Under Pressure

Disclaimer: I don not own harry potter of its characters.

Chapter One: Halloween

A midnight black strapless gown flowed down over her black strapped heels. Her blood red hair fell down her back in perfect ringlets and her dark brown eyes glistened as she stepped down the grand stair case and every person in the entry hall froze in their spots to look at the beautiful girl coming towards them. Everyone knew who she was; her hair gave that away. Whispers could be heard of people gossiping about how her date was a lucky man. Before descending the final twenty steps, her hand wrapped around the dragon charm that was secured on a necklace she was wearing. Her black nail polish seemed to reflect the light and shimmer as she released the charm. She held the sides of her dress as she carefully completed the walk down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she scanned the entrance hall quickly before her eyes settled on her date.

A platinum blonde with hair falling over his eyes walked up to her and handed her a rose that matched her hair. He kissed her gently on the lips and gasps were heard all among the people surrounding them. He held her hand in his and turned towards the doors of the great hall. Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley walked into the Great Hall hand in hand.

All movement froze and all eyes turned towards them. The silence was deafening as they stood, like two deer caught in a headlight, looking on at all of Hogwarts.

"Do they have to stare at us like that?" she whispered.

"I don't know lets find out." He replied before looking at everyone in the hall. "Do you have to stare at us like that? Haven't any of you ever seen a couple before?" he yelled with threat in his eyes.

Everyone quickly returned to what they were doing as Ginny and Draco made their way to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder as a slow song began to play.

They slowly pulled apart as the song ended. Draco held her hand and led her to a table in a corner where they sat down.

"I never thought we would ever be together." Ginny said staring into his eyes.

"Me neither." He replied looking at the greatest thing he had ever seen.

"I love you." It was the first time she had said it but she meant it. She loved him more than anything at that moment in time.

"I love you too." He surprised himself. He had never thought that he would love anyone but he did. He loved her.

There moment of peace was very quickly interrupted by their friends. Azlyn Carron, Logan Heartly, Blaise Zambini, and Pansy Parkinson came up to them and Logan tapped Draco on the shoulder. Azlyn and Ginny had become quick friends as they were in the same class and spent most of their school days together. She was a descendent of the Cherokee Native Americans and looked every bit of it. Her mother had brought her to England when she was a young child. Her bright red fairy like dress stood out against her olive skin and long black hair. Logan had come to Hogwarts two years before when his parents were murdered and his aunt took him in. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

Logan and Azlyn were the perfect couple. They were completely in love and had been together for almost a year. Pansy and Blaise were also a couple, having dated for a little over a year. And like Logan and Azlyn were completely perfect for each other.

"What do you all want? Can't you see we are having a moment?" Draco looked annoyed at his friends.

"We were just coming over to tell Ginny how wonderful she looked and also that her brother just came in and saw you too. He went over by Potter and they are both in a deep discussion and I am pretty sure they are now heading this way." Azlyn said before the group turned and left not even giving Ginny enough time to thank her for the compliment. Sure enough; Ron, Harry and Hermione were headed towards them. Ron held tightly to the hand of Hermione as they had just begun to date each other. From the look on Ron's face, Ginny could tell he was fuming. She began to think about how perhaps; she should have told Ron that the boyfriend she had told them she had was in fact Draco Malfoy, before the night of the Halloween ball.

Ron came up to them and yanked Ginny away from Draco.

"Your boyfriend that you are so happy with is Draco Malfoy?" He spun her so that she was facing him. "Are you out of your mind Ginny? He's Malfoy and in no bloody way am I letting you be with this. If Mom and Dad found out they would kill you!" All around them people had stopped what they were doing to stare at the fight. Ginny pulled herself away from her older brother and stepped back under Draco's protective arm.

"One, yes Ronald my boyfriend that I am completely in love with is Draco Malfoy. Two, there is nothing wrong with two people who love each other being together. And three, you will not stop me from being with him and I do not care one bit if you tell mom and dad about this. Get over yourself Ronald. I will not let you ruin this night for me." She turned to Draco. "Can we please go now?"

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the hall and outside to their favorite spot by the lake where they laid for what seemed like hours looking up at the sky until it grew cold.

"I can't believe my brother. He has no right to speak to me like that." Ginny was still aggravated by the interaction that had messed up her night.

"It's all right Ginny, He is trying to look out for you; if I had a younger sister I wouldn't let her date someone like me." He held her hand as they stared at the calm lake.

"But there is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect for me and you treat me perfectly."

