DISCLAIMER: You know the drill, anything that looks like J.K. Rowling's or anyone else's, it belongs to them.

thirteen. date.

They had agreed to have their rendezvous during midweek. After dinner, Draco disappeared to prepare for the evening. Once he had combed through his enormous wardrobe several times and instructed the house elves to bring the necessary equipment, Draco quickly Apparated to the kitchens.

The house elves were bustling around the kitchen, cleaning up the remains of dinner and making preparations for tomorrow's breakfast. He approached the closest house elf, one that unfortunately had a very surly expression on his face. What was his name again? Talky? Booky? He may not agree with the new Ministry's stance on liberating house elves, but it didn't mean that he treated his servants like dirt. His mother had taught him to be polite.

As Draco continued to ponder over the elf's silly name, an exhausted, wheezing voice reached his ears. "How can Tooky be helping you, sir?"

"Ah, yes," Draco cleared his throat expectantly, as if he had been waiting for the house elf to come to him all along. He fished out a piece of parchment from the pocket of his trousers. "I want to place a large order and it needs to be ready within the hour. Bring it up to the—"

"Is it someone's time of the month, Malfoy?" a voice chortled behind him.

Shoving the parchment in the house elf's hand, Draco turned to see Maxwell walking towards him, heading for the island in the center. The island counter was often decorated with late snacks for continuously hungry students.

"Haha, very funny," Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm just sorting things out for tonight."

"Oh?" Max said as he plucked a biscuit freshly out of the oven from the top of a platter. "You mean your date with Weasley?"

"Yes," Draco said shortly as he moved to stand next to his friend. For the first time in far too long, his nerves were trying to get the best of him. Having Max hovering around uselessly was distracting Draco from remaining calm. He didn't have time for that.

"You're acting like this is your first date with the woman," Max commented, only to be met with silence as a beat passed. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?" Draco snapped, absent-mindedly smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles out of his charcoal trousers.

"Considering the night you met Bridget you two were snogging heavily in the Parkinsons' broom cupboard, I'd say yes, it is hard to believe."

Draco lightly scowled in irritation. Max had a point, he supposed. Moreover, he was irritated that his friend had decided to bring up his ex-girlfriend. Most of all, he was surprised that he had barely thought of Bridget Latimer in the past several weeks. Any anger and resentment he had toward her had faded away. It seemed Ginny Weasley had filled his thoughts and melted any of his past resentments. Perhaps he should be thanking Bridget for breaking up with him. Had they still been together, Draco would never have bothered to get to know Ginny.

"I wouldn't blame you though," Max's voice broke into his thoughts. "Ginny is pretty fit, though she's no Bridget."

"Bridget isn't even Bridget," Draco muttered, grabbing a tart off of one of the platters floating past him. Though his former flame was an incredibly attractive woman, she had most definitely enhanced certain parts of her appearance, making her even more striking to others. It was an open secret within their circles; many altered or enhanced their physical features, though no one dared comment about it aloud. Or at least not in front of the augmented individual.

"Besides I'm trying to do things the right way."

"Don't tell me you haven't fooled around with her. Weasley looked bloody amazing at Cotillion, it'd be a damn shame if you hadn't."

Draco didn't miss the look on Max's face, as if he was picturing her in his mind. The grip Draco had on the counter tightened, his knuckles whitening. It incensed him to think that his annoying friend was thinking of her in that way. Ginny was much more than a pretty face; she was smart, witty, and kind. He willed himself to calm down, taking deep breaths in and out instead of continuing the intense internal battle between deciding to hex him or punch him the old fashioned way.

"You do realize, I'm not you, Fawley," Draco taunted, once he felt his blood pressure return to normal. "Don't give me that blank face. I know you've already gone through Gwen and Tracey and are now trying to get into Hannah Abbott's pants."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Maxwell replied sharply, dodging Draco's glare. His eyes darted around frantically searching for his now missing glass of milk to wash down his after dinner treat.

