A/N: Holy crap, thank you everyone so fricken much! That last chapter got me more reviews and follows than anything I've ever written - I seriously cannot express my grattitude! :) you're all amazing, hope you enjoy this chapter!
also, I'm loving how much people like Blaise. He's my favourite in this story, too. ;)
The seventh of November would never be forgotten for Ginny Weasley. The store had finally opened that morning and within minutes the room flooded with rambunctious customers, eager to be among the first to see their unique emporium. None of them had expected the enormous crowd; They figured that the magazine brought more attention than they had originally anticipated. A large group of young girls swarmed around the cashier desk where Blaise and Draco stood, giggling and blushing as they whispered about the men. It appeared the magazine invented two new heart throbs for teen girls to lust over.
Their potions were flying off the shelves at an alarmingly fast rate and the three of them struggled to keep things stocked while also socializing with the customers and journalists. Ginny's adrenaline was through the roof all day as journalists ran amok with their flashing cameras following behind…and she loved every second of it. Not even in her wildest dreams did she expect to be treated like a celebrity. And the best part was that she wasn't being praised for being a model, or even being Harry Potter's girlfriend, but she was being praised for her raw determination and accomplishments. For the first time in her life people were taking her seriously. Not that she had doubted it before, but after that day Ginny would never ask herself if she had made the wrong decision in joining Draco and Blaise again.
"Miss Weasley," A tall, slender journalist with long blonde hair shoved her recorder in Ginny's face, "How does it feel to be part of a revolutionary industry? We understand that very few wizards or witches attempt to tackle such an ambitious economical task."
"Oh, it's incredible," She answered, her lips in a permanent smile. "It's a little overwhelming, but my gosh, the most unbelievable and wonderful adventure of my life."
She politely excused herself from the journalist, who was reluctant to let her go without asking a few more questions, and made her way through the busy crowd to speak with Draco.
"This is insane!" she exclaimed, "Were you expecting this many people?"
He shook his head looking dumbfounded, "Not even half."
"Are we going to run out of potions before the day is over?" Ginny asked, suddenly concerned.
He widened his eyes, puffed out his cheeks, and exhaled loudly. Cleary, he wasn't too confident as he responded, "Well, we currently have all 30 of our cauldrons brewing. It's going to be tight, but we only have a couple more hours until we close."
"Thank god we are fully staffed," She thought out loud and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall beside Draco, enjoying the sixty seconds of solitude. She looked at his face and noticed a quirky grin which she had never seen on his face before. "What's up with you?"
He let out a funny chuckle and shook his head, "This…this is better than any of my dreams. Everything is so surreal."
"You did it, man," she said smiling, "Proud of you."
His eyes snapped towards her, "I'm proud of us."
"Don't be a sap, Malfoy."
"Ginny!" Ginny turned her head to the familiar voice; her heart exploding with excitement as George waltzed towards her with open arms and bright, ecstatic eyes. She rushed towards him, throwing her arms around his neck, and he lifted her into a tight hug.
"I'm so glad you could make it!" She cried out happily.
"There's no way I would miss this," he said. "Wow…I mean, wow. This is incredible. I never realized what you were doing was this big."
"Believe me, neither did I," she giggled.
"Mum and Dad are here, too. They're just checking something out over there."
Ginny beamed, "Oh my gosh, I can't even describe how much it means to me that they're here. "Is Ron and Hermione coming as well?"
"Ah, they couldn't get it off work but they said they'll try to make it this weekend."
"Cool," She said, and she felt Draco brush up beside her.
He stuck out his hand for George to shake and with a genuine smile he said, "Hi, it's George, right? It's good to see you again.
George's smile fell off his face and it was replaced with a cold glare. Ginny's heart sank and her mind instantly groaned, Oh god, not this again. Not from George. Her eyes darted to Draco and she saw his smile fade into a nervous expression. The tension grew and she wearily looked up at George. The moment she made eye contact his ice glare cracked, and he let out a jubilant laugh.
"I'm just messing with you, mate," he said. "It's good to see you, too."
Relief visibly swept over both Ginny and Draco and he exhaled loudly, "Oh, thank god."
