A/N: Short chapter, and I'm not sure whether or not the rating should be upped to R or not. Eh-heh. As I've said in other fics, this was written in MWord, which loathes my very being and does everything in its power to slight me. It was then hastily coded into HTML, which is also not my friend as Auds (Grammar Queen on ff.net) has pointed out to me numerous times. Mmm, review and I'll love you forever. I'll at least like you a bit.

Maybe.
~clockwisevenus

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I'm suddenly hopeful whenever you're in sight | I talk about you all day | whisper your name at night | whatever you need | what I would give if you should ask it of me | to make you feel complete...
Sugarbomb - Hello

***

Flat. Now.
Ginny

She scrawled out the letter hastily, tying it to the leg of the post owl and then Apparating home. Draco appeared a few moments later, looking smug, as usual.

"Honestly, Ginny," he said, appearing suddenly before her. "Couldn't you have--oh, shit," he said, seeing her red-rimmed eyes, tired from crying. "Shit. Shit. Shit--what happened?"

She didn't reply at first, but crossed the distance between them and let her arms find their way around his waist, crossing over at the small of his back, her forehead buried in the crook of his neck. "I told Harry," she finally said calmly, sounding almost confused, "that I don't love him."

"But you do," he said, his brow creasing. "You do love him."

He felt her shake; he could hear her struggling to find words. "No, I don't. Draco," she said, her tone mournful as her arms spasmodically tightened around him, "would you do something for me? If you--if you don't want to, it's fine."

"Of course," he said, wishing that holding her was enough to alleviate her problems. "I'll--I'll do anything. Just name it."

Ginny's breath caught in her throat, a grief-stricken moan escaping from her throat as her nails dug sharply into his back. "Make love to me," she said, holding back tears. "I need to feel something--anything but this. I feel like I'm dying," she whispered.

He resisted the desire to push her away and stare at her, thinking about the weight of her words. Shag was an appropriate term for sex that occurred on the floor, on the couch, in the bloody kitchen, for Christ's sake. Lovemaking, however, took place in a bed. There were no discrepancies. There was no proper place for a quick shag--it was uncouth, without love, without affection--undeniably harsh. Ginny wanted him to be gentle--to look at her, to touch her properly instead of a session of ripping off clothes and insensitive sex that left scratches and bruises.

Damn. How the hell was he supposed to do that?

"I should tell you..." he started to say, but she placed her fingertips over his mouth to silence him.

"No more talking, Draco," she warned him. "Just let me..."

He swallowed, feeling suddenly nervous as he nodded his consent, letting her slip the robes from his shoulders too slowly and tug his shirt over his head, her pale hands clinging tight to his chest as he did the same to her.

Why had he never noticed how beautiful she was--so unique? Feminine, but with sharp curves instead of soft, delicately angled in such a way that it seemed she had been designed simply for the purpose of driving him mad; to make his mind spin in a fog that he never wanted to come out of, ever...

Ginny's fingers traced the path of a scar running from his collarbone over his left shoulder, stopping at a place between his shoulder blades.

"My father," he said, his voice deeper than he wished it to be as a shudder ran through his body. "Right before Voldemort's fall. I couldn't bring myself to heal it."

She nodded, understanding the need for some scars. Leaning her head forward, she let her lips pass over it, soothing the affronted spot, paying close attention to the way his chin tipped back with a stifled moan as her mouth neared the base of his throat, his arms clutching at hers as he stumbled back, a mere foot closer to the bed.

Capturing her lips with his once more, Draco fumbled with the back of her bra, unsteady hands working nervously as she removed his slacks, their breathing coming out in matching short, swift gasps each time their lips separated, his hands moving over the flesh he had never paid attention to in the past. He didn't understand how he could have missed the way she sighed at every touch, the way the sharp bones in her hips ground against his--not painfully, but in an arousing way that made it hard to manage to restrain himself, commanding his hips not to press against hers too roughly.

The part of his brain that told him how to hold back was retreating with every little noise she made, sliding into a red haze with the way her stomach was pressed against his arousal, making him gasp for breath.

In his final moment of resolve, he picked her up, hooking an arm behind her knees, carrying her the last few feet to the bed and setting her down, leaning over her as he pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss, and then his world was stars.

***

Ginny sat up, loosely holding the thin sheet over her as she looked about for a blanket. She sighed with the realization that it had been kicked to the opposite side of the room, and she would have to get up and walk across the cold floor to reach it.

A warm hand reached up, resting against the small of her back. "Cold?" Draco asked.

She nodded, grateful to see him smiling at her. She was relieved that the carefully built relationship between them hadn't been altered over the past twenty-four hours. Curling up with her head on his chest and an arm draped across his stomach, Ginny wondered how it was that she could feel so comfortable with Draco Malfoy. She still hated him, didn't she? Still, though...he had stayed.

