A/N Sincerest apologies for the unspeakable delay in bringing you this update. I have no excuse, please forgive me. Special thanks to Nova.81 and Jenn BR for the beta read. Any mistakes you find are my fault, I'm terrible at rereading, I always skim my own writing. Housekeeping over, please enjoy!

Chapter Six - Finding One's Place

It had to be a dream. There was no other explanation for this being Ginny's life. Every morning Ginny woke in a very plush king bed beneath the warmest covers on earth. Hester would pull the curtains to let the light in and take her breakfast order before Ginny made her way to the insanely extravagant en suite bathroom to get ready for work. In the informal dining room breakfast for one was set out with tea just the way she liked it and whatever delectable delights her heart, and specifically her stomach, could desire. Hester and Melvin were excellent cooks, which was good since Ginny was not very competent in the kitchen. In fact, her lack of culinary ability was one of the many bones of contention between Ginny and Molly. Thankfully, the elves made sure that was never an issue in their household. Once breakfast was over, Ginny made her way to the foyer where she could safely Apparate to the lobby of the MNZ building, to begin her work day in a job she loved, earning an incomparable salary working with people she liked and in one particular case, might love. It had to be a dream. Definitely.

The dream continued as she made her way to the Executive floor. Along the way she would chat with Annabeth in Accounting, Emma from R&D and Liam from Marketing – new friends she had made while working at MNZ. Pansy was usually the next step in Ginny's morning routine. As Ginny stepped off the lift on the Executive floor, Pansy would be standing by ready to read the lasted tidbit in Skeeter's gossip column about Ginny and Draco's unfolding, suddenly very public, romance. It amused Ginny to no end to read Skeeter's column. The gossip beetle seemed to take pleasure in writing about Ginny and Draco, revelling in the fact that Harry Potter's arch nemesis was canoodling with the hero's ex-flame, and the public loved it. Whatever arbitrary activity the couple did was suddenly the most interesting event in Wizarding England and usually became the hottest activity for the rest of the week. Florean Fortescue's shop became the busiest shop in London after news got out that it was a lunch time sugar craving that brought Draco and Ginny into each other's company for the first time in years.

As the lift dinged and the doors opened Ginny could hear Pansy reading the latest article aloud to no one in particular.

"…And the couple were so engrossed in their meal and each other that they failed to notice our covert cameras snapping their picture. Fettucini Alfredo or footsie under the table? Either way, Giordano's is the place to do it. As always, guys and dolls, I'll be here to keep you in the know." Pansy finished, with a flourish.

"The alfredo was heavenly. Draco took some to-go when we left."

"You do realize that your relationship is single-handedly improving the sales quotas of all the small-businesses you two visit. I'm surprised your brothers haven't requested that you 'visit' WWW yet," Pansy commented.

"They haven't needed to, apparently the last name is enough to have them cashing in on the free advertising," Ginny countered, as they made their way into Blaise's outer-office.

"Are you still going to Trixie Henwood's ball on Saturday?" Pansy inquired, after a short pause.

"Yes, I don't think I can get out of it since Draco already RSVP'd. I have my final fitting with Hettie tomorrow during lunch. I'm really looking forward to it, although, I'm not sure when I'll get time to sleep. We have dinner with the Goswicks on Friday, the ball on Saturday and Priscilla Whittington's garden party on Sunday," Ginny elaborated.

"Well, you two are the current power-couple. The invitations will just keep rolling in, enjoy it, darling."

"I am. Dressing up is fun. The only things Harry got invited to that required a ball gown usually involved the Ministry and half my family," Ginny commented, while putting her bag away and sorting through Blaise's calendar for the day. "With all these events, I can just enjoy the company and conversation without having to be 'perfect'," Ginny said, with finger quotes. "It's exhausting being 'on', all the time."

"Well that was with Scarhead. You're in a better place now and the only thing you have to be 'on' is Draco," Pansy segued. "Speaking of, have you shagged him yet?"

"How were we speaking of that?" Ginny asked, amused.

"I was thinking of it, then I said it, and now we're talking about it. Keep up, Sweetie. So have you?" Pansy had made herself comfortable in the visitor's chair next to Ginny's desk, flipping through the Daily Prophet, while Ginny busied herself with her morning routine.

"Well… no. We've slept together, but there hasn't been any actual…coitus," Ginny finished, trying to find a delicate way to phrase it.

