An Excellent Source of Heat

The chilly, early October wind brushed gently along Ginny's bare arms, raising gooseflesh all up and down her disappointingly pale skin. She shivered a little, and looked longingly at the castle, where she could practically feel the heat emanating from the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Deciding that moving would be an excellent source of heat, Ginny hauled herself out of the slightly frozen grass on the hillside near the Black Pond. She moved slowly but surely up the hill to the courtyard where she could definitely sneak into the school without being caught, (and punished) by Filch or McGonagall for being out of the castle without permission.

As she crossed the hill and was about to step inside the cobble-stoned courtyard, Ginny heard the crunch of a leaf underfoot, and upon inspection realized that there were no leaves underneath her feet. She whipped around, suddenly struck with a panic. Who could be following her? Who would be following her?

An unpleasantly familiar silvery-blond head answered all of her questions as to who had been following her. Paired with the lopsided malevolent grin, she knew it could only be one person lurking behind her, conspicuously crunching leaves beneath his designer loafers.

"Why, hello there, Weaslette," drawled the spine-tingling wisp of a voice that belonged to Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy," Ginny groaned loudly. "What is it today, Malfoy? My freckles? My hair? My brothers?"

Draco shrunk back a little, obviously surprised that she had said anything to the effect that she had presumed that he would be tormenting her that day. His bewildered expression and his absolutely drawing-a-blank stone gray eyes communicated without a doubt that he was beginning to rethink bullying her today.

"What? Nothing to say, Malfoy?" Ginny pressed, getting a sickening high off of making Malfoy's face twist more and more with stun. "Cat got your tongue? Or is it Pansy?"

His jaw dropped at the last comment, and then he clamped his mouth shut, his jaw locking. He was ready for battle, but so was Ginny. They both had their ammunition by their sides, ready for anything the other could toss at them.

"Still have nothing to say, Malfoy?" Ginny asked, and his face relaxed. It was then that she had a strange, new knot in her stomach where there hadn't been one before, one that raged through her body, tangling itself in her brain. He was quite handsome. Not just handsome, Ginny's conscience nagged, he's absolutely stunning. He was long and lean, the perfect combination of scruffy, scraggly teenage boy and wonderfully muscular and well-polished man. And as the sun was beginning to sink over the tops of the far-off mountain range, the perfect light was cast over Malfoy's milky white hair and flesh, tinting him in a sort of attractive shade of orange and pink.

"Nothing? No, I've got something," Draco said quietly, and it was this quiet, sincere undertone of Malfoy's voice that was valuable, it was this undertone that she would have embedded in her mind for weeks, months, eternities. "I have something so perfect to say, Ginny Weasley."

Suddenly, Ginny hardened up. How could she even think about wanting Draco Malfoy? It would be an insult to her entire family, not to mention Gryffindor house. She couldn't dishonor everyone, and everything she cared about just because he was perfect in every physical way possible, and could maybe have a perfect side to his personality too! How dare she even gaze longingly into those cold but gorgeous slate-gray eyes, envisioning them mere inches away from her face, edging ever closer. She couldn't even imagine his perfect lips following those eyes, those perfect stone eyes, coming towards hers so invitingly that she would dream about it for weeks! No, she wasn't going to dishonor anybody.

"Well, say what's in your mind," Ginny said, her voice faltering halfway through the sentence.

"Your hair is the color of the sunset," Draco mused, his eyes fixated upon a lock of hair around her temple. "Like fire. It suits you well." Usually, this comment would have been sort of insulting, in a way that Ginny would never admit had hurt her because it was so practical and observant. However, the tone of voice he used to say it had made it tender, and so Ginny couldn't possibly find damage from it.

"If I tell you a secret, will you repay me with one of your own?" Draco asked Ginny quietly, his face nearing hers slowly. Oh God, Ginny thought to herself. Here comes the dishonor.

"Anything you want," were the words that escaped her lips at a whisper.

"I firmly believe that you are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes upon in all of my days," Draco murmured beside her ear. His breath was warm, reminding Ginny of her previous purpose to go inside and warm up. But now that he was so close to her, she was beginning to not be so freezing cold.

"You do?" she whispered back timidly. She felt his arms slip around her back, his hands resting at the small of her back.

"Now, what is your secret that you owe me?" Draco asked in that subtly dangerous tone of voice. She realized in less than an instant that she had been watching him for close to a year now, and had denied herself any possibility that she liked him. But now, as he held her closely to him, she had an epiphany.

"I've been waiting for you," Ginny sighed. "Patiently waiting for this day to come, because no matter what I have told myself for the past year or so, this is the moment I've been waiting for. This is everything I've wanted."

Draco looked her square in the eye with little expression playing in his stone eyes. Without hesitation, he captured her lips in a kiss and stole from her every doubt and fear she had secretly harbored, hidden from herself and others around her for close to a year. Before she could stop herself, she had melted into the kiss, and let herself be surrounded by his sweet cologne. He smelled like lemons, salt water, and soap: a good, clean smell of boy that Ginny could welcome at all times.

"Are you cold?" Draco whispered once they broke apart.

"Yes," Ginny replied, looking at his face, "but you're an excellent source of heat."