"But you are the first. I never treated a girl nicely before you and I regret that so much but that was just how things were then. I'll just have to convince your brother that I am perfect for you. Please don't stress over this, love, let's just enjoy tonight. Don't let him ruin it like you told him." He smiled at her.

"Okay, I'm done worrying about it tonight." She took a deep breath, mentally telling herself to relax.

"Are you cold Ginerva?" he asked upon seeing her begin to shiver.

"Just a little." She replied as she began to shiver more violently. He stood quickly and pulled her to her feet then shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped around her shoulders before picking her up into his arms. She held the jacket close and rested her head on his chest as her carried her back into the castle with little effort.

Upon entering his private room he placed her on the bed and pulled her shoes off for her as she was falling asleep. He brought her into a sitting position and unzipped her dress then carefully pulled it off. She was now laying on his bed in almost nothing. He placed her under the covers before placing her things on the chair by his desk. Draco lit a fire in his fire place before stripping down into his boxers then heading for the bathroom. After taking a long hot shower he walked back into his room in nothing but a towel and spotted Ginny sitting up in bed watching the fire with the thick blanket pulled over her.

She noticed him walking into the room and she blushed a deep crimson as she noticed what he was wearing or what he wasn't wearing.

"I thought you were sleeping." He stated sitting down on the bed.

"The shower woke me up." She answered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right. I'm enjoying the view." She smiled looking him over, gaining confidence by the minute

He didn't reply to what she had said; instead he kissed her passionately on the lips. She responded by kissing him back. Soon all under garments were discarded on the floor and Draco was hovering over her; his eyes staring into hers. Looking into her eyes made him remember the day their relationship began.

Draco loved the rain. He wasn't so found of the cold chill that he knew would set in as soon as he walked back into the castle, but at that moment he didn't really care. As he got closer and closer to the lake he noticed something red in the tall grass but in the pouring rain he couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't until he was within five feet that he realized the it was a person.

'Weasley' He thought. 'I wonder what she is doing out here.' It was at that moment that he realized she was just laying there crying. He could just walk away and pretend he never saw her, but his feet wouldn't let him. Why? Why did he care about her? Why was he so concerned? Okay so maybe he had been watching her the last few months as she dated Craig Lively. Where was he while his girlfriend was out in the rain crying.

'You can change it Draco. You can make her smile' The voice in his head was telling him.

'Why would I want to that?' He must be losing it. He was talking to a voice in his head.

'You love her. You have since the first day you saw her on the train this year. She has changed, she is perfect.'

'And she is taken.'

'Maybe not, see the tears. You could be her shoulder to cry on. You could fix her broken heart. You can have her.'

'She would never love me. She would never be with me.'

'You'll never know until you try.'

Before he could think of something to argue with that, she noticed him and stood up. He noticed that she was weak on her feet and stumbled. He caught her before she fell and kept her from falling.

"What's wrong?" Time to jump Draco.

"Since when do you care?" She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat back down on the grass.

"Since I saw you on the train at the beginning of this year, I noticed you had changed and suddenly I cared. It also could be because I have changed to, hopefully for the better. So please, Ginny, tell me why you are crying out here in the pouring rain."

"Craig"

"Did you two have a fight?"

"You could say that" She shifted uncomfortably in the grass. He sat down beside her and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Will you tell me what happened? It's okay if you don't want to." He put his hand over hers and noticed how well they fit together.

"He wanted to have sex and I wasn't ready. We got in a huge fight and broke up over it. You probably think I am stupid." She shifted her eyes away from his and looked down at the grass clearly embarrassed at herself for telling him so much.

"He doesn't deserve you then. If he can't wait until you are ready he doesn't deserve you." He gently tilted her head back so that he could look her in the eyes again.

"And who does? You?"It wasn't mean they way she said it. It was just a simple question.

"No, you deserve so much better than me, but I would like to try and be worthy of you." As soon as he spoke the rain stopped and the sun began to come out of the clouds. He could see a rainbow coming out of the clouds and had to stop himself from laughing at how much this scene seemed to be from a book or something. "Will you give me the chance?"

She looked out over the lake for a few moments staring at the rainbow before looking him straight in the eyes again. He could tell she was searching for a sign that he was lying, that he was just messing with her, but he knew she wouldn't find it. What he was speaking was truth. This was his chance and he was taking it.

"Yes" It was barely more than a whisper but he heard it. He smiled down at her and lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her gently and briefly before pulling away and whispering in her ear. "I promise I will never hurt you Ginerva Weasley, from now until the day I die."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He waited for some flash of doubt in her eyes. That would be all it took for him to stop what he was doing.

