Title: No Longer Alone
Author Name: Christabell
Author email: Christabell112@yahoo.com
Category: Romance/Angst
Keywords: Draco Ginny D/G
Rating: PG - PG-13
Spoilers: All four books
Summary: There are some things in life that many people take for granted, love being one of them. Yet Draco never had that, never had the chance to feel appreciated, wanted, or needed. Until Ginny came along.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but whatever you don't recognize. *smiles and nods* It all belongs to the oh-so-great-JKR-who-refuses-to-put-out-book-5.
AN: Well, someone was saying that they doubted that I could write anything good that wasn't fluff. Naturally I went for the opposite, being depressing. It doesn't work. I tried my best, yet it still ends up fluffy. But fluff is still great! *g* Thanks to everyone who helped me work out all those little kinks in the story and gave me all the advice I need and more! Feel free to give me any advice. This is only my second fic that I have posted anywhere, so any comments or critisim is welcome. Thanks!


Draco sat on his bed. It was just like any other day, but worse. It was Christmas Eve, and it was just reminding him and making him think of how lonely and depressed he was. Damn it, he said out loud. I hate my life. No reason to like it. He glanced around, fearing that someone had heard him. No one had. He resumed his thinking. Christmas is supposed to be about love. I have never known love. My life has always been loveless. Father almost killed me when I was born, but Mother convinced him that I would be a useful tool in getting him a higher position in Lord Voldemort's ranks. So he let me live after much debating. That's the most affection I ever got from him. Mother is different. She doesn't love me, yet at least she tries to get me one less beating or torture session with Father. And that has earned my respect for her. I know that she has gone through many of the same hardships I have. Know that her life is as dark as mine, if not darker. She has been constrained to live with him these past twenty years, having to live with the fact that one toe out of line could be the death of her. That just has to make you love life.'
Draco's thoughts drifted from his awful home life, to school. He always had to have his protective little bubble. A sort of shield that would barricade him from anything harmful, prevent him from feeling the blow of insults or the pain of heartbreak. I always just had to hide my stupid, insecure self from all who looked. Tried to portray myself as a confident, important person, and somehow pulled it off. Actually, I honestly want to be friends with Harry. For that matter, I just want to have friends that would actually care. But those thoughts soon disappeared. Because of my stupid, damn father. Fuck him. He ruined everything, even the visions of how life could be. Surrounded by loving family and friends, having something to smile about. Not in this lifetime.'
A clamorous sound filled Draco's ears, breaking his train of thought. The clocks chime out their death sentence. And his along with it. It was midnight. Christmas Day. His seventeenth birthday. The day when he was supposed to pledge my life to Voldemort, and give up my very existence. He would not. He would go against this predestined reality, that has been laid out in front of me since my birth. Defy fate. Draco climbed out of bed, and silently crept up the staircase that led to the roof. He shivered as the cold winter air whipped around his body, enveloping him in it's frosty embrace. He stared down at the distance between the ground and his perch up on the roof. He had always been afraid of heights. Fuck you, Voldemort, he yelled. I will never, ever serve you. Will never follow in Father's footsteps. I hate him. I hate you. Draco slowly walked over to the edge of the roof. He gulp, closed his eyes, and jumped.

Draco woke up, his body dripping with sweat. He had dreamt this many times now, with the intensity and fear growing every time. He remembered that year. The year he turned 17. How close he had been to jumping. But something had made him stop. Maybe it was the height, but maybe not. So many horrible things had happened. Yet so much good had come out of the evil. He had met Ginny. True, Draco had known of her, known what she looked like, known that she was a Weasley. But because of the big war, the war between the good side and the bad side, Ginny and him had ended up fighting together, side by side. And becoming friends. Near the very end, Ginny had almost left him forever. He could still see her, laid in his arms, gasping for breath as he cried, cried for the first time in eleven years, cried his heart out, cried for this innocent girl whose fate was unknown.

Fight this war, Draco. Fight and live on, no matter what. She said, between slow, painful, rasping breaths. I haven't been your friend for long, but I need you to live for me. I might not make it, and.... She trailed off and Draco cut in.
Don't. Don't you dare say that. You are going to live. I'll make sure of it. Promise me that you wont give up. If nothing else, then live for me. I.... I want you here with me, Ginny. I.... I need you here, he replied, finally realizing his true feelings. I just don't know what I would do without you. You can't leave me now.
Draco, I promise you that I will do all in my power to stay with you. She looked up at him, into his sad, forlorn eyes. I've been fighting saying this, in fear that it will ruin our friendship as we know it, but if nothing else, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart, more than you can ever imagine. And I always will, whatever happens. She watched his face as it showed his various emotions - happiness, doubt, then amazement.
You love me? Me, Draco? Ginny just smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. Yes. You. And only you.
I love you so much too, Ginny. He kissed her gently back, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already was. Suddenly, Draco heard voices. He stood up, and recognized the voices as those of the mediwizards, who had been working nonstop since the war had started.
Oy, you! Over here! Ginny's seriously hurt, and I cant do anything more for her. Please help! He yelled. Two of the wizards hurried over. Within minutes they had Ginny on a stretcher, with her health already on its way to perfection.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love those guys? Ginny said. Not as much as I love you, of course, she laughed. Draco laughed as well and put a weightless charm and levitation on the stretcher. As it rose into the air, Draco kissed Ginny's forehead, and started to guide the stretcher towards Hogwarts.


