"C'mon, just ask her, will you? I have a lot to offer a woman. Money, power,…money."
Draco Malfoy leaned over Ron Weasley's desk at the Ministry of Magic's Auror division and picked up the photo of Ron's sister Ginny once again.
Ron snatched it back, set it back in its place, and said, "I've told you a hundred times, Malfoy. My sister is too good for you. I don't care how much money you have. Isn't that right Harry?"
Harry Potter folded down a corner of the Daily Prophet he was reading and said, "I'm still staying out of this…Incidentally, Ginny did say if you asked again, to ask you how much mon-"
"Harry!" Ron shouted, and threw one of his mum's homemade pumpkin pasties at him.
Harry caught it and took a bite as he returned to reading his paper.
"Why don't you go back to your own department, and stop bothering us, Malfoy?"
Draco smirked, and stared at the smiling picture of Ginny once again. He was fascinated with the youngest Weasley. He didn't know how it happened, but one Friday he came down to taunt his two ex school mates with Chudley Cannons tickets, had seen Ginny's photo, and had been obsessed with trying to get a date with her ever since.
Draco was the youngest head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, taking over at twenty three, when Ludo Bagman retired. It probably hadn't hurt that Draco had made a large donation to help restore the damage done during the war either, but that was neither here nor there.
Draco would have tried to ask her out on his own, but he didn't know how to find her. He'd looked for her everywhere. She didn't work at the Ministry, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, or Hogsmeade. What Draco found out after an exhausting conversation with Ron's wife Luna, was that Ginny worked as a writer for a fashion magazine in Muggle London. Draco could not understand why she would choose such a profession, but Luna said that she 'fell into it' and Draco didn't want to hear any more of her strange and lengthy explanations, so he figured he'd have to find out some other way. It turned out there were hundreds of fashion magazines, and Draco hadn't been able to find her name in one.
So here he was, asking her git of a brother to help him out, and oh, how it annoyed him.
"Ron, do you think you'll enjoy your box seats at the quidditch League Cup this year?" Draco drawled, as he removed imaginary lint from the front of his robes.
Ron looked at Harry and his eyes said League cup tickets! What should I do?
"You know Ron" Harry began, folding his paper "Ginny has been really busy, especially with her new arrival, and she could use a break, I mean one date, in a public place. How much harm could it do?"
Ron looked at Harry then started to understand his plan. No way would Draco stick around after one date when he met Ginny's baby. He knew Draco wasn't the type to take to ankle biters. "I guess I could call my sister Malfoy. So, box seats, huh?"
*****************************************************
Draco was pleased to have finally gotten a date with the elusive Ginny Weasley. He headed back to his office with the picture he'd knicked off Ron's desk and tried to decide where to take her to impress her. He wanted to make an impression, although he knew he probably wouldn't have to work all that hard. He knew he was quite an impressive package as he was. He had witches knocking down his door, but he wanted Ginny. Draco thought that perhaps he just wanted to shag her, and then he would be over this strange fascination.
He reached his office and set her picture on the desk. Could a man ever tire of a woman like that, he thought? It was a Muggle photo, black and white, and Ginny looked strikingly beautiful in it. The photo was from the waist up; she was wearing a white, high collared shirt, dark red lipstick and heavy eye make-up. She wore a slight smile, as she looked directly at the camera. Draco found his thoughts turning to naughty images of himself and Ginny, and decided to return to work.
Ron stopped by Draco's office that Thursday afternoon and took a seat.
"Make yourself comfortable, Weasley." he sneered from across the desk.
"Thanks, I will. I'll take that." Ron said, snatching the picture of Ginny back, and rubbing his shoulders back and forth in the large, cozy, leather chair. "I thought you'd like to know, I spoke to my sister, and even though I tried to talk her out of it, she wants to go out with you. So, tomorrow night, you pick her up at seven, I wrote her address down." Ron took out a paper from his pocket and tossed it onto Draco's desk. "Don't be late…And you can drop off my quidditch tick-"
Draco had everything he needed, so he grabbed Ginny's address and apparated home while Ron was still talking, he was sure whatever he had left to say didn't apply to him anyway. Draco decided to ask Ginny which she preferred; Bella's, a posh, Muggle Italian restaurant he found through Pansy, who was married to a Muggle, or The Hogsmeade Inn, an establishment opened by Madam Rosmerta.
Draco couldn't wait for the next twenty four hours, and studied the map to Ginny's flat carefully. Could he apparate there? Did she even practice magic anymore? It seemed she lived completely as a Muggle now. Draco would never admit it to anyone, but he was slightly nervous. Would they have anything in common? They had been out of school for a couple of years now, and had chosen completely different paths.
