It had taken a lot of calls, a lot of cajoling and a lot of work but in the end he hoped he’d done at least half as well as Alternative Draco would’ve.

Dressed in his new suit, an admirable fit though it had still to be altered, and standing on the Hogsmeade main street with a heating charm keeping him from freezing in the snowy postcard image he could only hope Ginny would turn up.

This morning he had begun by asking himself what he would do if he was a sappy doormat to make his irate wife listen and resolved to leave her a rose, along with a card of Apparition directions. Specifying to appear at five, he wondered if it would work.

It was now five past five, his cheap high street watch told him. It wouldn't surprise him at all if she saw the flower and the card and set them on fire before sitting down to watch the clock reach five and smile darkly at his discomfort standing waiting for her somewhere.

A muted pop resounded and Ginny was suddenly in front of him. Clearly she had set her mind on making him suffer, but in a different way than not turning up, as she was wearing a figure hugging black dress, her red curls swept up and falling temptingly around her face and neck. She’d added some make-up that he knew she rarely wore and her eyes were darker and deeper than usual, adding another layer to her normally stunning caramel eyes.

A silver locket hung around her neck, nestling comfortably between her breasts where they rose from black satin. His eyes widened. He’d know it anywhere, as it was one of his mother’s most treasured possessions. The locket of the Malfoy wives.

He couldn’t imagine how his mother had ever parted with it, or even how she’d condescend to give it to a Weasley, but there it was, around Alternative Draco’s wife’s neck.

“I’m here.” Her tone told him he was far from forgiven even if she had deigned to appear.

“Ginny...you look...stunning.”

“You’re going to have to do better if you want me to stay.”

It might’ve been a long time since he’d been in the dog house for the sake of this particular woman, but he remembered well enough that no sweet words or gifts worked on her.

“Ginny, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I forgot this morning, there’s really no excuse. I would just like to try and make it up to you.”

He reached for her and this time she stayed put. Encouraged he tilted her chin up so she was looking him in the eye.

“I’m sorry.”

She sighed, some tension leaving her shoulder.

“Never again, Draco, you hear me? Never again.” She lifted her hands to rest on his shoulders. “Forgetting an anniversary may seem like a small thing but I just feel like that’s the first step towards something. Something I don’t want to be. We’re just not one of those couples who forget each other, or take each other for granted. It’s important to me that you remember because except Liam and Evie’s birthdays, it was the best day of my life. I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

“I won’t.” He was sure of it. Though he’d soon be back in his real life, behind his desk, buried at work, he’d still remember January the fifth. Maybe he’d even take the day off, celebrate.

“I promise.” He didn’t dole out promises. If you gave your word, you had to keep it, that was the way he’d always seen it. But this promise he could easily give as he’d never forget the way Ginny looked, dressed to kill in the middle of the snow, her caramel eyes beginning to warm in earnest.

The thought brought him back to reality and he sent a heating charm her way. Relaxing under it, she stepped back. For a second he missed having her warmth pressed against him.

“So why are we in Hogsmeade?”

“I thought, since I’ve been a poor husband lately,” he tried to not gag on the word ‘husband’, “I’d give you a little reminder why you’re with me.” He tucked her arm under his. “So we’re taking the tour of Draco and Ginny, the early years.”

She smiled, looked around.

“Oh, pulling out the big guns, sentimentality. Well, go on.”

“I resent that, this is no trick, Weasley.”

“No? I believe I sense the overwhelming power of the Malfoy manipulation.” She turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised.

“Why were you ever with me when you see through me so easily?”

“Because I can see all that’s inside you.” She reached up to touch his cheek and for a moment his head spun. This was too familiar, too close to the truth. “That’s not to say it’s not a powerful skill - just don’t underestimate me. I’m a Malfoy too, you know.”

He couldn’t help chuckling.

“So you are. Well, let’s see if I can still sweep you off your feet - a little.” He walked them around the corner.

“Here’s our first stop. The Hogsmeade dead end alley where Draco and Ginny had their first, of many, fights.”

Ginny looked around, a moment before the place linked to her memories.

