(Author's note: And we are back in Draco's POV. Enjoy!)

Draco Malfoy stared moodily down into his cup of brandy, angry that so much liquid remained. He had come home and planned to get completely smashed. Anything to help take the anxiety away from him. But this was only his second glass and it was not even halfway empty.

He glanced up and thought seriously about throwing the entire glass into the fire for a moment before deciding that that would be among his worst decisions. And he was already dealing with the fallout from one of his bad decisions.

It had been a bad decision to become attached to Ginny Weasley. Sure, she said she cared about him, and sure, she and Potter were over with now (the Daily Prophet had confirmed it even), but Draco knew that it meant nothing to him. It changed nothing.

He had been home now for five hours. Five long hours of sitting here and fighting himself. He wanted to get smashed because he hated waiting for her. He was completely at Ginny's mercy at this moment, all bundled nerves and twisted emotions. He was a mess and he hated it. Getting drunk would save him from this embarrassing anxiety. He should get drunk.

But he couldn't.

Every time he reached for more alcohol or began to drink in earnest, his body stopped him. The damned traitor would pause in mid-movement and flash Draco memories of every moment he had been drunk with Ginny Weasley. It was not that she had ever said she minded him being drunk, and it was not that having sex with her while drunk was unpleasant. It was all Draco.

Draco didn't want to be drunk if Ginny showed up. He wanted to be sober and in possession of his thoughts. He wanted to remember everything they said and exactly the way she said it. He wanted to be able to tell if she was sincere or not. He wanted to remember exactly how it felt if she chose him and how it would feel to touch her when sober.

In short, he was being a sentimental fool.

And it was all proving pointless anyway. Draco had been home for five hours and Ginny had still not shown her face. Five long hours of waiting like an abandoned dog and hating himself for it the entire time.

Draco glared down at his glass and the traitorous hand that would still not let him drink. He was pathetic, a sentimental fool who was only setting himself up for more pain. Besides, who was to say that Ginny showing up at the Manor meant she wanted him. Knowing her and her bloody conscious, she would come regardless to try to explain herself to him. Draco could not imagine suffering soberly through explanations of why she couldn't be with him.

He needed to drink. His hand did not move.

Draco gave a frustrated yell, throwing his head back.

He was a damned fool. Ginny could very well show up and say that she was going back to Harry. The fact that the Daily Prophet had reported the break up for the first time could mean nothing. Perhaps some reporter just got lucky. The fact that Ginny had admitted it to Draco's mother could mean nothing. Maybe she was in denial again, but Harry had come around and set her straight. Maybe Ginny was outside his front door right now about to come crush Draco's hopes and dreams once again.

A loud crash startled Draco from his malevolent thoughts and he was shocked to find his hand empty. He glanced up to see glass shards at the foot of the wall nearest him, and a stain spreading downward that looked suspiciously like brandy.

"Fuck me," he muttered as he heaved himself out of the chair. The house elves were going to kill him. They were going to kill him and then lie to his mother and say he offed himself. And she would probably believe it if Harry and Ginny got back together. His mother believed in that sentimental nonsense of love conquering all and meaning everything to someone, despite her own marriage.

"Was that an invitation?" a voice spoke from the doorway and Draco stopped halfway to the wall.

His heart began to pound and he again counted back how many drinks he had. No, only the two, well one and a half. He had not drunk enough to be hallucinating. He couldn't be imagining this unless he truly had gone crazy. Perhaps his mother was right and love was powerful enough to make or break people.

"Draco?" the voice called again, clearer this time and with just the amount of hesitation he knew she would have.

Draco stiffened his shoulders and turned around slowly, completely prepared to be disappointed.

He was not.

Ginny Weasley stood in the doorway, wringing her hands as he knew she would. Her eyes darted to his face and she made to look away before forcing herself to look forward. He could see the internal struggle going on within her. Wanting to look away, but refusing to let her courage abate. She was being a Gryffindor, all false bravado and stubbornness.

Draco cleared his throat. He wanted to look away, but the stubbornness he had just accused Ginny of also made an appearance within him. He would not look away. And so he studied her.

She looked the same as the last time he had seen her, though it had not been in this room. Her long red hair – hair that Draco loved despite himself – hung straight and halfway down her back. He knew how thick that hair was and how soft and what it felt like to run his hands through it. Her pale skin was slightly flushed with nerves, but he knew how it looked when it was flushed with excitement and arousal. Her brown eyes were dark with anxiety but it was almost too easy to see them snapping with enjoyment or even anger. She was biting her lip as she always did when he stared at her for too long but he knew of other things that could make her bite her lip.

