Change of Heart

Chapter 1

"Good morning all," sixteen-year-old Ginny Weasley said as she sat down to breakfast with her friends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Seamus Finnegan, and her brother Ron Weasley.

They returned the greeting. Harry and Seamus went back to discussing Quidditch, their favorite game, Ron and Hermione went back to talking quietly, Hermione grinning like a Chessy cat every now and then.

While Ginny was helping herself with some scrambled eggs, her blue eyes scanned the other tables, which were full of chattering students, and eventually landed on Slytherin's table. She noticed in an instant that a certain blonde-haired, steely eyed someone was not at the table in his usual spot between Crabbe and Goyle.

Gosh, I hope he's alright, she thought. Then she chided herself, Ginny! He's Draco Malfoy, why do you care where he goes and what he does?

Harry's low tenor voice brought Ginny back to reality. "Well, we'll just have to find out if Fred and George got their new shipment in. Isn't it the first Hogsmeade weekend, Ginny?"

Ginny shrugged. "I dunno. 'Mione!"

Hermione looked up from where she and Ron were holding their conversation (a private one, Ginny decided, since Ron's ears were turning red).

"Erm, Yes! Yes it is. What you all say about going together?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "I promised Cho I'd meet up with her, but I can probably stick around for a little while."

"What about you, Gin? Want to come with us?" Ron asked.

Ginny knew that if she went, she'd have to put up with Ron and 'Mione being all mushy. After having to deal with it all summer, she knew what Harry meant when he told Seamus Finnegan he felt like a 'third wheel' around them sometimes. Even if Harry did go, he'd probably bring Cho, and while Ginny liked Cho, she would feel like a 'fifth wheel'. She had long gotten over her crush on Harry, and now she and him were like brother and sister.

"Erm, maybe. I'll see," She said hurriedly. A flash of white-blond caught her eye, and her focus traveled back to the Slytherin table, where she found Draco Malfoy...sitting by himself? Ginny frowned. That didn't make sense at all.

It was no secret that Draco and Harry were the two best-looking guys in Hogwarts, and since Harry was fiercely loyal to Cho, all of the girls seemed to have, at least, a secret crush on the tall, lithe blonde boy from Slytherin. Even Lavender and Pavarti, who had been part of Harry's fan club for the longest time, had been heard secretly mooning over Draco.

Ginny didn't really care either way. She did find it surprising, though, that Malfoy hadn't made any sharp comments about her family, about her hair, or just about anything for that matter. In fact, he hadn't even acknowledged Ginny's presence since the beginning of the year! She wondered what had made him have a change of heart all of a sudden.

That still doesn't explain why he's sitting by himself, though, Ginny thought, Last year, he had all of the Slytherin girls around him. Wonder what's gotten into Draco.

The bell rang, (AN: is there a bell at Hogwarts?) and everyone got up to go. Ginny groaned inwardly; her first class was double block of Potions with the Slytherins. Not wanting to be late and risk the wrath of Professor Snape, Ginny picked up her (overly crammed) bag and walked quickly towards the dungeons.

She got there just before the bell rang and sat down just as Professor Snape came in.

He stood at the front of the class, glaring at all of them, including his own House students.

"Today, we are going to be concocting the potion of Moranis. The---"

Suddenly, the door slammed, and everyone turned to see the poor fool who was late. Draco Malfoy ran in.

"Sorry, Professor Snape," he muttered before sitting in the back of the class. Pavarti and Lavender giggled. Ginny rolled her eyes at their giggling. For Merlin's sake, he's just a boy, and not even a decent one at that. I guess if it moves and resembles a guy, they'll think it's cute.

Snape ignored the intrusion and continued.

"The potion of Moranis is derived from the Mornea plant, whose leaves, if eaten, can kill you by slowly invading your blood system and stopping your heart rate altogether. Its flowers, however, which are bright orange in color, can be used in a simple potion to reduce bruises," he continued, and Ginny saw him subtly shoot a look at Draco. Ginny thought she imagined it, however, because he quickly looked away.

Professor Snape paced as he said, "When crushed moth's wings are added, the potion should resemble water and is safe to bottle. However, if it turns black, don't touch it. Well? Why aren't you all writing this down?" he suddenly barked. Everyone rushed to grab quills and parchment and hurriedly scribbled down the notes.

The rest of the class went pretty much uneventfully; Ginny was paired with Hermione, so they were finished first. Not that that was saying much, as the potion took a long time to boil, so they sat idle for most of the class until five minutes before the bell, when Hermione said, "Ginny, could you hand me the crushed moth's---whoops!" she said, and accidentally knocked the jar of moth's wings on the ground. The glass had an Unbreakable charm on it, or Ginny would've had to pick up glass shards as well as the fragile moth's wings.

When the bell rang, signaling it was time to leave, everyone left except Ginny, who told Hermione to go on ahead and she would catch up. As she was leaving, she saw Malfoy and Professor Snape were talking and Snape put a hand on Malfoy's shoulder.