~*

Back at Hogwarts, Draco was just waking up after about three hours of sleep. He hadn't fallen asleep until three, and then he'd woken up about every fifteen or twenty minutes after that. It didn't make for the best mood when waking up. He lay awake in bed a few minutes before determining that he would never fall asleep again anytime soon. So he sat up and dragged himself out of bed.
Draco looked in the mirror and groaned. He had huge, purple bags under his eyes. He had pretty much known they would be there, but seeing them made them real. His day only got worse from there.
As Draco was walking downstairs to the Common Room, he stubbed his toe, twice, and he almost tripped down them. When he made it into the Common Room, he was met with a shrill good morning from Pansy. That was enough to wake him up pretty thoroughly.
After he had declined Pansy's millions of invitations to go to Hogsmeade, Draco went back up to his dormitory. He slowly got ready, and, a little after eleven, he re-emerged. He walked silently through the Common Room, ignoring anyone who called to him. He then exited the castle and boarded one of the carriages to take him to Hogsmeade.

*~*~*~*

The day passed quickly for Ginny and Colin. Around noon they had stopped at The Three Broomsticks for lunch and some butterbeer, and then they'd continued shopping. They soon had finished their shopping and decided to catch a carriage back to Hogwarts. When they arrived at the place where the carriages would pick them up, they were none waiting.
After they had waited a few minutes, Ginny and Colin were dismayed to see Draco Malfoy sauntering up to them. He kept this distance as he found a place to wait for a carriage. Ginny braced herself for a nasty comment about her family, but one never came. Draco merely stared at the ground or shot her furtive, inquisitive glances.
After this had been going on for a few minutes, Ginny's patience snapped. "Is there something you wanted to say?" she snapped.
"No," Draco answered simply.
"Then quit looking at me," she commanded. To her absolute surprise, Draco didn't reply. He merely turned away looking thoughtful. He must be tired, she thought. Now that she'd thought it, he did look tired.
They waited about ten more minutes in silence when a carriage to Hogwarts pulled up. Then three students boarded it, the two Gryffindors on one side and the Slytherin on the other, and rode back to the school without uttering a sound. As soon as they came to a stop in front of the castle, Draco jumped out and sauntered inside.
"Well," Ginny began, bemused. "That was a bit odd."
"You could say that again," Colin agreed readily. "What do you think was wrong with him?"
She shrugged. "I have no idea," she said, shaking her head in confusion.

*~*~*~*

Draco headed straight for the dungeons after arriving back at Hogwarts. He knew that Weasley and Creevey must think he was a little odd, but quite frankly, he was too tired to care. Once he had made it safely to his dormitory, he flopped back on his bed to think.
Why hadn't Snape seemed surprised when he'd said Ginny Weasley last night? Why had it even come out of his mouth in the first place? Why had Snape chosen that particular question, and only that one? There was one way to find out. That was to ask Snape.
Standing up, Draco made his way determinedly to Snape's office. When he arrived, he knocked on the door. "Come in," Snape beckoned from inside.
"Hello, professor," Draco greeted.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, what a nice surprise. What can I help you with?" Snape asked.
"I wanted to know why you asked me what you did last night," Draco replied calmly.
"Whatever do you mean? I was merely testing a theory," Snape informed his star student behind Granger.
"And if you don't mind my asking, what exactly was your theory?" Draco inquired.
"I don't think that's any business of yours," the professor answered sternly. "Is there anything else you needed because if not, I believe it's time for dinner."
"That's all," Draco confirmed dejectedly and followed his Head of House out of the room towards the Great Hall.

*~*~*~*

The next week passed without incident. Ginny started to do some research for her History of Magic project, but didn't get very much accomplished. She needed to go home. Her mother would be able to help her. She also couldn't wait until she could go home. She would be able to see all of her brothers, which was a rare occurrence. She and her brother would be leaving the day after tomorrow to go home. Usually, her brother would stay at school or Harry would come home with them, but this year, he was going to Hermione's house. Ron had been a little put out when he'd first heard, but he'd gotten over it pretty quickly. Ginny had a feeling that he had a little bit of a crush on Hermione, but he'd never admit it. Besides, she knew that Ron was happy for his friends.
Currently, Ginny was working on packing her trunk. She was packing everything that she wouldn't need. She also packed all of her presents she'd bought for her family. Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," she called.
Hermione entered the room. "Hi, Ginny," she greeted.
"Hey, Hermione. What's up?" Ginny said cheerfully.
"Colin wants to talk to you," Hermione relayed.
"Oh, thanks," Ginny replied. "Do you know what about?"
Hermione shook her head. "He didn't say," she informed Ginny.
"Alright, thanks," Ginny repeated, and then went down to the Common Room to find Colin.
"Hi, Ginny," Colin yelled once spotted her. He was sitting in one of the many arm chairs scattered around the room.
"Hey, Colin," Ginny greeted, sitting in the chair opposite him "Hermione said you wanted to talk to me."
Colin nodded in affirmation. "Yeah," he began nervously. "Ginny, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."
"What is it?" Ginny prompted.
"I like you," Colin blurted out.
Ginny had a feeling what he meant, but decided to play dumb just in case. "I like you too," Ginny answered. "You're my best friend."
"No, I mean I like you as more than a friend," Colin explained.
"Oh, Colin, I'm flattered, but I'm afraid you're just a friend to me. Nothing more," Ginny said apologetically. "And what about Mary Anne?"
"I found out she was cheating on me with a Slytherin seventh year," Colin told her mournfully.
"Oh, Colin, that's awful! I'm so sorry to hear that," Ginny exclaimed. She never would have pegged Mary Anne as a cheater.
"I'll be all right. Anyway, it's all right that you don't like me. I kind of figured that you didn't. I just wanted to tell you, you know, just to get it off my chest. I'll just go now. See you, Gin," Colin said before striding out of the Common Room.
"See you," Ginny whispered as Colin walked away. She stood up and walked slowly back to her dormitory.
As she was walking, Hermione cornered her on the stairs. "Is everything alright, Gin? You seem a little... off," she said.
"It's nothing really, but Colin just told me that he likes me as more than a friend," Ginny replied sadly.
"What did you tell him?" Hermione asked.
"That I don't like him in that way," Ginny answered miserably. "I hope I didn't hurt his feelings too much."
"I'm sure he's fine with it. He would have told you otherwise," Hermione consoled.
"I guess," Ginny said, clearly not convinced. She then brushed past Hermione, and into her dormitory to finish packing.

*~*~*~*

Draco lay on his bed, exhausted from a rigorous Quidditch practice. He'd been made captain that year, and knew that he had his work cut out for him. Almost all of his players were either young, inexperienced, or both. The only two that had played on the house team before were Crabbe and Goyle, and they didn't particularly like Quidditch, they just like sending Bludgers into unsuspecting Gryffindors.
Rolling his eyes, Draco dragged himself into a sitting position and scanned the room for his suitcase. He picked it up and put it on his bed. He began throwing random articles of clothes into it. Ordinarily, he stayed at school during Christmas holidays, but his mother wanted him home this year. They were going to visit his father and his Aunt Bellatrix in Azkaban. Quite frankly, Draco would rather screw Harry Potter than visit his father. He didn't want to see what he'd become in Azkaban.
Sighing, Draco pushed the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about it. He finished packing his trunk, and glanced at the clock. It was time for dinner. He quickly changed out of his Quidditch practice clothes, cast a cleaning spell on himself, and then headed out of his room. As he was walking through the hallways, he heard someone saunter up next to him. Then he felt an arm slide around his waist. "Hey, Draco," a husky voice whispered in his ear. He stiffened at their touch, and turned his head to look who it was he came face to face with Pansy Parkinson. He should have known.
"What do you want, Pansy?" Draco snapped irritably.
"Don't you like me anymore?" she whined.
"No, I never liked you," he informed her in a clipped tone.
"Like I would believe that. Come ON, Draco. Get real," Pansy said with a very unappealing snort.
Draco raised his eyebrows in protest, but didn't say anything. He knew it was a losing battle. He had once seen a shirt in a Muggle store that said, "Don't start with me, you won't win." He'd thought it was the perfect shirt for Pansy. "I don't feel like talking right now," Draco told her.
"Who said anything about talking?" Pansy purred in, what Draco assumed, was a seductive voice.
"I don't feel like doing anything except stuffing my face, and you are going to make me miss dinner," Draco said, beginning to get annoyed.
"Fine then. I'll leave you alone," Pansy sniffed and walked away.
Sighing in relief, Draco continued in the direction of the Great Hall, and enjoyed his dinner in peace.

*~*~*~*

Saying that dinner passed awkwardly for Ginny was an understatement. It had been a complete disaster. She had been so nervous of doing or saying something that would upset Colin that she hadn't gotten much eating or talking done. She had then gotten grilled at her lack of activity. She'd gotten out of that one by saying that she was merely tired. Colin hadn't seemed very convinced. Overall, Ginny had been rather uncomfortable, and she couldn't imagine that Colin had felt anymore at ease than her, probably less so.
Currently, Ginny lay on her bed thinking about her upcoming trip home. Again. She was just so excited about it. She stood up and packed a few more things before curling up in her bed with a book before she went to bed shortly after.

*~*~*~*

The time soon came for Hogwarts' students to return home for the Christmas holidays. The last two Weasleys who remained at Hogwarts rose early so they could be sure to make the train. Christmas was considered one of the most important holidays in the Weasley household. It was the time that all of the many offspring could reunite for a few days. Molly loved pampering all of her children when they came home, and Arthur enjoyed catching up with them all and telling them all about the new Muggle objects he'd encountered.
When the time came, Ron and Ginny departed from Hogwarts and boarded the Hogwarts Express. Ron, of course, immersed himself in a secret conversation with Harry and Hermione, leaving Ginny to fend for herself. She went through the many compartments looking for someone to talk to or an empty one. She soon came to the last compartment and crossed her fingers. When she opened the door, her hope diminished. There was only one person in the compartment, Draco Malfoy. He had his eyes closed, and he was leaning back against the seat. He didn't look up when she opened the door so she turned to leave.
"What do you want, Weasley?" Draco drawled, scaring Ginny half to death.
"I was looking for an empty compartment," she replied off-handedly.
"There are none," Draco informed her.
"I know that," Ginny snapped. "I've already looked in all of them."
"Why aren't you hanging out with the Golden Trio?" Draco sneered.
"Why is it any of your business?" Ginny shot back.
"I'll take that as a they don't include me,'" he smirked.
Ginny glared at him. Then she turned on her heel and exited the compartment.

*~*~*~*

After wandering aimlessly through the train, Ginny went back to her brother's compartment. They had broken up their secretive conversation. Harry and Ron were discussing Quidditch, and Hermione was reading a book. "Oh, hey, Gin," Ron greeted when he saw her. "Where have you been?"
Ginny shrugged. "Around," she answered vaguely.
Ron didn't pressure the subject any further. Instead, he turned and resumed his conversation with Harry. Ginny sat at the other end of the compartment and opened a book. She began reading, and that's what she did for the remainder of the trip.

*~*~*~*

The train soon pulled into King's Cross Station, and the students exited it. Ron said good-bye to his two best friends before joining his sister on her search for their parents. They didn't have to look very far. Their mother made sure that they saw her. "Ginny, Ron! Over here!" she yelled from across the station.
The two children made their way over to their parents. They were pleasantly surprised to see that their twin brothers, Fred and George, were with also. "Hi, Mum," Ginny greeted her mother, giving her a hug. She then continued to give hugs to the rest of her family.
"How are you two?" Molly asked.
"Great," Ron and Ginny replied in content unison. There was nothing better than being home for Christmas.
"That's good," Arthur said. "What do you say we go into Diagon Alley for some lunch before heading home."
The rest of the family nodded in agreement. Then they went on their way to Diagon Alley.

*~*~*~*

Draco exited the train and looked around the train station. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for. It wasn't as if he expected to see his mother there waiting for him. She didn't have time to come pick up her SON. No, she had too much more to do now that Lucius was in Azkaban, or, at least, that's what she would say. Draco knew it wasn't true though. She just didn't like going out in public anymore because she always felt as if people were mocking her.
After taking one last scan, Draco turned to find the secret fireplace used by wizards to Floo places. He took a handful of Floo powder, dropped it into the fire, stepped in, and yelled clearly, "Malfoy Manor." Then the familiar dizzy feeling enveloped him, and he was soon inside the foyer of his home. "Mother! I'm home," he called, looking around the room. It was the same as it always was, dark and unwelcoming. Putting down his luggage for a house elf to take up to his room, he wandered around looking for Narcissa. Most likely she would either be in the Library or Lucius's old study. He checked the Library first, she wasn't there. He checked Lucius's study next and found that she wasn't there either. Confused, Draco decided to check her bedroom. As he approached the door, he didn't hear anything, but opened the door anyway, and instantly regretted it. His mother was lying on her bed, and she wasn't alone. Lying next to her was Zachariah Nott, Theodore Nott's father.
Narcissa looked up when her son entered and glared at him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" she snapped.
"You told me I had to come home for Christmas holidays. So, here I am," Draco said bitterly.
"Well, what are you doing barging into my bedroom without knocking?" Narcissa demanded.
"Looking for you," Draco shot back. "You didn't answer when I called for you."
"Go to your room and don't come out until I say," Narcissa commanded before pushing him out of the room and locking the door with a simple flick of the wrist.
Draco stomped to his room, fuming. He wasn't that mad about the fact that his mother was cheating on his imprisoned father, he didn't really blame her, or that she'd forgotten that he was coming home, his parents didn't care about him and were always forgetting about him. The thing that had gotten him so mad was the fact that his mother was such a hypocrite. She'd given him the command to come home for Christmas so they could visit Lucius in Azkaban. It was so they could "keep the family together." Yeah right. She'd done the exact opposite by cheating; she was just tearing the family apart. Not that they were much of a family, but it was the closest thing they had.
Flopping back on his bed, Draco sighed. He couldn't help it. On the bright side, he and his mother might still be fighting on Christmas so then he wouldn't have to go visit Lucius there really wasn't any point anyway. What would they say? The only thing Lucius would care about was if Draco had beaten Harry in Quidditch, no, and if Hermione was still top in all of their classes, yes. He wouldn't like the answers so there was really no point in going. He'd have to tell his mother that. Maybe she'd let him stay home. Sighing again, he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes.

*~*~*~*

The Weasleys arrived home to their bright, welcoming house, the Burrow. It may have been falling apart and only held together by magic, but it was still home to them. Ginny and Ron took their trunks up to their rooms and unpacked most of their clothes. They then went back downstairs to catch up with their brothers and parents.
"So, Ginny, you said that you had a project that you had to do over the holidays. What was that again?" Molly asked.
"We have to research the history of our families for History of Magic," Ginny answered. "I know that there's a lot of stuff about both sides of the family up in the attic. I was hoping that I could look up there for information.
"Of course you can, dear," Molly responded affectionately. She was always happy to help the children when she could.
"So, Fred, George, how's the joke shop going?" Ginny asked conversationally.
"Great. We're thinking of hiring a few new employees so that we can expand our company," George started.
"We're hoping to be able to open a new shop sometime soon," Fred added. The twins were always doing that, finishing each other's thoughts. Ginny found it a little creepy sometimes, but she'd never been a twin so she didn't know exactly how they did it. She wasn't exactly one to judge.
"That would be bloody brilliant," Ron piped in. He'd always been a little envious of his brothers when they were growing up, but now he was proud of them. They'd fulfilled their lifelong dream, and he was happy for them.
"We also wanted to know if you would work for us during the summer until you get a job, Ron, Gin," Fred said.
"Really?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Really," George confirmed. "So, what do you two say?"
"I'd love to," Ginny said happily. She couldn't think of a better job than working at a joke shop owned by her older brothers.
"Me too," Ron agreed eagerly.
The twins smiled happily. They were already on their way to their new shop. "I have to say I apologize," Molly began.
"For what, Mum?" Fred asked bemusedly.
"For being so negative about the joke shop idea in the past. You've definitely proved that it was a better idea than I'd originally thought," Molly apologized. "I'm proud of you two."
"Thanks, Mum," George replied with a smile.
Just then there was a ding from the kitchen. Molly jumped up. Obviously something she had been cooking was ready. Ginny took that as her opportunity to go up to her room to finished unpacking.

A/N: Don't forget to review! I want to know what you all think about this story! The next chapter is almost ready to be uploaded and will be longer.

-->

Chapter 3

The Christmas holidays passed rather slowly for Draco. He and his mother were still not speaking except for when she had tersely informed him that they were still visiting his father and aunt and that he was not to mention the incident. Draco had stayed in his room the whole time, having the house elves bring him all of his meals. It was a little dull, but it was better than interacting with his mother. She had been in a nasty mood ever since he'd gotten back from Hogwarts, and he was beginning to wish he'd never come home.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Draco commanded, figuring it was a house elf.
It wasn't, it was his mother. "There are people coming over tonight for dinner. You will be at the dinner, and you will socialize. Do you understand me?" Narcissa barked. She could resemble Lucius when she wanted to in the intimidating department.
Draco nodded. Then Narcissa left, and he sighed heavily. He was in for a night of people telling him how much he'd grown and what a wonderful Death Eater he would make. Not only would it be irritating, it would be long and boring. He'd learned from years past that it was best to try and avoid these kinds of things, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get out of this particular one. At least he would be able to get out of his room without having to worry about his mother yelling at him. She'd never do that in front of all of her friends.
Draco walked over to his closet and took out one of his best dress robes. He set them on his bed for that night. Then he laid down on his bed to take a short nap.

*~*~*~*

Ginny was trudging up the stairs to the attic for the third day in a row to do research for her History of Magic project. She had found plenty of interesting things about her family, but not much that she could use for her project. Plus, there were still tons of boxes left for her to look in.
Ginny walked over to a stack of boxes she hadn't looked in yet and read their labels. One said Christmas decorations and another was labeled baby clothes. She looked at the next one and had to do a double take. She looked closer, but it said what she'd thought it had said. It was labeled Malfoys. Why the Weasleys would have a box with the Malfoys' name on it was beyond Ginny. She knew she shouldn't but her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box. Inside there were three thick, leather bound photo albums.
Ginny picked one of them up and started flipping through it. In the first half there were pictures from her mum and dad's wedding. There were some of just the two of them, those she'd seen before, but the ones of the whole wedding party she'd never seen. She looked closely at the man who appeared to be the Best Man. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him.
The rest of the album was filled with pictures of a man in a tux and a woman in a wedding dress that she didn't recognize. They appeared to be the Best Man and Maid of Honor from her parents' wedding. They both had white-blonde hair and a superior look. She turned the page and gasped. In the next picture, the man was smirking. She would know that look anywhere. It was a younger version of Lucius Malfoy, and the woman with him must be Narcissa Malfoy.
Why do we have pictures from the Malfoys' wedding? Ginny asked herself. Her question was soon answered when she saw a picture of the wedding party. Her mother and father were the Best Man and Maid of Honor respectively. She was shocked. Since when had her parents and the Malfoys been friends? All she'd ever heard was bad things about them. She just didn't get it.
Ginny soon finished the first album and picked up the second. She opened it and stared, gobsmacked at the first picture it was her when she was younger, but she wasn't alone. A mini Draco Malfoy was standing next to her, smiling and waving at the camera.
As she flipped through the rest of the album, she was surprised to find they were all of her and Draco. Either they were waving at the camera or playing, or in some, even holding hands. That's when the dam broke in her head and millions of memories spilled into her brain. She could remember tons of times when the Malfoys had come over. She was always happy as long as Draco came. He was her best friend. Then she remembered one day when their parents were yelling at each other. Draco never came back after that. Why didn't she remember that before? Why all of the sudden, did she have these memories? It didn't make sense.
Ginny closed the album and ran downstairs. "Mum! Dad!" she yelled. There was no answer. "Mum! Dad!" Still no answer. "MUM! DAD!"
"What is it dear?" her mother called from outside.
Ginny rushed outside to where her mother was tending the garden. "What is it, Ginbug?" she asked, using Ginny's childhood nickname.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded, close to tears, she couldn't believe that her parents had lied to her for all those years.
"Tell you what, Ginny?" her mother inquired, clearly confused.
"Why didn't you tell me you were friends with the Malfoys? Why didn't you tell me they were at your wedding, in your wedding party eve? Why didn't you tell me I used to be best friends with Draco Malfoy?" Ginny yelled, getting more shrill and closer to hysteria with each question.
"Now, Ginny dear, calm down. Come inside for a little tea, and I'll explain everything," Molly soothed, trying to avoid a major scene.
Ginny followed her mother inside, silently fuming still. As soon as they were sitting at the table, Ginny whispered, dangerously calm, "Explain."
"Now, Ginny, it's really not that big of a deal," Molly began.
"Yes it is," Ginny protested. "It's a huge deal. You've been lying to me my whole life."
"Maybe your father should be here for this," Molly suggested slowly, not wanting Ginny to blow up at her. She'd dreaded this moment ever since the fight with the Malfoys. She had hoped it would never come. That's why she'd been against the memory charm business in the first place.
"Fine," Ginny said, resigned, and Molly sighed in relief.
"I'll be back soon" her mother called before stepping into the fireplace. Then she was gone.

