All Harry Potter characters don't belong to me

Chapter Seventeen -Dance with Me (Just before Fourth Year begins for Draco)

"Speaking"

/Thinking/

After the incident with the cookies that caused Draco to fall ill for a few days, Ginny decided to leave cooking until she was a bit older and able to use magic at home. Draco didn't protest to that idea but felt bad because Ginny was upset she wasn't able to do wonders in the kitchen.

"It's not like you need to know how to cook anyways," Draco reasoned gently. "We have house elves to do that for us."

"But my Mum cooks for us and I want to be able to do that too," Ginny said sadly.

"Malfoy women don't cook, and you will be a Malfoy one day," he said matter-of-factly.

Ginny blushed and smiled shyly. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she would one day marry Draco and have his name.

"What if I don't become a Malfoy?" she teased. "I'll have to fend for myself in the kitchen then."

Draco grinned lopsidedly before he kissed the back of Ginny's hand. "Impossible. You're already half way there."

Martin walked into the room and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Your mother requests you and Miss Ginny's presence in the Ball room, Master Draco."

Draco raised an eyebrow in wonder but took Ginny's hand and headed to the Ball room.

"What's happening in the Ball room?" Ginny asked.

"Don't know, but we'll find out soon enough," Draco answered with a squeeze of her hand.

Pushing the double doors open, Draco entered the room and saw his mother talking to another man dressed in colors much too bright for Draco's liking.

"Mother," he addressed enquiringly, "you requested our presence." Draco always felt the need to speak formally to his parents' whist strangers were in the room. He felt it was safer to not revealing how close he really was to them.

Narcissa smiled at the couple before motioning for them to come forward. "Draco, Ginny, meet Mr. Antonio Alvera. Antonio, this in my son Draco, and his fiancé Ginny."

"It's very nice to meet the both of you," he said before giving Draco a hand shake and kissing Ginny's hand.

"Antonio is here to give the both of you Dancing lessons," Narcissa explained. "All Malfoy's need to know how to dance, Draco." She added before her son could ask why.

"Very well," Draco answered coolly before turning to look at Ginny.

"Sounds like fun," she said with a smile.

"Excellent," Narcissa said before heading for the door. "If you need anything just call Martin."

Antonio then clapped his hands twice and it echoed in the large ball room. "Let's get started then shall we?"

"Ouch!"

"Oops…sorry"

"Umph!"

"Hey…"

"Left side…"

"No…it's right…"

Antonio sighed and shook his head. "Children, children, please concentrate." He walked up to the couple and demonstrated the moves again. "Step together, do you understand?" he said exasperatedly.

Draco didn't appreciate Antonio's tone of voice and was ready to give his dance teacher a piece of his mind but was stopped by Ginny giving him a look and shaking her head. For Ginny's sake, he decided to let the matter go and concentrate on learning to dance.

Narcissa was watching the couple as they stumbled over each other ungracefully. She remembered the first time she had learned to dance and was embarrassed to admit that she was a lot worse than they are.

The music stopped abruptly and she saw Draco and Ginny walking tiredly towards the chairs lined against the wall. She smiled sympathetically at her son, but she knew he would get better at it. He was, after all, his father's son.

A figure appeared in front of Narcissa and extended a hand. "May I have this dance?" they asked.

Narcissa smiled and placed her hand into those of her husband. "Certainly," she replied.

With a click of his fingers the music began and Lucius guided his wife to the middle of the ballroom.

"The Waltz," Narcissa commented. "How appropriate."

Lucius began to lead. "If memory serves me correctly, it was our first dance."

Narcissa smiled at the fact he had remembered. Lucius was a magnificent dancer and she had almost forgotten how it felt to move as gracefully as he did. The couple had been engaged even before they were born and much like Ginny and Draco, they grew up knowing they would spend the rest of their lives with each other. Her son's engagement often reminded Narcissa of her own when she was young, but she desperately hoped it would not end in tragedy.

The dance ended much too soon but Narcissa didn't show her disappointment, instead she gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. Lucius took his wife's hand and give it a kiss: a promise of many more dances in the future. Narcissa was satisfied.

"Keep practicing, Draco," Lucius said to his son. "Dancing is a skill mastered for poise and grace. Evidence of your noble upbringing." With that said, he strode out of the room without looking back.

Narcissa gently touched Draco's face and gave him a warm smile. "It's just takes some practice. You'll master it in no time, Draco." She too then exited the room.

With determination in his eyes, Draco took Ginny's hand and they began their clumsy dancing once again.

They practiced all day, only taking breaks for lunch and dinner and had improved a lot since that morning but were still no where near the standard of Narcissa and Lucius.

Antonio had just left the Manor and Draco took this chance to go to the bathroom. Upon returning he found Ginny sitting on a chair with her head resting on her hand. Draco walked up to her and found her to be asleep.

/You idiot/ He berated himself. /Practicing all day when Ginny isn't well/

He felt so guilty because he was too consumed by his selfish need to please his father that he neglected Ginny's condition. Not wanting to wake her, he gently maneuvered her onto his back so he could carry her upstairs.

Reaching the stair case, Draco made sure Ginny was securely resting on his back before taking the first step. His feet were sore from standing all day and his balance wasn't the best causing him to nearly miss the next step.

"Shit!" he swore. "You stupid step!"

A giggle escaped Ginny's lips and Draco paused.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" he asked.

Ginny stopped feigning sleep and lifted her head from the back of his shoulder. "I was asleep but woke up just in time to hear you berate a piece of wood."

