Torn

"Pansy, are you alright?" Millicent looked concernedly at her friend, whose brow was furrowed, deep in thought. She looked up and flashed a toothy smile at her friend.

"I'm fine, Millie. I was just thinking."

"About Draco - again, right?" Pansy blushed. Millie knew her too well.

"It's just - the way that he kissed me last night - he's never kissed me like that before. I just know this is going to be the year that he finally asks me, you know?" Her voice took on a dreamy quality, and her eyes were drawn to the doors of the Great Hall. Millicent shoved a piece of biscuit in her mouth.

"You really think he's going to ask you to marry him this year?" Bits of food sprayed from her mouth as she attempted to speak and chew at the same time. Disgusted, Pansy wiped off the bits that had landed on her hand.

"You know, you shouldn't really talk while your mouth is full." She turned her eyes back to the doors, and waited. Millicent swallowed her mouthful and stared at Pansy.

"Pansy, you have nothing to worry about. Everyone knows you and Draco are a couple, and everyone expects you to get married." Pansy felt a small flutter of panic - what if Draco didn't ask her? The panic died down as his white-blonde head appeared amidst a group of Slytherin boys entering the Great Hall. He'll ask me, she thought happily. Just remember the way he kissed me last night!

"Ooh, Pansy! There he is!" Millicent clapped excitedly. Pansy smacked her hands, and she looked hurt.

"Don't act like a baby," she hissed, as the group made their way to the table. She felt a twinge of disappointment as Draco sat across from her, instead of in the seat she'd saved right next to her. He ignored her friendly smile and began piling food on his plate.

"Good morning, Draco," she said in a singsong voice. He arched an eyebrow at her, and shoved a kipper into his mouth. She sighed in frustration when he turned his attention to Goyle, and began laughing. She kicked him savagely under the table, and he dropped the glass of pumpkin juice he'd just raised to his lips. Juice spilled everywhere, soaking through his robes, and staining the white tablecloth. He stared angrily at her.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" He put his palms on the table, pushing himself up, then left the Great Hall in a flurry of robes. He turned a corner and collided, headfirst, with Ginny Weasley.

"Ouch!" she hissed, rubbing her head. She glared at him. "Do you ever watch where you're going?"

"And I suppose you do," he retorted. They stared at each other for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Ginny stopped suddenly when she realized whom she was with. She stiffened. Had she really just had a 'moment' with Draco Malfoy? She noticed his sopping robes and sniggered. He stared at her.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Couldn't make it to the bathroom, Malfoy? Really, I thought you had to be toilet trained to get into Hogwarts!" He stared at her in amazement as she moved around him and proceeded towards the Great Hall. That was twice in two days that he'd bumped into her, and he wasn't quite sure what to think about it. He'd been caught so off guard by her sharing a laugh with him that he'd even let her insult slip by without responding. He shook his head, trying to shake the thought away, but couldn't. He thought about her all the way back to the Slytherin Common Room.

Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table looking flushed. Hermione watched her carefully as she picked up a piece of toast and buttered it with shaking hands.

"Are you alright, Ginny?" she asked. Ginny's eyes met hers, and she smiled.

"I'm fine," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I just ran into Malfoy in the hallway. Literally." Hermione smiled.

"Why are you talking about that great bloody git so early in the morning?" Ron muttered, sitting down next to Ginny. Harry lowered himself onto the bench next to Hermione and smiled at Ginny. Her stomach flip-flopped, and she smiled back.

"I was just telling Hermione how I ran into him in the hallway, and I have the bump to prove it," she said, rubbing her head. Harry laughed, and Ron sniggered.

"You mean your bright red hair wasn't enough to warn him he was about to run into you?" He sniggered again as he reached for the bacon.

"Hey, don't laugh at me, it really hurt!" she protested. Harry grinned at her, and her heart did another somersault.

"I bet it did," he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners in his laughter. "He's got a hard head, that one!"

"So does she," Ron said, pointing to Ginny. She elbowed him, and Harry suppressed another laugh by taking a bite of his eggs.

"Leave your sister alone, Ron!" Hermione huffed. Ron stuck his tongue out at her, and Hermione surprised them all by returning the favor.

