Forget Me, Forget Me Not

"Am I dreaming?"

Part I - Awaking From Shallow Sleep

A bouquet of forget-me-nots sat in front of one Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Seeker and son of the infamous Lucius Malfoy. He stared at the flowers. Such a simple thing, he thought as he looked more closely at their small blue petals. But who the bloody hell would have sent these to him? He eyed the Slytherin table. There was not one girl, or boy for that matter, who would have sent a bloody bouquet to him. It wasn't the style of a Slytherin. In fact, sending flowers in general was sort of frowned upon. He looked up again at his fellow house members, and saw that they were all staring at him, and his ruddy flowers. In fact, the entire Great Hall was staring, even some of the teachers had taken an interest in Draco's little present.

Draco sneered at everyone, if such a thing could be done, and looked back down to the flowers. If he were a proper Slytherin, he would just make some joke at the expense of the person who had given him this gift, and thrown the bloody things away. But, he just couldn't. No one had ever given him flowers before, not even simple ones like these. It sort of made him feel special in a way that his father's doting never could.

The flowers sitting in front of Draco Malfoy couldn't help but make Ron and Harry snicker. They sat next to each other at the Gryffindor table, with Hermione sitting across from them, reading a very thick book that smelt of mold and dust-- as usual.

"Some fool girl is in love with that stupid git!" Ron said, chortling loudly.

"Ron, you shouldn't be so rude," Hermione snapped from behind her book.

"But Hermione, who would be fool enough to like Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Harry chimed in, "Malfoy is a slimy Slytherin bastard! Whoever sent the flowers to Malfoy must have been pretty desperate."

"Harry!"

Ron snorted out his pumpkin juice. Even he hadn't expected Harry to be so direct.

Letting out a huff, Hermione closed her book and glared at the two teenage boys. "Well you know what I think?-- and don't you go saying 'No' Ronald Weasley. I think that you two are just jealous that Malfoy has an admirer and you don't."

It was Harry's turn to snort. "I have plently of admirers, Hermione. Remember, I'm 'The Boy Who Lived'!" He rolled his eyes, adding, "Everyone loves Harry Potter, Hermione. Malfoy is welcome to Colin and his brother anytime he wants-- or even Finch-Fletchley."

Hermione turned to Harry with her eyes narrowed, "Are you insinuating that Malfoy is homosexual?"

"No," Harry said shrugging, "I'm insinuating that all my would-be stalkers are."

"Good morning," Ginny muttered as she flopped down in the empty chair next to Hermione. She wearily helped herself to some porridge as Harry and Ron continued their conversation.

"Look at him, he's just staring at them, Ron."

"'Suppose he never has gotten anything like that before. He doesn't know what to do with it."

"Maybe Snape sent them!" Harry said with an evil grin forming on his face.

The two snickered again as Hermione rolled her eyes. Clueless as to what was going on, Ginny blinked and asked Hermione, "What are they talking about?"

Shaking her head, as if were nothing, Hermione said, "Nothing, Ginny. Just M-"

"Hey everyone! Have you heard?!" Neville Longbottom popped up from behind Hermione, a large grin on his chubby face. "Draco Malfoy's got a girlfriend!"

Ginny's face paled suddenly. It felt like a giant stone had dropped to the bottom of her stomach. The porridge in front of her suddenly made her want to vomit. Had she heard Neville correctly? Malfoy? Girlfriend? What? Her mind wandered to the order she had made not a week ago through the Owl Post. Was all the hard work she had done been for nothing? After lying to Ron and Harry about needing to use Hedwig-- no, she couldn't think of it. Her chest tightened as she watched Neville.

"No you've got it all wrong, Neville," Harry corrected as Ginny suddenly remembered how to breathe again.

Ron nodded in agreement, "No-- no one would want to go out with the ferret- some bloke just sent him weeds!" Ginny's eyes grew wide again as she stared at her brother in utter shock.

"They're forget-me-nots, Ron." Hermione opened her book up again, muttering something about Ron being unromantic and very caddish.

"I dunno about that," Neville said, now torn between his follow Gryffindors. "But I overheard Parvati Patil telling Lavender that she had seen Draco and his new girlfriend making-out last night in the dungeons."

"EWWWW!" Harry and Ron gagged simultaneously.

