Be Here To Love Me - Draco

Had she just said that a constant reminder of him was not a bad thing? He shifted uneasily. "Are you hungry?" He asked uncertainly.

"I could eat."

He led her to the dining room. A house elf appeared and he requested a dinner. She noticed that it was a polite entreaty rather than a demanding order. That surprised her slightly. Even while they were together he would make orders to those 'beneath him.' He pulled out a chair for her and she took it. He sat opposite her.

"You've done well for yourself," she said. "I read about you in the paper."

He smiled a little ruefully. "Yes, business is going well." She was looking anywhere but at him. He really didn't know what to say, so he settled for, "Has she shown any magic yet?"

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "All the time. She's rather precocious. A lot like I imagine you were, actually."

He gave a crooked smile. "Oh, I don't know. I always figured you took more after Fred and George than any of the others."

She shrugged with a mischievous grin on her face before remembering where she was and lowering her eyes.

He had been enjoying her smile and frowned when she looked down again. "You don't like being here." It was more of a statement than a question. "You don't like being near me." The pain was evident in his voice.

Her eyes shot back up to his. "No! I mean..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's just hard, that's all."

He nodded silently. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he couldn't stop himself from saying, "So, I'm surprised there isn't anyone out there who would do anything to keep you from coming here." He cringed when he heard the words come out.

"There hasn't been anyone else. I never even tried to make something work," she said quietly. "No one would ever be you." She took another deep breath and it sounded like she was trying not to start crying again. "Are you sure my being here won't...interfere with anything?" The pain in her voice was all to evident.

She caught a glimpse of his eyes before they closed. She had never seen them look like that. Not even the night he had asked for a second chance. His entire body fell slightly and it looked like some invisible hand punched him in the chest.

"There has been...no one. I haven't even seen anyone since I found you gone. I destroyed my world, that night. I pulled the foundation out from beneath my own feet. I've had to rebuild everything, and it's gone up different this time. It's all been built on what I should have been, what you needed me to be. I'm sorry that it took tearing you apart and driving you away to teach and heal me, more than a thousand lifetimes of apologies could ever express." There was no pleading in his voice, no request. He wasn't looking for another chance, he was simply apologizing.

"If it took my pain to help you, if it took my absence to guide you, my heart to heal you, then...then...it's a sacrafice I would make again." She was staring at the plate that had appeared before her, not even registering that it was there. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her words were so unexpected, so unbelievable. "Are you happy?" she asked.

"As happy as I can be," was his answer.

She looked up at him with a quizzical expression.

"I'm not whole without you, Gin. I'm not asking for another chance," he hastened to add. "But I'm as happy as I can be without you."

"You've really not even taken a girl out?" He shook his head. She could see the change in his eyes. That wild and cold, hard center had melted away entirely. "You aren't whole without me?"

"How could I be?" he asked pitifully.

Did that mean he still loved her? "And you're not asking for another chance?" He shook his head sadly. "Why not?" She looked like she wanted to run away and hide somewhere.

"I..." the extreme confusion in his eyes mirrored her own, "How could I? After what I did?"

She nodded and lowered her eyes back to her plate. "She needs a father, though." The words seemed to be more thought than conversation. "I can see you've changed." She still sounded like she was talking to herself. "Five years is a long time. A lot can change. People can grow." His mind was realing. What was she saying? "Not asking...that..." She nodded again. Looking up and back into his eyes, she said very quietly so he could barely here, "Why not ask?"

He couldn't breath. He had simply forgotten how, that was all there was to it. His body got up and moved to kneel beside her chair on its own volition. Looking up at her with barely focused and terrified eyes, he asked, "Ginny, please, I'm not the same person I was. Please, be here to love me. I'll start over. We'll date this time..." he started rambling and she placed a finger on his lips.

"I'm not complete without you either."

Draco started laughing with tears in his eyes. Standing up, he brought her to her feet as well and held her like he would never let her go. She was crying and laughing as well. He kissed the top of her head and she kissed his shoulder. He picked her up and spun her around. When he set her down again, he heard her say, "Draco?" against his chest.

"Hm?" he buried his face in her hair.

"Do we have to date?"

He started laughing again.

Fin