Vidi, Vici, Veni

Chapter Five

"Letters and Lust"

At breakfast the next morning, the Great Hall was buzzing with talk about the ball. Many people were surprised at midnight when masks were pulled off and they realized with whom they were dancing with.

Neville was at the Hufflepuff table talking to a pretty fifth year. His confidence was greatly bolstered while he had been wearing his mask last night. It seems that the Hufflepuff was quite charmed by him last night and invited him over to her table to talk a bit before classes began. Neville came back to the Gryffindor table after she rose and left breakfast.

"Neville, you old dog!" Ron leered at him.

He was trying desperately not to blush. "Oh, shut up, Ron," he muttered while trying to hold back a smile.

Harry was talking to Florence and Roxanne. He had wound up dancing with both of them last night and they were now looking at Harry with great interest. Ron and Hermione were trying to restrain themselves from snogging at the table. They kept on giving each other pecks on the cheek and neck, ignoring some of the stern glares from their neighbours.

Ginny was left alone to wander in thought. Periodically, when a taller boy from the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff table would stand, she would look at them with deep concentration, trying to recognize anything from her mysterious man.

Many of the boys she observed were too tall, too short, or too heavyset. Finally when she was about to give up, she caught the silhouette of someone who matched the man in her mind. She stood to get a better look, but he walked behind a group of Ravenclaws that were milling about. Ginny craned her neck to get one last good look and caught sight of his silver blond hair just as he walked out the door. The way he moved with grace and confidence was unmistakable from the way he had walked away from her last night, leaving her standing in the middle of the dance floor.

"This can't be happening to me," she softly moaned with her head in her hands. Silently she mouthed, "Malfoy, great gods. It's Malfoy. Why, why would he do this? What am I going to do?"

The night before, Ginny hadn't got any sleep. After the ball, she relived her evening over and over in her mind. And now that she knew who was behind the mask, she could put a face to this man who had swept her off her feet. She had trouble combining the two people in her mind, one sweet and charming who smiled at her and Draco, sneering or smirking at her. Ginny groaned, thinking that this was going to be a big distraction for her the rest of the school year.

"Gin, you alright?" Ron looked at her with concern.

"Yeah, late night." She smiled as best she could, looking a little more tired than she had at the beginning of breakfast.

Hermione leaned over in front of Ron. "So, do you have any idea who he is?" Her eyes were wide with hope that the mystery had been solved.

Lying, she thought of something quickly. "Maybe he didn't come down for breakfast this morning." The Great Hall was not full this morning as there were some students who wanted to sleep in a bit more. "I am totally clueless," she sighed. This wasn't a lie. Ginny was clueless as to why Draco would try and romance the likes of her. Draco had his pick of any of the Slytherin girls, a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, too.

Ginny had become the object of interest to many boys that year. Over the summer, she had filled out in a womanly way. Her sweater clung to her a little tighter in all the right places, her hips swayed a little more, though it was hard to see that under her robes. Never the less, several boys last night had hoped to have the chance to dance with her. They had been usurped by some unrecognizable student and had sulked a bit before moving onto other girls that caught their eye.

Ginny figured it was hormones that were making Draco act that way last night. Perhaps he was able to put aside his animosity for one night to have the chance to dance with a pretty girl. She shook her head thinking that that was the most unlikely scenario. She picked up her bag and headed off to her first class of the day with Professor Mead.

Professor Snape and Professor Mead sat at the staff table and looked at each other. "Do you think she knows?" Snape asked.

"She has known for a while, it's just a matter for her heart to decide. Him on the other hand is another matter," Professor Mead trailed off.

"What do you mean?" He looked questioningly at her.

"He just figured it out last night and he's confused. His heart had decided, but not his mind." She looked concerned, a slight frown formed in her brow. "I think only time will tell." Snape squeezed her hand gently.

~_~_~_~_~_~

Draco sat sulking on a bench in a niche down a darkened corridor. He had avoided looking at Ginny all during breakfast. He hadn't slept so well last night either.

