November 6, 2019: Well, hello. It's been a long time. I don't really have excuses other than I've just been living my life and not being inspired to write, tbh. BUT, I don't want to abandon this story - especially since new people keep finding it. That's the worst feeling: to read a story, get invested, and then never get to read it to the end!

Anyway, here's the next chapter. I did what I could, there are probably typos because I don't have a beta. Until next time (which I hope is sooner rather than later).

Draco was tired and disoriented. He had had a long week of meetings in Los Angeles and he couldn't wait to get home. American wizarding athletes and celebrities were the worst, in his opinion. They were ridiculously pretentious and narcissistic, and this was coming from someone who knew a thing or two about both concepts. All he wanted to do was drop into his massive, comfortable bed and sleep for two days straight.

Opening the door with his wand, he could hear music from the wireless wafting through the flat. It threw him off for a second, before he remembered that Ginny lived with him. It had been over a month and he was still adjusting to the fact that he had a roommate… who happened to be his fiancé.

Quietly closing the door behind him, he saw Ginny dancing her way towards one of the cupboards to the music. She was wearing a large faded band t-shirt (of The Ramoras, he noted), with the arms cut off and little else. Her slippers looked like they were on their last leg, golden like snitches with wings attached to the sides, struggling to flap as their magic slipped away minute to minute. She had thrown her hair up in a haphazard knot and her face was covered with some sort of mint green goop.

This was a Ginny he hadn't seen before. Though she had gotten a little more comfortable around him, she was never this free and relaxed. Her face had a pleasant smile as she twirled around. Standing on her tiptoes to reach a higher shelf in the cupboard, Draco's eyes caught something sparkle as the hem of her shirt rose.

Inked on her lower back were two H's joined together by a snitch in the middle. He swore for a moment that the snitch gleamed. Draco's eyebrows shot up. Ginny Weasley, of all people, had a tramp stamp?

While he was enjoying the scene in front of him, Draco could no longer stand back idly and watch. He cleared his throat, making his presence known to her.

Ginny immediately jumped, grabbing her wand from the counter and pointing it at him aggressively. Her eyes softened when she recognized it was Draco, though she hadn't lowered her wand.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Weasley, I do also live here," Draco reminded her as he shrugged off his cloak. "Would you kindly put your wand down?"

"Huh?" Ginny grunted. "Oh, sorry."

She lowered her wand, flicking it in the direction of the wireless to turn the sound down. "But really, I thought you were supposed to be back tomorrow."

"My business trip ended earlier than I thought," Draco replied, hanging his cloak up. "So, I figured I may as well come back home." It was strange wanting to return home. He rarely had anything to come home to.

"Now, may I ask what you're doing?" He smirked, raking his eyes over the Ginny before him.

Suddenly, she had the gall to blush, as if she hadn't practically been standing there in her underwear talking to him.

"I, uh, brought Chinese home since practice ended early, and was trying to find some wine to go along with it."

"Oh," he said. Draco realized he was starving, but refused to let her know about it. Too bad his stomach had other plans, as it grumbled in betrayal.

Unfortunately, Ginny heard it. "I do have more than enough for two… If you haven't eaten yet."

He nodded gratefully, and slipped off his shoes by the door. Draco was normally a stickler for tidiness, with everything going in its place, but he was just too tired to care. Or maybe Ginny's messy ways were starting to rub off on him.

"Can you grab the wine and some glasses?" Ginny's voice floated over, walking towards her bedroom.

Walking over to the cupboard, Draco loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He reached the middle shelf easily, unlike Ginny, and found the bottle of red wine she had been trying to reach. He saw that she had set the coffee table next to the sofa for dinner and made his way over with the bottle and glasses.

When Ginny returned, he noticed that she decided to put some shorts on. Wordlessly, they settled down across from each other on the ground in front of the coffee table. Draco couldn't remember the last time he sat down on (or rather, in front of) the sofa to eat a meal. He was accustomed to the house elves bringing his breakfast to the breakfast nook and his dinner in the dining room since he rarely had a dining partner.

Uncorking the bottle, Draco poured them each a glass while Ginny started putting food from the take away boxes onto their plates. He was struck by how easily they fell into this rhythm - it felt natural. He tried not to let his mouth water as the smell of garlicky noodles, hot and sour chicken, and Mongolian beef wafted up to him.

They ate in amiable silence. Ginny looked lost in thought and Draco felt weariness overcome him. Traveling internationally through apparition points always took a toll on a wizard's body and he had been doing a lot of it lately. Thankfully, he was done with these long excursions for now and could get back into his normal routine in London.

