A/N: HI GUYS! Thank so much for the reviews! Glad that chapter was fairly well recieved! ALSO, I noticed I have gotten a bunch of new readers and followers since the last chapter! Welcome aboard, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. :)

SO, good news! Initially I was only going to have two chapters left after this one. BUT, because this chapter was going to end up being like...30 pages long if I did it that way, I decided to split it up into two. So there will still be three more chapters after this! And the next one should be up on thursday, if all goes according to plan. I'm glad I'm deciding to do this...next chapter is gonna be intense and I don't want it overshadowed by the rest of the content.

ANYWAYS, hope you enjoyyyyy it!

Ginny shouldn't have been surprised when Draco proceeded to ignore her after their breakup, but sure enough, when she was met by his icy aloofness over the next month she was taken aback. How could someone who allegedly cared for her so much pretend she didn't exist? After all that they had been through she believed she deserved more than that, but apparently, Draco Malfoy saw things differently. It infuriated and confused her.

Between her stupid breakup, getting ready to open their factory, and helping Hermione and Ron with the wedding, Ginny felt overwhelmingly drained. She was emotionally and physically exhausted but unfortunately, life doesn't stop just because she was heartbroken. It was imperative that she kept busy, focussing as much energy on the task at hand, otherwise, she would crash. And there was no time to crash.

Sitting cross-legged on Luna's living room floor, she delicately tied a lilac ribbon around the glass vase for the wedding's centerpieces. Yawning as she completed another, she turned to Luna.

"I'm so bloody tired," she said. "How much more do we have to do?"

Luna did some mental math. "I think only twenty. We are over half way!"

"Thank god," Ginny muttered before sending an appreciative glance to her friend. "I'm so thankful for you, Luna. Between all this stupid wedding stuff and me constantly crashing yours and Blaise's dates, I feel like the neediest friend ever."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luna said sincerely. "I would expect the same from you if I were ever in your situation. That's what friends are for."

"I guess so," Ginny said as she frowned. "I feel a little pathetic, though. I mean, we only dated for four months and I can hardly sleep in my bed without thinking of him."

"You're not pathetic," Luna assured her, "you're just adjusting to life without him. It's going to take a little time."

"It would be easier if the damn prat would talk to me," she said. "If it isn't work-related, he ignores me. On top of getting over a breakup, I feel like I'm mourning over a lost friendship. He was one of my best friends…"

"I know, Gin," Luna wrapped her arms around her shoulder consolingly, "It'll get easier. I promise."

Blaise interrupted the conversation by walking through the front door. Smiling, he walked towards Luna to peck her on the cheek. "How are my two favorite women doing?"

"We are making centerpieces for Hermione's wedding," Luna said, smiling enthusiastically. "Want to help?"

Blaise scowled at the bunches of ribbons and flowers on the floor. "Not even in the slightest."

"You're no fun," Ginny said. "Where have you been all night?"

"I was at Draco's," Blaise said casually. "Tomorrow's going to be busy at work, Gin. Draco's got a load of new staff hired who need to be trained as well as we need to start packing some stuff up to move to the factory."

Ginny groaned and flopped her back onto the floor. "But I'm soooo lazy."

"I know, me too," Blaise agreed, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "But it'll be worth it. Our income is going to triple."

"God, I love money," Ginny said to herself. "At least I'm slowly getting rich from all this mess."

"Yeah, it's definitely a motivating factor," Blaise chuckled.

Ginny shifted uncomfortably as she contemplated asking Blaise about Draco. She knew he hated being caught in the middle of the two. But, her heart won over her brain. "So…how is he doing?"

"Who?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Draco."

"Oh," he ran a hand through his hair. "He's alright. A little drunk."

"Sounds pretty normal for Draco," Luna muttered under her breath.

Ginny chuckled at Luna's comment before turning back to Blaise. "Did he umm…Did he mention me at all?"

"Unless it was work-related, not really no…" Blaise replied uncomfortably. Ginny's face fell.

Luna sent a sympathetic glance her way, "Don't worry, Gin. I'm sure deep down he's an emotional wreck without you."

Ginny scoffed bitterly, "I don't think that man has a single emotion in his body."

"He's sad," Blaise said. "He'll never admit it, but he's sad. It's obvious by the way he avoids talking about you at all costs. He thinks it's making him seem like he doesn't care, but I know him well enough to know that it's just an act."