Last night, he kept waking from dreams of Ginny wrapped in his arms. They were looking into each other's eyes and he was caressing her arms, soft and slender. He would reach his hand and caress the small of her back. She would arch her neck back and bare that creamy perfect throat and he would dive into it, tearing, shredding. Ginny was screaming, he couldn't tell if it was sounds of pain or pleasure escaping from her mouth. Blood was running in rivulets down his chin and neck. She was digging her nails into his back, the pain building where her nails dug into his flesh.

He had bolted upright in bed, covered in a cold sweat and an erection so hard it almost hurt. Draco had dragged himself into his private bathroom for a cold shower that morning. He hated cold showers, but it was the only thing that he could do to make himself fit comfortably into his boxers and trousers. Granted his robes could hide a lot, but he thought it would be better to suppress his body's urges.

What bothered him the most was that he was disturbed that he was hurting her in such a savage way. The fact this bothered him agitated him even more.

After a while, Draco stood up from the bench and headed to his first class, too preoccupied to notice a group of first year Hufflepuffs to bother terrorizing them.

Later that day, he sat in the back of the room trying to listen to Professor Mead's lecture. Draco was still trying to put last night's dream out of his head. He wore a scowl on his face, angry with himself for not being able to control his own thoughts.

Draco's gaze meandered around the room until his eye was caught by Blaise Zabini's actions. He was passing a note to Millicent Bulstrode. Millicent opened the note and stifled a giggle. She then turned and blew Blaise a kiss.

Draco had been racking his brains for a week prior to the ball, trying to think of his next tactic after the dance. Blaise and Millicent's exchange gave him an idea. After class, he would head off to the Owlery.

When class ended, Professor Mead called Draco to her desk. "You and your young lady friend from last night were quite the talk at breakfast this morning. Did you ever find out who she was?" Professor Mead looked at Draco, watching him shuffle his feet as if he had been caught doing something bad.

"I know who she is, but I don't think she really wants to know it was me last night." Draco sighed. A small part of him really did want Ginny to know, even though it might spoil his long-term plans.

Professor Mead smiled and sighed, "You know, you are not star-crossed lovers." She leaned in and in a confiding voice said, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Draco looked at her, his faced screwed up in confusion. She clarified by replying, "Romeo and Juliet." Draco's expression made her continue. "A famous play by a Muggle named William Shakespeare. Juliet belongs to the house of Capulet, Romeo to the house of Montague. Their families are in a bitter feud with each other. Romeo crashes a party at Juliet's house, sees her there and falls in love with her." Draco rolled his eyes in disgust that a Muggle play could be so sappy. Professor Mead ignored him. "He asks her to dance, she's just smitten to the bone. He finds out she's a Capulet, she finds out he's a Montague and their hearts are torn. He stands under her balcony after the party and hears her speak her heart out to the night."

She then paused and looked at Draco who now seemed a little more fascinated by the story. "She says,

'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I'll no longer be a Capulet.'

She goes on to say 'That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' Perhaps your dance partner from last night might be able to look beyond the name of Malfoy and see you for who you are." She paused. "Just as you would be able to for her."

He shifted, feeling uncomfortable from her looking at him. He wondered if he had been thinking too loudly again.

Professor Mead went back to her desk and gathered a few scrolls of parchment into her arms. "You should be heading off to lunch now. Good day, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco turned and felt like he was being played. How did Weasley know how to tango? Why the mention of Romeo and Juliet? Did she know about the Malfoys and Weasleys hating each other? Why did she think that I was in love with that Weasley? Draco turned and walked out the door.

Walking down the corridor, he remembered that he was going to go to the Owlery and shrugged off the conversation that he just had with Professor Mead. Well, if she really could read minds, she'd know what I was up to and stop me, Draco thought to himself. In his mind he could hear her voice scolding him, telling him that he was not being chivalrous. He chuckled as he searched his bag for some parchment, ink and a quill.

