To say that Draco and Ginny fell fast for each other was an understatement. It was a whirlwind romance of seriousness and laughter, quarrels and make ups, dating and kissing.
"I mean, she's amazing. I wonder sometimes why she's with me to start off with."
"Because you practically accosted her in her office?" Blaise snorted.
It was now February, the snow still lightly falling outside Blaise's slightly messy flat. Two months had passed since that fateful day in the doorway of Draco's flat. Draco and Ginny were so into each other it was a wonder why they weren't glued at the hip already; they spent so much time together.
Blaise became more serious. "How are you going to tell her parents?" Thinking about Narcissa, he added, "Or your mother?"
Draco shrugged. It was an unspoken agreement between him and Ginny that they tell neither one of their families they were dating. Draco didn't want to find out what Ginny's million brothers would do to him if they found that he had supposedly seduced their baby sister into his arms. Nor did Ginny want to find out what the last Malfoy besides Draco thought of her, even if Draco kept reassuring her that Narcissa would absolutely love her.
"I don't know. We'll just kind of do it when it's best, I guess. I mean, my mother isn't really dying, and though I love her, I just can't get over the fact that she lied to me."
"She just did it because she loves you, you know." Blaise tried to explain for the hundredth time.
Draco sighed. "I know." Suddenly a thought came to him. Ginny still thought that Narcissa was dying. He had never told her the truth. How could he tell her that she was in fact, perfectly healthy?
_._._._._._._
Everyone could sense the change in Ginny each time they met for the weekly dinner at the Burrow. Except Hermione, who had her own thoughts, no one could guess what had happened to make Ginny act like a young girl again. She giggled and blushed at odd moments, making her brothers look at her oddly.
Harry, though overjoyed at Ginny's happiness, couldn't help asking why. "Hey Gin?"
Ginny was staring out the window remembering her and Draco's last date. It was nothing special really, something that all couples would do. They didn't try to publicize themselves to everyone. The whole wizarding world in England knew of the legendary feud between the Malfoys and the Weasleys. But there was no need to hide either. To Ginny, it was just Draco and Ginevra together.
Draco knocked on Ginny's flat. When she answered, he asked her, "Ginevra, it's snowing. Do you want to go to the park?"
Ginny leaned against the door and smiled. "Does that mean I can throw snowballs at you?"
He kissed her cheek. "I think you'll find it the other way around." Draco smirked.
They walked to the park, holding hands and keeping each other warm. The snow was powdery and over a foot thick.
Ginny stuck out her tongue, catching snowflakes. Draco watched her.
"You don't know what's in that stuff."
Ginny snorted. "Never hurt me before. You try it."
"What?"
"Try it. It's fun." She wore a quirky smile.
Draco had never before seen anyone so determined to make him do such a little thing as catching snowflakes with your tongue. To amuse her, he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. To his amazement, he could actually feel the snowflakes falling, melting with a tiny burst of coldness. His startled eyes flickered to Ginny.
"Fun, isn't it?" She had the feeling that he had never done anything so 'immature' before. "C'mon, I'll show you how to make snow angels. Some of the muggle children taught me a few years back."
Draco nearly burst out laughing at the sight of Ginny jumping on her back into the snow and moving her arms and legs. When she got up, there was indeed a snow angel, but it was distorted by the handprints in the snow when she leaned on them to get up. She frowned.
Draco laughed. "Do it again, and I'll help you up."
She did so, and as Draco grasped her hands to pull her up, she looked over her shoulder at a perfect snow angel.
"Ginny?"
Ginny looked at Harry's worried face and blushed, embarrassed to be caught thinking of Draco yet again. This would not have been the first time she had done so since they started dating. "What?"
"You just looked – never mind." How could he say that she looked so far away from him? Like she was in a different world. Like she wasn't his anymore.
Ginny stared out the window again.
Ginny packed a handful of snow as she hid behind a tree. Draco was in sight, doing the same exact thing. As he stooped to gather the snow, Ginny let her snowball fly. Years of practice with her brothers had caused the snowball to hit Draco squarely on the head. He looked up, shaking snow out of his hair, to see her black coat swish around as she took off running.
