[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

Harry was annoyed, to put it mildly, when Ginny returned to the Ministry empty-handed.For three days, he walked around the office angrily, slamming doors, throwing tantrums at Teri Boot or Danny O'Connell for no reason, and completely pretending that Ginny didn't exist.

"What's going on?" Ron asked her privately, three days after her date with Draco at the London Eye.

"He ran away when he saw me," said Ginny.She spends a lot of time making up a story that sounds reasonable. "I tried to run after him, but he must have cast some anti-tracking spell because I couldn't find him."

"Does he know you're looking for him, or does he think it's just an accidental discovery?"

"I don't think he knows," Ginny said. "I'm careful."

Perhaps out of defiance—maybe it was something broken deep inside her—Ginny spent more and more time with Draco over the next few weeks.She leaves work early, and sometimes takes days off, and they can't blame her: Aurors get four weeks of vacation a year, if it means she gets a few extra hours a day to see Draco's beautiful face , then she would love to use up her vacation.Plus, they both think she's just going the extra mile to catch him.It's a win-win situation.

She and Draco were up early one morning, and Draco took her to the market where he was in charge of buying fresh meat and seafood for the restaurant he worked for.She raptly watched him bargain with the merchants, carefully inspected every piece of fish he picked and bought, and admired his seriousness and concentration.Another day, they spent a few hours at Kew, taking silly pictures of each other with Draco's weird Muggle camera.He took her to his favorite café—as he said, because it had amazing gelato, and Ginny lied to him that she had just moved to London and wasn't familiar with it, and he Take her to every popular tourist spot he can find.She dined at his restaurant every chance she could, and John and Simon took their girlfriends with them.They seem to have been friends for many years.

Ginny had never felt this way before, at least not in a long time.Just the sight of him—he was walking towards her from various places, she opened the door to find him standing on the porch of her house—was enough to make her heart beat in her throat and a smile of delight play on her lips.Their hands fit perfectly, like matching jigsaw pieces, and when he held her, every angle of his strong body matched hers, as if they were meant to be.On the few occasions when Ginny went to work with paperwork or other minor cases, Angelina and O'Connell would tease her relentlessly, saying she seemed to be floating when she walked.

Best of all, it's not just her.When they were out, she noticed that Draco would look at her sometimes, he would smile and look away, but a moment later, he would stare at her again.

"What's wrong?" she said once when they went to buy ice cream.She tasted the flavors with him and they both ordered coconut tonight. "Is there something on my face?"

"Yes—" He bent down, kissed the corner of her mouth, quickly stuck out his tongue, and licked off the ice cream that he imagined was there.Ginny giggled, feeling like a teenage girl on a first date.

That night, as they lay on her couch kissing, he stopped suddenly and looked down at her nervously, his eyes darkening. "Isn't that too fast for you?" he gasped.

Ginny sat up against the arm of the sofa, staring at him intently. "I don't--"

"It's just—I've dated a lot of girls before," he said, sitting up too. "But—I—" He smiled self-deprecatingly, running his hands through his tangled hair. "We've been dating for more than a month?"

"Probably," Ginny murmured, surprised at how quickly the time had passed.

He glanced at her again, and she felt that she was going to fall into his eyes. "Never before—so—I don't know. A month later, I'm usually still wondering if I like that girl." He shook his head, looking down at his hands.

"I'm not sure myself," she said.After dating Harry for a month, did she feel half as much as she did now? "But it's not that you're rushing. I—I like you very much, and you have to know that." She took a quick breath and continued. "I think I'm in love with you."

There was silence in the room, and for one terrible moment Ginny feared that she had ruined everything.No more random sweet kisses, no more holding his hand at dinner together.But he looked at her with a smirk—his best smile, and whispered, "Yeah. Me too."

Ginny stared at him dumbfounded, and suddenly realized something, and she patted his arm. "You bastard! You're just waiting for me to say it so you don't have to!"

Draco smiled smugly and pulled her into his lap. "Ah, she already knows about my plot!" he cried. "Will I be punished?"

"Definitely," Ginny agreed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with all her might.

"My favorite torture," he murmured through her hair, kissing her cheek and throat. "I'm completely obsessed with you, Kim."

"Me too." She smiled softly.

However, every time they get to the point where nothing seems to go wrong or to separate them, something jumps out and reminds her poignantly that their entire relationship was built on a farce and a lie based on.

One afternoon, after Ginny stayed at the Ministry of Magic for half a day, she ran to Draco's apartment.They were planning to go to a show in the West End, and Ginny was looking forward to spending time with him.Ginny walked into his apartment, hoping to feel his arms around her, when she heard angry voices coming from the kitchen.

"How dare you accuse me like that. I've been working for Sam Grayson for six years—"

Ginny bit her lip and tiptoed to the kitchen at the back of the flat, where she found Draco swearing into the phone, looking like he was going to kill.He was so engrossed on the phone that he didn't hear the slight whimper in her throat or notice her hand over her mouth.

