Unofficial Portkey Archive

It Started With A Kiss

Author: sunnycouger ([email protected] )

Category: Drama, Romance

Rating: PG.

Summary: Ginny Weasley has just kissed Draco Malfoy! But what happens next? This is the ramifications and the subsequent date. Prequel to Somewhere In Between!

Disclaimer: The characters of Harry Potter don't belong to me, I'm just taking them out to play and I promise to get them home to JK Rowling in time for the next book :) But, just in case you were in any doubt as to who they belong to have a look at this: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Authors Note: The third of the prequels to Somewhere In Between. As always you can read that first and find out how the whole thing ends or you can take it as a stand alone and imagine your own ending. This follows on to Of Purple Mice and Floating Paperweights and In The End but you don't need to know that to get this. Some things will be mentioned but mostly it's a stand alone. Thank you Liv for beta'ing this and helping out. You're the best!!

The prologue (which is helpfully in italics ) is basically word for word the events from Somewhere In Between as the fic is really more about the events afterwards, but if you haven't read that I figured it would be easier if you saw how the kiss came about. Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prologue

"I thought you had to stay in the school, Malfoy?" Ginny Weasley looked down from her space in the branch about 10 feet from the ground to see a reflective looking Draco Malfoy looking out towards the lake in the grounds of Hogwarts. "Professor Dumbledore won't be happy if he sees you out here...not that I'll tell...I could do with the company..."

He turned abruptly, clearly surprised at the presence of someone else. His blond hair reflected the moonlight as he turned his pale grey eyes towards her. "I'm a bit old to be following rules, am I not? I couldn't sleep and I needed some air. What's your excuse? Out in the middle of the night, alone..."

"Unlike some people around here," she smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "I don't need an excuse..."

"Good point." He walked over to her and climbed up to sit on the branch beside her. She looked at him probingly. He looked a little more...pensive than usual.

"So what brings you out here? Peeves throwing the armour around again?" Ginny asked as he steadied himself on the branch.

He shook his head and sighed. "Can't sleep." He looked at her before turning back to the water. "Do you ever wonder why your life turned out like it did and what would have happened if you had made different choices, Ginny? If you had shown a bit of character earlier in your life instead of waiting until things were too late to fix..."

She shook her head as she looked at the water. "No, I like my life as it is..."

"Typical response from a Weasley. You all believe your life is perfect," Draco sighed. "And the rest of us mere mortals should get on with it."

Ginny shook her head as she looked at him. "I don't for a second think my life is perfect, but I refuse to dwell on the past and blaming a choice that I may or may not have made."

Draco shook his head as he turned and looked back towards the lake. "Are you trying to tell me that you wouldn't have spoken to Potter sooner if you had the chance all over again? Because if you expect me to believe that, you are deluded."

Ginny sighed and looked away. "Why do you do that, Malfoy? Why do you show your contempt for me even when you are trying to have a civilised conversation?"

Draco turned to her and smiled bitterly. "Good question. Why do you still insist on calling me Malfoy when we speak? It's been nearly two years since we had our first conversation and we have had many since yet you have never once called me by my name. It's always Malfoy," he turned away from her again and shook his head. "And you get upset when I mention Potter's name? You can't have it both ways...you can't expect me to give you anything other than the contempt you give me."

Ginny bit her lip and looked at him. "I...I have called you by your name."

"Really?" Draco turned to her with a cool gaze. "When? Give me one example." He waited for a minute expecting her to respond and when she didn't he shook his head and gave a derisive laugh. "Exactly."

He jumped down off the branch agilely and looked up at her. "I don't expect anything from you Ginny, but would it kill you or your family to acknowledge me without seeing my father? People do change...even the morally ambiguous. If I had wanted to kill Muggles and destroy Dumbledore I wouldn't be here now as a fugitive. I would be out, with my family, spending a fortune and being free and having fun, instead of chained to this castle, tutoring the children of Death Eaters who would gladly kill me. Remember that next time you look at me and see my father."

He shook his head and began walking away as she watched him. She bit her lip as she closed her eyes. Why was it so hard for her? Because if she called him anything other than Malfoy she would perhaps see that he was more than the boy he had been at school? She would perhaps forget that he was related to Lucious Malfoy? Maybe if she didn't keep calling him Malfoy she would forget that their families hated each other. Maybe if she used his name she would forget that she couldn't feel anything for him.