"Yes, I'm ready." She gave him a reassuring smile and nodded for him to continue with what they were about to do.

He kissed her on the cheek and tangled his hand in hers. He gently pushed himself into her waiting body and immediately felt her tense and cry out in pain. Upon looking into her face he saw fresh tears pouring down her face.

"I'm so sorry. I'll stop; I can't bear to see you in pain like this." He began to pull away from her but she stopped him.

"No don't, just give me a second. I'll be fine." She took a deep breath and then smiled weakly at him."Okay I'm ready"

A little while later they were lying in bed together.

"Are you alright, Love?" Draco asked with his armed curled around Ginny who was resting with her head on his chest.

"I'm a little sore, but I'm fine."She looked up at him and smiled.

"You don't regret it do you?" He was worried, knowing he was her first.

"No, I'm truly happy that my first time was with you. Was it good for you though?" She bit her lip nervously.

"It was perfect. I wish you could have been my first Ginny and I am so sorry for that." He gently pulled her face up to his and kissed her on the lips. When she moved away she yawned slowly.

"I'm so tired."

"Me too"

"I love you Draco."

"I love you too, Ginny, forever."

Soon they fell asleep content and unaware of the world around them.

The next day Ginny and Azlyn were down by the lake sprawled out in the grass discussing the night before.

"So what did you and Draco do after leaving the dance?" Azlyn pried for details causing Ginny to begin to blush furiously.

"Let's go flying" Ginny suggested trying to avoid the question.

"Sure, but you know as soon as we are up in the air I am going to continue to pester you with the same question until I get all of the wonderful details." Azlyn smiled at her before following her away from the lake. As soon as they were up in the air Azlyn wasted no time getting right back to the point."Tell me"

"We went out by the lake for awhile and talked for awhile"

"Then?"

"Then I fell asleep and he took me back to his room."

"I don't believe that is all that happened. You never blush unless something juicy happens so spill." They were soaring towards the quidditch fields, where Ginny knew her boyfriend was practicing with Logan and Blaise.

"Fine, I woke up when he went to take a shower and when he came back something happened" Ginny could feel her cheeks getting warmer by the second.

"Oh my god, Ginny's not a virgin any more. All grown up little girl." Azlyn laughed.

"Are all American girls as annoying as you?" Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend as they came over the top of the stadium. Ginny could see Draco on the ground speaking to Blaise, Pansy, and Logan.

"Nope, I'm an exception to the rule and I would know. I spend ever summer with my nana down in Louisiana." She laughed as the landed a few yards away from their friends who quickly came over to greet them.

"What are you to laughing at and if it is the boys then I want in." Pansy smiled as she twirled a blonde hair around one of her fingers.

"Nothing at all" Both girls spoke in unison. The rest of the group rolled their eyes and laughed at the two best friends.

Draco walked up to them and took Ginny's broom from her before lacing his fingers through hers and kissing her on the cheek. "How has your morning been, love?"

"Good, we sat out by the lake for awhile and then decided to go flying and ended up here." She smiled at him and let him lead her away from the group and back towards the castle.

"Have you seen your brother this morning?"

"No, but I figure I have to go back to my dorm at some point and he will probably confront me there."

"Do you want me to come with you for that?"

"No, I think that will just make it ten times worse."

"How are you feeling, love?" Draco wondered changing the subject.

"A bit sorer than I though I would be, but otherwise fine." She noticed the worried expression that had come over her boyfriend's face."You worry way too much, I'm fine."

"I just want to make sure you are okay. There is nothing wrong with that is there?"

"I suppose not. I should go and get this over with. I'll meet you in you room about five okay."

"I'll be waiting." He leaned down close to her ear and whispered. "I love you, Ginny Weasley."

"I love you too Draco Malfoy" They kissed quickly before separating and walking in two different directions.

Ginny ignored all the stares she received as she made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. Upon uttering the password and completely ignoring the fat lady's comment about how she hadn't returned the night before she walked into the room where Ron, Harry and Hermione were all on the couch talking to each other.

"You never came back last night did you Ginny?" Ron accused as soon as he noticed her.

"No I did not, and it really isn't any of your business any way." She just wanted to get this over with. "Have you owled mom and dad yet to tell them how I am dating your enemy yet?"

"No, and I'm not going to either." Ginny was shocked. Had she just heard her brother correctly?

"Why? I thought you would be jumping at the chance to tell them."

"Because it is not his news to tell, it's yours" Hermione spoke softly, trying to avoid the tension.

