Full Summary: A spell gone wrong sends Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy back to Hogwarts and into their sixteen year old bodies. While struggling to trust each other enough to find a way back, they must deal with their own moral issues. Can they stop the war before the people they love die or are they fated to watch their history repeat itself.

Pairings: Draco/Ginny, slight Ron/Hermione

A/N: don't own don't sue

The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Shake It Out' by Florence and the Machine

Chapter Five

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn
And I have been a fool and I have been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around
All of these questions, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it's always darkest before the dawn
Shake it up, shake it out, shake it up, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it up, shake it out, shake it up, shake it out, ooh woaaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah
I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
'Cause I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone
It's always darkest before the dawn
Oh woah, oh woah...
And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat
'Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me

There were many things Draco Malfoy missed about Hogwarts. The complete lack of privacy was not one of them. He managed to get Blaise into the Common Room without anyone noticing only by using several charms he shouldn't have known as his sixteen year old self. He propped Blaise up in a chair by the fire and left him there to sleep off the spell. He looked down at his old friend. He looked peaceful while he was asleep, the firelight warming his face.

He sat in the Common Room for a while, trying to focus on his homework, a book, a letter from his mother then a game of Wizard Poker some of the Seventh years were playing but it was no good. He'd always felt superior while he was originally at Hogwarts, now he just felt irritatingly out of step with the rest of the world. In the end he decided to post a reply back to his mother. Most people scooted out of his way as he made the long journey to the Owlery. This used to please him but now he was merely grateful for the chance to think without interruption.

He found himself fonder of the castle now. Before he'd tried his hardest to be as unpleasant and bullying as possible. Some of the Slytherins seemed to have sensed the change in him too. He was sitting in the Great Hall laughing with the Quidditch team that morning and he'd found Blaise and Pansy eyeing him curiously. The girls that had chased his sixteen year old self were more insistent than ever and he was having great difficulty putting them off without giving himself away.

"Draco!"

He half turned. He knew that trilling voice. Pansy sauntered out of the girls' bathroom and put one hand on his chest.

"Pansy." He said equably.

"Where are you going?" She purred, her fingertips pressing slightly against his breastbone.

"Owlery." He replied.

She advanced on him, practically shoving him against the wall. The hallway was quite deserted. She had him flat against a wall and her lips at his ear before he could react. It was safe to say that he'd experienced far more talented seductions but he was, after all, male. He put one hand on her waist and pushed her gently but firmly away. She blinked at him in amazement.

"I'm not in the mood." He said coolly, trying his best to summon up his old nasty tones.

Pansy threw back her dark head and laughed.

"Draco Malfoy… not in the mood?" She finally said once she'd finished giggling.

He didn't have to pretend to look offended. He glared at her.

"I beg your pardon?"

She continued to regard him with a highly amused expression on her pug face. Her hand was still on his chest.

"Draco." She simpered. "You know what I can do for you—"

"Maybe I'm bored of what you do." Draco pointed out, none-too-kindly.

Pansy's face fell and her dark eyes widened. Then her cool-headed Slytherin responses kicked in and she drew away from him, tilting her chin up to glower at him defiantly.

"Fine. Handle yourself then." She said with her best sneer, sweeping away from him.

His fears were not alleviated in the slightest. Pansy had never had any self-control. She'd be back before long. He sighed, straightened his sweater and continued on his way.

His reply to his mother was short and slightly brusque. He knew their letters would probably be read by half a dozen Death Eaters before they ever reached the intended recipients. Once he'd sent it off he stared out of the window for a while. It was almost fully dark. He couldn't see the mountains in the distance anymore. He couldn't even see the lake. The Quidditch pitch glowed in the distance. The Gryffindors must still be practising. He squinted but he couldn't discern any flying figures. He felt unease grip his stomach.

He used to ignore his instincts, follow his orders without question. He'd learnt to trust himself. He stalked straight out of the Owlery and headed towards Gryffindor Tower. He was halfway there when he almost tripped over Hermione Granger racing in the opposite direction.

"Watch where you're going." He snapped acidly.

