A/N: Okay here is the 9th chapter. But I had this idea for a really long time and I need to write it out before I lose it!
Disclaimer: I disclaim all the characters and anything else you would recognize as the wonderful and talented J.K. Rowling.
Rated: PG-13 – there's a lot of cursing…I have a potty mouth!
Summary: Ginny gets a job at Draco's magazine. What happens when two rivals start having feelings for one another and one makes a mistake that could tear everything they have apart?
Fluff-o-meter: Yes there is fluff!
Welcome To New York
Draco held the door open to his flat as Ginny walked in before him. It was finally Friday, the magazine was sent in for publishing, and they had just come back from a very nice relaxing dinner.
Draco threw his keys on the kitchen table and took a seat next to Ginny on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him. Ginny rested her head on his shoulder and they sat there in a content silence.
It had been a long, hard and loud day, and the peace and quiet Ginny and Draco were sitting in right now was all but welcomed.
Draco kissed the top of Ginny's head. "I have a surprise for you," he said.
"What is it?" Ginny asked softly. It was late and sleep was looking very nice right now.
"Sit up," Draco said.
Ginny sat up and watched Draco get up from the couch and disappear down the hallway. Not a minute later he came back holding a long white envelop in his hands. He sat back down on the couch next to Ginny and held the envelope out to her.
Ginny took it was a raised eyebrow. She pulled the flap of the envelope up and pulled out two long pieces of paper. She read them with a look of utter confusion.
"Two airplane tickets?" she asked. Draco nodded as a smile crept to his face. Ginny read more of the ticket and her face brightened and a huge smile was brought to her face. "To New York for next week!" she yelled. She looked at Draco, her look of complete happiness never leaving her face. "How…why?" she stammered.
Draco shrugged his shoulders, his own smile on his lips. "I thought it was time for you to go back to New York and have some fun. You've been working your ass off for the magazine and I want to thank you"
"So you decided to take me to New York?" Ginny cried. She was flabbergasted at this gift Draco was giving her. It had been almost 3 years since she had been to New York or had spoken to her friends.
"Hey…we don't have to go if you don't want to" Draco said casually. He knew that Ginny wanted nothing more then to go back to New York. When she spoke to him about it he could hear this longing in her voice. She missed her friends and she missed the city.
"Are you kidding? Of course I want to go!" Ginny exclaimed. She wrapped her hand around Draco's neck and brought him to her for a kiss. "Thank you so much," she said, pulling away.
Again, Draco shrugged like it was nothing. "You're welcome."
Ginny read the two tickets again and sighed. "Just answer a few of my questions." Draco nodded. "Why plane tickets? Why not just a portkey?"
"Well, I thought that since we're going to go back to Muggle New York, why not do it all the Muggle way?" he said. "So I had my Mum talk to this guy she knows who's a Muggle and he got us the tickets."
Ginny smiled and nodded; letting everything he just told her sink in. "What about work?" she asked. No one at work knew they were dating so she didn't see how they were going to be able to take a trip together.
"We're going on a business trip for the magazine. You to find styles from New York and me to do an article about the culture and lifestyle in Muggle New York" Draco told her. He had figured all this out before hand.
Ginny sighed again and jumped on top of Draco, hugging and kissing him. This was the best gift a person had ever given her and Draco didn't even have a real reason.
"So, I take it you're excited?" Draco said between Ginny's kisses. Ginny nodded and gave him a 'uh huh.' "So do I get a reward?" he asked.
Ginny nodded her head, her flaming hair flying into her face. "Oh yeah," she said, and then dipped her head to kiss Draco's smiling lips.
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One week later, Draco stood in the middle of Ginny's living room. There had to be at least five suite cases sitting in the middle of the living room, and four were hers. Draco didn't understand. They were only going to be away for five days, why did she need so many clothes?
Ginny came walking down the hallway, smiling happily and ready to leave. She had a black coat on over her red shirt and jeans with her wand sticking out of the front pocket.
"Uh Gin," Draco said, looking around at her suite cases. "How do you plan on bring four suite cases onto the plane? Were only allowed one carry on," he said.
