Hate To Love

I won't, I won't be forgot

You're the one I love to hate

And the one I hate to love

-Utopian Noise Tree-

Ginny stopped, barely breathing.

Someone was coming.

It had been a stroke of stupidity to be in the dungeon corridors anyway, especially at this time of night. She had been going down to the kitchen, and took a wrong turn somewhere. Now she was retracing her steps, trying to get back to Gryffindor Tower and the sixth year girls' dormitory before a prefect or teacher caught her.

Too late. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She looked around hurriedly for a place to hide, finding nothing better than a large statue of a wizard with an eye patch. She ducked behind it, cursing her glaringly white nightdress. She crouched down, trying to make herself less visible.

"Who's there?" a voice called down the hall, in a familiar drawl that sent apprehensive chills down Ginny's spine.

"Don't play games with me, I heard you," Draco Malfoy said in a derisive voice. "Or maybe it's two of you. I've told about a dozen people to find somewhere else to snog, but does anyone listen to me?"

Ginny stifled a snicker, but she must have made some noise, as Draco's voice got closer.

"I heard you that time," he said in a triumphant voice. "You're just making it worse for yourselves, you know. Come out, come out wherever you are..."

Ginny stood up, preparing to run if necessary. Too late, as Draco walked by the statue and caught sight of her white nightdress.

"Weasley," he said, a malicious note in his voice. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"I could say the same to you, Malfoy," Ginny replied, her chin held high and her posture defiant.

"Now, is that any way to talk to a prefect?" Draco replied. "Tsk, Weasley, I expected better of you. Your brother is a prefect and his Mudblood girlfriend is Head Girl. I'd have thought you would respect that authority."

"I don't respect anything about you," she told him coldly. "And if you call Hermione a Mudblood one more time I may have to get violent. Also, she and Ron aren't dating. Not that it's any of your business."

Draco smiled at this. "Apparently the littlest Weasley has developed quite a sharp tongue. And don't give me that dung about Granger and your brother. They're practically married."

Ginny eyed the blonde Slytherin askance. "Draco Malfoy, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were being almost civil to me."

"I might say the same," Draco admitted, "but only under threat of torture."

Ginny almost laughed. At Draco Malfoy. She decided that she must be insane. Draco apparently noted her barely contained smile, as he began to smirk.

"Well, I might let you off this time," he said. "Not give you detention or take any house points."

"Surely not," Ginny scoffed. "That would be so out of character for you."

Draco frowned in thought. "Probably. But I'm laboring under the delusion that it could possibly give you a heart attack. I'll take any opportunity to make a Weasley ill."

"Are you serious?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Draco sighed. "Going against my better judgment, I'm letting you run away back to your dormitory. Hurry up before I change my mind."

"Um...thanks, I think," Ginny said, and turned to walk away. She stopped, remembering why she was down in the dungeons in the first place.

She distinctly heard a laugh behind her. "Go down to the end of this hallway, take a left, go down to the first adjoining corridor and take a right. Keep going straight and you'll end up in the Entrance Hall."

She turned around to see Draco standing in the middle of the hallway, his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, Malfoy," she said.

"Anytime, Weasley," he said easily. He appeared to think about that for a second. "On second thought, never again."

She laughed. At Malfoy. She was definitely insane.

As she turned the corner of the hallway, she heard that drawling voice behind her. "Goodnight, Weasley."

"Goodnight, Malfoy," she replied.

*

You over-think things

You say what if we're not meant to be

You know what

So what

Make a mistake with me

-Brad Paisley-

"Back for seconds, Weasley?" Draco drawled.

"In your dreams," she said, mimicking his drawl.

"Every single night," he said with a smirk.

It wasn't her fault that she had gotten lost again. This time it was in the middle of the day, and she was at the end of a dead end corridor on the fourth floor. How he'd found her here was beyond her understanding, and she was going to be late for Transfiguration.

"Malfoy, was that a line?" she said in surprise.

Draco winced. "I do believe it was. Force of habit, I assure you."

"Yes, because you couldn't possibly be attracted to me," Ginny said with a grin. "I think you are."

"No, I'm not," Draco denied. "You're a Weasley, for Salazar's sake."

"How on earth do you explain running into me in a deserted hallway that neither of us should be in?" Ginny asked calmly.

"Coincidence," Draco lied glibly. "Maybe I was doing a bit of unauthorized patrolling. I'm a prefect, remember?"

"And you take your duties about as seriously as Ron does," Ginny commented dryly.

