The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower

Ginny went back to the common room that night to find it completely empty. No Ron and Hermione saying how much they love each other, no Seamus and Lavender snogging in a corner, no Colin taking photos, no Dean trying to stop Colin. And no Harry.

That's odd, she thought. Wonder where Harry could be.

Ron and Hermione had either gone for a walk or something else sweet like that, Seamus and Lavender were probably either in the sixth year boys' dormitory, the sixth year girls' dormitory, or the astronomy tower. But where were the other fifth year girls? Neither Creevey brother was to be found, and where was Harry? Unless he was with Cho, but then that would mean they had gotten back together. Blaise wouldn't let that happen, would she?

Ginny decided to go to her dormitory, as it would be pointless to hang out alone in and empty common room. When she got to her dormitory, it was, much like the common room, empty of people. Gryffindor tower hadn't been this quiet since, well, since the holidays when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Ginny shuddered. Just thinking about it made her sick to the stomach. Tom Riddle, the Basilisk, the chamber itself with the statue of Slytherin....

Ginny sat down on her four-poster, hoping that somebody would come in. She hated being alone, especially with thoughts of the Chamber of Secrets in her mind. Ginny had never been able to keep a diary, she would have liked to have a place to jot down her thoughts, but she was mortally afraid of diaries since the incident. She pulled a book out of her trunk: Dragons, Dungeons, and Dark Magic, by Cassiopeia M. Siniestro. Ginny wasn't quite certain why she had this book. It wasn't the sort of thing a Weasley would own, but this Weasley had found it interesting in Flourish and Blotts that summer when she bought it. She had never actually read it, but she thought the cover was very interesting, it was black depicted an amazing red and green dragon being slayed by a red-headed witch. Ginny had thought the witch resembled her and found it very intriguing.

***

Blaise was angry with herself for turning soft on Ginny. Blaise had been raised to trust no-one, and hate everybody, especially Gryffindors, but something had changed, and she had started to actually care about a Gryffindor; she couldn't bring herself to plot the murder of Ginny Weasley, or break up the little friendship/relationship Ginny and Draco had. This was bad. Blaise was fully prepared to blame Draco. It was all his fault. Why did he have to tell her how great Ginny was? He should have kept his mouth shut. The stupid git.

Blaise sat up on her four-poster with its dark green hangings. She looked around herself at the dormitory. She'd broken just about everything that Pansy, Millicent, Morag, and Betsy owned, including some of her own belongings. She sighed. This is what a confused Zabini looks like, she thought. Mother and Father would not be proud... Imagine what Lucius and Narcissa will do to Draco when they find out about Ginny... Just thinking about what would happen to Draco made her laugh. Before she knew it, she had fallen off her bed onto the floor from laughing so hard. Suddenly the door opened and Blaise sat up.

Draco was standing in the doorway. "We have a prefects' meeting tomorrow," he said.

She nodded. Suddenly, she felt as though she needed to talk to someone, but she didn't want to talk to Draco. She wanted to talk to someone who cared enough to not get involved, someone who would listen, but never talk, someone who didn't know her. She needed someone to confide in. Draco was not that person. She decided she didn't want Draco to stay; she didn't need to see him right now, so she said, "okay, but I'm a little busy just now, could you go away?"

Draco looked at her suspiciously before saying, "busy laughing at your own jokes?"

She shook her head. Draco's sarcasm was extremely annoying at a time like this. "Go," she said, a tone of finality in her voice.

 She needed to talk to someone, and she knew it was nobody in Slytherin, or even Ravenclaw. She couldn't talk to a Hufflepuff, they couldn't keep secrets, and they were afraid of Slytherins such as herself. She needed to talk to a Gryffindor, they were the only ones who were kind enough to listen, and brave enough to care. But she couldn't tell any of the Gryffindors how she felt; it didn't seem right. Blaise took a deep breath and stood up. She got onto her bed, drew the hangings, lay down, and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before she fell into an uneasy sleep.

She was standing in the Forbidden Forest, alone. Or so she thought. She was dressed in thin robes, and the wind was cold and unsettling. There was something eerie about the air; something was definitely wrong. The wind fluttered through her hair, causing it to fly out behind her. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her, but didn't dare turn around.

