Author's Note: Okay…first, I'd like to make a HUGE apology for seemingly abandoning this story. A lot of things happened (starting college for one), and I didn't have a lot of time to work on fanfictions. BUT, I'm back, and I plan on finishing this story as well as working on others I've seemingly also abandoned. After this chapter, there's only one more chapter before this story is complete, YAY :D I hope everyone's excited for the conclusion. Again, sorry, but here are the promised updates!

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own these people.

Just a Theory

Chapter 11

As Ginny and Draco neared the Slytherin table, Blaise waved to them and gestured toward two seats across the table from him. Ginny and Draco obediently sat in the offered seats, sitting as far from each other as possible without sitting on the laps of the people on their other sides.

Blaise saw this and raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "So…" he said, trying his best to open conversation. He waited for a few moments but neither Draco nor Ginny said a word. Ginny stared down at the table, her cheeks slightly flushed, and Draco rested his chin in his hand, his elbow on the table, and the fingers of his other hand incessantly drummed against the tabletop.

Blaise then cleared his throat loudly. This also elicited no reaction from Draco and Ginny. Suppressing a mischievous grin, Blaise reached across the table and took one of Ginny's hands in both of his. Placing the sincerest, most caring look he could manage upon his face, he said, "You look flushed. Is everything okay? You're not ill, are you?"

Ginny's head shot up quickly, observing her hand in his with discomfort. Her cheeks grew a deeper color red. "N-no. I'm fine," she replied hurriedly.

"Are you sure?" Blaise asked, his brow furrowing deeper with "concern" and his thumb gently stroking the smooth skin of the top of her hand.

"Y-y-yes…I'm sure. Thank-"

"Good gods, why don't you two just get a room or something?" Draco muttered snidely.

Ginny jumped slightly, pulling her hand away from Blaise's. Then she glared furiously at Draco, her cheeks pure crimson. "What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded angrily.

Draco rolled his eyes slightly. "You two are all over each other; it's disgusting. No one-"

Blaise smirked slyly, smoothly interrupting Draco: "You know…If I didn't know any better...I'd say you were jealous."

Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously, glinting eerily in the light from the candles above the table; and Blaise could have sworn that he saw a slight pinkness to his pale cheeks, but in the dancing, flashing candlelight, he couldn't be sure. "Well…it's a good thing you know better then, isn't it?" he asked, slowly and coldly. "Why would I be jealous of something as…pathetic as Weasley."

Ginny slammed her hands, palms down against the table, pushing herself to her feet. "What the hell is your problem? Have I done something to offend you, your Highness? Because as far as I know, I've done nothing, so why are you being like this? Are you naturally a bastard? Is it a gene you inherited from your parents? Were you born this way? Come on; I want to know! I've had to listen to your insults for far too long; I deserve to know why!"

Draco now leapt to his feet as well, gesticulating wildly. "What about you, Weasley? What is it with you? You're high and then you're low; you hate me and then you're friendly; you're angry and then you're laughing; you're here, you're there. You're all over the bloody map!"

"I am not-" Ginny began to protest but Draco's tirade wasn't over yet.

"You kiss me and then you're all over Zabini. Gods, if I never see you again, I'd be-" Draco stopped abruptly as he realized that everyone in the Great Hall was listening to their argument. At his last comment, gasps followed by excited murmurs and whispers flew around the hall until the noise in the hall grew to a low, humming din.

"Why do you care at all about what I do?" Ginny asked quietly so that no one but Draco could hear it over the noise. "Does it really matter to you? In the end, I'm still lower than dirt, right? Undeserving of even being stepped on by you? And you know, maybe if you weren't so…so cruel all the time, I wouldn't be 'all over the bloody map,' and maybe other people would actually like you too. When you're cruel and angry, and you insult my family, I'll be angry. When you're nice, I'll be friendly. Perhaps if you didn't constantly fluctuate, I wouldn't be all over the 'bloody map.'

"All I know is that forty or fifty years from now, you'll be in your big mansion with your expensive furniture, expensive clothes, expensive food, and everything else you could possibly want to buy, and you'll be sitting there wondering why you're so alone.

"But if I'm really so bothersome to you, I'll give you what you want. After our punishment is over today, you'll never see me again and I won't be a nuisance to you anymore. It was silly of me, really; I began to think that maybe we could be friends after this, or at least be civil to each other. But now I see how silly I was to think so. Today is our end, Malfoy, and good riddance." Moving past him, Ginny added, "I'm going to go use the restroom; I'm allowed to leave you for that, I believe."

