Title: Wards
Rating: T
Genre: Romance
Summary: "Don't you have plans?" "They can wait." A short piece examining a night in Draco and Ginny's unorthodox relationship. One-shot

The first time it happened was during one of those long pauses in an argument that was meant to be a long pause but was often mistaken as a sign to do something stupid by teenagers.

Back then, Draco and Ginny were young and didn't know better.

Now, they were older and they should have known better. But they had fallen into a pattern that they were unable to break out of. Whenever lonely, one would owl the other for company. And in a post-Voldemort world, there was plenty of loneliness to go around. There were plenty of friends and family who had fallen on both sides.

Ginny had lost considerably more considering that her family was at the eye of the storm. However, it had been years since then. As time moved on, so did Draco and Ginny's relationship. Initially based on desperation and loneliness, their relationship transformed into one of comfort and familiarity. Despite their progress, they had never told anyone about their relationship or come out into the open.

Ginny despised her reliance on the young Malfoy but indulged in it anyways. Whenever she was actually involved with someone she would try to avoid him but more often than not she fell for her weakness. As far as she knew, Draco did not allow the same honor to his women but that was not Ginny's problem.

And Ginny knew that she had a problem. She knew that their relationship was decidedly unhealthy. And she knew that she couldn't stop. Not now. Perhaps when she was stronger.

But his kisses were drugging and simply the feel of his weight on her body was a secret pleasure she was unwilling to give up.

Ginny sealed her short letter and attached it to her small tawny owl.

She sat down at the table and picked up a magazine. Surely enough, in the center of the society pages was a picture of Draco Malfoy entering a restaurant with Cho Chang hanging off his arm.

Ginny could have sworn that he began dating Cho simply to annoy her. Cho was a chaser for the Montrose Magpies and Ginny's well known rival. While they were somewhat considered rivals in school due to their respective relationships with Harry Potter and Michael Corner, they were better known for being bitter rivals on the field and the leaders of their respective teams. Ginny supposed it stroked Draco's ego to know that he could sleep with the two leading women in Quidditch.

While Ginny knew she had a bit of inferiority complex about Cho, she had no malice towards her.

She tossed the magazine aside and picked up her dirty dish to carry it over to her sink.

It was Friday night and considering that Ginny had just broken up with a nice man who was just a little too nice, her plans were to stay in, maybe do a little reading and take care of the ever-growing pile of dishes in her sink. She picked up the first plate and rinsed it off. She squirted some soap onto the plate. Soon enough she had fallen into a rhythm. Rinse, lather, rinse, set on rack.

A loud popping noise, broke her out of her rhythm but she continued to work refusing to allow it to throw her off.

She already knew who it was as only one person was allowed to apparate within her wards. Ginny relished her privacy so her family and friends could apparate outside the building and walk up three flights to knock on her door. Unfortunately, a Malfoy knocking on her door would only lead to questions and then trouble, something she didn't need.

She heard him take off his cloak and set it on a chair before he approached her from behind. He placed his hands at her waist where her shirt ended and her jeans began. Ginny shivered slightly at the contact. He dipped his index finger underneath her shirt and slowly stroked her skin.

"You rang?" He said, his face lowered into her neck as his lips grazed her skin.

Ginny tilted her neck slightly, allowing the contact. She continued to rinse off the plate in her hand.

"I did. But I assumed you'd be dropping by later tonight"

"It is later"

"Don't you have plans?"

"I do."

"And?"

"They can wait." At this he patiently took the plate out of her hand and put it to the side. Ginny attempted to dry her hands off with a dishtowel and turned around facing him for the first time in a week. She looked at his face, but only for a second as his head immediately bent to her neck as his hands cupped her lower back.

He nibbled softly on her neck, but despite her earlier words Ginny was quite impatient.

It had been a long week.

She sought out his lips with her own and kissed him with force. Draco responded back and let his weight fall on her, pushing her into the kitchen sink. Her back dug painfully into the counter but Ginny barely felt it. She pulled off his shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pushing off from the sink she lead him towards her bedroom, their lips connected the entire time.

***********

An hour later, Ginny was lying on her stomach reveling in the afterglow. She felt content. Draco laid next to her with his arms crossed behind his head. Ginny turned her head to look at his profile. She couldn't see his eyes but she noticed the small smile that hung on his lips. He sat up and looked around the room, taking stock of his clothes which were strewn all around the room.