"Good," Ginny said sourly. Initially, after the breakup she didn't want him to feel any pain, but after him avoiding her like she was a disease, it was a little satisfying. She bit her lip nervously as she asked the next question that plagued her mind. "Is he…seeing anyone?"

"Fuck, Gin," Blaise snapped, "I'm not going to tell you that."

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because it's none of your business," he said. Luna shot him a glare for his curt tone. "It's not my job to share Draco's personal life with you. I'm sorry, but he's still my friend and I need to respect his privacy."

"So, what? He is seeing someone?" she frowned, making her own interpretations of Blaise's vagueness. He sighed in annoyance.

"Christ, no, that's not what I'm saying," he put his face in his hands. "He's perfectly single, lonely, and miserable if that's what you want to hear."

"Blaise," Luna hissed, "don't be rude."

"Well, fuck, I'm sorry," he shot, "but I'm sick and tired of being the middleman here. I feel like I'm a child stuck between two divorced parents. If you have these questions, maybe you should try talking to him yourself."

"I would!" she cried, "But talking to him right now is like talking to a brick wall. Unless it's work related all he does is grunts or says some stupid sarcastic comment."

"Not my problem," he said stood up and raised his hands. "Sweeping declaration; I'm officially demoting myself from being the official converser between you two. If you want to know something about him, ask him yourself."

"You're a twat," Ginny grumbled, although she knew this was hard for Blaise. He wasn't the type of person to gossip about his friends or anyone, but Ginny was repeatedly feeding off him for any details about Draco.

"I know," Blaise said smugly before walking to the kitchen, "You guys want a drink?"

"Yes, please," Luna hollered before looking at Ginny. "So, speaking of Draco seeing anyone…it's been a month, Gin. Please, please, please let me set you up with Matt, the photographer, from work. He's so kind and charming. You'll love him."

"Not interested."

"Come on, Gin. You need a date for the wedding after all."

"I don't need a date for the wedding."

"Fine, you don't need one. But you'll have a better time with one."

"It's true, Gin," Blaise piped in, passing out drinks. "The best way to get over someone is to get under someone, after all."

"Guys," she started, "I've battled in the war at Hogwarts, I've seen my brother get murdered, I've struggled with poverty my entire life…believe me. There are worse travesties in life than going to a stupid wedding alone."

"Your call," Luna shrugged, "You're missing out, though. Matt is brilliant."

"I'm sure he's lovely but I'm not in the right mindset for any dates right now anyways," she said. "Besides, my current state of cynicism will surely scare him off anyways."

"At least she's honest," Blaise said and received a nudge in the ribs from Luna.

"On a happier note on the topic of weddings," Ginny reached in her pocket for an envelope that she had been saving for Blaise, "here is your invitation to the wedding. Ron and Hermione would be happy if you attended."

Luna and Blaise's eyes shot open in excitement. Luna squealed, "Are you serious? They're letting him come?"

"Yep," Ginny nodded. "Ron was a little bitter over it but Hermione insisted it would be fine. Ron says you'd better get him a good wedding gift, though."

"Will he take money?" Blaise asked as he happily admired the invitation.

"I think in this case, that would be ideal."

A few days later Ginny found herself working late, side by side with Draco in an uncomfortable silence. With all the other employees already done for the day and Blaise doing preparations for the factory, Ginny and Draco were alone, delicately packing up the potions ingredients. She swallowed hard as the tension in the room was quickly growing. She watched him as he avoided her eyes, keeping his head down, gingerly wrapping the ingredients in protective paper. For the sake of her sanity, she had to break the silence.

"Are you excited for the factory to open?" she asked. If she kept it work related, he couldn't ignore her.

"Uh-huh." Okay, so he didn't ignore her, but that wasn't much better.

"How long do you think it'll take until our potions are distributed to other stores?" She was really grasping for straws to make conversation.

"I don't know," he said with his back turned to her. "A week, maybe?"

"Coooooool."

"Can you pass me that box?" he asked. When she handed it to him her hand grazed against his, causing him to flinch, but he continued to go about his work.

"All the new employees are performing really well," she said, "Tim is excellent. He's going to need a promotion soon."

"That's nice," he said coldly. Finally, Ginny had enough.

