Unaffected

Chapter Eleven

Draco had gotten outside the door and halfway up the street with Lily before he realized that he'd forgotten to tell Ginny goodbye. Lily looked up at him, and the trust in her eyes was making him feel giddy. Was this what it was like to be a father? Did fathers walk around with this warm, gooey feeling inside all of the time? If this was what fatherhood was going to be like, he felt as though he could definitely get used to it.

When he and Lily went back inside, however, it was evident that the Weasleys were engrossed in a heated conversation. Ginny's face was pink, which led Draco to think that she was on the receiving end of something. He put a finger to his lips to indicate to Lily that he wanted her to be quiet, and she nodded. He picked her up and slid into the booth behind the Weasleys, not wanting to be seen just yet.

"None my foot! I've seen the way you look at him, Gin. I've seen the way Lily looks at him. You're both infatuated." Draco blinked in surprise at Ron's comment, and glanced down at Lily. She blushed, eliciting a grin from him.

"Lily adores him because he talks to her like I do." Ginny's voice was raspy and defensive, and he wondered at it. She sounded very emotional.

"She's not the only one who adores him, Gin." Fred spoke so quietly that Draco had to strain to hear him. There was a moment of silence, and he tensed; had he been seen?

"Look, this isn't funny, guys. Draco is my friend. My friend. I am allowed to have male friends, contrary to what you two obviously believe. I enjoy spending time with him. He's fun to be around, and he's very nice to talk to." Draco's heart leapt wildly when she called him her friend. He wanted to speak up and tell her that he liked spending time with her, too, but he couldn't.

"And I suppose the fact that he's completely taken with Lily means nothing to you? How many times have you turned down our offers to fix you up with friends because you knew their position on having children?" Draco's eyes widened in surprise. Lily reached for his hand and squeezed it gently, her little face paling slightly. He squeezed back, trying to comfort her. He understood now why holding hands felt good; it was nice to know that someone solid and real was next to you, caring about you.

"That hasn't got anything to do with Draco, because I have not been fixed up. He has a fiancée, in case you haven't noticed!" He bristled at her mention of Natasha. Wait - had they suggested that she was interested in him, as more than a friend?

"No, actually, I haven't noticed, because he hasn't brought her around!" Ron shrieked. Draco blinked. He hadn't introduced Natasha to them because he didn't want them to know her. She wasn't exactly the most social creature in the world, and he wanted to make friends. She would be detrimental to his efforts, and he knew it.

"She's not very nice. You're not missing much. Come on, guys! Get over it! It's not what you think." Draco grinned. Ginny didn't like Natasha? He struggled not to laugh. It wasn't hard to understand why they wouldn't like each other - thy were total opposites; different ends of the spectrum.

"Maybe it should be what we think," Fred said. "You should tell him how you feel." Draco's chest swelled with some emotion he couldn't place. Was her brother trying to tell her that he approved of the idea of she and Draco together? His heart began to race. Surely he hadn't meant that - they had all been so close to Potter, and adored him - surely they wouldn't appreciate his worst enemy putting the moves on their sister? He froze. Had he just considered putting moves on her?

"Pish tosh," she scoffed. "I've only been talking to him for two weeks now, and not even two weeks solid." He nodded vigorously; she was right. They hadn't been talking long enough to develop feelings.

"You're trying to tell us that it takes over two weeks to fall for someone?" Ron asked incredulously. "I think you're forgetting that all it took was one look at Harry and you were a goner." Draco's heart nearly stopped inside his chest. So Saint Potter hadn't even had to win her over; she'd fallen in love at first sight. He scoffed. Did that really exist? It figured that Potter hadn't even had to work at getting the perfect woman - she'd just swooned into his arms straightaway.

"Yeah, well," she said weakly. "Harry was different."

"How?"

"For starters, he wasn't already practically married," she laughed. Draco hadn't thought he could be any more surprised, but he was. That last comment had made it sound strangely as though she might be interested in him. He looked to Lily for confirmation, and she gave him a shy smile. He smiled back, but the ache had already started in his chest.

"He didn't know you existed until our second year, Gin. Even then he didn't really start looking at you that way until your sixth year."

"And?" she sniffed. Draco bit his lip. Potter hadn't even been interested in her? He was stupider than I took him for, then. How can perfection be on your doorstep, and you simply ignore it?