Over the course of the morning, Ginny convinced herself that it wasn't Draco that she had danced with. There were plenty of sixth and seventh year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff boys that she didn't know. And the Great Hall was sparsely populated this morning. Besides, the boy last night sounded nothing like Malfoy. She figured it was just a paranoid imagination that made her consider such a thing.

She sat at the Gryffindor table ready for lunch, she hadn't eaten much that morning. She'd just come back from Potions class, which wasn't as terrible as usual.

Professor Snape had given up sneering at his student over the past few weeks. She could tell that he had started washing his hair on a regular basis as it had bounce to it that it didn't have before. He even smiled when some of his students answered his questions correctly in class. There was an undeniable shift in his attitude, like he was happy, but Ginny didn't think that Snape was someone who was capable of such an emotion. However, in today's class, he congratulated her on improving her grades from last year and sincerely smiled at her. Shocked, she had thanked him before his attitude could change. If Snape could be nice for once, then anything was possible.

She was biting into her sandwich when one of the school owls flew through the window into the Great Hall. Many students looked up, as it was well past the time that owl post usually came. The owl swooped past and dropped a small note in front of Ginny. Unrolling the note, she began to blush as she read it.

"It's not from Mum, is it?" Ron eating his Ploughman's lunch did not notice her reaction to the letter.

Ginny giggled and turned to Hermione who was sitting next to her. "It's from HIM!" she whispered excitedly.

"So, do tell, do tell. I'm dying from the suspense" Hermione squealed, her excitement not concealed.

"I STILL don't know. It's just a little note." She paused, then smiled as if hiding a delicious secret. "No name, but I do know it's from him, whoever he may be."

Prairie dogging about, Hermione and Ginny stood up looking to see if any boy from the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw table was looking in their direction.

Draco was doing his best not to look at Ginny. He had come in for lunch just as the owl delivered its load. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Hermione and Ginny were standing and looking about as he was loading up his plate. He could hear the excited chatter between the two girls, but couldn't make out the words.

The two sat down and Hermione asked, "So, what does it say?"

Ginny hesitated, then scanned the note again to see if there was anything that might make Ron blow up in one of his usual overly protective brother rants. The writing was elegant, obviously by someone who really worked at his penmanship. She began to read aloud.

"Dearest Ginny,

Please forgive me for leaving you so suddenly last night. I am not prepared to let you know who I am, yet.

I still have the ribbon I took from you last night. I hope you do not mind if I keep it as it brings back fond memories of the night we shared.

When I am ready to reveal myself, I hope you will be willing to meet me. Until then, please know that you are in my thoughts.

Sincerely,

Your secret admirer"

Hermione and Ginny both screamed girlishly with delight. Hermione rolled her eyes to the ceiling and waved her hand in front of her face, fanning herself.

Reaching around Hermione, Ron tried to snatch the letter out of Ginny's hands. "Let me see that!" he snarled. Ginny was able to keep it out of Ron's grasp.

"No, it's mine! It was not addressed to you." Ginny turned her attention back to Hermione. "I can't believe it, I have a secret admirer. It's so cliché, but still so terribly romantic." Ginny sighed as if she would swoon.

"I don't know, Gin. Sounds a bit dodgy to me. A coward if you ask me." Ron wrinkled his nose. " 'I'm not prepared to let you know who I am.' Probably some ugly toady." He looked at Hermione and asked, "Who do you think is ugly who might fit the bill?"

Appalled by his comments, Ginny's mouth opened. Hermione shot him a look and said, "You're one to talk, I don't remember you being so forthcoming about your feelings for me before we started dating. Besides, he didn't look that bad to me last night, he looked pretty hot."

"Hot?" he retorted. "He was wearing a bloody mask, how could you tell?"

Ginny looked at her brother coolly and replied, "After that kiss he gave me, I don't care what he looks like."

Ron's face fell. "Yeah, what about that kiss?" He glared at her.

"It all looked perfectly innocent," Hermione assured Ron.

"It certainly didn't feel innocent to me," Ginny snickered while giving Hermione her cheekiest smile. Both girls erupted in giggles while Ron rolled his eyes.

