Summary: Ginny is celebrating the end of her 6th year in the Hogs Head, alone. She made herself up to look older; no one will serve alcohol to a minor. Draco noticed her immediately, and offers to buy her a drink. 'Why?' you may ask. Read to find out.

A/N: I own nothing. Except for the computer that I am using to type this; other than that, I own nothing else.

I Will Love You Always

Ginny had been sitting in the Hogs Head for nearly 3 hours. She had lost count of the Fire Whiskeys she had consumed, but she knew she had way too many. She came here to celebrate the end of her 6th year, but she knew the real reason was to get drunk. Stupidly, utterly, uncontrollably drunk. Harry, Hermione and Ron were leaving Hogwarts and going on to do their own thing; they were the only people Ginny really talked to. Sure she had other friends, but she couldn't stand the thought of her closest friends leaving her. She was happy for them, sure. But, she didn't want them to leave.

"Another, please." She called to the bartender, holding her glass in the air.

"Don't you think you've had enough, miss?" Ginny looked up at him, puzzled. They never asked such a question, to anybody. They just kept refilling their drinks and went on to whatever they were doing.

"I'll leave when I've had enough." Ginny responded, pushing her glass closer to him. The bartender refilled it without another word.

This glass she downed in one swallow and motioned for the bartender again. He was speaking with another man that Ginny couldn't quite make out with his back turned toward her. He was sitting on a stool four down to her right, with a bottle in his hand. That was all she could see of him, besides his hair. Even that she couldn't make out because her vision was starting to get blurry.

The bartender came over and Ginny pushed her glass toward him again, and a few coins along with it. He grabbed her glass and didn't touch the money.

"That man wishes to buy you a drink, miss."

"No, thank you. I don't know him." She replied, pushing the coins closer to him. He looked down, but again, didn't take them.

"He said you'd say that. He insists. He won't take 'no' for – "

"Fine." She interrupted, and pocketed her money.

The man filled her drink and set it in front of her. "He says that you do know him."

Ginny didn't realize what the man said until he walked away. She looked up and took another glance at the man who just bought her a drink. He still had his back to her. Ginny grabbed her drink and went to sit next to him. She figured the polite thing to do is to go thank him.

"Thanks for the drink." She said. He barely noticed that she sat down next to him.

"Don't mention it." He said, still not turning towards her.

She knew that voice. But she couldn't put a name with it. She wished he would just turn around so she can see him. He didn't. She watched him as he finished off whatever he was drinking and the bartender came to give him another, taking the coins next to the bottle. Ginny finished hers as the bartender set a new bottle next to the man sitting next to her.

"Another, miss?"

"Yes, please." Ginny said fumbling through her robes for money.

"The rest of her drinks can be put on my bill." Said the mystery man. "Just add everything together and I will pay you before we leave."

"Look," Ginny said, slurring her words. "I have my own money; I don't need you to pay for my drinks. I just wanted to thank you, so I will be going back to my seat now. So… er… thank you."

"You're welcome, Ginny."

There was a certain coldness in his voice when he said her name. She shivered, remembering the last time someone said her name like that. A few weeks ago, while heading to transfigurations, she accidentally stumbled into him. She didn't see him because she was in a rush to get to class. She muttered her apologies, not looking to see who she ran into. That's when Draco Malfoy grabbed her wrist and said, "You best be more careful, I won't be nice next time, Ginny."

She snapped back to attention again. "Ok, who are you?" She demanded.

He slowly turned toward her. Ginny now stood face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy." She said with a disgusting look.

"You looked lonely over there, Weasel. Haven't you got any friends?" He said in his usual cold voice.

"What do you want from me, Malfoy?" She asked, her face turning red with anger.

"I wanted to buy you a drink."

"Well, you bought me one, now leave me alone." Ginny grabbed her freshly poured drink and stomped back to her original seat.

Draco said something to the bartender and went to sit next to Ginny, with his drink in hand.

"I told you to leave me alone." She said before he could sit down.

Draco laughed at her slurred words. "Oh, that's what you said. I couldn't understand you with all those drinks you've had." He sat down and took a gulp of his drink. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What would your family say if they knew their precious Ginny was getting wasted?"

Ginny glared at him, but then resumed drinking as if he wasn't there. He started to say something else, but Ginny interrupted him.

"Listen, Ferret Boy, I didn't ask you to come over here and buy me a drink. I'm minding my own business, and I ask that you do the same." She drank the last bit of her whiskey and slammed it down.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked as she stood from her chair.

"To the bathroom, Your Highness. Do I need an escort?"

When she returned, Draco had a fresh Fire Whiskey waiting for her. She sat down again, not even noticing that he was still there.

"I've ordered you another drink." He said politely.

"Thank you."

'Wow,' he thought. 'That's it? No nasty name? Maybe she's more wasted than I thought.'

Ginny picked up her glass and looked at Draco through the corner of her eye. He was smiling. She wondered what he was trying to prove by buying her drinks and actually talking to her. And it's been a whole ten minutes since she returned from the bathroom, and he hasn't thrown one insult at her. 'Maybe he's drunk.' She thought.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Ginny asked.

"Same thing you are doing, getting wasted." He didn't bother to go into any more detail.

They spent the next few hours talking and drinking, occasionally calling each other a nasty name. They actually had fun together. Ginny actually preferred Draco drunk. He had a softer side while intoxicated. And Draco noticed that Ginny had a sexually playful side while intoxicated. After a while, and quite a few more drinks, they flirted with each other instead of calling each other names.

"Sorry to interrupt," Said the bartender. "We are about to close."

Ginny and Draco looked around and noticed that they were the only ones left inside. "I thought you were open all night." Draco said.

"Most days we are. Sometimes we close up. Tonight is one of those nights. Come back tomorrow."

