He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

My first fanfic. Pleaaaaaase read+review, don't be scared that I can't take criticism. I can. Trust me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did. There are changes that need to be made. (MWAHAHA!)

ENJOY!!!!!

Chapter 1

“Oh, why can't I just get over myself?” Ginny Weasley moaned. She was sitting in the first floor bathroom, the stall all the way to the right that had a small window through which one could view the grounds. Her eyes were red and puffy from the many tears she had shed.

She beat her fist against the stone wall, scratching her knuckles. The pain felt good. It was a distraction from her broken heart. “He loves Hermione, not me,” she reminded herself. “Harry loves Hermione.”

But why, she asked herself, had Harry had this sudden change of heart? Why wasn't she as good as that bushy-haired, bookwormy nerd?

Ginny knew this wasn't fair. Hermione had been her friend for years. Hermione had been the older one, the one to look up to, the one to emulate. Now? Ginny didn't know what to think. It made her head hurt more than the crying had.

A rustling of wings interrupted her thoughts. An owl had landed in the slit window, perching there and cocking its head to the side. There was a message labeled “Ginevra” tied to its left leg. Curious, she opened it.

Meet me by the beech tree in front of the lake. Ten minutes.

It was unsigned. “Outside?” she said aloud, “Who wants to be outside in this weather?” She shrugged and sniffled her way over to the mirror. Her eyes were ringed with red and a little puffy, but otherwise she looked okay. She put on a little lip balm and, taking a deep breath to steady herself, Ginny started for the grounds.

It was a blustery Saturday in the late fall, and none of the students of Hogwarts had chosen to stray outdoors. None, except for two. Ginny rubbed her hands together and tightened her scarf in an effort to stay warm.

As she walked, she pondered the strange looks that Draco Malfoy had been giving her lately. She was used to him looking at her as if she were a bug he had accidentally crushed under his foot, so when she caught him looking at her like she was…beautiful, it creeped her out more than a little. Even worse, she had once or twice caught herself looking at him, and not glaring or grimacing, but like he was…sexy. That was so not right.

The beech tree came into sight, most of its papery bark peeled off absentmindedly by studying students. Ginny tried actively not to remember an afternoon last spring when she and Harry had strayed to that very tree…

She could see a person, definitely a boy, lying under the tree. His face was not yet visible, but she could see that he was obviously blond and that his legs made a 4 perpendicular to the ground. She rounded the corner to find:

Draco Malfoy.

His Slytherin-colors tie was loosened around the collar of his button down. Despite the fact that Ginny hated Malfoy and Malfoy hated Ginny, she had to admit he looked awfully cute under that tree.

When he noticed her staring, he stood fluidly and smirked his characteristic smirk. “Well, well, well, my dear Ginevra. Come to meet someone? A secret admirer perhaps?” He raised his eyebrows as if to say, Who would have thought of that?

“What was with all the cloak and dagger, Malfoy?” she said snappishly.

“Cold, Ginevra? Need some warming up?”

“I'm not a whore, Malfoy! And I never said you could call me Ginevra!” For some reason, he was irritating her more than ever.

“Well, if I were you, I would prefer it to Weaselette,” he said, shrugging.

“Why did you call me out here?” she asked peevishly.

“Can't you answer that yourself?” he fired back.

“No. Do you know what I hate?”

“What do you hate?”

“I hate it when people answer questions with questions.” She glared at his blue eyes with her chocolate brown ones.

“And do you know what else I hate?” she said, stepping right up to him to glare at a closer range.

He raised his eyebrows in a trademark gesture.

“You.”

Draco grabbed her shoulders and swung her around so that her back was to the tree. A knot in the bark poked her back. She thought for a second that the feverish look in his eyes was anger, and she braced herself against his blow.

He gazed into her eyes with an unreadable intensity. “Listen, I didn't get you to come out here to ridicule you.”

“Oh? Then why am I standing here with you?”

“I thought you might need a friend, after that whole thing with…him.” Ginny knew he was talking about Harry.

She sat down. This day was getting stranger and stranger. First Harry breaks up with her to be with his best friend, then Malfoy offering a truce? She didn't know if she could handle that level of weirdness. “Um…okay.”

He smiled at her slyly. The next thing she knew she was rolling down the hill towards the sandy shore of the lake, the sky and grass and clouds rolling into one indistinguishable blur. Ginny and Draco rolled to a stop, laughing. He was on top of her.

She blushed suddenly at the proximity of his lips to hers. No, she wasn't thinking about them kissing…ugh, get that out of her head!

She pushed him away, startling him. The laughter died from his face. “Is something wrong?” he asked her cautiously.

“I just need some time,” she replied coolly, sitting back on her haunches to watch the giant squid waving its tentacles around in the air. The Forbidden Forest rustled in the background, the ancient trees creaking as the wind blew them about.

“Okay,” she said after a bit, “I'm fine now.”

He considered her, tilting his head to one side like a small child. “You really loved him, didn't you?”

Ginny thought. She remembered sun-soaked days with Harry, when they were finally alone. When he was finally hers after years of wanting. “I guess I did—still do, really. Just not in the same way.”

“What do you mean, `not in the same way?'” he asked her, curious.

“Well, he's not mine anymore, is he? After I spent so many years chasing after him…I can never love him again like I did. It would destroy me.”

“So how do you love him now?” he persisted.

“I don't really know. It's giving me a bit of a headache.” She rubbed her temples. He didn't laugh.

“So…what's your favorite color?” he asked, playing with a few stray blades of grass.

“What?” This was a new level of randomness.

“Well, isn't that the second question that any self-respecting little kid asks a potential friend after `will you be my friend?'”

She laughed. Ginny knit her brow. What was her favorite color? Draco's tie fluttered in the breeze, the silver-and-green stripes catching the light. “Green,” she said, without really thinking about it.

Her companion's face darkened. “Thinking of his eyes, I suppose.”

“Um…not really,” she said, watching the tie. He followed her gaze, then grinned.

“Ah, I see we have a little Slytherin wannabe,” he said, nudging her with his shoulder. She laughed out loud at that.

“Too late. I'm a Gryffindor through and through,” she replied.

“Like him.”

“What is your obsession?” she asked him, concerned. He was even more fixated on Harry Potter than she was.

“I just don't like that he hurts you,” Draco said, looking at the grass stains on his palms.

“I'll get over it. Eventually,” Ginny muttered.

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Maybe half an hour later, they were sitting at the base of the beech tree. They had exhausted pretty much all of the usual new-friend subjects: favorite band, favorite flower, favorite candy, etc.

