AN: I though of postponing the first actual Draco/Ginny interaction again (Ginny leaving St. Mungo's before Draco gets there) but decided I'd give reprieve to all those who were waiting. And me. Need to get it out, you know.
---Chapter Five---
Ginny was glad to find out that she would be released from St. Mungo's on Tuesday afternoon. Waiting for that moment where she could finally go home, she was visited by family, co-workers, and friends. It wasn't until around five o'clock Monday that she actually had time to think about what had happened with Oliver. She was still furious at what he had said, to bring up her first year was just plain cruel, but there was some truth to his heated argument. She was a bit hung up on Draco.
She sat, thinking about why she had decided to break up with Oliver. It was the day before their second anniversary of the first date and she had gone to The Burrow with Oliver for dinner. All her mother had spoken about was the wedding and marriage and how wonderful it all was. The first clue to why she didn't want this was that it made her slightly sick to think about the actual marriage, but she brushed her feelings off as normal wedding jitters.
The second clue was that Oliver barely talked to her throughout the whole dinner, and never picked up on her bad mood at all, even when she had glared at him for grabbing her thigh under the table. The third was when her mother began to talk about children. Ginny realized her mind shied away from the mention, let alone imagining how having children with Oliver would be like. But her mother had got her mind going, and all she could picture was him never being at home while she gave up her job, and slowly going insane. She could now picture herself being the nagging housewife. And the scariest part was that she could imagine Oliver, the famous Quidditch star, cheating on his wife once the fireworks of early marriage had died down, easily. She had refused to believe at first that their relationship would never work, but she came to admit that night that she likely wasn't ready to take such a big step in life.
But there was more. The third clue was later that night, when she and Oliver had gone over to her flat. They sat on the couch and Ginny told him about some problems at work. She asked him a question and realized quickly that he hadn't listened to a word. She had become slightly angry and had stormed into her room, but had nearly re-grasped the meaning of their relationship when he had come and apologized. He told her he had had a hard and tiring day and they had kissed lightly for a few moments. When things began to become a bit more heated, she told him that she was tired. And this led to her fourth hint. He had tried to push her into having sex with him, even though she had made it very clear she was not in the mood. And when he had left in a bit of a snit, the image of him going to another woman came back sharply. She had not slept that night, only thought about what she was going to do.
She hadn't meant to break it off at dinner the next evening. Oliver had taken her out for a beautiful dinner at a small, outdoor restaurant to celebrate and somewhere through the middle; she had noticed the magazine stand across the street. The magazine with Draco Malfoy on the cover. That had been the straw that broke the camels back. She had blurted out that she couldn't be with him, slipped off her ring, placed it on the table and left.
Three days later, he had called and asked her to come to his Quidditch practice. She had been very surprised; their break up had been all over the media with some nasty pictures, which couldn't have been easy for him. She had resolved to go and try to explain nicely, and had then ended up in the hospital. She knew Oliver as a kind, sweet person, but he was also arrogant, a bit pig headed, and not very bright. She had though she had loved him, but she hadn't. Not enough, anyway.
The thought of arrogance brought Draco to her mind again. She had found that arrogance in him attractive, oddly enough. What had been the difference between the two?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in." she called.
The door opened slightly violently.
"Ginny Weasley, why has your fiancé come and told me that you, young lady, rejected him again? I'm sorry you got hurt, dear, but that is no reason to tell off a perfectly good husband. You call him back and apologize soon, Ginevra!"
Ginny put her head in her hands and sighed. "Mum, we've been through this already. Oliver and I are over. It's not going to change." 'Especially after yesterday.' She added to herself.
Molly's face fell. "But why, Ginny?"
"Can we please not talk about this now? My head is throbbing."
"Ginny, he's such a sweet boy. Why don't you just go over tomorrow and say sorry? I'm sure he'll forgive you, dear. You couldn't have said anything too bad. Everyone is afraid of getting married, honey, but it always turns out all right. I felt just the same."
Ginny counted to ten in her head. When her anger didn't dissipate, she tried counting backwards. At around four, her mothers voice butted into her thoughts.
"Ginny, I will not have you turn that poor boy away. Didn't you see his face? The poor dear…"
Ginny lost her patience. Just as she opened her mouth to yell something along the lines of 'I'm not listening!' there was another knock on the door.
"What?" she barked angrily.
"May I come in? Or is it a bad time, Weaslette?" a voice called through the door.
Ginny paused, shocked beyond belief. All she could think was 'Oh. My. God.' Her mother took liberties to answer the door. Just as her hand touched the handle, Ginny had the odd impulse to scream 'NO!' loudly. Too late.
"What on earth are you doing here?"
Ginny, sitting on her bed, put her head back in her hands and let out a few sobs. 'This is turning out to be the worst few weeks in my life.' Before she could go on a mental tirade about all the things going wrong, a head popped it's way around the door and said, "Ginny? I need to talk to you."
"Why, you most certainly are not! What do you think you are doing? A Malfoy, of all things…"
"Mum, go away." Ginny said tightly.