"Alright, alright, we're going."

Draco had to wrap his arm around Ginny to keep her from falling over. "I think you've had a bit too much to drink, Weasley. Shall I walk you home?"

"I don't want to go home!" Ginny whined. She tried to squirm away from Draco, but fell on the ground and accidentally pulled Draco down with her.

He landed on top of her and they stared into each others eyes for a few moments. "Er…Draco…?"

He blinked and cleared his throat, rolling off of her and helping her up. "You better go home now, Weasely."

"What? What was all that in there? An ego boost? What were you trying to prove? Damn it, Draco! What the hell do you want from me?" Ginny turned away and started pacing. She needed to calm down. She felt her blood boiling, and she gave herself a few seconds to calm down. She turned around to face him again, looking him directly in the eye, "Do you think I'm stupid, Malfoy? Did you think – "

Ginny didn't know what hit her. Draco pulled her to him and urgently closed his mouth on hers. She tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight. When he finally released her, she stumbled backwards, her eyes wide in shock.

"I don't think you are stupid, Ginny." His voice wasn't as cold and menacing as it usually is. It was softer this time. "I am for not telling you sooner how I felt about you."

"How you felt…" Ginny's confused look quickly turned into a smile. "Good one, Malfoy. You almost had me going there." She turned away from him and started to walk away.

'And to think that Draco was a little sweeter while drunk…' Ginny thought to herself.

"Ginny…wait a minute!"

She turned around, her gaze shooting daggers at him. "No, Malfoy, you wait a minute. I'm not falling for that. You ignored me or called me names or made fun of my family every chance you had. And now whatever you're doing is not going to work. Are you trying to trick me? Well, go find someone else, because I'm not falling for it."

"I don't even know why I wasted my time on you, Weasel. I actually did like you. Pity."

Ginny wasn't sure why, but at that moment she saw Draco Malfoy in a different light. She melted at the sound of his voice. And when she actually looked deeper into his eyes, she saw a sweet, caring man dying to get out. Sure, she still saw the evilness; but that was on the outside. She almost smiled, but then remembered the hell that Malfoy put her through these past few years and scolded herself.

"You pig." She huffed and started again to walk away.

Draco mentally kicked himself in the ass. This is not how he wanted it to end. He was stupid and childish, but he didn't want anyone to know that he truly liked her. And he didn't tease her as much as he did Potter, Granger or her brother. He tried to avoid her as much as possible, so she didn't think it strange that he didn't insult her. He bowed his head.

"I'm sorry, Ginny." He said loud enough so she could hear him. "I didn't mean to offend you. I never meant to hurt you." She stopped at his words but didn't turn around. "Since the day you came to Hogwarts, I have tried to avoid you. And when I couldn't, the only thing I could do was insult you because I didn't want anyone to… I didn't want people to think… I mean, I didn't want to hurt you…"

Ginny turned around, slowly walking closer to him. "You didn't want anyone to what, Malfoy?"

"To know… that I…" He couldn't find the right words. "Damn it! Ok, here it goes. I liked you Ginny. I really did. I tried to get you out of my head. No, I told my self, you're a Weasley. A blood-traitor. But the more I tried to push you out of my head, the more I... fell for you." Draco looked down at the ground. He didn't want to see her reaction.

She didn't speak at first. She didn't think that the words 'like you,' and 'fell for you' could ever come out of Draco's mouth. But they did. "Is this a trick?"

He looked up. "No, Ginny, it's no trick." He said, taking her hand in his. "I fell in love with you. And the funny thing is that I hardly know anything about you. But, I'd like to."

Ginny pulled her hand away and turned her back to him. He actually sounded sincere. But then again, she's been burned before. Could she trust Malfoy? She knew she could, because if he wasn't telling the truth then why would he even waste his time on her? She turned back to his gaze.

"Remember I said earlier that I wasn't going to fall for whatever you are trying to pull on me?" Draco's gaze fell to the ground.

"Well… I lied. I fell for it."

Draco didn't need to say anything. His lips said it all as he pressed them to hers and held her close in a warm embrace. "I want you." He whispered as he nuzzled against her neck.

She realized just then, that she too wanted him. Not just now, she has for a while. She knew it then, too. She just kept it buried in the back of her mind, telling herself that she can never have him. Her mum and dad would probably disown her, if her brothers didn't kill her first… or him. 'Screw that.' She told herself. She was old enough to make her own decisions now.

"The Leaky Cauldron." She suggested.

He pulled back. "What? No… I mean… I didn't mean to say that out loud. I mean, I do want you… but…" 'Why do I get so flustered around her?' He thought.

"Shhh…" She said, putting a finger to his lips. "Walk away now, Draco, or take me and my heart. It's up to you."

He kissed her again, and then led her to the Leaky Cauldron.

-

"I have a confession to make."

"And what would that be?" Draco asked, pulling the blanket over their naked bodies and began kissing her neck.

"I've never done this before." She admitted, grinning sheepishly.

Draco looked up at her, surprised. "That's alright." He smiled. "I have."

He felt Ginny's body tense underneath him. "Only once, love. And I was thinking about you the whole time." He said, looking into her eyes.

She felt a little better, but not completely. She noticed that he was still staring at her; probably waiting for her to say something. Instead, she kissed him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his face still but an inch from hers, and his finger stroking her cheek.

She nodded. "I just have one question."

"Yes, love?"

"Will you still want me tomorrow?"

He pulled back a little, looked into her eyes and said, "No."

Her eyes widened and she tried to get up, but he pinned her down.

"I will want you for the rest of my life, Ginny Weasley."

She relaxed at this statement, and smiled. Draco chuckled a little. "I love you, Weasel."

"And I do think I am starting to love you, Ferret Boy."