She looked again, half hoping he would walk back towards her but he was still retreating. She shook her head and began climbing down the tree. She couldn't let him walk away like that so she ran after him.

"Stop. Please stop," she stopped and waited on him to turn around. "Please..."

Draco paused and took a deep breath as he turned around. He held his hands out in a gesture for her to speak as he looked at her with an expressionless face. "What?"

She took a deep breath as she took a few steps over towards him. "I...I'm sorry...Draco..."

He looked at her coolly before he began to smile at her and shook his head. "Did it hurt to say it?"

Ginny began to laugh as she took another step towards him. "Funnily enough, it was pretty easy..." She looked at him and put her hand gently on his forearm. "I do appreciate what you've given up to be here, you know. So does my family...it's just. Your dad...sometimes it's difficult to remember that the two of you are related. And then you have a look, or the tone of your voice, or a comment and it reminds me that you *are* his son. And that I care about the son...even though I despise the father and that makes me uncomfortable because the two are similar in so many ways..."

Draco looked at her softly and took a deep breath. "You...care? Why?"

She smiled as she shook her head. "Because I'm not sure if I know anyone else who would be brave enough to turn away from their father after believing he was a god for eighteen years. I don't know anyone who would put themselves through the humiliation of asking for help from people he hated," she looked at him and smiled softly as she lowered her voice. "Because ever since that time in sixth year, even though you despised me and I despised you, you never ignored me, and because you are the only person who felt the need to ask if I was all right after Hogsmeade was attacked. That's why I care..."

He looked down, the faintest blush appeared on his pale skin before disappearing quickly. "I don't deserve it for any of those reasons...I came back to save the school for selfish reasons, because I didn't want it destroyed and defiled to fulfil Voldermort's vendetta. I asked for Potter's help because he was the only one who could help. I only didn't ignore you in my final year because I enjoyed the reaction I got out of your brother and Potter, and," he took a deep breath as he continued, "I only asked about Hogsmeade because you were upset, and your brothers weren't there. You needed someone to talk to, or yell at and as you hated me you could probably say things that you couldn't say to someone you liked..." He took a deep breath as he looked at her and shook his head. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right...that's all."

"That was enough," she sighed as she looked down. For the first time she noticed the hand that had touched his forearm with was now interlaced with his hand. She blushed slightly as she became aware of her skin tingling under his touch but didn't pull away as he looked at her, equally as unaware as she was.

He sighed as he looked at her and closed his eyes for a moment before turning his gaze back towards her. "Funny how we ended up here. A Weasley and a Malfoy, alone in the middle of the night in the grounds of Hogwarts after they had graduated...I doubt either of us would have predicted our lives to lead to this point."

"No, I doubt it. But, things happen..." Ginny shook her head. "And we would have had the conversation sooner or later anyway."

"Yes...yes we would have I suppose," Draco nodded his head as he took a step closer to her and touched her face gently, almost unsurely. "Are you still in love with Potter?"

She looked at him and shook her head as she reached up and brushed a thread of hair away from his eyes. "No...not for years...what about you?"

Draco looked at her and gave an amused smile. "No, I managed to get over my feelings for him..."

She blushed furiously as she looked down before laughing slightly. "I meant are you involved with anyone?"

He nodded his head slightly as he looked at her. "Have been for the past two years...against my better judgement," he lifted his hand up that had her hand entwined and smiled as he looked at it. "But she could never look past the facade that everyone else saw...or I didn't think she could...I hope for good things for the future though..."

She smiled at him as he bent his head down and kissed her gently at first, before pulling back to look at her. She smiled at him as she brought her free hand up to his neck and pulled him close to her where they began to kiss passionately.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It Started With A Kiss...

She pulled back from him slightly and couldn't help the smile that had involuntarily lodged itself in place. Wow. She had just kissed Draco Malfoy. And it had been, for lack of a better word...wow. How had she got herself in this position? Well, she guessed it came down to the fact that she had been out for some air, he had come out, they had talked, she had insulted him, chased after him and let her feelings run away with her without engaging her brain like she really should have done. She looked at him as he lifted his head and looked at her as well with a similar smile to her own and she felt herself blush. She probably shouldn't have done that...not that she wasn't glad that she did, it was just...well, he *was* a Malfoy.