"We don't need to do this, you know," she snapped. He hardly reacted.

"Do what?"

"Avoid the elephant in room…we can talk about what happened," she bit her lip nervously when he stopped in front of her, making eye contact with her for the first time all week.

"And why would we do that?"

She felt more aware of his height as he loomed over her, his cold eyes piercing into her. Determined not to feel intimidated, she continued, "Because it would be healthy?"

"Why would it be healthy?" he stepped closer and she shrunk into the table she was leaning against. This was the closest they had been all month.

"Because it's unhealthy to keep this stuff inside," she said, "especially if we are working together. We can't continue living like this."

"I'm perfectly fine," he shrugged. Ginny sighed in exasperation.

"You're not fine," she rolled her eyes. "I think it'll be good if we can have an adult conversation about us."

He nodded as he continued packing the boxes. She thought he was going to ignore her again, but then he spoke up. "So, tell me, have you changed your mind on anything?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, about us," he was avoiding her eyes again, "Have you changed your mind about not dating in secret?"

"No," she shot harshly. "Have you changed your mind about waiting two years until we can be public?"

"Nope," he said. He became very interested in a rusted cauldron and Ginny wanted to punch him for acting so detached from the conversation.

"Why do you ask?" she said, pulling the cauldron away so he would focus on her. Her temper was rising.

"Because if you haven't changed your mind and I haven't changed my mind," he pulled the cauldron back, "then I don't see the point in discussing it any further."

"We need to discuss it because if we don't we are going to spend eternity working in silence. It'll be good for us."

"Really?" he scoffed. "Because when I imagine you and I discussing it any further, all I can foresee is it ending with you crying, maybe even me crying, and both of us retreating to our homes feeling shittier than we did before."

Her stomach fell at his honesty. For the first time that month she saw the distinct look of pain in his eyes. Blaise was right, it was merely an act that he wasn't hurt. When she couldn't think of an argument against him he continued.

"If you ask me it's best if we just move on," he was staring at his hands now. "All I want is to move on from this as efficiently as possible with as few feelings hurt as possible. It's called self-preservation."

She furrowed her brow, feeling particularly offended by his words. "But you're hurting my feelings by ignoring me."

"Then move on. Get over it," he said bluntly. She could barely look at him. The rude delivery of his words was stinging her. This was the first time she felt true contempt towards him.

"Not all of us are heartless robots, Draco," she said, "not all of us are capable of turning off our feelings like a switch."

"And neither am I," he started, "but it's easier to pretend that I am. Eventually, it'll be a reality."

"So, what?" Ginny folded her arms. "You never think about me?"

"Of course I think about you," he smirked, "You're my business partner."

"You know what I mean."

"I don't know, Gin," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "When I start to think about 'us' I just ignore it. Every day I ignore 'us' is one day closer to getting over it. Maybe you should try it."

"Fine, maybe I will."

"Good," he closed one of the boxes. "Hey, it's late. I need to visit my parents for a bit. Do you mind if we stop here for the night?"

"Sure," she said coldly. She wanted nothing more than to get away from him anyways.

"Alright," he nodded. She saw him swallow as he uncomfortably ran a hand through his hair. "We just…we just need to move on from this, Ginny. The sooner it happens the sooner we can try to establish a friendship again."

"Sure," she said again, this time even icier. She stared at the potion ingredients on the table, trying to avoid his gaze. She was feeling particularly sensitive, with this being the first real conversation she had with him since the breakup. Maybe he was right, maybe they shouldn't discuss it.

"Are you going to be okay?" he stepped closer and she shot him a venomous stare.

"It's not really your problem if I'm not, is it?"

"I guess not," he shook his head. "Listen, I'm sorry that you're hurting – "

"Don't be."

"But really, just try moving on. Try ignoring it. It'll get better."

"Whatever, Draco," she rubbed her temples in annoyance. Draco was the last person she wanted therapeutic advice from. "Just…go. I'll clean up here."

He nodded and apparated away. She was glaring at the spot he was previously standing as she thought maliciously to herself, I'll fucking show you 'moving on', Draco Malfoy…

She quickly apparated to Luna's house. She banged on the door loudly, in fear of ever barging into her house again after the last time. Tapping her foot impatiently, she was relieved when a sleepy looking Luna answered the door.

"Hey Gin, sorry I was having a nap," she yawned. "What's up?"