Draco pushed the hair away from his regal face with the other hand, and she seemed to see him again at Hogwarts.She remembered now that he had always slicked his hair—seeing him so familiar made her recall the past involuntarily.This is the boy who played tricks on them when they were young.It really is him.

"That's the delivery company's problem, not me," Draco hissed, eyes blazing. "When I saw those ribs this morning, they were perfect."

His voice—it always sounded the same to her, but now with the blood-curdling anger, was exactly the same as before.This is Draco Malfoy.In Death Eater, the criminal who tried to kill Dumbledore, nearly killed Ron, and possibly Colin Creevey.

"Swordfish is fine," Draco insisted, raising his voice. "I don't see why we can't feature it - no, don't judge me, I'm just trying to make up for someone else's mistakes!"

Something nearby shattered suddenly, and Ginny jumped a foot high, startled.She turned and was startled again when she saw John standing behind her, with a broken glass on the workbench.

"It slipped out of my hand," he said.

"Scared me," she replied, smiling hesitantly.For a split second, she thought Draco had finally cast an out-of-control spell.

Draco hung up the phone a few minutes later, muttering obscenities under his breath. "Sorry for you to hear that," he said, his voice still a little cold. "I can't tolerate incompetence."

"What's wrong?" John asked, collecting the broken glass with a paper towel.

"It's Andrew, an assembly line cook. The ribs I bought at the market this morning were rotten when they arrived in the kitchen." As he spoke, his stern expression softened, and he gradually became the new him again. "Everything else is fine and I know we have enough ingredients for our guests tonight. We always have enough."

"It's good to have you Sam," John said.Broken glass was dumped into the trash can. "But if it's your fault, he might complain to Uncle Peter."

"Your boss knows John's uncle?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Yes, they, uh—" Draco cleared his throat. "They were college classmates. John's uncle helped me find my first job with Grayson." Draco and John exchanged a strange look, John asked a question silently, Draco shook his head slightly .Ginny's mind was in turmoil, not knowing what was going on.

"Listen, I have terrible news," Draco continued, reaching out to take Ginny's fingers. "Tony Blair is going to pay a surprise visit to his family, so I have to get to the restaurant early to get ready. We can't go to the show together tonight."

Ginny felt that she should know who Tony Blair was, but she was too worried about what she had just seen to react appropriately. "It's okay," she said. "We're still going to Brighton this weekend, right?"

"Of course, honey." Draco bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips, seemingly unaware that John was in the same room. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"It's your job, don't worry. I can live a day without you," she joked.

"Wonder if we could say the same about Ben," John said with a smirk.

"Mind your own business," Draco retorted, giving him a playful push.

Even though their plans were scuttled, Ginny tried to stay upbeat.She told Draco that she would meet him early Saturday morning and wish him all the best tonight without the ribs.

"Andrew likes to exaggerate, I'm sure everything is fine," Draco assured her as he walked her to the front door. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if the ribs weren't rotten at all."

"Perfectionists will drive you crazy," she agrees.

"I'm a perfectionist, so I can't blame him too much," he laughs. "I think I hide better."

He kissed her in the hall, and they said goodbye to each other.Ginny walked slowly down the front steps and down the street, trying to figure out what had happened when Draco called.There was something wrong with John dropping the glass, and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed that his explanation didn't make sense.Draco was alone in the kitchen when she got there; how had John walked in behind her without her hearing?

Frowning, she stopped at the corner of the street, waiting for the traffic light to cross the road.She has spent years recreating crime scenes in her head, piecing together oral testimony, drawing on her experience, and recreating scenes in the kitchen.John moved too fast.It's too quiet - unless he's in the downstairs bathroom?But she doesn't remember seeing a light under the door...

And one more thing—how did the glass slip from his hand without even opening the cupboard?

Ginny had walked a long way down Earls Court Road when she heard her name called.She was about to reach for her wand, ready to Apparate between the two stores, when she was caught off guard and immediately took her hand out of her bag.She turned to see John Palmer running towards her.

"What's the matter, John?" she asked.

"Yes." He said breathlessly.

Ginny blinked. "What?"

"He doesn't know," he went on, as if he didn't hear her. "He doesn't know anything."

"Know what? John—"

"I can't tell, that's up to him to tell you. He'll tell you, that's why he's taking you to Brighton on Saturday."

Ginny's eyes widened and her heart was pounding like a frightened hippogriff. "Tell me what?" she called. "what is going on?"

He just gave her a strange look. "Have you ever heard of Tony Blair?"

"I - I think he is - but what does that have to do with Draco?"

John smiled reassuringly at her. "He'll tell you everything in Brighton," he said, already turning to go. "Yes. He broke the glass, not me."

It was only when he walked back calmly and deliberately that Ginny realized that she had used Draco's real name.

And John didn't even bat an eye.