Chapter 3

He was waiting for her this time. But Ginny knew he would be. The hex came at her as she opened the door, but her Protego was ready. She strode into the room, wand raised, ready to disarm him again should it be necessary.

He was seated at the large wooden desk, the green leather-bound book open before him. Once again, his eyes were red but his face was dry. It wasn't that Ginny was trying to catch him crying, but she was curious.

"You come here often, Malfoy?"

Ginny noticed him preparing to fire another curse at her and cast another Protego to counter him. A rude curse word left his mouth moments after the spell left his wand.

"I'm not leaving, Malfoy."

"You must be daft, Weasley. Why are you trying to provoke me?"

"I'm not."

"Get out."

"You can keep saying that, but it doesn't mean I'm going to leave." The idea of going back to the common room, back to Dean staring at her or Collin whining or Hermione nagging her was too much. She preferred fending off Malfoy's hexes.

"Why do you keep coming here?" He grumbled, slamming the cover of the book shut.

Ginny bit her lip, unable to answer that well. It was, in theory, a good place to get away for a bit. But in practice, it had been difficult to find that peace with Draco Malfoy always in the room.

"To get away."

"From?"

She didn't answer.

"From your stupid brother? From that filthy mudblood, Granger? From your dim-witted half-blood boyfriend? From-"

"Tarantallegra!"

Ginny was mad, but not mad enough to harm him. He spewed the same curse word as his legs took off underneath him, dancing this way and that. He tried once to fire another hex at Ginny but with the sudden leap and spin his dancing legs took, the curse struck five feet from Ginny. She had to laugh.

"Hope that will teach you to insult my family, Malfoy." She smirked, seeing Malfoy's eyes narrow. To taunt him further, she moved toward the front of the classroom to the book he had left sitting on the large desk.

"Don't touch that, Weasley!"

"Don't insult my family, Malfoy."

She reached out, touching the leather cover. If he was going to provoke her, she would repay the favor. The cover was heavy and she was only able to lift it a few inches with her index finger. Before she could grab it with her whole hand, she heard the erratic clapping of Malfoy's feet stop and a steady clip-clap of his shoes as he rushed toward her.

Malfoy slammed his hand in the middle of the cover, closing it with a thud and taking Ginny off guard.

"Isn't it enough that you're always meddling in your brother's life? Do you have to meddle in mine as well? Go back to snogging your half-breed boyfriend and leave me alone."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ginny said irritably. "Not anymore."

"Aw, did little Dean-y dump you? Is that why you were here crying all alone? Because no one loves you? Grow up, Weasley. There are worse things in this world."

"Like you?" Ginny's mind was filled with the memory of when Dean had touched her and when he wouldn't stop and when she had run away from him to come here.

He grinned. "Exactly."

"Well, I'm not sure if you are worse than him or not." She brought her hands away from the book and stood with them at her sides. "You were right about him being dim-witted. Though I'm not sure how half-blood is an insult."

Malfoy lowered his head, keeping his gaze fixed on her in a way that was either seductive or menacing. Ginny couldn't tell which.

"Insulting him is not going to make me like you any more, Ginevra."

"I'm not asking you to, Draco."

He smirked. "I didn't realize we were on a first name basis. Now I feel oh so bad about telling you to get out."

"Don't make me hex you again, Malfoy."

"Is that why you keep coming here? To practice dueling with me? I bet I'm a fair partner compared to what you've faced before."

"I've faced your father before if that's what you mean?"

Ginny's remark struck where she'd hope it would. "How dare you speak about my father? You know nothing, nothing about what you speak of."

"I know I saw him shooting killing curses at me last year. Isn't that enough?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to her. "My father is a great man."

"Who's ended up in Azkaban for attacking under aged wizards. Is that what great men do nowadays?"

She felt the sharp tip of his wand in her stomach before she could see it. "You don't know what you are talking about." His loud whisper echoed through the stone room.

Ginny gulped, outmatched for the first time.

"Get out."

She took a step back, not turning her back on him. She wouldn't put it past him to send a curse on an unarmed wizard who was walking away from a fight. She wouldn't put it past any Death Eater to do that. The door closed behind her with a final thump.

**AN- Hi all. Sorry for the long delay. I was on vacation and now I'm coming up on the end of the semester so things have picked up. Anyway, I hope to keep this moving forward though it may be an irregular pace. I'm always one chapter ahead if what I post so do know I have a plan for this one.

bigreader- Great to see you around these parts again! As always, thanks for the encouragement.

MyLadyElsie- Thanks so much for your reviews! It's always such a blessing to get reviews as encouraging as yours. I hope you're not disappointed in this chapter!

Guest and steel gray- Thanks for your reviews and encouragement!

Please leave a review and I'll include you in my thanks. Until next time, write on.