"You're warm," she commented as his arms wrapped around her, his thumb lazily rubbing her shoulder. "I wouldn't have suspected that."

"Oh?" he chuckled, a smile curving his mouth.

She frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Draco said, shaking his head. "It's just--you really don't know me."

Ginny's scowl deepened. "I know you--I spent six bloody years of school with you--seven, if you count this one."

"What's my favourite colour?" he asked, a laugh waiting on the tip of his tongue.

"I--" she faltered. "Green?" she asked hopefully.

The laugh escaped, his chest shaking as he kissed the top of her head. "Wrong," he said simply. "My favourite colour is red."

"All right, then," Ginny snapped, feeling silly and argumentative. "What's my--"

"Yellow," he said, interrupting her, a smug smirk lingering on his lips. "And orange."

She sat up halfway, turning to stare at him. "Draco," she frowned. "How did you know...?"

"I didn't," he said, tapping her lower lip. "But you look best in those colours. You're positively radiant in them."

"Sometimes I think that I love you," she said, looking embarrassed. "And sometimes I just think that you really, really need to be slapped."

She collapsed on top of him again and closed her eyes.

"So, what're we going to do today?" he asked. "It's horribly gloomy for Christmas, don't you think?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "The first thing I want to do is take a shower, and when I come out I'd like there to be coffee."

His eyes did an instinctive roll. "How romantic," he said sourly, and she sat up, leaning over the side of the bed, reaching into her dresser. Pulling on a shirt, she slipped out from under the covers, shrugging.

"You make good coffee," she said. "I can't help being fond of it."

***

"That looks lovely on you," Draco informed Ginny as she stepped out of the lavatory, furiously towel-drying her hair.

She sighed. "I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt, Draco."

He glanced up from his coffee. "The towel's lovely."

"Argh," she said tactfully, sitting down next to him. "So," she began to distract him from staring at the steam rising from his cup. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, setting his coffee down and looking distressed.

Ginny frowned at him. "Last night," she said. "You just said, 'I should tell you' and I think I told you to shut up."

Draco stared at her for a few moments, and then shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Goddammit," she said, slamming her empty cup down. "I hate it when people say that. It just means 'I don't want to tell you, please do keep aggravating me.' It drives me mad. Just tell me, Draco."

"It's nothing you'd want to hear is what I meant," he clarified, scooting his chair away from the table. "I swear it."

Ginny leapt at him, taking advantage of his precarious position on the edge of the chair by knocking him to the ground. "Malfoy," she growled, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "I am at my wits' end. I did not have an excellent night, and I'm hoping to start this day off well."

"You're a bit feisty for having just woken up--"

"Would you just tell me? I'm so sick of people not telling me things that it's about to--"

Draco clapped the palm of his hand over her mouth, knowing words wouldn't make her be quiet. "I love you," he said resolutely, and then his expression wavered. "I think. It's kind of hard for me to tell."

Ginny sat up straight. "You what?" she asked, feeling nervous. "I-I'm sorry. I just don't..." she felt her ears flush fretfully. "I can't feel the same."

"I know," he said, smiling at her. He glanced meaningfully down at her legs. "If you could, maybe...?"

"Oh!" she said, her blush deepening as she rolled off of him. "Sorry."

Draco positively beamed at her. "I don't mind. Oh--I almost forgot. I got you a bit of a Christmas present. It's not much--damn, one minute."

Ginny watched as he walked away and rummaged through his cloak--it had stayed exactly where it had been dropped--finally pulling out a black box. He tossed it to her, staying seated on the ground.

"Wow," Ginny said, her eyes wide, staring at the amber pendant. "Just--wow."

"That's Ginny," he said with pride, "always the eloquent one. Come here," he said, patting the floor in front of him.

"I haven't bought you anything," she said in sudden awareness, sounding appalled as she agreeably sat down.

Draco shook his head. "I didn't expect you to," he said, waiting for her to hold up her hair, fastening the chain behind her neck.

Ginny sighed happily, leaning back into him, her eyes closing of their own volition. "Draco," she said contentedly, "I lied."

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A/N: Credits go to Sugarbomb, a local band which rocks my socks off. I know I said it earlier, but...mmm. I love that song. And also Audrey (Grammar Queen, as I said in the first A/N as well) who is a great help in HP fanfiction that involves Draco because she freaks when anything evil is done to him and also when he is thrown wildly out of character, which I tend to do.

I've gone back to fix these chapters, so if you see anything out of sorts (I actually put "no" for "know" once, I'm an idiot) tell me.

OBLIGATORY QUOTE BOX:
Ginny's "Make love to me" and "I need to feel something" are semi-borrowed from some of Laura's lines in High Fidelity (another John Cusack movie, hah).