"Why is it that we always end up talking about your prat of a brother?" Draco asked exasperatedly.

"Twice," Ginny said. "Twice is not always. We don't 'always' talk, either. We never talk. In fact, stop talking to me."

"Am I getting on your nerves?" Draco asked, smiling as if this would be a pleasing turn of events.

"You've been on my nerves," Ginny said. "There is no 'getting' to it."

"And when did you first notice this phenomenon?" Draco asked, grinning at her.

"Um, let me think," Ginny said, putting a long finger to her chin. "Since the very first time I met you, you sodding git."

"No need for insults, Weasley," Draco said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"I beg to disagree," Ginny replied. "There is always a need for insults where you're concerned."

"Okay, I concede that," he replied. "Run along now, before you get in trouble."

"Or do something stupid," Ginny added casually.

"Like what?" Draco asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Lose all control of yourself and suss me down right here?"

"In case I haven't said it before, Malfoy," Ginny said, "in your dreams."

"Frequently," Draco quipped.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Why must you persist in talking to me? A junior Death Eater and a Weasley aren't supposed to get along. It's practically a law."

"I've always been a rebel," Draco said with a grin.

"And I'm the youngest child and only girl," Ginny admitted. "It's in my job description to rebel."

"Well then, we should get along fine," Draco drawled. "And since we're already ten minutes late for class, do you want to skive off with me?"

"Ah, then we'll be true rebels," Ginny said wryly. "Ditching class, talking to each other; what's next?"

"I'm sure we could think of something," Draco mused. "I could sit with you at the Gryffindor table."

"We want to be rebellious, Malfoy, not cause mass heart attacks," Ginny said.

"Good point," Draco said. "So you should eat at the Slytherin table."

"Then Ron would have a heart attack," Ginny objected.

"This idea just gets better and better," Draco said. "Do you think we'd make Potty jealous? Oh, that'd be the icing on the cake."

"Why would Harry be jealous?" Ginny asked suspiciously. "Is he madly in love with you?"

Draco turned faintly green. "I hope not. Don't suggest things like that, Weasley!"

"The look on your face was worth the disturbing mental images, I assure you," Ginny said in an amused voice.

"You did that on purpose," Draco accused.

"Did you ever doubt it?" she asked.

"You are a sick, twisted woman," Draco informed her.

The magically magnified sound of a bell made Ginny look around. "Oh, bugger. Malfoy, the Ancient Runes class is down this corridor!"

"Run," Malfoy said succinctly.

They began to run, Ginny's only goal to get as far away from Malfoy and this corridor as possible. A hand on her wrist brought her back to a reality in which she couldn't possibly make it down the corridor before the Ancient Runes class emerged. Malfoy dragged her into an unlocked classroom and shut the door.

"Colloportus," he murmured, and the door locked with a squelching sound. Seconds later, the sound of footsteps in the hallway reached their ears.

"Thanks, Malfoy," Ginny said quietly.

"No problem," Draco replied. "But don't thank me just yet. Now we're stuck in this classroom for an indefinite period of time somewhere between fifteen minutes and half an hour. Unless they don't have any more classes down here today. In which case we can't predict when there will be students or teachers in this hallway. In which case we're screwed."

"I certainly hope not," Ginny said dryly.

"Please keep your dirty thoughts to yourself," Draco said. "I may be a junior Death Eater, but I have manners."

"Uh huh," Ginny said disbelievingly. "Which is why you've spent the last six years insulting my family's financial status, my hair, my clothes, and everything about me."

"You're just a special case, Weasley," Draco explained. "It's a family dispute that goes back to the 1700s, when my ancestors cheated your ancestors out of the land that Malfoy Manor now stands on. Didn't you know?"

"I had no clue," Ginny said with a smile. "You just sounded a whole lot like Hermione, though, and I find that amusing."

Draco grimaced. "Please don't ever compare me to Granger. It hurts."

"Why do you hate her?" Ginny asked. "There wasn't a muggle land feud, was there?"

"Of course not," Draco said. "My ancestors wouldn't associate with muggles. I simply dislike her because she hangs out with Potty and your brother. And she's a Gryffindor."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're discriminating against Gryffindors?" Ginny asked.

"And Weasleys," Draco reminded her. "Oh, also Mudbloods. And pretty much everyone whose not just like me."

"And you freely admit this?" Ginny queried.

"I'm not proud of it," Draco said with a shrug. "But, hey, it's habit."