With that said, Ginny strode out of the Great Hall, the murmurs and whispers growing louder in her wake. Draco sat back down on the bench, and, propping his arms up on his elbows, he rested his head in his hands, tugging on his hair in frustration.

Blaise watched him for a few moments and then, after first glancing around him to make sure that no one nearby was listening, leaned forward confidingly. "She kissed you?" he whispered.

Draco lifted his head just enough to glare at him.

"Ahh…don't want to talk about it then…" Blaise said, nodding slowly. "I understand perfectly. Loud and clear. Roger that. Right-o." They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Blaise spoke up again. "So how was it?"

"How do you think?" Draco snapped.

Blaise nodded omnisciently. "It was hot, huh?"

"No! It wasn't hot; it was nothing. It was a little peck! Her lips barely even touched mine. So why is it driving me-" Draco stopped mid-sentence to glance up at Blaise, his eyes squinting with suspicion. "Zabini? Why is it that you always conveniently show up at the right times and cause disaster?"

Blaise blinked nervously at him, trying to feign an innocent smile. "W-what do you mean?"

"I mean you waltz into a room in which Ginny and I happen to be, you drop a few choice words, and suddenly everything is uncomfortable?"

Laughing uneasily, Blaise pounded on the table with a fist. "W-what are you talking about? I do no such thing!"

Draco continued to survey Blaise with suspicion. "You're hiding something."

"Me? Hiding? HAH," Blaise declared, followed by more tense laughter. "Well, I should get going; see you!" he said, and then all but dashed out of the Great Hall.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Ron, red-faced with anger, stood and moved to follow his sister out of the Great Hall. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and held him back. Ron turned to shout at Harry to let him go, but his mouth closed abruptly as he saw the puzzled, strange look on Harry's face.

"Perhaps we should leave her alone for now," Hermione said quietly to Ron.

Ron glanced at both Hermione and Harry with confusion; did they see or understand something he didn't? Were they comprehending the situation properly?!

"Well I can at least give that bastard a piece of my mind!" Ron declared, shrugging out of Harry's grip. Before Hermione or Harry could stop him or even say anything, he stormed over to the Slytherin table and smacked Draco across the back of his head.

"What the hell did you do to my sister!" Ron shouted, his fists clenched angrily.

Draco turned his head just enough to glare at Ron furiously. "Don't you mean what did she do to me?" he asked calmly, though his eyes were flashing dangerously. Some students sitting near Draco nervously moved farther away from him.

"Hah! What could she possibly do to you except hate you, just as any sensible person does?"

Draco smirked. "If she hates me," he asked slowly, "why did she kiss me?"

Ron's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a few moments and Draco thought with amusement that he looked like some sort of strange fish. "Y-you must have forced her!" he finally sputtered.

"If you don't believe me, ask her for yourself," Draco said, nodding in the direction behind Ron.

Whirling around, Ron saw that Ginny was behind him. "O-oh…G-Gin? You okay?" he asked, feigning concern.

"Ron, don't pretend with me. Be honest; whether I'm okay or not isn't what you want to know. What you really want to ask is if it's true or not, right? Well it is true; Draco's not lying to you. I did kiss him, but I realize now that that was a mistake, so I assure you that it won't happen again," Ginny explained abruptly.

Draco quickly glanced up at her, feeling something he couldn't name. He felt a small twinge. Of what? Regret? Pain? Did she really feel that it was a mistake? Did he think it was a mistake?

"So you don't need to worry, Ron," Ginny finished dismissively as she sat back down beside Draco. Ron stood behind her for a few minutes, cogitating about his next move. Finally, he shuffled back to the Gryffindor table.

Up at the staff table, McGonagal was all but tearing at her hair in frustration. What was going wrong? Why, why, why was nothing working? She couldn't even begin to describe her frustration. Why was everything going so horribly wrong? Maybe they just hated each other too much? Or Mister Malfoy was too detestable? Or Miss Weasley was too argumentative? She had everything: they were together for an extended amount of time, they had plenty of time alone, they were pressured by their peers, they came to certain understandings and agreements, and many other things. So why? Why was nothing working?

