Blink

Draco was still staring at me, I was still wondering what was going on, but now it had gone silent.

"Ginny?"

"Um…. yeah…. did—did you just call me Ginny?"

"Well I guess … it makes sense, doesn't it…. ah…." Draco was a little flustered, I had got him there. His eyes were sparkling at me, though. Gosh.

"Wellllll…. I think you need to explain to me how it is that all this has happened without anyone at Hogwarts knowing. Your family isn't exactly below the radar, is it?" I was definitely curious as to how he had a sister—a lesbian sister, nonetheless—that no one had ever heard of or talked about.

Draco looked a little stressed. "Ahh…. um… well it's always been a bit of a touchy subject with my family; see, they only planned to have one child—me. I guess they slipped up… heh… ew… but they always were kind of strange to Vi. She was always the sweetest girl, but kind of outgoing, not as rigid as the Malfoys usually are. She kept me caring when I wanted to just turn bitter against my parents. I always have had her to live for, her to stay sane for. She is the most loving person I've ever met. And I sort of… protected her, I guess, from my family and the names they would call her. She started as just strange—then it became weak, useless, pathetic, abnormal, unworthy of the name. They sent her away to a smaller school somewhere in Scotland to avoid a public stir about two Malfoy children. I always write to her and visit her, though… she first introduced me to Esmerelda last year. They were friends for so long, and then when it became something more Vi was terrified of what our family's reaction would be. She's such a strong person, though, she refused to hide it… so she told them." Draco's voice died; his eyes went blank but I could see a film of pain hiding behind his exterior.

"God…. what did they do…. Draco?" I practically whispered the question, not wanting to bring him more pain from the memories.

"Flipped." He winced, then continued. "I guess that was the first time I truly had to protect her, my dad tried to slap her and I got it instead. I haven't trusted my parents since then. I was already skeptical of their death eater antics and pureblood stigma, but that…. Vi… it drew the line for me." He let out a shaky breath. "Nobody hurts my sister. I can't let anything happen to her."

"You…. I…. wow…." I was so amazed to find that Malfoy could even love, let alone give so much for anyone. Why hadn't he told anyone, showed this side of him to anyone before? "Draco… have you told anyone else? Who else knows?"

He glanced down, gave me a shy look, and murmured, "I guess I don't really talk much about it…" He looked away, squinting into the sunlight but avoiding my eyes.

"You have… told people, haven't you? Someone?" I couldn't believe he kept this all a secret. He had always seemed so accepting of his family traditions, proud of them even.

"Well…. It's not small, is it? I guess I couldn't … didn't want to… It's not easy to just…. it's not safe to disagree with my family publicly, don't you see? I can't just be like 'Oh, okay, I think I'll stop being a Malfoy now, so much for the bloodline, sorry dad, I think I'll care about people now!'" His eyes flashed and he seemed to radiate heat from above me. We were closer than before, his chest near to my eyes. Yum. Shutupshutup, eyes.

"I… wow… that's so…"

He cut me off. "Thanks for listening, I know you can't like me after what our families have been through, but it's nice to talk to someone who doesn't threaten me." His eyes softened and I suddenly drew my breath, wondering why he felt so close, so warm, and why I wanted it so much.

Gosh.

"I just… you're so different than I thought. I always thought you were hiding something, but… God… you're not horrible!" I blushed when I realized what I had just said.

"Oh, wow, thanks so much, I feel flattered." His face was laughing, but his eyes held hurt, like he knew that his being horrible had been a true possibility in my mind.

"Draco… you're more than not horrible. You're really, really amazing." Shit, I hate it when I say things like that. Things that are so true, but so stupid to say. Way to make a moment and break it. Last thing I want is people thinking I'm hitting on him. Way to fuck up things with Harry. Way to confuse myself. Way to fucking stare, Ginny! GET A GRIP.

I got a grip.

On his neck.

With my hands.

A millisecond after his warm, soft lips met mine.

Fuck.

My eyes had drifted closed, but I felt his large hand sliding around my waist to the small of my back. I ran my fingers through his silky hair, I felt the heat of his body close to mine, I felt my lips tugged open and gently sucked, nibbled, I met his tongue with mine and lost track of everything but him. I was up on my tiptoes to reach his mouth, his hands slid down my back, across my bottom, onto my thighs, and suddenly lifted me into the air, pulling me closer to him. My legs wrapped around him of their own volition, his toned body hot between them, his arms encircling me, making me feel like a doll in his strong grasp.