"You're impossible," Ginny said. "I'm going to make it my goal to break your habit. Look, I've already got you talking to a Weasley."

"Don't tell anyone," Draco ordered. "I'd commit suicide at the shame of it. But, then again, the girls of Hogwarts would miss me too much. So I'd just kill you."

"I feel special now," Ginny said in mock sadness. "Malfoy, that one hurt."

"I'd say I was sorry," Draco quipped, "but you'd know I was lying."

Ginny confined herself to sticking her tongue out at him.

"That's mature, Weasley," Draco observed.

"I never once did anything to imply maturity," Ginny reminded him. "It's your own fault if you go assuming things."

Draco didn't answer, as he had his ear pressed against the door and was looking at his watch. After what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality more like half a minute, he turned back to her and winked.

"Is the coast clear?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I think everyone's in class again."

"Oh, no," she groaned. "I'm going to miss History of Magic, too."

"You're rebelling, remember?" Draco said.

"That doesn't make it any better," Ginny replied indignantly. "If McGonagall doesn't kill me, Hermione will."

"Some rebel you turned out to be," Draco said, assuming a disappointed frown.

"I have to go," Ginny said, checking her watch frantically. "If I hurry, I can make it to History of Magic before Binns notices I'm gone. Could you unlock the door, Malfoy?"

Malfoy waved his wand at the door, which unstuck with a slurping sound. As he continued to lean against the teacher's desk, Ginny turned to raise an enquiring eyebrow at him.

"You're not coming?" she asked.

"I'll wait a few minutes," Draco said. "If anyone's out there, I don't want them to catch us together and start assuming things."

"Good plan," Ginny agreed. "Bye, Malfoy, and thanks again."

"At your service, Weasley," Draco said, tipping a nonexistent hat to her.

Ginny hefted her backpack to her shoulder and headed towards the door. Suddenly, she was caught by his iron grip once more. Before she could react, his lips were on hers. And when she could react, she didn't want to move.

When he finally let her go, she stood there gaping at him as she sucked in a few deep breaths. It is a widely known fact that you can't snog and breathe at the same time.

She quickly regained her composure and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Now who can't control themselves?" she asked sardonically.

"Don't you have a class to get to?" he asked.

"Oh, Godric," Ginny gasped. She checked her watch as she left the classroom, and found to her relief that she could still make History of Magic. With any luck, Luna had covered for her in Transfiguration.

She ran through the hallways and slid into her seat without Professor Binns noticing her arrival.

"Where have you been?" Luna whispered from the seat beside her.

"I got lost," she replied. Not a complete lie, but not anywhere near covering the truth. Luna, always observant, gave her a disbelieving glare. "I'll tell you later," she added.

Luna nodded and turned back to Professor Binns, and Ginny did the same. She tried to pay attention, but couldn't force her mind to focus on the monotonous voice of Professor Binns as he droned on and on about goblin wars.

History of Magic was not a good class to be in when one didn't wish to dwell on the fact that one has just been thoroughly sussed down by Draco sodding Malfoy.

*

You can kiss me in the moonlight

On a rooftop under the sky

You can kiss me with the windows open

While the rain comes pouring inside

-Faith Hill-

"We just keep running into each other, Weasley," Draco said in an amused voice.

"It would seem that way," Ginny replied. "What's your excuse this time, Malfoy?"

"A sudden craving for ice cream?" Draco suggested.

Ginny had been on her way back from another midnight trip to the kitchens, when she had happened across Draco heading the opposite direction.

"Not good enough," Ginny said. "You couldn't talk your way out of a paper bag."

"Ah, but I don't have to talk," Draco said, advancing on her. She took a step backward for every step he took towards her.

"And how exactly do you plan to get out of this predicament?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow. "There's no escape for you."

Draco kept walking towards her. "I can think of a few ways."

Her back hit the wall. She could retreat no further. Seeing her quandary, he quickly closed the distance between them, placing a hand on either side of her body. She was trapped.

"Malfoy, are you getting fresh?" she asked in mock suspicion.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, lowering his head and administering a brief kiss on her lips.

"Stop that," Ginny admonished. "Honestly, you think you can just kiss me any time you like?"

"Pretty much," Draco said with a smirk.

Ginny reached up, grabbed his nose, and pulled him down to her level. "You listen to me, Malfoy. Stop following me around this instant. I let you snog me once and now you're just taking liberties."

Draco stared back at her. "Let go of my nose."