"Why'ever not? I guarantee you will enjoy it," Pansy rejoined, offhandedly.

"Is that so?" Ginny gave her friend a piercing stare with an arched eyebrow that looked uncannily like Draco's.

"It was Hogwarts, Darling. We had a thing, it was beautiful then it ended. There's really no need to dwell," Pansy replied, with a careless wave of her hand. "Besides, it was elementary at best. I have it on good authority that he's much improved since then. You're sure to enjoy yourself."

"It's that good authority that I'm worried about," Ginny mumbled. Had Pansy been paying attention she would have seen the dark look that crossed Ginny's face. As it was, she was too engrossed in the paper to note the look. It wasn't until she was getting up to return to her own desk that she noticed that Ginny hadn't said anything for a while.

"What's wrong?" Pansy asked. "What's the matter?" She continued. "You're making a face."

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you later, yeah?" Ginny turned her back to Pansy in an attempt to hide her obvious discomfort with the idea of Draco having enough experience to provide 'good authorities'.

The rest of the week positively flew by and soon enough the ball at Trixie Henwood's had arrived. Used to mark the start to the summer season for London's Pureblood high society, the Henwood's ball was a must attend for any and all who wished to gain or maintain optimum social standing. Naturally, Theo and Pansy would be in attendance, as well as Blaise and his flavour of the month. Ordinarily, Aunt Muriel would be the only Prewett invited and the Weasleys, Molly included, were shunned. However, this year, marked the first time a Weasley was to attend in any capacity. While Ginny would be attending as Draco's date, it was the first time that she, and any Weasley for that matter, had received an individual invitation to this particular event. In fact, this event marked the first to which Ginny received an individual invitation. The invitation to the previous night's dinner had been to Draco and his guest (implying herself) but she had not been invited separately. That would change with the Henwood's. Their invitation marked her place in the society into which birth had always been entitled.

As etiquette would dictate, Ginny sent her acceptance by return owl and informed her hosts that she would be attending as Draco's date and thanking them for their consideration, then she took her invitation and put it in the small wooden box in which she kept all her treasures – her Quidditch captain's badge from Hogwarts, the pressed flower Neville had given her after the Yule Ball, the sketch Dean had made of her one afternoon by the Black Lake, the promise ring Harry had given her when he had come back after the war and the onyx earrings Draco had given her on the night of the Gala. All these tokens symbolized different stages and in some ways different chapters of her life.

Neville's flower had symbolized the change from little girl to young woman. Up to that point Ginny had felt more mature but was struggling with her brothers who refused to see that. The fact that Neville had noticed her and singled her out, not as Ron's little sister or a random third year, but as a young lady who could be a potential date for a formal evening was a turning point. After that night her brothers had also taken notice of the fact that she wasn't just a rug rat chasing behind them. Dean's sketch commemorated the first, really mature relationship Ginny had been in to that point. Michael was nice and sweet but rather immature. With Dean, Ginny found herself thinking about the future; thinking about what her dreams and goals were; her hopes and fears, not just in class but also about the war, and after.

The promise ring was to be the first of many rings Harry would give her, but alas, that was not to be. That ring would be the only one she would receive from Harry Potter. That ring was to mark the opening of a door that would have led to the rest of her happy life; the 'happily ever after' that she had dreamed of as a little girl. That dream was over now, but what she had thought would be a nightmare was turning into an even better dream. When the door to a happy life with Harry was slammed shut in her face Ginny had felt downtrodden, beaten and more than a little heartbroken, but that closed door opened another, in the form of Draco.

To the general public he was still a cold, spoiled, sarcastic Slytherin with too much money and not enough character. But behind closed doors, with trusted friends and family, Draco was a regular guy who liked to make jokes and tease his friends and get teased in return. He was just like anyone else, and to Ginny his humour could rival her twin brothers. Thinking of Draco got Ginny even more excited for Henwood's ball. Getting the Invitation was the first symbol of her place in society and her new life. She had her own home, had a good job, with an outstanding salary and a rather dishy boyfriend. She was completely self-sufficient and soon would be well on her way to her career as a Healer. At the rate that she was saving, she would be able to go back to Healer-training in a year and still have enough to look after herself.

