A/N: I apologize. I am the first to admit that this is crap. I don't know WHERE I was going with the plot.
He was watching her across the Hall again. He couldn't help himself. She carried herself so proudly. She didn't deserve to be a Weasley with that kind of bearing.
Wait.
He shook his head. What he meant to think was that she didn't deserve to have that kind of bearing as a Weasley.
He returned to his viewing. She was sitting alone, as she usually did, writing. Her long, graceful fingers held the quill elegantly, making it swoop across the parchment. He watched as she gently shook blotting powder over the parchment, then shook it off. She rolled up her work and stuffed it into her bookbag, then stood up abruptly and strode out of the Hall in the middle of breakfast.
Draco was intrigued. What had the youngest Weasley been writing about? He, too, stood and exited the Hall.
Once the Great Hall doors had slammed shut behind him, he broke into a slight jog and left the Entrance Hall. Weaselette was down at the lake already, just staring out from underneath a willow tree. Draco slowed slightly once he saw where she was sitting. That was his tree. He'd been sitting there ever since his first year, on the rare occasions when he left the dungeons. Finally, he reached the willow.
"Weaselette," he said by way of greeting.
"Malfoy," she warily climbed to her feet. Draco could sense her trepidation.
He sat, then patted the ground beside him, raising his eyebrows in a silent question.
She hesitated, then sat four feet away from him.
He smirked. "Weaselette, I wanted you over here, not over there," he said, the command clear in his voice.
She lifted her chin in defiance and gave him an almost perfect imitation of his smirk. "Thank you, but no."
His smirk widened, then fell off his face completely as he dropped his eyes in embarrassment at what he was about to say. "Weaselette, I was wondering..." he trailed off, feeling utterly mortified.
Ginny was intrigued. Malfoy embarrassed? This was a novel concept to her. "Yes?" she asked gently.
Malfoy looked up, surprised at the gentility in her manner, and the kindness in her voice. It strengthened his resolve. "Could I see what you were doing during breakfast this morning?" he asked boldly.
She was surprised, to say in the least. She hesitated, then drew the rolled up parchment out of her bag. She paused again, then passed it to him ever so carefully. He unrolled it to find...
An exquisitely detailed portrait of himself. He looked up at her in astonishment, but she was very interested in the willow branches above her. Carefully he studied the picture. She had captured the haughty smirk inevitably on his lips, the cold gleam that haunted his silver eyes, and the aristocratic tilt of his head.
"Ginny, why-?" he couldn't finish his question.
Ginny snapped her head around to look at him in wonder. He had just addressed her by her first name. For the first time ever. She lowered her eyes again after the revelation had worn off. A dark red flush spread up her neck to her hairline. Draco was sure if he unbuttoned her primly fastened shirt just one more button, the flush would continue down her body.
He shifted over to sit next to her, careful not to drop the parchment on to the dew-stained grass. He cautiously handed it back to her, and watched as she rolled it up quickly, yet efficiently, and shoved it back into her bag. He moved closer to her, close enough that their hip bones were almost touching. He reached a hand up to her hair, that wonderfully dark red hair, and found a curl that had made its way loose of her messy bun. He touched it gently, in wonder, then moved his hand to her neck. He felt her stiffen, and quickly dropped his hand and looked away.
"No, Draco, it's okay. You just... caught me by surprise," she admitted, the red flush deepening.
Smiling slightly, Draco returned his hand first to her hair, then to her neck. He slid his hand up her neck into the main mass of her hair, and pulled her gently towards him. He kept his eyes open as he watched her bowed lips coming closer, and finally shut them once their lips had made contact.
She finally pulled away, after how long, neither knew. More hair had slipped from her bun, and her breathing was ragged. "Draco, I-"
He slumped back dejectedly. "Let me guess," he drawled, "you can't do this. You can't betray your family or your precious Potter," he spat out angrily. "Or are you just disgusted with yourself for kissing a Malfoy? I know what your family thinks of my family. They think we're the scourge of the earth. I'm not my father," he finished with a sigh.
Ginny watched him with wide eyes. When he finished, she snuggled against him. "I think no such thing." She looked up, searching his eyes, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. Instead, Draco caught her mouth with his for another searing kiss.