"Um...okay..." she managed to stutter out eventually, still smiling involuntarily.

"Okay..." he nodded his head as he took a deep breath. "So?"

"So..." she echoed back as she looked down. What was she supposed to say? Great kiss, how about an encore? Sorry, would love to try again but on account of the fact my family would kill you it might not be a good idea? She took a deep breath and tried to force what she knew was a goofy grin off her face. This was serious. "So, I um...I think I got enough fresh air...I'm going to go in...you know, bed...dream..."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she walked backwards. "Um, I'll see you around...Draco..."

She turned abruptly and began walking away quickly knowing full well that he was probably laughing his head off.

"Ginny?" she stopped and turned around. "Would you like to go for dinner tomorrow? With me?"

She looked at him intently. Obviously she had to decline, because it would be way too complicated. Way too complicated.

Say no. Say no. Say no. Say no.

"Yeah, I'd like that. A lot," she said as she inwardly cursed her brain for having absolutely no control over what she was actually saying. "It would be good..."

"Good," he said with a smile as he began backing away. "What time?"

"Um, 7 o'clock?"

He nodded his head as he stopped. "7 o'clock, at the main doors. I will see you then. Good night."

He turned away from her and she nodded her head as he retreated. As soon as he was out of sight she turned around and began to giggle as she ran to the castle: her stomach fluttering and her head floating. No doubt she would regret the whole thing in the morning but, in that moment, she was happy. Embarrassingly giddy almost. And she loved it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She awoke the following morning early and walked to her mirror. Not really sure whether she had perhaps dreamed the events of the night before. "Oh come on Ginny, be honest, you wouldn't have ended it there if it was a dream."

She blushed as she looked at herself. She couldn't really argue with that, after all...he wasn't exactly hard to look at. She blushed again as she let out a groan. What was *wrong* with her? This was Dra...Malfoy. This was Malfoy. This was the guy who had tormented her brother for seven years...this was the guy who couldn't see anyone in her family without bringing up their financial situation. This was the guy who her father had gave her a 45 minute lecture on before she had come back to Hogwarts because he was there.

This was the guy who made her feel more in a kiss than she had felt in any of her longer relationships...this was the guy who had always challenged her to want more for herself, right from the start.

This was a disaster.

She turned and began to fasten her robes as she walked to the hospital wing. If nothing else she could work out what would happen after tonight. She would just go into it with an open mind. If nothing else, she would be out with a friend. That was...she stopped abruptly, if he wasn't having second thoughts. Maybe the whole Weasley/Malfoy thing would scare him off. She felt her face scowl as she walked abruptly. If he was planning on standing her up, she would kill him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The day had been almost formulaic, she had dressed some cuts of students who got caught in the trick steps. Others had been caught with mistimed hexes and charms that had gone astray. And now she was onto the real work. She yawned as she looked at the course book in front of her. She had been in intensive training for nearly seven months and she was pretty adept at the more mundane aspects of what she had to do, but they still insisted that you had to know how to treat the sting of a Lithuanian Sword Samala; even though it had been extinct for 200 years. She didn't even know what a Lithuanian Sword Samala was, but apparently they made your limbs swell up until the pus broke the skin. She shuddered...the whole experience sounded lovely.

"Um, excuse me?" She turned around and saw a small Gryffindor boy behind her. She smiled as she stood up.

"Hello. Can I help you?" she walked over to him. "You okay?"

He nodded his head as he handed her a note. "I'm okay. I was told to give you this."

She took the note and sat over at the desk and opened it up. She felt herself smile as she read the few short lines.

Good morning Ginny,

I was just confirming our meeting tonight. 7pm at the main doors. I look forward to seeing you. Please send confirmation with the boy...if, that is, he has managed to improve his sense of direction and actually found you before we are due to leave.

Draco Malfoy

She turned to the student who was looking around the room curiously. "Can you take this back with you please? What's your name?"

He turned to her and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll take it back. Um, my name is Pete..."

She smiled at him and grabbed a piece of parchment and began scribbling a reply. "Thanks Pete."

Hello Draco,

I will see you at 7pm at the main doors. PETE managed to find me just fine. Just tell me one thing, where are we going? I need to know how I should dress after all. I'll see you later.

Ginny

She smiled as she folded the parchment over and handed it to the boy with a smile. "Thank you."

