Yay for more reviews and a new chapter!! J I do not own any of the characters affiliated with Harry Potter, they all belong to J.K. Rowling. Some of these characters are of course mine, as are the characterizations of some of J.K.'s characters. I'm thinking of changing the title, and if you think that would be too confusing just say so. I'm also thinking of adding songs…not to make it a songfic…only a partial songfic. Place comments…PLEASE!J Lyrics in this song are from Songs for a New World, written by Jason Robert Brown.

That's Life

Chapter 5

By: Aly

Ginny always seemed to be busy with her rehearsals, and it was driving Draco nuts. He wanted to see her. He had bought a cell phone, so they were talking almost every night, usually while they were both in bed. They talked about everything, their families, childhoods, likes and dislikes, and their plans for the future. She was quickly becoming his best friend and a little bit more. He genuinely liked her, not only as a woman, because he liked her a lot in the category, but as a person. He told her things he had only talked to Harry about before. It was crazy. Two months had passed and all the contact they had had was over those stupid muggle contraptions. He would have thrown it away out of frustration, but it was his one connection to Ginny. It was eleven o'clock, and he didn't care whether she was in rehearsal or not, he was going to talk to her, and if she was at home he was going over.

He dialed her number and waited while it rang.

"Hey Draco." Ginny's voice answered cheerfully.

Draco just about sighed at the sound of her voice. "'Ello Gin. Are you still in rehearsal?"

"Amazingly not. We had our final dress rehearsal tonight and since it went well they let us out right after notes."

"Great. I'm coming over."

The phone clicked before Ginny could say anything, and then she heard a pop and saw Draco standing in her living room. She pulled her robe tighter around her and ran her hand through her wet and disheveled hair.

"For some reason I thought you'd give me a moment to put myself together."

He was overwhelmed by how she looked. She must have just gotten out of the shower, and she was still beautiful. He walked closer, smiling, and ran his hand over her cheek. "And miss you like this?"

She looked into his eyes and made an encompassing movement, "This is me. Beautiful huh?"

"I think so."

She smiled and shrugged off the compliment, frustrating him to no end. He had no idea how she felt; whether they were just friends or if they could be something more. There was only one way to find out.

He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her closer. He kept his eyes opened and brushed his lips softly over hers. Her brown eyes seemed to go a little darker, and her lips parted slightly. His hand moved up and into her hair right above her ear and she closed her eyes and moved her head into his hand.

"It's been too long, Ginny." He whispered, pulling her closer.

She moved her arms up his back and held onto his shoulders. She wasn't sure if she could say she had missed him. Wasn't sure how vulnerable that could make her. Wasn't sure if she cared if whether it did or not. All she knew was that she fit perfectly next to his body. Her cheek was resting against his shoulder, and his head was against her hair. They both sighed.

"I know." She looked up and he rested his head on hers. "Things have been so hectic lately."

Draco smiled. She had no idea. He was so close to finishing his project, but at the same time so far. But things had definitely progressed and would soon be coming to an end.

"Opening night is tomorrow then?" He asked, still whispering.

"Yeah."

He could have stayed like this for hours, but all he could thing about doing was kiss her. "Good." He tilted his head, lowered it, and waited for a possible negative response. She didn't give one. He touched his lips to hers, gently testing and teasing. They remained like that until Ginny pulled back, trembling and needy of air.

"I've missed you Draco." She said without thinking.

Draco could see the embarrassment in her eyes, and smiled. "I missed you to Gin. A lot."

She took a step back from him, needing to think, needing to clarify the situation. "I'm confused."

"You aren't the only one, love." Draco let the word slip out of his mouth, it was the second time and he was realizing that it was true. He was falling in love with her…but he couldn't. Not until everything was worked out, not until it was safe. And maybe not even then.

There he was using 'love' again. Sure it was a common word in England, but she wanted it to mean so much more...only she didn't….but she did. This was becoming much too complicated and confusing.

"Draco, we should sit down."

He grinned wickedly. "Couches are comfortable."

She blushed and giggled slightly, "That's not exactly what I meant."

"Oh why not?" He pretended to sulk.

Shoving him slightly she sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. "Come on. I know we've talked for the past little while, but I don't think either of us is ready to start snogging, or something more serious then that."

He sat down next to her and practically pulled her into his lap. "Alright then, we'll just have to do with cuddling."

"We could always watch a James Bond movie."

"I'd rather watch you."

