DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except Claudia and this fictional story.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN RE-DONE!!!

This is a romantic story, but there isn't much fluff. There is some darkness and depression, but what's a story without it?

I hope you enjoy!

-

And I'd give up forever to touch you

Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't wanna go home right now

-

It was dusk; the sky was slowly turning dark and had a deep blue hue to it. It was towards the end of May, heading into June, and a cool breeze blew through the trees of the Forbidden Forest towards the grounds of Hogwarts, and over the lake, where she was sitting.

She was on the soft grass by the edge of the lake with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was hugging them, her chin was resting on her knees, and she had a forlorn expression on her face, but she wasn't crying. Sometimes she cried, but most of the time, she didn't. It depended on her body, on her mind. It decided when she would cry or not; not her. Depression works in funny ways like that.

She looked up at the darkening sky and sighed, hugging her legs tighter as another breeze blew through the grounds of the school, making her fiery hair float around her, causing her to look like an angel to anyone who had been there, though she felt far from one.

But someone was there, and he was walking towards the area of the lake where she was sitting; behind a bush out of reach from the windows of the school, and he did see her.

"Weasley?" She spun around quickly, her heart racing.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. Shouldn't you be inside, asleep, like a good girl? Especially after all you had to go through in the Department of Mysteries." He sneered slightly, to keep up appearances.

"I am not someone who always follows the rules. How can I after growing up with my brothers? I'm not stiff and reserved, Malfoy, nor am I a little girl. Facing the Death Eaters and Voldemort did not scare me. Besides, shouldn't you be inside, too?"

"I'm not good, in case you haven't noticed by how much Goody two shoes, Weasel, and Potter hate me." She felt a slight pang in her heart when he said that, but he didn't mention her, so maybe he knew that she didn't hate him.

"I…came out for fresh air." She subconsciously covered her wrists, but he noticed. His heart wanted to go out to the girl, but he wouldn't let it. "Why are you here?"

"Same reason."

They stayed there for a few minutes, not saying a word to each other. Ginny sitting with her legs now shifted to her side and trying to not let him see her wrists, and Draco standing with his hands in his pockets, both staring out at the shimmering moonlit water. It was Draco who broke the silence, for he couldn't hold in his curiosity any longer.

"Why did you do that?"

She looked up at him in confusion.

"What? I haven't done anything."

He kneeled next to her and gently took her right hand, showing her her wrist. She looked ashamed, and turned her head so she wasn't looking at him, then took her hand back and covered her wrist with her right one.

"That's none of your business," she said softly. She couldn't see it, and he didn't realize it, but Draco's expression turned soft, and almost sympathetic. He wanted to help her, to heal her, because somehow she had been broken, just as he had. Suddenly, Ginny turned her head around and gasped softly.

"I hear someone coming!" she whispered. She peeked through the bushes.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"McGonagall, probably on her shift. Quick, run behind the other side of the bushes so she can't see you."

"Save myself? Alright Weasley if you insist." She swatted his arm and glared.

"Just go. She trusts me, not you."

Draco hid behind the bushes just as McGonagall came into view and saw Ginny. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Miss Weasley, just what are you doing out here after hours?"

"I…I'm sorry professor, I just…wanted to be alone for a bit. It's really hard to accomplish that during normal hours so…I came out here. I promise, I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"Yes, well…well alright I do understand, especially after what you and your friends just went through…poor Sirius…just don't let me see it happen again." Her eyes twinkled, and Ginny smiled at her.

"Thank you professor."

"You're welcome. Now I must continue my patrol. When I get back in ten minutes, I expect that you will be in your bed."

"Yes professor."

"Good." She smiled at the girl and turned to leave.

After about a minute, Draco came out from behind the bushes.

"So you have to suck up to them? Is that why they like you Gryffindors so much?" It just came out. He didn't mean to sound so nasty to her; she never did anything to deserve it.

"No, Malfoy. They like us because we're not rude to them. And I actually did want to be alone." She stood and began to walk back to the castle.

"Hey."

She stopped and turned to look at him.

"Not that I needed it, but why'd you tell me to hide?"

