Every Little Thing
by smprsgrrl

Rating: PG13
Ship: Draco & Ginny
Canon: Books 1 - 5
Genre: Drama, Romance
Status: In progress
Length: 3,219 words in 1 chapter
Published: 5 Sep 2005
Last updated: 5 Sep 2005

When Draco Malfoy finished Hogwarts almost a decade ago, he only looked back once - the moment Harry Potter choose to
propose to Ginny Weasley. Finally convinced that the redhead is out of his heart and mind, he's engaged to another
woman. What happens when Ginny has other plans?

From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/5073/

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1. 01

A/N: Many thanks to the wonderful Rainpuddle for the beta - I'm not sure where this one is going. It's up to Ginny, I
think. For the title... it was originally inspired by, Anything but Mine from Kenny Chesney, then by Let Me Go by 3
Doors Down. Neither of the titles fit, so I looked elsewhere and found a great little 3 Doors Down song called It's Not
Me. It seemed to fit Draco's state of mind in the first part.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own them, please don't sue me.

The thing about Ginny Weasley that bothered him the most was how well he knew her. It seemed odd to him, even years
later, the things he could remember about his relationship with the girl. For instance – the shade of copper her hair
turned in the sun or how she took milk instead of sugar in her tea. Draco Malfoy could easily recall small details about
her without even really thinking about it. Memory was funny like that – he could barely remember the Prime Minister's
name (who he dealt with fairly regularly), yet he could easily recall the cut of the dress robes Ginny wore at his last
Yule Ball.

He was also bothered by how she seemed to show up in his every day life. Not physically, since he hadn't seen her in
years, but he was always reminded of her. It could be something like the right shade of red or hearing her bell-like
laughter. Draco was always baffled by the reminders of her; after ten years one would think he'd closed the door on
Ginny Weasley. Not to mention the cruel way she'd run off with Potter after Hogwarts. It should have been easy to put
her behind him after that.

After tonight, however, he was sure that the days of thinking of her were over. He was just returning from a dinner
party celebrating his impending nuptials. To his mother's great delight, Draco was finally ready to take a wife. One
she'd deemed acceptable, which he knew Ginny Weasley would never be.

What his mother could never know, however, was how close she came to having Ginny as a daughter-in-law. The war ended in
March of his seventh year, Harry Potter valiantly defeating Voldemort during an epic battle, and life seemed to go on as
normal. At that time Draco was having thoughts of asking Ginny to marry him, but he convinced himself it was just relief
from winning the war. Besides, whatever it was between them wasn't serious. They were just fooling around. He bid her
farewell, promising to owl, but didn't. A year later, Draco found himself back at Hogwarts, only to receive the surprise
of his life. After the finishing ceremony Ginny was greeted by a very happy Potter, who apparently bought a ring for the
occasion.

Draco considered interrupting, but then he saw how happy she was. During his absence it seemed that Potter realized what
was standing in front of him all of those years and she fell for the git. The blond merely Apparated away, and it was
the last time he'd seen her.

The next day, like all young Malfoy men, Draco left for the continent. It was customary for all heirs to spend a year or
so exploring the different Malfoy properties. Draco would spend the next five years doing that. At some point in time he
crossed paths with Gabrielle Delacour, who was still in school at the time. He'd only met her once before, briefly,
during the Triwizard Tournament. She'd been eight at the time and hadn't made much of an impression on him. Their next
meeting proved to be more memorable. At seventeen, Draco found Gabrielle to be even more beautiful than Fleur and was
almost immediately enamored with her. She was also the exact opposite of Ginny Weasley, which attracted him even more.

He'd never meant to become engaged to her, as he was never certain if he loved her or not. Draco knew it was what his
mother, her mother, and Gabrielle wanted more than anything. They'd been together for nearly four years by her
twenty-first birthday and it seemed that the time was right. He knew she would be the perfect society wife and would
likely be faithful to him. Besides, there didn't seem to be any other options on the horizon. Narcissa Malfoy had cried
the day he requested the Malfoy family engagement ring. It was then Draco knew there was no backing out of the
engagement. Three days later, all of wizarding Britain knew.

When he proposed, he thought he might be able to put the actual marriage off for a bit. He soon learned that Gabrielle
could be quite persistent and their mothers would plan the wedding with or without his cooperation. About six months
ago, Draco found out he would be married June 28, 2008. His mother only expected him to show up at various events and he
would be left out of the rest of it. Narcissa told him she never expected him to participate in the planning.

His pending nuptials were the reason he was out tonight. Gabrielle's parents had hosted a dinner in their honor in
downtown London. Draco spent four hours on his feet beside Gabrielle, accepting congratulations and saying thank you.
The worst part of it all was that Fleur was there with Bill Weasley. After the first hour Draco checked out mentally and
began to imagine what his wedding might be like he were marrying Ginny instead. It wasn't a road he allowed himself to
go down often, as the results were nearly disastrous.

