Disclaimer: Unfortunately, my name isn't J. K. Rowling...which means that I own nothing. While you guys read, I'll go cry in the corner about the fact that I didn't create this marvelous world and these amazing characters.

"Do you need anything else?" asked Draco, passing me the cup of cold water I had asked him for.

Draco has cast a Disillusionment Charm on me and managed to get me into the Slytherin common room without any problems. It had been quite a feat since I my legs were still kind of shaky so I had to grasp onto his arm to keep from falling.

As Draco settled beside me on the end of his bed, I saw the evident concern written on his face and I was oddly pleased.

"No, I don't need anything else. Thank you though," I murmured, wrapping my hands around the cup of water.

Draco only nodded. I could feel Draco's eyes on me but I refused to glance up again. For the last few days, I had imagined this moment where I had finally gathered enough courage to tell Draco how I felt and now that that moment was here, I was unbelievably nervous.

I took a small sip of water and then cleared my throat. "Did you lock the dormitory door?"

"I did. Why?"

I shrugged, looking down at my lap. "Because I don't want anyone walking in and seeing me."

I heard Draco blow out a breath and then the bed shifted beside me. When he spoke, his voice was low and full of warmth. "Ginny, look at me."

When I refused to lift my face, I felt cool fingers under my chin. Draco gently lifted my face up and turned me towards him.

"What?" I breathed.

"I can tell that you really want to tell whatever you wanted to tell me but you're scared. Why are you scared?"

I swallowed hard. "Because we haven't spoken pleasantly to each other in what feels like forever. You'll think this is out of the blue."

Draco dropped his hand from my face but I kept my eyes locked with his. "I'm scared too."

I frowned. "Why are you scared?"

"I'm scared you'll never forgive me."

"Forgive you? Forgive you for what?"

Draco gave me a small smile. "For everything that I did to you. I dragged you into my mess with the Dark Lords mission. I didn't tell you about what the Vanishing Cabinet was going to be used for. I crashed your eldest brother's wedding. I've just been a terrible person towards you but honestly, I would be able to live with all that if it wasn't you I did it to."

My hands tightened around the glass I still cradled and I had to set it on the nightstand before it shattered in my grip. At Draco's words, my heart expanded and I felt warmth crawling throughout my body. I could tell now that I just needed to take that leap of faith. The time was right and I could not wait any longer.

I crawled across the bed and knelt on the blankets beside Draco. He looked confused but he turned to face me with a bemused smile. I smiled brilliantly at him and cupped his face with my small hands. I leaned forward and pressed our foreheads together.

"Ginny," he breathed. He said my name like a prayer, like I was someone precious. His hands came up and cupped my cheeks and our arms encircled us together like we were in our own world.

"Draco," I whispered, my lips just brushing his.

"Ginny?"

"I love you. I love you so completely and absolutely."

For what seemed like the longest moment, the only sound was our breaths mixing together. I was utterly nervous for his reaction but I took comfort in the fact that he wasn't tense under my hands and his thumbs were stroking my cheeks.

I finally broke when I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Did I scare you?"

Draco chuckled lightly. "Not at all."

I frowned, slightly disappointed. "That's all you're going to say?"

Draco chuckled again. "Ginny Weasley…I realized that I was in love with you when we were up in the Astronomy Tower and you kissed my Dark Mark. That's when you confessed how you felt about me and even though you said it wasn't love, I knew then that I was a goner."

I felt a single tear slip out of the corner of my eye and Draco lightly wiped it away.

"I love you Ginny Weasley. Plain and simple."

Words could not describe the euphoria I was feeling. I was finally where I wanted to be and I was with the person I belonged with. There was no doubt in my mind that I was Draco's and Draco was mine. I was whole with him. He completed me in an indescribable way and I knew that I completed him also. We were so different yet so alike and it felt perfect in that moment to be together.

I giggled with happiness and closed the distance between us. The moment our lips touched, it felt like coming home.

When we finally broke apart for air, Draco leaned his forehead against mine and I could feel his smile.

"Draco?" I asked, blushing. I counted my stars that we were pressed so close together that Draco couldn't see my red cheeks.

"Hmm?"

I threaded my fingers in his soft blonde hair so he wouldn't be able to pull back to look at me. I was nervous to say the words but I knew that this is what I wanted without a doubt.

"Make love to me."

Like I had guessed, Draco tried to pull back at my words but I kept him pressed to me. "Ginny?"

"I love you. I want you. I want to be yours, completely."