"George, you're such a git." She laughed.
"Both of your faces were gold," he snorted before returning his friendly gaze to Draco. "Seriously, congratulations. To all three of you. No hard feelings from my end, anyone who helped my sister get out of my damn joke shop is good in my books."
"Thanks, that means a lot," Draco said honestly.
Ginny looked over George's shoulder and saw her mother and father hesitantly approaching them. Her mom seemed unable to look at Draco but her dad was admiring the store with an intrigued smile. She walked past George and Draco, who had begun discussing the business aspects of George's shop together, and greeted her parents.
"Mum, Dad! I'm so glad you're here," She exclaimed, pulling them in to a deep hug.
"Of course we are here! This place is absolutely fascinating," Arthur said, as he craned his neck to get a view of everything. "This is really your business?"
"Yep!" She said happily, "Well, mine, Blaise's and Draco's. I'm not too sure where Blaise is, but here's Draco."
Ginny was about to pull her parents to say hello to Draco, but Molly stayed in her position and whispered, "No, Ginny. That's not necessary."
"Molly, be nice." Arthur said and Ginny was relieved by her dad's good heart. George and Draco stepped into the conversation; they both had huge grins on their face, as if they just shared a particularly funny joke.
"Mum, dad, you remember Draco Malfoy?" George said, before noticing Molly's hesitation. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite."
He shook both of their hands, "It's great to see you again. Ginny has told me wonderful things about you." Ginny stared at Draco fondly, thanking him for being such a gentleman to her family.
"It's good to see you, too. Now, this place is astonishing. I heard it is largely inspired by muggle economics, correct? I'm very impressed," Arthur said honestly and Draco smiled in appreciation.
"Thank you, sir. It's been quite the journey getting here but it has been well worth it."
"Now, I don't know if Ginny told you, but I'm quite interested in Muggle lifestyles as well. I've got quite the muggle artifact collection at home…"
"That's fascinating, I would love to hear about it," Draco said with genuine enthusiasm and he, George, and Arthur slowly walked away from Molly and Ginny.
"Come on, Mum, let me show you the potion I invented," She said, pulling her mother to the stand that held her creation. The shelf that held it was nearly sold out, but she handed one to her mum anyways, "Here, it's on the house. Just put it on your face and it'll make you even more beautiful!"
Molly observed the bottle and her face held an unreadable expression as she traced the engraved logo with her fingers. She pursed her lips before finally looking at her daughter in the eyes and nodded, "I'm really proud of you, Ginny."
"Thanks, mum." Ginny said, feeling more thankful for those words than her mother probably knew.
Molly looked at her feet, clearly struggling to find the words to explain her thoughts, "Listen. I'm never going to forgive that Malfoy boy, nor will I respect him…" She paused her words to admire the bustling store, "But this is really incredible. I can't believe I tried to stop you from letting this happen."
Ginny wrapped her arms around her mom, pulling in for another hug. It was the first time she felt truly supported by her mother, and Harry wasn't even around to influence her decision. She pulled away and saw Blaise strolling before them, his arms overflowing with Ginny's potion to restock.
"Blimey, Ginny. This potion of yours is flying off the shelf – our goal for this month is try to create a few more unique potions." He said, not noticing Molly as he breezed past her.
"Mum, this is Blaise Zabini. My other business partner," She explained, grabbing the potions from Blaise so he could shake Moly's hands.
"Oh, this is your mum? So good to finally meet you!" He said enthusiastically, flashing one of his classic Blaise smiles.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," she said politely, shaking his hand. "Congratulations on the success."
"Thank you! Yeah, it's been chaotic today. I'm glad you could make it in through the line ups!"
"Hey, have you heard from Luna? She was supposed to be here with some Fusion journalists but I haven't seen her," Ginny asked.
"Nope, but I'm sure she'll show up soon. Are you two still going dress-shopping for the ball this weekend after work?"
Ginny nodded and said, "Right! That reminds me, are you and dad able to make it to the ball? I know it's at the Malfoy Manor, but trust me. It won't be weird."