There was a loud crash. Everyone turned to where Ginny had been sitting. Her chair was lying on the floor, she was standing on her feet, an unreadable look on her face. Suddenly aware that the entire Great Hall was watching her she stuttered "I-I-I-- forgot something at the dorm!" In a flash, she rushed out of the Great Hall, papers flying behind her. Ron called after her, but he was ignored.

Ginny didn't stop running until she reached the Gryffindor Dorms. Breathing heavily, her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.

Cursing herself for being so ridiculous, Ginny banged the back of her head against the wall. Of course Draco would have a girlfriend. He could have any girl that he wanted to. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

When she had seen him at Platform 9 3/4 only a few weeks previous, he looked absolutely stunning. His blonde hair was almost to his shoulders. He had stopped slicking his hair back, and instead let his bangs hang in his eyes. He was downright gorgeous with those gray eyes. Before she knew it, she mindlessly followed him onto the train; sat in the same compartment across from him; watched him as he waited for Crabbe and Goyle to show up, sighing every two minutes or so. And then... he smiled at her! He smiled and asked, "Am I dreaming?"

Ginny blinked, "Dreaming? Why would you think you were doing that?"

Draco responded, "Because I didn't think redheads could be beautiful." After a moment's consideration, Draco asked rather plainly, "Are you from America?" Ginny missed this question, caught in the moment of his compliment. A crimson tint spread across her face. She tried to say something in return, but only nonsense mutterings would come out. Neither of them noted the irony in his accidental insinuation.

Instead, he chuckled at her. "You are a strange one, but I think I will forgive you."

The two talked as the train left the station. Ginny wasn't quite sure how long they were there-- she couldn't even recall what was said. All she knew that she felt contentment in his presence. The melodic tone of his voice soothed her- yet she could swear she had heard it somewhere else before.

She didn't realize that the man that sat opposite of her was Draco Malfoy until Ron burst into the cart, with Harry behind him. "Ginny!"

And with that one word, the light that was shining within Draco's eyes, disappeared. "Ginny-" Ron repeated, clueless to Malfoy's change. "What on earth are you doing in here with Malfoy?!"

Why hadn't she seen it? Now that she looked at him, taking in the sneer that he was giving Harry and Ron, it was Draco. Apparently, he hadn't realized that she was a Weasley. A look of realization came across his face. She could feel his walls raising against her, trapping her outside of his being.

"A... Weasley...?" he hissed.

Ginny looked as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. She felt like she was going to cry. Draco Malfoy. Something just wasn't computing. He hadn't treated her like a peasant, he had been so kind to her. They had bonded. But now.... Looking to him again, she found that Draco was now glaring at her like she was a piece of slime on his shoes. Insignificant. Holding back her frustrations she tore out of the cart, pushing past Harry and Ron.

No one wondered why Ginny had been so silent the first few weeks of school. As if anyone would care anyway. She was just Ron Weasley's pitiful little sister-- obsessed with The Boy Who Lived and violated by He Who Must Not Be Named. No one cared what poor, defenseless, Virginia Weasley was thinking. She hadn't expected anyone to, anyhow. But she couldn't help but thinking back to the train ride. Draco had been so open with her. And until they realized their true identities, he made her feel as if he had cared. She was special...

... when she wasn't a Weasley.

Confused on her own feelings, she resolved to send flowers to Draco. Forget-me-nots. Appropriate in their situation, was it not? Perhaps they would inspire him to remember their time on the train together. As much as he hated the fact that she was a Weasley, Ginny couldn't help but think that he didn't hate her entirely. Not after the train.

"Am I dreaming?"

She "borrowed" Hedwig from Harry, making up some excuse that she needed to send an owl to her mum and couldn't afford to hire a delivery owl. He had given in, reluctantly. Each day that passed, Ginny waited, anxious to see Malfoy's reaction to her gift. She hadn't left a message with them, but she had hoped that he would remember and think of her when he saw the forget-me-nots.

"Apparently not," Ginny said aloud as she looked to the Fat Lady portrait. She walked up to the painting and muttered "volatilis obscurum" under her breath. The door swung open, and Ginny sulked inside, walking as if gravity had doubled on her. Collapsing on her bed, she buried her head in her pillow. Her mind raced with unpleasant thoughts.

Draco. Girlfriend. Draco. Girlfriend.