He groaned quietly but it wasn't a disgruntled groan. "Are you one hundred percent sure? I want to, I really do but I also don't want to take advantage of you."

I grew bolder knowing that he wanted me in the same sense that I wanted him. "I want this. I want you. I'm sure. I want you here and now."

"Here and now? In the dormitory?" he asked, pressing his fingers into my hips.

I smiled and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "We have a bit before the Slytherins come up here to bed."

Draco returned my kiss to the tip of my nose. "You're sure?"

"I want nothing more."

The next thing I know, our lips are pressed hungrily together. My hands are in his hair and his hands are on my hips and I just lose myself to the moment.

"Did I hurt you?" Draco asked me for about the hundredth time as we laid together after.

Draco and I were entwined together, covered only by his emerald green blankets. The hangings were closed and a silencing charm enveloped us. All the other Slytherins were sleeping but Draco wanted me to stay the night and I didn't want to leave so we stayed hunkered down in our own private world.

"It always hurts for girls the first time," I explained again. "But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It was wonderful and perfect."

Draco's arms tightened around me and he resumed stroking my hair. "Good. I'm glad I could make it wonderful and perfect for you."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked, nuzzling my cheek against his shoulder.

"Of course."

"What does this mean for us now? Do we still just pretend to be friends like last year?"

Draco was quiet for a thoughtful moment. "It's up to you. My friends love you and I can deal with any repercussions from my family for openly being with you. Are you okay with the entire school and your family knowing we're together?"

Now it was my turn to sink into a thoughtful silence. Would I able to deal with the ramifications of being open about my relationship? Could I tolerate the snide remarks and anger and the disbelief from my friends? I knew that if my family found out, they would pressure me to end it and make excuses, like he used the Confundus Charm on me. Would I be able to stand up to that kind of pressure from my family?

If it was just for me, I probably couldn't. But it wasn't just for me. It was for me and Draco. If it was for our relationship, I would fight for it. I would stand up for it and I wouldn't let anyone tell me who to be with.

"Yes," I finally said.

"Yes what?"

I shifted slightly so I could press a chaste kiss to Draco's bare shoulder. "Yes, I would be okay with my family and the school knowing we're together. I'm tough. I can deal with anything they throw at me."

"So…Ginny Weasley is my girlfriend?"

"And Draco Malfoy is my boyfriend."

Draco laughed. "I can't wait to kiss you in front of Blaise. He'll be so jealous."

I lightly elbowed him in the ribs with a smile. "If that's the only reason you want to date me, I think we should break up."

"You should hear how Blaise talks about you," explained Draco. "He always says how pretty you are and how much he misses seeing your smiling face hanging out with us."

"Wasn't Blaise the one what said you were the one that couldn't stop talking about me?"

I could practically feel Draco rolling his eyes. "C'mon Weasley, that was last year."

I giggled. "So you're totally over your obsession with me then?"

Draco looked down at me wrapped in his arms and smiled brilliantly at me. "Not even close."

The next morning, I woke blissfully happy. I felt like I glowed as I slipped out of Draco's sleeping grasp, quickly threw my clothes back on and skipped down to the Slytherin common room after pressing a kiss to Draco's forehead.

My happiness shattered when Astoria stopped me right when I was about to sneak out of the common room undetected.

"I knew it," she said, her arms crossed as she leaned against the stone wall. We were the only two in the common room and I really wanted to leave before anyone else was awake.

"Knew what?"

"I'm not stupid," she laughed. "Oh stop looking so worried. I'm not mad or anything. I mean, why would I be? Honestly, I feel like it's about time."

I decided to play dumb. "What are you talking about?"

"You and Draco of course. When he came in last night, he was acting funny and walking kind of funny. It was like he was trying to support someone and he went straight to the dormitory and he never does that," explained Astoria. "I didn't know what it was but I wasn't going to pry. And then you come down from the dormitory the next morning looking all blissed out and it makes total sense now."

I could feel my happy bubble swelling again in my chest and I couldn't help but smile. "I love him."

Astoria is usually calm and cool but she turned into a total girl at that. "Oh my god! Did you tell him that? What did he say? If he was rude I'm going to hex him so bad he'll wish he had never been born. Did he say it back?"

I nodded. "He did."

"I knew that little ferret had it in him."

I burst out laughing and I only stopped when I heard footsteps shuffling down the stairs. Astoria and I both froze and I only breathed again when Draco strolled into the common room, looking rumpled and not quite awake.

"I was wondering where you were," he said, coming up beside me and pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Mornin' love."