*~*~*~*

Ten minutes later, Molly, Arthur, Ginny, and Ron were all sitting at the kitchen table. Fred and George were at their shop in Diagon Alley dealing with last minutes Christmas shoppers.
"What did you want to tell us?" Ron asked curiously. He hadn't been informed why his parents wanted to talk to him.
"Well, do you remember all of the time when you were little when you two were always playing together?" Molly started tentatively.
"Yeah," Ron replied slowly, wondering what was going on.
"Well, you weren't really playing with each other," Arthur cut in bluntly. "You two almost never played together. Ron was always playing with the twins," Molly told them. "Ginny had a friend that came over frequently. That person was really who you remember being Ron." he was avoiding the point.
"Who was it?" Ron inquired. He wondered what his parents were so nervous about.
"Draco Malfoy," Molly answered.
"WHAT?!?!" Ron roared. Then quieter he said, "Why aren't you surprised by this, Gin?"
"I already knew. I found pictures of him and me together. That's why they're telling us," Ginny answered emotionlessly.
"How come I don't remember this?" Ron demanded.
"Because we had a falling out with the Malfoys, and we put a memory obscuring charm on you," his father replied.
"You were friends with the MALFOYS?" Ron asked incredulously.
Yes we were best friends ever since we went to Hogwarts," Molly answered.
"What did you fight about?" Ginny asked, re-entering the conversation.
"It was silly really, but Fred and George played on too many tricks on them. They got mad, and Lucius started threatening them. That made us angry so we just decided to not be friends any longer," Molly informed us.
"That's kind of dumb," Ginny pointed out.
"Yes it was," Molly agreed. "But since then we've found that we're just too different. Lucius was never a Death Eater when we were friends."
"Really?" Ron asked, surprised. He'd always thought that Lucius had always been a Death Eater.
"Well, now that you know the truth, we might as well take off the memory charm," Arthur told them.
"Mine's already gone. I can remember everything. It happened when I saw the first picture of Draco and I," Ginny said.
Arthur nodded as if he had guessed that. Then he cast a reversal spell on Ron. As Ron's spell was being taken off, Ginny snuck up the stairs to her room to think.

*~*~*~*

Draco trudged down the stairs to the dining room at six o'clock that night. It was time for the party to begin, and many of the guests would be arriving soon. When he reached the spacious dining room, with its crystal chandeliers and its long, wood table, he was relieved that his mother wasn't down there. Most likely she was waiting in the foyer for guests to arrive by Floo.
Just as Draco was thinking this, the doorbell rang. This was an odd occurrence in their house. "Draco, could you be a dear and get that for me?" his mother's melodic voice rang from the foyer.
"Yes, mother," Draco called back before sauntering over to the door.
Upon opening it, he wished he hadn't. Standing on the other side were Thomas, Violet, and Pansy Parkinson. That was one thing that his mother hadn't mentioned was that Pansy would be there, but he assured his mother thought it didn't need to be said. Pansy and her family had come to every party the Malfoys had hosted for as long as he could remember, and every time, he and Pansy were pushed together. He had a suspicion that their parents were hoping they'd get married. If that's what they were waiting for, then they had a bloody long time to wait because there was not a snowball's chance in Hell that he was marrying Pansy. The only reason he tolerated her was because he felt he had to.
"Draco, who is at the door?" his mother asked, entering the room. "Oh, hello Thomas, Violet, and Pansy dear, how are you?"
"Wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy," Pansy replied politely.
"Why don't you and Draco head into the dining room. I'm sure the food will be served shortly, and then we'll head into the ballroom for some dancing," Narcissa suggested.
"That would be lovely," Pansy said before pulling Draco into he dinning room.
"You know what's coming up next year, don't you, Draco?" Pansy purred.
"Not really, no. I mean I'm sure many things are coming up but-" Draco began.
"Don't get smart with me," Pansy snapped, cutting him off. "It's our graduation from Hogwarts, and you know what that means, don't you?"
"No more school?" Draco suggested weakly, avoiding the real answer.
"You know what I'm talking about. Graduation from wizarding school is traditionally when purebloods propose to their girlfriends," Pansy reminded him.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Draco lied, not so smoothly. He knew what Pansy was hinting at, and he didn't like it. Pretty soon he'd have his mother badgering him about it too. That was all he needed right now, for people to pressure him into an engagement.
Just then he heard someone call his name from across the room. He was relieved to see that it was Blaise Zabini, one of his roommates. Draco took this as a chance to escape from Pansy, and rushed towards Blaise. "What's up, Blaise?" Draco asked cheerfully.
"It looked like you needed a break from Pansy," Blaise commented. "I thought I'd help you out."
"Thanks, Blaise," he said gratefully. "I owe you one."
"Yes you do," Blaise agreed. "What was she talking to you about, anyway? You looked pretty horrified."
"She was talking about the pureblood tradition that takes place on graduation," Draco answered.
"She's hinting at marriage already?" Blaise exclaimed in surprise.
Draco nodded grimly. "You don't really like her, do you?"
"No. She's annoyed me nearly my entire life. When we were really little we got along, but when I was around six she began to annoy me," Draco replied.
"You didn't play with her very often when you were younger, did you?" Blaise inquired.
"I played with her all the time. We were pretty much inseparable," Draco told his housemate.
"Were all three of you friends then?" Blaise asked, trying to figure out the situation.
"All three of who?" Draco asked, confused.
"You, Pansy, and Ginny," Blaise clarified. "You were always talking about Ginny when we were little, and then one day you just stopped."
"What are you talking about? Ginny who?" Draco demanded.
"Ginny Weasley," Blaise replied slowly, his words thick with confusion.
"I've never played with Ginny Weasley!" Draco exclaimed indignantly despite the slight nagging from his brain that he was wrong. "Why would I play with trash like her? My family hates the Weasleys."
"You're right," Blaise said quickly, ending Draco's rant. "I don't know what I was thinking."
Draco wanted to agree with Blaise, but there was a voice in the back of his head that told him that Blaise had been telling the truth. It was almost like recalling some part of his memory that was behind a brick wall or something. It was there, but it couldn't be accessed, and that scared Draco. He resolved to research any spells that could block parts of your memory. He would get down to the bottom of this no matter what it took.

*~*~*~*

Later that night, after he was sure that everyone had gone home and there was no men waiting for his mother, Draco decided that it was time to start his spell research. He snuck into his father's library as quietly as he could. There were other libraries in the house, but his father's was the most extensive and the best for doing research. He wasn't quite sure where to start, but after thinking about it, decided to look in the charms section. There were all kinds of books containing various charms and hexes, such as Charms For All Situations, Volumes I, II, and III, Simple Spells For the Young Wizard, and Helpful Hexes: A Guide For Death Eaters.
Draco snorted at the last title. They sure were secretive, those Death Eaters. He was about to keep looking for a book when he picked up the Helpful Hexes book. It might be useful. Once he had finished looking through the charms section, he had ten books to take back up to his room. He was hoping he would find something useful in at least one of them, but if worst came to worst he could always ask his mother. There was no way to tell if she would answer him truthfully, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
At the moment, however, Draco was too tired to look through the books. He quickly stripped off his robes and got ready for bed. Then he climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ginny woke up with puffy, red eyes and tear stains on her face. The memories from the night before came back to her. After she'd gone up to her room she had turned on some music and laid down on her bed. After simply staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, her mind had drifted to the new information she'd acquired. Tears had sprung to her eyes as she thought of her parents lying to her all those years. The tears had soon leaked out of her eyes, and before she could stop it, she had cried herself to sleep.
Ginny had hoped she would feel better about it in the morning, but it seemed that it wasn't that way. She still was mad at her parents. She also wasn't sure what she should do with her new-found knowledge. Should she tell Malfoy? Would he even believe her? Did he already know? The answer to that one she was almost sure of. If he knew, he would have used to for teasing her or blackmail, wouldn't he? Maybe not. She didn't know, her mind was a jumbled mess, fiction and reality mixing and overlapping in her head. She almost couldn't tell the difference between the memories the spell had given her, and the real ones. It was all so confusing.
Sighing, Ginny decided she ought to go downstairs for breakfast. If she didn't go down soon, her parents would come looking for her. If she wasn't ready for them, they might think there was something wrong with her. Then they would pester her all day about it.
She went into the upstairs bathroom and washed her face. Once the tear stains were gone, she didn't look as if she had been crying. Her eyes were still puffy, however, so it made her look more tired than usual.
Shrugging, Ginny stepped out of the bathroom. She flattened her hair quickly and than made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. Her mother, father, and Ron were already there. Her father and Ron were eating, and her mother was using her magic to make more food. "Good morning, Ginny," Molly greeted cheerfully.
"Morning," Ron said through a mouthful of food.
"Morning, Ginbug," her father added.
"Good morning," she replied.
"You look tired, Ginny. Are you alright?" Molly asked in concern.
"I'm fine, Mum," she answered, inwardly rolling her eyes at the predictability o f it all. Her parents were acting as if last night hadn't happened, as if they hadn't revealed that their worst enemies hadn't always been their worst enemies. "So, what is there for breakfast?"
"Waffles and scrambled eggs," Molly announced.
"Yum, my favorite," Ginny commented, slightly suspicious. She had a feeling it was to try to make up for the lies she'd lived with for more than half of her life. When she thought about it like that, it wasn't much compensation, but it was enough for the moment. It was because at that moment, she realized that her parents had only done what they thought had been right. They were only trying to protect her. She couldn't imagine trying to tell a five year old that she couldn't play with her best friend anymore.
"How many waffles do you want, Ginny?" Ron practically yelled, snapping Ginny out of her thoughts. Her mother had evidently asked her more than once before Ron had taken it into his own hands.
"Sorry. I'll have two to start with," she answered with a sheepish smile. Her mother smiled back and set a plate in front of Ginny.

*~*~*~*~*

The same morning, in another part of Britain, Draco woke up also. He knew that his mother wouldn't be up yet, she always slept late after partying into the early morning. He called a house elf to bring him breakfast in his room, and decided to get started on his research.
Draco sat on his bed and opened the first book. It was about one thousand pages long and had rather tiny print. This might take awhile he thought with a sigh before immersing himself in the research.

*~*~*~*

After all the Weasleys had finished their breakfast, Fred and George had come downstairs while Ginny was finishing hers, they made the decision to stay in for the day. They made it an unofficial game-playing-by-the-fire day while they waited for the other members of the family to arrive. Bill was arriving with his wife, Marina, sometime that afternoon and Charlie would be arriving later that evening. Percy wasn't coming home for Christmas this year. As much as it pained her whole family to admit, Percy had joined the Death Eaters. After the former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge died and was replaced by Nehemiah Schoepson; Percy had gone to the Dark Side.
Ginny had always been afraid something similar to this would happen. The new Minister of Magic had kept her brother for his personal assistant, and Percy worshiped the ground his boss walked on. This in itself wasn't a bad thing. It was a pretty good thing, actually, considering how well off Percy was money-wise, but there was one slight flaw in the situation. Nehemiah Schoepson was a known supporter of Voldemort, but none of the Aurors could ever prove it. He wasn't into Dark Arts at all, and he didn't have the Dark Mark. What could they do? Nothing, and that's why her brother was currently a Death Eater.
When the Weasleys found out about it, Ginny had been afraid that her mother might have died of shock, but her parents had handled it better than she'd thought. They had simply gone on with their lives as normally as they could. Ginny had a feeling that her family was merely in denial, but if that's what kept the rest of the Weasleys together, so be it. Coming to terms with the situation would only cause hurt, and that's what they were trying to avoid.

*~*~*~*

A few hours later, Draco was still searching through his books when he came across what he thought was what he was looking for, the Mind-Altering Spell. It was a spell used to change or erase parts of a person's memory. That had to be what his parents had used if they had used anything, which he wasn't entirely sure about. What did Zabini know anyway? Well, this would have been the spell, and it said there were only two ways to reverse it. One, the original caster of the spell could remove it or two, if something visual, like a picture, triggered the lost memories and allowed them to surface.
I wonder if we have any pictures anywhere, Draco thought. If he could just prove Blaise's theory wrong or right, he would be happy.
Draco called in a house elf and commanded it to bring him some of the old photo albums from when he was little. The scared little creature ran off as quickly as possible to get the albums. Draco found an inexplicable joy at intimidating the house elves. It gave him a feeling of deep satisfaction that he couldn't explain, but he supposed that that was why his father was a Death Eater. He got the same joy, but from his fellow humans rather than house elves.
The little house elf returned soon with three thick albums hovering in front of it. "Here are your albums," the house elf squeaked before disappearing from the room.
Draco walked over to where the house elf had set the books and began to look through them. The first one just had pictures of him as a baby. Nothing all that exciting besides the act that he was a very cute baby. The next album contained pictures of him when he was a toddler. He had had no idea that his parents had taken that many pictures of him. There were thousands of them.
Draco picked up the last and largest album. The first few pages were merely pictures of him playing around the Manor. The next page, however, showed him playing somewhere that he didn't recognize. He couldn't recall ever seeing the place before. Then, when he turned the page, all of the memories flooded back. There, on the page, was a picture of him and a young, red-headed girl, Ginny Weasley. In fact, unbeknownst of him, it was one of the same pictures that Ginny found.
Draco was too shocked to move as he examined his new memories. “The Weasleys weren't always our enemies?” he asked himself in surprise. He couldn't believe that his parents had lied to him his whole life. Actually, he could. His parents and he weren't that close, but he couldn't' believe that the Weasleys would lie to their daughter. Then again, his father had probably blackmailed them into it or something.
Draco shook his head to clear it. What did it matter if his parents had lied to him or the Weasleys had lied to Ginny? He lied to his parents all the time, he had to know that they'd return the favor once in awhile. I wonder if Ginny knew. What? No I don't, he berated himself. I don't care about that chit. Wait, had he just called her by her first name? He had. He couldn't believe it. I find out that we used to be friends and then all of the sudden, I start using her first name. Disgusting, he thought self-loathing. I must be going soft.

*~*~*~*

Later that day, the Weasleys sat by the fire, drinking hot chocolate, when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," offered Ginny cheerfully. She was always her happiest when she was surrounded by people that she loved.
When Ginny opened the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see her brother Bill standing there with his wife, Kiara Bell Weasley. "Hi, Ginny," Bill greeted her, giving her a big hug. "We didn't want to surprise you by merely Apparating into the living room.
"I'm so glad you're here, Bill. You too, Kiara," Ginny said welcomingly. The last time Ginny had seen Kiara was at their wedding, and they had hit it off pretty well. She was looking forward to getting to know her better.
"Ginny, who's at the door?" her mother called from the other room.
"It's Bill and Kiara," Ginny called back then she led her brother and his wife into the living room where the rest of the family enveloped them with hugs and greetings.
"How have you two been?" Molly asked.
"Great. Actually, I think Kiara has an announcement to make," Bill said with an encouraging smile directed at his wife. Kiara, as Ginny had gathered, was a little shy around people she didn't know very well.
"I'm pregnant," Kiara announced shyly, waiting for a reaction.
"That's great! Congratulations!" Ginny exclaimed. She was going to be an aunt.
"You mean I'm going to be a grandmother?" Molly asked slowly.
"That's right, Mum," Bill answered apprehensively. He wasn't sure it that was a good thing or not.
"I'm going to be a grandmother," she repeated. "I've always wanted to be a grandmother! Congratulations!"
Kiara smiled as the rest of the family gave their congratulations. Ginny could tell that she was relieved that the Weasleys were happy. She could also tell that Kiara herself was ecstatic about it.
"Is Charlie coming?" Bill asked curiously.
"Yes, he'll be here later," Arthur answered.
"We were just having some hot chocolate, would either of you like anything?" Molly inquired.
"Some hot chocolate would be great," Bill replied. "What about you, Kiara?"
"I'll have some hot chocolate too, please," Kiara said shyly. Molly gave her a warm smile before going to get their drinks from the kitchen.

*~*~*~*

Draco still sat in his bed, shocked by his new memories. He wasn't sure if he should confront his mother about it or not. If he did, she would probably just get mad and deny it no matter what he said. He didn't want to make her any angrier than she already was.
Speaking of Narcissa, at that moment, there was a knock at Draco's bedroom door. "Come in," he called.
"His mother appeared in the doorway. It looked as if she had finally gotten out of bed. "Can I help you?" Draco asked indifferently.
His mother didn't reply. She was frozen, staring at something to his right. Draco looked around for what she was staring at, but all he saw were the photo album. "Where did you get those?" Narcissa demanded.
"A house elf," Draco replied with a shrug.
"Have you looked at them?" she asked, trying not to give away her panic.
"Yes, and I know I used to be best friends with Ginny Weasley. I remember everything," Draco informed her, deathly calm.
Narcissa swore under her breath. "Lucius is not going to be very happy," she said solemnly.
"He doesn't have to know" Draco offered. As much as he didn't like his mother, he didn't want her to get hurt, and that would be what happened if his father found out.
"I guess you want to know about why we did this," Narcissa began. Draco nodded in agreement. "Well, we used to be friends with the Weasleys, but then we had a falling out." Then she continued to tell him about the fight and his childhood. When she had finished her tale, Draco didn't say anything at first.
"That's a dumb reason to end a friendship," he pointed out after a few minutes.
"Well, what would you have done? Those twins were brats. Besides, they're just Muggle-loving trash, and we would have ended the friendship eventually anyway," Narcissa snapped. She knew that it was a dumb reason to end a friendship, and she regretted it all of the time. She didn't need her son pointing it out too.
"No need to get shirty with me," Draco replied with his trademark smirk.
"Don't get sassy with me," Narcissa reprimanded.
Draco merely raised an eyebrow in amusement and gave a snort of laughter and disbelief. His mother had never, in his entire life, reprimanded him for talking back. He did it all the time to her, and she never said anything. Now, Lucius is a different story. If he ever back-talked to Lucius, he would get a slap in the face. His father didn't hurt him often, but, then again, he didn't disobey the rules very often either. That could be the explanation.
"As you know, we're going to visit your father and aunt in Azkaban on Christmas Eve," she announced, changing the subject. "Which is tomorrow, and I want you to be on your best behavior. You are not to mention any of you recent... findings. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," he replied sarcastically with a mock salute.
Narcissa regarded him coldly before turning on her heel to leave, leaving Draco with his thoughts.

*~*~*~*

Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys were just sitting down to dinner when Charlie Apparated into the living room. As soon as Ginny heard the pop, she stood up as fast as she could and ran into the living room. She rushed to her brother and gave him a big hug. "Charlie!" she shrieked in delight as he picked her up and spun her around.
"Hey, Ginny. How have you been?" her brother asked.
"Pretty good," she answered with a smile. Charlie had always been her favorite brother because he was the only one who always treated her as an equal, rather than the little tag-along sister. "How have you been?"
"Great! One of the dragons' eggs hatched so we're mainly caring for her," Charlie answered. He worked with dragons in Romania, and Ginny had always been fascinated with his job.
Ginny then led her brother in to the dining room where the rest of the family was sitting. There came a chorus of greetings from the rest of the family as his sister pulled Charlie into the seat next to her. He smiled at her once they were seated. Charlie had always felt closer to Ginny than the rest of his siblings.
"Is Harry coming this year?" Charlie asked curiously scanning the table.
"No," Ron replied, somewhat bitterly. "He's staying with Hermione and her family this year."
"You weren't invited?" Charlie inquired, surprised.
"Oh, I was invited, but I figured I'd just be the third wheel. Harry and Hermione are dating now," Ron explained at his brother's confused look.
"Really? I always thought you and Hermione would end up together," Charlie commented, oblivious to the fact that Ron had felt the same way, and was crushed when it didn't.
"They fight too much. One of them would be dead within the first month," Ginny teased. She knew her brother had a huge crush on Hermione and was going to rub it in all she could. "And if it happened to be Ron that killed Hermione, Ron would end up killing himself because of the grief."
Her brothers laughed at her joke, all except Ron, who turned bright red in anger and embarrassment. "Don't tease your brother," her mother chastised her lightly. She was smiling too.
"I don't fancy Hermione," Ron protested through gritted teeth.
"Of course not," Fred agreed unconvincingly.
"I don't," Ron insisted, his voice raising in desperation.
"I totally agree with you," George joined in.
"I don't!" Ron said, his voice raising even more.
"Who said you didn't?" Fred asked innocently.
"Mum!" Ron yelled in absolute desperation.
"Boys, stop teasing your brother," Molly reprimanded.
"You're such a baby sometimes," George scoffed.
"George," Molly said warningly.
"Sorry, Mum," he apologized. "You know I was only kidding."
"Yes, but still. Christmas is supposed to be a happy time," Molly reminded her son.
The family resumed their conversations once the drama with Ron was resolved. They finished their dinners without any more conflicts. The Weasleys then sat near the fireplace, talking, until it was time for bed.

