Curious
Ginny felt terrible. She hadn't meant to lead him on, and if she had been using her brain she never would have. It had been a long time since she had hung out with guys who didn't assume that she was off-limits. "You deserve somebody really great, I mean that. But it can't be me. Not with things the way they are, not now."
A sudden light of hope flared in his eyes and Ginny thought, Oh, hell. "I didn't-"
Draco stopped her with a gentle hand. "It's okay," he told her. "I get it. Can I just ask for one thing?"
"Sure," Ginny agreed, relieved that he had seen reason so quickly. "What?"
"Kiss me." Draco took her hand, silver eyes pleading. She swallowed. "Just once, that's all I ask."
"I told you," she said softly.
"I know you're loyal to Harry," he said quickly. Ginny pursed her lips. "And I'm not asking for anything that will compromise that. But… there's something here, Ginny, whether you like it or not. It'd be criminal to let it go, to not even see-" Ginny started to shake her head, and Draco pressed her hand urgently. "Listen." He let out a breath, steadying himself, and said, "Won't you always wonder? If maybe there could have been something, if circumstances had been different? One little kiss, and we would at least know."
His eyes pleaded with her, while his fingers sapped her willpower in tiny strokes of her palm. She hesitated, fatally. With dawning hope, he searched her eyes for rejection and found only uncertainty. His free hand traced up her collarbone to the back of her neck, and using the slightest amount of pressure, brought her face up to meet his. His movements were slow, deliberate, allowing her ample time to pull back or refuse.
But she couldn't. He was right - she would always wonder. Just one little kiss, and there probably won't be anything anyway…
His hand was sapping the heat from the back of her neck, so she was only faintly surprised that his lips were similarly cool. They brushed Ginny's, light and controlled, sending tingles through her. There was so little actual contact that the intensity behind it seemed that much more powerful.
She tilted her head forward a fraction, just enough for Draco to kiss her more fully. He took the invitation with alacrity. This boy, Ginny thought dizzily, is a natural. When they it broke off, Ginny found herself gulping for air. "Interesting," she said, a little too high to be convincing.
Draco was wearing a lazy, lopsided smile, surveying his effect on her. "Indeed."