"Girls," he sighed with disgust. Harry chuckled at bit while listening on the fringes of their conversation, then turned his attention back to Florence and Roxanne.

~_~_~_~_~_~

Ginny was on her way to Transfiguration class, walking with Florence and Roxanne. She was talking animatedly with them about her letter and asking them who a likely candidate would be for her secret admirer.

When she looked up, Draco was walking down the corridor towards her. Before she could look away and do her best to ignore him, her eyes were trapped in his gaze. His eyes were not full of arrogance or superiority as she expected, but were soft. A slight smile played upon his lips.

Her pace unabated, she walked with Florence and Roxanne flanking her, carrying her on to her next class. They were busy coming up with the names of possible boys, so they didn't notice when Ginny stopped talking.

Ginny's eyes were wide, partly out of fear and partly out of shock. This was not how Malfoy normally looked at her.

Only when they passed each other did he break eye contact with her. She joined her dorm mates in conversation again, occasionally glancing over her shoulder as Draco disappeared down the corridor, swallowed by the sea of students bustling between classes.

That night after dinner, Draco sat in the Slytherin common room watching the fire crackle and burn, reminiscing over the events of the past twenty-four hours.

A smug smile on his face, he chuckled, "Let the mind games begin."

====================

Chapter Six

"Perhaps He Doth Protest Too Much".

Every day for the next week, Draco would head up to the Owlery after dinner with the latest 'love letter' for Ginny. He would instruct the owl to not deliver the message until the next morning when owl post usually came. At breakfast he would sit at the Slytherin table and observe Ginny as she received his messages.

Draco was starting to look forward to watching Ginny smile and giggle with delight when she read those letters that he so carefully crafted. Her face would light up and Draco would inwardly smile, but then catch himself.

This morning he had written her his most ardent letter, yet. When she opened the scroll, it seemed like it was taking forever for her to read it. Finally, she rolled the letter back up and clutched it to her chest. Ginny closed her eyes and rolled her head back, exposing her throat, then sighed the deepest sigh of yearning.

He was staring at her throat, remembering how it felt in his mouth during his dreams. He brought his attention back to the present. He wanted to watch her. Draco actually enjoyed seeing her happy, he reluctantly relished the joy that he was bringing to her heart and then he pushed those thoughts out of his mind.

You're a Malfoy, you're not supposed to be happy, much less in love, he thought to himself. Draco was brought up to believe that people of his station do not marry for love, they married for family alliances, for power, for strategy. He knew that some time years from now his father would arrange a marriage for him, but it seemed so far off in the future that he couldn't be bothered to think about it.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were always civil to each other. Draco remembered many days where they would sit at the breakfast or dinner table and not speak one word to each other. Though his mother had shown him great affection, it was not the sort that involved hugs and kisses. His mother and father were two of the most emotionally cold people he knew. The thought of them ever getting around to procreating and producing him must have been the equivalent of two iceberg bumping in the night.

Draco then remembered what just past through his mind. Love? LOVE?!? Why on earth did that word come into my brain? he was screaming in his mind. IT'S LUST, NOTHING MORE!

Just then he noticed that Ginny was tying a note to the leg of the owl that had just delivered his latest message. Draco was almost frozen in panic, what would he do if the owl flew over to him with Ginny's note in front of the whole school? He's be the laughing stock of Slytherin House for being 'in love' with some Muggle loving, poor Weasley girl before he could finish his plan and let them truly appreciate his true cruel cunning. What if Ginny saw the owl go to him? His plans would be foiled. What would her brother, Ron, do if he found out he was trying to seduce his little sister? Before Ginny could finish tying the note to the owl's leg, Draco stood up and beat a hasty retreat, almost running out of the Great Hall. Luckily, he remembered to grab his book bag before bolting.

By the time he reached his first class, Draco's heart was pounding in his chest. He remembered that the school owls knew better than to deliver messages while students were in class.

