Chapter 5: Nonverbal Success

The next week could not have gone any slower for Ginny. She was looking forward to the upcoming ball more than she let on. On Tuesday, Ginny was practically dying to go to her charms class, but it was not to see Draco…or that's what she kept telling herself anyway.

After her third hour she rushed to class and sat down, waiting for Draco. When he walked into the classroom she couldn't help but smile. What was it that made her go weak in the knees around him? What was it that made her get butterflies in her stomach when he just smiled? Ginny decided to stop asking herself these questions; she would just accept that these things happened for a reason.

"Hey!" She said brightly as he sat down next to her. Draco opened his mouth to reply but was cut off.

"Hey, Gin!" Christian said coming up from behind them.

"Oh, hi, Christian," Ginny said with less enthusiasm than she had done with Draco. Christian noticed.

"So," he began, "I was just wondering what you're doing for the ball."

Crap Ginny thought.

"Oh, well… I," she stalled, but thank goodness Flitwick waltzed in the classroom, and Ginny was saved from giving Christian an answer.

"Today, class," Flitwick said with enthusiasm, "we are going to work on human illusions!"

The class cheered with happiness. Everyone was getting sick of just illusioning water. They were all looking for something a little more complex, and this was exactly what they were hoping for.

"Human illusions," Flitwick explained, "are different than solid and liquid illusions. One reason is because there is no weak or strong illusion on humans; the strength of the spell doesn't matter. Solids and liquids are also non-living things, they require only concentration and a bit of skill. With humans though, you need one more element: cooperation. The other person, the one being illusioned, must cooperate with the caster. Otherwise, people would just go around illusioning others without their consent, and things would get messy. There would be people pretending to be other people, and it just wouldn't be good. Now, human illusions aren't really supported by many people because they constantly require cooperation between the subject and the caster. Once the illusion has been cast, only the caster can take it off. That's another reason why human illusions aren't favored by many witches and wizards."

Flitwick stopped and brought his wand to his head.

"However, the much easier way," he said with a wave of his wand, "is to just illusion yourself!"

The class gasped as their professor, a short, balding man, transformed into a tall, young, and handsome guy. He strutted at the front of the classroom and smiled a shining and dazzling smile.

"But," he said while taking off the illusion, "self-illusioning is much more complex. First, we'll work on illusioning each other, and then maybe we'll do self-illusioning for a day or two. Now, begin!"

The class started rummaging around, and out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Christian making his way over to her.

"Oh, and class," Flitwick said, "illusioning is limited in certain areas. For one, you can't really illusion a person into some sort of animal. The illusion has to be somewhat human-like, but don't let that limit you. Have fun and be creative!"

"Hiya, Gin," Christian said as he neared her table. "I was wondering if maybe you'd want to partner with me for today."

"Err-" Ginny began, but Draco cut her off.

"Sorry, Lander," Draco said menacingly. "Ginny's my partner already."

Ginny threw Draco a look but wasn't going to disagree with him. Sure Christian was nice…and sweet…and cute…but that was beside the point. For some odd reason, she would rather work with Draco.

"I'm sorry, Christian," Ginny said apologetically. "I already said I would be partners with Draco."

"Right," he said as anger flooded through his body, "okay."

Draco smirked as he walked slowly back to his seat. Yeah, keep walking, Lander. You aren't going to get anywhere near Ginny.

"Alright," Ginny said moving on, "let's start!"

"Fine, but I get to illusion you first," Draco demanded.

"No way am I going to let you illusion me!"

"Well, you have to," he pointed out with a smirk.

Ginny rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed. What is he going to do to me? She wondered.

"Fine," she huffed, "but please nothing too extreme!" She pleaded.

"Phf," he said sarcastically, "like I would ever do something extreme."

"Draco," Ginny said seriously, "please."

"Come on, Gin," he said copying her seriousness. "You can trust me."

Did he just call me 'Gin'? She wondered astounded. Her nickname, and the way he said she could trust him convinced her to agree. She looked at him very seriously and then nodded her head. Draco raised his wand to her face, and screwed up his eyes in concentration. Ginny braced himself for whatever was about to happen.

"Okay," he said, "now you have to cooperate with me. Try to feel comfortable and confident, or else this isn't going to work,"

Ginny was trying to relax and to trust him, but she wasn't sure it was working. All of sudden she felt this extreme flow of magic, wrapping itself around her. Ginny shivered as the magic trickled over her body.

