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It's hard to believe that just six chapters ago I was pointing out that I was blown away by the fact I'd gotten over 600 reviews and now look, I have over 700! You people are amazing! Keep up the awesome reviews cause they make me so happy!

Well, it saddens me greatly to say that I fear the end of this story is fast approaching, though I just need to figure out how exactly to end it. I'm not really the plan ahead kind of person. I just writes whatever comes to me. If you have any ideas/thoughts/suggestions I'd love to hear them. Who better than to help me decide than my lovely readers? If I use your idea I'll even give you credit!

Well, enjoy the chapter and keep your eyes peeled for the next one soon!

Without further ado:

Chapter 53

Ginny POV

"I know it's not set in stone, but I will marry you one day, Ginny Weasley," Draco had whispered softly after kissing me.

My heart swelled with love for the boy whose arms were wrapped around me. "Oh Draco," I whispered tearfully, turning in his lap enough to look up at him comfortably. "I love you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me. I knew that, no matter what happened, I'd never leave you. But, I've been worrying day after day about what our life would be like. Would we have to hide it or-"

Draco cut me off by pressing his lips to mine, effectively silencing my rambling. "I know, Ginny. I know you well enough to know how you worry. Did you expect us to be together only in secret for the rest of our lives?" he asked, seeming incredulous at my worries.

"Well, you were adamant about keeping our relationship quiet," I pointed out, wondering what he'd expected of our lives.

He smiled and shook his head, kissing me yet again. I wasn't complaining though. I'd never get enough of his lips on mine. "I'd have been crazy to think we could keep this to ourselves for the rest of our lives. I know you; you want a family of your own, little kids running around a big house," he said after releasing my lips.

"And a loving husband to hold me at night and rub my feet while I'm pregnant," I interjected with a laugh.

"And that," he agreed with a laugh. "We both know that living in secret would make that impossible. I wouldn't do that to you. At the time, I knew it would be too dangerous to try and get away. I had hopes that the war would end soon and we'd be able to be together in relative peace, God willing, but obviously that's not happened yet. It was a blessing in disguise that my father turned on me and tried to kill me. Without that, I'd not been able escape from him. Now I only worry about the retribution that will fall if he ever finds me."

I snuggled into him and let out a content sigh. "Let's just hope he doesn't then," I said, pulling one of his large hands into mine and lacing my fingers though this. "So all this time you really did plan on marrying me?"

He let out a laugh, sliding me off his lap and hopping off the workbench. "Of course! I'll get down on one knee and ask if it would make you feel better," he said teasingly, looking down at the floor as if debating if it would be a good idea to put his knee on the worn wood, probably thinking of splinters.

Hopping off the bench and landing lightly beside him, I too let out a laugh. It was odd, this suddenly playful mood of his. "No, you can save that for when you have a ring," I teased back at him, grabbing his hand in mine and leaning against the workbench. "But you might have let me know that you'd planed that all along. It would have saved me from so much worrying."

His eyebrows pulled together and he frowned down at me. "I thought you knew," he murmured, standing in front of me, his legs brushing mine. He reached out and pushed my sweater aside a bit, pulling out the necklace that I'd been wearing for the past two years. "This necklace was my promise, a physical promise you'd always have close to your heart. I gave it to you in hopes of showing you what I meant to do. I would not have giving you this if I hadn't meant to marry you one day," he explained, stunned that I hadn't realized that.

"Well, I had known you'd meant it when you gave it to me," I told him, taking the necklace from his hand and twining my fingers in with his. "At the time, I held no doubt. Through everything we've gone through, it was this necklace that kept me going. It was proof of your love for me. But, so much had happened and things seemed to have gotten so much more dangerous that I wasn't so sure anymore if you would take the risk of making our relationship known."

He let out a sigh and pulled me against him. "I should have told you every time I saw you how much I loved you and that I'd never let you go. I should have let you know in words my plans, not just assumed you understood. For that, I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear, holding me close.

"Don't be sorry," I whispered back, leaning up on my toes to kiss him.

We were startled out of our kiss by the sound of my mother's voice. "Ginny! Where did you two get to? Ginny!" Her voice was drawing nearer to the shed; I could hear her faint footsteps crunching in the snow.

