Let's rewind a bit.
After starting at Hogwarts, Ginny Weasley had been secretly keeping an eye on Harry.
Lately, Ginny noticed that Harry and Hermione often slipped out of their common room late at night. In fact, she often stayed up quite late in the common room herself, but Harry never seemed to notice her.
That afternoon, Ginny followed Hermione and watched her catch a few frogs by the Black Lake.
Ginny initially thought these were for Hedwig, but then Hermione excitedly showed the frogs to Harry. After they whispered together for a bit, Harry cast a Freezing Charm on the frogs.
Ginny, of course, couldn't help but be curious. She decided she'd follow them tonight to see what they were up to.
To avoid being spotted by Harry, Ginny asked Angelina Johnson to cast a Silencing Charm on her. Angelina didn't ask what Ginny was planning, as it was perfectly normal for Gryffindor students to be out after hours.
Ginny was very cautious, keeping a good distance to make sure Harry didn't see her.
However, after turning a corner, Harry and Hermione mysteriously vanished (they'd put on the Invisibility Cloak, you see).
Ginny was quite clever and immediately guessed that Harry must have used some kind of vanishing magic.
Ginny searched for a while, trying to spot Harry, but she saw nothing.
Finally, Ginny gave up and decided to head back to Gryffindor Tower.
Draco Malfoy was in a rather good mood today. A crate of French gin he'd ordered by owl post had arrived, and he was planning to take it to Norbert tonight.
Draco usually wouldn't touch Muggle alcohol with a ten-foot pole, but Norbert, perhaps having grown up accustomed to brandy, simply didn't fancy wizarding Firewhisky.
Draco had no choice but to go through Blaise Zabini to secretly acquire a crate of French gin, all without Lucius finding out.
To his surprise, Norbert absolutely loved the French gin and, quite uncharacteristically, played with Draco for a good while.
It was only when Norbert flew off that Draco realized how late it had gotten.
Draco politely declined Hagrid's offer to escort him and made his way back to the castle alone.
Draco had originally intended to go straight back to the Slytherin common room, but he spotted Severus Snape at the castle entrance.
Snape was heading towards his Potions classroom; he needed to store away the Acromantula venom before starting his night patrol.
Draco was terrified of being caught by Snape and having his late-night wanderings outside the castle reported to Lucius. So, he decided to wait for Snape to leave before returning to the common room.
But Draco didn't want to linger outside the castle either; he worried about monsters lurking in the darkness. So, he slipped into the castle from the side, planning to take a roundabout route upstairs to get back to the dungeons.
"Bloody moving staircases!" Draco grumbled, glaring at a staircase that suddenly shifted, forcing him to take a different path.
Ginny Weasley was deep in thought and didn't notice the approaching footsteps around the corner.
Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was used to striding through Hogwarts as if he owned the place; everyone usually made way for him, not the other way around.
Plus, Ginny still had the Silencing Charm on her, so the two of them crashed into each other with a thud.
And just like that, a Malfoy and a Weasley met by pure, unfortunate chance.
"Ouch!" Ginny cried out, clutching her head.
"Ah!" Draco also yelped, clutching his chest.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking..." Ginny immediately apologized.
"Can't you watch where you're going, you clumsy oaf!" Draco, however, responded with far less politeness.
It was then that both of them finally registered that they were facing a Weasley and a Malfoy.
Ginny's apology vanished immediately, replaced by a scoff of derision.
But because the Silencing Charm was still active, to Draco, Ginny Weasley's mouth was just moving without any sound coming out.
Draco clearly misunderstood. He thought Ginny was just too shy to speak.
So, Draco lifted his head high, addressing Ginny with a look of utter disdain. "It's you again! You followed me into the Forbidden Forest last time. Don't tell me you fancy me, do you? Don't be ridiculous, Weasleys aren't worthy—"
Before he could finish, Ginny delivered a resounding slap across Draco's face.
Draco instantly dropped his arrogant facade, clutching his cheek in shock. He couldn't believe Ginny had actually dared to hit him.
But he quickly recovered, launching into a stream of furious expletives.
"You little weasel, how dare you hit me?! You #*@!" (The English pronunciation of "Weasley" is quite similar to "weasel," a common insult from the Malfoys.)
Ginny tried to hit him again, but this time, Draco was ready. He grabbed her wrist.
Because Draco had been making frequent trips to the Forbidden Forest since his first year, his physical condition was much better than described in the original books. Ginny found herself unable to move once he had her wrist.
Ginny tried to reach for her wand with her other hand, but Draco, having been thoroughly thrashed by Harry multiple times, pre-emptively pinned her other arm down.
Realizing that Ginny wasn't as strong as he was, Draco started mocking her without restraint.
"Little weasel, no manners at all, is that how your mother taught you?"
Hearing Malfoy's taunts, Ginny's eyes welled up. She struggled relentlessly but to no avail.
Though surprised by Ginny's unexpected strength, Draco continued his sneering.
"Hahaha, little weasel's going to cry, isn't she~ Beg me, and I'll let you go."
Driven by fury, Ginny's magic surged, finally breaking through the Silencing Charm.
"You're the weasel! And you and your mother are both arrogant, stuck-up gits!" Ginny shrieked.
Draco had initially held back from using magic, mindful of not attracting Professor Snape, who might be on patrol.
But when Ginny brought up his mother, he decided she would pay for it.
Draco sneered. "Little weasel, I'm going to make you crawl back to Gryffindor just like Longbottom did."
"Come on then, do you think I'm a coward?!"
Ginny glared back, not backing down. The tension between them was palpable, ready to erupt.
Suddenly, a rush of footsteps echoed. Draco instinctively let go of Ginny's wrist and darted into the shadows.
Please don't be Professor Snape, Draco prayed.
Upon seeing who it was, Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was only the prefect on patrol.
"I'm Percy Weasley, Gryffindor prefect. What are you two doing up so late—Blimey, Ginny?!"
Percy's jaw dropped when he recognized the two students.
But he quickly stepped in front of Ginny, his eyes fixed on the handprint clearly visible on Malfoy's face.
If Penelope wasn't there, if he wasn't a prefect, Percy would have cursed Draco the moment he saw that slap mark.
Fearing that he might draw Professor Snape's attention, Percy led the two of them into an empty classroom.
As soon as Ginny entered, she saw a frog's leg vanish into thin air. She began to look around, quickly spotting the sticky residue on the floor.
Ginny immediately connected this to the frogs Hermione had been carrying, realizing that Harry and Hermione were right there, hidden.
When Percy asked her what had happened, Ginny simply offered a few vague excuses, hoping to get Percy to leave as quickly as possible.
Ginny was worried Percy might attract a professor and cause Harry to be discovered, so she glared at Malfoy, hoping he wouldn't say anything.
Draco would have loved to tell the other Weasley exactly what had transpired – how their sister was obsessed with him and had followed him.
But that would expose his own trip to the Forbidden Forest tonight. Hagrid, that blabbermouth, would surely spill the beans about Draco carrying Muggle alcohol to see a dragon.
Draco couldn't let Lucius find out, so he remained silent.
Seeing that he wouldn't get any answers, Percy just told them both to go back to their common rooms.
(Here's a Draco and Ginny fan art I found.)
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