"And I'm trying to tell you that I can see you giving Malfoy the same looks that you've only ever given one other person." That was it. He was going to have to say something. Ron had to be mistaken, didn't he? Draco's heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would burst free of its prison at any moment. Lily tugged on his hand, forcing him to look down, and she gave him a reassuring smile. He relaxed.

"Would you guys please just leave this alone? I'm comfortable just being his friend, alright?" He couldn't explain the twinge of disappointment he felt at these words.

"Are you afraid of what people might think of you if you fell for your late husband's enemy?" He pricked his ears, listening intently. She had to be concerned about appearances; everyone was.

"No," she said. "I'm afraid of what I might think of me. What he might think of me. Not that it matters, because we're just friends. I'm going to go home and relax before Lily gets there." He saw her head towards the fireplace, and thankfully, she didn't look back. He grabbed Lily and rushed out as quickly as he could. His mind was reeling. She couldn't be attracted to him, could she?

Then again, they had kissed, hadn't they? He groaned inwardly. That kiss, the one she didn't even remember, had become an obsession for him in the last twenty four hours. He wanted to kiss her over and over again. In fact, there had been many moments during the Quidditch game when she'd leaned over to say something to him, and he had been sorely tempted to do just that. The only things that restrained him were the thoughts that she would probably no longer be his friend, and he was also in the company of two very large, very protective brothers.

"Mister Draco, are you alright?" Lily's soft voice jerked him out of his reverie, and his smiled at her.

"I'm fine, Lily. I was just thinking."

"About my Mum?" His mouth fell open, and he sputtered.

"Yes. I mean, n-no," he said, looking away. Those emerald eyes made him feel as though she was seeing straight into him and knew exactly what was going on in his mind.

"It's alright," she said, shrugging her tiny shoulders. "I think about my Mum a lot too." He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her.

"You do?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I asked Gran why I think about Mummy so much, and she told me it's cause I love her so much. She says that when you love somebody, you think about them all the time." The simplicity of her statement shocked him speechless. If she was right, then that meant that he had fallen in love with Ginny. He furrowed his brow as he frowned. He didn't know what love felt like; how the hell would he know if he was in love now? He brushed the comment off and ignored the nagging feeling that was gnawing at him.

"Well, I suppose I should tell you why I've brought you out alone," he said, switching the subject. She nodded eagerly. "I'm taking you in there." He pointed to a shop with Quidditch paraphernalia in the window, and she squealed with delight. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed.

"Oh, aren't they pretty?" she breathed, peering through the window at the newest model of the Firebolt. Several of them were standing on end, forming a sort of triangular tent. He grinned and opened the door, which she promptly ran through.

**

Ginny laid back in the tub, closing her eyes to enjoy the jasmine-scented bubbles that surrounded her. Her hair was pinned haphazardly on top of her head - she'd just pinned it enough to get it out of her eyes. She sighed and sunk lower in the hot water.

Where did her brothers get off, trying to send her flying into the arms of an engaged man? Her temper spiked for a moment, then faded. She could understand why Natasha was attracted to him. He was a very good looking man, but then again, he always had been. His only drawback had been his lack of personality and his affinity for torturing those he thought beneath him.

She shifted slightly and the water lapped gently against her bare shoulders. He had a personality now, and a damn good one, at that. He was funny and charming, and good looking, and ... Gods! Her thoughts were moving in very unproductive circles.

She opened her eyes and peeked at the candles that were lit on the sink. She smiled to herself as she remembered the day that Harry had taken her to a Muggle candle shop and let her go wild. Harry, I miss you. I'm lost without you here. Unshed tears stung her eyes, and she tried to blink them back. Harry was not coming back, and she would have to face it sooner or later.

Harry had been her best friend for the duration of their relationship. He was her friend, her lover, her constant companion. They never went anywhere alone, if they could help it. People had begun to tease her and say that she was just like an extension of Harry; she was so attached to him that people grew accustomed to seeing them everywhere together. That had only made things more difficult to adjust to the fact that he was no longer by her side.

Fred and Ron were right. She couldn't grieve over Harry's loss forever. It was time to move on. Perhaps she'd ask one of them to try and set her up with one of their friends again, as long as the guy was kid-friendly. Lily was a living, breathing part of Harry that Ginny clung to for dear life. She was conceived and born out of love, and she would cherish her for as long as she lived - and she would die before exposing her daughter to a man who didn't worship her as she deserved to be worshipped.

