Wow. Have you ever seen Requiem of a Dream? I was listening to that soundtrack while reading this, and the track "Meltdown" (you can probably guess that the chaotic part of the movie came in there) played just as I was reading Draco's panicking bit at the end.

I'll admit that I suspected Ginny's intentions a while before they were actually revealed, and the uncontrollable compulsion that Draco had for his mistress made me think of a Veela, not a lust potion. But that makes me wonder--assignment? Who had assigned her to Draco? In retrospect, I'm thinking it was Lucius, because he played them both like a fiddle.

I loved the characterizations of everyone in here. Ginny was heartbreaking, Lucius was wonderfully Machiavellian, and poor Draco was hopelessly in love and lust. Did I also pick up on a hint of a Molly/Lucius romance in Hogwarts? LOL. I always wondered how something like that would turn out, and have toyed with writing one for ages now (although I'm probably reading too far into your hints and interpreting them for my own means...).

Still, the imagery here was wondrous. I loved the role that the roses played, and how they evolved through the story (and the prestory) in their symbolism from token of love, to betrayal, to vengeance. I guess the last question I'm wondering is if Ginny is still alive. Did she take off? Or is Draco going to find her in the bathtub in the unwritten part of the story?

Seriously, masterfully done. I think you wrote the broken romance better than anyone I've ever read.