He was the last one to leave the restaurant, sending Gabrielle back to her parents' townhouse. Draco opted to walk back
to his flat. It would give him time to clear his head. It was nearly midnight now and he'd been walking almost an hour
now, trying to push Ginny Weasley out of his head. He'd long ago given up on getting her completely out of his heart. As
he turned the street corner, Draco could see someone sitting on the steps in front of his building. It seemed as if
Gabrielle had come over after all. The blond sighed heavily and locked all thoughts of the redhead away. There was no
need for his fiancé to know about his past relationship with her.

"Gabrielle," he called. "Why didn't you go up?"

The woman looked up and Draco stopped immediately. It wasn't Gabrielle at all. "Hello, Draco."

His heart was suddenly hammering in his chest and he wasn't sure he could speak. After nearly a decade, she was sitting
on his front steps like they'd seen each other yesterday. "Gin," he finally managed.

She smiled up at him and Draco felt his stomach flutter. "How've you been?"

"I'm—" he stuttered. "I'm doing well. What're you doing here?"

"I've been well, too. Very busy." Ginny stood and straightened the black coat she was wearing. "Aren't you going to ask
me inside?"

"No."

This made her smile again. "Surprised to see me, then? You had to know I would come for you."

Bloody hell, what was she going on about? "How would I know that," Draco asked through clenched teeth, "when it's been
nearly a decade since I've spoken to you?"

The redhead held up a folded Prophet and Draco recognized it as the one announcing his engagement to Gabrielle. "I
wanted to offer you congratulations."

He went up the stairs, careful not to touch her. "Try a Hallmark card and an owl next time. If you'll excuse me."

Ginny came up the stairs after him and put a hand on his arm. "Draco, it doesn't have to be like this."

"Like what?" the blond asked. "Gin, now isn't the time nor the place for this. I'm getting married in a month. You and
I… We're ancient history. Just go back to Potter, Weasley."

She recoiled, almost like he'd struck her. "You… You don't know? How can you not know?"

"Know what?"

"Harry and I split two years after I finished Hogwarts. I didn't marry him."

"Is that supposed to matter to me?" he asked. Draco pulled his keys from his pocket and opened the lock. "I don't have
time for this."

Ginny stepped forward, gently touching his arm and stopping his movement. "Draco, I know I hurt you. I just—"

"You just?" the blond interrupted. He looked at her, hard lines etched across his face. "What, Gin? You thought you
could show up and we'd pick up where we left off? I've moved on."

"Have you?" she questioned. "Have you really?"

"I'm getting married in a month."

"That doesn't mean anything," Ginny challenged. "I know you, Draco – you aren't marrying her because you want to."

Draco shook her hand from his arm and pushed the building door open. "You don't know a damn thing about me, Ginevra, so
don't pretend that you do. I'm sure you know your way home. Goodbye."

The door slammed loudly behind him and the redhead was left standing on the porch, alone.

* * *

"Fuck." Draco kicked the trash bin and sent it flying across the kitchen. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!"

It wasn't as if he hadn't dreamed it a thousand times. For some time he'd actually hoped her marriage to Potter would
fail. He'd wanted her to want him again, so he could push her aside as she'd done to him. But those were just fantasies
– ways he used to amuse himself when Ginny Weasley would cross his mind. The redhead downstairs was very real, just as
he remembered. She also seemed to know him like he knew her. He wasn't marrying Gabrielle because he loved her, or even
wanted to marry her, but because it was expected.

He was a Malfoy and it was his duty to carry on the family name. Draco knew that once an heir was produced their
marriage would be in name only. He'd seen it with his parents, even though they did share some affection for each other.
If he was honest with himself, he knew he wanted something more than that. Gabrielle was a sweet girl and he did feel
something for her.

It just didn't measure up to what he once felt for Ginny.

Fuck. What was he going to do? He was fine with marrying Gabrielle as long as Ginny was out of the picture. She was
supposed to be happily married to fucking Potter by now, not sitting outside his building. In his mind there were
several Potter-Weasley children running around… and Ginny looked a lot like her mother. And she'd just blown that all to
hell.

He was screwed. The right thing to do would be to go on as if he'd never seen her – it shouldn't matter that he had.
He'd made a commitment to Gabrielle, and he did care for her. The only problem was that she wasn't Ginny. Draco knew if
he was going forward with the wedding to Gabrielle he needed to close the Ginny part of his life, once and for all. He
withdrew his wand from his pocket, closing his eyes and thinking of the front of his building. The familiar sense of
Apparation came over him at once.

The redhead was sitting exactly where he'd left her, almost as if she'd known he would come back. It only served to
infuriate him even further. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

She trained her brown eyes on him and Draco knew she could see right through him. "I wanted to see you. I… You've been
on my mind a lot lately."

"How nice. I can't say the same about you."

"Draco," she sighed. She looked away from him then. "It just seems that after all of this time there's something
unfinished between us."

"Like what?" he questioned. "We shared something over a decade ago at Hogwarts, but it ended. After I left I considered
the subject of us to be closed."

"Then why did you come back?" Ginny asked softly. "Why were you at my finishing ceremony?"