Ginny lay back with a sigh, staring through the leafy canopy. The gray sky was darkening menacingly, yet she still didn't want to go inside. Draco was sitting cross-legged at her feet, trying (unsuccessfully) to make a daisy chain with the last bunch of wilting dandelions of the season. She giggled at his ineptitude.

“You do it like this,” she explained, fixing his mistake.

He threw the dandelions aside and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “You do it then if it's so easy, blood traitor,” he teased her.

“Fine then, Death Eater,” she shot back.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Never call me that.”

Ginny stared at him with open surprise. “I was just teasing,” she said, rattled.

“I realize that. I just…I don't want to be like my father,” he said with a helpless look on his face. Her heart melted.

“You're nothing like that evil bastard,” she said soothingly, putting her arm around his shoulder.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her. “Even if he is an evil bastard, he's still family.”

He glanced toward the castle. “It's getting late. Besides, I'm hungry.”

She sighed. She didn't want him to leave. “Me too, I guess.”

He pulled her into an unexpected, bone-crushing hug. “I'll see you around, then.” He kissed her cheek swiftly and loped up to the castle.

Ginny stayed under the tree for a few minutes, holding her blushing cheek and grinning like the idiot that she was. Apparently, getting over Harry Potter was going to be way easier than anticipated.

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Read on! Pleaaase review, I know I sound like the annoying idiot that keeps asking you to read their fanfic but I actually want to know what you think of me. I feel famous now : D

Fall into my snare lovelies!

D+G forever.

Chapter Two

After dinner the next day, Ginny headed towards the library, dragging her feet. It had been a hard day. Since she had spent those stupid hours staring at the fire in the common room, intermittently reliving their strange truce and conversation, none of her homework was done. She had resolved to work hard tonight to make it all up. Hence the library.

However, as she rounded the corner where they kept the tables for studying, she realized that this was going to be wholly impossible. Because sitting at the table she and her friends used was none other than Draco Malfoy (and a few of those Slytherin goons).

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath. Now she really wasn't going to get that Potions paper done. Snape would fail her for sure.

But he looked so gorgeous in that freaking tie…Bad Ginny! He's a friend!

Well, if he was going to be near her, she might as well take the bull by the horns. There was an open space next to Draco. Taking a deep breath to steady her fluttering nerves, she plonked down next to him.

Only to be met with his Number One Most Evil Look.

“What's with the look?” she asked curiously. Had she said something last night to make him pissed at her like this? But no, he had left before her. That still didn't explain the Grade A Evil Glare he was giving her.

“I merely thought that the section for the dirt poor was over there,” he sneered at her, pointing to a table where a few spotty Hufflepuffs and smelly Ravenclaws were hunched over with their books. Pansy Parkinson tittered.

“Oh Drakie, you're so funny,” she squealed. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Git, Weaselette,” he snapped at Ginny while attempting to extricate himself from Pansy's, er, roaming hands. Blaise Zabini, another seventh year, stifled a laugh at Pansy's behavior.

Fighting both her anger and her choking tears, she settled at an empty table two rows away. Ginny bit her lip, trying not to let the Slytherins have the satisfaction of seeing her break down over Advanced Potion-Making. When she had calmed down suitably, she chanced a glance up at Draco.

All the other Slytherins had evidently quieted and commenced to study, but not Draco. As soon as she looked up, he looked away with the characteristic glance of those who had been staring at somebody for a long, long time. She continued to look at him, brows raised until he met her eyes again.

He looked down at a notebook, then scribbled something with a quill and tapped the parchment with his wand. Unbeknownst to the Slytherin table, a bewitched paper airplane made its way under a forest of tables to where Ginny was sitting alone. It nudged her leg.

It read:

Sorry about that, Gin, but you know how we Slytherins can be.

Quickly she scrawled her reply:

That's no excuse.

He rolled his eyes at her when he saw her response. This time it took a bit longer for him to send the little airplane.

I realize that. I said I was sorry, didn't I? If you're really miffed about it, I'll make it up to you. Don't leave the library until we've all gone. Then walk up to the tapestry depicting Godfrey the Gormless getting dismembered on the third floor. I'll be waiting to thank you properly.

After that there were no more notes. Ginny did her Potions and part of her Arithmancy before getting bored and doodling a bit in her notebook. Only when she realized that she had drawn a heart with the words GW+DM Forever in it (which she promptly scrubbed out with her eraser) did she stop and check to see if the Slytherins had gone yet.

With a start, she realized that their table was deserted. They must have left awhile ago. Ginny quickly gathered up her things and practically ran to the “Godfrey the Gormless” tapestry. Once there, she dropped her bag on the ground and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.

After a few minutes of inspecting the rather gruesome tapestry, she came to the disappointing conclusion that Draco simply wasn't there. Boys were simply horrid, she decided. Turning to leave, she marched past a bust of the same Godfrey as on the tapestry when a pair of arms pulled her into an alcove.

It was Draco, his eyes staring into her own. She felt her heart melt at once, but she still had to keep up her pride. “What the hell was that about earlier?” she demanded, poking his chest with one long nail. “First you offer me a truce, then you insult me! At least give me consistency!”

He looked a little wounded. “I said I would say I'm sorry.”

“I don't hear an apology.”

Draco smirked at her annoyingly but still sexily. Bad Ginny! Bad! “Oh, this isn't an apology you hear.”

“Fine then, show me.” She glared at him. He was still smirking.

“Here goes then.” He turned around and tapped the bust of Godfrey on the head twice. A small piece of Godfrey's scalp began to rise in a cylinder from the center of his head. Draco twisted it. A door grew out of the stone like it had always been there, and they entered hand in hand (Bad Ginny! Don't think about that! BAD BAD BAD!).

It was a small room, but very comfortable. There were silver end tables scattered around and a number of dark red sofas. “I thought that we could meet in the middle for decorations, and red and green is a bit like Christmas, so this is the closest I got,” Draco said while beaming at her.

Ginny gaped. “How do you know about this place?”

He shrugged. “I'm Head Boy. They tell you all sorts of things when you're a prefect.”

“Doesn't that mean that Hermione knows too?” Hermione was Head Girl.

He shrugged unworriedly. “It's probably against the rules, and she'd never `break the law.' Priss.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Where's my apology?”

He looked at her, mock-confused. “What, giving you a room isn't enough?”

“Well, I have a room now. What do I do with it?”

“It's really the only place we can talk without being seen by any of our Houses. Except Hermione,” he amended.

She flung herself down on a couch and glared up at him. “So. Talk.”

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Minutes later, or maybe hours, they were lying together on the couch. Ginny's feet were up by Draco's shoulders, and his feet were propped up next to her head on the armrest. Draco was holding her hand, which made her blush a bit. She was glad that he was looking at the ceiling for this reason.