Molly looked uncomfortable, "I'm sorry, honey. I would love to but we are both so busy that weekend…"
Ginny figured she was lying but shrugged her shoulders, "Ah, that's too bad. I'll let you know how it is?"
"For sure. Will you be bringing Harry?" Molly asked eagerly.
"Uh-huh."
"Oh, that makes me so happy to hear," She said, squeezing Ginny's shoulder. Blaise had to refrain from laughing at Ginny's embarrassed face.
"Anyways, Gin, I gotta go fill some stuff over there! Tell Luna to come find me when you see her, okay?"
"Sure thing!"
Molly gave Ginny a strange, suspicious look once Blaise disappeared, "Blaise sure seems eager to know about Luna's whereabouts…"
"Oh, yeah, Blaise is Luna's boyfriend." Molly's mouth dropped.
"Your Luna?"
"Yep."
She shook her head and chuckled in disbelief, "What a world we live in."
"Yep."
Relief flooded over them as the store finally cleared out and they felt satisfied as they twisted the "open" sign to read "closed". The shop was almost eerily silent in comparison the constant hum of excited chatter they heard throughout the day. They exchanged looks with each other, all of them sharing the same shocked stare.
"What a fucking rush!" Blaise cheered, "That was the best day of my life!"
"Oh my god, we are the fucking best!" Ginny shouted, feeling relieved to finally express the exhilaration they had been feeling all day, yet forced to remain composed in front of the cameras.
"Holy fuck, we crushed that." Draco said, as he conjured a bottle of champagne and three flutes. "Cheers, to actually doing it. There were times where I didn't think we would pull everything together but we nailed it."
"How much money did we make?" Blaise asked eagerly.
"Well, based on my calculations…" He glanced over his clipboard with their totals and looked ecstatic, "We hit a 47% profit margin, that's 17% more than what I hoped!"
"Are you joking me!?" Ginny exclaimed, jumping in her spot enthusiastically.
"No. I mean, of course it'll lower a bit over time because the days won't always be that busy…but wow…not an ounce of me expected this."
"WE ARE THE BEST!" Blaise cheered happily as he poured himself another glass of champagne.
"This is perfect. It'll really impress all of the investors at the ball now that we have something to boast about. I can't wait." Draco said.
"God, we are going to be so frickin' rich." Ginny said, unable to believe the amount of wealth she is going to have. As someone who had lived in poverty her entire life, the concept of having riches rattled her mind.
"You're bringing Fiona to the ball, right?" Blaise asked Draco who nodded.
"Yeah, she's quite excited. Apparently she's getting some sort of dress made specifically to the event. I don't quite get that myself, but hey, at least she's excited."
"Good! And Ginny's bringing Harry and I'm bringing Luna; looks like we are the most successful couples in London."
"Oh – speaking of Luna, I need to go! She had to rush back to her office after she stopped by here, I'm supposed to meet her there to find our dresses."
"Alright, see you Sunday." Draco said, and she gave him a quick hug and congratulated him again for all his hard work.
"Tell Luna I miss her!" Blaise called out as she left the store.
Ginny was thankful that they had been so busy as work preparing for their opening that she hardly had time to think about their heated gathering weeks ago or her and Draco's awkward moment in the alley. Although, as she stepped outside of the door, her work pressure finally relieved, it crept back into her mind. Any time she thought about it she would mentally shove it to the back of her brain and simply tell herself, 'We are both dating other people. That was not a weird moment. You don't have time to deal with this today.' But now that she did have time, she was no longer able to convince herself it was nothing. She was relieved that she was able to finally spend some one-on-one time with Luna, who was typically spending all of her free time with Blaise these days, to finally hash out her feelings.
The two girls walked down Diagon alley, carrying ice-cream from Florean's ice cream parlour in before searching for their dresses. Ginny had just finished filling Luna in on her moment with Draco in the alley after the dramatics of the evening.
"Ginny, he's obviously into you."
"I don't know..."
"Ginny, don't be stupid. Blaise told me all the things he said when he was fighting with Harry, how he 'defended your honour'. People don't just do that for anyone."
