Chapter Two

Harry and Ginny sat side by side at the dinner table at the Burrow. It had been a year since they had been pre-engaged. The two had yet to be actually engaged, but both were starting to take steps to being together. They had recently bought a nice house in the suburbs of London. Every Saturday night, they would go to the Burrow for dinner.

The table was smaller than usual. Mrs. Weasley sat at the head of the table, grinning as she cut the chickens for everyone to eat. Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were all working in their respective places and rarely ever came home anymore. Percy sat by her side, also smiling at the well-cooked chicken. Ron and Hermione sat together, as did Harry and Ginny. They all felt obligated to visit Mrs. Weasley, who was now typically alone in the Burrow except for very late at night, when the twins would come home to sleep. Mr. Weasley had been killed in the Final Battle and Molly Weasley had never quite been the same since.

"How's the Ministry, Ron?" Percy asked, as they all began to eat their supper. "I suppose it's much different from when I left it."

"So much so," Ron answered. "I'm lucky I'm not Minister, I suppose. Head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts is enough for me, thanks. Besides, it's where Dad always wanted me to be. I just didn't think that's where I wanted to be until I started. And of course, it keeps me close to Hermione."

Hermione smiled. "We go out for lunch a lot."

Ginny beamed. "I wish I could say the same about me and Harry. We spent every minute together, practically. Really, I didn't think they'd let us inherit The Three Broomsticks, but it's so cozy. I feel like I almost live there, if it wasn't for our home."

"Thank goodness we can Apparate," Harry added.

She laughed along with him. "Oh, of course, because you never even learned to drive."

"Just because you did—"

"Means I'm responsible? Why, yes, it does," Ginny snapped.

"What's this?" Ron joked. "Is the perfect couple having a bit of a spat over a bloody car?"

His little sister scowled at him. "I don't know, Harry, are we having an argument?"

Harry attempted to stifle a laugh.

"What? Something about this is funny to you?"

"No," he replied, quickly, "it's just that… I love you so much…" Suddenly, Harry got out of his chair and got down on one knee. Ginny's heart practically stopped of excitement and sheer horror. "Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?"

She was speechless for a moment before a word came out of her mouth. Everyone else around her seemed to be squealing—perhaps even Ron. "Oh yes," she breathed, "yes, of course!"

She leapt onto Harry, which knocked him onto the kitchen floor. Seeing the obvious romance in front of her, Mrs. Weasley reprimanded jokingly, "Now Ginny, get off the boy!"

Dinner with Blaise and Draco had proved to be interesting. Not exactly Ginny's opinion of amusement or fun, but it certainly was interesting to hear two Slytherins talk. The two of them had joined with the Order towards the end of the Second War, only a few weeks before the Final Battle. Seeing how horrible things were going to be, they backed out and joined the only who they knew would keep them alive. They talked about peculiar things with Ginny, mainly about Ron and Hermione. They asked about the baby, their relationship, and how Mrs. Weasley was coping. Harry barely came up in subject at all, but when he did, both of the young men knew to quickly change the subject.

As Ginny unlocked the door to her downtown London apartment, she set her coat down onto the front table (which was actually just an old crate) and went to see if she had any phone calls. After moving into the apartment, she really did have to live like a muggle. Ginny learned how to use a phone, computer, and how to deal with every day dilemmas without whipping out her wand. Her apartment was as cheap as one could buy, and the floors were made of old wood. Most of her chairs were just broken so she used any kinds of used crates she could find. The only thing that actually worked was her stove, where she set down a pot to make herself some tea. As she changed out of her black dress into a camisole and a pair of pajama pants (as she always wore around her apartment), she suddenly realized she didn't have her purse with her.

"Oh hell," she muttered, attempting to throw on pajama pants as fast as possible. She looked around her apartment in pajama pants and her black bra, attempting to throw on her camisole unsuccessfully. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Damn…" she added, realizing now she'd have to open the door without a shirt on. But Ginny didn't really care what other people thought about her. The other people in the building thought she was strange which kept them away, much to Ginny's happiness.

Running toward the door (which had no peephole), she opened it to find herself face to face with Draco Malfoy… and she was not wearing a shirt.

He stared at her, stupefied, before remembering why he had actually come to her apartment. "Y-you left your purse behind at the restaurant… I thought you'd w-want it back," he stuttered.

She grinned and took it from him. "D'you want to come in? I've got some water heating up for some tea?"

"Oh no," he answered, quickly. "You can get back to your—wait… There's not another man in here?"

"What?" Ginny laughed. "Oh no, of course not. I don't date. I was just changing and then I couldn't get a shirt on and… Oh no, you thought that I was…? Oh dear," she chuckled even harder. Sitting down on an empty crate, Ginny started to laugh almost hysterically.

Draco continued to stare at her. "I think I'll get going," he murmured.

Ginny came to her senses and stopped laughing. "Oh no, I'm so sorry. Let me just get a shirt on," she added, throwing on her black camisole. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just haven't laughed since before Harry and I—well… there's no need to retell that story. I'm sure you heard."