She released the appendage, and Draco straightened. All the better to tower over her, she suspected.

"Weasley, you are the most difficult girl I've ever had the misfortune to meet," Draco informed her without rancor.

"Malfoy, you are a berk," she said in the same tone. "And if you think I'm just going to stand by and let you - "

Draco silenced her by dropping his head and pressing his lips to hers. She didn't protest.

*

I need you to know you can

Fall into me

That my arms are wide open

and will always be

Right here waiting, staying strong

Come and fall into me

-Emerson Drive-

"Malfoy," Ginny said in a low voice, staring out the kitchen window of the Burrow at him. "What's going on?"

"I don't have time, Weasley," Draco said hastily, resting his hands on the window frame, his blonde hair brought into sharp focus by the dark, inky black of the sky. "Just...tell Harry it's done."

"What's done?" Ginny asked desperately.

Draco didn't answer, only reached up to give her a brief but heartfelt kiss. "I've got to go. Ask Harry to tell you."

That's what he always said. Ask Harry.

"See you around, Malfoy," she said.

"Bye, Weasley," he replied.

That was it. No 'I love you,' no promises, no meaningless words exchanged, nothing. They both knew very well that this could be the last time they ever saw each other, but they knew the same thing of the other dozen people they'd talked to that day.

That's what the war had done. It had jaded them all, it had acquainted them with sorrow and loss. This war they were fighting was a desperate stand against an evil that had to be taken down. Ginny was just thankful they were on the same side.

"Harry," Ginny said, walking into the living room.

The room was littered with parchments, research books and quills. Remus and Harry were sitting at a coffee table, their heads together over a blueprint of some building or another.

"What?" Harry asked, looking up at her out of shadowed eyes. No one got enough sleep these days.

"Malfoy says it's done," Ginny said shortly.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and it looked as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders. He turned to address Remus. "Malfoy Sr. has been taken care of. That makes this job a lot easier."

"What is going on?" Ginny asked in a firm voice. "Malfoy said to ask you."

"He just took out the lead strategist," Harry explained, already bending over the blueprints. "The Death Eaters will take a few days to get the next one in place."

"My guess is with Bellatrix Lestrange," Remus said in his gruff voice. "She's the next closest to Voldemort, if our information is correct."

"Wait," Ginny said slowly. "Lucius has been taken out? As in...killed?"

Harry winced and looked at Ginny sadly. As much as everyone knew it had to be done, he still didn't like taking human lives, even indirectly. "Yes."

"Malfoy just killed his own father?" Ginny said, and her voice broke.

"Yes," Harry said on a sigh. "He was the best one for the job."

"This war bites," Ginny said succinctly, flopping down on the couch.

"I know," Harry said quietly. He turned back to the blueprint, blinking rapidly. If Ginny didn't know better, she'd say he was about to cry. It was too much to ask of an eighteen year old boy, even if he was the greatest wizard since Albus Dumbledore. It was just too damn much.

But it was too much to ask of another eighteen year old boy to kill his own father. Ginny's heart broke for what she guessed was the fifteenth time in this awful, bloody war.

A knocking came on the window, the same quick rhythm Draco used. Ginny went over to it, her wand at the ready just in case. He never came back this soon.

She peeked out the curtain and sure enough, it was Draco. She threw open the window and looked at him inquiringly.

"I forgot something," he said with a crooked smile. He then reached up, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her down for a passionate kiss that took her very breath away.

"What was that for?" Ginny asked when he released her.

"Don't give up," Draco said, a harsh note in his voice. "We can do this. We can win this. You have to believe that."

"I do," she said, confused.

"Then would you do me a favor and keep reminding me?" Draco asked, smiling that same crooked smile that never failed to twist her heart.

"Harry told me," she said, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't feel sorry for me," Draco said harshly. "Just keep reminding me why I do this."

"Why do you?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," he said, cupping her face with his free hand. "But I know you have something to do with it." He winced and put his hand to his left forearm. "I have to go."

Ginny pulled back the sleeve of his jumper and looked at his Dark Mark, now a deep red. On an impulse, she bent down and pressed her lips against it, causing him to shiver slightly.

"You're the bravest man I know," she said quietly.

"What about Saint Potter?" he asked. "Isn't it his job to conquer all evil?"

"He doesn't hold a candle to you," she said. "Just do me a favor and come back alive."

"I'll do my best," he replied. They both simultaneously glanced at his mark. "I can't make any promises."

