SPOILERS: SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP, QA, FB

SHIPS: Harry/Ginny at first, eventually Draco/Ginny.

RATED: NC-17 P-W-P. Use the honor system – if you’re under 18, don’t read it!

AUTHOR’S NOTES: This was written especially for my friend Cyn (Rainpuddle13 on LJ). This is her fic! I hope she likes it! :)

Ginny stared at the veil in her hand and sighed. How had things gone this far? In three days time, she was set to married the Savior of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter. It promised to be the most important social event of the year, and accordingly, an open invitation had been printed in the Daily Prophet. Of course, Harry had only allowed that after Hermione had convinced him that the press and anyone else who wanted in badly enough would find a way.

She placed the veil back inside its box and closed the lid, then slid the box beneath her bed. She laid back on her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. For about three months now, she’d been having doubts about this wedding. She’d been dating Harry for two years when he’d finally proposed, and she’d happily accepted. For another year she had harassed him to settle on a date. When the next year had come and gone and he still hadn’t set one, she’d asked him for a break in their relationship. She’d gone her own way for a while, and life had been wonderful.

He had been wonderful.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think of him; his white-blonde locks constantly falling in his eyes, or his steely orbs watching her every motion. She’d run into him shortly after breaking things off with Harry, and they’d struck up a conversation, to her amazement. He had been perfectly civil, asking her what she’d done since the fall of Voldemort. He hadn’t seen her since the Order had disbanded. He’d been a member, but after they’d achieved their goal of defeating the Dark Lord, he’d had no reason to keep ties with any of them.

That conversation had led to dinner, which had led to her staying the night at the Manor. She’d gone the next morning before he’d woken, thinking it would be better that way. The entire day she’d chided herself for succumbing to his charms; but he’d been so easy to talk to. He’d listened to her, and he’d answered with intelligent talk of his own. It was refreshing, and it had been just what she’d needed, although she’d wondered the entire day what might have happened if she’d stayed in bed and not fled at the first light of morning.

The next several days passed with no word from either man, and she fell into a routine – go to work, come home, make dinner, watch the telly, and go to bed. One night she was in the middle of preparing dinner when there was a knock at the door. She’d been surprised to see Draco leaning against the doorjamb.

“Do you know how difficult it was to find out where you live, Ginny Weasley?”

She’d invited him in and wound up making dinner for both of them. The next thing she knew, they were in her bed. When she woke up the next morning, she was greeted by the sound of his breathing beside her.

After that, they’d been damn near inseparable. That lasted for all of four months.

One night after a particularly taxing day at work, Ginny arrived home to find her flat inundated with roses. Red roses, peach roses, yellow roses – they were everywhere. She’d smiled to herself, thinking that this time, Draco had really outdone himself. After all, it was not uncommon for him to leave surprises for her to find when she came home – once he’d even left her a gold necklace with a tiny heart charm on it.

She had just lifted a white rose to sniff it when there was a knock at the door. She opened it and beamed at Draco, who had remained silent as he came in and inspected the scene that lay before him.

“Is something wrong?” she had asked. He’d turned and fixed her with a glare that had made her blood run cold.

“So it’s true then.”

“What’s true?”

“What Potter said.”

“Pot-“ she stopped and stared at him. “What on earth are you talking about, Draco?”

“The roses,” he’d said, gesturing wildly around the room. “I ran into Potter today, and he was buying an insane amount of roses. He saw me and just couldn’t resist telling me that he’d managed to win his fiancée back.” Ginny’s eyes had widened, and her mouth had dropped open.

“What?”

“Yes,” Draco’s voice had been low and dangerous. “And I just had to come and see for myself.” He’d turned and headed towards the door, only stopping when he was halfway through it. “I hope the two of you are very happy together.”

By the time Ginny had gathered her wits about her, he was long gone. She tried owling him, but the letters were always returned unopened. She’d tried going to the Manor, but he’d set up wards to keep her off of the grounds. She’d even tried bribing an old friend of his, but to no avail. The man had simply run off with her money.

