Forever Yours

A/N- here it is everyone! Chapter 4! BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and giving me great feedback: lazybug24, PerfectPotter, molliemuffet and June Inee. Special thanks to my awesome beta for this and the last three chapters, Elisabeth, you rock! Now read! :)

FOREVER YOURS

Chapter 4

The next morning, Ginny woke up at eight O'clock. She then proceeded to get dressed.

When she walked down to the common room, she saw several people writing letters quickly on parchment, and others opening letters, while owls stood at the windows.

Smiling to herself, she thought of her pen pal and how angry he or she must be.

Hermione came down the stairs and Ginny saw that she pointedly ignored Ron. She joined Ginny, and they both walked down together to the Great Hall.

On their way down, Hermione was quiet. "I guess there's no point in denying it much longer, is there?"

Ginny shook her head. "Not really."

Hermione sighed. "You must think I'm a loser for fancying Ron."

Ginny laughed and put her arm around her friend's shoulder. "Since when do you care what other people think about you?"

"I don't."

"Then?" said Ginny. When Hermione continued to look downcast, she said, "Look Hermione, you can't help who you fancy. If it has to be my prat of a brother, then it's fine with me. I'm not going to do a Ron when he kept saying that 'he had to give his permission' for me to date. If you like him, then you should go out with him."

"He likes Lavender," said Hermione.

"He likes you, Hermione. Honestly, how dense can the pair of you be? You both like one another, but keep pretending as if you don't see it."

"See what?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Ginny loved this side of Hermione. She rarely had the chance to see her confused. Usually it was Hermione with all the answers. But this time, Ginny was explaining things to her.

"The attraction between you two!" she practically shouted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ginny, there is no attraction! It's completely one sided."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Is it? Then explain to me why Ron gets so fired up when he hears Victor's name?"

"He's just over-protective, believe me. It isn't love or anything like that."

Ginny was getting annoyed. She knew that Ron was as crazy about Hermione as she was about him, but both of them ignored their feelings.

She decided that she was going to get the two lovesick birds together before the end of the year if it was the last thing she did.

"I'm going to get you two together by the end of the year," promised Ginny.

Hermione just laughed. "All right. You can try."

They made their way to the Great Hall, sat down and began to eat their breakfast.

Soon after, Ron came in and sat down beside Hermione, but she just ignored him.

Lavender glared at Ron, who was trying to apologize to Hermione and she snapped, "You always liked her. I knew it."

"Oh God... Lavender. I don't like her. We're just friends!" exclaimed Ron. "Which is more than what we are."

Hermione shot Ginny a look that plainly said Told you so. Ginny wanted to kill Ron. Didn't he know that Hermione was crazy about him, and the need to prove himself to pointless people was upsetting Hermione.

Ginny's frustration soon evaporated when she saw the morning rush of owls swoop in, and saw a school owl fly down towards her.

She gingerly opened the scroll in front of her.

September 3, 1997

Dear Chariot of Light.

Thank you so very much for your present. You were right; it will make me remember the war and inter-house unity so much more. Hint of sarcasm, by the way.

I am positive in my thinking that you are a girl. No male could ever have that much emotion to be upset by a petty matter such as a school assignment. Unless you are a studious type and enjoy school.

Also, it's not just haughty people like you who think you are better than everyone, who lost people in the war. I lost my mother and father, so I believe I do have some idea about pain. It's obvious to me that you know very little about this war if you assume that it is only you who lost someone in a war where people's lives were lost like the leaves of a tree in fall.

No matter, I am sure you will enjoy this little something from me. It is something very special. Hopefully this will teach you to never mess with me, the Prince of Darkness.

The Prince of Darkness

Ginny gasped as the letter fell from her hands. Her hands, themselves, had begun to sprout boils. Large, big boils on her hands reaching her elbow.

"Ginny!" came Hermione's voice, filled with concern.