"Theo told me about that sordid chart you've got in your room. How you're trying to make it through as many of the women as you can," Draco stared at him haughtily. According to Theo, who never participated much in gossip growing up – unless it was important of course – Maxwell had an elaborate chart ranking and critiquing the women of the Conservatory in a variety of criteria. He eyed the clock and saw it was reaching closer to nine o'clock.

Pushing off from the counter, he inched closer to Maxwell, until they were only inches apart. "I may be no angel, but at least I'm not a cad like you." His words were laced with disdain as Draco gave him a look of utter contempt, as if he was the muck stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

Maxwell returned his steely gaze with his own eyes narrowed, but said nothing. Feeling the need to have the final word, Draco promptly exited the room without giving so much as a farewell to his possibly former friend.

Draco Apparated onto the balcony attached to Ginny's room and sank into the irresistible plushy sofa the house elves had brought along with the rest of the furniture and equipment he had requested. It may have seemed like he had gone overboard with the set up, but it wasn't like they were able to leave the Estate to another location nor did he want to have this date downstairs in front of everyone. Not because he was afraid what the other thought of them. But because he wanted Ginny to himself.

Draco had planned the layout of the night earlier than he would admit. Though he tried to play as if he was nonchalant and cool about most things, he was a strategist at heart. And so, along with the sofa came a long coffee table to accommodate the many desserts he had the house elves make specifically for this occasion. He had ordered brownies, pies, tarts, biscuits, puddings, and ice creams for the evening along with butterbeer. Draco wasn't sure which she wanted, and figured it would be prudent to be prepared in any event. Just in case. Lavender scented candles floated above the tables to provide warmth and cast a glowing ambiance from their lavender colored flames. A wireless had been brought up from his study for a subtle soundtrack.

With another cursory glance, Draco wondered if he had gone too far with the arrangements. He didn't want Ginny thinking he was some type of Lothario. But in his odd way, this was Draco's way of showing that he cared for someone – with material objects and grand displays. He anxiously ran a hand through his hair, though scowled when he realized he had messed up his hairdo that had taken him much longer than he anticipated. Conjuring up a mirror, he re-adjusted his hair before vanishing back to its proper place. If Draco wasn't Draco, he would be laughing at himself. He was acting like this was his very first date in his entire life.

Indeed, he had spent much longer than anticipated trying to decide what to wear. He had gone through his entire wardrobe, which was quite expansive, and had even debated on Flooing Madam Malkin's boutique for new clothes. Just as he was about to throw the blue powder into the fireplace, his eyes fell upon the very jumper he was now wearing. Once he had buckled his belt and watch around his wrist, he spent a little too long on his precious platinum locks. Though he looked pristine in the mirror for this slightly more than casual meeting, an almost forgotten wave of nerves permeated throughout this body. What if they didn't have anything to talk about, without the pretense of class? But that wasn't true anymore, either. Draco had told her things he had never dared tell anyone, outside of his few close friends. True, Ginny had initially offered up a lot of her thoughts and questions, but for some reason he felt compelled to match her sincerity in her revelations. It suddenly occurred to Draco that he trusted her.

So why was he worrying over the simplest of dates like he was suddenly a fifth year? It was just a girl after all.

But Ginny Weasley wasn't just any other girl. Or rather, woman.

He glanced at the silver watch on his wrist. The minute hand was between the five and ten. She was about seven minutes late and Draco was beginning to wonder impatiently if she was ever going to show up.

Just as he was beginning to contemplate that perhaps Ginny didn't want to go out on a date after all, he heard a door close from within the bedroom and two female voices speaking. He recognized Ginny's voice as the slightly higher one, one that sounded a little panicked. Moments later, silence came over the room as the two had quieted down. The one half of the French doors joining the balcony and bedroom opened, and Ginny appeared. She looked slightly embarrassed as she stood apprehensively near the couch, clutching an ebony wooden rectangular box in her hand.

