A/N: This was my first DG fanfiction, "My Baby". I was very young when I wrote it and had no idea what I was doing. Hopefully these edits will be an improvement. Review and let me know what you think. This is my first fic in a long time and I could use the feedback.
Let's take a long walk around the park after dark
Find a spot for us to spark
Conversation, verbal elation, stimulation
Share our situations, temptations, education, relaxations
-Jill Scott
Draco hated to be lost. The disarray made the hair on his arms stand. He had been walking around a muggle neighborhood just south of Chelsea for over a half hour. He was searching for an address on a business card Blaise passed along. The card was for some squib broker who was supposed to help him find a new store front for his muggle business venture.
"This James was supposed to be the best? How can you be the best when your office is virtually unlocatable? Hmm, I wonder if locatable is even a word", Draco thought to himself. "Whatever, this is bloody impossible." Loathed as he was to ask for help, a muggle would know the neighborhood better. Plus he was tired of walking around in circles. Thousand galleon handcrafted dragon hide loafers were not designed with intensive labor in mind. He resigned himself to ask directions from the very next person he passed.
The next person he saw was a woman seated on the steps of a beautiful brick town home. She looked harmless enough, though a bit suspect. Her head was resting in her hands. She wore a large olive green military jacket in spite of the unusually warm September day. Beneath her jacket a simple shirt and pleated skirt hugged her curves. As he looked her up and down, he noticed a bruise above her knee. It looked as if she'd knocked into something.
"Or something knocked into her", he thought to himself.
All of that was inconsequential. The woman's truly defining feature was her flaming red hair. Vibrant long and shining in the late afternoon sunlight, her hair looked as if it was on fire. He decided to be polite on the off chance that the face behind the hands was as attractive as her long locks. Gone were the days of his thoughts of pure blood supremacy as he found himself ogling a muggle.
He stepped closer and put on the charming look that had him ranked four times consecutively as one of Witch Weekly's Bachelors of the Year.
"Excuse me? Miss? I'm looking for a James Anderson. You see, a mate gave me his business card saying he have an office somewhere near here. Care to assist-"
He trailed off when the woman looked up and directly into his eyes. Draco Malfoy was -for the first time in a long time- speechless. Draco was blown away by the sight of a face he hadn't seen in years.
"Weasley?!" Draco asked confused.
It had been over five years since he'd last seen her at their Hogwarts graduation. She changed.
Her curves had filled out a bit and her hair was much longer, down to her waist even. But the color remained the same.
He would recognize that hair color anywhere now that he thought about it.
Vibrant red hair with flecks of curry gold and warm brown in the fading sunlight. He'd spent hours each day admiring the back of her head in double potions. Her assigned seat was in front of his own during his repeated seventh year.
Her hair had been much shorter then. It has been about shoulder length and fragrant with the smell of lavender and jasmine. He caught a whiff of it daily as she raced into the room and threw herself onto her stool.
No, her hair was much the same as it had always been. The real change was her eyes. Amber eyes that were beautiful, even to a Malfoy. They always sparkled with joy and mischief or flared with anger or righteous indignation. Gone were the expressive eyes that he remembered and in their places were eyes that were blood shot and at best, sorrowful.
He found himself surprisingly full of questions for this newly resurfaced Weasley. They were most definitely not friends, but by the end of the year, thanks to being two of only four competent potion makers left in their class, they learned to tolerate one another. Professor Slughorn's jolly personality and ridiculous teaching methods constantly pushed the two together as partners. He found her to be an amicable and talented potions partner.
He shrugged off thoughts of the past, wanting to know more about her present situation.
"Weasley, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"If you're looking for James, you're at the right place." It took him a moment to realize that she ignored his question and instead responded to his initial inquiry about the broker. "The house is a converted office space. Through the door up the staircase, make a left, knock." She answered concisely before resting her head once more in her hand as though seeing Draco Malfoy on the steps of a muggle once-home was a completely ordinary occurrence.
He refused to accept her dismissal. If nothing else, Draco Malfoy was curious to a fault.
"You didn't answer my question, Miss Weasley. Exactly what are you doing here and what in the name of Salazar happened to you?" In was not in his nature to care about the problem of others, especially after being put out searching for the house. But, Draco Malfoy was not one to pass up a mystery. What could have possibly brought tough little Weasley to her knees?
