The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower, the Sequel

"Where is that Ginny?" said Ron, looking around frantically as he stepped off the train with Hermione.

Verity, who was just behind him, rolled her eyes. "Just like my brother," she told Harry.

Harry smiled.

"I don't feel like going to the feast today," Blaise yawned. "I'm damn tired."

"Quit complaining," said Verity. "You're bringing us all down."

"But I'm tired!" said Blaise. "I'm not going to be able to flick peas at Pansy, and that's tradition!"

"Why won't you be able to flick peas at Pansy?" said a voice behind Blaise.

"Because, Draco," said Blaise, "I'm too tired."

"Why are you tired?" Ginny asked, stepping off of the train behind Draco.

"She's just being stupid," said Verity.

"Ginny! There you are!" said Ron. "I've been worried sick!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Ron, there's a difference between looking out for me and trying to control my every action," she said. "And you're trying to control my every action."

"I'm not," said Ron. "I'm simply looking out for you."

"No," said Ginny. "If you were simply looking out for me, you wouldn't care if I was gone a few hours; you'd just protect me from the bad stuff."

"Like Malfoy," said Ron.

"Watch it, Weasley," said Draco. "Or I might have to do some 'bad stuff' to you if you can't play nice."

"Oy! Don't you call me stupid," said Blaise (her reaction time very much delayed), trying to slap Verity's arm, but missing widely. "I'm not stupid at all. Harry, tell her I'm not stupid."

"She's not stupid," said Harry, putting his arm over Blaise's shoulder. "She's just special."

"Was that an insult?" asked Blaise. "Because if that was an insult, you will pay, Potter. Trust me, I'll get you for that."

"No, Blaise, it wasn't an insult," said Harry. "But hurry up, we've got to get to the castle in order to be at the feast."

"Ginny, you come with Hermione and me," said Ron, walking up to the fleet of horseless carriages which would take them to the castle.

Ginny followed Ron and Hermione, pulling Draco along behind her.

"Don't drag me," said Draco.

"Sorry," said Ginny, but she didn't let go of his arm.

"That leaves me with you two, then," Verity said to Harry and Blaise. "Seamus went off with Dean Thomas."

Ginny climbed into one of the horseless carriages after Ron, Draco behind her.

Inside the carriage, Ron and Draco sat glaring at each other, Hermione (who had finally put her book away) smiled uncomfortably.

"So, Malfoy," she said. "Did you have a nice summer in France?"

"It was horrible," Draco replied.

Hermione let out a little awkward laugh. "Glad to be back?" she asked.

"No," said Draco. "There's too many Muggles in England."

"Oh," said Hermione, raising her eyebrows. "Were there not many Muggles in France?"

"No," said Draco. "Not where I went."

"Oh, what part did you visit?" Hermione inquired.

"The Malfoy part," said Draco.

"Oh, where's that?" Hermione questioned.

"In France," said Draco, crossing his arms over his chest, a cold look on his face.

Hermione nodded, deciding this wasn't the best time to attempt making polite conversation.

They rode the remainder of the journey to Hogwarts castle in silence, Ron constantly glaring at his sister and her boyfriend, Hermione shifting uncomfortably every now and then.

Once they had finally reached the castle, the four of them departed from the carriage, along with most of the other Hogwarts students. It was a clear night, although the air was cold, and no one was in a great hurry to get inside the castle, therefore, many pupils were standing around, conversing with friends.

Ron and Hermione spotted Harry, Blaise, and Verity, who were with Neville Longbottom, and left Draco and Ginny standing together amidst the crowd.

"Well, that was easy," said Draco. "Didn't think he'd leave quite so easily."

"He knows there's people around," said Ginny. "I don't think he cares as long as we aren't completely alone."

Draco smirked. "We wouldn't need to be completely alone," he said. "What's wrong with a little public display of affection?" He put his arm around her shoulder, kissing her slowly.

Ginny smiled.

"Enough of that!" said a shrieking voice behind them. "That is such a disgrace, Draco!"

Draco turned his head to see Pansy Parkinson. "You're still around?" he said, sounding disgusted.

"Of course I am," she said. "And you never returned any of my owls this summer!"

"I'd have thought you'd get the message after the first ten," Draco drawled. "But I over-estimated the power of your little brain."

"Draco, you're being such a disgrace to Slytherin!" said Pansy. "Going off with a Muggle lover like Weasley, you ought to be ashamed."