On the day of the ball, Ginny spent her day doing what she was slowly turning into a routine when it came to balls and other formal events. She got up early, collected her gown from Madame Hettie's delivery owls, had breakfast, sometimes with Draco, sometimes alone, and then went to get her hair and make-up done by Pierre LeFey. In the afternoon she would have a late lunch at Cerridwen's with Colin and Luna. After that first gala and lunch, Luna had taken to joining them at the café and it was soon a regular haunt for the three friends whenever they were out and about. The consistent visits even lead to an increase in Colin's clientele. Word of mouth amongst the high society was a powerful thing. One word from Ginny about the talent and discretion of the photographer and all the socialites wanted their pictures taken by him. Colin now had more repeat clients than he had available hours in the day to shoot them – which only made them want him more. Exclusivity was a key factor amongst the wizarding elite. Colin was in such high demand that he was to be the exclusive photographer for most of the events of the summer season including the Henwood's ball.

A few minutes to seven, Draco arrived at the Belgravia townhouse to collect Ginny for the ball. This was the fourth formal event they had attended together and they were slowly becoming the toast of Wizarding England. Their photos were appearing more and more prominently in the society columns and everyone seemed to desire any little morsel of gossip about the new couple. Perhaps it was the bliss of being in a new relationship but Ginny didn't notice. All she saw was Draco.

When Ginny entered the private parlour she found Draco settled comfortably on the sofa with a tumbler of scotch in one hand and the wireless playing faintly in the background. He looked the picture of ease and elegance. Over the few weeks since they had made their relationship official Draco had become more and more comfortable in Ginny's house. He had direct apparition access and the elves, especially Hester, seemed to dote on him. While he had shared a bed with Ginny several times, they still had not taken their intimacy to the next level. During those times when her insecurities got the better of her, she could see that his frustrations were growing, but ever the gentleman, he was content to go at her pace.

Ginny realized that her inability to take their relationship to the next level was entirely due to her insecurities about her limited experience in the bedroom. True, she was with Harry for years and was not virginal but she was far from experienced. Harry was her only lover until this point but Draco wasn't Harry. She knew Draco would wait for as long as she needed but if she was honest with herself, she didn't want to wait much longer. Her feelings for Harry paled in comparison to her feelings for Draco. With Harry, she felt comfortable in almost a familial sort of way. With Draco, her very essence felt like she was standing too close to a fireplace – warm, inviting but a little bit dangerous. Looking back, feeling familial was definitely not how she should have felt toward a lover. But that was the past and Draco was her present and presently she couldn't keep her hands off him. He seemed to have the same issue, before she would put a stop to things, but tonight, with any luck, there would be no stopping.

Hearing her, Draco looked up from his scotch with his signature smirk before standing to join her. They had to leave now if they wished to arrive on time for cocktails. Draco placed his scotch on the coffee table before reaching for her hand to escort her to the foyer.

"You look incredible, love," he said, giving her a light kiss behind her ear. His kisses were always just shy of indecent while still being a perfect gentleman, and they were driving her crazy. It must have been some slow seduction tactic on Draco's part because he would kiss her in just the right spot when they were alone – the pulse point at her neck, on her wrist, or just behind her ear – and make her completely melt.

"Thank you," she said, regaining her ability to breathe properly. "Hettie outdid herself. I think she looks forward to these events just to play dress up with me." Ginny shrugged, as they made their way to the foyer. This time, Hettie had gone with a hint of risqué in her design. Ginny was wearing a gown of sunshine yellow silk with black accents. The design was quite stunning with a high split up the left leg, a single black strap going diagonally across the right shoulder and a black lattice work design on the left side of the waist showing just a little bit of skin. It was extremely sexy.

"Well you look positively edible." The cheeky smirk and the twinkle in his gaze did interesting things to her stomach. Ginny just hoped the blush in her cheeks wasn't too visible despite feeling it spread to her neck as they Apparated to the Henwood's.

The Henwood's had apparently decided to take full advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and host the ball on the clearly magically extended back patio of their Buckinghamshire Manor. A magnificent sheer tent had been erected on the terrace. It was draped in hundreds of twinkling fairy lights and covered several small circular tables. A dance floor was designated in the centre and a string quartet was off to one side on a raised platform. A charm had certainly been placed on the entire terrace to regulate the temperature because there was a pleasant breeze blowing to off-set the warmth of the summer evening. As the couple made their way towards the terrace they tried to locate the hosts.

