Surprised By Love

Chapter Eight

~Ginny's POV~

Harry lectured me all the way to Gryffindor Tower. He even followed me to my room. You'd think I'd committed a moral sin.

"What possessed you to kiss Malfoy, Ginny?"

I threw myself face first on the bed and stuffed the pillow in my mouth to keep from screaming. I loved Harry, but he could be a royal prat sometimes. I lifted my head after a moment and looked at him. "Well, it's not as if you're ever going to, are you, Harry?"

He blushed to the ends of his hair. It was a low blow, I know, but he was really getting on my nerves at the moment.

"Harry," I sighed. "I know you and I are never going to happen. I realized that a long time ago."

Harry scrunched his face. "But why Malfoy? Why not someone lese?"

I thought for a moment before coming to a very simple conclusion. It had been staring me in face for months, I just never chose to see until now. It was so easy. "Because I'm in love with him."

Harry looked shocked for a moment, but he didn't say anything. "All right, Gin. It's your choice. But if he hurts you, I'm going to kill him. And so will Ron."

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" I asked, suddenly worried. It didn't upset me that Harry saw us, but if Ron found out, he'd kill Draco without a second thought.

Harry shook his head. "I won't. For now. But if he hurts you I will. That's a guarantee."

I jumped off the bed and hugged him. "Thanks, Harry. I owe you one."

He nodded and gave me a small smile. "Are you going to tell Hermione?"

I looked at the floor. "Well, she already knows."

Harry's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Is that why she was his partner in potions?"

I didn't answer. Sometimes he's just too smart for his own good. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

He looked at me blankly. "Huh?"

"You had something you wanted to ask me. What is it?"

"Oh. That. Well. . ." a deep blush crept from his neck to his face. "You know about that dance after Saturday's game?"

"Sure." Truthfully, I'd completely forgotten about that. It was a little social gathering following the Quidditch game this weekend. You could bring a date if you wanted, but it wasn't mandatory. "What about it?"

Harry's blush deepened. "Well, I want to ask this one girl and I need help."

I smiled at him brightly. "And what girl is this?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Wellisblazeabi," he rushed out.

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Blaise Zabini," he repeated slowly.

I grinned broadly. "Harry Potter has a crush on a Slytherin?"

"No!" he said quickly. "I just like her. A lot."

I nodded, but didn't press the issue any further. "All right, then. This is how I think you should go about doing it . . .

~*~

Draco wasn't in the Great Hall during dinner and Hermione was in the library studying. She promised to fill me in on everything after dinner. I was going crazy waiting.

In the meantime, I had my hands full with convincing Harry to ask out Zabini. You'd think she was some monster the way he ran from her. Apparently she made him very nervous.

I wanted to help Harry, but he was being so stubborn it hurt my head. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I watched as Blaise walked coolly out of the Great Hall, and I followed.

"Zabini!" I called out.

She turned around slowly, and looked me over carefully, her violet colored eyes narrowed. She really was a striking girl. No wonder Harry couldn't talk around her. "What do you want?" she said saucily.

"Harry Potter really likes you, and he wants to ask you to the dance this weekend," I told her quickly.

Zabini wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Potter likes me?" she asked incredulously. "What in bloody hell is wrong with him?"

She looked surprised, as if no had ever taken a real interest in her before. I shrugged. "You'll just have to ask him when he talks to you." I turned to walk away, pleased that I had helped Harry just a little.

"Weasley, wait!"

I turned to face Blaise, and she looked fierce, as if she'd kick my ass if I said something she didn't agree with.

"Are you lying? To humiliate me for something I did to you?" her forehead wrinkled high like she was worried.

"No. I wouldn't do something like that to get revenge."

Her face relaxed a notch. She nodded and her mouth turned up in a slight smile. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear she likes him too. "Thanks, Weasley. And don't even think about hurting him."

I knew without a thought she was referring to Draco. "Thanks for the warning, Zabini. But I wasn't even thinking about doing that."

"Good. I can see why Draco likes you so much. You're honest and you have a backbone. For a muggle lover. But remember, if you hurt him, I won't think twice about hexing you."