*~*~*~*

Ginny was lying on her bed later that night, writing in her diary by candlelight, when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Ginny called softly.
The door opened, revealing a sad looking Kiara, carrying a pillow. "Bill and I had a fight. Can I sleep in here?" she asked timidly.
"Of course you can. What was your fight about?" Ginny inquired in concern. "Well, it's sort of an ongoing fight, I want to move back to England, but he doesn't," Kiara explained, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "I love Bill, and I want to make him happy, but I want our baby to live near all of its relatives. Instead of all the way in Egypt so Bill can keep the same job. Gringotts has even offered him an ongoing job offer if he ever changes his mind."
"Have you told Bill why you want to move back. Have you told him you want to do what's best for the baby?" Ginny asked gently.
Kiara shook her head miserably. "I want to, but I'm afraid he'll think I'm dumb," she admitted sheepishly.
"Don't be silly. Bill won't think any less of you if you told him your reasons. He'd probably think they were good reasons, and then you wouldn't have to fight about it anymore," Ginny told her confidently.
"Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.
"Positive," Ginny assured.
"Thanks, Ginny," Kiara replied gratefully.
"Marina," Ginny began uncertainly.
"Yeah?" Kiara answered.
"Can I ask your advice about something?" she asked.
"Sure, anything," Kiara replied willingly.
"Well, there's this guy I go to school with. His name is Draco Malfoy and-"
"Ah, you're having boy troubles," Kiara interrupted.
"Sort of," Ginny replied. "Anyway, we've been enemies forever. Our families are sworn enemies too. They have been for a long time, or at least that's what I've been told. Then, the other day I found my parents' wedding pictures and some pictures of me when I was little. A lot of the pictures were of me and Draco, and his parents were in my parents' wedding pictures. I asked my mum about them and she told me that my parents and the Malfoys used to be best friends, and Draco used to be my best friend. It came as a total surprise to me. Now I don't know what to do. Should I tell him about it? Should I go along with life as usual? Should I try to renew our friendship? I am so confused."
"Uh, this is an interesting situation. To be totally honest, I don't know what you should do. My best advice is to do what you think is right," Kiara advised.
"I don't know what I think is right," Ginny protested.
"Well, do you think he knows?" Kiara asked, trying a new approach.
"I don't think so. If he did, he would probably lord it over me that he knows something I don't," Ginny answered.
"Okay. Do you think he would be open to your friendship if you told him what you found out?" Kiara questioned.
"Probably not, but I'm not sure. He's kind of unpredictable sometimes. Like the other day, he kept glaring at me, and he didn't insult me once," Ginny told her sister-in-law.
"Maybe he fancies you," Kiara said seriously.
Ginny laughed. "I seriously doubt it," she replied.
"Okay, so maybe not, but I still think the best advice I can give you is to follow you heart," Kiara advised once again, before deciding that they should probably get to bed, and turned off the light.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

A/N: IMPORTANT! IF THIS CHAPTER SEEMS FAMILIAR TO YOU GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 3! I ACCIDENTLY UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER LAST TIME INSTEAD OF CHAPTER 3!

Chapter 4

Draco was shaken awake on Christmas Eve morning by one of the Malfoys' many house elves. "Mistress says you must be ready in an hour to visit your father," the little elf announced before scampering out of the room. It had had the task of waking up the young Malfoy before, and it usually wasn't very pleasant experience. It usually involved a lot of yelling and swearing.
Draco cursed under his breath before pulling himself out of bed. The time had finally come and he couldn't wait for it to be over. He stumbled into his private bedroom and splashed water on his face to wake himself up. It didn't work very well.
As Draco got ready, his thoughts focused on a particularly odd dream he'd had the night before. In his dream, his mother and he had arrived at Azkaban to visit Lucius. There, they were met by the Weasleys, all nine of them, and they all went to visit Lucius together. When they had arrived at the cell, Draco's father had seemed happy to see the Weasleys. No one in the dream had been surprised at this. It was as if the Weasley and Malfoy fight had never taken place. That wasn't what the oddest part for Draco, however. The oddest part for him had been at the end, right before he'd been shaken awake. He and Ginny Weasley had shared a rather non-platonic kiss in the middle of Azkaban, and his father hadn't even minded. No one in the dream had minded. Even odder than that, though, was that Draco had enjoyed his dream a little.

*~*~*~*

Ginny woke up on Christmas Eve morning to the sound and smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. She quickly got out of bed. She loved Christmas Eve. Every year she and her mother baked cookies. They would bake and laugh and remember old times. She loved that time when it was just her and her mother, most of the time. This year, she wasn't so sure. She still wasn't over the whole memory obscuring thing. Maybe Kiara would want to join them this year. She was a Weasley woman after all, and baking cookies was a Weasley woman tradition.
When Ginny arrived downstairs, she was happy to note that Bill and Kiara were sitting next to each other. They were also talking to each other as if nothing had happened. They must have made up, Ginny thought happily.
Ginny took her seat next to Charlie and began helping herself to some pancakes and bacon. If there was one thing to be said about her mother, it was that she was a wonderful cook. No matter what Molly Weasley made, it turned out delicious. Ginny hadn't inherited much of her mother's culinary skill, but it didn't stop her from trying to cook things. The extent of her skills, sadly, was baking cookies. She just couldn't get anything else quite right.
The conversation swirled around Ginny as her thoughts focused on a dream she had had. In her dream, there had been a ball planned for all of the graduating seventh years. Only seventh years could attend, unless a younger student was invited by one of the graduates. In the dream, Draco had asked her to the ball, and she had accepted his invitation. Then she'd written to Kiara to tell her. Kiara had written back that she had known all along that Draco fancied Ginny. Then she'd woken up. All in all, it had been a bit strange, and Ginny didn't even want to try to figure out what it meant. It was probably nothing anyway.
"Ginny," Charlie all but yelled, elbowing her and snapping her back to reality.
"Oh sorry. What did you want?" she asked, blushing.
"I wanted you to please pass the pancakes," Kiara repeated politely for probably the hundredth time.
"Sorry," Ginny apologized once again, passing the plate to her sister-in-law. Kiara raised her eyebrows in question, but refrained from commenting.
"Ginny, where is your mind lately?" her mother asked lightly.
"She's probably daydreaming about Harry," Ron commented, giving her a look to tell her that it was revenge for the night before.
"I've been over him for sometime now, thank you very much," Ginny informed him curtly.
"Sure you have," Ron replied, unconvinced.
"I have," she protested casually, before turning to Charlie to engage him in conversation.
"I think you protest too much," Ron teased.
"Whatever, Ron," Ginny shot back before ignoring her brother for the rest of breakfast.

*~*~*~*

When Draco was ready to go, he wandered downstairs to look for his mother. He had a feeling that she would be waiting for him in the Entry Hall. He suddenly decided that he was hungry and headed to the kitchens.
When he arrived in the kitchens, Draco was dismayed to find that his mother was not, indeed, in the Entry Hall, but in the kitchens. She knows me too well, he thought bitterly. "Ready to go, dear?" Narcissa asked in a fake cheerful voice.
Draco's shoulders merely sagged in defeat as he followed his mother out of the kitchens. They were to Floo to the check-in office, and then take a boat to the island that Azkaban was built on. It was impossible to Floo or Apparate directly to the prison. You had to check-in and then take a boat.
Draco and Narcissa stepped into the fireplace, dropped in some Floo powder, and yelled their destination. When they arrived at the check-in office, they stepped out of the fireplace and brushed themselves off. Narcissa walked up to the check-in desk. "Names?" the attendant asked.
"Narcissa and Draco Malfoy," Mrs. Malfoy answered self-importantly.
"Name of the inmate you're visiting?" the attendant inquired in a bored voice.
"Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange," Narcissa replied.
"Relation to the inmates?" the attendant asked monotonously.
"Husband and sister," she told the attendant.
Draco and Narcissa were then ushered outside and into a boat. The attendant handed Narcissa two slips of paper and pushed the boat away from the dock. It was charmed to stay on course and take them to the island. When their boat had arrived at the island, there was a man waiting to take the slips of paper that the attendant had given them. He read them and then led them into the prison.
The guard then warned them about the dementors and told them where to go to find Lucius and Bellatrix. Draco and Narcissa walked through many dark, depressing hallways before they arrived at the place that the guard had told them to go. There was another guard to take their slips of parchment. This guard then went into a room to his right. When he re-emerged, Lucius, Bellatrix, and four dementors followed him.
Both Lucius and Bellatrix looked like they had seen better days. Both of their clothes were torn, and their faces had haunted looks. Lucius's hair was even longer than normal and hung limply around his head. He also looked like he hadn't shaved in quite some time.
Draco stared at his father and his aunt in horror. They looked nothing like themselves. It was somewhat scary to think that the prison had all but destroyed the great Lucius Malfoy. Draco renewed his resolve to not become a Death Eater. There was no way that he was going to end up like his father. He knew that this was probably the last time he would be permitted to see his father. It was only a matter of time before Lucius went insane.
"Lucius, dear, it's so good to see you again," Narcissa exclaimed, her voice faltering. Draco wasn't sure if it was from Lucius's appearance or the fact that she would rather be screwing her husband's friends behind his back. "You too, Bellatrix."
"I'm so glad you've come to visit us. It is an absolute bore being locked away from civilization," Bellatrix responded. Being bored is the last of your worries, Draco thought cynically. "Oh, and Draco, you came too, how sweet of you."
"Hello, Aunt Bellatrix, father," he greeted with a nod in the direction of each.
"Son," Lucius answered, not even acknowledging his wife's presence. "How is school?"
"Good," Draco replied, somewhat uncertainly.
"Are you top of your year?" Lucius demanded.
"No," Draco said, averting his eyes.
"Have you beaten Potter in Quidditch?" Lucius demanded.
"No," Draco answered again, hanging his head. He hated when his father did this. It always made him feel so worthless, but he supposed, this was the point.
"Then what's so good about school?" Lucius roared. He hated when his son didn't live up to the Malfoy name. It made him, as the father, look bad. "Well?"
"Nothing, I guess," Draco whispered.
"Lucius, leave the boy alone," Narcissa snapped in her son's defense.
"Really, Lucius, were you top of your year or the star Quidditch player in school?" Bellatrix added.
"No, but I was already a successful Death Eater by this time," Lucius snapped. "He should be too. He's useless, really. What has he accomplished? Nothing."
Draco squeezed his eyes shut. He was now wishing he'd been more adamant about not coming. He pretty much worshiped the ground his father walked on, and that was what his father thought of him. He thought his son was worthless. If Draco had not been trained not to cry, he probably would have been fighting back tears.
"Take me back to my cell," Lucius commanded the guard.
The guard led Lucius back to his cell, leaving Narcissa, Bellatrix, Draco, and two dementors alone. "Don't mind him, Draco. The dementors and isolation are beginning to get to him," his aunt consoled.
"Thanks, Aunt Bellatrix, but I know that's not true. Father's always hated me," Draco spat bitterly.
"Your father does not hate you!" Narcissa shouted, appalled. Lucius Malfoy hated a lot of things, but his son was not one of them. "You don't remember the day you were born. Your father was one of the happiest men on earth that day."
"Yeah, that was before I grew up and started letting him down," Draco pointed out. "I'm not the best at anything, and there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise.
Once he had finished his speech, Draco spun on his heel and stalked away. He went outside and boarded one of the boats. When the boat arrived at the mainland, Draco disembarked and Flooed home. He then ran up to his room and locked himself in so he could think.

*~*~*~*

After breakfast, Molly cleaned all of the dishes with a simple spell and put them away. "Are you ready to do your baking, Ginny?" she asked cheerfully.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Ginny answered with a smile. "But I was wondering if Kiara could help too, now that she's part of the family.
"What an excellent idea!" her mother exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I'll go get her," Ginny replied, going to find her sister-in-law. When Ginny found her, she asked if Kiara wanted to help back cookies.
"I'd love to," Kiara accepted the invitation. As they walked toward the kitchen, Kiara whispered to Ginny, "When Ron accused you of daydreaming about Harry, were you thinking about Draco?"
"No," Ginny responded a little too quickly, blushing.
"I'm sure, what were you think about then?" Kiara wanted to know.
"A dream I had," Ginny said before stepping into the kitchen and ending the conversation. Kiara, however, had different plans, and she shot her sister-in-law a look to tell her that they would continue the conversation later.
"There you two are. Let's get started," Molly said as way of greeting.
Then, for the rest of the day, the three Weasley women baked cookies, talked, and generally had a good time.

*~*~*~*

When Draco had calmed himself down, he tried to sort out everything in his head. Seeing his father like that had shaken him more than he'd like to admit. He had always been against becoming a Death Eater, but that had just been so he felt he had a little control over his life. He always assumed he'd become one anyway. Now, he was sure he never would join Voldemort's ranks. Actually seeing what the consequences were first hand had set off a warning in his head that he wasn't about to ignore.
Draco was also a little shaken about how angry his father had been at him. Sure, he knew that his father was often that angry with other people, like his mother, but never at his son. Draco had been yelled at for the same things, but his father had never been near as angry when he chastised Draco. It didn't make sense. As much as Draco wanted to believe what his aunt Bellatrix had said, he just couldn't.
Sighing, Draco pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He had to get ready. After all, the Parkinsons were coming over for dinner, and it wouldn't do for him to look distressed. The Lord only knew what Pansy would do to try to cheer him up. Most likely whatever she did, would only upset and annoy him more than cheer him up. That's just the kind of person Pansy was.

*~*~*~*

When Draco heard his mother calling him to inform him that the Parkinsons had arrived, he went downstairs. He had expected to see three people, but instead, there were four. Pansy seemed to have found herself a boyfriend. "Draco, darling," Pansy greeted shrilly, rushing forward to give him a hug.
"Hi, Pansy," Draco replied dully. Maybe she HADN'T found a boyfriend. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, this is my cousin, Bryant," Pansy introduced.
"Oh," was all Draco said. He was slightly disappointed that Pansy wasn't dating anyone. That meant she would keep hanging around him. Narcissa cleared her throat loudly and glared pointedly at her son. "What?"
"Aren't you being a little rude?" his mother snapped.
"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Draco Malfoy," Draco replied tonelessly.
Narcissa shot her son a reprimanding look for being so impolite, but didn't say anything. Draco figured that he would probably have to suffer through a lecture on good manners after their guests left. He DEFINITELY wasn't looking forward to that.
"Well, dinner is just about ready. Why don't we head into the dining room?" Narcissa suggested like the good hostess that she was.
Everyone followed Narcissa into the impressive Malfoy dining room. It was almost as big as the Great Hall at Hogwarts, and had an impressive crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Everyone sat down at the long table, Narcissa at the head. Draco was, of course, stuck sitting next to Pansy, but he didn't complain in fear of getting an even longer lecture.
The food was brought out, and everyone began eating. The three adults were talking amongst themselves, where the three teenagers were silent. Draco would have liked to keep it that way, but his mother had other plans. She urged him with her eyes to begin conversation. "So, Bryant, where do you go to school?" Draco asked politely.
"Durmstrang," Bryant answered. "From what Pansy has told me of Hogwarts, it's much better than your pathetic school.
Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise at the boy's gall, and instantly disliked him. He knew it was a little odd, especially because he would kill to go to Durmstrang. Just because he didn't want to become a Death Eater didn't mean he wasn't interested in the Dark Arts.
"What has Pansy told you?" Draco asked, coldly indifferent.
"That you have a crackpot Headmaster, a giant oaf of a gamekeeper, and more Mudbloods than you can control," Bryant sneered. Draco really didn't like this guy.
Draco shot Pansy a slightly quizzical glance, what Bryant had just said had almost been a direct quote from Draco himself. "She seemed to forget that we have delicious meals, room service, and the best Potions teacher alive," Draco shot back with a smirk. Okay, he had exaggerated a little, but Bryant didn't know that. Or maybe he did. The boy in question snorted in disbelief and turned back to his dinner, ignoring Draco for the rest of dinner.

*~*~*~*

After baking about a hundred dozen cookies, Ginny and Kiara headed upstairs to talk. They both flopped onto Ginny's bed and got comfortable. "So, Gin, was your dream, by any chance, about Draco Malfoy?" Kiara asked coyly.
"Maybe," Ginny answered, just as coyly.
"Come on," Kiara urged.
"Alright it was," Ginny gave in.
"What happened in it?" Kiara inquired excitedly.
Ginny launched into the story of her dream. When she was done, she waited for Kiara's reaction. Kiara was silent. "So, what do you think it means?" Ginny questioned.
"I think it means that you, Ginny, have developed a bit of a crush on Mr. Malfoy," Kiara replied.
"What? No I haven't," Ginny sounded in protest.
"I don't know, why else would you dream about him?" Kiara asked.
"Maybe because he's been on my mind so much with all my new memories and stuff," Ginny suggested.
"Maybe, but I still think you might like him," Kiara persisted.
"I do not," Ginny protested again.
"Just admit it. You at least think he's a little cute, right?" Kiara persuaded.
"Maybe a little," Ginny agreed reluctantly.
"Only a little?" Kiara prompted.
"Okay, so he's really hot," Ginny admitted after a moment of silence.
"The first step is admitting it. Now, do you have any pictures of him?" Kiara inquired.
"Just the ones from when we were little. Do you really think I would have pictures of my worst enemy?" Ginny responded.
"That'll work," Kiara said. Ginny didn't have any idea why she wanted the picture, but Ginny handed her one. "Thanks." she then took out her wand and said a spell that Ginny had never heard before. Then, right before their eyes, the six year old Draco Malfoy turned into the handsome, seventeen year old one that she was so used to.
"How'd you do that?" Ginny asked, amazed. It looked exactly like Draco.
"It's a pretty simple spell. Aurors use it a lot to find out what missing people look like since they went missing or if they're in disguise," Kiara replied. "So, is this him?"
"Yep," Ginny confirmed.
"His is pretty gorgeous, isn't he?" Kiara said, with a giggle.
"You're married, remember?" Ginny reminded her.
"I know, I'm just looking," Kiara defended herself.
"Isn't he a little young for you?" Ginny teased.
"Isn't he a little old for you?" Kiara countered.
"He's seventeen," Ginny stated matter-of-factly.
"You're only sixteen," Kiara shot back childishly.
"That's only a year younger," Ginny pointed out.
"What's your point?" Kiara asked.
"You said he was too old for me, but he's not. I don't fall for guys that are out of my reach," Ginny said, a note of finality in her voice.
"So you admit it, you fell for him. Ha! I was right!" Kiara shrieked triumphantly.
"That's not fair, you tricked me!" Ginny whined.
"I know," Kiara said, smiling happily.
"Don't tell anyone, please. My brothers would kill me if they found out," Ginny pleaded.
"I won't tell anyone," Kiara promised. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Do about it? Nothing," Ginny answered, slightly surprised that she would even ask.
"Why not?" Kiara asked, surprised that she wasn't going to do anything about it.
"Well, for one, my family hates his and vice versa. For two, he hates me. For three, look at him, he's gorgeous. Now, look at me. How could he ever want me when he could have any girl at school?" Ginny explained.
Kiara stared at Ginny for a few minutes before replying, "How can you say that? For one, you know that he doesn't really hate you, deep down. He was only taught to hate you. You were friends once, why couldn't you do it again? Besides, you're prettier than I think you give yourself credit for."
Ginny shook her head. "You don't have to lie to me. I know I'll never be a super model, or anything close to it," she denied.
"Ginny! You've got to be kidding me. You are pretty, especially your hair, but I'm not going to argue with you. If you don't want to believe it then don't. Anyway, since when does being pretty mean so much? Who says you can't get the guy? You mother is always saying you're so down to earth, but you're not acting like it right now. Just believe in yourself, Ginny. When you get back to Hogwarts try talking Draco. You might be surprised at the results," Kiara advised.
"Alright, alright. I'll talk to him," Ginny conceded. Maybe, she added mentally before she and Kiara headed downstairs for dinner.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya. Don't forget to review. Sorry about my mistake if I confused anyone.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and some original characters.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya, for, well, betaing.

Chapter 5

Christmas morning dawned bright and early in the Weasley household. Ginny and Ron, still the youngest in the family, woke up around five thirty and continued to wake up the rest of the family, none of whom were too happy at being woken up. By five forty-five, the whole family was assembled in the living room, all still half asleep. "Would anyone like some coffee?" Molly asked as cheerfully as she could muster that early in the morning.

Everyone wanted some except, Ron, Ginny, and the twins. They were all awake and bubbling with enthusiasm. They were always the most enthusiastic about these things, and they probably always would be not matter how old they got.