Draco with a girl who wasn't her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was bloody jealous of the ferret boy and his new fling. It should have been her, not Millicent or Pansy, or whoever it was-- a Slytherin girl, obviously. Draco Malfoy would never have anything to do with any other house; never have anything to do with her. Refusing to let herself cry, she laid on her bed; unable to do anything but vision Draco making out with some girl in the dungeons while Ginny stood there, mouth open.

A loud knocking on the fifth-year-girls' dormitory snapped her out of her daze. "Ginny!"

KNOCK KNOCK!

"Ginny!"

KNOCK KNOCK!

"McGonagall said that you didn't turn up for Transfiguration! You all right?"

Lifting her head up from the pillow, she glared at the door. Ron. The last person she wanted to see at the moment. And as much he would knock and yell through the door, Ginny knew that her brother would never open up the door. This was a girl's dorm after all. She flopped back down on the bed and pulled her pillow down on her head to shut out Ron's cries. Ginny didn't, however, remember to put Hermione into her assumptions.

Ginny heard the door open and close. She sat up sharply and yelled, "RONALD WEASLEY THIS IS A GIRLS'-"

"Dormitory." Hermione finished, standing in front of Ginny's bed. "Yes I know. I told Ron that it would be okay if he walked in, as he is your older brother, but he insisted that I come talk you out of the room." She sat down gingerly on Ginny's bed, and asked, "Okay, Gin- What's wrong?"

Shaking her head, Ginny muttered, "Nothing." Denial would be the best way to face her current predicament. If Ron ever found out about her feelings-- "Nothing Hermione. Just tired, that's all."

Raising an eyebrow, Hermione looked at Ginny disapprovingly. She had seen that look before. That was the look Dumbledore gave people he knew were lying. "Are you sure, Ginny? This is just between us. I promise, I won't tell Ron."

Even if you wouldn't, Ginny thought to herself, you'd never forgive me either. Hermione hated Draco as much as the next Gryffindor. After all, he had called her "Mudblood" and had been damn proud about it. How she had loathed Draco after that incident. She hadn't been there, but Hermione's reaction to being called something so fowl left a mark on her aura for sometime. These dangerous thoughts. She cared for Draco, yet hated him. She had to stop this before it got more serious then it already was.

Hermione put her hand on top of Ginny's, patting it reassuringly. "I know about the flowers," she said finally.

Of course she would, Ginny thought, Hermione was the smartest student in Hogwarts after all-- she must have read me like an open book. Taking a deep breath, she looked to the upperclassman, "You do?"

A wry smile formed on Hermione's face. "I may as not be as clueless as your brother and Harry, but I can read the signs. Your actions at breakfast earlier made things quite evident to me."

Ginny sighed, "That obvious, huh?"

"No," Hermione said shaking her head. "Honestly, if I hadn't noticed your bewildered look when Neville came over and announced that Draco had a girlfriend, I would have never thought..." Hermione trailed off, not wanting to say anything she would regret. It wasn't a mystery how much she disliked Malfoy. He definitely was very rude and conceded-- and his history was stacked up against him. Shaking her head, Hermione came back to reality, "It doesn't matter. Anyway, Ginny, you can't let this effect you so."

"Why? Because Draco would never have me anyway?"

Taken back by Ginny calling Malfoy 'Draco', it took a moment for Hermione to recover. She shook her head, "No, that's not it. Shut up in your room all day-- everyone was so worried about you!"

Ginny crossed her arms against her chest, "Let them be. I want to brood."

"Ginny!"

Letting out a sigh, Ginny lowered her head. "You're right, Hermione," she said. "I need... to get over this." Draco, despite what he believed, wasn't the sun and the moon. He didn't control her mind. She could lock him out if she wanted to. She looked to Hermione and managed a smile, "I will get over this." She let out a small, forced, laugh, "It's just some silly crush-- that's all.

As happy Hermione was to see Ginny acting almost normal, something deep in her gut told her that Ginny was getting over this a bit too quickly. After all, she had been crying all day. Who knows how long this... crush... on Malfoy existed. No, Hermione decided as she looked closer at the young redhead, that this denying of feelings would probably cause a lot of trouble. Ron would have a field day with this.

Pansy Parkinson was never very attractive in Draco's eyes. In fact, she looked rather man-ish, he observed. Especially after her summer--er--growth, or lack there of. She looked like a rectangle. No curves, no angles. Pansy was the embodiment of ugliness with her square chin complete with whiskers. So when the burly girl blocked the passageway to Professor Snape's class, Draco Malfoy was very irritated. "What do you want?" he hissed, folding his arms against his chest.