He grunted as he turned away and walked out the room. Ginny smiled at herself. So maybe he hadn't decided to forget it. Not, she reasoned, that she was overly glad. She was more...curious. Curious to see how a guy like Draco Malfoy would treat his date. Especially if that date was her. She groaned loudly. How did she get into this?

"You know, the spontaneous groaning, fits of giggles and cheesy grin won't do a lot to encourage patients..."

She span around to see Madam Pomfrey looking at her with an amused expression. "I'm assuming you have something planned that is making this much of an impact on you? Did you get an owl from anyone in particular?"

Ginny blushed as she shook her head. "No...definiately no. I just...didn't get a lot of sleep last night..."

"Is anything wrong? Were you not feeling well?" Madam Pomfrey walked over to her and put a hand up to her head to check for a temperature, the medic in her taking precedence over common sense. "Would you like the rest of the day off?"

Ginny took a step back and began to laugh. "No, I'm good. Great in fact."

"Great?"

Ginny smiled as she turned away. She was great. "Yeah."

Madam Pomfrey sighed and turned away. "Ah, the wonder of youth - when you're feeling great you can't sleep. Just wait until you're older, when it's only when you don't feel great that you can't sleep. Oh, hello, can I help you?"

Ginny turned to see Pete standing at the door holding another note. "I've to give this to her. Again." He said rather wearily as he nodded his head in Ginny's direction.

Madam Pomfrey eyed the note suspiciously as she handed it over to Ginny before turning back to the boy. "Okay, you can go..."

Pete sighed as he looked at Ginny expectantly. "Mr Malfoy said I've to bring a reply back..."

Madam Pomfrey turned to look at Ginny with an amused expression as she turned back towards her office. "Mr Malfoy? Well well...I wonder if he's feeling great?"

"Miserable git wouldn't feel great if he won the bloody Quidditch World Cup..." Pete muttered quietly as Ginny turned to the table to read the note.

Dear Ginny,

I am impressed, you have refrained from calling me Malfoy twice now and used my first name both times, and to think it only took eight years as well.

PETE, as you like to call him took 30 minutes to deliver the message to you...I am curious as to the mental requirements the hat is asking for Gryffindors now. I am certain that the next intake for that house will have students with the mental capacity of a 6 year old.

As for where we are going. It would ruin the surprise if I told you that. I was under the impression that women enjoyed surprises? As it stands, I recommend you wear something nice, but warm. We wouldn't want you to freeze. Is there anything in particular you would like to do after dinner?

Draco Malfoy

She looked at the note and contemplated. How did she answer that? What would she like to do? She grabbed her quill and a scrap piece of parchment.

Draco,

You know your sarcasm is really wasted in a letter although saying that, I think I prefer it that way. Pete, I'm sure, could wipe the floor with any of your Slytherin students you are tormenting down there. He made a rather accurate character assessment of you just now, you should really consider giving him extra credit.

As for tonight, I don't know whether or not to be offended by the statement 'wear something nice,' did you think I was going to wear my regular robes? I think I'm going to let you decide what we do tonight. See if you have an imaginative streak hidden deep down. I should point out that I'm not easy to surprise so I doubt that you will be able to manage it...but I look forward to your attempts.

Ginny

She smiled to herself as she folded the letter again and handed it back to a rather unimpressed Pete who looked at her with a yawn as he walked off. She sighed, she couldn't seem to get any reaction from the students the way that some of the others did. She looked at the clock as she sat back down at the desk trying to get her head through the course book. 12.19pm. Eleven minutes and she could break for lunch, owl Charlie to tell him how sorry she was the wedding was cancelled and decide what the hell she was going to wear. 12.27pm. She looked at the book and allowed the words to dance in front of her eyes. Any minute now it would start to make sense. Any minute she would be able to concentrate...

At that second she heard a cough behind her. She spun around to see a flushed looking Pete holding his books as he stuck his hand out. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Have you done any work today, Pete?"

She took the note out his hand and he shook his head. "I'm apparently learning an important lesson in the quickest way to get around the castle and to give me an opportunity to reassess any character analysis I've done." She flinched slightly and looked at him apologetically as he continued. "At least it gets me away from the damn class..." He looked at her and gave a small smile. "No offence."

She smiled as she opened the note up. "None taken. So, do you want to go off for your lunch?"

