Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the amazing world of Harry Potter!

Chapter 24: Reinventing the Wheel

He seemed so much like the old Draco in that moment. Every emotion seemed to jump off his face and transfer into his urgent demanding kiss. For the first time in four years Ginny had found the man she had fallen in love with.

He slowly pulled away from but did not release her body. He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed in happiness before whispering, "It's you. It was always you."

"What do you mean?" she whispered in a voice that was barely audible. She found that she was afraid to speak for the fear that whatever spell that had been cast over them would be broken.

Draco smiled at her, a brilliant and genuine smile. "You are the one I have been searching for. I think I have always known but I couldn't let myself believe."

Ginny began to laugh. "Draco, I have no idea what you are talking about love."

He chuckled and leaned in and gave her lingering kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry about it Red. All that matters is that I am so in love with you and it has been far too long since I last told you that."

Ginny could hardly breathe from the force of her happiness. She quickly found his lips yet again and kissed him passionately before he swiftly lifted her off the ground and spun her around shouting 'I love her' at the top of his voice, causing both of them to laugh.

When he finally put her back on the ground the happiness was still radiating from him. He continued to touch her and pull her body to his own. They were both more than aroused at this point with the prospect of being together with no strings or complications attached.

Finally, Ginny decided she had had enough of just standing and staring at each other. She back away from him still holding his hands and pulled him with her towards the bed. Once there she allowed him to slip her clothes off her body and begin the process of making love.

That night Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy were once again united on that most physical and emotional of levels. It was more magical than ever before; better than when they were nervous children barely aware of each other's bodies and more intense than their passionate embrace based on rage from the night of the Halloween Ball. For one night no one else in the world existed but the two of them.

Ginny awoke blissfully happy. She had barely slept at all that night and was absolutely exhausted but not surprisingly she did not at all care that she had been awoken time after time in the night by Draco. Neither one could seem to get enough of the other, which was understandable since they had been denied each other's presence for the past four years.

She lifted her head to study the face of the man on whom she was lounging. He looked so happy, even in his sleep. Ginny hadn't seen him look like that in a very, very long time.

She couldn't help but feel a memory that she had been long avoiding pop into her mind. She tried to keep it at bay, to follow Pansy's advice, but her mind won out and she followed her memories down the rabbit hole into the past.

Ginny bounced up and down in her seat as she waited in one of the private rooms at the Leaky Cauldron. She was nervous… no, nervous did not quite cover it. She was nervous but also excited and anxious and… there were just a million and one emotions coursing through her that had put her on edge and made her feel as if she might actually be sick.

Not that she didn't have the right to be feeling this way for Ginny was currently waiting to see Draco for the first time in over three months and she had no clue what was going to happen.

She could no longer handle sitting in one place. She stood and began to pace.

She had not only not seen Draco in three months but she had also not spoken to him. Ever since the nights she had… left he had not responded to any of the letters she had owled him and now the war had officially been over for almost a month and, even though there is no way that he could have not known that she was in London, he had made no effort to see her.

That is until she received a short note yesterday. She pulled it out of her pocket and read it for what must have been the hundredth time and still all it said was:

G,

Meet me tomorrow evening at the Leaky Cauldron at 7. Room 13.

-D

No love, no signs of missing her, no nothing and it was killing her. She knew that he must still be hurt by the way… things ended but she had hoped that he would at least be able to have cooled down enough to at least acknowledge one of her letters. She had sent him at least three dozen if not even more and not a single response was received.

Ginny slowly traced the beautifully scripted D and was just about to raise it unconsciously to her lips when she heard the door slowly open and a pair of shoes take two steps inside.

"Hello Ginny," said a distant, almost cold imitation of her favorite voice in the world.

Ginny slowly lifted her head as he heart sunk. There standing before her was her perfect love. He looked exactly the same: tall, regal with angular features and ice blond hair. What was different about him though was not his looks but the man behind the stare.

Looking into his eyes forced her to suppress a shiver that threatened to creepy down her spine. He was ice cold.

Ginny could barely breathe. The words all sounded forced and she knew it but what else was she supposed to do? Run out of the room crying? No, that was not an option. "Hello Draco… how are you?"

"We need to talk. You have to stop trying to contact me" was all he said in response.

She looked at him confused. "What happened?" she whispered. "I don't understand."

"What is there to not understand? I know that your folk are not known for their brains but I would have thought that even you could grasp the fact that I no longer want to have anything to do with you."

"So wait, that's it? After all the time we have been together you are just going to walk away?"She stared at him willing him to look at her.

"I'm not the one who walked away. As far as I have been concerned we have been over for months."

"No… no! It was not over! It is not over!"

He finally sharply rose his eyes to her and she was taken aback to find that they were filled with pure rage. "Yes it is. I'm done with you." He hissed.

"But… I wrote you almost every day. Every day. You never responded. Why? Why did you never respond?"

"Why bother?"

"Because I love you."

"Well I suppose that is your problem now isn't it?" With those final words he turned and strode out of the room never once looking back.