"So… what's the story with you and Astoria?" Ginny asked, out of the blue.

Draco almost choked on his eggroll. Where had that come from?He saw her brown eyes staring at him curiously. He rarely talked about his past, especially his marriage to anyone, let alone someone he had just started a fake relationship with. But Draco felt too weary to dodge her questions, and decided to just be honest.

"There isn't really any story," Draco began, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "We knew each other from Hogwarts and social gatherings. While the Greengrasses are pure-bloods, they didn't see eye to eye with my parents and their inner circle, if you know what I mean…"

Ginny solemnly nodded, not daring to speak in case Draco decided to stop talking. The Malfoys and several other families strongly believed in blood supremacy and keeping the bloodlines "pure". While the Greengrasses prided themselves on being one of the old families of Wizarding Britain, they didn't hold this same belief. They may have been snobs, but weren't prejudiced in the same way. Astoria's family never tried to join Lord Voldemort, though they'd been courted more than once.

"I didn't really think anything much of her and Daphne because of that, and I lost touch with Astoria during the war… I lost touch with everyone during the war," Draco thought out loud, staring into his wine. The wine was making him a little too loose lipped for his liking, he thought idly.

"We met again two years after the war at some party at Theo's flat. Unlike me, Theo didn't care for our family's… business… and kept many of the friendships and connections from Hogwarts. I reluctantly went that night - actually, my mother made me - and that's when I connected with Astoria again."

"She actually bothered to give you the time of day?" Ginny interjected. "I mean, no offense, but you two had such different outlooks during the war."

"At first she was icy towards me, but we kept catching each other's eye. After a couple of drinks, we just spent the entire night talking. Catching up, coming to terms with who we were during the war, and where we were now," Draco explained. Honestly, sometimes he still questioned what Astoria had seen in him that night, but they were drawn to each other. She had understood that he had long given up on the Dark Lord's mission and was stuck trying to protect his family. It was what any of the Slytherins would have done.

"My parents didn't agree with me dating Astoria because of her family, but I didn't care. She was different than any of the other women my parents thought would be suitable wives, which was one of the many reasons I loved her," He continued with a wry smile.

"So you defied your parents' wishes and married her?"

"I think if we hadn't gotten pregnant unexpectedly and married so soon into our relationship, I would have married her, regardless. But the extra strain of being married young, having a baby so soon into our relationship, and Astoria feeling stifled because her career got sidetracked while mine was taking off - it was a recipe for disaster," he sighed. "I loved her and I loved our family, but I couldn't stand to see her unhappy. Eventually, we both became unhappy. At some point, we weren't in love anymore, and it wasn't fair to anyone - especially Aurora."

"Okay, enough of that," Draco gulped down the rest of his wine. "Since I spilled my guts, it's only fair for you to tell me why you have a tramp stamp."

"W-What?" Ginny stammered, blushing. It was amusing seeing her try to be modest when she had been half naked a short while ago, ready to attack.

"I saw your little secret when you were trying to reach the shelf. You're the last person I would've pegged to get one."

"Yeah, that was a mistake," Ginny replied awkwardly. "It was the year I joined the team and we were on the road in Amsterdam. The whole team got completely sloshed, and we all decided to get tattoos."

"You mean to tell me that the whole Holyhead Harpies team has a tramp stamp?" Draco asked, shocked.

"Stop calling it a tramp stamp!" Ginny exclaimed. "We thought it'd be a good spot where no one would really see it and it was a team bonding thing. It hurt like hell and the magic that made it shine wore off long ago. It was such a waste."

"Weasley, you are full of surprises."

The first rays of sun poked through the clouds when Ginny rose from the bed the next morning. Still yawning, Ginny pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. Pulling on her well-worn trainers, she entered the kitchen to fill up a water bottle. Most mornings, she was not peppy but this morning she felt revitalized.

Ginny and Draco continued to chat into the night over wine and takeaway. When Draco wasn't annoying or teasing her, he could actually be alright. Somehow, she felt at ease with him, sitting on the floor and getting to know each other. Often times, most dinners for Ginny would be spent alone in her flat, catching up on her reading. It was nice to unwind and talk to someone other than her teammates, and she as soon as her head hit the pillow, she dozed off.

Just as she was about to head out the door, Draco walking into the foyer. It seemed that he too was ready for a workout, clad in his own shorts and a black t-shirt, though wearing much newer looking trainers. Ginny would never admit it, but she got a kick out of seeing Draco dressed like a regular person. It felt like she was seeing a secret side to him, rather than the impeccably tailored suits he wore as armor.