"I was there," Draco pointed out, blushing. "I had been invited by the bloody twins, I believe, because they wanted to guarantee that something would fall on my head, or some silly prank like that."

"Mmph," Ginny grunted. She offered Draco a seat in one of her beanbag chairs on the ground, laying in front of the television that she had eventually learned to use. "Funny how the twins are twenty-five, and you'd still think that they were fourteen or something like that," she laughed.

"Well, you're twenty-two," he added, "and you still act young."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, abashed.

"I'm just trying to say that you've always seemed so youthful to me," Draco explained, waving his hand. "I'm not trying to offend you, or anything like that. I've seen what you do to Weas—er… Ron when he offends you. Personally, I wouldn't liked to be kicked there at the moment."

Ginny chuckled. "Oh, well then, sorry for my temper. I'm afraid I haven't been the same lately, if you've noticed."

"Everyone knows," he agreed. "News spreads around quickly throughout the Ministry, seeing as how I hear a lot about what Ron says. After you lost The Three Broomsticks and began to act differently, your mother stopped including you in family events. Ron and Granger only talk to you now because they either want you back or they feel badly for you, but personally, I really don't think they care much about you."

"No one really does," Ginny admitted.

"Oh no, that's not really true," Draco pointed out. "People still talk about you. Blaise likes you quite a lot—I mean—you weren't supposed to know that."

"He likes me?"

"Yeah, loads," was the answer. "I never thought I'd see the day when a Slytherin would fancy a Gryffindor, but I suppose the world is changing. He wanted to ask you out later tonight, but he felt poorly about doing it on the night of Harry's funeral."

"Don't bother with Harry," she retorted. "You know he means nothing to me. It's just… I'd have refused him anyway because I just don't date. I don't like seeing men. I don't like doing things with them—romantically. I wouldn't mind going out to dinner with him, or anything like that, but I don't want him to expect me to kiss him or anything."

"So you just don't want to do stuff?"

"Or commit, basically. Committing to things is stupid. Why would someone waste time to say that they're going to love you forever or any kind of lies like that? Love doesn't last forever and people change, no matter what they say. There's nothing wrong with going out with someone, but people start to expect things. The man starts to think that if he's nice enough, the girl will let him sleep with her. And the girl thinks that the man's going to love her for all of eternity. It's all a load of dung, really, because no one ever does what someone expects them to, unless, of course, you're Hermione or Percy."

Draco thought this through for a moment. As much as he had never really liked Ginny Weasley before, he found what she had just said interesting. Was it really that she didn't want to date? Or did she not want another incident like the one she had with Harry? He heard her voice suddenly in the back of his head.

"Whuh?" he muttered, stupidly.

"D'you want some tea?" she asked again.

"Oh, I don't know," Draco replied. "I probably do need to get back to my apartment. I'm sure Blaise will think something has happened to me."

"You two share an apartment?"

"Yeah, across town in one of the nicer neighborhoods," he answered. "You should come over some time so I can see Blaise make a complete fool out of himself in front of you. That'd be hilarious. I'll write down the address for you. You can stop by on Tuesday evening for dinner, if you'd like to."

She was silent for a moment.

"We're really not bad cooks, actually," Draco added. "For two oblivious young lads, we manage to magic something up. I blame Hogwarts and stupid Dumbledore for not teaching us cooking spells."

"You should talk to my mum if you want help," Ginny murmured. "I'll stop by then, for dinner. It'll be nice."

"Yeah…" was the reply, as if thinking about something else. "And you can meet Alezia."

"Who?"

"My girlfriend, Alezia," Draco answered. "She's the Minister's daughter. You haven't heard about her?"

"Oh please," Ginny scoffed, "I don't know about anything in the wizarding world nowadays. I'm practically a muggle. Personally, I don't even know why you bother to talk to me."

He looked around, awkwardly. "Oh, well… it's not like I don't like you or anything like that… You're not as bad as I thought you were, back at Hogwarts. Maybe because…"

"I'm cynical and sarcastic, with a dry sense of humor?"

"Perhaps," Draco replied with a shrug, "but I'm not quite sure. There's just something about you. Something different."

"Oh, tell that to my mum, who already thinks I'm a muggle."

"You can't be that bad, can you? You know the Minister's name, of course?"

"No, can't say that I do," she snapped.

Draco stared at her. "Well… right, I'm sure you'll pick it up on Tuesday night. D'you need help getting to my manor?"

"Your manor?"

"I inherited it after my parents were both killed," he clarified. "So it's mine now. Are you going to continue to bicker with me, or may I get back to Blaise? He's probably already wet his knickers worrying about me… Or he's furious, probably thinking we're doing something."

"You and I? He should know better," Ginny laughed, and showed Draco out the door.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter to all of those who did! I always appreciate feedback and comments! The rating has also gone up to M, but not for sex or anything like that, but mainly so I can make references to sex and swear a bit more... I just wanted to be safe. sigh Yes, it will be a Ginny/Draco romance and I will go into detail through the flashbacks about why Ginny seems to hate Harry so much, how Harry died, and details about the Final Battle. Overall, thanks for supporting me!