A Flame Rekindled

Chapter Two

Sunlight beaming through his window onto his face awoke Draco the next morning. He turned, expecting to see Ginny beside him, but was surprised to find that he was alone. He groggily made his way into the kitchen to see if Ginny was there, but the room was empty. Draco felt a pang of uneasiness surge through him at the thought that she had left without telling him, and so decided to make himself a cup of coffee. Maybe it could distract from the heavy feeling that settled in his gut after he found out that she had gone.

He allowed his mind to wander, back to the previous night and how it felt to have Ginny in his arms again, and then scowled at himself for still having strong feelings for her despite not having seen her for almost three years.

The Dark Lord had been furious at Draco when he had been unable to accomplish the order to kill Dumbledore, and so he had had to go into hiding with Snape to survive. He was pursued by other Death Eaters, and had a rather vicious run-in with his Aunt Bellatrix a few weeks later that he barely escaped from. When Snape suggested to Draco that he should approach the Order of the Phoenix, Draco had been completely unwilling to contemplate it. He hated admitting weakness to anyone, least of all a group of people that hated everything his family stood for. But as time went on, it became increasingly clear that he would have to do something if he didn't want to spend the rest of his life on the run from Voldemort.

When he had turned up on the doorstep of 12 Grimmauld Place--gaunt, weak and matted head to toe with dirt and dried blood--the Order members met him with a mixture of shock and scepticism. Everyone except Ginny. He didn't know why she reacted differently than the rest of them. She was still as hostile as her peers, but she seemed to understand what he had been through, what it was like to be so close to the darkness, to feel it seeping into your veins. He supposed it had to do with how she had been victimised by Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets at such a young age, the story of which Draco's father had told him once or twice in an attempt to emphasise the power of the Dark Lord and the weakness of those who do not join him.

Potter had been his usual, paranoid self. He didn't believe that Draco had gone there for any other reason than to launch an attack, which considering Draco had been alone was in his view a very idiotic thought. He hadn't wanted to admit his need to be hidden from the Dark Lord, and so he had made a point of emphasising that they could use him and his information. He would never be a traitor to his family, that much was certain. But Draco knew enough about the Dark Lord's plans to be of some use to the Order, and even Potter wasn't that stupid to not realise it.

Although he had been taken in, he still wasn't accepted. Ginny was the only one who was willing to partner with him on Order duties, and even that had involved a screaming match with Potter and the Weasel where she had told them, in as many words, that she was quite old enough to make a decision of whether she can work with someone or not.

That didn't necessarily mean she liked him, however, or that he liked her. She was still infuriating, stubborn and shabby--with her shockingly ginger hair and plebeian freckles--and at first he had tried to persuade all other Order members that he could work by himself and he didn't need a babysitter. But each protest had been met with a sharp glare from McGonagall, so he had had to give up hope that he would be left on his own.

He had hated the headquarters initially, no least as he was forced to stay in the wretched Black accommodation when he had been used to a much higher standard of living. He found salvation in working his way through the texts in the small library, reading them cover to cover and noting down anything that may be of use to him in the coming weeks. He eventually worked his way to the books in the study, spending many an evening reading by firelight on the sofa that Mrs Weasley had put in there. Ginny often came and joined him, initially because McGonagall had ordered her to, but increasingly he found her to join him of her own accord. It was on these nights together that he and Ginny had progressed to addressing each other on a first-name basis. That had been a shock for the rest of her family, and of course had let to yet another Harry-led warning meeting for Ginny. They had been even less impressed when they had heard him call her "Gin" for the first time.

It had taken him a long time to earn some of the members' trust. Of course, there were many such as Potter and Weasley who never really trusted him or accepted him as one of their own. The one person who had learned to do so eventually was Ginny.

They spent much time together in between errands for the Order and research in preparation for the final battle. Eventually, their companionship grew into a friendship, and Draco's feelings for Ginny transitioned from mere tolerance, to attraction, to full-fledged lust. Whereas before he found her red hair and freckled skin disgusting, the time came when he had memorized her freckles and found each of them cute, and realized that her hair was of an elegant copper shade so very unlike the gaudy orange of her brothers'. Further into their friendship, Draco noticed himself noticing how she flipped her hair and batted her eyelashes, and how, at times, the mere sight of her made his blood run hot and distribute itself unevenly through his anatomy.

He would never have acted on the feelings, mostly because he wanted her to be concentrating on protecting herself in the battle instead of acting like a typical Gryffindor by watching his back, but the night before the war Ginny had reached out to him, and he had been more than happy to oblige. He took another sip of his coffee as he allowed his mind to wander back to the night of their first encounter, and the unexpected circumstances it led to.

Draco scowled across the table, placing his knife and fork together on his now empty dinner plate. He didn't know how he had managed to eat his dinner when he had been subject to the rather grotesque image of Ron and Hermione's flirtatious antics, which had now ended in a rather passionate kissing session.

"Seriously Weasel, if you opened your mouth any further, you'd swallow her whole."

"Get lost, Malfoy."