Once Molly brought the coffee out to everyone else, they were ready to begin. The twins passed out all of the presents and everyone began opening. Ginny opened her present from Charlie first. It was a set of hair clips with tiny green dragons on them along with a matching necklace. They were beautiful. They sparkled and shimmered in the first rays of sunlight. "Thank you, Charlie," Ginny gasped.

"No problem. I thought you'd like them. Only the best for my favorite little sister," Charlie teased.

"I'm your only little sister, you great prat," Ginny shot back, rolling her eyes. She then picked up the next box. It was from the twins. She shook it carefully and inspected it for any sign of danger. It looked safe, but you never could tell with the twins.

"It's not going to bite, you know," Fred kidded.

"One can never tell with you two," Ginny countered before taking a deep breath and opened the package. She braced herself for the worst as she lifted the lid to the box. When she saw what it was, she gasped. Inside was an emerald green cloak with a golden G, clasp. It was gorgeous, and she had been in the need of a new cloak for a while. "Thank you."

"You deserve it, Gin," George replied with a smile.

There were choruses of "thank you" from all around her. Some of them were directed at her, other were directed at other members of the family. Ginny picked up the next packed and looked at the tag. It was from Bill and Kiara. She unwrapped the box and opened it. Inside were a set of dress robes, the same shade of green as the cloak that the twins had given her. "Thank you," she called to her brother and sister-in-law.

"You're welcome, Gin," they called back.

Ginny continued to open the rest of her presents. From her parents she got another Weasley sweater, a book full of beauty charms, and a gold locket. The last thing they had told her wasn't from them. She hadn't understood until she opened it. Inside was a golden locket with a picture of Draco and her when they were little inside. On the opposite side as the picture, there was an inscription. It said, "Friends Forever, Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley."

"You two gave each other one of those the last Christmas you were friends," Molly told her.

Ginny smiled sadly as tears sprung to her eyes. She remembered that day. They had promised each that they'd never take them off. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and blinked back her tears. "Thanks for giving it back," she whispered. She then opened a present from Ron. He had given her a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a few chocolate frogs. That was fine with her chocolate frogs were her favorite.

Once everyone had finished opening their presents, they migrated to the kitchen for breakfast. As soon Mrs. Weasley had magically made their breakfast, everyone began eating. There wasn't much talking, as everyone still wasn't awake yet. Occasionally someone would say something, but besides those few and far between comments, breakfast passed in silence.

*~*~*~*

Draco also woke up early Christmas morning, despite the fact that he wasn't really going to celebrate with anyone. He would open the presents that the house elves brought to his room. Then he would go down to the dining room to have dinner with his mother later that night. It would just be the two of them. Christmas dinner for the Malfoys had just been the three of them, now two of them. He could remember when he was little that they used to have Christmas dinners with the Weasleys, but not anymore. That was a thing of the past, and, for some reason, that fact saddened him.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Draco began opening the presents from his mother and other various relatives. They all ranged from candy to books to clothes, but there were two things out of the ordinary. The first was a locket that he knew was originally from Ginny all those years ago. The second was a Firebolt 6000, the fastest broom on the market. It was from his "father." yeah, right. He knew his father had probably commanded his mother to get it for him so he could beat the Gryffindor team in Quidditch. Even in Azkaban, Lucius still had control over people, and for the second time that morning, Draco was saddened by the facts of his life.

*~*~*~*

After breakfast was finished, Molly got started making dinner. Later that night, many of Ginny's other relatives would be coming over for dinner. Ginny always enjoyed the company of her aunts, uncles, and cousins, but she had always been disappointed that there was no one her age. When she was younger, she hadn't minded because Draco was always there. Now that he wasn't an option, she didn't really have anyone to hang out with during family functions. She wouldn't have to worry about that till later, though. Now, she decided to help her mother with some of the cooking because she insisted on doing it without magic. It was going to take her forever.

When Ginny entered the kitchen, Kiara was already there, helping Molly. "Hello, Ginny dear," her mother greeted. "What can I help you with?"

"I came to see if you needed any help cooking," Ginny replied.

"It's nice of you to offer, dear, but as I was just telling Kiara, I'm quite fine on my own," Molly told her daughter. "It was nice of you to offer anyway. Why don't you and Kiara go see if you can find any more information for your History project?"

"Alright. What do you say, Kiara?" Ginny asked.

"Sure," Kiara agreed. So they both made their ways to the attic, Ginny leading the way. "So, what do you have to do for this project?"
As they walked up to the attic, Ginny filled her sister-in-law in on the project. "That's how I found the pictures of Draco and the Malfoys," Ginny explained.

"Sounds like an interesting project," Kiara commented.

"It would be if I could find anything about our family," Ginny muttered. Pretty soon she was just going to have to own up to the fact that her family was simply boring.

"I'm sure we'll find something, let's go," Kiara urged, opening the door to the attic.

"I'm just glad we don't have to give these reports in front of the whole school. I can just imagine Malfoy's reaction to this. He would have even more to tease Ron and I about," Ginny said. "Not only are we good for nothing, Muggle-loving, trash, we're also boring."
"Oh, come on, Ginny. What are you worrying about anyway? You don't have to do it in front of the whole school," Kiara reminded her.

"And thank the Lord for that," Ginny shot back. "He's such an annoying, arrogant, hypocritical git. Why do I even like him? He's never been anything but mean to me. What is my problem? So he's gorgeous, so what? There are tons of gorgeous guys at school. Why do I have to have taken a liking to him out of all the others? Just becau-"

"Ginny!" Kiara cut off her ranting.

"Oh, sorry. Was that all out loud?" Ginny asked slowly.

"Yes," Kiara answered with a smile. "Having a little dilemma, are we?"

"No," Ginny denied. Kiara snorted in obvious disbelief. "Fine, maybe I do."

"Well, if you ask me," Kiara began insightfully.

"I didn't," Ginny mumbled, but her sister-in-law ignored her.

"If you ask me, you're only starting to like him because you're realizing he can't be all that bad. You're beginning to think that if you were friends when you were little, you could be friends again. Or maybe even more than friends," Kiara told Ginny.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you were a curse breaker, not a shrink," Ginny replied casually.

"How funny. You're so witty. You have to admit that I'm right though," Kiara coaxed.

"Maybe," Ginny agreed begrudgingly.

"Hey, Gin, you shouldn't stress about this that much. It will all turn out fine," Kiara advised. "For all you know, Draco could be sitting in his house, having the same problems as you."

"Yeah, right," Ginny scoffed. "First of all, that would never happen, and second of all, he doesn't live in a house, he lives in a Manor."

Kiara rolled her eyes before turning to search some more of the boxes that were stacked up all over the attic.

*~*~*~*

Draco and Narcissa sat down to dinner in the Manor's spacious dining room. They looked rather out of place, just the two of them. When the house elves began bringing out the food, there was probably enough food to feed two hundred people, rather than two. The two Malfoys saw nothing wrong with that. It was how it was every year, after all.

As the two began to eat, Narcissa tried to engage her son in conversation, but nothing did much good. He would respond in all of her questions with shot, uninterested answers. After what felt like her hundredth feeble attempt at conversation Narcissa fell silent with a look of defeat on her face. She had begun to feel slightly guilty about her welcome, or rather lack of, for her son when he'd first arrived. It had made her think and realize that she'd begun turning into her husband. When Draco had been younger, she had always been his refuge after his father yelled or punished him. He had always gone to her. Now he was ignoring her, and it hurt her, if only a little.

Draco caught the look of disappointment on his mother's face, and considered starting a conversation with her. His first reaction was to just let her be. What had she ever done for him? Then he remembered all of the times that she had supported him. She had even talked Lucius out of banning him from seeing Ginny when they were still friends. He guessed he at least owed her a little. She was his mother, after all.

"So, Mum, how have you been, living alone in the Manor?" he asked conversationally.
Narcissa looked up in surprise. Was he really starting a conversation with her? "It gets lonely sometimes, but I survive," she replied with a smile. "So what do you think of Pansy Parkinson? She's sweet, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's great," Draco answered with a fake smile. Inwardly, he was wincing. He knew this would come up eventually, but he had been dreading it.

"So you could see yourself with her for the rest of your life?" Narcissa questioned.

Draco panicked, but did his best to hide this fact from his mother. "I wouldn't exactly say that," he began slowly. "I think I'm a little young to be thinking about who I want to be with for the rest of my life, don't you think so?"

"When I was your age, I was engaged to your father," his mother countered smoothly.

"Yeah, and look where that got you," Draco muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Narcissa snapped.

"Nothing," Draco said in response. He knew his mother knew that he had said something disrespectful, but she let it slide.

"Draco, you need to start thinking about your future, and Pansy's a nice pureblood witch who's willing to be your wife. I think you two should start hanging out more," Narcissa suggested. "You always used to get along so well."

Draco felt the need to roll his eyes, but refrained. Instead, he replied off-handedly, "Sure." he wasn't going to risk telling her that he'd never liked Pansy and that he had no intention of marrying her.

The rest of their Christmas dinner passed in silence. Then both family members went their separate ways. Narcissa went to her husband's study, and Draco went to his room.

*~*~*~*

By mid-afternoon, the Burrow was beginning to fill up with Weasley family members. All of Ginny's aunts, uncles, and cousins were all over the place. She had no grandparents left, they had all died during Voldemort's last reign of terror. She didn't exactly miss them, she'd never met them, but sometimes she wished they'd lived. She especially wished that at big family gatherings like this one.

Ginny had quite a large family, her mother was one of ten and her father was one of three. That was eleven aunts and uncle related to her by blood. All of them were married except two, her mom's sister and her dad's brother. Ginny couldn't even count all of the cousins which was why she was always disappointed that there was no one near her age. There were a few cousins Ron's age, but they were all boys and hung out with Ron. They never anything, but play Muggle games, one of them had a Muggle father, and talk about Quidditch.

Looking around at the chaos that ensued in her house, Ginny sighed. She knew she should play the good hostess and greet all of her family members, but suddenly she didn't feel like it. Instead, she went up to her room for a little while. No one would notice she was gone anyway.

As Ginny lay on her bed, she thought about her family. Had her aunts and uncles known about Draco? Had her cousins? Had they all been lying to her too? Was it really considered lying since she'd never asked directly? They had to have known, the Malfoys were at her parents' wedding. Why was she even thinking about this? All it ever did was confuse her even more, and she never got any answers. She knew that she should go back downstairs, but suddenly she didn't want to see any of them. All of the sudden that whole situation with the Malfoys bothered her more than it had previously. She had no idea why.

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, downstairs, Charlie was looking for his little sister. He couldn't find her.

"Hey, Mum," he called to his mother. "Where's Gin?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen her in awhile," his mother replied.

Charlie looked around the living room and didn't see her. He looked in the kitchen, he didn't find her there either. She was nowhere to be seen. Had she gone upstairs? He didn't know why she would, but decided to check anyway. He went up the stairs and found Ginny in her room. She had her head buried in her pillow, and her body was shaking slightly. He had a feeling she was crying.

Charlie walked over to her bed and sat down lightly. "Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

Ginny sat up quickly and looked at her brother. "I'm fine," she replied, wiping away her tears.

"Why were you crying?" Charlie inquired gently.

"Did you know?" she questioned, suddenly feeling the need to know.

"Know what?" Charlie wanted to know.

"Know that Mum and Dad used to be friends with the Malfoys," Ginny clarified.

"Yeah, I did," Charlie admitted. "But I had direct orders from Mum and Dad that you weren't supposed to know."

"Did everyone know except Ron and me?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Charlie told her. Ginny's face fell. "How'd you find out?"

"I found a picture of Draco and me," Ginny replied.

Charlie nodded in understanding. "Is that why you were crying?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know. I think it finally caught up to me fully that everyone else had known, and I had been left in the dark," Ginny said with a shrug. "I'm fine now."

"Good. Why don't we go downstairs now," he suggested.

"Alright," Ginny agreed. Then they headed downstairs.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the night passed pretty uneventfully. They ate dinner and opened presents. When they were done, the adults sat around talking. Then everyone went home. When all of the relatives were out the door, the Burrow residents breathed a sigh of relief. As much as they all loved Christmas, they were glad when it was all over.

After everyone had left, Ginny headed back up to her bedroom. She felt much better than she had before. Charlie had made sure she was all right a few times during the party. As she lay down on her bed, she heard someone enter. "Who is it?"

"It's Kiara," she replied.

Ginny sat up. "Hi, Kiara. What's up?" Ginny greeted.

"Charlie said you were sort of bummed out earlier. Is everything alright?" Kiara wanted to know.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm just a little overtired so I'm a little more prone to getting upset," Ginny told her.

"Alright. I just thought I'd make sure you were okay," Kiara explained with a smile. "Well, it's getting late so I think I'll be heading up to bed."

"I think I'm going to go to bed too. Good night, Kiara," Ginny agreed.

"Night, Gin," Kiara said as she made her way to Bill's old room where she and Bill were staying.

Once Kiara was gone, Ginny got into her pajamas and climbed into bed. She turned off the light. She was asleep within minutes.

A/N: I am SOOOOO sorry it took so long to update. My beta and I had some misunderstandings, and I've just been really busy. I'm sorry. The next chapter will hopefully be up very soon. I just sent it to my beta so it should be sent back soon. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Sorry once again.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this but the plot. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling as we all know.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 6

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed pleasantly but uneventfully for Ginny. She continued to do research for her History of Magic project, but didn't find anything interesting. All that she found was that, for hundreds of years, the Weasleys had been against all sorts of Dark Magic. There had even been one of two instances when some of her ancestors had disinherited their children who were into the Dark Arts. She wondered if that's what would happen to Percy for becoming a Death Eater.

Bill and Kiara had had to get back to Egypt two days after Christmas. Ginny had been sad to see them go, but was happy when she learned that Charlie was staying for the rest of their break. He had had left just last night after tucking his sister into bed for old times' sake.

This morning, however, they were going to board the Hogwarts Express to go back to school. Ginny was a little more nervous than she'd like to admit about seeing Draco again. Now that she knew what she did, she wasn't sure how to act toward him.

"Ginny, we have to go!" her mother shouted from the living room.

"Coming!" Ginny called back, grabbing her trunk and checking once more to make sure she had everything. At the last second, she grabbed a picture of her and Draco when they were little and ran downstairs.

When she arrived downstairs, her father took her trunk and put it next to Ron's in front of the fireplace. "Do you both have everything?" Arthur double-checked with his children.

They both nodded. "Alright let's go then."

Ron stepped into the fireplace first then Flooed to King's Cross Station. Soon after, Ginny, Molly, and Arthur, with the luggage, followed in suite. As Ron and Ginny said good-bye to their parents, Ginny spotted Draco out of the corner of her eye. Pulling away from her mother, she quickly boarded the Hogwarts Express before Draco spotted her. Ron rushed after her, not really understanding her haste.

Ginny found and empty compartment and pulled out a book to read. All she could hope was that she was left alone for the whole trip. She had a feeling that wasn't going to happen.

*~*~*~*

Draco woke up on the day he was to go back to Hogwarts, happy that he would be getting away from his dank, dark home. Being away from his mother wasn't all that bad either.

Draco quickly got ready to go to the train station. Once he was ready, he headed downstairs with his trunk. He looked around for his mother. "Mum!" he yelled. There was no reply. Shrugging, he wrote a quick note explaining that he couldn't find her, and that he had to leave in order to catch the train. He then put it on her bedroom door and headed to the fireplace. He dropped in some Floo powder into the flames and clearly stated, "King's Cross Station." he felt the familiar dizziness. It stopped after a few moments when he had arrived at his destination.

Draco stepped out of the fireplace and into the hustle and bustle of the train station. He made sure there were not Muggles in the direct vicinity and stepped onto Platform nine and three-quarters. The sight that greeted him was the crimson Hogwarts Express, puffing white smoke. He entered the train and found an empty compartment to sit in. He stashed his trunk and went exploring once the train had begun its journey towards Hogwarts.

Draco opened the door to one of the compartments and stepped in. There was a group of younger Hufflepuff students whom he didn't recognize. He opened the next compartment. This one contained one lone Gryffindor. Ginny Weasley. He wasn't quite sure what to say, and he even contemplated leaving until she looked up. He couldn't leave now, she would think he had gone nutters. "Nice cloak, Weasley. Did you have to steal it?" Draco sneered.

Ginny glared at him, but didn't respond. She usually had a clever insult to shoot back. What was wrong with her? He actually enjoyed sparring with her. She was so spirited.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" he taunted. Still no response. "Do you mean to say that you did steal that cloak?"

"Of course I didn't," she snapped before turning back to her book. Sensing that she would ignore him if he said anything, he left her compartment. He then went back to his compartment and stared out the window. Why had he been so quick to insult her? He should have tried talking to her to see if she knew about their past. Shaking his head, Draco pulled a book out of his trunk and settled in for the long ride to Hogwarts.

*~*~*~*

When Draco had left her compartment, Ginny thought back to their conversation. It certainly didn't seem like he knew that they were once friends, but she could never be too sure.

For the rest of the train ride, Ginny was left alone. She read her book for part of the time. For the rest of the time, she merely stared out the window, thinking. When the train came to a stop, she grabbed her trunk and exited it. She then boarded one of the carriages that were waiting to take students to Hogwarts.

*~*~*~*

Days passed as Ginny got back into her school schedule. She had been tempted to approach Draco a few times, but had decided against it. What would be gained from telling him anyway? What did she expect would come from it? She knew they wouldn't be immediate friends, but if they were friends when they were little, they might still be friends if they gave it a chance. She knew all that, but she still chickened out every time she was going to talk to him.

Today, however, it was going to be different. Today, Ginny was going to talk to Draco. She wouldn't chicken out, and she wouldn't insult him. She would tell him what she knew and try to start a sort-of friendship. Before that, however, she had to get to History of Magic to present her project. Hers was so boring, and she had a feeling not many of her classmates' projects would be very interesting either. She was in for a boring History of Magic class, but it was always boring so that didn't change anything. It would probably be better than usual since her classmates wouldn't be as monotonous as Professor Binns. When she arrived in the classroom, she settled down for another boring class.

*~*~*~*

When the class was dismissed, Ginny headed toward the Great Hall for lunch. "That was almost worse than a regular class, wasn't it, Gin?" Colin groaned. They were back to being normal around each other.

"No kidding. You actually had to pay attention. Since Binns wasn't teaching, he made sure everyone was paying attention," Ginny agreed. She hesitated. She still hadn't told Colin about her findings over Christmas holidays. She wanted to tell him, but she never really saw an opportunity to tell him.

"Sickle for your thoughts," Colin said, breaking her out of her reverie. This was her chance.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about. It's about something I found during the holidays," Ginny replied.

"What's up?" Colin asked, slightly concerned.

By this time, they had arrived at the Great Hall. They entered and sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Well, I was doing research, and I found a picture," she began. Then she told him everything she had learned. "So, in short, I used to be Draco Malfoy's best friend," she finished.

"Wow," Colin stated in shock. "That's pretty surprising."

"No kidding. I was pretty upset with my parents for not telling me," Ginny told him.

"I don't blame you," Colin replied. "So, what are you going to do about it? Anything?"

"I want to talk to him, just to see if he knows, and if he doesn't, I want to tell him. He deserves to know. Who knows, we might actually become friends," Ginny answered.

"Somehow I doubt it. You've been enemies for too long," Colin scoffed.

Ginny shrugged. "You never know," she reminded him.

"Why would you want to be friends with him anyway? All he'd ever been is nasty to you," Colin wanted to know.

"He was only nasty because he was supposed to hate me. I did the same thing. I don't really know him, the real him, all that well. All I ever see is his nasty facade, which I'm sure is just that, a facade," Ginny responded.

"If you insist," Colin said, clearly not convinced. "If you want to delude yourself, go right ahead."

"I'm not deluding myself. I honestly believe he's not really like that. Besides, if I was friends with him once, he can't be a bad person," Ginny countered.

"People change," Colin commented in response.

"Yes, but do they do an exact bout face?" Ginny shot back.

"Evidently they do," Colin muttered, more to himself than to Ginny. He didn't want to argue with her anymore. Neither one of them could prove they were right so they might as well end it.

Ginny took the hint and stayed silent. She finished her lunch and headed towards her next class, Charms. She took her seat in the classroom and waited for class to begin.

*~*~*~*

Draco had slowly gotten used to being back at school after the Christmas holidays. He had to say that it was bittersweet being back. He was glad to be away from the Manor, but he had needed that break. He was so busy these days. Between N.E.W.T. classes, homework, and being Quidditch Captain, he had no time to do anything else. He could see why some of the other students broke under the pressure. There was a lot of pressure to withstand, especially if you were like him and needed to get certain N.E.W.T.s to qualify for the job he wanted.