"You can open your eyes now," Draco said with a smile. Ginny hadn't even realized she'd closed her eyes; she must have been so nervous that she just did it automatically.

"What did you do to me?" she asked warily. Draco picked up the mirror off their table, and when Ginny looked at her reflection, she gave an involuntary yelp. She looked up at Draco who had a satisfied smirk on his face. Ginny looked back into the mirror to be sure of what she was seeing.

Ginny's curly, red hair had been cut short, too short, and was clumped together to form spikes that were protruding off her head.

"You did not just mess with my hair," Ginny said, trying to be serious, but she was having difficulty at not laughing at her reflection.

"You don't like it, Ginny?" he asked, faking hurt. "I actually like it better than what you had," he said jokingly.

"Take it off," Ginny said.

"Only if you say you like it," Draco grinned.

"Malfoy," she warned.

"Say it."

"I will not!"

"Well, I'm not going to take it off unless you say you like it," he replied stubbornly.

"Fine," Ginny gave in. "I like it. Now will you take it off?"

Draco concentrated again, and Ginny could literally feel the magic being lifted. She picked up the mirror again to see her red, curly hair was back to normal.

"Now it's my turn," Ginny said evilly.

"You better not screw me up too much, Ginny," now it was Draco's turn to be nervous.

Ginny paused for a moment, wondering how she'd get back at him. Then she grinned.

"Oh, you'll love this," she smirked. "Now just cooperate with me."

She lifted her wand and concentrated. Ginny didn't feel like she needed to concentrate any harder than any of the other illusions she had done before. Before her eyes, Draco's hair grew down to his waist and turned a bright, bubble-gum pink color. Ginny erupted into a fit of giggles, and Draco peaked one eye open. He picked up the mirror, and his calm face flashed to shock.

"What the hell did you do to me?" he asked slightly angry.

"Aww, you don't like it?" Ginny asked laughing. "'I actually like it better than what you had earlier,'" she said quoting his words earlier.

Draco glared at her, but Ginny just kept laughing. Draco soon found his anger ebbing away as Ginny's face turned slightly pink from laughing.

"Alright, alright," he said trying to stop her from laughing. "Now undo it."

Finally, Ginny calmed herself and removed the illusion.

"Now, it's my turn again," Draco said.

He concentrated, and Ginny could feel the magic forming around her. When she looked in the mirror she started laughing. Her eyes, which were big and brown, had been transformed into mere slits with a golden-yellow iris that resembled a cat's. Her nose, which was a nice ski-slope shape, had been squashed to her face with her nostrils widened, so it resembled a pig's.

Ginny and Draco spent the rest of the hour cracking up at what they illusioned each other to be. They started out simple, illusioning only one or two things at a time but then moved on to multiple illusions. One time Ginny illusioned Draco to look just like her, with curly, red hair, and freckles. When he looked into the mirror he had been shocked beyond belief, but after the shock had passed, they both started cracking up. Then Draco illusioned Ginny to resemble a little old lady, with graying hair and wrinkling skin. Ginny first wanted to scream at her reflection, but the urge to laugh overcame her.

Occasionally they would just stop to look around the class, and they would watch the other students illusion each other. That would get them laughing too.

But what really cracked them both up, what made them spend the last ten minutes of class laughing, along with the other students, was the illusion Ginny put on Draco last. The idea hit her, and she couldn't help but do it. She concentrated, and right before her eyes, Draco Malfoy became Severus Snape. Ginny and Draco laughed so loud that the other students looked over. When they saw their 'professor' sitting down at the table making silly and outrageous faces, they cracked up too.

The Snape illusion would've only been funny for five minutes tops, but right as the laughter was dying down, someone walked into the classroom. The class erupted in laughter for a second time as Professor Snape walked in and froze. He stared at his duplicate, and confusion was very apparent on his face. Draco, taking advantage of this opportunity, got up and faced Snape off. They faced each other awkwardly for a few minutes, and then Draco began copying every move the real Snape made. Snape was still clueless until he looked around the classroom to see an odd collection of bright hair colors, odd skin tones, over-sized limbs, and other crazy illusions.

"I see you're all learning illusions," he drawled, glaring at the class and Flitwick who hadn't been able to contain his laughter either.

"A bit slow, aren't we?" Draco drawled back, in the same voice.

The real Snape glared at him and demanded the illusion be removed. Slowly and still laughing, Ginny got up and removed the illusion, so Draco was standing in front of Snape, smiling hesitantly.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape smirked, "and Miss Weasley, would you two be so kind as to see me tonight," he looked at them with pure hatred, "for detention."