She hesitated and peered up at him. He paused when he saw the fear and panic in her eyes. It had nothing to do with him, in fact she was so distracted she barely noticed who she'd almost run over. Before either of them could say anything Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan rounded a corner at a fair clip.

"Hermione!" They skidded to a halt when they saw the two of them standing in the middle of the corridor.

Dean ignored Draco completely and walked straight up to Hermione.

"Is Ginny alright? Demelza said she fell off her broom-"

Draco made a noise in his throat and the three of them looked at him. He wasn't sure how this time-travel business worked but he was pretty sure that if she died now something would go very wrong in the future.

"She ducked to avoid a Bludger, she crashed into Jimmy and they both…" Hermione broke off when her lip started to tremble.

Draco left the three Gryffindors huddled together. His first instinct was to go to the Hospital Wing and make sure she was still alive. He quashed the thought. Draco Malfoy sweeping in to check on a Weasley's chances of survival would not go unnoticed. So he waited.

The worst thing about being in the Hospital Wing, Ginny mused as she dutifully took her potion under Madam Pomfrey's beady eye, was the complete lack of entertainment. The fall had cracked her ribs, which Madam Pomfrey had healed in under thirty seconds. She was insisting, however, on keeping her here until she was sure that her lungs were only bruised and not actually damaged by the breaking bones. Ginny felt like she'd been hit in the chest by the Knight Bus. Jimmy had only dislocated his shoulder which had been fixed and bandaged, just in case. He had apologised profusely, almost in tears.

She'd had a steady stream of visitors since her accident. Hermione had brought her homework, of course. Ron had leant her his self-playing chess board but she couldn't concentrate and the pieces kept yelling at her. She'd eaten half of the sweets and chocolates she'd been sent and she now felt sick. Her eyes landed on the spine of the book Quinn had brought her. Quinn devoured romance books. Not romantic kind of romance but the kind The Daily Prophet reviewed as "bodice-ripping, wand-wilting tales of passion so saucy Merlin himself would have spread it on his toast instead of marmalade!". Ginny usually avoided those kinds of trashy novels but she'd never actually been this bored before.

She became deeply engrossed in the heroine, Elspeth's, flight from the wicked vampire love interest, Percival.

"Begone wicked creature!" Elspeth cried, her ringing tones echoing around the castle.

She was not afraid of the vampire, despite being backed against the chapel wall.

"My darling." He crooned, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight.

His dark eyes were like whirlpools as he advanced on her prostrate frame, arms flung out against the stone wall behind her. Her expansive bosom was heaving, her flesh milky against her scarlet dress. Her chin was tilted in defiance but that only exposed her lovely slender throat.

Percival's smile grew wider…

A small amused cough startled her and she squeaked, the book dropping from her lap and bouncing off the edge of the bed. Draco's hand snatched out and caught it before it could hit the floor. Ginny cast a nervous look around but the Hospital Wing was still and silent and dark. The light wasn't even on in Madam Pomfrey's office anymore. She must have been reading for a long time.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Ginny hissed angrily, her heart pounding painfully against her tender ribs.

"I was concerned." Draco replied with an entirely unconvincing affronted look on his face.

"Don't be ridiculous." She snapped.

He didn't reply, merely grinned at her in a disconcerting manner. She wasn't used to him smiling instead of smirking yet, not a real smile full of humour anyway. It did something strange to his face, the collection of narrow features transformed. When he smiled like that it was almost impossible to imagine anything other than what he looked like without his clothes on. Ginny's cheeks blazed with heat and she fervently hoped he couldn't read her thoughts.

"'Elspeth was in a world of sensations and pleasurable torments. Any fear she'd had vanished at the touch of his well-versed hands. She'd planned to fight but if the length of his fangs was anything to go by'-"

"Malfoy." Ginny said warningly and he broke off with an innocent smirk.

He held the book out to her and she snatched it from him and shoved it under her pillow. He was eyeing her with a coolly amused look on his face, slouching gracefully back in the hard wooden seat.

"Just out of curiosity, what do you think would happen to our future selves if one of us throws themselves off their broom and splatters all over the pitch?"

"I did not-" Ginny retorted loudly, biting off her words when Malfoy tapped a shushing finger to his lips with a nod towards Madam Pomfrey's dark office.