Being back at Hogwarts also meant that he saw Ginny everyday. He had almost talked to her a few times, but every time he backed out and insulted her instead. He wasn't sure, exactly, why he wanted to talk to her. Was it that he was curious if she knew about their past? Or was it that he hoped they could work towards what they'd had in the past? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer.

As Draco made his way to the Great Hall for dinner, Blaise confronted him. "Hey, Draco, have you heard the rumors going around?" he asked.

"Rumors?" Draco repeated curiously.

"Yeah. People are saying that there's a transfer student from Durmstrang who's going to be sorted tonight at dinner," Blaise answered.

"Really?" Draco inquired.

"Yeah. I don't know how much truth there is in these rumors but you never know they could be true. Since they're from Durmstrang, I bet they'll be in Slytherin," Blaise pointed out.

"Yeah, probably," Draco agreed. He wondered if the rumors were true. Who in their right mind would transfer from Durmstrang to Hogwarts?

*~*~*~*

Dumbledore made the announcement at dinner. "I have an announcement to make. Today, we are going to welcome a new student to Hogwarts. He had transferred here from Durmstrang for reasons he would rather not disclose. I would like you all to welcome Bryant Parkinson," Dumbledore finished as Bryant walked into the room.

Draco jaw dropped. Pansy's cousin was now going to Hogwarts? You have got to be kidding me, he thought. It was no joke, however. Professor McGonagall brought out the stool used in the Sorting Ceremony, along with the Sorting Hat. It was placed on Bryant's head. After a few seconds, it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

Draco sagged in defeat. He couldn't believe that he would have to put up with Bryant for the rest of the school year. He really didn't like that boy.

"Hey, Draco," Blaise said after the clapping had died down. "I guess the rumors were true. It's great, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, just wonderful," Draco replied sarcastically.

"You don't seem very happy about it," Blaise commented perceptively. "Why not?"

"I've met him, and I really don't like him," Draco snarled in response. "He's Pansy's cousin. He came to dinner at the Manor a few weeks ago."

"What's wrong with him?" Blaise asked curiously.

"I just don't like him," Draco answered with a shrug.

"Oh," was all Blaise said before turning back to his dinner.

Draco finished his dinner in silence, letting the others' conversations swirl around him. When he stood up to leave, he saw Bryant stand up also. Draco had no idea why Bryant would follow him, but he did know that he was being followed.

"Hello, Draco," Bryant called as he sidled up next to him.

"Bryant," Draco replied with a curt nod of his head.

"I have to admit, you had a point about the food, it is rather good," Bryant commented as they walked toward the dungeons.

"Why are you here?" Draco asked abruptly. Besides to ruin my life, he added mentally.

"Who's the necklace from?" Bryant retorted.

"What?" Draco sputtered.

"Who's the necklace you keep fingering from?" Bryant repeated. "I saw you fiddling with it all through dinner."

Draco's hands instinctively dropped the locket he hadn't realized he was holding. He hadn't even remember until then that he was wearing it. "One of my friends gave it to me a long time ago," Draco spat back. "Now, answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Voldemort led an attack on all the Durmstrang students without the Dark Mark over Christmas. It didn't seem very safe to go back, but Mum wasn't sure where to send me. She finally decided to send me here, despite my protests," Bryant replied before walking away.

Draco stopped for a minute. Durmstrang had been attacked? That certainly was a surprise.

*~*~*~*

As Ginny listened to Dumbledore's announcement, surprise began etching her face. In all of the years that her brothers and she had been at Hogwarts, there had never been a transfer student. It was a very rare occurrence, and Ginny was immediately curious and a little suspicious. Why would someone transfer from Durmstrang to Hogwarts?

Ginny clapped politely as the boy was sorted into Slytherin. He was nice-looking, but not overly handsome or anything. He had an aristocratic face, but that was the only thing vaguely special about him. Everything else was pretty average, light brown hair, brown eyes, slender, but muscular frame. There was nothing in his looks to suggest why he had to transfer, but she hadn't expected there to be.

"Hey, Colin, why do you think he transferred here?" Ginny asked curiously.

Colin shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe its because of Pansy," he answered.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ginny wondered aloud.

"Well, they're cousins. I don't know," Colin replied.

Ginny hadn't known that, but she guessed it made sense. Now that she looked at them, she guessed they did kind of look alike. "That still doesn't explain why he transferred," Ginny pointed out.

"Maybe his parents wanted him near his family if Voldemort attacked," Colin explained.

Ginny raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Okay, maybe not. How should I know why he'd be here?"

"I just wanted to see what you thought," Ginny defended with a shrug. "I'm sure there will be millions of rumors by tomorrow anyway."

"You're right about that," Colin agreed.

News got around Hogwarts incredibly fast. No one ever knows who started most of the rumors, but they almost always accepted them as truth.

Once Ginny and Colin had finished their dinners, they headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room and played Exploding Snap for the rest of the evening.

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Ginny woke up with a start. Her alarm hadn't gone off! She was late for class. Once she'd jumped out of bed and saw a few of her dorm mates still sleeping, she realized that it was Saturday. They didn't have class today. Shaking her head at her stupidity, she climbed back into bed to get some more sleep.

After a few minutes of laying on her bed and tossing and turning, Ginny climbed out of bed once again. It was hopeless to try and sleep anymore. She made the decision that today she would talk to Draco. She had made that resolution as she was trying to fall back to sleep. She would walk right up to him and explain everything to him. After that, she wasn't sure what would happen, but she hoped Draco would give her something to work with.

Ginny got dressed and ready for the day. She then snuck out of her dormitory as not to wake up her roommates. When she arrived downstairs, she found Colin sitting on the couch, talking to a girl that Ginny know only by looks. She was a fourth year Gryffindor and a friend of Dennis.

"Hey, Colin," she greeted.

"Hey, Gin. What are you doing up?" he asked curiously.

"I woke up early and jumped out of bed because I thought I was late for class," Ginny admitted.

"Oh," Colin replied, biting back giggles. "By the way, this is Natalie McDonald. Natalie, this is Ginny Weasley."

"Hi," Ginny said.

"Hey," Natalie responded.

"Well, I think I'll head down to breakfast. See you," Ginny said before exiting the Common Room. She walked towards the Great Hall and sat down to breakfast.

*~*~*~*

Draco woke up on Saturday morning with the sunlight streaming in through the windows of the seventh year Slytherin dormitory. As he sat up and looked around, he saw that all of his roommates had already gotten up. He glanced at the clock and saw that he had almost missed lunch. He got dressed as quickly as he could and headed to the great Hall. He scanned the Slytherin table and sat down next to Blaise.

"Finally up, I see," Blaise commented.

"Yeah. I almost missed lunch," Draco replied. "I had to hurry down here."

"Is that why your hair isn't gelled back?" Blaise asked.

"What?" Draco asked, touching his head. Sure enough, no gel. "Bloody Hell, I forgot gel."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "It's really not that big a deal. Actually, I think it looks better like that anyway," he assured.

Draco glared at him. "What do you know?" he snapped.

"More than you," Blaise shot back.

This only caused Draco to glare harder. That's when Blaise decided that it would be best if he just shut up. He had experience the wrath of Draco before, and it wasn't very high on his to-do again list.

As Draco ate his lunch, he thought he felt someone's eyes on him, but every time he looked around, he didn't see anyone. He just amounted it to paranoia. For some reason, he always felt that his father was going to appear out of thin air one day. He knew it was unfounded and highly unlikely, but he couldn't help it. The thought always sent fear coursing through his veins.

Draco turned back to his lunch. He felt the eyes on him once again. As he raised his eyes, they collided with the chocolate brown gaze of Ginny Weasley. Why is she staring at me? Draco wondered. Did she know? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He quickly finished his lunch and stood up to leave the Great Hall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny stand up to follow him out. What did she want?

*~*~*~*

As soon as she saw Draco stand up at the Slytherin table, Ginny stood up also. She followed at a distance until they were outside the Great Hall. He began to walk away, but she stopped him. "Draco, wait," she called.

He turned around slowly, a smirk on his face, and Ginny couldn't help but notice how much better his hair looked without any gel in it. "Did you just call me Draco, Weasley?" Draco drawled mockingly.

"Yes, I did, and I have something to tell you," Ginny announced. "If you'll just listen to me."

"What is it?" Draco snapped. He had a feeling about what she was going to say, and he wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well, this may come as a shock to you, but we used to be friends when we were little," she blurted.

"I know," Draco answered a little colder than he had intended to.

"Oh," Ginny faltered. There went any hope of them ever being friends. He had already known and hadn't done anything.

When Draco saw her disappointed face, he continued, "I wanted to tell you, but never had a real chance. I just found out over Christmas holidays." He actually sounded nice. He would have to work on that.
"Really?" she asked, her voice hopeful.

"Really," he replied. He may not like it, but it was true.

There was an awkward pause. "So, I guess I'll see you around," Ginny said after a few minutes.

"Yeah, see you," Draco responded. They both went their separate ways. Neither knew what would come in the future, but they both had feelings that it would be good.

A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.

-->

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the plot.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 7

The next few weeks showed improvement for both Draco and Ginny. Everyday they seemed to talk a little longer than the day before. They had an almost friendship. By this time, it was the beginning of February, and Valentine's Day was just around the corner. This year, Dumbledore announced that there would be a Valentine's Day Ball to take everyone's minds off of the war. Ginny was secretly hoping that Draco would ask her, even if they just went as friends.

Currently, Ginny's last class had just let out, and she was heading to the library to do her homework. She met Draco there every afternoon so they could study together. Ron hadn't been very happy when he found out, but he didn't say much. He knew that they used to be friends and decided not to fight it.

When she arrived in the library, Ginny didn't see Draco anywhere so she sat down at an empty table and started her homework. As she was working on any essay for Charms class, she felt someone sit down next to her. Assuming that it was Draco, she didn't look up. It wasn't Draco. "Hi, Ginny," came the superior drawl of, not Draco, but Bryant.

"Hi," she replied uncertainly.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Valentine's Day Ball with me?" Bryant asked, not wasting any time.

Ginny was taken aback. Why was he asking her out? "Sure," she answered. She didn't really want to go with him, but she didn't want to say no and hurt his feelings either. She was just that kind of person.

"Great, see you then," he said. Then he got up and left a confused Ginny in his wake.

*~*~*~*

When Draco arrived in the library, he saw Ginny sitting at one of the tables, working on her homework. He walked over to the table and sat down across from her. She looked up at him and relief flooded her face. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hi. What's up?" he asked conversationally.

"Bryant asked me to the Valentine's Day Ball," she blurted out. She hadn't meant to tell him that. They never really talked about anything personal when they were with each other. The whole situation was just too new to them both.

"What did you say?" Draco inquired.

"I agreed to go with him. I'm not good at turning people down," she admitted sheepishly.

"So, you don't want to go with him?" he clarified.

"Well, I don't really know him," Ginny replied.

"He's a jerk. That's all you have to know. Go find him and tell him that you've changed your mind. You're going with me instead," Draco commanded.

"No! Why should I listen to what you say?" she demanded.

"Maybe because I know Bryant better than you do, and I know he's bad news," Draco shot back.

"Why do you care what happens to me?" she asked fiercely.

"I don't, but since we've sort of become friends, I thought I could warn you," he growled.

"If we're such great friends' you wouldn't be commanding me around like I'm a house elf," Ginny snapped back. "I don't know how I thought we could ever be friends again. You treat me like I'm some sort of lower life form!"

With that, Ginny whipped around and stalked out of the library. The closer she got to Gryffindor Tower, the blurrier her vision became from her unshed tears. She didn't know why the fight upset her so much. They hadn't even been that great of friends, barely even friends, but their fight pretty much crushed any hope of them ever becoming friends again. That thought saddened her, and, as she stepped into her dormitory, her unshed tears soon began to fall.

*~*~*~*

Draco sat in his dormitory and thought about his fight with Ginny. He knew it shouldn't bother him as much as it did. They hadn't even been that close, but they had been civil, and maybe even a little friendly. Then she had to ruin it by agreeing to go to the ball with Bryant. He sneered at the thought. What an idiot! Ginny would never like him. Although, that's what Draco had thought about himself, and look what happened there.

Draco sighed and walked over to his desk where there was a picture of him and Ginny when they were little. They looked so happy together. They were even holding hands. It was all so surreal. Draco had been planning to ask Ginny to the ball. He thought that that would be the perfect time to try and really start their friendship up again. Maybe it would even lead to more. That had been his plan until Bryant had interfered. He probably didn't even like Ginny, he just wanted to spite Draco. Draco glared at the wall at that thought. Bryant had slowly begun to ruin Draco's life, and there wasn't much Draco could do about it.

"Hey, Malfoy, looking at your lost love again?" Bryant sneered from the doorway of the dormitory.

"What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco snapped.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve?" Bryant teased.

"No, you just happen to get on my nerves," Draco explained calmly, turning to face his nemesis.

"So, what do you think about my date to the Valentine's Day ball?" Bryant asked casually.

"I think the only reason that you're going out with her is to get to me," Draco answered, glaring at the other boy.

"You're smarter than you look," Bryant said with a smirk. Hey! That's my smirk, Draco thought indignantly.

"That must be pretty smart if I'm smarter than I look. Thanks for the compliment," Draco shot back.

Bryant glared at Draco. "You may be smart, but I got the girl," he reminded nastily before turning and leaving.

"Will have to see about that," Draco whispered, determination in his voice. Bryant was already gone.

*~*~*~*

When Ginny had stopped her tears, she sat up and looked around her dormitory. That's when she saw the owl hovering outside her window. It began to peck on the window. Ginny had a feeling it wasn't for the first time. She jumped off her bed and opened the window. It held out its leg. She took off the letter and the owl flew back out the window.

Ginny saw that the letter was addressed to her and wondered who it was from. She hadn't recognized the owl. The letter said:

Dear Ginny,

How is school going? I hope it's going well. I haven't gotten any pleas for help or complaints so I assume you're not miserable. How are things with Draco? Have you talked to him yet? You better have. You better be his best friend by this time. I'm just kidding, but I do hope you talked to him. If you have, tell me how it went!
Anyway, I'm doing okay. I'm four months into my pregnancy, and I can't wait to have the baby. Write back soon! Bill says hi too.
Love,
Kiara

Ginny smiled as she read the letter from Kiara. It was reassuring to know that there was someone she could confide in about Draco. She found a piece of parchment and a quill, and she began to write a letter back to her sister-in-law.

Dear Kiara,
I'm so glad you wrote me! I was feeling kind of down before I read your letter. I was crying, actually. More about that in a minute.
I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that I did talk to Draco. We slowly became almost friends, until today. That's what got me so upset. See, there's this Valentine's Day Ball coming up. I wanted Draco to ask me, even if we didn't go on a date. It would be cool to go together. Anyway, one of the other Slytherin guys asked me to go with him. I didn't really want to, but I agreed to go with him anyway. I didn't want to be mean and say no. When I told Draco who had asked me to the dance, he freaked out and told me not to go with him. We got into a big fight, and I ended up stomping away. I feel bad now because I think our friendship is ruined. I now realize that Draco was just trying to be helpful, but was a little more forceful than most people.
Right, enough about me. You're four months along! Only five more months to go! Hope you and Bill aren't fighting anymore. Tell Bill I said hi. That's all for now.
Love,
Ginny

Once Ginny had finished writing her letter, she went in search of her brother in see if she could borrow his owl, Pig. She found him in the Common Room, playing Exploding Snap with Dean Thomas. "Hey, Ron," she greeted.

"Hi, Gin. What's up?" Ron asked.

"I was wondering if I could borrow Pig to send a letter to Kiara," she replied.

"Sure, go ahead," Ron told her.

"Thanks. By the way, where are Harry and Hermione?" Ginny inquired curiously.

Ron shrugged. "Off snogging somewhere," he answered, a tiny bit bitter.

Ginny held back laughter at the bitterness in his voice. She then headed to Ron's dormitory to get Pig. He was, as always, flittering around his cage excitedly. She quickly tied the letter on to the little owl's leg and sent him out the window. He sped away, happy to be helping once again.

Ginny shook her head at the owl's energy. He never seemed to stay in one spot very long. She then headed down to the Common Room and out of Gryffindor Tower. She soon arrived at the Great Hall and entered for dinner.

*~*~*~*

The next day, Ginny woke up and dreaded going down for breakfast. She knew that Draco would be there, and she didn't want to see him happy while she was miserable. She had worried about it at dinner the night before, but half way through dinner, Ginny had realized he wasn't coming.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Ginny got out of bed and got ready. She got ready for the day and headed down to the Great Hall. When she arrived, she scanned the Gryffindor table and spotted Colin sitting alone. She went to sit across from him. Not a good idea. Now she was sitting facing the Slytherin table, but it was too late now. Colin would think that she was odd if she suddenly stood up and sat down next to him. "Hey, Colin," she greeted instead, all the while scanning the Slytherin table for Draco's blonde hair. She spotted it sitting between Pansy and Blaise. Pansy had her head on Draco's shoulder, and he pushed her off, annoyed.

Ginny smiled slightly and then turned her attention back to Colin. "... are you looking for?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she mumbled before looking back up at the Slytherin table. Her gaze soon collided with the grey eyes of Draco. He had been staring at her, and she had caught him.

Smirking once again, Ginny looked down at her plate. Draco wasn't as unfeeling as he tried to act. He obviously had some feelings about their fight, or he wouldn't be staring at her. Most likely they were feelings of hatred, but it was a start.

"Ginny? Hello? Anyone there?" Colin asked, waving his hand in front of her face and turning around to see what she had been looking at.

"Oh, sorry Colin," she apologized. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking you if you were okay. Yesterday at dinner you seemed a little upset about something," Colin repeated.

"Oh, it was nothing," Ginny lied. "Hey, I forgot to tell you! Bryant Parkinson asked me to the Valentine's Day Ball."

"Really? What did you say?" he questioned.

"I said yes," she replied nonchalantly.

"What? You're going with that jerk?" Colin exclaimed in surprise. "Why?"

"I didn't want to just say no. It would have been mean," Ginny explained.

"You shouldn’t go with him, Ginny. He's bad news," Colin advised.

"What would you know?" Ginny snapped, frustrated, before standing up and stalking out of the Great Hall. Why was everyone so against her going with Bryant to the Ball?

*~*~*~*

Draco arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast and took a seat at the Slytherin table, facing the Gryffindors. Ginny wasn't there yet, but he wanted to be able to watch her when she did arrive. He had begun to feel slightly guilty about telling her who she could go to the Ball with. He knew he probably sounded cold and unfeeling, but in reality, he had been disappointed. He had wanted to go to the Ball with her. In fact, he had been preparing to ask her that day. Then she had to go and tell him that Bryant had asked her. Stupid git.

At that moment, the subject of Draco's thoughts strode through the doors of the Great Hall and took a seat at her house table. She sat facing the Slytherin table, he noted happily. Maybe she feels bad too. Pansy must have noticed that his attention had drifted somewhere other than her. She leaned her head against his shoulder, but Draco instantly pushed her away. "Get off," he snapped.

Pansy looked indignant, but didn't say anything. At that moment, Draco looked up to see Ginny smile slightly. He had a feeling she had seen what had happened with Pansy. That's when Ginny's beautiful chocolate eyes met his. Wait. Where had that come from? He stared dazedly as Ginny looked away and smiled again.

A few minutes later, Draco was still staring at the Gryffindor table when he sat Ginny get mad. She then stood up and stomped out of the Great Hall. He wondered curiously what Creevey had said to make her upset. Shrugging mentally, Draco turned back to his breakfast and then headed to his first class.

*~*~*~*

Unbeknownst to either Draco or Ginny, Bryant had witnessed their "exchange" during breakfast, and he didn't like it. He would put a stop to it instantly. She was his date to the Ball, not that twit, Draco's. As soon as Bryant saw Ginny get up, he got up also and went out the doors behind her.

Ginny must have heard his footsteps, because she turned around to see who was there. "Hi, Ginny," Bryant greeted.

"Hi, Bryant," she replied with, what looked like, a genuine smile. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked upset when you left the Great Hall," Bryant charmed.

"Oh, I'm fine. It was nothing. My friends just said something to upset me a little, but I'm fine. I just overreacted is all," she answered with another smile. "It's really sweet of you to ask though."

"It was nothing," he bragged. "I really like you , and I wouldn't want to see you sad." Ginny accepted this as truth and walked away with one last smile.

Inwardly, Bryant gloated. She was actually stupid enough to believe me, he scoffed mentally. Like I'd actually like her. Please, I only asked her out because I knew Draco would be mad if I did. I stole the girl right from under his nose, and he couldn't do anything without making Ginny hate him even more than she already did.

Bryant smirked to himself. His plan was perfect. He got to show up Draco, and he might get a nice lay out of it too. He was a genius.