"WHY, BY THE GODS, WHY?!" McGonagal cried aloud, forgetting that she was in the crowded hall. The Great Hall fell silent and she cleared her throat, straightening her robes and attempting to appear nonchalant. Then she stood and stormed out of the hall in a foul mood. Several students moaned and groaned after she had exited the hall, complaining that she would probably be cranky in class that day and would assign a lot of homework.

In her room, McGonagall sighed sullenly as she sat down at her writing desk with a quill and parchment, prepared to write her paper, which would say that she was unable to prove the theory created by professional psychologists to be true. She almost thought she would cry as she began the paper.

'After all these years…my chance…lost…'

She sighed again, her quill hovering above her piece of parchment. It hovered so long that a great blob of ink collected and splattered onto her previously pristine parchment. She viciously snatched up the paper, crushed it into a ball, and threw it into a corner of the room.

'Honestly, impossible children these days!'

As Professor Snape icily droned on an on about some concoction or other, Draco sighed inwardly, feeling incredibly bored. He brushed the feathery end of his quill against the smooth black tabletop, back and forth, back and forth. After a moment, he chanced a sidelong glance at Ginny, who stared toward the front of the room, seemingly listening intently to Snape's lecture. He suddenly wished skulls were transparent so that he could see the thoughts moving around within her head, but alas, no matter how hard he tried to see, her skull remained obstinately solid and opaque.

Was she thinking about him, he wondered, because he couldn't seem to get her out of his head, which was something foreign and alien to him. Why did he suddenly feel so unfocused, so possessed? Did he feel bad about what had happened? Was that it? Regret? But why? He had never regretted anything before and it seemed ludicrous to suddenly start now. So why?

"MISTER MALFOY," Snape's voice came over him suddenly, loud and sharp.

Draco jumped slightly. "What?"

Snape stared down at his best student. "I asked you, Mister Malfoy, if you remembered how much isonoid loam goes into a Remembrance Potion."

Before he could stop himself, Draco replied indolently, "Hell if I know."

A few Slytherins nearby snickered and Snape glared them into silence.

"Mister Malfoy, are you in your right mind today?" Snape asked, giving Draco one last chance to redeem himself.

"I doubt it," Draco admitted.

Snape studied him stonily for long moments. Then he swept back to the front of the room. "Does anyone else know how much isonoid loam is required for a Remembrance Potion? Yes, Miss Granger?"

A few tables over from where Draco and Ginny sat, Ron leaned toward Harry. "Oi, what's up with Malfoy?" he whispered. "He seems weird today."

Harry glanced over at Hermione; they seemed to have a secret conversation with their eyes and Ron glanced from Hermione to Harry in bewilderment. "What?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Well…" Hermione began, but soon trailed off and looked to Harry for assistance.

"It's just…well, we have reason to believe that…that Draco likes Ginny," Harry explained quietly with some difficulty, keeping his eyes to the front of the room so it would appear to Snape that he was listening.

"WHAT?!" Ron shouted, outraged.

Harry and Hermione winced.

"MISTER WEASLEY. Is there a dire problem for which you felt you had to interrupt my class?"

Ron gulped nervously, flushing a lovely shade of red. "No, it's nothing, sir."

"Good, then you can stop interrupting my class," Snape said icily.

As soon as Snape's back was turned again, Ron leaned in toward Harry and Hermione, whispering furiously. "How do you mean? That can't be true."

Harry and Hermione shared that secret conversation glance again, and it irked Ron a little.

"We don't know for certain, obviously," Hermione explained.

"But it seems that way. How else can you explain his weird behavior? He seemed pretty upset and troubled at breakfast this morning, and now it seems like he can barely concentrate," Harry pointed out.

Hermione and Harry shared that glance again, as if asking each other whether they should say it or not.

"And…we think Ginny might like Draco too," Harry said finally, preparing himself for Ron's outburst.

Ron's mouth fell open. Then he laughed to himself. "You're very funny, you two. As if Ginny could ever like someone like Malfoy. You guys are too much."

"I know it's unbelievable to you; it's pretty unbelievable to us too, but we really think it's true. I mean, how else can you explain their argument this morning? Ginny kissed him, Ron. And when Draco shouted at her, she seemed too upset to have only feelings of friendship or toleration for him, let alone hatred," Harry said.