"Oh, I'm gonna shrink them!" Ginny said, pulling her wand out of her coat. "Reducio," she said the spell and three of her four suite cases shrunk to a size that she could fit in her pocket. She took the shrunken suite cases and put them in the front zippered pocket of her one larger suite case. "Okay, I'm already now."
Draco chuckled and shook his head. He pulled his suite case over towards her and took out his own wand.
They were going to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron, and then take the train to the airport.
"Let's go," Draco said then apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. He appeared with a 'pop' and only had to wait another second for Ginny to apparate in next to him. She was struggling with her suite case. "You didn't put a charm on it?" he asked.
"I knew I forgot something," Ginny said, sighing loudly. She pulled her wand out and placed the weightless charm on her suite case.
Draco kissed her head, then took her hand. Together they made their way through the wall into muggle London. They waked down the street to the station and took the train to the airport.
Ginny was almost jumping with excited nerves. She couldn't wait to be in the city again. She also couldn't wait to see all her friends that she hadn't seen in what seemed like forever.
Stepping off the train onto the street, Ginny and Draco made their way to the airport.
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It was hours later when Ginny and Draco were standing in the middle of the roaring city.
Ginny couldn't have worn a bigger smile. She took everything in. "I am so glad to be back!" she cried happily. She turned to Draco and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
Draco smiled and rubbed her back. "You're welcome," he kissed the top of her head. He looked around the city. He had never seen anything like this. There were so many different types of people. "Where do you wanna go first?"
Ginny didn't even have to think about his question. "I wanna see Liz," she said.
Draco nodded his head. "Which way is it?" he asked, preparing himself for a walk.
Ginny laughed. "Draco it's on the other side of the city. We have to take a cab!" She stepped onto the sidewalk and held her hand up to haul a cab.
A yellow cab, with an advertisement for a Broadway show, stopped right in front of Ginny. Ginny put her arm down and shrugged happily.
"I still got it," she said. She climbed into the cab as Draco put their suite cases in the trunk with the help of the driver.
The cab was this tacky blue that a person would see in their grandmother's house. It was tight inside and smelled heavily of cigarette smoke.
When Draco and the driver were finished putting the luggage in the trunk they both climbed back into the cab. Ginny gave the cab driver their destination and the driver took off.
"How do you know Liz still lives there?" Draco asked skeptical that they were going to find her.
"Because Liz loved that apartment and would never move out of it," Ginny said like it was obvious.
Draco just nodded his head and watched the view from the window. As they made their way to the apartment building, Ginny pointed out parks, restaurants, shops, and clubs to Draco. Draco nodded and tried to get as good of a look at the place as they sped past it.
Eventually the cab stopped. Ginny and Draco climbed out of the cab and took their suite cases out of the trunk. They both walked up to the building and looked at it.
The building was at least twenty stories high and flanked by one even taller building on its left. The stone was a fading brown and looked as if it was slowly breaking apart. Some of the windows were covered with shades while others were left bare.
"Come on," Ginny said, taking her suite case. She walked into the building and stopped at a small speaker box.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked, coming up behind her.
"We have to get buzzed up," Ginny said. She pressed a button and a loud; annoying buzzing noise broke into the air.
"Yes?" came a voice through the box.
"Liz?" Ginny asked not even trying to contain the excitement in her voice. It had been almost three years until she had seen her best friend.
"Yes?" Liz said from the speaker, total confusion in her voice.
Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. "All right L, I'm gonna give you three guesses on who this is and the first two don't count" she said. She knew Liz would guess it was her because Ginny was the only one who called her L.
There was a long pregnant pause then a small gasped was heard. "Ginny?" Liz asked her voice cracking.
Ginny's smile reached beyond her eyes that sparkled with tears. "That's right! Now buzz me up!" she yelled.
Again another high annoying buzz was heard. Ginny grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open. She practically ran over to the elevator and pushed the button up, waiting impatiently for the elevator to open.
When it finally did open Ginny jumped in dragging her suite case behind her, with Draco trailing behind her. She pressed the button to the second to top floor, which was twenty-four, and waited, very impatiently, until the elevator came to a stop.
The door opened and Ginny ran out of the elevator right across the hall into her friend Liz's arms.
Liz was just an inch taller then Ginny with jet-black straight hair. Her eyes were an enchanting blue that sparkled. Just like Ginny, Liz possessed curves in all the right places.