Ginny's cheeks turned pink, and she glared at Pansy angrily.

Draco rolled his eyes, beginning forward again, Pansy tagging behind him, trying to get his attention.

Draco and Ginny (with Pansy tagging along behind), walked up the stone front steps to the oak front doors of Hogwarts castle, where Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil eyed them suspiciously, obviously keeping their eyes peeled for a new gossip piece.

"Take a picture," said Draco, pushing the door open. "It'll last longer."

Lavender blushed.

The Hogwarts Entrance Hall was packed with students, waiting to go inside the Great Hall for the start of term feast.

***

"And finally," said Albus Dumbledore, after the Sorting Hat had finished sorting the first years into their houses, "dig in!" He waved his arms, and the four tables, along with the staff table, filled with plates of food and jugs of pumpkin juice.

The students (who were quite hungry) all cheered, and did of course, dig in.

At the Gryffindor table, Ron stuffed his mouth with chicken, while Hermione poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"I wonder where Sirius is," said Harry, looking up at the staff table, where there was one empty seat. "Dumbledore didn't say anything about him not being here."

"Who knows," said Ron. "Pass the potatoes, Ginny."

Ginny pass her brother the bowl filled with mashed potatoes, and poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"What are you looking at, Lavender?" Seamus asked, noticing Lavender's gaze on him.

"Nothing," Lavender mumbled. "Nothing at all." She and Parvati glared at Verity for a moment, before turning to each other and breaking into a little fit of inaudible whispers.

Verity rolled her eyes as Kiera McCourt, the sixth year, also glared at her.

"You know, Ginny," said Kiera, turning to Ginny, who was beside her. "Everyone's been talking about you."

"Really now," said Ginny, with great disinterest. "Isn't that nice."

"Yeah," said Kiera. "In fact, Danni was saying you're stupid for dumping Seamus for Malfoy. I agree with her. And now it's worse, because Seamus has a new girlfriend."

Ginny cleared her throat. "You had an entire summer to come up with gossip, and that's all you came up with?" she said in disbelief. "Even I could do better than that."

"Could you now?" asked Kiera, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes I could," said Ginny.

"Then I've got a little secret to let you in on," said Kiera. "If you prove to be trustworthy, that is."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I'll tell you later," said Kiera. "After passing the idea by Rachel, Danni, and the twins."

"Whatever," Ginny mumbled, turning her attention back to her food, which was far more interesting than Kiera.

The Gryffindors chatted and ate their food happily, glad to be back after the summer. But Harry was of course, the most glad of all, and for some reason, he felt this would be an almost perfect year, except for the Voldemort factor.

***

"Watch this one," said Blaise, lifting a pea off of her plate.

Draco looked at her. "You shouldn't do that," he said. "You're hand eye coordination is really bad right now; you'll probably end up hitting McGonagall in the arse."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," said Blaise, sounded a little drunk. "I know what I'm doing. Just wait till Pugface turns her head, and you'll see how great my shot is."

Draco shook his head.

Blaise flicked the pea down the table, hitting Pansy straight in the back of the head.

"See?" said Blaise, as Pansy turned around angrily. "Perfect aim. Never under-estimate the power of Blaise Zabini."

"Very good," said Draco. "And she still hasn't figured out that it's you."

Blaise smirked and picked up another pea. "I'll get Snape in the nose," she said. "And then we'll blame it on Millicent, then you tell Millicent it was Pansy, and we'll watch them tear each other to pieces."

"You're making it obvious now," said Draco. "If you say it was Millicent, and I tell Millicent it was Pansy, they'll know it's a set up."

"They haven't got brains like those," said Blaise. "They'll never know. And just to secure that, why don't you make Crabbe blab on Millicent?"

Draco raised his eyebrow.

"When Snape comes down here glaring, you tell Crabbe Millicent flicked the pea, and then you tell Millicent it was Pansy," said Blaise. "It'll be so much fun."

"Stop using me to do your dirty work," said Draco.

"Fine," said Blaise. "I'll get Malcolm to do it."

"Fine with me," said Draco.

Blaise turned to Malcolm Baddock, who was sitting on her left and smirked. She turned back to Draco. "Prepare to be amazed," she said.

Draco rolled his eyes.

Blaise flicked the pea in her hand, but it didn't quite reach its target, instead falling onto Cho Chang's plate at the Ravenclaw table.