"I've called her Weasley so long I don't even remember her real name. Something common. Jane? Jen? Gwen? Gin? Yes that's it", he rapidly thought to himself. "Her family called her Ginny." He could hear the obnoxious voice of Boy Weasley calling her name down the hallway almost as if it were yesterday. How he could have forgotten her name with the amount of times her brother had shouted over the years was a mystery unto itself.
Draco weighed his options before delicately seating himself on the stairs. He wasn't in the mood to ruin his suit but his feet were tired and he needed to get to the bottom of this.
He sat close enough to hear her speak but far enough to be nonthreatening. Didn't want to startle a girl who looked to already be on the edge. He recalled Ginny Weasley being a viscous harpy in her younger years and he wasn't keen on inviting that side of her to appear.
"Alright Weasley, out with it. Who pissed in your Bertie Bott's?"
Ginny pulled back with an expression that read both shock and disgust. "Just go away Malfoy. I thought you were here to see James."
"I was here to see James until I found someone unexpectedly more interesting."
"So you find me interesting?"
"I find it interesting that after years of not seeing you that in the middle of muggle London when I am to meet a potential business partner in a very expensive neighborhood, I find you crying on the steps."
"Yes that is interesting", she responded wistfully as she effectively dismissed him once more with a turn of her head..
"Weasley?"
"Are you still here?" She asked with a sigh. "I was hoping if I turned away you'd disappear".
"Disappear? You mean disapparate. And in the middle of muggle London and break the rules? Who me? I never!" He said with mock aghast. He watched as the left corner of her lip turned up in what could have been the beginning of a smile if she had not clamped it down at the very start of its existence. Her refusal to smile reminded him of someone.
After the war and his family's Ministry pardon, his mother became depressed. She just couldn't seem to shake the veil of sadness surrounding her. Although her family was together and free from Voldemort –and prison- the fall from grace changed her. The once queen of high society was a social outcast, not respected among either side of the war. She would sit for hours at a time staring at some point on the horizon, out of the window in the east wing's library. Just staring. Not yielding, not moving. Not smiling. Just barely being.
Although his mother recovered after eventually reminding herself that she was a Malfoy woman and above all, thoughts of that part of their lives, always caused Draco to shiver. The sight of Ginny caused a chill to go up his spine in much the same way, despite the warm weather. It also caused him to reiterate his question.
"What happened to you Weaslette?" he asked softly. His words were rough but his demeanor and the tone in which he spoke were gentle. Ginny must have noticed the change because her eyebrows rose a bit in an emotion her recognized as shock. She recovered quickly and gave a cheeky reply.
"Just go ahead up and don't worry your pretty little head over me." She replied sarcastically.
"Look Weasley." He said mimicking her previous statement and losing patience, "for some unexplainable reason I find myself here and I find myself caring. So I repeat, what are you doing here? You already know why I'm here."
She gave a soft humorless chuckle. "James, he and Harry do a bit of business together."
"Harry. As in Harry Potter?!"
"The one and only" she replied reaching into one of the many pockets on her jacket for something. After shuffling around for a few seconds, she found what she was looking for. A pack of cigarettes which she tapped against her hand and removed a loose fag, effortlessly lighting it with her wand -pulled from another pocket- with no concern for if Draco disapproved.
"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here or why you're so upset."
"Harry claims he had business to attend to late into the evening. I don't believe him so here I am waiting to see if he actually leaves this door."
"I never took you for the type, Weasley."
"Yeah, well I didn't take me for the type either."
"So you think Potter is cheating on you,'" he replied, drawing the implied conclusion.
"That's the general idea."
"And what if he is and he isn't in this house right now?"
"Well now that's the million galleon question, isn't it?"
After that statement, they both sat quietly processing their brief but loaded conversation.
"Hey Weasley?" He said breaking the silence.
"Ginny, Draco. Just Ginny", she replied putting emphasis on his name so that he would take the hint to call her by her name.
"Ginny," he said trying the name out in his mouth. "No, better not. It's short for something, no?"
"Yes but if I told you, I'd have to kill you" she replied in a very dry tone.
"It's okay. If I have to walk into that office and see Potter's face, I'm going to die anyway so you may as well tell me." She gave another half smile and easily relented.
"It's Ginevra."