"Busted," I drawled out with a laugh to Draco before letting go of him.

Letting out a soft laugh of his own, the mood suddenly much lighter, he kissed me one last time before stepping back. "Dang it," he muttered back with a smile.

Grabbing my cloak as I went, I opened the door to the blinding light reflected off the snow "We're in here, Mum," I called out, squinting at the sudden brightness. I was startled to see the sun nearing the middle of the sky. Had we really been in here that long? Was it really nearly noon?

Letting out a sigh of relief at finding us, Mum came tromping through the snow towards the shed. I felt Draco reach around from behind me and take the cloak from my hands, putting it around my shoulders and clipping it in the front. The heat from the warming charm was still as toasty as before. I turned to look at Draco, his cloak not on yet and my shoes in his hand.

I stepped out of the doorway just as Mum bustled into the large shed. She let the door close behind her, shutting out the cold air. "Oh, good. You'd not gone too far," she said, brushing snow off her cloak as I slipped my shoes on.

"Sorry we didn't let you know where we were going," I apologized, tying my shoes.

"It's my fault," Draco interjected, trying to save me from getting in trouble. "I didn't give her much time to tell you anything. All I could think about was getting her alone long enough to talk to her." He looked genuinely sorry for worrying my family and I could tell Mum was glad about it.

"Not to worry," she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. Once we were prepared for the cold once again, Mum opened the door and led the way out of Dad's shed. "We'd have given you a bit more time alone but lunch is nearly ready," she told us as we walked. "That and your father and I were barely able to contain your brothers for this long."

"Oh dear," I muttered, glancing at Draco and thinking of what my brothers were likely to try and do to him.

A moment later we were being ushered into the warm kitchen by Mum. The wonderful aroma's filling the room made my stomach rumble, more proof that much more time than I thought had elapsed in the time Draco and I had snuck away for. "It smells wonderful, Mrs. Weasley," Draco said as he hung the three cloaks up on the rack by the door. "It may be the only meal I'll eat that could rival todays breakfast."

I could see Mum blushing at his compliments as she bustled around the kitchen. "I have no need for such compliments," she said, obviously flustered. But, then again, who wouldn't be flustered by a compliment from the man that, even in hand-me-down clothes looked too much like a Greek god for his own good? "The best compliment I can get is a full tummy and clean plate. Ginny, set the table please." Her quick way of changing the subject made me smile as I brought out the dishes.

Just then, Dad came striding into the kitchen, the wonderful smells alerting him to the meal being almost ready. He went over to Mum and kissed her cheek after smiling at Draco and me. "What has you blushing so?" he asked as he took his seat at the head of the table.

"Oh nothing, it's just warm in this kitchen," Mum said as she transferred some food onto the table. Her fresh baked rolls went in the center, the biggest hit of any of her meals. Next to it, a stew found its spot on a heat resistant cozy. Soon, the table was filled with delicious food and, as Draco and I took our spots at the table, my brothers and friends all came filing into the kitchen.

Hermione gave me a tentative smile, glancing over at Draco with obvious unease, before sitting down. Ron and Harry showed their distaste for our new guest with obvious gusto as, sitting as far away from him as possible, the plopped down with identical scowls. More than once Draco was on the receiving end of a death glare. If looks could kill, not even phoenix tears could save Draco. Thankfully the both kept their mouths shut, afraid of incurring Mum's wrath.

Fred and George did not look happy with Draco but they also didn't look ready to kill him. That was good at least. Percy was giving me a bossy I-cannot-believe-you-snuck-out-with-him look. I ignored him best I could. Charlie and Bill didn't look mad in the least though they both gave Draco stern frowns for taking me away without the permission, or even just telling, my parents.

Fleur looked like she could care less what was going on, preferring to stare down at her perfect baby. The two American girls, Katie and Chelsea, sat next to Fred and George and were oblivious to the tension in the people around them. For that I was thankful, at least some here were able to look at this situation with unbiased eyes.

Mum sat down last, on Dad's left, once all the food was on the table and everyone had plenty to drink. Ignoring the tension so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, Mum grabbed Dad and Bill's hands and everyone followed suit. Draco looked confused but took my hand and Dad's anyway. Clearly, his family never said grace. "Would you like to pray, Ginny," Mum asked, looking over at me.