The thought led her right back to Draco. She couldn't shake Lily's steadily growing attachment to the man, and frankly, it scared her to death. Draco was just another man, and he had no strings to tie him to them. He could up and leave at any moment without a words' notice, and there wasn't a damned thing they could do about it. Ginny didn't know what terrified her more - the fact that her daughter was looking at him like a father already, or the fact that he might disappear just as Harry had.

Her eyes flew open wide and she slipped, causing herself to be submersed in the water for a moment. She emerged spluttering and coughing. Harry hadn't chosen to leave her, she knew that. So why was she thinking along these lines? Maybe Draco was right - she should have a therapist of her own. These thoughts were terribly unhealthy - weren't they? She covered her face with her hands and sobbed openly, knowing that no one could hear her. She was alone, in more ways than one.

**

"Mummy, I'm home!" Lily called, racing through the hallways. Draco laughed at her enthusiasm. She'd gone completely bonkers in the Quidditch shop, and he'd been so excited about having another avid fan with him that he'd bought her damn near everything she'd laid her little chocolate-smeared hands on.

"Well, hello, poppet!" Ginny emerged from the bathroom in her fuzzy green bathrobe, her copper hair dripping onto her shoulders. She scooped Lily up and turned to smile at Draco. He was surprised, and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from showing it. He could tell she'd been crying - her eyes were red and puffy. He hated seeing Natasha when she cried; he'd always thought that it made her look horrible. So why did Ginny still look so appealing to him?

"Mum, guess what Mister Draco bought me?"

"Nothing, I hope," she said, arching an eyebrow at Draco. He whistled innocently and averted his eyes.

"He got me a Chudley Cannons shirt! And that's not all!" She wriggled free of her mother's arms and ran to one of the large shopping bags that Draco had dropped on the floor. She pulled out an orange hat, orange socks, and held up her prize - a book all about the Cannons. Ginny gaped as her daughter began pulling item after item after item out of the bags in front of her. She turned wide eyes to Draco, who shrugged helplessly.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pretty girl." Lily blushed and Ginny gave a small laugh of disbelief as she sank onto the couch. Draco was suddenly very aware of the fact that she had just taken a bath, and was probably naked beneath her robe. The neck of her bathrobe was slightly open, and he was able to glimpse the tops of her creamy shoulders. Her bare calves and ankles were doing strange things to his pulse. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before looking at her again.

"Draco, she can't keep all this," she said, shaking her head slowly. He blinked.

"Why not?"

"I know how much this stuff costs," she said, holding up a plastic cup with two C's painted on it.

"I wanted to do it."

"Then let me pay you for it." She stood and moved to go get her purse, but he stepped into her path.

"I won't hear of it," he said firmly. Tiny bubbles rose up in his stomach when the scent of her invaded his nose. She smelt of sweet spring flowers.

"Draco," she said, biting her lip. She was going to cry again, she could feel it. She fought it hard and took a deep breath. Being so close to him was making her head spin, and it was starting to scare her.

"Ginny," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please. Let me do this. I wanted to." Her insides melted away at the sound of her name falling from his lips, and she shivered. Damn those two interfering twerps! She thought violently. I wouldn't be acting like such a schoolgirl if they hadn't bothered me with their nonsense!

"Alright," she said, feeling defeated. "But you have to let me pay you back somehow."

"How?" He could sense her need not to accept handouts, and it made him curious.

"Let me give you a free session," she said. An idea struck her, and she smiled at him. "A free couples session. Bring Natasha." His face darkened and he frowned.

"I don't think that's such a good idea Gin," he said softly. She looked up, startled. He'd just called her Gin! Her heart jumped into her throat and stuck, making it difficult for her to breathe. "I don't think the two of you really hit it off."

"Well, you and I weren't on good terms when you came to see me, either, remember?" she pointed out. "I can be professional. I'm very good at my job, if I do say so myself."

"Well, don't we have an ego?" he teased. She blushed.

"I must have learned it from you," she retorted. He laughed.

"Must have," he murmured, turning his eyes to Lily. She was on the floor, sitting amid a pile of sickeningly orange items. He smiled.

"Can I ask you something?" he turned his silver eyes back to her and nodded. "What is it about my daughter that makes you look at her that way?"

"She's an exceptional young lady," he said softly. She gazed thoughtfully at him.

"She adores you."

"I know, but I can't for the life of me figure out why."