He smirked and called, "You just run, because I'm going to catch you!"
Ginny screamed in protest as Draco tackled her from behind, wrapping his arms around her middle, rolling with her over and over in the snow. Trapping her under his arms, he smirked. "What did I tell you?"
Her hat had fallen off when she ran, and her dark red hair fanned out around her head, seeming to cast an ethereal glow around her face. It was such a contrast to the white sparkling snow that Draco paused momentarily in his victory. He stared into Ginny's warm brown eyes.
Ginny struggled, trying to put snow down his shirt, "Let me go Draco!" and Draco kissed her, brushing away the snow on her cheek. Ginny couldn't protest. She simply kissed him back.
Life was great.
_._._._._._._._
But of course, it wasn't perfect. Sometimes it seemed that they never agreed on anything. One such day, Ginny returned to her flat later than usual, not expecting a sullen looking Draco at her front door.
"Where were you?"
Ginny looked at Draco. "At Harry's." Harry was the best man, naturally, Hermione, the perfectionist, needed Ginny there with her occasionally when she went over plans with him.
Draco practically growled. "Why?"
Ginny never expected Draco to react so violently. "For Hermione and Ron's wedding."
"Did you have to take so bloody long?"
"Why are you so grouchy?"
"You just spent the whole evening at Potter's." He spat the name. "How am I supposed to feel?" Draco looked away, his eyes flashing dangerously.
Ginny tried to understand. Then it occurred to her that Draco could be jealous. She voiced the thought, "Are you jealous of Harry?"
"I'm not jealous." Draco muttered. But all he could remember were images of Harry and Ginny at Hogwarts, walking through corridors holding hands, laughing and joyful.
"So why are you acting this way?"
"Just because..."
"Just because is not a reason."
Draco turned around. "Will you stop doing that?"
"What?"
"The whole 'I'm so innocent why are you mad at me thing'!" He said it in an imitated whinny sort of voice that Ginny did not appreciate. She raised her hand to slap him.
He caught her hand in mid-air, inches from his face. She glared at him, wrenched her hand out of his, opened her door, and made to slam it in front of his face. She didn't anticipate Draco's foot swiftly moving to block the door from fully closing.
"Don't do that again." Ginny couldn't tell if he was referring to her staying at Harry's, or nearly slapping him, or even slamming the door in his face. Whatever it was, Draco's voice was dangerously calm. Then, as if reaching a conclusion, he unexpectedly threw open the door and pulled Ginny's face toward his almost too roughly and kissed her soundly on the mouth. He could never stay mad at her for too long.
_._._._._._._
Later they sat on the sofa in Ginny's flat, simply content to just be with each other. It was not the first fight they had, nor would it be the last. And both of them knew it. Draco was simply too proud to admit he was wrong, and Ginny was stubborn. But every time they did fight, it was strange, like Ginny understood something more about Draco and Draco understood something more about Ginny. They learned something about each other.
Draco was drifting off to sleep when he heard Ginny mumble softly, "Draco, do you remember our first date?" When he looked down at her through half-lidded eyes, however, she was fast asleep.
But how could he not? His thoughts drifted back to that night.
Draco stood in front of his mirror, nervously plucking at his shirt. He had planned to take Ginny to something Blaise would call a 'posh' restaurant. In truth, he didn't really enjoy going to those types of places, but he wanted to impress Ginny on their first date.
Ginny, a floor beneath him was standing in front of her wardrobe, hands on her hips. It was years since she felt like this. Like it was her first date all over again. She was excited, of course, but also extremely anxious. It didn't help that Draco hadn't exactly told her what to wear.
She ran her hands through dresses and outfits she hadn't seen in many years. She sighed. "What does he mean by 'dress nicely'?"
Ginny began ranting. "I mean, there are lots of 'nices'! There's casual nice, dressy nice, work nice, play with kids nice, formal nice..." she groaned. "What does he mean?"
Nevertheless, when Draco appeared at her door an hour later, Ginny was clad in a beautiful white dress that, to Draco, seemed to fit her perfectly, inside and out.
"You look beautiful."
"Is it okay?"
"Okay? You're gorgeous."
Ginny blushed. "Thanks."
