It had happened to her again. How was it that so many men stood her up these days? It wasn't fair. All of her friends had boyfriends, hell, some of them were already married! She couldn't even get a guy to show up to a party with her! This sucked. Ginny felt like an idiot standing outside a group, trying (and failing) to look like she belonged. The whole day had sucked, but this just put the cherry on top. There was only so many times she could go to the bathroom, to avoid looking stupid. "God, I must be out of my mind! Or just hopelessly naive to keep agreeing to date these bastards." Ginny thought as she stared at all the happy party-goers in the club.

But Ginny did know why she kept agreeing to date the bastards. Growing up, Ginny had always been surrounded by people who cared about her. True, at times she felt suffocated by her family and friends, but it was only now that they were gone did she realize how much she craved companionship. It seemed that her friends and family were constantly on the move these days, too busy to pay attention to the youngest Weasley, and Ginny was lonely.

The party raged on around her, the loud, up-beat music contrasting drastically with her mood. Ginny looked around again, almost desperately. There had to be someone there she knew. Surely one of her old Hogwarts friends was there, she used to have so many! But as the night wore on, she saw no one she knew. God, she was so sick of these awkward nights all alone. Ginny wanted to talk to someone. Anyone would do!

There was too much noise in the room, too much motion. It was confusing. Why was she even here? All Ginny wanted to do right now was to go home and cuddle up beside someone she loved, someone that loved her as well. A fire in the fireplace would be nice too. But there was no one at home, no one waiting to comfort her, so Ginny stayed. She stayed there for hours, not bearing to go home to an empty apartment, drinking her shots slowly, and whittling down the time. Occasionally, she would try to talk to someone, but it never worked out. Finally. sometime close to midnight, Ginny stood up, and walked to the door. She didn't really want to go home yet, but she was sick of this.

The man in the corner of the bar stood up, his platinum hair gleaming in the florescent light. He had been watching her all night. Removing his wand from the pocket of his trousers, he summoned her coat from right out of the poor unsuspecting redhead's hands, and watched as she looked up to see the person who had so rudely stolen her coat. A smile tugged at the man's lips when her beautiful warm eyes looked up, to be locked into the gaze of his own rather extraordinary (if he did say so himself) flashing gray eyes. She really was so cute when she had that perplexed look on!

Casually, the man picked his way through the crowds of people until he was standing in front of her. The self-confident smirk he had trained ever since he was little was carefully in place, It was a desperate attempt to hide the real nerves brewing under his calm disposition at finally getting the courage to approach the fiery redhead for the first time all night.

"So, you're gonna leave without even dancing?"

Hearing the question, Ginny blinked. Who was this man? He looked so familiar, yet she just couldn't place where she had seen or met him before.

"Was that an invitation?" Ginny asked carefully. She was not too keen on having her hopes on yet another guy crushed yet again, but it was just a dance. What could it hurt?

"Yeah it was" The familiar man said confidently. Ginny thought about it. He was quite handsome, with his high cheek bones and intelligent eyes. Plus, hadn't she been pining for a dance all night? So what if it was a stranger? People danced with strangers all the time! However, what if he wanted to go out again? Despite Ginny's better judgement, she would probably say yes, if she liked him well enough. That was how starved for company she was. Then, more likely then not, she would be stood up again.

The not-so-strange man's smirk slipped a little when Ginny didn't answer right away, letting Ginny see the nerves bubbling right under the surface. "Aw that's so cute," she thought, and before she knew it, she was letting him lead her to the dance floor.

Draco was proud to have finally asked her to dance (which he found quite odd , since he never had never felt pride over just asking an attractive women to dance with him before), and he was even more ecstatic when she said yes. Even if she was a Weasley, she was still a beautiful witch. Besides, Draco was past all that anyway.

Dancing with Ginevra Weasley was one of the most exhilarating event of Draco's 24 years. Their bodies practically melted together as they moved in time with the rhythm that the Weird Sisters set. The dance was erotic and thrilling, and it was not long before they were both panting, even as Ginny leaned back into his muscled chest, and Draco's hands caressed her sides gently.

Too soon the dance had ended, and the couple turned to face each other, with starry eyes. It was Draco who caught hold of his senses first and took Ginny by the hand, leading her out of the flurry of movement that was the dance floor, back to the bar.

Ginny, let herself be lead by this fascinating stranger, and sat down on one of the old cushioned stools once they had reached the bar.

"Wow," the young redhead breathed wistfully.

Draco chuckled. "Wow" did not begin to explain it. Never had he felt such chemistry with a single person before, let alone with just one dance, as he had with the beautiful women that sat in front of him.

"You dance pretty well you know." Draco complimented Ginny and was rewarded for his rare compliment (he never had been one to readily hand out praise), by a radiant smile.

Encouraged, Draco forced his nerves to quiet, and asked with a casual facade, "You know, I think we should do this again. Are you free next Saturday?"

Ginny, who was never one to be fooled by facades of any sort, smiled. So what if 20 guys had stood her up? She couldn't give up on the one thing she craved most for! Love, and companionship might take a 100 more tries, but when she did find it, Ginny was sure that it would be worth all the suffering. This man might be the one, and Ginny was not willing to risk passing him up.



"On one condition," Ginny said coyly. "I need to know your name."

Draco nodded curtly. He knew if he wanted her to accept his offer, he had to tell her his name, but he was not in any way looking forward to it. How would she react when she found out who he really was? That he was actually the kid at Hogwarts who had tormented her, and her family and friends so much when they were growing up? That he was the still much hated (at least to her idiot brother and the great Boy-Who-Lived-to-Torment-Him) Draco Malfoy?

Feeling that he better just get out with it Draco opened his mouth and said (not without some anxiety), "Draco Malfoy." He felt his heart give an awful wrench when the grin that had previously lit up her face, faltered and died.

"Oh." was all that she said and simply looked at Draco with wide eyes, but otherwise blank features, trying to figure what in the name of Merlin she was supposed to do.

"Look, Ginny, I'm not the same little brat that I was at Hogwarts! I've changed since then, I swear it! Please, please, give me the chance to show you!"

Ginny, for her part, listened to him plead with her, with a furrowed brow. It took her by surprise when he had used her first name, as did the sincerity in which he spoke. What if he truly had changed? What if she passed up true love, just because she was too blinded by the past to see what is the present. It was not impossible for a Malfoy and a Weasley to fall in love! And if she was wrong, and he was only using her or stringing her along...well, lets just say that her Bat Bogey Hex had not lost any of it's viciousness over the years whatsoever. She felt confident that if something went wrong, she could handle it.

"So, what time should we meet?" Ginny asked, with nothing more then a small smile on her face and a warmness (but also carefulness) in her gaze to give away the true feelings she felt with those words.

Draco positively lit up.