Flaming Red Frustration

Long flowing red hair blowing in the wind. Her elegant blue robes swirled around her as the wind picked up again. She stood looking out off the cliffs at the ocean. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned and kindly smiled at him. She walked back from the edge towards him and he put his arms around her and their lips edged closer and closer and...

Draco Malfoy awoke with a start. 'Not another dream,' he muttered to himself angrily 'I'll never be able to get back to sleep.' But sure enough, two minutes later he was fast asleep again. Perhaps never to remember the dream he had that night.

Flaming Red Frustration

Chapter One: Two Noticeable Things and a Realisation

Since Draco had begun his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he had begun to notice two things. One was that Millicent Bullstrode had taken a more-than-friendly interest in him, which was strange and disturbing to say the least. The second was Ginny Weasley. Sure, he had noticed her before, but only as the youngest Weasley. She had grown quiet tall and was slim, with nice curves. Her red hair always looked perfect and she always had a smile on her face, except for her encounters with Draco. Since the term had started, Ginny seemed to be popping up wherever Draco was, and according to Ginny, this was Draco's fault. It had all started while boarding the Hogwarts Express...

Lucius Malfoy always made a point of avoiding platform 9 ¾ as often as possible, and Draco's sixth year was no different. Draco was Apparated with the assistance of a servant of the manor to the station, and was told someone would be there to take him home at the end of the school year and term holidays, if he wished. Since this was a bit of an embarrassment, just being left by himself, no entourage to accompany him, Draco would make a point to arrive early so he could board the train first and not be seen in this state. As he lugged his trunk passed the entrance to King's Cross station, a red head came running through with a trolley and crashed straight into him

"Watch where you're going," Draco snapped from inside the pile of trunks, luggage, and bodies. Ginny Weasley could be seen struggling to get up from behind the sideways trolley.

"Watch where I'm going?" she snapped back from behind the trolley. "I'm not the one who was drifting along the station alone, not watching where I was going..."

Ginny had sat up, and was now looking slightly surprised to whom she was talking to. After a few seconds, she got a hold of herself and continued, but without the fire she had previously. "Maybe if your nose came down from orbit you wouldn't go crashing into people."

Draco, who had always been taught that a Malfoy should always have the last word, retorted: "I'm not the one who was bounding in with her trolley out of control. You could have killed me."

"Oh, and what a shame that would have been," Ron Weasley said as he appeared behind Ginny, shortly followed by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

"Aw, can't fight on your own? Need the whole hero's brigade to help you?"

Ginny looked slightly hurt and said nothing. Draco, satisfied he had had the last word, picked up this trunk and stalked off to be joined by Crabbe and Goyle.

All the way to Hogwarts, Draco could not get the image of Ginny's hurt face out of his mind. He had a strange sinking feeling in his stomach, which he hoped was not this 'guilt' everyone talked about. He did not enjoy watching Crabbe trip up Neville Longbottom getting off the platform at Hogsmeade, or Goyle throwing mud at a group of Hufflepuff fourth years getting out of their carriage, or the feast. In fact, he did not really enjoy anything. All through the feast, he kept looking over to the Gryffindor table to Ginny, who was surrounded by people, laughing, smiling and chattering. Draco almost felt envious. By the end of the night, he was quite miserable, and a pain to be around. That night Draco had a very sleepless night, with an image of Ginny's hurt face plastered over his pale grey eyes.

Over the next few days, Draco found himself trying to make it up to her. He felt compelled to say sorry, to his horror. But everything he tried made it worse. He again crashed into her as she was coming down the stairs to Potions and he was going up. This resulted in Ginny falling down the remaining stairs and her skirt flying up. Burning red, she said something unrepeatable to Draco and stalked off, bright red. Draco tried to send her a small private owl of apology; however, the owl decided to do its business on the crown of her head. When Ginny opened the letter, with a look of utmost disgust, Draco saw her eyes only glance at the senders name before she put the edge of the letter to a lit candle on the table. She turned around, holding the burning letter in her hands, giving a glaring face to Draco.

Draco's third encounter with Ginny Weasley was not planned. Draco, after an exceedingly boring History of Magic lesson with the Gryffindors, was quietly asking Crabbe if he could try to keep Millicent Bullstrode away from the boys' bathroom while he was having a shower later that evening, and was not looking where he was going. He was two steps out of the classroom when he took a third and heard a loud rip. Draco looked up to see a scarlet Ginny Weasley with a considerably shorter cloak. Also visible was a pair of floral boxers. There was an awkward silence and everybody in the corridor stopped and stared. Ginny's lip trembled as she looked down.

"I... I'm so sorr-" Draco began.

But Ginny was not having any of it. She flung her hand out and slapped Draco with such force that it echoed through the silent corridor. Ginny then burst into tears and ran off down the corridor. By this point, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter had exited the History of Magic classroom to see what all the silence was about.

"You disgusting pervert," Hermione spat at him and ran off after Ginny. Ron then moved in and gave Draco an almighty punch. He fell backwards and hit the wall, hard, his nose streaming with blood.

"That's for being such a prick!" Ron yelled. He then proceeded to kick Draco's side. "And for being so nasty to my sister. What did she ever do to you?"

Draco made no effort to get up, or even move. He did not say anything, he just sat there, dumbfounded. Before Harry and Ron could go after Ginny and Hermione Professor McGonagall arrived. She shooed away the crowd and came to stand next to Ron and Harry, above Draco.

"What happened here?" she demanded.

"Well...." Ron began.

"I was not talking to you, Mr. Weasley. I was asking Mr. Malfoy."

Draco looked up at the sound of his name.

"I fell over."

Harry and Ron nearly fell over at this statement. Why was Malfoy covering for them?

"Is this true?" McGonagall rounded on Harry and Ron.

"Well...." Ron started.

"Yes," Harry tried to sound honest. "We were coming out of History of Magic, and we bumped, and, um, Draco fell."

"On his nose?"

"I hit my nose on a book and I put my hands out to stop myself," Draco croaked, trying to sound as believable as possible. Harry and Ron nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Very well," McGonagall replied, though she did not sound convinced. "Off you go," she ordered Harry and Ron, who left quickly, whispering to each other in astonishment.

"And you, Mr. Malfoy, get yourself to the Hospital Wing."

"That's OK, Professor," Draco mumbled as he got to his feet and picked up his things. "It's nothing."

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows, but said nothing and left.

* * *

Draco opened his eye and rolled over onto his back. He had a vague memory of a dream, but could not quite remember it, so pushed it out of his mind. He was furious with himself. He could not work out what came over him yesterday. He could have got Potter and Weasley expelled, but he had denied it. 'Why?' he thought angrily to himself. Then a figure came to mind: Ginny Weasley. He thought about the past week. He had barely said one word to her in five years and now in a week he had encountered her four times. Draco thought about himself and his actions. He had never acted this way before. And she was always on his mind, taunting him. He hated her. She was driving him crazy. And why was it always his fault? But worst of all, why did he try to make it better? Why did he apologise? Grovel at her feet like she was some goddess he had offended? She was nothing, the poor, youngest Weasley child with red hair and pretty eyes and friendly smile and perfect teeth and friendly charm and ...

Draco stopped. He was beginning to realise something. Truth be told, this had crossed his mind. Several times, in fact, but he had nervously laughed it off and told himself it was stupid. But now, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be the truth. It explained why he had done everything he had.

'But why her?' Draco thought to himself. 'Of all the people in the world. No, I don't. I can't.'

But no matter how much Draco told himself he did not, he did, and there was nothing he could do about it. He was in love with Ginny Weasley.