She looked beautiful.

Her eyes shifted past his head then, leaving his face for the first time. He watched as she focused on the wall directly behind him and then frowned slightly. "Draco is that a glass? Did you throw a glass of brandy at the wall?"

"Yes," Draco's voice came out completely calm and steady and it was a lie. His heart was hammering, his palms sweaty, and his legs wanted to tremble. His mind was whirling and his breathing was becoming erratic. He was a nervous wreck. "I've broken sixteen glasses actually," he continued, "since you left."

He watched Ginny flinch at the reference as he knew she would. Ginny Weasley, always so predictable. He knew her too well. She always felt guilty about leaving him, always had ever since the first time she had come back to him. But she was always ready to defend herself before, ready to defend her actions. Would she be this time? Would she dare defend her choice of Potter again? If she did, Draco could not have her.

"You were that angry?" she asked and took a hesitant step forward.

Draco blinked once in relief. She had not defended herself or Potter. But did that really mean anything? Why was she here?

"I was beyond angry, Ginevra," he said slowly, deliberately. He could hear the tightly controlled anger under his voice and knew she could too. "I was livid."

Ginny stepped forward again as if drawn there, and Draco noticed for the first time that she was wearing a simple dress. But it was not the dress that shocked him, though he had never seen Ginny wear a dress and it was quite a dress, all short lengths and plunging necklines and gliding material. It was the color of the dress that made him catch his breath. Dark forest green.

"I never knew you cared so much," Ginny whispered and Draco forced his eyes away from the temptation of watching that dress move over her curves. He ignored the arousal growing within him and cursed that dress to hell and back.

"Then you are an idiot," he snapped, his voice scratchy. He almost regretted the words, knowing that they would undoubtedly get Ginny up in arms, but he was also angry. How dare she come here wearing a dress like that? Did she hope to distract him into sleeping with her without talking about any of it? Could he resist?

Ginny surprised him again when she did not immediately snap back at him. He tore his eyes away from her body again and focused on her face. She was calm.

"I have been an idiot," she whispered, looking down, and Draco watched as the fire glinted off of her copper eyelashes. They were long enough to cast shadows over her cheekbones. Draco wanted to growl in frustration. She was so damn attractive.

"I have been an idiot and cruel and selfish," she continued and she took a step forward with every word she spoke. Draco swallowed loudly. This was the Ginny he had truly fallen in love with. The brutally honest Ginny who would hide nothing and pretend nothing. She was alluring and sexy and impossible to resist. And he was in trouble.

"And I am sorry," she finished, stopping two feet in front of him and moving no further.

Draco commanded his eyes to stay trained on her face. He would not give into temptation first, not this time. He needed answers, all of the answers to every question he had ever asked. He needed to know that if he stepped forward again this time she would not step back. He needed to know that she truly wanted him and wanted to try.

"Sorry doesn't fix anything, Ginny," Draco spoke clearly, making sure to keep the desire out of his voice. He doubted he could hide the heat in his eyes, but he would be damned if he let it show in his voice. "It's just a word and a meaningless one coming from your mouth."

Ginny flinched again slightly but she took the barb with grace. Draco was impressed, but he was not distracted by her lack of her temper. It could all be a game, part of her plan. Ginny was no fool and she knew him better than anyone, even if she did not realize it.

"I can never believe you when you say sorry," Draco continued, folding his arms. "And I can never believe you when you say that you and Harry are over, not even when you admit it in front of my mother."

Ginny nodded. "Have you seen the Prophet?"

"Yes, should that make a difference?"

"I had hoped it might," Ginny offered him a small smile but it quickly fell when Draco didn't return it. "Draco, Harry and I are over, for good this time. I will not go back to him again. He chose his job and now I'm choosing something else. I'm choosing you."

Draco refused to let himself react to those words. They were words he had wanted to hear for months now, but he couldn't trust them. Ginny would never lie, but she was flighty. She could choose him today but leave him tomorrow. Why should her saying those words out loud change anything?

"And what about tomorrow when you wake up naked in my bed?" Draco asked. "What about tomorrow when you remember your family and your friends and the entire wizarding world? What about when you remember all the reasons you've ever given me for leaving? What about then?"

Ginny had flushed at the world naked and shifted. Draco was startled to realize that she was just as aroused as he was. He recognized the body language now, the twitching hands and shifting feet. She wanted him physically at least.