But to both of them, as they set off walking down the stairs, it was the slightest bit awkward. They had been beating around the bush for so long that it was hard to realize that they were actually together now.
"So how's work?" Draco tried to start a conversation.
"It's great."
They fell again into that awkward silence. Draco almost wished that they could just apparate, but Ginny had wanted to walk, since Draco told her it wasn't far. What were only a few minutes' walk seemed like hours to Draco, but they arrived in front of the restaurant, The Four Seasons.
Ginny looked a little uncomfortable as Draco opened the door for her and she stepped into the obviously classy restaurant. Draco didn't really know what to do. It certainly wasn't turning out as he thought it would. Even though he didn't like it, it was okay if she did.
Draco personally preferred restaurants like the one he had taken Ginny to months ago, when they had first met. It was nice enough but not stuffy. It was strange that they had such a great time there and he didn't even try to impress her.
Then there was that one restaurant...
But Draco pushed it from his mind. It wouldn't do to take Ginny there.
The waiter led them to a table that had a wonderful view, but Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked as he picked up a menu.
Ginny didn't answer, but nodded. A few seconds later she whispered, "It's nice."
Draco frowned as he noticed her trying to smile at him. When the waiter came around to take their orders, Ginny was opening her mouth to order her dish when Draco stood up.
"I'm sorry, er," He squinted at the waiter's name engraved on a shiny plaque pinned to the vest and continued. "Manuel? We would like to leave." Manuel began to protest. "No, I'm sorry. We had a change of plans and are unable to dine in this fine establishment."
With that, he took Ginny's hand and pulled her out of the chair, leading her outside.
Ginny was shocked, but also attempting to control her laughter. "Did you see his face?" She giggled. "It was like you personally insulted his masculinity
Draco smirked. "He probably thought I did. Insecure git."
"So where are we going?" Draco smirked again, wrapping an arm around her waist. The next thing Ginny knew she was standing with Draco on a dingy looking street.
"What's going on?"
Draco simply grasped her hand, reassuring her without words. "We're in muggle London."
Ginny eyed him warily. "Why?"
"Because my favourite restaurant in the whole world is here."
Minutes later they sat at a small table in an equally small restaurant. It seemed odd, that two people dressed like they were going to a ball were having dinner at this seemingly non-existent place. It couldn't have been more different than the restaurant she and Draco had left just a few minutes ago. There was no light in the restaurant except for the warm glow of candles at other tables and a faint light coming from the kitchen.
The waiter came by with a basket of bread and a dish of butter, setting down the menus. As he placed on in front of Draco, he stopped.
"Draco?" Draco smirked. The guy immediately jerked Draco out of his seat and into a hug.
He was laughing. "No one can forget that smirk." He pounded Draco's back, but Draco didn't seem to mind. When he stopped, he asked, "Where have you been? It was like you disappeared for the past four years."
Then he noticed Ginny. "Wow. Pretty lady there." He knelt at Ginny's feet and Ginny glanced at Draco. Draco laughed when the man took Ginny's hand and kissed her knuckles.
"Alright, Tommy, stop flirting with my date." But Draco made no move to stop him. Draco started introductions. "Ginevra, this is Tommy, clumsiest waiter here. Tommy, this is Ginevra, usually known as Ginny."
"Miss Ginny, huh? Well, Ginny, your eyes shine like the stars, your hair glows like the moon –" He was cut off by Draco's snort.
"Her hair is red. How can it glow like the moon?"
Tommy shrugged. For the rest of the night, Ginny chatted with Draco and Tommy, and she never had a better time in her life.
"So where were you? One day, you just packed up your bags and left, never looking back."
Draco looked at his water glass. "I just had to return...to my responsibilities." Ginny immediately knew that Draco was talking about the war. She took his hand. Tommy understood that it was a sensitive subject for him and spoke to Ginny.
"See, Draco here, he was a waiter with us. Just showed up and insisted on working with us. Great guy you have there."
Ginny smiled. "I know."
Before Draco and Ginny left, Tommy kissed Ginny once more on the hand and praised the loveliness of her nose.
He gave Draco another gigantic hug, he whispered, "Don't ever let this one go. She gets you."