"I need you to set up a date with that photographer bloke."

Luna's eyes widened. "Umm, okay. That's great. Are you alright?"

"Yep, I'm fantastic," she marched past Luna to see Blaise lying on the couch. She shot daggers at him. "Why aren't you at the factory? I thought you were working!"

"I was," he said. "Then I needed a nap."

"So, you're playing hooky?"

"If that's what you want to call it, sure," he smirked, "but I call it nap time."

"You're ridiculous," she rolled her eyes.

"Anywaaaaays," Luna interrupted, "So, you want to go out with Matt?"

"Yes. The sooner the better."

"Why the change of heart?" Luna asked as she resumed her spot on the couch next to Blaise.

"I took Blaise's advice and decided to try to break through Draco's cold, stupid, steel, selfish soul -" she ranted.

"Ten points for alliteration," Blaise snickered quickly.

" – And now, I'm taking Draco's delightful advice of simply 'moving on'."

"Oooh, ouch," Luna winced for Ginny.

"He's right. You were both right," she said borderline manically, "I just need to start dating again then I'll forget all about stupid Draco fuckin' Malfoy."

"How does next Wednesday sound?" Luna asked.

"Sounds excellent."

Next Wednesday arrived quickly and Ginny was busy at work, looking over performance reviews with Draco. Papers flooded the desk as he frantically searched for a specific review. She couldn't refrain from smiling when his disheveled hair fell into his eyes. She always thought it was cute when it did that, but of course, that was the last thing she wanted to think about.

"Where the hell is Allen's file?" he asked as he anxiously sifted through the papers. "I know I did his review last week, where did I put it?"

"You'd probably have a lot more luck if you had a little more organization," she drawled, searching through the papers as well.

"Thanks, tips," he paused to flash her a quick smile. It was the first time he smiled at her in a long time.

"Don't even worry about the file," she said, "Allen is an idiot, anyways. I can tell you whatever you need to know about him."

He snickered but tried to remain serious, "I believe there's some sort of law against creating a fake performance review."

She shrugged. "Live a little."

"Here it is," he sighed in relief as he clutched the paper to his chest. "Thank god. I was minutes away from having a damn panic attack."

"Congratulations," she said. "So, what does it say?"

He read the review over and nodded. "Yep. You were right. He's an idiot…definitely will not be getting a raise."

"Poor guy," she looked towards the poor performing older man. "He tries so hard, yet can't manage to do anything right."

"I Still don't know why you won't fire him," Draco said as he resumed his seat across from her.

"I'm just too kind-hearted, of course," she said sarcastically, displaying a fake smile. He laughed.

"Yes, that must be it," he said, "It has nothing to do with your fear of instilling authority."

"Absolutely not," she stuck her tongue out at him and he shook his head, chuckling to himself. She didn't know where this friendly, flirty behavior was coming from, but it was the most 'normal' conversation they had all month. She felt her heart skip when she noticed his smile wasn't fading.

"Ahh, my two best mates," Blaise came strolling towards the desk, "I was just looking for you two."

"Oh?" Draco asked, still smiling fondly from their conversation. Blaise proudly handed Draco a letter.

"The hospital wing at Hogwarts wants to purchase their potions from us next fall," said Blaise as he took a seat beside Ginny. "They are easily going to be our biggest client. Their monthly invoice is going to be as much as what we make here a month, total."

"Oh my gosh, that's brilliant, Blaise," Ginny asked, rushing around the desk to read the letter over Draco's shoulder. His arm brushed against hers and she shivered.

"This is perfect…" Draco was in awe as he repeatedly re-read the letter. "This is a serious game changer. Do you have any idea how much credibility we will get once we start supplying Hogwarts?"

"A lot," Blaise said, "Fuck this is amazing. I would say we should celebrate tonight but Ginny has her date."

Ginny face-palmed. "I completely forgot about Matt, oh my god, I'm the worst. Thank you for reminding me."

When she returned to her original seat across from Draco she saw how his face had fallen. The previous smile that was plastered on his face evaporated. Blaise picked up on his error of announcing the date right in front of Draco.

"Shit, sorry," he cringed.

"Why are you sorry?" Draco asked coldly as his eyes returned to the papers in front of him. "There's nothing wrong with my dear platonic co-worker going out with someone."