"I'll kill him!" swore Ginny. The boils were indeed painful, but they did not distract her form murderous thoughts concerning a certain prince.

"Ginny, listen to me," said Hermione as Ron looked on fearfully. "You've got to go to go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will be able it set it right, trust me."

Ginny nodded tearfully as her hands stung with pain. Hermione slipped her bag over her head and onto her shoulder, and Ginny stretched the sleeves of her robes so that they covered her arms fully as well as her bare hands.

She hurried out of the Great Hall, while the one 'Prince of Darkness' told his friend about the situation.

"I wonder where Weasley's off to in such a hurry?" Blaise joked to Draco over their juice and eggs.

Draco shrugged, not caring to taunt the youngest Weasley, unable to keep the smirk from his lips.

He had just filled in Blaise about his method of revenge, and he had loved it.

"I'm betting she's a Hufflepuff," piped up Blaise after a few minutes of silence from the pair of them.

"Hmm, that curse didn't come form a Hufflepuff, though. It was a smart move, I'm guessing Ravenclaw," said Draco. "But I have other matters to think about than this petty pen pal business."

And so Blaise and Draco continued their conversation from before. Since Draco had turned seventeen two months ago, the estate and all his parent's gold now belonged to him, but it was proving difficult to get the gold as Lucius had the key with him. Ever since the end of the war, Gringotts had tightened their security, and now Draco was having a near impossible time getting a replacement key.

Soon though, it was time for class, so both Slytherin boys made their way to Transfiguration and then to Ancient Runes.

By the time it was lunch, Draco was discussing Quidditch with Blaise.

"I can't believe McGonagall made you Captain," remarked Blaise, eating a sandwich. "I thought she'd think it'd be too much for you to cope with."

"She told me that it was so that I would have something to do in my spare time instead of moping. What does the old hag know?"

"I'm guessing that the fact that the old captain left has something to do with it?"

Draco shrugged. "I'm captain now, this year we'll beat Gryffindor."

Back at the Gryffindor table, Ginny had just taken a seat.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. "Ginny! You're back!"

Ginny tried to smile, but the effect was a grimace. "Those were some boils."

Ron jogged towards her when he saw her as he entered the Great Hall. "How're your hands?"

Ginny showed them her clear hands. "It took a little bit longer than usual, because I wouldn't tell Madam Pomfrey how I had gotten them."

"I had a feeling this would happen," reprimanded Hermione. "If you did something to this person, I knew that they would do something back. It's a good thing you didn't tell her, because that would admitting that you did something to provoke him or her."

"There she goes again. Hermione, can't you leave anyone alone?" demanded Ron, getting annoyed.

"I'm only looking out for her welfare, Ronald!" shouted Hermione, picking up her books from the table.

"By telling her off and anyone else who wants to have a laugh?" asked Ron. "Just because you're so damn serious doesn't mean that you can impose your uptight attitude on others, okay?!"

Ginny sighed and sat down, cradling her head in her hands.

"You. Are. Impossible!" Hermione yelled one last time, and then left the Great Hall.

Ron sighed heavily once she had left. "How're your hands?"

"Fine," said Ginny, looking up. "Listen Ron, Hermione was only looking out for me. She's right too, in a twisted smarty pants way. I shouldn't have done it, and now I've been punished. Don't take it out on Hermione."

Ron just nodded and continued eating his steak. "I wonder when Quidditch starts."

Ginny sighed. She knew Ron would avoid the topic forever. "I don't know. No one's got a clue as to who the Captain is, either."

Right then, a first year student came up to Ginny and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" asked Ginny.

The young girl handed her an envelope. "This is from the Headmistress."

Ginny opened it and found the Gryffindor captain's badge along with a note.

Dear Miss Weasley,

You have been appointed Quidditch Captain this year, along with next year. It is your duty to book the Quidditch pitch accordingly for practices. I will aid you in this matter.

Professor McGonagall

I guess I know who is captain, thought Ginny.