He gave her a quizzical look. "You sure you don't want to reply? Again?"

"Did he say he wanted a reply?"

He shook his head. "No, he just said take my things..."

She nodded her head as she looked at him. "Well, go to lunch then. I promise I won't tell him you left early."

He grinned at her as he ran out the wing leaving her alone. She sighed and looked down at the note and vainly tried to stop from laughing.

Ginny,

I can almost guarantee you will be surprised, if not you are far to difficult to impress and not worth the effort. On that note, I should suggest you take a cloak...it can be quite chilly at night.

Unfortunately I won't be able to get your reply to this as I have slightly less hopeless students this afternoon (I have no more Gryffindors) but I will see you tonight. So, until then, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

Draco Malfoy

She folded the letter up and grabbed the other two and skipped to Madam Pomfrey's office. She opened the door and grinned, despite her head telling her to stop acting like a freak in public. "Hi, I'm just going off for lunch. I'll be back soon."

Madam Pomfrey looked up with an amused expression. "That's fine, I'll be going down to the Great Hall myself. Is that where you're going?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I need to go owl Charlie about what happened with Louisa. Mum said he's still really upset."

Madam Pomfrey smiled sympathetically. "It sometimes happens when Muggles find out about us I'm afraid...I'm sure he'll be fine and meet someone else."

"That's what mum says...not that that's making Charlie feel any better." Ginny nodded her head sadly. She always hated it when her brothers were upset. Always. She walked towards the door when Madam Pomfrey stopped her with a slight smile.

"Should I pass on a message to you for Mr Malfoy?"

Ginny blushed as she shoved the letters into her pocket. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you have both been sending notes to each other all morning and I assume you didn't get a chance to reply to the last one so I was wondering if you would like me to tell him anything?"

"He was...curious...about an..." She stammered as she tried to think of an excuse. "Um, an infection he had...he was embarrassed..."

She immediately closed her eyes and walked on, knowing full well that the woman behind her was stifling her laughter at Ginny's obvious lie. "Okay. Should I mention this to him? We wouldn't want him to be...contagious or anything after all..."

"No!" Ginny said loudly. "Definitely not...it's...you know...embarassing for him...you should *definately* not mention it to him. Or anyone...ever. You know what he's like...you know...I...I'm just going to...go now, see you...bye."

Madam Pomfrey straightened her face as she nodded at Ginny who was walking away quickly desperately trying to stop her face from being the red colour it had become.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of the afternoon had been somewhat uneventful for Ginny. She had to treat a third year Ravenclaw who had managed to poison himself in Professor Snape's class and watch while Madam Pomfrey demonstrated how to relocate a joint after a Slytherin girl fell from her broom in Quidditch practice. Apart from that, it had been a bit disappointing and had managed to bring her down from her previous high but, now that she was in her room again and getting ready she was already feeling nervous. What was she doing here? What had she done last night?

"You kissed a guy you have a lot of feelings for no matter how much you don't want to admit it. That's what you did last night." She said to her reflection as she grabbed her deep purple cloak from the chair and fastened it on her shoulder with a silver clasp. There. She was ready. She had a glance at the clock: 6.43pm. She was a bit early but, she reasoned, it took 10 minutes to get to the main door and, the clock could be slow so it would maybe be a good idea to leave. Just in case.

She looked and smiled at her reflection as she grabbed her bag. "Okay, Ginny. It's just a nice dinner with a friend...that's all. No reason to make a complete fool of yourself. Again. Just relax, breathe deep and it'll be fine. It'll be fine. It's just Malfoy."

She nodded her head determinedly and walked purposefully out the room. Not a problem.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She arrived at the main doors and glanced at her watch: 6.52pm. She was maybe a little early but at least she could claim she had just arrived when he got there. She walked around the corner to see him leaning against the wall looking at his watch. Dammit. She thought with a smile, he did look good when he was all dressed up.

"Hello."

He looked up at her and she immediately got the impression that he was shocked with what he saw but he definitely looked impressed which caused her to blush slightly. "Hello, Ginny. You're early."

She smiled as she walked over to him. "So are you."

He looked down at her with a shrug of the shoulders. "It's not nice to keep a lady waiting apparently..."

She grinned. "I knew you had a chivalrous streak deep down. Even if you didn't show it overly well in your final note today..."