"Umm…I guess," Blaise looked over his shoulders uncomfortably, searching for an escape from the increasingly tense situation. "I'm gonna go make sure Allen isn't screwing anything up."

"Me too," Ginny stood up quickly, about to follow Blaise's lead, but Draco stopped her.

"Who are you going out with?"

"Umm," she ran a hand through her hair, "that photographer Luna wanted to set me up with when we were seeing each other…"

"I see," he nodded, "Well, good luck. I hope he's 'the one'."

She rolled her eyes at his icy smirk before walking away.

Later that afternoon she was working in the storage room alone, organizing the shelves. She was lost in thought, thinking about her upcoming date. Despite the nerves setting in, she was quite excited. It would be nice talking to someone new. Someone who had no connection to her professional life. Someone who she could potentially hold hands with in public for once. The way Luna described him made him sound like a perfect fit for Ginny, too. The thought of having an uncomplicated relationship excited her to no end after her past year of dramatic nonsense.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Draco walking into the storage room. He quickly peered around the room to ensure they were in solitude before he put a silencing charm on the door. Ginny raised her eyebrows at him when she noticed he was more fidgety than usual.

"Planning on murdering me, Malfoy?" she asked sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm not planning on murdering you…"

"So, what's with the silencing charm?"

He stayed silent as he stared at the ground, rubbing his shoulder nervously. She looked at him expectantly.

"Seriously, what's going on?"

"Don't go out with that guy," he blurted out quickly, wincing at his own abruptness. Ginny's face fell as the anger swirled in her stomach.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said. How could he possibly be requesting such a thing?

"No, I'm not," he muttered as he walked closer, "don't do it."

She felt her nostrils flare as she refrained from storming out of the room. She inhaled deeply as she tried to regain her composure and she spoke through gritted teeth, "The only reason why I'm going out with him is because you told me to move on last week. This is me moving on."

"I know…" he trailed off as he stepped closer to her. She took a step back. "But don't do it. Don't move on. I'm not moving on. I'm trying, but I'm not."

Never had she felt such a distaste for him. It took everything she had not to storm out of the room, but she had to make sure that her feelings were evident for him. That she was officially done with him. Slamming her hands on the table, she spoke with contempt, "How. Fucking. Bipolar. Can. You. Be?"

"I'm not bipolar."

"Are you fucking sure about that?" she snapped. Her voice was getting louder and she understood why he put a silencing charm on the door. "Because either you're bipolar or your entire plan has been to screw around with my head for the past year."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm not trying to screw around with your head, I just don't know how to…deal with this stuff."

"Well, when you're figuring it out, don't drag me down with you," she said coldly as she began stomping away from him.

"Gin," he breezed in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "I…I just know that whoever this guy is, he's not going to make you happy the way I can."

"You're a fucking psychopath," she spat at him. She was livid. "Are you trying to manipulate me right now? Manipulate me into thinking that unless I'm with you I'm going to be miserable?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying to do. I just – "

"Because I've got news for you Draco Malfoy, I don't need you. I have never needed you, and I never will need you. I…" she stared into his eyes as she tried to muster up enough anger to say her next words. "I hate you."

Hurt washed over Draco's face as he froze in his step. For a split second, she felt regret for saying those words. She didn't mean them. Sure, she was beyond furious at him, but she didn't hate him. The guilt faded quickly when she saw the hurt transform into an amused, smug smirk as he shook his head at her.

"You don't fuckin' hate me."

"Y-yes, I do…" she stammered out, turning her back on him. She didn't want him to completely catch on to her bluff. "I hate you."

"Gin, don't say that…" she felt his hand grab her shoulder and her body tensed up. With all the fury inside of her, she spun around and roughly shoved him away. He looked taken aback by her harsh actions. She was breathing heavily and she pulled her wand out on him, nearing closer. With venom dripping from her tongue she spoke slowly.

"Don't ever touch me again," she pressed her wand to his throat. "I am not yours to touch anymore, I am not yours to dictate who I choose to date anymore, and most importantly I am not yours to fuck around with anymore. Stay away from me."

He made sure not to touch her when he said, "Can't we talk about this? Surely we can make a compromise…" She laughed coldly.