"Malfoy," she said.

"Weasley," he replied.

"Good luck," Ginny said.

"You, too," Draco said. "From what I hear, you're going to need it."

"It's not going to be easy," she admitted.

"Nothing worthwhile is ever easy," Draco reminded her. He winced in pain as his Dark Mark throbbed again. "I have to go. Catch you on the flip side, Weasley."

"Bye," Ginny said.

He turned and walked away, towards the edge of the magical guards around the Burrow. She watched him go, her heart sinking.

"I love you, Malfoy," she whispered, knowing that he didn't hear her.

"He loves you, too," came a voice behind her. "As much as it pains me to admit it."

"I know," she sighed, turning to face Ron.

It had taken a great deal of courage for Ginny to tell Ron about her and Malfoy. Malfoy as a spy he'd been able to take, just barely. But Malfoy and Ginny had been a great deal harder for him to accept. Even now he couldn't contain his glares, but at least it hadn't come to blows. Well, except when he'd first found out, but that was only once.

"When is it going to be over?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his chest. He put his arms around her, and they both held on as tightly as they could, taking comfort from each other.

"I don't know," Ron answered honestly. "But it can't last forever."

"I don't want to grow up like this," Ginny whispered desperately. "I want it to be over."

"We all do."

*

I cross my heart

And promise too

Give all I've got to give

To make all our dreams come true

In all the world

You'll never find

A love as true as mine

-George Strait-

And suddenly it was over.

It ended like no one had ever expected. Voldemort, in his unending cockiness, had decided to take on Harry alone. He'd followed Harry out to the middle of a field behind the Burrow and challenged him.

Harry, as it turns out, kicked arse.

Everyone was worried about him when he didn't return after an hour, but he finally came back just at twilight. Ginny would never forget the sight of Harry Potter limping up to the back gate, his stature proud and joyful tears threatening to cascade down his face.

"It's done," he said fiercely, almost defiantly. "It's over. He's dead."

And then he'd collapsed. When he'd regained consciousness, he refused to talk about what had happened. All anyone knew was that some of the Order members found the lifeless body of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort, in the middle of the charred black remains of a field.

A week later, Ginny still hadn't heard a thing from Malfoy. She waited, never leaving the Burrow lest he come back while she was away. Eight days after Harry's confrontation with Voldemort, she went out to degnome the garden before she went stir-crazy.

The sound of a solid British "Damn!" caused Ginny's heart to beat a rapid staccato against her chest.

"Think you could throw those things any harder, Weasley?" came the annoyed voice of Draco Malfoy from over the garden fence. "You hit me in the head."

"Sorry, Malfoy," Ginny said. "That's what you get for standing there like an idiot when I'm throwing things."

"Remind me never to make you angry again," Draco said, climbing over the garden wall. "You could seriously injure me."

"I'd try," Ginny replied. Then she gave in to her overwhelming desire to run over and jump into his arms.

"Did you miss me?" he said wryly, his arms around her waist.

"What took you so long, Malfoy?" she demanded.

"I had a run in with Seamus Finnigan," Draco said. "He didn't know I was a spy, and apparently had orders to take in any Death Eater he saw. I've spent the last week in a holding cell in a nasty, rotten little town, until someone finally got Dumbledore out there to rubber-stamp me."

"Remind me to hurt Seamus," Ginny said. "I've been worried."

"I know you have," Draco said, hugging her tighter.

"I love you, Malfoy," Ginny told him, smiling up at him.

"I love you, too, Weasley," Draco said.

"Who loves me?" Harry asked in a mock offended voice, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen.

"By the sound of things, only the entire wizarding world as a whole," Draco said, giving Harry a grin. "Good work, Potter," he added seriously.

"Thanks," Harry said with a faint smile, which soon grew to a smirk. "Why don't you two come inside?"

"We're trying to have a moment, Harry," Ginny informed him. "You're ruining it, you know. We were supposed to confess our undying love and snog madly."

"Godric Gryffindor's great bloody sword," Harry said, shielding his eyes. "I'm going back inside, then."

"Thank you," Draco said. When Harry had disappeared, he turned back to Ginny with a smile. "He ruined our moment."

Ginny sighed melodramatically. "Yes, he did. That stupid Boy Who Lived Twice."

"So, what say we snog anyway?" Draco asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ginny replied enthusiastically.

So they did.

And with much laughter and love, they lived happily ever after.

Harry eventually got a girlfriend and stopped ruining their emotional moments.