He spoke up. “So have you and Potter ever—”

She clapped her hands over her ears. “La la la la la la la. Not listening to whatever you're talking about, you wanker.”

Draco pulled her hands away from her ears. “I was merely going to ask if you and Potter ever talked like we do.”

“You're still a wanker, Malfoy.”

There was a short, slightly awkward silence. Then he spoke. “Why do you call me that?”

“What, wanker?”

“No,” he said, laughing, “Malfoy. Why do you call me Malfoy?”

“Well, you call my brothers Weasley, don't you?” she said.

“Not the same thing,” he responded in a sing-song voice. “They're not my friends, are they? At least not last I checked.”

God, his eyes were so gorgeous. His lips looked so kissable right then…Bad Ginny! He's a friend! Bad Ginny!

But Harry started out as just a friend, said a small, weaselly voice inside her.

Doesn't make that any more right, replied the larger righteous portion of her brain.

Ginny yawned. Draco looked at her carefully. “Tired?”
“Um, not really,” she said. Then she yawned again, which sort of ruined the effect.

“We should be going back. It's getting late.”

When they exited the secret room, Draco scooped up her bag and books, groaning at the weight. “What do you keep in here, anvils?” he grunted.

“Ha. Ha. You can't be seen with me near Gryffindor Tower, you idiot! They'll all know we're…friends. Go back to the dungeons,” she whispered, in case any teachers or murderous caretaker's cats were around.

“I can at least walk you back to the seventh-floor corridor, then I'll turn around and go back,” he whispered back to her.

With a sigh, Ginny and Draco began what was going to be the first of many walks back through the school at night. It was only later, when Ginny was curled up in bed, that she realized that Draco had had to walk down at least seven flights of stairs to get to his dorm after he had walked her to hers.

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Chapter 3

Very quickly, the unlikely friends fell into a pattern. Every day, they would study after dinner in the library. Then one of them would leave to the secret room, this being the signal for the other to sneak out after them a few minutes later. They would then pass the time talking. Ginny learned a lot about Draco. He was actually much more sensitive than most people gave him credit for, though she would never have admitted it to her brothers.

One sunlit afternoon, when most of the school was in Hogsmeade and the younger students were walled in with homework, they were in their typical situation. Ginny stared into Draco's deep blue eyes as he held her hand. (BAD GINNY!!!!) She always felt special around Draco, like she was the only one in the whole world.

“When I was little, I wanted a sister,” he said suddenly, startling Ginny out of her pondering. “I know, I know, weird. How many six-year-old boys want a sister? But I did. I can't really remember why exactly, only that I wanted a baby sister more than anything. My parents tried to have another baby. Miscarriage. That was when they stopped loving each other. That was when my father stopped loving me.”

She stared at him for a bit, pondering his confession. She had always been surrounded by brothers, but she didn't think it had done her much good. When Ginny told him so, he laughed. “At least they cared. At least there was somebody there.”

“I care. I'm here,” she pointed out obstinately.

He smiled luminously, like he had borrowed the afternoon sun's radiance. Leaning closer so that she could smell his breath, which smelled of mint and lemons, he whispered, “I know.”

She felt faint again, as she often did around Draco. She wanted to kiss him so badly…but no. That would ruin their friendship. Being Draco's friend sometimes felt like a dream to Ginny. It felt like she would wake up and go back to hating him openly, as he had once pretended to hate her.

But now, in a surprising reversal, she was his friend. His best friend. They talked to each other about everything: Divination, house-elf rights (Draco had always felt horrible about how his parents treated Dobby), passing Arithmancy. She ached to be able to talk in public, to be able to be his friend for real, instead of behind locked doors and at night.

The next morning at breakfast, she sat next to Hermione for the first time in weeks. Hermione looked surprised, like she was about to say something, but then she closed her mouth. Hermione did not want to be on the receiving end of one of Ginny's wicked Bat-Bogey Hexes.

Ginny was forced to break the ice. “Has Professor Snape always been such a hardass, or does he just hate my class?”

Hermione looked startled, either at the fact that Ginny had called a teacher a hardass or that Ginny was talking to her. Probably both. “Um, he never really liked anybody except Draco Malfoy in our year, so yeah, I'd say he's a, uh, hardass.” Hermione and swear words had never gone well together.

Ginny dug into her scrambled eggs. The house-elves always made them a bit runny, but she liked them that way. Little did Hermione know that Ginny was eating to cover up the huge smile that had come on to her face at the mention of Draco's name (Bad bad bad bad BAD GINNY!).

They had a pleasant conversation. Harry looked a bit shocked at the sight of his ex and current girlfriend having an animated conversation about Potions homework when they hadn't communicated for weeks. He didn't comment. He didn't want to get hexed either.

In fact, Ginny wasn't entirely sure why she didn't feel any enmity towards Hermione anymore. All of a sudden, her desire to get Harry back had evaporated. Thus, there was no reason to hate his new girlfriend anymore.

As Hermione left the Great Hall, Ginny yelled after her, “I'll see you in the Common Room during free period. You have third off, right?” Hermione nodded, then passed through the oak front doors to the lobby.

When Ginny finally left after a ridiculous amount of dawdling over her bacon, she was cornered in an empty niche. “So you finally patched things up with Granger,” Draco said softly. His eyes looked luminous in the dark. She bravely resisted the positively evil thoughts she was having about her friend.

“I'm talking to Hermione, yes,” she said, bravely resisting him. She couldn't go to class all Draco-drunk. She'd never pass her Arithmancy test.

“Good.” He was staring at her, eyes lidded. She often caught him doing this.

“Why do you care what goes on between Hermione and me?” she asked curiously. “I thought you hated her.”

“I do.”

“Then—”

“I just don't like seeing you unhappy.” He kissed her cheek. He did this a lot. She didn't like it; it made her think bad thoughts.

She floated through her lessons all day long, even more so than usual. Colin Creevy saved her neck during Charms. She had been daydreaming about Draco (BAD!) so she hadn't even noticed when Flitwick called on her. Luckily, Colin answered her question for her. Flitwick was so dotty he didn't even remember whom he had called upon.

She was so out of it that she didn't even notice when Hermione sat down next to her during free period in the common room. Hermione had to wave her hand in front of Ginny's face before she even acknowledged the older girl's presence.

“Oh! Hermione, it's you. I didn't notice, I was—”

“—Daydreaming,” Hermione finished for her with a smile. “About someone in particular?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“NO!” The word came out of Ginny much louder than she had anticipated. “No,” she repeated in a quieter tone.

Hermione's eyebrows knit together. “If it's about Harry, I'm not offended.”

“No, not Harry,” Ginny sighed. She had to keep her thoughts in check.

“Is there someone else then?” Hermione asked inquisitively.