Draco hadn't seen her since the night that the war started. He had decided not to fight on the side of the Death Eaters and his father cruicioed him, and then kept him locked in an underground dungeon at Malfoy Manor. Draco had been found by Aurors who came to raid the house, and by the end of the night, both of his parents were gone, and he was seventeen, and on his own.
It took Draco months to recover from his ordeal, but he felt that he was a lot stronger for having survived. It was odd, but when he was stuck in the dungeons, he remembered seeing Ginny Weasley's face as she ran out with the rest of that bunch of Potter-lover's, ready to face down Voldemort. She had so much passion, and conviction, just in that one look she gave him. He wondered if she realized how much that one look affected him. Draco shook his head at the stupid thoughts of the past and tried to concentrate on looking to the future. He finally had his date, something to look forward to.
***************************************************************
Draco glanced at his watch for probably the tenth time in the last three minutes. The day was dragging by. He'd had a horrible nights sleep, and he was anxious for the work day to fly by. Ron had sent him several memos; all threatening him not to hurt his sister, or to try and put the moves on her, but Draco tore them up.
Finally, after an eternity, six o'clock rolled around and Draco apparated home. He showered and dressed with care, wearing Muggle clothes, just in case. After inspecting his image in the mirror, he apparated just outside Ginny's door. He checked his watch, 6:57 p.m. right on time. He looked around the hallway, and noted that no one seemed to be about to notice his entrance.
Ginny lived in a nice building, it wasn't up to Malfoy standards, but it was nice, and she must use some magic, or allow friends and family to, there were no wards up that blocked him from getting this close. Draco realized he might be stalling, and raised his hand to knock. Ginny threw the door open, just as his hand reached it, and his mouth fell slightly open for a moment.
"Draco! Hello, come in, please" Ginny stepped back and gestured him inside.
She looked fantastic. Her hair was long, and wild, and her jeans snug. Her shirt was a deep round cut affair, that gave him a nice view of her toppers. It hugged her pretty tight, and Draco could actually feel his mouth water, and his palms getting sweaty. "Ginny, you look…Amazing, amazing…How are you?" He internally gave himself a pat on the back for getting out that much of a sentence, but as he started to walk forward, lost his balance, and fell backwards over a large brown teddy bear. He landed with a thud on the plush carpet.
Ginny kneeled down and untangled the teddy from Draco's legs. "Oh Draco! Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I'm hardly ever home lately, and I never have time to clean anymore. My Baby's toy's are everywhere, are you o.k.?" Ginny tried not to laugh, as Draco brought himself to his feet, and tried to repair some of the Malfoy cockiness, but his face was bright red.
Draco stared in fascination at all the toys all over the floor, from dolls to squeaky toys, a toy box in the corner, overflowing with playthings, and a laundry basket on the coffee table with little tiny t-shirts, that were hanging over the sides of the basket. Had he missed something? She had a baby? Potter had said 'her new arrival' but he had only cared about landing a date with her. Well, Ginny certainly had a great body for a woman who just had a baby.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Are you ready?" Draco wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. The night had not started out very well at all. Ginny grabbed a jacket over the back of the couch and pocketed her wand.
"So, you do use magic?" Draco asked.
"Of course, don't you? Oh, you mean because I live among the Muggles. Well, it's a long story." Ginny swore she heard Draco mutter 'good' and smiled at him as they headed out. Draco asked her which restaurant she preferred, and Ginny thought that Draco might be more comfortable in Hogsmeade, so they apparated there, and Ginny was warmly welcomed by Madam Rosmerta. She hadn't been to Hogsmeade in years, she was so wrapped up in her life, and it was nice to be around familiar surroundings again.
Once they had placed their orders, and had their drinks brought to the table, Draco decided to open the conversation. "I know your brother is not pleased, but I am very glad you agreed to come to dinner tonight. You are not an easy woman to track down, Ginny. I tried to find you myself, but there were so many Muggle magazines, I never found your name, I even had Pansy helping me."
Ginny blushed, "You would never find the name Ginny Weasley in those magazines, Draco. My pen name is Flora Deveraux. My editor thought it sounded much more sophisticated, so I changed it years ago."
Draco nodded; he never would have connected those names. "How did you get into writing Ginny?"
"Well, I used to keep that diary, if you remember."
Draco thought he should just pay for the wine now and thank her for a humiliating night. So far he'd made an idiot of himself, and now his father's long reaching ghost was ruining things for him from beyond the grave.