"Sorry! Madam Malfoy decided on an impromptu fitting for the Ball and I didn't get time to change," she explained briskly, her face flushing. "On top of that, she didn't seem too pleased that my measurements don't match up exactly as they have from Cotillion. I think Mum's cake did me in."

Indeed, Ginny was in a plain, deep purple t- shirt with slightly worn denim shorts. On her feet were simple flat black sandals and her crimson hair was tied up in a quick ponytail, several strands escaping as they curled behind the nape of her neck. Her face was unhidden from cosmetics, her freckles dusting her face in plain sight. But to Draco, she still looked wonderful. The candles brightened up her creamy skin while setting her red hair ablaze. It didn't matter that she wasn't dressed up for their evening. Hell, she could be wearing a potato sack, and Draco still wouldn't have cared, much to his surprise.

"You sell yourself too short, Ginny," Draco gazed at her with a half-smirk and half-smile. He let his eyes linger for a bit, and as if on cue, she blushed as she took a seat next to him. His half smirk became full blown. How Draco reveled in the ability to make her blush. It delighted him to no end, and it was much too easy. And the evening had barely just started.

As Ginny sat on the incredibly comfortable sofa with Draco, she desperately wished she had taken Lena's advice to change her clothes. That was actually what they had been discussing before Lena shoved her towards the double doors to the balcony. But she had already been made late by Narcissa, and didn't want to keep him waiting.

She had presumed this would be a casual affair. But, in true Malfoy fashion, Draco had pulled out all of the stops for the night. The exorbitant amount of desserts made her eyes wide, with both amazement and suspicion. She couldn't figure out if these were solely for her or to sooth Draco's own very stubborn sweet tooth. She smirked at that. It seemed that Malfoys never did anything small, whether it was their living quarters or the lengths that Narcissa took to training the students. It was apparently a trait that was passed onto Draco from both of his parents.

Ginny felt even shabbier next to Draco, who looked as handsome ever. His fine locks carefully styled, as his grey eyes glittered back at her. She couldn't help but notice how the steel blue jumper that looked lovely against his light pallor brought out the subtle blue streaks in his eyes. How had she not noticed that those were there before? Or had she simply been blind to it all along, as she had with everything else?

What surprised her most of all was how Draco had just looked at her. With longing. With want. For her. When was the last time someone had looked at her like that? And wearing the plainest clothes to boot? Had she known that he was going to look impeccable, which she should have realized by now as she mentally kicked herself again, she would have worn a skirt with a much more flattering blouse. But it seemed it didn't even matter to Draco in the end with the way he was still gazing at her.

"No apples?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing all of the treats in front of them. Draco would always eat those unnaturally glossy, green apples during their study sessions. He seemed to have an unusual penchant for them.

"An apple a day, keeps the healer away," he replied simply.

"Don't worry, I don't think the healer will be going away anytime soon," Ginny smiled as she happily accepted the mug of butterbeer.

"I feel like we've barely had a chance to talk since you've gotten back," Draco began, after they both took a generous sip of their drinks.

"Oh, I know! I guess we really are nearing the end of the program now that Ball preparations are going underway," she answered after taking a sip of the almost sickly sweet beverage. This was true. They only had a couple of weeks to go until the Ball. As such, the guest list was being finalized, all of the students were getting badgered with endless garment fittings, and they had seen all types of vendors walk in and out of the house with different arrangements and decorations for Narcissa to approve.

"What's in the box?" Draco asked, gesturing with his head towards the box she had cast aside on the table.

"Oh, that…" Ginny trailed off. She eyed the neat box which contained a slightly worn Wizard's Chess set. She had gotten it as a birthday gift from the Twins, shortly after their business really started taking off. Though the set wasn't worth thousands of Galleons or brand new anymore, it was one of the things she treasured. It seemed like a good idea at the time to bring it out, figuring it would be a fun activity to pass the time. But once she had walked out to elaborate set up and seeing how handsome he looked, it seemed utterly immature. Suddenly, it seemed like the lamest thing ever. Who brought chess out to a first date? Ginny Weasley, that's who.