Ginny shook her head; she couldn't afford any more giveaways about her secret relationship. “Let's talk about Potions. So, I always screw up the Draught of Living Death. Any pointers?”

Hermione sighed. “Actually, if it's Potions help you want, ask Harry. He had a book last year with cheats in it.”

“I remember,” recalled Ginny. “Half-Blood King, was it?”

“Prince,” corrected Hermione absently.

“Does Harry have off now?” she asked, closing Advanced Potion-Making.

“Um, no. Why?” Hermione said abruptly, coming out of her reverie.

“So I can get Potions help,” Ginny said slowly. “Are you feeling all right, Mione?”

“Just…daydreaming.”

They giggled together at the irony.

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Ginny glared over at Pansy Parkinson. That slut had glommed on to Draco all through dinner, and now she was trying to flirt. Rather ineptly, Ginny noticed smugly. She could tell, even from this distance. Suddenly Pansy's voice rang out, shrill in the huge hall. “I thought you loved me!”

Every head in the Great Hall, including the teachers', snapped towards the Slytherin table. Pansy looked momentarily abashed, then continued. “I know you said you loved me!”

“Er, Pansy, I don't really know who you heard say that, because it sure as hell wasn't me,” Draco said disgustedly, evading the sallow-skinned girl's embrace.

“We're through!” Pansy yelled dramatically, storming off. “I never want to see you again, Draco Malfoy!”

The Great Hall looked at Draco for his response. He blushed a little, rubbing his hair. “Not entirely sure how she's going to go about never seeing me again. She's in all my classes.”

Ginny caught his eye as she tried to stifle her laugh. He too was trying not to chuckle. Once they looked at each other it was all over. The two of them were in full blown hysterics, not minding the younger Gryffindors and Slytherins that looked at them like they were crazy. Eyes streaming, they laughed until the chatter of dinner had started again and there was nothing more to laugh about.

She knew it wasn't safe, but she had to talk to him. She was crouching in a shadowy corner, next to the statue of Jeremy the Jolly that had been vandalized by first-years. Ginny was right near the entrance to the dungeon common rooms that were the heart of Slytherin. She had to talk to Draco, right now. No matter the cost.

Waiting was difficult when you had eaten too much. She felt herself getting sleepier and sleepier, until she was practically snoring on her feet. But then she saw him, and she was more awake than she had ever been.

Because when she was near Draco Malfoy, every nerve in her body tingled.

When she touched him, her heart swelled and symphonies played in her brain like angel song. (What's the point? I know I'm in love with him by now, but still—BAD GINNY!)

He was with those idiots Crabbe and Goyle, but she didn't mind because it was him. Him laughing at some stupid thing they had said, him with his sweater over his shoulder and that tie loose and the lovely eyes laughing along with his mouth.

But if he was with his two goonies, how was she to get him alone? Ginny glanced around desperately for something, anything, that could help her get alone with Draco. Of course! There were pebbles and bits of rubble from the vandalized statue lying about. She picked up a smallish one and threw it at the back of his head as he turned to enter the common room.

Her Chaser's aim was true, and the pebble hit its mark. Draco looked around and spied her. Alarm crossed his lovely features. “I—I've got to go to the loo. You two go on. He pushed Crabbe and Goyle through the entrance and quickly retreated to the corner where Ginny was standing, inspecting the statue.

“I love how these things are just lying around the castle. Dead useful.”

“What the hell are you doing here, Gin?” he whispered worriedly to her. “Any of them could spot you.” Draco gestured towards the wall where the Slytherin common room was concealed.

“I don't know, I just thought I'd get a front row seat to watch you SNOGGING PANSY PARKINSON,” she said acidly.

His mouth fell open in surprise. “What are you going on about?”

“You and your girlfriend,” she spat out.

“Last I checked, we were talking about Pansy, and she sure as hell is not my girlfriend.”

“But what was all that `you said you loved me!' at dinner then?” she glared at him, accusing him with her eyes.

“Just what it sounded like. Complete bollocks!” he shouted back.

“You say that.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You were laughing! You saw how ridiculous that was!”

“Yes, well, then I got worried. Didn't you two used to go out?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Ages ago. And that was to make you jealous.”

Her jealousy and anger stopped short. “Well, then, it worked.”

Draco's mouth fell open in mock surprise. “Ginny Weasley, jealous of a Slytherin? Preposterous!”

“You must know how I feel about you by now,” Ginny murmured. Tears leaked from her eyes. He pulled her in for a hug. She cried even harder, because the gesture was just so—so friendly. He pushed her away from him gently, still holding onto her shoulders.

She looked up into his face. He was beaming like he had just won the lottery. “You idiot.”

And before she could say a word to protest, before she could do anything about it, he was kissing her with his mint-lemonade mouth until she couldn't remember her name, much less walk in a straight line back to Gryffindor Tower.

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Hello, my duckies!

I'm sorry I didn't write a little blurby thingy for my lurvely third chapter. What I meant to write in that one was: thank you reviewers! I feel very famous : D

Just FYI, I'm thinking about a sequel…someone plz tell me after I've posted Chapter 7 (last chapter) if that's a good idea…

Well what are you doing reading this little thing? Get on and read my story! Git, I say!

Chapter Four

Ginny couldn't remember ever having been so happy in her life. Even when she was with Harry paled in comparison to this. Just knowing that the immense crush that she had harbored for Draco Malfoy over the past few weeks was returned filled her with a bubbly, ecstatic feeling that she couldn't name. When she was with him, it was all she could do to stop herself from jumping for joy like a little girl.

And she had detested him until this year!

It made her head spin.

The unfortunate side effect of having Draco as a boyfriend, even more than having him as a friend, was that she spent so much time daydreaming in her classes that she was only passing because of Hermione. The two had rebuilt their friendship, and Ginny was even speaking to Harry. She didn't see Ron around much, though.

One day she asked Hermione about this. She giggled. “Didn't you know? Ron's going out with Luna now. Apparently, he spends all his free time sneaking out to Ravenclaw Tower to meet her and snog. Ha, ha, Ron snogging someone!” Hermione laughed at the thought.

“Ick! Ick, ick, ick! That's my brother you're talking about!” Ginny said disgustedly. “I can't believe he didn't tell me he was going out with Luna.”

“Wait, he really didn't tell you? When was the last time you saw him?”

Ginny thought. “I haven't really talked to him since Harry and I broke up in September.

Hermione looked shocked. “September was two months ago!” It was late November by now. Christmas vacation would start in a few days.

Ginny looked into the common room fire and sighed. “I know, I've just been busy lately…” …with Draco, she finished the sentence in her mind.

“Lessons?” asked Hermione sympathetically.

“You could say that,” replied Ginny enigmatically.