Ron stared at them for a few moments and then he shook his head. "You're wrong; I know it. I'll ask her myself later. You'll see. You're all nutty."

"And if she says that she does?" Hermione asked.

"I'll tell her to stop," Ron replied abruptly.

Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes. "No, Ron. As hard as it is for us, we'll have to accept it; you must know that. If we don't, she'll only get upset. Who she likes is her choice and no one else's. If she does like him, she must see something in him that we don't, and we have to trust her judgment."

"B-b-but…" Ron spluttered helplessly. "It's Malfoy."

The rest of Draco's classes passed more or less uneventfully, besides the usual mishaps by inept students. Lunch finally came around and still Ginny had not said a word to him. They sat at the Slytherin table across from Blaise again, and he eyed them quizzically. Draco gave him a hard look that clearly told him not to ask, and for once, Blaise listened to his warning. He turned slightly and began to discuss Quidditch with the boy next to him.

Someone cleared their throat and Draco and Ginny turned to find Ron standing rather awkwardly behind them.

"Gin…can I talk to you please?"

Ginny glanced at Draco for a split second and then nodded to Ron and stood, following him out of the Great Hall. Once in the Entrance Hall, Ron turned to face Ginny, looking flustered.

"I know…I haven't ever been very good at this…but please let me try. And…answer honestly, please," he began. "Are you…do you…like Malfoy?"

Ginny's head jerked up sharply in surprise. She laughed a little. "That's silly, Ron. Of course not."

"Ginny, you don't…you don't have to lie to me. I know…we've never talked much. About anything. But…please, I'd like to start. Let me try," Ron said, studying her for long moments.

Finally, she sighed heavily. "Yes, Ron. I think I do," she admitted, but she hurriedly added, "But you don't understand. Sometimes…sometimes he's different. He's different than what I first thought. Sometimes. I know you don't believe me, but he's not as bad as you think he is. Really, I-"

"Gin…" Ron interrupted. "I…I understand. And…I trust your judgment." Ron made a face as if all of that had been physically painful to say.

Ginny ignored the face though and stared at him in shock. "Really? You mean that?" When Ron nodded, she sighed again. "It doesn't matter though. He hates me; he'll always hate me. And sometimes I hate him too."

Ron slung an arm about her shoulder. "Don't give up yet, Gin."

Ginny smiled up at her older brother. "Thanks, Ron. You can't know how much what you've said means to me."

They made their way back into the Great Hall, his arm still over her shoulders. "Anytime you have woes, even love woes, feel free to come to me, Gin; I'm an expert, after all."

Ginny snorted. "Oh really? Is that why you're single still?"

"Oh, young ignorant one, don't you know you can't hurry love?" Ron feigned a serious, scholarly air.

"Thanks again, Ron," Ginny said once more, before returning to the Slytherin table. Harry and Hermione both looked up as he approached the Gryffindor table. He sighed sullenly and laid his head on the table. "I think I'm going to be sick."

His two friends grinned at him. "We're proud of you, Ron," Hermione said, patting his back comfortingly.

McGonagal, who had just been about to re-enter the Great Hall after numerous failed attempts at a psychological journal, stood motionless in the hall. That conversation…that line…

She grinned slowly as she repeated it in her head, 'Don't you know you can't hurry love?'

Grinning triumphantly, a thousand thoughts running through her head, McGonagal turned on her heel and went back to her rooms.

When Ginny sat back down at the table, Blaise was arguing heatedly with a couple of Slytherins around him about Quidditch.

"I'm telling you, the Bohemia Barons have the cup this year," Blaise was saying.

"No way, the Rondez Rounders have it in the bag!" another Slytherin insisted.

Ginny snorted as she sat back down at the table. "I'll break the bad news to you guys now so you won't be crushed when cup time comes around: they're both going down."

The Slytherin arguing with Blaise looked at her derisively. "Who's going to win then, eh?"

"The Belgian Boxers," Ginny declared firmly.

Blaise and the other Slytherin laughed. "And how'll they manage that miracle?" the Slytherin asked.

"They were last in the league the last two seasons," Blaise reminded her.