He smirked at her. "I stand by everything I said in that."

She looked at him with a playful smile. "Oh, but I am worth the effort...trust me."

She walked towards the door as she heard him let out a deep breath before following her out. "I have no doubts about that."

She paused as she waited on him to catch up. "So, where are we going?"

He stopped in front of her unimpressed. "That is for me to know and you to find out. But firstly," he paused and reached down to just outside the door and lifted up a flower and handed it to her.

She smiled as she looked at it, a single rose that had been charmed to slowly change colour. She gasped as it turned from a deep red to a soft pink to a pink tipped white. "Draco...thank you." She looked at him as he watched her. "It's beautiful."

He shook his head as if to tell her to forget it. "It's an appropriate gift for you then."

She blushed as she looked down. "I don't know about that."

He reached over and tilted her chin up. "I do. You look beautiful tonight."

She looked at him and felt her heart flutter as she made eye contact with his honest gaze. He thought she was beautiful. No one had ever said that to her before and meant it. "Thank you..."

"You don't have to thank me."

"I know." She took a step closer to him, reached up and brushed his hair out his eyes gently. "But I want to..."

He looked at her for a second intently and opened his mouth to say something. As no sound came out she smiled. Could Draco Malfoy be lost for words? He took a deep breath as he offered her his arm. "Well, I'm afraid we should probably go..."

She reached over and interlaced her arm with his as he began walking. "You know, you could tell me where we are going."

He groaned. "You are by far the most infuriating girl I have ever taken out...trust me, you will find out soon enough."

She rolled her eyes. "You know it doesn't make a very good impression when you start the night off with comparing me to other girls you've taken out."

"Hmmm, yes. I suppose not..." he said carefully as he looked at her with an amused expression. "But I should mention that you are far more charming than any of them..."

She let out a slight laugh. "That was a nice cover there..."

"I thought so."

He stopped at the end of the path and turned to her as he picked something up. A portkey? "Where are you taking me?"

"I told you, it's a surprise. Are you coming?" he asked her with a probing look.

She looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Of course I'm coming. You think I was letting you off that easilly?"

He smiled at her as she reached her free hand out and touched the portkey. "I was hoping not. But I can never be sure with you."

"I'll try and take that as a compliment."

"It is how it was intended," he said as the portkey began to glow and they disappeared.

Ginny opened her eyes to see where they had come and gasped as she looked around. Where had he taken them? "Draco?"

He walked over to her and whispered beside her ear as she looked around. "Surprised yet?"

She reached up and turned to him with a grin. "How did you manage this? No one is supposed to be allowed here just now. Oh you can see the Cathedral...and the university! That's where Hannah's brother went...how did you manage this?"

He bent down and whispered. "Well, don't tell anyone but I have friends in high places..."

"Dumbledore?" she asked as she looked around the rooftop where she was now standing looking down on the muggles who were walking by unaware as she looked out towards the water. "I have always wanted to do this..."

"I know, you told me," he said with a smile as he took his cloak off and draped it over a chair which was sitting beside a table that was carefully set for two.

"When?"

He looked thoughtful. "I believe it was in your seventh year. You said something along the lines of, and I quote, 'you wouldn't know how to treat a normal person Malfoy, you don't have a single romantic streak in you. Most girls would prefer to have dinner in the open, surrounded by stars, candles and music with a person they cared for while the rest of the world was unaware than to have a 3000 galleon piece of jewellery and a meal in a restaurant where they were afraid to breath.'" he took a deep breath as she blushed. "I still have no idea how you could come up with all that without breathing."

"I can't believe you remembered that." She blushed as she looked at him as her hand came to her mouth. "I can't believe I said that to you. I can't believe I sound like that."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Thankfully we have got a nice night or else this could have been a disaster."

She looked over the edge of the roof and couldn't help but grin as she turned around. "It couldn't be a disaster...why did you choose here?"

He looked at her with a grin. "Well, Hogsmeade isn't overly adventurous and I am not strictly supposed to go to any of the other wizarding towns...so I decided, we could go for a Muggle town. I remembered passing through here once and St Andrews has quite a historic reputation. So there was that and as I knew a wizard who owned the restaurant downstairs, I asked him if he would mind if we borrowed the roof..."

She walked over to him. "And he let you borrow it?"

"Well, of course...although I may have mentioned that I knew he was using house elves to prepare his award winning dishes..."