Draco looked up at her, partially puzzled but more so with amusement. "Is conversing with me suddenly boring you, Ginevra? Because I can think of a myriad of activities other than chess to pass the time." She didn't miss the waggle of his eyebrows when he uttered "activities".

"No!" Ginny cried, feeling her cheeks grow warm. How did he always find a way to make her blush? It suddenly made her feel like an eleven year old school girl.

"I just figured it'd be fun to play a game," she pouted, hoping her pleading, large eyes would make him see her point of view.

After a few moments of meeting her gaze unwaveringly, he broke. "Fine."

She grinned as she brought the box out and they both began to unpack the pieces. She handed him the white pieces, giving him the first turn in the game. Ginny had played more than enough games with Ron, and had eventually picked up a thing or two after losing to him too many times to count. Besides, her chess pieces knew her well now, and that would work to her advantage against Draco.

"How was the weekend over at home?" Draco asked courteously, bringing out a cursory pawn. Ginny hid a smile. She knew he was asking out of politeness and would rather listen to one of Professor Binns' History of Magic lectures than hear her recollect her weekend with Ron, forever his least favorite Weasley.

"It was rather pleasant, actually. All of my brothers were there, including Charlie, who I don't get to see very often. It was a nice gathering of family and friends. My mum cooked a fantastic dinner so we were completely stuffed afterwards," Ginny explained as she grabbed a brownie that Draco had already stuffed into his mouth. She moved her knight. He merely nodded in acknowledgement rather than try to make a nice comment. She knew his politeness wouldn't extend straight away to her whole complicated family. Not just yet, anyway.

"And Harry was there too."

She saw Draco tense as the words came out of her mouth. He slowly chewed on the bite he had just taken, as if digesting the information that had just been given to him.

"But he's been dating some girl for about a month now. She's rather nice, really," Ginny quickly added. At that Draco visibly relaxed once again, swallowing the bite and taking a generous swig of the butterbeer.

"Although," she began with a laugh. "Hermione tried to set me up on a date. His name is Neil. He was rather nice… I guess."

"Oh, was he?" Draco said nonchalantly, though she could hear the iciness laced within his tone. If she thought Draco looked tense about Harry, he looked much more likely to implode, his jaw clenching so hard. She had merely said this just to see his response. If Harry, whom she had broken up with so long ago bothered him, how would a brand new adversary make him feel? In a perverse way, it actually brought her satisfaction that he was slightly possessive over her.

Even the bishop Draco was clutching between his fingers noticed his anger. He looked down to see the chess piece crossly snipping at him, shaking the crosier in his hand furiously. Draco sheepishly placed the bishop roughly onto its intended square.

"Yes, but he kept droning on about all of these meticulous laws and regulations. He wasn't very interesting, unfortunately, not like…" Ginny trailed off suddenly. She was about to say "you". But she wasn't sure if she was ready to lay all of the cards on the table.

"Like?" Draco pressed gently.

"You," Ginny exhaled after taking a deep breath. There. She had laid it all out there. There was no going back. If they were going to take their… relationship to another level, then she was going to go all in.

"Good," Draco added smugly. He seemed much more relaxed after that admission.

The next couple of turns happened in concentrated silence. Every so often, she would look up to see his knitted brows staring intently at each of the pieces, planning his next move. She smiled to herself as he looked so unguarded, displaying his emotions in plain sight.

"How was your weekend?"

"Nothing that would interest you," Draco replied in a bored manner, though he was concentrated at the board in front of him.

"Try me," Ginny challenged.

"While you were enjoying delicious chocolate cake, I was stuck on a Floo conference call about getting our chalet in the Swiss Alps appraised," he explained hesitatingly. It almost seemed like he expected for her to be bored by shop talk.