With that, Snape stalked out of the classroom and shouted over his shoulder that they should be there at 7:00 sharp. Ginny was staring at the doorway in shock. Me? Detention? She could hardly believe what happened.

"I can't believe him," Ginny said, packing up all her things. "He can't give us detention just for that!"

"I'm afraid he can, Ginny." Draco stated, not at all affected.

"But I've never had a detention before!" she admitted.

"Well, then," Draco said with a smile as he walked to the door, "you have no need to worry."

"Why's that?" she called after him.

"Because you'll be with me," he replied simply.

Ginny had never been more nervous in her life! She had never even come close to having a detention before! At least Draco will be with me she reminded herself. Him being there with her was the only way she got herself through the rest of the day.

"You ready?" Draco asked as he walked up to her. They were both standing outside Snape's office. Ginny nodded, but she wasn't; she was far from ready. Her heart was racing and her breath was ragged.

"Come on," he said tenderly, noticing the fear that was very apparent on her face. Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand and led her into the room.

Ginny's heart had been racing before, but at Draco's touch, it sent her heart speeding ten times faster. His hand was warm and soft, wrapping itself perfectly around Ginny's small one.

"You're late," Snape snapped at them, and Draco felt Ginny pull back as he snapped. Draco glanced down at his wristwatch. By one minute he thought angrily.

"Today is simple," he sneered at them. "All you need to do is clean those jars over there." He pointed to the far side of the room. "They could be cleaned using magic, but there's something about having them scrubbed by hand that just makes all the difference."

Yeah, there's a difference -the sweat, blood, and tears it takes to clean those things Ginny thought angrily.

"Well then, don't just stand there," he snapped at them. "Get started!"

And Ginny was right. Cleaning out those jars, that had been filled with who knows what, was total hell. Some of the jars were crusting over while others were still gooey with substances that Ginny didn't want think about.

"This is so disgusting!" Ginny complained only mere minutes later.

"You've got that right," Draco agreed, cringing as he started to tackle a new jar. Snape had given them dirty, old rags and a cleaning solution. Ginny looked at all the jars she'd cleaned: a total of three measly jars. She glanced at Draco's pile of clean jars and couldn't help but gape. He's cleaned at least ten jars already!

"At least you're good at it," Ginny said, slightly jealous.

"Right," Draco began sarcastically, "because being good at cleaning disgusting jars is something that I'm totally proud of."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh, and Draco smiled. How he loved it when she laughed; it made even the worst situations, like sitting in a dungeon and cleaning out gross jars, seem better. Just hearing her laugh could lighten anyone's mood Draco thought.

"So," he started as he pulled another jar to him, "what are you going to wear to the ball?"

Ginny cringed. She hadn't even thought about that yet. What would she wear? She didn't own anything really nice, and she didn't have enough money to buy something nice either.

"I don't know," she sighed, frustrated over her own condition. Normally the situation never bugged Ginny, but in some instances it drove her crazy. She turned to Draco sadly, "I don't think I can go. I have nothing to wear."

Draco noticed Ginny's sadness and decided not to poke fun at her family's financial situation.

"I'm sure you can find something to wear," he tried, but she just shook her head sadly.

"No, you don't get it," she sighed turning away. "When I say I have nothing to wear, it's because I really have nothing to wear,"

"Well," he said with a smirk, "wear nothing!" She looked at him in shock. "And of course I'd have to dress to match, so we'd make an interesting scene."

That did it. Draco got Ginny trying to stifle her laughter, and she forgot all about her no-dress situation. Draco already had a plan forming in his head and smiled when he thought of what her reaction would be when the time came.

An hour or two passed, and Ginny and Draco were both getting sick of the jars. They talked a little for the time, but they mostly just sat in silence. Occasionally Ginny would squeak when a certain substance leaked onto her, and Draco would laugh. Then Snape would through them a look, and they would both retreat back into silence. Finally, Snape spoke to them, and told them that they were done. With a wave of his wand, Snape moved all the clean jars into a box.

"Take these to the potions classroom down the corridor," he told Draco. Draco magically lifted the box and walked out with it floating along behind him. Ginny took this time to talk to Snape.

"Professor," she said timidly, "I just wanted to apologize for my actions earlier today."

"There's no need to suck up to me, Miss Weasley," he snapped.

"No, I'm not sucking up," she tried again. "It was just very immature of me, and I shouldn't of done it."