She let out a laugh as she reached out to touch his arm. "You blackmailed him?"

"Blackmail is such an undignified word...I prefer...persuaded."

She rolled her eyes as she looked at him. He would never change. "However you managed it, I love it."

He smiled as he took a step in towards her. "Are you surprised?"

She grinned as she stepped towards him as well. "I think you surprised me just with showing up..."

He looked at her with a small smile. "I'm glad...means you are worth the effort after all..."

She looked into his eyes and whispered gently. "I told you that..."

"You did." He bent down and kissed her forehead gently as he took a step back. "Of course, I may have realised it already..."

She leaned her head back and silently groaned. For some reason she was hoping for something a little more than a kiss on the forehead. Actually, despite her best intentions, she wanted a lot more than a kiss on the forehead. She looked at him and shook her head lightly. "So, what are your plans now?"

He looked at her and offered her his arm. "Well, what would you like to do?"

She smiled at him as a small breeze blew. "I think I would like to dance...with you."

He looked at her with an unamused expression. "You are joking? We are on a rooftop...surrounded by Muggles..."

She nodded her head as she grabbed his hand and guided him out of the way of the table. "Yes, and we are going to be eating on a rooftop in a minute, but...now I want to dance."

"To Muggle music?"

"Unless you want to sing?" She said with a smirk as he looked at her unimpressed as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "I didn't think so. I promise, one dance and I won't ask again."

He closed his eyes and sighed as he placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her closer to him. "Fine."

She smiled as she lay her head on his chest lightly. She could hear the pounding of his heart as he laid his head against hers and sighed. "I meant what I said last night you know..."

"Really?" She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm glad. I thought...you might have changed your mind..."

"You thought I might come to my senses and realise the madness of the whole situation?"

"It did cross my mind...I assumed you would have realised the kind of reaction this...situation would have on certain people."

He looked down at her and sighed. "You mean the former death eater and a Weasley? Yes, I can see why that would be a little....problematic."

She smiled as she pulled away as the song ended. "Just a little. I was a little worried myself..."

He began ushering her to the table in an attempt to avoid another dance as he responded. "Why?"

"Well," she said as she sat down and looked at her rose again. "For one I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, and for another, I thought you might have realised what you had actually said last night and put it down to temporary madness..."

He let out a laugh as he drew his wand and pointed it at the plates which immediately began filling with food as the house elves down stairs earned their keep. "You mean that's all I had to say to get out of it?"

She scowled at him playfully. "Well, I should point out that I was considering appropriate revenge if you had stood me up."

He looked at her with a teasing smile tugging at his face as his grey eyes sparkled. "Would that involve telling the staff about an...'embarassing infection'? You do realise that I had Madam Pomfrey and Snape harassing me this afternoon suggesting potions and ointments?"

She let out a laugh and touched his hand apologetically as he looked at her unimpressed. "Ohhh...I am so sorry about that...I just didn't know how to...avoid the subject...of why Pete was at the office three times..."

"And that's what you came up with?" He looked at her and rolled his eyes. "You couldn't have said he was up asking about something relating to school?"

She took a drink of the wine that was in her glass. "Well, it was your fault! You kept sending me notes..."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her with a smirk. "I do believe you kept answering those notes..."

She blushed slightly as she looked at him. "Well...I suppose you could say that..."

He looked at her as he took a drink from his own glass. "I do say that...perhaps because I have the notes sitting on my dresser."

She let out a laugh, damnit. Couldn't he humour her? Even a little? "Okay, I did reply..."

He nodded his head in approval. "Thank you."

"For what?"

He pulled his chair in and looked up. "For realising that I am usually right...it stands you in good stead for the future..."

"For the future?" She folded her arms across her chest as she forced herself not to smile. "You would like to think so wouldn't you?"

He looked at her and a small smile appeared as he picked up his fork. "I would..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In hindsight, Ginny realised as the evening came to a close, she might not have had the night she had expected. After the events of the previous night she had worried it had perhaps been a mistake on their part, one that would have affirmed itself after the disaster of dinner. But, as she walked back to the castle with her hand interlaced with Draco's and the memory of what had been quite possibly the best date in her life playing through her mind. Actually, it had possibly been the best night of her life. One that she didn't want to end so she was purposefully walking as slowly as possible.