This caused him to pause. He'd never know she knew he was there. "How do you know that?"

"I saw you there. Or at least I thought I saw you there, but you disappeared pretty quickly. It wasn't until I read
about it in the Prophet until I was sure."

"I wanted to see you, for what reason I don't know. For that year I couldn't get you out of my mind. I had no idea you
were seeing Potter, though. I never would have gone if I had." Draco could still clearly remember the shock he felt when
Ginny went to Potter and he saw their shared kiss. The sharp pain in his heart was a feeling he didn't like and didn't
ever want to feel again.

"Harry and I happened so suddenly that summer. I was still reeling from us, and he was there to help me through. You
never tried to contact me… it was only a year, Draco, we could have managed."

"And then what?" he questioned. "I bring my poor Muggle-loving girlfriend home for my mother to meet? Announce the world
that I wanted to marry her? It worked out better this way, Gin. You had Potter and I had a reason to get on with my
life."

"You—" she stumbled, "You wanted to marry me?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. The point is Potter was there for you when I wasn't. You moved on and I'm not about to take
over his sloppy seconds."

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. "Sloppy seconds? You arsehole. I'm the one who left him."

Draco hadn't known that. "Why? He was always the one you wanted."

"When I was thirteen, yes. Even little girls grow up, Draco. It took me a while to figure it out, but Harry was no
longer my fantasy. You were."

"Gin, it's been ten years. Sometimes we have to let the past die."

"And sometimes you have to fight for what you want, Draco."

The Malfoy heir looked down at her, unable to say what was in his heart. Yes, he'd missed her and yes, he still wanted
her, but it was too late for him. It was too late for them. He would be marrying another woman in just over a month.
"You don't want me."

"Don't tell me what I want," she replied quickly. "As you're so quick to remind me, it's been ten years. You don't know
me anymore."

"Maybe you're right. My life is with Gabrielle now."

"Okay." Ginny stood up. Because she was still on the steps, they stood at eye-level to each other. "Then kiss me."

"Wh—what?"

"Kiss me," she repeated. "Kiss me once for old-times sake. If it's not there, then I'll leave you alone. You can forget
about tonight and I'll even send you a wedding gift."

"Ginny."

"Draco. The number one reason you keep telling me that we can't be together is Gabrielle. I want to prove to you that
you and I share more than just a past."

"This is silly. I don't play games like this. Gabrielle is a good girl and I won't hurt her."

"When did you get so noble?" the redhead asked. "When we were at Hogwarts, you certainly had no such qualms about
committed relationships and kissing other people."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "We all grow up sometime, Gin."

"Kiss me," she asked him again.

"Gin—"

"If you do it, I'll walk away. I'll leave if you tell me to. You're completely in control here."

He was never in control when it came to her, Draco commented silently. She was the one with all the power in their
relationship because he needed her so badly. "You'll leave?" he questioned. "You won't go selling this to the tabloids?"

"Would I really do that?"

"No."

"You do still know me just a little, then." She smiled at him, the streetlights illuminating her red hair and freckles.
"If you tell me to go, then I will."

Draco nodded. Since she asked him to kiss her minutes before, he knew eventually he would. The slight woman in front of
him could always get just what she wanted. Taking a step forward, he lifted his hand to her face. Her skin was as soft
as he remembered.

Ginny turned her cheek into his palm. "I've missed this."

He took another step, their bodies barely touching. He leaned his head forward and brushed his lips against hers. Draco
felt light and heavy at one time and his brain was shouting at him to pull back. Not listening, he took another step
toward her, his tongue sweeping across her lips. She opened for him as her arms wrapped around his neck. Draco lifted
her off the ground as he plundered her mouth.

Moments later, they pulled apart and Draco took several steps backward. He couldn't look at her – her kiss-swollen lips
were too tempted. "There, are you happy?"

She pressed her fingers to her lips. It was just like she remembered. "This isn't about me."

He looked at her then. "It certainly isn't about me. This is what you wanted."

"If that were true, you wouldn't have kissed me like that," she told him softly.

What was he supposed to say? That she crossed his mind frequently and he was glad to see her? That he felt more in one
kiss with her than he did with thousands with Gabrielle? He couldn't say any of that. "Will you leave me alone now?"

Ginny repeated his action from earlier, pressing her hand to his cheek. "That's not what either of us want."

"Yes it is," he insisted. "I want you to go on with your life. I've moved on with mine."

"No, you haven't." She looked at him before letting her hand drop back to her side. "I wonder if you even realize it."

"Ginny," Draco sighed.

She reached down and picked up her purse and the newspaper. "I'll see you again, Draco."

"Gin—"

"When did you say you're getting married?"

"In a month, you know that already."

"Okay, then. I have a month to convince you not to go through with it. You still want me as much as I want you.
Eventually you'll stop fighting it. Just remember, all's fair in love and war."

With that, she walked past him and down the sidewalk. He tried calling after her once or twice, but she didn't look
back. Draco watched her until she Disapparated at the end of the sidewalk and only then did he go back inside his
building.

He was completely fucked.