Two things he forgot about in his little plan were that Ginny had an older brother that was a good few inches taller than him and several inches wider. Ron had put on some muscle over the last summer while practicing for his position as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he looked like he might be able to take on Crabbe or Goyle when it came to fist-tee-cuffs. Draco, though strong in a sinewy way, knew that Ron physically outclassed him. The only way he would have a chance of surviving a physical confrontation with a furious Ron was to use his wand before Ron knew what was happening. The other thing he neglected to consider was that Ginny would answer his letter with one of her own.

"And Slytherins are supposed to be so cunning," he grumbled under his breath. He chastised himself for not taking into account that Ginny would want to write back, but he figured that his plans were already in motion and it was too late to back out.

~_~_~_~_~_~

Ginny finished tying her note to the owl's leg. "Hermione, I can't believe I didn't think of this before. You are every bit the cunning witch Ron says you are," she said.

"I just figured that if you replied, the owl might deliver your note to Mr. Mysterious and we can finally identify who he is." Hermione was looking excited, she was as curious as Ginny to find out who the secret admirer was.

The owl nipped at her fingers and she fed it a bit of her sausage before it took off. The owl circled the Great Hall then flew out of the window. Ginny looked crestfallen.

Hermione put a friendly hand on her shoulder and said, "Maybe he already left for classes. Maybe we'll find out at lunch," Hermione concluded, trying to reassure Ginny.

Ginny smiled weakly but figured that if she could stand the suspense for over a week, she could surely wait a few more hours until lunch.

She ran to lunch as fast as she could from Potions. She wanted to be there in case the owl with her reply came early. Throughout the whole lunch hour, Ginny would periodically look up to see if any owls came to deliver her message.

Hermione tried to comfort Ginny by saying that maybe he was in the library during lunch. He would definitely be there for dinner.

Dinner came and no owl arrived. Ginny looked dejected and thought that maybe it was some cruel joke.

"Stupid owl probably got lost," Ginny tried to rationalize to Hermione.

"Maybe he's not here for dinner?" Hermione responded.

Ron interjected, "Well, the bloke's got to eat sometime."

Both got the idea at the same time, they both stood up and surveyed the Great Hall for empty spots at all four of the house tables. Their eyes fell upon the empty place where Malfoy usually sat.

Hermione turned to look at Ginny, her eyes were still transfixed on Malfoy's empty seat. She turned to look at Hermione and saw the wary look on her face. Ginny nudged a glance in Ron's direction then back to Hermione, pursed her lips and slightly shook her head as if to say, No, don't you day say a word to Ron, I'll take care of this myself.

They both sat back down and Ron said, "Well, maybe he's got the sense to realise that if he tried anything with you, I'd pound him into a bloody pulp." Ron was too busy eating his shepherd's pie and trying to run his hand up Hermione's thigh under the dinner table for him to bother noticing that Malfoy was missing like the two girls had.

~_~_~_~_~_~

Draco sat in his private room in a chair mesmerized by the fire. He had Ginny's hair ribbon in his hand, absentmindedly rubbing it between his fingers and brushing it against his lips. He ignored the grumbling in his stomach from missing two meals in a row.

He thought about Ginny, the way her smiles made him want to smile. About what pleasant company she had been that night at the ball, not like those vapid shrews his father was always pushing him to date. He liked the fact he was able to put his façade of indifference and loathing aside for one night and actually enjoy himself, even though he was pretending to be someone different. But it wasn't so different from what he felt inside at times.

He always had to be on guard with his so-called Slytherin 'friends'. Draco had been distancing himself from Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy since they returned for the school year. He always had to be so careful of what he said around them, knowing that anything he would say or do might be used against him or be relayed back to his father, wherever he might be.

Draco was tired of pretending to like the friends his father picked, tired of pretending to be cold hearted, but he felt that this was the destiny that lay waiting for him once he graduated Hogwarts. He figured that this might be a good test to see if he was everything that his father wanted him to be. A cruel and heartless bastard.

The time to act was now, before he lost his nerve. Draco went to his desk and pulled out a roll of parchment and began to write.