"Well, he didn't do it for just anyone…he said that he did it because he cares about me and that we are friends," Ginny said, trying to convince Luna that she was wrong as she took a bit out of her icecream.
"Uhh…yeah. And then when you proceeded to ask him if you were 'just friends' he gave you some stupid, vague, Draco Malfoy response," Luna argued, "If he didn't like you he would have been horrified that you asked such a question."
"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's Draco. Sometimes he says stupid things for the sake of being mysterious. He thinks it's cute or something…no idea why," Ginny said, "And besides. I'm kind of with Harry now so it doesn't matter anyways."
"Yeah, what's going on with that?" Luna asked, "You said you were going to take it slow, yet he gets mad at you for wanting to travel for work? Since when did you become boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Technically we aren't!" Ginny groaned in frustration, "We haven't actually had the 'are we official or not' talk yet. He just acts like we are…"
"Do you want to be?" Luna asked and Ginny's face fell.
"I doon't knooww," Ginny cried, "I mean, he's great. It's Harry. He's wonderful and I really like him. It's just…" She trailed off, trying to search for the proper words.
"He pretends he's supportive and acts all civil around Draco now but it's blindly obvious to everyone that he still hates the idea of you and Draco being so close?" Luna said, improvising the end of Ginny's sentence.
"Yep, that pretty much sums it all up in a nutshell."
"Draco still hates Harry, too, you know?" Luna brought up causing Ginny to dart her eyes towards her.
"Really?"
"Yeah, apparently, any time you aren't around he's constantly bringing up how much of a git he is and how you could do better," She explained, "He thinks Draco likes you, too."
"Does he?" She asked, her neck snapping towards Luna.
"Yeah, he says he's noticed it for a while. Especially since you and Harry started dating – apparently he's been all 'sullen' and what not," Luna said before wistfully musing, "You know, Blaise is actually quite the sensitive and intuitive man."
"Well aren't you blessed for choosing the more emotionally available of the two," Ginny drawled sarcastically, causing Luna to playfully shove her.
"All I'm saying is that I agree with Blaise."
Ginny contemplated Luna's argument and suddenly things started making sense, "You know, maybe you're right. I didn't tell you this…but we sort of had a moment. A couple moments actually…"
Luna swatted Ginny's shoulder, "Ginny!? Are you keeping little Ginny and Draco milestones from me?"
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "I guess so. I just felt like if I kept it to myself then it would be easier to pretend it never happened, then I wouldn't have to spend my days dissecting what it meant."
"Fair enough. So what happened?"
Ginny sighed loudly, "Okay, so you know that night we all got drunk and you fell asleep with Blaise?" Luna nodded. "Well, the same thing sort of happened with Draco and I…we had this super long heart to heart about how much he hated being a death eater and how he regrets what he did in the war…then he fell asleep in my bed…and when he was asleep he wrapped his arms around me and essentially spooned me all night."
"Ginny! That's adorable, how did you keep this from me?"
"Well, I mean, he was asleep. He seemed super embarrassed by it in the morning so I figured it wasn't worth mentioning," She said and took a deep breath, "And then there was another moment…"
"What? Did he propose to you and you denied it saying, 'No, Draco, you clearly only like me as a friend,'" Luna mocked and Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, no. That did not happen," She huffed, "But umm…after I told my mum, Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the business and they spent a few hours screaming at me I came home and couldn't stop crying. Then Draco came over to grab something and he was so sweet…like, let me cry in his shoulder, and like, he was rubbing his hands through my hair. It was so nice. Then he put me to bed and slept on the couch because I asked him to…"
Luna gapped at Ginny, speechless, so Ginny continued, "Then, I dunno, things sort of changed after that. We started getting closer and spending more time alone. He started sort of flirting with me," She sighed and shrugged, "Then I started dating Harry and it seemed like he lost any interest he may have had."
"Are you joking me? He seems more into you than ever!"
"How? He's dating Fiona now."
"Uhh…yeah, in an attempt to heal his wounded heart."
"Oh, shut up, a wounded heart? That would be incredibly out of character for Draco."
