Chapter Three

Ginny's POV

I arrived home from coffee with Draco and completely fell apart. I curled up on my bed and sobbed for hours. McCoy had curled up next to me and never left my side; she was clearly concerned about me. After a couple of hours, my head was splitting. "I ran into someone from school. He thinks I should be proud of those who died. He has no clue. He was one of the ones we were fighting," I explained to her as though she would know what I was referring to.

McCoy growled at that.

"No, he didn't fight in the battle directly, but he took the dark mark," I bitched.

She stared at me.

"I met up with him because I had to know why he was here. In school he never hid the fact that he disliked Muggles."

McCoy pushed her head under my hand for a pet, almost like she was comforting me. "My head is killing me." I was still curled up on the bed.

McCoy then licked my tear-stained face with her sandpaper like tongue.

I got up, took a shower, and then climbed back into bed next to my kitty.

It wasn't until morning that I realized I never fed McCoy! And that my headache was still there. I dragged myself out of bed and fed McCoy, and boy was she hungry! She purred when she started eating and didn't stop munching til the bowl was empty. I then took something for my headache. After eating a banana, I knew I had to tackle my household chores.

After collecting all the trash from the bins around the apartment, I headed down to the building's large trash bin. I ran into the husband from across the hall near the exit door. He was carrying their new daughter down to the mail. She was sleeping in his arms, yet he was explaining to her what he's doing and why. It warmed my heart; the man was clearly put on this earth to be a father.

On my way back in, I grabbed my mail as I was too upset to care the night before.

Back in my suite, I settled on the sofa and opened an envelope. I glanced around to see McCoy at my feet, waiting to hear the letter. She never misses one. The thought occurred to me that maybe she smelled the owl that brought it.

"It's from Dad today," I told my cat. "'Gin-bug, I hope this Owl finds you in good spirits today. I saw the most interesting thing today at work! It was called a computer. Is there any chance you could send me one? Everyone is asking about you. They want to know if you'll be home for the anniversary. I have told them no, but I was thinking about coming to see you.

"I'm sure your mother has told you that we are all sitting on pins and needles waiting for Bill and Fleur's baby to arrive. Your mother almost hits the ceiling every time a Floo call comes in. I swear she's more excited about this baby than she was with any of you children! Poor Fleur; she now looks like a balloon was stuffed under her top! And she has that pregnant waddle. Love, Dad.'"

The next few days passed quickly as I was learning how to do my new job. I did think about what had happened at coffee with Draco. I felt bad for bolting on the guy, but worse for opening up to him like I had. I grew up in a house full of boys, where only babies cried. Being the youngest, I never let anyone see me cry. Yet ten minutes into coffee with Draco, I showed more emotion that I did in 16 years with my brothers. I was embarrassed. I was glad that working in the back office with much earlier hours meant little chance of running into him.

I got two letters sent by Dad, one from Ron, and one from Harry. McCoy waited for me to read them to her. "Okay, how about we do Ron's first. It will be the shortest." I vowed. "'Ginny, I need girl advice. I want to ask Hermione to marry me. Any tips?' Count on Ron to not beat around the bush. Now for Harry's. 'Hey Ginny, I hope you are doing better. I really have missed you. Ron's planning on asking Hermione to marry him. Somehow I don't think it will be as romantic as girls hope for. Ron doesn't even have a clue where to start. I also worry that maybe wizards ask differently than Muggles, so I feel I am of no help to him on this one.

'Ginny, I know things were odd between us when you left, but when you return home I would like to try dating again.' Oh McCoy, you would think after 6, almost 7 months of letters he'd get the hint. Have I once given him any reason to hope? Nope. Not once have I even addressed the matter. I don't know if I can ever forget how he left, or how I wasn't trusted to know what was going on. I never, not once. broke the trust of any of the three of them."