She shoved the badge to Ron, showing it to him.

"You're captain?" he said.

She nodded. "I guess so. You trying out?"

He shrugged, pushing his plate back. "Probably not. I stink."

"You do not stink, Ron," said Ginny. "You're a good player when you're on form and you pay attention."

"I dunno. See you." He then picked up his books and left for class, leaving Ginny to finish her lunch in the almost empty Great Hall. She had a spare period, so she sat there, finishing up.

Now she knew how Harry must have felt. He was always having such difficulty with Ron. Half the time he wasn't playing properly because he was nervous and the other half of the time he wanted to quit and was telling Harry he was going to resign.

Thinking of Harry brought a fresh pang of remorse to her heart. Harry would have found the situation funny, her being captain and having to coach Ron. But then, if Harry were here today, he would have been captain instead of Ginny.

Thinking of Harry brought new tears to her eyes. For the past few days, in the whole rush of school, Ginny had pushed Harry to the back of her mind. But now, in her first spare period, her mind was flooded with images of him.

Seeing an image of him laughing at her jokes in her mind's eye reminded her of the hope and thoughts she had pinned on the future. The future without Voldemort, but with Harry.

Voldemort had dragged Harry along with him, taking along all the hopes, dreams and aspirations Ginny had for the future. A future where she imagined her and Harry being together, loving each other, spending time together.

Her mum had told Ginny to remember all the fun times they had together. The truth was that they hadn't had much time together.

There was a time before Harry and the time after Harry. The time before Harry meant the time period before they got together, where Ginny spent many days and nights pining for him. And then in the very end, trying to forget him, going out with other guys to forget that she couldn't be his.

The time after Harry was the time when they had gotten together that was so short she could hardly remember it. It was filled with bittersweet memories. The time they had been together had been a month and a half before Harry had called it off at Dumbledore's funeral.

Then the next month had been the most painful of her life. It was as if everyone knew a secret she didn't about the upcoming war. Hermione was always crying whenever Harry entered the room, which was rare, and Ron was always grumpy and upset.

She later found out that Harry had known the way to defeat Voldemort early on, and that included killing himself, which he had told everyone except her. He had feared Voldemort might posses her to get to the secret.

Ginny had been angry, so very angry when she had found this out, because she hadn't spent every moment with him like it was her last. She always assumed she was going to be with him after the war, but she was wrong.

Something that nobody knew was that she was the last person he spoke to before the war and before he died.

He had kissed her and hugged her, telling her finally what was going to happen. She had hated him them for hiding it from her, but she couldn't bear the thought that this was their last conversation. She had cried a lot, and when he told her that he loved her, she hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go.

"You'll be fine without me, Ginny. You were fine before as well. You've got something that nobody else has in this world, and that's your independence. I want you to be happy when I'm gone, and I'm sure you will, because you never needed other people to make you happy. You relied on your own happiness. When I'm gone, Ginny, I'm sure you'll move on, because you know that life never stays still for long, and if you don't keep up with it, it moves on without you. You'll do fine without me."

Ginny closed her eyes and let the tears seep through her closed eyelids and flow down her cheeks.

She wasn't doing fine without him. The more she tried to hide from him, the more his memories seeped into her day-to-day thoughts and began haunting her dreams as well.

She couldn't move on without him, because every boy she saw in the halls of Hogwarts reminded her in some way or another of the one she had loved so dearly, the one and only Harry Potter.

The words Harry had spoken to her before he left seemed hollow to her ears now. At that time, she had wanted so desperately to believe him, to know that she would be fine without him. That she would use her independence to her advantage, moving on with someone else, being happy with herself. But now, two months later, these words seemed wrong and false to her. Ginny couldn't imagine less true words to describe her now.

"Look at that," came a voice from behind her. "A weasel crying."

She looked behind her and saw Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy passing her table. These three were the last ones in the Great Hall.

Ginny's anger bubbled close to the surface, but her pain drew her back in.