Instead, she breathed, "Wow, the Swiss Alps? That sounds brilliant. It must be an amazing property if your board wants to get it appraised."

He gave her another hesitant smile, almost as if he was unsure if this was the proper occasion to bring it out. "Maybe I could take you there one day."

Ginny breathed in sharply. "Maybe."

She detached her amber eyes from his charcoal ones to glance down at the game before them.

"Draco, you know how next week is a continuation of Recreation?" Ginny said as a thought occurred to her. "Well, one of the activities I ended up signing up for was fencing. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

After moving his own knight to knock out one of her rooks, he looked up. "Of course."

"Good," she smiled smugly at him. "I also happened to see that Daphne signed up for it. I want to finally beat the wench at her own game."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you still on about that? I had a talk with her and she shouldn't be bothering you."

"But I won't be able to live it down if I lose to her again," Ginny pleaded earnestly. Her Weasley pride was on the line. A Malfoy should know more than anyone else how it felt when a person's pride was on the line. And when had he had a talk with Daphne?

He gave her a long, withering look, almost as if he was going to regret what he was going to say. "Alright," Draco said at last. "You know a bit about dueling, yeah? Well, it's quite similar to it."

"Fantastic!" Ginny cried, both because he had given in again, and because she had just destroyed his king in about ten moves.

"Stupid game," Draco muttered quietly as she was going about congratulating and thanking each of her trusted chess pieces.

"I didn't know Malfoys were sore losers too," Ginny teased as she carefully returned the chessboard and pieces into its box.

"We are not," Draco replied haughtily. "Now do you want my fencing advice or not? I know a few moves that could probably knock Daphne on her arse."

That last statement caused Ginny's celebratory grin shift to an evil, conniving smirk. She decided that sometimes potentially evil, mischievous Draco could have its benefits. Especially now that they were on the same side.

Awhile later, they both collapsed back onto the sofa, tired from the impromptu crash course in fencing. Though, Ginny wasn't sure she had learned much while Draco had attempted to show her a few basic maneuvers. He was standing behind her much like the table manners lesson, only this time Draco was moving her body into proper position, much like he was molding a piece of clay. Somehow, it had dissolved into a tickling session, leaving Ginny tired, elated, and out of breath. Though, she had learned one thing: Draco Malfoy was quite ticklish himself.

"You know," Ginny started after gulping down half of a butterbeer following her unexpected workout. "I heard McGonagall telling Hermione that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is vacant."

Draco merely grunted in response as he grabbed a lemon tart.

"You should about applying for the new professorship," she added, hoping he would understand why she had brought it up in the first place.

"At Hogwarts?" He asked blankly, once he swallowed his bite.

"No, on Mars," Ginny rolled her eyes. "Of course at Hogwarts!"

"Because that position has been the stepping stone for many a lustrous career," Draco snorted, touching upon the fact that the position had been seemingly cursed during their school days.

"It's not cursed anymore!" Ginny replied defensively. "I heard the teacher left for a Ministry career, so it's open."

"I doubt they'll let me teach since I just got considered for a governor position… that is if they even accept me," Draco added. She knew that governor position was important to Draco; it was just one of the many things that his family had been stripped of after the war. He worked hard to rebuild the ancient castle in the aftermath through his time and donations, in hopes of restoring one of the positions his family had held. Even so, Ginny didn't miss the small glimmer of hope cast over his eyes, so she decided to continue with her new quest.

"Besides, the job will be easy. Most of them won't even be paying attention," Ginny said with a playful grin. It was true; if Draco had been her teacher when she was at Hogwarts, looking as he did now, she knew she would have surely failed. On second thought, that might have been more enticing since she would surely have needed extra help from said handsome teacher.