Tears fell and words were spoken but couldn't be made out. They hugged each other for hours, actually for what seemed liked hours.
Liz pulled away first and wiped her eyes. "God Gin, it's been forever," she said.
Ginny laughed and wiped her eyes as well. "I know…I've missed this place," she said.
Liz smiled and hugged her again. "We've all missed you" she pulled back and looked over Ginny's shoulder at Draco. "And who is this handsome creature?" she asked. Another thing about Liz is she was very vocal.
Ginny looked behind her and smiled. "Liz this is my boyfriend Draco," she pulled Draco over by his hand. "Draco this is Liz."
Draco shook Liz's hand. "It's nice meeting you Liz, you are all my Gin can talk about when she tells me about New York," he said.
"He called you his Gin!" Liz cooed. "I like him Ginny!" she exclaimed. Draco and Ginny chuckled. "So where do you plan on staying?" Liz asked next.
Ginny shrugged "We were gonna find an opening at any hotel," she said.
Liz looked disgusted. "Oh no! You are gonna stay here!" she opened the door wider to let Ginny and Draco come in.
"What about your other roommate?" Ginny asked assuming there was one.
Liz giggled. "Did I forget to mention that Jesse and I got married?" she asked innocently, holding up her hand to show off a dazzling diamond ring.
Ginny's jaw dropped and she grabbed Liz's hand. "Liz!" She squealed and hugged her friend tightly.
When she was living here Liz and Jesse were the most famous couple out of their group of friends. They were so in love that everyone knew they were going to end up together. Jesse just had to propose first.
"I would have called you and made you come back to be my maid of honor but…" Liz shrugged her shoulders. "We couldn't find you."
Ginny looked at her friend with guilt and sorrow evident in her eyes. "I would have been there in an instant," she said.
Liz smiled and nodded her head. "I know," she sighed and looked at Ginny and Draco's bags. "Well go put that stuff away…I'll make some dinner."
Ginny nodded and led Draco further into the apartment to where her bedroom used to be.
The apartment looked exactly the same to Ginny. The light rose colored walls that extended throughout the apartment. The kitchen that opened into the living room was in the same order she had last seen it in. Pictures were placed around the room as were the same magazine hangings Ginny and Liz pinned up of, as they put it, fine lookin' men.
Ginny gasped when she opened her bedroom door. The room was the exact same as she had left it. The walls were the same almost white light blue, and the blue bed setting was the same. The dresser and furniture arrangement were exactly the same. The only thing different about this room was that the dresser and tiny closet in the corner was packed full of clothes.
Draco looked down at Ginny and noticed as one silent tear made its journey down her cheek. "What's wrong baby?" he asked quietly wrapping his arms around her middle.
Ginny leaned back into him and sighed. "This is how I left it," she said, moving her hand around the room.
Draco nodded, now realizing. He kissed the top of her head then let go of her to roll their luggage in.
Ginny looked around the room once more then took Draco's hand and they walked back to the kitchen. "Nice redecorating job," she said.
Liz laughed, pulling out a pan. "Well I've been too busy to redecorate. And I like it the way it is," she said. She nodded her head to the fridge. "Help yourself to some beer."
Ginny walked over to the fridge and took out a beer for herself and Draco. She handed Draco his and after twisting the cap off, starting drinking.
"So how did you two meet?" Liz asked, pouring spaghetti into the boiling water.
"I work for Draco" Ginny answered. "He owns the magazine that I work as a fashion editor at."
Liz looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Mixing business with pleasure, are we now?"
Ginny rolled her eyes and took a seat at the kitchen table. "Well, when you work with Draco, how can one not mix business with pleasure," she said, giggling.
"Thanks Gin," Draco said, taking a seat next to her.
Liz laughed. "Draco…that's an unusual name. What does it mean?" she asked, stirring the spaghetti.
Draco took a sip of beer. "It means Dragon in Latin. My parents though it would be a strong name or something," he said. He never understood why his parents would name him that. He liked his name but it was odd.
Again Liz laughed. She took a seat across from Ginny and Draco. "Well, judging from your accent, I'm going to assume you're from England where Gin's from," she said taking a sip of her own beer she brought over.