Draco could feel Ginny laughing at him. "Well since you're up, you can walk by yourself then." He began to loosen his grip on her knees.

Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck tighter. "But my feet hurt," she whined.

"And so do mine so don't force me to drop you." Draco smirked. He wouldn't give into her whine this time. No. This time he would stand his ground.

"You wouldn't," Ginny said confidently.

"Really?" Draco raised his eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

"No. Just a well observed fact." Ginny leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "You would never hurt me."

Draco had nothing to say. What could he say when she could see right through him? Convincing himself it was the last time he would give in, he began to walk up the stairs again. Deep down he knew he was kidding himself.

Draco made it to her room and placed her gently onto the bed before slumping down next to her. Ginny didn't waste any time and immediately took her shoes and socks off to rub her sore feet. Draco did the same and before long they were sitting cross legged on her bed facing each other.

They started a game of thumb war, a game Hermione had taught Ginny while she was staying at the burrow and so far, Draco had been winning every game because he had long fingers.

"I win again," he said triumphantly.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll grow my fingers longer and then we'll see."

Draco smiled at her ridiculous theory. "I look forward to our rematch."

He was idly playing with her fingers when something occurred to him. "I nearly forgot," he said while look up from his fingers entwined with Ginny's.

She looked at him quizzically.

"Father is getting tickets to the Quidditch World Cup…" Draco began explaining.

/The Quidditch World Cup? Wasn't Dad talking to Charlie about that the other day…/ Ginny thought.

"…Father donated some money to St Mungo's Hospital for magical Maladies and Injuries so the Minister of Magic has offered some really good seats." Draco continued, "And I was hoping you could come along."

Ginny didn't know what to say. It was much too risky to go out with Draco to such an important public event and especially when there was a chance that her whole family would be their too.

"Ginny? Are you alright?" Draco asked when she had spaced out.

"Um…yeah, I'm fine." She answered quickly.

"So…will you come?"

Ginny felt terrible about turning Draco down. He sounded so excited when asking her.

"I'll don't think I can. My Aunt has other plans for those couple of days."

She could tell Draco was disappointed, but he didn't show it too much. "Oh…Alright then." He answered trying to sound casual.

Ginny couldn't have felt any worse. She lifted herself on her knees and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. "I'm sorry Draco…" she whispered. I want to tell you. I really do.

Draco smiled sadly and patted Ginny's back. "Hey, it's fine. I heard the weather was going to be bad those few days anyways so I wouldn't want you getting sick."

Ginny sat back down and smiled. He's so sweet.

"It's getting late and you need your rest," He said and started to get off the bed. Before leaving her side he took her hand and gave it a kiss. "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

And then he was gone. Ginny slumped back onto her pillows and let out a sigh. "Merlin, please help me."

The day of the World Cup arrived and Ginny was feeling uneasy. All her brothers had come home and Harry and Hermione had arrived as well. The house was crowded full of people and chatter but Ginny was too busy in her own thoughts.

Molly noticed her quietly sitting to one side and decided to go over and see what was wrong.

"Ginny, are you alright?" she asked before sitting down.

"Yeah, I'm ok Mum. Just a bit nervous and scared you know. With Draco being there and all I just hope I don't run into him." Ginny took a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

"Oh Ginny. I'm really sorry it has to be this way…"

"Really...It's ok Mum," Ginny interjected before Molly could begin her guilty speech again.

"Mum! Where are the forks?" Ron called from the kitchen. Molly shook her head and sighed before standing up to attend to her youngest son.

"Wont be long till we leave, alright Ginny." Molly said quickly before leaving.

Ginny smiled wearily as Molly left and blended into the chaos at the Burrow. Today had the potentially to turn disastrous. She prayed that it wouldn't.

Ginny followed her Father, Ron, Hermione and Harry as they walked up the hill to reach the portkey they would be taking to get to the World Cup. Harry, not knowing what a portkey is, was walking beside Arthur listening intently as he explained.

Ginny felt butterflies in her stomach and a slight tightening in her chest.

Calm down. she told herself. It's a big event. The chances of you seeing Draco are very slim.

Reaching their destination, Ginny had to take a few minutes to catch her breath before she began to help the others look for the portkey.

Being well accustomed to traveling by Portkey, Ginny landed gracefully and was the quickest to regain her bearings. Seeing Hermione, Ron and Harry in a tangle of limbs, she lent a hand to help Hermione off of the boys.

"Thank you Ginny. Portkey's really make you unsteady don't they?"

"You get used to them," Ginny answered with a smile.

There was another distance to walk as they made their way to the tent where they would be staying. Some men had started a conversation with Arthur and were walking along with them but Ginny wasn't really paying attention. She was too busy looking out for Draco.

"Ginny, are you ok?" Ron asked with concern.

Ginny smiled at her brother. She knew Ron would often forget about everyone else whenever Harry and Hermione were around but it was rare moments like these that she could see he would always be her protective older brother.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine Ron."

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale."

Ginny placed a hand on her face and only then did she notice her hands were quite cold. "Oh…it's probably not enough sleep." She answered cheerfully. "We did have to wake up really early this morning. I'll be fine. Don't worry."

Ron let the matter go and began a conversation with Hermione. Ginny dug her hands into her pocket to make sure she had bought along all the medication that she needed. /It's just nerves./ she told herself. /Once I get out of sight I won't worry about bumping into Draco anymore. Everything will be fine then./

Or so she hoped.

End of Chapter Seventeen .Thank you for reading and I hope you review.

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