"Very nice," said Draco. "Now if only you had poisoned that, you could've gotten Chang down and all."

Blaise picked up another pea and tried again, hitting Goyle, who was sitting across from Crabbe on Draco's right, in the forehead.

"How did you manage that one?" said Draco.

Blaise glared at him for a moment before taking another pea and trying again. And this time, the pea flew towards the staff table, and just as it was about to drop to the floor, Blaise pulled her wand out of her pocket and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa," and the pea floated upwards towards Snape's bowed head. Blaise flicked her wand in such a way that the pea flicked Snape in the nose.

Blaise quickly dropped her wand in her lap and went back to eating. "Millicent just hit Snape with a pea," she muttered to Malcolm.

Professor Snape got to his feet, practically flying to the Slytherin table.

"It was Millicent," said Malcolm, cowering as Snape towered over him.

Snape turned his glare to Millicent.

"Wasn't me," said Millicent, her mouth stuffed with food. "I'll bet it was Baddock."

"It was Pansy," Draco muttered to Goyle.

"It was Pansy?" Goyle repeated, out of plain stupidity.

Snape turned his glare on Goyle. "Tell me who it was," he demanded. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"I'm not certain, Professor Snape," Draco lied. And he lied so well.

Blaise smirked.

"A detention to Miss Parkinson, Miss Bulstrode, Mr. Baddock, and Mr. Goyle," said Snape, silkily.

Blaise and Draco looked at each other horrified. As far back as they could remember, Snape had never given detention to any of his own students.

"Mr. Malfoy, is there a problem?" said Snape, noting Draco's horrified expression.

"Just tasted something bad," said Draco, expertly lying, once again. "Nothing to worry about, probably a slip on the house elves' part. I think they need a good teaching, and why not from you, Professor Snape?"

Snape's lips curled into a flattered smile. "Yes, I'll discuss that matter with the headmaster," he said.

***

Just as Ginny was climbing into her bed, there was a knock at her door, which was not uncommon. She got up and opened the door, expectant to see Hermione or Ron with some stupid arrangement for the next morning, but instead, she saw the other sixth year girls crowded around outside her room.

"Can we come in?" Kiera asked, not waiting for a reply.

The five of them pushed past Ginny into her room.

"Here's the deal," said Rachel. "You think you can find a good gossip item, and we want to prove you right. Now, nobody knows about this, but the five of us are a bit of a union, we write a sort of newspaper of everything that's going on around school. We got the idea from Lavender Brown."

"You've nothing more productive to do with your time?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"What's more productive than creating a gossip well?" Danni asked.

"Well, anyway," Rachel continued. "Every now and then, when we've got something really good, we send it off to Witch Weekly."

"And why would I care?" Ginny asked. "Have you had something about me published?"

"We're still expectant," said Vienna. "We sent in an article about you and Malfoy just a few weeks ago."

"You're crazy!" Ginny yelled.

"What's that around your neck?" Bella asked, eyeing the necklace around Ginny's neck with great suspicion.

"It's a necklace," said Ginny.

"May I see it?" Bella asked, holding out her hand.

"Why?" asked Ginny.

"Because I want to see it," said Bella. "Did Malfoy give it to you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Ginny. "It's from Draco." She emphasized his name greatly.

Kiera gasped. "Are you nuts?!" she cried. "Why would you put it on?!"

Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"It's from Malfoy!" Rachel cried. "It's probably swimming in the dark arts!"

"So?" said Ginny. "Now if you don't mind, get out." She pushed them out of the door.

"We'll be expecting your article by Wednesday," Danni called. "And Colin can take some pictures for you, if you want."

Ginny rolled her eyes, slamming the door shut. As if she'd want to join this little 'union,' as they called it. She'd have been happier joining Hermione's crazy SPEW in third year.

But then again, it'd be nice to show the other girls up... Maybe she'd just do a little sneaking around and find some gossip somewhere around the school...

***

The next morning, Draco sat in History of Magic, bored out of his mind. Beside him, Malcolm Baddock was snoring loudly, and behind him, Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling and talking in hushed voices.

Draco looked around the room at Pansy and Millicent, who were sending each other nasty glares. He smirked to himself.

Professor Binns was droning on about some pointless event in history, not noticing that half his class was fast asleep. But Blaise, being the odd one out, was actually taking notes. Draco rolled his eyes when he saw her, strangely reminded of Hermione Granger.