He looked at her, his stare slightly softer.

"It was some impressive magic," he admitted quietly.

"Really?" Ginny asked lighting up at once. It meant a lot to her to get compliments from her teachers, especially Snape, who rarely if ever gave out compliments.

"Yes," he answered shortly. "It appears that you have a knack for illusions and charms as a whole."

"Sir?" she started hesitantly. There was a question that always floated through her mind when it came to illusions, but she never got her courage up to ask anyone about it. "Why are there limits on illusions?"

He stayed silent for a moment, and Ginny wasn't sure he had heard her.

"Why can't you create illusions without limits? Illusions that could be broken with only certain spells or that couldn't be broken at all, or even human illusions without using human-like characteristics?" she frowned, sure that she wasn't making sense and then added, "Like, how come a caster couldn't illusion a person to resemble a box or some creature? I just don't understand the whole idea of limits on magic in general."

Again, she waited for him to respond, but he just sat at his desk, scrawling on some parchment. Right when Ginny decided to give up, Snape spoke.

"In my opinion," he said without looking up, "there are no restrictions to magic at all. The restrictions and limits, they come into place because a witch or wizard does not posses the skill and ability to perform that bit of magic. They make up the excuse that the magic in that field is limited just because they can't perform it themselves."

"So," she said quietly, "if a witch or wizard was powerful enough or talented enough, then they could do anything? There wouldn't be any limits at all?" That didn't really seem right to Ginny.

"Not necessarily," he spoke again. "When there are those handful of witches and wizards that are extremely powerful and talented, they can do extraordinary things. However, in those cases, their strengths eventually become their weaknesses. It takes genuine ability to be able to perform anything a witch or wizard may want, and that happens rarely if not ever."

Ginny stood quietly, leaning on a nearby table and letting what her professor said sink in. No limits? She wondered, astounded at the idea of a world without limits. Just then Draco waltzed back into the room.

"You may go," he said with a wave of his hand. Draco grabbed Ginny's hand, without hesitation this time, and Ginny felt herself smile. When they were at the door, her professor told her one last thing.

"Miss Weasley," he said, this time looking up at her. "Don't ever let the world stop you from what you can do. Don't let anyone or anything limit you."

He looked down again, as if everything he said had never come out of his mouth. Ginny smiled, and when Draco looked at her quizzically she just shook her head.

"Come on," she said with a satisfied smile. "Let's go!"

They walked out of the room, hand and hand, and down the corridor. When they both had to go their separate ways, neither of them wanted to let the other go. Ginny could see Draco hesitate when he finally let her hand go, and Ginny watched sadly as Draco descended down towards the Slytherin common room. She looked back and forth from the path Draco had taken to the path she would soon follow. It seemed to Ginny, that's what she was being given. She knew now that Draco had some kind of feelings for her, but she wasn't sure what she would do. Of course she liked him too, but how would things work?

Should she follow his path? Hang out with the Slytherin's, take risks, and live the life of luxury while she was with Draco? That is if he actually wants me she thought to herself. Or she could remain on the path she'd been following her whole life, the safe and reliable path that would lead to a bland but tolerable life.

Ginny sighed in frustration and stormed up to her dormitory. She was awake for only a few minutes, and she thought about how life had been only a few weeks ago. She thought about how she used to go out late at night just to cry her sadness out of her, and she thought about how she had to lock away all emotion and feeling so she wouldn't show too much. How did that all change so quickly? But Ginny knew that there was one person who had truly helped her: Draco.

She smiled to herself and thanked him in her mind for everything he had given to her. Even if he wouldn't like her, and even if he didn't want anything to do with her, he had shaken her out of her coma-like life. He had pulled her back from her barely-there existence. She owed him for that, and she knew it.

Once Draco got to his dormitory, he quickly grabbed some parchment and a pen. Quickly, he jotted down his request and then tied the parchment to his owl's leg and sent it off. Draco prayed that his letter would get there fast and that a package would be sent back to him before the end of the week. With that, Draco flopped down on his big, comfy bed. He knew he liked Ginny now. He knew that it wasn't just some stupid feeling, and he knew that she wasn't like any of the other girls he'd been with. She was so different, and he liked that about her.

Slowly he drifted off to sleep, a smile playing on his lips, and he dreamt of a world where Ginny and him could be together happily and peacefully. It was the most fulfilling and deep sleep that Draco had ever had.