Ginny had to hold back the familiar wave of tears that threatened to burst forth. This was the memory she had tried in vain to forget and never ever wanted to remember again. For years it had haunted her dreams, catching her unsuspecting any time she had felt that her heart had finally mended. The sound of the pain in his voice came back to her any time she had been with another man, the sight of his back turned walking away from her every time she finally felt herself giving in to total happiness.

She had always known what his words had not said that day, that he loved her and she had broken him. But in those final moments that were the close of their first relationship he had broken her too to a degree that she was never able to fully recover from.

No! It was over. She could not think about that now, not while she was lying in his arms. They were once again together. She needed to let it go. She forced her mind to shove the memories back where they belonged in the lead lined box deep in her mind she had created for them and focused all her attention on Draco once again. She reached up and ran a finger along his skin, tracing his perfectly angular face.

Her soft touch had the desired effect as his long blond eyelashes fluttered open and his face broke into a radiant smile as he focused on her form.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy."

Draco stretched out his limbs before saying, still smiling, in a voice still full of sleep, "Good morning Mrs. Malfoy."

Ginny snorted and placed a soft kiss in the middle of his bare chest. "Strangely, I'm getting used to responding to that."

He smiled down at her and tentatively suggested: "Well maybe one day you'll like it enough to keep it permanently."

She paused for a moment as if in contemplation before responding, "Well there was a long period of time where I had already resolved myself to the idea… and now that the possibility is back on the table I rather just want to… forget everything that has happened and just see where this goes."

"I would like that more than you know." He said softly brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known, inside and out, and now that he had her back he was certain he would never let her go again.

"Hey, how many more days do you have off?" he asked suddenly.

"Umm, I don't know… I was planning on going back on Monday." She mumbled with one eye closed.

He grimaced, that only gave them two days. "Is there any way you could take off a few extra?"

"I suppose, I have three years worth of backed up vacation days… Why? What are you thinking Draco?"

A grin slid across his face. "Perfect!" he said kissing her on the forehead. "You owl the hospital and tell them you are taking an extra week of vacation and I'll take care of the rest."

He slid out from under her and out of the bed. He quickly retrieved his boxer-briefs and then, after slipping them on, crossed the room heading towards the bathroom and his own bedroom.

"Draco!" She called after him. "What are you planning?"

"You'll see," was the only thing he responded.

An hour later Draco returned triumphant. He pranced back into her room and she couldn't help but grin at his carefree demeanor.

"Come in. So I'm assuming your journey went well."

"Why yes it did!" he exclaimed as he crossed the barrier. "Are you ready to go?"

Her face fell slightly in confusion. "But you haven't told me where we're going so I haven't packed anything and what about the rest of the family."

Draco's grin just got wider. "Well of course silly, if I let you pack for yourself that would ruin the surprise! I've asked Blinky and Lilly to pack for us both and send it along after we've gone. And as for the family my grandparents are leaving for a few weeks to go on vacation, mother is in France on business and I doubt my father cares, don't worry about any of them. We will be back before anyone notices. I'm just going to grab a few things for you for this afternoon, if you will allow it, and then join you in my room."

She gave him a look as if she did not trust him enough to leave him alone but she dutifully headed back through their joint bathroom and into his room.

Not even two minutes later he emerged. "Let's be off."

"Draco," Ginny said quietly to catch his attention. She could not stick to the promise she had made herself earlier to leave the past in the past. She had to know. "Before we go anywhere I have to know something… please don't get upset alright?"

He looked at her cautiously before saying, "Alright."

She took a deep breath and said. "I need to know whether or not you received any of the owls I send you during the three months I was gone."

Draco's face had frozen into a neutral expression, not hard and cold but not the inviting happiness from just moments earlier. Perhaps Ginny had made a huge mistake. "Yes."

"Yes you read them?"

"Yes."

Ginny's heart sank ever so slightly. The small shred of hope that she didn't even know she had been harboring that allowed her to believe that he had just never received them died in that moment. "Oh," was all she could make herself say.

"Yes, I received them. And I read all of them. They are tucked into the bottom drawer of my desk."

Her eyes flashed to him. "You kept them?"

He let out a mirthless chuckle. "Of course, I love you. Even when I didn't actually believe that myself I always knew it. I have all those even though I never responded to any of them and then all the ones from summer break in between my sixth and seventh year. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of anything even though I knew for my sanity that I should have. Instead I just tucked it away."

Ginny laughed quietly to herself and then crossed the room to where he stood. She rose up onto her tiptoes and kissed him softly. "Bloody hell we have been so stupid."

Draco chuckled. "Yes we have, mostly me though. I'm sorry."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "No, me too. We just need to leave the past in the past and move forward. I love you."

"I love you too… Sooo are you bout ready then?"

She grinned at him. "Lead the way."

Ginny stepped out of the fireplace with Draco and eagerly looked around. Her first impression was that the place he had brought her was bright, very bright, and warm.