He was snapped out of that train of thought though when she spoke again. "The wizarding world can go screw itself," Ginny lifted her chin confidently as she said it and Draco did not see even a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. "My friends, if they are my real friends, will have to accept it."

"And your family?" Draco interrupted, knowing that her family was quite possibly the most important thing to her. It would always be the deciding factor in her arguments. And her family would never agree to him.

"My family already knows."

The words hung between them and Draco's breath hitched and then halted and then sped up. Her family knew about him. She had told her family that she had been seeing Draco Malfoy. His head spun. She wouldn't have. She couldn't have. Ginny had always feared her family's reactions. They were the people she could never face or disappoint.

"You couldn't have," Draco choked over the words as he shook his head.

Ginny smiled. "No, I couldn't have if I hadn't been forced into it. But when Harry found out about us, he went and told Ron who told my mother. She floo'd me and demanded answers, which I had to give her. I would be amazed if she hasn't told the rest of my brothers by now."

"You told Potter about us?" Draco gasped.

Ginny shook her head again. "I didn't mean to and I didn't want to, at least not yet. But he found out anyways. It wasn't pretty and I doubt he will ever speak to me again. But what's done is done. They know, Draco. They all know."

Draco shook his head to dispel the images there. Picturing Ginny telling Harry about him, picturing her with her mother explaining it. He narrowed his eyes as he thought about what she said. Harry had found out. "He saw your tattoo."

Ginny nodded. "I had been swimming at Luna's while she worked on a potion. Harry surprised us. He saw it and I explained it. I explained everything."

Draco shook his head again. "That's not good enough." He glared up at Ginny. "You were forced into telling Potter about us and you were forced into telling your family. Harry probably left you when he found out. It isn't good enough if you're only choosing me because you lost him."

"No, Draco," Ginny stepped forward with one hand outstretched but Draco avoided it. She let it drop but her eyes sought his face desperately. "Harry tried to get me to say it was a onetime thing. He tried to give me a way out. He would have forgiven me for that, for a drunken mistake. But I told him that it had been every time. I told him that it had been more than just a one night stand. That it meant more to me."

Draco fought with himself. She had told Harry the truth instead of taking the easy way out. She had told him that Draco was more than a one night stand. But did that make up for it? Or was she still only choosing him because he was what was left?

"But Harry left you!" he yelled, running an irate hand through his blonde hair and yanking on it. It fell into his eyes as he stared at Ginny. "I can't be with you if Harry left you. I can't."

"I left him!" Ginny sounded anguished. "I left Harry! I said that I wanted it to be over before he even saw the tattoo. I told him that I was done. When he found out, I just restated it and then he left. But I told him that I wanted out, Draco. I chose you over him. I did!"

Draco wanted to clamp his hands over his ears. His head hurt and his heart hurt and it hurt to breathe. His mind spun with the impossibility of it. He couldn't figure out if it counted. Did Ginny leave Harry or had he still left her? Whose choice had it been?

Draco couldn't answer the question, and with that, he knew he could never be happy with Ginny.

"I can't be with you if it was his choice," he whispered, eyes staring blankly at Ginny as the dark realization took hold. "Do you understand? I could never be happy. I would never trust you not to leave me again. I refuse to live with that fear. I refuse to be hurt again. I can't be with you."

Tears filled Ginny's eyes but she refused to let them fall. They stood in silence staring at each other and Draco wondered if she felt even half the pain he felt. He was in agony. How was it that he could get Ginny but not get her at the same time? How was that fair? Was she his punishment for the mistakes of his past? To be so close to everything he had never wanted but suddenly needed only to lose it again was more than a punishment. It was torture.

"Is there nothing that can convince you?" Ginny demanded, wiping angrily at her eyes. "No matter what I say or what proof I give you? Will you never believe me?"

Draco slowly shook his head. "You could bring your entire family over here. You could announce it in the Daily Prophet. But I wouldn't be able to be with you. I believe that you want me now, but I will never be able to convince myself that you won't leave again. If Harry walked away then he decided this, not you. And if he comes back, I can't trust you to not go back to him again."

Draco knew he was being foolish and stuffy. He knew he was being a prick about this. But he couldn't help it. He knew himself and he knew that it would never work unless she had chosen him and had something to show for it. His mind would need the proof to quiet the fears; his heart would need the evidence to keep from breaking. It may not mean much considering that every other time Ginny had left Harry and gone back. But it made all the difference this time.