It was times like this I missed Neville and Luna most. They both got it; they understood what my brother and Harry and Hermione never could. The Golden Trio felt that their mission made up for the hurt they caused.

The following morning, Amy came into the payroll office. It was my first day alone on the job. "How's it going today?" she asked as she leaned against the counter apposite of me.

"Good. Everything is balancing," I replied.

"That's good. Last night a guy left this for you. He was very attractive." She hands me an envelope. "I have to get to that training group." She smiles and takes off.

I look at the envelope; my name is on the front of it, very neatly written. I figured it must be from Draco and set it aside until my break.

When I finally got my break, I closed the office door and grabbed Draco's letter. I laughed at the fact that of all the letters I have received since arriving here, this is the only one McCoy doesn't get to hear! I actually debated saving it til I got home to read it to her, but the fact that Draco left a note for me at work gets the better of me.

Ginny,

I'm sorry if I offended you in some way. It wasn't my intent. I did come after you, but I swear you had to have Apparated. I would like to talk to you again, just to assure myself that you're doing alright. I'm told your schedule has changed and they can't tell me when you will be in, for safety reasons. Therefore, I can't come through your till again to see for myself. So, if you wouldn't mind calling me to set something up, I would appreciate it.

Draco Malfoy 780 555 1234

I spent two days debating whether to call him or not. Finally, the manners my mother raised me with won over. I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, was telephoning Draco Malfoy! Once I decided to do it, I checked outside to see if the sky had fallen or if gravity stopped working. There was no point in checking if hell froze over as I'm pretty sure in this country that happened during the winter that just passed!

On the third ring, he answered. "Hello, Draco Malfoy here."

I had no real clue as to what to say. I froze, saying nothing.

"Ginny? You see, you have to speak into the phone. That's how it works," he said in a know-it-all way.

"I know that," I spat, aggravated. "I'm just not used to phoning someone. I-"

He chuckled. "I guess it is a bit odd."

"Alright, we have spoken. You now know I didn't kill myself or something, so are we done?"

"I'd like to see it myself actually, if you don't mind. Let's start over. You are the only other magical Brit I have come across here. Allow me to take you to dinner as a way of making up for pushing our last conversation in a direction that caused you such upset."

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, not believing my own ears. I finally found my voice, "You really are Draco's double, aren't you?"

"Truthfully Ginny, I think the Ministry would be impressed to know I can behave like a gentleman around you, instead of like the insufferable brat everyone endured in school."

Okay, now this made sense to me; there was something in it for Draco to be nice to me. "Dinner? Why?"

"Things went bad pretty fast in the coffee shop, so I felt returning there wouldn't be the best idea. Look, it's dinner, not a lifetime commitment." He sounded offended that I wasn't jumping at the chance.

"Fine, dinner. When and where?"

"Tomorrow? I know a place with..."

"Tomorrow doesn't work; we're having a baby shower for a lady at work," I explained.

"Aren't you supposed to bathe babies?" he asked. He sounded as confused as I did when I first heard the term. "Why do you have to help them bathe their child?"

"It's a party where you bring gifts for the new baby. No bathing involved."

"So, no naked ladies then?" he teased. "This just goes from bad to worse."

I was and wasn't shocked by his comment. This was the SINGLE most normal guy thing I had ever heard come out of Draco's mouth.

"No."

"Alright, what night works for you?"

I didn't want to say Friday or Saturday night and have him think I thought this was a date. "Does Thursday work for you?"

"Thursday, yes. Can I pick you up?" he offered.

"Thank you, but no. I can get myself to wherever we are meeting."

He then gave me the time and location.

When Thursday rolled around, I went home from work, and due to the time my shift finished, I had time to shower and change. Some of the girls at work knew of the location and told me is was a causal place, so I didn't have to worry about what to wear.

A/N- Please keep in mind I work full time and have children. I can't possibly write as fast as you can read, but I have found that the more reviews I get, the more I am inspired to write! Please tell me what you think.