The next day she did as she was told and thoroughly enjoyed her massage. She couldn't believe how much better she felt when she came out. When she met him on the veranda for lunch she was smiling like she hadn't smiled in years. They chatted easily, as though they had been friends for years, as though there had never been a terse word between them.
After lunch they went for another walk and then she met him by the pool and they went for a swim. They raced and horsed around, trying to dunk each other. He won, repeatedly, until she pouted and managed to catch him off guard while he tried to figure out how to placate her. He told her she would have made a good Slytherin and splashed him in the face while pretending to be offended. He just laughed and told her she knew it was true. Feigning reluctance, she admitted he was right.
Before dinner she had an appointment for a wrap she was still nervous about, but he made her go to it.
At dinner, he learned that she had actually enjoyed it and she learned that he was spending the time that he wasn't with her in physical therapy for an old Quidditch injury that had been aggravated when he was thrown by a horse the week before. She looked worried for a moment before he assured her that he would be fine. He wasn't in any pain, they just wanted to be sure he stayed that way.
The third day of her vacation, people were talking about her as much as they were Draco. At first she was that mystery redhead. By lunch they had learned that she was the editor of the most prominent paper in the UK. By dinner they had her name and people were commenting on how odd it was to see a Slytherin and Gryffindor together, much less a Malfoy and a Weasley.
She and Draco laughed heartily over it all, a bit amazed themselves.
She couldn't believe it. She had tried to get out of coming on this vacation and now she was one of those women who went away for a week and fell in love. She wasn't in love yet, but she knew that the more time she spent with this man the more she wanted him to lean over and kiss her.
How did he always know what to say to make her laugh? How had they covered so many topics in such a short time? She had opened up and told him all about how her family relied on her for almost everything since her mother's death and he had been sincerely sympathetic. She had confided in him how stressful running the paper was and he commiserated, sharing how stressful his job was.
He had opened up to her and told her how lonely his life was and she was genuinely sorry for him. He had confided in her how desperately he wished he could just walk away from everything and start over, someone completely knew, in some place completely different. She admitted that she felt the same often.
They met for lunch everyday and spent the afternoon and evening together as well. Ginny hadn't felt this relaxed and free since she had been a little girl. She was happier than she had ever been. She was actually giddy, acting the perfect schoolgirl to Draco's schoolboy that she found so adorable.
Draco, who had never been what one could call happy, precisely, was in heaven. He couldn't believe Ginny would even speak to him, much less show so much interest. He had always known that she wasn't like the others, but he couldn't help but be surprised that she had forgiven him for all the old offenses so easily.
She tried to explain that she couldn't possibly hold the past against him once she had looked in his eyes, that she had tried but found it impossible. He didn't care, it amazed him nonetheless.
By the end of the week, neither of them wanted to go home. They tried not to think about it, but as they took their last walk through their gardens, there was more silence between them then there had been the whole week combined. He walked her back to her room as usual and stood there looking at her, not sure what to say.
"Well," she started, "it's been a wonderful week. Will I see you tomorrow before you leave?"
"We could meet for breakfast…" he offered hopefully.
She smiled her schoolgirl smile. "I'd love that."