Sweet Dreams.

Draco first caught sight of Ginny that term as she was exiting the entrance hall, her fiery hair giving her away instantly. He raced out the door to catch up with her, but once he was within earshot slowed his pace to a steady stride.

"Well if it isn't the lovely Virginia," he said. "How was your summer?"

"Quiet. Relaxing. Same as always. How about you?"

"It was like no summer I have experienced before. Although I could certainly get used to it," he replied, winking at her.

Ginny giggled. Draco loved it when she gave her little contagious small laughs. They were always perfectly placed, as if he had said just the right thing. He thought her dancing eyes, smiling lips, and little nose splashed with just enough freckles gave her innocence one would think only a child could possess. And indeed, Virginia was a child no longer. At sixteen, she had grown into herself quite nicely; especially when compared to the tiny mouse-like creature she used to be.

Draco was brought out of his little reverie by the despairing look she was giving him.

"What?" he asked her.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," she said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Virginia, please."

"It's just Ron. He's watching us like a hawk."

"Oh. Well then," he took her hand in his own and began patiently tracing his fingertips across her palm and back. Ginny shivered and stole another look at her brother, and was unsurprised to see he did not look pleased. She decided to move the topic to less dangerous ground. She didn't really feel like discussing her brother anyhow.

"So, you're quidditch captain this year?"

"Yeah."

"So is Harry," she said, carefully.

Something in his eyes flashed, it was hardly noticeable, but Ginny saw it, and felt the hesitation as it hung in the air between them, silent and ominous. Then-

"I know." How anticlimactic, she thought to herself.

"How does that feel?" she prodded.

"Completely out of place," he responded, still absently stroking her hand. "It's like I have waited and waited since my first year for this rivalry, and now that it's finally here, it really doesn't matter anymore."

"And that is disappointing to you?"

"I guess you could put it that way."

She looked at his eyes, to the naked eye they would seem almost vacant, but Ginny knew better. His eyes were grey, but not a natural grey. It was a lucid colour with all the depth and intensity of the opaque fog that gently lulls above the ocean directly preceding a storm, and Draco had a bit of a knack for seeming as if he were directly preceding a storm.

Ginny stole another glance at Ron, and absently spoke aloud. "You think he'd at least have the decency to pretend not to be staring."

She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth.

Draco did not speak, but settled for looking quietly interested. She couldn't read the expression on his face, and that worried her for a reason she realized she probably would never be able to explain.

She halted his absent caressing by taking his hand into her own, and looked at him apologetically.

"Does that bother you?"

He looked like he was seriously considering her question, before he spoke.

"No. It just makes me feel like we should be giving him something worth staring at."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Worth staring at?" she asked him, slowly, thinking it over.

"You know what I mean."

"I know what you mean," she paused, thinking, then, "but it won't be real, will it? Even a little bit? It will just all be for show."

"Do you want it to be real?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

"Not unless the feeling's mutual," she responded, calmly.

"What if I said the feeling is whatever you want it to be?"

"I'd say that's a pretty cheap way of avoiding your feelings."

"Maybe it is," he said, slowly taking a step towards her.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat, she closed her eyes. But instead of the kiss she had been expecting, she felt only a slight pressure where his lips brushed her temple.

"Sweet dreams, Virginia," he said, letting go of her hand, and walking away.

"Sweet dreams," she whispered.