"We actually went to school together," Ginny told Liz as Draco nodded his head yes.
Liz nodded and was about to speak when the door opened.
"Liz…I'm home!" Came a manly voice. A second later Jesse walked into the kitchen. He was tall and lean. His hair was brown, short, with what looked like used to be gel ran through it. His eyes were an ocean green color that any girl would want to look into all day.
Coming in after him was another man about the same height. His hair was also short with what used to be gel running through it; only his hair was the same jet-black color as Liz's. He also possessed the same crystal blue eyes Liz had. He was basically the taller, muscular, manly version of Liz.
Both men stopped dead in their tracks when their eyes landed on Ginny. Their jaws dropped and their eyes bulged out of their sockets. Both men were speechless.
Ginny giggled. "Hi Jesse, Chris," she said.
"Ginny?" Jesse finally spoke.
"Happy to see me?" Ginny asked standing up.
Jesse chuckled and walked up to her. "Of course we are!" he said and hugged Ginny. "It's been what? Three years?" He asked, pulling away.
Ginny nodded and turned to the other man. "Hey Chris," she said with what could sound like uneasiness.
"Ginny," Chris said. He looked her up and down quickly. "You look great," he said.
"You too," Ginny said smiling.
Anyone who watched the interaction between Ginny and Chris could tell there was obvious tension. It was so think that one would break knife trying to cut it.
Ginny shifted her weight to the other leg, feeling uncomfortable under the eyes of Liz, Jesse and Chris. Especially Chris. She looked down at the table and caught sight of Draco.
He was giving her a curious look. He had no idea who these two people were and the fact that Ginny was uncomfortable with this Chris guy was making him uncomfortable.
"Jesse, Chris this…this is my boyfriend Draco," Ginny told them grabbing Draco hand. "Draco that's Jesse, Liz's husband, and Chris, Liz's brother," she said, pointing to each man and sitting back in her seat.
Draco held out his hand and shook hands with both of the men. "Nice to meet you" he said politely.
"Nice to meet you too," the two men said back and took a seat at the table.
Liz got up from the table. "I'm gonna finish dinner," she said then walked over to the stove to finish the spaghetti that was cooking.
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It was another three hours later and everyone was sitting in the living room talking and drinking coffee. They reminisced on old times and caught up with what was going on in their lives now. Well mostly it was Ginny talking about what she had done since she left. Then Liz, Jesse, and Chris would tell Ginny about what happened in their lives. Then they would ask Draco about himself and Draco would tell them.
Of course, Ginny and Draco couldn't tell them everything. Liz, Jesse, and Chris had no idea that Ginny was a witch or that Draco was a wizard, so they had to leave out minor, sometimes major, details of their life.
Draco hadn't got the entire scoop on who Jesse and Chris were, but he would ask Ginny about that later. He did, however, notice the very thick tension there was between Ginny and Chris. Ginny seemed very uncomfortable with Chris being in the same room as herself and Draco. Draco also got this feeling that Chris resented him because he was with Ginny.
Liz yawned. "I'm tired," she rubbed her eyes and yawned again. "I'm going to bed…coming Jesse?" she asked pushing herself off the couch.
Jesse nodded and stood up behind her. He placed his hands on her hips and together they walked to their bedroom. "Good night everyone!" Jesse called.
Chris was the next to stand. "I'm going to head up now. Goodnight," he said then left, shutting the door loudly behind him.
Ginny sighed and stood up. "Let's go to bed too," she said. She was happy being back but she felt uneasy with meeting up with Chris right away.
Draco stood up and followed her into the bedroom. He sat on the bed and watched Ginny dig through her suite case for something to wear to bed. "Hey, Gin?"
"Yeah?" Ginny said giving up in looking in that one suite case. She took out the two shrunken suite cases, and pulling out her wand, put them back to their original size and looked for something to wear in them.
"Gin, I couldn't help but notice the…tension between that Chris guy and you," he said, watching her.
Ginny stopped her search. "You felt it too?" she asked, looking back at him.
Draco raised both his eyebrows. "Ginny, you could feel the tension in the next flat," he said. He wasn't used to the lingo here yet. "What was that?"