"You do realise that if we walk at this pace for the rest of the night, we may never reach the castle..." He said quietly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She sighed. "I suppose..."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic..." He said with a laugh. "Do you worry that you're going to get found out? Because if that's the case I can leave you here and follow you in at a distance."

She nudged him. "If that was the case I would have agreed to meet you outside the main doors. Besides, I thought you would have wanted to end the evening like a gentleman?"

He stopped and looked at her. "Depends on what your opinion of a gentleman is. For some..." He lifted her hand and brought it to his mouth and gave it a small kiss on the back. "That is as far as a gentleman can go." He lowered her hand and looked at her. "For others..." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the side of the cheek, causing her eyes to flutter close as she felt her knees weaken at his close proximity. "That...is as far as a gentleman should go..."

She opened her eyes as he pulled back to look at her. She felt the breath catch in her throat as she whispered. "What...what about you? What's your opinion?"

"My opinion," He reached over and placed his hand behind her head as he pulled her closer to him. She closed her eyes as he bent down and kissed her lips gently. She responded eagerly, not realising before how desperately she had wanted to feel his lips on hers again. In that second any lingering trepidation's she had evaporated. She could care less what anyone else thought. She didn't care what else happened. All that mattered was she had never felt like this. Not with Harry, not with anyone. She reached her hand up behind him to reach his hair and press him closer, savouring the touch of his lips, the caressing of his tongue, the taste of his skin, the fluttering of her heart and the way she felt like she was floating. He eventually pulled away and she opened her eyes reluctantly to smile at him as he took a deep breath and continued. "My opinion...is...that I doubt any man would feel capable of acting like a gentleman around you...especially not me."

She looked at him and reached up to caress his face. "I think you have been a perfect gentleman."

"That has to be a first..." He said with a smile as he bent down and kissed her again gently before pulling back from her and exhaling with a grin as she began to giggle. "I think...we should maybe continue walking to the castle..."

She looked at him with a smile. "Why?"

He looked at her and reached out to take her hand as he pulled her gently along. "Because...we are in the middle of the grounds, in the middle of the night...and Dumbledore will no doubt be pacing the floor waiting on his portkey...in fear that I have kidnapped you..."

She began to laugh as she walked quickly ahead of him. Did he really expect her to buy that excuse? "You are a hopeless liar, Draco Malfoy."

He looked at her indignantly. "I am a very good liar, Ginny Weasley."

She shook her head as she reached the steps of the castle door and waited on him to catch up. "No, you're not..."

He stood up beside her as she leaned her back against the door frame. She looked at him and smiled, "and you walked me to the door as well, you really are the perfect gentleman aren't you?"

He looked at her as he leaned in closer to her and whispered. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I have only behaved myself because I would quite like an encore of earlier..."

She looked at him with a seductive smile. "Would that be the dance? Because for such a snobby prick in school you are really a bad dancer..."

He looked at her and smirked. "I take you out for a nice meal and you repay me by insulting me? No wonder you're still available..."

She leaned up to him and whispered gently. "I'm not available..."

He raised an eyebrow as he placed his arm on the frame behind her preventing her from moving without moving him as he leaned in closer still. "I can see that...I hope he appreciates what a fine thing he has here..."

"He better..." She smiled as she felt her body tingle just at his proximity, despite the fact that they weren't touching. She leaned up and kissed him slowly, tenderly without touching him with anything other than her mouth. She quickly pulled back again and felt herself giggle again as she looked at him. "Thank you for tonight."

"Thank you." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I would like to do it again..."

"So would I." She smiled as she looked at him earnestly. "I'd like that a lot."

He smiled as he nodded his head. "Good. So...I shall see you tomorrow and we can make arrangements?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes, definitely..."

"Definitely..."

He looked at her and leaned in and kissed her on the cheek as he took her hand. As he pulled back he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it with a smirk as she looked at him in confusion. "At least now you can say I at least ended the evening like a gentleman..."

She began to laugh as he opened the door for her and bowed slightly. "Goodnight Ginny."

She sighed as she walked in and looked at him as she stood just inside the door desperate for the night to go on. "Goodnight, Draco..."

He took a step back from the door as he waited on her to go in. "Pleasant dreams..."

She smiled as she watched him as she began backing away, not taking her eyes off him. "I'm sure I will have..."

~fini~