"Last year, they only played their starters unless one of them got injured. For the past two years, they've been solely focused on training their former benchwarmers, the younger, up-and-coming players. Remember their star chaser, Simon Siefer? They only put him in the pitch because their starter, Gareth Nodden, suffered a head injury. He was one of those they had been training and all the papers said he was the best chaser in the league but that he was unfortunately on the worst team in the league. They said he would have been a star if he weren't on that team. I'll bet anything the team's putting all of their former benchwarmers in the field this year. They're in for a huge comeback, I guarantee it," Ginny explained matter-of-factly.

Another Slytherin nearby turned to them. "Hey, I heard something about that! I read an article about it. The Seeker's average time is like half an hour, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Seriously?" Blaise asked, incredulously.

"Yes, seriously! I'm telling you - they're going to be unstoppable!" Ginny insisted earnestly.

Blaise took her hand. "Please marry me; I'm in love, I swear!"

Draco scowled, and he was glad no one saw it.

She laughed. "It's just a passing infatuation, I'm sure."

"Then at least say you'll come to the World Cup with us this summer."

Ginny flushed. "I probably can't afford tickets."

"That's okay! My friend's dad gets them really cheap," Blaise insisted. "We can just get a bunch of friends together and make a party of it. And you can tell me which teams to put money on," Blaise said, winking.

"Okay, sounds fun!"

"You should come too, Draco," Blaise said, turning to him. "You like Quidditch too. We can all have a barbeque at my house afterwards."

"Why would I waste my time on that?" Draco drawled sourly.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You're such a stiff."

Suddenly, a student came running into the hall. "It's snowing; it's snowing!"

"Wow! The first snow of the year!"

"It's snowing early this year!"

"I hope it'll stick!"

"Aww, just when it's time for class to start!"

The last half of the day went as slowly and uneventfully as the first had. During the last class of the day, McGonagal seemed particularly happy and cheerful. Seeing that all of the students were anxious to go outside and weren't concentrating, she dismissed class half an hour early.

Students were racing through the halls to get outside. Draco hung back, walking slowly as he thought. 'Our last day. Tomorrow everything will go back to the way it was before…what should I do?'

As Ginny walked behind him, staring at the back of his head, she also thought. 'So Draco's mad at me; so what? What am I doing? This isn't me. This is our last day. What do I care what he thinks of me after today?'

Ginny strode forward next to Draco. "Hey…I…I know you don't…like me right now, but will you come outside with me? I can't go without you, as you know."

"You can go; I'll tell Dumbledore I made you leave and deal with whatever consequences. So, I guess this is the end. Needless to say, it's been torture, Weasley. See you around."

Ginny stood frozen, watching him walk away. In a sudden, uncharacteristic outburst, she called after him. "Wait!" He stopped but didn't turn to look at her. "I…" she began, "but I want you to come with me. I mean…I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. We are…you know…stuck in this together…after all. But if you don't want to, I understand. I mean, we could always just you know…not, and…" Ginny realized she was beginning to babble and trailed off.

Draco was silent for long moments. Finally, he said, "We should get warmer clothes first or we'll freeze," and strode off down the corridor again.

Ginny squealed in delight and hurried to catch up with him, chattering excitedly. After stopping by the Slytherin and Gryffindor dormitories and getting bundled up like Eskimos, Ginny and Draco headed down to the Entrance Hall, Ginny skipping the whole way.

"We could build a snowman and a snow fort and throw snow balls and make snow angels and-"

"Stop, Weasley, before you talk me another ear hole!" he interrupted.

"But-"

"It's just snow. You've seen it before!"

Ginny squinted as the huge front doors opened, sunlight reflecting off the surface of the snow to make the winter scene shine a brilliant, blinding white.

"Hey Gin!" Ginny heard a shout and just as her eyes grew adjusted to the blinding light, she saw a snowball flying toward her. Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. The momentum made her fall into his chest. The snowball hit the wall behind her just above her shoulder. Ginny stepped back, her cheeks flushed, and Draco's face was impassive, staring forward. She glanced at Ron, who had thrown the snowball, and he winked at her.

McGonagal sighed happily as she sat down at her desk, pulling a piece of parchment toward her. She dipped her quill into a pot of black ink and began to write feverishly. She had it; she knew she did. Her quill didn't so much as pause until the paper was finished. Holding it up in front of her, she grinned at her masterpiece of psychological literature.

Esteemed colleagues:

This theory at first proved to be a daunting one. How could two people who hate each other so much ever grow to love? There are several points to be made concerning this theory from the evidence I have gathered through extensive research and experimentation. When applying or researching this theory in the world, there will always be several confounding variables that will decrease the external validity of any experiment.