Ginny sighed and got up. She sat down next to him and looked down at her hands. This was a sensitive subject for her. "Okay, well you know how I told you that we bought this apartment from Liz's brother and friend?" Draco nodded. "Well the friend was Jesse, and Chris is Liz's brother as you know. Well Chris was the first guy I met when I was here and we started dating. He was…everything I was looking for at the time and I fell in love with him. We dated for the entire time I was here and Liz started getting excited because she thought we were gonna get married. To be honest I did too. But then I went over to his apartment and found him with another girl" she paused as the memory came flooding back and tears swelled into her eyes. Draco took her hands in his and squeezed them for reassurance and comfort. "It broke my heart because he was the first guy I was ever with…I was in love with him and here he was with someone else. I broke up with him on the spot and a week later I went to France. Part of the reason being for studying and the other part being to put as much distance between me and him." A tear rolled down her cheek that was brushed away by the pad of Draco's thumb.
This was the first time that Ginny had really opened up to Draco like this. He could tell that she never told anyone about this and was thankful that she told him. His heart broke and he wondered why anyone would do that to her.
Ginny sighed and placed her hands onto of Draco's. "I was never able to get close to anyone else after that. I was never able to be with anyone after that, until you" she said. "I sound over dramatic." She dropped his hands and wiped furiously at her eyes.
Draco shook his head and held her head in his hands again. "No, you're not," he told her, wiping away her tears. He kissed her softly. "He doesn't know what he lost Gin, and I promise not to do that to you."
Ginny smiled and chuckled. "You're not supposed to be this understanding," she said. She found it a little odd that what she just told him didn't freak him out.
Draco chuckled. "Well I am," he said. He kissed her forehead and hugged her close to him. "He was stupid to hurt you like that," he whispered comfortingly.
Ginny hugged him tightly. She was completely in love with him, but was scared to tell him. Look at what happened last time. "What did I do to deserve you?"
Draco chuckled and kissed her cheek. "You were you," he said. He knew it sounded very clichéd, but when he was around Ginny, he couldn't help it. Ginny laughed and swatted him on the arm. Draco laughed and kissed her lips quickly. "Come on, let's get some sleep," he said.
Ginny nodded and went back to looking for some pajamas to wear. Draco had a much easier time finding his pajama pants and crawled into bed once dressed. Ginny joined him after a few minutes. She reached over Draco and turned the light off.
"Goodnight Draco," she whispered, kissing his cheek. She settled in next to him.
Draco's arms wrapped around her waist and he lazily kissed her head. "Night Ginny."
A/N: Sorry that took a little longer then my other chapters. I had writers block for a few days and couldn't write anything. Anyway THEY WILL BE PARTYING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! OH THERE WILL BE A LOT OF GOOD STUFF! Sorry had to let you know lol. I'm also working on chapter 12 right now too. That's the chapter with "the mistake" in it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We see a little bit more into Ginny's life in New York. Keep the reviews coming!
Abby – I'm glad you like the Weasley kids. That was the hardest thing to do. Pick names, ages, and give them personalities. Thanks for the review!
Krystal1989 – Yay! You're in love! Thank you so much for your review!
Kathy – I am so happy you like the chapter! It took forever to think of the entire extension on the Weasley family. I would tell you about "the mistake" but then it would ruin the surprise! Thanks for the review!
Rednight-rider – Thank you so much for the review!
Breezefire – Ginny's family is okay with her dating Draco. And of coarse Narcissa likes Ginny, what is not to like lol! Thanks for the review!
Insert funky name – Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad I could give you the type of story you've been looking for!
Nerd-45601 – YAY! You liked the chapter! I will defiantly e-mail you if I need help! I will be proud of this story. Thank you so much for your encouraging words. They help me write each chapter.
Geena-Waters – I thought the whole Fred and George twin this was pretty genius of me lol. Okay that's conceited. I'm glad you liked that chapter! Thanks for the review!
DuskTilDawn – Don't be ashamed that you can't say anything else. Your fics have left me speechless with cuteness! Thanks for your review. You're another encouraging voice.
Gryffxchick – It is sad that they probably would never get together in the books. Maybe we should all write to JK and beg her to put them together! I'm up for it lol! Thanks for the review!
Karamel06 – Jenni what can I say! You liking the story means so much! Thank you for reading and reviewing!
