AN: Neither the song, nor the characters, are mine. You must know that by now, surely.

"How high can you fly with broken wings?"

A line from her favourite song, and the last words she said to me before walking out of my life.

She married him, of course, The Boy Who Lived to Annoy Me, but no-one else knew how much she was dreading it. Potter still doesn't know his wife spent the night before their wedding with me. Wanted to know what passion was, she said, and who better to show her than someone forbidden.

I broke the first rule of casual encounters that night. Never fall in love.

…………………

I don't know how I worked up the courage to ask him, but somehow I did. He didn't laugh, like I expected, and he barely even smirked.

"Boy Wonder not man enough for you, Red?"

Merlin help me, I agreed with him. If the whole world hadn't been watching when he proposed to me, I'd have turned him down, or at least broken it off soon after. I didn't feel as though I could, however, once my mother had started planning. Things got very out of hand, and before I knew it, the day was upon us.

That's when I went to find Draco. It wasn't difficult – everybody knows his favourite hangout is still the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. I don't remember how we got onto the subject of sex, but I know I told him I was dreading the wedding night even more than the ceremony itself. That was just words, after all. I'm pretty sure I let slip how dreadful Harry was in bed, although, to be fair, we'd only done it once. That was when Draco Malfoy, arch enemy of my family, made me an offer I couldn't refuse. For one thing, I didn't want to refuse – the man's talents had been legendary since Hogwarts.

We ended up in a muggle hotel, I'm not sure where, but I remember Draco paying for the room with one of those plastic things all muggles seem to have – I made a mental note to ask Hermione about them, but then realised that it would lead to awkward questions.

…………………

I know it's not the most romantic of things to do, but if we were going to go through with this, there had to be a few rules. No first names, for one thing – it gets too personal. She called me Malfoy, and I called her Red. No kissing on the mouth either. I'm not the one she's marrying. Anything else, well, that's fair game, and I'll take it as far as she wants to go. She's tense, nervous, and I realise that the one time she went all the way with Potter must have been painful. I'm not going to repeat his mistake, and she'll soon realise that.

"Red."

She looks up at me, and I've never seen any girl look so unsure of herself. No, not a girl. She's a woman, and a gorgeous one. Pity that Potter doesn't know how to treat her properly.

…………………

His hands brushed my hair back from my face, so I'd got nowhere to hide. I could feel the blush appearing, it was so fierce.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want. Promise."

That's the problem though. I wanted him to do all sorts of things – things that made me blush just thinking about them, so I'd never be able to tell him. He took my hand and pulled me towards the bathroom, having decided that we're starting in there. After turning the shower on, he started removing my clothes, slowly and gently. I never knew Malfoy could be gentle. It took ages to work up the courage to start unbuttoning his shirt. He didn't criticise though, which surprised me. Perhaps he meant it when he said he wouldn't do anything I didn't want.

…………………

Unusually, she seemed more concerned about taking off my clothes than about me seeing her without anything on. She relaxed under the shower though, when I made no move to touch anywhere intimate. Keeping it, appropriately enough, clean.

She seemed thinner than when we last met, with bones sticking out almost everywhere. I wanted to ask her about it, but this wasn't the time. Not when she was wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder. I hugged her back, and pretended I hadn't noticed her crying. She was trying to hide it.

…………………

He waited until I'd finished crying before turning the water off, murmuring a charm to dry us, and carrying me into the bedroom. Carrying me like I was his bride, and the way my future husband never would. I didn't miss the significance of it.

We lay there on the bed for a while, not doing anything except hugging. I didn't really expect this from him – after all, we'd come here intending to do a lot more. Still, we'd got time, and after all the pain I'd gone through last time, I was starting to have doubts.

The next thing I felt was his fingertips, lightly brushing my skin. My eyes were closed, and it was relaxing. Peaceful. When he started to trace the same areas with his lips, my breath caught in my throat, and I gasped.

"This is nothing, Red. I've barely started."

He licked my earlobe after murmuring to me, and I'd never realised that was such a sensitive spot before. I hardly even noticed where his hands were, until I felt them on my breasts, stroking softly. I knew I was pressing against his hands, desperate for him to carry on, and it's wrong, so wrong. But it felt so right.

……………….

She wanted it, what I was doing to her. I knew she was going to feel guilty as hell afterwards, but at that moment, she wanted it. And you don't have to tell me that twice. I was determined to make sure she enjoyed every damn minute of it, so she'd know that when Potter leaves her cold, it's nothing to do with her.

Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling my mouth to hers. It's obvious she'd be fiery, passionate, as a lover, once she knew what she was doing. And I was going to show her.

………………

OK, so I broke the second one of his rules. I don't care, I wasn't thinking, I needed it – whatever excuse you care to use, it doesn't matter. I nearly broke the first rule as well, when his tongue first touched me down there, where Harry didn't even want to put his fingers. I'm pretty sure I screamed, and I'm almost certain Draco smirked. That's when it sank into my brain where he was and what he was doing. I tried to pull away from him, to hide, even though he'd already seen everything.

"Red, what's wrong?"

A load of garbled nonsense came out of my mouth, but a few words must have made sense to him, if not to me.

"I've never left a woman unsatisfied, and you're not going to be the first. I take it no-one's ever done this to you before?"

I shook my head, and mumbled something along the lines of "Harry thinks it's dirty".

"He's a fucking idiot, Red, and you deserve better. There's nothing more sexy than a girl moaning your name." He smirked again, before running his hands up my thighs to part them.

"Wait, please."

He looked up questioningly.

"I just… don't feel comfortable with this… I…" I paused, uncertain. I'd seen the way he was looking at me. It's the way Ron looks at Hermione, or Neville looks at Luna. It's the look that says "I want you, I need you."

"You're gorgeous, Red."

That was the last coherent sentence from either of us for quite a while. I moaned, screamed, pulled at his hair. I never knew anything could feel that good. And I also knew that this thing between us could only be for one night. Damn it, I was getting married the next day and I'd have given anything to stay here with Draco.

………………

The next morning arrived far too soon. We both reluctantly crawled out of bed and got dressed, and she started to walk towards the door.

"Thank you, Draco."

I couldn't let her go, could I? Moving across the room, I held her close, and kissed her.

"Don't leave, please."

"I have to, I'm getting married today."

She reached up to play with my hair, and I notice for the first time that she isn't wearing her engagement ring. I didn't say anything though – I understood why she chose to take it off for last night.

"You don't love him, Ginny."

"Maybe not, but it's too late to back out now. I'll always remember and treasure this night with you. I'll have to, just to cope."

She wasn't joking, either. Shrugging, she murmured those words that have haunted me ever since.

"How high can you fly with broken wings."

They were married, as expected. I hear it was a beautiful ceremony, blushing bride and all. Before the celebrations were over, however, Ginevra Weasley had thrown herself off the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower. She wasn't found until several hours later, by which time her white dress was as red as her hair, and the note clutched in her hand was almost illegible. My name was on the envelope, and Granger owled it to me. It was short, but to the point.

"I love you, Draco, and I can't live this life I'm leading. Forgive me. Forever yours, Ginny."

She was never meant to fall in love with me, nor I with her. But you can't control your heart. I'll be joining her, as soon as I've finished writing this. She's the only woman I've ever loved, and now I've lost her. But not for long.

AN: A bit more angsty than I usually write, but that's how the last month has made me feel. Read and review, as always.