a/n: Ok, here it is, hope no one is disappointed, it's not as intense as PITD, but Draco and Ginny have been together for a while, they're more comfortable with love now. As always, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story. The song at the end is sung by Five For Fighting.

Ginny stepped off the train and immediately craned her neck, surveying the station for a pale blond head and a pair of icy gray eyes. She could count the days since she'd last had even a glimpse of Draco. Eleven months, three weeks and six days. A long, long time.

Not spotting him right away, she stepped into the throng of people and made her way to baggage. As she pulled her cases from the pile, a silky voice said in her ear, "What's a pretty little princess like you doing getting her own bags?"

Struggling to keep a sarcastic tone to her voice she answered, "My knight seems to have forgotten me. I suppose I'll have to drag myself home like Cinderella, on foot."

"Well, at least you've still got both your shoes." The caustic reply was.

Unable to keep up the game any longer, Ginny turned around and threw her arms about the tall man in the gray uniform. He returned her embrace, whispering in her ear, "I've missed you luv."

"I've missed you too. Please tell me you have a room somewhere nearby." She said, running her hands over his shoulders.

"Why Princess! I'm scandalized! Are you offering me your pumpkin, already?" Draco replied, leering at her lecherously.

"Hey, I'll give you a lot more than my pumpkin if you'll just get me somewhere private." Ginny said, returning his leer full force.

"Well, there's an offer I don't get everyday." He laughed, taking her bags from her." Come m'lady. Your carriage awaits."

Later, as they lay together on the huge bed in the inn, having gone at it like bunnies, Draco asked her, "Ginny luv, what made you decide to come home? In your last letter you said you were going to stay for the specialized training. I wasn't expecting you for another six months. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it had definitely been the longest year of my life. I never realized monogamy was so torturous."

Ginny smacked him on the arm. "Lout, you'd better have been practicing monogamy. If I hear any different..." she made a slashing motion across her throat.

"Oh, don't worry, if I hadn't been, you'd have been the first to know. I'm surrounded by your brothers. It's like a muggle song I heard recently. 'He's a Weasley, He's a Weasley, They're all Weasleys, wouldn't you like to be a Weasley too?' I've been afraid to check the mirror in the mornings, for fear my hair will have turned copper red!"

Ginny snorted. "You afraid of a mirror! I expect I'd sooner see pink flying elephants on the quidditch field than see you afraid to admire your lovely aristocratic face."

"Well, actually, Neville miscast a spell last week, but the elephants were more of a lavender hue.... but you haven't answered my question, luv."

"I couldn't stay away any longer Draco. I missed you. I missed my family. I missed home. I felt I'd almost forgotten what you looked like. I was going to stay, I really was. I'd signed up for all my classes and everything, but I woke up from the most awful nightmare where I couldn't remember the exact shade of your eyes, and I knew I had to come home. I booked passage the next day." Ginny said, frowning.

Sensing her distress, Draco wrapped his arm around her. "It's alright luv, I'm here, and my eyes are the same as they always were. See?" he said, batting his eyelashes madly at her.

Ginny laughed. "Yes, icy gray and full of evil!"

"Seriously though, "said Draco, seeing her relax a bit from his joking, "This won't affect your medi-witch certificate?"

"Not at all. I've already been certified for full medi-witch. I was only staying for some specialization courses. Actually, the head medi-wizard has arranged for me to take those by owl. He said that it would take a bit longer, but he didn't want to see me miss the opportunity."

"And I'm glad I didn't miss the opportunity to.... Um, see you...before we went back into the field." Draco said.

Ginny had actually come home a day early. When she had owled Draco and told him she would be on her way, Bill had been kind enough to give Draco a night's leave so he could see Ginny. No one besides him knew Ginny was home. Tomorrow she would travel on to the burrow with Draco, and he would return to duty. Somehow, Ginny didn't think her mother would approve if she knew Ginny spent the night with Draco.

"Is your unit on mission?" she asked, a little concerned.

"The whole division is, actually. We don't know anything about it yet, though. Dumbledore is meeting with us tomorrow to let us know exactly what we'll be doing." Said Draco.

Ginny sighed and laid her head on Draco's chest. She worried about him constantly when he was in the field. She would receive regular letters from him, at least twice a week, but twice, when he'd been out on assignment, the letters had stopped, once for a whole two months, and she'd nearly gone mad with fear for him.

"Anyway, lets not waste the time we have talking about the war. Are you hungry?" Draco asked.

"A little."

He rose and donned the black silk robe provided by the inn they were at. He snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared, seemingly from nowhere. Draco ordered food and then he disappeared into the bathroom. A few minutes later, Ginny heard him call to her.

"Ginny, come in here and see."

"See what?" she asked, rising from her comfy spot in the bed, donning an identical robe to his, and wandering into the marble bathroom.