"I don't know…finding the most famous model in the country to date in order to fix his broken heart sounds like the most Draco-esque thing imaginable, if you ask me," Luna argued, "Not to mention he still seems to despise Harry, screams at him to defend you, then oh – there's the vague little comments in the alley that he said while staring longingly in your eyes under the moonlight."
Ginny absorbed Luna's argument and clicked her tongue, "Maybe you're right…"
"I am," she said proudly, "And listen, I think it would be a good idea to figure all of this out before you officially commit with Harry. In my humble opinion, you and Draco are much more suited for one another. I think you should go for it."
"…I'll think about it."
Ginny and Luna finished their dress shopping and headed separate ways. Ginny was exhausted after the busy day at work and promptly fell asleep. She thanked the gods that they decided to be closed on weekends and woke up feeling refreshed. Excited to have no plans that day, as Harry offered to help Ron and Hermione move into their new flat, she decided to use her free time to mull out her current romantic predicament. She was stuck between two wonderful men, one who has admitted to loving her for years, and one who can't seem to admit to even having a crush on her for the life of him.
She tried to imagine her future with Harry; she could picture it perfectly. The two would live happily, having Sunday night dinners at The Burrow, spend their free time playing chess with Ron and Hermione, probably pop out a few kids…ultimately be gradually torn away from her life with Draco and Blaise because Harry would eventually get frustrated with her travelling and spending time with them. She would probably eventually sell her shares in the company and be a stay-at-home mother as Harry would remain an auror. She frowned at this reality. She knew that nothing was certain – maybe Harry would come around and be truly supportive of her business? But was it worth the risk? Would she be able to forgive him if he ultimately decided that he couldn't? She didn't think she could…and she decided to shelve those questions as she was not ready to dive that deeply into her emotions.
Then she tried to imagine her future with Draco. She couldn't picture anything but the uncertainty gave her a rush of excitement. All she could imagine were the feelings of adventure, fun and new experiences, and an unconditional support for her passion. The feelings gave her butterflies and she couldn't help but smile at the uncertainty. Since befriending Draco her life has a never-ending rollercoaster of different opportunities and she soaked up every minute. She stared blankly at the white ceiling, hoping she would find some sort of answer in the blank image. But her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. She opened the door and couldn't help but smirk at Draco, who stood in front of her.
"Hey, I know you hate it when we show up unannounced – but I've got to find a suit for the ball tomorrow. Was wondering if you'd want to join me?"
He fuckin' loves you, Ginny. She told herself, nodding smugly, as if she just stumbled upon the world's greatest revelation.
"Sure."
They strolled down Diagon Alley, heading towards Madam Malkin's clothing shop. Ginny made sure to note how comfortable he appeared to be around her, how many times he would 'accidentally' brush up against her, or gently touch her back to guide her in a direction. Every touch he made caused Ginny to shake her head in disbelief, as she told herself, Of COURSE, he likes you. How have you been so blind all this time?
"So, no plans with Harry tonight?" He asked innocently as they walked into the clothing shop; Madam Malkin promptly began taking his measurements.
"Nope, just me all day," She answered, "What about you? Are you seeing Fiona?"
"Nah, I figured we could use a couple days apart."
"And you chose to spend your free time with me? I'm honoured." She said with a flirty voice and he smiled.
"What can I say? I prefer surrounding myself with the best company," He said and winked. Ginny felt a chill crawl down her spine and her brain told her, He wants you sooo bad, Ginny.
"Oh, your father is a wonderful man, by the way," He started, and Ginny smiled warmly, "He thinks very highly of you. When you were with your mum he wouldn't stop raving about how proud he was of you. It was nice to hear…"
"Ugh, you have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that!" She stated, "My mum is slowly warming up to it, and she did say she was incredibly proud of me, but you can tell she's still rattled by us all hanging out."
"Ah, baby steps, I guess."
"George seemed very fond of you," She added and he laughed.
"That guy is brilliant. I feel like an ass for spending so much of my life judging your family when I could have been befriending them."
"Yeah, all you've got to do is become buddy-buddy with Ron and you'll be good to go," She said, laughing.
"Ha, yeah, I feel like that's sort of a situation like Harry… no matter how much we've all changed, seems like the damage has been done."