"Draco…" This was going to be more difficult than she thought.

He started to massage her shoulders. "You're just tense. Maybe if I could help you relax…" He trailed off and started to nibble lightly on her neck.

She closed her eyes and leaned back. "Definitely relaxing." Suddenly she sat up. "You know what? I don't think we should relax. We should…"

He looked at her questioningly. "Talk? Like we have for the past month."

She laid her head on his lap and looked up at him. "You have to admit that talking was good though. You know a lot about me, more than most people."

"Like the fact that you love your family but would be happy talking to them only over owls except for Christmas?" He kissed her nose.

"At least I'd like to see my family on Christmas. You can't say that about yours."

"I like my mother…my father and I have a few problems we aren't going to be able to work out."

"You never answered that question I asked you, about two weeks ago."

"I probably forgot. What was it?"

"Did you ever want to be like your Father?"

He thought for a moment, and something changed in his eyes. They went from being warm to being frozen, like they had been in school. "Yes."

She waited for him to expand, but he stayed silent. "Want to talk about it?"

There was a pause and then he started to talk again, "Every son wants to be like his Father. Growing up I didn't see a difference between right and wrong, because there was never any definition. I thought he was strong, and he was and still is in a way. It wasn't until later in my seventh year, after many conversations with Dumbledore, that I realized what he really was."

"Did you love him?"

"I still love him, in a way."

Ginny was shocked by his answer, he could tell.

"Just because I don't like what he is and I don't agree with his methods doesn't mean that I can't love him. In a way he loves me too, he just…" He stopped. It hurt too much to talk about his fathers feelings toward him.

"I'm sure he loves you, he just doesn't know what it is anymore."

He got off of her couch, "It's late. I'd better go."

She got up and looked up at him. "Are you going to be able to come and see my show? I can get you a complimentary ticket and a backstage pass so you can visit me after…" She wanted him to say yes so badly, so that he could see what it was she did.

"Alright. If it's free I don't see why not."

Ginny kissed him soundly on the lips with a big smack and then chuckled. "You might like it."

"I'm sure if you're in it I will."

"You don't need to leave you know, we could stop talking about certain subjects." She didn't want him to leave, but she didn't know what would happen if she asked him to stay.

He looked at her oddly. "You asking me to…stay."

"Well…not stay stay…you know…" She laughed somewhat uncomfortable and realized she was still in her bathrobe. "Can you hold on a minute while I get dressed? I'll take like two minutes."

She didn't wait for a reply; she just practically ran to her bedroom and searched through her clothing. Finally she decided to wear a pair of Ron's old pants and a button down shirt. Her hair was still wet, but she didn't want to deal with fixing it or doing make-up. Ginny walked back into her living room and Draco was sleeping on her couch.

"At least I didn't spend forever getting ready." She laughed softly, grabbed a small blanket, and snuggled next to him.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Draco woke up and two things were either really right, or really wrong. First of all, his arm was draped over something…or someone. And secondly, that someone had red hair and smelled like fresh flowers and soap. He moved slightly and Ginny snuggled in closer to him and turned around so that she was practically on top of him, with her hand on his chest. He didn't know what to do, but he knew that either way Ginny was going to be embarrassed.

Ginny snuggled closer into her pillow, only it was different this morning. It was harder, much harder, but soft at the same time. Plus it smelled like…Draco. She sat up with a start and her and Draco tumbled off of her couch.

"Oh my heart, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep…I just saw you there and…and well…you looked so…and so I thought I'd sit by you for a minute…and the next thing I knew…well…"

Draco was laughing hysterically.

"What? Draco this isn't funny!"

"Oh I find it quite funny."

"Draco we slept together!" She exclaimed.

He laughed harder. "Do you really count accidentally falling asleep on the couch together, sleeping together."

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair out of frustration and embarrassment. "Well…we did sleep, and we were together, so technically…"

"Technically nothing." He smiled and placed his hand on her cheek to get her to look at him. "Gin, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. It was kind of nice waking up with you on top of me." He chuckled but then stopped at the look she gave him.

"But, Dra, it wasn't supposed to be nice. I mean, are we even supposed to be feeling this way about each other? It just feels like everything is happening so fast and it's all out of control."

He pulled her closer to him and just held her. "I know what you mean. But it isn't like you can help the way you feel for someone."

Even though Ginny and Draco had talked about almost everything, they hadn't ever really talked about their feelings for each other. This was new territory, and very dangerous territory at that.