"Draco, you're not undeserving of love. You know that, right?"

"I've done nothing good enough in my life to have merited the kind of looks she gives me," he said softly, not meeting her eyes. His eyes were focused on Lily, who was gleefully unwrapping her new things.

"People change, Draco," she said, frowning. "You're not the same person you used to be. And even if you were, it wouldn't mean that you didn't deserve to be loved. Everyone deserves that; even the most wicked of men."

"That's not what scares me," he said, his voice trembling. He turned his face back to hers. "What if I'm not capable of love?"

"What an utterly ridiculous thing to say," she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You have a great capacity to love. Look at your mother. You adore her."

"That's a different kind of love," he said, shaking his head in frustration. "I meant romantic love."

"You can't go through life thinking that you'll never find it. You have to look for it. No one is going to just walk up to you and say, 'I love you,'" she said. His eyes widened and his stomach pitched forward. Even if she had only used the words in an example and not really directed them at him with meaning, they had affected him.

"Mister Draco," Lily tugged on his pants, and he forced himself to look away from Ginny's suddenly hypnotizing chocolate eyes. He squatted beside her, and she cupped her hand to his ear. She whispered something that made his face turn bright pink, and he pressed his lips to her forehead briefly. Ginny's hand flew to her mouth, and she gasped. Draco had kissed her daughter just as Harry used to.

"Night Mum," she said, hugging Ginny's legs. She turned and ran up the stairs, headed towards her room, and Ginny turned back to Draco. He was still squatting in the same place, and staring off into space. A single tear made its way down his cheek, and she knelt down beside him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, hesitantly touching a hand to his shoulder. He turned his eyes to her and nodded dazedly. "You look shaken. Do you want something to drink? Coffee, tea?"

"I am shaken," he admitted. "But it's a good kind of shaken." He covered her hand with his, and her fingers began to tingle. He smiled gratefully at her, then dropped his hand. "Coffee would be wonderful." She nodded and stood, moving into the kitchen.

Ginny was dying to know what Lily had said to him to shake him so badly, but she wasn't going to be nosy and ask. It was between the two of them. She went about the motions of making coffee, and heard him come into the kitchen and sit down heavily at the table. She stood with her back to him until the coffee pot was full, and she poured some into a mug. She added the cream and sugar just the way he liked it, and sat it on the table in front of him. Within moments, she had gotten a cup of tea and sat down across from him.

"You know," he said, feeling an uncontrollable honesty welling up in him. "I never wanted to be friends with you, or with any other Gryffindors, for that matter." She was silent. She heard the ache in his voice and felt his need to confess, so she didn't interrupt.

"I surrounded myself with people that my father told me would be beneficial to my future. I was always told that you should surround yourself with people stupider than you. Not only will you look smarter by comparison, but they can be bent to do your will."

"That's horrible," she said softly. He nodded and stared down into his coffee.

"It is," he said, swallowing hard. "Not only that, but I was told I was going to be married when I graduated Hogwarts. My father even went so far as to arrange my marriage. He told me that it would behoove me to make alliances, and only marriage could bind someone else to us permanently enough to do so."

"Why didn't you get married?"

"By the time I left Hogwarts, I had decided that I didn't want to marry Pansy, no matter what the consequences were. I started seeing Natasha behind my father's back. Pansy was actually relieved; she didn't care for me any more than I cared for her, and she thought it a good thing that I'd found someone to spend my sexual energy on."

"That must have been terrible for you."

"Yes," he said simply. "When father found out, he was furious. He raged for days and days about how I was ruining all of his carefully laid plans, and I was royally screwing my future up. That was the first time I ever spoke back to him, and he made sure that I knew I would never do it again." Her jaw dropped slightly, and she feared his next words.

"He locked my mother in her room so she couldn't hear what was going on, then took me to the opposite end of the Manor into another room and locked the door behind us. He took my wand and ..." his voice quavered for a moment, and he took a deep breath. "And then he used Cruciatus on me." Tears of sympathy filled her eyes, but she said nothing.

"He did it for hours on end," he said in a whisper. "By the time he had finished with me, I couldn't even see straight. My mother found me later that night and nearly flew into a rage. I think that the only thing that kept her from hunting him down and hexing him into hell was the fact that I was hurt severely and needed aid. She knew that he would kill us if she took me to a healer and exposed what he'd done."