"Thank you" She was grateful. She wasn't ready for her parents to know that she was in love with Draco Malfoy.

"That doesn't mean that I like it one bit." And suddenly he remembered where he was going earlier, "Where were you last night? Where you with him? Did you…?" He trailed off unable to finish the last sentence.

"I stayed with Draco but what did or did not happen is none of your business. Can I go now, I really want to take a shower?"

"Go, but I swear to god If he hurts you I will murder him."

Ginny thoroughly enjoyed her hot shower and once she was dress she walked out of the bathroom to see Stephanie Miller sitting on her bed. Stephanie and she had never really talked that much. Ginny had never really talked with most of the people in her dorm. Azlyn was a Ravenclaw , which sucked when Ginny wanted someone to talk to in the middle of the night.

"Can I talk to you Ginny?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sure, what do you need?" Ginny asked sitting down and brushing her long red hair out.

"I know you don't hang out with Harry much but I was wondering if you knew if he was seeing anyone." Ginny could see her blushing as she spoke.

"No, I don't think he is seeing anyone. If you like him then you should ask him out." Ginny stood up and pulled on her shoes and jacket.

"What if he turns me down?"

"You will never know until you ask. And sitting here worrying about it will get you absolutely nowhere. I have to go but come tell me how it goes okay?"

"Okay. Bye Ginny."

Ginny looked at the clock in the common room before leaving and realized she still had a little while before she was suppose to meet Draco. She walked down to the lake where she knew Azlyn would be. She was always there. She said the lake kept her calm.

"Hey" Ginny said sitting down in the grass.

"Hey, I was just about to come find you." Azlyn smiled.

"Why?" Is something the matter?" Ginny's happy face turned into a look of concern.

"No, nothing is wrong so cheer up. I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Oh okay. What is it?"

"So you know how you and Draco had sex?"

"Yes, I am well aware of the fact that Draco and I had sex." Ginny laughed unsure of where Azlyn was going.

"I was just wondering what kind of um protection you used." Azlyn mumbled.

"Why?" Ginny was unsure of where her friend was going.

"Because, I just wanted to make sure that ya'll were safe."

Ginny opened her mouth to answer that of course they were safe, she wasn't stupid but then she stopped. Were they? Why didn't she ask Draco last night? Why hadn't she made sure? Because she knew that Draco was smarter than that. Surely he was safe and just didn't bring it up because he knew there was nothing to worry about. That had to be it.

"Yes, we were safe." She was sure of it, but why did it feel like she was lying to her best friend.

"Why did it take you so long to answer?"

"Because that is not the part of last night that totally sticks out in my mind. I had to go back in my head and make sure. And I am. We were safe." The feeling was back. She had to talk to Draco.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I should have asked earlier but I just thought about it."

"I know, I'm suppose to go meet Draco soon so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright bye Ginny" She waved as Ginny stood and walked towards the castle.

She quickly made her way to Draco's room and nearly collided with him as she walked in.

"Slow down, Ginny, is something wrong?" He held her shoulders gently and looked her in the eye.

"No…yes…I don't know." She let him steer her to the sofa where they sat down.

"What is it Ginny? Did your brother say something to you that upset you?"

"No, it was something Azlyn asked me." She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

"What could she have asked you that made you upset?" His eyes held worry and concern.

"She asked if we had used protection last night and I told her that we did but I don't remember. I'm being stupid aren't I. There is no way that you would let that happen, right?" She didn't look at him as she spoke she was too embarrassed.

He didn't answer.

"Draco, did we use protection?" She still couldn't look up into his eyes.

He didn't answer again. But she knew the answer. Her body began to shake with sobs and she couldn't breath. She finally looked up at him. His eyes were full of tears and regret and shame.

"Why? How?" She cried.

"I don't know. I'm always so careful. I can't believe I forgot. "He was choking on his words. "I hate myself right now. I promised myself I would make your first time perfect and I screwed it up. I am so sorry Ginny. I failed you." He could even look her in the eye by the end of the sentence.

"I should have asked. I should have made sure. I screwed up too." She used her thumb to brush the tear that had fallen off of his cheek. "This is both of our faults. Please don't hate yourself. It was perfect, and I don't regret it. I just wish we had both been more careful."

He still wouldn't look at her.

"Draco" She tilted his head up so he would look at her. "I love you and nothing not even this will change that."

"I love you too." He hugged her close to her chest and kissed the top of her head.

They stayed that way for awhile before Ginny finally voiced what was on their minds.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." He whispered into her hair