"Sure," I answered, closing my eyes and bowing my head, knowing my family would follow suit. "Thank you for this day, this food, and these people around me, Amen. Let's eat." The tension around the table was finally broken as several around the table erupted into laugher at my short, sweet, and to the point prayer.

"Hey you two," I directed towards the twins as I piled food onto my plate. "How's the shop going anyway? I haven't been up there in a while."

Fred and George both started talking then. "It's going smashingly," Fred started.

"And the products are still flying off the shelves," George continued.

"We're trying to keep up with the demands of our customers," Fred said, taking a freshly buttered roll from George's plate.

Snatching it back without missing a beat, George said, "But we still find time to keep up the new inventions."

"Oh yes," Fred agree, snatching the roll back from his twin. "We've got a skiving snack box deluxe now."

"Complete with dragon pox peppermints," George continued for his twin while trying to steal back his roll.

"Completely harmless of course," Fred added, holding the roll out of George's reach.

"Yes," George said, snatching at the roll. "It just gives the spots and none of the itching."

"Has the power to exempt a student from classes for a week!" Fred exclaimed.

Finally seeing an opportunity where they were both distracted, I reached across the table and took the roll quickly from Fred's grasp, taking a bite. Before either of the twins could retort to the stealing of their roll, Mum clicked her tongue disapprovingly, still not happy about their career choice.

I looked over at Draco then, surprised to see a grin spreading across his face. "What?" I asked, taking a bite of stew.

He pointed at the half eaten roll on my plate. "You should have been in Slytherin," he teased only loud enough for me to hear, his mouth near my ear.

Nudging him away with my elbow, smiling despite myself, I ate the rest of my roll before sticking my tongue out at him. He gave me a playfully indignant expression before nudging me back. I let out a squeal as his elbow hit a ticklish spot. The sound was drowned by the noise at the table. To my utter disappointment though, Ron and Harry seemed to have noticed, if their deepening scowls were of any indication. Through the meal, they had been watching us like hawks.

"Don't touch my sister, you bastard!" Ron yelled indignantly as he bounded to his feet, loud enough to grab everyone's attention over the din at the table.

The crowd around the table fell silent, all except for little Victoire who started crying at the sudden yell. Fleur gave Ron a very disapproving scowl before standing up and striding from the kitchen, trying to hush the child in her arms.

Draco met Ron's glare head on, not a single emotion playing on his face. My well trained eyes though could detect anger in his eyes and defense in his posture. I slipped my hand into his under the table. He took it with surprising strength for a moment before loosening his grip, still holding my hand in his.

He stood then too, his hand still held in mine. "Now boys," Dad cut in, trying to stop things before they got nasty.

To everyone's surprise though, Draco held his hand up in a gesture to silence my dad. "I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley," he apologized without taking his eyes off of the seething Ron. "But this has to be between just your son and me." Directing his attention back to Ron, he said, "Now, you wanted me to face you like a man and right now I ask you only for the same."

Without another word, he strode from the kitchen and into the empty living room, leaving a stunned Ron agape behind him. "Go on, Son," Dad prodded from where he sat. "Don't kill each other."

Ron turned as red as his hair before stomping determinedly into the living room, muttering to himself angrily.

"Do they really think they'll just talk it out?" George questioned to his twin in a whisper, though everyone could hear it.

"More like yell it out," Fred answered with a shrug.

"Ten galleons on Malfoy," George bet, earning a few grins from their girlfriends and the rest of my brothers.

"You're on," Fred agreed with a grin of his own.

Haha! Cliffhanger, gotta love 'em! Well, I do hope to have then next one out soon so you're not going to have to wait too long, so keep your eyes open for the next.

But, did you like it? It just seemed like something Draco would do, finally get fed up with Ron and let him have a go at him. We'll see if things turn violent come the next chapter. What do you think would happen? Who's siding with Fred and who's siding with George on the bet?

Well, drop a review by and say hi to little BJ. He's getting so bit with all your loving reviews. Keep 'em coming so he stays well fed!

And remember, a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!