In her youth, Beatrix Henwood had followed the traditional playbook of marrying an older man simply for his money. At that time that practice was chic and all the rage among the elite. Lord Basil Henwood, the 11th Earl of Winchester had been the most eligible bachelor when Trixie had left Beaubaton's. Her family were ecstatic that such an influential man would be interested in a girl her age. They had married at the end of that summer and had been together ever since. Luckily for them, love had quickly blossomed in their union. More than 60 years had passed since that society wedding. Basil had since removed himself from public life and was rarely seen, even by close friends and family, but their summer ball was still the premier event on the social calendar. Trixie, undertook hosting duties alone but never seemed to mind. Being the centre of attention was just the way she liked it.

"Countess, you look spectacular as always," Draco said by way of greeting his host.

"Oh, Draco, darling, you do flatter me so," Trixie said in reply, before turning to Ginny. "And this must be the illustrious Ginevra. What a beautiful girl." She caressed Ginny's cheek before turning her face to admire the redhead's bone structure. "She has Margaret's bone structure but Muriel's eyes. Beautiful. You two make a striking pair."

"Thank you Countess. That is very kind of you to say." Ginny replied, with a blushing smile. "And thank you for the kind invitation."

"Nonsense, dear. The pleasure is all mine. You two are the talk of the town. Just this morning Marlena Goswick would not stop telling me all about her dinner last night and how wonderful it was to talk to you. If I hadn't been so keen to hear of you myself, the entire tea would have been a dreadful bore. In any case, it's wonderful to have you here, back in the fold. Please, enjoy yourselves. I believe Theo and Pansy are with Priscilla Whittington."

"She's interesting," Ginny whispered to Draco, as they made their way down the path to the terrace where all the guests were seen to be mingling.

"Trix likes to think she's still in school and that we're all her former school chums. It makes for interesting conversation when she uses slang that hasn't been around for almost a century."

"I can imagine. Now, tell who all these people are and what makes them so important."

"Alright," Draco began in hushed tones, as they made their way through the party. "That gentleman there is 43rd Earl of Hitchens; his family of a long history of killing each other to get the title. They keep saying it is terrible illness or unfortunate hunting accidents but we know what's really happening."

"Are they that desperate for power?"

"Darling, power is everything. That girl in the unfortunate lime green frock is Hortense Buchannan, heiress to the largest natural gas reserve in the Western Hemisphere, complete and utter bore but her family has good connections."

"And apparently no fashion sense." Ginny giggled.

"None whatsoever." Then Draco continued, "That couple by the archway who look like father and daughter are in fact the newly married Rudolph and Melanie Wilkins. He's rich and she's stupid, so naturally, a match made in heaven."

"And what about the girl talking to Theo and Pansy?" Ginny asked, amused by all this new information. "What's interesting about her?"

"She's the heir of a fashion empire, her tongue is as sharp as a sword and she has had a mean right hook since we were in nappies. She's also my cousin on my father's side." Draco smiled a genuine beaming smile.

Draco's smile widened as he approached the small group of friends. "Who invited this old dish rag to such a classy event," he said, smiling at his cousin.

"The same one who invited you, knob head," Priscilla replied with an equally beaming smile.

"Trollop."

"Wanker."

"Slapper."

"Bell-End."

"Are they always like this?" Ginny asked Theo and Pansy.

"Only when they're in the same room…" Pansy began.

"So… yeah." Theo finished.

"Scrubber."

"Pillock."

"Minger."

"Chav."

With that, the cousins dissolved into laughter before Draco kissed Priscilla on both cheeks. "How's Paris?"

"Oh, you know, the designers are fat, the models are skinny and you can't get a decent shepherd's pie to save your life," She began. "Anyway, this must be Ginny. She's gorgeous, Draco. Can't imagine what's she's doing with you. I'm Priscilla but everyone calls me Cilla," she said, extending her hand to shake. "These idiots tried calling me Prissy when we were in the nursery but I quickly beat that out of them with my rattle."

"I still have the bump as a reminder," Draco interjected.

"Has Draco told you all about your dinner companions?" Cilla asked, as she lit a lavender cigarette.

"He started, but there are just so many people. It's a lot to take in."

"Well, the first thing you need to know is that Katherine Stillman is a hateful cow who is just looking to steal your man."