"Relax, Weasley. Anyone would think you're not confident about your abilities on a broom."

Ginny's lips had gone white with the effort of keeping her mouth shut but her eyes were shooting sparks, which only made his grin even wider.

"Did you want something, Malfoy?" She finally asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I've got a theory." He crossed his arms behind his head, propping one foot over the other next to her thigh on the bed. "Maybe you've lost it, Weasley. Maybe this is all in your head. This is all just a fantasy."

She rolled her eyes.

"Why would you be in my delusion? I haven't suffered any brain damage."

She was trying not to look at the concave hollow of his stomach where his black sweater had ridden up. Apparently along with her sixteen year old mood swings she'd also caught a second bout of teenage hormones.

"There are several reasons." He replied equably, his hair shining in the moonlight filtering through the windows. "My good looks, my charm, my wit, my overall superiority. Not to mention my rather impressively sized fortune. Don't pretend this is my first appearance in your fantasies, Weasley."

"No." She agreed. "But those kinds of fantasies usually end bloodily."

"Fighting over my body with the rest of the female population?" He said solemnly, heaving a heavy sigh. "It's a common theme, so I hear."

"As if, Malfoy." She snorted, trying her damnedest not to smile.

"It's fine to admit your feelings for me, let it all out. I'm told it can be very therapeutic for the sufferer."

"'Suffer' being the operative word." She sniffed haughtily.

"Don't hold back, Weasley. You'll feel better when you've admitted it."

"I'm warning you, Malfoy-"

"You're warning me? How cute."

"Don't make me hex you."

"Last time I checked you were the one in the Hospital Wing, not me."

"I will beat you down." She threatened.

"Yes I'm sure you could find a way to mash me into a messy, pulpy, but still entirely too handsome mess despite having recently suffered a serious injury." His teeth gleamed white in the dark room as he grinned. "But I have to warn you, Weasley. I fight dirty."

Ginny, who had been distracted somewhat by the way his stretched up arms pulled his sweater taut against his Quidditch honed chest, flushed bright red and scowled at him.

"Go away, Malfoy."

He gave a martyred sigh and slid gracefully onto his feet.

"Fine. I shall withdraw my comfort until such time when it will be better appreciated." He paused as if he had just remembered something, cocking his head and eyeing her slender form outlined by the thin scratchy sheet. "Of course if you'd feel safer with some company…"

Horrified by the way her body tingled from head to toe at the very idea, Ginny grabbed the first thing to come to hand, which happened to be Ron's chess board, and lobbed it at him. He held up his hand and the board soared away as if it had struck something in midair. The pieces squealed in outrage as they bounced onto the floor and vanished under the chair, the bed and the bedside table.

"Oh come on, Weasley. You're breaking my heart." He stuck out his bottom lip and fluttered his eyelashes. "Not to mention seriously bruising my ego."

"Good night, Malfoy." She said threateningly and he gave an exaggerated sigh, bowing with much twirling of his hands.

He straightened up, winked at her and left. Ginny sank back against the pillows, annoyed that she couldn't seem to wipe the huge grin off her face or stop her heart from fluttering madly in her chest. This was so embarrassing! A woman of her age developing a crush. On Draco Malfoy of all people. This was just too confusing. But then again the Malfoy she was starting to know was not the cruel bitter brat she had known and hated for seven years of her life. Either this was a whole new Malfoy, or he had kept everything decent about himself securely hidden away during his entire time at Hogwarts.

She must have fallen asleep still pondering Malfoy's bizarre likeability because the next thing she knew Madam Pomfrey was fussing around her bed with a tray of potions for her to take. Ginny obediently gulped the stuff down, dragging on her clothes and escaping before Madam Pomfrey could find a reason to keep her there. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and the castle was almost deserted as she made her way slowly back to Gryffindor Tower. Her lungs still felt delicate as she showered gingerly, feeling like her entire body was one giant bruise.

She decided against jeans which would only soak up the snow and pulled on a pair of thick woolly grey tights, an over-sized white sweater and her brown fur-lined winter boots. Her hair was too long to dry quickly so she did her best then tucked the long silky locks up under an old electric blue bobble hat of Bill's which drooped over her ears and forehead. She was struggling to yank on her hand-knitted mittens and cross the Entrance Hall at the same time when she collided with someone tall and broad.