"Shut up, Zabini," she mumbled as she pushed past the pair of them and walked off faster than them, her red hair hitting Draco in the face.

She walked upstairs to her common room without running into anyone on the way.

A few other people had a spare period, and they lounged around. Ginny sat down in her favourite armchair beside the fireplace and took out a fresh piece of parchment. She dipped her quill into the ink and began to write.

She finished very quickly and sealed the parchment. She then decided to mail it to the prince of darkness right away, while she still had the time. Who knew how much homework Professor McGonagall would give?

Ginny ran downstairs to the Owlery and sent the letter off. If the Prince is in class right now, then he will receive it when he comes back, she thought.

Down in the Slytherin dungeons, Draco was finishing up an essay for Potions. An owl flew in and landed on the table in front of him.

He picked the letter up and read it. It was short and to the point.

September 3, 1997

Prince of Darkness,

Truce?

Chariot of Light

With his brow furrowed, he wondered the meaning of this. Why would Chariot want a truce unless she had something up her sleeve?

He dropped the letter quickly, looking at himself to see if he was suddenly sprouting tentacles or the like, but he seemed to be ok.

"Zabini?" he called his friend who was sitting across from him.

He nodded his head while scribbling some notes. "What?"

"Do I look ok?" he asked him.

Blaise looked up and smirked. "Mate, if you want to know if you look striking, then ask a girl, not me."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him. "You idiot. There's nothing sprouting out of me, is there?"

"Nothing less than the usual bit of cheekiness," he answered, turning back to his essay.

Draco picked up a scrap piece of parchment and rolled it and chucked it at Blaise.

"Oy!" he said once the paper hit him.

Draco grinned at him and then started writing his response to Chariot of Light. Soon after, it was time for class, so he and Blaise grabbed their things and went to class after mailing the letter off with the owl.

Ginny was walking to class with Luna Lovegood when an owl started pecking at her hair.

"Shoo!" she said to it, hoping it would disappear. It failed to stop.

Ginny groaned, grabbing the letter from the owl and then running after Luna. She ran inside the class just as Professor McGonagall closed the door.

She quickly took her seat, stuffing the scroll inside her bag and taking out more parchment as the Headmistress began to write on the board.

After taking the notes, they were asked to read a passage from the text.

Ginny finished that quickly, so she took out the scroll and began to read it.

September 3, 1997

Dear Chariot of Light,

How dense do you perceive me to be? First you curse me and then you call for a truce?

I may be a bit sad about the deaths of my parents, but that doesn't mean grief has clouded my judgement to see that this is another prank.

I am still currently waiting for your latest curse to begin.

Prince of Darkness

Ginny rolled her eyes at the parchment. Here she was, trying to be nice and he- she was sure it was a he- was questioning her motives!

She quickly pushed the sheet of paper into her textbook as she saw the Professor walking around the class.

After Transfiguration was over, she went to Charms. Ginny's mind was still on Harry, so she couldn't concentrate. Professor Flitwick assigned her extra homework that night.

Tired and hungry, Ginny walked upstairs to the common room and dumped her books there, then joined the Great Hall for dinner.

Hermione sat alone at the end of the table, far from Ron, eating her dinner.

Ginny gave Ron a puzzled look as she sat down across from her best friend.

"Hermione, why are you sitting here?" she asked her.

"My head hurts," she mumbled, not looking at Ginny. "I'm going to go now."

She then pushed her plate back and left confidently for the library.

Ginny got up and went to sit across form Ron, who was in the middle of the table. He was holding his head in his hand.

"Ron, what's going on?" she asked him.

"Hermione caught Lavender and me coming out of a classroom together. She was so angry she just stomped off without a word."

"What were you doing in a classroom with Lavender?" Ginny demanded. Now she knew how Harry felt with his best friends always fighting with one another. It was enough to make anyone crazy.

"She's still blackmailing me," he muttered. "Her threats are becoming even nastier."