The rest of the week was uneventful. In charms, they continued to work on human illusions, and Ginny could constantly feel the magic flowing around her. Then it strengthed so Ginny could feel the magic around the room. She could sense when the magic would layer itself onto someone or pull itself away. It was the most amazing feeling that Ginny had ever felt.

She had always been able to feel the magic, to sense it, but lately it had been heightened. She used to only get tingles from the magic she performed, but now she felt a full on onslaught when she performed a spell. It was utterly amazing.

After class on Wednesday, Christian cornered her.

"Hey, Gin," he started. "I know it's a little too late, but I was wondering if you wanted to go to the ball with me?"

He looked at her expectantly, but she hesitated.

"Well, Christian," she muttered, and she could see him tense up, "like you said, it is late, and well…someone already asked me, and I've already said yes." She looked up to see him containing his anger and flinched. She could feel his aura, and it felt like it was pounding her. His demeanor was no longer warm and inviting like it had been the first night she'd talked to him. It was now cold and frightening, and it made Ginny back up in fear.

"Fine," he said through clenched teeth, and Ginny sighed in relief as he walked away.

"He looked like he was going to kill you," Draco said from behind her. She turned around and smiled. She should have known that he would stay to see what happened. Though he hid it well, Draco was always jealous when Christian talked to her, and Ginny couldn't help but smile. She liked the idea that he cared if another guy had feelings for her.

"And if he attacked?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well, I would defend you of course!" he said heroically while hitting into a statuesque pose. Ginny erupted into laughter, and she could sense Draco smiling at her.

"So," he asked, slightly more serious, "do you want to work on your nonverbal magic again?"

Ginny cringed. Flitwick had reminded them that on Friday they would be working on their nonverbal magic.

"Do I have to?" she whined, but he only smiled.

"Yes," he replied. "So why don't we meet in here after dinner?"

She nodded sadly.

"And no standing me up this time, okay?" he stated.

"Right," she said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I really don't want to do this," she complained as she sat down on the table.

"Come on, Gin," he said, and she smiled at the sound of her nickname. Somehow, he said it much better than anyone else. "Once you get it down," he explained, "you can do it with anything!"

"Fine," she huffed.

"Okay, relax," he coached. "Mentally hear yourself saying the spell. Hear it like you're actually saying it aloud. Come on now, concentrate."

Ginny screwed up her eyes in concentration. Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa she mentally chanted, and when she thought she was ready she thought it one more time.

"Open your eyes, Gin," Draco ordered.

Slowly she opened her eyes to see her book floating serenely above the table. Before she could jump up in excitement, Draco interrupted.

"Concentrate," he ordered. "Don't let it fall. Control it, control the spell,"

And Ginny did. She moved the book around the classroom in circles and up and down.

"I can't believe I did it!" she exclaimed after she lowered the book down onto the table.

"Great job," he said as he patted her on the back awkwardly.

She stared up at him, her eyes full of appreciation and happiness. Lord, she's beautiful he thought, and he almost said it aloud but held back just barely.

"Thank you, Draco," she said softly, "for everything."

He looked at her, wondering what else she was talking about, but didn't say anything. "You're welcome, Gin."

Before she knew what she was doing, Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco in a hug. She felt his arms wrap automatically around her waist and pull her closer to him. They stood like that for a length of time, neither of them wanting to let go, but finally Draco pulled away. Ginny cringed inwardly as she felt the warmth from his body leave hers.

"Well," he said quietly, staring into her brown eyes, "let's keep working then."

"Okay," she agreed, equally as quiet.

For the rest of the hour they practiced, Ginny was able to do almost every bit of nonverbal magic she tried. Sometimes it took her one or two times, but she didn't let that bring her down. She wouldn't allow herself to be limited, and what made everything better was when she realized that no matter what they were doing, Draco found some way to be close to her whether it was resting a comforting hand on her shoulder or lightly touching her hair with his hands.

When it was time to go, both of them hung around expectantly, hoping for something more to happen. But neither of them made a move, and it was getting late. So they walked away and then they each took their own paths. Ginny watched Draco go his way, and she went hers.

When Friday charms class came, Ginny was more than ready to prove her ability. She concentrated and levitated the book that was in front of her. She watched it move up and down, circling around a smiling Draco, and then setting itself back in its spot.

"Well done, Miss Weasley!" Flitwick squeaked at her, and she beamed at him.

"You're amazing, Ginny," Draco said to her, and he saw a blush creep up her cheeks.

"Thanks, Draco," she said still beaming, "but you're much better at it than me."