"Who is it?" she hissed, tightening her grip on her books.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Who is what? Honestly, Parkinson-- if you want answers, then your questions have to make sense."

Apparently, she didn't find him very amusing. "First the flowers," she motioned to the bouquet stuffed into Draco's shoulder bag, "And now I've been told that you were making out with someone in Snape's classroom last night." Her eyes narrowed as she took a step forward, "So I ask again, Draco, who is it? Who are you dating?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco said as he pushed back the girl, who was two inches taller than he was. Continuing to walk to his next class, he picked up his pace. If he didn't hurry, then he was going to be late for class. As much as Snape favored him, there was no excuse for arriving late for Potions.

"Is it the Weasley girl?"

Draco froze, his eyes growing wide.

Ginny.

He never considered her.

"You are a strange one, but I think I will forgive you."

No. There was no way that she would send him flowers. Not after the way she left the compartment on the train. He would be surprised if she ever looked him in the eyes again. And why should she? He had been rude to her-- and rightfully so. He was a Malfoy. To be talking to such a ratty girl for so long... it was shameful. It was all a trick, he had realized. That was why she never identified herself as Virginia Weasley. Some foul trick that Potter and the other Weasel had thought of during the summer. Probably took them all summer to come up with it, too.

A smirk formed on Pansy's face. "That's it, isn't it? I'd never thought you could sink so low, Draco. After all, I have offered to go out with you many-"

"You're not half the girl Weasley is," Draco hissed before he realized it.

Her smirk only grew wider. "So it is true then. A Malfoy in love with a Weasley... I think your father would have something to say about this."

Draco faced Pansy now, folding his arms against his chest, "I never said I was in love with her, Parkinson. I just said you aren't half the girl Weasley is." He smirked at her, taking a step towards her, "In fact, you might want to look into seeing a doctor. It's not natural for such a burly girl to have no breasts."

Scowling at him, Pansy stormed off into the Potions class. Draco snickered to himself. Served her right for accusing him of being interested in someone as the likes of Virginia Weasley. That the curves of her body were the most alluring he had ever seen on a girl at Hogwarts was of little significance in light of the principle of the matter.

Pushing his thoughts back, he adjusted his shoulders and continued to the potions classroom. Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for him in their usual area. A smirk formed on Draco's face as he walked towards them, forgetting everything that Pansy Parkinson had said. However, before he could make it to the table, Professor Snape grabbed the hood of Draco's robe. "A word, Malfoy?" The Potions master glared at the other students and barked, "The rest of you start today's potion. You'll find the ingredients on page 395. That's 395, Finnigan."

Draco followed the Professor as he glided out of the class. Shutting the dungeon door behind him, Draco leaned cautiously against it, for fear of what the Potions teacher was going to say.

"Malfoy."

"Professor?"

"As Head of Slytherin," he paused, trying to give his title importance, "I must ask you to stop your late night rendezvous in my dungeons."

Draco blinked. "Sir?"

Snape took a step forward, his eyes narrowing. "A rumor has been going rampant all day that you and your... counterpart... had a session of discretion last night in my dungeons." Draco began to say something, but Snape raised his hand for silence, "I do not care whether it is true or not, Malfoy. However, with the spectacle of the flowers this morning, it is hard for you to argue otherwise." He pointed at Draco as if he were sentencing him to life in prison, "You will bring an end to the rumors now. I will not have the name of Slytherin brought down any further by your raging hormones. Do I make myself clear?"

"But-"

"That will be all," the Potion's master hissed. With a glare, Draco understood that the conversation was over, and it was time to move away from the dungeon entrance. Snape pushed passed Draco, his robes flowing behind him as he stormed back into the classroom.

Draco stood in the hallway, his mouth gaping open. Had the whole world gone insane? What was everyone talking about? The flowers he couldn't deny, but the snogging in the dungeon both Snape and Parkinson mentioned. Draco's mouth went then as he slammed back into the Potions room. Someone must have been spreading rumors about him! When he found out who was spreading such things-- they would regret it.

As he stepped back into the classroom, all the students' eyes were on him. He glared at the class, "Don't you all have work to do?"

He did, that was for certain. First, to find the person who started the bloody rumor; then, to find the person who sent him the flowers be it Ginny Weasley or otherwise. After all, he was Draco Malfoy-- and no one made a fool of him and escaped unscathed.

To Be Continued...