"Oh God, what a drama queen," Ginny said. She had never liked her brother's girlfriend. Lavender Brown was too much of a girly girl and a manipulator.

"I've no idea what to do with her."

"Lavender or Hermione?" she asked him, confused.

"Both."

Ginny tried to think of a way to make her brother feel better. What did he like besides girls? Quidditch! She would post a notice for the tryouts of the season and make Ron come and tryout.

"Tomorrow, Ron, Quidditch tryouts."

"Tomorrow?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm off to put a notice right now." She hadn't exactly planned on such an early tryout, but anything to make Ron happier. And it would give them a greater chance of actually winning.

So she started to get up form the table, but Ron said, "Wait. Ginny, you haven't told Hermione about the blackmailing, have you?"

Ginny shook her head. "No."

"Don't tell her. Promise me you won't."

Ginny smiled at her older brother. "I promise, Ron. I promise."

He smiled weakly back. "Thanks."

She then left the Great Hall and went to speak to the Headmistress about booking the Quidditch pitch. After she had done that she posted the notice about tryouts being tomorrow.

Then she sat down in front of the fireplace and started on her tedious homework. She finished close to eleven.

As soon as she was done she left the still full common room and changed her clothes into her nightgown and fell asleep.

The next morning she woke up and got dressed. When she went downstairs, people came rushing up to her to ask all sorts of questions about the tryouts that evening.

By the time she got to the Great Hall, there wasn't much to eat for breakfast and class was about to start soon.

She quickly downed a glass of orange juice and ate a piece of toast.

Ron, who had a spare that morning with Hermione, laughed as he watched her rush.

"Laugh all you want, Ron. What's going to happen when I tell Hermione you're being blackmailed?" she demanded, smirking.

"You promised, Ginny!" he yelled.

Ginny just grinned on her way on. "Don't worry, I'm just joking!"

She raced to her class and sat down in her seat just as Professor Sprout closed the classroom door.

For the next hour and a half she worked diligently, silently composing her letter to the prince of darkness in her head, as well as trying to figure out a way to test the players who would tryout for Quidditch.

After that class, she went off to her next one and then finally sat down to lunch. She was starving, as she hadn't eaten much for breakfast.

After she had filled her stomach, Ginny went outside to the courtyard and sat down on a bench.

She got out a piece of parchment and began to write her letter.

September 4, 1997

Dear Prince of Darkness,

All right, all right, maybe I was asking for too much when I called for a truce. If I were you, I wouldn't have believed me either. But since I'm not you, you'll just have to trust me.

Truthfully, I don't want get in trouble because I realized that if we continued this curse after curse, it wouldn't have been good.

So if you're still waiting for my latest curse to take effect, you'll be waiting forever. And while I understand that we will both have feelings of resentment towards each other after the rocky start we've had, I just want this assignment to be as less painful as possible because I have a lot on my plate as it is. So, I say we'll be civil towards each other while we write letters, and then when this assignment's done, we don't have to talk to one another? What say you?

Chariot of Light

Ginny folded her parchment and wrote Prince of Darkness on the outside. As her quill finished the s on the last word, the parchment disappeared from her lap.

Confused, Ginny stared at her lap, hoping to find the letter there.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" came Hermione's voice.

Ginny looked up and saw her friend standing there with her books in her hands.

"Nothing, why?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You had a puzzled look on your face."

Ginny grinned. Hermione could always read her like a book. "Actually, the letter I had just written to my pen pal disappeared. Right from my lap too, mind you."

"Oh," said Hermione. "The Headmistress explained it this morning, Gin. You were late, weren't you?"

She nodded.

"Basically, she just noticed that the owls were getting too tired from delivering so many letters in one day that it wasn't the best idea to use them. She cast a spell so that every letter written to our pennames will get delivered to the person wherever they are," explained Hermione.

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "What if you're in the shower?"