"And," she paused, "how do you feel about me?"

Draco wanted to say that he loved her. That he had never felt this way about anyone his entire life and that not seeing her for two months had been torture that he never wanted to go through again. Of course, he couldn't say any of that. One reason was because he wasn't sure if it was true, and the second was that even if it was he didn't want to scare her off. "I like you Ginny Weasley." He whispered. "I like you a lot."

Ginny was ecstatic, disappointed, and scared all at the same time. He liked her! It was amazing. Never had she thought that Draco Malfoy would like her, and never had she thought she would have wanted him too. Everything was flipped upside down and nothing seemed right, but nothing was wrong at the same time. It was like this was how it was meant to be, waking up to him, but it couldn't possibly be. She took a deep breath in through her nose and was caught up in how wonderful he smelled…but that wasn't what she was supposed to be doing and focusing on.

"Usually this is the point where you say, 'I like you too Draco.' And then we kiss and hug and…and then who knows what else we do."

She laughed and hugged him tighter. How could she have thought she was happy before he was in her life? "I like you Draco. More than I should."

"Good." He kissed her soundly. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

~~~~~*~~~~~

Ginny sat back stage putting on her make-up and getting into costume. Everything was pretty basic, seeing as it was a pretty basic show -- nothing too extravagant because you wanted the songs to tell the story, not the costumes. The show was going to start and she was more nervous then she had ever been for a show in her entire life, not only because Draco was out there, but because her family was as well. She hadn't expected them to want to come tonight, but this was when they had told her and she had worked it out. She only wished she had remembered when she invited Draco to come. It was going to be hell.

Once on stage she forgot all about it. The lights came on as she started to sing.

A new world, calls across the ocean.

A new world, calls across the sky.

A new world, whispers in the shadows

Time to fly. Time to fly.

It's about one moment.

The moment you think you know where you stand.

And in that one moment, the things that you're sure of slip from your hand.

And you've got one second, to try to be clear. To try to stand tall.

But nothings the same, and the wind starts to blow.

And oh, you're suddenly a stranger. In some completely different land.

And you thought you knew, but you didn't have a clue.

That the surface sometimes cracks to reveal the tracks to a new world.

The song continued as the four people on stage sang different parts and danced. Energy filled the stage as they all felt the beat and harmonies completely. Some of the songs were strange, with there talk of fathers taking their kids out of the house as he made them watch it burn down. But one song, about Santa disturbed Draco quite a bit. Luckily Ginny wasn't the girl who sang it. It was about how Santa picked up his wife and basically abandoned her. It would have been hilarious, but he had his reasons of why it wasn't.

His heart almost stopped when Ginny came out with this man, a man who was too close to her for his liking, and they sang a duet. It almost reminded him of how he could feel for Ginny, only she was never going to leave him. It was about love and being left by the person you love and pretending to be happy, but you really weren't even though you thought you had what you wanted.

Oh, I'd give it all for you. I'd give it all for you by my side once more.

Oh, I'd give it all for you. I'd give it 'cause the mountains I climb get higher and higher.

I'm running from time, and walking through fire.

And dreams just don't come true.

But now there's you.

God knows it's easy to hide. Easy to hide from the things that you feel. And harder to blindly trust, what you don't understand.

God knows it's easy to run. Easy to run from the people you love. And harder to stand and fight for the things you believe in.

Nothing about us was perfect or clear, but when paradise calls me I'd rather be here.

There's something about us that no body else needs to see.

There were oceans to cross.

There were mountains to conquer.

And I stood on the shore.

And I stood on the cliff.

And the second before I jumped I knew where I needed to be…

The show went on, and Draco had to admit that it was alright, even if it was a little different then what he was used to. He rushed back stage to see her and caught her in a huge hug as she ran down the hall to him.

"It was great." He said, smiling. She was so beautiful.

"You liked it? All of it?"

"Most of them. Except for that Santa song. My grandparents happen to be very happily married."

She laughed. "Are you serious? How could your father be related to someone like that?"

"He's not. My mum is."

They both shared a laugh together and then she looked at him. "Well are we just going to stand here laughing or are you going to kiss me?"

He didn't need to be asked twice. He twirled her in a few circles and kissed her soundly, until they both heard polite coughing. They stopped and turned, and there were the Weasleys.

~~~~~*~~~~~

That's the end of this chapter, next installment coming soon. J Hope to hear from you all when you REVIEW!! *hint hint*