Authors Note: Sorry for the delay. My class load this year is HUGE, and my anal OCDness defiantly isn't helping. But I suppose in the end it'll be grand.

Thanks to all my reviewers, I love all of you. Sorry if this chapter disappoints you. It was most defiantly my least favorite.

Chapter 5

Intoxicated by our kiss we fell in love. Yet it was far more than just that. It was a coming together of two pasts and futures, both hideously brilliant. Our searches were, for now, over. We had found the very thing society had made us avoid for years. Something changed on that desolate winter's day. Masked beneath our fiercely independent layers something glowed.

It was as if fate had instinctively brought us together, for we never planned to meet anywhere, yet strangely we would find each other lingering on a park bench. Walking under the star's shadows I would see you alone in the lamp light. Your red hair bound up, shinning in the golden pool. Some nights we would spend hours sitting beneath ancient ornate lampposts talking of a future neither one of us could see.

This new profound emotion forced us to come out in the open. For years we stood back and dwelled on our pasts both oppositely tragic of one another. Now neither one of us bothered to mention the events we had been through. You never asked if the rumors were true, and I never brought up Harry. Sometimes I could still see him deep within your eyes, a glimpse misery. I knew that you would question whether or not what we had was right. Yet the wind whispered that in the end you would come back to me.

For the first time in my life I felt something beautiful, something to live for. Life was no longer a bleak endless horizon. Suddenly death seemed unwelcome and unwanted. This utopian paradise we had created was more than I had ever dreamed of.

Yet, strangely, it was not all sleep's quixotic illusion. Though I pinched myself every morning, I found that, despite myself, I was awake. Life wasn't a dream. It was better. No one, no matter how imaginative, could spin this tale in their mind. Love's story is far more intricate than our dreams can handle.

So here, I find myself, sitting beneath the crystal clear sky, wallowing away the bleak hours of another Saturday. The park's emptiness was enticing and sweet. Covered in white, it glowed against the grey sky.

We stood side by side, stilled by the frosty air and in awe at the harsh radiance of winter.

"Gin?" I whispered, taking your hand in mine. Delicate and cold, it left traces of your pain.

"Hmm?" you mumbled incoherently.

"Do you ever forget?"

"What do you mean?" you asked sitting up to look into my eyes.

I looked out into the sky and said, "Do you ever forget that that you're alive?"

"A tad bit morbid, are we?" you replied with a soft laugh.

I shrugged and said, "I mean do you ever just feel like it's too good to be real?"

"Oh no, now we're getting sappy!" you giggled louder and tickled my sides.

"Ok, maybe it's clichéd, but I just…"

"Just can't think about anything else but me?" you said fluttering your eyelids, making fun of me. "Honestly Draco, I dream about you every night. I love you more than life itself!" And with that you fell into the snow and rolled around, laughing until you cried.

"Fine," I responded sullenly.

"Aww, is my whittle lover angry with me?"

One look at your histrionic face sent me into a rather unattractive fit of laughter.

It seemed, ironically, that moments like these made me feel more alive than anything. Yet it was so paradoxical. Though, for the first time I saw clearly, life was surreal. Days seemed endless and blurred, but strangely each one stuck out in my mind. You always stood out, a brilliant red in a haze of black and white.

You pulled me down into the beautifully frozen snow. We lay side by side, struggling for breath. But as soon as we found it, it was gone again, kissed away by the elusive warmth of your lips. The snow melted underneath us, as we discovered something more important than anything words can describe.

"I love you," you said quietly into the crisp air.

It was then that I knew you had fully committed yourself. Harry was not forgotten, but he was not dwelled on. And though I knew I would never give you what he gave you, I knew that we would not be compared. Your heart had finally let go, at least as much as it could. I knew that he would forever remain a part of you, but at least his spirit was at rest.

With confidence I responded clearly. "I love you, Ginny, more than you know."

I didn't doubt myself or my intentions. Something finally felt right. The lost pieces of my childhood jigsaw puzzle had been found and they were finally coming into place. A painted picture of something amazing was being assembled before my hungry eyes.

We stayed still until night had fallen and the stars had battled their way into the dark against the great clouds. A frozen silence stole down from the sky and left the world in an untouchable place filled with soft magic. No incantations we knew could break the spell that covered us.

For hours we watched the moon rise, until finally our frostbitten skin urged us to stand and walk home. We followed the icy pavement into the hollow city. The neon lights of downtown eerily lit up the streets. The garishly bright pinks, yellows, and greens called out to us, mocking our footsteps. A great sense of anxiousness overcame us and so we hurried away from them towards my flat.

Inside was blacker than outside, but warmer. You hurried off into the kitchen to make hot chocolate, while I lit a fire. The yellow orange flames blazed softly in the stone hearth. Slowly the heat filtered across the room, touching even the most stubborn cold corners.

"Here," you said from behind, handing me a steaming mug.

The sweet smell steamed my eyes, as I raised the cup to my lips. "BLOODY HELL!"

You giggled and said with a smile, "I knew that would happen."

"Aren't you nice then, not bothering to tell me," I said slightly annoyed.

"Mad again?"

"No," I replied angrily as I went off to the couch to pout.

"Liar," you whispered, rolling your eyes.

"Am not."

You crossed your arms, and then plopped down next to me. I, pretending to ignore your presence, turned away and looked into the fire.

You laughed quietly, and leaned over. Kissing my neck, you whispered, "I know you can't be pissed at me forever."

I dug my nails into my hands and definitely nodded.

You shook your head and began to move up towards my lips.

"Stop it," I said, hoping my voice would sound harsh. But it came out more pitiful.

You giggled again and nibbled my lips.

"Damn," I said pulling you in. "I never win these stupid things."

It was impossible to be mad at you, let alone pretend to be angry. You loved to have little stand offs, but I always had a hard time holding out. It usually ended up like this: making out.

Kissing you harder, we began where we had left off in the park. But as the fire died down, you drifted off in my arms. With a small smile on your face, sleep overtook you. And so I, too, surrendered myself to dreams knowing that when I woke up everything would feel the same.