"Ginevra," he repeated, trying the name out for size. "Okay, Ginevra" he emphasized as she did before with his name. "Does it really matter to you if Potter is cheating?" She gave him a look that said 'you're kidding right?'
"Hear me out. You believe he's cheating. That means you don't trust him. So much so that you are staked outside of his work. That means your lack of trust is so much it caused you to act. Why not just go upstairs and see? Why wait?"
"I almost don't want to know. At least this way, if he doesn't come out, I can convince myself that he disapparated or flooed instead of taking the stairs."
"Is that a feasible possibility?"
"Nope. Can't floo from nonconnected muggle residences and businesses and can't apparate from them either. City ordinances and the like." She replied with a gentle wave of the hand still containing the flickering fag. Her face told him she couldn't believe she was telling him all of this.
"Hey, Ginevra."
"Hmmmm."
"Screw him." He stood dusting the seat of his pants and holding out a hand for her to take. "I'm treating you to ice cream."
"I thought you had to meet with James", she said with a raised eyebrow.
"It can wait, especially if it saves me from seeing Potter's scarred and ugly mug." She gave a light and airy laugh surprising Draco. He could tell it had been a while since she last laughed.
He found himself loving the sound of her laugh and craving more. Her laugh was one that found its way deep into his chest and made a home. It was a melodious laugh, the kind that sounded like wind chimes without sounding artificial. He would give anything to make her laugh again. He cut his thoughts off at the quick, unsure of where they came from. Since when did Draco Malfoy wax poetic about Ginny Weasley and her laugh.
She reached out and took his hand. He gently pulled her from the stairs and waited patiently while she too wiped the seat of her skirt and crushed the lit fag into the ground with the toe of her well loved ballet flats.
"Where to, Malfoy?"
"Draco and the nearest apparation point. You lead the way since I'm sure you're more familiar with the area." She stuck out her tongue at the emphasis on his first name which caused him to join in her laughter. They began strolling down the street until they found themselves in a brick alley.
"Where to, Draco?" She repeated her earlier question. Instead of a reply, he surprised her when he wrapped his arm around her waist. Ginny gave a little gasp but didn't pull away. She held to the arm and closed her eyes as she felt the oh-so familiar pull of apparation behind her navel. After the feeling of her body being tugged through the eye of a needle went away, Ginny noticed the feel of his arm around her.
It was solid. And warm. And comforting. He unknowingly held her close to his body, warding away anything and anyone that might threaten to cause her harm. Her breasts were pressed between them, allowing her to feed off of his body heat. Ginny opened her eyes to realize they were once more between two unidentifiable brick buildings. It was a good thing Draco held her so close; wherever they were was a bit chillier than London.
"So where are we?" she asked, her voice startling him into dropping his arm. She was a bit disappointed at the lost but didn't dwell on it. After all, hadn't she just been on about her boyfriend cheating. It just wouldn't be right.
"Come on." He walked down the alley, not turning to see if she was behind him. She hustled, falling easily into step beside Draco and tucking her now empty hands into the pockets of her jacket. They left the alley and made a right with Ginny following easily behind Draco.
"Here we are." Draco pulled open the door to a small shop.
"The Red Boat Ice Cream Parlour" she read aloud to herself. Draco directed Ginny to stand beside him in the queue to wait their turn.
"Where are we?"
"The Red Boat Ice Cream Parlour" Although there were about ten people in front of them, the queue was moving fairly quickly.
"But where is here?"
"Here is here."
"Draco…" She said becoming exasperated.
"Ginevra…" He responded in the same tone, mocking her. She gave a little huff. "Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers all in a bunch. We are in Beaumaris, in Wales"
"You apparated us to Wales?! For ice cream?!"
"Not just ice cream. Good ice cream." He replied looking slightly affronted, as they reached the red boat shaped counter.
"Hello there." A voice behind the counter said. A girl bent behind the counter appeared a second later, obviously the source of the voice. As she stood, her voice somehow became friendlier. "Drake!... We haven't seen you in quite a while. We miss you around here."
"Drake?" Ginny mouthed to him.
"Shut it, Weasley… Hey Caroline. You've been missed as well". He flashed the young girl a charming, flirty smile to which she immediately blushed yet looking pleased. Ginny rolled her eyes at Malfoy's antics. Draco ignored her, choosing instead to continue his conversation with Caroline. "Less business trips, less excuses to come in and see you all. I hope all has been well."