Resigned to the fact that the man she was madly in love with wanted no contact with her, she’d accepted Harry’s re-proposal a week later. She was still very fond of Harry, but she’d lost the love she’d once held for him. He’d pressed things along and set a wedding date immediately after they’d gotten back together. Still she’d waited every day for word from Draco.

It never came.

That had been scarcely eight months ago, and now she was on the verge of being bound to Harry for the rest of her life. The prospect was terrifying. She rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow. She’d never been able to stop thinking about Draco, and no matter how much she tried, she could never find a flaw with their relationship.

He had been caring and considerate as both a boyfriend and a lover. He’d been generous and kind, and had provided her with intelligent conversation and witty banter. He’d never failed to amuse her, and had even attempted a visit to the Burrow for her. That had been a miserable failure, but only because Ron had decided to pick a fight. If his wife hadn’t calmed him down, Ginny was sure there would have been casualties.

She pounded the bed with her balled-up fists. Why had she let things progress this far? She loved Draco, there was no doubt in her mind about that. She didn’t love Harry; she had only a sort of fondness for him, as one does for a friend that they haven’t seen in ages, but used to be close to. So why was she about to marry him and make vows committing herself to him for the next however many years?

She sat up and began searching for a spare bit of parchment and her quill, then took them to her dining room table, where she sat down to write Draco a letter.

Draco,

I hope this letter finds you well, and that you decide this time to open it, rather than to send it back to me. I have been trying to tell you since the moment you left my flat that I thought those roses were from you. I had no idea that they were from Harry at all, until you told me so. I am going to be married to Harry in three days, unless you give me a reason not to do it. I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want to walk out on him unless I have good reason to do it, though, and if I don’t hear from you before then, I will be forced to believe that you don’t care for me in return. I know I never told you that I loved you because we had discussed it and decided that four months wasn’t long enough to know whether or not it was love – but that was stupid of us. I love you. I knew it then, and I know it now. Nothing that has happened in the time we’ve been apart has changed that. I hope you answer this either way, if you care about me or not, so I can stop rehashing everything that happened in my mind. Please, all I’m asking is that if you don’t love me, give me some closure and tell me so.

Always,
Your Ginny

Before she could have second thoughts, she rolled up the parchment and sealed it with wax and handed it to her caramel-colored owl.

“Take it to Draco Malfoy,” she instructed it. She watched as it flew away, and her heart thumped wildly in her breast. Would he answer this time? She said a fervent prayer as she climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

The morning of the wedding, Ginny awoke with dread pooling in the pit of her stomach. She stayed in bed for as long as was justifiably possible, only rising when her dread turned to nausea and required a trip to the loo.

After she’d cleaned herself up, she went back into her bedroom and stared out of the window. Even though her letter to Draco hadn’t been returned as all of the others had, it hadn’t been answered, either. She sighed heavily and moved to her closet to extract her wedding dress.

It was a simple dress, and she thought that it represented the thing she most wanted in her future – simplicity. A lack of complications would be nice for a change, since at the present, her life was anything but simple.

She pulled the dress on and silently repeated to herself all of the reasons that she was about to go through with this marriage. Her parents loved Harry. Her friends loved Harry. Her brothers loved Harry.

Actually, now that she thought about it, everyone loved Harry except her.

She slipped her shoes on and pulled the box that contained the veil and tiara out from beneath her bed. At this point, it would hurt everyone if she backed out. Harry would be hurt and feel betrayed, not to mention her family, who had basically been expecting this marriage since she was ten.

She adjusted the tiara atop her copper hair and pinned it in place. For Draco, she would be willing to risk their anger and disappointment. If he had written back and communicated even the slightest interest in her, she would have broken things off with Harry right then and there. As things stood, though, he appeared thoroughly uninterested.

She inspected her appearance in the mirror quickly one time before apparating to the church where they were to be married. Immediately she was rushed off into a room by her mother, the door clicking shut behind them.

“Where in the world have you been?” her mother asked. “We were afraid you weren’t going to show up!”

“I’m fine, Mum, as you can see. I’m here now, so there’s no need to worry. How close are we to starting? Does everything look all right?” Her mother fell silent for a moment, and then averted her eyes. Ginny arched an eyebrow at her.