"I need some way to shake off that Apparition lag," Draco explained, seeing the curious look on her face.

Ginny shook her head and shrugged. "Suit yourself. I've been averaging ten kilometers these days."

"Think I can't keep up?" asked Draco, opening the door for her. Ginny didn't have an answer for that, though Draco still looked pretty fit from his school days. Even when she hated him as a kid, she begrudgingly knew he was a natural athlete. Though he was tall and lean, she could see the definition of muscles through his shirt and on his well-defined legs.

"I guess we'll find out," Ginny challenged with a grin, taking off before he could get the last word.

"I wish Quidditch season didn't start right around your birthday," Hermione said, shuffling through clothes on a rack in the children's section at Twilfitt and Tattings. "You haven't been home for a birthday in years!"

"I know," Ginny sighed. "I can't really do anything about it."

The days were flying by, and before Ginny would know it, she would be off on the road for the Quidditch season. Since joining the Holyhead Harpies, she never got a chance to spend her birthdays with her family. It always left her feeling a little sad on her birthday, unable to spend it with her family, but her team did their best to make it a fun day for her. Instead, she did her best to spend a little time with everyone before she left town.

Today, Ginny carved out the afternoon for Hermione and headed into Diagon Alley to do some baby shopping. Ginny still couldn't believe that Hermione and Ron were going to have their first kid and they only had a few more months to go. As she scanned the racks for something that would suit the couple's classic style, she reflected on her other brothers' children. It didn't feel as weird when her elder brothers announced that they were having a child, but with Ron and Hermione it felt so alien. Ginny barely felt like an adult most days, and to see that Ron was moving onto the next phase in his life was startling. Nevertheless, she was very excited to be the best aunt possible to their child.

"I don't even know how you manage to find time to spend with everyone before you leave every season." Hermione commented, as she took a lavender onesie off the rack. "Especially now that you have your fiancé, too."

Ginny tried not to groan out loud. Ever since the news broke about her and Draco, her family would rarely refer to Draco by his name. He was simply known as "the fiancé". Half of it was done to tease her, but it also felt like they couldn't bring themselves to say Draco's name out loud.

"Draco understands, he's away a lot of the time too," replied Ginny, making sure to emphasize his name. Her family needed to get used to it. She needed to get used to it.

"When do you even see each other then?" asked her sister-in-law, taking out the right change to pay for her purchases.

"Not as much as we'd like," Ginny admitted, playing it up for sympathy. "But since he's been back in town from his trips, we've have dinner together in the evenings and we go on morning runs together."

That was the truth. Both of them had finally loosened up and settled into a routine. They didn't venture deep into their conversations since the first night, but it was still nice getting to understand where each other came from and what a glimpse into each other's lives were like.

"Aw, that's so sweet, Gin!" Hermione cooed, absent-mindedly rubbing her growing belly. "It reminds me of when Ron and I first moved into our flat. How's it living in that ridiculous hotel of his?"

"It's really nice... But it is an adjustment living with a man again, especially since it's his place."

Hermione brown eyes looked at her understanding. At least there were some things she could be honest about with her friends. It was strange living with a man again and having to share space. She hadn't lived with a man since she had moved in with Harry a year after she completed Hogwarts. Even then, both of them were so busy with their burgeoning careers that it felt more like she was living with a roommate and not her partner.

"Well, you'll just have to put your own little touches into the place," advised Hermione. "That way it's both of yours."

Ginny smiled as they walked out the door. It was a rare, pleasantly sunny day in Diagon Alley. Now that they were done shopping, they were ready for the most important part of their outings: ice cream. Her good mood quickly faded when she saw what was in front of her.

"Holy…" Hermione trailed off, also caught by surprise.

Plastered across from Gringotts was the largest billboard Ginny had ever seen - of herself. Only she could barely recognize herself. Her red hair was gleaming back at her in luscious, glamorous waves. Eyeliner adorned her eyes, pulling it into a cat eye shape. Deep red lipstick had been applied to her lips to create the illusion of the perfect pout. Her creamy skin - and not much else - glittered as the moving image before her posed again and again. Her gloved hands were wrapped around a broom, the broomstick and the positioning of her arms carefully covering her breasts, with a quaffle covering her nether regions.

Ginny's face burned. She remembered this photoshoot, but had never expected it to see the light of day. Six months ago, she agreed to do this photoshoot after breaking up with Raul, and stupidly agreed to this campaign. She was angry that the gossip rags had gotten it right this time - he had gone off and cheated on her with one of his teammates. In her blind anger, she decided to show him what he was missing out on. They may have been a fling, but it still hurt that he betrayed their relationship like that.