The first confounding variable is the specimens' backgrounds. My subjects' families have an amazingly lengthy history of hatred and rivalry. This long history can never be completely reversed by so simple an experiment.

Another variable to consider is the immediate environment. My subjects are currently in school where they are constantly under the scrutiny of the other students. They are in opposing houses at school, and they know their classmates and friends would not approve. Such pressures cannot be so easily overcome.

With variables such as these, it is difficult for my subjects to overcome them but they are steadily moving toward tolerance, at least. At first they hated each other fully and completely. Throughout the experiment, they grew to tolerate each other. They cannot be expected to love each other with such a background of hatred and rivalry and hostility to overcome. My point, colleagues, is that you can't hurry love. I have no doubt that if these environmental variables did not exist, my subjects would not be so reluctant to embrace their emotions.

In short, I'd like to add certain specifications to this theory. The line between the deepest hate and the deepest love is thinnest and easiest to cross with the least amount of external validity and the highest level of internal validity. With these validities, though, the experiment is not appropriately applicable to the actual world. Increase the external validity and that line will be more difficult to cross, though it is by all means still possible.

I am certain that if I were given more time, my subjects would cross that line. As is, my subjects seem to be experiencing great attraction and affection for each other, but they will not openly declare these feeling due to the confounding variables – that is, the pressure they feel from classmates, friends, and family.

I will not, however, request the deadline to be extended, and I will not continue to apply my efforts to this experiment any longer. I will not cross any ethical boundaries, even for the purpose of psychological advancements.

Thank you for your time, attention, and consideration.

Minerva McGonagal

"Hey Gin, we're going to head inside. We've been out here almost all afternoon now," Ron said, laughing as he brushed snow off of his jacket.

"Want to come?" Harry asked her.

"No thanks. I want to stay out here a little longer. I'll see you guys later!" Ginny replied.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed into the castle, Harry and Ron laughing and pushing each other.

Ginny packed snow together in her hands and grinned to herself, seeing Draco on a low-hanging tree branch near the lake. She tossed it and hit Draco square on the back with a satisfying "thish!"

He turned and glared. She grinned at him.

"Think that's funny, do you?" he demanded.

Ginny pretended to consider his question for a moment and then giggled. "Yes, don't you?" she asked, sitting beside him on the branch.

Draco also pretended to consider her question and then lunged at her, pushing her back off the tree branch. They landed in the fluffy white snow below them, sending up small flurries of fresh powder as they hit the ground.

"You think that's funny, do you?" Ginny laughed.

Draco smirked. "Yes, don't you?" He glanced down at her, glancing at her flushed cheeks and finally focusing on her full, pink lips.

"This is…our last day. After tomorrow morning..." Ginny said slowly.

Draco moved off her and sat up beside her in the snow. He nodded silently. They were quiet for long moments. "It hasn't…been as…miserable as I thought it would be," he finally said hesitantly.

Ginny glanced up at him in pleasant surprise, but he stared ahead resolutely. "Do you…mean that?"

He nodded and Ginny grinned happily. "I agree. It hasn't been so bad. Are we…friends?"

"I don't have friends."

"That's ridiculous. I'm your friend," Ginny insisted.

Draco looked over at her then, and she saw something there she hadn't ever seen before. Ginny watched as if frozen still as he leaned forward and placed a hand behind her head in her hair, pulling her forward slightly to meet his lips.

Maybe it's the wait, the anticipation; maybe it's the passion, the tenderness, the emotion behind it; maybe it's the knowledge that this is a moment you'll never forget or the knowledge that there will never be another moment quite like it; but they say that when you get that one perfect kiss of a lifetime, the world freezes. Everything freezes, and the world is silent and still. Everything is waiting and watching this single, perfect moment.

All of Ginny's attention was focused upon Draco's lips on hers, moving slow and sweet. He gripped her hair and pulled her closer, his free hand moving down her back. When she placed a tentative hand on his chest, she thought she felt him shiver and her heart gave a strange sort of flutter.

He pulled away then as students came out of the castle, chattering excitedly. They stared at each other for long moments in shock – in momentary, shocking bliss.

Author's Note: Ohhh, what's gonna happen now?! I should have the final chapter up shortly! I've already started to type it out, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long ;) As always, REVIEW please!