“The sanctuary looks lovely – just like we’d hoped,” Molly said, her eyes darting around the room. “And it’s full to overflowing with people. We’re scheduled to start in less than three minutes.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Ginny asked suspiciously.

“What? There’s nothing wrong, darling.”

“Mum, you’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m not lying – there’s nothing wrong.”

“Then why won’t you look at me?” Molly sighed and looked at the ceiling.

“Harry isn’t here yet.” Ginny stared at her mother, uncomprehending for a moment. When the words sunk in, her jaw dropped.

“He’s stood me up?” she gasped. Before Molly could answer, the sound of the bridal march drifted in through the closed door. “I’m not going out there if he isn’t here!” She shrieked.

“Now, darling,” Molly soothed, opening the door and pushing her daughter out. “He’s probably just running late, like you were.” She handed her a bouquet of red and white roses. Ginny was just about to comment on the irony of her husband-to-be’s choice of flowers when the door to the sanctuary opened and she stumbled onto the walkway.

Since there was nothing more to be done, she gritted her teeth and began her slow, painful trek to the altar. When she got there, she was surprised to see Harry standing rigidly in front of the Minister. He didn’t turn to look at her or to lift her veil, so she lifted it herself. She eyed him cautiously, taking in the details of his appearance.

He was white-knuckled, and his hands were balled into fists at his side. His face was pale – so pale that she thought he almost looked like he was about to pass out. There were beads of sweat on his brow. As she watched him, a drop of sweat trickled down the side of his face. She snapped out of her reverie just as the Minister asked if anyone had any reasons to object.

“Harry,” she whispered. His eyes darted towards her, even though his body didn’t move at all. “I don’t think I can do this.” Immediately he sighed and his stiff posture relaxed as he turned to her.

“Thank God,” he breathed. She blinked. It wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting, to say the least. “I love you, Gin, but not in that way. At least, not any more.”

“Same here. Should we make an announcement?” Harry nodded and grasped her hand as they turned to face everyone in attendance.

“We’ve decided that perhaps today isn’t the right day for us to get married, after all,” he said. There was a deadly silence before the room erupted into whispers and conversation. “But we have one hell of a party set up, and it would be a shame to waste everything, so please feel free to head over to the reception and enjoy the party.” With that, Harry turned to her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you, Ginny.” She nodded and gave him a somewhat sad smile.

“This is the best thing for the both of us, Harry.”

“Are you coming to the reception?” She glanced around as people rose from their seats and headed through the doors at the back of the church.

“I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not in much of a celebrating mood.” He frowned at her.

“I thought you didn’t want to get married.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “I didn’t want to marry you. I’m glad we stopped before we made a mistake. I just don’t feel much like being around people, is all.” He nodded and hugged her tightly before giving her a huge grin.

“Well, I think I’m going to go and get pissed. If you change your mind…” he shrugged and turned to leave the sanctuary with everyone else. When she was finally alone in the church, she turned back to the altar and removed her veil and tiara. She placed them gingerly on the altar and sighed. She hadn’t gotten married today after all, but there was still no cause for happiness. Now not only was she without a fiancé, she was without anyone at all.

She turned to leave and found herself face to face with the very person that she’d been longing for just the second before. She stared openly at him, her chest heaving with a mixture of excitement and dread. He stayed silent for a long moment before speaking.

“You didn’t get married, then.”

“No, I didn’t,” she replied breathlessly. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then closed it again. After doing this several times, he finally found his voice.

“I got your letter.”

“Oh.”

“I read it.”

“Oh.”

Silence. And then, “Did you mean what you wrote?”

“Which part?”

“All of it.”

“Yes, I meant it. I thought that you had sent me the flowers.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You left before I had a chance to.”

“Oh.” More silence.

“Is that all you came for? To tell me that you got my letter?” Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she feared she wouldn’t be able to hear his answer.

“I thought you would be married by the time I got here.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” she snapped, her temper flaring slightly. He blinked, and then frowned back at her.

“I wasn’t coming to add to the well-wishers,” he said angrily.

“Then why did you come?” Her hands flew to her hips.

“I came to tell you that I didn’t want you to marry Potter!”

“What?” she asked, surprised.