Hermione laughed. "I hadn't thought about that, actually."

Ginny smiled, glad her friend was better now. "Where are you going, by the way?"

"Library," she answered.

"I'll come," said Ginny, getting to her feet and picking up her books. "I need to finish up an essay."

So both girls climbed the stairs and walked upstairs, while out by the lake, Ginny's letter was being read.

~*~*~

Draco blinked after he finished reading the letter. He couldn't help but smirk when he was done. The person to whom he was writing seemed to one after his own heart, trying to do it because they had to, knowing that it would soon finish.

He quickly took out a quill and scribbled down his reply. Just as he had finished, Blaise came up to him and said, "What time's the tryout tonight?"

Draco's letter had just disappeared, so he looked up to meet Blaise's eyes. "Right after dinner."

Blaise nodded and Draco stood up, both boys eagerly anticipating their Quidditch tryouts that night.

~*~*~

Ginny was sitting beside Hermione, doing her work, while quietly whispering about Ron.

"...and I'm just tired of caring," said Hermione, flipping a page in her textbook, "I mean, it's his life. He can do whatever he wants with it."

"Hermione, don't be like that," whispered Ginny. "It's..." A piece of parchment, folded neatly, suddenly appeared on the table before her.

She opened it and read the response.

September 4, 1997

Dear Chariot of Light,

I hate to admit it, but I agree with you. The less painful this is, the faster time will go by.

So I suppose I agree with your truce.

Hmm, are you sure that the real reason you stopped putting curses on me is because you were afraid to get in trouble? Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with the harsh curses I would have put on you? If you hadn't called a truce in your previous letter, I was planning to curse you so that whenever you said 'I' you would snort.

Be glad that we're in a state of truce, otherwise...

Prince of Darkness

She frowned at the end of the letter and then laughed when she realised/realized he was making a joke. At least she thought so...

"Is that from your pen pal?" asked Hermione, glancing over.

Ginny nodded. "We've stopped cursing each other. I took your advice."

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "At least you did. Ron doesn't even listen to me." The smile slowly disappeared from her face as she thought about Ron.

"Ugh! Hermione, snap out of it!" Ginny said. "Honestly, you're acting like a lovesick person. Repeat after me: I will not think about Ron."

"I will not think about..." Hermione said. "I can't do it!"

Ginny shook her head firmly. She wanted Hermione to cheer up, and thinking about Ron obviously was making her depressed. "Hermione, you have to get over this, okay? It's not healthy, it's making you depressed and anxious all the time."

Hermione sighed. "You're right. I have to stop. I should just accept it and move on."

"Good. Now, if you don't talk about Ron for a week, then..." Ginny quickly tried to think of something worthwhile she could give Hermione for the task. "Then I'll do your homework for you for a day."

Hermione bit her lip, lost in thought. "No offence, Gin, but I'm in seventh year. How will you be able to do my work?"

"True, true," said Ginny. "But here, I'll do anything you want, any day. You'll have a no-strings attached, unlimited favour from me, okay?"

Hermione seemed to like the sound of this. "All right. So I can't think about him? How will you know if I'm thinking about him?"

Ginny pondered this. "I won't know, that's true. You often get this look on your face when you're thinking about him. It's a mix of anger, revulsion and sick love all at the same time."

"Ginny!" Hermione lightly whacked her on the arm while Ginny laughed.

Madam Pince magically appeared from behind the bookshelf. "You're too loud! Get out! Out!"

Hermione and Ginny ran out from the library, slightly breathless, into the hall.

They were both laughing and Ginny said, "But ok, seriously, every time you say Ron's name, you will get an electric shock." She took out her wand and cast the spell.

"Ginny, wait," Hermione called out too late. "But what if I need to speak to him or ask him to do something?"

Ginny shrugged. "Tough. So you have to be relatively Ron free all week. The number of times you say his name will be recorded on this paper." She indicated the one in her hand. "So let's limit it to three times this whole week. Any more than that and the deal's off."