"The next morning, I went straight to Dumbledore and told him everything I knew. He helped my mother and I hide, and he became our secret keeper. I know what I did was cowardly, but I did it for her. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if he had hurt her, when I knew that I could have prevented it."

"That was not cowardly," she said passionately. He looked up. "That was one of the bravest things that I've ever heard. You did what you knew you had to do in order to save your mother."

"But I ran away," he said, his bottom lip trembling. She frowned at him.

"Sometimes that's the only way to avoid being hurt," she said softly. Something clicked in his head, and he realized that she wasn't just talking about him anymore. She looked down at her empty tea cup.

"Is that what you've been doing?" he asked quietly. She didn't meet his eyes, but she nodded.

"I didn't realize it until tonight," she admitted. "And it's a painful thing to have to face. I thought I was doing what was best for me and Lily, by pretending that Harry wasn't really gone. In the back of my mind, I think that I must have never really let myself believe he was dead."

"Lily seems to be well adjusted."

"She is," she said, smiling softly. "My little miracle. She's more of a blessing than I'd ever dreamed she'd be."

"To more than you," he said. She blinked at him in surprise, and then her face melted into a sad smile.

"She's really quite taken with you," she said, standing. She went to the counter and refilled her teacup, then turned to look at him. "Would you like to go upstairs and tuck her in?" his eyes lit up.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"No, of course not," she said, smiling. "She'd probably never forgive me if I didn't let you and she knew you were still here." He grinned and stood, then headed towards her room.

**

"Lily?" Draco pushed her door open, wincing at the loud creak that resulted. She sat up on her bed and grinned broadly at him.

"Mister Draco! You're still here!" she squealed happily. He nodded and smiled as he knelt beside her bed. "Are you going to spend the night with me?" He laughed softly.

"I'm afraid not," he said. Her face fell.

"Oh," she said.

"Don't sound so sad," he said, grinning. "I've come to tuck you in." She clapped her hands and bounced happily.

"Are you going to tell me a story then? Mum always tells me a bedtime story." She laid back, and he pulled the comforter up around her, tucking it beneath her shoulders. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at her.

"What does she usually talk about?"

"My Daddy, or Quidditch, or stories about Uncle Ron and Uncle Fred and Uncle George when they were all little."

"Well, I suppose I could tell you a story about your Dad," he said thoughtfully. Her eyes widened.

"But I thought you didn't like my Daddy."

"I didn't, but I have plenty of stories about him." She nodded eagerly.

"Okay!"

"Well, one time when we were at Hogwarts together in our second year, we were playing Quidditch against each other. He was on the Gryffindor team, and I was on the Slytherin team." Her eyes widened.

"You were in Slytherin?"

"Yes," he smiled. "We were both Seekers, too. Well, he saw the snitch and made a dive for it, and I followed him. I hadn't seen the snitch, but I knew from the way he was flying that he had seen it."

"You didn't see it?" she asked breathlessly. "How did he see it, then?"

"Your Dad had some pretty sharp eyes when it came to Quidditch, Lils. I followed him, and I realized that there was a bludger chasing him!"

"What?" she shrieked.

"Someone had enchanted it to follow him! We flew all around the stands, then flew underneath them. The bludger kept flying towards your Dad, and he kept dodging it. I heard it coming and made the mistake of looking behind me, and I fell off of my broom."

"Were you hurt?" she breathed, clutching the comforter to her chin.

"Not really. I was bruised and sore, but it was nothing compared to what happened to your Dad. He reached out for the snitch, and the bludger hit his arm and broke it!"

"Oh no!" she squeaked.

"That's not even the worst part," he said, his eyes alight. "We had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had no idea what he was doing, and he tried to mend your Dad's arm. It didn't work, though. He took the bones right out of his arm!"

"Eeeeeew!" She squealed, wrinkling her nose. Draco laughed at her horrified little face.

"What's going on in here?" Ginny asked curiously, peeking her head around the door. Lily pointed at Draco, who was laughing so hard that no noise was coming out. "What have you been doing to my poor child?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest in amusement.

"I was just," he choked on his laughter. "I was just telling her about the time Potter got his arm fixed by Gilderoy Lockhart." Ginny's jaw dropped in horror and she shook her head.

"You were not," she said, covering her face with her hand. She tried to stifle the laughter, but it bubbled up and out before she could help it.

"Was Daddy okay, Mummy?" Lily asked, focusing her petrified little eyes on her mother.