“I didn’t want you to marry Potter.”

“Oh,” she said, her hands falling limply to her sides.

“Why didn’t you get married?” he asked curiously. Her cheeks turned pink as she looked away from him.

“I just couldn’t do it. I convinced myself that it was the best thing to do, but when I finally got to the altar and looked at him, I couldn’t do it.”

“Any particular reason why?” he asked softly. Slowly she lifted her eyes to meet his.

“Yes.” He licked his lips.

“Are you going to share, or is it a secret reason?”

“I think you already know why. I said so in my letter.”

“Yes, well,” he said, shrugging. “It never hurts to refresh my memory. You know how I forget things.” She arched an eyebrow at him.

“You never forget anything,” she said. “Besides, I’m not going to make a declaration of my feelings when I’ve already done so and gotten no response.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” he asked angrily.

“So? For all you know, I could have been married when you got here!”

“Impossible!” he snapped back. “I was sitting in the back, watching you both the whole time! I had hoped that he wasn’t even going to show, but he popped in here right before you did.”

“You were here watching?”

“Of course I was! Surely you didn’t think that I was going to just let you marry him like that!”

“But you-“ her voice died as she struggled to make sense of things. “You returned all of my letters and wouldn’t let me in to see you! You never answered this last letter!”

“I only got it this morning! My ruddy owl is getting senile, and I just found out that he’s been returning my mail to the senders for several months now! It’s a wonder I even got that letter!”

“You haven’t been sending my letters back, then?” she asked, her head beginning to reel.

“No, you silly cow! I’ve been waiting for you to send word that you wanted to see me, or talk to me, or something!”

“But… then why didn’t you contact me?”

“I heard you were planning a wedding, and didn’t think you wanted to hear from me anymore.”

“I never wanted to marry Harry after we…” her voice trailed off and she turned her face away from him, embarrassed by the hot tears that slid down her cheeks. He slipped a finger beneath her chin and gently forced her to look at him.

“I let my temper get the best of me. I let Potter get the best of me that day in the flower shop. I should never have listened to him. We’ve wasted all these months when we could have been together instead.”

“Do you mean-“

“I still want to be with you,” he said, nodding. “I’ve never wanted to be with anyone as much as I want to be with you.” She flung her arms around him and squeezed him.

“Oh, Gods, I’ve missed you so much,” she confessed, breathing in his spicy scent. “I thought you never wanted to see me again.”

“Yes, well,” he said softly. “I thought you never wanted to see me again, either. When I got that letter at breakfast, I thought I’d already lost you.” She kept her arms around his neck, pulling away just enough so that she could look him in the eye.

“You could never lose me.”

“I almost did, and all because of my stubborn pride.”

“But we’re here now,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I’m not married, after all.”

“You look beautiful,” he said, his eyes sparkling.

“Thank you,” she replied, trying to ignore the heat that rose in her face. His eyes roamed over her face for several moments. Just when she was about to open her mouth to speak again, he leaned forward and slid his lips against hers. A soft moan escaped her, and his arms tightened around her.

“I take it that you’re not going to the reception?” he asked, his voice husky. She shook her head. “Then why don’t we go back to the Manor and have a little celebration of our own?”

“Or we could go to my flat – it’s closer.”

“Your flat it is, then.” She buried her face in the space between his neck and shoulder and held on for dear life as he apparated the both of them back to her flat. When the dizziness from the apparation had passed, she pulled away and looked up at him.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.” Her heart sped up.

“Thirsty?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to get you anything?”

“There’s nothing that I want from the kitchen,” he said, his eyes darkening. “There’s only one thing I want, and you’re standing in front of me.”

“Oh,” she whispered, her knees beginning to feel weak. Her eyes were locked on his face as he reached behind her and unzipped her dress. She gripped his arms for support, and he pushed the dress off of her shoulders and helped her step out of it. His eyes greedily took in her state of undress – her white strapless bra, her small white knickers, and the white garter belt that held up her white stockings. He bent and slid his arm beneath her knees, cradling her in his arms as he moved into the bedroom.

Once he had gently placed her on the bed, he pulled off his jacket, shirt, and slacks. He kicked off his shoes and removed his socks, and then crawled onto her bed, moving on top of her, straddling her on his hands and knees.