I shrugged not really impressed by her dramatic skills. "I could say the same goes for you."

A small smile played on her lips before it disappeared into her stone like features. "As long as we understand each other." She whirled around, her long black hair trailing behind her as she swept down the hall. "See you later, Weasley."

I headed in the opposite direction, a smug smile on my face.

~*~

"He loves me? Are you sure?" I was sitting on my bed a few hours later, Hermione across from me.

She rolled her eyes and returned to the book she was reading. "Actually, I just made the whole thing up to see you happy before I cut you down. Why would I lie, Ginny? Besides he took a truth potion. He couldn't exactly lie."

I was in complete awe, utterly shocked. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. Oh, wow. Draco Malfoy was in love with a Weasley? What was the world coming to?"

"One thing, Gin. I don't think he's going to act on it."

I frowned and looked at her. "And why not?" I demanded.

"His father," she said simply, remorse in her eyes.

I didn't care if his father was against it or not, he wasn't going to get off that easy. "We'll see about that."

~*~

The stupid git avoided me for two whole days. And I had the nagging suspicion Hermione was right (I hate when she's right about things like that). He wouldn't look at me during meals, he was too busy being engaged in conversation by Zabini. And I could never catch him in the halls. He always seemed to be in a hurry.

I wasn't in the best of moods, so I stayed in my room in my spare time. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I couldn't believe how much the stupid little wanker was affecting me.

I finally tracked Draco down on his way to the Quidditch pitch. He didn't look too happy to see me when I stopped him'

"What's going on, Malfoy? Why are acting as if I have the plague?" I inquired softly.

He looked at me briefly before moving past me. "Just stay away from me, Ginny. I'm no good for you."

How dare he! I grabbed his robes and turned him to face me. "Don't you think I should be the judge of that?"

I saw pain in his eyes as he closed them. . "We can't be together. It would never work. There are just too many issues. Your family and mine. They'd never let us be happy."

I didn't want to hear it, because I knew it was true, but if he'd give it a chance it would be worth it. "So you don't even want to try?"

His opened, devoid of emotion as they met mine. "No."

He may as well have slapped me, that's how much it hurt. But he was never going t know that. I pressed my lips to his in a chaste kiss goodbye.

I pulled away just as he got into it. It seemed to affect him more than he'd like to let on.

"All right. I'll leave you alone then. But I want you to know, I think I love you, Draco."

With that I moved down the hall to get some breakfast.

~*~

I wasn't going to cry. I would not cry over Draco Malfoy. I kept telling myself that as I sat next to Hermione in the Gryffindor stands.

It was a chilly October morning, but I didn't feel the cold. I stared blankly at the game unfolding in front of me. I've never felt this numb in my life.

I was in love with a guy who worried more about what his father thought than he cared about me.

Nothing seemed to matter. It didn't matter that Gryffindor was winning by two points. Or that Harry and Draco had each given the other a black eye.

Boys really do need to grow up, I thought sourly. I hate it when those two are competing. Nothing good has ever come of it. And I really wasn't in the mood to see them kill each other.

I moved to get up, not bothering to say bye to Hermione, and I vaguely noticed the people rushing away from me. And I didn't see two very fast broomsticks heading straight towards me. It wasn't until it was too late that I saw the Golden Snitch in front of me.

My eyes shot up and watched as Harry pulled up. But Draco was the one in trouble. He watched me closely and veered off to the right at the last possible second, and hitting the wooden pole with a sickening crunch.

My heart stopped beating at the sight of Draco crumpled in an odd looking heap on the ground. I ran to his lifeless form

"Oh, God," I breathed out when I saw the bruises already forming on the side of his face. I cradled his head in my lap and gently stroked his head.

His eyes opened slowly and he winced in pain. "Gin?"

I felt tears sting my eyes at the sight of his pain. "Yeah, it's me. You're going to be all right."

"Gin, I'm sorry. For everything." His voice cracked and he closed his eyes.

"It's all right, Draco."

It was then that I noticed the crowd that gathered around us. And Ron storming in our direction, Hermione trying to pull him back.