"You've got plans." She reminded him.

"I've got plans." He stood up and reached for his pants.

"With Cho?" Ginny attempted to keep any derision out of her voice as she moved onto her back and gathered the covers around her. She could still feel his smirk when he responded

"Yes, with Cho. Is that okay with you, Madame Weasley?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

He paused buttoning his pants and leaned over to give her a soft kiss. He straightened up and said,

"Don't worry, we're not serious." He buckled his belt. He left the bedroom to go put on his shirt and cloak which had been abandoned in the kitchen.

"Neither are we." Ginny thought as she wrapped the bedsheets around her tightly and stood up to bid him goodnight.

**********

After Draco left, Ginny popped into the shower and then quickly changed into an old shirt of Ron's she had stolen the last time she was at the Burrow. This particular shirt had a large Puddlemere United logo on the front, which was chipped and faded from one too many washes.

She poured herself a cup of tea and climbed into bed with the latest novel by Lavender Brown. Despite her seemingly flighty ways, Lavender had proved herself to be a proficient mystery writer over the years and had a big following. This new book had been released a few weeks ago and Ginny finally had time to sit down and read it.

She climbed into bed and settled in for a comfortable Friday night. 97 pages in, the heroine slowly began to open the door to the abandoned castle when,—

*POP*

Ginny shrieked and grabbed her wand pointing it right at her supposed attacker. Upon coming to her senses, she saw a slightly damp Draco with his hand sweeping water off of his head. He looked up at her raised wand and asked,

"What are you doing?"

Ginny sighed in relief, "You scared me half to death. What are you even doing here?"

"Cho decided that we should take a break."

"Did she?" Ginny asked as she put her wand back on the nightstand, attempting not to smile too much.

"She thought I wasn't taking things seriously."

Ginny smirked and asked, "Were you?"

"Not even a little bit" he replied as he shook off his damp cloak and put it on the chair. He began to take off his shirt which was also wet.

"There are towels in the closet" She directed. He left to grab one. She raised her voice so that he would hear her in the hall way.

"Don't expect me to console you." She stated as she picked her book back up and resumed reading.

"I don't need consoling. I'm just going to bed."

"Excuse me?"

"What?" he asked as he dried off his hair.

"What's wrong with Malfoy Manor? Too drafty?"

"It's not drafty, it's pleasantly cool."

Ginny scoffed. She had been to his manor. It was definitely drafty.

"And we've got a massive Doxy infestation in the east wing" He continued, ignoring her. "The house elves should be taking care of it for me but as I'm a big fan of my toes I'll be staying here for a few days."

"It's nice that you cleared it with me beforehand" Ginny said sarcastically. "Don't you have someone else to stay with?"

"Not really. Plus it's much more fun to stay and bother you. I think you can console much better than Zabini or Crabbe."

Ginny ignored his last statement and returned to her book. She felt Draco climb into bed and find a comfortable spot.

As Ginny came to a good part in the book where the heroine began to duel her arch nemesis and sometimes lover, Draco interrupted.

"A disarming spell? I can think of literally a thousand other spells she could have used"

Ginny looked up, just now noticing his presence, to see him reading intently over her shoulder. She wondered how she had missed his proximity.

"So impractical" he murmured.

"Don't knock it till you try it" she stated, turning the page.

"Well you're the expert."

He paused and then continued "Who is this Blake fellow? One second he's telling her how she's the love of his life and then he's attacking her."

Ginny sighed, "You're not going to let me read this, are you?"

"What are you talking about? And do you mind flipping back a few pages, I think I need some back story."

Ginny rubbed her eyes and closed the book.

"Hey! I was reading that," she heard Draco exclaim. Yet she ignored him and used her wand to turn off the lights.

"Good night, Draco" she laid back down with her back to him.

"G'night." He replied.

To Ginny's surprise he snaked his arms around her and gently pulled her so that she was rested against his front and they were in the middle of the bed. Ginny allowed the close contact. His still damp hair brushed against the back of her neck as he nuzzled her. She let herself get comfortable as sleep crept upon her.

She murmured softly, "You know one of these days, I'm going to change my wards."

"Hmm." He replied.

They both knew she wouldn't.