Harry suddenly appeared over Hermione's shoulder. He kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. “How's it going, Ginny?” he asked his ex politely.

“Fine, Hair-Bear,” she said, teasingly using Hermione's nickname for him.

He rolled his eyes in a very Draco-like gesture. Ginny started. “Oh, crap! I forgot …my—er—books in, uh, the library!” She had forgotten that it was Tuesday. She always met Draco in their secret room on Tuesdays.

She started for the portrait hole. “Wait!” Hermione called after her, while Harry was kissing her neck, “It's after hours! You can get them tomorr—”

Then Ginny slammed the portrait hole and Hermione's voice was shut out.

After a couple minutes of sprinting silently through the empty halls, she reached the tapestry and the niche with the bust. She fell through the secret door to see Draco, sitting there like he always did. His tie hung loose around his next, his woolen winter sweater having been discarded.

“Hello, Gin. How's the school look at night. Any different?”

She glared at his slightly smug face. “I got held up by Hermione, okay?”

“Hey, hey, didn't want you getting all snippy on me. I've been waiting.” He spread his arms. She settled herself down in his lap, still breathing a bit heavily from her run. She fit perfectly.

“Did you know Ron's going out with Luna?” she asked him, tracing the veins on the inside of his wrist and grinning smugly when he shivered.

“Ickle Ronnikins and Loony Lovegood? Really?” he asked, brushing his lips along the collarbone exposed by her school shirt. Now it was her turn to shiver.

“Don't call her Loony,” she said weakly as he commenced to kiss her hair.

“Sorry, Gin. I forgot you don't like that.”

She wanted him so badly, it made her feeble. Ginny grabbed the ends of Draco's tie, using it to pull him to her so that they were face-to-face. “Oh, just kiss me, you fool.”

Then she pulled him on top of her using that adorable tie and she couldn't even think any more.

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

Awhile later (they weren't entirely sure how long) they surfaced. Draco's shirt was unbuttoned, and Ginny was using his chest as a pillow. He was stroking her hair.

She smiled. She was so happy…just…so…

Draco was still stroking her hair as she drifted off to sleep. The blond boy watched his girlfriend breathe. She was so beautiful, it nearly made him cry. He had gone so long wanting her to want him. It was like a dream.

He propped himself up on a silvery pillow. “Can't you see, Gin?” he whispered to the sleeping girl. “I love you so much. I do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

And on that note, Ginny's lover slowly began to drift off into the sweet realm of sleep. He dreamt of her.

0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0

The morning dawned early, but they couldn't see it from inside their little room. Ginny and Draco slept through breakfast and all first period. The houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin were in their own respective uproars. The Head Boy missing! And Harry Potter's ex-girlfriend too!

The prefects were excused from their first classes to search for the missing students. Hermione searched hardest of all. She had a weird feeling that she would get blamed if Ginny was never found at all. The Head Girl searched every well-known secret passageway, every trick stair that Ginny might have gotten caught on. She even looked in a couple suits of armor. No Ginny.

But what if…what if Ginny had accidentally gotten into the room behind the bust of Gregory the Gormless last night when she was getting her books and couldn't get out? No, impossible. Nobody knew about the room except the…Head Boy!

That must be where Draco was. Hell, maybe Ginny was in there too. She found it a little hard to believe, but stranger things had happened. Poor Ginny! Trapped in a room for a night with her loathed enemy! She had to get there straightaway, before they killed each other.

Hermione sprinted to the Gregory bust and opened the secret door. Her pulse hammering in her throat, she lit her wand to see who was in there…

…and found Ginny lying on Draco's chest. They were both asleep.

Hermione let out a sharp gasp and staggered backwards in shock. Unfortunately, this knocked over a table. The loud noise woke the sleepers.

“What the—” murmured Ginny, rubbing her eyes. Then her gaze fell upon Hermione. “HERMIONE?!”

“What time izzit, Gin?” muttered Draco, still clinging on to sleep. Then his eyes met Hermione and he froze. “Shit. Granger.”

The Head Girl was still staring at the two proposed “enemies.” No wonder Ginny had gotten over Harry so quickly…she was a traitor! She probably laughed with the Slytherins about all the things Hermione had said around her.

“Hermione, this isn't what it looks like—” Ginny said pleadingly.

“No,” said Hermione slowly, “I think I've seen enough.” She turned to leave.

Draco leapt to his feet, barring the door. His shirt flapped open. Even in the moment of crisis, Ginny suddenly felt a huge appreciation for how hot her boyfriend was. “Look, Granger, we don't want this all over the school—”

The Head Girl glared at him with what was unmistakably malice in her eyes. “Too late for that, isn't it, Malfoy?”

The brown-haired girl pushed past Draco's arm to leave. “No!” yelled Ginny. “Please, no!”

Now it was Ginny's turn to get stared down. “Maybe you should have thought that before you started FUCKING MALFOY,” Hermione said icily.

The redhead gaped like a fish. Her lips moved, but no words came out. When Ginny finally found her voice again, Hermione was long gone. Draco had collapsed onto a nearby couch. “The nerve of her…I can't believe…she thought…”

Draco stared up at her with those beautiful, beautiful eyes. “Can't you see?” he said hopelessly. “It's over. All over.”

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Hey, lovelies!

Ooh, Ginny's in hot water. Draco too but mostly Gin-Gin.

And if any of you are wondering about the whole Death-Eater-killing-Dumbledore thing with Mr. Malfoy, I just sort of ignored the second half of book 6. Just telling you. It does play a part in my next fic (just telling y'all) because I thought it would be interesting to experiment with that ; ).

Harry + Ginny = no chemistry

Ginny + Draco = : )

^The equations that define my life *waggles eyebrows*

Read'n'review, pleasy-please! Many tanks to all those who have.

Ooh, this blurb is looooong….showing that the author has NO LIFE WHATSOEVER…

Just read. Go. Now.

Chapter Five

Ginny skipped class that day. She couldn't face her fellow Gryffindors, knowing that they knew she was dating Malfoy. She simply lay in her dorm, staring at the ceiling, motionless. Her curtains were drawn when her fellow sixth-year girls came up to bed. They assumed “that tart” was sleeping.

In reality, Ginny couldn't sleep. Her stomach was twisted into a million knots, dreading breakfast the next day. Lessons—she couldn't even think about it. It was like a horrible nightmare, the worst one in the world, but she couldn't wake up. How could her brothers ever look her in the eye again, knowing?

And all of Gryffindor thought she was doing Malfoy. Not a plus.

The next, dreaded morning, Ginny went down to breakfast late with a heavy heart and shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep. The moment she entered the Great Hall, she knew that her hopeless dreams of the whole school having magically forgotten overnight were obliterated instantly.