Draco sniggered to himself before cleaning his utensils and leaving the room. He decided that he could probably get some more reading done if he headed to the study now, and he knew he would have peace and quiet as the Werewolf had gone to visit that shape-shifting, blood traitor cousin of his. He wasn't expecting Ginny Weasley to be sitting by the fire, and by the looks of how she jumped when he opened the door, she wasn't expecting company either.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were in here," Draco apologised, closing the door and sitting on the sofa beside her. "I had to get away from all the necking."

She smirked at him, "Is Ron trying to eat Hermione's face again?"

"Actually, I think he's trying to swallow her whole." He noticed that she seemed to be sitting rather stiffly, and he wondered how long she had been sitting there. "So tomorrow's the big day. You nervous?"

Ginny sighed. "Shitting myself. I keep trying to prepare myself for what will happen but I just don't know how to. I know we're not all going to make it, but at the same time I can't accept that."

"I can understand that." Draco's lip's twisted into a small sneer. "But fortunately for me, everyone seems to hate me and I'm pretty certain that all my other old friends are either dead or soon to be dead by now," he smirked at her and raised an eyebrow pointedly so she knew he wasn't being melodramatic. The last thing he wanted was for her to realise how worried he was about his mother.

"Not everyone hates you, Draco."

"That's true, I know you can't resist me but your brother and Potter certainly do, and I have to say that the feeling is mutual. I bet you never thought that I would be fighting the battle from this side of things."

She smiled at him in her usual stunning way. "No, I can honestly say I didn't, but I'm glad that you are."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Don't get all sentimental on me now Gin."

She giggled. "Don't get me wrong, you're still a wanker for the most part, but you're also the only person who seems to realize that I am a capable witch. Ron and Harry are always hell bent on protecting me. It's irritating."

"Well, having been on the receiving end of your magic, I can safely say I have no worries about your power," Draco joked. "I hope the battle goes how we want it to."

"I can't even bear to think about tomorrow. The thought that someone I care about might not be here is too unbearable. And the thought that I might not be here is even worse."

He hadn't realised that she was so worried that she herself wouldn't make it through; usually Ginny forgot all about herself and focused on her family. But, he supposed, it was a very different situation that they were in and Merlin knew he had been paranoid about his own death for a few weeks now. "We're ready for the Dark Lord. As ready as we will ever be, I mean." Draco turned to look at Ginny. "Don't predict a failure, predict a victory."

"It's not that, it's just..." Ginny paused and sighed. "What exactly have I accomplished with my life? I came here the second I left Hogwarts. I've never been in love, not since my ill-fated romance with Harry, and I've never had a real relationship. I've never done anything impulsive. I've followed my family and friends. Not that I regret anything that I've done, I just wish I'd had more."

Draco looked at Ginny as she bowed her head in embarrassment and sadness. She very rarely opened up about how she was feeling, and Draco was surprised she had decided to share it with him. She was the most fiery, passionate woman he had ever met. He wasn't used to being around passionate people, passion had not been one of Narcissa's traits--his mother was terribly strong willed--but seeing Ginny vulnerable was like seeing his mother break down and cry. It was downright odd. In fact, he hated seeing her this vulnerable.

"Ginny, that's enough. I don't know why you're so worried anyway, all you have to look forward to is a lifetime of Potter and Weasley, and I personally think that's a fate worse than death." He felt Ginny laugh and relax against him.

"Thanks, Draco."

"No problem." He smiled at her and turned back towards the fire. He felt her eyes still on him.

"What?" he asked, as he turned to look at her questioningly. Before he knew it though, she had crashed her mouth against his. He should have pushed her off instantly, but all he could feel was the fire the kiss had ignited burning in his veins. He growled deep in his throat and pulled her onto his lap, the moan she responded with sending blood rushing to his groin.

Draco's mind went to automatically cataloguing the sensations of the kiss. Ginny's lips were soft and pliant and warm. She tasted of faintly of chocolate. Her hair was soft and silky as he threaded it between his fingers, and her weight on his lap was making him ache with need. It was the most exhilarating experience of his short life and he never wanted it to end, but slowly, he gathered enough sense to pry his mouth from hers. The sight she made was heavenly; her hair was tousled, her lips pink and her chest was heaving from the sheer force of their kissing.

"What are you doing Gin?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you'd done this before. I didn't realise I'd need to talk you through it," she smirked at him, almost as if to protect herself from any impending embarrassment. She glanced down at her lap, but not before he saw the emotions in her eyes; the fear for their impending doom, the regret for what she had never had, and raw desire for him--it made him even headier than he already was. "We're going to war tomorrow. I want to know that I spent what may be my last night alive with someone I care about. I don't want to wake up with any more regrets."

Draco understood what she was asking him to do. He thought about what it could do to their friendship, and realised that he didn't care. The look on her face and her pleading tone betrayed that she wasn't just asking for something physical, she also wanted him to give her hope that she had something to live for, that he cared about her like she cared about him, and Draco was surprised to find that he wanted it too. "If your family ever find out about this they will kill me."

"I don't care."

"Charming, Weasley."

She scowled and brushed her hair from her face. "Don't start, Malfoy."