I blushed a deep crimson at his tenderness while Astoria just smiled like a maniac at us. Draco being this tender and soft hearted was new to me and it seemed to constantly make me blush. It made my knees weak to know that someone thought I was so special. I felt cherished and it was a new feeling to me.

"Morning handsome," I mumbled back, wanting Draco to hear but embarrassed what Astoria would think.

Draco didn't seem to care as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side.

Astoria raised an eyebrow. "So you two are together then?"

I nodded, my happiness in full throes. "Yeah we are. We're finally totally open about it."

"Finally open about it? How long have you two been together?"

I looked up at Draco with confusion. "You didn't tell her?"

"No. I didn't tell anyone."

Astoria put her hands on her hips and glared at us. "What are you two talking about? I kind of just thought you got together last night after many months of having a crush on each other. Are you guys saying that all those months where I just thought you secretly liked each other, you've actually been together and you're only being open with it now?"

"Kind of, yeah," I laughed. "I mean, we were together in secret for months last year and then after the Vanishing Cabinet mess, we broke it off. We kind of rekindled things last night and we agreed that we would be open with it this time around."

"Well congratulations are in order then," said Astoria. "You two make a very cute couple."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Thank you for letting me know. I don't think I could date Weasley if you didn't think we were cute together."

Astoria stuck out her tongue and turned to the common room entrance. "Well, I'm going to breakfast and leaving you two have some lovey-dovey time. Try not to snog each other's face off."

After Astoria was gone, I turned to look up at Draco with a smile. "We're going to have to get used to teasing like that from you're friends. They are going to have too much fun with you."

"You don't think they'll tease you?"

I flounced out of Draco's arms and swept my hair back dramatically. "Nah, they think I'm too good looking to tease. Especially Blaise."

Draco growled and I tore out of the common room laughing as Draco chased me, his laughter mixing with mine and bouncing around the corridor.

Draco and I decided to start slow. That morning, I sat beside him at the Slytherin table for the first time in months. I got many weird looks from the Slytherins and I refused to look at the Gryffindor table. I didn't want to deal with my friends yet when I was still bouncing on cloud nine.

My Slytherin friends welcomed me back in their midst with open arms. We talked like I hadn't avoided them for months and I realized how much I had missed their company.

"Welcome back Weasley," said Blaise, ambling to the Slytherin table last and sitting beside Astoria, across from me.

"Thanks," I said, smiling down at my cereal as I poured milk. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course," said Blaise, laying his hand across his chest like I had wounded him just by asking. "There was no one half as beautiful to admire with you gone!"

"Hey!" Astoria, Daphne and Pansy chorused.

We all fell back into comfortable conversation but I could tell that Draco was getting slightly annoyed by Blaise's subtle flirting. I was starting to see what Draco had been talking about and I knew that now that Draco was my boyfriend—even though we weren't yelling it to the world yet—it was my job to put an end to Blaise's attempts at seducing.

"Well, I better go," I said, turning to Draco. "I have to go shower and change before class."

"Can I join you?" Blaise asked suggestively. I knew his flirting was all in good fun but I could sense Draco tensing beside me.

"What class do you have first?" Draco asked, making an effort to ignore Blaise.

"Charms, I think. What about you?"

"Potions," he said, grimacing.

I stood up and smoothed down my rumpled robes. Draco smiled, knowing why they were so creased.

"I'll see you for lunch?" I asked, only looking at Draco.

He smiled up at me and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here."

Without looking, I knew Blaise was confused with our conversation and I decided to take pity on him and fill him in on what was going on. I leaned down with a smile and pressed a kiss to Draco's cool lips. He was surprised but he eagerly returned my affection. When I pulled back, he was grinning at me like crazy.

"See you later," I said, running my hand over his shoulders as I walked away.

Before I was out of earshot, I heard Blaise start laughing. "Damn Malfoy, why do you get all the good looking girls?"

I giggled to myself and strolled out of the Great Hall, my deep burning happiness glowing brightly.

Review! Review! Please, Review, with a cherry on top!

Honestly, I am beyond happy with this chapter. I know it was a long time coming and it took me absolutely forever to get this chapter just right. Without a doubt, this was my favourite chapter to write so far. Tell me what you think of the turn of events in this chapter! I know this entire chapter is complete fluff but considering all the heartache Ginny and Draco have went through, I feel like this is more than deserved.

I know it took my a very long time to update so thank you so much to everyone that have stuck with me! I love you all and I can't wait to hear what you all think!