Every eye at the Gryffindor table was turned toward her. Even the first years had heard, it seemed. She sighed. Well, she had to eat somehow.

She sat down next to Ron, thinking that he might be more sympathetic than, say, Parvati Patil. It turns out she was wrong. Dead wrong.

Ron turned a glare onto Ginny. “You think you can call yourself my sister, after dating that bastard?” he said in a deadened voice.

“Look, it's not what you think—” she started.

“Oh, is it? You think I can look you in the eye after you DID DRACO MALFOY?!?” Ron turned his head away after this.

“I didn't—”

“You make me sick,” her brother said in the same, flat tone.

This was apparently the cue for the whole of Gryffindor to start whispering about her at the same time.

“That tart—”

“…maybe a dare?”

“…hope she's pregnant…”

“She deserves it!”

Harry and Hermione just stared at her, twin looks of disgust written all over their faces. That was the last straw. “Fine then,” she said, trying to keep her voice even, “if all you narrow-minded pricks think I would even deign to sit with you, you can just shove it up your bony—”

“MISS WEASLEY!” Dumbledore boomed from the staff table.

“SORRY, PROFESSOR!” she yelled back. Dumbledore nodded and continued eating his deviled eggs.

She turned up her nose at the Gryffindor table. “I can't believe you call yourself wizards,” she said disdainfully, then walked toward the Slytherin table.

Draco was reading his copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7 when Ginny approached him. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked around. “Oh hey, Gin, I saved you a seat,” he said, beaming.

“Why is there an extra place?” she asked, staring curiously around at the Slytherins. They didn't seem to be looking at her with any malice.

“Oh, Pansy's crying her eyes out in the bathroom because I'm taken,” Malfoy said airily, waving a fork of egg around for emphasis.

He saw her staring at the neighboring Slytherins, waiting for one of them to object to her presence. They didn't. “Oh, Gin, they don't care who I date!” Malfoy laughed. “We're much friendlier than you prats in Gryffindor give us credit for. See?” He waved at a fifth-year girl and she smiled back.

“Are you Ginny?” she asked her.

“Er—yes,” said Ginny, surprised.

The girl leaned in closer. “Lucky. You got Malfoy. He was the most available boy in the whole House!”

They giggled together. Draco brushed invisible lint off his shirt. “Oh, get off your high horse, Draco,” Ginny said, shoving him playfully.

It was a little weird. Not because the Slytherins weren't nice to her; to the contrary, they were far more hospitable than most Gryffindors. She asked Draco why this was. “Oh, it's just because you're dating one of us. Sort of gives you diplomatic immunity,” he said, beaming at her. They held hands under the table the whole time.

When the bell rang, Ginny had actually had an interesting conversation with the fifth-year girl. Her name was Victoria. As she got up to leave, Draco tugged her back down using their joined hands. “Wait around a bit, I want to talk to you,” he muttered in her ear.

After the Great Hall was finally mostly empty, he faced her. “Gin, I think this could be something good,” he said seriously, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

She looked at him like he was crazy. “How?”

“Well, we can go public now,” he said slowly, a grin spreading like molasses over his gorgeous features. “Only one downside.”

“All the Gryffindors hate me and think I'm a tart who's doing a Slytherin?” she suggested.

“They think you're doing me? Good Lord,” he muttered. “No, I was going to say that we're going to be made into a `shining example of house unity,' that's all. The Head Boy from Slytherin going out with Harry Potter's ex…”

He kissed her swiftly and jumped out of his seat. “Come on,” Draco said, pulling his girlfriend to her feet, “we're going to be late for class.”

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It didn't matter, once she thought about it, that her whole House and all of her friends hated her. No, what mattered to her was that she could kiss Draco in the halls like a normal girlfriend. What mattered was that she could hold his hand in public, eat with him, do her homework with him in the library. Ginny was so far in love, she honestly could care less what happened to everyone else. There was only one guy for her. The rest was second to him.

Nobody spoke directly to her, except for that annoying way people talk loudly on purpose so that the “leper” can hear them put her down. Other than that she was ignored on the whole, until the last day before Christmas break.

It was a snowy day in mid-December, and most of the school was outside having a snowball fight. Since Ginny was basically shunned by all her housemates, and Draco wanted to spend all his time with Ginny, they were stuck inside.

So it really didn't make sense that a first-year Gryffindor girl approached them while Ginny and Draco were, ah, “studying” in the library.

“Ahem,” the girl cleared her throat. Ginny broke the kiss, slightly embarrassed. Draco's ears were red.

“Harry Potter wants to see you in the common room, miss,” said the girl, staring at the carpet beneath Ginny's feet rather than at Ginny. She sighed. She was used to being ostracized by now, but still, it got rather lonely.

She looked back at Draco. “Want to come?”

“You know I can't really come in, right?” he said, scratching his head and stretching.

“Do you want to walk me there, then?”

“Well, I don't know the way, so it's really—”

Ginny rolled her eyes. Even while she was in love, she could still appreciate the fact that boys were so stupid. “Come on.”

They arrived in front of the Fat Lady's portrait after a few, uh, delays. Draco kissed her goodbye sweetly. “I'll wait for you.”

“You don't have to,” she said, taken aback.

“I know.” Then he melted into the shadows. She sighed and squared her shoulders for whatever was waiting for her inside the common room.

When she climbed through the portrait hole, a most unfamiliar sight greeted her eyes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all looking at her from across the room, not with looks of hatred or disgust, but of sympathy and affection.

“What—” she squeaked out before Hermione tackled her in a huge embrace.

“I knew it! I knew!” sobbed the older girl into Ginny's shoulder.

“Knew what?” Ginny began to get hopeful. Had they finally realized that she actually loved Malfoy and decided to leave well enough alone?

Ron said gruffly, “I'm sorry I was such a git, Gin.”

“Reeeaaaally.” Ginny rolled her eyes, still patting Hermione's back.

Harry looked most repentant of all. “Ginny, I'm really sorry.” Hermione finally let go, and Harry grabbed the redhead's hand in both of his. “I should have realized that you and Malfoy were only making Pansy jealous.”

She froze. “What did you say?”

Ron shrugged. “You hate Pansy. He hates Pansy. We all really just despise Pansy. So it makes sense that you two would pretend to have a relationship to drive her mad.”

“I'm so sorry I didn't figure it out earlier!” Hermione said, wiping her streaming eyes. “You don't have to tell him. He probably wants it a secret, right?”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You all think that Draco and I faked having a relationship to make Pansy Parkinson jealous?” Ginny said incredulously.

“Who wouldn't want to put her off?” said Ron offhand.

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I actually love Draco?”