Hermione sighed. "I don't know why I'm letting you do this."

"Because you're desperate and need help," Ginny explained.

"Thanks," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

Ginny just laughed and walked off to her class when the bell rang. She had History of Magic and had saved her letter to write because she knew she was going to be bored silly in that class. Professor Binns was still teaching and was still as boring as from the days he was alive.

After listening to the lecture on Goblin Rebellions and goblins in general, Ginny was almost asleep with boredom. She took out a clean piece of parchment and wrote her response to her pen pal. Unknowingly, she made it a little longer than usual because she was so bored. Professor Binns didn't catch her either, because for one thing, he hardly ever looked up from his notes that he read from, and for another, Ginny just appeared to be writing something and for all he knew, they were notes.

After History of Magic, she went off to Transfiguration and then went to the common room to dump her bag and things.

Ginny was exhausted, and she had a ton of homework to complete. She was expecting a quiet dinner with Hermione, but of course, that never happened.

She walked into the Dining Hall to find Hermione sitting at the table with a book propped up against the water jug and Ron pleading with her.

"Please, Hermione? Come on. Just this one," he was begging when Ginny took her place beside Hermione.

Hermione just ignored him and continued reading.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you're mad at me, but why won't you talk to me, or look at me for that matter?" he asked.

Ginny gave a look to Hermione. Her lips were twitching as she tried not to laugh when she saw that the page she was 'reading' was the blank piece of paper at the end of the book without any words.

At that moment, Lavender Brown marched up to where they were sitting and said, "Ronald, I need to speak to you."

Ron looked as if it was he who had received the electric shock and jumped. He looked wildly around as if trying to imagine where she had just arrived from.

"Er, now?" he asked. "Can't it wait?"

"Yes, now," she said, her eyes flashing. "Do you want me to say it here?" she threatened.

Ron jumped up again and followed her out of the hall.

Hermione and Ginny were silent as they watched Lavender and Ron walking, their voices low as they whispered.

"You can stop pretending now," Ginny said with a grin on her face.

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Ginny helped herself to some rice and said, "I never told you to ignore him, Hermione. I just said stop obsessing about him."

She shrugged. "When I see him, thoughts start bubbling in my head, so if I don't see him, then I can forget about him."

Ginny laughed. "All right then. If that's what you're going to do, then sure. Whatever works."

Dean Thomas walked up to Ginny and asked, "Aren't we having practice in like five minutes?" he asked.

"Oh, damn!" yelled Ginny, jumping up. "Oh, sorry, Hermione. I completely forgot. I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Hermione nodded and Ginny ran out of the hall, followed closely by Dean.

They reached the pitch and Ginny quickly changed into her robes.

Outside, the weather had turned gloomy as rain clouds had gathered and it had started to gently rain. She walked out onto the pitch to see a dispute.

Green and gold robes clashed as people yelled.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ginny asked out loud.

Ron appeared beside her. "Those gits, the Slytherins. They say they've booked the pitch too."

Ginny saw the team members arguing with the Slytherins, while the tryout people sat in the stands, waiting to be called.

"Oy! What's the problem?" she demanded, pulling Seamus back as he tried to punch a Slytherin.

"This is a problem to be solved by the captains, not a weasel," came the usual drawl.

The crowd parted and entered Draco Malfoy, his light blond hair falling in his cool, grey eyes. He wore his Quidditch robes, which were wet and stuck gently to his muscular front.

"I am the Captain," retorted Ginny, pointing to her Captain's badge, "or are you illiterate and can't read?"

The crowd oohed at the insult. The Slytherins looked on menacingly, while the Gryffindors stood proudly behind their Captain.

A tiny smirk played at Malfoy's lips. "Is that so, weasel? I can read, but I doubt you can. If you could, you would have read the sign on the Quidditch pitch board that said: Slytherin practice."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "The sign was broken, Professor McGonagall told me."