"Why, because I'll be so boring?" He replied in a defeated manner, interrupting her formerly unknown teacher fantasy. She shook her head from her daydream to find Draco leaning on the balcony, gazing out onto the sprawling estate.

"No, because at least half of them will be distracted by your face," Ginny replied, giving him the same intense gaze Draco had given her earlier.

"Excuse me?" Draco said unevenly, the slightest bit of color coming to his face when he turned to look at her.

"Well, have you seen the rest of the professors? They are all great teachers, but the pickings are slim," Ginny said, getting up from her seat and coming to stand next to him, matching his position. Draco laughed at the thought of any individual being attracted to their incredibly old professors.

A small smile danced upon Draco's face when he turned to look at her, as if inspired by this new idea. Though she wasn't quite sure if it was a result of her persuasion or her flirtation. Perhaps it was from a bit of both.

"So, why do you do what you do?" Draco asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Healing?" He nodded. "Well, I sort of just fell into it. In the aftermath of the War, I helped with a lot of the wounds and minor injuries and it kind of just spiraled from there."

She closed her eyes for a moment as she recalled the many things she had seen out on the field and during her training sessions. Ginny opened her eyes, seeing his expression both soft and curious. "But I remember during my first year of training, we shadowed a lot of Healers. And there was this one instance of a young child gaining their sense of hearing for the first time. It's difficult to heal those conditions right away as a newborn because of their rapid development. But, just witnessing the pure happiness in that child's face when he heard his mother's voice. I'll never forget that."

Ginny found Draco now directly facing her, gazing down at her. The beat of her heart quickened as she stared into his currently stormy grey eyes. Before she realized what was happening his arms looped around her waist. There was a slight wind breezing past them, gently fluttering through his silky blond hair. Her heart caught in her throat as the moonlight illuminated every angle, line, and crevice of his beautiful, angular face. Which was he was now lowering towards her own. Her eyes quickly fluttered shut…

"OH MY GODS! I'm so sorry!"

Ginny quickly jumped back from Draco's embrace. He willed himself not to growl in frustration and ran a shaky hand through his hair. Draco turned to see Lena Shafiq, moment killer. Though he couldn't truly be angry with her, as her eyes darted back and forth between the both of them apologetically.

"What… What is it, Lena?" Ginny asked, her voice hoarse.

"I just came to let you know that Madam Malfoy wants us all to send her the names of whoever is walking us into the Ball by breakfast tomorrow…" Lena squeaked, her face matching signature Weasley red from interrupting an intimate moment. "I just figured… You two would be out here for a while… so just to do it before you go to bed. And I'm going to head back inside and never come back. Good night!"

Ginny had barely opened her mouth to thank her as Lena quickly whirled on her heel and all but ran back inside, the balcony doors slamming behind her. The curtains magically shut, giving them complete privacy once again.

She turned back to face Draco, who probably looked more than a little exasperated and unsatisfied. Her warm brown eyes were glowing with mirth, and he could see she was trying to bite back her laughter. Then her small hands came towards his, her body closing the gap between them, their fingers easily interlocking. One hand let go of his, snaking around his neck. Ginny gently brought his head down towards hers, and then her soft pink lips brushed his. She paused for a moment before repeating, now engulfing his lips with her own. It was filled with warmth and tenderness, much like the redhead was.

She broke it off first, reluctantly lowering her feet from her tiptoed position. Catching her breath, she looked into his eyes with her darkened ones, though he imagined his probably were too. Smiling shyly she asked, "Feel better now?"

All Draco could do was nod.

A week later, Ginny found herself sitting at the desk in her room. She had been busy finalizing the invite list for the ball that she was to throw for her twenty first birthday. The list had gotten longer and longer by the doing of her mother, though she had wanted to keep it as small as possible. Hell, if Ginny had it her way, it could have just been a simple barbecue in the backyard. But alas, Molly Weasley felt the need to go all out for her one and only daughter. Somehow that included having decadent hors d'oeuvres, elegant decorations, and having the essential guest list. She had lost track of how many owls her mother would send her, sometimes multiple times per day. It made her uncomfortable at the thought of her parents spending money on something so frivolous but Molly kept reasoning it was a double celebration – her birthday and to celebrate having a Healer in the family.