"Oh yea. We've been plenty busy lately even though summer is wrapping up."
"Well, hopefully, I'll be able to make it around a bit more" he told the perky brunette. "But for today, can I have two single of the Ferero Roche?"
"Now what on earth do you need two for? It hasn't been that long since you've been here."
He nodded his head in Ginny's direction with a smile. Caroline noticed her for the first time. She deflated a bit but perked up when she noticed she still held Draco's attention. "Hello there. Alright give me a second I'll be right back." She said as she practically skipped away to get their order.
"They know you by name here?" Ginny asked suspiciously. "In Wales?"
"Hey you get that judgment out of your voice, Missy. I spent a lot of time here on business."
"Business, huh? What business? The business of pleasuring your gullet?"
"Ha Ha. Very funny, Weasley. If you must know, Malfoy Incorporated has a distributor not far from here so I'd stop by before coming home most trips."
"You eat that much ice cream, huh? That you know which flavor you want even though I'm pretty sure I'm looking at over 200 flavors. Who said you could choose mine anyway?"
"It would have taken you too long to choose one. I want my ice cream now."
"God, you're a petulant child, aren't you? Who says you can always have things your way, huh?"
"Who says Potter can always have it his way?" he quickly changed topics, reminding her of how he found her and effectively ruining any of their happy rapport.
"You know Harry. He's different. I just feel like… I don't know."
"If you aren't able to put words to it, then why do you stay? You could easily do better." He stated simply as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"How do you know?"
"I just know." He replied, in time for the bubbly girl to return with their ice cream piled high in two cups.
"C'mon. Let's eat outside" He said already walking in the direction of the door.
"Draco, what's in this?" she asked prodding the dairy treat with her spoon.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes"
"Why's that?"
"Because I could have a food allergy."
"Do you have a food allergy?"
"No but-"
"Then case closed. Eat." He said finding a picnic bench. Ginny rolled her eyes but followed suit.
Ginny found herself eating in a comfortable silence beside a man who she use to almost hate. Never in a million years would Ginny have imagined that she would end her evening eating ice cream in Wales with the Draco Malfoy. But that was life. Unexpected things happened.
Three spoonfuls into the luscious desert, Ginny noticed that Draco was not moving. He had somehow already finished his serving.
Draco sat back on his side of the bench watching Ginny eat her ice cream after downing his own. She was eating each spoon as if it was its own dessert.
She would raise the spoon, turn it upside down before it went into her mouth so that the cool treat was just sitting on her tongue in her closed mouth. Draco thought that was an odd way to eat ice cream. Just eat.
He found himself just observing her in the precious time after he finished. Ginny Weasley really was beautiful. Her eyes were once again the warm chocolate and honey swirl that he remembered.
Although still a bit puffy, she was looking substantially better than when he found her just a bit ago. Her hair was tucked behind her ears as she ate, though a few auburn strands blew loose due to the sea breeze from the Minai Strait.
He watched as she once more raised the spoon to her mouth, turning it to plop it on her tongue as her peachy lips closed to engulf it. If he didn't know better, he would think Girl Weasley was trying to seduce him with her puffy mouth and her spoon technique.
But he did know better.
He continued his careful and scientific observation of Ginerva Weasley taking in her body which had filled out since last he'd seen her. Then again, last he'd seen her was post puberty, post war, post two-a-day quidditch practice. Of course, she was long and lean.
She was still lean but beneath her no longer closed jacket, he could see beautiful womanly curves. Her breasts were small but full. He'd bet that he could fit them comfortably in his hands. She must have been cold too from the looks of it because her darker nipples were straining against the fabric of her top. And what lovely nipples they were. Little pebbled peaks surrounded by her dark aureoles. He had been staring, so deep in thought, he didn't even notice when she finished her sundae.
"I'm guessing from the way that you're leering, you like what you see."
Not missing a beat, "It's alright. Still Weasley tits, though." After he said it, he worried that he had gone too far. He didn't know this woman. Even if they had spent a few class periods together ions ago. To his surprise, Ginny gave a load guffaw and slapped her knee.
"You're ridiculous Malfoy. I'll have you know. I have a great set of tits." She replied not even attempting to close her jacket to cover up her erect nipples. It was Draco's turned to be surprised.
"Let's not have a conversation about tits. I could dance circles around you on the subject."