He pulled her against him again in a ferocious kiss that sent shivers down his spine and set fire to his blood. This was what he had wanted and needed for so long, but it made perfect sense that it was tonight that it had happened. He could feel her tongue move against his and her fingers running through his hair.

Her mouth felt wonderfully soft, and the ache in his body deepened as he heard her moan when he ran his tongue over hers. Draco placed his arm around her waist and moved them until she was lying under him. His hand slipped under her soft white shirt, feeling her silky skin beneath his fingers. He softly grazed his hand down her side to rest on her hip, slowly pushing her against him causing them both to moan. He withdrew his mouth from hers and moved the stray strands of hair away from her face.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, eyes not leaving hers.

A more passionate kiss was her only response.

* * *

He felt her stir beside him, and he refused to give in to the day. It was only when she leaned and kissed him softly on the lips that he opened his eyes.

She smiled softly at him. "Hi."

Draco sat up and leaned on his elbow before running his hand over his face and yawning quietly.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly dawn."

Draco groaned and laid back down, placing his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "Not yet."

Ginny relaxed in his embrace, but sighed woefully. "You know we have to get up. Do you really want to start the day by facing several angry Weasleys?"

"It would be entertaining." He laughed as Ginny playfully slapped him, and then leant in to kiss her. "Before we go anywhere, I wanted to tell you that last night was..."

"Pretty incredible."

"Well I was going to say complete torture, but I suppose we could go along with what you thought," he smirked. He looked up to see her glaring at him, and sniggered softly to himself.

She smacked him playfully on the arm. "Why can't you ever say anything nice?"

"Hmm, well, would you rather I told you that I am very glad I got to spend what could be my last night alive with a really hot woman?"

She giggled and kissed him again. "That's much better." The sound of footsteps moving towards the bathroom upstairs ruined the relaxing moment. "I guess we have to move," Ginny whispered.

They sat up and quickly redressed in the previous night's clothing. He watched her run her fingers through her hair, checking it in the mirror before turning to face him again. "So..."

"Yeah." They moved towards the doorway. "I'll go out first." Ginny nodded in agreement. He leaned in and quickly kissed her before leaving the room.

Draco smirked to himself at the thought of that night, and took his mug into the kitchen to clean it before placing it back into the cupboard. He didn't know why she would have left without saying goodbye, so he decided that he would first take a shower, and then he would go to Diagon Alley and persuade Ginny to join him for dinner so that he could find out.

* * * * *

Ginny sighed and pulled another order form towards her as she began to check its content and the amount it would cost. Ginny had been manager of the Diagon Alley branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes ever since it had re-opened just after the war, but she still hated doing the paperwork. Usually she avoided it like the plague, but today she needed everything to stop her from thinking about Draco Malfoy.

Ginny sighed again loudly, feeling increasingly irritated with herself. This was completely and utterly insane. She had not seen Draco properly for almost three years before the previous night, except for one occasion not long after the War when he had come into her place of work, yet her body still reacted to him like no time had passed at all. When she had woken up this morning to find Draco's arms around her with her head resting on his chiselled chest, it had taken a very long cold shower to relax her. She had needed long enough to get over her feelings for him all those years ago and even more months to get his face and voice out of her head.

The night they had spent together before the war began had been incredible, and Ginny knew they had both wanted more, but Draco had needed to leave. He had tried to explain to her that he was trying to escape the aftermath of the war, that it was possible that some of the Death Eaters could have survived and it was no longer safe for him to stay in one place but Ginny hadn't accepted that. As far as she had been concerned, he was deserting her at one of the most difficult times that she had ever faced in her life. Of course in hindsight, she realised that it wouldn't have helped her if he had wound up dead too.

Ginny hadn't realised just how strong her feelings for Draco were until the night before they went to war. She knew that she had a crush on him, after all, he was devilishly handsome and she had to spend a lot of time with him when working on assignments for the Order. But she had always believed it to be one-sided, and something that she would need to get over. That night, however, she had seen in his eyes that he felt the same way about her, and Ginny had been completely taken aback. It was as she was sitting there, staring into the fire with his arms wrapped around her that she realised she needed to stop holding herself back, and if there was any time to take a risk it was the night before her impending doom. So she had kissed him, and thankfully he had kissed her back with just as much fervour, and it had ended up being the most exciting and passionate experience of her life.

Ginny sighed again and checked the clock on her desk. Half past four. "I can't be bothered with this right now," she muttered to herself, closing the file she had been reading. Fred and George wouldn't mind if she closed the branch early, and it's not like she had been able to concentrate on much anyway. Ginny stood and put the file away before grabbing her cloak. She would make her way home, have a cup of tea and try to find something to do that would help her forget all about Draco and the way his arms had felt around her that morning when she had woken up.

She had just locked the door to her office at the back of the store when she heard the door open. "I'm sorry, we're closed now," she called out, hoping the customer would leave and come back another day.

"Good, that means you can come with me."

Ginny sighed and with a look of irritation, turned to meet Draco, who was leaning casually against one of the counters, grinning.

* * *