Draco nodded.
They left to the sound of Tommy yelling to come back more often, 'not every four years, you smirking prat!' and turned back to wave.
They were back in their own town, holding hands and strolling down the street when Ginny spoke. "So you were a waiter?"
"Yeah. I was furious when I was told to hide in the muggle world while everyone else was fighting." His voice was bitter. "They didn't even give me money."
"You had to work to survive."
"Yeah. But it was great. I never knew how much fun it could be. To relax and not worry about how everyone thought of me." Ginny didn't respond. "But I knew I had to go back sometime to face him."
Ginny didn't need to ask who 'him' was. It was not Voldemort, but Draco's father, Lucius. It was a common fact that Draco had somehow killed Lucius before Harry killed Voldemort in the final battle, but no one knew how or even where. It was like Draco was there, and then he was gone.
"I killed him, you know."
"Your father?"
"Yeah."
She gripped his hand hard and kissed his cheek. "You're a hero too, you know. Your father was Voldemort's right hand Death Eater. If he hadn't been killed, who knows what might have happened."
"It was never in the papers. I never said anything."
"It's okay."
"It was all Severus." Draco sounded miserable. "I was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but I couldn't do it. I thought I could. Wasn't it everything I trained for, since I could walk and talk? But I just couldn't. So Severus did." Ginny's heart couldn't help twisting at the mention of Dumbledore's murder. The Order had never really understood Severus Snape's killing of the beloved headmaster.
They were nearly at Ginny's flat, climbing up the stairs. "And I couldn't face my father again, much less Voldemort. I was ashamed, for that one moment, and then I was angry. Angry at everything. Severus told me to hide. He's my godfather, did you know that?"
Ginny grinned. "No wonder he always favoured you."
Draco smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah. So I did. And I came back when he told me that I was needed. And I was."
"It takes more bravery to do that than to hide forever." They were at Ginny's front door. Draco kissed Ginny on the forehead. "Thanks for understanding." He hugged her one last time before disappearing around the corner and climbing up the stairs. Somehow, that night, he had felt less weighted than he had for a long time.
It wasn't a normal first date, but when was anything normal with them?
_._._._._._._
It was still snowing in March, but Draco and Ginny made the most of it. Ginny loved the snow, and Draco seemed to be reliving his childhood, learning how to ride a sled down a hill, throwing snowballs as fast as he could, all the things he was deprived of when he was little. He had showed her his world and in turn, she had showed him hers.
Yet it was all these little details and quirks that mattered.
One day, they were walking down the street in town when Ginny stopped, tilting her head. Suddenly she started running in the direction they had just come from.
"In Merlin's name – Ginevra?"
"C'mon! He's here!"
"He? Should I be worried?" They reached the corner and there stood a young man with a violin. The case was open and there were a few galleons in it.
"Who's he?" Draco whispered, looking at the man as he finished one song and began another.
"I don't know. But he comes here from time to time... you've never heard him play before?"
"No."
"Just listen then."
They listened. It was a beautiful, so beautiful that it seemed unearthly. To Draco, it seemed just the slightest bit bittersweet. The sorrowful tune of the violin washed over them. Ginny looked at Draco for his reaction.
The man played with his eyes closed, feeling the music. He could easily be a concert violinist or something of that nature, but he wished to play for the average person, not just the people who could afford it. Music could change the world.
He remembered this girl. The girl with the flaming red hair who always looked as dejected as she listened. And she always listened. He played for her now, for her past, and for her future.
Draco looked at Ginny again. The snow was starting to fall, pure and sparkling white on the ground. She looked enraptured by the music. He couldn't help it. He swept her into his arms and kissed her.
When they parted, she looked dazed. "I think –" She blinked, her eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks, "that I'm in love with you." It was like she didn't care anymore what he would say, whether he would respond or not, just as long as she said it.
"As long as," he began, swallowing, "as long as you're half as much in love with me as I'm in love with you, that's enough for me." He gazed unashamedly into her eyes.
Her mouth trembled and threw her arms around him.
As the violin played on, just slightly more cheerful than the heart wrenching melancholy it was singing before, Draco and Ginny were oblivious to everything around them.
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