He finished getting his measurements and picked out a very costly suit and paid. They strolled around Diagon Alley aimlessly, playing their usual 'questions' game.
"If you had the opportunity to travel anywhere for work, where would you want to go?" He asked, and Ginny bit her lip as she contemplated it.
"Oh, god…well, I've always wanted to explore Ireland. Or maybe Germany. But America would be great too…then there's France…" She laughed at her exceedingly long list, "Oh, god. I don't know, I'd go anywhere at this point! What about you?"
"At this point France is all I can think about, although maybe I'm biased because it seems to be the most likely at this point," He said, "Can you imagine how fun it'll be – me, you, Blaise, probably Luna, exploring France?" Ginny made a quick note to herself – Hmm, no mention of Fiona.
"I genuinely cannot even fathom how amazing it'll be because the idea just seems too incredible. I can't believe it's probably going to happen." She said, as she noticed he quickly brushed her hair with his hand.
"Sorry, you had a leaf in there," He said before clicking his tongue, "I've got to ask – you wouldn't ever let Harry talk you out of this, would you?"
"What? No!" She exclaimed, "If we get the France deal, I'm going. Without a doubt."
"Would you bring him?"
"Pfft, no," She said, "He's not even my boyfriend technically, you know?"
Draco's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh really? Since when?"
"Since forever," She shrugged. "I mean, we are dating, but nothing is official."
"Interesting…"
"What about you and Fiona? Are you getting serious?" She asked, trying to hide any hopefulness in her voice.
"Ahh, I don't know. We get along really well, she's very kind, and not to mention stunning," Ginny rolled her eyes at that comment. "But I don't know if I see it going anywhere."
"How come?" She asked eagerly.
He shrugged, "Can't really be myself around her, I guess. She's sort of serious. I've been spending too much time with you and Blaise, I'm developing a complex."
Ginny laughed, "Yeah, you and me both."
"So what do you want to do now?"
Ginny pursed her lips as she thought. She knew Harry would be furious if he knew what she was about to ask, but Luna's voice rang in her ears: 'Figure all of this out before committing to Harry.'
"Do you want to come over for some drinks?" She asked slyly and he looked down into her eyes and smirked.
"Sure."
Upon arriving at their flat, Draco made himself at home as he took a seat on Ginny's patio. The moon and stars were shining brightly and a crisp autumn breeze fluttered through their hair. Ginny handed Draco a beer and took a seat next to him on the patio sofa, arguably closer than usual. They began discussing what kind of potions they want invent next, what kind of music they preferred, whether Luna and Blaise would stay together forever. Ginny mused over how fluid their conversation always was. There were hardly any silences, and when there were, they were peaceful. She often felt like she had to struggle to make conversation with Harry, especially because she felt she had to censor any conversations that were too focussed on Draco, despite her spending the larger portion of her days with him.
Draco lifted his eyes to the stars; the moonlight illuminated his face and Ginny subtly admired him as they basked in the comforting silence. She loved spending time with just him on the patio – she felt it had been far too long since they had a day like this. Draco took a large breath before speaking again, "It's really beautiful out here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. I find I spend most of my nights at home just sitting out here, watching the constellations go by," she replied, running a hand through her hair and admired the night sky.
"Do you ever just look at the stars and think about how insignificant we all are?" He asked, and Ginny snapped her head towards him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean all of this," he said, motioning his hands wider, "All of us. We all have our own lives with our own problems and goals, but in the grand scheme of things, in the entire galaxy, we are just tiny insignificant specks. Nothing matters."
"Well, that's very apathetic of you," She said with a light giggle.
"I find it very liberating."
"You find it liberating to feel insignificant?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Absolutely. I know I probably sound like nut job, but I mean it," He said with a light smile, "It kind of helps me let go of everything . If I ever find myself too far in my own head I just remind myself that I'm just one of 7 billion specks on earth, trying to figure out how to live, and that none of us really know what we are doing. We all just kind of wing it and sometimes it works out, and if it doesn't, we can just move to another location with a billion different specks and start new."