There it was. The L word. Hanging out in the common room for all the Gryffindors to see.

Hermione stopped wiping her eyes. The kind look disappeared out of Harry's face. And worst of all, Ron glared at her like he had been all week.

Then Hermione laughed like a nervous hyena. “You don't really mean it, do you, Ginny? You always had that bit of Fred and George in—”

“You people just don't get it! I love him, I do, I want to be with him for my whole life! I'm not joking, I'm not playing a prank. Can't you just leave us alone?” Ginny's voice broke on the last word.

The kind look was back in Harry's eyes. “Ginny, I think he's playing you. It's probably a trick.”

“That's the most awful trick in the world!” Hermione piped up. “Pretending to love someone—I can't imagine the person who would do that.”

“You're not listening! I love him, he loves me, can't we just have our happily ever after?” Ginny was yelling now, but she did not care. How could they not understand?

“Ginny…I know this may be a bit hard to process…” Harry was holding her hand again.

“HE LOVES ME!” she bawled. “I KNOW HE DOES!”

This was the last straw. Harry lost his temper a bit. “Has he ever told you so? Think. Really think. When was the last time he told you?”

“He tells me all the…” her voice tailed off. Come to think of it, he hadn't ever really told her that he loved her. Ginny had always assumed that it was tacit, an unspoken bond between them. Could she really be that wrong? Could it really all be a lie?

“I have to go,” Ginny muttered from between unmoving lips. And without a backward glance, the girl dashed out of the portrait hole to confront the boy she had thought was her one and only love.

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SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER!!!!!

*Snifflies* oh that makes me nostalgic and sad. I remember back in the day about a month ago when becoming a Portkey author was nothing but a crazy dream…(P.S. good luck making the cut Ella!)

Muchos gracias to all those people who read my story…last I checked, over 1000 hits! Yaaay! Plus, as always, my love to the brave reviewers who thoughtfully put their comments out there. *Mwah!* I love you all so very much!

Now, as of yet I haven't gotten any feedback as to whether a sequel would be good or not…well, chapter 7 isn't up yet. True. But still, feedback would be appreciated : ).

Oh yes, and a belated thanks to Ella Mae for getting my little hoard of reviews started.

Read! Readreadread!

Chapter Six

Ginny stepped out of the portrait hole quickly, narrowly avoiding falling flat on her face. “Malfoy!” she whisper-yelled. “Where are you?”

A pale hand waved at her from a nearby corner. “I told you not to call me Malfoy!” he whispered back.

Draco stepped out of the shadows. Once he caught sight of Ginny's face, the goofy grin he was wearing evaporated. “What's wrong, love?”

She slapped his hand away when he tried to hold her hand. “Do you love me?”

A crease appeared between his eyebrows. “Ginny, I—”

“Just tell me. Tell me now or I walk away.”

“Well…” There was a long silence. Draco was frozen, paralyzed with fear. Ginny swayed a bit.

“He doesn't love me,” she whispered, more to herself than him. Then she fell, gracefully, slowly, sinking to the ground.

Draco just barely caught her before her head cracked against the hard floor. He set her down gently on the carpet and crouched beside her. “I'm an idiot,” he said bitterly, “a bloody idiot. No wonder the Hat put me in Slytherin. I'm an idiotic coward.”

He held his head in his hands. “Why can't I just tell her when she's awake? Of course now I can say it. I love you, Ginny, I do. I really, really, do.”

Obviously that didn't do much for Ginny, who was still unconscious. Well then, there was only one thing to do. Draco pulled her up to a sitting position and kissed her full on the mouth.

This woke Ginny up right quick. When she realized what was happening, an indescribable rage welled up in her. She bit the boy who was assaulting her. “I can't believe you!” she yelled, tears springing to her eyes. “What was I, just a good snog? Did you have a laugh with Pansy about all the idiotic things I said around you? Well, I'm not going to deal with you anymore, you…you…DEATH EATER!”

She walked away. However, she couldn't resist a peek back at him. No matter how much Draco stamped on her heart, no matter how much he hated her, she still loved him.

To her surprise, he was grinning like an idiot. “Couldn't you tell? All those years? I love you. I have always loved you.”

Then she was crying, not with anger but with joy, and he kissed her tears away. “I love you too, I do. It nearly broke my heart when they told me you didn't…” She couldn't even talk about it.

“Have you ever wondered why I hated Harry so much?” he said, facing her with nothing but honesty and love in his deep blue eyes.

“Um…not really. I just sort of took it for granted.”

He was playing with her hair again. She could never concentrate when he did that. “I was jealous, Gin. Wildly jealous. Unbelievably jealous. I only mildly disliked him until second year. I actually tried to kill him in that duel, with the snake. But you still only had eyes for him.”

“Last year, when we…” Ginny's voice trailed off.

“You couldn't believe how sad I was. And this year, when you broke up in September…I couldn't wait until you were over him. I had to see you, even if I could just be a friend. I had to be in your life. I still want to be in your life. In fact,” he said, fishing around in his pocket, “I was going to give this to you tonight, before all this fuss.”

It was a necklace, a beautiful silver chain with a glittering emerald heart hung on it. It was the most gorgeous thing Ginny had ever seen. “It's so beautiful. My favorite color…” she said.

Draco shrugged. “That was just convenient.” Then he dropped down on one knee. “Sorry this isn't a ring, but…”

Ginny gasped. Was he—proposing?

“Look, Gin, I love you, and I don't care how long it takes, but I want to marry you. Even if it's in two years, or ten, I want to marry you. I can wait. I already did.” Tears were pouring down her face again.

She could barely choke out her “Yes!” before being crushed into one of Draco's bone-breaking hugs. He actually lifted her off the ground this time. Then, he kissed her lightly on the lips. Ginny's head was spinning, but in a good way this time.

“Well, shall we?” Draco said with a cheeky grin.

“Let's go.” Ginny was so happy, she didn't even think about how awkward it was going to be as the only Chaser with a fiancé.

They were still holding hands when they climbed through the portrait hole. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled over a table in the far corner of the room. They stopped whispering when they realized that Draco had entered with Ginny.

Ron stood up and strode across the room. “I can't believe you'd have the nerve to lie to my sister!” he yelled, his ears turning rapidly redder.

“What did I lie about again?” Draco asked Ginny quietly.

“The whole love thing,” she muttered back.

“Oh.”

Now it was Harry's turn to speak. “Look, Ginny, I'm perfectly okay with you moving on, but not a Slytherin. Especially not him.”

She glared at her former boyfriend. “Sorry, Harry, I can't control who I fall in love with.”

“You can't actually be in love with that prat?” said Hermione incredulously.

Draco finally spoke. “You saw us, Granger. What did it look like?”