A familiar voice shook Draco out of his thoughts. Hey baby. You all right?
Hey beautiful. Yeah, I guess so.
What woke you up, Draco? It's the middle of the night. Ginny, always the curious one, just had to ask.
The dreams. They've come back. This one was about me killing myself. Repeating what happened on my 17th birthday, only showing an alternate ending. Showing me jumping off my roof. It's the strangest thing. Even though that was a few years ago, I can still remember everything just like it was yesterday. I still don't know what made me keep from jumping, Draco mused.
Neither do I. I'm just so glad that you didn't. But I'm sorry that the dreams are coming back. I guess all that stupid therapy didn't really work.
I could have told you that, he joked. Ginny whacked him playfully.
So you're sure that you are ok now? She asked.
Yeah - I ended up thinking about how we got together. He looked at her adoringly. I love you. You know that, right?
Course I do, baby. I love you too. You know, sometimes I wonder why you stuck with me for all those years. I yelled at you half the time, and with all the pressure that was on us, and all the bets about us lasting, and everything else, it must have been awful for you. Ginny said.
Well, it was hard, but I wouldn't call it awful. How could it be? I got to be with you. But you had it hard. You had to deal with me, randomly getting mad at the world, and you in particular. Plus you had almost all the same pressures that I had.
But I had my family, well most of my family - not the twins or Ron really, behind me, Ginny reasoned. It had taken the three boys quite some time to accept the fact that their baby sister liked and was going out with Draco. It took even longer for them to stop being overprotective, and realize that Draco would never, ever hurt her. That helped me so much. You couldn't have had that. And standing up to your father and Voldemort? That must have been the hardest thing for you to do.
Yeah, I still don't know how I found the courage to do that. The two continued talking for hours, about every possible thing that popped into their minds. Finally, Ginny looked at the clock.
Oh, opps! I didn't mean to keep you up so long, she apologized
I'm not really tired anyway. I think I'm going to go take a bath. I'd have to get up now anyway.
And do I get to join you there? Ginny asked.
Naturally. And I'm going to make you anyhow. Draco picked her up in his arms, and carried her, squealing, into the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Water cascaded into the tub, as Ginny slowly massaged Draco's neck, occasionally kissing it.
Damn that feels good! Draco exclaimed. He turned around and kissed her as hard as he could, with her matching the passion. She moaned slightly, giving him passage to her mouth. They pressed their bodies closer as their tongues danced and dueled. They finally drew apart, gasping for air.
You can still make me feel breathless, just by a simple kiss, Ginny smiled.
I don't want to go to work today. I just wanna be here with you. Let's call in sick, shall we?
Good idea. I know that I wouldn't get anything done. All that I could do would be to think of you. Draco notified both of their companies that they were sick and would not be arriving at work. It's all right with them.
We'd better get out of this tub now. Look! Your toes already look like raisins! she giggled. Let's go do something new!
Sure, beautiful. Lets go.
The two got dressed and got into their car. The car was actually the same one that Mr. Weasley had enchanted many years before. When Mr. Weasley had been in a very good mood, Ginny and Draco had asked him if he would let them lend it. So good was his mood that he decided to let the two of them keep it.
Where are you taking me, Draco?
Ginny tried every possible way to get him to tell her where they were going, but to no avail. Draco's lips were sealed.
He stopped the car in muggle Miami.
Come on, Ginny. Draco took her hand and led her down the street, and to a building that looked very familiar. It was... The Leaky Cauldron!
But.... how can this be here? This store is in London! Ginny was very confused. Draco laughed.
Yes, its just one of the many ways to get into the wizarding world. It can be used to get to different places. Ginny nodded. They entered the store, and made their way to the back. They waved to various people, knowing almost everyone inside. They sat down, and after chatting with Tom, the bartender, ordered two drinks. Once they had those, Draco pulled Ginny outside, back into the muggle world.
We are going to see the best of Miami, and all of Florida for that matter, he said smiling. The whole day was spent in shops, amusement parks, meeting Mickey Mouse, and more. They crammed in everything that they possible could.
Finally, Draco took Ginny to a beach, with smooth white sand, and beautiful palm trees, scattered randomly. The sun was just setting, and it caused the sky to turn vibrant reds and oranges. He reached over and pulled Ginny into him. She moved closer and snuggled up against him. We work so perfectly, you and I.
I know we do... Ginny, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you and I guess now is as good of a time as any other... Draco said very deliberately. What is it? Is something wrong? A worried look flashed over Ginny's face.
Oh no, don't worry. It's not anything like that.
Thank God. But what is it then? He turned around to face her.
Ginny, you know I love you. I have ever since that night where I almost lost you. I don't want to even think about where I would be if you had died. Since then, all I've really needed was you. And that's still all I need. I live my life, always thinking that I could not possibly love you any more than I already do, yet every time I see you, every time I feel you next to me, every time I even think about you, I am more mesmerized by everything about you than I was before. So I think the same thing again, only to be continuously proven wrong. Because my love for you will never cease. Ginny, I love you. I love every little thing about you. You are the most amazing, beautiful, intelligent woman, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So Ginny? Will you marry me? Draco drew back to look at her, trying to hide his nervousness. She just stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes.
Yes! Of course I will! She threw her arms around him. I'm just... speechless! That was so romantic! Draco breathed again.
Really? You'll marry me?
she laughed at the obvious amazement that he felt. You didn't really think that I would be able to live without you, and marry someone else, did you? Wait, don't answer that! Draco picked her up, swinging her around with him. Their joy and love was contagious, and all of those who heard their excitement could guess what had happened. They sat down, Ginny in Draco's lap, and he slipped a gorgeous diamond ring on her finger.
So the world may know, he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her.
Who needs the world? All I need is you, she whispered back, and the couple sunk into paradise, completely wrapped up in themselves.