"What kind of compromise are you hoping for? I withhold from every dating anyone else in hopes that maybe one day you'll get the balls to at least try to figure out a solution to dating me in public?" He shook his head and she continued. "Oh, wait, I've got it. You want me to finally get worn down enough to agree to screw you in secret for an undetermined amount of time?"

"No, that's not – "

"Well, too bad," she said, "Because guess what? I don't want to ever sleep with you, kiss you, or anything because I fucking HATE you."

And with that, she turned on her heel, officially tired of the conversation, and stormed towards the door. Before she reached it, she heard Draco shout, "Yeah, well I hate you, too!"

As she opened the door, knowing full well that the silencing charm would be reversed, she screamed, "GOOD," before slamming the door on his face. Her voice echoed throughout the shop. All the employees and Blaise gave her a quizzical stare. She ignored them and stomped towards the front door.

"What the hell is going on?" Blaise asked, trying to keep up with her brisk steps.

"Nothing," she grunted. "I need some air. I'll be back in thirty minutes." And she stormed out the door.

Ginny wished she wasn't going on a date that night. Not to please Draco, of course. But simply because Draco had put her in the foulest mood after their heated fight. Anytime he would pop in her mind she had the urge to kick something. To make matters worse, she was sure to think about him a lot during the date. Of all the places her date could have picked to have dinner, he chose the pub where Ginny met Draco for the very first time to give her their business proposal. The same bar where he and Harry got into a fight. The same bar that repeatedly turned her monotonous life upside-down.

She stood outside the bar wearing tattered jeans and a loose sweater. Already she felt bad for her date, knowing full well she was going to be terrible company. Tapping her foot impatiently, she heard the man's voice behind her.

"Ginny Weasley?"

She spun around to see a handsome tall brunette with dark brown eyes and a short, scruffy beard. He reminded her a little of a lumberjack. Perfect, she thought, the exact opposite of stupid pretty-boy-Draco-Malfoy.

They introduced each other and took a seat at a table. She glared at the bar, the same spot where she met Draco the first time. She could envision their ghostly figures; he sitting there eating his fish and chips while she sat awkwardly overdressed, trying to decipher whether they were on a date or not. She narrowed her eyes and mentally cursed the naïve imaginary Ginny, mentally telling her past self to run away from the blonde scum bag.

"You look very nice tonight," Matt said and she frowned at her tattered clothes. Great, he's a liar.

"Thank you," she said politely as she glanced at his fancy suit. "You as well."

"So, I've heard a lot about your business through Luna," he said, "it must be great working alongside Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy. They sound brilliant."

"Mhm," she muttered, "Blaise is brilliant, yes."

"Just Blaise?" he furrowed his brow, looking confused.

"Yup," she took a sip of wine.

Their conversation was full of small-talk. Ginny despised it. Why was she doing this? What was she trying to prove? All it was doing was reminding her of how much she despised dating. And sitting in that stupid bar full of memories was just reminding her of how much she missed her stupid, friend and ex-lover. She was relieved when the food arrived, signaling that the date was half over and that there would be a temporary end to the small talk. She took a bite of her lasagna. It was delicious; definitely made the date slightly worth it. Smiling, she ate it happily.

"How is it?" asked Matt.

"Oh, it's terrible," she said sarcastically with an amused smirk. Disappointment flooded through her when his face instantly fell.

"Is it? Oh, I'm so sorry. If you'd like we can go somewhere else?" he said hurriedly. She tried to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"No, no, it's delicious," she said awkwardly. "I was just joking."

"Ahh," he nodded his head. "I'm really bad at picking up on sarcasm."

"Oh, lovely," she took a sip of her wine as she silently wondered how on earth Luna thought this man was perfect for her.

The rest of the date was uneventful as she tried her hardest to find an ounce of chemistry. She couldn't tell if it was because this man was actually ill-suited for her or because Draco was plaguing her mind, but there was nothing there. Not a single spark. Not a single genuine laugh. Zero banter. As they left the bar she nodded at the imaginary Draco smirking at the bar, mentally telling him that he won that one. That he was right about this man not making her happy, although it was a complete fluke. For all he knew, he could have been her soulmate. Draco sure as hell wasn't.

As she stood outside of the restaurant, eager to go home as soon as possible, Matt stepped closer to her.

"I had an excellent time tonight," he said, and Ginny's eyes widened by his sincere voice. How the hell did he have a good time?

"Me too," she lied.

