CHAPTER 10

Grace was still smirking at Draco when he decided to turn his attention back to her. She was a very conniving witch, really. She should've been sorted into Slytherin.

"Tu es une vraie plaie." (You're a pain in the ass) He muttered to her, and she obviously did not understand a word that he just said. But no matter, he didn't care.

With one last bored look at her, he stood up and strode over to the door as fast as he could, with only one thought in mind: he had to go after Ginny. He had one guess to where she might be – and although it was pretty far away, he managed to get there in less than ten minutes.

He stood in front of the fruit painting, tickled the pear, and waited with the slightest bit of impatience and nervousness churning in his stomach.

The painting gave way to reveal the Kitchens, and he didn't have to go all the way in and check if she was there, because he could see her hair through the shelves of assorted ingredients in the huge kitchen.

He knew her too well.

He took somewhat cautious steps towards her, and it wasn't long until he was standing right behind her. She was seated on one of the picnic tables, head hunched over something in concentration, and he could barely see her hand, much less her face, under the mass of long, wavy red hair. But by the way that her arm was moving from under the curtain of her hair, he could tell she was writing something.

He watched her for a few moments, vaguely wondering if she really hadn't felt his presence, or If she was just ignoring him, before deciding to make his presence known (or if it already had been known, acknowledged) by clearing his throat.

Ginny's head whipped towards his direction, sending the silky strands of her hair flying before cascading in waves down her back. She fixed her hazel eyes on him, and she looked slightly irritated. Why did she have to be so infuriatingly beautiful?

"What?"

Draco stared at her for a few moments. What was he going to answer to that? Why did he follow her anyway? Grace was very pretty, the prettiest girl in Ravenclaw in fact, and a very good snogger to boot. But for some unknown reason, he found himself abandoning her and going after this...girl that confused him to pieces.

"I came here to apologize." Draco said his words slowly, but not too slowly, as if testing whether the words felt right coming out of his mouth. That was what people said when they were sorry, right?

"Apologize?" Ginny repeated lightly. "For what?" She stood up and turned to face him, as her position was a very awkward one for conversing with someone behind her.

"You know." Draco shifted a bit, looking slightly uncomfortable. But just slightly. "The…encounter with Witherward."

"Ah." Ginny replied, then didn't say anything after that. The two just stood staring at each other, and Draco took the opportunity to study Ginny's appearance. She was obviously still wearing the same dress, but now Draco had the chance to look at it up close and study the details. It wasn't a shiny gold, it was dark and matte, but it still shimmered in the dim lighting of the kitchens. He noticed a tiny golden heart embroidered near the left strap of her dress. He looked back up to her eyes. They seemed to be trained on his collar.

"So, I'm sorry." Draco suddenly said after some thought. This was the first time he ever said sorry to someone sincerely.

Ginny's eyes drifted from his collar, to his lips (but for the briefest fraction of a second), then back this eyes.

"It's okay. No professor was around anyway. We're not going to get any points deducted." Ginny's voice seemed very far away, almost like Luna Lovegood's. But he did notice her nibble on her lip ever so slightly, but she stopped immediately.

"But the other students could tell on me."

"No really, it's fine."

Draco was starting to get angry. Did she not care about what happened? A girl just forced herself on him, and she didn't care?

"It's not fine." Draco replied sharply, sounding very much like a child.

"Draco, affairs happen all the time in real marriages. We're acting very realistically here."

Ginny's reasonable, indifferent tone pissed the hell out of Draco. Since when was she the one always so calm and collected?

"But in real marriages, the wife actually cares when her husband cheats on her."

Two minutes went by in silence. (Not that Draco was counting)

"Who said I don't?"

"Don't what?" Draco asked, obviously just wanting to hear her say (or imply) that she cared.

"Care."

Draco half-grinned at her.

"But I didn't say that I do care, either." Ginny's rebuttal deflated Draco's hopes a bit.

"But you do, right?"

Ginny stared at him in silence, and for a moment there, Draco thought she might say she didn't. He didn't know what he would do then.

Ginny shrugged and turned her back on him to walk towards the far end of the shelves, and he watched her disappear into the dark before coming to his senses and going after her.

"You do care, don't you?" Draco's question sounded more of an accusation, and he decided that it didn't come out the right way. He asked her again, in a softer tone this time. "Don't you?"

Ginny appeared to stop and Draco watched her as she started running her finger through the labels of assorted boxes, jars and cans on the shelf. She stopped and took a box out of the shelf. Apparently, she had found what she was looking for.

She sighed and turned to him. "Draco, it's very hard for me not to care." She said in a weary tone, looking at him with her sad brown eyes, and brushed past him on her way back to the table.

He quickly caught up with her and grasped her upper arm. "What are you trying to say?"

Ginny huffed. Draco was supposed to be intelligent. She said this out loud.

Draco shot her a somewhat offended look. "I am!" He replied defensively.

"Then you can figure out what I mean yourself." She brushed past him yet again, and this time he didn't stop her. He followed her quietly back to the table, staying a good three feet behind her, which was a very difficult task as his legs were much longer than hers, and he was naturally a very fast walker.

He watched her plop down on the picnic table and open the box. He peered at the label and saw that it was a box of sugar cookies.

"This project…it's very inconvenient." Ginny suddenly said.

Draco just stared at her, not sure whether he should be offended or agree. But he was a bit hurt. Did she find spending time with him that horrible?

When Draco didn't reply, Ginny went on. "I'm sure you agree, Draco. If we didn't have this project, you could go on with your public displays of affection and just snog any random girl you want to in the hallways."

"I don't want to snog any random girls." Draco replied a bit stiffly.

"You can snog any random boy you want, then." Ginny took a bite out of a heart-shaped cookie and looked at him innocently. He was torn between throwing her into the lake, snatching the box of cookies from her hand, yelling at her, and perhaps….kissing her.

He did none of the above. "I don't want to snog any random boys either. Ginny," He said her name with a hint of impatience in his voice. "Witherward forced herself on me. I'm a bit….er, under the influence."

Ginny regarded Draco's expression. He seemed sincere enough. But with boys, you can never be too sure. Especially if he was a Malfoy, and a Slytherin one at that.

Ginny nodded curtly at him. "You are forgiven…for now."

"For now." Draco repeated, and he could feel the dryness in his throat.

Ginny nodded at him again, then shoved the box in front of his face. He looked at her bemusedly, but she still had a serious look on her face.

"Go on, get one."

Draco shot her a look as if saying he thought she was crazy, but dug his hand in the box and fished out a Hypogriff-shaped cookie. He bit its head, and a corner of Ginny's mouth twitched upwards. He couldn't help but smirk himself.

For some unknown reason, he looked down at their feet.

"Hey, why aren't you wearing any shoes?"

"Oh." The tips of Ginny's ears turned red; he could still catch a glimpse of them through the waves of her dark red hair. "I forgot to put a pair on." She grinned sheepishly up at him.

Draco just stared at her. Why was she so beautiful?

"Anyway, if you feel like making out with that whore again, be careful. You don't want to catch any STD's." Ginny said, sounding perfectly serious, before turning around and muttering something under her breath in French. But Draco could only make out a few words. And translating them to English didn't make them any more pleasant.