*~*~*~*

Ginny walked to her next class with a smile on her face. Bryant was so sweet! What did Colin and Draco know, anyway? Nothing was going to happen to her. They were probably just jealous, she added mentally with a snigger, but she didn't believe it. She didn't even think Draco had any interest in being her friend, let alone her boyfriend. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and shoved them to the back of her mind. She could think about this later, but now she had class to concentrate on.

*~*~*~*

After all of the day's classes, Ginny headed back to her dormitory. She was surprised to see a letter from Kiara. That was fast, she thought, not bothering to wonder how the letter had gotten there or why it had come so fast. She was just excited to see what Kiara had to say about her situation. She unfolded the letter and read it.

Dear Ginny,
I'm glad my letter cheered you up. I'm also glad to hear that you talked to Draco! Don't worry about the falling out. It sounds like he was just trying to stop you from getting hurt, and he might even be a little jealous! You never know. Just wait it out a little and then talk to him. I'm sure he'll come around.
I'm glad (I seem to be saying that a lot) that you've put your family's prejudices behind you. I would have hated to see you lose a friend because you were taught to hate him. I'm happy for you. I'm sure he's not as bad as he seems. Well, that's it for now. See you soon.
Love,
Kiara

Once she had finished reading Kiara's letter, Ginny began contemplating how she had written back so quickly. Ginny wasn't even sure if her letter would have made it all the way Egypt in that time. In fact, she was almost certain it couldn't have made it. So, how had Kiara gotten her letter?

*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, in the dungeons, Draco had a different perplexing problem. When he had walked into his dormitory, he'd found a note on his pillow.

Draco-
Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at eight o'clock tonight. I want to talk to you.

It was signed simply, an old friend. Draco immediately ran the candidates through his head. Blaise? Probably not, he'd talk in person. Pansy? Improbably for the same reason as Blaise. Ginny? Maybe. She was probably the most likely person in all of Hogwarts.

Now all Draco had to do was decide if he should meet the mystery person or not. He had to admit that he was curious to know who it was. He also had to admit that if he found out it was Ginny, he probably wouldn't go. As much as he regretted their fight, he wasn't sure what he would say if she confronted him about it. There were two reasons he didn't want her to go to the Ball with Bryant. One was that he didn't want to see her hurt. The other was that he was jealous and wanted her to go with him, but he couldn't very well tell her either of those reasons. She would run away in disgust. There was no way she would be okay with either of those reasons. He was, after all, the person who had tormented her for the past six years that she had been at Hogwarts.

At that moment, Bryant walked into the dormitory. "Parkinson," Draco greeted.

"Hell, Draco. Who's the letter from? Is it a love note from your beloved Pansy?" Bryant taunted.

"Shut it. You know very well that I hate your cousin," Draco snapped.

"Yes, but she doesn't," Bryant shot back. "I should have been more careful at Durmstrang, then I wouldn't have to be stuck here."

"What do you mean you should have been more careful?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Well, I, I, I don't see why that's any of your business," Bryant said, trying to regain his composure. He then turned on his heel and raced out of the room. There was something odd about Bryant, and Draco was going to get to the bottom of it.

*~*~*~*

Later that night, Draco sat in his dormitory, contemplating the note he had gotten. It was almost eight o'clock, and he still hadn't decided if he should go or not.

At ten to eight, his curiosity got the better of him, and Draco headed towards the Astronomy Tower. If he didn't like who it was, he could always make a break for it. As long as it wasn't a group of Death Eaters, his father, or both, he would be okay. That was a big if.

Throwing caution to the wind, he made his way up to the Astronomy Tower. He arrived there with a minute to spare, but no one was there. If they weren't there by ten after, he intended to leave, but, for now, he would stay.

At that moment, someone opened the door. Draco couldn't see who it was, but they had their wand out. It was Death Eaters. He was in trouble now.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter should be out soon! I’m trying to get them out as fast as possible. Don’t forget to review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot and the occasional original character.

A/N: Special thanks to my lovely beta, Aliya.

Chapter 8

The person then opened the door all the way. Draco saw that it was a woman, and she didn't seem like a huge threat at the moment. That's when he realized that she was using her wand for light, not to curse him.

"Hello?" he called, slightly confused. Who was this person, and what did she want?

"Draco! I haven't seen you in such a long time!" the woman exclaimed.

"Not to be rude of anything, but who are you?" Draco asked bluntly.

"I'm Kiara Bell. Well, Weasley now, but that doesn't matter. I used to baby-sit for you when you were little," she added at his bemused look.

"You did?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Yes, I did. Whenever your parents went out I would baby-sit you. They didn't trust the house elves with their precious Draco," Kiara reminded.

Draco thought for a minute. "Now I remember you!" he exclaimed suddenly. "You were the one who always let me stay up late and eat whatever I wanted."

"That was me. I spoiled you rotten," Kiara agreed.

"I used to wonder where you went once I was too old for a babysitter. I remember the first few times that I stayed at the manor by myself, I kept wishing that you were there," Draco reminisced.

"Really?" Kiara asked, honored.

"Yeah," Draco replied with a smile. "So, I have a feeling that you didn't come here just to remember old times. Why did you want to talk to me?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about my sister-in-law, Ginny Weasley," she told him.

"Which one of those wonderful brothers of hers did you marry?" Draco wondered sarcastically.

"I married Bill, the oldest, if you must know," Kiara snapped.

"Sorry. What about Ginny?" he apologized.

"Well, she wrote me a letter, and I wanted to read a little of it to you," Kiara answered. She pulled out the letter and began reading. “She said, `Dear Kiara, I'm so glad you wrote me. I was feeling really down before I read your letter. I was crying, actually.' Do you know why she was crying?"

Draco shook his head. "No, but I have a feeling that you're going to tell me," he replied.

"She was crying because you told her she couldn't go to the Ball with Bryant. It upset her that you two had a fight," Kiara informed him.

He didn'jt say anything for a minute. "She was that upset about it?" he asked disbelievingly after a minute.

"Yes. She told me all about your fight. Now, tell me truthfully, why you didn't want her to go with the other guy," she commanded softly. She wanted to know if he liked Ginny, or if he just wanted to boss her around.

"Truthfully, I don't want her to go with him because I honestly don't like him. There's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. I'm also a little suspicious of why he's here," Draco answered.

"Is the only reason?" Kiara prompted.

Draco hesitated again. "I guess not. I guess I'm kind of jealous. I was planning on asking her that day, but Bryant beat me to it," he admitted.

"So, you like her?" Kiara clarified.

"Well, I like her, but I'm not sure if it's just as a friend or something more," Draco told her uncertainly. Deep down, he knew he was lying. He liked her as more than a friend, but he didn't want to admit it. If he said it out loud, it would make it so much more real.

"But you wanted to go to the Ball with her?" Kiara recapped. Draco nodded. "But you're not sure if you fancy her or not?"

"Exactly," Draco confirmed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I heard Ginny's feelings about all of this, and I just wanted to see where you stood," Kiara explained. "I guess that's all. Bye, Draco."

"Wait!" Draco called. Kiara turned around and prompted him to continue. "Can you not mention anything I said to Ginny?"

"My lips are sealed," she assured with a smile, and, with that, she was gone.

Draco then headed back to his dormitory, glad that he had met the writer of his letter. It was good to see an old friend again, and now he knew how Ginny felt about their fight. He felt kind of bad that he had made Ginny cry, but he knew he was right. Bryant was up to something, but Draco just was sure what.

*~*~*~*

Ginny was sitting in her dormitory when there was a knock at the door. She stood up and curiously opened the door. Who would be knocking on her door? She opened the door to reveal Kiara standing there.

When she saw who it was, Ginny let out a little squeal of surprise and pulled Kiara into a big hug. "What are you doing here?" she shrieked happily.

"Well, I dropped by to talk to someone and thought I'd say hi," Kiara answered.

"Who did you have to talk to?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Draco Malfoy," Kiara replied bluntly. She figured there was no point in lying.

"What?" Ginny exclaimed in surprise. "Why would you have to talk to him?"

"I wanted to hear his side of your fight," Kiara explained.

"So, you went up to a total stranger and asked him about our fight?" Ginny asked, dumbfounded.

"No, I've know Draco for a long time. I used to baby-sit him when he was little," Kiara told her.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Ginny demanded indignantly.

"You never asked," her sister-in-law pointed out with a shrug.

"You still could have told me!" Ginny protested.

"I guess I could have,” Kiara agreed. "But would that really have help you any?"

"I suppose not," Ginny admitted. "But it still would have been a comfort to know."

"Sorry," Kiara apologized.

"It's alright. So, what did he say about our fight?" Ginny wanted to know.

"He has asked that everything he said to me remains confidential," Kiara informed Ginny.

"Well, can't you tell me anyway?" she begged.

"Well, I could, but I'm not going to," Kiara teased.

"Please, Kiara," Ginny pleaded.

"No," she replied.

"Well, at least tell me if you told him anything that I said," Ginny insisted.

"I did tell him about your side of the fight," Kiara admitted.

"Then it's only fair that I get to hear about his side," Ginny insisted.

"Fine," Kiara relented. "I'll tell you this much, he doesn't want you to go with Bryant because he honestly believes you could get hurt."

"Really?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"Really," Kiara confirmed.

"Thanks. That's good enough for me," Ginny said cheerfully.

"Well, I'm going to go now that I've completed my task. See you later, Ginny," Kiara bid her good-bye.

"Bye, Kiara."

Kiara then walked out of the dormitory. Ginny watched her as she descended the stairs until she could see her so more. Then she closed the dormitory door and screamed with glee into her pillow. Draco really did care about her! He didn't want to see her hurt! She had to apologize, but how?

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Draco woke up and found a letter for him next to his bed. When he reached down to pick it up, he saw that it was actually two letters, both addressed to him. The first said:

Dear Draco,

I just wanted to tell you that, even though I promised not to, I told Ginny a little about our conversation. Sorry, but it's for your own good. You know you want to be friends with Ginny, and I'm just helping. Hope everything works out for you.

Love,

Kiara

The other one said:

Dear Draco,

Meet me outside the Great Hall at four o'clock. I really need to talk to you.

-Ginny

After reading the first one, Draco became mad at Kiara. She had promised she wouldn't tell! Now she'd told Ginny! Now Ginny might think he fancied her. Even though that was true, he didn't want her to know that.

After reading the second one, however, Draco was glad Kiara had told. Ginny was willing to talk to him again. That was a definite good thing. Maybe he could convince her to go to the Ball with him instead of Bryant. If only he knew the real reason Bryant had transferred, it might be easier for him to convince her.

Smiling happily to himself, Draco got ready. He then headed down to the Great Hall for lunch. He couldn't wait until four o'clock.

*~*~*~*

As four o'clock approached, Ginny began to get nervous. What if Draco didn't show up? What if he didn't get her letter? What if Kiara was lying and he really didn't care if Bryant hurt her on not? She could go on forever, but she knew it wouldn't do any good so she tried to calm herself down. She sat down and tried to start her essay for Charms, but she was just too nervous.

By this time, it was quarter to four, and she figured she could head down to the Great Hall. She stood up ran her fingers through her hair and walked out of her dormitory.

When she arrived outside the Great Hall, it was five to four, and there was no sign of Draco. He still could come, you're early, she reminded herself. Just as she was thinking this, Draco came strolling around the corner. She was so happy that he came that she almost rushed forward to give him a hug, but decided against it. She didn't want to scare him away before she had a chance to apologize.

"Hi, Draco," she greeted instead.

"Hey," Draco replied, a tad bit coldly, Ginny noted. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize," Ginny told him.

"For what?" Draco asked curiously.

"Well, for making a huge deal about you not wanting me to go to the Ball with Bryant. Kiara told me that you just don't want to see me get hurt. So, I'm sorry," she apologized contritely.

He hesitated before answering. "I guess I sort of, um, owe you an, er, apology too," he stuttered.

"No, you don't, Draco. I know you just did it to protect me. Besides, I also know that you've probably never apologized to anyone in your entire life. Save it for someone who actually deserves your apology," Ginny cut him off before he could apologize. "Just tell me that you accept my apology, and I'll be happy."

"Alright, I accept your apology," Draco replied uncertainly.

"So, friends?" Ginny asked tentatively.

“Yes, friends,” he said with a smile.

With that, they both went their separate ways to do whatever it is they were going to do. They were both happy with their friendship, and Draco knew that as soon as he got back to his dormitory that he was going to write Kiara a letter. Ginny also had that thought in mind.

*~*~*~*

Draco soon arrived back at his dormitory. He sat down at his desk and took out a piece of parchment and a quill.

Dear Kiara,

Thank you so much for not listening to me! Ginny and I made up. I'm so glad. Thanks!

Draco

Feeling much better about himself, Draco sent his letter off with his owl. After he had done that, he decided that he would fly around on his broom. He knew he would be freezing, but he didn't care. He needed the practice. Besides, it would take his mid off of the upcoming Valentine's Day Ball. Grabbing his Firebolt 6000, he headed out to the Pitch.

*~*~*~*

After talking to Draco, Ginny headed back up to her dormitory to tell Kiara. She grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and headed down to the Common Room. She sat down on one of the chairs near the fire and began writing.

Dear Kiara,

Thank you so much! Great news, Draco and I are friends again. I apologized to him for getting so upset and yelling at him. I never would have been able to do that if you hadn't told me what he'd said. You saved our friendship. Thank you!

In other news, the Valentine's Day Ball is on Saturday! I can't wait. It turns out that Bryant really is sweet. Draco and Colin were wrong. He won't hurt me. I wonder if Draco has a date. I'll have to ask him, but I'm almost sure he's going with Pansy Parkinson, Bryant's cousin. They've been on again, off again since my third year when they went to the Yule Ball together.

So, how are you doing? Have you been sick at all because of your pregnancy? How is Bill? Is he excited about the baby? Hope all is good with you.

By the time you write back, I might have already gone to the Ball. I can't wait! Write back soon.

Love,

Ginny

When she finished writing her letter, Ginny went up to the Owlery to get Pig. Ron put him up there because he made too much noise. She found him right away. He was the only owl who was fluttering around and squeaking impatiently.

Ginny rolled her eyes as she walked up to the squealing little owl. "You just never get tired, do you?" she asked Pig, not expecting an answer.

Pig merely started squealing louder. Ginny took that as a yes. She then tied her letter to his leg and let him fly out the window. She watched him for a while, not really seeing him. She was just thinking and staring into space.

The door opened, and someone entered the Owlery. Ginny heard the door close and turned around to see who it was. Standing in the doorway, was Bryant. "Hi, Ginny," he greeted, unfazed by her presence.

"Hey, Bryant," Ginny replied in greeting, surprised to see him.

"Ginny? Can I ask you something a little personal?" Bryant asked abruptly.

"Um, sure," she answered a little reluctantly.

"Who's your locket from?" Bryant questioned.

His question startled her. She didn't think anyone knew about her locket. She always kept it tucked safely under her clothes. "It's, uh, from a friend," Ginny stammered.

"An old friend?" He drawled dryly.

"Yes, actually," Ginny admitted. She had no idea how he'd known that.

"Draco gave that to you, didn't he?" Bryant demanded roughly.

"Ye-yeah," she said, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Bryant didn't look very happy with her answer, and, quite frankly, she was getting a little scared. Why did it matter, anyway? "It was a long time ago."

"Then why are you still wearing it?" he snapped angrily.

"I just found it again over Christmas holidays. I decided to start wearing it again," she fibbed. She didn't want to have to explain her whole past with Draco to him.

"Well, take it off. I don't want to catch you wearing that ever again, or you'll regret ever being `best friends forever' with Draco," Bryant threatened.

"How'd you know it said that?" Ginny asked. Now she was getting angry. Who was he that he thought he could just push her around? She wasn't going to let him anymore.

That seemed to snap Bryant out of his anger. The rage, almost pure hatred, that had consumed his eyes only a few seconds before was gone. "I'm so sorry, Ginny," he apologized. "I just like you so much. I can't stand the thought of you being with any other guy but me."

"It's alright, Bryant," she replied, slightly still bemused. She was sure that he could see her confusion, but he didn't see anything. She stared into his eyes for a minute to find any indication of why he'd been so mad at her. They were void of any emotion. There wasn't even any regret or remorse in them. That's when she began to think that maybe Draco and Colin were right. Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to the go to the ball with Bryant.

"Well, I'll see you later, Ginny."

"Yeah, see you."

Then Bryant was gone. Ginny began walking toward the door of the Owlery. That's when it hit her like a ton of bricks. Bryant hadn't sent any letter when he was in the Owlery.

A/N: Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot!!!!!

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 9

The next week passed quickly for Ginny. By this time, it was the day of the Valentine's Day Ball. She and Luna Lovegood, her best friend, were talking over breakfast.

"So, how are you getting along with Bryant? Has he blown up at you anymore?" Luna asked curiously.

"No, he's been totally sweet. I don't know what was wrong with him that day," Ginny replied with a perplexed sigh. "I don't get it. Is he sweet or isn't he?"

"I bet he was just really stressed about something, or he was really tired. I don't think he could act that sweet if he wasn't really a nice person," Luna put in her two cents.

"I guess so," Ginny agreed. "So, do you have everything for the dance?"

"Well, I'm not sure that I'm going," Luna admitted.

"What? Why not?" Ginny demanded.

"Because usually we hang out with each other, but since you have a date we can't do that. I'll have nothing to do," Luna told her friend.

"You could go with Ron," Ginny offered. "He was too depressed to ask anyone after Hermione told him she was going with Harry."

"Thanks, but I don't think he'll appreciate his little sister setting him up. Besides, he doesnâ€â„¢t even like me," Luna pointed out.

"He does too like you. He's just too shy to say anything to you about it," Ginny informed her.

"Really?" Luna asked, brightening.

"You like him, don't you?" Ginny inquired.

""no," Luna shot back quickly. A little too quickly in Ginny's opinion.

"Oh, come on. You can tell me. I'm your best friend," Ginny coaxed.

"I guess I might like him a little," Luna admitted.

"That's so cool. Maybe you'll end up getting married. Then we'll be related!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

"Ginny! All I said was that I like him a little. That doesn't mean you can start planning the wedding. If I started planning a wedding every time you admitted you liked someone, I would have millions of half-planned weddings laying around everywhere," Luna pointed out.

"That's not true! I haven't liked that many boys!" Ginny protested indignantly.

"Well, maybe not a million, but there were a lot," Luna amended.

"I bet you can't even name five off of the of your head," Ginny challenged.

"I can too. There was Harry and Michael, Colin for a little, Dean, Seamus, Jason, Oliver,

Malfoy-"

"I never told you that!" Ginny screeched in surprise.

"Told me what?" Luna asked, confused.

"I never told you that I have a crush on Draco!" Ginny shrieked.

"You actually like him?" Luna asked. "I was just kidding!"

"Oh," Ginny whispered, blushing deeply.

"You actually like him? I only said that because of what you found out over break!" Luna told her.

"Yes," Ginny admitted sheepishly.

"Really?" Luna asked.

"Yes, really," Ginny snapped. "Happy now?"

"Well, sorry," Luna mumbled sarcastically.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be snappy," Ginny apologized. "I don't see what's so unbelievable about me liking Draco."

"Sorry. I was just surprised," Luna said apologetically.

"It's alright. Now, back to what I was saying before. I guess you're right. I have liked many guys," Ginny admitted.

"Told you," Luna shot back, sticking out her tongue childishly.

"So, if you're not going to the Ball, want to help me get ready?" Ginny asked.

"Sure. I might end up going, but I'll still help you. You know I love helping you do your make-up and hair," Luna agreed.

"You should come, but for now, I have to go. I've got to finish a Potions essay before I go tonight. I probably won't have the energy to do it tomorrow. Meet me outside the Gryffindor Common Room at five," Ginny told her friend, standing up to leave.

"Alright see you later," Luna replied, also standing up. Then Ginny went up to her dormitory and finished her essay.

*~*~*~*

Later that day, Ginny stood outside of Gryffindor Tower, waiting for Luna. It was already past five, and she was getting a little nervous. The dance started at six. Where was she?

"Hey, Gin," Luna greeted when she, finally, rushed up to Ginny.

"Hi, Luna. What took you so long? The dance starts at six, and we still have to do my hair and make-up," Ginny panicked.

"Calm down, you'll be fine. We'll work fast," Luna soothed. "And to answer your question, I was late because I had to Transfigure some slippers into shoes for the Ball."

That was when Ginny took in her friend's appearance. She was wearing light blue dress robes, her hair was curled in ringlets and pulled up on the top of her head, and she had charmed her nails to be a sparkly, light blue color. Ginny had to admit, her friend looked good. "Oh, Luna, you look great," Ginny exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're coming to the Ball! You're going to be the center of attention."

"Thanks, Ginny," Luna said, blushing. "Now, let's go make you beautiful too."

When Ginny and Luna arrived in Ginny's dormitory, Luna pushed Ginny into a chair in front of her mirror. "So, what do you want to do with your hair?" Luna asked, getting down to business. "These are gorgeous dress robes, by the way."