She looked around and was stunned to find herself standing in a hallway with an open door at the end leading out to a very bright, white terrace. Ginny could smell the beach and a warm breezed swirled playfully around her.

She looked up at Draco. "Where are we love?"

He grinned at her cheekily. "Welcome to our new island hideaway."

She was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well… don't get mad at me ok?" he shifted his eyes away from her and almost looked bashful but strangely proud of himself at the same time.

She raised an eyebrow. "'What did you do?"

"I kind of… sort of… bought an island."

Ginny snorted. "You can do that?

"Why yes you can actually. This is now Malfoy Island… it's not a very big island at all but still I figured the grand gesture behind it was just enough over the top."

Ginny made a face and put a finger to his lips to silence him. "I get it… but we're going to have to work on that name love." She said laughing as she stepped away from him to explore.

"What's wrong with that name?" she heard him continue in the room where she had left him. "Malfoy is a good name! It's your name too I might point out madam…"

She shook her head and chuckled before stopping cold. Her mouth dropped open as she walked into a gigantic open room that encompassed a sitting room, kitchen and dining room. Everything was done in white and turquoise and one wall was entirely made out of windows which looked out onto a perfect picturesque beach framed by palm trees.

Draco had really out done himself.

"So what do you think?"

She spun around to see Draco leaning haphazardly against the door frame.

"It's absolutely beautiful Drae."

His face broke out into a grin. "Good! I'm glad you like it. Just consider it a belated wedding present."

Ginny's smile faltered ever so slightly.

"What's wrong Gin?"

"I'm not sure," she said as she moved to sit down on long blue couch. She gestured for him to join her. "It's just… ever since last night you have mentioned three or four times the prospect of us staying together indefinitely, which is fine, it's just…I don't know, all that type of talk just feels like we are moving too fast."

"We've been together for three months already."

"I know! And parts of them have been wonderful but we both know that sometimes it wasn't and I just want to make sure that we don't race back down this road again with exceedingly high expectations when at the end of the year we might not feel the same way. I'm trying to protect both of us from getting hurt again."

Draco shook his head and smiled at her sadly. "This is all my fault. I know, before you say anything else, we both made mistakes and hard choices but we both know that in the end it was me and not you who pulled the plug. I'm truly sorry for that love and I know I can't just flip a switch and things will go right back to the way they used to be. All I'm asking for is a chance to make you want to keep that ring forever. I was serious when I told you that I had been saving it for you, from almost the beginning of our relationship. I always knew I wanted to marry you and last night forced me to see once again that it has been you all along but I don't expect you to automatically revert back. I'm not going to lie to you and say ok I'll stop and we can reevaluate in November, I have every intention of keeping you in my life but if that means I need to move slower right now then so be it. But I just need to make sure that you know I finally found a cause I believe in enough to fight for it: us."

Ginny continued to contemplate momentarily what he had said before slowly nodding her head. "Alright, I can accept that. Well, we don't have to take things that slow. After last night there doesn't seem to be much of a point and I personally have missed everything about your body so slow in that department is just entirely unacceptable, but I do want us to enter into the understanding that I at least am considering the time between now and November to be a… probation period of sorts. Not as in we both need to walk on eggs shells but as in let's try to have a functioning relationship and see how it goes."

"I feel that I can agree to that." Draco said as the genuine smile began to return to his face.

"And I guess while we're on serious subjects we should discuss who we are telling the truth to."

"Well I don't know about you but I don't see why we have to tell anyone anything. We are already married in public and decent friends to the people who matter, why don't we just try to keep this between the two of us, not let anyone else's opinions matter, because let's face it both of our families and all our friends are rather opinionated.

Ginny made a sound that sounded almost like a snort. "That is the understatement of the century, literally."

"So are we good then love?"

"Yes." She smiled. "We are on the same page now I believe. Sooo when you were rummaging around in my room did you by any chance pick up one of my swimsuits?"

Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out two small pieces of red cloth which Ginny recognized immediately. He re-enlarged them to normal size which did not make it look very much bigger and looked up at her with a gigantic smirk on his face. "I found this." He said triumphantly holding the barely there bikini top up to his broad chest.

Ginny's eyebrow shot up. "Why am I not surprised? Of course you did."

He held up the barely there top and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "When did little Miss Ginevra Weasley start buying clothing like this?"

"When she became a free agent and spent three weeks at Christmas completely drunk and doing unspeakable things in Mexico."

Draco's face faltered. "What kind of unspeakable things?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." She said cheekily before kissing him quickly on the lips and dashing from the room to continue exploring.

"Yes!" he called after her, hot on her trail. "Yes I would!... Will you at least show me?"

Wow sorry guys. I'm crazy insane right now. Juggling WAAAAY too much in my personal life and then I just had no idea where I wanted to go with this chapter. I have been struggling with serious writers block in general BUT now this chapter is done, a little short but DONE! YAY! Annnnnd fun filled news is that there are probably…. I think I'm going to stretch it out to 3 more chapters left in the whole story… wow I can't believe I'm so close to being done… tear…. But they aren't out of the woods yet! Ok enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Care