After he finished what he thought would be his last letter to Ginny, he set off for the Owlery. Once he got there, he saw the owl he had been frequently using and urged it to come down. The owl still had Ginny's letter tied to its leg.

The owl landed on Draco's arm and looked at him reproachfully for letting this note stay attached to its leg for so long. He apologized and gave the owl a treat before the owl could nip at him, then took the letter and tucked it into his robes.

"One last errand and then I will leave you alone." Draco tied his last message to the owl's leg and then instructed it to not allow a reply to be sent back to him.

~_~_~_~_~_~

He was crying, rocking Ginny in his arms while she ignored him. She was sitting at a table with gold plates and utensils. She was cutting up a piece of raw meat that lay on her plate. Every time she stuck her fork into the meat and started to cut, Draco would grasp at his chest, trying to tear away at the pain that was searing under his ribs. Draco tried to kiss her, but when she turned her head she had transformed to become his father.

Lucius stood above him laughing that he had proven himself to be weak, but that he had other uses for him. His father had him strapped to a table and had a snake in his hands. He brought the snake closer to the boy who was becoming a man. Draco fought against his restraints, but to no avail. The snake reared its head and dove onto Draco's arm, the pain was beyond anything that he had ever experienced at his father's hand before. It felt like he had been injected with pure undiluted dragon's blood, he was sure that his body was going to be consumed by this internal fire.

Behind his father who stood mirthlessly laughing at him with a malevolent glare in his eye, a hooded figure approached. It came closer and finally stood over Draco. The only thing that Draco could see was two red glowing embers that must have been eyes. The figure was going to lean over and give him a kiss. Draco knew that with that kiss, he would surely die. He could feel fear like he never had before in his life building up inside of him. Just before the hooded creature could kiss him, he finally let out a scream that felt like it would shatter the world.

~_~_~_~_~_~

Several Slytherins burst into Draco's room, concerned that something was seriously wrong, that someone was trying to cause him bodily harm. Draco looked at his fellow students wondering what they were doing in his private quarters.

"What are you looking at, GET OUT!" Draco shouted as best he could. Everyone at the door turned and mumbled between themselves. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he didn't care. He knew that several other children of Death Eaters in Slytherin House were starting to have screaming nightmares as the war beyond Hogwarts' walls was escalating.

Draco went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He was barely able to walk as his legs were shaking, making him unsteady. As he looked into the mirror, the red around his eyes told him that he had been crying in his sleep. His heart was finally starting to slow down when he settled himself into his chair and watched the glowing embers settling in the hearth. It was two in the morning and much too early for him to stay up the rest of the night if he was going to see Ginny tomorrow and admit to her that he was her secret admirer.

Walking over to his wardrobe, he reached into his robe. He pulled out the letter that he had neglected to read earlier that night. Part of him was reluctant to know what her note said, the other part of him wanted to savour the anticipation of what her letter might say.

Darling Secret Admirer,

I long to know who you are. I wish I could tell you in person just how special you make me feel.

Your letters have made my heart fly. Every morning I look forward to another one of your notes.

If you think that I might not like you, because you are I afraid I won't think you're handsome, please don't think that. Anyone who has made me feel like you have over this past week must have a good heart. And that is more important than anything else.

I wish I could return the kiss you gave to me. I look forward to the day when you can tell me who you are.

You are forever in my thoughts.

Ginny

The fight had gone out of Draco. He didn't care about some stupid revenge against Ginny anymore. He didn't want to prove to himself that he could be the cold-hearted monster his father raised him to be.

Going ahead, he would just meet Ginny anyway, let her scream at him and he could walk away. This was anything but what he had planned for.

He figured that he was going to put her through enough pain when she found out that he was the person of her affections and that would be punishment enough.

In his dream, he realized that Ginny was eating his heart without a care. Draco thought it best that he get this whole sticky situation over and done with before it got worse. At least he hadn't fallen in love with her, though there was a tiny seed of dissent in his being at that thought.