"Because you would have gotten into trouble."

"Not with you there."

"I don't know, Malfoy. I just want to be alone right now."

He shrugged. She turned to leave but he stopped her again with a question.

"Are you really that depressed?" Ginny sighed.

"It's not like I'm trying to kill myself. Sometimes I just wish that people would notice me a little more and not treat me like a child. Not that you care. Good night."

'She thinks people don't notice her??' he thought incredulously.

He stood there for another minute, then he headed to the Slytherin dorm. He thought about what she said, rubbed his arm in thought, and then undressed and went to sleep.

-

Ginny woke up, her heart racing. That happened three months ago. Why did she just dream about it? She rubbed her eyes, yawned, and got out of bed. She walked into her bathroom to take a shower, and try to forget about her dream. She walked downstairs to the kitchen of the Burrow to have some of the delicious breakfast her mother made for the family plus Harry and Hermione.

"Hiya, Gin," Fred said as she passed him.

"Hi." She yawned and grabbed a plate, put two eggs and a piece of toast on it, and sat down to eat. George walked in, said hi to everyone, saw how little Ginny was eating, and shared a concerned look with Fred, then Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was upstairs gathering the laundry.

"Ginny, do you want a pancake? They're so delicious," Hermione said as she ate a piece of hers. But Ginny only shook her head.

"I'm not that hungry, Mione." Hermione sighed.

She was the only one of the group who knew about Ginny's depression, but she didn't know how serious it was or why she was so sad. She didn't know about Ginny's wrists, either. Hermione was Ginny's best friend, and it hurt her to see the girl so upset. Even though Ginny hid it well, Hermione could see it in her eyes.

Ginny would laugh, she'd joke, she'd goof off with the group, but not so much anymore. And Hermione just could not find out why. She figured that it might be because of a guy, but Ginny would have told her about it. So she let it go until she wanted to talk.

Mrs. Weasley rushed into the room with a smile on her face.

"The owls are here with your grades! Oh I'm so excited." They all groaned.

"Mum, why are you always so overjoyed?" Fred asked.

"They're just pieces of paper that can be changed so easily…OW!" Mrs. Weasley pinched George's shoulder.

"You can't change your grades young man!"

"Yeah yeah…we know."

"He was just kidding, mum," Fred said.

"Oh I know I didn't do well at all! Not well at all!"

"Stuff it, Mione. You got the best grades out of all of us and you know it," Ron said, picking at his pancake.

"But what if I didn't? Oh dear! I am so nervous!"

They all rolled their eyes. Mrs. Weasley opened the window and the owls swooped in and landed on the counter, all sticking out their legs. Harry took them off their legs and they flew away. Then he handed them out to everyone and they started to open them.

"It looks like we did pretty well. And of course Mione did better than any of us," Harry said smiling. She blushed.

"Ok ok fine I overreact but can you blame me? There's a lot of stress involved!" They all gave her blank stares. "Oh alright!" She sat down at her place at the table and finished her breakfast.

"Man…I really wanted to take potions to NEWT level…" Harry said. "I only got an excellent."

"I'm sure they'll still let you, Harry," Ron assured him.

"I need an outstanding, Ron. I can't become an auror now." He looked extremely downhearted.

"Harry, talk to McGonagall. I'm sure she'll let you," Hermione said.

"Are the OWLS really that hard?" Ginny asked. Ron's eyes widened and both he and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. But if you study hard enough, they'll go by really fast," Hermione said.

"Oh…"

"You'll do fine."

-

"And I don't want the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am…I just want you to know who I am…I just want you to know who I am…"

The light notes of two guitars and soft drumming faded to a comfortable silence.

"You know, I think that was our best practice yet," said a girl with long waist-length black hair and naturally sun-kissed skin, with golden brown eyes that had golden veins in them – the Hawaiian half of her, though it looked like she was completely Hawaiian.

"Why do you say that?" asked a young man, who turned seventeen just a day ago. He had light chocolate-colored skin, a darker shade for his eyes, and messy black hair that wasn't stiff due to his mother's Caucasian blood. His father was African-American.