"Thanks, Bill and Kiara gave them to me for Christmas," Ginny answered. "Here, use these hair clips somehow in my hair. They're from Charlie, so is the necklace."

"They're really pretty," Luna praised before getting to work.

After about twenty minutes, Luna had finished with Ginny's hair. She had curled it and clipped the front of both sides back with the clips. "It looks great!" Ginny exclaimed happily. "Thanks, Luna."

"It was nothing. Besides, I like doing this kind of stuff," Luna said modestly.

"It still looks great. Now, can you help me with my make-up?" Ginny asked.

"That's what I'm here for. Turn towards me," Luna commanded.

Ginny did as she was told and let Luna do her stuff. She had no doubts about her friend's skill. She was just talented with that kind of stuff.

When Luna finished, Ginny turned and looked in the mirror. She gasped out loud. "I actually look pretty," she squealed. "Thank you so much, Luna."

"I really didn't have to do much," Luna admitted.

"Yeah, right," Ginny scoffed. "I don't know what you did, but it looks great."

As Ginny stared at herself in the mirror, she tried to figure out what Luna had done to her. She could tell there was subtle make-up, but she couldn't tell what. Her favorite part, however, was the glitter that acted like eye shadow and then was sprinkled across her cheeks.

"Anytime, Gin," Luna said with a smile. "We should probably head down to the Great Hall. The dance is starting really soon."

"You're right, let's go," Ginny agreed.

*~*~*~*

Draco woke up on the day of the dance and didn't want to get out of bed. What was the point? The only good thing about the whole ball thing was that Ginny would be there. He might even get to dance with her once, if he was lucky and could hold off Bryant long enough.

Draco pulled himself out of bed and glanced at the clock. It read 2:15. He had slept later than usual, but that was fine with him. He liked wasting most of the day sleeping. What else was there to do?

For the rest of the time remaining before the dance, Draco worked on homework. He had fallen a little behind and had to catch up. It was dull and tedious work, but he had to do it sometime.

As the time of the dance drew close, Draco began to get ready. He put on black dress robes made especially for him, and slicked back his hair. It was a habit of his he couldn't seem to stop. His hands would automatically do his hair like that every morning. He had been doing it for so long.

When Draco was ready, he headed down to the Common Room to wait for Pansy. Yes, he had caved and asked her. He wouldn't very well show up at the dance without a date. It just wouldn't do. Besides, he figured if he had a date, it might make Ginny jealous. It was a long shot, but you never could tell with girls.

After waiting for nearly twenty minutes, Draco began to get impatient. Where was Pansy? They were now late for the dance, and he wanted to get there as soon as possible. He wanted to keep an eye on Bryant to make sure he didn't try anything. He also wanted to make sure he could get at least one dance with her. He was running out of time for that. What if she left before he got there? That's when he realized how ridiculous he sounded. She wouldn't leave before he got there. He could relax.

"Hi, Draco," Pansy greeted from behind Draco.

He flinched before turning around to look at his date. She was wearing the same pink robes that she had worn to the Yule Ball in their fourth year. They had been as unflattering then as they were now. "Hi, Pansy," he replied begrudgingly.

Pansy then walked over to Draco and pulled him in for a kiss. He broke away as soon as he could. "What's wrong?" Pansy asked with a pout. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"One, I never loved you, and, two, we're late for the Ball. Let's go," he commanded roughly.

"Fine then," Pansy pouted some more. Draco mentally rolled his eyes and led his date towards the Great Hall.

*~*~*~*

When Ginny and Luna arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall, Bryant was waiting for Ginny. "Hi, Bryant," she greeted cheerfully.

"Wow. Ginny, you look beautiful," Bryant complimented.

"Thanks," she replied, beginning to blush. "You don't look that bad yourself." Draco probably looks better, she added silently.

"So, are you ready to go in, milady?" he asked, offering her his arm.

"Why thank you, kind sir," Ginny answered with a giggle. She took his arm, and they entered the Great Hall.

Ginny gasped at the beauty of it. The teachers had really outdone themselves with all of the breath-taking decorations. There were glittering streamers hung everywhere and there were little fairies flying around everywhere, creating a romantic atmosphere. Instead of the four house tables, there were several smaller, round tables with tablecloths of red, pink, and white. The Great Hall was certainly a wonderful sight.

There weren't many people there, but Ginny scanned the crowd anyway to see if Draco was among them. She didn't see him anywhere. I wonder if he's even coming, she wondered curiously.

The Great Hall slowly began to fill up with people. Ginny and Luna talked, as Bryant watched and occasionally added something to their conversation. All the while, Ginny was looking for Draco to arrive. She finally spotted him about a half an hour later striding into the Great Hall with Pansy hanging off his arm.

"Attention, students. If everyone could take a seat at one of the many tables scattered around the room, we could get started with out meal," Dumbledore announced.

Bryant turned to Ginny and asked, "Would you mind if we sat with Draco and Pansy?"

"Not at all," she replied.

"Alright, let's go," he said and led her to Draco and Pansy's table.

"Hi, Draco, Pansy," Ginny greeted.

"Hi, Ginny," Draco answered with a smile. "Bryant," he added coldly.

"Draco, Pansy," Bryant greeted with a smug smile at Draco. "I see you both know my date, Ginny."

Ginny then took a seat next to Draco. Bryant sat down next to her, and Luna next to him. To everyone else, their table probably looked like an odd bunch to sit together.

"Alright. Could I have your attention for one minute? Thank you," Dumbledore said. "First, I would like to welcome you to the Valentine's Day Ball. I'm sure you'll all have a good time. Secondly, I would like to say dig in. That is all."

Everyone clapped as the food appeared on the tables. All through their dinner, Ginny was talking to Luna until Draco engaged her in conversation. After that, they talked for the rest of the meal, and when the meal was over, they got up to dance.

"I'm glad I got a chance to dance with you. I was hoping I would," Ginny said shyly.

"I was hoping we could dance together too. I really didn't want to come with Pansy. She annoys me so much, but I didn't want to come alone either," Draco told her.

The song ended before either Ginny or Draco wanted it to, but they knew they had to get back to their dates. Ginny could see that both Pansy and Bryant were jealous and angry. She didn't know where Luna had gone, but figured she would be fine on her own. "Hey, Bryant. Thanks for letting me dance with Draco. You want to dance?" she asked.

"I'd love to," he replied, taking her hand. "I'm so glad you agreed to come with me."

"I'm glad I agreed with you too," Ginny said softly, getting caught up in the moment. She then leaned in and kissed Bryant on the lips. He stiffened in shock before slowly beginning to kiss her back. The kiss ended before it could get too heated. They were in the middle of the dance floor, after all.

"That was amazing," Bryant whispered sweetly. It was a bold-faced lie, and he knew it. He hadn't felt anything, but Ginny didn't need to know that. If his plan was going to work, Ginny had to believe he liked her. Yeah, right, he scoffed mentally. Why would I like her?

"Yeah, it was," Ginny replied with a smile. So what if she was imagining Bryant as Draco at the time? It had still been amazing. Forcing her mind to focus on Bryant, she asked, "I never asked before, but I've been curious. Why did you transfer from Durmstrang?"

Bryant took a short moment to come up with a good excuse. "Well, Durmstrang is very dark magic oriented, and I didn't like being surrounded by all of the dark magic," he lied smoothly. In truth, he missed it terribly and wished he hadn't gotten caught. If he hadn't been, he would still be at Durmstrang instead of blood goody two shoes Hogwarts with Draco bloody Malfoy.

"That's cool, and I guess it makes sense. I don't think I'd like that school either, even after my first year," Ginny told him.

"What happened in your first year?" Bryant inquired, honestly curious.

"I was possessed by the memory of Voldemort in a diary from when he was in Hogwarts. He made me wreak havoc on all of the Muggle borns by setting loose a Basilisk. It's dead now, Harry killed it along with the diary," she explained quickly before she could begin to tear up.

"Wow," was all he could say. Inside, however, he thought it was pretty cool. "All that happened in your first year?"

Ginny nodded mournfully before turned away from her date. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes. He might think that she was weak, and she didn't want him to think that. She did like Bryant, even if she liked Draco more.

"So, what was it like, being possessed, I mean?" Bryant pushed the subject.

"Look, I really don't want to talk about it," Ginny snapped. "It was the worst time of my life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some fresh air. Alone."

Ginny slid out of Bryant's arms and ran out the doors of the Great Hall. Before she knew it, she was outside by the lake. She sat down on a dry patch of ground and pulled her knees to her chest. She buried her head in her knees and began to cry softly in to her arms. She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it. The memories were just too haunting.

After a few minutes, Ginny felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Ginny," the person whispered tenderly. "Are you okay?"

She looked up to see Draco's concerned stare. She was surprised. She'd been expecting Bryant. "Hi, Draco," she replied softly.

"What happened? Did Bryant do anything to you?" he demanded. "If he did, I swear, I'll-"

"Don't worry, he didn't do anything," Ginny cut him off.

"What's wrong then?" Draco asked.

"He asked me about my first year here. I started to remember everything," she whimpered. "I'll be okay, though."

"Are you sure?" he inquired, pulling her into a hug. Ginny's body tingled with pleasure where her body touched his.

"I am now," she murmured happily, burying her head in his chest.

"What was that?" he asked, kissing her lightly on the top of the head. Everything just felt so right and perfect. Like all good things, however, the moment soon ended.

"Get your hands off of my date, Malfoy!" Bryant yelled as he ran over to them.

Ginny looked up quickly with wide eyes. She pulled away from Draco and turned to Bryant. "It's not what it looks like!" she exclaimed truthfully.

"Then what is it?" Bryant demanded coldly.

"He was just comforting me, that was all!" Ginny assured.

Bryant glared at Draco and didn't say anything. Then, after a minute, he brightened a bit. "I guess it's my fault," he concluded sheepishly. "I should have come out here earlier. Then I could have comforted you. You want to head back to the dance now, Ginny?"

"Alright," she agreed, happy that there had been no major scene. She didn't know how she would have handled it if there had been one.

Ginny then began making her way back to the castle to ensure that nothing else would transpire between Bryant and Draco. She heard the boys begin to follow her so she kept walking. What she didn't hear, however, was what Bryant whispered to Draco. "You touch her again, and, I swear, I will Crucio you. I don't care if I go to Azkaban. It'll be worth it," he snarled threateningly.

"I'd like to see you try," Draco snapped back in challenge. "Ginny's not going to be yours much longer so I'd enjoy my time with her, if I were you."

"What? You think you're going to win her over? Only in your dreams," Bryant taunted.

By this time, they were already back at the castle doors, and Ginny was examining them curiously. "Is something wrong?" she asked, snapping both boys back to reality.

"Of course not," Bryant lied. "Why would anything be wrong?"

Ginny shrugged and led her date back into the building. She shot one more grateful smile at Draco before the door closed to separate them. She and Bryant headed back into the Great Hall and were instantly pegged out by Pansy. She hurried up to them. "Have you two seen Draco?" she asked frantically.

"Nope, haven't seen him," Ginny covered up. She had a feeling the Draco didn't want to see Pansy at the moment, or ever.

"What are you talking about, Ginny?" Bryant asked innocently. "We just saw him outside the doors to the castle."

"Thanks, Bryant," she said before rushing off.

"What'd you do that for?" Ginny demanded. "You know he doesn't want to see her."

"What's your point?" Bryant sneered smugly. Of course he knew that Draco didn't want Pansy around. That's what made it fun.

Ginny glared at him before scanning the dance floor for Luna. She soon spotted her dancing with, surprisingly, Ron. Sighing, she turned back to Bryant.

“Can I talk to you, Ginny?” he asked suddenly.

“Sure,” she agreed with a shrug, following him out of the Great Hall.

Bryant pulled her into a deserted classroom. He sat down on top of the teacher's desk in the front of the room. He turned to face Ginny, who stayed standing. “Can I ask you something?” Bryant said calmly.

“Sure,” Ginny answered nonchalantly. She was still a little upset that he had interrupted her moment with Draco. She also felt a little guilty about it. That didn't make up for a very good mood.

“Can you promise me to stay away from Draco?” he asked.

“What? Have you gone mad?” Ginny demanded indignantly. “No way!”

“Why not?” Bryant growled.

“Because! He's my friend,” she shot back.

“Are you sure that's all he is? Or do you want more? Do you?” he hissed, now off the desk and right in front of her face.

“Of course not,” she lied convincingly.

“Liar,” he accused.

“How can you say you like me so much, but not trust me?” she snapped.

“I do trust you!” he yelled in frustration.

“Then why can't you just let me be friends with Draco? Why do you have to be so possessive of me? I'm not even your girlfriend!” she yelled back. She then turned on her heel and ran all the way back to her dormitory.

When she got back, she threw herself on her bed and let her bitter tears fall. Who did Bryant think he was? He had no right to tell her who she could and couldn't hang out with.

At that moment, Ginny swore to herself that she would never talk to Bryant Parkinson ever again. If this was what he was like when they just went to a dumb dance together, she didn't want to see what he was like if they started dating. She wouldn't be able to hang out with anyone anymore. He would probably forbid her from seeing all of her friends that were girls too, you know, just in case.

Ginny sat up with renewed determination. She wouldn't let this affect her too much. She would just go on with her life and pretend the last few weeks with Bryant hadn't happened.

*~*~*~*

Draco sat outside the doors of Hogwarts castle, silently brooding. What was so great about Bryant that Ginny liked him so much? Where was his charm? The questions were playing over and over in Draco's head when he heard the castle doors open. He turned around hopefully, but was disappointed to see it was only Pansy.

“Draco, what's wrong?” she asked softly, sitting down next to him.

“Nothing,” Draco lied irritably.

“Then how come you're out here instead of in the Great Hall with everyone else?” she inquired.

“Don't feel like seeing that git of a cousin of yours!” he spat vehemently. “There is just something about him that isn't right. Like, why is he at Hogwarts? His story about Durmstrang being attacked was pretty fishy. What about all of the other students? Where do they go now? And why-”

“Wait, he told you that Durmstrang was attacked?” Pansy clarified, cutting off his ramblings.

“Yeah. I accepted it as truth at the time, but, now, I'm not so sure,” he answered.

“Why that little lying prat,” she mumbled angrily. “You're right to doubt it.”

“You know why he's here?” Draco asked, eyes widening in excitement.

“Well, yeah, he is my cousin. He was expelled,” she informed him.

“He was expelled?!?!” Draco exclaimed in complete shock.

“Yeah. I don't know why, no one would tell me, but I know it's something pretty bad. You don't get expelled from Durmstrang for nothing,” Pansy answered.

“You're the best, Pansy,” Draco said, giving her a smile and a small hug.

“Yeah, sure, what about Ginny?” she snapped.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, clueless.

“She's the best in your eyes, isn't she?” Pansy said spitefully. “I know you like her, Draco. There's no use denying it.”

Draco hesitated, trying to figure out how she knew that he liked Ginny. Was it really that obvious? “How'd you know?” he inquired, blushing slightly for one of the only times in his life.

“Draco, I've been watching you since I was like ten years old. I know things about you that other people don't know,” she started. “I can tell by the way you look at her, you always seem to be doing that, and by how miserable you were when you had the fight. Not to mention how many times a day you play with your locket. We can't forget the fact that you didn't even deny the fact that you liked her. She's a Weasley, and you are just worried about how I knew that you liked her.”

“So, do you think I'm obvious about it?” he wondered aloud worriedly.

“No. I've just grown to know you well enough to notice these things,” Pansy, assured him.

“You know, Pansy, when you're not trying to hit on me, you're actually pretty cool to hang out with,” he commented.

“Thanks, I guess,” she said uncertainly. “I know I'm usually a pain, but I can't help it. That's just who I am.”

“Well, um, thanks for the information,” Draco repeated awkwardly. “I'll see you around.”

“Yeah, see ya,” she replied. “Oh, and Draco, if it doesn't work out with Ginny, you know where to find me.”

Draco gave her one last smile before heading back to the Great Hall. He looked around for Ginny, but didn't see her anyway. He spotted Luna, and went to ask if she knew where Ginny was. “Hey, Lovegood. Do you know where Ginny is?” he inquired.

“No, I was looking for her, actually. I haven't seen her for awhile,” Luna answered, continuing to look for her friend.

Draco sighed and headed back into the crowd to look for Ginny. That's when he spotted Bryant. He was dancing with a Ravenclaw seventh year. Draco went over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Where's Ginny?” he asked coldly.

“She went back to her dormitory. We had a fight so she left,” Bryant informed him. “You'll be happy to know that our fight was about you. I told her that I didn't want her to hang out with you anymore, and she got mad.”

“Really?” Draco asked, interested. “This will be easier than I thought.”

“Oh, don't worry. I'm not giving up without a fight,” Bryant growled in response before turning back to the Ravenclaw he was dancing with.

Draco glared at Bryant's back for a minute longer before turning away and heading back to his dormitory. He had some thinking to do. He had to find a way to figure out why Bryant was expelled from Durmstrang. He knew that Bryant himself would never tell him. If he knew that, then if would probably be easy for Draco to win over Ginny. To get expelled from Durmstrang, you had to do something pretty bad, and, if they wouldn't even tell Pansy, it had to be even worse.

When Draco arrived in his dormitory, he lay down on his bed and continued his thoughts. How could get access to Bryant's records? He guessed it wouldn't be too hard, he was Head Boy, after all. He just had to come up with an excuse to look at it. What excuse was there? He could say there was a family emergency, and he had to contact Bryant' parents. He scratched that option out right away. Snape would end up contacting the Parkinsons without Draco ever seeing the records. He could always sneak in and look at them, he mused.

That was probably the best option. He knew exactly where the records were. They were in a magically sealed filing cabinet in Snape's office. He also knew how to open that magical filing cabinet. It was a combination of a potion and a simple incantation. It would take him a few days before the potion would be done brewing. It was a fairly complex one and took great potions skill to brew. Draco, surprisingly enough, had the talent. That's how he passed Potions class, not just because he was Snape's favorite student.

Quickly pulling out his Advanced Potions book, Draco flipped to the page that the potion was on. He checked the ingredient list, and was happy to see he had all of the ingredients already. He decided that he would begin brewing the potion tomorrow. He then changed out of his dress robes, into pajamas, turned off the light, and slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter!!!!! Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought!!!!

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and some original characters.

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Aliya.

Chapter 10

The next morning, Ginny woke up with a slight headache. She had ended up crying herself to sleep the night before, despite her determination to remain unaffected. Now, hours later, she was worse off then she'd been the night before. She slowly began to sit up and instantly regretted it. The pain in her head increased, and she lay back down. Closing her eyes, she sighed softly. She knew she should get up and take some Pepper-Up Potion, but just couldn't muster up enough energy.

By this time, Ginny was ready to fall back to sleep, but was interrupted when Hermione entered the room. “Ginny?” she called.

“What?” Ginny called back sleepily.

“Are you alright?” Hermione asked in concern.

“I'm fine. It's just a headache,” Ginny replied casually. “Now what did you need me for?”

“Ron wants to talk to you,” Hermione informed her. “Let me get you some Pepper-Up Potion for you first.”

“Thanks, Hermione,” Ginny answered gratefully.

“No problem,” Hermione replied, handing her a vial of potion.

Ginny took the potion and swallowed all of it in one big gulp. It wasn't the best tasting potion she had ever tasted, but it wasn't the worst tasting either. Within seconds her headache was gone, and she felt much better. Then she followed Hermione down to the Common Room where her brother was waiting.

“Finally,” Ron yelled, exasperation filling his voice when he saw Ginny.

“Sorry, you had a headache while I came. By the time Ron's done with you, you'll have another one,” Hermione murmured to Ginny sympathetically.

“Do you realize who you were at the dance with last night?” Ron demanded suddenly.

“Yes, Bryant Parkinson,” Ginny answered, unfazed by her brother's anger.

“Do you realize that he's in Slytherin, and you're in Gryffindor?” Ron asked her loudly.

“Yes, Ron, I do, and, quite frankly, I don't care,” she shot back.

“Well, you should. Slytherins are evil, Ginny! Every one of them!” Ron yelled. “Stay away from all of them. You'll be better off. Besides, there's something about him that just isn't right.”

“Why do you care who I hang out with?” she snapped in reply. “I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I won't be going out with Bryant again anytime soon. What I want to know, though, is why you didn't have a problem with the fact that Draco and I are friends, but all of the sudden, you're freaking about Bryant.”

When she had finished, she snuck a glance at Hermione. As much as Hermione tried to hide it, Ginny still caught her slightly horrified _expression.

“You told me he was tutoring her!” Ron yelled, pointing an accusatory finger a Hermione.

“I lied,” Hermione replied with a shrug before turning to Ginny. “I was going to tell you that I told him that. I guess I forgot.”

“Well, thanks for covering for me this long,” Ginny said gratefully. “I wondered why he never said anything about that.”

