Draco stood before the mirror feeling really and truly thankful it was not magical. There was nothing like a Muggle mirror to show you the plain, unvarnished truth. He could remember the mirror is his dorm at Hogwarts, it had always told him that he had aquiline and aristocratic features. Apparently the mirror's idea of aristocratic meant pointy and his 'regal bearing' really meant that his was on the skinny side. Of course, maybe fresh out of the shower was not the best place to examine his hair- it did look rather like dandelion fluff at the moment, but he could get that feature under control. Possibly.

He had to admit his whole life post- Hogwarts had been rather a wake up call. The things that his parents had valued so highly were meaningless in the real world. Now that he was without the Malfoy name and influence he had nothing. He hadn't stayed in school to get his NEWT's, he had managed- with Ginny's help, to get the wizards equivalent of a GED and she had helped him take some more classes in potions and apothecary so he was at least making some money.

And here was the littlest Weasel; a person his father had always said would never amount to anything. A person he had believed would never accomplish anything other then, perhaps, having more children then her mother. He had taunted her and her brother through school about her poverty. Although, granted he had backed off of her after the bat boogey incident, he was by no means pleasant to her. And here he was. He was desperately attracted to her; he had loved living with her. She had become a friend in the truest sense of the word; he couldn't imagine her not being there. To bad he wasn't good enough even to ask her out to dinner.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ginny stood in the shower room at her gym, staring into the slightly foggy mirror and stealing glances at the many better-endowed and classier women primping. Sometime she still felt like the littlest weasel, especially when faced with the likes of Draco Malfoy in her living room. Especially Draco curled up on her couch with a toddler. Well, she'd come a long way since then…. Really. Maybe if he was interested, maybe she wasn't the only one with a crush, maybe….

Snort

Yeah, right.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been just over a week since Harry had been behind the door when he opening the door on Harry and the rest of the trio again, surprising the hell out of him. They were frantic about finding Ginny, Ron practically ran him over checking the house. Hermione had the common sense to at least ask Draco where she was. Judging by the lack of surprise on Hermione and Ron's faces, they must have been warned before showing up about his new residence. That didn't stop the Weasel King from throwing what he considered evil and threatening glances towards Draco at every opportunity.

Draco's confusion must have been showing on his face, because Harry finally- after assuring Ginny would apparate home at the earliest moment, finally explained what the big deal was. Apparently the Death Eaters as well as some vigilante do-gooders were coming for Ginny; someone had seen her and ratted her out.

Harry just shook his head at Draco, his eyes following Ron as he paced in the living room. "Apparently some people believe that Ginny might be able to resurrect Voldemort if he ever dies thanks to her first year." He rolled his eyes for emphasis. "The Death Eaters want her just in case to protect their lord and these other idiots think they are protecting the rest of us from the dark lord being reborn when I do actually kill him - I'm not sure which group is more nuts."

Just as Ginny apparated into the living room, nearly landing right on top of her brother, Hermione spotted some suspicious black robes heading up the walk way next doors. Ginny and Draco both instantly grabbed their wands, almost beating the trio to the door. There was no way Draco was going to let those freaks get their paws on their friends. Amanda and her little girl had become fast friends with both Draco and Ginny despite being Muggles. They could not allow them to be hurt just because they happened to live next door to two wanted wizarding folk.

Ron shoved them both back. "Get the hell out of here Ginny and don't tell anyone where you are, we'll take care of them. I promise."

Draco ran quickly to grab a few things, Ginny did the same. They could hear the spells going off next door and they were frantically packing. It was quickly apparent that bath had some practice in the emergency packing department.

Ginny quickly side apparated them into her car she had left at the gym and they took off. She quickly waved her wand over her purse, showing Draco how to charm his drivers license and ATM cards to be untraceable and then quickly changed the plates and color of the car. Driving quickly, the got on the freeway and headed west.

Draco finally fell asleep when they reached Seattle, but Ginny turned south and drove until they reached Oregon before finally pulling off. Still shaken, they both wordlessly ate a quick dinner and tumbled into sleep in the motels hard bed. The next morning they headed south again, grabbing fast food and stopping at rest areas. It was late at night again before they stopped at motel in another snowy area and trudged themselves in to the entrance. Draco was completely disoriented, he knew they were in California but this was about as far away from sunny beaches as you could get.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a few weeks to get settled again. Apparently they had landed in Tahoe. It took time to find a house. Ginny explained that they needed to actually buy one so that the wards could be tuned into them specifically. Draco was amazed yet again by what Ginny knew about all this stuff, but it gave him a real sense of pride when he was able to add some new wards on top based on the stuff his parents had taught him. They managed to find work in a small local hospital, small enough to be desperate and not raise too many questions. After the incident with Amanda, they were both gun shy about making new friends. So they spent most of their time together. Ginny showed him how to ski, which was brilliant, almost like flying and he was teaching his roommate how to cook. Well, how not to burn water.

Which could be why it seemed like a good idea to go celebrate getting settled by going out to the local pub and dancing, maybe even doing some gambling. South Lake Tahoe was so close, they could get a couple of nice hotel rooms so they wouldn't have to drive home drunk. Have a leisurely brunch before heading back. Relax.

Draco was a little excited about hitting a Nevada gambling establishment. It wasn't Las Vegas, but all of the bright lights were certainly intriguing for someone not raised with them. He could tell Ginny was pretty intrigued too. He could imagine it was a pretty far step away from the way momma Weasley raised her children. Although from what he could remember, he would be willing to bet her dad would be in raptures as they drew closer.

In hindsight, Draco had to admit drinking that much with someone he had fallen hopelessly head over heels in love with was probably not the best idea. When he woke up the next morning, curled up with a dead sexy red head and unable to remember a thing, life did not seem quite so good. Fortunately they had made their peace with the whole sleeping together thing before they found out about the rest of their evening. Apparently, the motel provided free brunch to people the morning after they got married.

He'd always thought he'd remember his own wedding. Good thing his new in-laws, after some persuasion from his new wife (his eardrums were never going to be the same), were allowing them to do a binding ceremony in the yard at the Burrow. They had been happily married for almost five years now, his beautiful wife was just starting to show with their first child and they were finally able to return to England. It wasn't the life he thought he'd ever have, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Chapel rental $50, Rings $300… Knowing you get to spend the rest of your life with a sexy redhead, priceless.