"Well…I dunno. The feeling, the aura, that I got from it was very pleasing, no matter what the lyrics say. You didn't get that?" The drummer nodded his head.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Draco? What'd you think of it?" But the blonde didn't even turn to look at his friend; he was too far gone, staring into space.

"Drake?" the half Hawaiian girl asked, trying to bring him out of it. He turned to look at her, then the other two boys.

"Yeah, sorry. What?" The girl chuckled.

"Always daydreaming, Draco. Tsk tsk." He grinned lightly.

"Sorry, I was thinking."

"You shouldn't do that too much, it might hurt you," said one of the other two young men, who was sixteen years old. He had light tan skin – not pale, but not really tan, and he had deep brown, nicely cut hair, though not too short, and sported striking deep, dark blue eyes, almost navy.

"Oh shut up, Theo." Theo laughed and went to go sit on the couch, leaning his guitar on his leg beside him. "I thought it went well, exactly as Pansy said it did."

Draco Malfoy had been friends with this group for as long as he could remember, and they all had at least one death eater parent – therefore, they all dealt with abuse in one form or another. They would try every way possible to get together and forget their lives, if only for a couple of hours, and they finally came up with a fantastic solution three years ago – a band.

Draco was the lead singer and he also played the guitar in some of their songs. Next came Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott – the two main guitarists. Pansy usually played the solos, but Theo took some of them. Zackary Nott, Theo's slightly younger twin brother, played the base. Then, last but not least, Blaise Zabini, who played the drums like a madman. He got so into it, that the group had taken to calling him the next Travis.

Zack threw a pillow at Draco, who was brought out of his thoughts for the second time, then glared at the offender, who laughed when Draco threw it back. Zackary Nott was almost the complete opposite of Theo, but yet, they were the same person still. He had jet black messy hair that was the same length as Harry Potter's, but not as unruly. He also had striking green eyes that the girls swooned over. Unlike Harry's, which were gentle, Zackary's eyes were mischievous, and twinkled with mirth and trouble. He loved being the center of attention, and was actually friendly with Fred and George Weasley. No, they weren't "friends," but they were pleasant with each other.

There was a knock on the door, and Pansy's father walked in, smiling.

"Anyone want cookies?"

"Daaaaad, we're not twelve," Pansy said in a fake annoying voice, but grinned anyway. She loved her dad's cookies. Her dad grinned back.

"Your…mother…won't be home until tomorrow, so you can practice later as well if you need to. I like hearing your music." They all said their thank you's, and he departed after leaving the cookies and milk by the door. Pansy loved her father – it was her mother who she hated. Well…now. Her mother was on Voldemort's side, and had this thought that her husband and daughter were, as well. Her mother wasn't always like this, though. It was Voldemort who poisoned her. She used to be a sweet, wonderful woman who would always take Pansy out to lunch, bake her cookies like how her father does now, and gave her kisses at bedtime. But she got in with the wrong people – Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange – and they turned her over to the dark lord, who brainwashed her.

Even though she used to be a good person, no amount of crying and love from Pansy or her father can bring her mother back. That is why she hates her mother now.

"Pans? You okay?" Blaise asked, worried. She shook her head and smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I'm okay." They all shared a worried glance, but dropped the subject.

"So do you think Iris is ready to be recorded?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Pansy answered. Blaise nodded, but Draco was off again, staring at nothing, yet he seemed to be staring into something.

"Draco, what the hell is wrong with you?" Blaise asked, annoyed. The blonde glared and threw a pillow at him, making him fall off his chair, the result throwing Pansy and Theo into fits of laughter.

"That's not the way to ask you moron," said Theo, still laughing.

"Hm. There is nothing wrong with me, I can assure you."

"Oh but Draco, dear, I beg to differ."

Draco playfully glared at Pansy.

"Oh really? Care to share your thoughts?"

"Not right now. I'm enjoying this cookie too much." She took a bite out of it and made a noise, closing her eyes. This made them all laugh – Pansy had a habit of making random odd noises. "That's heaven…"

"So Draco, what about 'Iris' being recorded?" Blaise asked, waving his hands in front of Draco's face in case he drifted off again. Draco narrowed his eyes and swatted the annoyance away from him.