When she came through the doorway, she stopped and smiled at the scene before her. There was Draco, surrounded by mountains of bubbles in a huge marble tub. "Join me?" he said.

Ginny slipped off her robe and climbed into the tub opposite Draco. "This is lovely." She said.

"Mmm, yes it is," he replied, slipping closer to Ginny. Suddenly, Ginny felt a hand moving up her leg. Then over her ribs, stopping momentarily to tease her breasts. The hand moved back down her stomach then, searching for that secret place in her. Ginny lay back in the tub as Draco slipped his fingers inside her, rubbing and stroking the walls of her womanhood.

Reaching out with her own hand, Ginny found a prize of her own. Draco gasped as she encircled him with her hand and began to stroke along with the rhythm of his fingers. Finally, with a desperate groan, he reached out and tugged her over the top of him, positioning her to take him inside.

The first thrust was earthshaking to Ginny. With a slow, easy motion, they began to rock together in the tub, bubbles and water overflowing with each movement. Suddenly, urgency took over. Faster and faster they moved together until a dam burst inside Ginny and she cried out Draco's name, over and over, and heard him return her cry a moment later.

Together they relaxed, Ginny lying prone on Draco's chest, which was heaving mightily.

"My God, how I've missed you Princess."

When they'd finally gotten out of tub, before their skin shriveled up like prunes, and returned to the bedroom, a table had been set up and was laden with fruit and cheese and wine, not to mention a variety of sweets.

As they sat and ate, Draco asked Ginny, "So luv, one thing we haven't really talked about... When do you want to get married?"

Ginny froze, with a grape half way to her mouth. "Goodness sake, take me by surprise why don't you? I wasn't expecting that at all."

"Well, I did ask, and you did say yes. I assumed the next logical step would be to set a date. Mother will want to throw a party, and I imagine Molly will want to start planning." Draco said, munching on a piece of Brie.

"Um, well, I don't know really. What did you have in mind?"

"Princess, as far as I'm concerned, we could run off right now and get it done without all the muss and fuss, although I doubt it would please anyone else. In fact, I'm not certain my mother would ever speak to either of us again. But I'm willing to risk it if that's what you want.' Draco said, looking at her. "But I thought all women wanted big lavish wedding. Don't you want your fairy tale?"

"I'd love to have a fairy tale wedding Draco, "Ginny said, "But I doubt Mum and Dad could afford anything remotely elaborate. The best we could do is a garden wedding in the backyard. What would your mum think of that?"

Draco took her hand from across the table. "I doubt she'd be too pleased. But that's not what's important here. It's what you want that's important. If you want to get married in your parent's backyard, we'll do it. If you want a big storybook wedding, we'll do that too. Don't worry about financing it; I'm quite sure my Mother would be delighted to help out. It's just her cup of tea."

"But Draco, how can she do that, I thought Lucius had cut you off?" Ginny asked.

Draco sat back and grinned. "He has. Thing is Princess, very few people know that while my father plays the role of head of the manor, he is bankrolled by the Black family inheritance. In other words, my mother holds the purse strings. She generally doesn't say much to my father about what he does. She let him cut me off without so much as a peep. Told me it would be good for me to earn my own way. But trust me when I say she will WANT to help out with this wedding, and my father won't be able to do a thing about it."

"Oh." Ginny didn't know what to say to the revelation that Draco had just made.

"And while I have you speechless, I have one more thing for you." Draco said, getting up and going to his cloak, hung over the back of a chair. He reached in his pocket for something, and then walked back to Ginny's chair.

As he knelt before her, Ginny said, "Draco, what are you do-"

He cut her off. "I love you Ginny Weasley. Will you marry me?" and then he took her hand and slipped a ring on it.

It had to be the loveliest thing Ginny had ever seen. It wasn't a diamond, it was an emerald. Large enough that it would have been gaudy, alone or in a different setting. But the oval shaped green stone was set into a band of gold and flanked on each side by an intricate pattern of tiny seed pearls and diamonds. It was stunning and Ginny couldn't do anything but look at it.

"It was my grandmother's. And her grandmother's. Mother gave it to me when I told her I'd asked you to marry me. I know it's not a diamond, but it would mean a lot to her if you'd wear it as an engagement ring."

"Draco, its absolutely breathtaking." She whispered. A tear made its way down her cheek as she gazed at it and then at him with a look that made him gasp as he saw the unbridled love in it. He still had trouble believing that this woman was really his. He didn't deserve even half of what she was worth but somehow she thought he was worthy of her love. And he'd reveled in the love she had given him from the very start of their relationship. She made him feel like a decent person. She made him want to be better. She made him live. Sometimes, when he took the time to ponder their relationship, he still muttered the words he'd said the first time they'd been together. 'Ginny Weasley loves me.' She looked up from her hand and saw the look in his eyes, and immediately her cognac colored eyes darkened with desire returned.

"No, you're the breathtaking one." He said as he swept her up and carried her back off to bed.