She absent-mindedly twirled the quill in her hand like a baton as she reflected on the past week. After their date, Ginny felt like she waited agonizingly for the remaining weekdays to pass, even if she was studying with Draco. Their date had ended with several drugging kisses, until she finally plucked up the courage to drag herself from Draco's comforting and firm form. By the time Saturday rolled around, Ginny woke up eagerly and early, which was a rarity on its own. She was eager because it meant more free time to spend time with Draco. A small part of her wanted to roll her eyes at how eager she was, but the rest of her couldn't care less.

Though they did go on a flying "double date" with Blaise and Lena – as much of a date as you could call it since they hadn't even left the premises – the most memorable part of the weekend was probably that Sunday afternoon. They were taking a walk on the estate grounds, which were lush and green as ever, his hand wrapped around hers. Thinking back, she couldn't help but smile at how her hand fit in perfectly with his. He had pointed out some of the plants and trees they had passed by, because apparently Draco really did know a thing or two about Herbology. How she itched to tell him that he had something in common with Neville Longbottom just so she could mercilessly tease him, but decided to refrain. They eventually stopped by a quiet, brimming brook, shaded by the tall trees and surrounded with soft, plush grass and bushes.

He had conjured up a blanket for them to sit on. Though as soon as Ginny sat down, neatly tucking her legs underneath her skirt, he dragged her back up. It was time to properly learn how to fence. Though she outwardly groaned, Ginny was excited to get some hands-on training. Draco stood behind her, his head bent down in a concentrated effort to properly place her arms in the right position. His silvery-blond hair fell into his eyes as he explained to her the rules and regulations of the game. Ginny couldn't help but only half-listen; his deep but gentle voice near her ear kept tickling her neck and distracting her. Though his voice was as instructional as ever it sounded almost melodious against her eardrum. Perhaps it was those strawberries talking from lunch, she had thought aimlessly. Hadn't Blaise teased earlier that they were an aphrodisiac? Ginny bent her legs, slightly squatting, putting her right foot forward as he had shown her the other night. And then, when he moved down to place his hands on her hips to correct the position of the bottom half of her body, did she completely give up paying any attention. She turned around in his arms, firmly planting her lips on his own, eventually dragging him down onto the blanket for a snog session, which ended up going far longer than either of them intended.

A grin danced on Ginny's face as she addressed the last invitation. It was nice having someone again. It was the silver lining in all of what was coming her way. She was on track to start at St. Mungo's in the fall, it was only a matter of time that she was going to get access to that Gringotts vault full of Galleons, and now she had an attractive man at her side. Who knew that this was all going to happen when she had first stepped foot into Malfoy Manor? Ginny definitely did not.

Sealing the final envelope, Ginny rose from her seat, carefully gathering the much larger than necessary stack of invitations. Lessons were done for the day but there was still a good chunk of time before dinner would be served. She figured it was the best time to send invitations, mostly before Molly owled her again to add yet some other long lost relative or Ministry official or ally of the former Order of the Phoenix or someone she had met walking down Diagon Alley to the growing roll of parchment.

A/N: First off, apologies for the long update! First, it was because I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! IT WAS AMAZING. And I think it's only further cemented my love for the books and this entire fandom. And, second, I've started that dreaded job search, so I've been freaking out about that, heh. I hope this chapter was alright, I've been staring at it for too long. Notable references: "Moment killer" is from Scrubs. Thank you all so much for your follows, reviews, and favoriting! I would love if you could leave a review on your way out – they make my week, and I do reply to all reviews (unless you aren't signed in, of course). Also, if anyone has an amazing D/G fic to recommend – please do so, I'm in need of something good to read!