Ginny nodded in understanding but remained silent, figuring he had more to say. Sure enough, he opened his mouth again, "If things didn't work out with this business, if people weren't able to get over the fact that I'm a Malfoy, it was comforting to know I could have just gone back to North America, or anywhere else in the world. And I could have started fresh; no one would know of my existence or my history. Because outside of this area I'm insignificant. No one cares," He sighed and a peaceful smile crept on his face, "It was a liberating and humbling realization."
Ginny smiled at Draco's unexpected philosophy; for such a seemingly arrogant man it was surprising to hear him talk about how much he appreciated feeling insignificant. She decided to make light of the situation and joked, "While that is all very profound; I'm offended that you would abandon Blaise and I if this hadn't worked out."
He smirked playfully at her, "Well, I would have dragged you both along, of course," He said as he clasped his hands behind his head. He took took a deep breath and sighed, "See? These are the kind of conversations I wish I could have with Fiona."
Ginny's heart began racing as she stared at his handsome features; he looked calm, as though he was in a state of tranquility. She felt special knowing that he was able to be so relaxed in her presence. This is how it should be, she told herself. His eyes shifted towards her and she noted that their lips were only a few inches away. They sat for a moment, looking deeply into each other's eyes. This is it, Ginny, this is your moment. Just do what Blaise did and kiss him! He's practically asking for it!
Her heart raced even faster as she let her eyelids flutter shut, as she inched her lips towards his, placing them gingerly upon his. She expected him to eagerly welcome the kiss; to grab her hair and pull her closer. But no, the second her lips made contact on his, she felt his face jolt away from hers. Her eyes shot open to see Draco looking shocked, inching as far away from her as possible.
"Ginny, what the hell!?" He shouted, as he jumped up from the sofa, looking bewildered at her actions.
"I-I'm so sorry!" She stuttered out, gaping at her own drastic error, trying to desperately justify her actions, "I'm so drunk!"
"You are? You've had two drinks?"
"Yes! I'm so wasted right now…" she lied, as she tried steady her breath.
"Listen, Gin, I'm sorry if I mislead you in anyway…but we can't – this can't – happen." He said, stumbling over his words. He ran a hand through his hair nervously.
"No, I know. I was just…messing around?" She winced as she knew nothing she could say would make this better.
"Are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned, as her face turned redder by the second.
"I'm great, honestly!"
"Should I go home?"
"Maybe? Yes?" She desperately wanted him to leave as soon as possible but she tried not to sound too eager.
"Okay…umm, I'll see you tomorrow? For the ball?"
"Uh-huh! Can't wait!" She said with huge fake smile plastered on her face. He stared at her sadly for a moment, before nodding and letting himself out.
Ginny sat in that spot, slumped into the cushions with a blank stare on her face, for what felt like hours. She kept replaying the incident in her head, every time feeling more and more embarrassed, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She looked at the stars and wished she could feel like an 'insignificant speck' because at that moment she felt like the world's largest idiot.
Her feet finally dragged her inside to her bathroom. The entire way she was mentally cursed Luna for convincing her that Draco like her, she cursed Blaise for convincing Luna that Draco liked her, and most of all she cursed Draco for being so unnecessarily flirty if he never had feelings for her. She turned on the tap of her bathtub, and slowly slid in it like a zombie, hoping the warm water would soothe her worries. She grabbed her wand and charmed the water to emit her colourful bubbles and she watched as dark blue and emerald green bubbles flooded the bath. And it was that moment that she realized that the emerald green bubbles she had conjured before symbolized her feelings for Draco, but this time they were shrouded with the dark blue depressing bubbles. Even the water was feeling her confusing heart break.
She sat in the water, trying to force herself to cry, but no tears would come. She silently resolved that her future with Harry was infinitely better than her lack of future with Draco as she closed her eyes and tried to let the water wash away her agonizing embarrassment and heart ache.
A/N: yikes, well that was difficult to write. Poor Ginny :( . I am SO excited to write the next chapter, it's going to be a doozy! This chapter was another one of those chapters setting up the plot for the next one, but I hope you liked it anyways!
hope you have a great weekend :) don't forget to review and follow!