"But, dear..."
"No Mum. I need you to leave. I'll talk to Draco. Privately." She told Molly. She didn't need this.
"Well, fine then! I'll se you tomorrow!" her mother huffed, pulled open the door, and slammed it closed once Draco had entered. There was an awkward silence. 'I'm beginning to hate these silences. Why are they always coming after me?'
"How are you?" he asked, face completely closed off.
"I'm fine. It's been a while." She said quietly.
"Yeah." He looked away. 'Damn silence. Is there a radio in here? Damn sudden musical urges!' She thought.
"You wanted to talk?" she encouraged. When he said nothing, she continued, "Well, we can talk about lots of things. It's been years…how many? Eight, nine? My God, time just flies, doesn't it? All this talk is making me feel old!" she stopped, realizing she was rambling.
"It's a shame it's been so long." He paused again. "Why did you never floo?" he asked softly. "I waited. I guess a part of me is still waiting."
Ginny could tell he was uncomfortable talking about his feelings. He was blushing slightly, which was very odd for him. He was embarrassed?
"I don't know. Why didn't you?"
"Well. We're even then, aren't we?"
"I guess we are."
The silence was back.
"I really have to go to the bathroom." Ginny blurted out, her face turning bright red as her mouth neglected to consult her brain. She really needed to stop doing this.
She opened the door and practically ran down the hall. While waiting, Draco thought about what he'd do. He was sorely tempted to leave a note and go home, but he knew Pansy would kill him. Today would decide his whole relationship with Ginny. Even thinking about it for the past few days, he still didn't know what to do. He felt the box in his pocket and wished he'd gone with the flowers. It was too soon for jewlery. Before he could think further, Ginny came in and shut the door quietly, not looking at him.
"So when are you leaving this place?" he asked her. "I hate hospitals."
"Tomorrow, actually. And I am really beginning to hate them too." She chuckled nervously and he caught on. Soon, Ginny was laughing so hard she couldn't stop. She felt so stupid, laughing at nothing. Odd thing was, Draco was laughing too. But he was probably laughing at her more that with her. When she almost fell down, he stepped forward and caught her. She immediately stopped laughing and looked up at him.
"I missed you." He whispered. Then he mentally smacked himself.
"Me too." She said.
He stepped back and let her go. She looked at the floor. He rubbed his thumb over his cuff nervously.
"I actually came for more than seeing if your okay. I mean…that's the most important but I also wanted to know if…" he paused. "If you wanted to go out for lunch on Thursday. You know, catch up. Now that I'm here. I mean, now that I'm here, I thought I'd ask." He grimaced and looked to the side. 'Way to go, Malfoy. Real smooth. What the hell is wrong with you? Can't ask a girl out anymore?' But it wasn't just any girl.
"Sure," she said quickly. "I'd love too."
"Where to then?" he asked, relieved.
"I don't know. Your choice."
"How about this muggle Italian place I know in London. It's called Carluccio's. The foods really good."
"Why muggle?" she questioned curiously.
"No reporters. I mean we're not exactly low radar right now. No interruptions." He answered.
"You've thought of everything. It sounds lovely. I'll see you at…one thirty? Is that okay?" she smiled at him.
"Sure." He said, gaining his footing again slowly. "I'd stay longer, but I've got a meeting in-" he glanced at his watch, "-twenty minutes. How about we meet at the Leaky Cauldron? And I'll lead the way from there."
"Thanks, Draco. I'm really glad we're doing this. We should have reconnected years ago." Ginny looked down. "We should never have had to reconnect. I'm sorry, Draco. I was so…stupid. I really-"
"You've got nothing to be sorry over. It's all in the past. We'll start over, okay?" he said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. She smiled at him nervously.
"Yes, well, it was so nice to see you again, Draco. And I'll see you Thursday, one thirty at the Leaky Cauldron. Got it. I'm not even going to work until next week, so I've got all the time in the world." He grabbed her hand.
"The next three days will be hell, Ginevra." He turned her hand over, bent down and kissed her palm. Standing straight again, he moved out the door with his charming smile-or smirk-in place. The door shut and he was gone.
'My God. He is so damn sexy.' She smirked. 'Hasn't changed a bit.'
AN: ACK! This chapter was hell to write. And longest yet! I couldn't get past the awkward there, so sorry if I became repetitive. I don't mean to make Molly so annoying, it just happened that way. Sorry about that, too. The restaurant is a real place, so I DO NOT OWN THAT. Did a bit of research there. **pats herself on back**. By the way, if anyone is wondering about the jewlery Draco bought, that is for later. To make it clearer, Draco decided he wouldn't give it to her yet. So basically, he bought it on impulse and wasn't comfortable giving it to Ginny. But he will, eventually. Maybe I'll make it important. Who knows? I have abandoned all ideas of actual plot, so what happens, happens. It's writing itself. I gave up. Ta Da. Bye.
-Wrong-Turn24