He sat on the edge of his bed, his body heavy with exhaustion. From his bedside table, he pulled out a small, smoky glass vile. Draco took the glass of water from the table and poured four drops of sleeping potion into it. One drop for each hour he wanted to sleep.

Leaning back onto his bed, he slowly pulled the covers over himself. He could feel the potion acting quickly and welcomed the sleep that overtook him.

~_~_~_~_~_~

The next morning at breakfast, Draco sat with his back towards the Gryffindor table. He didn't want to see her face when owl post came. Part of him wanted to look over his shoulder and see one last smile, but he restrained the urge.

When the great flap of wings overhead told him that mail was here, he just put his head in his hands. His fellow Slytherins ignored him out of respect for the fact that he had had a screaming nightmare. They figured he was just too tired this morning.

Draco's exhaustion did not go unnoticed by Ron. "What's up with Malfoy. He's not been himself lately," Ron rhetorically asked no one in particular. "I mean, yesterday in potions, I insulted him and he never took the bait. I was actually looking forward to a good row with him. I've even been working on a few new lines to use on him."

"Maybe his heart's not in it like it used to be," Hermione explained, hoping that this would get Ron off the subject. She was looking over at Ginny who was reading her latest letter from Draco solemnly.

"Yeah, right, like he ever had a heart," Ron chuckled.

Ginny spun to face Ron and said with a slight hint of anger in her voice, "How would you know that?" Her face flushed realizing she didn't mean to say that out loud.

"What's gotten into you," Ron asked, affronted by her tone.

"I don't know," she honestly replied.

"You should be giggling and rolling your eyes about. You got another letter there in your hand," Ron remarked. He started looking concerned at her. "He hasn't written anything to hurt your feelings, has he?"

"No, nothing like that." Ginny was flustered. "He just wants to finally meet me, that's all."

Before she could continue, Ron looked at her fiercely and started asking, "When, where, I want to meet this bloke."

"I'm not going to tell you, you'll ruin it!" said Ginny, pulling herself up in her seat and attempting to exert her own force of will.

Hermione stroked Ron's arm, reassuring him that Ginny was a big girl. If she wanted to meet him, she could handle anything that might happen herself. Hermione reminded him that she was a member of Dumbledore's Army. She could surely defend herself against a young man who might try and take advantage of her.

Ron grumbled a meagre, "All right."

Ginny went back to her letter and reread it again.

My Sweetest Ginny,

I saw the way you swooned at my letter. Oh, that you would do that in my arms. I thousand kisses upon you lips I wish to place.

I am ready to meet with you. I hope I am not a disappointment to you.

If you choose not to come, I understand. But know this, you have encroached upon my heart and I relish this feeling. May it never go away.

Meet me on the Astronomy Observation Platform at seven o'clock tonight.

Eager for your kiss,

Your secret admirer

Ginny's sigh was not one of romance, but of angst. Just then she saw Draco rise from his seat and leave. She watched his form trudge forward in a listless manner. She could tell that something was bothering him.

Is it really him? she thought her herself. Someone else could use the same soap as Draco. It's not like Draco would want to lead me on, unless it was to hurt me.

She had an epiphany. All the pieces in her head began to fit together. She could feel the bile in her throat rising.

She rose from the table and stormed out the Great Hall, ignoring Ron and Harry's questions as to what was wrong. The letter clenched in her hand and anger coursing through her, she marched off to her Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

Professor Snape and Professor Mead at the staff table looked at each other. Snape wore a look of concern, but she patted his hand and said, "This was bound to happen. Don't worry, it's nothing that time won't fix and everything will be back on course soon".

"Are we still on for dinner this Saturday?" she asked, trying to change the topic of conversation. Snape nodded his head with a smile.

Snape was glad that Dumbledore had asked her to join the Order of the Phoenix just before the start of the term. He was so busy during the summer on his own missions, he had never had the chance to meet and interview her before she was accepted.

He had great faith that she would help tip the scales in their favour of winning this war. But her trust in the heart of a fifteen-year-old boy to do the right thing was something he had not expected of her.