"I told you," he stated, "that once you can do it for one spell, it's not much harder to do it with different spells. You'll be just as good as me, if not better, in no time," he promised.

"Hey," he said, changing the topic, "do you want to meet me after dinner tonight?"

"For another lesson?" she asked hopefully; she loved spending time with Draco.

"No," he said, and Ginny frowned, "but I want to give you something,"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Just say you'll be there," he said with a coy smile.

"Okay," she agreed hesitantly.

"Great!" he exclaimed, and Ginny found herself smiling. The rest of the hour Ginny and Draco worked on their nonverbal magic. Draco, who was already great at it, and Ginny, who was getting better at it every time she performed a spell, were both enjoying themselves. When class was over, they waved each other goodbye, and both of them spent the rest of the day thinking about after dinner.

She's going to love this Draco thought happily.

It was before dinner, and Ginny was sprucing up in the girl's bathroom. She wanted to look her best for Draco. She put the final touches on her make-up and hair, which she hadn't changed that much, but there was a huge difference since she showed some effort to look presentable.

"Why do you look so nice?" Ron questioned her when she waltzed down the stairs, humming a merry tune. "And why are you so happy?"

"Is it a crime to look nice or to be happy?" she shot at him. She was still rather mad at him.

"Christian told me you said 'no' to him when he asked you to go to the ball with him," he stated unhappily. Ginny sighed.

"I didn't say 'no' to him," she explained, trying to control her anger. "I already said 'yes' to someone else!"

She kept walking to the door, her good mood ruined by her stupid brother.

"Stop it right there," he ordered. "Who are you going with?"

"It's none of your business who I'm going with!" she shouted at him in rage.

"Ginevra Weasley!" he shouted, equally as mad. "Tell me who you're going with this instant!"

"NO!"

"You know what," Ron yelled, getting angrier by the second, "If you don't tell me, then I'll write to mom! If you won't tell me-"

But before he could say anything else, Ginny had concentrated hard and flicked her wand. Ron never saw anything coming because Ginny hadn't said anything. She smiled to herself and gave herself a compliment on the nonverbal Silencio charm she performed. Oh, how I love nonverbal magic Ginny thought happily.

Ginny couldn't eat her dinner any faster, and when she was done, she rushed off to meet Draco. When she flew into the classroom, he was already there with two boxes. They were both rectangular, but one was thinner than the other.

"Hey Ginny," he said smiling happily.

"Hi Draco," she said back. "What are those?" she asked, pointing to the boxes.

"Well," he began with a little hesitation, "since you told me that you have nothing to wear to the ball and because the teachers would be slightly upset if we arrived in the nude, I decided to go ahead and get you a dress."

"Oh, Draco," she said with both sadness and happiness, "you really didn't have to. I mean, you shouldn't have! I'll never be able to pay you back! No, I can't accept it."

"Ginny," he said very seriously, "I bought this, not because I had to. We still could've shown up naked, and that would've been fine with me." He smirked, and Ginny smiled. "No, I bought you this because I wanted to."

She looked up at him remorsefully, but he was just smiling at her.

"Ginny," he started softly, "you're an amazing person, even though you have little, you deserve the world, and since I couldn't give you the world, I decided a dress would do just fine."

"Draco," she argued feebly, but he put his finger to her lips. Butterflies erupted in her stomach as he moved his hand to her neck and pulled her in close. Ginny looked up into his steely, gray eyes, then down to his lips that were nearing hers, and when the moment seemed to last too long, when it seemed like he was just going to pull away, he leaned forward and kissed her. Wrapping his other arm around her waist, he kissed her like he would never get to kiss her again. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck, and the kiss deepened. She tightened her arms around Draco, knowing that she never wanted to let him go.

"So, you'll take the dress?" he asked softly, pulling away from her. Ginny nodded and pulled him close again for another kiss. Honestly, Ginny would've said anything just to feel his lips against hers one more time.

They spent what seemed like only minutes, arms wrapped around one another, lips pressed together, until they had to go. When they both had to go their own ways, they said goodbye with another heated kiss, which was just as tender and sweet as the others.

Ginny floated up to her room, both boxes in hand, and sprawled onto her bed, not bothering to even look at the dress. She wanted to remember what it felt like to have Draco's lips against hers. She wanted to remember the sensation she felt when he pulled her in close. Eventually she drifted to sleep and dreamt pleasant dreams of kissing Draco and nothing else.

A/N: Keep reading and reviewing please!