She staggered backwards, one hand at her chest as pain flared through her lungs. Blaise and Pansy had apparently been deep in discussion about something and they turned matching dark livid gazes on her as she steadied herself. Ginny felt a flicker of unease stir in her stomach and she thrust her hand into the pocket of her cloak and gripped her wand tightly. Before either of them could say anything Professor Flitwick emerged through the front doors and enlisted Blaise to help him carry a pile of books that was almost taller than he was. Ginny took the opportunity to make her escape.

The frosty ground crunched satisfyingly under her boots as she made her way towards Hogsmeade. She couldn't have been that far behind breakfast because there were still groups of students and couples strolling leisurely towards the village. She caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione and enjoyed a lively chat with Hermione about who was dating whom. Once they reached the village Ginny excused herself and went off in search of some breakfast. She finally found a small café near the station and was just polishing off some hot croissants and eggs when the door opened with a tinkle. Along with a draft and a swirl of fresh snowflakes, Draco Malfoy entered the café looking harried.

Ginny glanced around but there were no other students this far from the village and she gestured at him. The irritated look melted from his face and he sauntered over to sit opposite her.

"What's up with you? Those groupies getting you down?"

He glared at her and she grinned.

"If you must know I was trying to evade Crabbe and Goyle." He informed her grouchily.

"Really? They never seemed that difficult to confuse to me." She pointed out.

"Well as it turns out they're rather like stray cats that follow you home."

Ginny frowned.

"Grateful for the attention?" She suggested.

"Impossible to get rid of." He corrected.

Ginny rolled her eyes. As she was paying the bill she glanced out of the window.

"They're more resourceful than you thought." She told him, pointing out of the window where Crabbe and Goyle were ambling along the cobbled street towards the café.

Draco grunted in annoyance, grabbed Ginny's arm and yanked her through the café, past the startled chef and out of the back door.

"Hey!" Ginny protested as the snow hit her full in the face. "I didn't get my cloak!"

He ignored her, dragging her by the hand around the back of the station.

"Where are we going?" She panted, struggling to keep up as they scrambled through snow drifts where the snow had been piled off the tracks.

"Somewhere private."

He caught her startled glance and grinned. He eventually came to a halt outside a rather rickety wooden building perched precariously on a hill. Draco tapped the door with his wand and it creaked open. Ginny eyed the building doubtfully.

"Come on, Weasley-"

"Not one crack about my house." She warned him and he arranged his face into a hurt expression.

"Would I?"

She rolled her eyes. Following Malfoy into an abandoned building when no one knew where she was? Huh. He didn't look threatening though. He was standing there waiting for her to follow him, snow caught in his silver hair and a pink flush across his cheeks. There was nothing but impatience and enthusiasm burning in his silver-grey eyes. She sighed.

"Fine. But only because it's freezing out here."

She followed him inside, finding herself in a small round room with nothing but a ladder inside it. She started up the ladder gingerly, fully expecting it to collapse to pieces beneath her. She managed to make it to the top without incident though, hauling herself up onto a big round platform. Now she knew why it had felt as if they were climbing forever. They were very high up.

"It's an old watch tower for the trains." Draco explained as he emerged behind her.

She could see miles in every direction. Hogwarts in the distance, the train tracks disappearing into the snow and Hogsmeade laid out below them like a tiny model town.

"Whoa." Ginny exclaimed, gaping at the view.

Draco spread his cloak out right on the edge of the platform where it opened out into nothing. He patted a corner besides him and Ginny lowered herself down. The tower must have been charmed to repel the weather and stay warm because there were no walls but it was perfectly comfortable despite the snowy weather swirling around them. Ginny was not in the least afraid of heights and she swung her legs over the edge of the platform.

"It's beautiful."

Draco shrugged, leaning back on the heels of his hands.

"I used to come up here all the time. To think. Plan-" He broke off abruptly and Ginny flicked a glance at him.

They had never actually talked about what was coming. All the things that they would be required to do if they didn't want to distort the timeline.