Ginny drew in a shuddering breath that almost turned into a sob before she managed to clamp her mouth shut. Draco ached for the pain he saw on her face. But he could not doubt himself in this. Ginny could hate him for the rest of her life, but she had not been here before when she left. She did not see the agony Draco had gone through every time she had left him, not just the last time. The agony that Draco had hidden even from Blaise. He had loved Ginny since the first time he had slept with her, but he would no longer let her break his heart.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and then he turned away and walked to the wall to pick up the shards of glass. He needed her to leave but he could not watch her go. Not this time, not if he wanted to keep his sanity.

He listened for her footsteps and he heard them after a moment, but they were moving in the wrong direction.

Draco whirled around and stood up only to see that Ginny was again two feet in front of him and this time she looked determined. There were fresh tear tracks down her face, but her eyes were blazing in stubborn determination.

"What if I had proof?" she demanded. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her arms were shaking but she looked at him steadily. "What if I had a way to prove to you that I had chosen you and would not leave again?"

Draco gulped but shook his head. "There's nothing that could do that. There's nothing…"

Ginny ignored him and reached up to the shoulder straps of her dress. Draco was confused until he watched her slide them down. He was in front of her and grasping the material before he knew what happened. His breathing was heavy as he stared down at Ginny's wide eyes.

"No," his voice came out rough and he cleared his throat. "Sleeping with me won't prove anything Ginny, and I…" his voice broke but Draco plowed on "I won't be able to stop or heal or move on if I sleep with you again, Ginny. It will only hurt more."

Ginny's lower lip trembled and her wide brown eyes swirled with a million emotions. Draco closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look. So much pain, there was so much pain between them now. Draco couldn't bear it.

Draco didn't see as Ginny stepped back, but he felt it when her thin shoulders disappeared from under his hands. His eyes popped open in time to see the green dress slither to the floor and the pale creaminess of Ginny's naked legs. He slammed his eyes shut again.

"Ginny…"

"No, Draco," Ginny grabbed Draco's hand and tugged him forward. "Look, please, I swear this isn't what you think. But I need you to look."

Draco's heart pounded and he tried to talk himself out of it. If he looked at Ginny, clad in only lingerie as he had glimpsed before he closed his eyes, then he would not stop. He would sleep with her again and then it would all be that much worse. But his eyes were not listening to his mind, and slowly, they opened.

Ginny stood in front of him in a simple black bra and panty ensemble that still managed to make Draco's blood thrum and his pants tighten. She was luminescent with her pale skin and dark hair. She was enchanting and enthralling and he needed her.

"Draco," Ginny called again, and Draco's eyes snapped up to Ginny's face only to see that her eyes were also dark with desire and need. But she moved her hand and pointed downward. "Look."

Draco followed the curve of her arm past her elbow and to her wrist. And then he stopped breathing.

Ginny was pointing at the pale expanse of skin between her hip and her center. But it was not the pale perfection Draco had expected. Emblazoned in dark black ink and a cursive script, Draco could read his name clearly.

His eyes snapped up to stare at Ginny in wonder. "You kept it?"

Ginny nodded slowly as she blushed. "I kept it."

Draco swallowed and winced at his dry throat. He couldn't stop his eyes from drifting again to the mark, remembering how much it had pleased him the first time he had seen it, how much it had meant to know that she had marked herself as his even if she was drunk. But he needed to focus. "Could Luna not find a way to remove it?"

He looked up to see Ginny shake her head. "Luna found a potion that removed it, or at least it was supposed to, but I wouldn't let her try. I made her throw it out and swear to never let me use it."

"Why?" Draco's voice was a croak.

Ginny slowly stepped forward and place her hands against Draco's chest. Her fingers began playing with his collar and she gazed at the buttons on his shirt. "Because I wanted to keep it," she murmured and then she dared to look up at him quickly. Draco was speechless and Ginny quickly looked down again. "I wanted to keep it because I needed it to convince myself to try. I needed something to drive me over here so that I wouldn't back out. I needed something to hold on to, to convince myself that you did love me and that you would not just laugh at me. I needed proof." Her lips twisted at the last sentence and Draco also almost smiled. But he was too busy frowning.

With one deft finger, Draco reached under Ginny's delicate chin and then lifted her face so he could look into her eyes. "You thought that I would laugh at you? You thought that I did not love you?"