Ginny put a hand over Draco's and said, "Please, I didn't mean to upset you, I just meant that I've been writing for a very long time, and well, I would write all sorts of short stories and things, and Hermione submitted some of my stories to a Muggle magazine, without my knowledge. I was so furious with her! But, it turned out to be the best thing to happen to me, I got a personal letter from the editor of M.S.B. and before I knew it I was on staff."
"M.S.B.?"
Ginny blushed again and said, "Mischievous, Sassy, and Bold, it's not just a magazine, it's a way of life."
Draco chuckled, women, he would never understand them.
They had a pleasant meal, making small talk, and flirting with each other, and as the night wore on and the wine flowed, they got bolder. Draco finally asked Ginny if she ever did any modeling, because that picture Ron had was hot.
"Hot?"
"Yes Ginny, H-O-T, hot. You should be a model you know." That's it, Draco thought. There's his old confidence. She was putty in his hands. She had already scooted her chair over so they could share a dessert, and their knees were touching. Draco kept deliberately putting a hand on his own knee, so that his fingers would brush up against Ginny's leg. He was really enjoying himself, he really liked being with Ginny. Not only was she beautiful, but she could keep his attention while still fully clothed, that was quite an accomplishment.
"Draco, are you trying to flatter me?"
"Me? Yes, is it working? Are you looking forward to our next date?"
"It's not that easy. I have a horribly busy work schedule, and so do you, Mr. Youngest head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. And most importantly, what about my Baby?"
Draco felt like an ass. The woman had a child, he'd even tripped over one of its toys, and he hadn't even asked her about it all night. He admitted it was probably intentional; he didn't like the idea of her having a child with someone else, and had probably blocked it out on purpose.
"I'm not suggesting we get married, but I would like to get to know you" Draco gave her the once over and continued, "All of you, a whole lot better."
"All of me?" Ginny said, and reached out to pinch his thigh. Draco tried to move his leg out of reach, saying, "I meant all of you Weasley's, of course."
Ginny smiled and leaned in close enough to kiss. "How convenient…My mum is having a birthday party for Harry next Saturday, ALL of the Weasley's will be there, and you can meet my Baby. I had Mum and Dad watch her tonight, she's not very good with strangers."
So, Draco thought, she had a daughter. Well that solved one question. Who was the father? Where the hell was he? Draco and Ginny were interrupted when the bill magically appeared on the table with a soft pop. Draco cleared his throat and put the appropriate amount on the table, then pulled Ginny's chair out. They apparated back to Ginny's flat, and Ginny offered Draco tea, coffee, beer, butterbeer…
Draco shook his head, said "No thank you" and watched from the couch as Ginny used her wand to put all of the toys back in the toy box. Of course the kid was spoiled, with all those Weasley relatives about.
"Ginny, would you really like me to come to Potter's party with you?"
"Harry's party? Yes, I would like that very much. You will come won't you?" Ginny took a seat next to Draco and smiled. He took this as encouragement, and a heated snog session began. They were finally forced apart when Molly Weasley appeared in the floo. "Ginny, dear are you home yet?"
Ginny crawled off of Draco, and tried to straighten her hair, and pull her shirt back over her head. Ginny walked to the floo, and kneeled down. "Mum, hi."
"There you are. How was your date dear…He wasn't too forward was he? Your brother did say he could be-"
"Mum, Draco is still here, I'll be over in a while, alright?" Molly nodded, and disappeared. Ginny turned around and saw Draco standing in front of the couch, running a hand through his hair, and straightening his own clothes.
"I guess I should go home. You have your daughter, and I shouldn't keep you much longer."
Ginny looked at him strangely, but shook her head in agreement and walked him to the door. "I will see you Saturday, won't I?"
Draco nodded and leaned in for another kiss. Ginny put her arms around his waist and leaned into him. "Come to the Burrow, about 4:00 p.m."
Draco reluctantly pulled away after a few minutes, and apparated home. He had a good nights sleep, filled with erotic dreams about Ginny, and he couldn't wait until the next Saturday rolled around.
**********************************************************
During the work week Draco paid a visit to his two least favorite Aurors, Harry and Ron. "Good Afternoon" he greeted, laying the League Cup tickets down on the desk between them. They both reached for them, and a tug-of-war ensued. The tickets ripped and Draco laughed as he headed out the door. "Too Bad, Gryffindors, no refunds, no exchanges." Things were indeed going well.
Draco made a trip to Muggle London to get a gift for the birthday party. He knew it would be incredibly rude to show up gift less, the height of vulgarity, so he stopped by Fortnum & Mason to get the latest perfume gift wrapped for Ginny, then Harrods for an extremely expensive pink chenille and silk bordered baby blanket for Ginny's daughter. He would have had it monogrammed, but he hadn't even asked the child's name. He had that gift wrapped as well, and headed back to the manor.