"Do you ever think about the things you'd do over?" He asked in an unusually subdued voice. "Now that you've got the chance?"

"You mean like not losing my virginity to Seamus Finnigan at Harry's nineteenth birthday party? Sometimes."

Draco stared at her.

"Finnigan?" He finally managed to get out, his voice dripping with derision.

"Seamus is a very good man." Ginny said coldly. "Who did you lose your virginity to?"

Draco suddenly became very interested in the bare wooden ceiling of the platform.

"I hope we get out of this before I have to go through that again." Ginny muttered. "Losing it once was bad enough."

"I would have pegged Finnigan as a very gentle, considerate lover." Draco said thoughtfully and she elbowed him sharply.

"I'm sure he is but one's first time is always a rather unpleasant experience. Generally the same sensation as a burning hot poker trying to probe your innards." Ginny retorted primly, rather wondering how they'd managed to get onto this topic of conversation. "I don't think I'd let Selina get me drunk enough to think matching tattoos were an excellent idea either."

Draco's intense inspection of the ceiling ended abruptly and he squinted curiously at her, eyeing her from head to toe thoughtfully.

"When exactly did this happen?"

Ginny shrugged.

"Next summer when I go to stay at Selina's summer home in France. I get a—Hey!" She burst out embarrassedly, flushing bright red when she found him leering at her.

He shrugged, completely unrepentant. The silence between them had become way too comfortable and distinctly charged with something neither of them wanted to look at too closely.

"I have to go." Ginny finally said. "I have to get my hair cut."

Draco turned towards her, his penetrating grey eyes piercing right through her. She saw his hand lift out of the corner of her eye but she seemed to have lost all ability to control her body. She felt his hand, surprisingly warm given the weather, brush against the wing of her ear making it tingle, a rush of cooler air as he pulled away the hat. Her hair was warm from her body heat trapped beneath the hat and still scented from her vanilla cinnamon shampoo as it tumbled down her back. She still couldn't move. His hand was in her hair, drawing silken curls through his slender fingers and her neck was aflame in anticipation of his touch. She had forgotten how raw everything was when you were coursing with hormones, every millimetre of freckled skin attuned and humming. Colour had climbed into his cheeks and his lips had curved into something like a frown. She was almost sure she could see the pulse fluttering in his pale throat.

She was struck by the sudden inescapable urge to touch the hair sliding over his temple, to see if it was really as feathery soft as it looked. As if it was completely detached from her control, her hand lifted. She had forgotten her mittens in her cloak pocket and she watched her pale freckled hand as if it was somebody else's. He blinked at the contact when her fingertips stroked his temple, curling a silvery white strand between her fingers. It was softer than anything she'd ever felt. She could feel the heat from his body seeping through her fingers, his eyes burning into hers. His hand had curled into a fist, tangled in her hair and she tilted her face towards him enquiringly. It was so hard to connect the man she was getting to know with the young face she had thought she knew, and hated, so well. The sharp planes of his face she remembered now had the slightly soft edges of youth, his eyes were bigger than she remembered and his lashes much longer. The mouth that she had only ever seen contorted into a cruel smirk, a malicious snarl or a fearful twist was inches away, plump lower lip pursed thoughtfully. For a moment Ginny forgot that she was a grown woman and sitting besides her was a grown man and that their relationship was brain-achingly complicated. She felt like a teenage girl sitting besides a teenage boy, realising that she liked the way he made her laugh, the way he looked at her and the way he made her stomach flutter.

And for a second, just one brief second, she thought about letting it all go and giving in to her roiling stomach and breathless lips. He was so close, his lips were so very inviting and his eyelids had almost drifted entirely closed. Then reality reasserted itself and she drew back. Cold air rushed in between them, snapping her out of her daze. Her hand slid back from his temple and she felt him release her hair. The whole episode couldn't have lasted more than a minute or two but the air seemed so much colder swirling in between them.

Ginny found she couldn't seem to catch her breath as she scrambled to her feet. He wasn't looking at her any more; he was staring back out at the sprawling white vista, the breeze lifting his silver hair.

teddyandlilyforever – thanks here's your update

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