“I’ve missed you,” he said quietly. She nodded.

“I’ve missed you, too.” With that, he lowered his mouth to cover hers in a consuming kiss. His tongue invaded her mouth, and she cupped his cheeks in her hands as she feverishly returned his kisses. After several moments of this, his mouth left hers to trail kisses across her jaw, his teeth grazing her skin as he did so. His mouth left a burning sensation in its wake, making her feel as though flames might consume her at any moment. She arched against him as his tongue found the sensitive skin of her neck, which elicited a low groan from him.

He took his time and slowly turned his attention to her shoulder, where he nipped gently. She gasped and bucked her hips against him. She was growing frustrated; she’d been apart from him for eight months, and kisses weren’t enough anymore. Before she could voice this sentiment to him, however, his mouth found the valley between her breasts, and he began to pepper tiny kisses there. Seconds later, she felt the material of her bra being pushed aside, and his warm mouth covering her already hardened nipple.

He moved back and forth between her breasts, suckling and gently nipping with his teeth. While he was laving a nipple, his hand drifted down across her curved stomach. It lightly brushed the apex of her thighs before moving to caress the smooth skin of her outer thigh. He placed his hand beneath her thigh and tugged it up so that her knee was up and her foot was flat on the bed – and now Ginny was even more frustrated; he had just caused her to be pressed closer to him, and she could feel his hard length through her knickers.

“Draco, please,” she gasped, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. Within seconds, he had managed to remove only her knickers. She closed her eyes to savor the sensation as he slid into her. When he had buried his entire length inside of her hot folds, he let out a loud groan. He began to move slowly, wanting to take his time with her. She would not have it, however, and began bucking her hips wildly against him. It had been too long since they’d been together like this, and he couldn’t withstand his own need when confronted with hers. He began plunging in and out recklessly, thrusting as hard as he could.

Ginny was the first to feel orgasm wash over her – the tension that had built in her abdomen shattered into a million tiny shards that traveled to the tips of her fingers and toes, and then melted into a pleasurable tingling sensation. Scant moments later, Draco felt release. Ginny kissed him as he emptied his seed inside of her, then collapsed on top of her. Her arms went around him and she lightly stroked the moist skin of his back with her fingertips as their breathing calmed.

“Now I’m hungry,” Ginny laughed. Draco raised up and grinned at her.

“We could go out and pick something up,” he suggested. She watched him rise and pull his pants on, marveling at how easy it was sometimes to fall back into old habits. When he had finished dressing, he turned and caught her smiling goofily at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said, sitting up and shaking her head. “I’m just happy to have you back here with me.”

“That’s good,” he said silkily, sitting down beside her. “Because this time it won’t be so easy to run me off.”

“As if I ran you off the first time,” she pointed out, smiling.

“I know, but I did a lot of thinking while we were apart,” he said, watching her stand and pull some clothes out of a drawer, then put them on. “And I came to a realization about us.”

“You had an epiphany?” she offered, pulling her hair up into a loose ponytail.

“Something like that.”

“And? Are you going to share, or is it a secret?” his face broke into a wide grin at hearing his own words from earlier. She frowned. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s not a secret.” He stood and moved in front of her, where he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, drawing her close to him. He planted several soft kisses on her swollen lips. “I found out that I couldn’t stand being away from you. I realized that there’s no other woman on this earth like you.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, smiling at him even as her cheeks turned scarlet.

“That’s not all I realized,” he said, his eyes darkening as he spoke. “I realized that the reason that I wanted to be with you again so badly, and the reason why I missed you so much, was – is – because I love you.” Her heart jumped into her throat and she gasped.

“You do?”

“I do,” he said, nodding. “I love you.”

“I love you!” she shrieked, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing for all she was worth. He laughed.

“Need… air…” he gasped. She loosened her grip on him, but didn’t let go. “I don’t intend to ever let anyone swoop in and take you away from me again.”

“They couldn’t if they tried,” she said, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead and reached for her hand with his.

“We need to make some more permanent arrangements for this relationship. Why don’t we discuss it over dinner?”