And when he thought of Hermione Granger, he thought of Ron Weasley, which led to thoughts of Ginny. He wondered where Ginny was at this moment and what she was doing. Whatever it was, it was obviously more interesting than this.

Draco shot his hand in the air.

"Yes, Mr. Malloy?" Professor Binns asked.

"Toilet," said Draco. "I need to go to the toilet."

"Be quick, Mallory," Professor Binns said.

Draco got up and left the room, started down the corridor. Thankfully, there were rarely any teachers around at Hogwarts during lessons, so the only, well, live thing, he ran into was Peeves the poltergeist, who was prancing around in the air wearing a pair of boxers on his head singing.

"I've got a pair of pants on my head!" Peeves sang. "I stole them right off of Snape's bed! Little old Severus never washes his underwear! And he's only got one pair! It's on my head right now, meaning he's not wearing anything under there!"

Draco rolled his eyes and strolled away casually, hoping Peeves wouldn't spot him, but unfortunately, just as Peeves was in the middle of a pirouette in the air, he saw Draco walking hurriedly.

"Stop right there little Malfoy, or I'll take your pants!" said Peeves.

Draco stopped walking and turned to face Peeves. "I'd like to see you try," he said.

"I don't think your girlfriend would like that," said Peeves. "Maybe you should get her to do it."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Oy! No rolling your eyes at Peeves!" Peeves hollered. "And I've got your girlfriend's underwear, she forgot it in my room!"

"Oh, shut it you twit," said Draco, starting off on his way.

"Oh, but it's true," said Peeves. "And I'm not the only one she's been with other than you. Oh no, I've seen her with all sorts, that Parkinson girl. Just about everyone."

"She's not my girlfriend," said Draco.

"Oh isn't she?" said Peeves. "Well then I made an ickle mistakey."

"Oh yeah?" said Draco.

"I saw you with the little Weasley girl," said Peeves. "And I went and told the Gossip Union."

"Gossip Union?" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"For me to know, and you to find out!" Peeves cackled, before pulling the underpants off his head and throwing them at Draco.

Draco ducked out of the way, avoiding the pair of flying underpants.

"I'm on my way," said Peeves, flying off in the other direction.

Draco sighed and started off, once again, down the corridor, but he stopped shortly when he saw Ginny wandering down a stair case.

"Ginny!" he called.

Ginny turned around and smiled. "Hi Draco," she said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" asked Draco, jogging up the stairs to meet her.

"Aren't you?" asked Ginny.

"What do you say we go and find ourselves a broom cupboard?" said Draco.

"What about a cloak closet?" asked Ginny. "There's one in a classroom just down the corridor."

"I'm there," said Draco, taking Ginny's hand and whisking her away down the stairs and down the corridor to a classroom which appeared empty.

"Is this it?" Draco asked, entering the classroom.

"Yeah," said Ginny, crossing the room to a closet, still holding Draco's hand. She pulled the closet door open, revealing an empty space. She stepped inside.

Draco followed, smirking. He closed the door behind himself, blocking out all light.

"I can't see you," Ginny giggled.

"Try and find me," said Draco, making Ginny laugh.

"We really need a little light," said Ginny. "I need to find you."

"I'm right here," said Draco, slipping his hands around her waist.

Ginny smiled, although Draco didn't see her, and put her arms around Draco's neck leaning up to kiss him.

At the same time, Draco leaned down and sealed his lips over Ginny's.

Draco moved his hands farther down Ginny's waist, not breaking the kiss.

Ginny pulled Draco closer, grasping the collar of his robes. She ran her tongue over his, feeling a desire she knew so well, and when Draco broke the kiss, she was still wanting more, so she pulled him down again.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Draco whispered. "Not in here."

"Who cares?" said Ginny.

"We should go somewhere more private," said Draco.

"No one's going to look in here," said Ginny. "Believe me."

"I don't care if someone finds us," said Draco. "It's just that it smells like mothballs."

"Ignore the smell then," said Ginny.

"I can't," Draco muttered.

"Stop whining," Ginny hissed.

"I'm not whining," said Draco. "It just smells."

Ginny looked up at him, her eyes growing accustomed to the darkness. His face was shadowed, making him look older, if only by a few years. But it scared her all the same; he almost looked like Lucius. Even though he always looked a little like his father, he'd never resembled him this much.

"What are you looking at?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "But I've got to go."