“You mean to tell me that you're friends with MALFOY?!?!” Ron sputtered.

“Yes, I am, and he's really sweet,” Ginny informed her indignant brother.

“What reason could he possibly have for hanging out with you? He must be up to something,” Ron shouted.

“Oh, thanks, Ron,” Ginny quipped sarcastically. “You're so nice to me, your one and only sister.”

“I didn't mean you were worthless, Gin. I just meant that he's bad news,” Ron whined.

“I think I can tell if he's bad news or not,” Ginny snapped impatiently. She was sixteen and darn well capable of making her own decisions.

“Fine. Just don't come crying to me when you get hurt,” Ron sneered.

“I won't because I won't get hurt,” Ginny shot back before turning on her heel and stalking out of the Common Room.

“Bloody wanker,” she muttered under her breath, and then went off in search of Draco or Luna.

*~*~*~*

After wandering around most of the castle, Ginny gave up on her search and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower. That's when she ran into Luna standing outside the Great Hall. “Oh, hey, Luna,” Ginny greeted. “I've been looking everywhere for you.”

“Oh, I just got up and was looking for you,” Luna replied with a smile. “So, where were you after you left the dance last night?”

“Crying my eyes out in my dormitory,” Ginny told her sadly.

“Why? What happened?” Luna asked in concern.

“Well, I told Bryant what happened in my first year, and he started to ask too many questions. I went outside for a little air, and Draco followed me. Draco was comforting me when Bryant found us. He got really mad and forbid me to hang out with Draco anymore. We got into a fight, and then I left,” Ginny recounted.

“What a jerk,” Luna said sympathetically.

“I know, and he seemed so sweet,” Ginny added with a sigh.

“Oh well. Now you can focus on getting Malfoy,” Luna consoled.

“Yeah, right. Never in a million years could I get him to date me,” Ginny whined.

“Gin, if he went to comfort you, he has to care for you, at least a little bit,” Luna pointed out.

“I guess you're right. Maybe I'll talk to him about it later,” Ginny lied. She was pretty sure that she would never talk to him about it. If he liked her, he could make the first move. If not, Ginny would just admire him from afar. The Lord only knew how long she'd done that with Harry.

“Good. I'm pretty sure he likes you too,” Luna assured with a smile. “Besides, what's the worst he could say? I don't like you like that?”

“No, he could say a lot worse,” Ginny replied bitterly.

“Like what?” Luna challenged.

“Like, I don't like you like that, never talk to me again,” Ginny suggested.

“Ginny! You're hopeless!” Luna sighed in exasperation. “Just talk to him!”

“I will,” she lied again.

“Then go,” Luna commanded.

“Now?” Ginny squeaked in surprise.

“Yes, now. He's probably in the dungeons. Now, go find him,” Luna said, giving her a little push towards the dungeons.

If I didn't know any better, Ginny thought as she wandered aimlessly towards the dungeons, she was trying to get rid of me. Maybe I should go back and spy on her. Maybe she's really meeting a guy and was never looking for me in the first place. She quickly brushed away the thought. Luna couldn't lie to save her life.

As she continued walking in the same direction, she became acutely aware of the fact that she didn't know where she was going. Great, she thought bitterly. Now, I'm lost. After wandering for a while, she heard the best sound. “Ginny,” a voice yelled from behind her. She turned around and came face to face with Draco.

“Draco!” she greeted enthusiastically.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked curiously.

“Looking for you,” Ginny replied, her voice adopting a slightly flirty tone.

“Oh really?” Draco asked, mock intrigued. “I thought you were lost.”

“Well, it just so happens that I was looking for you, and I got lost,” she replied. “These dungeons are awfully confusing.”

“I guess they are to someone who's not used to them,” Draco agreed. “So, why were you looking for me?”

“I was bored and wanted someone to talk to,” she told him with a shrug.

“Oh, I feel so special,” he said sarcastically.

“Well, you know, Luna was busy. I needed something to do,” Ginny fibbed. She was lying on two counts. One being that Luna wasn't busy. The second being that she would much rather hang out with him than Luna.

“Thanks a lot, Ginny. You really know how to boost a guy's ego,” he quipped.

“Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?” she asked sweetly.

“Yes, you did, terribly,” Draco pouted.

“Oh. Would you like a kiss to make it all better?” Ginny asked boldly, surprising both of them. Draco and Ginny both froze in shock.

That's when it happened. Ginny's brain jolted itself into action, and she turned and ran. She rushed away as fast as she could. Why did I say that? she reprimanded herself roughly. I have now ruined our friendship. I'm so stupid, and I can't even confide in anyone. If she told Luna, then her friend would find out that she had lied. She didn't have anyone else to tell.

As she continued to rush away, Ginny could hear Draco calling for her to come back. His voice got fainter and fainter before it stopped. That's when she felt safe enough to cry, and that's exactly what she did. The tears just started pouring down her cheeks against her will. It was as if they had a mind of their own.

Ginny made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room eventually. She had found that if she continued to cry, it was harder to find her way around. She tried her best to stop the flow tears, but finally gave up. It was a lost cause. She gave one last futile attempt before entering the Common Room, but just couldn't stop them.

“Password?” the Fat Lady asked her a bit impatiently for the third time.

“Basilisk,” Ginny choked out. The Fat Lady's Portrait swung open, revealing the portrait hole. She quickly crawled through and made a beeline for her dormitory. She made it to the stairs when Hermione's voice stopped her.

“Are you alright, Ginny?” she called in concern.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Ginny said, forcing a smile. Hermione didn't buy any of it.

“What's wrong? Don't say nothing because I know that's not true,” Hermione commanded.

Ginny sighed helplessly and continued on her way to her dormitory. She knew Hermione would follow. Sure enough, her prediction was proved correct when she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her.

When they arrived in Ginny's dormitory, Ginny flopped onto her bed and Hermione sat down in a desk chair. “So, will you tell me what's wrong?” Hermione asked her.

“Well, I guess I'll have to start at the beginning,” Ginny began with a sigh. She told Hermione about her childhood, she wasn't sure if her brother had told Hermione or not and about her crush on Draco. Then she told her about their encounter today. “Then I turned and ran. I could hear him calling me, but I was too embarrassed,” she finished.

“Oh, Ginny, why did you run? You never know, he might like you too. You should have at least stopped when he started calling to you. That shows you that he cares,” Hermione pointed out.

“I know, I know, it was dumb, but I can't change that now,” Ginny replied with a sigh. “What should I do?”

“I don't know what to tell you. All of this is such a shock. I think, the best thing would be for you to talk to Mal- er Draco about it,” Hermione advised.

“I know. It's just, I don't know. What if he laughs at me or something?” Ginny whispered sadly. “I really like him. I don't know how I'll get over it if he laughs at me.”

“I know what you mean, but, Gin, how will you get over him if you never know for sure that he doesn't like you?” Hermione asked her, making her think.

“I don't know, but I do know that if I never find out for sure, I can pretend that he likes me,” Ginny pointed out.

“Ginny! Listen to yourself!” Hermione yelled, exasperated. “Just go talk to Malfoy, and everything will be resolved!”

“Alright, alright. I'll go as soon as we're done talking,” Ginny conceded. She wasn't sure if she was lying or not. Half of her really did want to go down to the dungeons and talk to Draco, but the other half was telling her to stay as far away from him as she could.

“We're done,” Hermione said, giving Ginny a push towards the door.

Ginny was out the door and on her way when she remembered something. She turned around and stuck her head back into the room. “You won't tell Ron about this, right?” she inquired anxiously.

“Not a word,” Hermione assured with a smile. “Now go.”

Ginny turned around once again and was back on her way. She arrived in the dungeons far too quickly for her taste. Before she knew it, she was in front of the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Now what would she do?

Ginny thought about it and came to the conclusion that it would be best to just wait for someone. It may be dull, but it would give her time to think. Or not. “Ginny?” a voice asked curiously as they approached the Common Room. It was Bryant.

“Oh, hi, Bryant,” Ginny returned nervously.

“What are you doing here?” he inquired.

“Looking for Draco. Can you go see if he's in there?” she asked.

“Sure. I'll be right back,” he replied before whispering the password and disappearing into the Common Room. He appeared a few minutes later. “Sorry, he wasn't in there.”

“That's okay. I'll see you later,” Ginny said, disappointed. She then turned around headed toward the Great Hall. Maybe Draco was there.

*~*~*~*

“Oh, would you like a kiss to make it all better?” Ginny asked. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she said, and she started running away.

“Ginny!” Draco yelled after he. He started running also, but realized that he wouldn't be able to catch her. He was still in slight shock. Had she actually said that? He wondered as he walked back to his dormitory. Did that mean she liked him? Or had she just been teasing? If she had been teasing would she have run away? He was so confused. Now, he wished he could have stopped her. What had she meant?

Draco was still contemplating the incident awhile later when Blaise entered the room. “Just so you know, I think Ginny's looking for you. She asked Bryant if he could get you. He told her you weren't here,” Blaise informed him.

Draco sat up quickly and thanked Blaise. He stood up and rushed out of the Common Room and made his way towards the Great Hall. Maybe he would find Ginny there.

*~*~*~*

Ginny was just leaving the Great Hall when she ran into Draco. Literally. They collided so hard in their haste to find each other that Ginny fell backward onto the floor. “Are you okay?” Draco asked her in concern.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Ginny replied while standing up.

“I, uh, heard you were looking for me,” he said nervously after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Um, yeah. I wanted to talk to you,” she told him shyly. “Where were you a few minutes ago?”

“In my dormitory,” he answered.

“What? Bryant said you weren't there!” Ginny exclaimed in surprised.

“He must have lied. I've been there since we talked earlier,” Draco informed her.

Ginny glared slightly at her new-found information, but quickly brushed away her anger. “I wanted to talk to you about earlier, actually,” she announce, blushing slightly.

“Yes?” Draco prompted.

“I'm sorry about that,” she blurted out.

“Why?” he asked, bewildered. “I was kind of disappointed when you ran away so fast.”

“You mean you really want to kiss me?” she asked in shock. “Me?”

“Yes, you. I guess I might as well tell you. I think I have feelings for you, Ginny,” Draco confessed quickly. He was glad to finally get that off his chest.

“Y-you do?” she whispered, very surprised. He nodded. “Well, I think I have feelings for you too!”

Draco stood there, too stunned to move for a minute. This whole thing was pretty new to him. He wasn't used to liking girls, and he had never told a girl his feelings. He couldn't believe that she liked him back. That's when he realized that he was just standing there like an idiot.

Not one to waste time, Draco leaned in and captured Ginny's lips with his. She stiffened in shock before she started kissing him back. She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She had been waiting for that moment for a while now. She was going to enjoy it, and she did.

After a few minutes of kissing, Ginny pulled back, breathing heavily. Both Draco and Ginny started at each other. Their kiss had been amazing. “Do you want to go with me on the next Hogsmeade trip, Ginny?” Draco asked after catching his breath.

“Like, on a date?” Ginny wondered aloud breathlessly.

“Yeah,” he replied with a charming smile.

“I'd love to!” she exclaimed excitedly. She flung herself on him and gave him a hug. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and rushed away to find Luna. She couldn't wait to tell her best friend the news.

“See ya, Ginny,” Draco called after he, a little upset that she had left so soon.

“I'll see you at dinner,” she yelled back. Then she was gone.

*~*~*~*

Twenty minutes later, Ginny finally found Luna in the Gryffindor Common Room of all places. When Ginny asked why she was there, she said she had been waiting for Ginny. “So, how did it go with Draco?” Luna asked cheerfully.

“Great! He kissed me!” Ginny squealed in response. “Then he asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him next Hogsmeade weekend!”

“That's great! I told you he liked you!” Luna said excitedly.

“You were right! I can't wait until the next Hogsmeade weekend! When is it, anyway?” Ginny inquired curiously.

“Next weekend,” Luna answered right away.

“You were pretty quick to answer. You don't have a date, do you?” Ginny questioned suspiciously.

“Yeah, I do,” Luna admitted after a minute.

“With who?” Ginny exclaimed.

“Your brother,” Luna said, blushing slightly.

“Really? He finally asked you out?” Ginny squealed happily. She was glad her dumb brother had finally come to his senses.

“Yes. I was so happy when he asked me!” Luna told her with a bright smile.

“Hey, can you not mention who I'm going to Hogsmeade with. My brother would have a fit,” Ginny pleaded.

“My lips are sealed,” Luna assured. “I wouldn't want to get involved with that anyway. He might try to shoot the messenger, or ask why I didn't tell him sooner. It would turn into a big mess. You should probably give me your basic itinerary. I'll try to keep him out of your path.”

“Thanks, Luna. You're the best. We should probably go to dinner now,” Ginny pointed out.

“Yeah, let's go.”

*~*~*~*

After arriving in the Great Hall, Ginny took a seat at the Gryffindor table, making sure she was facing the Slytherin one. As soon as she sat down, she scanned the room for Draco. She soon found him sitting at his house table, surrounded by three or four chattering girls. He simply looked bored as he looked around the room. When he saw her, he smiled. She smiled back and then turned to her brother who was glaring at her.

“Do you need something?” Ginny asked sweetly.

“Why don't we switch seats,” Ron, who was sitting across from her, suggested.

“How about no?” she replied dryly. “I don't like looking at the wall.”

She was lying, and Ron knew it. He, for some reason, didn't comment. Ginny had a feeling that either Harry, Hermione, Luna, or a combination of the three had talked to him. Most likely it was Hermione, whom he still had a crush on, or Luna.

Ginny ate her dinner in silence, reveling in the realization that she was actually going to go on a date with Draco. An actual date. She could not wait. At the moment, her life seemed perfect.

THE END

A/N: Sorry that this chapter took soooo long to finish this chapter. I've been really busy. And yes, this is the end. I know it's a really sucky place to end but i just don't have time to upload the chapters. I might write a sequel or an epilogue. Review and tell me what i should do.

-->

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this except the plot.

A/N: SURPRISE!! An epilogue for all my wonderful reviewers! Special thanks to my beta, Aliya.

TWO WEEKS LATER

The potion that Draco was brewing to break into Snape's filing cabinet would be perfected in a matter of minutes. All he had to do was make sure that Snape wasn't in there when he snuck into his office. If Draco was caught he would be in big trouble. That was why he was doing the smart thing and sneaking into Snape's office after curfew. Draco knew that Snape never stayed in his office longer than he had to be. That meant that after curfew you would find Snape in his professor's quarters.

Draco's plan was flawless. Nothing could go wrong. He could easily perform the incantation he needed to get in the filing cabinet, he could have no problem opening Snape's office because he knew the incantation too, and the potion had been brewed perfectly. Before the stroke of midnight, he would know why that sneaky, conniving prat, Bryant, was expelled from Durmstrang. Draco, for one, could not wait.

*~*~*~*

Dear Ginny,

Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at midnight. I have something important to tell you.

Love,

Draco

Ginny sat in her dormitory, staring at the rather odd note she had received, via owl, from Draco. She had read the note at least ten times, wondering what on earth he had to tell her. She knew that he didn't want to break up with her. They had been hanging out a ton since their first date in Hogsmeade, and they got along great. What could he possibly want to tell her? Especially considering how late at night he had to tell her during normal waking hours. She was lucky that all of the girls in her dormitory were deep sleepers. Otherwise she would never be able to pull it off.

Ginny decided that she would go talk to Luna. As odd as her friend seemed to others, she could actually be incredibly helpful and insightful. Plus, sometimes she came up with ideas so strange it took her mind off what she was thinking about. It was helped her to talk to Luna, and that's why she was Luna's friend.

Ginny slowly wandered around the castle looking for her friend. She checked in the Ravenclaw Common Room, in the Great Hall, in the Astronomy Tower, and in the Library. She couldn't find Luna anywhere. After about twenty minutes of wandering the castle she turned in the direction of her dormitory.

As Ginny was approaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, a figure became more visible standing right outside of it. As she got closer, she realized that the figure belonged to none other than Draco. She snuck up quietly behind him and hugged him from behind. He turned around and hugged her back, kissing her on the top of the head.

“Waiting for me?” Ginny teased with a slight smile.

“No, actually, I wasn't. I was actually looking for Granger. Have you seen her?” Draco shot back with a smirk.

“Ha ha,” she responded dryly before kissing him. “Now, was there something that you wanted?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you got my note. Did you?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, I did. Why can't you just tell me now?” she inquired.

Because I don't know what it is yet, he answered mentally. Out loud he said, “I'll tell you later, I promise, but now I have to go,” Draco informed her. “Sorry.” he kissed her one last time, and then he was gone.

*~*~*~*

Later that night, Draco snuck out of his dormitory with a vial of potion and his wand. He was ready for this. All he wanted was to know why that scumbag had been expelled.

Draco crept through the dark, endless corridors of the dungeons. He soon arrived in front of Snape's office. He looked around quickly to make sure there was anyone watching him. If anyone knew that he knew how to get into Snape's office, there would be people begging him to know how. That's the best thing he needed because than it would get back to Snape. Then he would be in trouble.

Assured that there was no one around, Draco whipped out his wand and recited the spell that opened the office door. The door sprung open, and he entered quickly. He quietly closed the door behind him. He was safe. No one would catch him while he was actually in Snape's office. He'd just have to be careful when he was leaving.

Draco walked over to the filing cabinet that held all of the Slytherin records. In order to open the cabinet, you had to brew a voice changing potion and then use the spell that opened the cabinet. The voice changing potion made it so you could sound like anyone in the world. All you needed was a tiny bit of their saliva. That hadn't been hard for Draco to get. All he did was have tea with Snape one day, and he took Snape's cup when they were done. It was that simple. Snape never suspected a thing, or, if he did, he hadn't said anything to Draco. He was pretty sure Snape would have said something if he suspected anything.

Draco drank the potion and performed the spell. Even he was surprised at how much he sounded like Snape. He didn't think it would be that uncanny. The cabinet slid open right away. Perfect. He was almost there. All he had to do was find the right record. He found the P's and began flipping through them. Bryant's was the second one he looked at. Scanning what was written, Draco saw that every time he got detention or did something wrong, it was documented. This might take awhile, he thought. There seems to be a lot of problems with him.

After about ten minutes of reading Draco finally found what he was looking for. What he found surprised him so much he almost dropped the file. He had thought that Bryant had merely attacked another student more than once or something. That wasn't the case. Bryant was expelled for attacking a classmate and then attempting to rape her. Fortunately, another student had found them before Bryant could actually go through with it. Draco had known that Bryant was bad news, but he didn't think he was capable of that. It scared Draco to think that Ginny had practically been dating Bryant. She was lucky that she realized he wasn't very nice before something like that had happened to her. Draco couldn't believe that his girlfriend had been in danger of being raped.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and put the file back in the cabinet. He turned and walked out of the office, carefully closing the door behind him. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost time to meet Ginny. Right about then, he was wishing that he hadn't told her to meet him so soon after he found out. He wished he had waited until tomorrow.

While all of this was going through Draco's head, he had been heading towards the Astronomy Tower. Once he had calmed himself down a little, he entered the room and looked around. Ginny was sitting by one of the many windows, waiting for him. She turned and looked at him when he entered.

“You're late,” she said flatly.

Draco looked at his watch again. 12:10. “I'm sorry. You'll probably understand in a minute,” he began, and then he continued to spill the story about breaking into Snape's office and everything. “Bryant was expelled for assault of another student and-” He couldn't say it. He knew it would shake Ginny up.

“And?” Ginny prompted, somewhat impatiently.

“And attempted rape,” he finished, voice wavering.

Ginny's eyes got wide and she gasped. “WHAT?” she yelled.

“I know. It shocked me too,” Draco told her. “I almost dropped the file I was so surprised.”

“Are you telling me that I went to a dance and hung out with a failed rapist?” she demanded, the fear evident in her voice. He nodded and pulled her into a hug. “Oh my God.” Then she started crying.

“It's okay. You're fine. He didn't actually try anything. He's given up on you. Don't worry. I'll protect you. I promise, just stop crying,” he murmured soothingly, while rubbing her back.

After awhile she pulled herself together. “I have to go back now before someone wakes up and realizes that I'm gone. Bye Draco,” Ginny said with a shaky smile. She gave him a huge hug and as she was walking out they door, whispered, “I love you.”

The door closed behind her, leaving a very surprised Draco in her wake. “I love you too,” Draco said after his brain began to work again. He knew she was gone, but he also knew that she knew he loved her too. If she didn't, she wouldn't have had the courage to say that so early.

Draco smiled as he began walking toward the door. The night hadn't turned out so bad after all, but he couldn't wait until tomorrow. He couldn't wait to tell Ginny that he loved her too so she would be free of doubts. He had a feeling that tomorrow would be a very good day.

THE END

A/N: This is definitely the end this time. I just decided that I would tie up a few of the loose ends that I left with the other ending. Hope you liked it. Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought.

-->