Draco began to open up a bit more each day. One night in particular would never be forgotten by either of them. They had both remained at school over Christmas and they were sitting in the Room of Requirement before a blazing fire just enjoying the evening. Conversation turned to the holidays and she told him about various years past. It was so peaceful, so comfortable. That was the evening he began talking about his own childhood. He told her about the one happy Christmas he could remember. He had been four and his father had been away. It had been just him and his mother. They had spent the evening much the same way he was spending this one with Ginny.
They sat there, looking at each other, the fire dancing in their eyes. That was the second happy Christmas in his life and the first time he wondered what the future would hold without fear.
He wasn't sure when it first happened, but at some point they began kissing each other on the cheek when they said goodbye. Somewhere along the way the physical barriers between them were broken down. She would lay her head on his stomach as they lay on their backs under the sky. He would wrap his arm around her as they walked. If she started laughing hysterically, she almost always ended up leaning on him for support. They were often seen wrestling on the grounds.
Almost the entire school was convinced they were dating, but they weren't. They bought each other Christmas presents but that was the only exchange. When they went to Hogsmeade she paid for herself. They had never kissed the way couples kissed and certainly never snogged each other senseless. All of their actions were chaste. They were simply comfortable with each other.
After the war, almost no one had a problem with their relationship. Ron still turned red to the ears whenever he saw them together, but he had long since given up trying to convince her to leave him alone. She had met his mother and been accepted with genuine affection. Narcissa loved anyone who could make her boy smile the way Ginny did.
Molly and Narcissa were well aware that the relationship their children shared was innocent, but Draco and Ginny would have been mortified to hear some of the conversation the women had.
All of her brothers eventually accepted him and didn't give him too hard of a time when he came home with her for Easter. Fred and George had to initiate him into the family, of course, feeding him some concoction of theirs that turned his hair bright red. To everyone's delight, and most of their surprise, he just laughed. A few hours later, curiously enough, Fred and George discovered that anything they said sounded an aweful lot like the chittering of squirrels to everyone else. Even Ron began to loosen up and behave civilly.
For his birthday she made him a small pillow. It was green and stitched onto one side was a silver dragon and red rose. She was afraid he would think it was silly, but to him it was the best gift he had ever received.
When he graduated she was there for him as much as she was her brother and friends. As soon as the ceremony was over they found each other. He picked her up and swung her around with a cry of joy, making her laugh. When he stopped spinning, he lowered her back to her feet. As she slid through his arms, toes coming to rest on the ground, her laughter slowly faded and he forgot to release her. Standing there, looking into each other's eyes, they had their first moment of curiosity.
Someone shouting nearby soon brought them back to their surroundings and he laughed, letting her go. He reached up and took his graduation cap off, placing it on her head. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders a little more possessively than in the past, he led her to where the others were waiting for them.
That summer they spent a lot of time at each other's houses or in Diagon Alley. For her birthday he got her a beautiful necklace that had a silver dragon protectively curled around a ruby rose charm hanging on a silver chain. It was the perfect length, the charm rested in the hollow just below her neck. She never took it off.
He volunteered to take her to the station for her last year of school. Molly wasn't exactly happy to miss out on seeing her last child off to school for the last time, but she decided she would rather let them have their 'little moment' as she liked to call it. As they stood there on the platform they mourned the fact that they wouldn't see each other until Christmas, they talked about how he was going to start learning how to run his family holding the next day, they talked about how she was going to have a miserable time studying for her NEWTs, and they talked about how much they would miss each other.
As the time for the train to leave approached their conversation died away and they found it a lot harder to say goodbye than they thought they would. They stood there staring at each other, one or other occasionally commenting that she really should get on the train, until the whistle blew and she literally had to jump in order to get on it in time. She stood by the door looking out the window until she couldn't see him anymore. That was the second time they couldn't ignore that feeling deep inside.
They wrote everyday at first, but then both of them got busy and it settled down into once a week. Christmas was spent at the Burrow, both Draco and Narcissa joining the Weasley's, all of whom had come 'home' that year. Fred and George brought Angeline and Katie from their school days. They thought that since pretty much everyone had brought someone that sufficed for a date mistletoe was diffinitely a necessity, the magic kind that wouldn't leave you alone until you kissed the person it caught you with. Bill and Fluer had a daughter that was celebrating her first Christmas, but as her birthday was December 26, she was old enough to be rather interested in everything about it. Charlie had brought a girl from Romania home with him and proposed beneath the mistletoe the first time it caught them. Percy brought Penelope, Ron had Hermione, and Harry had brought a girl he had met in Auror training. It was the biggest, loudest, happiest Christmas they could imagine.
When the mistletoe caught Draco and Ginny, she turned beet read as she waited to see how he would kiss her. He stood there, looking at her for a moment, before slowly leaning down and kissing her gently and sweetly on the lips. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss. It wasn't chaste, and he held her cheek in his hand for a moment after before touching his forehead to hers and returing to the errund he was running for Arthur and she to the one she was on for Molly.
He got her a beautiful winter cloak that fit her perfectly. She got him a leatherbound journal. Neither said anything about the kiss, but she did blush whenever she caught his eye for three days. Before she returned to school, he pulled her into a close a hug. "I'll miss you," he whispered into her ear. She couldn't answer him and only nodded before pulling away and returning to school.
That Christmas was when they actually started to think. There letters became sweeter, more shy.
Easter found her too swamped with NEWT studies to come home and he was too busy cleaning up his father's business to visit her at the school. Their letters continued to change. No declarations were made, but longing and desire were ever present undertones.
He was there when she graduated. When the ceremony was over he greeted her the same way he had at his own, only this time, as he lowered her down, he intentially kept her closer to himself than strictly necessary, making sure to catch her mouth with his own as it passed. She had to reach up to keep her hat from falling off, but after a second she forgot about it and brought the same hand around to the back of his head. When he pulled away slightly and moved his head so he could hug her tightly, her head was realing. She was thankful he hadn't let go because she was certain she wouldn't be able to stand on her own.
Without letting go, he whispered in her ear, "I love you, Ginevra. I need you. Will you marry me?"
Her breath caught in her throat and tears sprung to her eyes. She pulled away so she could look up at him. The look in her eyes was enough for him. He saw her mouth move but he hadn't heard a sound. She reached up and touched his cheek softly with her hand. Repeating herself, she said, "Yes, Draco, yes!"
"Could...could you say it again?" tears were in his own eyes but he was almost laughing, "I want to hear those sweet words again."
"I love you, Draco. Yes." He pulled her into another kiss.