"Would you want to come back to my place for coffee?" he asked and her face fell.

"Umm…no. I have an early morning tomorrow, I should probably get to sleep."

"Alright, maybe next time," he said. Next time? She cringed to herself.

"Sure."

And then Matt stepped even closer, gently cupped her face with his hands, and pressed his lips to hers. It felt invasive, as his scruffy beard scratched her face. How did he interpret her disinterested signals to mean that she wanted to kiss him? She wanted to push him away, but she decided to try her hardest to feel anything towards this man. Maybe there would be a spark in their physical chemistry? She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss, trying to ignore his annoying beard. She tried to ignore the garlic on his breath. She tried to ignore Draco's face which kept popping into her mind.

She pulled away and smiled politely. "It was great meeting you, Matt."

"Are you sure you don't want to come over?" He put his hands on her waist and she narrowed her eyes.

"Yep," she turned on her heel, "Have a great night!"

When she apparated to her flat she slumped into her bed. And she cried. Harder than she cried all month. She hugged her pillow tightly as she imagined Draco in her bed. All the countless memories they shared together were all gone. They were nothing. She would never get them back. If there was ever a chance of them getting back together, it was surely over after their fight earlier that day.

She touched her lips and remembered how Matt's lips felt. She knew it was only the first of many first dates she would have with men, but it made her ache when she realized how hard it would be to find someone with the same chemistry as her and Draco. And what really made her mad was that the reason why they weren't together wasn't that he mistreated her. Besides his 'date' with Fiona, and his annoying wishy-washy behavior when they weren't together, he treated her the utmost respect. He would constantly boost her ego, he would try his hardest to communicate his feelings even though it was hard for him, he would shower her with affection, he would act like her best friend…there wasn't a moment where she ever doubted his feelings for her. Life just got in their way. Their business got in their way. And even though she loved their business more than anything…it was hard knowing that she would never get real closure. She would always be left wondering 'what if?"' What if they didn't have their business to get in their way…would they get married? Would they live happily ever after?

And it was that moment, as she sobbed into the pillows, that she realized she didn't hate Draco. That she would never hate Draco. Because she actually loved him. And that she had never been in love with anyone before him, not even Harry. But she loved Draco…and it was too late.

The next morning Ginny was sitting at work with Blaise, training some of the new staff. Despite her unsuccessful date, she vowed that if anyone asked, she would gush over how perfect it was. Besides, it was easier to lie than to admit that the only reason why it was terrible was that Draco was haunting her brain.

She looked at the clock. It read 9:30 am.

"Where's Draco?" she asked Blaise. "He's usually here by now."

Blaise looked concerned. "He's not here?"

"I haven't seen him."

"That's strange…" he muttered before shrugging. "He probably got drunk last night because you went out with Matt; I bet you he overslept."

"Yeah, that must be it," she said to herself. But she couldn't get the nagging feeling out of her mind that something was wrong. She had seen Draco get belligerently drunk but he never overslept for work.

When lunchtime arrived and Draco was still nowhere to be seen, Blaise and Ginny were worried. Where the hell did he go? Ginny was tapping her fingers nervously on Draco's desk as she began imagining worst case scenarios.

"I hope he's okay…" she muttered sadly. Blaise wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sure he's fine, Gin," he said. "He's probably just sick."

"I said some nasty things to him yesterday," she said and she felt her heart race and throat tighten. "What if he's dead in a ditch and my last words to him were 'I hate you'?"

Blaise frowned, "he's not dead in a ditch, Ginny. Everything will be fine."

When another hour went by without any word from Draco, Ginny was an anxious mess. She was sitting in the washroom virtually hyperventilating as she imagined what could be wrong. What if he ran away? What if he decided he couldn't stand looking at Ginny anymore and he ran back to America? She preferred that outcome over him lying dead in a ditch…

Her thoughts were interrupted by Blaise banging on the bathroom door.

"GINNY," he called, "I got a letter from Draco."

She opened the door so fast she nearly slammed Blaise in the face. "What's wrong? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"Umm…he's okay," Blaise said uncomfortably, "But…his dad…he's in the hospital. At St. Mungo's. He had a heart attack last night and they're not sure if he's going to make it."

A/N: Oh, the drama. Oh, the fights! What the hell is haappppeeninginginfdigndi.

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