“It looked like you were screwing Ginny over for a snog—or worse!” Hermione cried. Draco roared with anger, and Ginny had to hold him back to keep him from mauling Hermione.

“You—bitch—” Draco panted, struggling to free himself from Ginny's arms. The second he broke away, Ginny yelled, “PROTEGO!”

A shield like a giant, transparent wall erupted in the center of the room, dividing the two opposing factions. Ginny released Draco; there was no point in holding him back now. Ron glared murderously at the couple. “Yeah, hide behind Ginny's skirts, you sniffling little git!”

Draco couldn't hold himself in check any longer. He shouted a wordless yell of anger and charged at the barrier like an angry bull. He was thrown across the room, slamming into the wall and bringing one of the golden wall hangings down with him. He landed with a sickening crunch.

Ginny ran to him, worried. Her lover batted her hands away. “Gin, I'm all right. Just let me have a go at him, please, just once?”

She grabbed his hand and stared at him pleadingly. “Look, he may be an evil bastard, but he's family, right?”

Draco grimaced, recognizing his own words. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “You three can say anything you want about us, but I love her. I couldn't hurt her if I tried.”

Ginny considered him, running a hand through his pale hair. “No, you could.”

The three onlookers watched intensely. “How on earth could I do that?” Draco asked, perplexed.

“You could leave me,” Ginny said quietly, looking at the floor. The golden wall hanging on the ground shimmered in the firelight.

He pulled her chin up so that she looked him in the eye. “I will never leave you,” he whispered.

“Promise?” She knew she sounded like a little kid, but she still wanted his word.

“I promise.”

And, completely ignoring the three onlookers, Draco pulled her in for the sweetest kiss she had ever tasted. For once in her life, Ginny didn't care what Harry thought as she kissed Draco back.

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We all knew this day would come.

And as much as this pains me (I'm eating a bucketful of M&Ms as we speak), it's time to upload the last chapter of HLM/HLMN.

But wait! Don't fret!

If you haven't read my reviews (which I strongly encourage you to do), let me just say that this is not my last fic. I'm currently writing one entitled “Sweet Revenge” and I have big plans for a sequel, probably called “You Didn't Hear It From Me.” It's going to be longer.

So, without further ado, here is the last chapter, chickens.

Chapter Seven

“Well,” Ron said after the couple finally broke apart. “This changes things a bit.”

“Are you finally going to accept that Draco's going to be family?” Ginny asked hopefully.

“FAMILY? Oh, forget it, I'm not going to ask,” Ron grumbled.

Harry looked Draco up and down. Ginny waved her wand and the Shield Charm vanished. Harry stepped closer to the couple. “Look, Draco, we're never going to like each other—”

“Oh, I don't really hate you any more. Well, not so much at least.” Draco shrugged, but his broad grin ruined the effect.

“And why is that?” Harry asked curiously.

“I was jealous of the attention Ginny was giving you. And since she's obviously over you now—” he gestured at their conjoined hands “—you're just another slimy Gryffindor git.”

“I could work with that,” said Harry.

Hermione stepped up to them, shamefaced. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Ginny smiled kindly. “It's okay. I would have assumed things too.”

The older girl broke down and Harry patted her back, making soothing nonsense noises. “Mione, it's okay,” he muttered. Then he pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss.

“Ugh, is that what we looked like?” Ginny muttered aside to Ron.

“Worse, because it was my sister,” he mumbled back, averting his eyes from the couple.

Draco just laughed.

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“Has anyone started talking to you again?” Draco said, tracing circles on Ginny's back.

She sighed. They were sitting by the lake, about ten paces away from the beech tree where they had first begun to talk last September. The spring leaves were just unfurling; Easter Break was days away. “Nobody other than the usuals.” This was Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

“They'll come around,” said Draco, squeezing her shoulder. “They just haven't gotten used to the idea yet.”

The redhead laughed. “It is fairly hard to get used to the idea that the Death Eater's son and the Order Members' daughter are in love.”

“There's time.”

“What are you going to do, next year?” she asked him anxiously. This was a topic that often cropped up in their conversations.

“Probably going to have to go into hiding,” he admitted. “I don't think my father would be too keen on me becoming an Auror or an Order Member.”

“Yeah, somehow I don't see that.” Ginny grinned.

“It shouldn't be funny, but it is,” Draco agreed.

They watched the giant squid toss around a fish in the distance. A colorful splash of wildflowers dotted the grassy bank on the opposite shore of the lake. Hagrid's hut sat cozily behind them. Ginny leaned her cheek on her boyfriend's shoulder.

The sun was setting in a blaze of purple and red-gold glory. It made the tops of the trees turn yellow.

“I love you,” she whispered into his ear.

“I love you more,” he whispered back.

“Don't.”

“Do too.”

“Don't.”

“Do too.”

“Don't.”

“Do too.”

“Don't.”

“Do too.”

“Fine! I give up!” Ginny threw her hands into the air.

“You do realize that this means…” Draco turned to her, eyes wide. They had an agreement that if Draco won the “don't” “do too” contest, they would both stay for Easter Break. If Ginny won, they would both go home to their families.

“I know. I don't think my brothers would be too happy to see me now. Plus, Ron and Luna and Harry and Hermione are staying too.”

“We could study in the library,” Draco said, waggling his eyebrows. His girlfriend shoved him.

“You are beyond disgusting!” she shrieked at him, throwing a clump of grass in his face.

“Well, Harry and Hermione are the PDA couple of the year. Seconded only by Ron and Luna.”

“True, but that doesn't make it any less disgusting,” she laughed.

He kissed her breathlessly. “Whose table is it today?” he asked, lying back so that Ginny could put her head on his chest (she liked that a lot. Good Ginny!).

“It's your turn to sit with us at the Gryffindor table,” she said teasingly. He groaned.

“Oh no. Is that Creevey kid going to ask me if I've ever used an Unforgivable again? It's like they think all Slytherins are Death Eaters.”

“Your parents are Death Eaters,” she pointed out.

“So why does that make me one?”

“Are you asking me to explain Colin Creevey's logic? 'Cause he doesn't have any.”

“Come on,” Draco said, pulling Ginny to her feet. “We have to go in for dinner.”

As the couple headed back to the castle, the final rays of the sun winked out. The first stars of the night were beginning to show through. Ginny thought about making a wish, but she didn't. She already had everything she had ever wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't you just love sappy stories with equally sappy endings? I know I love them too.

Well, chickies, tell your friends about lil' ol' me and have a happy whatever-day-it-is. I have to go back to my writing! Fic #2 will be out soon, I promise! Don't forget to write! (Yuk yuk yuk. Lame joke, I know)

Till then!

Kisses,

Lovee : )

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