So this is fear, she thought. She had never felt afraid before, but now she knew what it was like to not know, to worry, to fear death. She felt a presence, an unfamiliar presence. It wasn't somebody she knew, or wanted to know, it was somebody who shouldn't be there, the same way she shouldn't be there. She didn't dare speak, or turn around. She didn't dare move, she didn't dare breathe.

"I've waited," said a voice behind her. She knew the voice somehow, but it didn't sound the same.

Blaise took a deep breath. Breathing, she thought, such a normal thing to do. She stood still, again, not daring to breathe. At least until he spoke again. But he didn't say a word. And she didn't take a breath. Her chest felt as though it would explode, until he put her hand on her shoulder. Still, she didn't dare look at him. He stepped closer to her, and she closed her eyes. She couldn't look at him. She wouldn't look at him. She was aware that he was now standing directly in front of her, only inches away, his hand still on her shoulder. He leaned forward, she tried to back up, but he wouldn't allow it. He leaned in and kissed her. His kiss was like burning ice, so painful, and so wrong.

Blaise Zabini awoke with a start, her body covered in cold sweat, her breathing heavy. She sat up, panting, trying to remember the kiss from the dream. It hadn't been normal, and it hadn't been right. Blaise had never felt this way before; she had never been torn between two worlds; right and wrong, dark and light, cold and hot... It didn't seem right, yet it seemed so perfect. Confusion.

***

Ginny opened up the book to the first page. She didn't want to read it. She didn't ever want to read it; she just wanted to look at it. She flipped through the pages, catching glimpses of detailed drawings, and words such as sinister, sadistic, and evil.

Why the Hell do I have this? she thought. She couldn't quite figure out why she had bought it; it was more than just the red-headed girl. She put the book back in her trunk and lay back on her bed. She tried to ignore the fact that she was almost alone in Gryffindor, and tried to focus her thoughts on Harry. The one thing she had dreamed about for six years now was Harry Potter. She had tried to imagine what life would be like with Harry, if Harry would notice her...

 She tried to think about him now, but her mind kept wandering to Draco. She didn't think she felt very strongly about Draco, but that earlier that day, everything had changed. She'd started to think of him as more than just a friend. She'd started wondering what it would be like to kiss Draco. He didn't seem to be just any old average boy. He seemed to be... different, somehow. But then again everybody was different in their own way.

***

Draco couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, but sleep just seemed such a difficult task right now. It was impossible. This had happened before. Many times. It had happened every time Potter had done something that made Draco look pathetic, like when Potter had saved Ginny from the chamber of secrets, Draco would have loved to play hero, especially to Ginny; he had wanted to impress her ever since he had seen her in Flourish and Blotts that summer before his second year, but Potter had already put her under a spell. The night before the Yule Ball in his forth year, he couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about how he'd have to take Pansy to the ball, something he didn't want to do, but felt he needed to do. Then in his fifth year, Pansy had kissed him, and he was so sickened by that, he couldn't sleep for weeks, he kept thinking about how horrid she was. And then there was the time he had kissed Blaise. Anybody would have trouble sleeping after that. There was something about Blaise that scared Draco, and he didn't like it at all. He didn't like being alone with her because he was always afraid; afraid of her touch, her words, everything about her made him afraid.

 But it wasn't thoughts of Blaise that were keeping him awake now, in fact, he didn't know what was keeping him awake, all he knew was that he needed to get out of his dormitory, out of the dungeons. He needed to be somewhere else. But where was that somewhere else?

***

Harry loved being with Cho. She was so pretty, and so nice. But sometimes it seemed as though she was too fake. She was too nice, too pretty, not evil enough. Sometimes he didn't want to be with her, but he would never admit it. He felt as though he loved Cho, and he had wanted her for ages, and now that he finally had her, he wasn't going to give her up because of some stupid fantasy.

"Harry, what are you thinking about?" Cho asked, bringing Harry back to sanity.

"You," he lied. "You're the only one I think about."

Cho smiled. She had a very pretty smile, there was no denying that, but was she really what Harry wanted?

"It's getting cold," said Cho. "We should really go inside."

It's cold, so we should go inside, thought Harry. She can't stand the cold; she doesn't want to be out here. She'd never survive alone, so dependant... STOP IT! You're in love with this girl, yet you're getting annoyed by her. And now you're talking to yourself. Stupid Harry.

"Harry, are you coming?"

"Oh, er, yeah." Harry stood up and put his arm around Cho. His behind was cold from sitting on the steps leading to Hogwarts castle for so long.