“There was a bench here. I remember now. You really count our fight here as the first one of ‘our’ fights?”

“You don’t?”

“No. Here we just fought because you were being an insufferable twit.”

“I was an insufferable twit who you were helplessly attracted to. That’s why we fought.”

She laughed, the full sound echoing between the walls of the enclosed street.

“True. But I wouldn’t say there was an ‘us’ to be talked about yet.”

“All right, you disagree, but I spent the whole time imagining what you’d do if I shut you up by kissing you.”

“Probably kiss you back and then hex you.”

It was his turn to laugh.

“That’s my girl. Right, next stop.” He conjured his broom and held out his hand for her.

“I didn’t really dress for flying.”

“Well, we can’t Apparate to the next stop. It’s not far.”

He climbed on and she joined him, sitting sideways so her dress wouldn’t ride up. Torn between relief and disappointment at this, he locked his arms around her and took off.

Windblown but with the heating charm still holding they reached the Hogwarts grounds. Fresh snow lay like a pristine tablecloth blanketing the well known landscape. The lake was covered in ice and the sky was black velvet where it stretched above them. Starlight set the snow sparkling and the whole world seemed wrapped in silence.

Ginny took his hand and it felt more comfortable than he would like to admit. Telling himself he could hardly put Alternative Draco in the position of coming back to his life in the middle of a divorce, he returned her squeeze.

Leading her toward the lake, she sighed in content.

“You know why we’re going here, don’t you?”

“How could I forget? Draco and Ginny’s first kiss.”

They stopped in the same place, as if their feet could still recall where they’d stood that fateful day so many years before.

“This is the place.”

“I know. I still feel magic in the air. Do you?” Ginny looked around, her eyes sparkling.

“I don’t think it was the magic of the spot. For me it was just you. You were always magic to me.”

“You were surrounded by magic at this school, Draco.”

“Not magic like yours. Did you know I used to think someone had actually put a spell on me, to make me think of you like I did? I imagined it was someone’s idea of revenge. To make me want something I couldn’t have so badly.” He put his hands in his pockets, the contact of her skin and his admittance to much to deal with at once.

“That’s okay. I thought you were a phase.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I thought I would wake up one morning to not want you as desperately anymore. That it would make it okay, that I’d be able to explain it away.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Now I hope that if it’s a phase, it’s one that doesn’t ever end.”

In her words he heard an affection that made his heart twist. These words weren’t for him. They were for another Draco in another time. One that still treasured and relived the memory of the two of them on the bank of the lake. Young, confused, absolutely spitting mad. He still couldn’t tell which of them had taken the first step but from one moment of yelling at each other to another they’d been kissing, the first time rendering him deaf, dumb and blind to anything that wasn’t her and how she made him feel. It had been frantic, hungry and passionate and when they broke apart they’d stared at each other, breathing heavily before each stalked away.

He’d walked towards the Quidditch pitch then, promising himself it would never happen again.

He’d lasted less than a day.

Bringing her to the steps of the castle he lead her up the stairs. They didn’t see a single student, most still home for the holidays. On the second floor he took her to a rarely used corridor, the one he’d ended up in on the day they’d kissed.  He’d been about to skulk around the Gryffindor common room in the hope of seeing her, or perhaps picking a fight with her.  Seeing her at the other end of this hallway, he’d known she had no reason to be there unless she was on her way to the Slytherin common room in the least obvious manner. For a second they’d just stood there, at either end of the corridor. Then she’d slipped her book bag from her shoulder and dropped it at floor, striding towards him. Meeting in the middle they didn’t have time for words as they reached for each other, kissing hurriedly, teeth clicking in their rush. Stumbling into the nearest classroom, thankfully never in use, they’d torn into each other.

Now Draco could only remember bits of it, most drowned in a heady mix of joy and lust that had cascaded through him. It had raged through all his senses, pounding inside him with an urgency like none he’d ever known.

“I’m sure this place needs no introduction.”

She shook her head in amusement.

“You’re right. Did you sleep at all that night, after we kissed?”