"He was fine, Poppet," she laughed, smacking Draco lightly on the shoulder. "The school healer helped regrow his bones. And you!" She wagged a finger at a still laughing Draco. "I can't believe you'd tell her such an awful story!" Her eyes were twinkling merrily.

"C-Couldn't h-help m-myself," he gasped. She laughed and gave him a gentle shove. He laughed and grabbed her arm, causing her to lose her balance. She tumbled clumsily onto his lap, effectively knocking him backwards onto Lily's bed. She froze when she realized that he was lying beneath her, and their faces were only inches apart. His smile faded, and a strange look clouded his face. Her heart skipped several beats before she pushed herself up and climbed off of the bed.

"Well, Mummy's going to go to bed, sweeting. Good night." She dropped a kiss on Lily's forehead, then exited the room. Draco watched her go with an odd feeling jumping around in his chest, then turned to drop a kiss on Lily's forehead as well. He pulled the covers up around her neck and smiled.

"Mister Draco," she said softly, yawning.

"What is it, Lils?"

"Will you stay with me forever?" her innocent little eyes pierced his heart.

"I'll see what I can do." She smiled and nodded before rolling onto her side. He snapped the light off and went down the hallway. He found Ginny in the kitchen, sipping another mug of tea, and he sat down in front of her.

"I can't believe you told her a story about Harry," she finally said, grinning. He laughed.

"Well, she told me you always told stories about him or Quidditch, so I decided to tell her one that had both of those elements in it."

"I thought a banshee had flown into the room," she said, her voice heavy with amusement.

"You should have seen the look on her face when I told her about losing the bones in his arm," he snorted. She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"You're horrible," she said, shaking her head.

"I thought you said you were going to bed," he pointed out. She shrugged.

"I don't always sleep so well," she said, sipping her tea slowly. He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why don't you take a sleeping draught?"

"I don't trust them. What if something were to happen and Lily needed me? Then I wouldn't be able to wake up and help her."

"So you're just going to sit up all night and drink tea?"

"No, I'm going to sit up and drink tea until I'm relaxed enough to go to sleep."

"Mind if I keep you company?" She smiled.

"It's a lovely idea, but I'm sure you have better things to do than spend your time sitting around with a widow and her daughter."

"I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing," he said honestly. She smiled into her teacup as she took a drink. "You know, I feel compelled to tell you that I've fallen madly in love with your daughter."

"It's hard not to love her," she laughed.

"I also feel compelled to tell you that you're the best friend I've ever had." Her heart flip-flopped in her chest, and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

"I think that's just about the sweetest thing that anyone's ever said to me," she said. He watched her silently for a few moments, then pushed his flaxen hair out of his eyes.

"I wondered... if you might permit me to come and see Lily on a regular basis."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean," he cleared his throat. "I mean, I was wondering if maybe I could take her out for ice cream, or shopping, or to do other fun things."

"I don't know," she said hesitantly. "I have to admit that her getting attached to you frightens me."

"Why?"

"Because you're going to be married soon, and I know Natasha isn't going to want you spending time with my daughter. She'll be wanting you to have children with her and spend time with them instead."

"Natasha doesn't want to have kids right away," he said quickly. "And besides, I kind of already promised Lily that I'd be around for a while."

"You did?"

"Yes, and I never break my promises."

"Well, I suppose," she said, sounding apprehensive. He beamed at her, and she couldn't help but smile in response.

"You won't regret it," he said, taking a long drink of his coffee. They sat in silence for a long time before he saw her eyelids beginning to droop slightly. He smiled and stood, then nudged her shoulder gently. She looked startled.

"What? Is something wrong with Lily?" she stood up hurriedly, and swayed on her feet. He caught her and steadied her, then shook his head.

"No, you were just falling asleep." She looked embarrassed and sighed.

"Well, I suppose that means it's time for me to say my goodbyes and tuck myself in," she said lightly. He grinned.

"Do you need help?" The thought of Draco in her bedroom made her head feel thick.

"I think I can manage," she said, smiling weakly. He nodded.

"Well, thank you for a lovely day," he said. She squeezed his hand and smiled tiredly at him.

"Thank you for a lovely day, as well." He smiled and waved over his shoulder as he headed to the fireplace. When he'd gone, Ginny trudged up to her room and flopped across the bed. It was the first completely peaceful sleep she'd had in almost two years.