Draco walked to Ginny's room later that night.  When she looked up at him, he walked in.

"Virginia, do you want to go to your parent's house soon?" he asked kindly.  She looked at him, and he was surprised to see the tears in her eyes.  He walked over and sat down next to her. 

"Do you not want to go?" He asked gently.  Suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck and began sobbing.  Frightened by this turn of events, Draco patted her on the back and tried to calm her.  He whispered soothing words and waited for her to talk.

"Do you hate me?" Ginny asked some time later.  She asked this quietly, but inside she was afraid of the answer.  If it was yes, she knew she'd leave and never come back.  But if it was no…

Draco was surprised at this question.  His silence was answer enough for Ginny, and she got up and began packing.

"What are you doing?" He asked, wondering why she was in such a rush to pack.  He was confused, as he hadn't even answered her question yet. 

"I'm leaving…you hate me, why stay?  The only reason you let Mother and Father and the others come was so that you could get them to ask me to leave." She cried, and he looked at her.  How could she think that?  He wondered, and then answered his thoughts bitterly, Well, I haven't really given her reason to think otherwise.

"No, Ginny.  I that's not the reason I asked them to come."  He said quietly.

This only made Ginny cry harder.  He looked at her, exasperated, and said,

"What now?" His voice was clipped, and Ginny didn't know what to answer.  So she went for the simplest explanation.

"Y-you called m-me G-Ginny…" She sobbed, and he got up, and pulled her close to him.  She responded by cuddling into his arms.  His heart warmed at her actions.

"Well, if you don't want me to…" He started, but she paused him by lifting her hand and whispering,

"Hold on a minute."

He looked expectantly at her, and she opened her mouth.

"No, I do." She said quietly, and he was surprised to see she'd stopped crying.  He didn't know why, but he wanted to know.  He paused while she gathered herself up to say the next thing.

"It's just that you've never called me Ginny before, it's always been Virginia."  She said, somewhat bitterly.  He looked shocked.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"No." She replied, and to his utter confusion, began crying again.  He said, somewhat impatiently,

"What then?"

"Its…ah...nothing you'd care about."  Ginny said, trying to avoid the question.  However, she wasn't having much luck.

"Try me."  Draco demanded, growing tired of Ginny's mood swings.  He was getting impatient.

"Trust me, you wouldn't." Ginny demurred.  He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"I think I know."  He said quietly.

He lifted her head, forcing her to look at him.  When he did, he saw something in her eyes that pleased him.  Then he kissed her gently. 

"Do you know how long I've waited these past few months to do that?" He asked, his voice catching slightly, wondering how she'd react.

"If I'd have known, Draco, I wouldn't have worried about…things…" Ginny replied shyly.  She wasn't used to seeing this side of her husband, and it made her a little uncomfortable.

"What 'things'?" Draco asked, curious.

"Do you ever wonder how we got out of the Dead Lands?" Ginny catechized, and Draco was taken aback by the abrupt change in subject.  He looked at her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked.

"Everything." Ginny returned

"Well, gee, that's a little cryptic there, Ginny."  Was Draco's announcement after her aforementioned statement.

"Cryptic?" Ginny snorted, and Draco laughed.

"Yes, cryptic.  But, I don't know.  All I know is what I think it was, but if so, it is…well, I did it." He replied haltingly.  He knew Ginny's next statement almost before she said it.

"Arrogant, are we?" She joked caustically, and his smile widened.

"Yes.  But, at the time, I was realizing that I…"  He stopped, suddenly aware of what he was about to say.  If she didn't return the feeling, he'd look like an idiot, professing his love for her.  But if she did…

It was a risk Draco had to take. 

"Yes?" Ginny asked.  She was hoping that it was…

"That I loved you." He whispered.  She looked at him, her eyes wide.

"Me too.  Well, that I loved you, not myself." She explained in a rush.

"Do you still?" He asked, his heart pounding.  He had to know…

"Yes.  I love you." Ginny said, with all the passion in her heart that she felt for him.

"And I love you, too, Virginia Ann Malfoy.  And I will always love you." Draco announced, as if he were the ruler of the world announcing that one plus one equaled two.  And that was the way it would always be.

With his statement, Ginny's eyes crinkled, and she said sardonically,

"It's just another romance, right?"

********

We got to adopt our own rookies today in colorguard… cute, really… (I'm a veteran, and we have to help the new girls)…

And we also had a concert band "contest"… the girl who sits next to me wore this really tight, short skirt, and, to make matters worse, she had like some old grandma underwear on under it.  And she's in the bathroom, looking at her butt, and there's this line of people waiting for their friends, and then she walks out and everyone laughs… mean, yes, but quite funny.

In geometry I had ice cream!  An ice cream sandwich, but it was very good, so I'm very hyper… Hyper, hyper, hyper…

I'm off to finish some homework…  Any clue why we have to read stupid books, and then answer questions over them?  And, no, I am a firm believer that it is not to make sure we are "comprehending" the material.

Love ya,

Lili

And Silverbutterfly… I love your story His Little Healer!  In fact, both of them are really cute!  I don't think I've reviewed before because I am somewhat spacey and forget to do things like that…  but keep up the good work!

Cor… that's a good idea, and I would've done it if a) I could write that kind of stuff and b) I hadn't already had the story written… ah, but doesn't life suck?  I get a good idea only after I've written the story… bah… I'm nominating you to be on my idea committee for the sequel…

I'm leaving now to go finish that stupid book…. The Trip of His Life, my butt.  The teacher even promised it would be interesting… but I will no longer listen to her…