“No.”

“Me neither. I just lay there, reliving it, waiting for the self-loathing. But it never came. All I knew was that I had to do it again.”

“I had plenty of self-loathing, especially because all I could think of was kissing you again.”

“How long was it before we actually talked to each other?”

“Funny you should ask. Next stop, what I like to call “The First Time Draco and Ginny Spoke To Each Other”.” He led her around the corner to open the door to  a broom cupboard. It was dusty and bleak and exactly as it had been years ago, down to the 1970’s leaflet for Miss Mosley's Magic Tincture, guaranteed to remove even the hardiest of stains.

“Aww, our spot.”

“Well, one of them. And though humble, I recall it fondly.”

“Do you remember the time Filch found us in here and we had to run through half the castle to get away?”

“How can I forget? I think I still have the scars from Mrs Norris scratching me while we ran.”

“My poor baby.”

“You laugh, I’m sure that mangy cat carried all sorts of diseases.”

Ginny laughed louder and pulled at his hand.

“Sure it did. Now come on, how about I guess the next stop?”

“All right.” He let her tug him down the corridor to climb the stairs. In a few minutes they appeared in front of a familiar tapestry.

“I’m guessing this is it, though we have to walk in front of it three times before it appears.”

“It is, though you have to let me do the walking as I know what we need.”

“Very well.”

Attempting to focus and ignoring her presence he thought back to his last year of school and how this room had looked then - while adding a few necessary details for this evening. Counting out the three times, he then found the door and held it open to her.

“After you.”

She stepped in and stopped in her tracks. “Oh, Draco.”

He followed, pleased to see it had turned out as he planned. The second feeling to wash over him was overwhelming nostalgia. The room looked exactly as it had the last time he had seen it. Their refuge, away from judging and staring, away from everyone who had opinions on seeing them together. In this room there had been just the two of them, away from the world.

It was a cozy space, with a fireplace on one wall, a large bed against the other. Two armchairs faced the window and today a table set for two stood in front of the fire. Champagne that he’d had to bribe the houselves to bring stood in a bucket next to the table.

“It’s just as it was.”

“It’s meant to be. The last stop of the evening, and also the most important. Welcome to the combined stops of “Where Ginny and Draco Made Love for the First Time” and “Where Draco First Told Ginny He Loved Her”. Coincidentally it’s where we’re having dinner.”

“Not fair, Malfoy. This is so low. And also, you have no idea how lucky you’re about to get.”

“I believe having you love me while you’re angry with me is a speciality of mine.”

“It is. Are you going to pour me some of that champagne?”

“I am. Let’s have a seat.”

Sitting down they enjoyed the food the elves had brought up, talking about their other favorite spots on the grounds. When they had finished the dishes magically disappeared, leaving just the glasses of wine.

“Now, are you going to tell me what’s been going on with you lately, Draco?” Ginny leaned back in her chair, glass in her hand.

Treading carefully, he ran a hand through his hair.

“It’s nothing. I’ve just...Lately I’ve felt a bit out of place. I always pictured my life would be one way but it’s...it’s turning out different.”

“Bad different?” Ginny set her glass down. A week ago he would have answered with a resounding “Yes, so bad” without a care for the consequences. Now, sitting with Ginny, more beautiful than she had ever been, sharing memories of a time they both treasured he couldn’t bring himself to call it bad.

“No, no. Just...different. But I know that right now, there is nowhere else in the entire world I would like to be.”

The moment he spoke the words he knew them to be true. He really couldn’t think of a single place he would prefer to be in this moment. Not in his stylish London flat, not behind the desk in his corner office, not in the boardroom working on his next deal. He didn’t want to be in Bimini, Florence or Colorado, or anywhere else he could take his company jet to. He didn’t want to be in Chez Romaine having veal or in Tully’s, his favorite cocktail place in the world, on the Upper East Side. He wanted to be nowhere as much as across from Ginny in this moment.

“Me either. Though there is something I’d rather be doing with you.”

“Yes?” He felt his heart begin beating faster, his hands not entirely steady when he put his glass down. She stood and held out a hand for him.