Ginny knew that the ad would be revealing, and that's just what she had in mind when she agreed to it. Except, she didn't think about the fact that it would take months for the campaign to come together, produce, and actually get put up as a billboard. A month later, she got cold feet, and agreed to reshoot the campaign - in a more covered state - at no extra charge.

Except, with her increasing noterotity, they decided to run the campaign after all. It was meant to be a modern, racy ad in an attempt to revive shoppers - namely teenage boys - to purchase a Comet broom. It was a terribly cliched and sexist ad, but at that point Ginny didn't think of the consequences until it was too late. Just like she had been operating for longer than she was willing to admit.

Ginny finally pulled her eyes away from the campaign, and noticed passerbys curiously looking at her. A couple of men whistled in her direction, winking as they walked by. Ginny growled and started to make inappropriate gestures with her hand, which Hermione quickly swatted down.

"Look, it's not that bad," Hermione said, brushing her bushy hair out of her face as Ginny pulled them into a side alley, with a little less conviction than she meant to.

"Not that bad?!" Ginny moaned, leaning against the brick wall. "All of Wizarding Britain gets to see me in my birthday suit while Hogwarts shopping with their kids. What are my parents going to say?!"

"What can they say? I mean you're already engaged to your fia- I mean, Draco, and they took that pretty well," Hermione joked feebly.

Ginny moaned, wishing for the bricks behind her to open wide and swallow her up. Thankfully, Hermione took her hand and they Apparated back to Ron and Hermione's flat. Ginny's one sliver of solace was the fact that Draco rarely frequented Diagon Alley on the way to his office.

Draco tried not to appear winded as he walked down the cobblestoned street. He had just left from Zabini Enterprises, closing what he hoped would be a lucrative deal with his former classmate and longtime friend, Blaise Zabini. The past few days had been a flurry of meetings, but he was thankful to be spending some time at home.

Over the course of the week, he and Ginny had fallen into an easy rhythm. Early in the mornings, they would go out for their morning run, and in the evenings, they'd have dinner together. Though they were briefer than their first dinner, it was still nice to have someone to talk to about their day. Especially someone that was completely disconnected from his professional life. And in turn, it was rather entertaining to hear the drama and tribulations of a professional Quidditch player.

"Malfoy, keep up!" shouted Theo over his shoulder, walking several steps ahead of him.

He grimaced. Ginny wasn't kidding about those ten kilometers. That first morning, he thought she was exaggerating, though he was stupid to think that in hindsight. It was Ginny's responsibility to be in top form for her job and she demonstrated that by leaving him in the dust. To Draco's credit, he tried to keep up, but he was nowhere at her level, despite the fact did his best to stay in shape.

As if she was whizzing by on a broom, Ginny was light and graceful when she ran. She was quick and agile, her red ponytail whipping behind her like a blazing fire. She looked like she was enjoying every minute of it, while Draco was just trying to make sure he could breathe. In his attempts to keep up with her, he pushed himself as much as he could.

When they came back home, Ginny congratulated him on his best efforts. She flashed him a grin before heading to her room, looking far too happy despite the sweaty sheen over her flushed face and hair coming out of her ponytail.

Draco waved her off, grumbling that he took it easy on her, but internally all of his muscles were on fire. His workouts were never this intense, and he hadn't exerted himself like this in years. He was out of practice and not conditioned at all. Once Ginny was out of sight, Draco crumbled onto the floor, laying there in his sweat, exhaustion, and defeat.

Each morning got a little easier, and this morning he was finally running alongside her, though Draco suspected that Ginny started to slow down to stay in pace with him. His muscles still ached after their new morning routine, but the pain had begun to dull.

"You try keeping up with a professional athlete," Draco muttered, but pushed his long legs to turn the corner to catch up to Theo.

Except, he ran into the brown haired man, nearly knocking him over, though Theo barely even noticed.

"Look who's holding us up now!" Draco shouted, straightening himself out, and looked to see just what had distracted his secretary into silence.

A larger than life billboard of an almost naked Ginny Weasley would do it.

A/N: Apparently I like ending chapters abruptly, heh. Thank you so much for taking the time to read! If you have concerns that Ginny might seem OOC, I've made her a little more reckless than I usually write her. It reminds me of a friend I have who while just as charming as Ginny, often makes decisions without thinking of the consequences. I wish I could be that person sometimes! Anyway, I do hope you take the time to leave a review, it truly makes my day (and week!) when I hear from you!