**

Ginny had settled into her second day of classes and was feeling pretty good about them. Potions, as dismal as it was, was still okay. She was fairly adept at not allowing the cauldron to explode, which was more than could be said for a lot of the students in the class. Charms was going well so far; Professor Flitwick had always been her favorite teacher, and she'd always done well in his class. She stood, preparing to leave Professor McGonagall's class. She scraped her parchment and quills into her knapsack and joined the throng of students headed out the door. She turned down the corridor, heading towards the Great Hall. Her stomach's constant rumbling throughout Transfiguration had not only reminded her what time it was, it had reminded every student near her as well. She blushed as she thought about how they'd laughed at her.

Down the hallway, Draco watched the flaming red head approach him. He hadn't seen her at all yesterday after their incident, and he'd spent all night thinking of all the things he should have said back to her. He was fully prepared now, and he wanted to prove himself. Twice now, she'd bumped into him, and had got the best of him with her insults. Here she was, walking alone, and he was ready for her. He made his way towards her, and veered to his left so that his shoulder collided with hers, causing her knapsack to go flying. Parchments scattered everywhere, and she turned her eyes to his as she began to collect them all. If he hadn't known it wasn't possible, he would have sworn that her eyes were on fire.

"Malfoy! I should have known! Who else in this school is so arrogant that they think they don't have to watch where they're walking!" she seethed, scurrying around to pick her things up before they were trodden on.

"It's not my fault that your greasy red hair seems to be blocking your eyes," he drawled coolly. He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at her, enjoying watching her scamper about. She shoved the last parchment into her bag and clutched it in her arms tightly.

"My red hair has nothing to do with anything," she snarled. "But while we're on the subject, maybe you should try washing your hair sometime!" She brushed past him, bumping his side roughly with her elbow as she went. He stared after her, speechless. He raised a hand to his head and gently touched his gelled-back hair.

"There's nothing wrong with my hair," he said to himself, lowering his hand. He was still in shock when he entered the Great Hall and sat down to eat. She'd intentionally hit him! His stomach somersaulted, and he didn't know whether to be angry or aroused.

"Ginny, what in the world is wrong with you?" Hermione asked, dropping her fork. Ginny slammed her knapsack down on the table with such force that Harry's drink toppled over.

"Sorry," she said gruffly, righting his glass. It filled again immediately. She sighed loudly. "It's Malfoy!" Harry's eyes narrowed and immediately jerked towards the Slytherin table. To his surprise, he caught Malfoy staring in their direction. When he saw that Harry was looking, he tugged his eyes away and began to speak to someone on his right. Harry looked back at Ginny, who was taking a long drink.

"What did he do now?"

"He keeps bumping into me!" she said, waving her arms emphatically. "Today makes it the third time in three days!"

"Maybe he's doing it on purpose," Hermione said, taking a bite of her sandwich. Ron and Ginny both glared at her.

"Of course he's doing it on purpose," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "He hates us, and he'll do anything to get to us! Ginny, the next time he tries it, hex him!" Hermione looked at Ron disapprovingly.

"You know she can't do that, Ron!"

"She can if the smarmy bugger won't leave her alone!"

"Ron, she could get into really big trouble for that," she looked at Ginny. "Besides, it might not even happen again. What did you say to him when it happened?"

"I told him he needed to watch where he was going," she said, her cheeks turning red. Ron arched an eyebrow at her.

"Is that it?"

"I . . . well, I told him he needed to wash his hair," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. Ron howled and Harry grinned widely.

"You didn't!"

"I did," she nodded, returning his smile. A warm, funny feeling began burning in the pit of his stomach, and he pushed it away, trying to ignore it.

"That's my baby sister," Ron said, beaming. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You shouldn't encourage her, Ron!"

"And why not?" he asked, puffing out his chest proudly. Ginny laughed and bit into a chip.

"Because things are already bad with Malfoy, and this will only aggravate the situation further," she said reasonably. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Hermione, Malfoy is going to do anything he can to get to us, and we're fighting back now. We're not going to stand back and take his bull anymore!" Hermione heard the note of finality in his voice and blinked.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she said, turning her eyes towards Harry. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and she looked down at her plate. "Harry, you might want to pay more attention to what you're doing." Harry frowned in confusion. Ron looked up and laughed, and Ginny smothered a giggle by raising her hand to her mouth. He'd been so intent on watching Ginny, he hadn't noticed that he'd been about to use his quill as a fork. Blushing furiously, he sat his quill back down on the table and grabbed his fork, not meeting anyone's eyes.