“I’d like to dance with you.”

“Dance?” He blinked. “Now? There’s no musi-” he trailed off as a slow song picked up, seemingly out of nowhere. He shook his head in amusement - not only was it the room of requirements but of wishes as well.

Obliging her, he took her hand, spun her out toward the room before bringing her back. Leaning against him she fit neatly just under his chin and he could feel rather than hear her hum with the tune.

“This is perfect. Thank you, Draco.”

“It’s nothing.”

She leaned back enough to be able to look into his eyes.

“It’s everything. We’re everything to me, Draco. Us together is what makes it work, what makes everything work. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“I can’t picture being with anyone but you.” He never had. He hadn’t realized it before but if it wasn’t with her he’d never pictured himself settling down. It had been a vague prospect in a hazy future that he might marry for the advancement of his company but marrying for love, having a house, having children, that had only ever been a dream when he had been with her. A dream he did have with her. Somehow he had ended up in it, given a taste of what it was to hold it.

The past and the present was mixing confusingly as he looked into her eyes, the same eyes that had looked at him with the same understanding, the same unconditional openness before. That golden amber colour of them that had always been able to make him feel surrounded by warmth.

She was smiling, the small  smile that he had always thought of as his, the one she reserved for him. It was still there, that tiny tilt of the corner of her mouth that never failed to make gratitude swirl in him for not only finding her but having her.

“I love you.” The words flowed over his lips before the feeling had fully registered in his mind. “I never stopped loving you.” Surprise coloured his words.

“I love you too, Draco. I always will.” She stood on her toes, pressed a slow kiss to his lips. “Now will you make love to me?”

Floored, he could only nod. He’d had similar requests, uttered by enough women for him to  lose count, in more enticing and exotic manners, but none had been able to bring him to his knees like the woman in front of him just had. Like he was a land that had been wrapped in darkness the sun was rising from her, spilling golden light through him until every inch was touched by it. The choking tenderness that washed over him was followed by a wave of thankfulness so strong he feared for a moment he actually would sink to his knees. The woman who was the sun of his universe, whose presence kept him anchored like a force of nature was there in front of him again and it made him realize how much he had missed her. Without her in his life his orbit had been wavering, lost, hurtling him through endless space. How had he ever thought he could live without her?

Pulling her into his arms to lift her off the floor she laughed, clinging closer.

“You always knew how to sweep me off my feet.” Setting her down on the bed, he leaned over her, the tenderness beginning to heat into need.

“You never let me gain my feet so it’s only fair. You’re always new, Ginny, always different. I could spend my life watching for it.”

She reached up for him, her arms winding around his neck.

“You are.”

o.O.o

The next morning sitting in the kitchen reading his paper Liam walked past, his violin squeaking out an off key rendition of Old Macdonald Had a Farm. Lowering the paper he looked up around the kitchen, the mess that usually made a nerve behind his left eye twitch surprisingly not minding there were cups in the sink and that the fridge was cluttered up with squiggly “drawings” of Liam’s, shopping lists that were always forgotten when they went to the store and, to really emphasize how far he had fallen, coupons.

Ginny was sitting across from him, Evie on her lap as she read the Arts and Leisure section. Something was apparently amusing as she was wearing a half smile while the baby was focused on attempting to swallow a whole spoon. She was in that horrendous flannel pyjama again. Though some of the horror was wearing off. There was something...sexy about the fact he knew exactly what hid under that shapeless sack. Only he knew she was there, warm and bare skin, soft and delectable just under a layer of worn flannel. A lock of her hair fell from where she’d stuck it up, secured by her wand and delighted, Evie grabbed for it. Hooking it behind her ear again absentmindedly, Draco was struck by the feeling he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

To the soundtrack of what sounded mostly like a cat getting repeatedly run over, or in Liam’s world, a C-scale, a sense of peace he had never felt settled over him like a blanket. As if swaddled  by the knowledge, serenity enveloped him like an embrace and he couldn’t help smiling. To hide it he lifted the paper again, none of the words making it as far as reaching his brain.