"Not. I'm kind of an expert considering I actually own a pair."
"Yeah but I have felt half of the pairs in England."
"Is that something you're proud of? And does that mean that you have felt one tit of every girl in England or that you have touched half of the women in England"
"It means that… Oh never mind. Drop it." He said with a laugh as she laughed along with him. "Are you ready to head home yet?"
"No, not yet." She said breathing in the clean air and relaxing.
"Hey, Draco?"
'Hey Ginevra?"
"Why don't you think Harry's good for me?"
"You mean besides the fact that he cheats on you and he beats you?" Ginny jumped at the unexpected addition to his question.
"W-what makes you think he hits me?", she stuttered a bit.
"You're shitting me, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. She just stared openly at him, waiting for a response. He sighed.
"You have a bruise on your leg the size of my family home in Wiltshire. When I first spoke to you, you automatically pulled your jacket tighter around you. It was warm this afternoon which means that its less likely that you were cold and more likely that you were afraid your jacket would come open. Meaning there are probably bruises on other parts of your body. And you're asking me how I know?"
"I'm a professional quidditch player," she replied quickly. Draco had a feeling that was her default response anytime someone asked about a visible bruise.
"Yes but you are one of the best chasers in the league." She quirked an eyebrow in his direction, surprised he knew anything about her quidditch career. "Don't give me that look. Just because I didn't keep up with you personally doesn't mean I'm not a fan of well played quidditch. Besides," he said returning to their previous conversation, "You don't get bruises like that in the off season."
A heavy silence followed his statement.
Without warning, Ginny stood from her side of the bench and began walking without looking back. Draco was unsure if he should follow or leave her to her own thoughts. He was certain he'd crossed a line in their fragile acquaintance with his assessment but he did not want to leave her alone in an unfamiliar place.
Ginny walked away from the direction they came from, throwing her cup out in a near rubbish bin before continuing. He stood and followed her from a distance for a few paces before catching up and walking in step with her.
"You're the first person to notice." She said softly. "I have parents, brothers and team mates who see me on a regular basis and you see me one afternoon for a couple of hours and you are the one to notice. What does that mean?"
"It means I'm observant. I spent too long under the Dark Lord's thumb to not be aware of people and their weaknesses and don't feel bad. Your family wants to see the best in Potter. In their mind there's no way he could hurt you. He's The Man Who Lived. He Who Defeated He Who Shall Not Be Named. People aren't allowed to think poorly of him. But its what I do. Even though he did a good thing for me seventh year, I still can not seem get over the schoolboy bullshit." He said with a shrug "Besides, I don't think your mum and dad are checking out your legs." She gave him a grateful smile for lightening up the mood.
"Look, I'm not saying you should just up and ditch Boy Wonder on my command but why be with him?"
"Because…he's Harry. I've wanted him since I was ten. I waited so long to have him. He was everything I dreamed of and more... And he doesn't do it all the time," she finished lamely.
"But everything you named just now is past tense. Is he still that guy? This version of Harry is not the one you knew at ten. He's been through some things. He has to be broken after all of that crazy Dark Lord shite. And just because he's broken doesn't mean it gives him the right to do it to you. And he doesn't do it all the time? Horse shit because any time is a problem.
"How do you know I'm not already broken?" He thought about it and gave a little shrug.
"I don't know that you're not broken but justifying your boyfriend cheating on you and hitting you sure as hell isn't going to fix you." She nodded as they continued to walk in silence for a bit, both thinking their own thoughts.
"Hey, Draco?"
"Hey, Ginevra?"
"Thanks."
"What for?"
"The ice cream. This." He nodded in response, understanding that "this" was more than just this walk that they were taking. "I'm ready to head home now if you are."
"Sure" he said pulling her in the direction of the nearest apparation point.
"Where to?" he asked. She took his hand and side-alonged him. After the whirl of apparation stopped, he looked at their surroundings. They were outside a familiar flat off Diagon.
"Well, this is me... I better head in before Luna starts to worry." She said softly still contemplative after their talk. This girl was full of surprises. She must have noticed his expression because she looked up. "You thought I lived with him didn't you? I'm in love, not in crazy."
"Yeah, well that's up for debate." She cracked a small smile. "This was fun Weasley. Let's maybe do this again sometime."
"Yes, Draco. Let's."