"I think it's ready. I'm just not completely happy with it."

"I can see that…" Pansy said. "Why? Is it the subject again? That you can't figure out who the song is about?" Draco shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about that, sugar. Just worry about playing as perfectly as we have been when we record it. It's the middle of June, we just got out of Hogwarts, and we have a lot of time on our hands. Why don't we just get it over with and put it out for a summer single?"

"That's a great idea," Blaise said.

"It should be able to make it to at least the top twenty," Theo said. "So what are we doing about Lips of an Angel?" Theo asked.

"There are still lyrics to be changed and added. It's not nearly ready," Draco said.

--Flashback—

Three months ago.

"Lips of an Angel," Draco suggested. "As a song title."

"Ohh I really like it!" Blaise added. "But you can't really pick a title before you pick the song."

"I know…but I do have a rough draft…a very rough draft…of it. Lips of an Angel, I mean. I just wanted to run that title by you," Draco said, addressing all of them.

There was a sudden loud gasp from Pansy, causing Blaise, who was sitting next to her, to fall off the couch, and all eyes turned to her.

"What's wrong with you?!" Blaise asked. Pansy glared at him for a second, then went back to being happy.

"Lips of an Angel!!!"

"What about it?" Theo asked.

"That could be the name of our band!" Draco smirked.

"You beat me to it, Pans. I was gong to suggest it, but if that's what we all like, you get the credit." She beamed.

"I like it," Theo said, polishing his guitar.

"Yeah, it has a really nice ring to it," said Blaise.

"Then it's settled. We are officially Lips of an Angel."

-

"Hurry up, come on, let's go! I want to go in and get out as soon as possible. And we MUST stay in a group!"

"Mum…it's not like he's going to pop out of a shop window," Ron said.

"Do NOT act as if this isn't serious! If you can joke like that, you can go home and you won't go back to Hogwarts!"

Ron kept quiet the rest of the way. They split up for a little while, and when they met up again, Harry was saying something about Malfoy being a death eater. That's what Ginny was overhearing.

"Harry? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"It's nothing."

"Tell me. You told them," she said, pointing to Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George.

"Forget it, Ginny, it was nothing."

"Don't tell me it was nothing. You were talking about Malfoy and something about death eaters."

"It's not important for you to know…"

"NO! You told them so tell me too! If this is about me being younger than you, it's not even by one full year! I have a right to know because I helped you all in the Ministry to defeat Voldemort last year, therefore making me a part of this!" she hissed.

"Ok ok, fine, Ginny! Calm down, I'll tell you…well when we were inside the store to get new robes, we saw Malfoy. He was being fitted for new robes, and Narcissa was with him. When Madame Malkin went to pin his sleeves, he pulled back and got really angry…almost nervous…and he snapped at her."

"Ok…?"

"Gin, he didn't want her to look at his left wrist. His left wrist! That's where the dark mark is placed on death eaters." Ginny's eyes widened. 'No!'

"I don't think that's true, Ginny," Hermione said. "Besides, we need much more evidence than that before we can accuse him of being a death eater. Also, why would Voldemort make him a death eater? He's too young. Oh get OVER it, Ron! I've been saying his name for almost a year!"

Harry wasn't convinced.

"I can't believe you guys don't think that he is one!"

"Just drop it, Harry. At least for now," Ron said. He did, grudgingly.

-

"Gin? What are you listening to?" Hermione asked. They were in the living room and Ginny had turned up the radio suddenly.

"Shhh! It's Lips of an Angel and their newest song." Hermione listened with Ginny, and when the near 5 minute song ended, she looked at the radio in awe.

"Iris, right?" Ginny nodded. "That's such a beautiful song…"

"It is…" was all Ginny could say.

"I've heard about them, but they weren't big until Iris and Here is Gone came out. You know, I read in Witch Weekly that their female guitarist named the band after they were having a discussion about one of their songs."