Ginny cast her eyes downward and continued to play with Draco's shirt collar. "I never really believed you loved me, you know. It was just too hard to believe. Why would you love me when I kept leaving? Why would you love me after so short a time together? I kept trying to convince myself that what I felt for you wasn't love either, that it couldn't be. Love was supposed to be different than what we had. But accepting that I loved you was easier than accepting that you loved me."

"Ginny…" Draco's voice sounded helpless and his mind scrambled for a way to prove to this girl just how much he loved her. He wanted to tell her that he understood doubting what he felt; that he had also thought love would be different. But he wanted her to know that he did love her, with all of himself.

Ginny shot him a look that silenced him though. She looked amused. "But then, when I had finally admitted out loud that I loved you, Blaise and Luna made me realize something. They made me realize that you loved me too. Or that you at least were serious about wanting to try dating. They made me realize that I wanted to try, that I needed to try. I would never have been happy without you now, Draco. Not after all of this. So do you…" Ginny's voice broke and she coughed. "Do you want to try?"

Draco looked away from her hopeful brown eyes and down between their bodies to the tattoo. Slowly, he let his fingers trace over his own name. He heard Ginny's intake of breath and he smirked slightly. He watched as goose bumps arose on her skin and his own arousal grew at the visceral response. Finally, he looked back up at her.

"I don't just want to try," his voice came out deep, predatory, and Ginny's eyes dilated. Draco fought the urge to kiss her right then and there, knowing that he needed to say something and say it now. "I want you to stay with me always. I want you to move in. I want to go with you when you face your family. I want to beat Potter to a pulp if he ever comes near you again. I want you Ginevra Weasley, and I think that I will always want you."

Draco leaned down so that his lips brushed against her's as he spoke his next words, "I want to try and I want to succeed because I love you Ginny."

Ginny gasped and then she was the one pulling him forward hastily by his shirt collar. Draco laughed as her mouth slammed into his but that laugh quickly turned into a groan of pleasure as Ginny kissed him wildly. He pulled her tight against him, desperate to touch her, all of her. He needed Ginny more than he had ever needed anyone and with every touch of their lips that need just grew.

It was the fire Draco only felt with Ginny. It was thoughtless heat and passion and two bodies meeting together. It was Ginny, all of her, surrounding him and drowning him, but he wanted it. He needed it.

Ginny pulled away finally and they both sucked in deep breaths of air. They stared at each other in silence and Draco took in her gleaming eyes and reddened lips and flushed face. He moved his hands up from her lower back to her face, gliding his thumbs over her cheekbones. Ginny's eyes fluttered closed as he tucked her hair behind her ears and then traced the familiar features of her face.

It wasn't until Draco traced her lips that Ginny spoke again. She opened her eyes and stared right at him. "I love you Draco Malfoy."

Draco froze for one infinite moment as he gazed down at the redheaded woman who had barreled into his life with a potions question. His heart pounded and his blood hummed and his breath shortened as he gazed at the woman that he loved, the woman that miraculously loved him back. And suddenly all the months of waiting and pain were worth it. All of the fights and yelling and remarks were worth it. All of the tears and anger and agony were worth it.

Draco smiled suddenly and rested his forehead against Ginny's, breathing in her air. He had never been happier than in this moment, he thought. Though he would probably be happier in the next. Draco smirked as Ginny's eyes darkened again, as if she could read his thoughts and knew the direction they had taken. He let his eyes travel down to the mark on Ginny's skin, the spot where she now bore his name and would forever more. The spot that had decided this fate for them, the ending that Draco desperately wanted and the one that Ginny now wanted as well. The spot that represented the love they had just found for each other. The spot that caused Draco to lose his mind.

Draco leaned down suddenly and captured Ginny's lips in a kiss again. He felt her fingers flying over the buttons on his shirt as he picked her up and her legs straddled him. Draco smiled as he walked them both over to the couch, his heart filled with love, and his body filled with desire.

And he thought that he had never been so grateful to a little spot of ink.

(Author's Note: Surprise! This is the end. Well at least for now. Before you get your hopes up though, I don't mean that I am going to add more chapters detailing what happens next. I meant that I might write some extra scenes that were mentioned but that I didn't fully write out. Scenes like the night between Ginny and Draco that started this story. Or even their first night together. I haven't decided exactly what yet, or if this will even happen, and if it does it won't be done until next week because I will be gone. But just keep that in mind. For now, I will just say that my story is complete and will be updated to complete and that I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. Obviously the characters aren't mine but JK Rowling's though the plot and etc. are my creation. Thank you for reading!)