"Oh come now, Cilla, don't be so hard on her. Kate can't exactly help it. It's my animal magnetism; gets all the girls in a tizzy," said Draco.

"It's not magnetism, dear," interjected Pansy, "It's your Gringotts vault."

"Also," Cilla continued, "Victoria Hancock, Marcia Thomas, Joan Griffiths and Drucilla Hallsbrook have all slept with Draco and are just itching to have another go."

At this revelation, Ginny turned to Draco who had the courtesy to look embarrassed.

To Ginny he said, "It was before I saw you that day in Fortescue's. I went through a bit of a phase." To Cilla he snapped, "Thanks Cil, now I'm in the doghouse."

Cilla just shrugged. "The girl has a right to know what she's getting into. Besides, from what I understand she has somehow managed to tame the savage beast so I don't think you'll be in the doghouse for long. But what a doghouse it is." She took a drag from her cigarette. "You got the Belgravia house, right? Uncle Lucius has been praying old Muriel would have put it on the market. He has coveted that house forever."

"It's a fantastic house. Muriel had a crack design team redecorate before Ginny moved in," said Pansy. "Fantastic dinner party; Gin is well on her way to being a premier hostess. Nobody wanted to leave," she continued.

"From what I hear, Draco hardly leaves as it is," Cilla remarked, a cheeky smirk on her face.

At Ginny's questioning glance Cilla added, "News travels fast."

"Why should I want to, I have everything I need there," Draco retorted, planting a kiss on Ginny's neck.

"Careful Draco, you might be setting up the lovely Ginevra for violent attacks from jealous harpies. If you keep up that display," Cilla remarked, looking amused, "she might need your personal security everywhere she goes."

"It's not the security they need to worry about."

At the confused look on Cilla's face Pansy explained, "Its Ginny's wand they need to worry about."

The conversation flowed in a similar vein for the rest of the night. Ginny was beginning to enjoy this new world she had entered. For the most part, the people were civil, if not welcoming and those that were friendly were warm and convivial. She could see herself becoming good friends with most of these people. By the end of the night, she and Draco had agreed to go to the ballet with Grace Henwood and her fiancé Jonathan Hungerford and they had all made plans to mini-break on the Princess Charlotte, a yacht docked in the Mediterranean owned by siblings Philip and Pippa Dutton.

Ginny was on such a high that by the time they Apparated back to her house she had dismissed almost all her fears. Almost.

The realization that this was the sort of fabulous night that was capped off by a wonderful session of lovemaking was bringing up her one real anxiety. Draco was experienced. Draco was extremely experienced. Draco had a proverbial little black book of former lovers. In fact, if she remembered correctly he had an actual little black book. While she was no saint and had lived with a man, a lover, for several years, she wasn't that experienced. She had been a virgin the first time she and Harry made love, and so had he. Neither was in a position to really educate the other and had basically fumbled their way to mutual satisfaction somewhere around the fourth attempt. After that, they had basically stuck to what worked. Effective? Sure, but not very interesting after the twentieth go 'round. As for satisfying, there was a lot to be desired there but when neither knew what to do to make the difference, there was no change.

Ginny was anxious to find out if that was all there was to sex. To find out once and for all if the mind-altering state that is frequently described in romance novels was true or if those authors exaggerate the experience to increase profit margins. She knew Draco would be just the person to finally give her answers but the trick was to get over that little hump of nervousness to get to the really good stuff. She also knew that as anxious as she was, if for even one second she decided to change her mind after they got going, that Draco would stop. He was just that kind of gentleman. That one thought settled Ginny's worries and calmed the bubble of anxiety that had been growing in her stomach. Draco was a gentleman.

"Ready for bed?" Draco asked, as he caressed the pulse point at her wrist and placed a gentle kiss on her neck.

"Yes," was her only reply.

As they made their way up to the master suite, Ginny didn't think too much about what may or may not happen. She didn't think about whether or not they would finally consummate their relationship. Her only thought was that this was someone whom she cared for deeply and who, by all accounts, felt the same way about her. For now, that was enough.

Credit to Wikipedia for the info on the British Aristocracy.

Cerridwen's as seen in my head still belongs to AirmidM.

Ginny's dress is by Moniquie Lhuillier, a link to which is on my profile if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading. Please review!