"Yeah, I read that, too. They're my favorite band now – I simply love their music," Ginny said breathlessly. For some reason, that song, Iris, just took her breath away. The person the song was about was exactly like her, that she felt she could have been that person. She felt so connected to the song; it described her perfectly.

-

"Alright, hurry up, you'll miss the train!" Mrs. Weasley said, bustling them all onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Bye, mum! See you for Christmas!" Ginny said. Mrs. Weasley waved at her and the rest of them when the train began to move.

"Man, I wish mum didn't make us go back to school," Fred grumbled.

"Me too. We could have started our shop, and it would have been a great success too," George agreed.

Ginny, Harry, Fred, and George all got a compartment. Hermione and Ron had prefect duties, so they couldn't sit with them until later. Suddenly, when they all sat down, they noticed Harry wasn't with them.

"Where's Harry?" George asked.

"I dunno, I thought he was right behind me," Ginny answered, leaning out of the compartment to look back from where she came, but just then, someone collided with her back. "OW!"

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry!" the person said in one breath. Ginny turned around and looked at the girl. She had black, wavy, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes, a slightly angular face, and very slender feminine features. She had curves, but her body type wasn't wnat you would call curvy. It was athletic, and her chest was just the right…oops, I'm getting into George's thoughts.

"It's alright."

"I was just looking for a compartment, and I didn't see you pop out…"

"It's alright! Really!"

"Okay…"

"What's your name?"

"Claudia. What's yours?"

"Ginny. These are my brothers, Fred and George."

"Hello!" Claudia said enthusiastically.

"Hey."

"…Hi."

"So you said you were looking for a compartment. Don't you have anyone with you? If you don't mind me asking," Ginny asked.

"I only know one person here, but I can't seem to find him. I just transferred from the Sydney Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Sydney, Australia."

"Australia? That's pretty neat," said Fred.

"Well you can stay in our compartment if you want," Ginny said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

"So where are you from originally?" Fred asked.

"My family is from England, and we moved to Australia when I was eleven. My mother got a job here, so we moved, and my father…wasn't around."

"What are you going to take to the NEWT level?" Ginny asked, carefully avoiding the obviously sad subject of her father.

"Oh, I'm not a sixth year, I'm an incoming fifth year."

"Wow you'll be in all the same classes as me! Well, maybe, because of different schedules…" Ginny said, excited that she could have a new friend. One who would maybe pay more attention to her and not Harry Potter.

"That's really cool, I finally know someone else," Claudia said, making Ginny smile.

-

"Hey where's Harry?" Ron asked, walking into the compartment.

"I have no idea," Ginny answered. "He was right behind me when I was coming back here."

"But we're almost there, and he's not back yet!"

"Look Ron if you love the famous Harry Potter so much, why don't you go look for him yourself instead of pestering me about it?" Ron gave her a confused look.

"I was just wondering, Gin."

"You guys are friends with Harry Potter?" Claudia asked.

"Yes, he's one of my best friends," Ron said. Ginny rolled her eyes.

'Ugh not another Harry Potter fan.'

"Oh, that's cool."

They all widened their eyes at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not going to ask a million questions about him?" George asked.

"No, why?"

"Because everyone does. They're all asking things like 'are what people are saying about him true? Are the newspapers true? Is he really the chosen one? Is he a prick? Is he the golden boy?' It's rather annoying," Fred explained.

"Yeah it is. Some worship him, others just go ahead and assume things about him that aren't true, like oh he must be loving all of this attention. Yeah, I bet he's a jerk," Ron said with a scowl. "That's what they say."

"Well I'm not that type. I don't assume things about people if I don't know them, and I don't judge people on first impressions, or no impressions, for that matter. I know I'd hate all of this attention the Ministry and the papers and all of these people are giving him," Claudia said. They smiled at her. Maybe she will be a new addition to their group.

-

I hope you liked it! Remember, it's only the first chapter and it'll get better I promise. I hope you review! I do so love reviews! Also the next chapter is already written and will come soon, I just have to write more on the story to get me going. Also, reviews make it come faster! Of course it'll come anyway...but it'll come faster with more reviews because they motivate me :D