Malfoy shrugged, not caring. "I've got a note from the Head. We're practicing here, now get off."

"No," said Ginny. "We signed up for the pitch today, so you leave."

Blaise and several other Slytherins started rolling up their sleeves.

Malfoy was studying her as if he thought her to be the most revolting thing in the world. He held out a note from his pockets that had smeared writing, but, of course, read that he had permission to use the pitch, signed by Professor Slughorn.

"Dean, get Professor McGonagall," said Ginny from the side of her mouth. Dean, who was standing nearest her, nodded and ran off in the mud towards the castle.

While they waited, Ginny refused to leave. She kept on staring at Malfoy and he kept staring back. Several Slytherins had taken out their wands and some Gryffindors had done the same. The atmosphere was tense.

The Slytherins thought Weasley to be a fool to threat the Slytherin King. The Gryffindors thought Ginny was brave, but also a fool for challenging Malfoy when he had been known to be dangerous.

Ginny knew that she was going to get in trouble for challenging Malfoy, but he was always giving Harry and Ron such a hard time. He had been mocking her family since the day she had stepped into the school and she wanted him to know that she wasn't going to fool around, not after last year.

She knew he was supposed to be changed now, but it still didn't the fact that he was a git.

Ginny wasn't scared of him, though, after she had known what he had done to Professor Dumbledore. She wanted him to pay for what he had done.

Professor McGonagall showed up on the pitch, followed by Professor Slughorn, who had been summoned by a Slytherin.

"What's the problem?" she asked them, looking around. "Ms. Weasley?"

Ginny tore her eyes away from Malfoy's eyes. "We booked the pitch, Professor. You signed the note for us. They," she pointed to the Slytherins, "claim that they booked the pitch."

"Professor Slughorn said the pitch was available and signed us a note," said Malfoy. "I've got it here."

"Horace?" Professor McGonagall turned to Professor Slughorn. "The sign board was broken, so I signed them a note instead, and I told all the Heads of the Houses so that pitch wouldn't be double booked."

Professor Slughorn smiled sheepishly. "Oops, sorry about that, Minerva. You did tell me, but my mind is such a slippery place these days. Things just keep getting lost! I am sorry, but the Gryffindors must get the pitch. The fault is entirely mine to have misled you."

A Slytherin said, "That's not our fault though, sir. We need to practice and we were going to do it today."

"Oh dear," said Slughorn, embarrassed. "Yes, I suppose you are right, Goyle. Er...Minerva?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. "All right, I will split the pitch into two. I will cast a magical barrier so that nobody can cross it for the time period set, nor can anyone see on the other side."

"Slytherins on that side," said McGonagall, pointing the side behind Ginny.

The Slytherins pushed past them and then the Gryffindors went off to their side.

Professor McGonagall cast the spell and soon enough everyone was happy.

Ginny was happy that the problem had been solved without any fighting.

Over the next two hours, she worked hard trying out people for various positions. In the end, she had a fairly good team that she was proud of.

"Go shower, everyone," she told them and they left.

Ginny started to leave the field, the barrier's time limit forgotten. She saw Malfoy leaving on the other side of the pitch as well.

It was completely dark now, and the sky had cleared up, leaving the air cool and wet.

Malfoy tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. Ginny watched him curiously, what was he doing?

She looked up at the sky and almost gasped. The sky was a deep, velvety blue colour. It was speckled with a thousand or more stars, all twinkling and shining in their constellations. It spread so far and wide, Ginny felt small in comparison to it all.

Even though they learned magic and astronomy, no one really knew how far and wide the universe was and if there were any more.

For some reason, this reminded her of Harry. A wave of grief passed over her and she looked around. Malfoy was gone, and she was standing alone on the Quidditch pitch in the pitch-black night.

A/N- The next chapter should be up soon, my beta is working on as I type this...um, at least I think. Hope you guys enjoyed it and all! Reviews are much appreciated! :)